A Harte Appetite
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104 episodes
Just about every country has a special dessert to mark the holidays. But none is as iconic as the classic French Yule log or Bûche de Noël.
Where would you find the most authentic Chicken Kiev? Probably Ukraine. The definitive Peking Duck? Certainly Beijing. The perfect Swedish Meatballs? Obviously Sweden. Or maybe Ikea. And where would you go to find the ultimate Greek yogurt? That’s not so easy a question to answer.
Cake mixes have some real advantages over home made. For instance, they’re much more forgiving. Over-beat the batter and they still bake up fine. Under-beat it and the result is nonetheless perfectly acceptable. Take a box cake out of the oven sooner than you should and all will be well.
Though watercress has been an English tradition at high tea and even in school lunches for years and years, the truth is, relatively speaking, the Brits are newcomers to the plant.
Even before people thought of putting it in food, lavender was casting its spell. It has been cultivated since the beginning of recorded time.
Whipped cream, after all, is one of the most decadent preparations of all time. For that matter, even when not whipped, cream, as an ingredient, cannot be beat.
Hula Pie is the signature dessert of an Hawaiian Restaurant chain and originated at the company’s first restaurant, Kimo’s in Old Lahaina Town in Maui.
The mustard plant is fully deserving of accolades. For centuries its been used as a food, flavoring and folk remedy. In fact it was so important as a medicinal herb to the ancient Greeks that they credited their god of medicine for its creation.
I think it was Moliere who observed that, "Some men eat to live while other men live to eat." I know which category I fall into. I love food, glorious food.
Chocolate made just for drinking has a noble heritage. In fact, chocolate was being enjoyed as a beverage for centuries before anybody ever thought of actually eating it.
Where would you find the most authentic Chicken Kiev? Probably Ukraine. The definitive Peking Duck? Certainly Beijing . The perfect Swedish Meatballs? Obviously Sweden . Or maybe Ikea. And where would you go to find the ultimate Greek yogurt? That’s not so easy a question to answer.
Though watercress has been an English tradition at high tea and even in school lunches for years and years, the truth is, relatively speaking, the Brits are newcomers to the plant.
Even before people thought of putting it in food, lavender was casting its spell. It has been cultivated since the beginning of recorded time.
Whipped cream, after all, is one of the most decadent preparations of all time. For that matter, even when not whipped, cream, as an ingredient, cannot be beat.
Hula Pie is the signature dessert of an Hawaiian Restaurant chain and originated at the company’s first restaurant, Kimo’s in Old Lahaina Town in Maui.
You may have never heard of Nephi Grigg, but if you’ve ever eaten a meal at a grade school cafeteria, you’ve probably been served his signature culinary invention.
Still there are iconic dishes we remember fondly, and perhaps the most legendary culinary memory of school days is the unfortunately named Sloppy Joe. Everyone knows what they are, yet it’s difficult to determine their origin.
The Joy of Cooking is something of the odd duck in cookbook publishing. It’s a general interest book, has virtually no glossy photographs, and it was not written by a celebrity. But it has endured for decades because its authors treat readers not as pupils, but as friends.
The Romans believed cinnamon was sacred and every Roman emperor stocked cinnamon in his treasury. The Romans weren’t the only ones who valued cinnamon. The ancient Egyptians used it for witchcraft and embalming.
Rose Levy Beranbaum, in her book, “The Pie and Pastry Bible,” a volume which I’ve read religiously, says, “There are two kinds of people: cake people and pie people.”
A 3.5 ounce serving of spinach contains more iron than the same sized hamburger patty. Not bad for a food that is 91% water.
Feta cheese -- sometimes referred to as the princess of cheeses -- is every bit as admirable as any other Greek invention, and it is surely just as ancient. It is likely as old as Greece itself.
Delmonico's was the first American restaurant to have a printed menu, the first to offer a separate wine list, the first to have tablecloths, the first to offer a private dining room and the first to provide an orchestra for background music.
No wonder the carrot is the second most popular vegetable in the world after the potato—not bad for a plant which, according to the Oxford Companion to Food, “had an unpromising origin.” It is, after all, merely a refined version of a common weed—Queen Anne’s lace.
The French think they're superior to us when it comes to clothing, wine, and food -- not to mention romance! And, admittedly, they do have a way with each; and perhaps nowhere is French sophistication more evident -- at least in the culinary world -- when it comes to pancakes.
From a culinary perspective, every season is joyous, but for me it’s always spring, at least in my kitchen. That’s because my favorite item of kitchenware is the springform pan. The function of the pan is to make it possible to take out of the pan a cake which is too fragile to trust to the conventional method of turning it upside down and keeping your fingers crossed that it comes out in one piece.
As California restaurant critic Merrill Shindler observes, "Like politics and religion, nobody agrees about the one true chili." It's a dish that's easy to get into an argument over.
Contrary to popular belief, corned beef and cabbage is not the national dish of Ireland. You won’t find it on menus there except in places where there is a lot of tourist traffic. Some food historians even go so far as to question whether the dish is actually Irish at all.
Pretzels, some historians contend, may be the oldest snack food known to humankind.
Spain has given many gifts to gastronomy, like paella, manchego cheese, and the world’s greatest ham. But no less noteworthy are churros, or Spanish donuts.
