Twenty Years Of Pumpkin Spice

 it's that time of year again. the leaves are falling. People are wearing sweaters and fleece.what season is it The twentieth one of pumpkin spice latte. It's amazing that it's lasted this long.

New contributor and Food 52 recipe developer  Ella Quittner wrote this humerous observation in yesterday's New York Times Food section. She also delves in the history too.Twenty years ago Peter Dukes, a director at the company created the drink, thus beign known as the "father of the PSL." Surprisingly though it scored lower than chocolate and caramenl infused coffees at the time as it debi=uted mostly around Washington DC, and Vancouver British Columbia. The mangers were the first excited about it then the stars of the early Aughts, Katy Perry and Kristin Cavelleri touted its; assets. The drink took off. Despite this it was never considered hip.In fact its' unwillingness to be hip has helped it to be a perennial classic.It's a season trend but not trendy.

It is a  comforting drink. Thanks to it there is everything pumpkin spice  from hummus to even deodorant. Starbucks' rival Dunkin Donuts created it's own version in 2020. Many associate it with white girl privledge and the patriarchy.Its a derogatory portrait of the basic woman.Maybe because Starbucks has been ubiquituous and it is in almost every small town and large city.it was sure to be a must have in everyone's lives. There may be a "cringe factor" as Victoria Carliotti, a New School student puts it and she woulnd't post herself drinking it on Tiktok. yet she will be ordering it.Ir's sort of like McDonald's Grimace Shake popular during last summer when Gen Z made it a central part of their sbusrdist horro shorts on social media. 

Pumpkin spice latte is here to stay. It's a comfort  drink that symbolizes fall and coziness. It's what people want to celebrate the coming of fall every year.

LA'S BEst Restaurants

 New York  Chicago and San Francisco have alway sthe premier cities for fine dining. Yet Los Angeles is becoming a city known for quality restaurants. There are some great place to dine in the City of Angels.

Native Angelino and regular contributor Tejal Rao listed them in today's New YorkTimes Food section.there are some very good ones and that cater to all sorts of tastes.There are classic Italian ones such as Quarter Sheets ,an upscale pizzeria that features all sorts of pies. Antico Nuovo features Italian country cooking and quirky pastas like foglie d'ulivo and maloreddus. French cooking also reigns supreme in LA too. There is Republique, known for it's crunchy baguettes and delicous fusion dishes.in nearby Santa Monica there is the classic menu of Pasjoli. Here you can try pressed duck, done in the same way its'been cooked for centuries.Mexican food is also represented in Ponchu's Tlayudas which serves their version of blood sausage There is the wine bar Ruby Fruit, an inclusive gay bar, which features tast food such as their vegan hot dogs.

Yes there are Asian restaurants too CHinese .Korean and Japanese restuarants reigh supreme here too. Go to Needle for a Cantonese version of French toast. Perilla LA may be  a smalleatery but it packs a big punch food wise.There are rolled omelets and warm seasoned rice.Yangran is a Korean American place that combines Ashkenazi Jewish recipes with traditional Korean. There is pea shoot salad served with a golden capped congee potpie. Visitors to the city have to try Yess where there are tasting menus along with katsu, Japanese fried chicken. There is also Tsubaki that features charcoal grilled yakatori ans that also features seasonal ingredients. If you want Thai food then try  Anajak Thai which features a tasty fish custard and Thai fried chicken.Ravel offers a taste of African cooking that features North African and Middle Eastern cooking. 

LA is a culinary mecca worth visiting. The city is chockful of many different eateries from all sorts of cultures. It'san international  buffet .

The Next Food Destination Paterson NJ

 Could paterson , new Jersey be the next foodie destination, Surprisinglly this gritty industrrial town could be on everyone's list to visit int e next few years.It has a thriving immigrant community and with that a thriving food scene. You can find everything from Caribbean pupusas to Turkish piti there. 

