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THE FOODREFERENCE NEWSLETTER
Food History, Trivia, Quotes, Humor, Poetry, Recipes
May 6, 2001 Vol 2 # 17
James T. Ehler, Editor, james@foodreference.com
http://www.foodreference.com
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IN THIS ISSUE
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=> Sponsorship Notice
=> Quotes and Trivia
=> Website News
=> Ancient & Classic Recipes
=> Food Trivia Question: What Am I?
=> This Weeks Calendar
=> Did you know?
=> Feedback from visitors
=> Requested Recipes
=> Answer to Food Trivia Question
=> Culinary Crossword Puzzle
=> Subscribe/Unsubscribe information
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Sponsored by Blue Heaven Restaurant, Key West, Florida
"Your don't have to die to get there!"
http://www.blueheavenkw.com
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QUOTE
The staff of life, now a cliche for 'bread', was inspired in the
sixteenth century by Leviticus 26:26 'And when I have broken the
staff of your life, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven.'
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WEBSITE NEWS
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BY POPULAR REQUEST
I have added a new SEARCH option to the site. When you use it to
search for something like onion soup, put it in quotes like this
"onion soup". If you don't, you will get every entry that
contains the words soup OR onion, which will be a lot of recipes
By putting it in quotes, you will get only entries that contain
the whole phrase "onion soup".
I am also working on adding a GUEST BOOK as many of you have
requested.
New Recipes, Food Articles, Trivia and quotes added this week.
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TRIVIA
Although the tamarillo is native to South America, most of the
tamarillo sold in the U.S. is imported from New Zealand, where
it is grown commercially. The original name, tree tomato, was
used until 1967 when New Zealand invented the tropical sounding
name tamarillo to market it.
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ANCIENT & CLASSIC RECIPES
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Tansy - forerunner of the omelette
From an old cookery book:
'A Tansy-
'Beat seven eggs, yolks and whites separately; add a pint of
cream, near the same of spinach-juice, and a little tansy-juice
gained by pounding in a stone mortar; a quarter of a pound of
Naples biscuit, sugar to taste, a glass of white wine, and some
nutmeg. Set all in a sauce-pan, just to thicken, over the fire;
then put it into a dish, lined with paste, to turn out,
and bake it.'
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ADVERTISEMENT: Check out Conch Republic Concierge for all your
needs before, and during your visit to Key West. We have some
amazing rates for private homes, yachts, cottages and suites
this season! http://conchrepublicconcierge.homestead.com
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QUOTE
Refering to truffles: "They can, on certain occasions, make
women more tender and men more lovable."
Alexandre Dumas
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TRIVIA
The tandoor, an earthenware pot used as an oven, achieves such
high heat (well over 700 degrees F) that they cook a chicken
half in less than 5 minutes.
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FOOD TRIVIA QUESTION: WHAT AM I?
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The Food Trivia Quizzes are now moved to their own separate section after the newsletter is e-mailed. Check the Navigation Bar at the top of the page.
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QUOTE
"Watermelon -- it's a good fruit. You eat, you drink, you wash
your face."
Enrico Caruso
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TRIVIA
Tarragon came to France from the plains of Siberia in the 15th
century by the Arabs who had been using it since the 13th century.
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THIS WEEKS CALENDAR
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MAY 7
* FULL MOOM
* 1824 Beethoven's 9th Symphony Premiers - he was totally deaf
when he composed it.
* 1789 First Presidential Inaugural Ball
Birthdays: 1812 Robert Browning (English poet)
1840 Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (Russian composer)
MAY 8
* World Red Cross Day
* National Teacher Day
Birthdays: 1911 Robert Johnson (Legendary blues guitarist)
MAY 9
* National Nightshift Workers Day
* 1868 Reno, Nevada was born
Birthdays: 1800 John Brown
1949 Billy Joel
MAY 10
* 1869 Golden Spike driven, uniting Union Pacific and Central
Pacific RR at Promontory Point, Utah
Birthdays: 1899 Fred Astaire
1960 Bono (singer, U2)
1946 Dave Mason (Musician)
MAY 11
* 1910 Glacier National Park Established
Birthdays: 1904 Salvador Dali
1888 Irving Berlin
1894 Martha Graham
MAY 12
* Netherlands National Windmill Day
* 1937 George VI's Coronation Anniversary
* 1607 Jamestown Landing Day
* 1847 William Clayton invents the Odometer
* Electra, Texas: Goat BBQ Cook-off
Birthdays: 1820 Florence Nightingale
1907 Katharine Hepburn
1948 Steve Winwood (Musician)
MAY 13 - 19 National Police Week
MAY 13
* MOTHERS DAY
Birthdays: 1943 Mary Wells (Motown's first big star)
1914 Joe Louis
1951 Stevie Wonder (Musician)
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QUOTE
"Is there no Latin word for Tea? Upon my soul, if I had known
that I would have let the vulgar stuff alone."
