Carrot Top

Mmm. Strange phrasing for what one would call 'journalism'...sort of a walk down the garden path, but to where? I looked in the local paper on-line to see if it was reported but got sidetracked by the larger story of the local Roadkill Festival. Anyone interested in attending? (Or should I go take photos....) Info at roanoke.com (the Roanoke Times).

Sorry....I promised myself I would not respond to anything on eGullet today (uh, yeah, once in a while I'm somewhat productive... ) (and besides that, the horoscope warns of arguments in the air! ) but this is precious. That sentence...'the workers say they don't know where it is'? (the special meat-eating room...) Huh? In a facility that holds three hundred employees (that is a building much smaller than the average elementary school) they can't find it if they look? Or, if they ask??? I can't even begin to say how silly this all is... The larger issue is silly, too...but has its salient points to discuss, obviously, in 'real life'....but....sigh. Back to work here....thanks for the laugh, GG (even if it was unintentional! )

It would be good to get Toliver and William Grimes in a room with a bottle of wine together....

Zabaione...either plain or laced with chocolate, served with fresh berries (raspberries, yum) and some quickly made sablees. There are some items that can be bought (of course it would be more fun to make them but I understand you can not cook off-site) like chocolate leaves or marzipan decorations that could add to the 'look' of the dessert. For a super duper 'what is that' touch you can obtain edible gold leaf from Indian markets.... Crepes are nice...you can fill them with almost anything and can flavor them with almost anything. Chocolate crepes rolled with apricot preserves, topped with whipped cream and slivered almonds...with a side of fresh cherries is both fancy and fairly quick.... Any sort of upside-down cake is another idea....basic, yes, but can be made to look 'fancier' with different plating ideas...

A nice change might be to blend cottage cheese with a generous amount of a variety of chopped herbs, a touch of lemon and a hint of garlic if you like it...add a touch of sour cream or cream cheese for a smoother texture.... this is nice on toasted whole grain breads... 'Egg Salad' of different seasonings can be good, too...plain, curried, herbed... Homemade 'Devilled Ham' could be done....finely chopped ham with pickle relish, mayo, etc.... Thinly sliced Black Forest Ham laid quickly over a light slather of chutney...yum. If you are ready for something heartier...check out the 'liverwurst' thread! Very nice ideas there.... Black bread with smoked salmon and cream cheese.... Lemon curd on a biscuit or a light brown bread... Getting hungry, gotta stop...

You are lucky to have the opportunity to travel, to drive and 'see what's there'...it is great fun and really interesting. I didn't mean to exclude any areas of the Southeast in my writings...when I spoke of 'Florida' it was in a very broad sense in that initial sentence...it was just 'the Florida most of us know'. When I think of both Florida and California...to most of the rest of the country, they are places that people from colder climates wish to escape to, or places that have lured people from other areas with the promise of jobs in various industries that are specific to those states. They are sort of 'Big Name' states in that sense. Masses of people have been drawn to relocate there for a variety of reasons. Florida...you've got Palm Beach for the winter socialites...the entire area surrounding it for retirees that want a warm comfortable climate that has resources geared their needs...Orlando for the family entertainment complexes and all that that involves.....Fort Lauderdale for the boating folk...the Keys for atmosphere and Key West for something like New Orleans style fun....the orange-growing areas for quiet sightseeing, the beaches everywhere.....the West Coast that so many corporations are drawn to for their conference/vacation capabilities...and a lot more that many visitors never see. (Almost forgot to mention Miami...!) And what is incredible is how recently Florida (and California) were actually cleared and settled...and the amount of creative effort that went in to making the native land of the areas comfortable and liveable and productive. I remember reading the story of the initial exploration of Florida, the masses of mosquitos, the density of forest/jungle, the neccesity of water in some areas...my goodness....what a lot has been done to that state, and is still being done, by mankind! Says a lot.

In agreement about the bastilla notion...but I also wonder if there could be a Medieval Scots recipe which would be similar.....

The thing about writing down recipes for someone is partially how serious the person asking for the recipe is. Lots of times it is just pleasant chat and a bit of fantasizing in the 'recipe-askers' mind. Certainly it is complimentary to the cook, but unless one has a written recipe (often I don't, unless it is for baked goods) and a copy-machine handy, there is the element of finding time to write out the recipe and get it to the person. My solution to this has been, if someone asks for a (non-baked goods) recipe, to say "Do you have a piece of paper and a pencil? I'll do my best to tell you right now...". Often, in the face of having to pick up a pencil themselves, they get lost on the way to find it in some other conversation.... With a recipe that does require exact measurements, generally I will lead the conversation to what sorts of things they have baked previously to assess their level of dedication and competence. If it then sounds like the recipe is 'do-able' for them, I'll tell them to e-mail me. That makes it easier to remember to find the recipe then to type it out and send it along.

