Accidental Hedonist

From the Washington Post:

FRESNO, Calif. — Consumer advocates and some lawmakers say that a Salinas Valley company’s recall of spinach because of a salmonella scare shows that the federal government must do more to protect the nation’s food supply, but industry officials call it proof that their voluntary regulations are working.

Metz Fresh, a King City-based grower and shipper, recalled 8,000 cartons of fresh spinach Wednesday after salmonella was found during a routine test of spinach it was processing for shipment. More than 90 percent of the possibly contaminated cartons never reached stores, company spokesman Greg Larson said.

There’s some truth to both sides here. Yes, hooray for the fact that over 90% of the spinach never made it to market. So this does show that there is some process in place to test produce prior to shipping, and that the testing works.

But on the other side of the coin is the fact, considering last year’s E-Coli scare and the work that has gone into prevent another outbreak, salmonella should not have appeared at all. In other words, something went wrong and it wasn’t caught until the last possible moment. In an e-mail that was forwarded to me, Jean Halloran, a Consumers Union food safety expert said,

“Eight thousand cartons left the plant for distribution in the U.S. That’s 8,000 too many. There needs to be a hold and test policy that prevents food from ever leaving the plant. There’s also a glaring need for across-the-board improvements to the FDA to enable its staff to do more routine inspections with the full authority to recall contaminated vegetables.”

Of course, the odds of FDA improvements are zero, at least for the next few years. So the market has to hold the spinach producers accountable. So the market needs to avoid any product by Metz Fresh until they can answer the following question – Just how in the hell did salmonella tainted spinach get to the distribution center?

(h/t to Jack over at Fork & Bottle)

Whiskey and Beer writer Michael Jackson has passed away. At this moment, it’s difficult to think of anyone who has done more to extol the virtues of grained ales and spirits in the past forty odd years.

If you have a moment today, raise a respectful glass to the man.

Is there anything more decadent than a dessert with alcohol in it?

Okay, of course there is. But still, adding alcohol to a dessert seems to give the dish an air of having something a little more going for it, beyond the simple taste that the alcohol can bring. Everything from Rum Balls to Key Lime Pies made with Chartreuse all have this aura about them that nearly screams “Indulgence!”. The desserts without alcohol, while wicked in their own little ways (all good), seem to be unable to appear as evil and tempting as, say, a bourbon cheesecake.

This recipe, from the book Cooking with Irish Whiskey is no different. It’s not just a Hazelnut Whip. Oh no. It’s got a nice kick from the Whiskey. It’s a tad tangy, thanks to the yogurt, but not overly so. It received a nice reception at the household when it was recently served, although there was a contingent who enjoyed the whip prior to it being chilled more than afterward. So your mileage may vary.

If you wish to replace the Irish Whiskey with Bourbon, I think that would work rather nicely. In fact, I may have to try that.

• 2 oz. Toasted Hazelnuts, chopped
• 2 oz. Caster Sugar
• 2 oz. Breadcrumbs
• 9 oz. double cream (heavy cream)
• 5 oz. plain yogurt
• 3 Tbsp. Irish Whiskey
• 1 Tbsp. Clover Honey

Mix together the hazelnuts, sugar and breadcrumbs and spread over a baking sheet. Place under a preheated broiler and allow to come to a golden brown (1-2 minutes). Remove from the broiler and allow to cool.

Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. Whip in the yogurt, whiskey and honey. Fold in the hazelnut mixture. Spoon into individual cups and chill for at least one hour before serving.

I’m not sure why, but I really liked the subtext that Pim alluded to in this post, namely that there are some recipes that are sacrosanct. Any attempts to infuse these recipes with new and unique ingredients essentially removes the essence of said recipe.

But the question I have is whether this idea of “sacred recipes” is a personal perspective or one that can be applied across a larger contingent.

Pim’s example of carbonara is an excellent one, because I’ve come across many an inedible one that had been slathered in a bacony cream sauce that had a consistency of bechamel. Anyone who has had “authentic” carbonara will tell you, cream sauce should be nowhere to be seen. The carbonara gets it’s creamy consistency in an entirely different manner (In truth, the best carbonaras are not creamy. Instead, one needs only to add eggs and cheese while the pasta is hot).

But yet to many people, carbonara is creamy, based not on their experiences from eating Italian recipes, but rather from eating someone else’s interpretation of an Italian recipe. It’s a small distinction, but an important one.

Because at some point the process of introducing an interpretation of someone else’s recipe can lead to an almost viral explosion upon a culture. And if the interpretation takes hold more firmly than the original recipe, then a cultural dissonance takes place.

There are many, many examples of this happening – Beans in Chili, Deep Dish Chicago Pizza, about 90% of Chinese food found in America, sushi rolls – all of them are copies of other recipes and cuisines. Some of them stand out on their own, others not so much.

Now I have no problem with Chicago Pizza and California rolls. But to me, these simply derivations of Neapolitan Pizza and nori. And yes, Neapolitan Pizza is likely a derivation of some other flatbread meal from the Mediterranean.

But how many changes have to take place before an original recipe loses it’s core essence? How much has to be added or removed before Pad Thai ceases to be Pad Thai or Chili ceases to be Chili? Are there acceptable replacement ingredients? If so what are they?

