Food And War

 War affects how countries eat. Moatly, as seen recently in Ukraine, cause shortage and starvation.Yet the one good thing about conflict is that it introoduces service people to other cultures . Despite the harshness and scariness it does bring people together. Mostly that occurs in eating. There's something communal in sharing.

It's the American conflicts that have created firsts. The Revolutionary War was the first to introuce rations for its' troops. Thanks to the Continental Congress of 1773 colonial fighters were able to receive a pound of beef, and half a pound of pork or salted fish a week. There were also three pints of bean or peas along with a pint of rice or meal a week too. They also got flour or hard bread along with cider or beer. Everything was salted for preservation. As for veggies, onions and turnips which were easy to carry and cook also were part of their diet.Vinegar was later added to prevent scurvy. Did these men bring their wives' and mothers' recipes with them. Probably. Did they swap them? Most likely , being the first to expand the American palate. The Civil War saw canned foods on the troops' menu . Condensed milk, pork and beans were fed to the Union troops.Cattle also moved with the men, being slaughtered for the only fresh food. There was chicken fricasee if they could gert their hands on poultry and Union forces also made mushroom ketchup by boiling mushrooms. They may have brought the recipe home. There were also Cornish game hens and ham and beans stew to eat .

It;s the Twentieth Century wars, however that created the modern American cuisine that we know.The Spanish American War saw troops being deployed to the Phillipines and Puerto Rico. These troops may have tried some fo the native foods like curries from the first and mofongo from the second. The First World War saw Americans going off to fronts in France ,Italy and Germany. Some may have tasted the dishes there and brought dishes such as duck stew, risotto and wursts.(althought they could easily get some variation of these in immigrant communities back in the States). Yet it was the Second World War that brought more recipes to the American table. GIs stationed around Naples brought home pizza , loving it so much that it became part of the American diet from Maine to California. This also happened with lasagna too, with servicemen bringing home recipes that they got form the Southern Italian villagers they protected. It happened with Japanese food, especially during the Korean War when servicemen spent their R&R in Tokyo.Japanese restaurants grew in popularity after that. Recent wars like the Vietnamese Conflict along with the Gulf and Afghani wars saw refugees brining their dishes to the US.

War is hell. Yet it does bring about innovations and exploration into different cultures. it shows in our many different dishes brought about by conflict.

A Korean Pancake That Has Everything

 It's always a good thing to clean out the fridge.Yet don't throw out those odds and ends. There's a recipe that can make good use of them. A jeon or Korean pancake is a great way to use all those bits and pieces leftover.it's also a tasty snack or lunch too.

The great chef J. Kenji Lopez-Alt wrote about this Korean staple and fun food in today's new York Times Food section.  Jeons are kind of like egg foo yung save there's a flour base instead of eggs. You can basically put any kind of add in into the batter.As Chef Lopez-Alt points out they're basically made from wheat flour and cornstarch. It's the extras that make it. They can be stuffed with squid, oysters and scallions or with mung beans and pork as in nokdu jeon.  These savory pancakes can be made of wild green onions and a thin egg batter like Busan, Korea's Dongnae pajeon. It can also be flavored with kimchi, spicy fermented cabbage and gochugaru, Korean hot pepper flakes. One of the best that Chef Lopez-Alt has eaten was at  Manhattan's Hanjan where chef Hooni Kim shallow fried scallions, ramps chives and squid in a thin batter of cornstarch, flour, egg yolk, baking powder and water. You can use this batter mixture with different ingredients like cherry tomatoes and spinach, leftover broccoli rabe and kale. You can also sub in starches for the flour. Egg whites will cause the jeon to rise like a puffy omelet while using only yolks will tenderize them, Baking soda and /or carbonated water will give them lacier edges and a puffier interior.

