Tres Bon, Intermarche!

     On Tuesday Karolyn Coorsh of CTV News reported that a French supermarket was receiving international attention from an anti-waste campaign that they had recently launched.  Grocery franchise Intermarche was marketing and selling "ugly" fruits and vegetables that were destined for the trash dumpster rather than the dinner table.





     The clever "Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables" campaign set as its goal to "celebrate the beauty" of malformed or misshapen produce which included things like the "Grotesque Apple," the "Disfigured Eggplant," and the "Unfortunate Clementine."  The clever initiative has a serious message:  To reduce food waste.  It is estimated that 300 million tons of produce a year are thrown out.  Too often the visually unappealing produce is tossed out by the growers, despite being just as edible and healthy as their smooth and shiny counterparts.

     To combat food waste, Intermarche bought from their growers the products that are typically disposed of, cleared entire aisles in stores to make room for them, and marketed the "ugly" produce with special signage and labels.  And as a further incentive, they are selling  the imperfect fruits and veggies at a 30% discount.  Their You Tube video explaining their program even went viral.

     Intermarche noted that during the first two days of the campaign, each of their stores sold on average 1.2 tons of the malformed produce and stores saw a 24% overall traffic increase.  

     French foodies appear to be receptive.  Let's hope it catches on in the good old U.S. of A!

Gross or Gourmet?

     Last night for dinner I cooked up some catfish.  It tasted pretty good, I thought.  But still there was that lingering notion that it is a "bottom feeder" and somehow their diet affects the taste of the fillet.  For some, that thought keeps them from even attempting to try the fish with prominent barbels that resemble a cat's whiskers.

     The name Catfish describes a diverse form of ray-finned fish that are found in inland or coastal waters on every continent except Antarctica.  Numerous species of this negatively buoyant fish without any scales range in size from a few inches to over 8 feet long, and can weigh over 200 pounds.

     While catfish are considered a delicacy in some central European countries, in America they have long been associated with the poor subsistence food of "Catfish Country" in the gumbo land stretching from the Carolinas to East Texas where the water-tight clay soil made for ideal ponds where catfish proliferated.  Catfish were eaten primarily by low-income families of the South.

                                    



     But Roger Barlow, President of the Catfish Institute in Jackson, Mississippi is attempting to change all that.  The institute has come up with a new market tested name for the North American Channel Catfish.  The farm raised fish is undergoing a transformation as the Delacata, a Grade A fillet.  Here's what the Catfish Institute has to say:

     The Delacata is..."a new, premium seafood offering, far from the traditional catfish fillet...mild flavor and thick meaty flake...similar to snapper or grouper, but the price point is significantly less...a prime cut of fish...perfect for grilling, sauteing or broiling.  A Delacata Style Catfish Fillet makes for the perfect catch of the day, every day."

     Raised in freshwater ponds in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi they are fed a special diet of grain.  But all that being said, they are still catfish.



Vive la France!

                                    

     Yesterday I waxed elegant (no pun intended) about the varied culinary uses of beeswax. One reference was to what has been described as a magical bakery confection, caneles de Bordeaux.  It is a cake with a rich custardy interior enclosed by a thin caramelized shell, the recipe developed by an anonymous chef from the Bordeaux region of France long ago and refined over the next 300 years.  Today it is the official cake of that city.

 



     And what's not to like about something made from egg yolks, sugar, milk, flour and flavored with rum and vanilla? It is eaten throughout France and around the world for breakfast, as a snack, and for dessert.  The cold batter is poured into ice-cold fluted tin-lined copper molds, then placed in a very hot oven and baked for a very long time.  After baking, the caneles are firmly tapped out onto a grill while still hot, then left to cool while the exterior hardens.  They are at their peak of excellence 1 hour out of the oven.  6 hours later they become spongy.  The crunchy burnt sugar shell compliments the smooth, sweet filling that is flavored with vanilla and rum.  It has been said that "The perfect canele is what creme brulee wants to be when it grows up."

     The recipe for caneles de Bordeaux is deceptively simple, but they are famously tricky to make.  Paula Wolfert, described by many as the Queen of Caneles, outlines her take on the confection with a 6 page recipe in her book, "The Cooking of Southwest France."  Included in her instructions are these words:

     Many patissiers line their molds with a film of 'white oil' containing beeswax, a messy and highly flammable substance that may deter home cooks."

