Originally published August 20, 1984
Charles B. Knox, a salesman from Johnston, NY, watched his wife make a calf’s foot jelly and remembered hearing about a powdered gelatin which would make her job easier. Knox packaged the powder in easy to use form and, at his wife’s suggestion, had salesmen go from door to door to demonstrate how easily the gelatin sheets and powders could be dissolved in water to make aspics, molds and desserts.
Peter Cooper, the inventor of the “Tom Thumb” locomotive, had invented a mixture of powdered gelatin, sugar and artificial fruit flavors in the 1840’s, but it was not until Jell-o came along half a century later that people were ready for such a short-cut dessert, or that advertising and merchandising - and the icebox - existed to exploit their use. The growth of mechanical home refrigeration a few decades later elevated gelatin desserts into the staple category in American diets.
Showing posts with label articles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label articles. Show all posts
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
A Passion for Peaches
Originally published August 16, 1984
There was a time when we were children. It was called summer and the best part of summer was when the Kitchen Mouse was employed as “delivery boy” and “general taster” at our local Jewish green grocer on the west side of New York City.
Mr. Panzer, the green grocer, explained to the Kitchen Mouse that his system of cost-accounting allowed for about 25 percent of the product to be eaten by the employees.
As most items made their appearances at the green grocer’s bins it was very easy to keep within the 25 percent pilferage allowed by Mr. Panzer, however my craving for peaches usually was enough to send profits spiraling downward. My annual act of larceny sealed my love of peaches forever. Perhaps it is because the best ones I’ve ever eaten were hijacked that I’ve always considered peaches just a bit sinful. More likely, it’s the fact that my conscience tells me anything so incredibly delicious must be immoral.
The Chinese, who have cultivated peaches for over 4,000 years, also considered the peach slightly suspect. They associated peach blossoms with promiscuity and never planted peach trees near a lady’s bedroom window.
From China the peach tree spread westward along the caravan routes through the Mediterranean and then into Europe. The Greeks and Romans prized the golden fruit as a rare and expensive delicacy. The peach arrived in America with the Spanish explorers and has been a summertime treat here ever since then.
Many varieties are now grown commercially, but the two general categories are freestone, which has a juicy flesh, and the firmer clingstone. The story of the first modern freestone peach variety began in 1857, when buddings from a China clingstone peach were sent to a Georgia family named Rumph. The buds were planted and flourished. One day Mrs. Rumph dropped a few of the peach pits into her sewing basket. Years later, when her grandson, Samuel Rumph, wanted to expand his orchard, she remembered the old clingstone seeds and found them in her basket, resting comfortably among the needles and socks that needed darning. Samuel planted them near his own peach trees, which were probably an early Crawford variety, and, thanks to the hardworking bees in the neighborhood, cross-pollination took place, producing a brand new freestone fruit that he promptly named after his wife, Elberta.
The simplest way to eat a peach is to wash it off and bite into it. Eighteenth century poet James Thomson had even more straight forward technique. He never bothered to pick the fruit. He’d keep an eye on the tree in his garden and when a peach seemed destined to explode of its own ripe juiciness, he would stroll into the garden and stand beneath the peach with his hands in his pockets. Moving only his mouth, he would reach up and take one perfect bite from the sunny side. The rest he left for the birds.
There was a time when we were children. It was called summer and the best part of summer was when the Kitchen Mouse was employed as “delivery boy” and “general taster” at our local Jewish green grocer on the west side of New York City.
Mr. Panzer, the green grocer, explained to the Kitchen Mouse that his system of cost-accounting allowed for about 25 percent of the product to be eaten by the employees.
As most items made their appearances at the green grocer’s bins it was very easy to keep within the 25 percent pilferage allowed by Mr. Panzer, however my craving for peaches usually was enough to send profits spiraling downward. My annual act of larceny sealed my love of peaches forever. Perhaps it is because the best ones I’ve ever eaten were hijacked that I’ve always considered peaches just a bit sinful. More likely, it’s the fact that my conscience tells me anything so incredibly delicious must be immoral.
The Chinese, who have cultivated peaches for over 4,000 years, also considered the peach slightly suspect. They associated peach blossoms with promiscuity and never planted peach trees near a lady’s bedroom window.
From China the peach tree spread westward along the caravan routes through the Mediterranean and then into Europe. The Greeks and Romans prized the golden fruit as a rare and expensive delicacy. The peach arrived in America with the Spanish explorers and has been a summertime treat here ever since then.
Many varieties are now grown commercially, but the two general categories are freestone, which has a juicy flesh, and the firmer clingstone. The story of the first modern freestone peach variety began in 1857, when buddings from a China clingstone peach were sent to a Georgia family named Rumph. The buds were planted and flourished. One day Mrs. Rumph dropped a few of the peach pits into her sewing basket. Years later, when her grandson, Samuel Rumph, wanted to expand his orchard, she remembered the old clingstone seeds and found them in her basket, resting comfortably among the needles and socks that needed darning. Samuel planted them near his own peach trees, which were probably an early Crawford variety, and, thanks to the hardworking bees in the neighborhood, cross-pollination took place, producing a brand new freestone fruit that he promptly named after his wife, Elberta.
The simplest way to eat a peach is to wash it off and bite into it. Eighteenth century poet James Thomson had even more straight forward technique. He never bothered to pick the fruit. He’d keep an eye on the tree in his garden and when a peach seemed destined to explode of its own ripe juiciness, he would stroll into the garden and stand beneath the peach with his hands in his pockets. Moving only his mouth, he would reach up and take one perfect bite from the sunny side. The rest he left for the birds.
Today’s recipes:
Ginger Peach Tart
Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce
Peach and Walnut Pie
Old-Fashioned Peach Pie
Ginger Peach Tart
Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce
Peach and Walnut Pie
Old-Fashioned Peach Pie
Monday, September 19, 2011
American Cuisine Reflects Our History
Originally published August 9 & 13, 1984
Among primitive peoples it would seem that cooking has been the woman’s job; but as soon as people became civilized and began to think of what they ate as a gift from the gods for which they should be grateful, a religious element entered into the preparation of food which then seems to have become the duty of men. Men have always sought to make the exercise of religion an all-male affair, and in the olden days especially, women were kept on the periphery of all such activities, except for fertility rites and minor roles as soothsayers and voices for oracles. And so it seems to have been with cooking, certainly where the preparation of the “burned offerings” were concerned - those token sacrifices which purported to give the gods their “share” of the food, but which were mere whiffs of glorious smells, while their priests and the people ate the food.
In the days of Homer, even kings were not above cooking their own meals, and, judging by the pictures of cooking scenes and the models found in the tombs, Egyptian cooks were all men, as were Greek and Roman cooks.
Early American housewives, like their European contemporaries, were feeding families while their husbands were occupied with hunting for game or coaxing crops from the virgin soil.
After the War of Independence, the city lady of the eastern seaboard had her servants, her table silver, her coffee, white bread, imported cheese, salads and white loaf sugar. She would have been quite at home in one of the capitals of Europe.
On a prosperous eastern farm, the housewife lived almost as comfortably as her sister in the city, though her daily tasks were more demanding. The household had to be supervised, as had food and accommodations for the farmhands. There were dairying, pickling and preserving to be seen to. The smokehouse had to be hung with meat and game for the winter; the root cellar to be filled with bins of potatoes, dried corn, beans and squash, as well as barrels full of apples.
The poorer farm wife further inland lived close to American beginnings. She seasoned her stews as often with maple syrup as with salt, sweetened her pies with molasses, cooked cornmeal mush more often than bread, broiled fresh meat or fish only when her man had a good day’s hunting. If the soil was poor, the family pulled up stakes and moved on in search of better. Good housewives learned to make butter on the march “by dashing of the wagon, and so nicely to calculate the working of barm (leavening) in the jolting heats that, as soon after the halt as an oven can be dug in the hillside and heated, their well-kneaded loaf was ready for baking.” But most women stocked up on dried corn, johnny cakes, pocket soup and preserved meats for their journeys into the unknown.
