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thursdaynext

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Posts posted by thursdaynext

    Lamb lovers survey

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    I'm happy to report that lamb is much more widely available here than when I last posted in this thread! Most of my usual shopping venues regularly carry shoulder & rib chops, rack, leg roasts, shanks, and ground lamb.

    Yesterday we managed to get a couple of shoulder chops on the grill before the weather turned (30 degree drop in just a couple of hours- yikes!). Quick marinade of EVOO, oregano, rosemary, pepper, etc.

    I'm also starting to see different cuts of goat in some stores. Yay!

    Soft Clam "Flabbina"

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    Okay. There's nothing that distracts me more from my ACTUAL job than an obscure research question. :laugh: Anyhow, here's my 2 cents- I also found nothing on "Flabbina," or any any variation thereof, but the following caught my eye:

    Alessandro Filippini, chef at Delmonico's (Pine Street) Restaurant wrote several cookbooks. His La Table: How To Buy Food, How to Cook It, and How to Serve It includes a similar, more upscale version of the 1904 NYT recipe called "Soft Clams à la George Merrill," as below from the 1889 edition:

    "389. Soft Clams à la George Merrill.—Have thirty-six fresh and

    rather small soft clams, throw away all the hard part, keeping nothing but

    the body. Place them in a stewpan with two ounces of butter, half a

    pinch of pepper, a finely chopped shallot, and half a glassful of Madeira

    wine. Let cook on the hot stove for seven minutes, then add a gill of

    Espagnole sauce (No. 151), a pinch of chopped parsley, the juice of a

    medium-sized, good lemon, and half an ounce of good butter, shuffling

    the whole well for three minutes longer, without letting it boil, then pour

    the clams into a hot tureen, and serve."

    Soft Clams Filippini?

    Now I need to find out who George Merrill was... :hmmm:

    Reforming Vegetarians

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    Enjoy your posts-

    ...I think it bothers people, for example, to see anthropological video or something of people roasting up a guinea pig in South America in a village, but I actually wonder how much those "owners" actually become to those animals; I doubt they see them as an extension of their families, and would scoff at the lengths that people in the US and similar nations go in treating their pets like family members; pet hotels, insurance policies, special foods... There's a difference between treating an animal ethically and treating it as family...

    Don't forget the Tsembaga Maring of New Guinea and their pigs... :smile:

    BTW, but I'm intending to read that Mary Douglas book linked above (only read portions so far), and would suggest it... there's some fun look at Leviticus and the Kosher dietary laws (I think it's considered her most important work).

    I personally enjoyed Marvin Harris more, along these same lines.

    Ideas for a large-crowd dinner?

    in Cooking

    Posted

    Arista alia Fiorentina (Roasted Pork Loin With Garlic and Rosemary)

    First got turned on to this watching Biba Caggiano years ago. Very easy & can be served hot or cold. I've prepared this with up to a 12# loin with good results.

    Tasty with small roasted potatoes- Can cook in the same pan(s).

    TN

    How has the internet changed cooking and eating?

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    I really enjoy my cookbook and food writing collection, but have found that I buy fewer volumes than in the past. I've become much more selective in my purchases, and the eGullet community has been a valuable resource in helping me to choose new volumes to add. I love the "Cooking from…" threads, both those that specify a particular book, and others that name a region or technique.

    RecipeGullet and a few other internet sites have been good resources for looking up recipes when I'm in a hurry, or not at home- for example, getting a menu inspiration while at (ahem) work. :wink: My "keeper" printouts and other loose recipes are in big, tabbed, three-ring binders.

    I was also inspired by bleudauvergne's blogs to start a journal for recording menus, recipes that I've made my own (or invented!), wine & cheese tastings, sources, etc. :wub:

    I have two recipe programs on my home computer, but haven't used them for ages- not sure why. :unsure:

    Magnetic Knife Strips

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    We have two knife strips mounted one above the other on the side of a kitchen cabinet- to one side of the sink and next to the main prep area. All of our "good" knives are securely on these. The knife blades face toward the wall on an upper cabinet, so the natural angle when removing one does not damage the blade. The steels and cheap paring knives, etc. are in a wooden knife block.

