Cold (In)Fusion

Saucyman – Is Iced Tea any different than non-Iced Tea? Snappled

Like tea itself, Iced Tea is not one simple thing. Not counting herbal tea, which according to purists, is not tea at all - All tea comes from the hearty evergreen bush, Camellia sinensis. According to the authors of the beautiful and encyclopedic The Story of Tea, there are three principal tea varietals - China Bush, Assam Bush and Ceylon Bush. From there regional variations, micro-climates, altitude – most tea is grown at altitudes between 3000-7000 feet - all play a difference in how brewed tea will taste. Ultimately, how the leaf is picked and processed that will be the largest determining factor in flavor and style. Tea is a subject that spans millennia, religion, diverse cultures and involves the single most consumed beverage, after water, on the planet, so let’s stick to the more manageable Iced Tea.

Iced Tea seems to be determined by geography: Thai Iced, the carbonated varieties in northern Europe, the chilled green teas sold in Japanese vending machines and in the States – everything from the southern “Sweet Tea” to the Chai Frappuccino.

Again, narrowing the focus, let’s stick to the US. On a daily basis 127 million US residents drink tea - 85% of that is iced tea. Most of that tea is produced from tea bags, which by in large, means black tea. The tealeaf is called black due to a process called oxidation (think avocado). Black tea, used in blends as like Breakfast and Earl Grey, is the most popular tea in the world, so in that sense, Iced Tea and non-Iced Tea aren’t that different.

While tea is a requisite feature in Iced Tea, surprisingly ice isn’t. 25% of tea in the States is of the ‘Ready-to-drink’ variety, sipped largely from bottles and occasionally cans. Lipton has a huge world presence in this category but in the US not so much. A person is likelier to recognize brands such as Snapple, AriZona, Sobe and Tazo.

Where non-Iced Tea and Iced Tea part ways is on the issue of sweeteners. Sure, sugar is a part of the tea culture: Russian novels are full of descriptions of charming but caddish nobility holding a sugar cube in their teeth while sipping tea. English tea is served with sugar (and milk) on the side but the US takes it to a whole different level. In Smoke & Spice, Cheryl and Bill Jamison’s recipe for sweet tea contains the instruction, “…add sugar to taste, traditionally until your teeth ache”. My sister in common-law claims she once had to order hot tea in a suburban Atlanta restaurant by using the phrase, “non-sweet tea”. Not that I ever doubted her, but after finding more than one source using a ratio of cup of sugar per tea bag, I am now more frightened than amused. Other recipes aren’t too far behind that cavity-inducing ratio.

So overall - The difference between non-Iced Tea and Iced Tea is that the latter seems to exist to dissolve sugar.

Food in the News

Things haven’t been so good for Starbucks lately. Earlier this summer the coffee giant announced they would be closing over 600 underachieving stores – including 8 outlets in Arkansas; maybe having an outlet in Malvern, Arkansas (Population 9021, Brick Capital of the World, home to Brickdays) is as sure of a sign of over-expansion a company can have. This week Starbucks announced an additional 1,000 layoffs and a change in top management. Stock is down 40% from 2007, per share profits are off 4 cents and the current quarter is rife with reports of lackluster sales.

Café Schadenfreude

Industry analyst Scott Rothbort told Reuters, "The consumer knows to stop buying the $5 cup of coffee at Starbucks and to buy the $1 cup or $2 cup of coffee at Dunkin Donuts". In addition to facing vigorous competition from Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks has McDonald’s to contend with. The fast food behemoth is now operating more than 1,500 McCafes; separate spaces within a McDonald’s that offer coffee, specialty drinks, pastries and desserts. While industry insiders are probably breathlessly awaiting the introduction of ‘The Redbull Bar’ at Hardees and the Denny’s dollar short stack of Mountain Dew Pancakes, McDonald’s is capitalizing on tightening food budgets.

The money consumers spend on food is referred to as food dollars. Half of food dollars are spent on food prepared outside the home (which isn’t the same as half of all household meals are eaten in restaurants). This 50/50 split of dollars for donuts has held steady for about 20 years. People aren’t going to change generational eating habits due to financial constraints; consumers will simply make different choices about where to spend the money.

The news of Bennigan’s, who last year celebrated 30 years of mediocrity, is shuttering its doors - does not bode well for Olive Garden, Applebee’s, Friday’s, Outback and other mid-level casual service outlets. Expensive gas and economic slowdown doesn’t morph a trip to Red Lobster into tuna salad at home, rather that meal becomes a run for the border, a trip to McDonald’s or even better a free Domino’s delivery requiring no gas out of the diner’s tank.


