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THE COOKING OF AMERICA.

THE HISTORY OF CUISINE IN NORTH AMERICA THE COLONIES

When the colonists came to America, their initial attempts at survival included planting crops familiar to them from back home in England. In the same way, they farmed animals for clothing and meat in a similar fashion. Through hardships and eventual establishment of trade with Britain, the West Indies and other regions, the colonists were able to establish themselves in the American colonies with a cuisine similar to their previous British cuisine. There were some exceptions to the diet, such as local vegetation and animals, but the colonists attempted to use these items in the same fashion as they had their equivalents ignore them if they could. The manner of cooking for the American colonists followed along the line of British cookery up until the Revolution.

There was a general disdain for French cookery, even with the French in South Carolina and French Canadians. Reinforcing the anti-French sentiment was the French and Indian War from 1754-1764. This created a large anxiety against the French, which influenced the English to either deport many of the French, or as in the case of the Acadians, they migrated to Louisiana. The Acadian French did create a large French influence in the diet of those settled in Louisiana, but had little or no influence outside of Louisiana.

The American colonial diet varied depending on where the settled region. Local cuisine patterns had established by the mid 18th century. The New England colonies were extremely similar in their dietary habits to those that many of them had brought from England. A striking difference for the colonists in New England compared to other regions was seasonality. While in the southern colonies, they could farm almost year round, in the northern colonies, the growing seasons were very restricted. In addition, colonists’ close proximity to the ocean gave them a bounty of fresh fish to add to their diet, especially in the northern colonies. Wheat, however, the grain used to bake bread back in England was almost impossible to grow, and imports of wheat were far from cost productive. Substitutes in cases such as this included cornmeal.

As many of the New Englanders were originally from England, game hunting was often a pastime from back home that paid off when they immigrated to the New World. Much of the northern colonists depended upon the ability either of themselves to hunt, or for others from which they could purchase game. This was the preferred method for protein consumption over animal rising, as it required much less work to defend the kept animals against Native Americans or the French.

NATIVE MEAT AND LIVESTOCK

The most commonly hunted and eaten game included deer, bear, buffalo (Bison) and wild turkey. The larger muscles of the animals were roasted and served with currant sauce, while the other smaller portions went into soups, stews, sausages, pies and pasties. In addition to game, mutton was a meat that colonists would enjoy from time to time. The Spanish in Florida originally introduced sheep to the New World, in the north however, the Dutch and English introduced sheep. The keeping of sheep was a result of the English non-practice of animal raising. The keeping of sheep was of importance as it not only provided wool, but also after the sheep had reached an age that it was unmanageable for wool production; it became mutton for the English diet. The forage-based diet for sheep that prevailed in the Colonies produced a characteristically strong, gamy flavour that had a tougher consistency. This required aging and slow cooking to tenderize.

OILS & FATS

A number of fats and oils made from animals served to cook much of the colonial foods. Many homes had a sack made of deerskin filled with bear oil for cooking, while solidified bear fat resembled shortening. Rendered pork fat made the most popular cooking medium, especially from the cooking of bacon. Pork fat was used more often in the southern colonies than the northern colonies as the Spanish introduced pigs earlier to the south. The colonists enjoyed butter in cooking as well, but it was rare prior to the American Revolution, as cattle were not yet plentiful.

EARLY SEAFOOD

The American lobster was a staple of the colonial diet

Those that lived near the shores in New England often dined on fish, crustaceans and other animals that emanated from the waters. Colonists ate large quantities of turtle, and it was an exportable delicacy for Europe. Cod, in both fresh and salted form was enjoyed, with the salted variation created for long storage. Lobsters proliferated in the waters as well, and were extremely common in the New England diet. Cod and Lobster were so common in the diet, that some often complained about how often the dined on it. The highest quality cod was usually dried, however, and exported to the Mediterranean in exchange for fruits not grown in the American colonies.

VEGETABLES

A number of vegetables grew in the northern colonies, which included turnips, onions, cabbage, carrots, and parsnips, along with a number of beans, pulses and legumes. These vegetables kept well through the colder months in storage. Other vegetables grew which were salted or pickled for preservation, such as cucumbers. As control over the northern colonies’ farming practices came from the seasons, fresh greens consumption occurred only during the summer months. Pumpkins and gourds were other vegetables that grew well in the northern colonies; often used for food for animals in addition to human consumption. In addition to the vegetables, a large number of fruits were grown seasonally. Fruits not eaten in season often saw their way into preservation methods like jam, wet sweetmeats, dried or cooked into pies that could freeze during the winter months

NATIVE AMERICANS & THEIR IMPACT

Native Americans utilized a number of cooking methods. Grilling meats was common. Spit roasting over a pit fire was common as well. Vegetables, especially root vegetables were often cooked directly in the ashes of the fire. As early Native Americans lacked the proper pottery that could be used directly over a fire, they developed a technique which has caused many anthropologists to call them “Stone Boilers.” The Native Americans would heat rocks directly in a fire and then add the bricks to a pot filled with water until it came to a boil so that it would cook the meat or vegetables in the boiling water. Another method was to use an empty buffalo stomach filled with desired ingredients and suspended over a low fire. The fire would have been insufficient to completely cook the food contained in the stomach however; as the flesh would burn so heated rocks would be added to the food as well. Some Native Americans would also use the leather of a buffalo-hide in the same manner.

The Native Americans are credited as the first in America to create fire-proof pottery to place in direct flame. The Southwest Native Americans had also created ovens made of adobe which was used to bake items such as breads made from cornmeal. Native Americans in other parts of America made ovens out of dug pits, like early Tandoor ovens in Egypt. These pits were also used to steam foods by adding heated rocks or embers and then seaweed or corn husks (or other coverings) placed on top to steam fish and shellfish as well as vegetables; potatoes would be added while still in-skin and corn while in-husk, this would later be referred to as a clambake by the colonists. The hole was also a location for producing what has become Boston baked beans made from beans, maple sugar and a piece of bear fat.

One of the most important occurrences in this period was the interaction with the people of the area and borrowing from Native American cuisine. From this interaction came one of the main staples of the Southern diet: corn (maize), either ground into meal or limed with an alkaline salt to make hominy, also called masa. Corn was an essential and versatile crop for the early settlers. Corn was used to make all kinds of dishes from the familiar cornbread and grits to liquors such as whiskey and moonshine, which were important trade items. Though a Lesser staple, potatoes were also adopted from Native American cuisine and were used in many similar ways as corn.

Native Americans introduced the first Southerners to many other vegetables still familiar on southern tables. Squash, pumpkin, many types of beans, tomatoes (though these were initially considered poisonous), many types of peppers and sassafras all came to the settlers via the native tribes. Many fruits are available in this region. Blackberries, raspberries, and many other wild berries were part of settlers* diets.

Early settlers also supplemented their diets with meats derived from the hunting of native game. Venison was an important meat staple due to the abundance of white-tailed deer in the area. Settlers also hunted rabbits, squirrels, opossums, and raccoons, all of which were pests to the crops they raised. Livestock in the form of hogs and cattle were kept. When game or livestock were killed, the entire animal was used. Aside from the meat, it was not uncommon for settlers to eat organ meats such as liver, brains and intestines. This tradition remains today in hallmark dishes like chitterlings (commonly called chit’lins) which are fried large intestines of hogs, liver mush (a common dish in the Carolinas made from hog liver), and pork brains and eggs. The fat of the animals, particularly hogs, was rendered and used for cooking and frying

While the earliest cuisine of the United States was primarily influenced by indigenous Native Americans, the cuisine of the thirteen colonies or the culture of the American South; the overall culture of the nation, its gastronomy and the growing culinary arts became ever more influenced by its changing ethnic mix and immigrant patterns over the 20th century unto the present. Some of the ethnic groups that continued to influence the cuisine were here in prior years; while others arrived more numerously during “The Great Transatlantic Migration (of 1870-1914) or other mass migrations. Some of the ethnic influences could be found in the nation from after the Civil War and into the History of United States continental expansion during most of the 19th century. Ethnic influences already in the nation at that time would include the following groups and their respective cuisines: Indigenous Native Americans in the United States (Indians) and Native American cuisine, select nationalities of Europe and the respective developments from early modern European cuisine of the colonial age: British- Americans and on-going developments in New England cuisine, the national traditions founded in cuisine of the thirteen colonies and some aspects of other regional cuisine. Spanish Americans (Hispanic) and early modern Spanish cuisine, early German-American or Pennsylvania Dutch and Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine, French Americans and their “New World” regional identities such as: Cajun and Cajun cuisine.

