FOOD HISTORY: Animal Crackers

While animal shaped crackers/ cookies have existed for many generations, they first were introduced from England into the United States in the 1800's where they became popular, instantly.Many small, local bakeries made their own version of "animal" or "circus" crackers. One of these, the Stauffer Bisquit Company of York, Pennsylvania, one of the first to jump into the business, produced their first shipment in 1871 and, even today, still produce animal crackers using a recipe little changed from the original. However, the modern product that we know of as "Animal Crackers'" came into being when two independent baking companies, the St. Louis, MO based Dozier - Weyl Cracker Co. and the New York based Holmes and Coutts Company merged to form the National Bisquit Co., now known as Nabisco. They developed a a "Circus" theme brand of animal crackers known as "Barnum's Animals" named after the most famous American "showman" and circus producer of the time, P.T. Barnum. The special, rectangular cardboard box, which  contained a variety of animal shaped crackers, was decorated as a circus wagon and was originally designed as a Christmas special and  had a string attached so the the box could be placed on a Christmas tree as  an ornament. Further, this was the first time that animal crackers were sold in a box rather than a tin container or, as bulk, in a "cracker barrel". Over the years, both  the number and variety of animals contained in the Nabisco "Circus Wagon" have changed but have always remained popular.The Nabasco brand of animal cracker is the largest selling; 40 million boxes sold each year in the United States and 17 other countries, world wide. However, in the United States, Stauffers, the original US commercial animal cracker bakery and the Austin division of the  Keebler Co. produce animal crackers, as well.as the Cadbury Co.in Great Britian and the Bahlsen Co. in Gremany.

COOKING TIP: Know Your Salt

Salt comes in various forms, each with it's own characteristics and uses. A brief summary of general differences  follows:

COARSE KOSHER: light, flaky, flat crystals. Adds subtle crunch. The larger grains give you less Sodium per teaspoon. The favorite of many Chefs.

TABLE: Fortified with iodine, Dissolves very quickly and is good for general use.

SEA: Large granules which means it doesn't dissolve rapidly. Is used as a "garnish" to give a crunch and subtle saltiness to both savory and sweet dishes -  soups, salads, etc. and sweet preparations, such as, cookies, chocolate candies and, even ice cream, Many different types from different waters vary in taste, so experiment to find the one(s) that suite your personal taste.

THINGS I LIKE: JIll's Corn Pudding

Several years ago, my daughter Jill brought a corn pudding to our Thanksgiving dinner. It was really good and has been a part of our annual Thanksgiving dinner brought, either, by Jill or my niece Toni. The recipe is not my daughter Jill's but was given to her by a friend who got the recipe from her aunt. Therefore, this post should really be titled Jill Savitt's Aunt Clara's Corn Pudding Recipe. However, while that was to long to fit in the title space, I want give the appropriate credit for the dish's origin. With that done, the recipe for this totally delicious and absolutely simple dish  to make follows:

CORN PUDDING

Ingredients

1 box Jiffy Corn Bread mix

8 oz sour cream

2 eggs

1 stick butter

1 can creamed corn ( about 15 oz)

1 can water (use the empty creamed corn can)

Directions

Heat oven to 400F.

Mix everything together and pour into baking dish.

Bake for 45 to 60 min but check for doneness after 45 min.

Enjoy!

COOKIING TIP: Preparing Dry Aged Steak with Umami Taste at Home

Previously, I wrote a post describing how one could prepare a steak at home, with taste as close as possible to the taste of a dry aged restaurant steak  (Dry-Aged Steak at Home (8/2/11). In a more recent (2/27/13) post, I described the history of UMAMI, the FIFTH TASTE. The new taste, UMAMI, is described as  "savory", "meaty" or "delicious".  Previously, it was thought that there were only four basic tastes; sweet, sour, bitter and salty.  In addition, I listed some of the ways in which the UMAMI taste could be added to food. Recently, I came across a description of preparing dry-aged steak at home which uses the method I described previously (post of 8/2/11)  plus a way of adding additional UMAMI taste to the steak. (Nathan Myhrvold , Food and Wine magazine  Oct 12, 2012, pg. 38). While the recipe calls for rib-eye steak, any steak, of equal size, could be substituted. The preparation requires six days to complete so plan, appropriately, for when you want the steaks to be ready for eating - the planning and wait will be well worth them. The recipe follows:

Two 12 oz, one inch thick thick, boneless,  rib eye steaks
1 1/2 Tbsp Asian fish sauce
kosher salt and pepper

1) Place steaks, in a single layer, in a sealable plastic bag. Add fish sauce and turn to coat. Press
 out as much air from the bag as possible, seal and refrigerate for three days.

2) Remove steaks from bag. Tightly wrap each one in a double layer of cheese cloth, place on a rack over a plate and refrigerate, uncovered, for three more days.

3) Unwrap steaks, discard cheese cloth and allow the steak to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Apply salt and pepper and grill.

Enjoy!

FOOD TRIVIA: Soft Drinks

"Soft drink", classically referred to nearly ALL  beverages that did not contain significant amounts of alcohol. Now the term is used, exclusively, for flavored, carbonated beverages. Since carbonated beverage makers were having a difficult time advertising their products due to regional differences in what their drinks were called ( soda, fizzy drinks, pop, etc.) the manufacturers all agreed on using the term, "soft drinks".

