Old World Food
Jun. 13th, 2011 10:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pecuniumOld world food.
When one thinks about the cuisine before Columbus opened the Americas to Europe the idea tends to be that food without peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, chocolate, kidney; pinto, lima, string and green beans, grapefruit, winter squashes, avocado, wild rice, several mints, tarragon, mango, pineapple, pecans, cashews, peanuts, passion fruit, papaya and guava (to name most, but not all) would have to be dull.
Tonight I made a stew which didn't have anything from the "new world".ladymondegreen can't eat nightshades.
We happen to be on the road (we spent a few days in Pasadena withladymondegreen's friend tibicina (whom I suddenly realised I probably knew as we were approaching her house... she's a high school friend of an ex-girlfriend of mine. The world is a small place), and are in SLO now).
Becauseladymondegreen keeps kosher we have to either eat in restaurants that don't violate her sense of kashrut or cook. Since we are three people tavelling by car we have limited kitchen equipment.
It means food has been (as we are pretty much shifting camp every couple of days... we had a wedding to attend in vegas) a bit hit or miss. Interestingly, the TJ's in SLO has more kosher meat than the one in Pasadena did. She decided we'd eat beef. So I thought of a stew. We headed next door to the Food For Less and got parsnips, carrots, celery, onion and rutabaga.
Cut the meat to bite sized chunks and the onion to pieces (whileladymondegreen was doing the carrots and parsnips). I got the meat in the pan, and went to work on the celery. Added the celery and onions when the meat was browned. Tossed in a bit of salt and a slop of cider vinegar. Let them sweat, and the liquor start to caramelise a bit, while she was finishing the rutabaga, and chopped some crimini.
Added the crimini to the mix, let it cook some.
Tossed in the root veggies, and flipped the lid on the double dutch oven and made a roux (with olive oil), sloshed a bit of water into it, and added it.
Let the whole mess simmer for about an hour. I'd not used all the meat andladymondegreen was marinating it in cider vinegar and dijon. I decided the meat was not enough for the amount of veggies, and cut it up, added it (and some of the marinade). Let it cook for about 20 minutes. The new meat was done, but a bit chewy.
It was, however, really good. A bit sweet, a bit bright, and well suited to a fairly-fruity hard cider.
And something one could have made in most of Europe, without anything newer than 1491.
When one thinks about the cuisine before Columbus opened the Americas to Europe the idea tends to be that food without peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, chocolate, kidney; pinto, lima, string and green beans, grapefruit, winter squashes, avocado, wild rice, several mints, tarragon, mango, pineapple, pecans, cashews, peanuts, passion fruit, papaya and guava (to name most, but not all) would have to be dull.
Tonight I made a stew which didn't have anything from the "new world".
ladymondegreen can't eat nightshades.We happen to be on the road (we spent a few days in Pasadena with
ladymondegreen's friend tibicina (whom I suddenly realised I probably knew as we were approaching her house... she's a high school friend of an ex-girlfriend of mine. The world is a small place), and are in SLO now).Because
ladymondegreen keeps kosher we have to either eat in restaurants that don't violate her sense of kashrut or cook. Since we are three people tavelling by car we have limited kitchen equipment.It means food has been (as we are pretty much shifting camp every couple of days... we had a wedding to attend in vegas) a bit hit or miss. Interestingly, the TJ's in SLO has more kosher meat than the one in Pasadena did. She decided we'd eat beef. So I thought of a stew. We headed next door to the Food For Less and got parsnips, carrots, celery, onion and rutabaga.
Cut the meat to bite sized chunks and the onion to pieces (while
ladymondegreen was doing the carrots and parsnips). I got the meat in the pan, and went to work on the celery. Added the celery and onions when the meat was browned. Tossed in a bit of salt and a slop of cider vinegar. Let them sweat, and the liquor start to caramelise a bit, while she was finishing the rutabaga, and chopped some crimini.Added the crimini to the mix, let it cook some.
Tossed in the root veggies, and flipped the lid on the double dutch oven and made a roux (with olive oil), sloshed a bit of water into it, and added it.
Let the whole mess simmer for about an hour. I'd not used all the meat and
ladymondegreen was marinating it in cider vinegar and dijon. I decided the meat was not enough for the amount of veggies, and cut it up, added it (and some of the marinade). Let it cook for about 20 minutes. The new meat was done, but a bit chewy.It was, however, really good. A bit sweet, a bit bright, and well suited to a fairly-fruity hard cider.
And something one could have made in most of Europe, without anything newer than 1491.
