foodmuseumblog

USDA MyPLate? YourPlate? Not Really Mine.

So--this MyPlate imagery from the USDA is a decent attempt to make visual to Americans what previous food pyramids apparently have failed to do. The fact that it resembles a plastic kitchen toy may not be a plus, however.

Eat more veggies than proteins ( though beans, spuds and sweet pots, of course, are protein-filled veggies...,) and OOPS--are they implying we all have a hearty glass of milk with our meals, instead of water or wine? Not a great idea, but then again, the dairy lobby is alive and well.

Also--how much of everything should we eat? Deck of cards worth of protein?  I rankle when I read 3 ounces of this and 6 ounces of that, as if we all have little ounce measuring devices available. 8 ounces to a cup is embedded in my brain, but 3?

An alert pal sent me this visual interpretation of MyPlate--source unknown-- that is close to nauseating in its lack of appeal. Overcooked, canned green beans, milk, a slab of unadorned salmon, maybe, a slice of bland looking bread and, can it be, canned mandarin oranges???  Aaaargh.

Clearly the USDA swiftly needs to put together some plates that show real, tasty food.

Here's one, from a Thai restaurant lunch I had.

 

 

 

Rice, slice of orange, loads of veggies, and tofu in a red curry sauce.

Here's another from an earlier post:

 A roll, a slew of steamed summer squash w/onion and spinach, grilled eggplant topped with mozzarella ( dairy!,) tomatoes, yellow pepper, fresh basil, olive oil with spices.....

But wait! The USDA MyPlate shows us no oils, no nuts...how can this be?

And finally, a lunch we had on the road from Florida to NM, in a small town in Texas.

 

 

 

A cup of "baked potato soup," comprised of spuds, cream and bacon, a salad, assorted unnecessary  bits of carb (!) and a decent piece of spinach quiche, with a fine handmade buttery crust. The soup was a tad over the top, but then, this was Texas.

So, USDA, high marks for rethinking the imagery, but methinks the American public needs a wide range of actual plates of food in order to get the message.

On the other hand, one of my favorite writers, M.F.K.Fisher, who happened to focus on food, once wrote, "Balance the day, not the meal." This plan works well for those with some food savvy. I keep it vaguely in mind, but more importantly, like many people, I choose what looks fresh and good, and dive into an enjoyable meal.  And ignore the rules. Sheesh. 

Ayurvedic Earth Apples to Swoon Over in Albuquerque

Yes, Virginia, there is a place where one can savor fresh cut, freshly prepared,  twice fried (seemingly) potatoes with chipotle sauce. And that place astonishly, is an Ayurvedic joint, Annapurna's World Vegetarian Cafe on 4th street in Albuquerque.

A friend of mine wanted breakfast, and I noted what I thought were "home fries" on the menu and ordered a side, as I had indeed eaten breakfast a couple hours prior.

Home fries they were not. I was stunned. The finest fries eaten in months, maybe years ? At breakfast in a calm, fabric draped place with whiffs of cumin in the air.

Read here about the CPA who founded Annapurna with the aim of serving " food as simple as possible – from the earth, just as nature intended, and as prescribed in the Ayurvedic tradition."

Try the earth apples. Truly.

 

 

Chard: No Great Mystery as to How to Cook It

Often I overhear people at growers markets wondering how to cook this magnificent green. They hold up a bunch, sigh at its beauty, then lay it down, seemingly flummoxed by the difficulty involved.

This is not Chateaubriand, friends!

Gently start to sautee at least 3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped, in a decent olive oil.

Slice up the washed chard, even some of the stems--they are edible, but maybe not to everyone's liking, texturally speaking.

Toss them in. Move them about with tongs. (The moisture from the washing should be enough, but you can always toss in some wine, too. Never hurts.)  Add ground black pepper, a tad of salt. Cover, briefly.

The chard takes somewhat longer than spinach, which quickly goes limp. But not tooooo much longer.

Eat--or---if you want to, blend in a generous dollop of cream or 1/2 and 1/2 first.

Then eat. Enjoy.

Bowled Restaurant, St Pete, FL--Hole-in-the-Wall Joint is a Jewel

Florida? Huh?  First of all, people, St Pete is not "Florida" in the Disney sense of the word. Secondly, there are some good eats to be found here. And we literally stumbled upon this place Sunday, driving back from kayaking, realizing we were hungry and wanted something Asian, but decidedly not interested in the faux Chinese-architected cheesy buffet joints.

