Spring is here, daylight savings time has begun and the nights will soon be warmer. For me, and for many others, these changes ring in the beginning of barbecue season. Neighborhoods will soon be filled with the smells of meat cooking on the grill. For some their barbecues will be filled with tasty slabs of beef and pork ribs, for others it means a big juicy steak, or beer can chicken (see my next column), but for a growing number of home cooks it means a nice light flaky and moist fish. But before you slap that Chilean sea bass, orange roughy, shark or swordfish on the grill consider the manner in which it was caught.
The above fish are among a growing list of fish and shellfish that are being overfished from the world’s oceans. Since the 1950s, governments worldwide have pumped billions of dollars into the fishing industry in order to encourage more people to become fishermen and to make the industry more efficient. Fifty years ago, the fish supply seemed endless and plentiful, and with more fishermen and better technology available, governments could stimulate the fishing industry and turn handsome profits. By 1994, ocean fishermen worldwide were catching 4 times more fish than they were in 1950.
The reproductive capacity of fish like Chilean sea bass, shark and swordfish can not compete with this improved technology or with the increasing numbers of fishermen. The Chilean sea bass for instance matures slowly--it spawns after 10 years--and is often caught before it has a chance to reproduce. Beyond its slow reproductive system the fish dwells in remote areas where regulation is haphazard, making it virtually impossible to control the way the fish is caught and sold. According to the New York times 16,000 tons of sea bass were harvested legally in 2000, but nearly twice that amount was taken illegally. That means that 80 percent of the Chilean sea bass on the world market is illegally obtained.
Swordfish suffer the same fate as Chilean sea bass. According to an 1998 article in Time magazine, it was in the 1950s that swordfish populations first threatened by overfishing. Until then, swordfish were generally harpooned, and only the largest, usually weighing more than 200 lbs. and sometimes as much as 1,200 lbs., ended up on dinner plates. This fishing technique left the smaller swordfish to grow. In the 1960s, fishermen adopted a more devastating technique called long-lining, which makes catching swordfish cheaper and quicker. Hundreds of hooks are attached to a line that stretches for miles at a depth where swordfish congregate. Anything that bites gets hooked and often suffocates--mainly swordfish but also sharks, sea turtles and other marine species. Most worrisome is that much of the catch consists of small swordfish, averaging 90 lbs. or less At this size, females have not reached reproductive maturity. According to the U.S. Dept. of Fish and Game web site in 2000 an estimated 68% of the Atlantic swordfish catch was of immature fish.
The North Atlantic swordfish, Chilean sea bass and orange roughy have become so scarce that many of this country’s top rated restaurants have stopped serving them in order to protest the near depletion of these species. Chefs like Charlie Trotter, in Chicago, Paul Prudhomme in Louisiana and over 200 top rated restaurants in the Mid West and on the Atlantic, Gulf and West Coasts have pledged not to serve swordfish, orange roughy or Chilean sea bass. Some of these restaurateurs have even printed information about the campaign on menus. In this way diners will learn that fish populations are under pressure everywhere and severely depleted in the Atlantic.
The most depleted fish species today is the bluefin tuna. The number of bluefin tuna in the Western Atlantic Ocean has dropped 90 percent since 1970, making them much harder to fish and buy in supermarkets. A single bluefin tuna can bring a fisherman as much as $20,000 at U.S. docks. This high price increases the chances that the fish will be poached (no pun intended) or caught illegally.
There have been various efforts to reverse the damage that overfishing has caused. In recent years, the U.S. government has imposed stricter regulations on fishermen, setting limits on the number of fish caught and restricting the use of environmentally-destructive equipment. These remedies along with fish farms, setting aside preserves and regulating the number of boats a country can use to fish have had a positive impact on the number of fish available to consumers world wide. But these solutions present environmental problems of there own.
Ultimately, you the consumer will decide the fish's fate. Restoring world wide fish populations to healthy levels could take up to 20 years--a long time to forgo a favorite treat. But if swordfish and other popular fish become too scarce to catch, future generations may never taste it at all.
Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Thursday, February 23, 2006
MMMMMMMM, Coffee.
Some of my earliest food memories are of my mom screaming, “don’t play with your food!,” as I tried to dissect a baloney and cheese or peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But, what fun is food if you don’t play with it. My childhood curiosity about food helped to develop my adventurous palate. I truly believe that cooking and eating are about discovery, the discovery of new flavors, of new textures, and of foods and drinks unfamiliar to us. By scrutinizing these flavors and textures we learn to love and appreciate complex dishes whose flavors excite and awake passions in our mouths.
So it was that I began as an adult to play with food. My first experiments were mostly culinary, making my own pastas, home sushi making (more on that in a later column), growing my own herbs (no not that kind of herbs), preparing custom spice blends for dry rubs, baking bread and smoking (both hot and cold) meats and fish to name a few.
The mad scientist type experiments however, began several years ago, when I decided to make and bottle my own beer. The world of home brewing opened a deeper appreciation of beer and the complex character and flavors that can be obtained with a few tweaks of its relatively simple ingredients hops, malted barley water and yeast. These early experiments were sometimes maddening for both my wife, to whom I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to for letting me play with my food, and me. Despite many frustrated moments, sticky spills, errant yeast infections, bad bottles and stinking up the house, I created many a bottle of beer that rivaled, at least to my palate and the taste buds of some of my friends, that which is available in many micro breweries. Since my first batch I’ve continued to brew and enjoy my own beer. Although time being what it is, it’s been quite a while since my last batch.