RACE & SOCIAL EFFECTS ON AMERICAN CUISINE

The various ethnicities originating from early social factors of Race in the United States and the gastronomy and cuisines of the “New World,” Latin-American cuisine and North American cuisine: African-Americans and “Soul Food.” Louisiana Creole and Louisiana Creole cuisine. The word Creole refers to people of various racial decedents that descended from the settlers of Colonial France and Hispanic America in Colonial French Louisiana, before it became part of the United States in 1803 (with the Louisiana Purchase, with claim to the culture and Creole cuisine. They are Multi-racial (“Creoles of Color”) being of mixed (mainly) French, Spanish, African-American, and Native-American heritage. Mexican-Americans and Mexican-American cuisine; as well as related regional cuisines: Like Tex-Mex (regional Texas and Mexican fusion).

AFRICAN AMERICAN INFLUENCES

Plantations were born after the Southern settlers realized the great region’s potential for agricultural profit. The wealthiest land owners began to cultivate the land in larger and larger tracts and in the process began using slaves from Africa for labor. Most Africans’ diets consisted of greens and various vegetables. Stews were common and rice was a familiar staple to them. Foods that became part of the Southern diet from African-American heritage include eggplant, kola nuts, sesame seeds, okra, sweet potatoes, field peas, peanuts, black-eyed peas, African rice and some melons.

The African influence is present in traditional Cajun cuisine. Gumbo (a stew using chicken or seafood, sausage, rice, okra and roux) and etouffee, (a thicker, less liquid gumbo served over a bed of rice) are all born from African cooking tradition.

The term “soul food” dates only to the first half of the 1960s. In the South the phrase is not used and it is simply thought of as home cooking. There are many stories about non-black Southerners going to other parts of the country and having to seek out African American restaurants for the food they grew up on. In some cases they have been told they cannot get certain grocery items and to try the foreign sections. Generally speaking white Southerners eat the exact same food in the exact same way as traditional African Americans. There are some foods, however, like chitlins and pig’s feet that are more associated with poverty (even among white Southerners) and have simply been employed over time more by blacks than whites.

WHAT IS AMERICAN CUISINE?

One characteristic of American cooking is called fusion food; a fusion of multiple ethnic or regional approaches into completely new cooking styles. The cuisine of the South, for example, has been heavily influenced by immigrants from Africa, France, and Mexico, among others. Asian cooking has played a particularly large role in American fusion cuisine. Similarly, while some dishes considered typically American many have their origins in other countries, American cooks and chefs have substantially altered them over the years, to the degree that the dish as now enjoyed the world over may even be considered American. Hot dogs and hamburgers are both based on traditional German dishes, brought over to America by German immigrants to the United States, but in their modern popular form they can be reasonably considered American dishes.

Many companies in the American food industry develop new products requiring minimal preparation, such as frozen entrees. Some corporate kitchens such as Campbell’s develop consumer recipes featuring their company’s products. Many of these recipes have become very popular. For example, the General Mills Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, first published in 1950 and currently in its 10th edition, is commonly found in American homes.

The second characteristic of American cooking is called Immigrant cuisine, which refers to food that originates as a foreign cuisine (usually one carried over by immigrants) that has been altered, sometimes dramatically, to use tastes, techniques, and ingredients common or unique to the new culture. Immigrant cuisines are in many ways similar to fusion cuisines in how they combine elements of different cultures; however, where a fusion dish is generally an intentional combination of sometimes-clashing styles, an immigrant cuisine is formed from a process of adapting old-country recipes to different ingredients and social pressures. Well-known examples include Americanized cuisines such as Italian-American and Chinese- American cuisines, as well as cuisines such as Mexican, Brazilian, and Caribbean where Native American food traditions intermingled with imported traditions from the British Isles, Western Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa.

NEW ENGLAND

New England is the most northeastern region of the United States, including the six states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The region consists of a heritage linking it to Britain. The Native American cuisine became part of the cookery style that the early colonists brought with them. The style of New England cookery originated from its colonial roots, that is to say practical, frugal and willing to eat anything other than what they were used to from their British roots. Much of the cuisine started with one-pot cookery, which resulted in such dishes as succotash, chowder, baked beans, and others.

Lobster is an integral ingredient to the cuisine, indigenous to the shores of the region. Other shellfish of the coastal regions include little neck clams, sea scallops, blue mussels, oysters, soft shell clams and razor shell clams. Much of this shellfish contributes to New England tradition, the clambake. The clambake as known today is a colonial interpretation of a Native American tradition. The fruits of the region include the grapes used in grape juice made by companies such as Welch’s, along with jelly. Apples from New England include the original varieties, Baldwin, Lady, Mother, Pomme Grise, Porter, Roxbury Russet, Wright, Sops of Wine, Peck’s Pleasant, Titus Pippin, Westfield-Seek-No-Further, and Duchess of Oldenburg. Cranberries are another fruit indigenous to the region.

NORTHEAST – MID-ATLANTIC

Maryland boasts a plethora of marine fare, including blue crabs, crab cakes, crab soup, seafood lasagna, raw oysters, and rock fish. The state even has its own brand of potato chip, called Crab Chips. Marylanders use Old Bay, a local spice, to season everything from crabs to applesauce to peaches to popcorn. Pennsylvania could easily be called the junk food capital of the United States. It is the home of Hershey’s, Tastykake, Snyder’s of Hanover, Peanut Chews, and the cheese steak. Pretzels are a common snack in Pennsylvania. They come in many varieties, from the hot, soft, chewy pretzels sold by vendors on the street or stadium to the salty, hard, crunchy variety sold by pretzels manufacturers in the grocery and quick stop stores of Pennsylvania. New York City is known as one of the gastronomical capitals of the United States. With its large immigrant population virtually every cuisine could be found here. New York City is famous for its New York-style pizza, Bagels, Calzone, Pastrami, and Manhattan clam chowder. Buffalo, New York is known for its Buffalo wings, and Sponge Toffee.

Boston is the center of Massachusetts, and its norms and modes have influenced the whole of the state. A major seaport from Colonial times, Boston is famous for its clam chowder, called “New England clam chowder” to distinguish it from a similar soup made in New York.

SOUTHERN

The most notable influences come from African, Native American, British, Irish, French, and Spanish cuisines. Soul food, Creole, Cajun, and Floribbean are examples of Southern cuisine. In more recent history, elements of Southern cuisine have spread north, having an effect on the development of other types of American cuisine.

The food of the American South is quite multicultural. Many items like squash, tomatoes, corn (and its derivatives, including grits itself), to say nothing of types of cornbreads) as well as the practice of deep pit barbecuing have been inherited from the indigenous Americans. Many foods associated with sugar, flour, milk, eggs (many kinds of baking or dairy products like breads and cheeses) are more associated with Europe. The South’s propensity for a full breakfast (as opposed to a Continental one with a simple bread item and drink) is derived from the British fry up, although it was altered substantially. Much of Cajun/Creole cuisine is based on France and on Spain to a lesser extent. Floribbean is more Spanish-based with obvious Caribbean influences; while Tex-Mex has considerable Mexican and native tribe touches

SOUTHWEST

Southwestern cuisine is food styled after the rustic cooking of California, New Mexico, . Arizona, Nevada, Utah, as well as parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. It comprises a fusion of recipes for things that might have been eaten by cowboys, Native Americans, and Mexicans throughout the post-Columbian era; however, there is a great diversity in this kind of cuisine within the above-mentioned states.

Southwestern cuisine is heavily influenced by Mexican cuisine but often involves larger cuts of meat, and less use of tripe, brain, and other parts not considered as desirable in the ,United States. Like Mexican cuisine, it is also known for its use of spices (particularly the Chile, or Chili pepper) and accompaniment with beans (frijoles), cooked in a variety of manners. Chili con carne, fajitas, certain kinds of chiles rellenos (stuffed chiles), and various steak-chile combinations are particularly well-known Southwestern foods. Note that “chili” generally refers to a thick stew or soup prepared with beans and meat, while “chile” refers to the peppers that grow in this region and have been eaten for thousands of years by the native people.

Tex-Mex is a term for a type of American food which is used primarily in Texas and the Southwestern United States to describe a regional cuisine which blends food products available in the United States and the culinary creations of Mexican-Americans that are influenced by the cuisines of Mexico. A given Tex-Mex food may or may not be similar to Mexican cuisine, although it is common for all of these foods to be referred to as “Mexican food” in Texas, the United States and in some other countries. In many parts of the country outside of Texas this term is synonymous with Southwestern cuisine.