FOOD HISTORY: The Fifth Taste - UMAMI

When taste buds were discovered in the 19th century, it was thought that only four "primary" tastes could be picked up by the human tongue - salty, sweet, bitter and sour. This thought was continued until the early 1900's when a Japanese scientist exploring a taste phenomenon in Japanese cooking changed this concept. Dashi, a stock made from Kombu ( Kelp; a seaweed) has been an integral part of Japanese cooking for a very long time. It was found that foods cooked with Dashi, were given a delicious, complex taste that could not be  attributed to any one or combination of the four "primary' tastes. Why this was so was not clear until, in 1908,  Dr. Kikunae Ikeda, a Japanese scientist at Tokyo Imperial University (now called The University of Tokyo)  discovered that glutamate (glutamic acid) was its  main flavor ingredient in Dashi and called the new taste sensation. "Umami", a Japanese word that has no exact  English translation but is interpreted as "savory" or "delicious" or "meaty" taste. After the discovery of glutamate as contributing to the Umami taste, other substances which gave a Umami taste were discovered in other very popular items used in Japanese cooking: inosinate found in  Bonito flakes - flakes shaved from dried, fermented  Bonito fish (also known as Skipjack Tuna) and guanylate found in Shitake mushroom stock. In the 1980's, further studies established that Umami associated with high glutamate - containing foods actually constituted a FIFTH taste component. Remember when most Chinese restaurants used monosiodiun glutamate (MSG) in their dishes. This was to give their food a UMAMI taste. Since that time, many UMAMI rich foods have been identified; seaweed, beef, tomatoes. Parmesan cheese, anchovies, Shitake and Enoki mushrooms, Asian fish and Soy sauces, among others.The Umami taste sensation is most intense in combination with salt: thus, a sprinkling of salt on a tomato intensifies its taste.Today Umami as a fifth taste is universally accepted. While the UMAMI taste is now established in a scientific sense, for centuries people around the world, INTUITIVELY, have prepared sauces and condiments which add UMAMI taste to dishes. Garum was a fish sauce made first by the Greeks and then the Romans.The Greeks made a sauce called "garos' a Greek word for a type of fish. Romans loved the sauce, took it over and made it their own way; salting Mackerel fish, letting it ferment in the sun and then filtering the fermented liquid to use as a sauce. Tomatoes were brought to Europe when Columbus discovered the New World. The Italians embraced the UMAMI containing tomato as the basis for many of their famous sauces. Asian cultures have used many UMAMI containing fermented products; the Soy and fish sauces of China, Japan, Vietnam . Thailand, etc and the British have their anchovy containing Worchester sauce. Science aside, TASTE wins out.

THINGS I LIKE: Mickey's "Puttler Jelly"

When I  was growing up, my mother, Mickey Holder, made a delicious smokey, chopped eggplant dish that we ate with toast or crackers. We called the dish "Puttler Jelly". Why it was called "Puttler Jelly"  was not clear to me but I ate it with great enjoyment. As I grew older, I became aware that chopped eggplant dishes were eaten all over the world, eg., Baba Ghanouj, chopped eggplant mixed with tahini (sesame seed paste) and seasonings was ubiquitous all over the Middle East. I have eaten Baba Ghanouj in ethnic Syrian - American, Lebanese - American and Greek - American restaurants and loved them all. In Greek restaurants the dish is called "melitzanosalata". In Turkey, where I ate it in Istanbul, the dish is called "patlican salatsi." In France, a similar dish is made, called "eggplant caviar" with olive oil substituting for the tahini. Many other European countries, including Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Armenia and Greece, to name just a few, prepare similar dishes. When I decided to write about my mother's "Puttler Jelly", I did a little research on this kind of dish and discovered that in Rumanian it is called "patlagele vinete". Is this where "Puttler Jelly" came from; a mispronouncing of the the Romanian "patlagele? There is not, to my knowledge, any Rumanian connection in my family tree. To my mother, this would not have mattered. She incorporated recipes into her family cooking from anyone with whom she had contact if she thought her family would enjoy them.; her "tomato sauce" recipe, for example, which is  still being made by the third generation of  our family, came from the  Carvel family (Caravelli when they got off the boat from Italy, as children). With more looking, I found that the word for eggplant in Yiddish is "patlejan". Since grandparents on both sides of my family and my parents, as well, spoke Yiddish this, more likely, is the root source from which the mispronounced  term, "Puttler Jelly" derived. Whatever is really the case, I still make Mickey's "Puttler Jelly" and it has been enjoyed by all who taste it. The recipe follows:

MICKEY"S "PUTTLER JELLY" RECIPE

 I call this a recipe but it is only, in reality, a guideline since I was  told what went into its making but with no specific amounts of each ingredient given. The final product will be unique to the person preparing the dish but I have given some "starting points" and will leave the taste of the finished dish  to the palate of each preparer.

INGREDIENTS

2  eggplants
1 large onion, small dice
minced fresh garlic - to taste
red wine vinegar or lemon juice - to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper - to taste
extra virgin olive oil

PROCEDURE

Heat oven to 450F.
Cut eggplants in half and place, cut side down, on a sheet pan.
Roast until the skin is charred and the flesh is soft and fully cooked.
Allow to cool and, discarding the skin,  scoop out eggplant flesh into a food processor.*  Don't worry if a few "charred" parts of the skin are still attached. This gives a further smokey taste to the dish.
Add onion and garlic.
Pulse a couple of times adding olive oil until a coarse puree is formed.
Mix in small amounts of vinegar or lemon juice plus salt and pepper, tasting after each addition until the mixture has a creamy texture with the  balance of garlic, salt, acid and smoke that suites your palate.

* if you do not have a food processor, the eggplant can be mashed with a fork and the other ingredients added, as above.


Serve as a dip with wedges of pita, plain or toasted, or spread on crackers.