On the Table - the curious home of Gary Allen, Food Writer & Dillettante

Editor's Note: Once again, Dr Sanscravat has thoughtlessly spewed the sort of comment that is bound to attract unwanted attention from people who feel strongly about such things. The man is a mass of unbridled self-indulgence who cares little about the well-being of himself -- let alone anyone else. Since he's so fond of quoting Mark Twain, perhaps we should preface his rant with Twain's advice on the subject: "The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not."

A while back, I read an article that said that coffee contained something-or-other that increases one's chances of contracting cancer of the pancreas. It took about two seconds of reflection before I understood the import of this news: enjoy coffee today, and everyday, and -- just possibly -- contract a nasty disease sometime in the future.

After those two seconds passed, another thought occurred. Imagine that, when I finally arrive at the last moment of my life -- after carefully eschewing coffee for decades -- I discover that I'm dying with a perfectly healthy pancreas, a pancreas for which I no longer have any use, earthly or otherwise. How would I feel about that?

Obviously, I'd be pissed-off for having cheated myself out of years of pleasure, just because of the possibility of something unpleasant occurring.

I know that some people actually enjoy exercise, and there are folks that just don't care for cream, butter, wine, rich desserts, and similar indulgences. I know it but don't really understand it. I can live with that level of uncertainty.

What puzzles me is all of those people who do enjoy such things, but deny themselves out of concern for their health. They struggle to add five years of unsatisfactory old age to their lives by sacrificing five years of pleasure when they're still young enough to appreciate it.

What's the sense in that?

The end of a year is a time for reflection, which can be a bittersweet experience. We, however, will spare you the sturm, drang, and yanking-out of beard-hairs that are likely to go on around here. Instead, this issue is a humongous (which is to say, slightly larger than usual) gift-wrapped package, just begging to be ripped open.

Regular subscribers to our updates newsletter receive these updates from our blog, Just Served, directly -- but there is much more at the blog that isn’t sent automatically. We don't want to wear out our welcome with a lot of unsolicited blather. This month we spared you much of our usual folderol (not entirely, of course; see below) -- and instead featured an excerpt from Sasha Gong's and Scott D. Seligman's new book, The Cultural Revolution Cookbook: Simple, Healthy Recipes from China’s Countryside.

If, in a moment of reflection and/or guilt, you feel the need for self-flagellation, you can always rely on Just Served to lend the requisite literary lash. It currently flaunts a non-food essay (one of Dr Sanscravat's typical curmudgeonly rants), an apologia On Children. If you don't want to wait for these newsletters to hear about such postings, you can follow us on Facebook, or Twitter.

Aside from the blog, this month we've published another piece online (at a more respectable venue). Roll Magazine is now available in electronic form only, and its first non-print issue contains our article, "Preserving Apples."

The Roger Smith Cookbook Conference is coming up in NYC, February 9-11, and we'll be moderating the panel on cookbook editing (with some fantastic panelists, BTW). You can find details about -- and register for -- the event at its website.

The index for our latest book, Herbs: A Global History, has been proofed, the graphics and their captions are done, and all of the Author's Queries have been addressed -- so all we have to do is wait for the book to come out on April 15th. There's going to be a kind of publication party (with dinner from recipes in the book!) on April 30th in NYC -- and we'll post more details as they develop.

Meanwhile, we're plugging away on a sausage book for Reaktion's Edible Series. The freezer at Chez Sanscravat is packed with andouille, chorizo, and other assorted encased meats (needless to say, we don't plan to have our cholesterol checked until well after the book is completed).

"A Quiet Little Table in the Corner" is an annotated ("annotated" being used, naturally, in the broadest possible sense) directory of our writings -- mostly on other people's sites.

Leitesculinaria will be posting our article about the New Year's Hoppin' John tradition, on or about December 27th, but we don't have a link for it yet. The entire list of our currently-posted Leitesculinaria articles is available here, along with several other articles on food history & science.