Bowled offered a limited brunch menu, and as we had eaten breakfast, we opted for two bowls: a cioppino on polenta with clams, mussels, shrimp and mahi-mahi in a perfect basil-y tomato sauce and a lime, ginger and coconut infused combo of veggies and shrimp on rice--in both cases the carbish ingredient was just the right amount, astonishingly! No giant mound of stuff.

(It truly is a place offering tasty food in generous bowls!)

It's a small place, modern, spare, with a relatively attentive staff--methinks they were a tad fatigued when we showed up, just after the big Mother's Day morning push--and the owner is pleased that his well-thought-out venture--this is not one of a chain!--has weathered some ups and downs since the opening.

And come out nicely. Excellent place.

( At right, the cioppino bowl.)

Sweet & Sour: Smithsonian Celebrates History of Chinese-American Food | Asia | English

Jimmy has been cooking at his Mandarin Wok restaurant in suburban Washington DC for many years. Millions of Americans search out Chinese food every day and find it in thousands upon thousands of small and large Chinese restaurants all over the country. Many are family affairs, like the Mandarin Wok. Jimmy’s son Nelson is one of seven family members, his mother, brother and sisters in addition to his father, who operate the restaurant. 

via www.voanews.com

Food Magazines Fall All Over Each Other to Be the New, New Same Yet Different

From AP, April 28:  "...For a third year in a row, launches of new food magazines topped all other categories, according to Samir Husni, director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism."

To my utter astonishment, a not new magazine called Taste of Home is the nation's best selling "food" mag, according to the article--and I have never seen it nor heard of it. 

In its website About section it states this: 

"Taste of Home is part of the Reader's Digest Food Affinity (??!!), the first and only media community designed to unify the voices and experience of everyday cooks and home entertainers." "Home entertainer" brought to (my bizarre) mind some dame with an apron on doing baton twirling, or sword swallowing...Then, recalling my immersion in the House and Garden network a while back, I realized that the word is really "entertaining." People no longer have friends over for dinner, they "entertain." Silly me.  Images of cocktail parties in the 1960's begin to swirl in my brain.

In any event, it appears that food magazines, like most of the food blogs out there---20,000 plus?---are all about pictures of dishes, and zillions of recipes--and the interweaving of foodish groupies with same. Why am I not enticed? ( Full disclosure: We subscribe to Saveur, a mag that started out emphasizing food history, as well as travel, as well as recipes, but I fear it is morphing more into mega recipe land.)

Give me The New Yorker, farm stands and growers markets, fun, unpretentious restaurants, and once in a while, a new cookbook to leaf through! Thanks.

 

 

 

Inferior Fondue Marks National Fondue Day(s) ( See April 11 Post.)

So we went, we had our free "traditional" fondue for two, done up at the table and served with soft, not dried bread, plus some veggies, and a bit of Grannie Smith apple, we sat in an extremely dark Melting Pot restaurant in St Petersburg, Florida and noted that the amount of kirsch added to the fondue pot was miniscule--that is, not enough!---and we emerged into the light of day, hungry. Now, yes, apparently at this place one is supposed to have fondue as a lead-in to a steak, maybe. But we were there for the fondue. I'm telling you.  ( I did enjoy a fine glass of NZ Sauvignon Blanc...)

Make it yourself at home. Be generous with the ingredients. Enough said.

Sarah Palin To Be Pelted With Cheese Curds In Wisconsin Saturday

The Koch Brothers think it’s hilarious when their dumb puppets have to go face huge, angry crowds of political opponents. Remember the movie Trading Places? It’s the same idea: Incredibly rich old white creeps just torture their own lackeys whenever it gets dull oppressing the faceless poor and destroying the Earth to make Dixie Cups and Brawny paper douche towels. So the Koch Brothers are bringing Sarah Palin to Madison, right there at the State Capitol, for an “Americans For Prosperity” rally. Haha the union people and college kids are going to pelt her with a million pounds of Wisconsin’s famous Fried Cheese Turds. Or curds, whatever. Curdle Rain. Poor snowbilly grifter!

via wonkette.com

Yeah, it's Wonkette, one of my regular sites during the campaign season. Fried Cheese Turds are always in season, though, right?

Some info on cheese curds, thanks to the Wisconsin Fried Cheese Curds company: 

A Brief History

 Long ago and far away, a nomad living in a vast Middle East desert decided to go on a far journey. So he saddled up his camel and poured a lot of milk in his saddlebag to drink along the way. It was a very hot day, even by Gobi standards, and the milk curdled after several hours of riding. When he opened up the bag, instead of milk, he found white curds with liquid! Yet another "Aha" moment in history.  

