The Olney Farmers and Artists Market will have an organizational meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 1st at 7pm. It'll be held in the Montgomery General Hospital's Community Learning Center on the 2nd floor. We'll be discussing plans for the new season and also looking for volunteers. For more information, call Janet Terry at 202 257 5326.
I’ve been shopping at H Mart ever since they opened the first one around here in Aspen Hill. It’s the best source of fresh vegetables during the winter, and for fish, exotic fruit, and Asian ingredients all year.
By happy chance, I stopped into the H Mart in Gaithersburg during a special event last month. I was sorry I had already eaten lunch, because there were tasting stations set up all over the store.
Now, the H Mart stores often have four or five different samples being cooked in the store, but for this occasion they went all-out. There was an alcove lined with stations just inside the entrance; an expanded fruit table (about 10 different kinds vice the half-dozen usual ones); and cooking stations at the end of almost every aisle in the frozen food section, each with a different product to try. Many had helpful little pamphlets full of recipes for the products to give away.
“Yaki-soba try!” A cheery voice called out. Of course!
“Noodles, shallot sauce?” You bet! Seasoned seaweed? Pollack roe? Grilled marinated meat? Breadfruit? Bring it on. And, just as we said “Uncle!” and were on our way out, Sashimi!!
Ms. Su Young Gueon, the food sampling manager, kindly explained that it was the 3-Year Anniversary Celebration for this H Mart. She had done a splendid job making it a special occasion. I look forward to many more!
Alice Waters sparked a food revolution in this country. Her Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley was the first to source ingredients locally and seasonally. Her influence continues with the Slow Food movement and the Edible Schoolyard Project.
Now, the National Portrait Gallery is unveiling her photographic portrait with two events: a conversation with José Andrés, a local pioneering chef of our own, and a formal Presentation and Reception to follow.
The portrait was commissioned by the museum from Dave Woody, winner of the 2009 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. All proceeds from these events benefit future Outwin Boochever Portrait Competitions.
Ticket prices start at $100 for the Reception and $200 for the Reception and Conversation. For more information and to purchase tickets go to: npg.si.edu.
Here is my souvenir of one memorable meal at Chez Panisse.
I went down to the Archives to see the exhibit on the government’s efforts to influence the food habits of Americans over the years. It was an enlightening experience – unfortunately, photography was not allowed, and so I have none of my own pictures for this post. You can see some on the NARA website, though: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/whats-cooking/ There is a short video there with a nice overview of the exhibit.
But nothing beats actually spending a few hours studying the documents, artifacts and audio at NARA. Unfortunately, I left it until the last minute and also missed all the special events that were held, but still, a visit more than repaid the effort.
Here is some of what I learned:
The Margarine Act of 1886 resulted in higher prices for margarine than for butter. Desperadoes made money peddling bootleg butter; John Seymour was sent to the state pen for two years. “What’d they make you for, pal?” “Crimes against butter.” Right.
Pete Seeger sang “I’m A-Gonna Starve” in favor of saving the Office of Price Administration after World War II. It didn’t help – the OPA was abolished in 1947.
Upton Sinclair was aiming at labor reform, not food processing reform, when he wrote The Jungle, but it led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. Every Tea Party member who believes we don’t need government regulations should see the part of the exhibit covering the examples of toxic food on sale before the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act (also 1906). Poisoned candy, exploding ketchup, phony health claims – I’m glad part of my taxes goes to addressing these problems today.
The prize for Most Impressive Historical Document is a three-way tie.
(1) The invoice for Portable Soup (a concentrate, like bouillon cubes) supplied to the Lewis and Clark expedition, submitted by Meriwether Lewis in 1803.
(2) A letter detailing recommendations for the American diet based on cultural observations, by Margaret Mead acting as a consultant to the National Research Council (am I prejudiced here by my background in anthropology?).
(3) Queen Elizabeth II’s scone recipe.
Of course I must not neglect to mention the recipes for recent Presidents’ favorite dishes, from Lyndon Johnson’s Perdenales Chili to JFK’s New England Fish Chowder, to Dwight Eisenhower’s Vegetable Soup – and a somehow pathetic photo of Richard Nixon’s last meal at the White House.
What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam? The Government’s Effect on the American Diet. At the National Archives until January 3, 2012.
I have enjoyed Melissa Clark’s column in the New York Times for many years, so when the 6th and I Historic Synagogue hosted her on a tour stop for her latest cookbook, Cook This Now: 120 Easy and Delectable Dishes You Can’t Wait to Make, I went right down there to meet her. By happy coincidence, she read the one excerpt from the book that most endeared her to me.
Bundling up in her down coat and cocooning her daughter in layers of snowsuit and bunting, her description of her trips to the Siberia-like Grand Army Plaza in deep midwinter cements her devotion to the farmers market in all seasons.
Cook This Now represents the evolution of her food sensibility from her childhood, when her parents cooked “Julia Child food,” and thought, like many Americans, that French food was the epitome of fine dining.
