Food! Food! Food! The Good, Bad, Ugly, and Tasty steampunk treats and drinks

[Synistor 303]

If sending stuff to Australia - no meat (even tinned) and no dairy (even tinned). Seeds (for the garden) need to be in a commercial packet. There are restrictions on certain seeds and nuts, so best not to risk it.

When returning from the UK many years ago, we brought in a couple of tins of smoked paprika and that was OK, but we can now easily buy the same thing here.

I just remembered what you wrote on making mole with fruit, which was not so well liked by the family. It was you , wasn't it? Is this the mole you made?

http://www.mexican-authentic-recipes.com/salsa_and_dips-mole_xico.html

Mole from Xico
a sweet mole


This mole is originally from the town of Xico, in Veracruz. This beautiful location, situated in the center of the state of Veracruz, was designated "Magical Village" in 2011 and it keeps all the colonial charm of the province, surrounded by mountains and large coffee plantations. Its gastronomy is extensive and its most famous and typical preparation is the mole from Xico.

This mole is similar to the Puebla style mole, but the combination of its ingredients turn out into a sweeter salsa than the traditional mole – but equally delicious and complex in flavors and aromas. In fact is the sweetest mole that there is within the large mole repertoire that exists in Mexico.

I think I understand now. This might be too sweet with the fruit for most savory ingredients. It's basically a highly regionalized style of mole, from the State of Veracruz. To be honest I had never heard of this one before!! You might want to try the regular Poblano style mole.

It was a chocolate Mole and it had a banana in it. I bought unsweetened chocolate just to make it. It wasn't the least bit sweet, as we really can't abide sweetness in savoury food. It was a really good Mole! I will have a look at the Poblano style mole.

[J. Wilhelm]

If sending stuff to Australia - no meat (even tinned) and no dairy (even tinned). Seeds (for the garden) need to be in a commercial packet. There are restrictions on certain seeds and nuts, so best not to risk it.

When returning from the UK many years ago, we brought in a couple of tins of smoked paprika and that was OK, but we can now easily buy the same thing here.

I just remembered what you wrote on making mole with fruit, which was not so well liked by the family. It was you , wasn't it? Is this the mole you made?

http://www.mexican-authentic-recipes.com/salsa_and_dips-mole_xico.html

Mole from Xico
a sweet mole


This mole is originally from the town of Xico, in Veracruz. This beautiful location, situated in the center of the state of Veracruz, was designated "Magical Village" in 2011 and it keeps all the colonial charm of the province, surrounded by mountains and large coffee plantations. Its gastronomy is extensive and its most famous and typical preparation is the mole from Xico.

This mole is similar to the Puebla style mole, but the combination of its ingredients turn out into a sweeter salsa than the traditional mole – but equally delicious and complex in flavors and aromas. In fact is the sweetest mole that there is within the large mole repertoire that exists in Mexico.

I think I understand now. This might be too sweet with the fruit for most savory ingredients. It's basically a highly regionalized style of mole, from the State of Veracruz. To be honest I had never heard of this one before!! You might want to try the regular Poblano style mole.

It was a chocolate Mole and it had a banana in it. I bought unsweetened chocolate just to make it. It wasn't the least bit sweet, as we really can't abide sweetness in savoury food. It was a really good Mole! I will have a look at the Poblano style mole.

I see. Poblano is probably the most common type and well known in Mexico. When you don't specify which mole you want or you are not offered another type in the restaurant, that's the default.  It's what I recommend as a starting point. As the name suggests, it comes from the city of Puebla, the other city in the southern half of the Valley of Mexico, just 30 miles from the capital, so it's very central geographically. There are others,very significant variations like Black Mole and Red Mole, from the State of Oaxaca which are very common too. And the most ancient / originally native of all the moles, likely extant as-is before the Conquest (with turkey broth as opposed to chicken), is probably Pipian (aka green mole), which basically is pumpkin seed, tomatillo and green chile based - that one requires a more mature palate, definitely for the adults, not the kids, because it's much spicier and a tad bitter from the pumpkin seeds, but I highly recommend it too for the nutty flavor. To be honest I had never heard of the banana and/or plantain version. I'm just finding the recipe right now. I/m going to have to try that one.

