FoodReference.com Logo

Foodreference.com   (Since 1999)        “The duty of a good Cuisinier is to transmit to the next generation everything he has learned and experienced.”    Fernand Point, 1941

HOME    |    Food Articles    |    Food Trivia & Facts    |    Today in Food History    |    Cooking Tips    |    Recipes    |    Who's Who    |    Food Quotes    |    Videos    |    Trivia Quizzes    |    Crosswords    |    Food Poems    |    Cookbook Reviews    |    Food Posters    |    Shopping    |    Recipe Contests    |    Cooking Schools    |    Gourmet Tours    |    Key West    |    Food Festivals & Food Shows

 

Daily, Weekly and Monthly
Columns & Features

NEW Recipe Contests
Food & Cooking Show News
Summer & Picnic Foods
BBQ Season
Comprehensive List of Over 7,000 Food Festivals & Shows
Alvin Starkman Articles


CASTING CALL for New Food Network Show: click here!
(deadline: May 29)
 

NEW ARTICLES:

Cultivating a Better Food System
Attracting Pollinators To Your Garden
Craft Beer Brewers Support Clean Water
Is Organic Food Healthier?
The New Dust Bowl
Kids Need To Play Outdoors!
Reducing Water Use in the U.S.
Resveratrol And Senior Mobility

 

CULINARY SCHOOLS &
COOKING CLASSES

From Amateur & Basic Cooking Classes to Professional Chef Training & Degrees -  Associates, Bachelors & Masters
More than 1,000 schools & classes listed in all 50 States, Online and Worldwide




 




MAY IS:
(for details & links see Food History Calendar for MAY)

· National Mediterranean Diet Month
· National Artisan Gelato Month
· UK: National Asparagus Month
· National Barbecue Month
· Celiac Disease Awareness Month (May & October)
· National Chocolate Custard Month
· National Egg Month
· National Hamburger Month
· National Salad Month
· National Salsa Month
· National Strawberry Month
· Tavern Month
· National Vinegar Month
· UK: National Restaurant Month




MAY
Variable Date Events
(for links & details, See Food History Calendar and Food Festivals)

· May is a popular month for Food Festivals
· American Craft Beer Week
· Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks a Voice
· Food Allergy Awareness Week
· International Pickle Week
· Memorial Day
· Mother’s Day
· Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive
· National Emu Week
· National Herb Day
· National Herb Week
· National Home Brew Day
· National Raisin Week
· National Week of the Ocean
· National Women’s Health Week
· School Nutrition Employee Week
· Stewardship Week
· World Fair Trade Day
· Netherlands: Windmill Day
· UK: British Sandwich Week
· UK: National BBQ Week
· UK: National Bread Week
· UK: National Doughnut Week
· UK: National Honey Week
· UK: National Vegetarian Week



Bonnie Plants Third Grade Cabbage Program3rd Grade Cabbage

Free for any 3rd grade classroom in the country.

$1,000 Education Scholarship awarded to a student  in each state.
Cabbage Program Details

Weekly Trivia Quiz is below

FRIDAY - MAY 24, 2013

TODAY’S FOOD QUOTE

“Nobody is sure how this got started.  Probably a couple of French master chefs were standing around one day, and they found a snail, and one of them said:  'I bet that if we called this something like "escargot," tourists would eat it.'  They they had a hearty laugh, because 'escargot' is the French word for 'fat crawling bag of phlegm.'”
'Dave Barry's Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need' (1991)
 

FOOD HOLIDAYS - Today is:

    - National Escargot Day
    - International Pickle Week  (May 16-27, 2013)
    - UK: National Vegetarian Week  (May 20-26, 2013)

TODAY IN FOOD HISTORY

On this day in:
1686
Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit was born.  He developed the Fahrenheit temperature scale, and invented the mercury thermometer.

1883 Gabriel Gustav Valentin died.  This German-Swiss physiologist was the first to discover the digestive activity of pancreatic juice.

1883 The Brooklyn Bridge opened.  It took 14 years to build at a cost of $18 million, and was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time.

1893 The Anti-Saloon League was founded by Howard H. Russell at Oberlin, Ohio.

1929 The first Marx Brothers film, 'Cocoanuts' premiered.

1941 Robert Allen Zimmerman was born (Bob Dylan).

1945 The first Food-O-Mat was installed in a Grand Union Company store in New Jersey

1976 In Paris, two California wines won top honors at a blind wine tasting by the best of France's wine experts.  The French were shocked, and the wine world was changed forever.

2007 Kelly Jo Dowd died.  She was one of the original 'Hooters' Girls' at the first Hooters' restaurant which opened in 1983 in Clearwater Florida.
 

DID YOU KNOW?

· Escargot (French): An edible snail, especially one prepared as an appetizer or entree.
· Heliculture is the science of growing snails for food.
· Restaurants serve about 1 billion snails annually.
· The French consume about 40,000 tons of snails each year (2005).
· Snails have been eaten as food since at least ancient Roman times. Apicius, the author of the oldest surviving cookbook (1st century B.C - 2 century A.D.) has a recipe for snails in his cookbook.
 

THIS WEEK’S FEATURED FOOD FESTIVALS:

May 23-26, 2013  46th Annual Jambalaya Festival - Gonzales, Louisiana
May 24-25, 2013  27th Annual Festival of Beers - San Luis Obispo, Calif.
May 25, 2013  72nd Happy Valley Strawberry Festival - Anderson, California
May 24-27, 2013  Worlds Largest Brat Fest - Madison, Wisconsin
May 25-26, 2013  Jersey Shore Food Truck Wars - Oceanport, New Jersey
May 25-26, 2013  30th Pungo Strawberry Festival - Virginia Beach, Virginia
See the Food Festivals section for over 7,000 Food Festivals & Shows!
 

