Tidbit and Trivia about Food

Part One

The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded and whack the hell out of a chicken.

Julia Child

1. Rare, medium, or done?

A Western history of definitions & preferences.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “rare,” counterbalancing “done” describing the doneness of meat, descends from the word “rear”,

meaning imperfectly cooked or underdone. The original culinary use described eggs.

The earliest print reference to the word “rare” relating to meat cookery is circa 1615.

This early reference notes this stage is unwholesome [Markam].

Tilly: Well, as long as the steak doesn’t actually wink at me, I like it rare. Also like fish slightly underdone so that it is moist rather than like chewing grated wood. And despite the fashion for rare pork (I first heard about it in Germany), I currently prefer it cooked – but not overcooked. _

Bird’s Nest Soup

Like shark’s fin soup, bird’s nest soup was traditionally valued for its healthful properties. It is most often served as soup.

Is the traditional Chinese ingredient a real nest made by an actual bird? Yes. Mock bird’s nest soup was crafted by Trader Vic for quasi-adventurous American diners in the 1960s. American Bird’s Nest Pudding is totally unrelated, except for the name.

“One of the most distinctive Chinese delicacies is edible bird’s nest (yen-wo).

Tilly: Years ago, I had bird’s nest soup and attempted to eat the nest … it ws disgusting. It had obviously been used repeatedly and the the nest was rancid. I’d be happy to give it another go if I were sure it was fresh!

Watermelon

“The best known species of Citrullus is the watermelon which grows wild in large tracts of Africa and is an extremely important source of water in dry periods. Its cultivation is of very great antiquity, as can be seen from its many and varied names in different languages.

This was the melon for which the Israelites pined in their desert wanderings. It was widely cultivated in Ancient Egypt, and its seeds and leaves have been found among funerary offerings in Egyptian tombs.”

—Food in Antiquity: A Survey of the Diet of Early Peoples, Don Brothwell and Patricia Brothwell, expanded edition [Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore MD] 1998 (p. 127)

Tilly: I lurve watermelon. Makes a delicious starter when served in chunks with pickled red onion, olives, feta and a tart dressing. The seeds are packed with selenium – often missing in diets because the soil is depleted of minerals, so blitz them with the flesh for a refreshing drink. There used to be a need to beware of where they came from: sneaky growers would inject the melons with water (not always clean and potable) to make them swell faster. (This was when I lived in the Middle East.)

 

2.Tea parties aka afternoon tea

“The 1879 edition of Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management Good Form explained the organization of a nineteenth-century ‘little tea’: ‘A pretty little afternoon tea service is placed upon a small table, and there are plates of rolled bread-and-butter, as well as biscuits and cake…

— A Social History of Tea, Jane Pettigrew [The National Trust: London] 2001 (p. 107-108)

Tilly: Afternoon tea came about because of the long stretch until supper/dinner in British homes – served late at 9 or 10 o’clock. Ladies would invite friends to visit and serve tea with small sandwiches or cake to sustain them.

High tea

British ‘high tea” was not a fancier version of afternoon tea, but a more substantial meal served later in the day for both sexes.

The name was inspired by the actual height of the tables used to serve this meal and a “higher” hour on the clock.

Tilly: For those who eat their evening meal earlier in the day, say 5 or 6 o’clock, this is probably why some call it ‘tea’, rather than supper or dinner.

 

3. Yorkshire Pudding

“Yorkshire pudding. A puffy, bread-like side dish made by cooking an egg-and-milk batter in the hot fat and pan drippings from a roast beef.

It is a traditional English dish named after a northern county in England.

The first recipe for Yorkshire pudding appears in Mrs. Hannah Glasse’s Art of Cookery, printed in England…and widely circulated in America. The dish is now a traditional accompaniment to roast beef in this country as well.”

—Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Freidman: New York] 1999 (p. 356)

Tilly: Yorkshire puddings were originally served first – meat was expensive, so there was a need to ‘fill up’ with the puddings and some gravy before tackling the meat. These puddings are also served as desserts, with hot sauces in the middle.

Leather Britches

aren’t pants, but they are string beans, “fodder beans,” or “shuck beans” (because they were dried “in the shuck”) drying string beans to “leather britches”.

Tilly: Jeepers – must have been beans to earn ‘leather britches’ as a reference! String beans are known as snap beans or French beans. The term refers to older varieties that had a fibrous string running along the side of the pod, removed before cooking.

 

4. Aioli

“Aioli is one of the classic components of Provençal cuisine. It is essentially a garlic-flavored mayonnaise, made with egg yolks, olive oil, and garlic… The word, like the dish itself, is a compound of ail, ‘garlic’, and oli, the Provençal word for ‘oil’.”

—An A-Z of Food & Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 2)

“Aioli, or Beurre de Provence. Pound 30 g (1 oz) garlic as finely as possible in the mortar, add 1 raw egg yolk and a pinch of salt, and gradually mix in 1 1/2 dl (9 fl oz or 1 1/8 U.S. cup) oil, allowing it to fall drop by drop to begin with, then faster as a thread as the sauce begins to thicken. The thickening of the sauce takes place by turning the pestle vigorously whilst adding the oil. The consistency of the sauce should be adjusted during its making by adding the juice of 1 lemon and 1; 2 tbsp. of cold water little by little. Note: Should the sauce separate, it can be reconstituted by working it into 1 egg yolk, as for mayonnaise.”

—Le Guide Cuilinaire, Escoffier, first translation into English by H.L. Cracknell & R.J. Kaufmann, 1907 edition [John Wiley: New York] 1979 (p. 29)

Tilly: Oh so fond of aioli! Well – it’s got garlic in it! Wonderful with eggs, fish, salads, in sandwiches …

 

5. Carpetbag steak.

A grilled steak of beef into which is cut a pocket enclosing a stuffing of oysters.

The name derives from the handbag for travelers that was popular from about 1840 to 1870. The dish resembles the sack-like bag with its top closure. There does not seem to be any specific association with an American slang term, “carpetbagger,” for a hated post-Civil War opportunist who took advantage of both White and Black southerners politically and economically. In fact, the carpetbag steak is much more popular in Australia and is only mentioned for the first time in American print in 1941 in Louis Diat’s Cooking a la Ritz. Although there is no proof the dish originated at Chasen’s restaurant in Los Angeles, which opened in 1936, it did become one of the restaurant’s signature dishes.”

Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, John F. Mariani [Lebhar-Friedman: New York] 1999 (p. 59)

Tilly: Another big like! But I used smoked oysters, with parsley and garlic to stuff the steaks. I am not fond of fresh/raw oysters … I rebel against the sensation when raw oysters slide down my throat …

 

6. London Broil

“London broil is a distinctly American invention, and you will never find it – except in reference to the American dish – in British cookbooks.”

—Craig Claiborne’s The New York Times Food Encyclopedia, compiled by Joan Whitman [Times Books: New York] 1985 (p. 253)

Tilly: London Broil is a steak that is marinated for flavour, and sliced thinly down through the meat, so it is tender, juicy bite. Naturally the marinade needs garlic and fresh herbs …

End of Part One