MIDWEST

Midwestern cuisine is a regional cuisine of the American Midwest. It draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe. Midwestern cuisine generally showcases simple and hearty dishes that make use of the abundance of locally grown foodstuffs. Its culinary profiles may seem synonymous with “American food.” “Think of Thanksgiving dinner, turkey with cranberry sauce, wild rice, and apple pie.” Sometimes called “the breadbasket of America,” the Midwest serves as a center for grain production, particularly wheat, corn and soybeans. Midwestern states also produce most of the country’s wild rice. Beef and pork processing always have been important Midwestern industries, with a strong role in regional diets. Chicago and Kansas City were historically stockyard and processing centers of the beef trade, while Iowa remains the center of pork production in the U.S. Far from the oceans, Midwesterners traditionally ate little seafood, relying on local freshwater fish, such as perch and trout, supplemented by canned tuna and canned or cured salmon and herring, although modem air shipping of ocean seafood has been increasing Midwesterners¹ taste for fish.

Dairy products, especially cheese, form an important group of regional ingredients, with Wisconsin known as “America’s Dairy Capital,” although other Midwest states make cheese as well. The upper Midwest, a prime fruit-growing region, sees the extensive use of apples, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, peaches and other cold-climate fruit in its cuisine. As with many American regional cuisines, Midwestern cooking has been heavily influenced by immigrant groups. Throughout the northern Midwest, northern European immigrant groups predominated, so Swedish pancakes and Polish pierogi are common. Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas, Ohio and Illinois were destinations for many ethnic German immigrants, so pork sausages and potatoes are prevalent. In the Rust Belt, many Greeks and Greek Macedonians became restaurateurs, imparting a Mediterranean influence. Native American influences show up in the uses of corn and wild rice.

Traditionally, Midwestern cooks used a light hand with seasonings, preferring sage, dill, caraway, mustard, parsley, not to bold or spicy flavors. However, with new waves of immigrants from Latin America and Asia moving into the region, these tastes are changing. This section of the country is also headquarters for several seminal hamburger chains, notably McDonald’s in Oak Brook, Illinois (founded in California, but turned into the iconic franchise by Ray Kroc beginning with a still-standing store in Des Plaines, Illinois).

FAR WEST

As one of the U.S. states nearest Asia, and with a long-standing Asian American population, the state tends to adopt Asian foods fairly liberally. The American sushi craze no doubt began in California; the term ‘California roll’ is used to describe sushi with avocado as a primary ingredient. These days, items like mochi ice cream and boba are popular. Because Californians tend to be culturally diverse, tend to be more traveled, and have culinary sophistication and openness to new eating experiences, fusion cuisine is accepted and popular in California. California Chef Wolfgang Puck is known as one of the pioneers of fusion cuisine, popularizing such dishes as Chinese chicken salad at the restaurant Ma Maison. His restaurant “Chinois” was named after the term attributed to Richard Wing, who in the 1960s combined French and Chinese cooking at the former Imperial Dynasty restaurant in Hanford, California. In addition to traditional and/or commercialized “Mexican” food, California restaurants serve up Honduran, Oaxacan and nearly every other variation of South American food there is. For example, Pupusarias are common in areas with a large population of Salvadorians (Pupusas are stuffed tortillas from El Salvador). Of late, “Fresh Mex” or “Baja- style” Mexican food, which places an emphasis on fresh ingredients and sometimes seafood, is highly popular. El Polio Loco (“The Crazy Chicken”), a fast food chain that originated in Northern Mexico, is a common sight. Baja Fresh, Rubio’s Baja Grill, Wahoo’s Fish Taco, Chipotle, Qdoba and La Salsa are examples of the Baja-style Mexiamerican food trend. Modern cuisine of Hawaii is a fusion of many cuisines brought by multi-ethnic immigrants to the islands, particularly of American, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Polynesian and Portuguese origins, and including food sources from plants and animals imported for Hawaiian agricultural use from all over the world. Since fresh fish is in such abundance, sushi is number two to the ever famous, “Spam” (processed ham) on the islands.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST

The best chefs in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States—principally the states of Washington and Oregon (though the northern panhandle of Idaho may also qualify)—stress the use of fresh local ingredients. Vegetables, fruits, and berries from the region’s vast agricultural areas, its great wealth of distinctive seafood, and its vital wines, all play a part in the cuisine. The region is also an active part of the food culture of the Pacific Rim and looks to Asia for many culinary influences. Salmon is the ingredient that comes to mind most readily, and with good reason; the several varieties of local salmon are relatively easy to prepare and have good reputations as healthy protein sources. Many restaurants plank roast salmon in the tradition of several of the coastal Native American tribes of the region. The cook seasons the salmon and bakes it on a board of fragrant cedar or alder wood. Another simple option would be to saute or bake the salmon with a Japanese soy-based or teriyaki sauce. A third option would be to top the salmon with a sauce of local huckleberries or chanterelle mushrooms. Dungeness crab, Alaska king crab, scallops, mussels, and clams are only a few of the other seafood choices. The region has a large oyster cultivation industry and hence uses oysters in many ways: barbecued, baked, fried or raw on the shell. Both Washington and Oregon are major producers of fruit; Washington ranks first among American states in apple production, accounting for fully half the nation’s supply. Pears and stone fruits like peaches, apricots and cherries are also available in abundance. When fresh these fruits become mainstays of pies, cakes, and desserts; fruit preserves, jellies, nectars and reductions of all kinds are distinctive in the region. The fruits also find their way into savory foods: pork chops with apricot; salmon saut^ed with apples and apple cider; cherry-glazed chicken; swordfish with peach salsa; salads, like the Waldorf, that feature sliced apples or other fruits.

The abundance of rain in the forests of Oregon and Washington State make them ideal environments for the growth of wild mushrooms. Truffles, Morels, chanterelles, matsutakes, boletus and hedgehog mushrooms are the basis for most commercial harvesting; shitakes and other varieties are also commercial grown. Export demand from Europe and Japan is strong for many varieties, but when local chefs can obtain fresh wild mushrooms, they invariably incorporate them into their cooking. The Pacific Northwest region has a reputation for rain, but in actuality have a number of climates and micro-climates, many of which have proved ideal for wine production. Walla Walla, an inland area in Washington State, is well known for its sweet onions, descendents of Italian onion varieties brought to the region during the nineteenth century. The Pacific Northwest region has a decided tendency to champion organic and sustainable production of all types of foods, vegetables and herbs, and hence has an excellent infrastructure to process, ship and market these foods to local restaurants. If one were to create a stereotypical menu that used the full bounty of the region it would undoubtedly include fresh seafood or organically raised meat, organic herbs and vegetables, local fruits or berries, and choice wild mushrooms. The preparation method would stress simplicity and clear flavor notes, with no one ingredient dominating the others, and with the possible use of select Asian flavorings and cooking techniques.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN CUISINE

In a city like Denver, the largest in the Rocky Mountain region, a sophisticated gourmet could enjoy French, Thai, even Ethiopian food; in ski resorts like Sun Valley, Idaho, Park City, Utah, or Aspen, Colorado, the options for expensive, cosmopolitan dining are numerous. All the same, throughout the Rocky Mountain West, a simple, direct, and distinctly regional cuisine makes its mark. The hearty cooking associated with cattle ranches, rodeos, and the American cowboy is alive and well in the Rockies: good steaks, chili, fresh fish, barbecue, and often a good dose of spicy Tex-Mex food. Cuisine using game, freshwater fish, grass-fed beef and bison, free range poultry, local fruits, berries, mushrooms and vegetables. While game like elk, antelope, caribou, pheasant, duck or quail may be available wild at a hunters’ camp, people in the region usually depend on farm-raised game. Game meat tends to be very lean and hence is often made into pates or sausages that incorporate both spicing and extra fat; if in steak or chop form it may be wrapped in bacon or served with a flavorful sauce made from fruit, berries, or a potent wine reduction. Game also does well in slow-cooked stews. If game serves as the region’s signature novelty dish, fresh, local, grass- fed beef, bison (popularly called buffalo) and lamb may well be the most satisfying meat choices. Idaho Russet Burbank potatoes are known throughout the United States for their high starch and low moisture content, features that make them ideal for baking; the baked potato, topped with melted butter, sour cream and chives, is the ideal complement to a flavorful steak. The lakes and streams of the Rocky Mountain States have some of the best freshwater fishing in the world. Fishing enthusiasts look forward to consuming the many varieties of trout, walleye, bass and other fish they may themselves catch. Wild Pacific salmon and other fish and shellfish from the Pacific region are also widely served.