The thing about the sweet moles like Poblano, is that , like you say, it doesn't come out sweet at all. It's bizarre because the chocolate has sugar in it, but the sweetness is balanced by the other ingredients until it vanishes away

[J. Wilhelm]

"It ain't pretty, but it tastes good"

1830s recipe for Pork a la Normand

Best Pork Dish - Pork a la Normand

[J. Wilhelm]

Food of the Enslaved: Barbecue, featuring Michael Twitty

[J. Wilhelm]

This just is... Well you be the judge

The  18th century maize of British America: Parched Corn

The No-Meat Survival Food Pt. 1

The No-Meat Survival Food Pt. 2

After posting this, I realized the whole thing of Parched Corn looks hideous. Just proof that not everyone knew what to do with corn. Let's look at what mesoamericans were doing for at least 4000 years ago according to archeological findings...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nixtamalization of Corn and Tamales
*Note: the proper singular form of the word "tamales" is "tamal" not "tamale" nor "tamale cakes" unless you want to sound like an old cowboy.

Unwrapping Aztec Tamales | The Tamale Wars

[J. Wilhelm]

Syracuse Salt Potatoes and Historical Food Markers on America's Roads

The United States doesn't have anything like the EU's Protected Denomination of Origin, the French Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, or the Spanish Denominación de Origen. However, thanks to a private effort, geographical locations in the United States will get historical markers for those locations. While the United States is a very young country, there are on fact a number of food firsts that happened in the country. The only caveat is that the historical society pushing this effort is keeping brand names out of the candidate list (which I think is a bad idea, given the cornucopia of history attached to brands that we've amassed in the Victorian Food Brands thread)

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/salt-potato-plaque.amp?__twitter_impression=true

The William G. Pomeroy Foundation—a philanthropic organization that preserves community history through a host of marker grant programs started a program called 'Hungry for History.' The foundation is now accepting grant applications from all over the United States to commemorate foods that have forged regional identity and are significant to local history.

One example of the Hungry for History program is the plaque granted to the city of Syracuse, New York. Known as "Salt City" in the 19th century, Syracuse produced up to 90% of the United States supply of salt around 1870. The salt came from a mineral vein on the south end of Onondaga Lake, NY.

Hundreds of workers at the "salt blocks," as the Onondaga Salt Reserve was known, were Irish immigrants tasked with boiling brine extracted to produce the raw salt. According to local legend, the Irish workers, when hungry would simply toss some potatoes into the boiling brine for lunch. Boiling potatoes in brine left the potato covered in a layer of salt and the interior of the potato was soft as if it had been mashed. The potatoes that were not consumed at work would be brought back to the workers' families for dinner when Irish styled butter was added as part of the ingredients. Over time the dish became a Syracuse delicacy simply known as "Salt Potatoes."

Irish workers at the Syracuse "Salt Blocks"

But legend is not enough for the foundation to vouch for the origin of Syracuse Salt Potatoes. After all, many legends are not based on fact. However, Robert Searing, the lead curator at the Onondaga Historical Association, stumbled upon news clippings dating back to 1888 from the Syracuse Courier which reported the first instance of Salt Potatoes being sold at a local tavern owned by the Keefe Brothers. Searing traced the bruthers' ancestry to an Irish immigrant in 1850 who worked at the Syracuse salt blocks and was the father of the Keefe Brothers. So legend was confirmed. Irish workers working at the Salt Blocks invented Salt Potatoes.

So now sign posts at the road inlets to Syracuse announce to the driver that Syracuse is the origin of the the Salt Potatoes dish.

While the dish is little known outside of upstate New York, salt potatoes are a beloved mark of the summer season. "You're not going to a barbecue, graduation party, or birthday party up here that doesn't have salt potatoes," says Searing. For those who don't live in the region, they're easy enough to make on your own.

The trick is using what Searing calls "an unconscionable amount of salt." While he boils his potatoes in one part salt to four parts water, Deryn Pomeroy, who is Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Pomeroy Foundation and also grew up eating salt potatoes, leans closer to one-to-three. "I didn't realize they weren't widespread until I went to college," she says. The only other key is to use unpeeled, new potatoes—not much bigger than a golf ball and as consistent in size as possible.

To make them at home, first completely cover the potatoes in heavily salted water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer for about 25 minutes (as the potatoes cool and dry, you'll notice the signature salty crust envelope each one). To finish, drizzle butter over the potatoes or use softened butter as a side dip. "Use really good butter," says Searing. "Kerrygold is money." The result, says Searing, should taste like it's "mashed in the skin." He claims to have never fed anyone a salt potato they didn't enjoy.