A great man, hell it could have been a woman for all I know, once said, “man cannot live on beer alone.” I agree. We also need coffee. A few weeks ago I wrote about the history and production of coffee and in the closing paragraphs I wrote, that if you wanted to turn your cup of coffee into hobby you should try home roasting. Well, not one to let such sage advice fall on deaf ears, I decided to give home roasting a go.
Home coffee roasting sounds impressive, but it is exceedingly easy. So easy in fact, that it’s wonder more people don’t do it. The first step is to acquire green coffee beans. A quick search of the Internet revealed most home roasters (there are several home roasting pages online homeroaster.com and the newsgroup alt.coffee were the most helpful) preferred www.sweetmarias.com for their green beans. Once at the site I was totally blown away by the variety of coffee beans. Here were more than 75 varieties from around the world. But what beans to choose? I honestly didn’t know. So I chose beans I was already familiar with (Kenya AA). This way once I roasted them I could compare my beans to commercially roasted Kenya AA that I already had. The variety choice and price of green coffee is what makes home roasting so attractive to me.
By sampling a wide selection of beans, Sweet Maria’s offers several sampler packs that include a few pounds of coffee from the a variety of regions, I’m discovering the intricate nature of coffee flavors. There seem to be as many flavor profiles in coffee as there are in great wines and beer. Call me a coffee snob if you want, but I’ve learned a tremendous amount in the last few weeks about coffee and I’m never going back to the commercial stuff.
Green coffee beans are also much more inexpensive than already roasted ones. Take for example the Kenya AA that I first experimented with. These are premium grade beans that you’d find only in the highest of quality roasters (Polly’s, Peet’s and to some extent good old Starbuck’s). The beans I purchased cost a little over $5.00 per pound. Roasted at a Starbucks or Peet’s these same beans fetch, between $12.00 and $15.00 per pound and they may have been sitting in bins for weeks or months.
But what about time, you ask. Well, as I said roasting coffee is incredibly simple, fast and requires little to no special equipment. For my first attempt, I used what many consider the most simple method, oven roasting. For this experiment I preheated my oven to 500 degrees (I have an oven thermometer in my oven for accuracy), placed roughly a half pound of the beans in a single layer on a perforated pizza pan (perforated, so that air can circulate around the beans assuring a more even roast), and placed them on the middle rack of the oven. After about 5-7 minutes I began to hear the beans cracking and roasting smoke began to pour out of the vents. Oh yeah, if your going to do this in your oven make sure you turn on the venting fan on as high as it will go. About two minutes later I opened the oven (quickly) to check for color. I let the beans roast for three minutes after first crack and they were at a dark city to French roast at this time. I opened the oven once more to retrieve the dark beauties and was met with the most wonderful smelling cloud of smoke (a cloud that my oven vent couldn’t quite handle so for the next 6 hours or so our house was filled with the acrid aroma of fresh roasted coffee). I quickly placed the beans into a colander and went outside to toss them. Tossing the beans in a colander cools them and removes the chaff or outer coating from the bean. Once the beans were cool to the touch I put them into an airtight container and waited for the morning to arrive. Warm, fresh roasted beans are wonderful, but the coffee attains its peak 4 to 24 hours after roasting. The next morning I awoke to one of the best cups of coffee I’d ever had. If you store your freshly roasted coffee in an airtight jar out of direct sunlight it will remain fresh for about 6 days.
That first experiment was enough to encourage more experimentation, but as with many of my food experiments I decided to (or was forced to) move my hobby outside. This move also precipitate the other wonderful aspect of hobbies the gadget collecting. Not having an oven outside I needed another way of roasting my beans. Once again I scoured the internet, finding hundreds of gadgets from high end very expensive commercial and consumer grade roasters and home rigged barbeques and propane cookers for roasting, to simple air popcorn poppers that make roasting outside cheap and easy. Not having money for the expensive roasters or the time to convert my barbecue into drum roaster (maybe someday), I opted for the popcorn popper (for details on choosing a popcorn popper see Sweet Maria’s “Home Roasting Basics” page).
The hot air popcorn popper method was even more easy than the oven. I just filled the chamber of the popcorn popper with green coffee beans, positioned a bowl under the chute (to catch the chaff that is expelled by the hot air), and turned on the machine. After about 3 minutes the beans reached the first crack stage, 3 minutes later they were ready. I dumped them into a colander and tossed them to cool. Put another load of beans in the popcorn popper. I continued this process until I had roasted about a half pound of beans. The biggest benefit of this method is not worrying about smoke or, as my wife likes to say, “stinking up the house.” The drawback is the limited amount of beans that the popcorn popper can roast at one time. But you can’t beat having fresh roasted coffee available to you at any time.
If you’re going to experiment with home roasting, I suggest visiting a few of the sites I’ve mentioned and learning a bit more about this wonderful hobby. While I’ve covered the basics here, there is much more detailed information available online, including detailed instructions and warnings plus other methods of roasting including stove top roasting, which I haven’t tried. Good Luck and remember despite what our mothers said it’s okay to play with our food.