When she started her own career in the kitchens of professional chefs, she realized that they all have different techniques, and that there is not just one single way to cook. Her writing credits reflect this eclectic approach to cooking, as they include many books co-written with famous chefs and The Skinny: How to Fit into Your Little Black Dress Forever. She is a walking advertisement for the latter book (if I were a pettier person, I’d hate her).
The book in hand contains a collection of recipes arranged by season, starting, handily enough, with Winter. The first recipe in that section just happens to be for White Bean Stew with Rosemary, Garlic, and Farro, and I just happened to have beans, farro, and a ham bone, which was crying out to be cooked.
It did call for ¼ cup of olive oil to start cooking (and more for finishing!), which I thought was excessive, but I forbore from using less. The result was some of the tastiest bean soup I have ever made. The olive oil, in addition to both cooked and raw garlic, gave it a depth of flavor that was wonderful.
All the recipes are followed by a list of variations, and sometimes suggestions for switching out ingredients to make completely different dishes with the same procedures. I look forward to following the seasons with the recipes and personal anecdotes Melissa describes so well, especially those involving her daughter, Dahlia.
A note about the book itself: It seems like a throwback to an earlier era of cookbooks; black and white illustrations are sprinkled throughout the pages, while color plates are grouped together in two sections. It’s the first book produced this way I’ve seen for years. And a quibble: some recipes are spread across two pages, odd to even, so the whole recipe is not contained on one page or two facing pages. The cook is thus forced to flip the page while cooking. This could have been prevented with more attention to recipe layout.
A description of the book and some recipes can be found here: http://melissaclark.typepad.com/blog/cook-this-now.html
Today’s Washington Post Food Section has an article about the Corned Beef King food truck. Readers of this blog will already be aware of this purveyor of excellent corned beef and related dishes. And my picture of Jon in the truck is better, too!
The WaPo did mention the knishes, which I didn’t have opportunity to sample before my post, but have since. I completely agree that they are delicious. Jon only sells one variety, but that one combines his delectable corned beef with potatoes and cheese in a flaky crust. One of these will serve for lunch, or two for dinner. They’re good with mustard, or Jon’s “angry sauce,” or the way we ate them – alternately with both. The angry sauce is not as spicy as it sounds, but does have a healthy dose of horseradish.
I look forward to trying the corned beef hash on the weekend. Call ahead to order and avoid a cold wait: 571-305-2333 or 571-505-4125.
For the last several months, the two-chef team Salt & Pepper (Terrell Danley and Brian Reeve) have been staging a series of cooking demos at area Whole Foods Markets. Last week, I went down to the Bethesda branch to say hello.
They are one (or two, depending on how you count!) of our favorite demo chefs at OFAM. Always spontaneous and responsive to what’s in season and available, they cook, interact, and inform the Market patrons of new ways to use products from our farmers and vendors. And they are accompanied by Drakeel Burns, who writes down the recipes as they are cooking and then sends them to me to post. Find them at: http://www.olneyfarmersmarket.org/recipe.html.
At Whole Foods, shoppers came and went, pausing to watch and taste. Brian made dessert first, as the chocolate pie needed to firm up in the refrigerator for a while. He went on to make green beans with onions and sweet peppers. Recipes for both of these can be found in their cookbook, Salt & Pepper’s Ten Favorite Recipes, available here: http://www.saltandpepperchefs.com. There are actually more than 10 recipes in it – many photos and clear instructions make them a snap to follow. Drakeel has also posted recipes for the dishes from the Whole Foods demo at that website.
Chef Tee featured dishes made with smoked turkey. Clam chowder with turkey substituted for ham was just perfect for a chilly day. Then, on to an improvisation: red, white and blue potato hash with smoked turkey and a surprise ingredient: orange zest. The touch of citrus added a nice, bright note of flavor.
Several small shoppers awaited the chocolate pie with great anticipation. Patience was rewarded when the samples were served. Delicious!
We couldn’t stay for the final two dishes: Baked spaghetti squash with sherry, and a stir-fry of Swiss kale with more of that smoked turkey, but I look forward to the Market season and another visit or two from the guys. Be sure to check on the OFAM website or sign up for the newsletter so you will know when to come out and watch.
Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France
Joan Nathan is one of this country’s leading authorities on Jewish cooking. Her previous books, from The Flavor of Jerusalem (published in 1974), through Jewish Cooking in America and The New American Kitchen, have been among the rare cookbooks that are both compulsively readable and full of reliable recipes. Her latest book is true to the mold.
In Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France she returns to the country which she grew to love during a junior year abroad in college, to travel extensively, interview and cook with French Jews. She sought out those whose families had deep roots in the country as well as those who had come more recently. In addition, she did extensive research into a culinary history beginning in the Roman Empire. The result is a rich tapestry of dishes, far more diverse than this reader, for one, would have imagined.
