Eating your way through history (or: Happy Indigenous Peoples Day!)

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stuffed squashFor as long as I can remember, people have been taking bites out of the notion that Christopher Columbus was a hero. Maybe it was just my liberal New York upbringing, but I just cannot recall a lesson or discussion about the guy without a crack about how mistaken he was and what a terrible thing Americans did trying to say he discovered our country.

Even my grandmother got into it, and was fond of reciting the following poem about him:

In 1492, what did Columbus do?

He sat on the grass

And scratched his ass

In 1492

So yes, it’s not new to me to prod that gallant story with a sharp-tined fork. But still I will offer a little suggestion for how to celebrate this Columbus Day–a.k.a. Indigenous Peoples Day–in politically-correct foodie style. Continue reading →

Eating local in real life

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20071007_0004Want to see how real people whose regular breakfast isn’t granola eat local? Check out Locavore Nation. The eastern region blog includes someone close–Autumn Long from West Virginia. But just to warn you, she’s kind of an exception to the “real people” rule. Her average breakfast is probably not only crunchy, but plucked that day from a tree of crunchy things that she and her homesteading husband planted with their own hands.

Food revolution

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While I like the book and the people behind Veggie Revolution, I don’t think you have to write a manifesto to invoke change through food.

Maybe you can start with food resolutions you’d like to make. Got any?

Here are a few of mine: Bake bread more often, and don’t always use the bread maker; invite people over for dinner; educate myself about the global food crisis.

Oh bubbles for change

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Sauerkraut
My Partner in Fermentation and I have embarked on yet another sauerkraut adventure. After trying it with too much salt, too little salt, not enough packing down of the shredded cabbage, and letting it ferment in a place that we now know was too warm, we may have gotten all the variables to line up in our favor.

It’s been three days, during which time Rosh Hashana came and went, and I just opened one of the two quart jars. It had been sitting in my bedroom, the one place in the apartment that’s consistently 70 to 72 degrees — the preferred temp for those lactobacilli that make it all happen. The cabbage looked well covered in liquid, thanks to the innovation of pounding it with the salt before packing it into jars. The opening of the metal cap was accompanied by a slight slurp and a few bubbles. Then more bubbles. Then more, percolating up to the surface so fast I speed walked it to the kitchen sink,  visions of shaken up seltzer bottles sputtering before me.

This was a good sign. Continue reading →

Hello, Handsome

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As the saying goes, a good wok is hard to find. Or maybe that’s my own oddball variation on something people actually say. But the point is that you can’t just wake up one day in the middle of DC, USA and find yourself a wok by nightfall. You have to know what you want, first of all, and then you have to troll the websites and the stores–and, yes, rely on a little luck–to get it. Continue reading →

Tofu Kabobs with Roasted Red Pepper-Maple BBQ Sauce

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bbq sauceCurious how much of a slacker I am? Check this out: I made the dish you are about to see for the same event that Gaurav made his chhole curry. That recipe was written up and posted long ago, and I’m only just now getting to this one. And it’s not for lack of reminders. One person has been waiting vigilantly for this.

Also, the photo accompanying this post isn’t even kabobs! It’s the  sauce described here but it’s slathering slices of veggie sausage instead of skewered tofu.

Anyway, enough about my slack-a-day tendencies. Continue reading →

Love Them Words!

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Time for some vocabulary! Here are a few terms you might see at, oh, say, the Dupont Circle Farmers’ Market on a Sunday morning:

Herbs de Provence (as in Keswick Creamery feta cheese with…)–An herb mix usually containing thyme, rosemary, marjoram, basil, savory, tarragon, and lavendar.

Gai-lan/kai-lan–Chinese broccoli. It looks a lot like broccoli rabe, broccolini, or rapini. Apparently, it’s kinda bitter.

Tatsoi–Asian green usually sold by the whole head. It’s similar to bok choi in look and flavor, but has shinnier, darker green leaves.

Hope you feel smarter, and perhaps a bit hungrier!

Also, overheard at the farmers’ market:

“Did you see that PETA video this week? I’ll bet everyone is forwarding it to you. Terrible!” The speaker, at this point, reached for a toothpick and commenced spearing a bacon sample. “I’m never eating meat that’s not organic again.”