And speaking of Fast Food –

The City of Angels has enacted a yearlong moratorium on new fast food restaurants in South LA. Citing health concerns, the city wants to use the next 12 months to attract healthier alternatives to an area where nearly a 1/3 of the population is obese.

By singling out a neighborhood with limited grocery stores, eating options and a lack of employers, city leaders have decided the best way to tackle the problem of obesity in a culture where no one walks, in an area where no one would want to walk is to make sure Fatburger and others do not expand into downwardly mobile zip codes.

Here is an area where a municipality could actually work to solve a problem - Extra patrol cars, clean parks, after-school sports and exercise programs. Or let residents correct the problem themselves with a little help by subsidizing farmers markets, offering no/low interest loans or tax abatements to stores selling fresh produce – but the very things that might make a difference are a little more difficult to manage than a reactionary feel-good resolution. At least the city chose something do-able.

Also in California

A law the Saucyman editorial board can get behind – Last week, the Gubenator signed a bill into law which will ban trans fats in California restaurants by 2010 and in baked goods a year later. Trans fats, explained here and more cautiously on the FDA website, here, are fats that have been altered to reduce the amount of dietary fat and extend the shelf life of products. The thought that manipulating food to make it healthier has been a bit of a disaster: The theory that margarine, made largely from subsidized commodity crops, is somehow better for a person than butter has not proven out over the last 40 years. There is no pressing need to serve unhealthy, federally subsidized foods to consumers. The size of California’s market will spur changes on a national level and this is good, thank you, California.

Tomorrow – Tea: Sweet, Iced and Hot

The Eyes of Texas Are Upon Us

Someone owes the tomato an apology –

Salmonella Saintpaul has caused 1251 reported illnesses, 228 hospitalizations and contributed in part to the deaths of two elderly men. Tomatoes, originally believed to be cause of the outbreak have not exactly been exonerated but after a 2 months of scrutiny, the focus of the investigation has shifted to jalapenos, now believed to be the prime suspect.

Not Everything in Texas is bigger

Just days before congressional hearings on the matter are slated to begin, the FDA was finally able to pinpoint the source of the outbreak to McAllen, Texas based jalapeno importer, Agricola Zaragoza. This investigative feat; tracing the outbreak down to a single purveyor is amazing, especially considering Agricola is a tiny venture – a few employees working out a rented stall - despite not being national distributor, the company stands accused to transporting tainted jalapenos to 43 states and DC. Like a few other high profile federal cases in recent years, this fortuitous set of circumstances will be easier to believe when the dust from the lawsuits settle.

Enter Congress –

This week the House’s horticulture and organic agriculture subcommittee will host a pubic forum to chastise the FDA, spotlight a few small family growers who were hurt during the tomato advisory and allow representatives to express concern for dozens of CSPAN 2 viewers. In separate legislative action, Rep. Tm Mahoney (D-FL) will introduce a bill offering 100 million dollars in compensation to tomato growers and distributors who lost product and business during the tomato advisory. While hearings might embarrass political appointees at the FDA and make industry growers, packers and distributors squirm; expect little else to happen: No one wants any sort of reform.

Congress doesn’t have the money to fund current food safety programs and are understandably skeptical about the executive branch’s ability and desire to implement new programs. The type of reform currently being proffered is a system that allows produce to be tracked back to its source via barcodes. This system was first proposed during W’s first term. The objection to such a system is that the cost of the equipment would drive small enterprises out of business…And you know when the likes of Altria - then parent company of Kraft Foods; The Kroger Co.; Safeway Inc.; ConAgra Foods Inc.; The Procter & Gamble Co and others met with Bush administration officials in 2003-2004, their number one concern was most likely the operational costs for small businesses.

Consumers have little interest in adding to the cost of an already increasing grocery bill. While there are shoppers who will pay extra for convenience, local, organic or functional foods, experts see little potential for value added safety – it is a feature people expect in food, not something they will pay a premium price for.

Growers, distributors and retailers have little incentive to adapt new standards. A tracking system would have not prevented this outbreak, but it would have isolated the culprit sooner. As well as pinpointing who was selling contaminated produce - opening the floodgates to bad PR at best and endless litigation at worst.