It is beautifully produced: full of pictures, with recipes complete on one page or two facing pages. The text accompanying the recipes is replete with personal anecdotes and deep research about the history and geographic wanderings of the Jews of France. Through migration and persecution, they adapted their traditional family cooking to new ingredients, as well as actively introducing new spices and other ingredients through continent-crossing trade routes in use well before Marco Polo.
Religious influences were also important in shaping the cooking of French Jews. Dietary laws forbid the mixing of milk and meat, so the cream sauces for meat so typical of French food are conspicuously absent; pork and shellfish are also missing. Observance of the Sabbath (during which cooking is forbidden) is responsible for the selection of dishes designed to cook slowly over a very long time.
The chapter on “Beef, Veal and Lamb” is illustrative of the diversity of influences: there are recipes for cholent, pot-au-feu, choucroute, and adafina – all varieties of slow-cooked braises of differing cultural origins, all now part of the cuisine.
Joan’s deep personal connections in France made this book possible. Many recipes come with an anecdote about the contributor, which often leads to a lesson in recent history. Some of the history is not pleasant; past anti-Semitism is an unfortunate legacy. Often, those Joan approached would not at first admit to being Jewish. The more recent Moroccan immigrants, free of this cloud of history, were more forthcoming.
A glossary of terms and ingredients used in the recipes, a guide to ingredient sources, and a bibliography add to the value and usefulness of this extraordinary book.
There is a selection of recipes from the book here:
http://www.randomhouse.com/book/119911/quiches-kugels-and-couscous-by-joan-nathan#excerpt
We went down to the Verizon Center thinking we were going to see a preview of the Sherlock Holmes movie, but we got there too late. Rather than waste the trip, we decided to eat at one of our favorite remnants of the old neighborhood, Chinatown Express.
It’s in a decrepit old building that any self-respecting tourist would never think to enter, but the house-made noodles and dumplings are the real deal, made continuously in the front window. They have a full menu, but I go for a dumpling plate and bowl of noodles almost every time.
This time did not disappoint. We ordered a split dish of half leek-and-pork and half seafood dumplings. The wrappers were thick (but not too thick) and chewy, and the leek-and-pork were delicious. The seafood were just a little too bland, but some sliced garlic in vinegar from the condiment selection fixed that. (Yes, I am too wussy for the hot pepper sauce.)
I ordered tripe and wontons in soup with fresh noodles. I had to insist that I knew what I was getting and that I liked it! Tripe is hard enough to find that I tend to order it wherever I see it on a menu. Chinese restaurants, pho joints and menudo about cover the options, except for al Sospiro Trattoria in Olney, where I can get a plate of tripe in tomato sauce.
The soup broth was a little bland, but zipped right up with the addition of more garlic and some green sauce that I couldn’t quite suss out, but it smelled wonderful and tasted nice and fresh. The surprise stars were the wontons, which I initially thought might be overkill in with the noodles, but were lovely, stuffed with a tasty mince. My dinner companion ordered fried noodles with beef. They were in generic Chinese brown sauce, also tasty but not exceptional.
The interior is of the type that reassures you that the management is not wasting any money on unimportant things like decoration, but instead is concentrating on hiring the best cooks and buying ingredients of the highest quality. (Have you heard about the restaurant on the moon? Great food, no atmosphere!)
The dumpling maker in the window happily posed for a picture. I suspect she’s used to it. Long may she and her fellow noodle- and dumpling-makers wave!
On Saturday, I decided to celebrate (or mourn) the end of the OFAM season by going to two other markets that I enjoy patronizing. Since my daughter has moved to Baltimore, it was convenient to visit the Waverly market. This outdoor market goes year round, but since it’s not a producers-only market, in the winter much of the produce is not raised locally. With this caveat, it’s still a good place to shop. I found Romanesco cauliflower for the first time this season, since I can’t persuade the OFAM farmers to grow it.
Romanesco is delicious, mild-flavored and wonderfully wrought. I like to call it the fractal vegetable, since its pyramid shape reminds me of fractal spirals. Farmers find it difficult to grow, and charge a premium for it; but the product is worth the cost in taste and beauty.
The Waverly market is a fun, funky scene. It has really interesting prepared food and craft vendors as well as several musicians playing simultaneously at different ends of the market, although it doesn’t seem to have chef demos – at least it hasn’t had them when I have been there.
We drove back south to catch the Riverdale Winter Market. Like the OFAM’s Holiday Market, this was a one-off event held after the end of the regular Riverdale market season. Since this market is usually held on Thursdays, I had gone several times over the summer. The Winter Market had more crafters than usual, inside an empty retail space as well as outside.
The Riverdale market is located in a parking lot adjacent to the train station. Several times an hour, commerce pauses while the train goes through. But the marketgoers choose to celebrate this quirk of fate by inviting model railroad hobbyists to set up a layout and echo real life in miniature! Usually outside, they moved inside on Saturday.
There was music, trolley rides, outdoor heaters, Santa in the station waiting room, and other manifestations of seasonal celebration and good cheer. And I got some smoked garlic, too.
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