So it was that I began as an adult to play with food. My first experiments were mostly culinary, making my own pastas, home sushi making (more on that in a later column), growing my own herbs (no not that kind of herbs), preparing custom spice blends for dry rubs, baking bread and smoking (both hot and cold) meats and fish to name a few.
The mad scientist type experiments however, began several years ago, when I decided to make and bottle my own beer. The world of home brewing opened a deeper appreciation of beer and the complex character and flavors that can be obtained with a few tweaks of its relatively simple ingredients hops, malted barley water and yeast. These early experiments were sometimes maddening for both my wife, to whom I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to for letting me play with my food, and me. Despite many frustrated moments, sticky spills, errant yeast infections, bad bottles and stinking up the house, I created many a bottle of beer that rivaled, at least to my palate and the taste buds of some of my friends, that which is available in many micro breweries. Since my first batch I’ve continued to brew and enjoy my own beer. Although time being what it is, it’s been quite a while since my last batch.
A great man, hell it could have been a woman for all I know, once said, “man cannot live on beer alone.” I agree. We also need coffee. A few weeks ago I wrote about the history and production of coffee and in the closing paragraphs I wrote, that if you wanted to turn your cup of coffee into hobby you should try home roasting. Well, not one to let such sage advice fall on deaf ears, I decided to give home roasting a go.
Home coffee roasting sounds impressive, but it is exceedingly easy. So easy in fact, that it’s wonder more people don’t do it. The first step is to acquire green coffee beans. A quick search of the Internet revealed most home roasters (there are several home roasting pages online homeroaster.com and the newsgroup alt.coffee were the most helpful) preferred www.sweetmarias.com for their green beans. Once at the site I was totally blown away by the variety of coffee beans. Here were more than 75 varieties from around the world. But what beans to choose? I honestly didn’t know. So I chose beans I was already familiar with (Kenya AA). This way once I roasted them I could compare my beans to commercially roasted Kenya AA that I already had. The variety choice and price of green coffee is what makes home roasting so attractive to me.
By sampling a wide selection of beans, Sweet Maria’s offers several sampler packs that include a few pounds of coffee from the a variety of regions, I’m discovering the intricate nature of coffee flavors. There seem to be as many flavor profiles in coffee as there are in great wines and beer. Call me a coffee snob if you want, but I’ve learned a tremendous amount in the last few weeks about coffee and I’m never going back to the commercial stuff.
Green coffee beans are also much more inexpensive than already roasted ones. Take for example the Kenya AA that I first experimented with. These are premium grade beans that you’d find only in the highest of quality roasters (Polly’s, Peet’s and to some extent good old Starbuck’s). The beans I purchased cost a little over $5.00 per pound. Roasted at a Starbucks or Peet’s these same beans fetch, between $12.00 and $15.00 per pound and they may have been sitting in bins for weeks or months.
But what about time, you ask. Well, as I said roasting coffee is incredibly simple, fast and requires little to no special equipment. For my first attempt, I used what many consider the most simple method, oven roasting. For this experiment I preheated my oven to 500 degrees (I have an oven thermometer in my oven for accuracy), placed roughly a half pound of the beans in a single layer on a perforated pizza pan (perforated, so that air can circulate around the beans assuring a more even roast), and placed them on the middle rack of the oven. After about 5-7 minutes I began to hear the beans cracking and roasting smoke began to pour out of the vents. Oh yeah, if your going to do this in your oven make sure you turn on the venting fan on as high as it will go. About two minutes later I opened the oven (quickly) to check for color. I let the beans roast for three minutes after first crack and they were at a dark city to French roast at this time. I opened the oven once more to retrieve the dark beauties and was met with the most wonderful smelling cloud of smoke (a cloud that my oven vent couldn’t quite handle so for the next 6 hours or so our house was filled with the acrid aroma of fresh roasted coffee). I quickly placed the beans into a colander and went outside to toss them. Tossing the beans in a colander cools them and removes the chaff or outer coating from the bean. Once the beans were cool to the touch I put them into an airtight container and waited for the morning to arrive. Warm, fresh roasted beans are wonderful, but the coffee attains its peak 4 to 24 hours after roasting. The next morning I awoke to one of the best cups of coffee I’d ever had. If you store your freshly roasted coffee in an airtight jar out of direct sunlight it will remain fresh for about 6 days.
That first experiment was enough to encourage more experimentation, but as with many of my food experiments I decided to (or was forced to) move my hobby outside. This move also precipitate the other wonderful aspect of hobbies the gadget collecting. Not having an oven outside I needed another way of roasting my beans. Once again I scoured the internet, finding hundreds of gadgets from high end very expensive commercial and consumer grade roasters and home rigged barbeques and propane cookers for roasting, to simple air popcorn poppers that make roasting outside cheap and easy. Not having money for the expensive roasters or the time to convert my barbecue into drum roaster (maybe someday), I opted for the popcorn popper (for details on choosing a popcorn popper see Sweet Maria’s “Home Roasting Basics” page).
