FOOD HISTORY: Pimm's Cup

I am assuming that most of you have not heard of Pimm's Cup or, if you did, are not sure what it is. Pimm's is a low alcohol (50 proof:25%) based drink from England first made with Gin, liqueur, fruit juices and spices. Served with ginger ale or, preferably, lemonade, it becomes a Pimm's Cup #1. (see below). Since it is a light , low alcohol drink, it has become the  favored summer drink of the British. It has been raised to the heights of High  Society drinks in England since it is quaffed during sporting events, such as Wimbeldon Tennis matches where, it is said, that visitors to the matches consume some 40,000 pints a year and that it's popularity is the number two English drink after tea. Pimm's Cup #1 is to Wimbeldon Tennis what the Mint Julep drink is to the Kentucky Derby, in  America. It is also a favorite drink at the Royal  Regatta and at village green Cricket matches. It originated at an oyster bar on Poultry Street in the City of London, where James Pimm, the owner, created the drink as a low alcohol oyster "chaser" after noticing that straight gin did not work quite well for the English Dandies. of the day. Pimm served the drink in tankards which he called the ,"house cup" and from that the drink took the name Pimm's Cup . The recipe was and still is a secret: only six persons are supposed to know exactly how it is made. Pimm's cup became so popular in bars and Gentlemen's clubs that Pimm started large scale production in 1854. The rage for gin containing Pimm's Cups became so great that in addition to the Cup made with gin, now called Pimm's Cup #1, Pimm created Pimm's Cup 2 (whiskey), 3(brandy),  4(rum), 5(rye), and 6(vodka). Pimm sold his company in 1865. Less than 100 years later, Pimm's could be found all over the British Empire and was a favorite with British troops in World War II. Pimm's Cups are still available today, however, only Pimm's Cups 1 and 6 are currently produced .

FOOD HISTORY: Hungarian Goulash

Hungarian Goulash is a stew consisting of chunks of meat (pork, beef, lamb, veal and, even, turkey) plus onions, browned in fat, then cooked with water or stock to which seasoning using garlic, caraway seed and, particularly, Hungarian paprika is added. Vegetables, such as, carrots, green pepper, parsnips celery and, perhaps, some tomato may be added. Goulash is the national dish of Hungary and, as with most traditional ethnic dishes, each family has their own variation in the ingredients used except that paprika and caraway seed are common to all. However, the original dish did not contain paprika, which is now known as the national spice of Hungary. Hungarians are the descendants of the eastern European /Western Asian tribes called the Magyars. The word "Hungary" comes from the Turkic word meaning "10 Arrows" that depict the ten tribes of the Magyars from whom current day Hungarians descend. The word "Goulash" comes from the word "Gulyas" meaning "herdsman" in Hungarian. As the Gulyas (herdsmen) would travel on long cattle drives, they would butcher the weakest cows, which couldn't make the whole journey, and made their meat into stews for them to eat. The herdsman had wild onions and caraway, which grew on the plains of Hungary, and added these to their stew. Their Gulyas evolved into the stew we know today as Goulash. However, Hungary did not know of paprika until the Turks invaded Hungary and stayed for 150 years (1526 - 1699). The Turks introduced exotic spices, including paprika into Hungary. Initially, paprika was used only as a decorative plant until the herdsmen (Gulyas) started to spice their stews with the fiery paprika. From the herdsmen's stew pots the spice found its way into the Hungarian peasant's stews and, eventually, into stews being served to the Hungarian aristocracy. Because the herdsmen travelled all over Europe, they introduced people from many other countries to their paprika flavored goulash. People from these countries adapted the spice into their own versions of goulash, adding ingredients, eg, wine, brown sauce, various other spices, etc. that no self respecting Hungarian (Magyar) would ever use. That aside, "goulash" style dishes are popular in Austria, Germany, Croatia and many other countries around the world, including the United States where, in fact, according to a 1969 Gallup poll, goulash was one of the five most popular meat dishes on the American cooking scene. What could they possibly have thought about that in Budapest?

THINGS I LIKE: Tomato Cheese Pie

 When it's  tomato time in New Jersey, there are no amount of ways in which to enjoy them: sliced, with just a sprinkle of salt, in a salad, made into a fresh tomato sauce, etc. One additional way that I take advantage of their sweet flavor is baking them into  a pie with cheese. This has become one of the ways I like them best and everyone who has eaten  the pies has enjoyed them, as well.  The recipe follows:

TOMATO CHEESE PIE   

  INGREDIENTS

        1)    Ripe tomato cut into uniform slices and blotted on paper towels to remove some of the tomato water.