As new settlers arrived in America from various countries, they introduced their own traditional dishes, judiciously adapted when necessary to suit the ingredients available. The English brought apple pie. The French introduced chowder (the fish kettle). The Dutch brought cookies (koekjes), cole slaw (cabbage salad) and waffles. In the end, the American cuisine became a mirror of history, the names of its dishes reflecting a medley of peoples, religions, wars, geographical locations, even occupations. There were Shaker Loaf, burgoo, Maryland chicken, snickerdoodles, spoon bread, cowpoke beans, hush puppies, jambalaya, pandowdy, Boston baked beans, Philadelphia pepper pot, Moravian sugar cake, Swedish meatballs, whaler’s toddy…
Among primitive peoples it would seem that cooking has been the woman’s job; but as soon as people became civilized and began to think of what they ate as a gift from the gods for which they should be grateful, a religious element entered into the preparation of food which then seems to have become the duty of men. Men have always sought to make the exercise of religion an all-male affair, and in the olden days especially, women were kept on the periphery of all such activities, except for fertility rites and minor roles as soothsayers and voices for oracles. And so it seems to have been with cooking, certainly where the preparation of the “burned offerings” were concerned - those token sacrifices which purported to give the gods their “share” of the food, but which were mere whiffs of glorious smells, while their priests and the people ate the food.
In the days of Homer, even kings were not above cooking their own meals, and, judging by the pictures of cooking scenes and the models found in the tombs, Egyptian cooks were all men, as were Greek and Roman cooks.
Early American housewives, like their European contemporaries, were feeding families while their husbands were occupied with hunting for game or coaxing crops from the virgin soil.
After the War of Independence, the city lady of the eastern seaboard had her servants, her table silver, her coffee, white bread, imported cheese, salads and white loaf sugar. She would have been quite at home in one of the capitals of Europe.
On a prosperous eastern farm, the housewife lived almost as comfortably as her sister in the city, though her daily tasks were more demanding. The household had to be supervised, as had food and accommodations for the farmhands. There were dairying, pickling and preserving to be seen to. The smokehouse had to be hung with meat and game for the winter; the root cellar to be filled with bins of potatoes, dried corn, beans and squash, as well as barrels full of apples.
The poorer farm wife further inland lived close to American beginnings. She seasoned her stews as often with maple syrup as with salt, sweetened her pies with molasses, cooked cornmeal mush more often than bread, broiled fresh meat or fish only when her man had a good day’s hunting. If the soil was poor, the family pulled up stakes and moved on in search of better. Good housewives learned to make butter on the march “by dashing of the wagon, and so nicely to calculate the working of barm (leavening) in the jolting heats that, as soon after the halt as an oven can be dug in the hillside and heated, their well-kneaded loaf was ready for baking.” But most women stocked up on dried corn, johnny cakes, pocket soup and preserved meats for their journeys into the unknown.
As new settlers arrived in America from various countries, they introduced their own traditional dishes, judiciously adapted when necessary to suit the ingredients available. The English brought apple pie. The French introduced chowder (the fish kettle). The Dutch brought cookies (koekjes), cole slaw (cabbage salad) and waffles. In the end, the American cuisine became a mirror of history, the names of its dishes reflecting a medley of peoples, religions, wars, geographical locations, even occupations. There were Shaker Loaf, burgoo, Maryland chicken, snickerdoodles, spoon bread, cowpoke beans, hush puppies, jambalaya, pandowdy, Boston baked beans, Philadelphia pepper pot, Moravian sugar cake, Swedish meatballs, whaler’s toddy…
The Amana Colonies
Originally published August 13, 1984
The people of the Amanas, rebels from the ritual worship and intellectual theology of the Lutheran Church in eighteenth century Germany, settled first around Buffalo, NY. But they soon needed more room, and so in 1854 they looked westward. Here, along the Iowa River, they found the rich soil, the timber, the sandstone, limestone and brick clay necessary for building a new community. The first village, Amana, was laid out in 1855. Subsequently, six more were built in the medieval manner, with houses clustered together and enveloped by farmland.
These were a farming people, growing the wheat that they baked into breads, in hickory-stacked ovens, raising hogs that would be turned into sausages and fine smoky hams, growing fruits and vegetables and herbs.
The people of the Amanas, rebels from the ritual worship and intellectual theology of the Lutheran Church in eighteenth century Germany, settled first around Buffalo, NY. But they soon needed more room, and so in 1854 they looked westward. Here, along the Iowa River, they found the rich soil, the timber, the sandstone, limestone and brick clay necessary for building a new community. The first village, Amana, was laid out in 1855. Subsequently, six more were built in the medieval manner, with houses clustered together and enveloped by farmland.
These were a farming people, growing the wheat that they baked into breads, in hickory-stacked ovens, raising hogs that would be turned into sausages and fine smoky hams, growing fruits and vegetables and herbs.
Today's Recipes:
Breslauer Steaks with Mushroom Gravy
Breslauer Steaks with Mushroom Gravy
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Chocolate Beyond the Candy Bar
Originally published August 6, 1984
Cortez discovered cocoa and chocolate in Mexico in 1519, where it was used as a beverage by the Aztecs; later, it was drunk by the Spanish ladies of the New World, who, passionately fond of chocolate, were not satisfied with taking it several times a day - they even brought it into church. This indulgence often brought them the censure of their bishops, who, however, at last shut their eyes to it.
Chocolate was introduced into Spain about the seventeenth century and subsequently taken to France, then to England. “The devil has erected a new university”, stated Roger North, in criticizing and English public house of the day - not because of a new-fangled drink known as chocolate, but because of the spirits which lost ground.
Chocolate is manufactured from the husked, dried, ground and fermented seeds of a tree indigenous to South America, which are roasted and made into a paste, then compressed into cakes by moderate pressure. To increase the flavor and nutrient power of the cakes more or less sugar (but at least 50% for sweet chocolate) is added, and various flavoring extracts are blended with the paste before compressing it.
The value of chocolate as a concentrated food is in part derived from the sugar which is added, but it is in itself very nutritious. Like cocoa, if pure and carefully prepared, its ingredients are easily digested and absorbed. It is also mildly stimulating and exhilarating to the nervous system when the nervous system is exhausted through overwork or worry.
Cortez discovered cocoa and chocolate in Mexico in 1519, where it was used as a beverage by the Aztecs; later, it was drunk by the Spanish ladies of the New World, who, passionately fond of chocolate, were not satisfied with taking it several times a day - they even brought it into church. This indulgence often brought them the censure of their bishops, who, however, at last shut their eyes to it.
Chocolate was introduced into Spain about the seventeenth century and subsequently taken to France, then to England. “The devil has erected a new university”, stated Roger North, in criticizing and English public house of the day - not because of a new-fangled drink known as chocolate, but because of the spirits which lost ground.
Chocolate is manufactured from the husked, dried, ground and fermented seeds of a tree indigenous to South America, which are roasted and made into a paste, then compressed into cakes by moderate pressure. To increase the flavor and nutrient power of the cakes more or less sugar (but at least 50% for sweet chocolate) is added, and various flavoring extracts are blended with the paste before compressing it.
The value of chocolate as a concentrated food is in part derived from the sugar which is added, but it is in itself very nutritious. Like cocoa, if pure and carefully prepared, its ingredients are easily digested and absorbed. It is also mildly stimulating and exhilarating to the nervous system when the nervous system is exhausted through overwork or worry.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Benefits of Fresh Fruit Discovered by Sailors of Past
Originally published August 2, 1984
Many years passed before scurvy was recognized as being related to diet, and it was then blamed not on too little fresh food, but on too much salt food. Western medical men knew by about 1600 A.D. that green herbs or citrus fruits could affect a swift cure. The Chinese as far back as the fifth century had made it a custom to carry fresh ginger growing in pots on board their vessels, and by the fourteenth century - entirely from experience - had arrived at some general understanding of the role certain types of food could play in preventing or curing such deficiency diseases as beriberi. The Dutch, closely involved with the Chinese-influenced areas of southeast Asia, may have learned there of the importance of greenstuffs and citrus fruits in a sea diet and have passed the message on to Europe. When the English East India Company dispatched its first ships to the east in 1601, a chronicler recorded that the little fleet hove to off the southern tip of Madagascar and gathered “oranges and lemons of which we made a good store of water (juice), which is the best remedy against scurvy.”
But the official mind could see no way of growing sufficient green herbs on board heavily manned ships to protect the crews against scurvy, and citrus fruit was much too expensive for economy-conscious owners or government administrators. For two hundred years physicians and captains neglected the only known remedies for scurvy while they attempted to find others which would be cheaper and more convenient. They knew what worked but not why it worked, and so all their many and varied experiments proved valueless. Finally, it was accepted that the juice of citrus fruits was the only medicine which could conquer a disease that was killing more seamen than enemy action.
At the end of the eighteenth century, the British Admiralty decreed that a fixed amount of lemon juice should be issued daily to sailors in the British Navy after their fifth or sixth week afloat. The mortality rate in the navy declined with startling suddenness.