The hot air popcorn popper method was even more easy than the oven. I just filled the chamber of the popcorn popper with green coffee beans, positioned a bowl under the chute (to catch the chaff that is expelled by the hot air), and turned on the machine. After about 3 minutes the beans reached the first crack stage, 3 minutes later they were ready. I dumped them into a colander and tossed them to cool. Put another load of beans in the popcorn popper. I continued this process until I had roasted about a half pound of beans. The biggest benefit of this method is not worrying about smoke or, as my wife likes to say, “stinking up the house.” The drawback is the limited amount of beans that the popcorn popper can roast at one time. But you can’t beat having fresh roasted coffee available to you at any time.
If you’re going to experiment with home roasting, I suggest visiting a few of the sites I’ve mentioned and learning a bit more about this wonderful hobby. While I’ve covered the basics here, there is much more detailed information available online, including detailed instructions and warnings plus other methods of roasting including stove top roasting, which I haven’t tried. Good Luck and remember despite what our mothers said it’s okay to play with our food.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
There's Always Room for Pie...
“Pumpkin pie, if rightly made is a thing of beauty and joy- while it lasts…with pastry light, tender, and not too rich, and a generous filling of smooth spiced sweetness…a perfect pumpkin pie, eaten before the life has gone out of it, is one of the real additions made by American cookery to the good things of the world.”—The House Mother.
I heartily agree with this anonymous House Mother’s sentiments. There really is no better treat, especially after a satisfying Thanksgiving meal, than a homemade pumpkin pie.
Many however, may be disappointed to learn that William Bradford and his not-so-merry band of Pilgrims didn’t have pumpkin pie at Plymouth Plantation’s first thanksgiving. While they did sit down to a feast that included, “cod, bass and other fish [probably oysters, lobsters, clams and mussels]” along with “waterfowl [ducks, swans, geese, and cranes]” a “great store of wild turkey, venison and etc…” But they didn’t have pumpkin pie.
Fear not, they did have a pumpkin pie like substitute. According to curators at Plymouth Plantation the end of first Thanksgiving was celebrated with a pumpkin pudding. Made from a large pumpkin that was hollowed out and drizzled with honey or maple syrup. The whole thing was then baked in the hot ashes of a fire until the flesh of the pumpkin was tender and pudding like. Some of the sources I consulted also said the pumpkins were filled with milk or cream in addition to the syrup and honey. This may be true for later harvest celebrations or festivals, but milk products, especially cows milk, would have been impossible to get in 1621. That said some suggest that the pilgrims did keep goats that had been brought over on the Mayflower so they may have had goat’s milk.
Pumpkin pudding though is a far cry from that smooth and creamy pumpking pie that we know. Where did it come from. More than likely this was an English standard that adopted native American ingredients. The first known recorded recipe for pumpkin pie was published in Amelia Simmons’ “American Cookery” in 1796. In this very popular cookbook Simmons offers two receipes for “pompkin” puddings (each needing a pastry crust, so they are actually pies), both of which call for seasoning with molasses or maple syrup if refined sugar was not available and nutmeg, cinnamon and mace. As she says in her introduction these recipes had been compiled from traditional colonial recipes passed down to her from friends and family in colonies. One can guess then that pumpkin pie was probably a staple of the colonies dating back to when regular trade opened with Great Britain and other European countries. This regular trade would have made spices and flour, affordable enough so that pumpkin pies would be common place.
Today pumpkin pie is as American as, well, as apple pie, baseball and rock and roll. Its popularity has made it an icon of the modern thanksgiving and a ubiquitous part of our holiday celebrations. Virtually all pumpkin pie recipes are the same, eggs (two), brown sugar (1 cup packed), milk or cream (1/2 cup), mashed pumpkin (roughly 2 cups), cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and mace (or prepared pumpkin pie spice, here amounts differ by recipe but generally a quarter tsp. each works. Taste your filling to make sure) and a little salt. All of this is mixed together in a bowl and poured into a 9 inch pie crust, homemade of course, and baked at 450 degrees for 10 minutes and then at 350 for and additional 40 to 50 minutes. It couldn’t be easier.
The one question that remains is whether to use fresh or canned pumpkin in your pie. Most people automatically reach for canned pumpkin because they believe making fresh pumpkin puree is difficult. It’s really quite simple. The best type of pumpkins to use in a pie is the “sugar pumpkin,” which are available both at the various farmers markets around town and in grocery stores. One medium sized pumpkin is generally enough for a single pie. To make the puree start by roasting your halved pumpkin (seeds and strings removed) cut side down on a greased foil-lined baking sheet at 350 for roughly two hours (check after 45 minutes total time will depend on the size of your pumpkin). The flesh of the roasted pumpkin should be tender and lightly browned. Once cooled puree the pumpkin in a food processor, food mill or potato ricer. Your pumpkin is ready to use in any recipe calling for pumpkin puree.
Is all that preparation necessary for a great pie? I’m not sure it is. Sure it’s impressive and you’ll earn the respect and admiration of your foodie friends, but according to most chefs canned pumpkin works just as well fresh. In fact many chefs prefer the smooth concentrated pumpkin straight from the can because it’s consistent and often times richer than fresh pumpkin. If you do grab a can of pumpkin from the store shelve be sure it’s labled pure pumpkin not pumpkin pie mix. Prepared and canned pumpkin pie mix is bland and tasteless. So if you want to impress your gourmand friends, by all means spend the extra time, roast and puree your own pumpkin. Or grab a can mix up your pie and watch a little extra football. The choice is yours.