3)    Cheese ( Swiss, Fontina, Gruyere, Jarlsburg or any other cheese you prefer) in slices or grated.

4)    Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

5)    Salt and pepper.

 PROCEDURE

Heat oven to 375F.

Put pie dough (homemade or store bought) into pie plate. Punch several holes in bottom of pie dough using a fork. Place in oven until lightly browned: 10 -15 min.

Remove and let cool.

Add a layer of cheese and top with a layer of tomato slices. Lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat one more time. Top with Parmesan or Romano cheese spread evenly over the top tomato layer.

Bake until cheese is melted and pie is hot: 15-30 min depending on your oven.

Remove and allow pie to cool for several minutes for the cheese to firm up, then eat and enjoy!

FOOD TRIVIA: The Orange Fruit and the Color Orange.

The color orange was introduced into English through the Spanish word "naranja", which is the Spanish used for the fruit we know as the orange. The word "naranja" was derived from the Sanskrit word, "naranga" meaning "orange tree". The English dropped the leading "n" and from the word "naranja" and, eventually, the word "orange" evolved as the English name for this fruit. Around the 16th century, the word orange started being used not only to describe the fruit but, also, to what we know now as the COLOR orange. Before this, orange as a color, was not in the English vocabulary. Prior to this change, the English referred to what had become the color orange, as "geoluhread"  which translates to "yellow - red"."

COOKING TIP: How to Keep a Lemon After Zesting

If, after the zest from a lemon has been taken off and you are not using the zested lemon for its  juice immediately, it can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for, at least, three weeks with little loss of juice.

FOOD HISTORY: Sliced Bread

Before sliced bread was invented, people baked their own bread or bought loaves of bread that they had to slice. Each time you sliced, you got a ragged and non-uniform slice. However, Otto Rohwedder from Davenport, Iowa had an idea for a slicer that would automatically cut bread into uniform slices for the consumer. He started working on his idea in 1912 and, over the next few years, had several working models. Many bakers rejected Rohwedder's invention, saying that the bread would fall apart and would get stale more rapidly than the whole loaf (which was true) and that the consumer didn't care to have pre-sliced bread. However, when the Chillicothe Baking Company( Chillicothe, Mo)  put one of the machines to work in 1928, these bakers found they were wrong. The local newspaper wrote, "So neat and precise are the slices and so definitely better than anyone could cut by hand with a bread knife, that one realizes instantly that here is a refinement that will receive a hearty and permanent welcome." In 1927, Rohwedder found a solution to the sliced bread becoming stale more rapidly, by devising a machine that not only sliced the bread but wrapped it as well. Rohwedder, in 1929, sold his machines to the Micro-Westco Company of Bettendorf, Iowa and served as Vice-President and sales manager of the Rohwedder Bakery Machine Company, a new division of  Micro-Westco. By the 1930's, sliced bread was fully commercialized, helped by the invention of the pop-up toaster, introduced in 1926, which required uniform slices for best results. In 1930, The Wonder Bread Company, using their own specialized slicing machines, was the first commercial manufacturer of wrapped, pre-sliced bread. By 1933, more bakers were selling pre-sliced bread than whole loaves and the sales of Rohwedders machines soared. In 1943, in the midst of World War II, the U.S. government actually banned sliced bread on the theory that the country needed the metal used in making bread slicing blades more for the manufacture of airplanes than for bread slicers. A public uproar over this edict was so great that it was rescinded within a few months. THEREFORE, PRE- SLICED BREAD WAS RETAINED AND WE ARE STILL EATING PRE-SLICED 60 YEARS LATER.

THINGS I LIKE: Elote (Mexican Corn on the Cob)

Now that we are in fresh corn season, I would like to tell you about to a way that Mexicans, who know a thing or two about corn, eat their corn on the cob. I was introduced to this method preparing corn for eating on the cob by Davey, a friend of mine from Mexico.

Elote

Husk fresh corn and cook, either by boiling, steaming or grilling. My personal preference is grilling but any way of cooking works. Coat the cooked corn with a layer of mayonnaise and roll in grated Cotija* cheese. Eat as is or sprinkle, to taste, with lime juice and/or chile pepper, and ENJOY.

*Cotija is a semi- hard Mexican cheese that is used for grating in the same way as the Italian Parmesan or Romano cheeses. I find that Cotija gives the best flavor with the corn because it has a stronger taste than Parmesan or Romano but these are acceptable substitutes if you cannot find Cotija cheese. However, I have found Cotija in several large supermarkets in my area. It was in the Dairy aisle cheese section rather than the Specialty Cheese counter.