Tidbit and Trivia about Food Part 3

Part Three

‘Following the Rumanian tradition, garlic is used in excess to keep the vampires away… Following the Jewish tradition, a dispenser of schmaltz (liquid chicken fat) is kept on the table to give the vampires heartburn if they get through the garlic defense.’

Calvin Trillin

 

13. Scallop

“Scallop, an edible mollusk that exists in many species around the world, is highly esteemed in almost all regions, although not in Southeast Asia… Scallops do not crawl or burrow, so they do not have a large ‘foot.’ Instead, they have a highly developed adductor muscle, by means of which they can open and close their shells and so propel themselves through the water. The Japanese name for scallop means, literally, ‘full-sail fish.’ From the manner of its movement with one shell raised. Not all scallops exercise this ability. Some remain anchored by a byssus to some solid object…”

—Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press: Oxford] 1999 (p.703-704)

Tilly: Definitely into scallops – the shellfsih version. The term is used to describe small round slices of veal and beef, which are also tasty. But fresh scallops on a bed of smashed fresh peas with mind, slices of black pudding and crisp bacon make a scrumptious lunch.

 

14. What is galangal?

“Galangal–also called galingale, greater galangal (Alminia galanga)-is an aromatic root, native to Indonesia, that resembles ginger and is a close relative to the ginger root family. It is joined in this relationship by both the lesser galangal (A. officinarum) and by galangal-Kaempferia galanga. In fact, greater galangal (also called laos) almost replaced ginger root in much of the cooking of Southeast Asia. Lesser galangal and galanga are also eaten, but more as a cooked vegetable than a spice. At one time, galangal was widely used in Europe (for example, in England during the Middle Ages), where the root was sliced in both fresh and dried forms and added to dishes; it was also dried and ground. Now…galangal’s principal use in the West is in making liqueurs and bitters.”

—Cambridge World History of Food, Kenneth F. Kiple & Kriemhild Conee Ornelas [Cambridge University Press: Cambridge] 2000, Volume Two (p. 1776)

Tilly: It’s known for its aromatic, peppery, and slightly citrusy flavor, often used in curries, soups, and stews. Galangal can be found fresh, dried, or ground. It also has medicinal properties. Something else I like.

 

15. Horehound

“Horehound, a wild plant whose leaves and seeds were used in a medicinal wine effective against coughs and colds. An amphora at the Roman fort at Carpow, Scotland, had contained horehound wine.”

—Food in the Ancient World From A to Z, Andrew Dalby [Routledge: London] 2003 (p. 180)

[15^th-century Italy] “Book III, 42. On Horehound Horehound is what the Greeks call prachion because of its bitterness, and it is numbered by them in the first rank of herbs. When its seeds and leaves are ground, they are effective against snakes. They settle pains of the chest or side or coughs. Castor tells of two kinds of horehound, black, which he approves of more, and white. From either, when they are chopped fine and mixed with flour, tidbits are made, which we eat for health at the first course, after they have been fried in oil in a pan. They are believed to get rid of worms, and for this reason they are often served to children.”

On Right Pleasure and Good Health, Platina [originally published in the 15th century], critical edition and translation by Mary Ella Milham [Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies: Tempe AZ] 1998 (p. 205, 207)

Tilly: Women use white horehound for painful menstruation. Also used for jaundice, to kill parasitic worms, to cause sweating, and to increase urine production. White horehound is sometimes applied to the skin for skin damage, ulcers, and wounds. It is made into a tea and a beer – but may increase stomach acid, and avoided in cases of gastritis or peptic ulcers. Horehound should not be used during pregnancy, as it may stimulate contractions.

 

16. Salisbury Steak

“Salisbury steak appears to be giving remarkably good results as a diet for people troubled with weak or disordered digestion but who require the supporting power of animal food. The manner of preparing it is described by Dr. Hopburn in the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Reporter. The surface of a round steak is chopped with a dull knife, the object being not to out, cut, but to pound the meat. As the meat pulp comes to the top, it is scraped off while the though and fibrous portion gradually reaches the bottom of the trough. The pulp is then made into cakes and lightly and quickly broiled so as to leave it almost raw inside. This diet is sometimes used exclusively in chronic cases, and as a rule no drugs are employed with it except tonics.”