One last thing, although pumpkin is healthy and largely good for you there are certain side effects which women should be warned of. According to Alan Hirsch, MD, a neurologist and psychiatrist at the Smell and Taste Treatment And Research Foundation in Chicago, the way to a man’s heart my not be through his stomach but through his nasal passage. Dr. Hirsch and his group have found that “the scent of pumpkin pie” drastically increased feelings of sexual arousal in 90% of the men they tested. So while that pie might not increase the size of his belly it might increase the size of his…
Think about that while you, your friends and family have a happy Thanksgiving.
I heartily agree with this anonymous House Mother’s sentiments. There really is no better treat, especially after a satisfying Thanksgiving meal, than a homemade pumpkin pie.
Many however, may be disappointed to learn that William Bradford and his not-so-merry band of Pilgrims didn’t have pumpkin pie at Plymouth Plantation’s first thanksgiving. While they did sit down to a feast that included, “cod, bass and other fish [probably oysters, lobsters, clams and mussels]” along with “waterfowl [ducks, swans, geese, and cranes]” a “great store of wild turkey, venison and etc…” But they didn’t have pumpkin pie.
Fear not, they did have a pumpkin pie like substitute. According to curators at Plymouth Plantation the end of first Thanksgiving was celebrated with a pumpkin pudding. Made from a large pumpkin that was hollowed out and drizzled with honey or maple syrup. The whole thing was then baked in the hot ashes of a fire until the flesh of the pumpkin was tender and pudding like. Some of the sources I consulted also said the pumpkins were filled with milk or cream in addition to the syrup and honey. This may be true for later harvest celebrations or festivals, but milk products, especially cows milk, would have been impossible to get in 1621. That said some suggest that the pilgrims did keep goats that had been brought over on the Mayflower so they may have had goat’s milk.
Pumpkin pudding though is a far cry from that smooth and creamy pumpking pie that we know. Where did it come from. More than likely this was an English standard that adopted native American ingredients. The first known recorded recipe for pumpkin pie was published in Amelia Simmons’ “American Cookery” in 1796. In this very popular cookbook Simmons offers two receipes for “pompkin” puddings (each needing a pastry crust, so they are actually pies), both of which call for seasoning with molasses or maple syrup if refined sugar was not available and nutmeg, cinnamon and mace. As she says in her introduction these recipes had been compiled from traditional colonial recipes passed down to her from friends and family in colonies. One can guess then that pumpkin pie was probably a staple of the colonies dating back to when regular trade opened with Great Britain and other European countries. This regular trade would have made spices and flour, affordable enough so that pumpkin pies would be common place.
Today pumpkin pie is as American as, well, as apple pie, baseball and rock and roll. Its popularity has made it an icon of the modern thanksgiving and a ubiquitous part of our holiday celebrations. Virtually all pumpkin pie recipes are the same, eggs (two), brown sugar (1 cup packed), milk or cream (1/2 cup), mashed pumpkin (roughly 2 cups), cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and mace (or prepared pumpkin pie spice, here amounts differ by recipe but generally a quarter tsp. each works. Taste your filling to make sure) and a little salt. All of this is mixed together in a bowl and poured into a 9 inch pie crust, homemade of course, and baked at 450 degrees for 10 minutes and then at 350 for and additional 40 to 50 minutes. It couldn’t be easier.
The one question that remains is whether to use fresh or canned pumpkin in your pie. Most people automatically reach for canned pumpkin because they believe making fresh pumpkin puree is difficult. It’s really quite simple. The best type of pumpkins to use in a pie is the “sugar pumpkin,” which are available both at the various farmers markets around town and in grocery stores. One medium sized pumpkin is generally enough for a single pie. To make the puree start by roasting your halved pumpkin (seeds and strings removed) cut side down on a greased foil-lined baking sheet at 350 for roughly two hours (check after 45 minutes total time will depend on the size of your pumpkin). The flesh of the roasted pumpkin should be tender and lightly browned. Once cooled puree the pumpkin in a food processor, food mill or potato ricer. Your pumpkin is ready to use in any recipe calling for pumpkin puree.
Is all that preparation necessary for a great pie? I’m not sure it is. Sure it’s impressive and you’ll earn the respect and admiration of your foodie friends, but according to most chefs canned pumpkin works just as well fresh. In fact many chefs prefer the smooth concentrated pumpkin straight from the can because it’s consistent and often times richer than fresh pumpkin. If you do grab a can of pumpkin from the store shelve be sure it’s labled pure pumpkin not pumpkin pie mix. Prepared and canned pumpkin pie mix is bland and tasteless. So if you want to impress your gourmand friends, by all means spend the extra time, roast and puree your own pumpkin. Or grab a can mix up your pie and watch a little extra football. The choice is yours.
One last thing, although pumpkin is healthy and largely good for you there are certain side effects which women should be warned of. According to Alan Hirsch, MD, a neurologist and psychiatrist at the Smell and Taste Treatment And Research Foundation in Chicago, the way to a man’s heart my not be through his stomach but through his nasal passage. Dr. Hirsch and his group have found that “the scent of pumpkin pie” drastically increased feelings of sexual arousal in 90% of the men they tested. So while that pie might not increase the size of his belly it might increase the size of his…
Think about that while you, your friends and family have a happy Thanksgiving.