    They weren't expensive and mount easily with two screws each. Here's a link to the model: B, B & B knife strips

    We don't have any young'uns at home, but they are well out of reach of visiting sprouts!

    Changes in Food Packaging

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    Now here is another question. Catherine mentioned the nonremovable labels. Why provide a product in a wonderfully useful jar but glue on the labels

    that defy all

    efforts of a chemist

    to remove them!

    I still have eight dinner plates with stickers on the bottom of them that I got a year ago that still haven't come off! Oh, wait... I think one of them has come off! I've scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, and used all kinds of products to no avail! VERY FRUSTRATING INDEED!!!

    Hope this helps: my method is to soak the jars in hot dishwater until the water cools, then scrape what I can off with a utility knife. The remainder comes off well with this product. Should work on those pesky dinner plate labels, too.

    Required Reading

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    This thread has certainly given me some new titles for my reading list!

    Classics, Surveys or Worth Notice:

    . . . Bynum, Caroline Walker, Holy Feast and Holy Fast

    Pontormo,

    Would be interested to know your opinion on Holy Feast and Holy Fast in particular, before I jump in and order- It was one of the titles I didn't recognize.

    Thanks!

    Changes in Food Packaging

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    It was either Barilla or Classico that I used to like for the jars. At one time, not only were they nice looking jars but standard canning jar lids and rings fit. I don't know if they still make them that way.

    Classico sauce comes in squared mason jars and standard canning lids still fit the empties... I put up my green tomato relish in some this fall, among other uses. :smile:

    Lamb lovers survey

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted

    I hardly ever cook it simply because of economics - it's hideously expensive here compared to pork, chicken, and beef. I think the last time I priced it it even blew bison out of the water.

    I come in on the side of the "lovers" as well. However, just as in Marcia's case, the relative cost is what dictates whether or not I purchases one of the (limited)selection of cuts available in my area.

    Sigh.

    Looking for Signs of Food History

    in Food Traditions & Culture

    Posted · Edited by thursdaynext (log)

    I couldn't find an online list for my home state of Iowa, so because I actually live in Omaha, Nebraska:

    The Florence Mill, at the site of the Mormon Winter Quarters in 1846-1847 (Omaha)

    The Armour and Company Icehouse, one of the largest in the country, was used in the meat-packing industry as well supplying other businesses in the eastern part of the state (Memphis)

    The Boettger Farm, "Champion White Wyandotte chickens were raised here. The land was nurtured with conservation measures and huge quantities of organic fertilizer from its Holstein dairy herd. The first demonstration by a Douglas County Extension Home Agent is said to have been presented here. In 1951 the first Nebraska fields of crown vetch, discovered and developed by former Nebraskan, Dr. Fred V. Grau, were planted as seed crop."

    (near Omaha)

    I did find a couple of cool facts on the Iowa Farmer Today website, that certainly deserve an historic marker! :wink:

    The Delicious apple was developed by Madison County farmer Jesse Hiatt in the 1870s. He called it the Hawkeye apple, and the name was changed when Hiatt sold the rights in 1894. . . .

    An Iowan named Robert Fullerton brought back several squash seeds from Denmark and gave them to the Sestier Brothers, master growers in Des Moines. Once known as the Des Moines squash, today it is better known as acorn squash.

    Required Reading

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    Ran across this thread while on another search. I'm without access to my home bookshelves at the moment, but would like to add these off the top of my head in response to the original post:

    Good to Eat (previously released as The Sacred Cow and the Abominable Pig) : Riddles of Food and Culture- Marvin Harris

    The Anthropologist's Cookbook- Jessica Kuper

    Might come up with a few more later.

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