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------------------THE FOOD REFERENCE NEWSLETTER-----------------
January 6, 2005 Vol 6 #1 ISSN 1535-5659
-------------------------IN THIS ISSUE--------------------------
-> Website News
-> 'Food for Thought' by Mark Vogel
-> Quotes and Trivia
-> Website of the Week
-> Food Trivia Quiz
-> Readers questions
-> Ancient & Classic Recipes
-> Did you know?
-> Who's Who in the Culinary Arts
-> Cooking Tips
-> Culinary Calendar - selected events
-> General information and Copyright
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--------------------------WEBSITE NEWS--------------------------
http://www.foodreference.com
Happy New Year to everyone, and welcome to the 1st issue of the 6th year for the Food Reference Newsletter.
About 100 new recipes have been added, and the Food & Wine Fairs, Festivals, Shows, etc. section has been greatly expanded.
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------------------WEEKLY FREE COOKBOOK DRAWING------------------
Congratulations to the winner of last week's Free Cookbook Drawing, Maureen Baron, she has won a copy of "The Book Club Cookbook: Recipes and Food for Thought from Your Book Club's Favorite Books and Authors" by Judy Gelman, Vicki Levy Krupp
http://www.foodreference.com/html/book-club-cb.html
THIS WEEK'S DRAWING will be for "Low-Carb Gourmet: 250 Delicious and Satisfying Recipes" by Karen Barnaby
http://www.foodreference.com/html/low-carb-gourmet.html
CLICK THIS LINK TO ENTER THIS WEEKS DRAWING -
http://www.foodreference.com/html/feedback-page.html
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----------------'FOOD FOR THOUGHT' BY MARK VOGEL----------------
Blanching 101
Blanching is a cooking technique whereby food, usually vegetables or fruits, are briefly immersed in boiling, salted water, and then submerged in an ice water bath, (known as.....
http://www.foodreference.com/html/markvogelweeklycolumn.html
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-----------------------------QUOTE------------------------------
"Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts."
James Beard (1903-1985)
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-----------------------------TRIVIA-----------------------------
Cheddar, Cheshire and Leicester cheeses have been colored with annatto seed for over 200 years. Carrot juice and marigold petals have also been used to color cheeses. Coloring may have originally been added to cheese made with winter milk from cows eating hay to match the orange hue (from vitamin A) of cheeses made with milk from cows fed on green plants.
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----------------THIS WEEK'S WEBSITE OF THE WEEK-----------------
Florida Museum of Natural History
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/
A great collection of online exhibits - hundreds of bird songs, aquatic environments, fossil horses in cyberspace, shipwrecks, images of the Maya, fishes, butterflies, etc., etc.
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------------------------FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ------------------------
1) The cluster bean is most likely native to India. It is used as a vegetable, and for producing a food additive that is used as a thickener and stabilizer in commercial food processing. It has almost 8 times the thickening power as cornstarch, and is used in dressings, sauces and baked goods. It is also used in paper manufacturing, textiles, printing, cosmetics and even in pills to hold them together. Name this food additive.
a) chicle
b) guar gum
c) agar-agar
d) gum tragacanth
2) This member of the buckwheat family has roots and leaves that contain poisonous substances, and only one part of the plant is edible. It is native to the region around Turkey, and some species have been used medicinally in China and Tibet for at least 4000 years. It was not used in Western cooking until the 18th century. It is used in compotes, chutneys, jams, pies, and in an Italian aperitif. In 1947 it was legally classified as a fruit in the U.S., even though botanically it is a vegetable. Name this plant.
3) What Portuguese wine is made from the grape varieties of Malmsey, Bual, Verdelho and Sercial, and has a longer shelf life than any other wine.
4) This cheese was developed as a cheaper substitute for Roquefort in the early 1900s. After the second World War it was very successfully marketed throughout Europe and especially in Britain. It is now considered on of the world's best blue cheeses.
a) Cambazola.
b) Danablu.
c) Gorgonzola.
d) Maytag Blue.
e) Saga Blue.
5) Sole and flounder are two types of 'flatfish.' Flatfish are born with eyes located as in other fish, but one eye migrates to the other side, so they end up with both eyes on the same side of their head. They swim with their body flat with the ocean floor, with both eyes 'on top.' What is the largest flatfish?
a) haddock b) cod c) hake d) halibut e) sea bass
5) Bonus Questions - How big can they get, and how long do they live?
6) Name this vegetable.
It has been around for more than 2000 years, and the name comes from the Latin word 'brachium', which means 'branch,' or 'arm.' Americans have grown it in their gardens for only about 200 years! The first commercially grown crop was grown and harvested in New York, then planted in the 1920's in California. A few crates were sent back East and by 1925 the market was off the ground. This vegetable is highly recognized for its anti-cancer nutrients.
7) What is the origin of the custom of eating ham around Easter?
8) How many poppy seeds are in a pound?
a) 9,000 b) 90,000 c) 900,000 d) 9,000,000
9) What was the first toy advertised on television and what year did the ads appear?
10) According to folk wisdom, if you boil an egg while singing all 5 verses of this song, the egg will be perfectly cooked when you finish the song. Can you name the song?