What I Ate This Summer: A Fish Tale - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ever been up close and personal, nose to nose and mano a mano with an Octopus the size of your leg? It could happen that you might catch one by mistake, fishing off a pier on a hot summer's night in the Florida Keys, as you sit placidly waiting for a bite, whiling away the quiet time near the bright spotlight aimed at the water, dreaming of all the tantalizing recipes you will make with the catch, half-dozing in the simmering humidity. A heavy pull of the fishing line gives a pleasant shock, making a startling call to action, to reel the line in gently, up and out of the dark waters. You stare with avid amazement at the first view of the catch. . .this strange gleaming creature dripping from the end of the pole, slowly undulating while merrily waving its eight long elegant tentacles in primordial dance. . .a secret, shimmering, yet impotent Medusa of the Sea. It must be freed from the hook in order to drop it into the fishing net (while grimacing in disgust but also fantasizing the delicious 'Insalata di Pulpo' that might be for lunch tomorrow). In the blink of an eye the second surprise happens. The creature does not stay in the net. It wiggles itself muscularly then slithers away in artful escape, oozing in a sudden fluid transmutation of shape right out through the now-straining wet turquoise string net. Fat tentacles slide up over the side of the bucket that's been quickly kicked under the net by your sneakered foot in a flailing sideways lunge. The oyster-colored plasticine tentacles stretch and pull at the dense pulsating heft of the eyeless body to lift it up, out, and over the top edge of the battered yellow bucket. The monster is running away down the sticky concrete floor of the pier. It must be captured, and quickly. Fishing with the intent of eating the catch can be brutal. The only way to stop this prey is to pin it down firmly, stopping it smartly in its tracks with the sharp curved tip of a slighty rusty old steel fishing knife. But as you move with measured patience in a feeble attempt to do this act with some sort of dignity (so as not to take on the grim appearance of a maddened butcher to any passers-by), the transparent rapidly travelling ghost escapes, skimming away with all the grace of a three-pound batch of old Silly Putty. The next attempt fares better though, and this time as you pin it down you pull upwards with the handle of the knife to carry away your prize. But it won't come. It won't budge. Those little suckers on the underside of its tentacles have a grip worthy of a Sumo wrestler. In truth, the Octopus is beginning to resemble a Sumo wrestler to your eyes. Diapered bottom stuck way up in the air, round hefty and strong, with all those extra arms and legs thrusting vigorously away with practiced skill. "Whack!" goes the large gleaming knife. The thing must be chopped up anyway, before poaching it in wine, herbs, and broth to make a fine dish. . .so why not chop it up now? Unfortunately, that particular ploy did not help a lot, for now all the tentacles are walking off by themselves in eight different directions, rapidly humping along the darkened crusty dock in a half-hearted parody of a bunch of drunken sailors. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - After a bit of running around, all the parts have been collected, pried up off the dock and tossed haphazardly into the bucket. Now it is time to get down to some real fishing. No more of this nonsense. Having come out with the idea of gathering a mess of dainty, lady-like, tasty little red snappers to dangle grinning from your line, the night has just begun. Again, you cast off, impressed with the whizzing perfection of line as it extends gracefully and athletically out over the torpid sea. With a satisfying and gently noisome 'plunk', the hook re-enters the waters. It is time, now, to sit pensively and watch for the slightest wavelets of movement. Peace and equanimity rule the earth. The bobbin is flopping about! It must be a big one! Drop that beer and grab the pole! Gently, gently now, pull 'er in. Up close, it looks like it must be that red snapper! But wait. Look closer. This is no red snapper. The shape is the same but the color is wrong. And isn't there something odd about its eyes? Moving your face close in the dank seawater-scented twilight, you try to remove the hook from the edge of the hungry beast's gullet. As you twist it sideways, a frighteningly loud noise emerges from the fish's belly. "Graaaak! Grooooook!" The