How to Feed 100,000 People a Day

In a world that seems unable to work together even to solve the simplest of problems, Valerie Berteau and Philippr Witjes have produced a stunning documentary film, entitled Himself Who Cooks, that follows the efforts of hundreds of volunteers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India as they feed up to 100,000 people every day. 

Yes, that’s correct -100,000 meals in a day from the Temple's Langar Kitchen.  Bertau and Witjes capture in beautiful imagery, frame by frame, the spontaneous choreography of hundreds of hands moving in unison to the pulse of a spiritual expression found through the creation and sharing of food for all. 

The Golden Temple is itself as unique as the film, because it is not only a central religious center for Sikhism but also serves as a shining symbol of brotherhood and equality for all people. As a result, everyone, regardless of creed, race, sex, nationality or social status, is welcome without hindrance or restriction to dine respectfully together in peace and fellowship.

What makes this documentary even more unique is that Philippe Witjes, who worked with Berteau as co-author and film maker, is himself a professional chef.  As a result, many images of everyday beauty, that others might have overlooked, are captured and presented as moments of meaning within food service.

Many thanks to this creative team for reminding us all, that between the plates and pans, food, when all is said and done, is about fellowship with others and so, hopefully, with the world around us.

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

Easy as Sliced Bread!

This week, 85 years ago, in 1928 O.F. Rohwedder delivered his newly invented slicing machine to the Missouri’s Chillicothe Baking Company and bread has never been the same since.

The uniform slices not only delighted many a weary housewives and legions of fatigued chefs, it also brought cheers from the companies that produced toasters. The standardized slices produced by Rohwedder’s marvelous new machine insured that irregular slices would never get stuck again (and horror-of-horrors never burn) in the toaster.  

As a result, toaster sales soared, resulting in a nearly endless variety of designs. Today collectors rejoice when they can locate these unique units. But the impact of sliced bread didn’t stop there.

The production of lunch boxes, especially those designed to catch the eye of school children, equally exploded and standardized to match the size of the newly standardized commercially produced sliced loafs of white bread.

Soon breads such as Wonder Bread constituted the key component of the “wonderful” sandwich Jack and Jane ate in their school lunch room – with few noticing at the time the vitamins missing from the bread.

Today school lunch programs are far more aware of nutrition – or at least should be.  From Michele Obama’s White House Garden to chef led programs such as those proposed by Jamie Oliver and Charlie Trotter, insightful school cooks are shifting from a commercially baked bread centered diet to one of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables.

Yet old habits (good or bad) die hard and America STILL has an ongoing love affair with sliced bread, even including such phrases as “the easiest thing since sliced bread “ and  “as easy as sliced bread” in everyday speech.

So what’s the latest expression of affection for the grand ol’ loaf? It’s a birthday cake shaped like a beloved peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

A special novelty baking pan, entitled the "Cakewich Pan", shapes the cake into sliced bread shapes and fruit frosting mimics the traditional sandwich jelly.

Only in America!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

The Best Bread in Paris!

One cannot think of Paris without also thinking of French bread or more correctly beautiful baguettes. Long and tapered, elegantly crisp on the outside yet cloud light on the inside, they reflect the wonderful duality that is the City of Lights itself.

So as you might expect, the quality of the city’s famed baguettes is a matter of no small importance to the citizen (and the government) of Paris.

This year Lyne Cohen-Solal, the Deputy Mayor in charge of Paris’ trade and crafts, headed a skilled jury that was composed of personalities from the Industry and catering sector, including past winners as well as every day citizens of the city.  

Once assembled, the judges initially accepted 202 rods or”wands” of bread as the Paris bakers refer to them.  Each was banded with a number to insure equally fair evaluation. Fifty-two were then quickly rejected as not meeting the entry requirements of size and weight.

To win the final grand prize, registered baguettes had to be between 55 and 65 cm (21.6-25.5 inches), weigh between 250 and 300 grams (8.8-10.5 ounces) and have a salt content level of 18 grams per kilo of flour. Now those are precise standards but, after all, this Paris and this is about bread!

In the end 151 sticks (another trade phrase that the city’s bakers use) were accepted for consideration. Now the fun began. For the next few afternoon hours, every one of those 151 rods was smelled, visually evaluated and finally tasted. And the Grand Prize winner was…

Ridha Khadher, the artisan baker of Au Paradis du Gourmand in the City’s 14^th arrondissement, a district that had never won the prestigious award before. Indeed, the award had previously been claimed for six years in a roll by esteemed bakers in the Montmartre section of the City.

But, as the unanimous final vote demonstrated, things (especially those of a culinary nature) are always subject to change.  Just consider this year’s winner, Ridha Khadher.

Unlike many previous winners, he was not born within the culinary heritage of France. Instead, he was born in Tunisia and came to Paris when 15 to seek a better life. But  he would be the first to tell any other insightful baking chef, success did not come overnight.