The citrus juice was usually mixed with the rum ration, whose issue was the highlight of the sailor’s day. Since 1740 rum had rarely been dispensed neat. (During WWII, The Grenadier Guards were still being issued rum whenever we were in action against the enemy.) In 1795 the Royal Navy began to issue lime juice but it was soon realized that limes were less effective than lemons for controlling scurvy. This association with limes is the origin of the derogatory term “limey”.
Many years passed before scurvy was recognized as being related to diet, and it was then blamed not on too little fresh food, but on too much salt food. Western medical men knew by about 1600 A.D. that green herbs or citrus fruits could affect a swift cure. The Chinese as far back as the fifth century had made it a custom to carry fresh ginger growing in pots on board their vessels, and by the fourteenth century - entirely from experience - had arrived at some general understanding of the role certain types of food could play in preventing or curing such deficiency diseases as beriberi. The Dutch, closely involved with the Chinese-influenced areas of southeast Asia, may have learned there of the importance of greenstuffs and citrus fruits in a sea diet and have passed the message on to Europe. When the English East India Company dispatched its first ships to the east in 1601, a chronicler recorded that the little fleet hove to off the southern tip of Madagascar and gathered “oranges and lemons of which we made a good store of water (juice), which is the best remedy against scurvy.”
But the official mind could see no way of growing sufficient green herbs on board heavily manned ships to protect the crews against scurvy, and citrus fruit was much too expensive for economy-conscious owners or government administrators. For two hundred years physicians and captains neglected the only known remedies for scurvy while they attempted to find others which would be cheaper and more convenient. They knew what worked but not why it worked, and so all their many and varied experiments proved valueless. Finally, it was accepted that the juice of citrus fruits was the only medicine which could conquer a disease that was killing more seamen than enemy action.
At the end of the eighteenth century, the British Admiralty decreed that a fixed amount of lemon juice should be issued daily to sailors in the British Navy after their fifth or sixth week afloat. The mortality rate in the navy declined with startling suddenness.
The citrus juice was usually mixed with the rum ration, whose issue was the highlight of the sailor’s day. Since 1740 rum had rarely been dispensed neat. (During WWII, The Grenadier Guards were still being issued rum whenever we were in action against the enemy.) In 1795 the Royal Navy began to issue lime juice but it was soon realized that limes were less effective than lemons for controlling scurvy. This association with limes is the origin of the derogatory term “limey”.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Gourmet Travels in the Kitchen
Originally published July 30, 1984
Monotony needs no longer harass the gourmet. He may choose not only the foods of his own country but those of the entire world in these United States of America. In fact, he is missing a great deal if he permits himself to be limited by geographical considerations that no longer really exist. Perhaps the true gourmet or gourmand may see in international cookery in America a sure step to permanent understanding among all nations and a way to eventual lasting peace. It is unnecessary, though, to set forth any such remote defense of the gourmet, for his is the joyous appreciation of one of the most essential phases of our existence.
The true gourmet considers a good, even a simple, dinner as a period of relaxation. It is the culminating point in the events of the day, for, in good company, one may pass in review a new play, motion picture, a new book or musical composition; he may discuss new ideas or turn with pleasure to the old - in short, all that is merry - while savoring dishes which delight the appetite. But as soon as a dinner turns to gluttony, greediness or debauchery, it loses its good name and its advantages, and falls into the hands of moralists - or doctors.
The ultimate purpose of good cooking is to contribute to the preservation of man by the means of good, healthy and agreeable nourishment. In the exercise of this virtue, cooking embraces all aspects of human life, from cradle to grave, and sustains a long list of human activities: Agriculture, which produces; Commerce, which trades; Chemistry, which analyzes; Industry, which prepares; Medicine, which studies and examines; Political economy, which furnishes resources; and general satisfaction, which is attained by a judicious combination of all of these.
Cooking for others is both the most primitive and the most sophisticated of man’s endeavors, for in satisfying the primal urge of hunger, we fulfill the ancient and universal traditions of love and hospitality.
Why not invite a few friends or relatives to an interesting dinner next week? Here are several dishes they could enjoy.
Monotony needs no longer harass the gourmet. He may choose not only the foods of his own country but those of the entire world in these United States of America. In fact, he is missing a great deal if he permits himself to be limited by geographical considerations that no longer really exist. Perhaps the true gourmet or gourmand may see in international cookery in America a sure step to permanent understanding among all nations and a way to eventual lasting peace. It is unnecessary, though, to set forth any such remote defense of the gourmet, for his is the joyous appreciation of one of the most essential phases of our existence.
The true gourmet considers a good, even a simple, dinner as a period of relaxation. It is the culminating point in the events of the day, for, in good company, one may pass in review a new play, motion picture, a new book or musical composition; he may discuss new ideas or turn with pleasure to the old - in short, all that is merry - while savoring dishes which delight the appetite. But as soon as a dinner turns to gluttony, greediness or debauchery, it loses its good name and its advantages, and falls into the hands of moralists - or doctors.
The ultimate purpose of good cooking is to contribute to the preservation of man by the means of good, healthy and agreeable nourishment. In the exercise of this virtue, cooking embraces all aspects of human life, from cradle to grave, and sustains a long list of human activities: Agriculture, which produces; Commerce, which trades; Chemistry, which analyzes; Industry, which prepares; Medicine, which studies and examines; Political economy, which furnishes resources; and general satisfaction, which is attained by a judicious combination of all of these.
Cooking for others is both the most primitive and the most sophisticated of man’s endeavors, for in satisfying the primal urge of hunger, we fulfill the ancient and universal traditions of love and hospitality.
Why not invite a few friends or relatives to an interesting dinner next week? Here are several dishes they could enjoy.
Today’s recipes:
Greece - Soup Avgolemono
Northern Europe - Old Fashioned Cucumber Salad
Russian-Jewish - Grandma’s Pot Roast
Ukrainian Braised Pork
Stir-Fried Zucchini
Indian Pudding
Greece - Soup Avgolemono
Northern Europe - Old Fashioned Cucumber Salad
Russian-Jewish - Grandma’s Pot Roast
Ukrainian Braised Pork
Stir-Fried Zucchini
Indian Pudding
Monday, September 5, 2011
Our Loaf of Bread and the Hungarian Connection
Originally published July 26, 1984
Brown bread, served hot and steaming with baked beans is typically New England. Germans and Austrians specialize in black bread, rye breads or bread flavored with caraway seeds and poppy seeds. The Scandinavians also have a large array of dark breads, crisp breads, etc., and the Turks produce a soft brown aromatic bread that must be eaten fresh. Cornbread, still a southern specialty, long dominated American bread boxes because wheat was a luxury.
Wheat bread began its march to leadership when an American, Oliver Evans, pioneered in grinding flour with “bolting” (sifting) devices instead of with ancient millstones. Evans’ water-driven flour mill, the country’s first “automated” factory, was established in 1787. The Evans process was covered by federal patents after 1790 and by 1837, 1,200 automatic mills, using Evans’ patent or infringing on it, were producing some two million barrels of flour a year in states west of the Alleghenies.
While corn, rye and whole wheat doughs will rise only slightly, white bread made of bolted flour can be light and airy, if somewhat deficient in B vitamins and fiber. The Hungarian Count Steven Szechenyi produced such a fine, aristocratic white flour in the 1870’s that it captured a wide market, and in 1879 the governor of Minnesota had Hungarian engineers come to Minneapolis to put up rolling mills on which Messrs. Crosby and Washburn established the General Mills Company.
Some Americans survived nicely on cornbread, or on sourdough bread, now associated with the prospectors of California, Alaska and the Yukon. Made of fermented dough, sourdough bread actually goes back to 4000 B.C. and may be the oldest of breads. Columbus had a sourdough started aboard ship when he reached the New World. The gold seekers carried starters (self-perpetuating yeast mixtures combining flour, sugar and water) in starter pots strapped to their backs; they were prepared to make bread anywhere they stopped to make a claim. When they pulled up stakes and moved on, the sourdough starters and starter pots moved on with them.
Here are some breads that you will find are fun to make and which everyone will enjoy.
Brown bread, served hot and steaming with baked beans is typically New England. Germans and Austrians specialize in black bread, rye breads or bread flavored with caraway seeds and poppy seeds. The Scandinavians also have a large array of dark breads, crisp breads, etc., and the Turks produce a soft brown aromatic bread that must be eaten fresh. Cornbread, still a southern specialty, long dominated American bread boxes because wheat was a luxury.
Wheat bread began its march to leadership when an American, Oliver Evans, pioneered in grinding flour with “bolting” (sifting) devices instead of with ancient millstones. Evans’ water-driven flour mill, the country’s first “automated” factory, was established in 1787. The Evans process was covered by federal patents after 1790 and by 1837, 1,200 automatic mills, using Evans’ patent or infringing on it, were producing some two million barrels of flour a year in states west of the Alleghenies.