     The French are passionate about their food, as we all know.  And among them a passionate debate rages on regarding the spelling of their baked treat.  It is commonly spelled canneles.  But to preserve the integrity of the time honored original recipe, a consortium of 88 patissiers in Bordeaux have dropped the double "n" to indicate their allegiance to a uniform high standard of excellence.  Thus the name Caneles de Bordeaux.

     No matter how you spell it, it is beeswax that gives a special mahogany shine and crispness and also adds a special flavor.

A Bee's Byproduct

     For the past year I have been searching for beeswax along with another friend.  He and I have long known of its application for carpenters and woodworkers.  Our fathers both used the honey by-product in their craft.  It has long been used by those in the trade to ease nails and screws into place, as well as an ingredient in wood finishes and furniture polish.

     A few weeks ago I finally hit paydirt after many unsuccessful searches through hardware stores and lumber yards.  It was for sale in an unlikely place for wood craftsmen, a food distributor!  The Golden Barrel outlet store in Honeybrook, PA had bricks of beeswax for sale right beside their other products: olive and coconut oil, molasses and wheat germ.  What a surprise!

     

     I never realized that there was a culinary application for the same product used to drive nails into wood.  I quickly learned that is but one of the many uses for the naturally anti-viral, antimicrobial sealant for honey.  Beeswax is commonly used in place of butter or oil to grease cookie sheets and muffin tins.  And mixed with clarified butter it is favored by bakers to lubricate molds for caneles de Bordeaux.  In the mold it also adds a honey flavor to the pastry with a distinct aroma and flavor.  And grated with a microplane and heated then cooled, the delicate lacework provides a crunchy garnish with floral notes to a salad.  But perhaps the most intriguing use of beeswax I came across was in the preparation of fish.  Molten beeswax is heated to 84 degrees C (183.2 F) and poured over the fish.  15 minutes later the wax is scraped off and the kissed-by-heat fish is served.

     Beeswax has a wide variety of uses in addition to its welcome presence in the kitchen.  It is the prime ingredient in candles, soaps, chewing gum, pill coatings, lip balm, hand creams, shoe polish, surfboard wax, soft gelatin capsules, and most importantly, moustache wax!

An Infernal Delight

     It's an acquired taste, no doubt about it.  Hot chicken is a local favorite in Music City, Nashville.  The chicken breast becomes a blank canvas to paint with hot sauce and spices.  And the degree of heat can vary, from Lil Spice and Lemon Pepper to XXX hot.  It can clear the sinuses and take your breath away.



     At Bolton's Spicy Chicken & Fish on the east side of town a well dressed woman in business pinstripes and high heels stepped up to the counter and said to the attendant, "Make it hurt."  And before long she was walking back to a table carrying a wax paper package.  Peeling back the wrapper she digs in to a massive hunk of fried chicken enveloped in a glistening veil of pepper-red crust accompanied by a pile of pickle chips.  There is a slice of white bread on each side of the chicken to soak up the spicy grease.  While it may look like a sandwich, the bones are still intact.  So the woman begins to pick apart the chicken with her fingers.

     With each bite, beads of perspiration build on the woman's brow.  She undoes the top button of her blouse, removes her earrings and begins to sniffle and breathe heavily and fans herself.  Finally when she wobbles to her feet to throw away the bones, she sighs, "I'll be okay," to no one in particular and steps out into the sunshine.

Here's the recipe for this infernal delight:

Nashville Hot Chicken

3 cups buttermilk                                             1  2 1/2-3 lb chicken cut into 8 pieces

3/4 cup cayenne                                                Canola oil, for frying

9 Tbsp granulated garlic                                  2 cups self-rising flour

9 Tbsp paprika                                                 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

6 Tbsp onion powder                                       sliced white sandwich bread

3 Tbsp sugar                                                     dill pickle chips, for serving

1. Combine buttermilk, 1/4 cup cayenne, 3 Tbsp each granulated garlic and paprika, 2 Tbsp onion powder, and 1 Tbsp sugar in a bowl and whisk until smooth.  Add chicken and toss to coat; cover and chill at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

2. The next day, drain the chicken, rinse and pat dry; season with salt and pepper.  Heat 2" oil in a 6 qt. saucepan until a deep-fry thermometer reads 300F.  Stir remaining cayenne, granulated garlic, paprika, onion powder, and sugar in a bowl; transfer half to another bowl and whisk in flour.  Working in batches, dredge chicken in flour mixture; fry, flipping once, until golden and almost cooked through, 6-7minutes,or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken reads 150F.  Transfer chicken to paper towels.