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Turkey for the Adventurous
One of my favorite columns. Originally published Nov. 2001 in the Grunion Gazette.
As Thanksgiving nears, you’re probably being bombarded by people who claim to have the best way to roast a traditional Thanksgiving turkey. I say, to hell with tradition, it’s time to add a little excitement and danger to your Thanksgiving meal.
This year forgo boring oven roasted turkey and try one of the more challenging and fun methods of cooking that bird: deep-frying, Cajun microwaving or grilling. All of these methods are good ways to get everyone off of the couch and involved in the cooking process. Fair warning though, this is extreme cooking at its finest and requires some specialized equipment and only those with the constitution of a daredevil and the willingness to risk both Thanksgiving dinner and their eyebrows should attempt these cooking styles.
What was once the providence of Southern Louisiana, deep-frying turkeys has become popular in almost every state in the nation. Deep-frying works best and should only be done with special outdoor deep-fryers (available at most home improvement stores and online).
The first step in this process is prepping the bird for its hot oil bath. For this you need to inject the thawed bird(using a large 60cc syringe a la Herbert West in The Re-Animator) with a potent mixture spices that will both flavor the turkey and keep it moist during cooking. Next, season the outside of the bird with generous amounts of salt and fresh ground pepper. Place the turkey, breast down, on the stand several minutes before you are ready to cook. Letting the turkey set in this position for several minutes helps to drain off any excess moisture and reduce "popping" oil when it is placed in the hot oil. Now the fun really begins.
The next few steps require both common sense and sobriety. As you place the raw bird into the hot oil (350 degrees) the excess moisture will cause a steam explosion and the oil will "boil up". This is not as bad as it sounds, especially if you lower the turkey a little at a time, lifting it slightly from the oil as it bubbles up until you have it completely submerged. If you try and lower the bird too fast the boiling oil and the sudden displacement caused by the weight of the bird could result in some volcanic action and perhaps a small patio fire (not that this has ever happened to me, he writes sarcastically). Getting the turkey into the oil is easy. Getting it out, without second-degree burns, is a bit of a challenge. Just be careful and follow the directions that come with your cooker. If done correctly a 12 lbs. bird will cook to perfection in about an hour. For the arithmetically challenged that’s roughly 4 to 5 minutes per lbs. This technique is both exciting and produces the best tasting turkey I’ve ever eaten.
Recently my Cajun Uncle has introduced me to another Southern Louisiana tradition, the Cajun Microwave (some call it the coonass microwave). This is definitely a non-traditional way of roasting your family bird. Here’s how it was explained to me. Inject your turkey with Cajun spices (as you would for deep-frying). A half an hour before cooking, start several batches of charcoal briquettes in chimney starters. While waiting for the charcoal to reach temperature, clear an area outside for a fire pit. Pound a hickory stake into the middle of the prepared ground so that at least 16" are above the ground. Stick your turkey through the body cavity on the stake, so that it's standing upright. Cover the whole thing with a new sturdy metal trashcan then pour the hot coals into the top of the upside down trashcan. The radiant heat from the coals and the metal trashcan will cook the turkey to a beautiful golden brown. If you can’t stomach the idea of cooking in a trashcan, you can purchase ready-made cypress Cajun Microwaves online (www.crawfishguy.com), these wooden roasting boxes cook the same way as the trashcan version, but they hold up to 250 lbs. of meat.
For the less adventurous who still want to play with fire, I’d suggest grilling your turkey. The trick here is to arrange medium-hot coals on either side of a large rectangular metal or foil drip pan. Once the fire is hot, you should be able to hold your hand above the grill for 3 seconds before you have to pull your hand away, place turkey, breast side up, on grill directly above the drip pan. This method of cooking (indirect heat) gives the turkey lots of smoke flavor without cooking it too fast on the outside. Cover the grill and cook the turkey for about 10 minutes per pound (any size turkey will work with this method) or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh reaches 165 to 170 degrees. You'll need to add more coals every hour or so and, of course, watch for any flare-ups, although the drip pan should eliminate this. Like deep-frying and the Cajun microwave, this technique is quicker than traditional methods and it also frees up premium oven space.
So this year, if the weather is nice, buck tradition and add a little excitement to the holidays.
As Thanksgiving nears, you’re probably being bombarded by people who claim to have the best way to roast a traditional Thanksgiving turkey. I say, to hell with tradition, it’s time to add a little excitement and danger to your Thanksgiving meal.
This year forgo boring oven roasted turkey and try one of the more challenging and fun methods of cooking that bird: deep-frying, Cajun microwaving or grilling. All of these methods are good ways to get everyone off of the couch and involved in the cooking process. Fair warning though, this is extreme cooking at its finest and requires some specialized equipment and only those with the constitution of a daredevil and the willingness to risk both Thanksgiving dinner and their eyebrows should attempt these cooking styles.
What was once the providence of Southern Louisiana, deep-frying turkeys has become popular in almost every state in the nation. Deep-frying works best and should only be done with special outdoor deep-fryers (available at most home improvement stores and online).
