Food and Food History A la Carte
Tomorrow – the 24th of January- is perhaps my favourite food holiday of the year.
Peanut Butter Day!
Yep, a whole day devoted to just peanut butter! I’m seeing parades with beige banners, complete with majorettes tossing their batons whilst smiling through clenched jaws because their teeth are stuck together with the ol’ pb, and Peter Pan scarfing contests. The works. Continue reading “Nuts to That! A Celebration of Peanut Butter”
February is, apparently, Great American Pies Month. It may or may not surprise you to know that it appears to have been the brainchild of Crisco brand shortening.
But ignoring the brand behind the idea, the idea of a Great American Pie got me thinking. A ‘great’ pie would be a well-made, delicious pie no matter what the cultural origins. So what makes a pie an American Pie (movie notwithstanding).
Gather round, my friends and let us discuss (even digest) the food side of February. It may be a short month but it’s certainly not short on culinary celebrations.
Grapefruit Month: I have a confession. I am not a huge grapefruit fan. I know lots of people are and there are heated debates among them regarding the superiority of pink vs white grapefruit but to me it’s just too sour. I have heard that in South America they are often cooked which renders them a bit sweeter. I may consider trying that this summer. Has anyone else tried it? How is it?
Macadamia Nut Month: Since macadamias are often found in some of my favorite cookies (as in any cooking with chocolate chips in them), I approve heartily of celebrating them. I did wonder if we actually needed a whole month. It seemed to me, in my nutty ignorance, that a day would be more than sufficient – until someone pointed out that macadamia nuts are excellent for the diet (they lower bad cholesterol being high in monounsaturated fatty acids). So, instead of the cookies (which I tend to have around year-long) why not indulge in a handful of macadamias a few times a week for the month. It can’t hurt, and it might help. But hey – do not give any to your dogs. Macadamias are toxic to our canine friends.
Hot Breakfast Month: I know, I know. No one has time for breakfast. Heck, I work at home and even I am hard-pressed to remember when my last hot breakfast was. But I can tell you what it was because when I do hot breakfast at home, it’s because I am craving softly scrambled eggs (the kind that take ages but are so worth it), a well-toasted and thoroughly-buttered (with unsalted butter) plain bagel, shredded potatoes-n-onions and orange juice. Bliss.
Snack Food Month: A month? With SUCH a wide variety of snack food available for us to enjoy and celebrate, I personally would need a whole year or at least half a year. Certainly, it needs its own post – and I’ll be getting right on that.
Cherry Month: Considering how many types of cherries there are, we may need more than a month to celebrate them all properly. And really, who wouldn’t extra time for cherry pie, cherry sorbet, cherry sundaes, chocolate covered cherries, dried cherries (excellent in summer salads not to mention in trail mix – even in frozen yogurt) and cherry preserves. Maybe we should – within Cherry Month – declare a day for the top 20 or 30 most popular species? Someone get on that, right away! Thanks.
As the month progresses, there are days dedicated to everything from Baked Alaska to stuffed mushrooms (that’s today in case you were wondering) to frozen yogurt to tortellini. The month will fly by but at least we won’t be hungry.
Nothing I like better than pondering (and frankly spinning tales) than the origins of ‘named’ foods. All we actually know is that Escoffier created two dishes named for Melba. Everything else is … well, not outside the realm of the possible. And that brings me to today’s topic.
Happy Melba Toast day.
Honestly, if you’re given the choice between Armageddon or tea, you don’t say ‘what kind of tea?’ ― Neil Gaiman
I confess that I am not a huge tea fan. If pressed, I can manage a cup of hot tea as an excuse to inhale scones with great globs of clotted cream – but even then it’s something I do solely to get at the scones and cream.
Still it’s better than iced tea which I loathe with the heat of a thousand suns. My attitude toward tea was never a problem until I moved to England – Land of Tea, where 165 million cups of tea are consumed daily. As a coffee drinker, I am considered some sort of beverage blasphemer. This is me every year…
Coffee is available, yes and is increasingly popular but it’s still only cracking 70 million cups of coffee a day across the UK. So I am keeping my head (and coffee mug) down. Can I help it is I come from a place that – according to the Tea Association of America – only consumes 154 million cups of tea a day? Continue reading “January is… Hot Tea Month & Soup Month”