That shinning example of cutting edge technology and service, the US Postal Service uses tracking software that can theoretically trace a single letter in its system. Shellfish comes with documentation certifying where the seafood was harvested. Products as diverse juice, packaged cheese, aspirin all contain lot numbers – pinpointing the date and location a product was made. In grocery stores, the barcode is the backbone of the system, yet for the time being produce remains immune to a tracking system every other business in the country uses. Various published reports indicate that the losses from this salmonella outbreak now exceed the costs of implementing a tracking system for fresh produce, maybe this will be the engine for change.

Immature or Unripe

This week, I had a peach that just wouldn’t soften – my option was to eat it while it was still crunchier than a Doritos 1, or let it go bad, hoping it would change its ways before the inevitable bad ending. I choose crunch – eating with one hand & shaking my fist, cursing the grower who allowed to the fruit to be picked before its time.

You Call That Ripe?

There is no such thing as a succinct or universal definition of ripe. Describing fruit that is ready to eat range from the poetic (hour to hour, we ripe and ripe, and then from hour to hour, we rot and rot) to the technical (brix levels). Russ Parsons, the immensely entertaining and informative food writer for the Los Angeles Times, explains it best by making a distinction between mature and ripe produce. Mature fruit doesn’t need to be edible coming off the vine or the branch – it will eventually ripen, but if you pick an immature fruit, it will never ripen.

Bananas, tomatoes don’t need to be ripe when they are picked but they do need to have reached maturity. Berries will never ripen off the vine and like a frat boy graduated off of campus, it is all about the deterioration.

On the list of bad things in this world, biting into a piece of fruit that is crisp when it should be soft or vise versa is a small toll to pay in the human experience, but it is still disappointing. To help fruit lovers avoid the sting of underwhelming produce, here is a list of produce you will find in the grocery or markets at this time of year that will ripen outside of the fields, in the kitchen.

Apricots
Apples
Avocados
Cantaloupes – (But not watermelons). Since all melons are principally water, always chooses the heaviest melon you can find.
Figs
Nectarines
Peaches
Plums and Pluots
Tomatoes



List culled from Mr. Parsons’ outstanding book, How to Pick a Peach, and other sources:

1 - Is one corn chip a Dorito or Doritos?

Watermelon Dream

Saucyman, Why do I like watermelon so much? Melon-choly

P.S. What else is there to do with them besides slice them?

I’m going to guess it is the taste, texture or appearance that does it for you. The Citrullus Lanatus is a good-looking melon - On the exterior there is the lovely contrast between dark green/euro green stripes. Inside the color is even better – the unmistakable pinkish red, while a little too much for a wall or shirt color, is about as about as evocative of a summer day as you get. Historically, the interior of the watermelon was studded with edible black seeds but in recent years, plant breeders have bred the seeds out, or more accurately, changed the seeds into smaller, less noticeable entities, akin to the seeds of their distant cucurbit cousin, the cucumber.

The texture is also unique. On average, watermelons are 92% water, each like a little reservoir. The sensation of biting into a melon is unique; a hemidemisemi crunch followed by the melon dissolving onto the tongue - Eating a slice of watermelon is probably as close as you can get to the sensation of chewing water without the aid of psychotropic hallucinogens.

Then there is the flavor. If watermelon was a million piece puzzle - about 920,000 parts would be water, and only 8 little jigsaws would be flavor components. There are over 50 separate flavoring agents responsible for the violet-guava-cucumber-prickly pear flavor profile. The food additives - hexenyl pyruvate/isobutyrate are chemical shortcuts to the flavor but as anyone who has had bubble gum can testify, it isn’t quite the same thing.

Others might tell you watermelon does it for you because of the all the B and C vitamins in the melon. Watermelon also contains the super-duper carotenoid, lycopene – whose antioxidant kung fu is much heralded. Although, watermelon contains lycopene in greater concentrations than a tomato, Saucyman hates breaking down food into components or even tacitly suggesting some foods have magical properties. While broccoli might be better for you than deep-fried chicken nuggets: Food isn’t good or bad, but diets are.

As to your postscript, what do with a watermelon besides slicing and eating it, well you can mitigate any possible health benefits by adding alcohol and using the fruit as an important part of a cocktail. Considering the flavor components are alcohol-soluble, this is actually a good way to enjoy the watermelon flavor. You can puree watermelon to use in drinks, or can cut the melons into cubes – place them on a cookie-sheet, freeze them and have little pink ice cubes to mix drinks with. The national watermelon council, (found on the web at watermelon.org) counsels a watermelon mojito but a few watermelon cubes thrown in with tequila, lime and a little orange liqueur makes about the chickiest, pinkest margarita a fella could ever be caught holding – For the insecure, drink, not sip, ironically.

