Mayonnaise

May 1, 2018 allansuddaby Leave a comment

I am very interested in foods that I only knew in their industrial form for decades before I understood what they actually were. Mayonnaise may be the supreme example. It was a ubiquitous component of my childhood. I’ve written about this before, but I sat at many family suppers that featured three different mayo-based salads side by side by side, what I call the holy trinity of Ontarian side dishes: cabbage salad, macaroni salad, and potato salad.^[1]

Mayonnaise was such a ubiquitous part of my youth it wasn’t until my mid twenties that it even occurred to me that mayonnaise must be made out of components.

So, what is mayonnaise? Mayonnaise is a sauce, an emulsion of oil and … Continue reading.

Beef, Meat

Chili

April 4, 2018 allansuddaby Leave a comment

Chili is one of the great North American dishes, and one that is especially relevant and useful in modern life, as it is a hearty one-pot meal that can be put together and left to cook in a crock pot or low oven for several hours.

I’ll argue that the only two essential ingredients in chili are meat and beans. When I was growing up that meat was always, always ground beef, though I have to say I really like using shredded or cubed braised beef like brisket or chuck. For beans you are not beholden to the canned red kidney beans of my childhood: any and all pulses are great. These days my kitchen always has dried pinto and … Continue reading.

Charcuterie, Meat

Introduction to Charcuterie

April 4, 2018 allansuddaby Leave a comment

This is the information I provide students in my Charcuterie at Home class, which I run a few times a year for Metro Continuing Education.

A charcuterie plate with air-dried beef in the top right.

What is charcuterie?

Charcuterie is a French word, from char for flesh or meat, and cuit for
cooked.
Originally this was a medieval guild that was allowed to prepare certain cooked
meat dishes like pâté and terrine.
These days it broadly refers to cured meat, whether bacon, ham, salami,
prosciutto, or even duck confit and jerky. It also encompasses other meat preparations like fresh sausages.
Most charcuterie techniques – salt-curing, smoking, and air-drying – were
developed as a way to preserve meat.
Even though we now have ways to pasteurize, refrigerate, and freeze
meat, we

General

Pickling Spice

March 21, 2018 allansuddaby Leave a comment

This is my homemade pickling spice. To be wholly honest I don’t use it very often. I make a lot of pickles, but I prefer my pickled vegetables to taste of vinegar and garlic and maybe one other flavour like dillseed or caraway. The only preparation for which I regularly use this mixture is corned beef, which I make once a year, for St. Patrick’s Day or sometimes Easter.

That being said I do really love the flavour and aroma of this blend. To me there is something festive but medieval about it. It conflates the so-called sweet spices (allspice, clove, cinnamon) and savoury spices (pepper, mustard, coriander, bay). That distinction between “sweet” and “savoury” flavours is more or … Continue reading.

Austrian

Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil

March 13, 2018 allansuddaby Leave a comment

Styrian pumpkin seed oil (Steirisches Kürbiskernöl in German) is a remarkable artisan product.

Styria (Steiermarck in German) is a province in the southeastern part of Austria. Here and in parts of adjacent Slovenia they grow pumpkins that produce hull-less seeds. These seeds are roasted and pressed to produce a fabulous oil that puts all other pumpkin seed oils to shame. Whereas most North American versions are a yellow-brown colour, Styrian pumpkin seed oil is deep forest green, and powerfully redolent of roasted nuts.

Unfortunately I have not been able to find a high-quality Styrian pumpkin seed oil at any of the continental import shops in Edmonton like K & K. To get my fix I purchase online from … Continue reading.

General

Aunt Dorie’s Fried Porridge

March 5, 2018 allansuddaby 1 Comment

Morning! I made this on Edmonton AM on CBC Radio earlier this morning. Aunt Dorie is my great aunt, my mom’s mom’s sister. She lived with my mom’s family and did most of the cooking for the household. I wrote a bit more about her generation in this post. Her fried porridge is delicious and indicative of her generation’s ingenuity, frugality, humility, perseverance, and the enduring love they had for my mom’s generation. Anyways, enough said! Here’s the recipe.

Aunt Dorie’s Fried Porridge

Ingredients

180 g steel-cut oats
2 tbsp unsalted butter
50 g dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp kosher salt
680 mL water
70 mL heavy cream
2 large eggs
140 g oat flour
2

Austrian, Beef, Stock and Soup

Goulash

March 5, 2018 allansuddaby 1 Comment

A plate of goulash, Hungarian beef stew, served with Serviettenknödeln Goualsh is a beef stew originally from Hungary but eaten all over Central Europe. It is the kind of preparation that Europeans will fight to the death over. Matters like whether it is properly called a stew or a soup, whether it contains tomatoes, or potatoes, or what starch it is served with (if any) often become violent. It is estimated that 12 Europeans are killed every year in goulash-related arguments.^[1]

The following is an original recipe, inspired by the goulash made at Seewirtshaus in Semmering, Austria. When I worked there they made a goulash similar to this using Maiboc (May deer) and served it with Serviettenknödel. Many would take exception to my use of tomato paste and … Continue reading.

Austrian, Doughs and Batters, Dumplings, Starch

Spätzle

March 1, 2018 allansuddaby 1 Comment

Spätzle are little dumplings. They are sometimes described as egg noodles, though they are quite different than the broad, flat, twisted dried pasta sold as egg noodles.

In former times spätzle were shaped by cutting small pieces of dough with a knife or spoon and rolling them into a pot of boiling water. This process gives the noodles a long, tapered, vaguely avian appearance, which is the alleged origin of their name, which literally means “little sparrows”.

Originally a specialty of Swabia in the far south-east of Germany, spätzle is now common throughout southern Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Shorter, more rounded versions are sometimes called knöpfli, which means little buttons.

These days most spätzle is made using a special board … Continue reading.

Doughs and Batters, Other Doughs and Batters, Starch

Tortillas

February 4, 2018 allansuddaby Leave a comment

A while back I wrote a list of food items that I don’t think you should ever buy because you can easily and cheaply make something at least as good at home. As time goes on Lisa and I strike upon simple recipes and quick techniques that add items to the list. Most recent are tortillas, the kind made of wheat flour.^[1]

There are loads of tortilla recipes online. We’ve tried several, and most are garbage, producing tortillas that are either too dense and doughy or way too delicate to stand up to filling and wrapping and eating out of hand.

We use a food-processor to mix the dough. It takes less than 5 minutes. With a small amount … Continue reading.

Coffee and Tea, Spirits

Kona Breeze Cocktail

January 29, 2018 allansuddaby Leave a comment

I could hear it coming, rustling softly through the coffee trees, stirring the monkeypods, and sighing through the sugar cane.

For no reason besides my own creative enjoyment I am developing a set of Hawaiian-themed cocktails.

From the start I knew that one of my Hawaiian cocktails was going feature coffee, and it didn’t take long to settle on the other components, all classic Hawaiian flavours that pair well with java: dark rum, macadamia nut, and orange.

Kona is a city and region on the western, leeward side of the big island. For many it has the perfect weather: warm days, cool nights, infrequent rains, and a nearly constant, gentle breeze. There is a lengthy description of Kona’s balmy … Continue reading.

Button Soup