Last Thursday was Holy Thursday (also called Maundy Thursday), the commemoration of The Last Supper and the institution of The Eucharist. The Last Supper was a Passover seder, so we have a pretty good idea what Jesus and his apostles ate. The bread would have been unleavened. So all those pictures that show Jesus holding what looks like the end of a loaf of French bread are inaccurate. In many homes and restaurants in New Orleans--most notably Dooky Chase's--
Today's Flavor
It's Peach Cobbler Day. Peach cobbler is easy enough to make: you bake some fresh peach slices with a little sugar and cinnamon until they're soft. Then you drop spoonfuls of sweetened biscuit dough into the baking dish, mix them up, and bake again until it browns.Not enough restaurants serve peach cobbler. The best I ever had around here was at the Coffee Pot on St. Peter Street, where they'd serve it, only on Saturdays, in a big beer schooner with whipped cream. Its only drawback was that it was very sweet, which is a hallmark of the dessert. I think it would be better if made with fresh peaches and less sugar.
Bad Taste Through History
In 1883, Alferd Packer
Music To Eat Barbecue By
Bob Nolan, the long-time leader and baritone of The Sons of the Pioneers, was born today in 1908. The group--founded by Roy Rogers, and appearing in many of his movies--was the most famous of the many cowboy harmony groups in the 1930s through the 1950s. In addition to having an immediately recognizable voice, Nolan wrote hundreds of songs, of which the most famous are Cool Water and Tumbling Tumbleweeds.
Annals Of The Soda Fountain
Today is the birthday, in 1852, of F.W. (Frank Winfield) Woolworth. He founded the dime store chain that bore his name. While most of what they sold were dry goods, most of us remember Woolworth's (or, as they pronounced it on Magazine Street, "Woolswoit's") for its lunch counter. Many breakfasts, burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and malts were enjoyed at Woolworth's in those pre-fast-food times. It was a very big deal when I was a kid.
Culinary Royalty
CatherineDeMedici-Today is the birthday, in 1519, of Catherine de Medici. She was the granddaughter of Lorenzo ("The Great") de Medici, one of the major figures behind the Renaissance in Italy, and a practitioner of a high style of living. Catherine inherited a taste for the finer things. Legend has it that when she married King Henry II of France, she brought her Italian chefs with her. Supposedly, those chefs inspired French grand cuisine. Italian chefs love that story, but it's not really true. French cuisine was already fairly well developed by that time, if not quite up to the level to which the Medicis were accustomed. Still, Catherine was quite a woman. Among other accomplishments, she was the mother of three French kings.
Food Namesakes
Actor Harry Leek-better known as Howard Keel (leek spelled backwards) was born today in 1919. He was in Dallas on TV, as well as Kiss Me, Kate and other movies. . . Janet Cook won a Pulitzer Prize today in 1981 for an article she later admitted she made up. (The award was taken away.) . . .Schalk Burger, a professional rugby player from South Africa, hit the Big Field today in 1983.
Words To Eat By
"An apple is an excellent thing--until you have tried a peach."George du Maurier.
Words To Drink By
"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted ox and hatred."-Unknown origin.