The King Isn't Dead

From the reaction, you’d think the Belgians were massed at the border ready to invade, or they had rustled Clydesdales or something. News that a Belgium based brewery run by a Brazilian CEO is intent on purchasing Anheuser-Busch (A-B) is triggering an outcry from Riccardo-loving, Freemarketeers and Bud fans alike that is bordering on the Xenophobic. Editorialists are outraged, Candidate Obama has expressed disappointment in the sale, McCain whose second wife owns increasingly valuable A-B stock, remains less vocal about the takeover.

Who are these barbarians at the brewery gates? Belgium is a country of 10 million wedged in between The Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and France. A member of the European Union, the nation’s capital resides in Brussels, but for those who know geography from Wars – Belgium is notably home to Antwerp, Bastogne and Liege. More recently the medieval city of Bruge/Brugge was popularized in a film starring the creepy Colin Ferrell.

St. Gudula, is the national saint of a country that is 75% Roman Catholic. While faith might be a unifying national force, in recent years tensions have flared between the Dutch speaking Flem(ish)s of the north and the French Speaking Wallonians from the south of the country. Technically King Albert II rules, but as of 2008 it is Christian Democrat Prime Minister Yves Leterme who runs the show in conjunction with a bicameral parliament.

Like most of the world they are football/soccer loving, but the Belgs are also motor sport crazy - not the NASCAR wheels on the track go round and round variety, rather Formula 1 is venerated. Biking legend Eddy Mercyx won 5 Tour de France’s and is still considered the greatest ever despite an American who won a few more Tours.

More than Waffles

Culinarily, Belgium Chocolate is synonymous with quality. French Fries are thought to have originated in Belgium – ‘to French’ is not to make in the style of our oldest ally, fellow NATO member, France but it is to julienne; cut into small strips. Although it is dubious distinction to have deep-fried anything be your national dish, it is doubtful to believe one country/culture/nation-state alone came up with the idea to throw something in near boiling fat to see what happens. Oh and Belgium is home to 500 breweries including InBev, maker/distributor of Becks and Stella Artois and now Budweiser.

So what is the problem with a beer loving, french fry eating, motor sport watching country with a famous bicyclist, who have cash on hand from a weak dollar/strong Euro, gaining control of a US company? The cash infusion saves layoffs and by offering shareholders 27% above the previous high of A-B stock, InBev helps create a little wealth as well.

The thought that A-B is a local brewery, a small St. Louis based family-run business is far from reality - through partnerships and distribution, pre-InBev-Bud was brewed in China, Ireland, Japan, Brazil, India and Russia just to name a few countries. Besides being a multinational corporation themselves, A-B hasn’t always been sweet and innocent when dealing with their fellow countrymen. Through a combination of lawsuit, buyout, aggressive expansion, distribution and blitz marketing – A-B has absorbed or ruined more than one competitor including its flagship beer, Budweiser - The originator of Czech style budweis pilsner was Carl Conrad, who in the 1870s lost control of his Bud to Anheuser – Busch.

So what are the lessons to be learned here - a company that competes globally is okay as long as it is US based? Where was the outcry when Miller was purchased by cigarette giant Altria who then sold its controlling share to a company that eventually became known as SAB (South African Brewery) Miller? The iconic Guinness is owned by international holding company Diageo, yet the Irish Republic is thriving.

While the sale to InBev might have Cub Fan/Bud Man, Harry Caray, rolling over in his grave, in reality it alters little – Beer is a product traditionally made from Hops, barley, malt and yeast: Anheuser-Busch is the single largest purchaser of rice in the United States - Bud has never won folks over with taste, rather the wassup ubiquity of its cultural presence. More of a brand than a product, the new owners are going to do little to damage their investment by making Bud more Belgiumy, which considering some of the beers from there, is kind of a shame.

Pink and White, Summer Delight?

Saucyman's wine contributor, still unnamed and anonymous, offers a few thoughts on red wines in the summertime.

Summer Reds?

The rule that red wine goes with meat and white with fish has been set aside for a better, though less sure set of guidelines. Likewise, opinion has changed on the subject of temperature and wines. (New York Times, The Pour: Reds on Ice? It's Not Heresy).

