2020 Eight Maids. Milk. Milk Springs. Coconut Milk. Opening A Coconut. Spain. Smoking Bans. Peachy State. St. Basil. Aspirin. Happy New Year! 2020 is the two hundredth-forty-fourth year of the United States, the two hundred eighth year of the statehood of Louisiana, the three hundred second since the founding of New Orleans, the Chinese year of the rat (starting January 26), Byzantine year 7528 (until September 14), Jewish year 5780 (until September 19), Islamic year 1441 (until December 18), and the forty-second year of the publication of this newsletter (starting January 4). Today, though, another matter. This is the last time we'll wish you a Happy New Year here. But you and I will keep on saying that to people we meet for at least a couple of weeks. When do you stop saying "Happy New Year!"? I asked that question on the radio about ten years ago. It became a contest, and someone told me "Happy New Year!" on the air every day until sometime in August. The First Day of Christmas Eight maids a-milking may be showing up. In other versions of the same song, we're alerted to the fact that you ate by your mama's, have gold and silver tinsel for your tree, received an indoor plastic birdbath, and (our own lyrics) eight links of sausage. Food Calendar Back to those eight maids a-milking: One of them brings skim milk, which tastes terrible but keeps your bones strong. The second has one percent milk--too weak for coffee, but you can make good Creole cream cheese from it. The maid sells two-percent milk, which is tolerable for cereal, but not for mashed potatoes or bread pudding. Maid Number Four has whole, three-and-a-half-percent milkfat milk. Good old regular homogenized, which these days sells less well than two-percent. Behind her is a maid with four-plus-percent milk, made by smaller dairies like Smith's Creamery. You have to shake it, because the cream still rises to the top of the bottle, like in the old days. This stuff is fantastic for making cafe au lait. Milkmaid Five has light cream--also known as coffee cream. That's is hard to find around New Orleans, although it's common in the Northeast. For most purposes, instead of that, we'll have to use what the next maid has: half-and-half. Half cream and half milk, with about the milkfat content of light cream but not quite as good. (It's about fifteen percent.) Now here's the milkmaid with whipping cream at around thirty percent, good enough for making whipped cream. But for sauces, what we want is the offering of Milkmaid Eight, who has heavy whipping cream--forty percent butterfat. Put it in a jar and shake it, and you can make your own butter. Delicious-Sounding Places Milk Springs, Alabama is just off County Road 55, about twelve miles south of Florence, in the northwest corner of Alabama. It's a rural suburb of the Florence-Tuscumbia-Muscle Shoals urban area on the Tennessee River. The nearest restaurant of note is the Rocking Chair, two and a half miles north in Tuscumbia. Edible Dictionary coconut milk, n.--A white liquid made by grating the meat of a coconut and squeezing the liquid out of it. A second batch of thinner coconut milk can be made by adding water to the squeezed meat and squeezing it again. It is not the same as the sweet, almost clear liquid inside a fresh coconut. While it's possible to make your own coconut milk, in this country most of what's used comes from cans. Sometimes some of the milk coalesces into a soft solid inside these cans; this is not an indication of spoilage, and can be mixed right back into the rest of the milk. Coconut milk is most often used for cooking Southeast Asian dishes, particularly Thai. It has about the same fat content as half-and-half, so it's rather rich. It sours quickly, and after the can is open the remainder should be refrigerated and used soon. The Old Kitchen Sage's Cooking Tip #392: Here's how to open a coconut. Buy a quarter-inch drill bit and wash it. Use it only for this purpose, and store it in a kitchen drawer. With a cordless drill, drill into one of the eyes, and drain out the coconut water. Drink it! It will be sweet and it's very healthful. Then take the coconut outside and put it on concrete, Hit it hard with a hammer until it cracks open. A good fresh coconut's meat will fall from the shell. If it doesn't, use an oyster knife to separate it. Be careful! It's easy for your hand to slip while doing this. Eating Around The World Today in 1492--which would prove a big year for the country--the last stronghold of the Moors in Grenada fell to the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella, and modern Spain was born. The long Islamic domination of the Iberian peninsula blended with the previous Roman influence to create a rich and unique Spanish culture. Its food, architecture, and music are among the world's most influential, from Latin America to the Phillippines. In this country, we're just beginning to learn about the goodness of Spanish cooking, which has become very hip. Eating Across America Georgia, the Peach State, became the fourth of the United States on this date in 1788. It was the first Southern state to ratify the Constitution. Clear-Air Dining Today in 2007, smoking was banned in Louisiana restaurants, a move that a majority of people have wanted for years. Among them: most restaurateurs, who found the enforcement of smoking and non-smoking sections made both sides angry. Any fears about lost business don't seem to have come to pass. . . Coincidentally, today in 1966 was the first day on which cigarette packages were required to carry health warnings, the first step along the way to destroying the addictive popularity of what even smokers call "coffin nails." Deft Dining Rule #222: The era of the two-course dinner in gourmet restaurants is now officially underway. From this moment on, any more than that should be considered a major feast. The Saints
Today is the feast day of St. Basil the Great, a Greek church leader in the Fourth Century, one of the few saints with a food name. We also celebrate St. Macarius of Alexandria. Before he became a monk in 335, he made and sold pastries, candies, and fruit confections. For that reason, he is the patron saint of bakers of fancy pastries. Annals Of Overindulgence Remedies
Aspirin was first sold in tablet form on this date in 1915 by the drug's inventor, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer. Too bad. They really needed it the day before, the morning after a wild New Year's Eve party. (Or maybe not. This was right in the middle of World War I.) Food Names Defrocked TV minister Jim Bakker was born today in 1939. . . Perfect-game pitcher, Cy Young Award winner David Cone stepped onto the big mound on this date in 1963. . . Nathaniel Bacon was born today in 1647. He led a power struggle that became known as Bacon's Rebellion in the early Virginia colony. . . On this day in 1929, Evelyn "Bobbi" Trout set a new women's world record for flying endurance by being airborne for over twelve hours. . . Apsley Cherry-Garrard, a British explorer of the Antarctic and the author of the well-named Worst Journey In The World, left on his life's journey today in 1886. . . Words To Eat By
"My illness is due to my doctor's insistence that I drink milk, a whitish fluid they force down helpless babies."--W.C. Fields. "The human body has no more need for cows' milk than it does for dogs' milk, horses' milk, or giraffes' milk."--Michael Klaper, M.D. Yeah, but I wouldn't mind trying all of those! |
