FOOD REFERENCE WEBSITE

Foodreference.com - Newsletter Archives
Food history, facts, quotations, poems; kitchen tips; biography; food events; recipes; crossword puzzles; food art; fresh flowers; culinary schools; newsletter

. Home . . Articles & Features . . Facts & Trivia . . Cooking Tips . . Recipes . . Quotes . . Who's Who . . Food History . . Food Videos . . Food Fun . . Humor . . Poetry . . Crosswords . . Cookbook Reviews . . Food Posters . . Catalogs . . Magazines . . Flowers . . Cooking Schools . . Gourmet Tours . . Key West Info . . Festivals & Shows . . Search .

Sign up for FoodReference Weekly Newsletter
 

Cool Chef Aprons

 

 

 

 

 

 

FREE Catalogs from Catalogs.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return to Newsletter Archive List

Please note that links to other sites in older issues may no longer be valid

------------------THE FOOD REFERENCE NEWSLETTER-----------------
December 28, 2006     Vol 7 #18   ISSN 1535-5659
Food Reference Website - http://www.foodreference.com

TO VIEW THIS NEWSLETTER ONLINE GO TO:
http://www.foodreference.com/html/newsletter.html

-------------------------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
   ->  Requested Recipes
   ->  Cooking Tips
   ->  Culinary Calendar - selected events
   ->  How To Subscribe to this Newsletter
   ->  How to Stop receiving this Newsletter
   ->  General information and Copyright


-------------------------HAPPY NEW YEAR!------------------------

This is the final issue for 2006, and I would like to wish all of you a very Happy New Year.  I thank you for your support and look forward to the 8th year for this newsletter and FoodReference.com

Please patronize our sponsors - they are the ones that make the newsletter and FoodReference.com possible!


----------------'FOOD FOR THOUGHT' BY MARK VOGEL----------------
DINING ON DEATH ROW - If you were on death row what would be your last meal? Think about it. It’s not as simple a question as it appears. Your first instinct might be to pick your favorite food. But maybe.....
http://www.foodreference.com/html/markvogelweeklycolumn.html


-----------------------------QUOTE------------------------------

"I feel a recipe is only a theme, which an intelligent cook can play each time with a variation."
Madame Benoit


-------------------FOOD ART & CULINARY 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/


-----------------------------TRIVIA-----------------------------

Kudzu was introduced to the U.S. in 1876, to control soil erosion in the South. Native to China and Japan, it can grow up to 1 foot per day, and virtually takes over telephone poles, trees, buildings, and anything else in it's way. We know it primarily as an uncontrollable weed, and sometimes as cattle forage.    In Japan and China, it is also grown for its edible roots, which can reach 7 feet long and weigh 450 pounds. The roots are dried and pulverized into kudzu powder. This kudzu powder is used in cooking to thicken soups and sauces, dredge foods for deep frying, etc. The leaves and stems can be used as in salads.    Kudzo is high in fiber and protein and a good source of vitamin A and D.


---------------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


------------------------FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ------------------------

1) This workingman's drink supposedly originated in the 1890s in the mining camps of Butte, Montana and was served to minors when they had finished their shifts.  It was then known as the "Sean O'Farrell."  Soon bartenders all over the U.S. were serving this drink under another name.  Can you guess the new name of this popular drink?
Hints: Myrna Loy drinks a few of these in the movie 'Airport 1975,' and the Purdue University Football & Basketball teams also carry this name.

2) This vegetable consists of unopened flower heads on a thick stalk.  The Romans loved it and its name is derived from an Italian word meaning 'little branches.'  It was introduced to North America in the early 18th century. In the last quarter of the 20th century annual American consumption of this vegetable rose more than 900 percent to almost 8 pounds per person.  Can you name this healthy vegetable?

3) What famous fast food company was founded by James W. McLamore and David Edgerton in Miami, Florida?

4) The following events all took place in the same year. Can you guess what year?
• Chicago's last packing house closed.
• The Hawaiian Pineapple Co. was renamed Dole Corp.
• The non-dairy creamer, Coffee Rich, was introduced.
• Aluminum cans were first used commercially for food & beverages.
• The Four Seasons hotel chain was founded.
• Domino's Pizza was founded.
• Granny Smith Apples are imported from New Zealand and sold in the U.S. for the first time.

5) Who am I?
I am a tall tropical evergreen tree of the mulberry family, native to the Malay Archipelago, and found throughout the South Pacific since prehistoric times. I can grow to a height of 60 feet or more and I am closely related to the jackfruit and the Osage orange.
My round, green, bumpy fruit, 8 to 10 inches in diameter, is rarely eaten raw, but is used cooked as a vegetable. It can be prepared using any of the methods used for potatoes (baked, roasted, fried, mashed, stuffed, etc). Most people agree that my fruit is both an acquired taste and texture. It is considered a staple food in many of the Pacific islands.
Cloth is made from my bark, and canoes and furniture from my wood. The milky juice that flows when my stem is cut, is used for glue and to waterproof canoes.