My governing rule for wine is drink what you like, for me this means enjoying reds no matter what the calendar or the temperature has to say. Big flavor and aroma can be even more intense when the temperature rises. In the States, reds are serious business, stemmed glasses and vintages but across the Mediterranean, red wine isn’t all dress up and fancy pants. Spain, which is both hot and home to a red wine culture, has a few different ideas on what to do with red wine in the warm weather.

Spain combats the heat with sweet and cold. There are red wine based drinks like vino de verano, calimocho, and Sangría. Sangría is the most familiar of the group. Sangría at its most basic, is wine, brandy, juice, and fruit. Sugar, soda, various liqueurs, any wine, and every conceivable fruit are used in popular recipes in Spain, Portugal and Mexico. Based on my fieldwork - the key to this drink is time. A freshly prepared Sangría made only minutes before consumption misses; the drink improves as the fruit macerates: The alcohol extracts additional flavors & aromas from the fruit, the fruit soaks in the flavor of wine, and it is truly a virtuous circle. Start early when making this at home and if traveling - Look for a large jar or punch bowl at the bar.

If Sangria seems like a waste of good, well, okay wine, then Calimocho, or Rioja libre will seem sacrilegious. Not that Spaniards think poorly of the Northern Europeans who travel south to soak up their sun, but a lesser-known moniker for this drink is “Blonde’s Death”. The drink is made of red wine and cola in equal amounts, really. This drink is common throughout Spain, possibly originating from Basque revelers needing something to do with their off tasting wine. The cola has such an overpowering flavor and super high sugar I would encourage you to use it with wine under $5 (per bottle) in its preparation.

A more approachable but equally simple beverage is vino de verano or tinto de verano. This combination of red wine and club soda or lemonade poured over ice is available throughout Spain and variations are common. Be careful when ordering or you can end up with a combination of wine with Fanta and no, Fanta I don’t wanta! Tinto de verano con limón was intended to be an order for red wine, soda water and a lemon slice. Sherry wine, sugar, strawberries, orangeade - other additions or substitutes are used in localized versions of this drink.

My advice for summertime reds… begin with a wine you could drink by itself then mix it with something. Add fruit. Add soda. Add ice. Any or all of these suggestions will help red wines pair well with sunshine. It is a great way to eat fresh fruit and enhance the flavor of many wines. It is easy, no bartending classes needed. Go get your corkscrew and a pairing knife.


The summer doldrums are over - Saucyman will be updating with a vengeance - Watermelon, the new Belgiumweiser, Iced Tea and a few other surprises before July closes out.

Cla-fouted

Saucyman, What can you tell me about clafoutis? Cerises

As a word, clafoutis is easily hands down, the best kitchen term ever.

Kla-foo-tee. It is playful, singsong, the promise of something good - If Gershwin wrote a musical about pastries, we’d all be singing about Clafoutis rather than Summertime.

Even mispronouncing it in a Midwestern fashion, where each consonant is enunciated, CLaw-Foo-T-iS, makes the dessert sound prurient, suggestive or something best discussed only with medical professionals.

As a dessert, clafoutis is described in various cookbooks as a cake batter, pancake-like or analogous to pudding. I prefer James Peterson’s description of the whole enterprise being akin to a thick crepe. The mixture is poured over fruit, traditionally cherries and baked. A little powdered sugar on top, it should served warm, accompanied by brandy (Marc, Kirsch, or the brown varieties) or a coffee.

The dish hails from wooded lands of Limousin, France – an inland area east of the Bay of Biscay and Bordeaux and west of the nation’s culinary capitol, Lyon. Besides clafoutis, the other thing you really, really want from Limousin is its oak, which is notably sought after to age wine and brandy (in barrel form). Because none of Dumas’ heroes were sturdy Limousins and I have never seen a Juliette Binoche film set in the region, my cultural knowledge is limited. Reading tells me, Limousin is supposed to be cold, rural, wooded, mineral rich - as near as I can tell it is like the upper peninsula of Michigan, only in south central France.

Two divisive arguments with clafoutis. To pit or not the cherries and if you can or should use different kinds of fruit. For the most part, Saucyman is decidedly unlevitican about food, feeling there really shouldn’t be too many rules about eating and cooking. But if there were a golden rule in the Saucykitchens, it is that nothing should go on a serving plate if it is not edible. Pits come out. As someone who has spent more on dentistry than consumer electronics, this is an unquestionable assertion. To the argument that leaving pits intact as you bake them imparts a wonderful bitter almond flavor, well use a drop or two of almond extract or amaretto.