As this is being written, the year is winding down. So this month's quotations (from On the Table's culinary quote pages) look back at some of the anonymous -- and oft contradictory -- wisdom that has come down to us from auld lang syne:

"The belly rules the mind." Spanish Proverb

"When the Muslim is not hungry he says, we are forbidden to eat monkey. When he is hungry he eats a baboon." Yoruba proverb

"Manage with bread and butter until God sends the honey." Moroccan proverb

"Man who stand on hill with mouth wide open, waits a long time for roast duck to fall in." Chinese proverb

"Eat butter first, and eat it last, and live till a hundred years be past." 
Old Dutch proverb

"What butter and whiskey will not cure, there is no cure for." Irish proverb

"It is well to remember that there are five reasons for drinking: the arrival of a friend, one's present or future thirst, the excellence of the wine, or any other reason." Latin Proverb

"The best cure for drunkenness is whilst sober, observe a drunken person." Chinese proverb

PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs -- or know of wonderful sites we've missed -- please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those of you who have suggested sites -- thanks, and keep them coming!

PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings, go here.

PPPS: If you've received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don't wish to receive future issues, you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We're happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list -- but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we'll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again. You can unsubscribe here.



All Things Sweet and Sugary
(an introduction to the baked goods and confections of Morocco)

Ancient Greek Trading Vessels Carried More Than Wine
(using DNA to learn about ancient trade; archaeology meets CSI)

Apocalx
(a search engine for recipes)

Artisanal Wheat on the Rise
(Smithsonian Magazine article about people raising long-forgotten strains of wheat)

Beer Archaeologist, The
(brewing some well-aged beer via experimental archaeology; an article in Smithsonian Magazine)

Books
(a bibliography of books about restaurant history, from Jan Whitaker)

Cooking May Have Driven Human Evolution
(an article in Archaeology, based on work that appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

Craving Earth - A Diet Mystery
(article on possible reasons for pica, geophagy, in The Sydney Morning Herald)

Eating Appalachia: In Search of Real American Cuisine in Hidden Hollers
(the first in a series of pieces on American regional cuisines, from Kathleen Willcox at Eat Me Daily)

Feedstuffs Food Links
("connecting farm to fork," articles, factsheets and podcasts on all agricultural topics)

Foie-gras Production
(article in The Economist that asks "How much is too much?" And "Why [are] some duck livers... delicious, and others nasty?")

Food and Recipes of Wartime Europe
(excerpts from Margaret Patten's We'll Eat Again and Post-war Kitchen)

Food We Eat Might Control Our Genes
(article in Scientific American about the presence of traces of the foods we eat in our RNA)

Guide to Culinary Arts Colleges
(two chefs have created this searchable database of places to obtain degrees or certificates in professional cooking)

It's Out After 170 Years, the Secret of Worcestershire Sauce... Found in a Skip
(sometimes food history is done by digging through the trash, literally)

Jeno Paulucci, Pioneer of Frozen-food Business, Dies at 93
(“What could be more American than a business built on a good Italian recipe for chop suey?”)

Journal of Gastronomy, The
(the American Institute of Wine & Food's former magazine, now partially available -- along with some other important gastronomic periodicals -- online)

Lucky Peach
(McSweeney's quarterly of food writing)

Pizza is Not a Vegetable
(Benjamin Phelan's article, in Slate, about how and why we call some plant parts "vegetables," but not others)

Porn on the Cob
(Ari LeVaux's Atlantic Monthly article about huitlacoche, corn smut)

Reading American Menus: A Virtual Exhibit
(historic menus serve as primary sources to show that "...the restaurant developed in a unique tension with American institutions and that the physical and social forms are clearly linked to larger phenomena...)

Reading, Apps, and the Myth of Cookbook Obsolescence
(Elissa Altman's take on why cookbooks will never disappear)

Sausage Peddlers, Vagabonds, and Bandits
(Clifford Wright on the charcuterie of the Mediterranean region)

Sourashtra Recipes
(dishes and spice mixtures from the Palkars of Southern India)

Through the Isinglass
(Intelligent Life's Christopher Hirst revisits Isabella Beeton's classic cookbook)

Uncle Phaedrus
("Consulting Detective and Finder of Lost Recipes, with the Hungry Browser Irregulars")



5 Tips to Finding a Literary Agent

Erosion in the Paid Media Pyramid, The

Is There Too Much Food Writing?