But why did the milk curdle? His saddlebag had the enzyme called "rennin" in it because the bag was made from the stomach of a young cow. How this happened is a whole 'nother story, but the point is rennin causes coagulation or curdling. Hence the curds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chatting Away, Eating, too, at Chattaway's, St Petersburg, FL

The bathtubs filled with flowers, the retro sign announcing Chattaway's Drive-In, the funky down home look of the place, had always intrigued us--we expected to find soul food within. It's in our neighborhood, described as "bad," by one blogger. (Please!) When we finally ventured in, past the inspired vegetation, and signage, we were greeted by a chirpy Brit, and our eyes were diverted from the menu she proffered by the "Go, Rays!" inscription in white paint on the roof. (FYI Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.)

Fine. Much to see in this joint! 

We ordered cole slaw,  lobster/corn chowder, a blackened grouper sandwich, and unsweetened ice tea. The burgers, said to be fabled, did look terrific. A German guy next to us on the brightly painted wood picnic tables was waxing Wagneresquely over them. The chowder was fair, too heavily saged up, but ok. Fresh, fine cole slaw.  The fish was not fresh. Definitely not. We noticed onion rings on the menu, and began our usual interrogation of the wait person--were they made here? Fresh cut? Flaky batter?

"You will love them," she pronounced. Reader, we did not, and they were not. Flaky, that is. Oily they were.

We began to wonder if there were an indoors to Chattaways, as we saw only the outdoor picnic tables from where we perched. After a trip to the wildly colorful loo, we wandered around the outside of the place and peered in windows, thus discovering an actual dining room as unexpected as a snowstorm in Tampa. It was blue and white, furnished with erstaz antiques, its walls covered with British Royals-abilia, the late lamented Queen Mum in particular on display.

Afternoon tea is served here, would you believe, darling? $12.50 a pop, around 3 pm. Includes tea sandwiches and scones.

Apparently Chattaway's began as a grocery store in the 1920's, then was a Drive-In in the 1930's, and from 1951 until now has been evolving into a burger Mecca/tea room, with Bob Marley-inspired bar, and the original barstools from the drive-in days.  The Brit flavor derives from Jillian Lund Frers, the current owner, who became involved in the business when she married Everett Lund, son of the woman who took over in 1951.

But--through all this--there has been one primary cook, a local woman named Juanita Mincey who has been with Chattaway's 50 years. Hers is the fabled Chattaburger, which manager Debbie Kitto once described this way: “It’s not a specific size of the patty or spices that make the burger. It’s the quality of beef and freshness of our ingredients that make it taste so great.” 

Juanita's photo hangs right outside the entrance to the kitchen--though I have not yet been able to interview her directly, I did learn that she recalls a time in St. Petersburg, when blacks, and no others, were under a curfew. Her co-hort in the kitchen for decades has been Bonnie Morris.

The place has a vibe, history, greenery,  good burgers, evidently, but essentially, this is not where you come to eat well, or to eat food served up with imagination. This is where you come to hang out, to soak up the atmosphere, and to be nicely treated by your hosts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

National Cheese Fondue Day! April 11-14 ( Huh!?)

Yes, indeedy. This is what makes Amurrica great. And your faithful foodie will be dining Wednesday at The Melting Pot on a FREE fondue, because I responded to a teensy writeup in a newspaper, of all things, remember those?

More as the day(s) unfold(s.)

( Nifty looking fondue, plus recipe from Prime Cuts Blog.)

Book Review: High on the Hog--A Culinary Journey from Africa to America

Finding this compelling tome at the library, I now have held on to it so long I am in deep trouble there...Dense, full of superlative, detailed research, this book by Jessica B. Harris, author of several other works on foodways and cooking, and a professor at Queens College, New York, lays out how slaves and their descendants influenced what we all eat today in the USA.

Much as Mr. T. Jefferson did not literally grow and harvest the plants he introduced to Americans at Monticello, neither did Martha Washington turn out the meals for America's first prez. Hercules, a house "servant" who rose in the ranks to oversee all of Washington's kitchens, and the foreign chefs who worked there alongside slaves, did.

"The smooth running of many of the founding fathers' households rested on the strong black backs of the enslaved...It was there in the sound agricultural judgement of the farmers as well as in the capable hands of notonly the chefs but also the kitchen staff. the enslaved grew the squashes and tomatoes, prepared the broiled shad and macaroni pie, set the tables, served the food, and cleaned up afterward."

Thomas Jefferson brought his chef, Sally Hemings' brother James, with him to Paris where Hemings studied with the best, as a free man. Back in the US, Hemings asked for and received his freedom, and then went his own way, turning down the job of chef at Jefferson's White House.

In roughly the same period, Hercules, a most respected and admired man, a "favored" slave living at the most comfortable level, escaped and was never tracked down, despite major efforts by Washington and his family.

