Irish Cuisine Strength And Sustainability

By now everyone is probably sick of all that corned beef and cabbage as well as anything dyed green.True Irish cuisine is one born from sustainability and hardship.Despite it all the food is flavorful and rich with local meats and produce. Saint Patrick would be proud as well as familiar with today's Irish cuisine.It basically is simple cooking made with very basic ingredients.Gaelic chefs ,such as Kevin Dundon is bringing this kind of sustainable cooking to the rest of the world.For two or three millennia the Irish have been living off the land and sea.Since the Bronze Age, the indigenous have been eating a version of smoked ham as well as roasted pig.By the eighth century,geese, hens and ducks were added to their diet .The Celts landed in Ireland around this time and with them brought baking skills.They were able to grow rye,wheat and barley ,and then used the chaff, grinding it into flour.This was made into a type of griddle cake. .Around this time they also created a mead from fermented honey and water as well as a basic beer made without hops.Cheese was an important part of their diet as was butter and cream.Streams provided them with fish for a bit of variety They foraged for fruits and wild herbs to flavor both main dishes and desserts. Once the potato was introduced in the 1600's,Irish cuisine was forever changed.The spuds were a great source of nutrition and could blend with any ingredient.Both rich and poor used them.Upper class nobles enjoyed potatoes as well as carrots with mutton in Irish stew.Their tenants ate them with milk and cabbage.Surprisingly this diet is rich in proteins and vitamins.Unfortunately the famine came in the 1840's. Locals wound up eating even grass to survive .Luckily the island is ringed with Seaweed and they lived on what's know as carrageen moss.Ireland saw better times in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.A good meal now can include fresh caught salmon or fresh from the farm along with variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. Irish cheese has come into its'own in the last few years ,rivaling its'Continental counterparts. This St .Patrick's Day see Irish cuisine for what it is: a salute to sustain ability .It is a rich and varied one,full of fresh ingredients.It's not anything dyed green .It is a cuisine from a rugged land.

The Absolute Best Flan Ever!

A well made flan is like tasting heaven.Unfortunately most store bought ones have a pallid flavor.They're basically just vanilla pudding marinating in some over gooey caramel sauce.Take heart.There's a brand new flan on the mArket, an artesanal one that will make the dessert as trendy as bespoke macarons or the much wanted cronut. the creator of this is Claudia Berroa who has launched Claudy's Gourmet in the Bronx.(and let's hear it for this borough who stands in the shadow of trendy food places like Chelsea and Brooklyn)She has taken her Peruvian grandmother's time honored recipe and turned it into something for both hip foodies and traditional flan lovers alike.Each flan is handcrafted, not poured into molds and laced with preservatives and artificial flavorings.The chocolate is made from dark Belgian chocolate while the vanilla has Madagascar vanilla bean extract,made by her and her husband!Rich.The flan comes in five flavors, the traditional such as vanilla but also coffee and lychee.The idea to create artesanal flan came from her love of cooking,along with being inspired by The Food Channel's The Iron Chef.She studied business administration but her heart , it seems, belongs to creating wonderful Peruvian dishes and desserts. Ms. Berroa is a true genius when it comes to creating flans.Hers is the most perfect ,with the right combinations of egg, milk and sugar.Their lightness is reminiscent of Italian zabaglione,ethereal and airy.I sampled the coffee, passionfruit and vanilla.I love the coffee,it's flavor wasn't overpowering and the light caramel sauce worked well with it.The passionfruit was also amazing with real bits of fruit and just a slight,barely perceivable tartness.For flan purists,I'd recommend the vanilla.Unlike the store-bought and homemade kinds, this is not cloying with no eggy aftertaste.It was like a creamy puff of tradition and exoticism blended together.I will probably be heading to Gourmet Garage in NYC(it's also sold in the Union Market in Brooklyn) for more and to try the chocolate.She has definitely made me a flan fan for life. Claudia Berroa has redefined flan and has raised this simple dessert to gourmet status.It is one of the best out there and one that has to be tasted.To be honest it will be Manhattan's and then the world's go to sweet.

