Tuesday, February 18th, 2020
Edible Dictionary
hardtack. A rock-hard biscuit made of wheat flour and water and baked until it's so dry that it can neither become stale nor get moldy. The history of hardtack is dominated by stories of how it stood between survival and starvation. It has been identified with the military since Roman days but is particularly associated with sailing ships on long voyages. It's something you really have to be hungry to eat. And have good teeth.
Today's Flavor
The Web buzz is that today is National Sticky Bun Day. I haven't yet mentioned that February is National Potato Month. And today is National Hash Brown Potatoes Day. Hash browns are a fuzzy concept. In shape, and they run the gamut from large diced potatoes to finely shredded. They're usually cooked in a hot grill or skillet, but the other ingredients combined with it range from nothing at all to cheese, onions, bacon, ham, and whatever else the cook at the greasy spoon has handy. Everybody has a different preference.
Mine is for the way my wife Mary Ann makes them, which takes advantage of her penchant for burning things. She pre-bakes potatoes a little less than you would for eating. Then she melts some butter in a hot skillet and shreds the potatoes right into the skillet, scattering some chopped green onions as she goes. And there's salt and pepper. Then she walks away until she smells something burning, turns the potatoes over, and lets them go a little longer. This technique is terrible for most cooking, but happens to be perfect for hash browns, and the result is irresistible.
Gourmet Gazetteer
Spicy Branch is a stream running down from the foothills of the Appalachians in northeastern Kentucky. Its water runs through several intermediate streams before winding up in the Ohio and then the Mississippi. Cincinnati, Ohio is 129 miles downstream. This is the heavily-wooded hills-and-hollows countryside. Reach into the water of Spicy Branch, pull out a bottle of Tabasco, and head for lunch at the A&A Cafe, two miles away in Grayson.
The Old Kitchen Sage Sez:
If you're going to boil potatoes for any reason, buy potatoes that are all approximately the same size. You wouldn't believe what a difference this makes not only in texture but flavor, too.
Food Through History
Speaking of breakfast: Today was Mardi Gras in 1950. On that day, the first International Pancake Race took place in Liberal, Kansas. It still goes on every Shrove Tuesday there and is the premier celebration of a curious association between Mardi Gras and pancakes. It's one we honor almost not at all here. In Liberal, they invite a team of women from Olney, a town in England (where the tradition began), and the contestants run four hundred yards down a twisting course, flipping pancakes in a skillet as they do. And you'd think they have no fun in western Kansas!
Annals Of Food Writing
It's the publication date in 1925 of the first edition of which for my money is still the most interesting magazine in the world. The New Yorker, which I have read cover to cover each issue since a grade school teacher recommended I subscribe. Its longtime editor William Shawn ate in the Algonquin Hotel every day and ordered the same thing: a bowl of Special K with skim milk. This probably explains why the magazine didn't run anything about restaurants until a few years ago recently. My wish for the dining out reports in a bigger typeface has come true lately.
Annals Of Popular Cuisine
The first Jack In The Box hamburger restaurant opened in San Diego today in 1951. By my standards, it remains the worst large burger chain there is, barely edging out Hardee's for that dishonor.
Annals Of Overeating
Today is the birthday, in 1931, of Alka-Seltzer, one of the most effective remedies for an upset stomach. It's essentially an aspirin cocktail.
People We'd Like To Have Dinner With
Kelsey Grammer was born today in 1955. His character Frasier, on the brilliant television show of the same name, was the first I remember to profess a strong interest in fine dining and wine, and not as a parody, either. The wine-tasting scenes with Frasier's brother Niles reek with authenticity and captured much of their potential foolishness. The Frasier show even had a radio restaurant critic--a rare bird in real life, I can assure you.
Food And Wine Namesakes
Advertising executive Fairfax Cone was born today in 1903. . . Chantal Claret, lead singer for the rock group Morningwood, was uncorked today in 1982.
Words To Eat By
"A bachelor's life is a fine breakfast, a flat lunch, and a miserable dinner."--Francis Bacon (how ironic!).
