|
THE FOOD REFERENCE NEWSLETTER
July 8, 2004 Vol 5 #21 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
=> Requested Recipes
=> Cooking Tips
=> Culinary Calendar - selected events
=> General information and Copyright
============================================= ===================
WEBSITE NEWS http://www.foodreference.com
============================================= ===================
The results of the recent survey were fairly consistent. You like the newsletter the way it is. There were some requests for book reviews, and current food trends. I try will try to include book reviews when I can, and some short items of current food trends, with links to more information. I thank all of you who responded, and I am glad that the current format is well liked. I appreciate your comments and support very much. Chef James
I visited the Fruit and Spice Farm in Homestead, FL over the weekend. It is absolutely incredible! Over 500 different tropical fruits and spices. It is the largest collection of its kind in the world. I will be publishing my photos to the website later this week, and I plan on visiting there every 2 weeks or so and to eventually have photos all of the plants, both flowers and fruits, on the website. I will list the photos added to the website in the next newsletter. (One of the fruits is the jackfruit - the largest fruit in the world, up to 100lbs each. They grow on the trunk of the tree as well as 15-20 feet up in the branches.)
============================================= ===================
'FOOD FOR THOUGHT' BY MARK VOGEL
============================================= ===================
A Hill of Beans - ..Beans belong to a large family of plants known as legumes. Legumes have pods with edible seeds. Other legumes include peanuts, peas, and lentils among others. The black bean is one variety of hundreds of the common bean. ......the rest of the story:
http://www.foodreference.com/html/markvogelweeklycolumn.html
============================================= ===================
QUOTE
============================================= ===================
Truffles: "The most learned men have been questioned as to the nature of this tuber, and after two thousand years of argument and discussion their answer is the same as it was on the first day: we do not know. The truffles themselves have been interrogated, and have answered simply: eat us and praise the Lord."
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)
============================================= ===================
TRIVIA
============================================= ===================
The residents of Salt Lake City eat more lime flavored gelatin than any other city in the U.S.
============================================= ===================
CHEF JAMES HIGHLY RECOMMENDS 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=089CFHWHH
============================================= ===================
THIS WEEK'S WEBSITE OF THE WEEK:
============================================= ===================
Cancer Nutrition Info
http://web.cancernutritioninfo.com/
Nothing for sale here - just free, reliable information from an internationally recognized expert in cancer nutrition.
"What is this website about? Why are we different? We are dedicated to ONE goal: Providing up-to-date, comprehensive, and scientifically sound information about nutrition and cancer. This is our passion! We want to give individuals living with cancer, as well as their family, friends, and health care providers, unbiased information on nutrition and cancer. This information can be used to make the best choices for promoting healing from cancer."
============================================= ===================
FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ
============================================= ===================
1) a) Does corn always have an odd or an even number of rows on each ear?
b) Why?
c) How many pieces of silk are there on each ear?
2) a) Do you know who is generally considered to have invented Lemon Custard and when?
b) Who invented lemon meringue pie?
3) This long lived subtropical evergreen tree has been cultivated for at least 5,000 years, and recently some seeds have been uncovered in Spain that have been carbon-dated to be 8,000 years old. The tree is usually medium in height, about 25 feet, but some trees may grow to 60 feet. The are very long-lived, with some living more than 500 years. They are also very tenacious, sprouting back even if chopped right to ground level.
In order to produce flowers and fruit, the tree must undergo temperatures of 45 degrees F. for 2 to 3 months. The trees grow beautifully luxuriant in tropical climates, but produce no fruit. The small fruits can be round or oblong, dark purple and very bitter at maturity. The fruit is classified as a drupe, similar to the peach or plum. Today the tree is grown in South America, the Mediterranean area, the United States, Australia and South Africa.
The product obtained by the of processing the fruits was highly prized for soaps and perfumes. Cato tells us it was used as a weed killer and insecticide. Other uses have been as a lubricant for axles, a salve on chaped skin and on wounds, and a remedy for upset stomach.
One final clue from Lawrence Durrell: "A taste older than meat, older than wine. A taste as old as cold water."
