FOOD TRIVIA: Caprese salad

The popular Italian Caprese salad consisting of tomato, Mozzarella cheese and  Basil leaves  (red, white and green, the colors of the Italian flag) is also the name of the Tuscan town where Michelangelo was born.

FOOD HISTORY: Casserole

The word casserole originally referred to the pan in which the dish was cooked. Casserole is from a French word meaning "sauce-pan"; a large, deep dish used either to cook something in an oven or to serve the food cooked in it. The French word  "casserole"  had been derived from the old Provencal word, "cassa" and the Medieval Latin word, "cattia", both of these words meaning "ladle". This seemed to imply that these words were describing a common pot from which everyone shared. French cassoulet, Spanish paella, British pot pies and Italian lasagna, to name only a few, seemed to be derived from this idea. In fact, a recipe, written in Latin, for the precursor of a  famous casserole - macaroni and cheese - is found in the " Liber de Cucina". It was written by a  by a person familiar with the Neapolitan court of Charles II of Anjou (1254-1309). The recipe named,"de lasnis", called for pasta sheets cooked in water, layered with grated cheese (probably Parmesan) and mild spices, if desired.  Centuries later, after a stay in Italy (1787), Thomas Jefferson brought a pasta machine back to Monticello. His daughter, Mary Randolph, serving as the President's hostess since the death of her mother, prepared a similar dish made with  pasta and Parmesan cheese. Later the Parmesan was replaced by Cheddar. Mary's pasta and cheese dish was later served at the President Jefferson's White House starting in 1802 and a recipe for the dish was included in her 1824 cookbook, "The Virginia Housewife".  In the late 19th century, the New World embraced casseroles, inspired by these kinds of dishes brought by immigrants from many different cultures. They provided economical, communal  sustenance during the depressions of the 1890's and 1930's and the scarcity of food items during both World Wars. In the 1950's, smaller home kitchens, the availability of light weight ovenproof cookware and the greater availability of canned foods ( eg., Campbell Soup Company's Creamed soup line; celery, chicken, mushroom, broccoli, cheddar cheese, etc) made the casserole a simple, easy and cheap way to use leftover foods to serve the whole family. As a matter of fact, Campbell emphasized the great casserole potential of these soups and that contributed to the mass  mass appeal of these dishes to the public and to the explosion of casserole dishes the 1950's. There probably very few of you that are reading this, from whatever background you come, that cannot look back on a casserole from your youth that you really loved, or, alternatively, hated because you were forced to eat it. In any case, today casserole dishes, some using the finest, most expensive ingredients to those that still  are prepared by pouring the contents of an open can or two over some left-overs and then baked, are eaten and enjoyed all over the world.

THINGS I LIKE : Tonkatsu

Tonkatsu, a breaded pork cutlet, is a non-traditional but very popular food in Japan. "Ton" meaning pork in Japanese and "katsu', short for the Japanese word for "cutlet" - "katsuretto", became popular during the Westernization of Japan during the Meiji Period (1868 - 1912). At that time, European style veal cutlets became popular and more acceptable( in spite of the Buddhist prohibition against eating meat)  by being served at the well-known and fashionable Ginza Restaurant "Rengatei" in 1895. This restaurant still exists, today. Tonkatsu, the cutlet using pork, was introduced by Matsuzo Kisano at his Ohroji restaurant in 1925. While at a different location, the Ohroji restaurant still operates today. Prior to World War II, the Japanese military, both Army and Navy, welcomed the nutritional advantage to their soldiers and sailors of the  high fat content of Westernized food, including deep fried dishes. Because of this  Tonkatsu became  popularized  throughout Japan. On several trips to Japan I ate lots of Tonkatsu. Now I make it at home and still enjoy it.

PREPARATION

4  boneless pork chops or slices of pork loin, 1/2 inch thick
1 C flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 C Panko (Japanese) bread crumbs
vegetable oil

Heat oil in skillet until a heat of 340 F or more is reached.

Dredge  pork in flour, shaking off the excess.
Coat pork, on both sides, with egg; drain.
Press pork into Panko crumbs on both sides until well covered.