While corn, rye and whole wheat doughs will rise only slightly, white bread made of bolted flour can be light and airy, if somewhat deficient in B vitamins and fiber. The Hungarian Count Steven Szechenyi produced such a fine, aristocratic white flour in the 1870’s that it captured a wide market, and in 1879 the governor of Minnesota had Hungarian engineers come to Minneapolis to put up rolling mills on which Messrs. Crosby and Washburn established the General Mills Company.
Some Americans survived nicely on cornbread, or on sourdough bread, now associated with the prospectors of California, Alaska and the Yukon. Made of fermented dough, sourdough bread actually goes back to 4000 B.C. and may be the oldest of breads. Columbus had a sourdough started aboard ship when he reached the New World. The gold seekers carried starters (self-perpetuating yeast mixtures combining flour, sugar and water) in starter pots strapped to their backs; they were prepared to make bread anywhere they stopped to make a claim. When they pulled up stakes and moved on, the sourdough starters and starter pots moved on with them.
Here are some breads that you will find are fun to make and which everyone will enjoy.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Pork - The Choice for Year-Round Treats
Originally published July 23, 1984
Since earliest times, hunting the vicious wild boar with hounds and spears, has been a prestigious sport for kings and noblemen. In ancient Rome ostentatious hosts vied with each other in their manner of serving this celebrated beast. Guests at the dinner table of Servillus Rullus (291 B.C.) were once presented with a large roasted boar which was skillfully carved open to reveal a second entire animal, which in turn opened to a third: delicacies diminishing in size continued to be unsheathed until at last a dainty little figpecker (small bird) terminated the series of strange meats. A Macedonian named Caranus gave each of his 20 wedding guests one entire roasted boar as well as a silver platter on which the guest’s slave might bear the memento home. The first doggy bag perhaps.
Because the fiercest and largest boars are the greatest challenge to the hunter but are the oldest and toughest to eat, only the giant head of the conquered adversary was served as a special treat. The head was singed, scraped and completely boned. The ears were removed for separate cooking. The diced tongue and a few fleshy pieces from just under the skin were added to a stuffing made of chicken, lean ham, mushroom, nuts and other delicacies.
The boar skin was then reshaped around this stuffing, wrapped in a cloth, and simmered for several hours in a jellied stock. When cooled, it was glazed and duly appointed with ears, tusks and false eyes and occasionally a flower over one ear. This prized trophy was traditional as a first course at Christmas or for a state occasion.
In England, King Henry II served a boar’s head to his son on the occasion of the young prince’s coronation in 1170. The boar’s head celebration became an annual event long ago at Queen’s College, Oxford, when a student who was reading Aristotle in the nearby forest of Shotover was attacked by an open-mouthed wild boar. The resourceful scholar jammed the text down the throat of his assailant, choked the brute, and delivered the animal’s head to the chief steward who prepared it for Christmas dinner.
Pork deserves to be considered elegant party fare, worthy of the finest menu when it is served to your most favored guests. Here are a few of our favorite pork recipes - The Kitchen Mouse will furnish the recipes and you only have to muster a few guests and a reason for a celebration.
Since earliest times, hunting the vicious wild boar with hounds and spears, has been a prestigious sport for kings and noblemen. In ancient Rome ostentatious hosts vied with each other in their manner of serving this celebrated beast. Guests at the dinner table of Servillus Rullus (291 B.C.) were once presented with a large roasted boar which was skillfully carved open to reveal a second entire animal, which in turn opened to a third: delicacies diminishing in size continued to be unsheathed until at last a dainty little figpecker (small bird) terminated the series of strange meats. A Macedonian named Caranus gave each of his 20 wedding guests one entire roasted boar as well as a silver platter on which the guest’s slave might bear the memento home. The first doggy bag perhaps.
Because the fiercest and largest boars are the greatest challenge to the hunter but are the oldest and toughest to eat, only the giant head of the conquered adversary was served as a special treat. The head was singed, scraped and completely boned. The ears were removed for separate cooking. The diced tongue and a few fleshy pieces from just under the skin were added to a stuffing made of chicken, lean ham, mushroom, nuts and other delicacies.
The boar skin was then reshaped around this stuffing, wrapped in a cloth, and simmered for several hours in a jellied stock. When cooled, it was glazed and duly appointed with ears, tusks and false eyes and occasionally a flower over one ear. This prized trophy was traditional as a first course at Christmas or for a state occasion.
In England, King Henry II served a boar’s head to his son on the occasion of the young prince’s coronation in 1170. The boar’s head celebration became an annual event long ago at Queen’s College, Oxford, when a student who was reading Aristotle in the nearby forest of Shotover was attacked by an open-mouthed wild boar. The resourceful scholar jammed the text down the throat of his assailant, choked the brute, and delivered the animal’s head to the chief steward who prepared it for Christmas dinner.
Pork deserves to be considered elegant party fare, worthy of the finest menu when it is served to your most favored guests. Here are a few of our favorite pork recipes - The Kitchen Mouse will furnish the recipes and you only have to muster a few guests and a reason for a celebration.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
The Kitchen Mouse’s Spanish Menu - Wine & Desserts
Originally published July 19, 1984
The Wines of Spain
From the earliest time of which we have any record, Spain has been one of the largest wine-producing countries of the Mediterranean. It is probable that wine was introduced into the country by the Phoenicians between 1000 and 600 B.C. In antiquity, as today, these wines have always been famous for their excellent quality and wide variety. The soil and climatic conditions of the different regions of Spain produce grapes of such varying characteristics that it is difficult to establish a too rigid classification, because wines are the combined results of soil, climate and vine. Spanish wines are mainly known by their geographical names according to the region where they were produced. The finest ones are further distinguished by the producer’s name which is also printed on the bottle.
The Wines of Spain
From the earliest time of which we have any record, Spain has been one of the largest wine-producing countries of the Mediterranean. It is probable that wine was introduced into the country by the Phoenicians between 1000 and 600 B.C. In antiquity, as today, these wines have always been famous for their excellent quality and wide variety. The soil and climatic conditions of the different regions of Spain produce grapes of such varying characteristics that it is difficult to establish a too rigid classification, because wines are the combined results of soil, climate and vine. Spanish wines are mainly known by their geographical names according to the region where they were produced. The finest ones are further distinguished by the producer’s name which is also printed on the bottle.
The Kitchen Mouse on Nutrition
Originally published July 16, 1984
Many of The Kitchen Mouse’s friends have repeatedly asked that a column be written about nutrition and perhaps a few secret recipes “which are sure to satisfy hunger without adding additional tonnage.”
We Americans are now so concerned about our health that our foods are advertised at least as much for their nutritional values as for their qualities of taste and pleasure. Much of our nutrition consciousness has developed in the past 40 years.
People who never knew a calorie from a vitamin, if indeed they had ever heard those words, learned in the mess halls of World War II - or from young men returned from military service - that there is more to eating than corn pone, fried pork and hot biscuits.
Millions of Americans in the 1940’s shifted from fats and carbohydrates to foods with higher protein content. More grown men drank milk and orange juice and ate leafy green vegetables, even if they did go on eating creamed chipped beef on toast, a dish well remembered by servicemen for its earthy nickname.
This awareness of good nutrition has been a useful thing for the country. But America’s interest in the health aspects of food has had its less fortunate side.
The country has often been swept by the campaigns of food faddists. We have no monopoly on such faddists. In their own ways, Confucius, Lao-Tzu, Zoroaster (Persian religious leader 600 A.D.), Siddhartha Gautama (who became Buddha) and Moses all promulgated extreme views about food and nutrition.
One of the earliest and most persistent food mystiques has been vegetarianism, which can be based on the sort of sensibilities that prevent Hindus from killing any living thing or from attitudes about health.
Hindus are vegetarians, due to the principle of non-violence of Hinduism, as applied to animals and the belief meat is harmful to the mind. Trappist monks are vegetarians too, and so are various occult groups, and small Protestant sects, some of whose members operate a large U.S. corporation active in producing meat-substitutes.
The poet Shelley published a treatise in 1813 which claimed the human digestive system was suited only to plant foods. Shelley’s thesis was taken quite seriously by George Bernard Shaw, who gave up eating meat when he was 35. Some of Shaw’s statements suggest, however, that he was more motivated by conscience than science. “A man of my spiritual intensity,” said Shaw, “does not eat corpses.”