As for using other fruits, Julia Child lists 6 variations in her Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Heartier fruit like plums, apples and pears hold up better - berries make clafoutis seem like a big pancake. Once in a restaurant, I expectantly ordered fresh fig clafoutis, only to be disappointed with an $8 rubbery Fig Newton. While the size and texture of cherries work so well with the short baking time, cherry season is short and I am intrigued by the thought of a Thanksgiving time cranberry clafoutis.


The biggest issue with clafoutis is its simplicity. Like many simple things from the kitchen, it is a dish that people try to improve with fancier ingredients. And clafoutis doesn’t need to be the subject of Pimp My Dessert - where the peasant dish gets tricked out with chocolate, marzipan or organic wild strawberries and enough value is added so it be photographed for a feature in the NY Times Magazine. The sign of a good cook is not one who can make the fanciest things from the most expensive ingredients, it is one who can confidently serve simple foods: Flour, eggs, brandy, sugar, milk, salt and fruit - occasionally it is nice to have something be even easier than pie.

Cilant-No

How can I make someone love cilantro?

I love Julia Child. Even had we met, even if Julia was alive and 50-ish years younger, even if we had more in common (She – worldly, French speaking, California born, educated at one of the 7 sister schools & a bit of a secret agent woman - employed by the Office of Strategic Service, the precursor to the CIA. Me - none of those things), I am not sure I could have made Julia love me. Even if romantic love would have been a stretch, with my passion for unfussy, vegetable-centric meals, I am not sure I could have won her over in the place that matters the most – the kitchen.

Cilantro might be the most commonly used fresh herb in the world but Julia Child did not like it. She picked the herb, also known as Chinese Parsley, along with arugula as two foods she did not like and would not eat. She went as far as telling Larry King in 2002, that cilantro tasted “dead” to her and if somehow it landed on her plate she “would pick it out...and throw it on the floor”. A breach of table etiquette I’m guessing she picked up somewhere other than Smith.

Ms. Child was not alone, there is a whole online community - because that is where communities are happening these days – dedicated to some serious cilantro-loathing. Called I hate cilantro dot com, members and visitors compare the taste of cilantro to latex, dishwashing detergent, musty basement, ear wax, damp socks, wet underwear, dandelions, rotten eggs and doll hair, among other things.

Most often cilantro is unfavorably compared to soap. On Food and Cooking singles out the offending agent as a fatty aldehyde called, decenal. Decenal has a waxy/bitter orange flavor. According to Fenaroli's Handbook of Flavor Ingredients, the compound can be detected at about 1 part per billion - it is mighty powerful stuff.

Back to the question at hand, how can you make someone love cilantro? You can’t, but you might be able to mitigate someone’s, maybe even that special someone’s negative reaction to it.

First, rinse. Well more than rinse – submerge the leaves in ice-cold water and then wring them out. Not in a salad spinner, but in your hands - squeeze until the cilantro seems to bleed green. This helps wash out some of that trademark cilantro taste.

Next, heat it. Most cilantro is served fresh - think spring roll or fresh salsa. Even in hot foods, the taste of cilantro comes not from cooking with it, but adding a few fresh leaves as a garnish. Decenal is heat sensitive, so cooking cilantro will send some of the offending aromas into thin air.

Finally, buy fresh, use the same day. Exposure to oxygen causes foods to go bad - fatty acids, such a decenal, are especially sensitive to oxidation. For the freshest cilantro, grow some in a pot or garden so you can pick and use at will. Not really a gardener myself or really outdoorsy at all*, I would go with a farmers market or an ethnic market for the freshest cilantro available.

While you might not be able to inspire your love of cilantro in someone else, all is not lost. The fact someone loves you, if not cilantro. Because you are in their life, they are going to do things they would never choose to do themselves (Oh, the movies I have seen). To me, having someone occasionally share a dish with cilantro in it because you enjoy it is much more powerful than getting someone to love cilantro.





*There is some debate on whether reading a book outside counts as an outdoor activity.

Crisp'n Lover

UK Rules Pringles – Not a Crisp

For non-anglophiles, a crisp is called a potato chip in the States. Chips, as in Fish & Chips, are what we think of as French Fries. Amazingly, the side arguing Pringles were less than a natural food were the lawyers for Pringles’ manufacturer, Procter & Gamble. British Justice Warren considered the “Packaging, unnatural shape and the fact that the potato content is less than 50%”, before determining the snack does not meet the legal definition of a British crisp.