The first step in this process is prepping the bird for its hot oil bath. For this you need to inject the thawed bird(using a large 60cc syringe a la Herbert West in The Re-Animator) with a potent mixture spices that will both flavor the turkey and keep it moist during cooking. Next, season the outside of the bird with generous amounts of salt and fresh ground pepper. Place the turkey, breast down, on the stand several minutes before you are ready to cook. Letting the turkey set in this position for several minutes helps to drain off any excess moisture and reduce "popping" oil when it is placed in the hot oil. Now the fun really begins.
The next few steps require both common sense and sobriety. As you place the raw bird into the hot oil (350 degrees) the excess moisture will cause a steam explosion and the oil will "boil up". This is not as bad as it sounds, especially if you lower the turkey a little at a time, lifting it slightly from the oil as it bubbles up until you have it completely submerged. If you try and lower the bird too fast the boiling oil and the sudden displacement caused by the weight of the bird could result in some volcanic action and perhaps a small patio fire (not that this has ever happened to me, he writes sarcastically). Getting the turkey into the oil is easy. Getting it out, without second-degree burns, is a bit of a challenge. Just be careful and follow the directions that come with your cooker. If done correctly a 12 lbs. bird will cook to perfection in about an hour. For the arithmetically challenged that’s roughly 4 to 5 minutes per lbs. This technique is both exciting and produces the best tasting turkey I’ve ever eaten.
Recently my Cajun Uncle has introduced me to another Southern Louisiana tradition, the Cajun Microwave (some call it the coonass microwave). This is definitely a non-traditional way of roasting your family bird. Here’s how it was explained to me. Inject your turkey with Cajun spices (as you would for deep-frying). A half an hour before cooking, start several batches of charcoal briquettes in chimney starters. While waiting for the charcoal to reach temperature, clear an area outside for a fire pit. Pound a hickory stake into the middle of the prepared ground so that at least 16" are above the ground. Stick your turkey through the body cavity on the stake, so that it's standing upright. Cover the whole thing with a new sturdy metal trashcan then pour the hot coals into the top of the upside down trashcan. The radiant heat from the coals and the metal trashcan will cook the turkey to a beautiful golden brown. If you can’t stomach the idea of cooking in a trashcan, you can purchase ready-made cypress Cajun Microwaves online (www.crawfishguy.com), these wooden roasting boxes cook the same way as the trashcan version, but they hold up to 250 lbs. of meat.
For the less adventurous who still want to play with fire, I’d suggest grilling your turkey. The trick here is to arrange medium-hot coals on either side of a large rectangular metal or foil drip pan. Once the fire is hot, you should be able to hold your hand above the grill for 3 seconds before you have to pull your hand away, place turkey, breast side up, on grill directly above the drip pan. This method of cooking (indirect heat) gives the turkey lots of smoke flavor without cooking it too fast on the outside. Cover the grill and cook the turkey for about 10 minutes per pound (any size turkey will work with this method) or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest part of thigh reaches 165 to 170 degrees. You'll need to add more coals every hour or so and, of course, watch for any flare-ups, although the drip pan should eliminate this. Like deep-frying and the Cajun microwave, this technique is quicker than traditional methods and it also frees up premium oven space.
So this year, if the weather is nice, buck tradition and add a little excitement to the holidays.
Friday, June 18, 2004
My first Column Sept. 00
This was my first column, published in the "Grunion and Downtown Gazettes," Long Beach, California. Here I actually stuck to my word limit (a rarity now). As a result this first column is quite brief.
I've lived in Long Beach all my life and every year around this time, people start complaining that we don't have seasons.
"You call this fall? Where are the leaves?" or "Winter? What winter? You're still wearing shorts!" and my all-time favorite, "You all don't know what seasons are, you just go from nice to nicer." Well, regardless of these naysayers' complaints, Southern California does have seasons, and autumn is upon us.
That means it is harvest time, and the one food that screams out autumn more than most is the apple. Yes apples, those mushy tasteless orbs from our childhood lunch pails that after a few obligatory bites or failed trading attempts usually ended up in the trash.
And yet, it was this same piece of fruit that captured the imagination of generations past and became a central part of our folklore and mythology. After all it was the apple, the source of all knowledge, that caused our banishment from Eden. It was so divine that John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) spent his adult life planting orchards throughout the Ohio Valley. It has been credited with giving Isaac Newton the idea for gravity and Steve Jobs the idea for the home computer. Surely, the source of this much inspiration was not a bland, boring piece of fruit.
The reason that many apples are so uninspiring is not because they're inherently bad. It is largely due to the fact that they are old. Many apples are stored in warehouses where they may sit for up to a year before making their way to many grocery stores. The longer apples sit, the more flavor they lose. Many commercial growers also over-water their crops, which results in large sumptuous looking fruit that are tasteless and mushy. Try an apple that has been plucked straight from the tree and you'll instantly know what you've been missing. Once you've sunk your teeth into that resilient, crispy, sweet, juicy flesh, there's no going back.
You can find good-tasting fresh apples throughout our local area. In fact, there are a greater variety of fresh apples coming to markets throughout Southern California than ever before. At last count, more than 1,000 varieties of apples are being grown, and more than 100 of them are commonly available to consumers at farmers' markets, roadside stands and in well-stocked supermarkets (look for signs that say "Fresh Picked" or "New Crop"). Our local farmers' market (especially on the Promenade on Fridays) boasts at least 20 different varieties ranging from the sweet and exotic Mutsu and Gordon to wonderfully delicious Granny Smith and Jonathan. Most of these apples are grown organically and lack the shiny wax coating found on supermarket fruit.
