Foodie Differences

I teach college freshmen who have only been in this country a few weeks. They are straight form China and still are feeling their way around American ways . This also applies to their eating habits as well. I found out today via a discussion that they are not used to American cooking. We may have some yummy dishes but they're still hard to swallow.


The one thing that impressed them was that our food is too soft. I heard this also from an Italian cousin who visited me int he early 1980's. The food , especially the bread was too gooey and gummy, not like the crusty loves she was used to . My students have a similar complaint about chicken. It's too mushy for them although this could be that they're eating cafeteria food. That can skew your idea of it (again this was the same cafeteria that made me gain the "Freshman Fifteen" back in the late Seventies obviously my alma mater went downhill food wise). Other foods are too bland or too salty. Again I'm sensing a matter of mass produced service style food. They didn't have too many growls when we ate at New York's hard Rock Cafe a few weeks back.

Chinese food here is not going to be the same as it is back home for them either. I know from a Chinese colleague , that about a cup of sugar is dumped into some Chinese American dishes to make it more appealing to our palates. (this doesn't say much about us). The kids want food that doesn't have the weird colored sauces or overly flavored recipes. They want fresh as I can see when I teach their morning class. They are always noshing on fresh cut pineapple or apples ,. I don't see any American students with that.

There is a world of differences right now between us. One of them is food. In a few years, I know, that gap will be somewhat closed. They'll experience pizza and cupcakes, sloppy joes and chocolate shakes. For now though they may be here but their palates are back in their homeland.

Late Summer Harvests

Yesterday's; Food Section of the Times was all about using up the last of the garden harvest.This is a good idea but what exactly do you do ? After all by this time you're probably sick of eating all those tomatoes squash an cucumbers. Not to worry. The article has some interesting ideas.

Melissa Clark's piece was full of good suggestionss. I liked her idea for a fig (although I'm not a big fan of the fruit) tart. Here she take s leftover figs and makes a savory tart with them. In it go in onions rosemary and Stilton cheese. It's then poured on a pre made phyllo dough crust an d baked for 25 minutes in a 400 degree oven. This is a nice way of getting rid of any left over fig. I imagine you could sub in any veggie like peppers and squash ans surprisingly even apples to create this dish.

Another good idea is ratatouille This time cook it with sausage and bake it in a pot pie with a corn meal crust. this is a more interesting take on the recipe and something a family might appreciate. Another intriguing recipe is an eclair not filled with cream, but with tomatoes and ricotta cheese. It;s the same principle as a sweet one but with a savory filling. it;s a great wayto rind your fridge of the bumper crop of both the vine ripened fruit and basil.

Don't worry if your freezer or fridge is bursting with the last of the summer harvest. There are many ways in which you can use up those leftover tomatoes figs and peppers along with squash. Just be creative!

Foods That Excite Us

Every foodie out there has a favorite dish that just transcends him or her. This could be just a simple sandwich or an elaborately prepared meal. It could be something exotic or something commonplace. All in all it's the food that excites us.

I have to admit a weakness for fresh tomato and mayo sandwiches. This has been my go to sandwich since I was twelve . I had read about it in one of those tween books and it had been the heroine's favorite. Yet there's nothing like a Jersey tomatoes sliced thinly and then layered on toasted white bread. Of course it pays to have the bread slathered with mayo. I have tweaked this simple recipe over the years. I've added tarragon to the mayonnaise as well as sprinkle don fresh ground sea salt and pepper. Still the original tastes the best. There's something satisfying about the tomatoes acidity mingling with the mayo's creaminess along with the toasted aftertaste of the bread.

Other foods that excite me are caramel apples. Again is is just simply caramel overlaid over an apple but the two tastes together are magical. There's something about the way these two sweet tastes come together. It's the same with strawberries s or raspberries and bitter chocolate. Both are sweet and you'd think the taste would be jarring but they're not.

What are the tastes that excite you? Is it something as simple as what I've described or is it more complex. Write to us here with your loves, your ideas and your thought on foods that get you going.

That Extinct Breed -The Ice Cream Parlor

Where have all the ice cream parlors gone to? If you're of a certain age, you'll remember like that (quick finger snap here). They were everywhere. Even some towns here in North Jersey had them. Now try to find one. Some do exist here in my state but they're down at the shore. I haven't seen any in this area since the late Nineties.

Don't get me wrong . I can still get a decent sundae in my neck of the woods. There are Friendlys all over here yet I classify them more as a restaurant than an ice cream parlor. They do make brilliant sundaes filled with the right amount of syrup and whipped cream. There's also Dairy Queen and Baskin Robbins which serve the standard stuff like cones and banana splits. Yet there are really no family owned ones anymore. I'm sure there are a few left in Manhattan . Most of them are at the Jersey shore where the big seller's are just cones or cups. Luckily the ice cream is home made and some even have their own invented flavors.

Maybe entrepreneurs should bring back the old fashioned ice cream parlor. Look there are now a plethora of cupcake stores everywhere and this was a food that all but forgotten just a few years ago. It's time for old fashioned, brightly lit, long marble countered ice cream parlors to be revived.With them should come the ingenous and heavenly creations that not only we enjoyed but our parents and grandparents did as well. Who wouldn't want a melon or pineapple sundae made with fresh fruit and freshly churned vanilla ice cream? Or the bottomless banana split that can feed ten people? Or homemade malteds with real malt in them? There's nothing like getting a chocolate soda with friends or just spend a relaxing Saturday in a plush booth enjoying a simple chocolate syrup drenched sundae.