Pringles are the snack food shaped roughly like a Hyperbolic paraboloid. Packaged in a foil-lined tubular can, which according to the DIY crowd, can be altered to help boost WiFi signals - Both of the those features, along with its salty, fatty taste profile make the food popular with people who write computer code for a living. Invented in 1968, the product was not distributed throughout the US until the mid 70's. Now sold in over 30 countries, Pringles are available in dozens of flavors - including Filet Mignon in South America, BBQ in Israel and something called French Consommé in Japan. According to AC Nielsen, it is one of only 43 products that generates a billion dollars in annual sales.

The judgment ruling Pringles are not true crisps saves Procter & Gamble millions in a Value Added Tax (VAT). According to the BBC, all European Union countries, except Ireland, impose a VAT on high salt, high fat, fast food items usually referred to as ‘junk food’. France taxes offending foods at 19.6% foods, while the United Kingdom hits them with a 17.5% levy.

Even as someone who believes that the government ought to be able tax and regulate industries as proscribed by law, the thought of the State taxing food, any food brings out a libertarian streak in me. Reading about an agency, with the somewhat sinister name of the VAT Tribunal, setting aside a special classification of food for a regressive penalty - forces me to think the followers of Ron Paul are sensible policy theorists. If the purpose of this tax is to discourage the consumption of foods that have negative repercussions on society; sparing Pringles the VAT assessment does little encourage people to eat healthier foods. In reality, the Brits have figured out a way to raise revenue from citizens who make less than sophisticated purchasing choices - other than with lottery tickets and cigarettes, God Save the Queen.


Next up - Cilantro love and hate. Just a reminder, Saucyman loves your questions.

Dog Day Afternoon

Saucyman – Why do bratwurst taste so damn good with beer? Griller

Flavor.

Before going down the road, allow me to complain:

Sometime a ‘fact’ makes it into a cookbook and there is no making it go away, ever. Like the lie that cans/cartons of chicken stock are equal/superior to handmade versions is an oft-repeated piece of knowledge. Yes, lie – J’accuse, bouillon de poulet. The untruth gets repeated so often, it eventually becomes accepted as conventional wisdom. I’m going guess everyone who has two taste-buds to rub together can tell the difference between what comes from a can and what was made on the stove but it is easier to find at least two sources to say the ingredients are interchangeable than it is to make a case for why you should use your own stock.

A less egregious kitchen fable is that bratwurst are occasionally made of veal. On that expansive border where footnoting meets cutting and pasting, bratwurst is usually described as containing veal - ESPN’s Gameday Gourmet, whose cover cleverly shows a sausage skewered on football describes a bratwurst as “A mild sausage made mostly of veal and pork”. Okay, maybe they aren’t the worldwide leader in food knowledge, but I found nearly the same description in a dozen other books.

Where I couldn’t find veal listed as an ingredient on any packaging, manufacturer’s website or a books describing how to make sausage (as opposed to how to cook them). Bratwursts are not made of veal. At some point in history bratwursts, or just brats as they are known to those familiar with them, might have been made with veal, but not at this day in age. Veal is so unpopular; I’m not even sure veal is made of veal.

So, if the type of meat doesn’t account for unique taste of the bratwurst, what accounts for their deliciousness? The spices, particularly mace: Not personal protection mace (Back off or I’ll mace you), nor the medieval protection/aggression mace (Retreat or I shall be forced to lay this mace upon you) but the red lacy spice that grows on the outside of the nutmeg.

Mace, while not used prodigiously, seems to be the distinguishing flavor of the brat. The spice tastes like a combination of nutmeg and white pepper with a little allspice thrown in. The flavor is warm and warming, contrasting a cold lager or ale and it is like they were made for each other.

Well, that along with the fact fire = hot, beer = cold is often an equation that makes food coming off the grill seem especially well paired to beer.



Spoiler Alert –

Not to give away the ending, but The SF Chronicle tasted dog buns so we don’t have to and picked the Trader Joe’s buns as the winner in a taste test. For more info on the results you can read the article here.

Dog Training.

Our new friends at the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council – that is hot-dog.org, were kind enough to pass along a youtube post instructing eaters on doggy do’s and doggy don’ts. For those interested in sausage etiquette can watch below.