Another long-lived vegetarian, 82 when he dies in 1910, was Leo Tolstoy. The Russian novelist and social critic proclaimed a new religion when he was 48: it rejected sexuality, war, violence, alcohol, smoking and the eating of animal flesh.
Some vegetarians insist on eating raw vegetables, not cooked ones. Some call themselves “fruitarians” and eat only fruit. More permissive are the lacto-vegetarians who include milk, eggs and cheese in their diets, but other vegetarians say these are forms of meat and will not touch them.
Sensitivities aside, there are no convincing nutritional justifications for vegetarianism. Some vegetarians have, it is true, lived to ripe old ages, but so have many meat eaters; more than one food fad, in fact, has recommended eating great quantities of meat. A 1948 book by Daniel C. Munro, “You Can Live Longer Than You Think,” claimed that Methuselah lived 969 years because he ate mostly meat. And then there was Dr. J.H. Salisbury, who sometime about the turn of the (twentieth) century recommended ground steak three times a day for a whole list of ailments.
One of America’s first homegrown food faddists, and we in America have had our share, was the Rev. Sylvester W. Graham, whose name survives in graham flour and the graham cracker.
Graham, a former Presbyterian preacher, was a temperance lecturer, vegetarian, dietetic “expert” and a self-styled doctor of medicine. Born in West Suffield, Connecticut in 1794, he launched an attack in his mid-30’s on meats and fats (which he said heated people’s tempers and led them to sexual excesses). Condiments like mustard, catsup and pepper, he charged, could cause insanity.
Mostly, he propagandized for a diet of eating bread made from coarse unsifted flour and eaten slightly stale. The important thing was to keep the bran in the bread. Graham declared war on white bread, which had long been a symbol of good living and of western civilization. He had no knowledge of the vitamins and minerals in the bran, but like so many of his successors he was obsessed with bowel regularity.
Graham’s philosophies of nutrition led, by way of the Adventist Church (whose spiritual leader, Mother Ellen Harmon White, promised God-given health and happiness to all who shunned tobacco, salt, spices and spirits, drank only water and ate two meatless meals a day) to the whole modern breakfast food industry.
Mother White founded the Western Health Reform Institute at Battle Creek in 1866. Some years later, Dr. John Harvey Kellog was hired to manage the institute, whose name he changed to the Battle Creek Sanitarium, or the San, as it was called.
Patients at the San ate a lot of bran in the Graham tradition. If they had high blood pressure, they were fed nothing but grapes - up to 14 pounds a day. If thin, they were fed 26 times a day and forced to remain motionless lest they waste calories; they were not even allowed to brush their teeth.
Dietary apostles have appeared on the American scene regularly ever since. No doubt some have made valid contributions, if only by spurring scientists to find some solid refutations to their claims.
In the Kitchen Mouse’s house we do not follow a formal diet, however we do have some house rules which we find helpful in the continuing battle of the bulge.
1. Save desserts for special visit from royalty, heads-of-state or grandchildren.
2. Limit your use of salt.
3. Serve fresh green vegetables every day.
4. Limit the size of all portions.
5. Begin lunch and supper with a fresh green salad.
6. Broil instead of frying.
7. Drink plenty of water.
8. Drink only low calorie whiskey.
9. Never skip a meal.
10. When you feel the need to snack, enjoy fresh fruit or celery.
11. Think of some good reasons for inviting company for dinner, as an excuse for planning a nice dessert.
The Kitchen Mouse regrets to announce that he has no secret recipe which will result in a loss of pounds. He has lost 30 pounds, and the doctor has recommended losing 20 more, by following the house rules outlined above.
Many of The Kitchen Mouse’s friends have repeatedly asked that a column be written about nutrition and perhaps a few secret recipes “which are sure to satisfy hunger without adding additional tonnage.”
We Americans are now so concerned about our health that our foods are advertised at least as much for their nutritional values as for their qualities of taste and pleasure. Much of our nutrition consciousness has developed in the past 40 years.
People who never knew a calorie from a vitamin, if indeed they had ever heard those words, learned in the mess halls of World War II - or from young men returned from military service - that there is more to eating than corn pone, fried pork and hot biscuits.
Millions of Americans in the 1940’s shifted from fats and carbohydrates to foods with higher protein content. More grown men drank milk and orange juice and ate leafy green vegetables, even if they did go on eating creamed chipped beef on toast, a dish well remembered by servicemen for its earthy nickname.
This awareness of good nutrition has been a useful thing for the country. But America’s interest in the health aspects of food has had its less fortunate side.
The country has often been swept by the campaigns of food faddists. We have no monopoly on such faddists. In their own ways, Confucius, Lao-Tzu, Zoroaster (Persian religious leader 600 A.D.), Siddhartha Gautama (who became Buddha) and Moses all promulgated extreme views about food and nutrition.
One of the earliest and most persistent food mystiques has been vegetarianism, which can be based on the sort of sensibilities that prevent Hindus from killing any living thing or from attitudes about health.
Hindus are vegetarians, due to the principle of non-violence of Hinduism, as applied to animals and the belief meat is harmful to the mind. Trappist monks are vegetarians too, and so are various occult groups, and small Protestant sects, some of whose members operate a large U.S. corporation active in producing meat-substitutes.
The poet Shelley published a treatise in 1813 which claimed the human digestive system was suited only to plant foods. Shelley’s thesis was taken quite seriously by George Bernard Shaw, who gave up eating meat when he was 35. Some of Shaw’s statements suggest, however, that he was more motivated by conscience than science. “A man of my spiritual intensity,” said Shaw, “does not eat corpses.”
Another long-lived vegetarian, 82 when he dies in 1910, was Leo Tolstoy. The Russian novelist and social critic proclaimed a new religion when he was 48: it rejected sexuality, war, violence, alcohol, smoking and the eating of animal flesh.
Some vegetarians insist on eating raw vegetables, not cooked ones. Some call themselves “fruitarians” and eat only fruit. More permissive are the lacto-vegetarians who include milk, eggs and cheese in their diets, but other vegetarians say these are forms of meat and will not touch them.
Sensitivities aside, there are no convincing nutritional justifications for vegetarianism. Some vegetarians have, it is true, lived to ripe old ages, but so have many meat eaters; more than one food fad, in fact, has recommended eating great quantities of meat. A 1948 book by Daniel C. Munro, “You Can Live Longer Than You Think,” claimed that Methuselah lived 969 years because he ate mostly meat. And then there was Dr. J.H. Salisbury, who sometime about the turn of the (twentieth) century recommended ground steak three times a day for a whole list of ailments.
One of America’s first homegrown food faddists, and we in America have had our share, was the Rev. Sylvester W. Graham, whose name survives in graham flour and the graham cracker.
Graham, a former Presbyterian preacher, was a temperance lecturer, vegetarian, dietetic “expert” and a self-styled doctor of medicine. Born in West Suffield, Connecticut in 1794, he launched an attack in his mid-30’s on meats and fats (which he said heated people’s tempers and led them to sexual excesses). Condiments like mustard, catsup and pepper, he charged, could cause insanity.
Mostly, he propagandized for a diet of eating bread made from coarse unsifted flour and eaten slightly stale. The important thing was to keep the bran in the bread. Graham declared war on white bread, which had long been a symbol of good living and of western civilization. He had no knowledge of the vitamins and minerals in the bran, but like so many of his successors he was obsessed with bowel regularity.
Graham’s philosophies of nutrition led, by way of the Adventist Church (whose spiritual leader, Mother Ellen Harmon White, promised God-given health and happiness to all who shunned tobacco, salt, spices and spirits, drank only water and ate two meatless meals a day) to the whole modern breakfast food industry.
Mother White founded the Western Health Reform Institute at Battle Creek in 1866. Some years later, Dr. John Harvey Kellog was hired to manage the institute, whose name he changed to the Battle Creek Sanitarium, or the San, as it was called.
Patients at the San ate a lot of bran in the Graham tradition. If they had high blood pressure, they were fed nothing but grapes - up to 14 pounds a day. If thin, they were fed 26 times a day and forced to remain motionless lest they waste calories; they were not even allowed to brush their teeth.
Dietary apostles have appeared on the American scene regularly ever since. No doubt some have made valid contributions, if only by spurring scientists to find some solid refutations to their claims.
In the Kitchen Mouse’s house we do not follow a formal diet, however we do have some house rules which we find helpful in the continuing battle of the bulge.