Syracuse Salt Potatoes - New Potatoes Boiled in a Salt Brine

[J. Wilhelm]

Just wanted to comment on this cheese I found at a local grocer. Normally I don't comment on Cheddar cheese for two reasons:

First, Cheddar styled cheese is very well known in the US. Most of us may not be British ethnically, but there's a large number of cultural aspects that did come from the British that form our culture, and one of them is Cheddar cheese. It's well known.

Second, I'm mindful of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Now, I don't really agree entirely with the concept or it's enforcement, because it ignores migration of peoples from one part of the world to another -which greatly involves the Americas; however it does have the quality of pointing toward the place of origin of a certain food or drink, which makes it easy to identify the "most correct" form of a given product.

So having written that, Cheddar will obviously be in it's most correct and original form when it comes from Cheddar in Somerset. We're all acquainted with that, so I never felt any need to mention Cheddar.

But... but, but! I have stumbled on the best tasting piece of Cheddar I've ever had so far... And it comes from Australia.  

Yes, you read right, the Australian chaps make one well ripened, tangy and nutty natural block of Cheddar that will knock your socks off. Considerably tangier but not quite as hard and crumbly as Parmigiano Reggiano, owing to it's 18 month ripening, this is the best block of Cheddar I know. Specifically I'm talking about their 18 month ripened "Extra Sharp" green label cheese.

https://oldcroccheese.com/

Largely recommend this cheese. Don't let the name fool you, it's not made from crocodile milk, but from the milk of happy, grass fed cows with a funny accent.

Yes, yes, there's "New York style Cheddar"... Which doesn't come even close to a well ripened block of Cheddar in my opinion. 12 month aging doesn't reproduce this tanginess and consistency of an 18 month process, though it does make it easier to slice the cheese without crumbling.

We Americans love our cheese, but we like (let's be honest here) all our cheeses to be under-ripened. "American Swiss" is identical to Emmentaler in every possible way... Except that it's slightly under-ripened, and it basically tastes a bit more like Gruyere, and shares the softer consistency of Gruyere. Think of it as American Swiss being a parallel to Jarlsberg cheese. Same in Mexico; they were introduced to Gruyere in the 19th century by Swiss French and Austrian migrants (it's an Alpine staple) and American Swiss (Emmentaler) was brought by the Americans at the start of the 20th C (probably by the likes of Kraft foods). Mexicans even confuse the "Swiss" and "Gruyere" denominations, because quite frankly, American Swiss is too unripened to distinguish from Gruyere other than the holes it sports.

Anyhow, I digress! Huzzah and a hip hip for the Aussies!

[RJBowman]

There is a very well established Arab district in Dearborn (just west of Detroit), about 30 minutes from where I currently live. It has many find restaurants, Lebanese, Iraqi, etc., some of which are considered the best in the world. I'm been going there to dine since about 1990, three decades ago, and the district was will established back then, so it must have been there for some time previously. I remember reading somewhere that Arabs had been coming to the Detroit area since the 19th century, but I've never seen any articles on early Arab neighborhoods in the area.

Does anyone know anything about early Arab ethnic neighborhoods in the United States? What would have been the earliest you could have found an Arab restaurant in the United States?

[J. Wilhelm]

There is a very well established Arab district in Dearborn (just west of Detroit), about 30 minutes from where I currently live. It has many find restaurants, Lebanese, Iraqi, etc., some of which are considered the best in the world. I'm been going there to dine since about 1990, three decades ago, and the district was will established back then, so it must have been there for some time previously. I remember reading somewhere that Arabs had been coming to the Detroit area since the 19th century, but I've never seen any articles on early Arab neighborhoods in the area.

Does anyone know anything about early Arab ethnic neighborhoods in the United States? What would have been the earliest you could have found an Arab restaurant in the United States?

That's a very good question. And an interesting one. Do you have any idea about the historical period of migration overall for the US? I know it must be after the settlement of the Chinese, because they pretty much started the trend of ethnic food dining in the US. Italian food followed after that.

[J. Wilhelm]

Would you do this to a hamburger?  Yea or Nay?