6) The Weights and Measures Act of 1824 in England declared that this measure was equal to "10 imperial pounds weight of distilled water weighed in air against brass weights with the water and the air at a temperature of 62 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer and with the barometer at 30 inches."
What was this measure?

7) A member of the morning glory family, related to the turnip, with flesh the color and texture of waterchestnuts, this tuber has a sweet, nutty flavor. It is native to the Americas, and was introduced into the Philippines and Malaysia in the 17th century. Its use has spread throughout Asia and the Pacific islands. It is great in salads, and is frequently used in stir fries. The crisp white flesh remains crisp after cooking. Only the roots are eaten, as the leaves, stems, ripe pods, and seeds may be poisonous. The mature seeds contain a fairly high concentration of rotenone, an insecticide. Can you name this vegetable?


---------------------------COOL APRONS--------------------------

Great Gift ideas!Hundreds of designs or Create & Personalize your own for the same low prices!!!
http://www.foodreference.com/html/cookbookskitchentools.html


-------------------ANSWERS TO FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ------------------

1) The Boilermaker.

2) Broccoli.

3) James W. McLamore and David Edgerton founded Burger King in Miami, Florida in 1954.

4) All of the events took place in 1960.

5) I am Breadfruit.

6) The original British Imperial Gallon.

7) Jicama.


---------------FREE TRIAL ISSUE OF SAVEUR MAGAZINE--------------

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.
https://secure.palmcoastd.com/pcd/document?ikey=089CFHPP1


------------------------READERS QUESTIONS-----------------------

QUESTION: (from June, 2005) Hi James! I just know you can answer this...I have a friend in Finland who cannot find shortening to make her favorite quiche recipe, and she wants to know if there is another name for it there.  She said her recipe actually calls for Crisco, but that caused way too much confusion in Finland.  No one there knows what shortening is, it seems.
I told her sub in lard.  But the BEST part of her question is, "Why is shortening called shortening?" 
Can you give us a hand here?      Karen


ANSWER: Karen,
Shortening is an edible fat used to 'shorten' baked goods.  Shortenings include lard (about 98% fat), butter (about 80% fat),  margarine (about 80% fat) and processed shortenings made from vegetable oils, treated to produce an odorless, white shortening that is 100% fat - such as Crisco.
Because Crisco and similar flavorless shortenings were originally developed in the U.S., they are more well know here - and because they are 100% fat, they make the best shortening (leaving out the consideration of flavor that butter or lard give).
 
The term 'short' has a very old derivation -  it originally referred to substances that were easily crumbled, including coal, paper, dried dung, chalk, sand, etc.  This most likely was based on the observation that friable (brittle, easily crumbled) substances had short fibers, or that they crumbled into shorter (smaller) pieces.
(Its culinary use dates back to at least the 15th century).
 
(To make something shorter, means to cut into smaller pieces - see the connection?)
 
Short pastry has a high proportion of fat to flour, which produces a flaky dough - a dough which crumbles into shorter (smaller) pieces - (shortcake, short bread, short crust, etc).
 
Tell your friend to look for solid vegetable oil, or just use butter with the highest butterfat content available. (possibly adding a VERY slight sprinkling of flour to compensate for the slight moisture content in butter verses shortening - I stress VERY slight - it may not even be necessary, depending on the size of the recipe).
Chef James

-----------------------------TRIVIA-----------------------------

Kvass is a fermented Russian beverage, similar to beer, with a low alcohol content. It is made from fermented rye or barley, or soaked and fermented dark rye bread. Kvass is frequently flavored with mint, juniper or fruit due to its bittersweet taste.


--------------------------FRESH FLOWERS-------------------------

Fresh Flowers Directly from the Growers
BE TRULY ROMANTIC - GIVE FLOWERS FOR NO REASON AT ALL!
http://www.foodreference.com/html/freshflowers.html


--------------------ANCIENT & CLASSIC RECIPES-------------------

Mrs. Samuel Whitehorne, SUGAR HOUSE BOOK, 1801, Collection of the Newport Historical Society.

TOMATO KETCHUP
Get them quite ripe on a dry day, squeeze them with your hands till reduced to a pulp, then put half a pound of fine salt to one hundred tomatoes, and boil them for two hours. Stir them to prevent burning. While hot press them through a fine sieve, with a silver spoon till nought but the skin remains, then add a little mace, 3 nutmegs, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and pepper to taste. Boil over a slow fire till quite thick, stir all the time. Bottle when cold. One hundred tomatoes will make four or five bottles and keep good for two or three years.


------------------------------QUOTE-----------------------------

"Some people are fat, some people are lean. But I want you to show me the person who doesn't like butterbeans Yay!"
B-52's, Song, 'Butterbean', 1983


-----------------CATALOGS - CATALOGS - CATALOGS-----------------

Order the world’s best and most unique Catalogs!
Plus save money with exclusive Savings Certificates from every catalog. Voted the #1 source for catalog shopping!
http://www.foodreference.com/html/freecatalogs.html


--------------------------DID YOU KNOW?-------------------------

Lamb's Wool was a drink popular from the 16th to the 19th century in England. It was made with hot beer, sweetened and spiced with soft, baked apple pulp added.


