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Shrove Tuesday!
President's Day morning I popped open a new bag of coffee that happened to have the political campaign-worthy slogan "Responsibility, Quality & Solidarity" (just add $35,800 fundraising dinners). This morning CNN's Eatocray has a blog about Shrove Tuesday with a generous side of food history and a few old recipes (photocopied versions... hey, it's a start). And guess what? It really *is* Shrove Tuesday, a.k.a. Pancake Day, the last sugar-fat-flour-egg hurrah before Lent. Coincidental wonders never cease with second-tier holidays.
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Cookbooks: The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook & The World In A Skillet
On first read, yeah, The Lodge Cast Iron Cookbook is just another promotional cookbook. This time, from a cast-iron skillet maker. And The World in a Skillet is a hybrid cookbook/anthology from an academic publisher (now *that* sounds interesting, though hopefully not overly dry).
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Word Fun Wednesday: Macaroni
The Wednesday word of the day. In which we (fine, only here in this odd little head) explore various words from our culinary past, starting with "macaroni." Imagine all the fun to be had with "extinct" words (Maccare!) and almost extinct phrases ("Be that as it may").
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The American Whiskey Renaissance
Whiskey fan? No matter. An article in this month's Wine Spectator, "American Spirit: The Whiskey Renaissance Continues in Bourbon and Beyond," is speckled with enough American history and sippable lore to capture your late night attention. As author Lew Bryson explains, "It's a rags-to-riches and all-the-way-around-again story." Somewhat like cocktail hour, you might say. Only here, Happy Hour begins as a backyard brew before becoming the patriotic American tipple in the 1770s.
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Turning The (Produce) Tables: What Happens When Chefs Become Farmers? Very Good Things
What happens when chefs become farmers? Not just for a week or two, but for an entire year? Big (kale) cost accounting changes. (Sheep) expense shearing. Heirloom (apple) management shakeups. But in that really good apple cobbler-crumble, roasted squash-apple salad, and chipotle-apple chutney sort of way.
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Meet Kinny Jung, The Potato Guy Wearing The John Wayne Hat
A circa 1968 hard hat from the John Wayne movie Hellfighters, a couple of Prince's rusty bed springs from his 1980 album Bedsprings, and heirloom potatoes. Or, the great history nuggets you get by shopping at your local farmers market.
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Fraise Friday: Or, More Fun With Medieval Pancakes
Fraise (or frawsey or froise) is "a Medieval term referring to something of the general nature of a pancake, made with batter and fried." So begins Alan Davidson's Penguin Companion to Food. And so begins the weekend.
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Your Weekly Food History News Roundup
Because food history doesn’t have to be boring. A few of this week’s food history news bytes. Fine. At least they’re more interesting than most.
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