It took many jobs and many long hours over 24 years of work to prefect his winning recipe. His secret he says is not a change of ingredients because then what would be produced would not be a true baguette. Instead, the secret is hard work and insightful skill. What chef wouldn’t agree with that?

His award winning (more on that in a moment) bread require 24 hours of labor and attention to create, compared to the traditional five hours used by many other bakers. Many of those additional hours are involved in hand kneading and patiently waiting as the dough matures and ripens.

As a result, his bakery can only produce between 800 to 1,000 wands of bread a day but they are more than worth the wait.  Some of these much sought after loafs are now going to be delivered daily to the Élysée Palace as that is part of the winning prize along with € 4,000 (USD $5,230). Very Nice!

When asked if the money (and the fame) would encourage him to expand or modernize, the 42 year old master baker just smiled and said no. Life (and his bread) are fine just as they are - thank you.

Now that’s truly winning.

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

Celebrate Easter All Year Long with French Cloche Bells

Not everyone celebrates Easter with chocolate Easter eggs. The French have a charming tradition that honors the Spring Holiday with both sweet chocolate and savory bread.

During the medieval period, the Church in Rome dictated that from Good Friday to Easter Sunday all village church bells in France would be silenced to honor the liturgy of Christ’s suffering.

And while this might seem a noble idea in the Vatican, it was one that caused great concern in France’s small rural towns.  

For you see, in a world without clocks and phones, the church bells regulated the activities of the everyday worker.  Their tolling marked the start of day before the sun rose and its end as the star came out. Without their rising, life was without order or focus.

To justify their silence, local priests created a legend that the bells, high in their church towers, actually flew through the air to Rome on the eve of Good Friday carrying all the sins of the villages with them.

Once in Rome, the reigning Pope would absolve the collective sins and send the bells flying back through the air, ready to ring loud and clear on Easter morning. 

Over time what was once thought of as fact transformed itself into a charming tradition, one now celebrated by the French through the exchange of chocolate bells on Easter morning.

These sweet bells, or “cloche” as they are called in French, are often molded and elaborately decorated. But that is not the only “cloche” honored in French cuisine.

Since medieval times, French bakers have used clay cloche or bell pans to bake their bread in. Their design insures a crisp crust and a cloud soft interior. In other words, a perfect French loaf.

Commercial made cloche pans are available and are excellent. You can also create a personal cloche from unglazed terra cotta pots.

Add a stainless steel ring hook to seal the planter drainage hole. Oil the base plate and preheat in the oven before adding your raised dough. (Be careful when transferring the dough not to touch the heated the lower plate).

Bake at the temperature and time stated in your recipe. The results will make you want to celebrate Easter all year long!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

Easter Dove Shaped Bread Marks a Flaming End to Lent in Florence Italy

No one, but no one, celebrate Easter like the citizens of Florence, Italy.

In a tradition that's centuries old, teams of white oxen, bedecked in flowers (after all, the word Florence literally means the “City of Flowers”) draw a massive and mysterious 30 foot wooden structure, which is over 500 years old, through the cobblestone streets.

This Easter tradition honors Pazzino de’ Pazzi, who in 1097 was the first soldier to scale the walls of Jerusalem during the First Crusade. (Hopefully in more modern times, we will be more mature as citizens of a mutually shared planet and not hurl rocks and stones at each other.) 

But in 1097, Pazzino was climbing the Holy City’s walls and was later given three fire-striking flint stones from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as a reward for his achievement, which considering their source, made them holy relics in the 11^th  century.

Being a citizen of Florence, Pazzino placed the newly acquired relics, on returning to his beloved City State, in the care of the Church, what has honored them ever since on Easter morning.

Then as now, when the tall antique tower reaches the Piazza del Duomo, a Mass Pasqua will have just been completed. With its arrival, the real fun begins in what the Florentines call the Festival of Scoppio del Carro.

A long fuse wire will have been attached from the Duomo's high altar to the elaborate wooden tower outside. A dove, symbolizing the hope for peace and harmony, is then ignited at the altar and, with fire and sparkles, shoots down the length of the Cathedral towards the outside tower.

The flaming dove then flies into the tower, which is affectionately called “the cart” by the Florentines, to the delight of thousands gathered outside. Inside the wooden structure are hidden fireworks, which then ignite and shoot off to the cheers of the citizens, Everyone is grateful that the dietary limitations of the Lenten season are finally over as the flaming dove flies back to the Cathedral altar.

And how do the Florentine citizens celebrate their new freedom to dine without restraints? Why, with a slice of Florence's famed Colomba dove shaped Colomba bread.

And while many might say, this legendary loaf is only vaguely bird-shaped, the Florentines might reply,

"Don't worry. Life, like the flaming dove of the Cathedral, shoots by all too quickly. The outlines of one’s life don't matter all that much - as long as we have the courage to truly savor the elegant contents of both the loaf and life itself!"

Happy Easter! May your life always be full of flavor!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013