Like Water for Choclate uses Magical Realism to capture the transformative qualities of everyday food and drink into something more. Also consider reading (and enjoying) Joanne Harris' amazing Chocolat.
Authors from Joanne Harris to Laura Esquivel have described food as part of a magical process that the world engages in each and every day yet often overlooks..
Situated in the heart of Amish country, the store’s welcoming male and female staff wears long beards and longer dresses.
And why not? They are Amish, members of a devoted religious community that emigrated from Switzerland to the United States during the early 1700’s seeking religious freedom.
Known for their purposeful life choices, the Amish choose to step back from many of the tools that set the pace of modern life, such as cars, phones, faxes, fashion – even electricity. They feel suchintrusions come at the cost of community, family life and personal peace.
Rocket Science Ice Cream follows in this latter tradition BUT with a twist. Their ice cream is made from thefinest fresh ingredients BUT frozen right before the purchaser’s eye using liquid nitrogen, set to 320 degrees below zero.
Least you think this constitutes a revolt against Amish principles, nitrogen is a natural ingredient and is purchased in tanks by the Amish – no electricity required.
The result is outstanding, the products used are local and so is the employment. And there are NO PLANS to franchise or build a Dairy-Queen sized empire. That’s not the Amish way.
And thrive they do. While many Amish farmers and business owners arrive to work by a horse-drawn buggy or on bike, their businesses rarely fail!
Surprised? Don’t be. The Amish deeply believe in staying small enough to maintain quality, keeping a low overhead, treating both employees and customers with kindness and practicing ethical frugality.
What chef wouldn’t agree with that – especially when the ice cream produced is, pardon the pun, simply out of this world!
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013
Today when people hear the word “Hershey’s” they think instantly of chocolate. But that was not always the case. In fact, Milton Hershey’s first fortune was crafted from caramels and baseball cards.
Hershey began his rags-to-riches life story in Derry Church, Pennsylvania, the son of religious Mennonite parents. Yet it was his mother Veronica “Fanny” who was the guiding light of his childhood. She taught him the value of hard work and the Bible’s Golden Rule, remembering always to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
He learned to work hard for what he wanted and what he wanted more often than anything else was something his family’s limited means did not allow - candy.
He saved the few pennies he made each week running errands just so he could make a special trip to the local candy shop.
By the time he was 13, those candy shops were located in the seven different towns his family had moved to and from.
As a result, his grades were very poor in school. It is not difficult to understand why he failed at his first apprenticeship to a newspaper editor (try absolutely no spelling skills).
But he found his calling as a confectionery apprentice. He work hard, very hard, and in four short years mastered the creation of sweets from hard candies to chocolate fudge.
At the early age of 18 he was ready to start his own company.
Years of failure followed as he moved from Philadelphia to Colorado to New Orleans and finally to New York City always trying to find the candy that would make his fortune.
Penniless and discouraged, he returned to Lancaster, Pennsylvania so broke he couldn’t even buy ingredients.
Everyone he tried to borrow money from to restart once again his business turned him down. He was, in short, a known loser.
Yet as he pleaded for additional funds at bank after bank, even with a major order from England for caramels in hand, one person only saw the opportunity that everyone else was overlooking.
That person was a lowly bank cashier at the Lancaster County National Bank.
Hershey was so grateful for this man’s support that he ran down the street in Lancaster, still in his work apron, with the English company’s check in hand to repay the loan that had saved (and started) his legendary career.
Soon orders were poring from around the world for his softer milk caramels, making him millions of dollars. But to his amazement, the largest orders seem to always come from Great Britain.
So at 37 years of age, he traveled to England and was amazed at what he found there. British candy merchants were discarding the American baseball cards he enclosed with his pound blocks of caramel candies. They then cut the blocks into individual pieces, dipped them in chocolate and sold them for a per-piece price that by far exceeded the profit margins that Hershey was making Stateside.
Hershey quickly understood that chocolate, not caramels, was the future. He returned to America and sold the caramel division of his company to American Caramel Company for $1 million dollars (roughly $25 million dollars in today’s currency).
The funds generated by the sale lay the foundation for the Hershey chocolate empire, which still produces and sales chocolate around the world.
American Caramel continued to produce caramels, packed with baseballs from 1909-1911. Baseball cards packed with caramels, instead of cigarettes or chewing tobacco, were popular with many mothers during this baseball-crazy era.
In fact, one of the most desired (and expensive) baseball cards sought after by modern collectors was produced during this period. Most recently the Shoeless Joe Jackson card released with the American Caramel Company sold for a stunning $79,000 at auction.
So when you're next at a game (or planning a sports related menu), remember caramels along with hot dogs and Cracker Jacks as part of baseball cuisine. They're sweet, versatile and definitely part of the all-American game of hope and challenge even in the bottom of the ninth or in life itself.
For as Shoeless Joe Jack would himself have been the first to say, "People will come!" if we but have the courage to believe that life is a Field of Dreams that we can make real - just as Hershey did with a little sugar and determined skill.
POST NOTE, April 8, 2013
No Smoking Please!
If you still have doubts that baseball cards (and caramels) still hold a place in America’s favorite game, just considerate that over the weekend a rare 1909 card sold for US$2.1 million.
Yes, that’s right – US$2.1 million! Wow! That card was of Honus Wagner, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Only 50 of the rare cards were produced by the American Tobacco Company before Wagner, who had never authorized their release, demanded the Company stop production.
Like Hershey, he did not approve of smoking and was concerned children would buy (and possible use tobacco) just to get the sport card.
In the future, his image on baseball cards was produced by the far healthier (and much sweeter) American Caramel Company. Bravo to an early baseball legend with a conscience ahead of his time, who cared more about children than self promotion! Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013
After all the Oscars are handed out at this year’s Academy Awards, those in the know will head to the Governors Ball where 1,500 lucky guests will dine on what must be the ultimate petite plate dinner, all thanks to Master Chef Wolfgang Puck.