Food Through Time

Kevin Kossowan: From the Cellar, Wild, Garden, Local Farm

Out to Lunch

Tangerine and Cinnamon

Z Tasty Life



Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:

Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose -- ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs:

Our books, The Resource Guide for Food Writers, The Herbalist in the Kitchen, The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries, and Human Cuisine can be ordered through the Libro-Emporium.

Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...

...for the moment, anyway.

The Cultural Revolution, launched in mid-1966, greatly radicalized the already fanatical political atmosphere in China. During this chaotic period, my siblings and I rejoined our parents in the city of Guangzhou, but in 1968, both my parents -- and those of many of my friends -- were sent to camps for "re-education through labor," something that happened to the majority of the nation’s intellectuals. My siblings and I -- we were 14, 12, 10 and 6 at the time -- had to live by ourselves in the city. We had a very small allowance from the government, which matched exactly the official poverty line. My sister -- later an economist -- took care of the finances, and I became the family cook.

Food was scare and rationed. Every morning, I went to the market and waited in several lines to buy it. A few times a week, children from several families would put our meager rations together and create a variety of dishes. On one very memorable occasion, nine of us made more than 300 dumplings, dividing the food evenly among ourselves. Cooking was among very few enjoyable activities in those dark days. From time to time, I found satisfaction in making simple dishes, such as Tofu with Scallions and Sesame Dressing.

In 1969, Chairman Mao Zedong ordered high school students to resettle in the countryside, beginning the exodus that would eventually send 17 million to rural areas. At age 12, I was too young to be covered by this policy, but I was soon sent with about 100 others my age to a village elsewhere in Guangdong called Jin'er to be "re-educated" by the local peasants. And what a re-education it was! From 1969-1971, I learned to work in the rice fields and to plant vegetables. My team was also charged with building a school and cooking for hundreds of people in communal kitchens.

Faded slogans still adorn this building in Jin’er more than a quarter century after the end of the Cultural Revolution. This one reads, “Rely on ourselves, fight hard and re-make Jin’er.”

In Guangdong as in Hunan, nearly everything we ate was locally produced. Rice came from the village paddy, vegetables from family plots and meat from the pigs raised on the collective farm. It was actually processed food that was considered exotic and was highly prized. Machine made noodles, for example, were served only on important occasions such as birthdays. Noodles are a traditional Chinese symbol of longevity, so a bowl of them with one or two eggs was our version of a "birthday cake." Canned food was a luxury only a small number of well-off, urban professionals could afford. One can of the Chinese version of Spam was considered so nutritious that it could fetch two months' worth of meat rations. Apart from its high price, processed food was rare because of the difficulty of transportation. Things like noodles and crackers could be found only in the county seat, a four-hour round trip by bicycle.

For a short time, young people who had been sent down from the urban areas were assigned to eat with the villagers. Before long, however, the peasants protested, because we ate too much -- far more than the ration coupons and money we brought in could buy. So the authorities decided to set up a communal kitchen. We rotated in groups of seven for 10-day stints in the kitchen, during which time we did the cooking instead of going to work in the field. So everyone got a chance to learn how it was done, and few took advantage of the position by filling their bellies at others' expense. We learned to make the most out of a relatively small palette of available ingredients, including cooking oil, soy sauce, salt, scallions, ginger and a few vegetables. I became particularly proficient with a knife, learning how to slice and chop efficiently. But mostly I learned the surprisingly wide variety of dishes and tastes that could be made with just a few, fresh ingredients, and how to get the best flavors out of what we had.