Feeding the high table was one thing. Making do as they could for their families, was another. Having survived a journey across oceans, packed together like sardines, and typically fed corn cakes and mashed fava beans,  enslaved Africans made much of pigs trotters, chitterlings, grits and sweet potatoes. They created and popularized fried chicken, mac/cheese, Virginia gumbo, catfish soup, succotash with okra and tomatoes, smothered pork chops, fried porgy....

(Just recently, I was introduced to porgy at my local bait/fish store. "You'll like it more than grouper," she said. Now that I am hooked, so to speak, having had it twice, they have had none come in. )

A Resounding "No" to Fish and Cheese

Pondering the incompatible ( to me) pairing of fish and cheese, with the exception of a rich, voluptuous absurd lobster dish, such as Lobster Thermidor with a light gruyere crust maybe, that still I would not cook, but might sample. Grilled mussels do well with grated cheese, too. Neither of the aforesaid strictly speaking are "fish," of course.

(Lobster Mac Cheese seems to be a "thing" these days, I have noticed. Rich beyond comprehension, not that I've tried any... )

Anyway, I was pondering this when I came across the video recipe showcased below on The Guardian by Chef Tristan Welch. It's for mackerel baked with bits of mozzarella, beets and green onions. Oy!  Mackerel is an oily fish, terrific smoked, but again, it's rich, and culinarily certainly has no need of additional protein in the form of lovely and adorable mozzarella.  No, Chef, no!

Let me know if anyone tries it and adores it.....

 

Aardvark Burgers Are the New, New Thing

The sole survivor of its genus,  Tubulidentata, and the tastiest, apparently, the noctural African aardvark increasingly is turning up on menus from Peoria to Pasadena. Returned Peace Corps volunteer Al Rowan zeroed in on the potential for aardvarkian meat- "it's dense, low in carb, and tangy, with a hint of watermelon--" on a return visit to his village in Burundi.

Locals head out at dusk with snype-catching gear to fetch the well-meaning, hapless animals home for processing. Rowan figures he will have aardvark farms up and running on a large scale soon, as the American burger chain, "Don't Ask, Cuz You Wouldn't Want Us to Tell," which specializes in burgers created from obscure ingredients, just placed a mega-order for the slightly mauve-looking ground meat.

 

'Pink Palace' to get makeover as Boston Common takeout spot

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff

via www.boston.com

"In a move intended to inject more pizzazz into the Boston Common, city officials announced today that they have chosen a Florida-based sandwich chain to operate the Pink Palace, a long-vacant historic structure originally built as a restroom."

The 11 Earl of Sandy, Mr Montagu, apparently is distantly involved in this venture by Earl of Sandwich, Inc. based in Orlando, FL. His gaming, too- busy-to-sit-down-to-eat ancestor, the 4th Earl threw the meat between two hunks of bread in 1762, thus setting in motion the carb-ridden anxieties we experience today.

( Left: "The Full Montagu" hot sandwich, from the Earl chain.)

Should you wish to invest in a franchise....see below.

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• 1 unit – net worth $750,000; liquid $300,000
• 5 units – net worth $1,000,000; liquid $500,000
• 10 units – net worth $2,000,000; liquid $800,000

Books: "The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating," Plus, The Escargot Thing

The snail in question was nibbling at night on flower petals, or sometimes portabello mushrooms, nibbling with the consistent chomp of a creature with a thousand teeth. As the author, Elizabeth Tova Bailey puts it, "the comforting sound of the snail’s miniscule munching.”

Bailey, a young woman on the move, was struck down by a mysterious viral illness while traveling. Her recovery, after many years of debilitation, is ongoing. But at her lowest ebb, lying in bed unable even to read or watch tv, she became entranced watching the measured movements and slowed down activities of a wild snail, given to her by a caregiver. The snail became her constant companion.

This superlative small book is about that snail, and snails in general, as well as about recovery, solace, curiosity, and patience.

People eat snails, too, of course, though I always felt the pleasure of "escargots" were 3/4 garlic, white wine, parsley and butter, and 1/4 odd, chewy blackish critter. Snails require purging, you know, a tedious, time-consuming business involving great unpleasantness for the snail over 5 days---fasting, followed by evacuation of snail innards, followed by finishing off the snail by boiling, followed by removal of an organ or two, followed by a briny bath.

So one wonders, why would anyone bother? Better to trap a squirrel, maybe. Or some other small mammal. Or just eat a portabello mushroom cooked up with all that white wine, garlic, butter and parsley.

( Tks to Travel Signposts for the escargots pic.)