Little Bit Of Lenten Cheating

Lent means certain sacrifices.Most people give up a favorite snack or dessert.Some give up meat on Wednesdays and Frodays.This is probably the hardest.While it's easier to sub in rice crackers for chips and frozen yogurt for ice cream, there's really no subbing in for steak or even hamburger.Luckily we can turn to vegans for solutions. Thanks to a strong worldwide vegetarian movement, it's now easy to still have much loved burgers and steaks.There are so many different kinds of veggie burgers out there.from Italian style to grillers that no one will actually miss the real things.There are also soy versions of Salisbury steak packaged with a rich mushroom gravy.You can also buy meatballs that are made in two ways.one with soy and the other with ground mushrooms.Both are great ,gracing a bowl of Friday night spaghetti.If you're longing for a vegan pizza,look no further than the Tofutti brand.The cheese is soy,and you can also scatter soy pepperoni. To be honest , this is also a heart healthy meal free from nitrates and processed pork.Speaking of which there is also tofu based ham and hot dogs.You can make some nice sandwiches as well as enjoying a grilled dog to finish out the week. Nowadays almost any meat, even fish can be duplicated thanks to tremendous inroads made in the soy industry.There are thick cut grilled soy steaks .These can easily be put out on the grill or pan fried.Have then with a baked potato and salad for satisfying dinner. Most supermarket and animal friendly sites will sell beef alternatives.Many serve beef tips which can be turned into a tasty crockpot stew or goulash. Soy beef crumbles are easy to get and they can be turned into a meatless chili or Bologneses sause.For poultry lovers there is both tofu chicken and turkey .You can get the chicken in nugget form but also in cutlets.Both are great for kids who are also observing Lent.The nuggets can be served with the same sauces as the real thing.For a big family meal, especially on Wednesdays .Serve with stuffing and cranberry sauce for the real thing. You could also make a soy turkey chili as well to vary the dish.Soy turkey and chicken cold cuts make excellent sandwiches and they easily be the main ingredient for Dagwoods or heroes for either lunch or dinner. If you find yourself craving meat on Lenten Wednesdays and Fridays, don't give in.There are soy substitutes that can satisfy .Try the many different kinds ,from beef to pork to chicken and turkey for either a filling lunch or dinner.

In The Agrihood

Everyone has his or her idea of the perfect neighborhood.Most prefer a quiet block while other ps want easy access to stores.Many people are getting a kind of combination of that in the agrihood.This is a new concept based on an old idea with families in one area relying on a farm for food.It's a great idea and the ideal location for families. this new food and housing trend was covered in yesterday's New York Times Dining section.Kate Murphy wrote the piece after visiting one such community in Gilbert Arizona.The neighborhood is called Agritopia.Thanks to the real estate bust of 2008 halted construction however developers turned in another and very new direction: developing farm focused tracts.There was a need for them.After all people were discovering eating farm to table was healthier and what better way than having a sustainable farm within walking distance.The neighborhood boasts not only fresh produce ,meats ,eggs and even honey but also a restaurant that uses the raw ingredients.Residents pay $100 a month for their supplies of just harvested eggs, honey and produce.Other agrihoods are now in such diverse locations as Idaho to Vermont.There are only five in existence in the US now but six more are being built. Life in Agritopia is blissful.The homes are one story with big front porches and close proximity to the sidewalk.This encourages neighbors to chat and enables a sense of community.As for diets, families have come to appreciate fresh ingredients .Kids growing up here will more or less be imbued with a taste for the natural instead of fast or microwaved foods.The Phoenix agrihood has 160 acres with veggies from artichokes to zucchini along with fruit trees such as nectarines Apples, peaches and dates, that even include olive trees?There is livestock ,with chickens and sheep for fresh egg and meat.The farm is separated from the community by grapevines and blackberry brambles.Everything is sold from a centrally located farm stand where the restaurant also is located.It runs on the honor although there is that fee. Everyone craves the perfect life.An agrihood can give that,along with good food and healthy ingredients.It's a step towards living in a true utopia.