Ingredients

2 ears of corn on the cob (or 2 cups -- 328 g. -- of canned or frozen corn kernels)
1 scallion (spring onion)
1/2 cup (70 g.) pine nuts
2 Tbsp. (30 ml.) cooking oil
Pinch of salt

Method

1. Place the two ears of corn in their husks in a microwave oven. If the corn has already been husked, wrap it in a wet paper towel first. Microwave for three minutes on high. Remove the husks and silk, or the paper towel, and allow to cool. Then cut the kernels off of the cobs. (If you are using frozen corn, just let it thaw until it is at room temperature; canned corn may be used right out of the can).
2. Slice the scallion on the bias into small pieces about the same size as the corn kernels.
3. Place a wok over medium flame and add pine nuts without using any oil. Stir-fry them for a minute until they turn slightly brownish, then remove them from the wok and set them aside.
4. Add oil to the wok and heat it until it just begins to smoke.
5. Add the scallion pieces and stir-fry very briefly -- 10 seconds is enough. Then add the corn and stir-fry for 30 seconds more.
6. Add salt and then return the pine nuts to the wok. Make sure the ingredients are well-mixed and warm. Remove and serve.

Ingredients

1 large white, Daikon radish (if unavailable, 2-3 turnips may be substituted)
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 slice ginger (about the size and thickness of a quarter)
1 tsp. (5 ml.) vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. (30 ml.) sesame oil
3 Tbsp. (45 ml.) soy sauce
3 Tbsp. (45 ml.) dark vinegar (but white will do)
1 tsp. to 1 Tbsp. (5 to 15 ml.) hot sauce, to taste (Chinese cooks use a paste made with hot peppers, but Tabasco sauce maybe substituted)

Method

1. Wash and peel the radish and slice it into strips about 2-3 inches (5-7 cm.) long and 1/4 inch (6mm.) wide. Crush the garlic and chop the ginger, mixing them together into a smooth paste.
2. Mix all the ingredients (except the radish) together and add them to the garlic-ginger paste. Blend them well into a sauce.
3. Arrange the radish pieces on a serving plate, cover with the sauce and serve.

I'm often asked how I can hate children. It is, of course, the wrong question -- or rather, it is based on faulty premises.

First, lingering under that seemingly simple question's surface is the implicit, and somewhat smarmy, assumption that it's somehow wrong to dislike the snotty-nosed, sticky-fingered, self-absorbed little cretins.

Second, I don't actually hate them.

But I sure as hell don't trust them.

They weasel their way into our lives with feigned cuteness, and stay there by immediately recognizing and manipulating our weaknesses. If our species really deserved to be called sapiens, we wouldn't fall for their puerile scams.

If needed, I can provide reams of evidence that reveals their nefariousness, their unbridled duplicity, not to mention their overweening -- and under-weaned -- ids. I will, however, cite but a single example -- albeit one that has had a profound impact upon the development of my opinions on the subject.

Some forty-odd years ago, I agreed to baby-sit for the five-year-old offspring of some friends, while they -- no doubt -- exercised a better option. I am well-known for my generous and caring nature, so of course I wished to entertain the tiny human, and perhaps stimulate his nascent neurons. In the spirit of bonhomie, I taught him to play chess.

The little bastard took my queen.

I know, we're not even halfway through November, not even close to December... but Hallowe'en and Election Day are gone, and the stores are filling up with Christmas stuff already. Thanksgiving and Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and New Year's will soon be taking a toll on our time (and waistlines), so we're sending out the December issue a little bit earlier than usual.

First, some breaking news:

The Roger Smith Cookbook Conference will occur in New York City in February, and we'll be moderating the panel on cookbook editing (with some fantastic panelists, BTW). You can find details about -- and register for -- the event at its website.

The galleys for our latest book, Herbs: A Global History, have been proofed, and the Author's Queries have been addressed -- next comes a last-minute look-over and indexing, then wait for the book to come out on April 15th. There's going to be a kind of publication party (with dinner!) on April 30th in NYC -- and we'll post more details as they develop.

Meanwhile, we're writing another book for Reaktion's Edible Series -- this time on sausage. Which means a LOT of sausage meals here at Chez Sanscravat.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program, already in progress:

Regular subscribers to our updates newsletter receive these updates from our blog, Just Served, directly -- but there is much more at the blog that isn’t sent automatically. We don't want to wear out our welcome with a lot of unsolicited blather. Speaking of which... if NPR's Susan Stamberg can trot out her mother's scary cranberry sauce recipe every year at Thanksgiving time, we can haul out our own Hoary Holiday Horror. If, after reading such tripe, you still feel inclined to experience more of that sort of hogwash, you can surrender what's left of your dignity at Just Served.