These questions lead to larger, philosophical questions, so I’m not going to try to answer them in a simple blog post. But the idea of recipe purity is important, especially when one tries to be cognizant of the culture from which it comes.

So yeah, don’t put shitake mushrooms in Pad Thai, nor should one put kidney beans in Chili, nor cream in Carbonara. Well, you can put that stuff in those recipes – but then they’ll cease to be Pad Thai, Chili, or Carbonara.

It’s easy to show disdain for fast food restaurants when franchise owners go around saying things like this:

John Francis, who owns the McDonald’s in Sidney, Mont., said he tried advertising in the local newspaper and even offered up to $10 an hour to compete with higher-paying oil field jobs. Yet the only calls were from other business owners upset they would have to raise wages, too. Of course, Francis’ current employees also wanted a pay hike.

“I don’t know what the answer is,” Francis said. “There’s just nobody around that wants to work.”

Okay, I’m not an Economics guru but even I can see the fallacy of Mr. Francis’ statement. The issue isn’t whether people want to work. In an economy where there’s two percent unemployment, the issue is that the near majority of people won’t work for only ten dollars an hour. If you’re not willing to pay more for your workers then you deserve all the headaches that worker shortages bring.

A couple of days ago the Chicago Tribune had posted a piece about the “Local Food movement”. For those familiar with these kinds of stories, there’s little to add to this story that hasn’t already been covered elsewhere – What does local mean? What’s a locavore? Etcetera, etcera.

But there was one part that jumped out at me:

Sales of locally grown foods jumped to $5 billion in this past year from $4 billion in 2002, according to Package Facts, the market research publisher. The number of farmers markets has grown dramatically too. Federal officials counted 4,385 markets in 2006; that’s up from 1,755 in 1994.

One billion dollar increase of sales over 5 years is a figure that is bound to capture someone’s attention, because an increase here means a decrease somewhere else – most likely in the produce section of the local Safeway or Krogers, although that’s admittedly a guess on my part.

The same can be said for the increase in farmers markets, albeit a little more indirectly. If a person is buying their fruits, veggies, meats, and jellies at the farmers markets (which an increase of roughly 150% of “outlets” over the past 13 years would insinuate), then those sales came at the expense of some other outlet.

I’ve written about this before, but it is worth repeating – There’s a fair amount of distrust when it comes to corporate food and markets, enough so that it has introduced not one, but two different food movements (“Organic” and “Eat Local”). Until they address the root causes of this distrust, they’re going to continue to lose market share (pun intended) to places that have earned the trust of the consumers.

And no, putting soft lighting into stores or subverting organic standards will not work in the long run.

It’s like I all but stopped cooking all of a sudden – is it the end of summer that’s wearing me down? In my heart I am ready for fall, bring on apple picking and cider and warm apple pies. I’ve a few ideas up my sleeves on roasting, poaching, baking, or stewing squashes. Somehow, the weather in New York this last week really took the wind out of my sail. I am so over summer. And with 95% expected humidity today, I could use a change for the weather when a sweater and a hot coffee are required.

Still, KS and I prefer to eat homemade meals made by us at home as opposed to running for takeout across the street. Yes, takeout is plentiful and often good here in New York, but it does get a bit tiresome after awhile. At least for me. As a child I never understood why my father preferred to always eat at home than go out – and lately it’s dawned on me – sure the clean up is minimized and your kitchen is always spotless, but the eating at home, for me, feels better. It’s calmer and more wholesome than going out. It actually rebuilds me from a weary day. I’d rather work from home late at night after a homemade meal than stay late in the office with take-out. Maybe I’m in the minority.

With a bit more time on his hands lately, KS has made it a point to go to our green market on Wednesdays. With my commute to and from work and my hours, I miss this green market entirely, but KS diligently goes and tries to get there early so that he could have his pick of produce. And this Wednesday, inspired by the flounder we ate in South Carolina, he was drawn to the flounder at the fish stand. He picked up a few fillets and asked me if I could perhaps bake the fish.

Absolutely – flounder is one of my favorite fish and if you’ve never had one, it’s a good one to try. Its delicate and mild texture and flavor lend itself well to frying and baking. I’ve never tried poaching it – I’d imagine it would quickly fall apart though. Aside from founder’s appealing taste, I always got a kick out of its looks. Flat and smooth, with two little bulging eyes on one side, it’s a fish that always made me smile. It’s so cartoon-like, that I was compelled to draw you how it looked. And there you have it right above – my first foray into blog doodling! It ain’t Titian, but it does resemble a fish.

Baked Flounder Fillets in Lime-Soy Sauce
Gourmet, June 1998
Serves 2

two 6-ounce flounder fillets
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Arrange fillets in a ceramic or glass baking dish just large enough to hold them in one layer. Mince garlic and in a small bowl combine with lemon juice, soy sauce, sugar, and salt. Whisk in oil until emulsified and pour vinaigrette over fish.

Bake fish in middle of oven until just cooked through and no longer translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.

Note: The picture shows you caramelized onions and fresh grape tomatoes – I decided to serve the flounder with onions that I caramelized separately, and our rooftop tomatoes are finally ready to eat, so we pretty much serve them with everything we can! Sorry, it’s not part of the ingredient list above, but it’s easy enough to add if you want to recreate the exact same meal.

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