NB  The book was published in 2010 by Algonquin Books. You can buy it on Kindle by zooming down to the end of this blog page.

Foodie Cooks: What is This?! Fabulous Veg.

 
Let's face it, says she modestly, Foodie is fabulous at whipping up dinner from the veg lurking about.  (Plus frozen crusty panini.)

What is this? (The Spouse often asks...) Almost all organic.

Mixed summer squash steamed with onion, garlic, handful of leftover spinach mixed in at end, green chile spice from NM, drizzle of Israeli olive oil, black pepper.

Japanese eggplant pan-grilled with chopped green onion, Italian parsley, garlic, sliced tomatoes, a tad of panko, more drizzled oil, mozzarella bits, fresh Parmesan, lid on top for a 'mo, fresh basil, pronounced BAH-ZIL, like Basil Rathbone, on top before serving. Olive oil dipping thingie for warmed bread. 

Oh--there was wine involved, at least for Foodie.

Eaten with Al and Annunziata Fresco, under the palms.

 

 

Our Italian Deli Salutes St.Paddy

 
CB and C as only Mazzaro's Italian Deli does it.

"Corned" beef refers to beef cured in barrels with kernels of coarse salt--the word corn described small or granular bits.

Ironically, although beef cured in this manner was a big export from Cork, Ireland for generations, the average Irish person was unable to afford such a luxury item. The locals ate cured pork, with any luck.

After the famine, Irish people arriving in the US in the mid to late 1800's discovered that corned beef was inexpensive, and paired it with other cheap foods, in particular the cabbage and the glorious spud. Hence, corned beef and cabbage ( and spuds and carrots) is very much an Irish-American food.

 

 

 

Back to Hunting/Gathering in Japan? Solar Cooking?

A photo on the front page of the actual St Petersburg Times riveted me this morning. It showed three Japanese people in Ishinomaki, one with a child on her back, squatting over a makeshift cooking fire, preparing food. The caption indicated they were in front of their " damaged house."

Camping! There we are with our stove teetering on a well-worn picnic bench set in a meadow, a rushing stream at one side, tall pines in the near distance, chipmunks frolicking over downed logs...but camping is what one does to experience the joys of non-civilization. Camping is a recreational choice, whereas across the region impacted by earthquakes and the tsunami, survivors are coping, in a return to the hunter-gatherer camping-style of yore. The resilient, inventive, and healthy will get by.

What are they eating? Foodie peers into their pans and sees fish, traces of greenery, and in a steamer basket, rice. Was this provender scrounged from their ruined home? Dug out of a defunct freezer? Caught from the receding sea?

Maybe it's time to take a deeper look at solar cooking, even though people with ample modernity/electricity/gas never give it a thought.  ( I know, it may be snowing in the Japanese zone right now.) There's a Japanese Solar Cooking Association, affiliated with Solar Cookers World Network. The possibilities of using what is at hand, including the sun, are myriad and fascinating. Take a look here.  India leads the list as a country whose most resource-poor people could benefit from solar cookery.

Meanwhile, this via the bbc:  "The Japanese government is ready to release rice stockpiles wherever needed, the country's farm minister is quoted as saying by the Kyodo news agency."

( Tks to Solar Cookers International for photo.)

"We Use the Rice"

Via the bbc Asia-Pacific blog:  "The most important thing we can do is to cook," one woman told our correspondent. "We use the rice. We can get by with that."

Food Heritage, FL: Munch's Lunch

A "real" onion ring is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, eh?  After two tries at local joints, finally, the fanatical fresh onion ring maven ( moi) found some, right around the corner at Munch's, rhymes with lunches, a neighborhood beacon since 1952.  

This place has funky stuff on the walls, like class photos of local elementary school kids from the 1960's, a counter with fishing mags, specials for each day of the week--yesterday, Shepherd's Pie--and a bustling waitstaff that favors the term "Hon," as in "OK, Hon, I'll bring a side of slaw."  They do fresh fish--mullet was hoped for--and the grouper sandwich is a local legend, but I have yet to try either.

True Munchkins adore the creamed chipped beef, fried chicken, meat loaf, pulled pork, the grits and biscuits, and on, and on. The comfort of American foods.

Back to those rings!  Flaky, thin, oniony, too many in a serving, etc etc. Fantastic. The right stuff. If you really need to eat anything else, the catfish sandwich is fine, though I am not a fan of that bottom dwelling, mud sucking creature.

ps  Munch's apparently will be featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives sometime soon, via the Food Network, not that I asked the owner about this--I was too busy examining Laura's Brownies on the counter, baked by his wife. Maybe next time.