A True Taste Of Ireland

With St Patrick's day arriving on Monday ,everyone starts thinking about Irish cuisine.Unfortunately there are still some Yanks who think that it must consists of boiled cabbage, boiled corned beef and beer.It's much more complex than that,being richly layered with flavors and textures.It reflects the island's harsh history and determination to live better. Both David Tanis and Melissa Clark wrote about Gaelic foods in both their respective columns in today's New York Times Dining section.Mr Tanis created and wrote about a type of fish and chips in his A City Kitchen.He combined Arctic char with a spinach butter. influenced by the Ballymaloe House cooking school.Their belief reflected Irish sensibility to cook with "fresh , local and seasonal" ingredients.That means freshly churned butter and freshly caught fish.It also is using seasonal veggies from the garden as opposed to imported,frozen or canned.Mr Tanis sticks to this philosophy when he sautes an Arctic char in creme fraiche and serves it with a spinach butter.New potAtoes act as an elegant side.If the local fish market doesn't sell char then substitute it with local pink trout Melissa Clark takes that other traditional St Paddy's Day dish, cabbage and trAnsforms it into something completely amazing and down right addictive.Instead of either putting it as a side or in a salad, she turns it into a main dish in the form of an empananda or tort a.She uses the sweeter Savoy cabbage ,a staple in Piedmontese cooking and first sautes it to make it tender.Fontina cheese is also added along with ham and onions for flavor.A dash of cider vinegar is thrown in for bite(although this is reminiscent of the Piedmontese stuffed cabbage and polenta dish pescoi.The result is pasty, with a crunchy butter crust with a mélange of flavors inside.Since Savoy or any cabbage has a tendency to retain water, bread crumbs are added.These can be plain however Ms. Clark adduced the flavor kind for extra oomph.Other fillings can be used such as stewed tomatoes, browned mushrooms, and olives and potatoes. Irish cooking is not what people think.It 's a rich array of simple ingredients made into complex and flavorful dishes.Try these foods for St. Patrick's Day for a more sophisticated turn.

The Fruits Of Late Winter

By now everyone is probably craving fresh fruits.It's been a long cold winter and for most of us , the only sweet treat has been and covered in icing.Luckily, you can buy a variety of fruits right now. Thanks to it being late Summer in the Southern Hemisphere, supermarkets can sell a variety of fruits.Of course we have oranges and grapefruits coming in from California and Florida.These have been great in not only providing us with Vitamin C but also fiber.Yet by now we craving the earthy sweetness of blue berries and strawberries and thanks to South American farms, we can have them.Many food writers urge people to eschew these, because they feel that these imports are somewhat inferior.Not true.The strawberries are just as juicy and tasty as their Jersey counterparts during the height of the season here..You can easily add them to cereal or enjoy them with unsweetened yogurt as a super heAlthy dessert.The same with the blueberries.Use them in salads or light desserts or just eat them plain.They're fine, they 're not harboring any life threatening bugs either. Apples and pears are also out there right now.Try to buy organic ,however even just the regular kind is fine.With the apples you can get several different types from Braeburns to Fujis.Apples are a great snack whether for the office or school.They're also perfect for when you're really craving sweet and reach forvthese instead of for a cookie or doughnut.Pears are another refreshing good for you nibble.They are also great as an unexpected ingredient in any salad as weldor gracing a chicken and mayo sandwich.Some markets are offering plums.Again these probably are being imported from South America.They are just as juicy and as candy sweet as their American cousins so buy them as a nutritious snack.Plums also make a nice change of pace from the other fruit. Break free from all those winter desserts of cakes, cookiesand pies.Get back into the habit of eating fruit again.They're a healthy and refreshing change of pace in a late winter diet.

Where The Wild Things Are Eaten

There's A club in New York that has attracted adventurers and adventurous eaters for decades.The meats aren't your usual roast beef and chicken.They"re a bit more gamier, in fact they're downright wild.It's the famed Explorer's Club and it' been serving up some strange beasts for interesting feasts. Stephen Rex Brown wrote about it in today's New York Daily News(again the Daily News has some really good food articles).It an annual dinner that has attracted some of the last century's more famous explorer's.Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Sir Edmund Hillary This year Amazon founder ,Jeff Bezos and the edge of space skydiver, Felix Baumgartner will be honored. However it's the food that will shine.In past years it was a maple glazed hog mask or the face of the pig,along with python patties with bacon on top.For seafood adventurists the club served up jellyfish slivers in a white soy sauce.Turtle cakes with capers remoulade has also been given out.Desserts usually have the added decoration of mealworms and crickets. The club started in 1903 when navigating through most sit down dinners was an adventure.The club was founded by professionals dedicated To the exp,oration of Earth, the oceans and outer space.The first group included early Arctic explorer's,Adolphus Greeley and David Brainard.Teddy Roosevelt and Prince Albert I of Monaco were honorary members..The club has always been known for it's strange dinners.This year a few dozen pounds of alligators will be used as well as some exotic fungi.The dinner became a yearly fixture in the 1930s when explorer's brought back well preserved mammoth meat from Siberia.Since then every kind of meat, from ostrich to tarantula has been served.It's been made into such mundane recipes like bakes and sliders,the easier to eat them. Insects become kabobs while eyeballs are like appetizers. The Explorers were never faint hearted men and women.Eating the wild things on the planet means having a steely constitution.It's a club for the adventurous palate.