1. Save desserts for special visit from royalty, heads-of-state or grandchildren.
2. Limit your use of salt.
3. Serve fresh green vegetables every day.
4. Limit the size of all portions.
5. Begin lunch and supper with a fresh green salad.
6. Broil instead of frying.
7. Drink plenty of water.
8. Drink only low calorie whiskey.
9. Never skip a meal.
10. When you feel the need to snack, enjoy fresh fruit or celery.
11. Think of some good reasons for inviting company for dinner, as an excuse for planning a nice dessert.
The Kitchen Mouse regrets to announce that he has no secret recipe which will result in a loss of pounds. He has lost 30 pounds, and the doctor has recommended losing 20 more, by following the house rules outlined above.
Today’s recipe:
Russian Salad
Russian Salad
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Honey - Food of the Gods
Originally published July 12, 1984
Romans and Greeks referred to honey as “food fit for the Gods.”
The Old Testament describes the ideal living place as one “flowing with milk and honey.”
It is thought that the first honeybees were probably native to southern Asia. They were introduced into New England sometime between 1638 and 1640 (the Indians called the honeybee “the white man’s fly”). Swarms of honeybees escaped and established hives in the wilderness. Along with ordinary wild bees which were native to this continent but produced no honey.
The color of honey will vary according to its botanical source. Different plants give honey their own particular flavors, and names, as the bees use the nectar from those plants to make their syrupy contribution to man’s diet.
While American honeybees use as their raw material mostly the nectar of clover and alfalfa, the bees of other countries have varied tastes. So do their honeys.
Bavarian pine-blossom honey is thick and strong. Norwegian honey is a sparkling variety full of tiny bubbles. Acacia honey from Hungary is often regarded as the world’s finest, but it has many rivals for that honor. France’s rosemary is also thought of as one of the finest. Julius Caesar thought that the rosemary honey from Narbonue was the best and he mentioned it in his dispatches from Gaul. However the wild thyme honey from Mount Hymettus was reportedly favored by the gods on Mount Olympus.
There is lotus honey from India and eucalyptus honey from Australia. There are black honeys from Brazil, snow-white honeys from Siberia, dogwood honeys from Chile. There is black locus honey from Italy, lolitza honey from Mexico, coffee-tree honey from Guatemala, Buckwheat Abbey moorland heather honey from England, Scotland, Holland and Norway.
Some unusual American honeys are orange-blossom from Florida, raspberry and strang buckwheat from New Jersey, chewy dandelion from Colorado, and tupelo from the swamps of Florida just to name a few.
When we were all children (although we were not all children at the same point in history) we were probably spoon-fed some honey and lemon juice upon the first indication that a cold was in the offing. Just a simple cough or sneeze and Mom was Johnny-on-the-spot with a tablespoon of honey.
It was Mom’s custom to keep a large five- or ten-pound jar of honey in the pantry for use in cooking many of the family favorites. We used it on toast or bread (yesterday’s fast food), as a sweetener with our morning ration of oatmeal (which was a must on cold mornings), as a basting sauce for ham or pork and it was often an ingredient in desserts.
Romans and Greeks referred to honey as “food fit for the Gods.”
The Old Testament describes the ideal living place as one “flowing with milk and honey.”
It is thought that the first honeybees were probably native to southern Asia. They were introduced into New England sometime between 1638 and 1640 (the Indians called the honeybee “the white man’s fly”). Swarms of honeybees escaped and established hives in the wilderness. Along with ordinary wild bees which were native to this continent but produced no honey.
The color of honey will vary according to its botanical source. Different plants give honey their own particular flavors, and names, as the bees use the nectar from those plants to make their syrupy contribution to man’s diet.
While American honeybees use as their raw material mostly the nectar of clover and alfalfa, the bees of other countries have varied tastes. So do their honeys.
Bavarian pine-blossom honey is thick and strong. Norwegian honey is a sparkling variety full of tiny bubbles. Acacia honey from Hungary is often regarded as the world’s finest, but it has many rivals for that honor. France’s rosemary is also thought of as one of the finest. Julius Caesar thought that the rosemary honey from Narbonue was the best and he mentioned it in his dispatches from Gaul. However the wild thyme honey from Mount Hymettus was reportedly favored by the gods on Mount Olympus.
There is lotus honey from India and eucalyptus honey from Australia. There are black honeys from Brazil, snow-white honeys from Siberia, dogwood honeys from Chile. There is black locus honey from Italy, lolitza honey from Mexico, coffee-tree honey from Guatemala, Buckwheat Abbey moorland heather honey from England, Scotland, Holland and Norway.
Some unusual American honeys are orange-blossom from Florida, raspberry and strang buckwheat from New Jersey, chewy dandelion from Colorado, and tupelo from the swamps of Florida just to name a few.
When we were all children (although we were not all children at the same point in history) we were probably spoon-fed some honey and lemon juice upon the first indication that a cold was in the offing. Just a simple cough or sneeze and Mom was Johnny-on-the-spot with a tablespoon of honey.
It was Mom’s custom to keep a large five- or ten-pound jar of honey in the pantry for use in cooking many of the family favorites. We used it on toast or bread (yesterday’s fast food), as a sweetener with our morning ration of oatmeal (which was a must on cold mornings), as a basting sauce for ham or pork and it was often an ingredient in desserts.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The Kitchen Mouse’s Spanish Menu - Entrees
Originally published July 9, 1984
While Spain has its share of great restaurants, the heart of the cuisine is in the home - partly for economic reasons and partly because of the fantastic (in today’s world) tightness of the family structure. The long lunch period is still observed in Spain, not for gastronomic or health reasons, but because the Spaniards still by and large consider it barbarous for a family not to eat together. The three-hour lunch break is hardly conducive to easy living when office or shop workers sometimes have to travel and hour each way to get home for lunch and back to work. Except for highly paid executives who could afford to eat in restaurants near their offices, most people do not have the equivalent of the sandwich or hamburger shop (or, needless to say, the company cafeteria) available to American workers. Bringing one’s sandwich to the office is not considered undignified, but anyone who didn’t go home for lunch would be somewhat suspect to being not quite respectable.
Inconvenient as the custom may be, perhaps this is at least a partial explanation of why there appears to be less generation gap in Spain than one is aware of in other parts of the world. While the Spanish family is a patriarchal rather than a democratic unit, the generations do communicate and the family lunch is an important time for the exchange of the trivial news of the day which perhaps keeps the lines of communication open better than when they are reserved for major crises.
While the Kitchen Mouse does not wish to start a home-for-lunch movement or to emulate the Spanish family structure in other ways, I am a little wistfully envious of the Basque eating clubs. Each club consists of anywhere from 40 to 200 members, all of whom contribute to the cooking. There are no social lines. The same club will have tradesmen and lawyers on its roster, the only discrimination - alas, the clubs are reserved for men only.
Buen Prevecho, Amigos!
While Spain has its share of great restaurants, the heart of the cuisine is in the home - partly for economic reasons and partly because of the fantastic (in today’s world) tightness of the family structure. The long lunch period is still observed in Spain, not for gastronomic or health reasons, but because the Spaniards still by and large consider it barbarous for a family not to eat together. The three-hour lunch break is hardly conducive to easy living when office or shop workers sometimes have to travel and hour each way to get home for lunch and back to work. Except for highly paid executives who could afford to eat in restaurants near their offices, most people do not have the equivalent of the sandwich or hamburger shop (or, needless to say, the company cafeteria) available to American workers. Bringing one’s sandwich to the office is not considered undignified, but anyone who didn’t go home for lunch would be somewhat suspect to being not quite respectable.
Inconvenient as the custom may be, perhaps this is at least a partial explanation of why there appears to be less generation gap in Spain than one is aware of in other parts of the world. While the Spanish family is a patriarchal rather than a democratic unit, the generations do communicate and the family lunch is an important time for the exchange of the trivial news of the day which perhaps keeps the lines of communication open better than when they are reserved for major crises.
While the Kitchen Mouse does not wish to start a home-for-lunch movement or to emulate the Spanish family structure in other ways, I am a little wistfully envious of the Basque eating clubs. Each club consists of anywhere from 40 to 200 members, all of whom contribute to the cooking. There are no social lines. The same club will have tradesmen and lawyers on its roster, the only discrimination - alas, the clubs are reserved for men only.
Buen Prevecho, Amigos!
The Kitchen Mouse’s Spanish Menu - Appetizers and Cold Soups
Originally published July 5, 1984
A holiday in Spain is called “fiesta”, and just as we associate certain foods with certain holidays, so do the Spanish. Christmas with its fruitcake and plum pudding has its counterpart in Navidad with its Roscon, a sweet type of bread baked in a ring, and turron, a candy made with almonds. No holiday could be complete without these interesting accompaniments. New Year’s Eve (noche vieja) when everybody must eat 12 grapes, one on each strike of midnight, and drink champagne; New Years Day (Ano Nuevo) with pavo (turkey) and a wide variety of traditional food, which varies from region to region.