I hope you get an opportunity to visit the U.S. and experience all it has to offer I am sure it’s fast states and endless food venues will not disappoint.

THE GREAT LAKES

During the 1800s and 1900s, waves of immigration to the Great Lakes area came from Germany, Scandinavia, Holland, and Poland. Most were farmers who were attracted by the cheap, fertile land. The Homestead Act of 1862 offered free acreage to anyone who agreed to farm it for a certain number of years. The close-knit, family-based communities that developed retained their ethnic character for generations, cooking their traditional foods adapted to local ingredients. The population of the Great Lakes region continues to be largely German, Scandinavian, Dutch, and Polish. A number of miners originally from Cornwall, England, also migrated to the area. The Detroit-Dearborn metropolitan area in Michigan now boasts the largest Arab American population in the United States—the city of Detroit being the principal port of entry in the United States for Arab immigrants. The Arab Americans in Michigan-have contributed some foods of the Middle East, such as hummus, to the “menu” of the Great Lakes region. The Great Lakes region was originally populated by American Indians who taught later European settlers how to hunt the local game, fish, and gather wild rice and maple syrup, as well as how to grow and eat corn and native squashes and beans. The European immigrants, mostly from Germany, Scandinavia, Holland, Poland, and Cornwall, England, each shared their traditional dishes with the rest of America. The Germans contributed frankfurters (hot dogs), hamburgers, sauerkraut, potato salad, noodles, bratwurst, liverwurst, and pretzels to the American diet. Scandinavian foods include lefse (potato flatbread), limpa (rye bread), lutefisk (dried cod soaked in lye), and Swedish meatballs, as well as the smorgasbord (a table laid out with several courses of small foods). The Polish introduced kielbasa (a type of sausage), pierogies (a type of stuffed pasta), Polish

dill pickles, and babka (an egg cake). Pancakes are a Dutch contribution, along with waffles, doughnuts, cookies, and coleslaw. Miners from Cornwall brought their Cornish pasties, and small meat pies that were easily carried for lunch. Later immigrants from Arab countries settled in Detroit, Michigan, and introduced America to foods like hummus (pureed chickpeas), falafel (deep-fried bean cakes), and tabbouleh (bulgur wheat salad). Dairy is a major industry in the Great Lakes region, particularly Wisconsin, known as “America’s Dairy land.” Dairy farmers in Wisconsin milk about 2 million cows every day, and there is one cow for every two people in the state. Not surprisingly, milk, butter, and cheese are staples in the Great Lakes diet. Pigs are also common on farms in the Great Lakes region because they take up less space and are easier to raise than cattle. Pork, therefore, is another common ingredient in Great Lakes cooking, especially in the form of sausage.

Today’s regional food examples and history from presentation slides:

New England Region

Boston Cream Pie

It is really a cake, not a pie. Two layers of sponge cake are filled with thick vanilla custard and topped with a chocolate glaze or a sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar. It is cut in wedges like a pie. 1856 – The Parker House Hotel (now the Omni Parker House Hotel), claims to have served Boston cream pies since their opening in 1856. French chef Sanzian, who was hired for the opening of the hotel, is credited with creating Boston cream pie. This cake was originally served at the hotel with the names Chocolate Cream Pie or Parker House Chocolate Cream Pie.

New England Claim Chowder

Chowder which is a variety of soup featuring salted pork fat, thickened with a flour, heavy roux, crumbled ship biscuit or saltine crackers and milk, first materialized with Breton fisherman who migrated south to New England from Newfoundland. They would take much of the offal of their daily catches and combine them with readily available ingredients in large soup pots to feed themselves, each other and their families.

Over time, as it became a culinary staple in the Northeast, the recipe refined and began to be served commercially. This was when large amounts of milk and cream began to be added, giving it its characteristic look and texture we know today. Also, large slices of potato became common in the soup, and in the chowders widely recognized as the best, onions sauteed in the drippings from pork fat are also incorporated into the recipe. To this day there are usually never vegetables besides a select few legumes added to chowders, although some recipes call for thinly sliced strips of carrot to enhance the aesthetic value.

A chocolate bar cookie. The name comes from the deep-brown color of the cookie. The origins of the chocolate brownies are uncertain but it is felt that it was probably created by accident, the result of a forgetful cook neglecting to add baking powder to chocolate cake batter. Sears, Roebuck catalog in 1897 published the first known recipe for the brownies, and it quickly became very popular (so popular that a brownie mix was even sold in the catalog).

Lobster Roil

No one knows with exact certainty, but it all starts with the fact that while the wealthier women of the 1800’s enjoyed lobster at their lavish luncheons, they did not like them torn apart tableside. So, the cooks for these families started turning the sweet chunks of meat into more “user-friendly” salads. Now this delicious lobster salad had to wait patiently, for decades, to be united with its culinary soul mate, the toasted hot dog bun. This happened sometime after 1912, which was when the first soft hamburger and hot dog buns were commercially manufactured.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

The first chocolate chip cookies was invented in 1937 by Ruth Graves Wakefield. One of Ruth’s favorite recipes was an old recipe for “Butter Drop Do” cookies that dated back to colonial times. The recipe called for the use of baker’s chocolate. One day Ruth found herself without a needed ingredient. Having a bar of semisweet chocolate on hand, she chopped it into pieces and stirred the chunks of chocolate into the cookie dough. She assumed that the chocolate would melt and spread throughout each cookie. Instead the chocolate bits held their shape and created a sensation. She called her new creation the Toll House Crunch Cookies. The Toll House Crunch Cookies became very popular with guests at the inn, and soon her recipe was published in a Boston newspaper, as well as other papers in the New England area. Word of the cookie spread and it became popular.

Brownie, Brownies

Buffalo Chicken Wings ‘ ss?

Buffalo Chicken Wings were originally created at Frank & Teresa’s Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, on October 30,1964, by owner Teresso Bellissimo. They are deep-fried chicken wings served with a hot sauce, celery stalks, and blue cheese dressing. The Anchor Bar’s Buffalo Chicken Wings were an instant success and their impact on Buffalo was so great that former mayor, Stanley M. Makowski, proclaimed Friday, July 29, 1977, as “Chicken Wing Day.” The city’s proclamation noted that because of Mrs. Bellissimo’s kitchen, “thousands of pounds of chicken wings are consumed by Buffalonians in restaurants and taverns throughout the city each week.”

Hoagie

Hoagies are built-to-order sandwiches filled with meat and cheese, as well as lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, topped off with a dash of oregano-vinegar dressing on an Italian roll. A true Italian Hoagie is made with Italian ham, prosciutto, salami, and provolone cheese, along with all the works. It was declared the “Official Sandwich of Philadelphia” in 1992. The Hoagie was originally created in Philadelphia. There are a number of different versions to how the Hoagie got its name, but no matter what version is right experts all agree that it started in Philadelphia or the towns’ suburbs. The most widely accepted story centers on an area of Philadelphia known as Hog Island, which was home to a shipyard during World War I (1914-1918). The Italian immigrants working there would bring giant sandwiches made with cold cuts, spices, oil, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and peppers for their lunches. These workers were nicknamed “hoggies.” Over the years, the name was attached to the sandwiches, but under a different spelling.

New York Cheesecake

New York cheesecake is the pure, unadulterated cheesecake with no fancy ingredients added either to the cheesecake or placed on top of it. It is made with pure cream cheese, cream, eggs, and sugar. Everybody has a certain image of New York Style Cheesecake. According to New Yorkers, only the great cheesecake makers are located in New York, and the great cheesecake connoisseurs are also in New York. In the 1900s, cheesecakes were very popular in New York. Every restaurant had their version. I believe the name “New York Cheesecake” came from the fact that New Yorkers referred to the cheesecakes made in New York as “New York Cheesecake.” New Yorkers say that cheesecake wasn’t really cheesecake until it was cheesecake in New York.