Paterson has always been a factory town ever since Alexander Hamilton (yes , that  Alexander Hamilton) showed George Washington the majestic falls known as the Great Falls. It was in 1792 that Hamilton wanted to turn the area into the next Manchester England, an industrial city filled with mills and factories. He succeeded and within a century it became a major US manufacturing city. with it came the first immigrants, namely Irish. However the Piedmontese came from Northeastern Italy to run the silk mills, hence the city's nickname Silk City, They brought such good food as bagna calda , fritto misto and risotto. The Syrians, also skilled in silk making followed and they brought dishes like kibbeh, and the now popular breakfast dish  shakshuka. African -Americans migrated from the South in the Sixties and Seventies and brought with them such tasty dishes as fried chicken and collard greens. The recent wave of South Americans brought a tropical flavor to the city , with such dishes as plantanos and mofungo. 

If you go to Paterson (and it's a quick hop from Manhattan) there are several restaurants to try.Patsy's is one of the oldest , first serving customers in 1931. Their pizzas are legendary and have a huge fan base.. They also have arancini, Sicilian rice balls and clams oreganata that are amazing It's right off Route 20 and is easy to get to. The city has a relatively large Middle Eastern population. There are several places to get sharma and za'atar along with Turkish pizza  or pide This is a long flat bread filled with everything from pastrami to veggies.Pide 28 is one of the best and one of my favorites. I do like their tomato and mozzarella pide but the pastrami one is beyond tasty.Every bite is a mouthful of delicious spiced beef. It's across from another great place Nablus Sweets Bakery. Here you can try all sorts of yummy sweets like knafa, a kind of Middle Eastern cheesecake. The classic Bonfire Restaurant , a paterson staple for decades has reinvented itself. It now serves every kind of mofungo, from the traditional pork infused  to ones full of lobster or goat stew.

Few cities in New Jersey have a multicultural culinary scene like Paterson. Visit it for the history but definitely stay for the food. You'll find a rich and varied menu.

A Good Lidl Haul

 LIdl is fast becoming a favorite of American shoppers. Not only do they have good prices but also good food on many unusual imported treats. It's a fun trip to see the stroes. You'll never know what you'll find.

I recently went to my local Lidl in Elmwood Park, new Jersey,. I was not impressed on my very first trip there but almost a year later that changed.I always lik their focaccia pizzas,. Those are great but that was it.,Now they have much more, very much like another German import Aldi. 

I fell for their frozen chestnut squash soup which when heated for five to six minutes transforms from chunks of frozen soup to a creamy potage. This is going to be first course for my Thanksgiving dinner. Their croissants are pure heaven, done correctly with crunchy layers and an airy middle. I bought apricot jam to go with them.

I'vve been into Greek olive oil recently,preferring its' rich flavor to the Italian variety. This was a steal for six dollars.This will b eperfectin for sauting the frozen veggie and potato mix I also  bought a margherita style frozen pizza.

Along with two packages of steamed veggies with potatoes.Lidl

has some excellent vegetarian and vegan choices, including their version of Impossible Meat.

Of course Lidl has some good sweets too. I could not resist their version of the classic fudge stripes and straight from Fmance macarons.

I definitely could not resist Diana's Chocolate Covered bananas.

This I will be buying over and over. My whole haul, including a big family box of Cheerios

was only forty bucks total!!!! I'm definitely holiday food shopping here!

If you want good and gourmet food for much less, then head to your local Lidl. You'll find some interesting foods that will enlarge your culinary palate. It's worth a trip.

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Chip City Cookies

 There are so many cookie companie s out there yet Chip City stands out. Why? Their cookies ar ethese huge mounds of goodness, bigger than the average round! Plus they come in all sorts of unusual and traditional flavors.

I discoivered them today in Ridgewood ,New Jersey, Any bakery featuring cookies is always worth investigating.It was a cheery place with the lure of cookies - GIANT ones 

They offered five or four choices.I wen with the safest. Chocolate chip and confetti

These are huge mounds of cookies. Chip City also had the brookie, a brownie cookie , hybrid and caramel apple cider doughnut. Their menus change weekly. You could walk into any of their Long Island, Manhattan and New Jersey stores and try a Key Lime one ,a giant cookie filled with Key lime pie filling or a peanut butter chocolate one. There are eleven flavors on rotation,

How do they taste? An odd mox of crunchy outer shell with a chewy cookie inside. They were interesting  and the chocolate chip had a good amount of chips on. The confetti one was more sugary than buttery.  Keep in mind that they are expensive. Each cookie costs a whopping five bucks!