3. Increase oil temperature to 350F.  Stir remaining cayenne mixture and melted butter in a bowl; set paste aside.  Dredge chicken once more in flour mixture and fry until cooked through, 2-3 minutes more; drain briefly on paper towels and brush with reserved paste.  Serve with bread and pickles.

Thanks to contributing editors Jane & Michael Stern  who wrote about Nashville Hot Chicken in the June/July issue of Saveur magazine.

Something in Common

     What do Bacon Wrapped Turkey Legs, Deep Fried Buckeyes, Pizza Tots and Iron Range Pierogies all have in common?  Well of course, they are all new food items available this year at the Minnesota State Fair!  All of them plus Beer Gelato, Chilaquiles, Chocolate Dessert Salami, and Shrimp Dogs will make their debut at the Great Minnesota Get Together.



     This food is not for the faint of heart, mind you.  Consider this start to the morning: a Breakfast Juicy LuLu, an English muffin with 2 slices of American cheese stuffed with sausage patties.  Want something a little more substantial for the first meal of the day?  How about a Chilaquiles for a south of the border flair.  It is made with corn tortilla chips covered in chili verde sauce with chicken, topped with eggs and garnished with lettuce, tomato and sour cream.  But get there early because it's only served at the El Sol Mexican Food booth until 10:30 am.  I think I would prefer the Deep Fried Breakfast which covers just about all the food groups with 2 kinds of cheese, sausage, egg, Canadian bacon in between two pancakes, then dipped in a sweet light batter and deep fried.



     But by noontime you are sure to be hungry again after strolling the 7 miles of paved roads within the fairgrounds.   A Shrimp Dog would taste pretty good.  It's baby shrimp & cream cheese combined and then batter dipped and deep fried, served on a stick!!! And with an option of raspberry chipotle or standard cocktail sauce on the side.



     Food-on-a-stick is one of the Fair's standard methods of serving food.  And a new addition to that genre this year are Deep Fried Buckeyes.  They are made from sweet, creamy peanut butter coated in chocolate, dipped in funnel cake batter, deep fried, dusted with confectioner's sugar and served with strawberry sauce at Spaghetti Eddie's.  Or you could settle for something basic and un-sticked, like a Bacon Wrapped Turkey Leg.  But if you are a food-on-a-stick purist you would naturally want to try the new Deep Fried Lobster.

But I think the most exciting new entry into the world of fair food are SnoRibbons.  They are described as "feathery light cotton candy, flaky shaved ice and creamy layered snow" all mixed together.  And what makes it even more provocative is that the flavors will be rotated throughout the 10 days of the fair this year.  Gee, do I want the Strawberry Pretzel Cream Cheese, Coffee & Donuts, Red Hot Velvet, Mango Tangside, Salted Caramel Corn Crunch, Horchata Vanilla or one of the other exotic flavors?

     For an illustrated list with descriptions of new food at this year's Minnesota State Fair just click on the following:  http://www.mnstatefair.org/fun/new_food/  

     Hope to see you there!  If you can't make it be sure to real Vinny's report after Labor Day. 

What's the Difference?

     Ice cream is getting a lot of attention in July.  After all, by Presidential decree the entire month is dedicated to this creamy summertime treat.  But what about its Italian cousin, Gelato?  Shouldn't there be equal billing on the calendar?  And what's the difference anyway?

     Both ice cream and gelato begin with the same ingredients that create a custard base.  Milk, cream, sugar and egg yolks are all used in the  creation of both frozen desserts.  But the proportions vary, creating a difference.  Ice cream contains more cream, at least 10% by US government standards.  And more cream means more fat content.  Gelato has more whole milk than cream in the mixture making gelato more dense and less creamy.  Gelato tastes more intense due to the increased fat in ice cream inhibiting the ability of the taste buds to detect flavor.  Gelato also has fewer, if any egg yolks.

     And then there's a difference in air content.  Ice cream is churned at a faster speed to incorporate more air into the custard.  That's called overrun. (Remember the Ice Cream IQ Quiz last Friday?) Gelato, on the other hand, is churned more slowly thus incorporating less air, again increasing the intensity of the flavors.

     Finally, the difference in serving temperature.  Ice cream is best served at a temperature of 10F while Gelato is best served 15 degrees warmer.  If gelato were served at the same temperature as ice cream it would  be as hard as a brick!

     So whether you are enjoying Moose Tracks in a cone or spooning out a cup of stracciatella this Summer, remember that Gelato is Italian for "frozen!"