Ice cream parlors will be relegated to Americana soon enough. It's time to bring back these wonderful places. There's nothing like spending an afternoon in one enjoying freshly churned ice cream.

Basque Cuisine

Along the bay of Biscay there lies a region called The Basque . It belongs to France and Spain, mostly to Spain. It's an ancient kingdom, Some think it could even be the lost city of Atlantis. It not onlyhas an ancient language and an ancient cuisine as well.

The region is lucky to have the Bay of Biscay on its northern side and the fertile Spanish Ebro Valley to the south. The area is rich in tomatoes and capsicum peppers and both are used quite liberally in the cuisine. Seafood and grilled meats are also served, roaste d over a charcoal fire. The Basques are also known for a kind of tapas called txikiteo that features highly spiced hams and seafood. Cheese is also very big in the region , usually made from goat's milk . Quince jam is spread over it and it is eaten without bread.


The Basques area is also known for its' deep red cherries. Restaurants as well as homes serve a cherry soup. These are pitted and then poached in a light syrup . Creme fraiche, fresh cream or vanilla ice cream is added to give the soup some body. The Basques also make special cakes as well most loaded with crema or other fruits..

This ancient and mysterious region has some good dishes . They are not full of mystery like the land, and the languag . It's just simple good taste mixed with the local produce..

That Fun Treat Ppeanut Brittle

Now that the weather is cooler and ideal for candy making, it's time to start thinking about peanut brittle.This is a simple and yummy treat to whip up. It requires just simple ingredients and it's a good way to introduce older kids to candy making. Besides there's nothing like munching on brittle during a Saturday night movie.



Peanut brittle's popularity came about in 1903s thanks to George Washing Carver's mass introduction of th e legume to American palates. The recipe is actually probably been older thanks to the Southern folklore legend of Tony Beaver. It is said that he stopped a dam from flooding by using just molasses and peanuts. There are even recipes from around 1847 that call for ground nuts cooked in a mix of molasses and butter. The mixture was then left to harden in a baking tin. Other nuts used at the time were almonds and cashews but I suspect peanut brittle was probably the most popular and the most made.



Peanut brittle is a simple enough recipe to follow. A basic recipe is just cooking up granulated sugar, corn syrup, water and raw peanuts. Tthis produces a brown transparent brittle. If you want one that's the color of caramel add butter or margarine along with baking soda. I prefer the e first because I think the taste is purer. If you do want a buttery flavoring then grease a cookie sheet or brownie tuin with butter before you pore in the mixture. Also you can dip the hardened brittled pieces into melted dark chocolate for a more decadent taste.

peanut brittle is a fun and easy treat to make. It basically takes sugar and nuts and then cooking them together to form the best candy on earth. It's a fun way to spend an autumn Saturday afternoon.

Here is an easy recipe that I found at AOL Food.

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1-1/2 cups raw peanuts, blanched or unblanched
Vegetable oil, for the baking sheet

Cooking Instructions
1 Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in an 8-cup glass measure. Cook, uncovered, at 100% for 3 minutes.
2 Remove from oven and stir thoroughly. Add peanuts; stir again. Cover tightly with microwave plastic wrap. Cook at l00% for 15 minutes.
3 Lightly coat a spatula and a large baking sheet or 16"x12" marble slab with vegetable oil. Remove syrup from oven. Pierce plastic with the tip of a sharp knife and uncover carefully. Pour mixture onto oiled surface. With the oiled spatula, spread peanuts to distribute them evenly through cooling syrup. Let harden.
4 When brittle is cool, break into chunks with a wooden mallet or rolling pin. Store in an airtight container.

Food Dictates

recently New York State has it to tax soft drinks. They'll be after salt next if Manhattan mayor, Mike, Bloomberg, has his way. Yet is it really fair to make us pay extra for food?Granted too much Coke or Pepsi along with salty french fries are bad for us, but still. Does our local government have to interfere with our diets? Can't we be trusted to guide ourselves through the tricky path of healthy eating?



What the local or even federal government should do is go after the food companies. There should be laws as to what constitutes healthy foodstuffs.Have inspectors look into the amount of "bad" ingredients" that go into a product Maybe there should be bigger tax breaks for corporations that create nutritious , low salt, low fat, no or low sugar foods. There should also be more funding for farms that produce solely organic harvests. In this sense, good eating will be promoted .

Another big problem is how do we wean ourselves off sugary drinks and the like? It's not like we can wear a patch as one can with nicotine. We can try to steer ourselves s into drinking healthier stuff, such as unsweetened tea (will this be taxed as well? ) or just plain spring water.It's the same big job with eating healthy. It's going to be a slow process of weaning ourselves off favorite foods and leaning towards fresher, less preservative laden foods.

If those of you out there who think the taxation is a bad thing, then think about our Prohibition Era. Remember the whole idea of banning alcohol? It could happen with salt and sugar. A glass of Coke could be considered the new crack. You could get pulled over for driving with an illegal bag of chips. Hopefully it won't come to this. Hopefully we'll just eat smart and live better.