ugly vermin is making an appealing, loud scratchy noise at you! Who ever heard of a fish that could talk! Your fingers edge closer to the hook to try to pull it out. OUCH! Damn! Huge, beaver-like teeth have emerged from this smarmy pipsqueak's mouth and the nasty little thing has bitten almost through your finger. Memories of books read long ago on piscine matters waft into your addled brain as you watch the scarlet blood spatter from your finger onto the dock, where you have hurriedly flung the squiggling fish. It is a Grunt. Yes, a Grunt. A charming inhabitant of southern seas, this creature grunts loudly when threatened (with a voice that sounds very much like an unhappy squealing pig). It is also capable of biting in attack with sharp little incisors. Besides that, it is also the main ingredient for the famous dish (eaten with much vengeful gusto by the fisherman) 'Grits and Grunts'. He'll do okay for this dish. Add him to the bucket. The night is taking on a Dali-esque attitude. There is a strange vertginous dizziness in the air. This could be blamed on either the amount of beers consumed or the amount of blood lost from the Grunt Attack. But there has to be more to a night of fishing under the stars on a glorious hot summer night than this, this collection of mishaps. The line is cast out, again and again. I am sad to say what happened next. There is a fish called a Lizard-Fish. This is the fish that bit next. Sticking strictly to facts, I must tell you that a Lizard-Fish resembles nothing so much as an escaped overly-made-up drag queen from 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'. Not even seagulls come near a Lizard-Fish so it is tossed back into the inky depths to spawn (though one vaguely wonders, with a mild supercilious sneer as it plops flatly back into the sea, how its own mate could tolerate that thorny visage for even long enough to do the Fish Thing). The sky is lightening to orange and a bit of light breeze wraps round your goo-spattered iodine-scented upper arms. Sleep would be welcome. . .so after just one more hit, this adventure must come to an end. The hit comes quickly. These gluttons are busy at night, eager to taste the bloodworm bait, the chum of the Lizard-Fish, and the bits of your Grunt-bitten index finger. Nice, nice! You can feel the weight pull against you as you reel him cautiously in. He's not a fighter, no, so it won't be a common Barracuda which are so prevalent here. Ahhhh. The fish is white. The fish is large. Closer now, closer, heavens to betsy! (or some similar exclamation has escaped your mouth which itself is now looking rather fish-like) it is a Skate. Two dime-store plastic troll eyes fight to bump into each other while they stare crossly up with futile bitterness. Thin sail-like side wings flutter and flap noisily, and a wickedly devilish tail whips its sword-shaped tip against the wet, Octopus-slathered dock. "Raie au Beurre Noire, Raie au Beurre Noire" you murmur consolingly to to yourself as you pack up the evening's gains and trudge home tiredly to a hot shower and hopefully a long, deep, nightmare-free sleep. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The next morning all the fish must be pulled out from the balled-up plastic bag in the refrigerator (that now has a permanent smell of black fish livers), to be cleaned and prepared for some gourmet cooking. Briefly, Octopus is cleaned like Squid, and can be used in similar recipes. If it is large, it should be gently braised first till tender. Grunts can be cleaned like Porgies, like Bluegill, like any other small regular sort of fish, but watch out for those rodent-like teeth. If the Lizard-Fish had not been tossed back, he would be good for nothing but a stock. Boiled till disintegration is a fine ending for any Lizard- Fish. Cleaning a Skate is something like cleaning a Flounder but the Skate is both bonier with many more small sharp scales. They give a stuggle before yielding those wings. And now to the Grand Finale: preparing the recipes. Remember all those lovely exotic tastes, flavors, ideas that ran free in rampant imaginings as you tossed these prizes of the deep into the bucket to carry home? Which recipe should be started first? On second thought. . .forget about it. Just make Boulliabaisse. Then go for a pleasant cooling afternoon swim, after firmly snapping shut the shutters of your mind, closing off all thoughts of exactly what sorts of friendly sea-creatures might be swimming right alongside you in this glittering salty grey-green cauldron of sea.