Add coated pork to skillet and fry until golden brown in color; turn over and repeat on second side.
When pork is cooked through, transfer to paper towels and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Serve with Tonkatsu sauce.

Tonkatsu Sauce: Mix together, 2  Tbsp, each, Worchestershire sauce, ketchup and sugar plus 1  tsp of water until sugar is dissolved. Make multiples of recipe if you need more sauce.  Serve as dpipping sauce with Tonkatsu.,

COOKING TIP: Reducing Calories in Baking

To reduce calories in baked goods without sacrificing flavor, you can substitute applesauce (unsweetened) for the oil in the recipe. However, you must use two times the amount of applesauce for the amount of oil called for in the recipe. For example, if the recipe calls for using two tablespoons of oil (200 calories) substitute four tablespoons of applesauce (40 calories).

FOOD TRIVIA: Tootsie Rolls

"Tootsie" rolls, the chewy, chocolate candy log was named by Leo Hirshfield, a U.S. confectioner, who named the candy after his daughter, real name Clara, but who went by the  nickname "Tootsie'.

FOOD TRIVIA: Henri Toulouse - Lautrec

The world fanous artist and gourmet,  Henri Toulouse - Lautrec wrote a cookbook called, "The Art of Cuisine" and illustrated it himself. It still is available.

FOOD HISTORY: The "Hot Dog".

While the history of sausages is ancient, even having been mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, the history of what we know as the "Hot Dog" is much more recent and has several branches on its family tree. It is believed that the "original" sausage that eventually became the contemporary "Hot Dog" was created in the late 1690's by Johann Georghehner, a butcher living in Coburg, Germany.  Later, Georghehner, travelled to Frankfurt, Germany to promote his product. In 1805, a master sausage maker in Vienna, Austria, who got his training in Frankfurt, Germany, made a sausage that he called the "Wiener- Frankfurter". This fact has given Austria a claim to be them birthplace of the "Hot Dog". His sausage, however, generally became known as "Wienerwurst"; Wien being the German name for Vienna and wurst the German word for sausage.This is, however, where we get the word  "Wiener" as a synomym for "Hot Dog"'. In 1852, the Butcher's Guild in Frankfurt, Germany developed a spiced, smoked sausage which was packed in a thin casing that they called the "Frankfuter", named after its city of origin. The sausage's gently curved shape, it is said, was suggested by a butcher who had a Dachshund dog as a pet. When Germans immigrated to the U.S., they brought this sausage, with the name "'Dachshund-sausage", with them;  Austrians brought their "Wieners". Frankfuters and Wieners, served with milk rolls (bread rolls but sweeter and softer due to milk added to the dough) and sauerkraut, were sold from pushcarts on New York's Bowery during the 1860's. (As a personal aside, when I served in the Army's occupying forces in Austria, 1954-1955, there were wurst stands all over. They served Wiernerwurt sausages on a paper plate, containing a dab of mustard and a small bread roll on the side. I consumed many, many of them!) Back to History: In 1871, Charles Feltman, a German butcher, opened a stand in Coney Island, NY. He wanted to sell a variety of hot sandwiches to his customers but his wagon was too small to make different  sandwiches in the wagon's confined space. Thus, he came up with the idea of selling only sausages served IN a roll. With the help of  the wheel-wright who had made his wagon, a tin lined chest was put in the wagon  to keep the rolls warm and a charcoal stove to boil the sausages was installed. Thus, the idea of serving sausages in a bread "container" is credited to Feltman. .Feltman sold 3,684 sausages in a milk roll during his first year in business. In 1880, Antonione Feuchtwanger, a German sausage peddler in St. Louis, Missouri, supplied white gloves with his sausages, so his customer's would not burn their fingers while eating their sausages. However, many customers would walk off with the gloves after finishing their snack. Feuchtwanger consulted his brother- in law, a baker, about the problem and he came up with a long, soft roll in which the sausage could be placed. Thus, the German sausages ( Frankfuters/ Wienerwurst) were introduced to the bun. How this combination of a German sausage on a bun became known as the "Hot Dog' is another convoluted story to be told in a subsequent post.