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THE FOOD REFERENCE NEWSLETTER
June 28, 2004 Vol 5 #20 ISSN 1535-5659
IN THIS ISSUE
=> Website News
=> 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
=> General information and Copyright
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WEBSITE NEWS http://www.foodreference.com
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CHECK THE WEBSITE DAILY - New FOOD QUIZ questions each week on the website, along with a Daily Culinary Quote, Daily Trivia, Today in Food History, Recipe Contests, Food Festivals, etc.
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QUOTE
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"A complete lack of caution is perhaps one of the true signs of a real gourmet: he has no need for it, being filled as he is with a God-given and intelligently self-cultivated sense of gastronomical freedom."
M.F.K. Fisher (1908-1992), 'An Alphabet for Gourmets' (1949)
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TRIVIA
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Malmsey (also known as Malvasia) is the name of both the white wine grape and the sweet, fortified Madeira wine made from it. Originating on the Greek island of Malavosia, it is now grown mostly on the island of Madeira.
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CHEF JAMES HIGHLY RECOMMENDS SAVEUR MAGAZINE
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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.
https://secure.palmcoastd.com/pcd/document?ikey=089CFHWHH
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THIS WEEK'S WEBSITE OF THE WEEK:
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SARE - SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
SARE provides grants and information to improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life.
http://www.sare.org/
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QUOTE
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"A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do."
P. J. O'Rourke (1947 - )
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FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ
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The first 7 questions were inspired by 'The Origins of Fruit & Vegetables' by Jonathan Roberts.
1) This plant is a member of the Laurel family, which includes the bay laurel and cinnamon tree. The likely origin is the area north of Mexico City, and there is evidence that the fruits were being gathered by humans by about 8,000 B.C., and were being cultivated about 1,000 years later. This fruit is a high energy food, low in sugar, chock full of vitamins, and a good source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. It is also particularly good as a first solid food for babies.
a) Pear
b) Avocado
c) Pea
d) Potato
e) Watermelon
2) Over 40 species of this desirable and delicious fruit have been identified in the wild. The Romans tried to domesticate this fruit and make it larger as early as 200 B.C., but it resisted attempts at enlargement. It wasn't until the 18th century that efforts to develop larger fruit were successful. The earliest mention in English is in a 10th century Saxon plant list. It was grown in medieval European gardens for its fruit, as an ornamental and medicinal plant. The fresh fruits were used as a toothpaste (the juice cleaned up discolored teeth) and salve for sunburn.
a) Mulberry
b) Fig
c) Apple
d) Strawberry
e) Lemon
3) This premier fruit crop of the temperate regions of the modern world can ripen at higher latitudes than almost any other, except the cloudberry. It is a self-incompatible species, which means that you need two trees growing near each other to achieve pollination. The fruits need 900 cold hours to produce flowers in the spring and on the whole, they dislike the subtropics and tropics. The 11th labor of Hercules involved a specific type of this fruit. Name this fruit.
4) How a fruit made the trip from the American Midwest to the Pacific.
In 1845 a nurseryman from Iowa set out with his family & partner for the Williamette Valley in Oregon. He packed seeds and 700 varieties of fruit plants in boxes in 7 covered wagons. After crossing the Missouri, his partner died of cholera, 2 of his oxen died, and everyone tried to get him to ditch his plants to make the mountain crossing easier. He refused and was left behind to travel alone. Indians attacked, but, seeing his leafy cargo waving about they believed he was protected by spirits, and left him alone. He used up most of his water to feed his plants. Half of them died, but he finally arrived at the Wiliamette Valley in mid-November after 7 months. By 1853 he was selling this fruit in San Francisco for $1 a pound. He grew rich, moved to California, started another nursery, founded the town of Fruitvale, and grew richer. He grew restless, sold his holdings in California, sailed to Honduras to set up a market garden and went broke. End of story.
What was this fruit that nurseryman Henderson Llewelling was responsible for transferring to the Pacific.
5) The cucurbits include melons, cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins, squashes, marrows and zucchini. This particular curcurbit occurs in the wild only in the Himalayas and in lands to the east of those mountains. It was probably domesticated in northern India, and arrived in the Mediterranean area sometime around 500 B.C. This curcurbit is the:
a) Cucumber
b) Pumpkin
c) Cantaloupe
d) Watermelon
e) Zucchini
6) Until the final years of the 19th century this was a wild perennial vine that grew in rampant profusion of the hills and mountains of southwest China. In the autumn when the fruits were ripe, Chinese peasants went to the hills in droves to pick vast quantities for eating and selling in markets. They had done so since time immemorial. There was never any need to farm the vigorous vine, which clambers up to 28 feet of over hillside shrubs and trees at will and grows vast quantities of fruits. But its status changed for ever in 1899 when an English planthunter, Ernest Henry 'Chinese' Wilson, came to China and began sending seeds home to Chelsea, England. It became popular with gardeners as an ornamental vine. In 1904 the first seeds were sent to another colony of Britain, and by the 1930s the world's first commercial orchard was established there. When it was renamed in 1959, the fruit was on its way to to world wide popularity. Annual world production is now about 650,000 tons. Name this fruit, its old name and its new name.