Now here's a coincidence. Here you have two northerners reading of Southern/Soul Cooking on eGullet. And guess what...my mom's family is from yep, Waterville ME too. Her grandfather carved the words that say 'PVBLIC LIBRARY' on the library downtown. Haven't been to Waterville lately but for quick summer trips and then, I definitely did not think to explore the restaurant options! Lobster, you know...strawberry shortcake....veggies from the garden and berries from the woods down at the cabin on the lake.... Soul Food? Soul Food? Waterville, ME? Jeez, I really must pinch myself to see if I am dreaming. I still remember my mother's stories about the first PIZZA parlor that came to Waterville, ME and the exotica of it all!

Yes, Dignan, I see what you are talking about...in many places. But some particular areas do not make it easy at all for businesses to move in and prosper...the laws are written to make it difficult and the people in these particular areas keep on voting against any sort of change. They don't care for the idea of economic development. The place I spoke of was in West Virginia. Lots of small towns like that in West Virginia. And I do have the belief that they will remain as they are for some time well into the future...

In a professional kitchen (surprise) never. Never would drink. I guess that attitude came from seeing too many who did, and who made fools of themselves more than once. (Plus, it is my feeling that one should not be inebriated or even tipsy when handling heavy possibly dangerous equipment. Very bad things can happen.) Home cooking? Of course. Part of cooking is the pleasure of the colors, the tastes, the aromas, the textures, the combinations, the inspirations and hopefully the company! Generally by the time a real (i.e. not produced mostly for the children) meal is on the table, I have had enough wine and! enough tastings of the food while cooking so that really, I am not hungry or thirsty anymore, and can simply enjoy the enjoyment of my guests. A lovely thing, a good wine. As for changing the style of the cooking...no...wine or not, it is what is in front of me that forms the meal. No 'recipes' used here. But the music of the meal does become louder with a bit of the grape in attendance...

The Southeast is a really mixed bag. You do have the marvelous and dynamic big cities with so much to offer in many varieties of ways. Then there is Florida which is a place unlike any other...it is just Florida...just as California is California. Florida has a distinctive personality because so many people have been drawn to it from other places. And then there's the rest of the Southeast...as FistFullaRoux says, 'tempo, tradition, family'. A lot of this part of the country is rural, and there is very little money or industry in many places. Families have lived in the same towns for generations. Lots of people have grown up on small farms and have never moved away from the area they were born in. There are many rather isolated areas where people from other places would never move to, because there is no industry and no 'culture' of a higher sort...there is just the day and the night and nature and food and church and family. Besides never meeting any 'city folk', the children that grow up here hardly ever meet anyone from a different ethnic background than their own (English/Irish/Scots) because of the isolation. This can change when they grow, for one of the options for 'work' is for them to enter the armed forces. In a nutshell, it is a world that can resemble the world before such intensive communications and travel options were available for all of us. It is quieter, slower, generally much more hospitable (forgive me, but I've never met a rude or unfriendly hillbilly...they have beautiful manners of an sort not seen often elsewhere) and life is based on what the world has offered up right there, that very day...not upon what can be dragged or kicked or forced out of it, nor on what can be bought on credit. Of course this includes food. There are no 'farmer's markets' because everyone grows their own. It is a more private sort of world in these rural areas. They like the way things are and do not want to change it. A very special part of the world. In the small town I lived in for four years, I saw incredible support and generosity given to those in need...such as when a family's house burned down, or a husband and father died...the love that came from the community with real feeling and real support was...one of the finest things I've ever seen in my life. These rural areas can be heartbreaking to an outsider who sees missing opportunities for the children, both in schooling and in 'high culture', but I am not so sure that it is the outsider...that has the right to speak, anymore. To each their own choices of lifes and joys and challenges.

How did it come out, ludja? Did you have time to make it yet? It sounds truly delicious....

bloviatrix, what a good comment. And I wonder if some of those new waters they are selling now...with all sorts of sustaining this's and that's pumped into them ( geez don't I sound intelligent here... ) would be additionally helpful in keeping one's blood sugar level for the extended time...

Hmmm...yes...and puff pastry would be nice with liverwurst too!! But what sort of mushrooms would do? Not enough flavor in the usual 'button' mushrooms...shiitake too dense perhaps....porcini/cremini have a slight tang that might not work...enoki would have to be it...what do you think?

Boy this is an active bunch. I am imagining everyone on this thread, together in the same grocery store. It would be a bevy of busy-ness, and very exciting. Most of the people I see in grocery stores sort of wander and throw things with not much interest into their baskets... My favorite thing is not poking turning or closely examining but moreso patting. Sometimes this serves a useful purpose, as with melons, but more often is it just a fruitless but pleasant exercise. Nice to give the chicken a couple of pats before you choose it, satisfying to pat a loaf of bread before picking it up.They all make different 'sounds'...very entertaining. Sort of soul-satisfying in an odd way.