But “fiesta” also means a party, and we usually think of them as gay occasions with colorful costumes, dancing and singing in the streets - and of course eating and drinking. This type of celebration is found in the local fiestas rather than in the nationwide holidays. Every Spanish town or village, large or small, has its own local fiesta, sometimes more than one, to celebrate its patron saint’s day or to commemorate some historical happening. These fiestas always have two phases - the solemn, religious and official ceremonies in which everyone takes part, then the merrymaking with processions, folk-dancing and music. At this time, the traditional costumes are worn. There is feasting, with emphasis on eating some traditional dish associated with the fiesta, and in general as the Spanish say “tiran la casa por la ventana” - they throw the house out the window.
The recipes in this column are all completely authentic, and have been especially selected to give a true sample of Old World Spanish cooking in all its splendor and variety. Again, the Kitchen Mouse has selected recipes which will not require hard-to-find ingredients.
Buen provecho, amigos - good appetite, friends.
Gazpacho - Cold Soup
When the Roman soldiers gave Christ upon the cross a sponge wet with vinegar and water, they were offering him the “canteen” of the Roman army (a sponge) and the normal soldier’s field drink, posca - water and vinegar. Each soldier was issued a sponge - placed moist inside his helmet, it helped overcome the heat and absorbed the shock of blows on the head. It also held the liquid with which he refreshed himself when thirsty. The vinegar added to the water to make posca purified the water. Soldiers used this beverage during years of campaigning and continued to use it after retirement. Spain was largely settled by retired soldiers.
The first known recipe for gazpacho was simply made with water, vinegar, garlic, bread and onion. Another dish, gazpachillo, was eggs poached in water and vinegar. In the modern Spanish cuisine there are at least 40 different recipes for gazpacho. The imagination of the cook has led to many experiments that have resulted in many successful combinations. Tomato, for example, one of the modern recipe’s basic ingredients, was added after the discovery of America.
A holiday in Spain is called “fiesta”, and just as we associate certain foods with certain holidays, so do the Spanish. Christmas with its fruitcake and plum pudding has its counterpart in Navidad with its Roscon, a sweet type of bread baked in a ring, and turron, a candy made with almonds. No holiday could be complete without these interesting accompaniments. New Year’s Eve (noche vieja) when everybody must eat 12 grapes, one on each strike of midnight, and drink champagne; New Years Day (Ano Nuevo) with pavo (turkey) and a wide variety of traditional food, which varies from region to region.
But “fiesta” also means a party, and we usually think of them as gay occasions with colorful costumes, dancing and singing in the streets - and of course eating and drinking. This type of celebration is found in the local fiestas rather than in the nationwide holidays. Every Spanish town or village, large or small, has its own local fiesta, sometimes more than one, to celebrate its patron saint’s day or to commemorate some historical happening. These fiestas always have two phases - the solemn, religious and official ceremonies in which everyone takes part, then the merrymaking with processions, folk-dancing and music. At this time, the traditional costumes are worn. There is feasting, with emphasis on eating some traditional dish associated with the fiesta, and in general as the Spanish say “tiran la casa por la ventana” - they throw the house out the window.
The recipes in this column are all completely authentic, and have been especially selected to give a true sample of Old World Spanish cooking in all its splendor and variety. Again, the Kitchen Mouse has selected recipes which will not require hard-to-find ingredients.
Buen provecho, amigos - good appetite, friends.
Appetizers:
Empanadas Fritas
Champinones al Gratin - Mushrooms au Gratin
Champinones en Escabeche - Pickled Mushrooms
Empanadas Fritas
Champinones al Gratin - Mushrooms au Gratin
Champinones en Escabeche - Pickled Mushrooms
Gazpacho - Cold Soup
When the Roman soldiers gave Christ upon the cross a sponge wet with vinegar and water, they were offering him the “canteen” of the Roman army (a sponge) and the normal soldier’s field drink, posca - water and vinegar. Each soldier was issued a sponge - placed moist inside his helmet, it helped overcome the heat and absorbed the shock of blows on the head. It also held the liquid with which he refreshed himself when thirsty. The vinegar added to the water to make posca purified the water. Soldiers used this beverage during years of campaigning and continued to use it after retirement. Spain was largely settled by retired soldiers.
The first known recipe for gazpacho was simply made with water, vinegar, garlic, bread and onion. Another dish, gazpachillo, was eggs poached in water and vinegar. In the modern Spanish cuisine there are at least 40 different recipes for gazpacho. The imagination of the cook has led to many experiments that have resulted in many successful combinations. Tomato, for example, one of the modern recipe’s basic ingredients, was added after the discovery of America.
The Kitchen Mouse’s Spanish Menu - Soup, Egg & Rice Dishes
Originally published July 3, 1984
Spain is different! So say the tourist posters. And the Kitchen Mouse will add marvelously different. Spanish cooking too is different, as different as a Flamenco dancer - full of color, vibrant, natural and always interesting. It has its roots deep in antiquity, and has been influenced by the many peoples that have passed through the land: Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Goths, Arabs, Jews and many others, each of whom has left its own distinctive mark on Spanish food and eating habits. Then too, the cuisine has been affected by Spain’s extensive contacts with the New World. But is has always retained its own zesty individuality: what has been adopted has been adapted.
Cocidos - Soups
Soup, in any of its many variations, is particularly good for a busy day - it is simple to make, requires little attention while it is cooking, and it is a whole meal. Further, it is a budget stretcher, as it uses the cheapest cuts of meat and you can take advantage of vegetables and meats that are in season and easily adapt these recipes to use leftovers.
Arroz - Rice
Paella is undoubtedly the star of Spanish cooking, the dish best known outside the country and the one that has done the most to spread the gastronomic fame of Spain. This succulent combination of rice, chicken and seafood exists in many variations and is the subject of numerous recipes. It is a native of Valencia on the Mediterranean coast, where every chef has his own closely guarded secret formula for preparing it, as has every housewife. Nonetheless, in many restaurants that are famous for their paella you go to the dining room by first passing through the kitchen, where you can watch these expert cooks making it. And still not learn their secrets.
However, paella is basically a simple and not at all complicated to make but it is demanding and requires the proper ingredients, utensils and procedure.
Spain is different! So say the tourist posters. And the Kitchen Mouse will add marvelously different. Spanish cooking too is different, as different as a Flamenco dancer - full of color, vibrant, natural and always interesting. It has its roots deep in antiquity, and has been influenced by the many peoples that have passed through the land: Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Goths, Arabs, Jews and many others, each of whom has left its own distinctive mark on Spanish food and eating habits. Then too, the cuisine has been affected by Spain’s extensive contacts with the New World. But is has always retained its own zesty individuality: what has been adopted has been adapted.
Cocidos - Soups
Soup, in any of its many variations, is particularly good for a busy day - it is simple to make, requires little attention while it is cooking, and it is a whole meal. Further, it is a budget stretcher, as it uses the cheapest cuts of meat and you can take advantage of vegetables and meats that are in season and easily adapt these recipes to use leftovers.
Soup Recipes:
Olla Gitano - Gypsy Pot
Cocido de Judias Blancas - White Bean Stew
Egg Dishes:
Huevos a la Romana - Roman Eggs
Huevos con Anillos de Cebolla - Eggs with Onion Rings
Huevos al Nidos - Eggs in Nests
Olla Gitano - Gypsy Pot
Cocido de Judias Blancas - White Bean Stew
Egg Dishes:
Huevos a la Romana - Roman Eggs
Huevos con Anillos de Cebolla - Eggs with Onion Rings
Huevos al Nidos - Eggs in Nests
Arroz - Rice
Paella is undoubtedly the star of Spanish cooking, the dish best known outside the country and the one that has done the most to spread the gastronomic fame of Spain. This succulent combination of rice, chicken and seafood exists in many variations and is the subject of numerous recipes. It is a native of Valencia on the Mediterranean coast, where every chef has his own closely guarded secret formula for preparing it, as has every housewife. Nonetheless, in many restaurants that are famous for their paella you go to the dining room by first passing through the kitchen, where you can watch these expert cooks making it. And still not learn their secrets.
However, paella is basically a simple and not at all complicated to make but it is demanding and requires the proper ingredients, utensils and procedure.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Strawberry - An International Berry
Originally published June 28, 1984
From time to time admirers of the marigold have tried to interest legislators in naming that colorful bloom America’s national flower, and the maple, because of it’s beneficial sap, has been put forth as the worthiest candidate for a national tree. But none, so far as I know, has ever lobbied on behalf of a national berry. This is the time of the year which is the best season for the gathering and nomination of the ripe strawberry as the favorite American berry.
