Catalonian Alchemy

Earthy tones, spicy, sweet, and nutty. Sounds like my girlfriend. It’s actually the wonderful flavor profile of a Spanish tradition. “Thick as pesto, the color of rust, textured with nuts and a bit of fried bread”-Amy Scattergood, LA Times. Romesco is undoubtedly a staple in many Spanish households, used as a condiment and sauce but add some grilled vegetables and you have yourself a great vegetarian meal. Great flavor and texture lend itself nicely to many dishes. From soups and stews to seafood and steaks, a good romesco is one of the ultimate flavor enhancers, not only for spanish food, but for all foods, it can really turn other styles of cooking into great fusion food.
So what exactly is romesco? It a sauce from Catalonia, Spain traditionally made from Nora or Cascabel peppers ground with garlic, almonds, spanish paprika, olive oil and sometimes hazelnuts and bread crumbs. Season it with salt and vinegar. Serve it as a dip or a dressing on seafood of poultry. The classic version uses Marcona Almonds and hazelnuts giving it a great balance of flavor and a velvety texture.
After making a quick romesco last Wednesday, I realized that the one I made was weak, missing major flavor components like the garlic, tomato, hazelnuts, and a good sherry vinegar. So I decided to try the recipe in the LA Times, It is awesome. I roasted the garlic along with the romas, toasted the hazelnuts and the almonds. I resorted to using canned spanish red peppers. The flavor was truly awesome. I tossed it with grilled shrimp and grilled spring onions, all I can say is Wow. Awesome, delicate balance of sweet and spicy. I can put this to so many uses. My girlfriend is so excited,so am I

Xtreme Cuisine

While reading Xtreme Cuisine, by Stephen Lemons, I couldn’t stop thinking about the correlation of this satirical commentary and how the upper echelon of the culinary world has had the tendency to become more concentrated on the ability to serve flavorful but extremely rare, and endangered delicacies over the ability to have a quality, flavorful, and sustainable food source and the history of our food. An entire sub culture of foodies has flourished around the desire for the items in this fictitious article.
What may seem normal to some may be extreme for others like Spice Encrusted Bear Tenderloin Roast, served with Seahorse soup. Dishes like these are quite common in China, but you won’t find it in the western world. Or can you? According to This article you can find foods like Penguin, Seal Sushi, Whole Pygmy Owls, Endangered Sea Turtles and their eggs, the center of the protected Saguaro Cactus, Dog Meat, Sea Lion pot roast, Monkeys, and even Human Flesh right here in America, these are just a few of the controversial ingredients mentioned in this article, but of course you have to know someone like chef Kaz Yamamoto to prepare them for you at an establishment like Le Menu. They seem to correlate to some of Americas real and current culinary controversies over the wide spread use of items such as Foie Gras, Kobe Beef, Quail, and Veal.
Personally I believe that so long as the food source is not endangered and we are not doing harm to our environment, we can utilize this source as long as it does not becomes endangered or harm the environment. I have no reservations about eating Quail, Donkey, Veal, Sheep, Snake, Dog, Seahorse, and Foie Gras just to name a few. These food sources are not endangered, and the “level cruelty” is the same as any other domesticated livestock. They taste great without sacrificing any quality. But I have to draw the line with Sea Turtles, Monkeys, Penguins, Sea Lions, Owls, and Human Flesh is definitely out of the question. What gives someone the desire to want to eat another human is beyond me, and another short paper all in itself.
I can’t say that I have a problem with the people that enjoy these meats, in fact to a certain extent I understand. However this article makes me wonder about the future of ingredient choices becoming a slippery slope. The foods we eat on a daily basis by the common folk of america probably do not include the Veal or Foie Gras or even snails. The fact that chefs are on a constant pursuit to come up with the next new big thing pushes their egos desire for recognition so much that some chefs try for shock factor when creating their menu. Sales of game meats are on the rise thanks to celebrity chefs and their dinning establishments. This shows that the general public must have an interest if not a desire for more than just cows and chickens, if thats what they are still called.
In a strange way this article makes me think about the possible domestication of some of these endangered species solely for use as a food source. If we did such a thing as adding farm raised penguin, and organic fed free range zebra to our menus and supermarket butchers case, would the everyday gourmand learn how to appreciate and prepare these meats for use on a regular basis. Specialized farms to provide Joshua Tree and Saguaro Cactus to make delicious side items for your Braised Bear Butt. We need to get a handle on our endangered and rare food sources before poachers exhaust and literally ruin our very chances at creating truly extreme cuisines. The term “Endangered Species” applies to our plants and animals, but it really has to do with our food as well.

Honey, What's so sweet about it?