Hilaire Belloc, British author (1870-1953) 'On Nothing, On Tea'
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DID YOU KNOW?
A teabag contains approximately 35 grains of tea.
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MANDALA JEWELRY
Jacques Lemaire makes and sells Mandala jewelry in the outdoor
garden at Blue Heaven Restaurant. Check out his unique handmade
items at Blue Heaven Restaurant
or on his WebSite http://mandalas.homestead.com
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FROM OUR SUBSCRIBERS
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QUESTION
I'm trying to help a boy in Belgium with a school report. He
needs to know the origins of BANANA BREAD - when was it first
made, by whom, any occasion it was first made for, etc. Any help
would be greatly appreciated! Deb G.
ANSWER
Tough question Deb.
Three things to consider: Bread, quick breads (no yeast) and
bananas. The first breads probably originate from Neolithic
times, some 12,000 years ago. This was a very primitive bread
probably made from stone crushed grain mixed with water and
cooked on hot stones and covered with hot ashes. The Egyptians
probably discovered around 4,000 B.C. that wheat dough ferments
(think sourdough), thus forming gases, producing a lighter more
pleasant eating and tasting loaf.
The Banana originated in Southeast Asia (probably on the
Malaysian archipelago) and spread from India, to the Philippines,
New Guinea etc. It was cultivated by about 2,000 B.C., but
these people were rice eaters, and wheat was unknown there, so
breads were not part of their culture.
Theophrastus (a Greek naturalist philosopher) around the 4th
century B.C., in what is probably the first scientific book on
botany, describes the banana plant.
We know that the Greeks made bread with honey, spices and fruits
around the time of Pliny (23-79 A.D.), and we also know that
Pliny had knowledge of the banana (he also described them in
77 A.D.) So, could the Greeks have made any banana bread?
A possibility, they made bread and had bananas.
But flat breads (non leavened) were made throughout the Middle
East as early as 7,000 B.C. - but did they have bananas?
Probably not until much later.
But banana bread recipes for the most part are 'quick breads',
that is leavened with baking powder.
Quick breads (chemically leavened) which most banana bread
recipes are, were not developed until the end of the 18th
century. This took place in America, where pearlash was
discovered. Pearlash is a refined form of potash, and it
produces carbon dioxide gas in dough. In 'American Cookery'
(1796 - the first American cook book) Amelia Simmons published
recipes using pearlash, and we exported some 8,000 tons to
Europe in 1792. (But she has no specific recipe for banana
bread) Baking powder was not developed commercially until 1857
(phosphate baking powder).
So the banana bread as we know it (a quick bread) could have
been first made in America in the 18th century when housewives
discovered pearlash as a chemical leavening agent.
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RECIPE REQUESTS FROM READERS
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CHECK THE WEBSITE For the new recipes, not enough room in the
newsletter this week to print them.
FRESH SWEET POTATO SALAD
FRESH JICAMA SALAD
And several more
Email your recipe requests, food info or history
questions to me at james@foodreference.com
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QUOTE
"Oh, that miracle clove! Not only does garlic taste good, it
cures baldness and tennis elbow, too."
Laurie Burrows Grad
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TRIVIA
In mid-19th century America, Harper's magazine reported:
"A country lady received a pound of tea from a fashionable friend
in the city, and supposing it to be a newly-introduced
vegetable, boiled the whole parcel, and had it served up for
dinner, throwing away the liquor of course."
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QUOTE
"Those who have a profound indifference to the pleasures of the
table are generally gloomy, charmless and unamiable."
Lucien Tendret
(French lawyer and gastronome; great-nephew of Brillat-Savarin)
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TRIVIA
Cream of tartar is a white, acid powder that is precipitated
onto the walls of casks used to age wine.
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CULINARY CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Click here: http://foodreference.com/html/crosswords.html
to print the latest Culinary Crossword puzzle
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A copy of this newsletter and previous newsletters is on the
Food Reference WebSite at
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© copyright James T. Ehler, 1990, 2001, All rights reserved.
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James T. Ehler (webmaster, cook, chef, writer)
3920 S. Roosevelt Blvd
Suite 209 South
Key West, Florida 33040
E-mail: james@foodreference.com Phone: (305) 296-2614
Food Reference WebSite: http://www.foodreference.com
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