August 18, 2017
Days Until. . .
Coolinary Summer Specials End 14
Today's Flavor
Today is National Ice Cream Pie Day. The ice cream pie was most celebrated locally at the Pontchartrain Hotel, whose Caribbean Room restaurant served a classic version. Mile-High Ice Cream Pie, as they called it, had layers of vanilla, chocolate, and peppermint, topped with a thick layer of meringue, then a flow of warm chocolate sauce. When I was in my early twenties I ate a whole piece once. The waiter registered astonishment and said, "It's the policy of the house that when you finish a mile-high pie, you can have another slice free!"
The Old Kitchen Sage Sez:
Birthday dinners with chills and flames
Call forth cheap thrills and easy games.
Ice cream mounds are simple to make
Open freezer, whipped cream shake,
Light the candles, sing the ditty.
Nothing to it! The smiles are pretty.
Annals Of Seafood
This is the day on which, according to local lore, the soft-shell shrimp appear in the nets of the shrimp fishermen. We know soft-shell crabs well enough, and soft-shell crawfish appear now and then. But soft-shell shrimp are almost unheard of. The probable reason: fishermen save them for themselves. Who could blame them? Although even regular shrimp shells are moderately edible (I pull the heads and legs off, but eat the rest shell and all), you can completely devour these. All you need to do is cut off the eye stalks and the beak-like rostrum and, with care, the rest is edible. Soft-shell shrimp are particularly appealing as barbecue shrimp. I have no leads for suppliers, but keep your eyes open for them.
Gourmet Gazetteer
Hazelnut Knob is in the Great Smoky Mountains. It straddles the North Carolina-Tennessee state line, which runs along the ridgeline at around 3650 feet. A hiking trail follows the state line, so you can walk to the top of Hazelnut Knob. The knob itself is a number of rock outcroppings that do look like the namesake nuts. All this is 116 miles east of Chattanooga, Tennessee by automobile. Better pack a lunch: it's a ten-mike hike to the nearest restaurant, Tellico Beach Drive-In, on the Tennessee side.
Edible Dictionary
shrub, A syrup-like ingredient used mostly by mixologists to add fruity flavors to a cocktail. They usually begin with berries, which are crushed and strained into the texture you'd want if you were making jam from the berries. Fruit juices, vinegar (made with cider or the like), and sugar are the remaining additives. The word shrub is a reference to the low bushes on which the berries grow. Shrubs have been around a long time, and were particularly favored in the Revolutionary era of the 1700s. They have lately become more popular than they have been in a decade, as bartenders search for little-known ingredients with authenticity for their new concoctions.
Restaurant Namesakes
Genghis Khan died today in 1224, after conquering more land than any single person in history. A long-running restaurant bearing his name, owned by violinist Henry Lee, operated for twenty-five years on Tulane Avenue. It moved downtown, but didn't last long there. Henry Lee himself passed away in 2017, after spending his last years in Houston and New Orleans, teaching music to young people. He was also the first-chair violinist of the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra for many years. He made sure that live musicians were always playing at Genghis Khan.
Food Namesakes
The Spitfire Grill won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival today in 1996. . . Dan Quayle was nominated as George Bush I's running mate, right here in New Orleans, on this date in 1988. . . Comic actress Elayne Boosler was born today in 1952. . . In the Athens Olympics in 2004, Paul Hamm won the men's gymnastics all-around gold medal by the closest margin in history. . . Former basketball pro Fat Lever had the Big Tipoff today in 1960.
Words To Eat By
"Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos taste a hell of a lot better."--Robert Redford, born today in 1937.
Words To Drink By
"Drink today, and drown all sorrow;
You shall perhaps not do it tomorrow;
Best, while you have it, use your breath;
There is no drinking after death."--Ben Jonson.