Just consider, for example, the skill to create and serve all the following to all the Stars:
Sushi & Shellfish Station Cocktail Platters Truffle & Parmesan Grissini, Black Truffle Aioli Dip (v) Winter Fruit “Caprese” Bacon Wrapped Dates Rosemary Spiced Nuts and Pineapple
Small Plates Cold Japanese Baby Peach Salad Chinois Chicken Salad, Wontons, Chinese Mustard Dressing Kale Salad, Grilled Artichoke, Lemon Vinaigrette Tuna Niçoise Style, Green Olives, Fennel and Caper-Anchovy Vinaigrette Farro, Apple, Beet, Spiced Walnut
Small Plates Hot Chicken Pot Pie, Black Truffles Chestnut Tortellini, White Truffles Snake River Farms New York Steak, Matsutake Mushrooms Baked Potato & Caviar Steamed Red Snapper, Thai Spice Truffle Macaroni and Cheese Lobster with Black Bean Sauce Slow-Braised Lamb Shank “Shepherd’s Pie” Beluga Lentils, Cauliflower, Baby Vegetables
Desserts Created by Pastry Chef Sherry Yard Crystal Vacherin Melange of Berries and Crème Sugar Chandeliers, Hand Piped Strands of Royal Icing Cherry on Top Chocolate Pudding, Cherries, Chocolate Crumble, Vanilla Cream Mango Crumble Mango Brunoise, Passion Mango Cream Bon Bons Raspberry Lychee and Milk Chocolate Marzipan Snowball Ginger Meringue Dome, Cassis Sorbet, Yogurt Whip, Lavender Macaron Confetti, Blueberries Baked to Order Chocolate Souffle Cake with Shaved Espresso Ice Huckleberry Macarons Ribbons of Shaved Ice with Frozen Grapes Chocolate Crème Brulée with Raspberries
Cookies, Candies, Chocolates and such… Pistachio and Marzipan Pavé Concord Grape Lollipops Everyone’s Oscar Favorite Peanut Butter Chocolate Pop Rock Pop Caramels || Violet Velvet Truffles || Chocolate Shortbread The General Lee Cookie – Candied Walnut – Milk Chocolate Chip - Coconut Yuzu-Lemon Bars || Blueberry Financier Pops
And the cuilnary winner is....
EVERY HARD WORKING CHEF AND STAFF MEMBER!
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013
Soon the bright spotlights of Hollywood will shine high in the sky and the red carpet will be rolled out below. Cinematic star after star will walk that carpet and then take their seat, hoping that the T.V. cameras will focus on them as the announcer calls their name to come and claim a coveted Oscar.
Yet there are stars who have not sought the limelight or the Award. Some actors, such as Marlon Brando, have even chosen not to attend the Academy Ceremonies to avoid having to accept their award in person.
Another such ceremony-shy celebrity was Katharine (or Kate) Hepburn. Born into a socially aware New England family, she was not an actress who needed to be discovered, hopefully drinking sodas at Schwab's Drug Store lunch counter.
Her efforts were matched by her husband, Thomas Hepburn, who as a doctor also fought for the right of women to obtain safe and complete health care.
This was not, as you might guess, a household that produced passive Victorian daughters (or actresses). At every meal the six Hepburn children were encouraged by their parents to speak freely and debate any topic of interest. And while current events and individual sporting activities were often the subjects of dinner discussions, there was one topic and dessert that was enjoyed by all – brownies.
Like the senior Katharine, Bertha was an early advocate of women’s rights – both in the doctor’s office and at the ballot box. Her active support was vital to the success of the Women’s Building at the Columbian Exposition, right down the boxed lunches served there.
Palmer knew, as many of the early American feminists did, that mutual conversation and supportive fellowship was critical to the success of a national suffrage movement. If the women gathered at the Fair’s Pavilion could be prompted to linger over luncheon, common ground through conversation could be found.
But how? What better than a great new dessert – one too good to put down (but not too messy to enjoy). And that was the task that Bertha Palmer set for her skilled pastry chefs at the Palmer House.
Their resulting creation was the brownie (see recipe below). It was that same brownie that Kate’s mother served proudly to her progressive family, along with the story of its origin and purpose. These were the same brownies that Kate would later make for Hollywood friends as she passionately explained why talent and truth matters so much more than mere money or annual awards.
Let’s hope the Academy remembers this culinary lesson wrapped in sweet chocolate as they honor those who stand in the bright lights of fame brownies, on rich red carpets beneath California's starry skies.
PALMER HOUSE BROWNIES (With Many Thanks to Feminism and Hollywood)
INGREDIENTS
1lb 2 oz Semisweet Chocolate
1 lb Butter
1lb 8oz Granulated Sugar
8 oz Cake Flour (King Arthur)
1 tbsp Baking Powder
4 Whole Eggs
1 lb Crushed Walnuts
1 cup Water
1 cup Apricot Preserves
1 tsp Unflavored Gelatin
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In a double boiler, melt chocolate with butter.
Mix sugar, flour and baking powder in separate mixing bowl,
Add chocolate butter mixture and mix for 4-5 minutes.
Add eggs.
Pour onto 9-inch by 12-inch baking sheet.
Sprinkle walnuts on top of batter and press down slightly into mixture.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until batter has risen ¼ inch and the edges are crisp.
Remove and cool for 30 minutes.
In a saucepan, heat and bring to a boil for 2 minutes the water, apricot preserves and gelatin.
Brush apricot glaze over cooled brownies with pastry brush.
Enjoy!
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013
Thursday, September 5, 2013 at 11:30AM 