While there are so many apples to choose from, some tend to be more appropriate for certain kinds of dishes than others. Apples for cooked or baked goods such as pies, baked apples or salsas should be firm and flavorful so their texture and taste can stand up to the heat of cooking and other ingredients. But, if your making applesauce, chutneys, or puddings, choose an apple with a softer composition that will break down into a smooth puree as it cooks. For eating fresh out of hand, it's all a matter of preference: whether you prefer honey-sweet apples (Golden Delicious, Fuji or McIntosh) or puckery-tart ones (the classic Granny Smith, Ida Red or Baldwin), tantalizingly crunchy (Winesap, Northern Spy or Empire) or soft and yielding (Elstar or Jonathan).
No matter which apple you choose, there are a few things that all good apples should have in common. Choose firm apples that are heavy for their size. You should steer clear of mushy, over-watered apples by checking the bottoms and choosing those that are closed (round bottoms), not open. The apples should have a fresh smell, not a musty one, and the skin should be smooth and tight with no soft spots. Wrinkled skin, mushy spots and a hollow, spongy feel are all traits of an old, improperly stored apple. As with any fruit or vegetable, you want to pick apples at their height of freshness this means searching them out during their peak season. Apples are at their best from late summer to mid-autumn.
So get out there and take a bite of the not-so-forbidden fruit. You only have a few more weeks to enjoy apples at their best.
I've lived in Long Beach all my life and every year around this time, people start complaining that we don't have seasons.
"You call this fall? Where are the leaves?" or "Winter? What winter? You're still wearing shorts!" and my all-time favorite, "You all don't know what seasons are, you just go from nice to nicer." Well, regardless of these naysayers' complaints, Southern California does have seasons, and autumn is upon us.
That means it is harvest time, and the one food that screams out autumn more than most is the apple. Yes apples, those mushy tasteless orbs from our childhood lunch pails that after a few obligatory bites or failed trading attempts usually ended up in the trash.
And yet, it was this same piece of fruit that captured the imagination of generations past and became a central part of our folklore and mythology. After all it was the apple, the source of all knowledge, that caused our banishment from Eden. It was so divine that John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) spent his adult life planting orchards throughout the Ohio Valley. It has been credited with giving Isaac Newton the idea for gravity and Steve Jobs the idea for the home computer. Surely, the source of this much inspiration was not a bland, boring piece of fruit.
The reason that many apples are so uninspiring is not because they're inherently bad. It is largely due to the fact that they are old. Many apples are stored in warehouses where they may sit for up to a year before making their way to many grocery stores. The longer apples sit, the more flavor they lose. Many commercial growers also over-water their crops, which results in large sumptuous looking fruit that are tasteless and mushy. Try an apple that has been plucked straight from the tree and you'll instantly know what you've been missing. Once you've sunk your teeth into that resilient, crispy, sweet, juicy flesh, there's no going back.
You can find good-tasting fresh apples throughout our local area. In fact, there are a greater variety of fresh apples coming to markets throughout Southern California than ever before. At last count, more than 1,000 varieties of apples are being grown, and more than 100 of them are commonly available to consumers at farmers' markets, roadside stands and in well-stocked supermarkets (look for signs that say "Fresh Picked" or "New Crop"). Our local farmers' market (especially on the Promenade on Fridays) boasts at least 20 different varieties ranging from the sweet and exotic Mutsu and Gordon to wonderfully delicious Granny Smith and Jonathan. Most of these apples are grown organically and lack the shiny wax coating found on supermarket fruit.
While there are so many apples to choose from, some tend to be more appropriate for certain kinds of dishes than others. Apples for cooked or baked goods such as pies, baked apples or salsas should be firm and flavorful so their texture and taste can stand up to the heat of cooking and other ingredients. But, if your making applesauce, chutneys, or puddings, choose an apple with a softer composition that will break down into a smooth puree as it cooks. For eating fresh out of hand, it's all a matter of preference: whether you prefer honey-sweet apples (Golden Delicious, Fuji or McIntosh) or puckery-tart ones (the classic Granny Smith, Ida Red or Baldwin), tantalizingly crunchy (Winesap, Northern Spy or Empire) or soft and yielding (Elstar or Jonathan).
No matter which apple you choose, there are a few things that all good apples should have in common. Choose firm apples that are heavy for their size. You should steer clear of mushy, over-watered apples by checking the bottoms and choosing those that are closed (round bottoms), not open. The apples should have a fresh smell, not a musty one, and the skin should be smooth and tight with no soft spots. Wrinkled skin, mushy spots and a hollow, spongy feel are all traits of an old, improperly stored apple. As with any fruit or vegetable, you want to pick apples at their height of freshness this means searching them out during their peak season. Apples are at their best from late summer to mid-autumn.
So get out there and take a bite of the not-so-forbidden fruit. You only have a few more weeks to enjoy apples at their best.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
It's a Matter of Taste Archive: Random thoughts on food, history and culture
Over the next few months I'll be posting archives of my bi-weekly column "It's a Matter of Taste," which originally appeared in Gazette Newspapers in Long Beach, CA. I hope you enjoy reading these old columns.
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