4) The ancient Greeks and Romans thought this annual herb would only grow if you screamed wild curses and shouted unintelligibly while sowing the seeds. They also believed if you left a leaf under a pot, it would turn into a scorpion. Many believed that even smelling the leaves would cause scorpions to grow in the brain. Salome hid John the Baptist's head in a pot of this herb to cover up the odor of it's decomposition. In Italy it is a token of love, in Romania if a girl gives a sprig to her boyfriend, they are engaged, and a good Hindu goes to rest with a leaf on his breast as a passport to Paradise. What is this common herb?
a) mint b) basil c) thyme d) tarragon e) sage
5) Growing on a relative of the mango, cashew and turpentine tree, they are native to central Asia (probably originating around Persia). They have been cultivated for over 7,000 years, (they are mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible) and before that were gathered from the wild. The Greeks were (and are) very fond of them, and use them in many pastries. Today they are grown mainly in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries and in California. Name this nut.
============================================= ===================
ANSWERS TO FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ:
============================================= ===================
1) a) Corn always has an even number of rows on each ear.
b) A corn ear is actually an inflorescence that produces nearly 1,000 female flowers. These flowers, or potential kernels, are arranged in an even number of rows (usually from 8 to about 22 rows). Row number is always an even number because corn spikelets are borne in pairs, and each spikelet produces two florets: one fertile and one sterile. Stress at a particular stage in development could theoretically produce an ear with an odd number of rows - but I believe if you looked under a microscope, you would find an unseen row that failed to develop fully. Most things in nature have an even number of rows or lines. Watermelon has an even number of stripes, cantaloupe, etc. Think of it this way. One cell divides into 2 - as cell division continues, there is always an even number.
c) There is one piece of silk for each kernel.
2) The Quakers receive credit for inventing lemon custard in the late 1700s. Philadelphian Elizabeth Coane Goodfellow, a pastry chef, businesswoman, and cooking school founder, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1806, took lemon custard to another level when she invented lemon meringue pie.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/lemon-meringue-pie-recipe.html
3) The olive tree.
4) b) Basil.
5) Pistachio Nuts.
============================================= ===================
ANOTHER FOOD REFERENCE WEBSITE
============================================= ===================
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
============================================= ===================
READERS QUESTIONS
============================================= ===================
QUESTION: Smart & Final grocery stores has a refined Olive Pomace Oil on sale at a very reasonable price. I understand the quality is quite low but I would only use it for sauteing. May I have your opinion of this product?
ANSWER: I would never recommend any type of 'olive pomace oil to anyone'. It has a very poor quality rating in the list of oils. 'Pomace' is the substance left after previous pressings. It is treated with solvents to create 'olive pomace oil'.
============================================= ===================
TRIVIA
============================================= ===================
Stage Deli Sandwiches
The 'Robin Williams' is a little tongue and a lot of bologna, with pastrami, cole slaw, and Russian dressing.
============================================= ===================
CULINARY SCHOOLS, TOURS AND CRUISES
============================================= ===================
Culinary schools, cooking classes and gourmet tours for the amateur & the professional. U.S. and abroad.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/index.html
============================================= ===================
ANCIENT & CLASSIC RECIPES
============================================= ===================
CRÊPES SUZETTE
Larousse Gastronomique (1988 ed.)
Crêpes Suzette - Prepare a crêpe batter with 250 g (9 oz, 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 (2 oz, 4 tablespoons) butter with the juice of a tangerine, its grated rind, 1 tablespoon Curaçao, and 50 g (2 oz, 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.
(to flame, add a little Curaçao to the pan)
Arrange them in a warm dish, slightly overlapping.
History: http://www.foodreference.com/html/fcrepessuzette.html
============================================= ===================
QUOTE
============================================= ===================
"The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream."
Wallace Stevens (1880-1955)
============================================= ===================
FLOWERS
============================================= ===================
Fresh Flowers Directly from the Growers
BE TRULY ROMANTIC - GIVE FLOWERS FOR NO REASON AT ALL!
http://www.foodreference.com/html/freshflowers.html
============================================= ===================
DID YOU KNOW?
============================================= ===================
Cocoa is the powdery remains of chocolate liquor after most of the cocoa butter is removed. The least fatty form of chocolate. Includes dutched chocolate. Strong to mild chocolate flavor without the texture characteristic of cocoa butter. Colors range from light tan to red to black. Used for reduced fat and calorie recipes; chocolate milk; ice cream; chocolate flavored coatings; syrups.
(Natl Confectioners Assoc & Chocolate Mfg Association)
============================================= ===================
WHO'S WHO IN THE CULINARY ARTS
============================================= ===================
Taillevent (Guillaume Tirel)(1310-1395)He wrote the first professional cookery book in France. It was commissioned by Charles V. The full title in English is: "Hereafter follows the Viandier describing the preparation of all manner of foods, as cooked by Taillevent, the cook of our noble king, and also the dressing and preparation of boiled meat, roasts, sea and freshwater fish, sauces, spices, and other suitable and necessary things as described hereafter."