Philadelphia Cheese Steak

According to Philadelphians, you simply cannot make an authentic Philadelphia Cheese Steak sandwich without an authentic Philadelphia roll. The rolls must be long and thin, not fluffy or soft, but also not too hard. They also say that if you are more than one hour from South Philly, you cannot make an authentic sandwich. Tired of hot dogs residents and tourists would come for paper-wrapped Philly cheesesteaks and sodas. They would study the wall of celebrity photos before taking seats at the no-frills picnic tables. For the uninitiated, a sign explains the drill: with or without onions; specify provolone, American or Cheez Whiz; have your money ready; go to the back of the line if you make a mistake.

Southeast Region

Hot Brown Sandwich

Chef Fred K. Schmidt at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, created The Hot Brown sandwich in 1926. Bored with the traditional ham and eggs, Chef Schmidt, delighted his guests by creating the Hot Brown, an open-faced turkey sandwich with turkey, bacon, pimientos, and a delicate Mornay sauce. The sandwich is place under the broiler to melt the cheese.

Sweet Tea

In the South, ice tea is served year round with most meals. When people order tea in a Southern restaurant, chances are they will get sweet ice tea. Outside of the southern states, iced tea is served unsweetened or “black,” and most people have never even heard of sweet tea.

VENON COELHO

Head of Department – Food Production

2009-2010.

The following are the notes for Thai Cooking.

Thai Cooking (.pdf, 36KB)

THE COOKING OF THAILAND

INTRODUCTION

The people of Thailand like to compare the shape of their country to the head of an elephant,The national emblem. Its trunk is the long narrow isthmus dangling southwards until it terminates at the frontier with Malaysia. Its forehead nudges Burma while Laos and Kampuchea are draped around a fan-shaped ear.

You can also compare the country’s outline to the intricate fretwork of a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. This might make a better analogy when it comes to talking about Thai cuisine. For although it is a unique cuisine with its irresistible leitmotif of basil, lemongrass, coriander, coconut milk, chillies and a wealth of spices. It is also a synthesis of native traditions and influences from neighbouring countries and further afield. It was the Portuguese, for example. Who first brought the now essential chillies from Latin America in the sixteenth century, while the equally ubiquitous rice noodles originated in China.

One of the reasons that Thai cuisine was able so splendidly to absorb and blend these influences is probably cultural. On an intellectual level Buddhism is a great absorber and synthesizer of currents of religious though. Another reason may well be that Thailand is the only country in Asia never to have been colonized – the very word Thai means free – so there was no reason to resent or resist the contribution of its neighbours.

Of course, cuisine is basically, denned by the available produce. Southern Thailand with the Gulf to the east and the Indian Ocean to the west offers above all a superb range of fish and shellfish including squid. Prawns, scallops and mussels as well as crabs and lobsters. These are often prepared with milk from the coconuts that grow in profusion on the fringe of the rainforest inland.

The southern region is a melting pot of culinary influences. The Chinese found similar produce. Especially seafood. to that used in their native Canton and prepared it in similar ways: steamed or most often lightly stir-fried with vegetables in a wok. In complete contrast. complex pastes of pounded herbs and spices are the basis of the curries originating in neighbouring Muslim Malaysia. Often prepared with meat. especially lamb, their spiciness is attenuated by coconut milk. From Malaysia. too. comes the universally popular satay. a kind of miniature kebab of marinated lamb. chicken or fish served with a peanut sauce. In general. the cuisine often south is the spiciest to be found in the country.

Just as Hinduism represents a current in Thailand’s native Buddhism. so Indian cuisine exerts an influence.  along the way by intervening countries. The north-west of the country, which adjoins Burma. also have its curries. Nowhere in Thailand, however, are curries slowly simmered with a large amount of clarified butter (or indeed any butter) as in India. Instead, they are typically made in the wok with a small amount of vegetable oil and in a surprisingly short space of time.

Both north-west and north-east regions share a preference for glutinous rice. More meat. especially pork. is eaten than in the south. and the city of Chiang Mai is well known for its charcuterie. Recently the cuisine of the north-east. long neglected, has become fashionable. Freshwater fish ranks high among local produce and many dishes are flavoured with lime.

Dishes like Green Papaya Salad and Thai Beef Salad with a spicy dressing illustrate the north cast’s special predilection for chillies, but the region also features mousse-like preparations of fish or chicken, ground and steamed in pretty banana leaf parcels.

Bangkok, almost needless to say, is a city of dazzling culinary variety. Here the food of the regions vies for attention with the capital’s own traditions, based on the produce of the central plains, where the paddy fields produce the best rice, the orchards the best fruit and the gardens a cornucopia of fresh vegetables. It is a supremely gastronomic city, from its myriad – street stalls selling rice noodle stir-fries, though popular restaurants – small or vast and garish – to the most distinguished and sophisticated establishments where Royal Thai cuisine is served.

Royal Thai cuisine originated in the king’s palace, a city within a city covering an area of a square mile. Young ladies of good family would go into this private world as ladies-in- waiting. It acted as a kind of finishing school where the arts of flora] decoration, cookery and fruit and vegetable carving were developed to the highest degree. Here each regional fish in the rich spectrum was endowed. with more subtlety and refinement, and its presentation enhanced by delicately sculptured mangoes, watermelons, pumpkins, radishes, tomatoes, chillies and root ginger. In this way, cuisine was established as an integral part of the national`s high culture.

Today, the tradition of Royal Thai cuisine is maintained and renewed in the very best restaurants. Like French haute cuisine, its roots like in the rich variety of provincial home cooking. And its standards demand produce of the highest quality prepared with infinite pains to bring out the subtlest of flavours. Inventiveness, too, is common to both traditions, but in the beauty of its presentations, Royal Thai cuisine is unique

COOKING THAI

A meal in Thailand is not divided into separate courses. All the dishes are brought to the table at the same time and diners help themselves to some of each, picking and mixing!

Equipment

Very little extra equipment is needed to cook Thai food in the average Western kitchen, but one essential is a wok, the shape of which facilitates stir-frying. A wok should be heavy with a firm base, so that both hands are left free for stirring/tossing ingredients with a pair of wooden spatulas, cooking them rapidly over a thin film of vegetable oil. Stir-frying, if you’ve never tried it, is a quickly and easily acquired knack and you are certain to enjoy it! It is crucial that the oil in the wok reaches and maintains a high temperature – electric hotplates are not ideal for achieving this. Since the wok is by far the most frequently used piece of equipment in Thai cooking, you might consider buying an electric one with its special element containing base and thermostatic control.

If you have not already got one, a conventional steamer is a virtual necessity. Bamboo steaming trays are an attractive way of serving steamed dishes like Dim Sum but are not really necessary.

Deep-frying, another everyday Thai cooking method, does not require special equipment, although we do recommend the use of an electric fryer for safety, convenience and the possibility of controlling the temperature of the oil accurately with a thermostat. Long- handled sieves are necessary for dipping ingredients into deep-trying oil or bouillon. You should also have a large. flat. perforated spoon.

We think a small pestle and mortar is essential. Over and over again recipes will ask you to pound garlic cloves, coriander roots and stems and/or other ingredients together in a mortar. The reason we specify this method is not only that it is the most traditional and the best. but also because usually the quantities involved are too small to make using a mincer, blender or food processor a practical proposition. By all means use these labour saving devices when large enough quantities of ingredients are involved to make it worthwhile!

Thai menus

Generally speaking. a meal in Thailand is not divided into separate courses. All the dishes are brought to the table at the same time and diners help themselves to some of each, picking and mixing! Even the soups are part of the main meal. Indeed, the strong flavours and spiciness of many of them are designed for you to punctuate your meal with the occasional spoonful. Assuming you is working single-handed in an average-size domestic kitchen and wishes to serve a meal in this way. we suggest that your menu include a cold item such as salad that can be prepared in advance. a curry that can be set aside and kept hot for a while after cooking and not more than one stir-fry. one deep-fry, and one steamed dish. Note that dishes like Salmon Soufflé and Thai Chicken Soufflé where the ingredients are wrapped in a pretty banana leaf parcel can be prepared conveniently in advance and simply steamed at the last moment. Plain rice is, of course, an invariable accompaniment to every Thai meal.

Needless to say, you are entirely free to serve your Thai meal in separate courses as in the west

Pounding, chopping and slicing

We’ve already talked about the advantages of using a pestle and mortar and the need for sharp knives. When our recipes refer to `coriander roots and stems. we mean the whole root (carefully cleaned) plus about 7 cm/3 in green stem. The leaves are retained for use as a universal garnish.

Unless otherwise indicated, vegetables should always be sliced diagonally to expose the maximum area to rapid cooking in the wok.