If it were me, to keep it quick and simple, I would put the whole thing on top of a nice piece of pumpernickle toast. But low-carb...yikes. I have heard that the low-carb bread they sell is not too great. Another idea would be to put the whole thing on potatoes...say made into something like roesti potatoes....nice and crispy and browned themselves on the outside....or another idea...maybe baked into a hollowed-out tomato and served warm? Classic...low-carb...make the base be a thinly sliced seared medium rare steak... Mmm. Or...use frisee or chicory, tossed in a light lemon-y dressing to place underneath it all, and top the whole thing with...what do you call them...grattons? crispy little rendered bits of chicken skins.... The honey idea is a good one. Others might be a horseradish cream sauce or dressing....or with a sweet and slightly sour sauce made from lingonberries, or red currant jelly in a pinch...

But you have to admit that one of the things that is admirable about the Japanese and the Chinese are the often allowed intense loudnesses of their languages in public. Here back in America we mothers turn bright purple and have conniptions as we gently oh so calmly (grrrrr...) and most of all quietly! please...try to corral the kids in, in the same ways. Ah, for a good scream! I personally find that if my children accompany me grocery shopping, the bill increases by 20 percent. I figure by the time they are in about third grade, they have learned just by watching, how to shop...and then their minds turn to taking advantage of the situation. I've decided at the age of 14 my daughter will be allowed to do the shopping, with a list written by me, while I read the newspaper in the car. My son, also...when he gets that old. Best way to learn is by throwing them the ball, seems to me. Oh, got off track here. Forgot to mention that not only do I check the stuff I buy, but I check the prices that came up on the receipt. There are often mistakes here due to inaccurate price insertion in the computer systems....

And thank you, once again, GG, for your thoughtfulness and fantastic research skills!

NulloModo, that just sounds too ravishingly delicious. I can not believe we are discussing....liverwurst? Betcha crisp fried (not battered) onions would be great with liverwurst and eggs, but do not know if they are allowed on a low-carb diet....

And here's another question...having just read the eGullet piece on Diwali and learning a bit more about the holiday, I wonder if someone could tell us a bit more about Yom Kippur in general, the food and other traditions... P.S. Wow, Lalitha...that's an incredible amount of information...it seems that Indian life is intensely connected with food....(and why not?!)

Hmmm. Why do I think there is an Indian festival that has a fast as part of it... obviously it is not Divali....does anyone know of any other fasts that take place at other times in other cultures for religious purposes? I hope it is not simply my memory playing tricks on me, as was discussed in another forum...maybe hearing 'Eat your food there are people starving in India' transferred itself into an idea of some sort of Indian fast in my mind as a child...whew that would be an odd synapse lapse.

snowangel, when even such a fancy guy as Curnonsky writes 'Cuisine is when things taste like themselves', and 'In cooking, as in all the arts, simplicity is the sign of perfection'....well...you've just gotta realize that what you have offered up to us in your blog is right up there on top of the totem pole in terms of what would be considered fine food. Or in other words, if something isn't broken, why fix it? Your descriptions of your life and family are charming and appreciated...

One thing that any corporation (or any organization that was put together in ways that closely resemble such a thing) will avoid like the plague is to admit malfeasance or wrongdoing. To do so leads right smack dab into a wide variety of expensive and time-consuming lawsuits. (Not to mention the loss of face.) Therefore comes the corporatespeak. It admits no wrong, says not too much of anything specific, and has no 'mouthfeel' at all, if you could taste it. It is what one can expect, and it is always served up in the same fashion. Standardized recipe, you know. Could be that there will be a different direction taken by the Foundation now, but also could be that there will not be. It would be interesting to hear the meetings that are going on behind closed doors. Their first priority is to keep themselves 'safe', legally and financially. After that, the field is wide open. Will they change their previous style and philosophies? That will depend on whether they believe that in doing so they will become more of what they 'should be', whether they believe that in doing so it will bring in more money to support such changes, and bottom line, the Board's own personality itself including which person on that board has the most persuasive and determined personality during those times that they are meeting together. The only soft spot I can see is that this is not quite a 'private' foundation in ways that some others are. If money is coming solely from individual contributions, there is no way to say 'hey we don't like what you're doing'. But if there is money coming from more generalized places or groups that give because they want to see this Top Dog Name Food Arts Foundation be...a broad-based non-exclusive agent in moving forward the state of this art...then there is something to put one's teeth into and bite at.