—“Salisbury Steak,” Chicago Daily Tribune, January 24, 1885 (p. 6)

Tilly: A burger or beef patty by any other name?

“Dr. J. W. [sic] Salisbury, who was ahead of his time in working on germ theory as the cause of disease, according to his biographer, is now only remembered in connection with steak. Dr. Clyde L. Cummer, who has just finished a short work on Salisbury’s life from 1823 to 1905, says he was working on a germ theory for years before Louis Pasteur and might have gone down in medical annals as one of its giants of discovery. However, he enjoys but ‘a slender claim to a place in medical history by lending his name to a steak,’ Dr. Cummer said. Dr. Salisbury was a strong advocate of dietary disease, his biographer said, contending that the “most sustaining and most easily digested is beef.”

“Scientist Gives Steak a Name,” Eugene Register-Guard [OR], July 24, 1951 (p. 25)

Tilly: Protein is essential.

 

17. CHEF’S UNIFORMS

The toque, folklore: “The tall white hat, or toque, symbolizes the art of fine cooking throughout much of the world. Some sources say that the toque originated in Assyria in the mid-seventh century B.C., when King Assurbanipal lived in fear of being poisoned. He required the head cooks in wealthy households to wear pleated cloth headdresses similar to those worn by the royalty. This headgear served both to identify the cooks of a particular household and to encourage allegiance. A second legend traces the toque back to antiquity, when rulers presented master culinarians with bonnet-like caps studded with laurel leaves, emblems of the ruler’s office, in a ceremony that marked the beginning of all official feasts. Yet another tale situates the origin of the toque at the end of the sixth century A.D., when barbarians from northern Europe overran the Byzantine Empire. To escape persecution, philosophers and artists fled to Greek monasteries for refuge, where they found themselves in the company of Orthodox priests who enjoyed good food. This legend tells that many of the refugees became cooks in the monastery kitchens, adopting the cassock and headgear of the priests to disguise themselves. However, they chose to wear white instead of traditional black as a mark of individuality. Of course, none of these accounts can be verified, and most likely the chef’s toque evolved over time, with no single country or culture entirely responsible for its creation. The French word “toque,” by way of the Spanish “toca,” originally referred to a head covering worn by both men and women. Eventually, the toque took the shape of a small, round, close-fitting or “crown” of cloth with a gathering of material that was often pleated to cover the top of the head. By the sixteenth century, the characteristics of the hat varied from country to country…we must credit the famous chef Antonin Careme… with bringing the modern toque into the kitchen. He is said to have been inspired to change his floppy, beret-style cap when he saw a woman wearing a stiff, white hat on the street one day.

—“The Chef’s Uniform,” The Culinary Institute of America, Gastronmica Winter 2001 (p. 89-90)

Tilly: And there was I, believing it to be an inefficient way to keep hair out of the food.

 

18. Oldest Menu

“…the Sumerians…had a written language. Thanks to them, we have the first written dinner menus. A clay tablet from B.C. lists a proper meal for the gods. No doubt this was a kind of kitchen memorandum for the benefit of priests in training. The gods, according to this listing, might be served chickens, ducks, or doves; they were partial to the meat of sheep and goats and that of cows, and they also enjoyed fish. For dressing these deified entrees, either olive oil or sesame oil might be used. For garniture, dates, and cucumbers were acceptable, as were pistachio nuts, apricots, prunes, and dried raisins. A god might also have a sweet tooth, for the memorandum ends with a reference to cakes. He sometimes drank a wine made from sesame seeds. Since a Sumerian king was considered a living deity, we can assume that these celestial meals were actually served to the king himself, who consumed the food as a deputy of the gods.”

—Cooks, Gluttons & Gourmets: A History of Cookery, Betty Wason [Doubleday & Company: Garden City NY] 1962 (p. 72-73)

Tilly: Class shows …

 

19. APPLE BUTTER

“Apple butter, a Pennsylvania-Dutch cooked fruit puree, dating at least to 1765, made by cooking and pureeing apples with cider.”

Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman: New York] 1999 (p. 10)

The expression “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” actually comes from an old English saying, “Ate an apfel avore gwain to bed, makes the doctor beg his bread.” (Eat an apple before going to bed makes the doctor beg for his bread.)

Tilly: Apples with cides – and spices, I understand.

 

“Ways to my heart: buy me food, cook me food, be food …”

 

Olive and Tilly