A very small novelty trendy food chain in Mexico is renowned for their spectacular food presentation.  In his teen years a young chef from the northern city of Monterey came up with a hamburger made from beef, and Oaxaca Cheese (a type of string cheese similar to Mozzarella), and then bathed in cheddar cheese sauce and sprinkled with bacon dust. And that has become his signature dish which served to jumpstart his restaurant chain

http://youtube.com/watch?v=I3GJupf37yI


Original article: https://revistafortuna.com.mx/2022/03/25/carajillo-y-su-famosa-hamburguesa-instagrameable/

[von Corax]

Would you do this to a hamburger?  Yea or Nay?

A very small novelty trendy food chain in Mexico is renowned for their spectacular food presentation.  In his teen years a young chef from the northern city of Monterey came up with a hamburger made from beef, and Oaxaca Cheese (a type of string cheese similar to Mozzarella), and then bathed in cheddar cheese sauce and sprinkled with bacon dust. And that has become his signature dish which served to jumpstart his restaurant chain

https://youtube.com/watch?v=I3GJupf37yI&feature=youtu.be

It sounded tasty, until I saw it. Resounding nay.

[J. Wilhelm]

Would you do this to a hamburger?  Yea or Nay?

A very small novelty trendy food chain in Mexico is renowned for their spectacular food presentation.  In his teen years a young chef from the northern city of Monterey came up with a hamburger made from beef, and Oaxaca Cheese (a type of string cheese similar to Mozzarella), and then bathed in cheddar cheese sauce and sprinkled with bacon dust. And that has become his signature dish which served to jumpstart his restaurant chain

https://youtube.com/watch?v=I3GJupf37yI&feature=youtu.be

It sounded tasty, until I saw it. Resounding nay.

I agree. BTW Can you see the embedded video? I don't think it's embedded.

EDIT: Experimenting with URL formats:

1. Original compressed link:

https://youtu.be/I3GJupf37yI

2. Expanded link:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I3GJupf37yI

3. Without secured http:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I3GJupf37yI

[von Corax]

No, it isn't showing up for me either.

EDIT: After bouncing my browser, all three are showing up.

[J. Wilhelm]

No, it isn't showing up for me either.

Ok. This is weird. I just tried it again and it successfully embedded in all three formats. Maybe I just need to refresh the page?

Edit: it looks like the missing part was the mobile video prefix "m." can't be omitted from the URL (like I usually do) in this updated software version. I have no clue why. Otherwise any URL format will embed.

[Caledonian]

this is probably the best thread to admit to my recent habit of mixing irn bru and absinthe. I think I may have accidentally created an edwardian period appropriate cocktail.
that's all I have to contribute today

[Mercury Wells]

this is probably the best thread to admit to my recent habit of mixing irn bru and absinthe. I think I may have accidentally created an edwardian period appropriate cocktail.
that's all I have to contribute today

Sounds great. Do you just pour & mix.?

[Caledonian]

this is probably the best thread to admit to my recent habit of mixing irn bru and absinthe. I think I may have accidentally created an edwardian period appropriate cocktail.
that's all I have to contribute today

Sounds great. Do you just pour & mix.?

yeah. I don't have any fancy equipment so i just kind of eyeball it into the glass, and then use a teaspoon to mix. absinthe+irn bru is a personal favourite but i found absinthe+ fresh cloudly lemonaid was really nice as well.

[J. Wilhelm]

this is probably the best thread to admit to my recent habit of mixing irn bru and absinthe. I think I may have accidentally created an edwardian period appropriate cocktail.
that's all I have to contribute today

Sounds great. Do you just pour & mix.?

yeah. I don't have any fancy equipment so i just kind of eyeball it into the glass, and then use a teaspoon to mix. absinthe+irn bru is a personal favourite but i found absinthe+ fresh cloudly lemonaid was really nice as well.

I love the specificity of "cloudy lemonade." As someone raised in the Americas, I find it second nature that lemonade would always be real lemon juice, in sugared water. I only recently found out that in other English speaking countries "lemonade" means lemon soda made from oils, not juice, more similar to American carbonated drinks such as 7up and Sprite. In Italy I always assumed cloudy lemonade as the default for "limonata" but that turned out to be real lemon juice with carbonated water, actually stronger than American cloudy lemonade (we can buy imported limonata in the US - very good but a bit pricey nowadays).

In Mexico there's an odd language ambiguity. The word "Lemon" ("Limón") is used for green lime instead. And Mexicans use limes for everything instead of yellow lemons as the Spanish would do, hence Mexican lemonade is actually limeade, and the word for lime ("Lima") is used for a very sweet cross between a lemon and a lime (sometimes called "lymon" in the US).