Do make sure that all your ingredients are pounded, chopped, sliced or otherwise pre-prepared as indicted before you begin to cook. Thai cooking methods are rapid and simple. The pounding. chopping and slicing is more than half the battle!

VERNON COELHO

IHM MUMBAI

2009-2010

The following are the notes. Please click the link to download the .pdf file. If you encounter any problems, post a comment.

The cooking of Mexico (.pdf, 105KB)

CHAPTER 35 CAKE MIXING AND BAKING (.pdf, 53 KB)

Chapter 34 Frozen Dessert (.pdf, 66KB)

CHAPTER 30 F& B STANDARDS (.pdf, 65KB)

CHAPTER 29 FOOD COST CONTROL (.pdf, 82KB)

CHAPTER 24 INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE COOKING (.pdf, 155 KB)

–Combined package (.zip, 489KB)

CHAPTER 28 : THE COOKING OF SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.

Like the people of the Iberian Peninsula the cooking of this region is a blend of many ingredients. The blend is complex at times, but the ingredients are not disguised and never spiced to alter basically simple tastes. The strength of Iberian cooking is natural and its subtlety is derived from the combinations of ingredients. Iberian food is easily recognizable. It is usually plain looking and attractively appetizing in simplest possible way. It is rarely over decorated; it is fresh and it is more concerned with good quality ingredients and their proper combination. One of the false accusations made of Spanish cooking is that it is “hot and highly spiced”. The truth is exactly opposite – Spaniards tend to shy away from spicy food. It is one of Spain’s paradoxes that a country largely responsible for providing pepper and other spices to the western world should have produced a cuisine that uses so little spice. Portugal on the other hand does make use of a myriad of spices and it is here that the difference between the two cuisines lies. Portugal is the land of explorers and of the explorers’ kitchen. The use of spice and butter and cream in traditional Portuguese cooking not only makes it spicier but also richer than its neighbour. New flavours brought back from Angola, Mozambique, India and Brazil (all once Portuguese colonies) have been incorporated into the national cuisine. In short, Portuguese food may seem a florid, exotic art that has made use of its many conquests to import and experiment with unknown tastes and which at times may even seem gaudy!

THE REGIONS

Continental Spain is divided into 13 regions whose boundaries are roughly those of its ancient kingdoms and ethnic regions. The regions are divided into provinces. The regions of Spain include Galicia, Asturias, Basque and Navarre in the north. Catalonia Valencia and Murcia in the East, Andulosia in the South with Aragon, new and old Castile, Extremadura and Leon in the center. Portugal is divided regionally by geography into the mountainous sometimes-humid north and drier more gentle south. These two regions are divided into 11 provinces, which include Minho, Tras-os-montes, Douro Litoral, Beira Litoral, Beira Alta, Beira Baixa, Estremadura, Ribatejo, Alto Baixo Alentejo and Algarve.

But do all these regions really differ from each other as far as culinary customs go? And for that matter does Portugal in any way consider itself related to Spain? It is in their kitchens that some of these answers lie. These people share the uses of ingredients such as olive oil, garlic and parsley, almonds appear frequently both raw and in cooking. Egg and egg yolk sweets are often seen. The range of fresh fish and shellfish from the waters of two seas (Mediterranean and Atlantic) is tremendous and cooking methods such as slow simmering in earthen ware dishes are shared by all. But the differences are as important as ate similarities. The central region of Spain is the zone of roasting and the hunt. Andalusia is the zone of frying and has also produced the excellent cold soup the Gazpacho. The eastern seaboard is the region of rice; above it, the zone of sauces; in the north the zone of fish (from the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic ocean).

THE TAPAS

In the evenings, Madrilenos like to stop in at bars and cafes to enjoy a drink, usually sherry and a choice of tempting snacks called ‘Tapas’. The word tapa literally means lid, and the first tapas were pieces of bread used to cover wine glasses to keep out the flies! Today tapas are appetizers but of a variety that is unknown in other countries and range from eels to omlettes. These   snacks are so popular, that at tapa time, the bars and cafés in Madrid (and other cities where the custom has spread) are filled with customers and some of them spend the whole evening nibbling, skipping the evening meal altogether. A sample of tapas served at a Madrid café would include

–         Ham chunks garnished with red peppers

–         Roast pork with a sauce of olive oil, garlic, vinegar and spices

–         Kidney beans, parsley, onions and peppers in a vinegar sauce

–         Boiled baby potatoes with garlic, parsley and mayonnaise

–         Broad beans with ham and sausage

–         Potato omelette

–         Mushrooms garnished with garlic and parsley butter

–         Fish and crabmeat in brandy sauce with carrot

–         Kidneys sautéed in white wine sauce with onions and peas

–         Shrimp in hot olive oil with garlic and parsley

–         Chicken livers in meat sauce with egg slices

–         Salt cod with red peppers

–         Meatballs in gravy with peas

–         Black olives marinated with onions and oregano

–         Croutons of fried bread

–         Stewed salt cod with garlic and cayenne

–         Tuna fish pies

–         Fried green peppers and sausage

–         Pickled cauliflower

–         Stewed quail

–         Tripe stew

–         Snails in hot sauce

–         Pickled beets

–         Pigs feet with tomato, olive oil, garlic and onion

–         Stuffed green peppers with chopped veal in meat sauce

–         Sautéed stripes of baby eel

–         Clams with parsley

–         Small squid in their ink

–         Stewed chicken with boiled potatoes and mushrooms

–         Stewed partridge

PAELLA

The colorful paella, the Spanish culinary triumph best known outside the country, is from the eastern coast of Spain. The dish draws on a number of possible ingredients, lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, squid, chorizo, sausages, chicken, rabbit, beans, tomato peas and peppers (red, green and yellow). However only rice, olive oil and saffron are always used and the paella will appear in various guises and forms depending on the supplementary ingredients that are used. The first paellas were always cooked outdoors over small fires and most Spaniards believe this is still the best way to cook paella.

The home of the Paella is the east coast of Spain starting in the south at Cabo de Gat and winding northward along the warm Mediterranean waters. Although it has many other names, the region is traditionally known as the Levante (Levant in Spanish means to rise – the sun rises in the east). This region is called the Land of Rice and rice plays an important role not only in the preparation of Paella but in a number of dishes in the region. Paella is the most important Levantine dish as well as the most famous like many dishes, Paella is a poor man’s food that has become a rich man’s treat. The original Paella came into being near La Albufera close to the city of Valencia. From this simple beginning there is now a myriad of Paellas. It is said if you ask 100 Spaniards what goes into a Paella, you will get a hundred different answers. But if you ask the same question to 100 Levantinus, you’ll probably get 300 different answers (each man giving one for himself, one for his wife and one for his grandmother). But the true answer to what goes into paella is Rice, Saffron and Olive oil. Plus whatever is available local and fresh and cheap in the market, far from being complicated, paella is actually easy to prepare. It needs no special equipment except for a skillet type pan and an open fire.

GAZPACHO

Gazpacho is a traditional Spanish soup from the Andalusian region in the south of Spain. It is made of chilled vegetables, wine vinegar, olive oil, ice, garlic and a tinge of bread. The term gazpacho is a derivative of the Arabic term which means soaked bread. Many people add various other ingredients ranging from fried croutons to pitted cherries. As a rule, different parts of the country make this dish in different ways. In Jerez de la frontera chopped raw onions are used, in Sanlucar de Barrameda, mayonnaise is added and in Malaga it is called ajo blanco con uvas (white garlic with grapes) and has a base of almonds. There is even a hot winter gazpacho from the region of Cadiz. But it is the city of Seville that has made the plain, summer version of gazpacho famous throughout the world by keeping the simplest and lightest formula.

PORTUGAL

In the southwestern corner of Europe lies Portugal, 260 miles long and 140 miles wide. It is isolated from the rest of the continent by Spain and is isolated from Spain by rugged mountains. To its west it lies totally exposed to the harsh Atlantic Ocean. Portugal stands alone – related to Spain but separate from it.

It is important to understand that Portuguese cooking is not Spanish cooking. It is rather another type of Iberian cooking. Like all Iberian food it’s basically simple and a food of the people. Spices and herbs are more widely used here and taste combinations used here would be astonishing to most Spanish palates are common in Portugal. From North to South, the kitchens of Portugal share a wide variety of ingredients, fresh herbs like coriander as well as preserved foods such as salt cod are often found. Fresh lemon juice, traditionally used with fish is squeezed onto meat over here. Fresh and dried figs, nuts, rice egg yolks, vanilla and even curry powder are used through the country. More noticeable is the number of ways in which ingredients are used. The diversity of taste combinations is what makes Portuguese cooking most special.