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---------------CULINARY SCHOOLS, TOURS AND CRUISES--------------
Culinary Schools & Cooking Classes - Food and Wine Tours for the amateur & the professional. U.S. and abroad.
The best of the best.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/Cooking-Schools.html
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-------------------ANSWERS TO FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ------------------
1) b) Guar gum.
2) Rhubarb. The stalks are the only edible part, and the Italian aperitif is 'Rabarbaro.'
3) The brandy fortified wine known as Madeira.
4) b) Danablu from Denmark.
5) d) Halibut is a the largest flatfish, with large fish frequently over 200 pounds, and some even reaching in excess of 600 pounds and a length of 12 feet. They have a life span of 30 years or more. There are both Atlantic and Pacific species of halibut, with the Pacific species the smaller of the two. Halibut are lean, white, firm fleshed fish with a surprisingly delicate flavor.
6) Broccoli.
7) The custom of eating ham around Easter actually goes back before Christianity, and had a practical origin. According to Imponderables author David Feldman, at the beginning of spring fresh meat was not readily available. Pagans would bury fresh pork legs in the sand by the sea during the fall and winter. The pork was cured by the constant "marinating" of the salt water. Come spring, the preserved meat was cooked over wood fires. Slaughtering pigs in the fall would produce perfect spring hams. Others believe that ham became traditional because the pig is a symbol of prosperity in many cultures.
8) b) There are about 900,000 poppy seeds to the pound.
9) In 1952, Mr. Potato Head was born, and was also the first toy to be advertised on television.
10) If you boil an egg while singing all five verses and chorus of the hymn, 'Onward Christian Soldiers.' it will be cooked perfectly when you come to Amen.
(Letter to the Editor, London's 'Daily Telegraph')
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------------------------READERS QUESTIONS-----------------------
QUESTION: What's the deal with marshmallow? I read a biography of Samuel Pepys (born 1633) recently. The author told of an operation Pepys had (kidney stones, I think) and of his recuperation. As a post-op drink/potion/treatment, he was prescribed some marshmallow. What about that? Mary Jo
ANSWER: Marshmallow candy was originally made by boiling the roots a plant in the Mallow family, the Marsh Mallow (Althaea officinalis). Other plants in the family include Okra - they all have that mucilaginous property.
The Marsh Mallow has been used medicinally and as a food for thousands of years - the healing properties were first recorded in the 9th century B.C. and Marsh Mallow was widely used in Greek medicine.
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-----------------------------TRIVIA-----------------------------
Ciudad Bolivar is a city in east Venezuela, founded in 1764 as San Tomas de la Nueva Guayana, it was popularly known as Angostura. Here in 1824 a physician first made angostura bitters, an aromatic flavoring agent used in drinks and in cooking.
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--------------------ANCIENT & CLASSIC RECIPES-------------------
CRAYFISH BISQUE: A CREOLE DISH
from 'La Cuisine Creole' By Lafcadio Hearn ( 1885 )
( Thought to be one of the first Creole cookbooks )
Parboil the fish, pick out the meat, and mince or pound it in a mortar until very fine; it will require about fifty crayfish.
Add to the fish one-third the quantity of bread soaked in milk, and a quarter of a pound of butter, also salt to taste, a bunch of thyme, two leaves of sage, a small piece of garlic and a chopped onion. Mix all well and cook ten minutes, stirring all the time to keep it from growing hard.
Clean the heads of the fish, throw them in strong salt and water for a few minutes and then drain them. Fill each one with the above stuffing, flour them, and fry a light brown.
Set a clean stewpan over a slow fire, put into it three spoonfuls of lard or butter, a slice of ham or bacon, two onions chopped fine; dredge over it enough flour to absorb the grease, then add a pint and a-half of boiling water, or better still, plain beef stock.
Season this with a bunch of thyme, a bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste.
Let it cook slowly for half an hour, then put the heads of the crayfish in and let them boil fifteen minutes. Serve rice with it.
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From - LAROUSSE GASTRONOMIQUE (2001 revised ed)
by Prosper Montagne (Editor)
http://www.foodreference.com/html/laroussegastro.html
FOAMY CHOCOLATE For 1 liter (4 1/4 cups) milk, allow 200-250 g (7-9 oz) chocolate and 1 tablespoon vanilla-flavored sugar (or a pinch of powdered cinnamon). Break the chocolate into small pieces in a saucepan and heat gently. When the chocolate begins to soften, add the chosen flavoring together with a small cup of boiling milk. Beat the chocolate thoroughly with a whisk. Then gradually pour in the rest of the hot milk. Warm over a gentle heat, whisking all the time to make the chocolate foamy. Scant 1/2 cup thin cream may also be added to it, or the vanilla (or cinnamon) may be replaced by 1 tablespoon instant coffee.
MILKY CHOCOLATE Mix some cocoa powder and superfine sugar, using twice as much sugar as cocoa. Add some boiling milk and heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is completely smooth.
Alternatively, cocoa may either be mixed with sweetened condensed milk and then diluted with boiling water, or added to some boiling sweetened milk and then whisked.