-----------------WHO'S WHO IN THE CULINARY ARTS-----------------

M.F.K. Fisher (July 3, 1908 -  June 22, 1992)
Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was an American food critic and writer, author of various articles, essays and books about food, she also translated Brillat-Savarin's 'The Physiology of Taste' in 1949.


---------------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


-----------------------------QUOTE------------------------------

"I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts."
Orson Welles, actor, director, producer, writer (1915-1985)


------------------RECIPE REQUESTS FROM READERS------------------

RED FLANNEL HASH
Serves 6.

• 3 cups julienne-cut cooked pork loin (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 6 slices bacon, diced
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs potatoes, cooked, peeled and diced
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup drained, chopped pickled beets


Cooking Directions
Place bacon pieces in large nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat; remove and discard about half of fat from pan as it accumulates. When bacon is browned, raise heat and stir in onion and green pepper, cook and stir 1-2 minutes, until vegetables are soft. Add potatoes, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Cook and stir 4-5 minutes, until potatoes are lightly browned. Stir in pork and beets; cook and stir to heat through.

“Red flannel” hash is a classic New England dish that gets its name from the beets contained herein. Serve this casual supper with buttered rye bread and a cucumber salad in dill vinaigrette.


 Email your recipe requests, food info or history
 questions to me at james@foodreference.com


--------------------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/


--------------------------COOKING TIPS--------------------------

Letter to the Editor, London's 'Daily Telegraph'

"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."


------------CULINARY CALENDAR - A FEW SELECTED EVENTS-----------

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 29
2005 Antoine's Restaurant in New Orleans reopened exactly 4 months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30
1817 The first coffee was planted in Hawaii.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31
1600 The British East India Company was incorporated by royal charter. It was created to compete in the East Indian spice trade.

MONDAY, JANUARY 1
1895 C.W. Post of Battle Creek, Michigan introduced Postum Food Coffee, a coffee substitute made from wheat, bran and molasses.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 2
1990 Campbell's Soup introduced Cream of Broccoli soup. It became their most successful new soup in 55 years.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3
1888 The first patent for wax coated paper drinking straws (made by a spiral winding process) was issued to Marvin C. Stone of Washington, D.C.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 4
1905 Actor Sterling Holloway was born. He was also the voice of Winnie The Pooh, the honey loving bear in Disney's animated version.

For a complete listing of each day's events, go here:
http://www.foodreference.com/html/HistoricEvents.html


----------------FOOD & WINE MAGAZINES & CATALOGS----------------

Hundreds of Food, Recipe, Wine and Beer Magazines at great discount prices.  Also Health & Fitness, Home & Gardening, Hunting & Fishing, Environmental, Travel, Nature, Recreation etc. Magazines - and more!
http://www.foodreference.com/html/food-magazines.html


-----------------------------TRIVIA-----------------------------

Largest of the citrus family, the pummelo, native to Malaysia, is believed to be an ancestor of the grapefruit. They are a giant citrus fruit that can reach 10-11 inches in diameter, with a firm flesh and less juice than a grapefruit.


-----------------------------QUOTE------------------------------

"I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper, and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer."
Brendan Behan, Irish author (1923-1964)


------------PLEASE RATE THIS EZINE AT THE EZINE FINDER----------

http://www.ezinefinder.com/foodre-vote.html
You can vote once each day. Your votes are appreciated.


-----------------OTHER GREAT E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS-----------------

Beer Basics - http://www.beerbasics.com
Ardent Spirits - http://www.ardentspirits.com

----------------------------------------------------------------
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OR REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THIS NEWSLETTER LIST

To SUBSCRIBE to this newsletter, send an email with SUBSCRIBE in the Subject Line to: subscribe@foodreference.com

NOTE: The newsletter is sent from jtehler@hbci.com  or newsletter@foodreference.com Please add them to your approved senders list if you use a spam filtering program.

To STOP receiving this newsletter send an email with REMOVE in the Subject Line to: unsubscribe@foodreference.com

----------------------------------------------------------------
Food Reference Newsletter  ISSN 1535-5659
James T Ehler (Exec. Chef, Editor & Publisher)
166 W. Broadway
Suite 315
Winona, Minnesota 55987-6259
E-mail: james@foodreference.com    Phone: (507) 474-1689
Food Reference WebSite: http://www.foodreference.com
----------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 1990-2006 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.

 

. Home . . Newsletter Archives . . More Back Issues . . Links . . About/Contact . . Search . . Subscribe .

All contents of this website are Copyright © 1990--2008 James T. Ehler and FoodReference.com, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this website for noncommercial, personal use only. Any other use of the materials in this website without prior written permission is prohibited.
Contact:  james@foodreference.com
 

3 Young Chefs
CLICK HERE
for the BEST
Culinary, Baking & Pastry Schools