The three northern provinces – Minho, tras-os-montes and Douro contain some of the poorest and most ragged land as well as some of the finest cooking in Portugal. Minho’s Caldo Verde is to Portugal what onion soup is to France. It has become a kind of national dish. The river waters of the region provide Lamprey for the traditional deep yellow gravied Lamprey stew. This often tastes and smells of curry, an ingredient brought back from India by Vasco da Gama in 1947. Curry is used as a flavour rather than a spice and it blends well with the dark, almost meaty flavour of the river Lamprey. Minho also produces a variety of fine rice dishes, combining rice with rabbit, duck or partridge a short distance from minho down the coast is Porto, the capital Duoro Litoral famous the world over for Port wine. Porto is equally fomous as the place to eat Tripe. The citizens, in fact are known as Tripe eaters in the rest of the country. There are several legends to explain this, the most famous being prince Henry the Navigator in 14^th slaughtered all the cattle of the region to feed the troops of his crusader fleet leaving only the tripe for the citizens of Porto. The region is also famous for its yolk and sugar sweets. The most famous of which is jelly like confection called Sao Goncalo. There are literally thousands of egg yolk sweets in Portugal offset by a glass of ruby port.

In the South of Portugal lies its capital Lisbon, one of the loveliest and most conveniently forgotten capitals. Here, one can find the finest coffees from Angola, Mozambique and other Portuguese missions overseas. Also from Brazil, Colombia and the Orient. The national sweet Pudim Flan is a rich caramel custard, very popular in Lisbon and is the perfect accompaniment to coffee. It is creamer, heavier and sweeter than the one found in Spain and often is Portugal is flavoured with a liqueur.

Vernon Coelho

Ihm mumbai

2009=2010

CHAPTER 27 : THE COOKING OF GREAT BRITAIN

British cooking is not known for its sauces or subtleties. It depends on the excellence of raw materials, the seasonal crops and a simple style of preparation that imparts flavour to the food. Fresh fish from the abundance of lakes, rivers and coastal waters are the pride of the country. No household is very far from the source of fish, which means it is always fresh enough to retain its true flavor.   The food is always plainly cooked, with not much addition of  sauce to a dish would be a negation of natures intent.

The indigenous and characteristic aspects of British cuisine have earned it a niche among the world cuisines.  As great meat caters, they have perfected the art of roasting as well as specialties such as steamed puddings, raised pies, potted, jellied and pickled meats and fish as well as an enormous and unique range of breads and cakes.

Unlike the French, the British have no Grande cuisine or customs of elegant highly contrived restaurant eating. Almost everyone royalty and commoner ate the same food, however fancy or plain.  The royal kitchens merely drew on a wider variety of foodstuffs and in greater quantities.  Britain was a worldwide trader since the 16^th century and could afford to import the best the world had to offer from tea, coffee and rice to exotic spices and fruits and all these found their way into home cooking.

British food is basic and uncomplicated. There are no gastronomic flourishes to upset natural flavours. It is substantial food starting with a traditional breakfast of sausage, bacon, grilled tomatoes and fried egg to afternoon teas of scones and jams, crumpets and cakes. Not for nothing, has British cuisine been affectionately dubbed “nursery food”. Some of the dishes have a schoolboy ring about them – “toad-in-the-hole”, bubble and squeak, spotted dick, bangers and mash.

The British Breakfast

Abroad, the British Breakfast has gained a formidable reputation. The French consider it perfectly barbaric; how could one start a day with a meal that includes fish and to make matters worse, strange grey glue called porridge. The fact is that the English breakfast is the result of a long process of evolution, of the slow amalgamation of foods from places outside Britain. The British consider it their finest meal. The noted novelist Somerset Maugham once observed “the best way to eat well in Britain is to have breakfast three times a day.

The English breakfast owes, in particular much to the Scots. They eat an even more substantial breakfast than the English and the Welsh or the Irish. They consume vast quantities of porridge and considerable amount of bread usually in the form of a breakfast roll called a ‘Bap” and drink prodigious quantities of tea sometimes laced with whisky. Aberdeen was the birthplace of the breakfast sausage, while Dundee is the home of marmalade without which no breakfast is completed. Orange marmalade, as the legend goes, was introduced into Scotland by Mary Queen of Scots in the 16^th Century. Originally, marmalade was made from quinces. The Portuguese name for this fruit is marmello from which marmalade gets its name. The Scots even produce a marmalade flavoured with whisky.

Bacon – is in original, entirely English. Ham, which also often figures on the breakfast table, is the cured  leg of the pig; bacon, the cured carcass. Only the English cured the carcass of the pig, usually by salting, while the rest of Europe ate it fresh.

Bacon and ham are cured all over the country, but the ham from York became most famous. Wiltshire ham is also famous especially for the mild and delicately flavored  Bradenham. Another specialty is the Seagee ham from Suffolk, treated by immersion in brine and sugar syrup, matured, smoked and then hung for three months to develop its characteristic sheen.

Oatmeal and porridge are also breakfast favourites.  In Scotland, porridge is traditionally eaten unsweetened but well salted, and with cold milk.  English people eat their porridge with sugar or sometimes golden syrup. The Welsh on the other hand obtain their early morning energy by consuming quantities of Siot, an oatcake soaked in buttermilk and brewis an oatmeal broth.  In England, the place of porridge was taken by a concoction called frumenty which some claim to be the oldest known dish in England.  With the urbanization that is taking place the British breakfast, which evolved from meat and beer through eggs and bacon, has now been reduced to tea and toast.  The next stage would surely be the continental coffee and rolls …… hardly worth getting up for!!!!.

A truly traditional British breakfast would include Baps or some other traditional bread, bacon, sausage and mushrooms, eggs –  boiled, fried or scrambled, ham kedgeree, stewed prunes, sautéed kidneys smoked haddock or kippers and of course tea and coffee.

Tea

To the uninitiated taking tea with the British may seem almost on par with the tea ceremonies of the Japanese. For tea is more than simply a drink in Britain. There is indeed ceremony and ritual surrounding the institution of tea. Tea is consumed at almost all hours of the day as a bracing start to the morning, a welcome break in the work at offices or in the factories and a pleasant cup at bedtime.  In rural areas, where dinner is eaten at midday the evening meal or supper is called the “ high tea” or “meal tea”. Among the gentry and middle class, tea is a hospitable spread for guests. In the cities where dinner is served late in the evening, tea is a necessary snack.  Afternoon tea becomes tea at its most ceremonious, an occasion for entertaining and is essentially a feminine affair.

The people of Britain purchase 475 million pounds of tea a year which amount to 9 cups of tea per head, per day.  Tea was introduced to Britain in the 17^th century by the Dutch who imported it from China.  In fact it was known as ‘Chinese Tcha’. It was first taken in bowls without milk or sugar. It was regarded a medicine and the first shipment in 1658 arrived as an expensive luxury. When Charles II married Catherine of Braganza in 1662 she introduced the fashion of tea drinking which had long been popular in Portugal.  Within 10 years imports had trebled. By the 18^th century tea had become such a popular drink that it has all but ousted beer. Until the 1930’s tea still came only from China, but gradually, imports from India and Sri Lanka also grew.  Today, nearly half the tea consumed in Britain comes from India.

A Nation of Meat Eaters

The main Sunday meal served at mid-day frequently is Roast Beef. It is served with its classic accompaniment of Yorkshire Pudding and its attendant of roast potatoes, which is an integral part of the meal. So are the other accompaniments  – mustard, horseradish sauce and a sauce boat of rich brown gravy. Green vegetables and perhaps carrots add a splash of colour.  In the olden days, beef was expensive and tough and often lacked flavour. Yet these very shortcomings contributed to the character of British Cookery. Spices and sauces were increasingly used to improve the flavour of the meat. Apart from giving the meat a better flavour an equally important function was disguising its taste. Meat was often ‘high’ or ‘tainted’ and often handfuls of pungently flavoured marigold flowers were put into soups and stews.

