Text 2103, 144 rader
Skriven 2006-06-14 12:18:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av CAROL BRYANT
Ärende: From NYT Magazine 809
=============================
Hi u E

What are you doing reading the NYT? Must be boring
without me around.

 -=> Carol Bryant said to All <=-
 CB> The Way We Eat: Market Value
 CB> By AMANDA HESSER

There are some interesting things in this article, but
it perpetuates some odd misconceptions as well. Oh, speaking
of famous food writers, Beth treated herself for finishing
her article about the rise of the turkey to de facto national
bird by coming out with us. Jan's husband had a late-scheduled
business meeting, Lee was going to leave Mary and the kid home,
only he had to go to the hospital to be stitched up (not to
outdo me, I guess) when he sliced his wrist with a hedge trimmer
or something, so there were the four of us only at dinner.

 CB> When it comes to food, the principles of supply and demand do not
 CB> always apply. Food is about the senses, and its value is determined by
 CB> something less rational. Rarity may put a special gloss — and price —
 CB> on some foods, but so will fashion and the perennial need for new
 CB> flavors. 
 CB> For example, monkfish was once considered trash fish in New England.
 CB> In the 1970's, it was rumored that unscrupulous scallop processors
 CB> would cut rounds from the tails, bleach, bread and freeze them and sell
 CB> them as ersatz scallops. Then American fishery stocks began declining
 CB> at the same time that interest in Continental cuisine was growing. "As

This is a rumor that was first bruited about about skate. In
fact, monkfish has no textural similarity to either skate or
scallops.

 CB> people became more worldly and looked up to France as the guiding light
 CB> with food," said Jasper White, the chef and owner of Summer Shack,
 CB> which has four locations in the Northeast, "people started taking
 CB> monkfish seriously." Some began calling it "poor man's lobster." (If
 CB> you poach monkfish and sniff the liquid, you'll understand why.) It now
 CB> sells for up to $20 a pound in New York City.

But real lobster meat in NYC costs $40+ lb for the fresh stuff.

 CB> Fashion has always been a powerful and unwieldy influence on a food's
 CB> value. It was less than a century ago that New York's top restaurants
 CB> served terrapin — a small turtle — as if it were foie gras. And even

Still is that expensive, when you can get it.

 CB> 20 years ago the idea of paying to eat sea urchin seemed as ridiculous
 CB> as paying for bottled water.

I am not exactly in the vanguard, and I was eating sea urchin
35 years ago.

 CB> Likewise, there was a time in Italy when white truffles were eaten as
 CB> a vegetable, like peas.

Well, they stink as much as peas, but I'd rather eat the peas.

 And in Russia, caviar was once used to clarify
 CB> broth. 

Ewww.

 CB> Short ribs took a similar rags-to-riches path. As steaks became
 CB> cheaper and more widely available in the 1970's, lesser cuts like short
 CB> ribs, which are fatty and require long cooking, were nearly driven out
 CB> of the market. For years almost no one ate them — which put the cut in
 CB> a perfect position to be rediscovered by Mario Batali and a few other
 CB> top chefs who would elevate their menu price into the realm of a luxury
 CB> food. 

What she means is that nobody ate them who reads the New
York Times. I imagine that readers of the Post or the Daily
News ate more such delicacies then than now.

 CB> pudding of leftovers." In the early 19th century, the chef Antonin
 CB> Carême gave it a makeover. He swapped the bread for ladyfingers and
 CB> added cream, and soon it was being served on bone china.

Antoine is the name by which he was known to himself, his
colleagues, and posterity. How did you get that lovely
omega in the message?

 CB> The only true luxury foods remain those that are actually scarce: wild
 CB> Atlantic salmon, hand-harvested oysters, wild herbs and game. Though
 CB> hard to find, these delicacies are available to all comers in the wild,
 CB> if you know where and how to procure them. But since most of us don't,
 CB> we'll happily, even blindly, spend our savings on them — and apparently
 CB> anything else deemed delicious, novel and valuable.

Read this sentence carefully. Sense? Sounds almost
as if my brother wrote it.

--mm
Skewered Tortellini with Lemon Cream
cat: appetizer
yield: 1 batch

tortellini, your favorite brand
h - assembly
bamboo skewers
2-3 T butter
1/2 bn fresh parsley; chopped
1/2 bn fresh thyme; chopped
2 T lemon zest
h - lemon cream
2 md shallots; finely diced
3 cl garlic
1 c white wine
1 1/2 lemons; juice of
olive oil
1 T pesto
3 c heavy cream
1/4 c Parmesan, grated

For the lemon cream:
Saute the shallots and garlic in olive oil until golden. Add
the wine and lemon juice and reduce until almost gone and is a
syrupy consistency. Puree this mixture with 1 T of pesto and
reserve.

In a separate pot, combine the cream with the Parmesan and
reduce by half. While this mixture is still warm but not hot,
pulse it 5-10 times in a blender or food processor to
completely blend in the Parmesan. Let cool completely.

Combine the lemon and cream mixtures.

For the tortellini:
Cook and chill your favorite tortellini. Brown the tortellini in
butter over medium heat with the parsley and thyme. Place two
tortellini on each skewer. Garnish with lemon zest and parsley.
Serve with lemon cream for dipping.

Suggested wine: Domaine Carneros Blanc de Blancs.

http://www.domaine.com/domkitch.html
Domaine Carneros by Taittinger

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