Truly impatient mortifiers-of-the-flesh can follow us on Facebook, or Twitter.

"A Quiet Little Table in the Corner" is a directory of our other writings (replete with misleading descriptions to befuddle the unwary) -- mostly on other people's sites.

Leitesculinaria is still in the process of reposting -- sometimes with shiny new updates and edits -- some of our older articles. The entire list of our currently-posted LeitesCulinaria articles is available here, along with several other articles on food history & science.

Since we're still in denial about this whole holiday thing, this month's quotation (from On the Table's culinary quote pages) avoids the entire subject:

"Food writing is writing full stop, and the best of it does what good writing always does, which is to create an alternative world to the one you currently inhabit."

Kathryn Hughes

PS: If you encounter broken links, changed URLs -- or know of wonderful sites we've missed -- please drop us a line. It helps to keep this resource as useful as possible for all of us. To those of you who have suggested sites -- thanks, and keep them coming!

PPS: If you wish to change the e-mail address at which you receive these newsletters, or otherwise modify the way you receive our postings, go here.

PPPS: If you've received this newsletter by mistake, and/or don't wish to receive future issues, you have our sincere apology and can have your e-mail address deleted from the list immediately. We're happy (and continuously amazed) that so few people have decided to leave the list -- but, should you choose to be one of them, let us know and we'll see that your in-box is never afflicted by these updates again. You can unsubscribe here.



Are Cookbooks Obsolete?
(remember when "apps" meant "appetizers"? Julia Moskin's article in The New York Times)

Beef or Venison: Which Tastes Better?
(amusing, because there's an element of truth in the article... even if there's no such organization as "U.S. Venison Council")

Civil War Diet, The
(a master's thesis by Matthew Brennan; a PDF document)

Cook 'n' Scribble
(food writing classes with Molly O'Neill)

Dessert Dictionary Project, The
(a growing database of international sweets and desserts, by Michael Krondl, author of Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert)

Eatologies
("eating journal and scientific exercise;" easily digestible food science news)

eatology
("a closer look at the art of eating;" articles, recipes, Q&A, blog, how-to videos, consulting for restaurants, training for cooks and bartenders of all skill levels)

edible geography
(food studies articles by the new generation of food scholars)

From the Victory Garden: American History Told Through Squash
(Sarah Dickert -- a Smithsonian Gardens Intern -- writes about several heirloom varieties of squash)

Italian Salami: Italian Charcuterie
(history of Italian charcuterie, descriptions of vast numbers of regional examples, the connection between San Francisco and salami)

Mindful Carnivore, A
("Thoughts and stories from a vegan-turned-hunter;" website and blog of author Tovar Cerulli)

Night New York's Chinese Went Out for Jews, The
("How a 1903 Chinatown fundraiser for pogrom victims united two persecuted peoples;" could Scott D. Seligman's article explain the origin of Jewish fondness for Chinese food?)

Pastry Paris
(an excerpt from Susan Hochbaum's book)

Project Foodie
(blog, articles, and recipes from recent magazines and cookbooks)

You Eat Meat, So Why Not Blood?
("Chefs strive to warm up diners to the red stuff;" Chris Nuttall-Smith's article in Toronto's Globe and Mail)



Tips for Creating Fabulous Photos of Food



BTP

Cheddarbound

Dash of Bitters, A

Food Studies

Homo Gastronomicus

Hunter:Gather:Cook

Jennifer Wickes

Sustainable Eats

truffleandmushroomhunter



Except, of course, for the usual legalistic mumbo-jumbo and commercial flim-flam:

Your privacy is important to us. We will not give, sell or share your e-mail address with anyone, for any purpose -- ever. Nonetheless, we will expose you to the following irredeemably brazen plugs:

Our books, The Resource Guide for Food Writers, The Herbalist in the Kitchen, The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food And Drink Industries, and Human Cuisine can be ordered through the Libro-Emporium.

Here endeth the sales pitch(es)...