7) Botanically, this is a strange plant - taxonomists are unable even to agree into which family it belongs. The flowers are a bright, waxy scarlet, and the fruits are topped off with a persistent calyx that resembles a tall, medieval crown which became a symbol of kingship in the Middle Ages: Henry IV adopted the fruit from the Moorish kings as his heraldic emblem, with the motto "Sour, yet sweet," and it was Catherine of Aragon's device when she married Henry VIII. They were among the first fruits to be brought into cultivation after grain-farming was invented in the Fertile Crescent between the Nile and the Indus about 10,000 years ago. Is this:
a) Fig
b) Date
c) Pomegranate
d) Apricot
e) Mulberry
8) The Quakers receive credit for inventing lemon custard in the late 1700s. Do you know who invented Lemon Meringue Pie, when and in what city?
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ANSWERS TO FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ:
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1) b) Avocado.
2) d) Strawberries.
3) Apples. The 11th labor of Hercules was bringing home the Golden Apple of the Hesperides out of the mythical West.
4) Apples again.
5) a) Cucumbers.
6) Chinese Gooseberry, renamed Kiwifruit in 1959 by New Zealand growers for export to the U.S.
7) c) Pomegranate.
8) Philadelphian Elizabeth Coane Goodfellow, a pastry chef, businesswoman, and cooking school founder, arrived in Philadelphia in 1806, and took lemon custard to another level when she invented lemon meringue pie.
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ANOTHER FOOD REFERENCE WEBSITE
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FOOD ART AND POSTERS
Art & Posters for your home, office, restaurant, dorm room, kitchen, etc. The best selection - including movie, music, sports, food and culinary art. Famous masters, current unknowns. All the best quality, framed or unframed, low prices.
http://www.culinaryposters.com
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READERS QUESTIONS
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QUESTION: Hi Chef James, I was talking to some friends at work and we trying to understand the difference between ham and pork since they both come from a pig.
Can you help? Thanks, K.
ANSWER: Pork is the flesh of a pig or hog used as food.
Strictly speaking, Ham is the hind leg of a hog, fresh or cured.
Ham is also used to refer to other cured cuts of pork such as the shoulder and Boston butts (actually the upper part of the shoulder).
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TRIVIA
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Marengo, usually Chicken Marengo, sometimes Veal Marengo, is a dish named after the Battle of Marengo (northwest Italy), June 14, 1800, at which Napoleon defeated the Austrians. Napoleon's chef, Dunand, created it right after the battle from foraged food. Chicken cooked with olive oil, garlic and tomatoes, white wine and Cognac, and garnished with a ring of fried eggs. Modern versions omit the fried eggs and add mushrooms and pearl onions.
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CULINARY SCHOOLS, TOURS AND CRUISES
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Culinary schools, cooking classes and gourmet tours for the amateur & the professional. U.S. and abroad.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/index.html
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ANCIENT & CLASSIC RECIPES
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SCRAPPLE
In Early Philadelphia, Savory pork, buckwheat, and cornmeal puddings known as pan haus came to be called scrapple. Versions of scrapple traveled west across the continent through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The gently seasoned pillar of ordinary foods has become an American classic.
'The Food Journal of Lewis & Clark : Recipes for an Expedition' by Mary Gunderson
http://www.foodreference.com/html/thefoodjournaloflewis.html
SCRAPPLE
1 pound pork shoulder
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
10 whole peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup stone-ground cornmeal
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
-Place the pork shoulder, 6 cups of water, the onion, peppercorns, and bay leaf in a 3-quart saucepan.
-Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat. Simmer for about 1 hour, or until the pork is tender. Remove the meat from the broth.
-Shred the meat with 2 forks. Discard the bones. Strain the broth.
-Measure 4 cups of strained broth into a 3-quart saucepan. Stir in the shredded pork, cornmeal, buckwheat, salt, nutmeg, and thyme. Bring to a boil, stirring almost constantly. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue cooking until the mixture thickens, 5 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent lumps.
-Spoon into a well-greased 8 x 4-inch loaf pan. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
-To serve, cut into slices and fry in hot oil. Scrapple is traditionally served with fried eggs.
-Feel free to substitute other cuts of pork or change the seasoning to suit your palate.
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QUOTE
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"A fully gorged belly never produced a sprightly mind."
Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667)
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FLOWERS
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Fresh Flowers Directly from the Growers
BE TRULY ROMANTIC - GIVE FLOWERS FOR NO REASON AT ALL!
http://www.foodreference.com/html/freshflowers.html
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DID YOU KNOW?
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Mesquite is the common name for several small spine hardwood trees or shrubs of the genus Prosopis in the pea family. They are native to the southwestern U.S., Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean Islands. The seed pods are edible, and the wood is used for fence posts, railroad ties, and furniture. The wood is also used in barbecuing and smoking foods. Mesquite gives an slightly sweet smoky flavor to foods. CAUTION: Smoked foods contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are known carcinogens. Smoked foods are known to be carcinogenic when eaten as a regular part of a person's diet. Most people do not eat enough smoked foods for this to be a major concern. HOWEVER, the hotter the wood or charcoal burns, the more polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are produced. And mesquite burns hotter than hardwood charcoal, and produces much more of these dangerous hydrocarbons. One study found 8 times the cancer causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in meat cooked with mesquite than hardwood charcoal, and 40 times the benzopyrene, the most dangerous hydrocarbon. I like the flavor of mesquite, but this information gives some serious food for thought.
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WHO'S WHO IN THE CULINARY ARTS
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Prosper Montagné (November 14, 1865 - April 22, 1948)
One of the great French chefs of all time, he is primarily remembered as the creator of Larousse Gastronomique (1938), a comprehensive encyclopedia of French gastronomy. He was the son of a hotelier, and worked in many of the most famous kitchens in Europe. He organized the kitchens of the Allied armies during World War I, and with others such as Phileas Gilbert and Escoffier, helped reform French cuisine - simplifying food decorations, organizing the kitchen more efficiently, shortening menus, etc.
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RECIPE REQUESTS FROM READERS
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CRÊPES SUZETTE RECIPE
Crêpes Suzette - Prepare a crêpe batter with 250 g (2 1/4 cups) flour, 3 whole eggs, 2 glasses of milk, and a pinch of salt. Add the juice of a tangerine, 1 tablespoon Curaçao, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Leave to stand for 2 hours at room temperature. Work 50 g (4 tablespoons) butter with the juice of a tangerine, its grated rind, 1 tablespoon Curaçao, and 50 g (4 tablespoons) caster (superfine) sugar.
Make some thin crêpes in a heavy-based frying pan (skillet) (never washed, but wiped each time with clean paper). Mask them with a little of the tangerine butter, fold them in four, return them one by one to the frying pan, and heat them. Arrange them in a warm dish, slightly overlapping.
Larousse Gastronomique (1988 ed.)
http://www.foodreference.com/html/laroussegastro.html
Email your recipe requests, food info or history
questions to me at james@foodreference.com
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SPONSOR
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Tupperware® - The original is still the best.
http://my.tupperware.com/FOODREFERENCE
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QUOTE
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"A good eater must be a good man; for a good eater must have a good digestion, and a good digestion depends upon a good conscience."
Benjamin Disraeli, 'The Young Duke' (1831)
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KITCHEN TIPS
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The easiest and best way to pick the freshest grapes in your local market is to hold a bunch by the stem. Shake gently - if grapes drop off the stem, they have been in storage for too long. If the grapes are firmly attached, are plump and bright, they are fresh.
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CULINARY CALENDAR - A Few Selected Events
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TUESDAY, JUNE 29
1943 General Eisenhower requested that Coca-Cola provide 10 portable bottling plants for U.S. troops overseas.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30
1930 Judge Joseph F. Crater of the New York State Supreme Court, walked out of a 45th Street restaurant in New York City on his way to the theater. He was never heard from again.
THURSDAY, JULY 1
1929 Elzie Segar created Popeye, the spinach eating cartoon character. (Also listed as January 17, and April 11 in some sources).
FRIDAY, JULY 2
1843 An alligator reportedly fell from the sky during a thunderstorm in Charleston, South Carolina.
SATURDAY, JULY 3
1922 ‘Fruit Garden & Home Magazine' was founded. Two years later it was renamed ‘Better Homes & Gardens’.
For a complete listing of each day's events, go here:
http://www.foodreference.com/html/HistoricEvents.html
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TRIVIA
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McDonald's fast food restaurant opened its training school, Hamburger University, in Oak Brook, Illinois in 1961. The first drive up McDonald's was opened in 1975. McDonald's introduced Chicken McNuggets in 1983.
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QUOTE
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"A gourmet is just a glutton with brains."
Philip W. Haberman, Jr. (Vogue)
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TRIVIA
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Microwavable rice costs almost $6.00 per pound. Bulk rice costs less than $0.50 per pound.
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Food Reference Newsletter ISSN 1535-5659
James T. Ehler (Publisher & Editor)
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Suite 209 South
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E-mail: james@foodreference.com Phone: (305) 296-2614
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