Wednesday, February 19th, 2020
Brennan's In Houston Is Back. Diamond Jim Eats Some More. Cracker Jacks And Cherry Coke. Cod War. Cornish Hen. Cornish Pasties. Hentown. Tsingtao Beer. Picnic. Strawberry Shortcake.
Eating Around Houston (!) Today
Brennan's in Houston reopened on Mardi Gras. 2010 It burned disastrously the night Hurricane Ike came through in September 2008, and had been closed ever since. But the restaurant is such an integral part of the Houston dining scene that there was never any doubt that it would be rebuilt. The building is historic, inspired by the French Quarter mansion Brennan's on Royal Street occupies now. What's ironic is that both buildings predate by many decades the founding of Brennan's. Brennan's in Houston is operated by Alex Brennan Martin, the son of Ella Brennan. If you find yourself going to Houston, call Commander's before you leave and ask them to make a reservation at Brennan's for you. They love having New Orleans people show up there. It has a style all its own, blending Creole and Southwestern flavors. Beautiful place, too--one filled with the well-connected, especially at lunch. My wife likes it so much she even made me drive there for dinner and an overnight one anniversary.
Brennan's In Houston. Downtown Houston: 3300 Smith St. 713-522-9711.
Food In Peace And War
The Cod War broke out today in 1976 between Iceland and Great Britain. No shooting took place, but the two countries were at each other's diplomatic throats over the rights to the dwindling populations of the fish. Who cares about cod? Nobody whose food choices are made according to taste, of course. But the economic importance of codfish was so great that a whole book has been written about it. A good one, too, by Mark Kurlansky. It's called Cod.
Food Calendar
Today is National Rock Cornish Game Hen Day. Cornish hens are little chickens, and in terms of flavor and cooking that about sums it up. They're a cross of two chicken breeds, developed specifically for marketing purposes in the 1960s. They had a gourmet cachet, and so appeared on the menus of many fancy restaurants. They're smaller than regular chickens because they develop a large enough breast to harvest after only a few months.
I like Cornish hens because you can serve a whole bird per person without waste. Like chickens, they are especially good when roasted on a rotisserie. Brining them makes a big improvement in the moistness of the meat--as it does with chickens and turkeys. Because they're so small, you can stuff them with various things and roast them without much possibility of a food-safety problem. The best Cornish hen we ever had was the one they used to have at Arnaud's, stuffed with a rough pork pate and served with a wine and tomato sauce.
The most unusual good Cornish hen preparation is what Joe Sobol used to do at Frankie's Cafe. He'd coat them with seasoned flour and deep fry them, whole. It was fried chicken on the hoof, more or less, and that actually worked.
Delicious-Sounding Places
Hentown, altitude 192 feet, is a crossroads in the southeastern corner of Alabama, thirty-six miles east of Dothan. It's deep in the farming country, with a mix of field crops and pecan groves. You have to drive six miles up AL 1 to find a restaurant. That's Georgia Brown's, in Blakely.
Edible Dictionary
Cornish pasty, [PASS-tee], n.--Better known in Cornwall, England than the Cornish hen is this meat-filled, baked turnover made with pie crust. Part of the traditional presentation is to have the seam folded over and crimped in such a way as to resemble a braid along the curved edge. The classic filling is beef with cubes of potatoes and rutabagas (the Brits call that last, turnip-like vegetable "swede"), all in a thick brown gravy. They have always been popular, but in recent years chains of shops specializing in pasties have spread. They fill the pies with many non-traditional things, from seafood to cheese, as well as sweets. Some are even made with meat on one end of the pasty and sweet fillings on the other, to make a whole meal.
Deft Dining Rule #159: Always assume when biting into any half-moon-shaped pie that the filling will be at the temperature of molten lava. This includes desserts, calzones, Cornish pasties, and empanadas.
Food In Science
Gottlieb Sigismund Kirchhof was born today in 1764. He was interested in the fermentation process in beer. His research led to a way to make glucose--the simplest of all-natural sugars. He also developed a method for refining vegetable oil that made that product easier to manufacture.
Annals Of Beer
The Tsingtao Brewery was founded today in 1903 by a company of Germans and British, who wanted to have recognizable beer for Europeans living in China. The original brewery (there are many now) was in Qingdao (the modern spelling of the place name) in Shandong province. There the Germans found superb spring water coming from the nearby mountains. The beer is a classic pilsner in style. You find Tsingtao in almost every Chinese restaurant in America, but you may have given up on it for awhile in the late 1990s when pollution in China gave their barley an unpleasant flavor aspect. Now, most of the grain comes from France, Canada, and Australia.
Food On Broadway
The William Inge play Picnic opened today in 1953 in New York City. The characters don't eat much, although they do drink quite a bit. You get the idea they don't really enjoy picnics.
Great Moments In Gluttony
Diamond Jim Brady attended a dinner party in New York City today in 1910, and consumed four pounds of roast beef, seven dozen oysters, and almost three gallons of orange juice. He and his girlfriend Lillian Russell--thought of by American men of the time as the ideal of womanly beauty--often had meals like that, and she kept right up with him.
Annals Of Junk Food And Drink
Today in 1912, the first prize toy was inserted in boxes of Cracker Jack. The candy-coated popcorn with nuts was already nineteen years on the market, but the free prize really boosted sales. I was surprised to learn that these days you no longer get a toy in your box of Cracker Jack (I guess I haven't had any in a while). Instead, the prize is a card with games and fun facts and jokes. Bet it was some dumb liability problem.
Cherry Coke in bottles and cans was introduced today in 1985. It success hinged on the fact that it was, in fact, not new at all. People now over forty probably ordered a cherry Coke in a drugstore soda fountain, where it was made by squirting cherry syrup into the glass before filling it the rest of the way with Coca-Cola. Little known fact: Cherry Coke is made with New Coke.
Food Records
Today in 1999, the biggest strawberry shortcake ever baked was assembled in Plant City, Florida, where they grow a lot of strawberries in the winter (as we do here). It weighed more than three tons. I wonder whether they used real whipped cream.
Food And Drink Namesakes
Actress Margaux Hemingway was born today in 1955. She was named for the great Bordeaux red wine chateau, which her parents claim to have been drinking the night she was conceived. Her grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, was the author of A Moveable Feast, among many other classic works of literature. . . . John Fishman, drummer with the rock band Phish, was born today in 1965. . . Danielle Berry, creator of early computer games, was born as Daniel today in 1949.
Words To Eat By
"I don't like to say that my kitchen is a religious place, but I would say that if I were a voodoo priestess, I would conduct my rituals there."--Pearl Bailey.