Honey, what so sweet about it? The only known human food source manufactured solely by animals. Bees’ require the nectar nearly two-million flowers to produce one pound of the sweet golden syrup we call honey. “The most concentrated natural source of sweetness is Honey, the stored food of a certain species of bees. It can reach up to 80% sugars.”(Mc Gee, Harold) A thick golden syrup that can be separated from its edible bees’ wax honeycomb or left in it. One of the longest lasting food sources on earth, Honey has a long history and a healthful reputation, there’s no wonder it’s called “The Nectar of Gods”. 

It is probable that honey was introduced as a food source by the nomadic peoples of Central Asia ( Tannahill, Reay) But did those nomads know of all the benefits that this sweet liquid gold possesses? Realizing first that honey has sweet succulent flavor, and then the lift or energy one felt after consuming it caused them to desire more. Since then, humans have had an insatiable need for sugar and sweeteners, so much that over the last ten thousand years, we have gone to great lengths to collect this golden nectar. Honey bees’ have stingers and are extremely protective of their hives. Rock paintings found in caves in Valencia, Spain dating back as far as 8000 BCE and Egyptian tomb reliefs dating back to the 3000 BCE show people collecting honey by smoking bees out of their nests.
History shows us that honey became a staple in society after the domestication of the Bee with the advent of artificial hives in approximately 2500 BCE. As society and technology have advanced, so has our ability to collect, utilize, and store food sources such as honey. Most store bought honey is heated to kill off any spoilage yeast and to dissolve any glucose crystals that may have formed. “Like invert syrup, honey is very sweet, browns easily, and has the ability to keep baked goods and icings soft and moist” (Figoni, Paula). In modern society we enjoy honey in many different forms such as comb honey which is sold as is, in the edible bees’ wax comb. Most popular in the United States is Liquid honey, drained from its comb and strained, mostly free of visible crystals, especially when fresh. Cut comb honey is liquid honey with chunks of the comb added to it. Naturally Crystalized Honey has glucose that naturally and spontaneously crystalized, sold without straining. Whipped or Creamed honey is brought to the market in a controlled crystallization state that makes this style of honey easily spreadable at room temperature.

More interesting and healthful than traditional beet or cane sugar, the variations in color and the flavor of honey are truly limitless depending on the bees’ and the flowers of their respective regions. Flavor and color are in direct correlation to the nectars source. Generally speaking, the darker the honey is in color the stronger the flavor. The flavor and name depend on the flower source that the bees are frequenting. Some of the more popular ones in the Americas are Orange Blossom, Sage, Alfalfa, Strawberry, Clover, and Lavender, with the exotic imports being more rare and pricey. “Many expensive specialty honeys are available but they should be considered flavoring agents.” (Figoni, Paula) You can infuse different honeys’ together with other flavors and fruits to make an even more unique combination of sweetness. Bakers and Gourmands alike love it’s unique sweetness so much that we substitute it for sugar on a regular basis. However, a teaspoon of honey weighs more than a teaspoon of white sugar and contains water and a slightly larger number of carbohydrates and calories.

Honey is a natural, more healthy source of sweetness, 39% fructose, 31% Glucose, 7% Maltose, 1.5% Sucrose and various amounts of the enzymes invertase and amylase. It also contains small amounts of all the B vitamins, potassium, calcium, vitamin C, phosphorus, sodium, and other minerals and antioxidants. “Unfortunately as an anaerobic environment, honey has the properties of being a good breeding ground for Clostridium Botulinum, the bacteria that are responsible for producing the botulin toxin.” (Wolk, Robert L.) This is why experts say you should never feed honey to infants or children under 12 months of age. Their bodies digestive systems can’t yet fight off the deadly bacterium that causes botulism as older children and adults can.

Probably the most unique properties of honey are being realized in the use of it as a natural medicine. “Honey pollen is shown to stimulate the reproductive system.” (Irons, Diane) and across the globe trials, tests and experiments are currently underway to see the effectiveness of honey and its unique composition of natural sugars, vitamins, enzymes, and minerals can be put to proper use in the medical field. Honey has been described in ancient and modern medicine as being effective in the healing of various infected wounds. “Honey is effective in the treatment of post-surgical wounds” (Vardi, A). A number of substances in honey also contribute to a sort of antimicrobial activity when properly used. Honey has the ability to help increase Cytokine production may explain it ability to heal. It is also showing up in more and more overt the counter medicines mostly for cough and sore throat, it has an uncanny ability to soothe, make you feel better and tastes awesome, better than cough syrup.

With such a large number of benefits, a wide array of uses and applications, it really is no wonder that this golden nectar of gods has such an awesome reputation between gourmands, health fanatics, and the medicinal world alike. Using it instead of sugar on a daily basis may increase your health, energy, stamina, and in all quite possibly your life. Now that’s Sweet.

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