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------------------------------QUOTE-----------------------------
"Half the cookbooks tell you how to cook the food and the other half tell you how to avoid eating it."
Andy Rooney
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--------------------------DID YOU KNOW?-------------------------
Chop suey is not Chinese, and the dish does not exist in China. It is a Chinese American dish which originated in the mid to late 19th century, either with Chinese laborers working on the U.S. transcontinental railroad, or Chinese immigrants in San Francisco. Created to suit American tastes or simply utilizing available ingredients, the name is based on a Chinese (Cantonese) term for 'odds and ends' or 'miscellany'. Chop suey consists of small pieces of meat, chicken or shrimp stir-fried with celery, onions, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, mushrooms and/or other vegetables, and served over rice, usually with soy sauce.
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-----------------WHO'S WHO IN THE CULINARY ARTS-----------------
Louis Diat (1885-1957)
Louis Diat was a brilliant French chef who worked at the Ritz Hotels in Paris and London. When Cesar Ritz opened the new Ritz-Carlton in New York he sent Diat to be the Chef de Cuisines at the new hotel. While there, Diat created 'crème vichyssoise glacée' a potato leek soup.
'But in summer, when the soup seemed to be too hot, we asked for milk with which to cool it. Many years later, it was this memory which gave me the inspiration to make the soup which I have named Creme Vichyssoise.'
Diat wrote several cookbooks, including 'French Country Cooking for Americans' and 'Cooking a la Ritz'.
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-----------------------------QUOTE------------------------------
"He that eateth well drinketh well,
he that drinketh well sleepeth well,
he that sleepeth well sinneth not,
he that sinneth not goeth straight through Purgatory to Paradise."
William Lithgow (1582-1645) Scottish traveler and author
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--------------------FOOD ART AND FOOD POSTERS-------------------
The finest selection of food and beverage related posters and art work to be found anywhere. There are thousands of posters - food art, restaurant art, kitchen art, culinary art - food posters, culinary posters, food identification posters, fine art, etc, all suitable for your home, kitchen, restaurant or office.
http://www.culinaryposters.com/
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--------------------------COOKING TIPS--------------------------
Broccoli rabe looks similar to thin broccoli stalks with small clusters of buds and smooth leaves with sawtooth edges. It has a somewhat bitter taste and should be cooked to help mellow that taste. It is an excellent source of vitamin C and also contains beta-carotene, fiber, and phytochemicals.
Broccoli rabe is available year-round (with the exception possibly being June and July) though its peek season is between late fall and early spring. It is grown in Quebec, California, Arizona, and other states.
Broccoli rabe can be found in a refrigerator case sprinkled with ice because it wilts very easily. When selecting this vegetable, choose firm, green, small stems with compact heads and flower buds that are tightly closed and dark green, not open or yellow.
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------------CULINARY CALENDAR - A FEW SELECTED EVENTS-----------
SATURDAY, JANUARY 8
1926 Comedian 'Soupy Sales' was born. Most of his routines ended with Soupy receiving a pie in the face.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 9
1969 “I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye is #1 on the charts.
MONDAY, JANUARY 10
1984 Wendy's 'Where's the Beef?' ad campaign began. Burgers aren’t just for kids anymore.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 11
1874 Gail Borden died. Borden was the Inventor of the process for making condensed milk, and founder of New York Condensed Milk Co., later to become the Borden Co. (Remember Elsie the Cow?)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12
1833 Marie-Antoine Carême died in Paris. Carême was known as "the cook of kings and the king of cooks".
http://www.foodreference.com/html/wmarieantoinecareme.html
THURSDAY, JANUARY 13
1957 The Frisbee was invented. The pie tins of the Frisbee Pie Company of Connecticut were the inspiration for the creation of the Frisbee. A Wham-O employee supposedly saw drivers for the pie company showing Yale students how to throw the pie tins.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 14
1984 Ray Kroc died in San Diego, California.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/untitled2592.html
For a complete listing of each day's events, go here:
http://www.foodreference.com/html/HistoricEvents.html
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Food Reference subscribers can get a FREE trial issue to Saveur magazine - the award winning magazine that celebrates the people, places and rituals that establish culinary traditions.
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-----------------------------TRIVIA-----------------------------
Cornflower, or bachelor's button, is a blue flower that at one time was pulverized to make a blue food coloring for use in pastry making and water color paints.. Seldom used any more. The flowers may also be used in salads.
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-----------------------------QUOTE------------------------------
"He may live without books - what is knowledge but grieving?
He may live without hope - what is hope but deceiving?
He may live without love - what is passion but pining?
But where is the man who can live without dining?"
Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1831-1891) 'Lucile' (1860)
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Food Reference Newsletter ISSN 1535-5659
James T Ehler (Publisher & Editor)
3920 S Roosevelt Blvd
Suite 209 South
Key West, Florida 33040
E-mail: james@foodreference.com Phone: (305) 296-2614
Food Reference WebSite: http://www.foodreference.com
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© Copyright 1990-2005 James T Ehler. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the Copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited.
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