============================================= ===================
RECIPE REQUESTS FROM READERS
============================================= ===================
CHICKEN MOLE
(6 servings)
1 Lb. chicken breasts
1/4 cup oil
1 onion, medium
1 garlic clove
2 teaspoons Sesame seeds
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup Mesquite Meal*
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup chile powder, mild
2 oz chocolate, unsweetened
1 teaspoon honey (or brown sugar)
1/4 teaspoon wine vinegar
1 teaspoon cumin (comino)
Heat oven to 350 F. Brown chicken breasts in oil.
Toast sesame seeds and almonds in a dry pan and set aside.
Sauté onion and garlic.
Mix mesquite meal with 1/3 cup chicken broth.
Add sesame, almonds, chile, chocolate, honey, vinegar, and cumin stirring to blend.
Add remaining broth to achieve a paste-like consistency.
Place chicken in an oven-proof dish, cover with the chile mixture.
Bake at 350F for one hour .
Option: Peanut butter may be substituted for almonds.
*Mesquite Meal
http://www.foodreference.com/html/fmesquitemeal.html
Email your recipe requests, food info or history
questions to me at james@foodreference.com
============================================= ===================
SPONSOR
============================================= ===================
Tupperware® - The original is still the best.
http://my.tupperware.com/FOODREFERENCE
============================================= ===================
QUOTE
============================================= ===================
"The only kind of seafood I trust is the fish stick, a totally featureless fish that doesn’t have eyeballs or fins."
Dave Barry, Miami Herald Columnist
============================================= ===================
COOKING TIPS
============================================= ===================
When whipping cream, add the sugar when the cream is mostly whipped, and the cream will whip to a higher volume. Adding the sugar at the beginning results is lower volume.
============================================= ===================
CULINARY CALENDAR - A Few Selected Events
============================================= ===================
FRIDAY, JULY 9
1887 John Dickenson introduced paper napkins at his company’s annual dinner.
SATURDAY, JULY 10
1947 Arlo Guthrie was born. Woody Guthrie's son, he is most known for his ballad/story 'Alice's Restaurant.'
SUNDAY, JULY 11
1792 The first issue of the 'Farmer's Almanac' was published by Robert Bailey Thomas. (Now called 'Old Farmer's Almanac'). [Some sources list October 13].
MONDAY, JULY 12
1962 In Pennsylvania, a garbage dump begins to burn underground, and the fire spreads to nearby coal mining tunnels. It was still burning in 1984. It may still be burning.
TUESDAY, JULY 13
1568 The Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral developed a method to bottle beer.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/fbeer.html
WEDNESDAY, JULY 14
1998 Richard McDonald died. One of the brothers who founded the original McDonald's restaurant. He also designed the golden arches logo.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/fmcdonalds.html
THURSDAY, JULY 15
1869 Hippolyte Mege Mouries patented margarine. Emperor Napoleon III had offered a prize for a suitable substitute for butter, for use by the French Navy.
http://www.foodreference.com/html/fmargarine.html
For a complete listing of each day's events, go here:
http://www.foodreference.com/html/HistoricEvents.html
============================================= ===================
TRIVIA
============================================= ===================
The smallest crabs are the pea crab, which live inside oyster shells, and can be less than 1.5 mm. The largest crab is the Japanese spider crab, which reach 12 feet from leg tip to leg tip, and a body 18 inches by 12 inches.
============================================= ===================
QUOTE
============================================= ===================
"The only time to eat diet food is while you are waiting for the steak to cook."
Julia Child (1912-?)
============================================= ===================
PLEASE RATE THIS EZINE AT THE CUMULI EZINE FINDER.
----------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.cumuli.com/ezines/vte.html?ez=foodre
You can vote once each day. Your votes are appreciated.
============================================= ===================
MORE GREAT E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS
----------------------------------------------------------------
Beer Basics - http://www.beerbasics.com
Ardent Spirits - http://www.ardentspirits.com
============================================= ===================
LIST MAINTENANCE
----------------------------------------------------------------
To SUBSCRIBE send a blank email to
subscribe@foodreference.com
To UNSUBSCRIBE send a blank email to
unsubscribe@foodreference.com
----------------------------------------------------------------
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
----------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 1990-2004 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.
|
|