Chef Lopez Alt gives his recipe, born from having sauerkraut left over in fridge. It had fermented to the point where upon opening it hissed and bubbled at him. There's also a red onion for sweetness and scallions. Add cherry peppers or pepperoncini for color and bite. Use sauerkraut and also a quarter cup of its' juice. Chef Lopez-Alt says ice cold water is a must and keep mixing to a minimal. As for the oil used, use either peanut, rice bran or soybean oil for frying. A wok is preferred for frying but a skillet also works too. The sauerkraut and its' juice are mixed with the the rest of the ingredients until there is no more dry parts. The pancakes are then fried. He also gives two variations . One is a kimchi, cabbage and mushroom one , rife with stir fried or sauteed cremini or shiitake mushrooms and the gochugaru instead of the peppers. The second is garlicky zucchini and carrots. The veggies are mandolined into thin matchsticks and then placed in a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl for fifteen minutes. The liquid is a sub in for the sauerkraut juice. In place of the peppers, used four minced garlic cloves. There is a dipping sauce for all three, made with soy sauce, rice vinegar, scallions,  granulated sugar and  toasted sesame oil.

If you want to clean out your fridge, make jeon, These pancakes  are a delicious ways to use whatever odds and ends you have. You can be creative  , with a can if sauerkraut or an array of fresh veggies. Have fun with this crispy flavorful treat.

Cookbooks To Carry You Through

One of the most trying things about this confinement is coming up with meal ideas and plans.what do you make? Is your family getting tired of all the bean dishes they've been eating? Are you tired of making the same three or four recipes every week? Not to fear. There are some good cookbooks to get you through these tough times.

The New York Times Food section devoted most of today's issue to some of the best cookbooks and included recipes too. The staff made the selections , keeping the quarantine in mind along with the reason why some people read other literature. Even cookbooks offer learning, exploration and escape.Everybody weighed in  from Julia Moskin to Melissa Clark and Tejal Rao. The books can take you to Russia, the South and Korea. One of the most interesting is Beyond The North Wind: Russia In Recipes And Lore  (Ten Speed Press) by Darra Goldstein. Hers isn't the usual borscht pickled herring dishes. Vodka is spiked with birch buds and crisp mushroom hand pies spiced with caraway. There are also stories and traditions explained.  New contributor Vaughn Vreeland reviewed Bitter Honey Recipes and Stories from the Isle of Sardinia (Hardie Grant) written by London chef Letitia Clark. The recipes rely on high quality ingredients and the leisurely lifestyle Sardinia is known for. Another travel destination cookbook is My Korea: Traditional Flavors, Modern Recipes (W.W. Norton & Company) written by chef Hooni KIm. Chef Kims gives us everyday noodles in meaty black bean sauce along with  homemade (!) tofu with perilla leaf soy sauce.

Then there are the comfort food books. Check out Procrastibaking :100 Recipes For Getting Nothing Done In The Most Delicious Way Possible (Atria Books) written by Erin Gardner. Kids and adults will get a kick out of the recipes ranging from baked Alaska ice cream cones to mall pretzels along with chocolate pudding pie. Opera singer and chef Alexander Smalls gives us Meals, Music and Meals:Recipes From My African American Kitchen (Flatiron Books) are grouped by not surprisingly musical genre.Yet's it's also comfort food, from devilled eggs to Gullah dirty rice to chess pie. His potato salad made with pickled sweet relish made a fan out of reviewer Krysten Chambrot. Vegans also get their due with the cookbook Vegan JapanEasy : Classic and Modern Vegan Japanese Recipes to Cook At Home (Hardie Grant) by Tim Anderson.It's an easy read with the writing being conversational. Chef Anderson urges readers to cook holistically  with rehydrating shiitake mushrooms and curing them in soy sauce. There's also a simple vegan stock recipe that probably can be repurposed into a dozen dishes.Other cookbooks are Chicano Eats:Recipes From My Mexican-American Kitchen (Harper Design) by food writer Esteban Castillo that features a mac and cheese fundido with mushrooms along with Dime Times ( Karma Press) written by the famed cafe's owners Alissa Wagner and  Sabrina De Sousa and Yasmin's Fahr's Keeping It Simple : Easy Weeknight One Pot Recipes ( Hardie Grant), These last two are both comfort food recipes along with being easy ones.

It's a time of both reading and cooking. Why not order one or a few of these cookbooks to get you through this quarantine. You'll enjoy learning and cooking new dishes.