Month: August 2009

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what was once old is new again – part deux

a Fodar Pressure cooker from Bed Bath & Beyond
a Fogar Pressure cooker from Bed Bath & Beyond

There is a rule that says ‘the right tool for the right job’ and when it comes to cooking, this is especially true.

Well before the advent of microwave cooking came the  pressure cooker. The history of the pressure cooker is under some debate, depending on how you define it. One explanation goes as follows:

“In 1679, the French mathematician and physicist Denis Papin invented the first pressure cooker or steam digester as he called it. The story is whilst he was presenting his new steam digester to the Royal Society it exploded, leading him to invent the safety valve. Three years later he represented it to the Royal society and gained positive reviews.

The pressure cooker title was first seen in print in 1915. In 1927, the first pressure cookers were sold in Germany and in 1939 the world’s first commercial pressure cooker made by National Presto Industries was exhibited at the New York World’s Fair.”

However, if you define a pressure cooker as a vessel that is sealed and heated and the trapped steam helps cook the meal, then the pressure cooker has truly ancient roots… some might say, as early as the classical Greeks.

I found this rather inexpensive, but highly useful pressure cooker at the store chain  Bed, Bath and Beyond. You can find a lot of opinions ( on-line) on which type of pressure cooker you need for cooking or canning, but this one will suits my immediate purposes.

I suspect we will do more canning down the road and this will be helpful.

Roger Freberg

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what was once old is new again

honey comb tripe is from the second of four bovine stomachs
honey comb tripe is from the second of four bovine stomachs

My mother has a fondness of a great many culinary rarities: liver, sweetbreads, spinach and , yes, tripe. As a child of the depression, these were foods that were very familiar to her on the farm in which she grew up and for her 80th birthday, she asked me to ‘cook some up’ for her.

So before you turn your nose up, remember that you have had far more interesting things in that hot dog you so enjoyed… and some of that probably contained tripe! However, to be fair, the expression ‘that was the worst kind of tripe’ is well deserved because so many people do not know how to prepare it properly… especially in this century. The father of Greek Poetry  and William the Conqueror both praised the dishes that eventually became “Tripe a la mode de Caen” ( read  Laurousse Gastronomique 1961 or original French edition 1938)… and these dishes were featured in both  Escoffier’s “A guide to Modern Cookery” (1907) and the American classic  “Epicurean.” If it is made anywhere today, it is made very differently and hence the problem.

I am still sifting through the various debates of this famous Norman dish, but several things are clear. First, traditionally this meal is cooked in a hermetically sealed container to prevent any of the vapors from escaping, I think a modern pressure cooker will substitute. Secondly, I found a reference to the fact that the best animals to be used were  those in the fall. Why? The reason is that they had been feeding on fallen apples and the traces remained in the flesh… which I think is why cider and Calvados (apple brandy) is called for in some recipes. So the search goes on.

Next, another forgotten art is the making of cider. And since I have many many apples, we’re going to brew some up!

Lastly, the art of  home distillation is intriguing. It is important to know, that unless you live in New Zealand… this is still illegal in America…. but worth reading.

So, what was once old and forgotten tastes and techniques are making a resurgence.

Roger Freberg

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Modern life in slow motion

Laura (R) and her childhood friend "Pam" having a picnic at Cal Poly
Laura (R) and her childhood friend "Pam" having a picnic at Cal Poly

Sometimes we need to take the time to slow our lives down a little bit. This isn’t really hard in a place like San Luis Obispo where rural electrification is a new concept, but it is important to remember the simple things.

These past few days a childhood friend Pam and her daughter Jordan came up to Cal Poly to experience some of what Jordan can expect when she starts this fall. I suggested that we have a little picnic and brought rolled sandwiches, potato salad and Karen’s carrot cake ( actually Karen did make it when she was home last and it thawed out nicely). We are located in a rural environment, so naturally we brought our own water.

Our daughter Karen is at a conference in Boston and sent me the picture below and our experienced chef Kristin is somewhere in Iraq working on… of all things… a sushi meal!

Karen (L) is at a conference in Boston and Kristin (R) is in Iraq
Karen (L) is at a conference in Boston and Kristin (R) is in Iraq

As for me, I am uncovering myself from another pile of apples….

Roger Freberg

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spinach, liver and tripe

00 a dream

I think humankind has always fluctuated between starvation and indulgence, which probably explains why so many folks who start a diet  often bounce. Laura varies an incredible 2 lbs from day to day and her ability to maintain her weight after losing 80 pounds is remarkable. I am not so lucky.

For me, thankfully, I do not gain all my weight back as that would be very discouraging. Instead, I begin to creep up in weight until I absolutely must become strict and take it off. This is the way I manage such things. Since I love to cook, I enjoy my culinary experiences until I have to go cold turkey on Jenny Craig for a few weeks…. and take a ride in the fresh air.

Fortunately for me both apple pie and Baklava is in my future!

One of my mother’s favorite meals is ‘tripe’. Tripe is not without its detractors. You may remember from Harry Potter, Ron Weasley discussed the strange flavors that Bertie Bott’s “Every flavor Beans” contained… including: “spinach, liver and tripe.” If you have eaten a hot dog, you’ve had tripe plus a lot more interesting things.

So what I have seen in doing a little research on the subject of tripe is a varied account. Tripe is loved in many parts of the world including central and south America where it is called ‘Mondongo’. The biggest problem I can see with a meal of tripe is in the preparation. Tripe is often not prepared correctly or cooked long enough. However, I am working on it and I’ll have something to show you next month. Here’s a preview:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbTyxdyDqaA[/youtube]

Roger Freberg

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apple pies all year long?

Is there anything wrong with having apple pies all year long?
Is there anything wrong with having apple pies all year long?

I know that it sounds like I am getting a bit obsessed about apples, but this years crop has been plentiful and wonderful. There is something about a healthy tree that seems to take care of itself without a lot of intervention. No longer do I have to sneak out and grab the apples in the dead of night before Laura is aware of what is happening to ‘her’ apples… and as I have written… there are more blossoms and more apples on the way!

I plan to keep about a dozen pies on hand and give away an equal amount… which is something I haven’t been able to do in the past… that’s called ‘sharing.’ So far, everyone seems to enjoy them.

So I am wondering for the first time in my life if I will find having  apple pies all year long a bit boring?  I guess if I wash it down with some home made french vanilla ice cream it won’t be too bad? 😉

Roger Freberg