If you like giant cookies then try Chip City ones. They're big enough for two or three people to enjoy. Try their many flavors , They're a bog cookie with a big taste

Campus Food Fights

 There's bee a growingconcern over what college kids eat on campus. Cafeterias are producing tasty food but the problem is that it's mostly fried. Some are changing their menus to fit diets and religious restrictions >Yet in some schools there's still a battle.

It is easier to conitnue a menu with cheap ingredients. However it's time to rethink the dishes whne students' health could be harmed.If enogh people protest there can be changes Both faculty and the student  body should have some kind of protest along with petitions that everyone can sign. They can even ask for  a school nutritionist that can help in planning healthier meals. He or she can also assist in what ingredients to buy and recipes to make. A nutitionist can also help in teaches classes or giving seminars on proper eating,If the school doesn;t have the money for one , then they can always rely on a professor who teaches the subject. Their input will also be helpful when it comes to planning decent recipes to put  out,

What else can universities and campuses do? One is installing salad bars on the campus. This way both faculty and students can eat fresh veggies and fruits. The cafeteria staff can also include healthy proteins like chicken or turkey. They can also offer good for you  dressing like vinaigrettes flavored with fresh herbs.Forget heavier dressings made with mayo and buttermilk.. They're too rich in calories and fats. Skip the croutons and bacon too. Pepitas and sunflower seeds add just as much crunch and flavor as them. Another suggestion is offering vegan alternatives. Many kids are turning vegetarian these days. Cafeterias can offer burgers made with Beyond Beef  or offer more veggies dishes like ratatouille which can be made for a crowd. Instead of doughnuts and cookies, limit desserts to fresh fruits. They're easy to carry in a backpack too.

School cafeterias don;t have to be good food deserts. They can offer students an faculty nutritious and tasty dishes .They just need to change.

Rediscovering Yakgwa

 What is comfort food?If you're Korean then it;s yakgwa an ancient dessert that's hot again. This sweet has been around for centuries yet's it's firmly beloved by a new generation. Its also an easy bake in any home oven so everyone can discover it's specialness.

Regular contributor and chef Eric KIm wrote about this treat in yesterday's New York Times food section, Yakgwa roughly translates to medicinal confection and for years Koreans used the prized syrup for illnesses .It also connects genrations and tells the story of Korea;s reverance for tradition and optimism for the future. It's been eaten since the Goryeo Dynasty that existed between 918 and 1392 CE and now has had a resurgeance and beyond thanks in part to YouTube and TIktok videos. Then there is the Korean drama Alchemy of Souls" on Netflix that feature the sweet. There is also South Korea's Generation MZ a hybrid of  Millenial and Generation Z who have made it popular again. It's easy to find in South Korea with boutique companies like Golden Piece and Jangin Hangwa selling the original honey to  newer flavors like lavender, chocolate and even cookies and cream.Traditionally, because of the scarcity of it;s ingredients, honey, sesame oil and flour, the treats were only  eaten on special occasions like coming of age, marriage death and veneration of the dead. It's used in memorials although a new generation is having it more often.

It is rare to get here in the States. Chef Kim has included a recipe for it. Yakgwa is basically a fried cookie tha'ts surprisingly made without butter, eggs or milk. Ginger , cinnamon and freshly ground black pepper flavor it   A quarter cup of honey or maple syrup provide the sweetness as does two tablespoons granulated sugar. Soju , a clear and distilled Korean brain alcohol is added to the dry ingredients along with the honey and sesame oil. Soju can be found in most liquor stores. Everything is mixed together to form  a rough dough.It's kneaded then rolled out. Once cut it;s fried in vegetable oil.  You will need to go to a Korean grocery store for the jocheong or brown rice syrup used for the syrup that's poured over th e fried cookies. This also gives the sweets a nice glossy finish too. I'ts mixed with more honey or maple syrup and fresh ly cut ginger is added to this to give it zing.  After the cookies have been fried and then cooled for half an hour they're soaked in the syrup overnight and are ready to serve. Many decorate them with pine nuts or crystalized ginger.

Yakgwa is a treat that now can be enjoyed at home. It reprsents the long history of Korea but also it's futire.It's a sweet from the past that can be enjoyed now