As a start we might consider several aspects of the strawberry’s pedigree when we proceed to nominate it for this honor. When the Colonists arrived in the New World they found strawberries of unsurpassed fragrance and sweetness in unbelievable abundance. “We can not set down foote but tred on strawberrie” reported an Englishman from the wild strawberry fields of Maryland. Wild strawberry carpets, though rare, still occur in a few out of the way places and still cause delighted amazement. Today, strawberries are grown in almost every state of the Union and it is truly the national berry.
Most of all, its contribution to classic American dishes makes the strawberry a sentimental favorite. What could be more authentically American than strawberry shortcake made with hot buttered biscuits (never sponge cake) slathered with crushed and sugared berries and drifts of whipped cream? Or hand-churned strawberry ice cream made the American way - just cream, sugar and the ripest, juiciest berries one can find?
From time to time admirers of the marigold have tried to interest legislators in naming that colorful bloom America’s national flower, and the maple, because of it’s beneficial sap, has been put forth as the worthiest candidate for a national tree. But none, so far as I know, has ever lobbied on behalf of a national berry. This is the time of the year which is the best season for the gathering and nomination of the ripe strawberry as the favorite American berry.
As a start we might consider several aspects of the strawberry’s pedigree when we proceed to nominate it for this honor. When the Colonists arrived in the New World they found strawberries of unsurpassed fragrance and sweetness in unbelievable abundance. “We can not set down foote but tred on strawberrie” reported an Englishman from the wild strawberry fields of Maryland. Wild strawberry carpets, though rare, still occur in a few out of the way places and still cause delighted amazement. Today, strawberries are grown in almost every state of the Union and it is truly the national berry.
Most of all, its contribution to classic American dishes makes the strawberry a sentimental favorite. What could be more authentically American than strawberry shortcake made with hot buttered biscuits (never sponge cake) slathered with crushed and sugared berries and drifts of whipped cream? Or hand-churned strawberry ice cream made the American way - just cream, sugar and the ripest, juiciest berries one can find?
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Salad Days
Originally published June 25, 1984
Salads have an important place in our daily fare. The simple green salad is served at dinner, separating the soup course and the meat course.
The important dinners call for a salad and a platter of assorted cheeses, especially if the dessert may take a while.
During the warmer months, many include a green salad at every meal and also enjoy salads which travel well for outings.
Salads have an important place in our daily fare. The simple green salad is served at dinner, separating the soup course and the meat course.
The important dinners call for a salad and a platter of assorted cheeses, especially if the dessert may take a while.
During the warmer months, many include a green salad at every meal and also enjoy salads which travel well for outings.
Let’s Put a Cherry On It!
Originally published June 21, 1984
The Kitchen Mouse has been seeing many fine looking cherries being offered for sale in the local markets and this is certainly the best time to purchase and use them.
There are many different varieties of cherries which are cultivated in all parts of the temperate zone and belong to one or the other of the two main varieties of sour or sweet cherries. The most extensively cultivated of the sour cherries are the amarelles, which grow widely in Sweden, the morelles and damascas. Among the sweet cherries are the geans or quignes, the hearts or bigarreaux, and the dukes.
The sweet cherry tree is a variety of the wild cherry. It originates from Greece and the East where it has been grown for centuries. There are many varieties of the American cherry, all edible and ranging in color from light yellow to dark purple and in flavor from tart to sweet. In addition to their many uses, they are also a staple in making pemmican by many tribes of the plains states.
Cherries are refreshing and highly esteemed as fruit and they can be eaten raw or cooked.
The Kitchen Mouse has been seeing many fine looking cherries being offered for sale in the local markets and this is certainly the best time to purchase and use them.
There are many different varieties of cherries which are cultivated in all parts of the temperate zone and belong to one or the other of the two main varieties of sour or sweet cherries. The most extensively cultivated of the sour cherries are the amarelles, which grow widely in Sweden, the morelles and damascas. Among the sweet cherries are the geans or quignes, the hearts or bigarreaux, and the dukes.
The sweet cherry tree is a variety of the wild cherry. It originates from Greece and the East where it has been grown for centuries. There are many varieties of the American cherry, all edible and ranging in color from light yellow to dark purple and in flavor from tart to sweet. In addition to their many uses, they are also a staple in making pemmican by many tribes of the plains states.
Cherries are refreshing and highly esteemed as fruit and they can be eaten raw or cooked.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The Kitchen Mouse’s Indian Menu
Originally published June 18, 1984
Cooking in India has its rules and food is governed by more than climate. Hindus believe that food was created by the supreme deity for the benefit of man and while they make the art of cooking a sacred rite attended by some ceremony, they also include a few taboos. But there is a tradition of good cooking, with perhaps more for western tastes in the Punjab and West Bengal.
All Indian cooking is regional and the man from Madras neither knows nor cares what his Punjabi compatriot eats. In the north the cooking has been influenced by neighboring countries, by foreign invasions, by the Muslims and, as elsewhere, by the weather. It includes pilaus (boiled rice) and birianis (meat and rice), tandoori dishes (roasted meat), grilled meats and kebabs.
There is the fiery curry cooking of the south linked with vegetarianism and the use of coconut, and here the staple food is rice. In the deep south, however, rice is eaten less and tapioca comes into its own, but with coconut still prominent. There is the elegant cooking of Hyderabad, where curries are milder and with a Persian air.
Most of the spices used in Indian cooking were originally chosen as much for their medicinal or antiseptic properties as for their flavor. In the days before refrigeration, antiseptics were of extreme importance. Modern tests have proven the correctness of the Indian’s preference for spices.
Cooking in India has its rules and food is governed by more than climate. Hindus believe that food was created by the supreme deity for the benefit of man and while they make the art of cooking a sacred rite attended by some ceremony, they also include a few taboos. But there is a tradition of good cooking, with perhaps more for western tastes in the Punjab and West Bengal.
All Indian cooking is regional and the man from Madras neither knows nor cares what his Punjabi compatriot eats. In the north the cooking has been influenced by neighboring countries, by foreign invasions, by the Muslims and, as elsewhere, by the weather. It includes pilaus (boiled rice) and birianis (meat and rice), tandoori dishes (roasted meat), grilled meats and kebabs.
There is the fiery curry cooking of the south linked with vegetarianism and the use of coconut, and here the staple food is rice. In the deep south, however, rice is eaten less and tapioca comes into its own, but with coconut still prominent. There is the elegant cooking of Hyderabad, where curries are milder and with a Persian air.
Most of the spices used in Indian cooking were originally chosen as much for their medicinal or antiseptic properties as for their flavor. In the days before refrigeration, antiseptics were of extreme importance. Modern tests have proven the correctness of the Indian’s preference for spices.
Monday, August 22, 2011
The Kitchen Mouse’s Russian Menu - Entrees
Originally published June 14, 1984
There are ten distinct Russian cuisines and we won’t attempt a description of each of them, as you probably plan to only try your hand at one or two dishes. The cooking styles are as varied as Russia’s vast territory as it’s history suggest, ranging from cuisines reminiscent of the Middle East, Germany and Scandinavia to the French influence stemming from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when everything French was held in high esteem by people of fashion.
Apart from all the outside influences, there is much that is uniquely Russian. Perhaps the most fascinating is the Zakuska (sometimes zakusky or akuski) table which was in many housholds set up at times for travelers or visitors - a welcome kind of hospitality in a country where distances were long between towns, transportation slow and weather severe. The zakuska table consisted of dozens of cold dishes with hot ones, too, becoming customary in the early twentieth century. In addition to serving as a kind of free lunch extraordinaire, zakuska were frequently eaten before or after the theatre or merely as a prelude to a meal.
There are ten distinct Russian cuisines and we won’t attempt a description of each of them, as you probably plan to only try your hand at one or two dishes. The cooking styles are as varied as Russia’s vast territory as it’s history suggest, ranging from cuisines reminiscent of the Middle East, Germany and Scandinavia to the French influence stemming from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when everything French was held in high esteem by people of fashion.
Apart from all the outside influences, there is much that is uniquely Russian. Perhaps the most fascinating is the Zakuska (sometimes zakusky or akuski) table which was in many housholds set up at times for travelers or visitors - a welcome kind of hospitality in a country where distances were long between towns, transportation slow and weather severe. The zakuska table consisted of dozens of cold dishes with hot ones, too, becoming customary in the early twentieth century. In addition to serving as a kind of free lunch extraordinaire, zakuska were frequently eaten before or after the theatre or merely as a prelude to a meal.
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