Those who could afford it used cloves, ginger, saffron and cinnamon. Later, India’s long association with Britain and educated the British palate to more fiery flavours. Into the sauces went turmeric, cumin and cardamom.  The East India Company also introduced the chutney to the British. By the 19^th century, refrigeration made it possible to import meat from Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.  In the big cities the faster lifestyles have led to the more time-consuming meat dishes like stews and casseroles to disappear from the daily menu.  Chops steaks and cutlets are now the more easily prepared cuts and hence more popular. Nearly every family can now afford a joint of meat whether beef, lamb or pork.

The thrifty use of leftovers lead to the creation of homely recipes such as shepherds pie, toad-in-the-hole and froise or fraise (a slice of leftover bacon, batter fried). Other popular stews include Irish Stew, Lancashire Hot Pot, Lobscouse (a mutton and vegetable stew with barley) boiled bacon and cabbage with peas pudding and beef roll.

The British are also great hunters– both furred and feathered. These include deer, rabbit, hare, grouse, partridge, pheasant and ptarmigan. A fair amount of poaching still goes on in the country. It is unlawful to hunt on Sundays and Christmas day but though these laws are obsolete there are strictly  enforced closed seasons. The general principle for all game is that they should be properly hung.  It should be allowed to age for anything between 3 days and three weeks. The strong flavours of hare and venison demand a sweet adjunct – red currant jelly or the fruity Cumberland sauce.

Game birds, when roasted are often served with crisp bacon, skirlie (oatmeal and chopped onion fried in fat) game chips and cranberry sauce. Wild duck is always served with orange sauce and goose was the traditional Christmas dish, long before the advent of turkey.

FISH

The Americans eat hamburgers, the Germans ‘Sauerkraut’, the Scandinavians open sandwiches and the French – all manner of things in sauces. The English do eat Roast Beef,  but only on Sundays. Every other day they eat fish and chips, and with roast beef, it wrestled for supremacy for the national dish of Britain. The fish and chips shops which dot every city, town and village of the country are a legacy of the industrial revolution in the 18^th century factory workers needed quick, cheap and nourishing meals. Shops that specialized in hot pies, potted eels (jellied), sausages and mash and fish and chips grew steadily in demand. The development of deep-sea trawlers, refrigeration and the expansion of the railways meant that fresh fish was readily available throughout the country. Potatoes are already abundant all over the British Isles. The combination came together as naturally as a pair of lovers. Cod, plaice, hake, skate and haddock are all popular traditional fish used for frying. Salt, vinegar, pickled onions and gherkins, ketchup, HP sauce all serve as accompaniments. Fish and chips sold as takeaways are always wrapped in newspaper. A true Britisher feels that without the newspaper, fish and chips do not taste the same.

Every part of the British Isles, from Scotland to Ireland has its own specialty. Scotland is the place for Salmon and Trout. For prawns it’s the Yorkshire coast of the North Sea. But for oysters you have to go to the Channel Islands. Ireland is known for it’s mackerels and the famous Dublin Bay prawns, Sole traditionally comes from the south, namely Dover.

While most of the traditional recipes for fish call for it to be plainly fried and served with a herb, butter and salad, there are some dishes that need longer preparation. Cod head and shoulder is an established favorite along England’s North East Coast. Another popular dish from Cornwall is ‘Stargazey Pie’ which uses Pilchards and Herrings in a puff pastry blanket.

CHEESE

Cheshire – the oldest and in many ways the most distinctive of the detectable variety of English cheeses. It is mellow with a hint of sharpness, firm but slightly crumbly, it has for years been one of the prime cheeses of England. It is the cheese of the rich and the poor, the kind and the peasant, the sailor and the soldier. Other great cheeses include Cheddar and Stilton and such lesser breeds as Wensleydale, Caerphilly and Gloucester. There was a time when nearly every farm and cottage in England made cheeses including many that attained the noble stature called ‘Blue’. Cheddar once called ‘Somerset Cheese’ was first made in the farms around ‘Wells’ and in the villages in Somerset’s Mendip hills. They are still produced in the region between the months of May and September. There is also a great deal of imported cheddar for the ‘cheddaring process’ by which the cheese is made is now adopted in many countries where surplus milk is available. Stilton was named after the tiny village of Stilton in Huntingdonshire, once a principal coaching stop for travelers on the Great North Road between London and York. Of all the Blue Cheeses, the finest is Stilton. It stands besides Roquefort, Bleu de Bresse, Gorgonzola and Cheshire as the worlds greatest. It is white cheese, tinted with yellow and richly marbled with greenish blue. The crust is dark and wrinkled and the flavour subtly mellow. Wheels of Stilton weigh around 14 lbs and are covered by a crust peculiar to each manufacturer.

No two manufacturers crusts are ever the same. Stilton should always be cut into wedges from the top and although a common practice in restaurants should never be scooped out with a spoon. Scooping is not the only barbarous practice followed with Stilton. To counteract dryness some people pour port into the scooped out portion making an otherwise perfect cheese soggy, purple hued and horrible. Port with it and not in it should be the rule. a good burgundy also goes well with Stilton as does crackers bread and at times even a slice of apple; other popular cheeses include Blue Vinny from Dorset, Derby from Derbyshire, Caerphilly, a soft unripened cheese from Wales, Leicester, a bright startlingly orange cheese made in Melton Mowbray although not one of the finest cheeses available, its colour comes in handy while cooking and gives a touch of extravagance to cheese sauces and dishes such as Welsh Rarebit. Lancashire also produces a notable cheese called ‘Leigh toaster’ and can be spread like butter on toast ( hence the name). Many cheeses have changed in character over the years. Double Gloucester for example, a hard but buttery cheese was once very much like Chershire. While it is still a noteworthy cheese, nobody compares it to Gloucester. Scotland’s principal contribution to cheese lovers is Dunlop, a milder version of cheddar. It is said to be of Irish origin. Ireland produces a cheese called ‘Blanney’ in Country Cork, described by some as a make believe Swiss.

The nine most popular of all British cheeses include Leicester, Derby, Stilton, Cheddar, Wensleydale, Cheshire, Gloucester and Double Gloucester from England and Caerphilly from Wales. Many cheeses such as the Daventry, Lincoln, Oxford, and York are long forgotten. But of the cheeses that remain, the three greatest Cheddar, Cheshire and Stilton are here to stay.

THE BRITISH PUDDING

Each country in Britain has produced a wealth of puddings, large and small, hot and cold, all of them delicious. Rich golden ones, topped with jam and cream, tender beef and kidney ones steamed for hours. Puddings from country villages like those in Bedfordshire, where farmers wives created a sausage like object called a clanger containing meat and chopped vegetables at one end and jam and fruit at other.

The men working in the fields could thus carry their entire lunch in one piece. A Christmas specialty is the flaming Plum Pudding while Yorkshire pudding is the traditional accompaniment to Roast Beef.

There is such a variety of puddings that there is even confusion about the term. To many the ‘pudding’ is applied to any sweet, filling heavy one. There is also a pudding for everyone, for the traveler there is the railway pudding or omnibus pudding a white suet pudding and dotted with raisins (resembling a Dalmatian) is known as spotted dog or spotted dick. There is also a military pudding for soldiers, admirals, pudding served on board and cabinet pudding for VIP ministers.

In virtually every home in Britain you will find a deep bowl with a thick rim that is called a pudding basin. Although most puddings are steamed or boiled, many others are baked. Apricot pudding is a mixture of baking and steaming; a cross between a pie and a pudding.

Almost as popular as puddings are pies. A pie is usually a deep dish lined with pastry crust. A fruit pie would have a little sugar added to the dough. Tradition demands meat pies to be decorated with pastry strips while fruit pies are left plain. In this way you can tell if a pie is sweet or savoury. A tart may look like a pie but it is always a sweet dish made with fruit and jam. Tarts range from small jam-filled hollows of pastry (tartlettes) to large plate-sized pastry cases. Tarts are usually left uncovered by pastry. But hard and fast rules cannot be applied. Some tarts are covered. Some pies are not. As a general rule, if the dish is shallow, call it a tart, if it is deep call it a pie. ‘Hand raised’ pies such as game pies, pork pies, etc. are made with hot water pastry that can be worked like potters clay and shaped by hand into the box like casing that encloses the meat filling. These raised pies were called ‘coffyns’ in the middle ages. These are cooked for hours in a slow oven and then topped off with a rich aspic jelly after being taken out from the oven. Thyme, sage, majoram are used for flavouring and so were spices. Until quite recent times, meat pies were sold all over Britain by traveling piemen (Remember, Simple Simon??). Meat pies are now factory produced and eaten by thousands all over Britain.

Vernon Coelho

IHM Mumbai

2009-2010