I hope this explanation is clear as mud 

[von Corax]

Crabbie's ginger beer, with a double-shot of Pimm's No. 1.

[J. Wilhelm]

Wow. This thread looks very much abandoned.  I got a couple of recipes that I've invented in the last month or so, and maybe some of you might find them useful.  They're practical,  fast and cheap.


Recipe 1 Boneless Rib Eye Baked Schnitzel

The first one is a greaseless, no fry schnitzel for just about any 1cm thick slice of red meat.  Any steak will do, but naturally good beef cuts will produce better results. The difference between this and traditional schnitzel is that it's baked.  The amount of beef is more or less immaterial as the thickness is more relevant to the cooking time. 

I recommend ~0.8-1cm (~1/4 to 3/8 inch), boneless Rib Eye Steak, New York Strip or Beef Loin.  If using a tough cut like Skirt/Flank Steak, get it tenderized, be it "cubed" or knife scored. Sometimes Wagyu "tough cuts" are available cheaply.

The first step will be to season the steak and cover it in wheat flour. Liberal salt and pepper is usually all you need before coating the steak in flour. I recommend dumping about 1/3 of a cup of flour inside a plastic bag and placing the steak inside, to avoid making a mess.

Beat an egg or two (depending on how much you're baking), and dunk the floured steaks in the egg. Then have a large plate covered with seasoned bread crumbs and place the battered steak on top of the bed of crumbs and pour more crumbs on top to cover the whole steaks. Pat down with your hands and repeat as needed. Place steaks in refrigerator.

Prepare a cookie tray and find a wire grill that fits on top of the cookie tray, leaving a space of 1 or 2 cm between the grill and the tray. Line with parchment paper or aluminum foil if you want. The idea is that the steak will receive heat from both sides and not soak the breading in fat and meat juice.

Preheat the oven to 232° C / 450° F. Bake for 15-18 minutes depending on the thickness. As an anecdote most recipes online will say "8 minutes," regardless of the type of meat. I don't know where they got that figure. Unless you're talking about fish or extremely thin chicken medallions, that's not realistic.

The breaded steaks will be slightly brown, especially if you used seasoned crumbs or whole wheat bread crumbs, but they shouldn't be burned. The steaks will usually be perfect and not dry, that surprised me when I saw it works every time.

2. Romano-cheese Pesto Aioli with a touch of mustard.

This one requires finding a product from Knorr, that Swiss food company now owned by Unilever, which should be available in the UK and Europe. It's commonly available in the Americas all over, but the product names will differ.

The product in question is a powder seasoning mix for pasta sauce. Here in the United States, it goes by the name of "Creamy Pesto Sauce Mix," and it comes in an envelope package with about 36 g or 1.2 Oz of product inside. There's another product with pesto alone (not creamy) which is just spices and needs oil to be reconstituted. I haven't used the latter one, but you could get creative with that, or use real pesto if you can grind some Romano cheese into the pesto.

You will need about 6 or 7 heaping tablespoons of regular mayonnaise, and you will only use 1 tablespoon of powder mix. You will mix the power and the mayonnaise. The ratio by volume is about 6 to 1, depending on how much you want to make and how strong you want the flavor to be.

The pesto is always surprisingly strong, as this is a concentrated product. I recommend adding the powder slowly and taste repeatedly. The cheese flavor will also be on the "heavy" side, but that can be cured with a little dab of brown mustard. The vinegar helps you dissolve the salt and sugar that is present in the powder mix. Add mayonnaise as needed if the mix is too thick.

Serve the Pesto Aioli with the Steak Schnitzel and enjoy!

[RJBowman]

Has Rochester Root Beer been cataloged yet? It's been around since the 1880's. These days they mostly sell syrup concentrate to small bottlers who put their own name on the bottles, but there are a few regional bottlers of the actual Rochester brand.

[J. Wilhelm]

Has Rochester Root Beer been cataloged yet? It's been around since the 1880's. These days they mostly sell syrup concentrate to small bottlers who put their own name on the bottles, but there are a few regional bottlers of the actual Rochester brand.

No, we haven't, but it's a good idea to look into it. The US is so large that some brands, even big ones are regional. It'll likely end in the Victorian Brands thread (not this one).