FEATURED ARTICLES:

Tips for First Time Gardeners
Whether you start with a few containers on your patio, create a raised bed in a side yard or go big and plant a grand victory garden, gardening can be easy if you start with these six simple steps.

United States & World Porridge Making Championships
Fresh off winning its second title in four years at the Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship in Scotland, Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods is once again looking to crown a United States Porridge Making Champion to represent the company at the international competition in Scotland this October.
 

FOOD TRIVIA QUIZ (new on May 21, 2013)

1) The following events all took place during the same year. What year was it?
• Gerber sells 2 million cans & jars of baby food per week.
• The London Co-Operative Society opens the 1st full size supermarket in Britain.
• 'The Unprejudiced Palate' by Angelo Pellegrini is published.
• Nestle's Quik chocolate milk mix is introduced in the U.S.
• Campbell Soup Co. introduces V-8 Cocktail Vegetable Juice.
• Britain ends bread rationing in July.
• The McDonald brother's turn their 8 year old hamburger stand into a self service restaurant.
• Chef and author ('Larousse Gastronomique') Prosper Montagne dies at age 83.

2) What family of plants includes: anise, caraway, chervil, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, celery, parsnip, and goutweed, as well as the poisonous species poison hemlock, water hemlock and fool's parsley, and ornamentals sea holly, masterwort and blue lace flower?

3) Half and Half can refer to 2 totally unrelated liquids. 
Can you name both, and what they consist of?

4) Paunch and pluck are the principal ingredients for what famous ethnic dish?

5) 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

6) Here are some Culinary Characters that represent various food products. Do you know which ones are real people, and which ones are fictitious?
   a) Chef Boyardee.
   b) Aunt Jemima
   c) Dr Pepper
   d) Granny Smith (apple)
   e) Jack or Monterey Jack (cheese)
   f) Betty Crocker
   g) McIntosh (apple)

7) What is Gremolata or Gremolada?
   a) Minced parsley, lemon zest and garlic.
   b) An Italian ice.
   c) Toasted fine bread crumbs.
   d) Chopped onions, celery and carrots.
   e) A type of sausage.

8) What culinary preparation was created in the 1920s at San Francisco's Palace Hotel and named after a play, to honor George Arliss, who was appearing in the play?

9) If you were a geophagist (someone who practices 'geophagy'), what unusual item would you include in your diet?

10) What is a "Buck Rabbit" (besides being a male rabbit)?
   a) A popular 1930's cocktail.
   b) A type of farmers cheese.
   c) A type of cheese sandwich.
   d) A 'mock' rabbit stew.
   e) A type of sausage.

Click here for the answers to this Culinary Quiz

 

 

Dedication
This website is dedicated to:
Gladys Ehler, my mother, who taught me patience and how to make Sauerbraten
(it is still my favorite)
Edward Ehler, my father, who taught me a love of books and history.
Cpl. Thomas E. Saba, my nephew.  Died in action on Feb. 7, 2007 in Iraq. 
He was 30 yrs. young.

          Chef James

 

 



FOOD SHOWS:
Tripping Out With Alie & Georgia Premiere (June 21)
Chicago Pastry Competition Season 3: Deadline June 10
The Freshman Class Premiere (June 10)
‘Man Fire Food’ Season Premiere (June 3)
Weight of the Nation for Kids Parts 2 and 3 (May 7-29)
 

 

MAY INGREDIENTS

Artichoke Facts & Trivia
     Artichoke Tips
     Artichoke Recipes
     Artichoke Appetizers

Blueberry Facts & Trivia
     Blueberry History
     Blueberry Tips

Chard (Swiss Chard) Facts
     Swiss Chard Recipes

Radish Facts & Trivia
     Radish Tips
     Radish Varieties & Use

Okra Facts & Trivia
     Okra Varieties & Tips
     Okra Recipes
 



 






Food Emergency Websites, Phone #s, E-mails, etc




Restaurant Loans
Small Business Loans




NEWEST COOKBOOK LISTINGS:

· Garlic: The Mighty Bulb
· America's Best Ribs
· 5 Easy Steps to Healthy Cooking
· I Love Corn
· Foolproof Freezer Cookbook
· Japanese Farm Food
· 80 Recipes for Your Pressure Cooker
· Seamus Mullen's Hero Food
· Come In, We're Closed
· Flavor Exposed
· I Love Cinnamon Rolls!
· 80 Recipes for Your Breadmaker
· Quick-Fix Indian
· Salads: Beyond the Bowl
· American Cookery
· Back in the Swing Cookbook
· Bake It in a Cupcake
 



Culinary Showcase

Classic Fish Recipes
& Seafood Recipes

Flatfish

TomatoesFood Art &
Food Posters


Thousands of Food and Beverage Themed Posters

TheFoodWorld.com
Database of
Food Producers & Exproters

Home     |     About Us & Contact     |     Privacy Policy     |     Chef James Bio     |     Bibliography     |     Links Directory

Please feel free to link to any pages of FoodReference.com from your website.

For permission to use any of this content please E-mail: james@foodreference.com

All contents are copyright © 1990 - 2013 James T. Ehler and www.FoodReference.com unless otherwise noted.
All rights reserved.

You may copy and use portions of this website for non-commercial, personal use only.

Any other use of these materials without prior written authorization is not very nice and violates the copyright.
Please take the time to request permission.
 


Website last updated on Friday, May 24, 2013