Why You Should Celebrate Bastille Day in a Restaurant

July 14 is Bastille Day or “La Fête Nationale” as it is known in la belle France. There will be fireworks, street dances and, of course, parades.

But hidden within the history of this great celebration of freedom is the little-known story of how restaurants first came to be.

Before the French Revolution (which started with the storming of the hated royal prison of Bastille in Paris), dining was largely restricted to the grand estates of the French nobles or around the far more humble hearths of France’s working poor.

Indeed, even the right to cater was an exclusive affair, granted solely to the “Traiteur” Guilds by the King. These select chefs prepared only certain dishes by royal license, serving them only within their own kitchens at a fixed time with a preset menu.

So what was the average diner to do when it came to dining when one wanted to, regardless of time or appetit?

Enter Monsieur Boulanger, who in 1765 opened a “restaurer” or soup shop. He offered a choice of restorative soups (hence the name in French), along with bread and wine to the weary wishing to rest and restore their strength no matter the hour.

As one might expect, the effected Traiteur Guild saw his activities as a threat to their exclusive culinary rights within the capital. Soon Monsieur Boulanger found himself called before a royal judge for violating a royal grant of culinary privilege.

But to everyone's surprise, he was acquitted because the judge, who was a lover of fine food, ruled that the Guild was chartered to serve only ragout, and as he pointed out from the bench, anyone who loved fine food should know that a rich thick ragout is NOT ever a thin restorative broth!

Boulanger’s crowd pleasing shop/restaurant was saved! Soon he opened additional restorative soup shops across Paris. There the average man (and woman) could gather, choose what THEY wished to eat AND so empowered, discuss how the royal government seemed to serve only the wealthy and not the needs of the people, who were the true soul of France.

The final result of such conversations was revolution! And the world would never be the same again, thanks in part to soup and the new social institution it helped to create – Restaurants.

Still to this day, people around the world gather in restaurants to freely discuss life, meaning and the whether their governments serve them well. Once again, we should all raise our glasses and toast France for both the courage to claim the right of individual expression and the innovative ability to create something as beneficial to humanity as restaurants!

Post Note, July 13, 2012: If you still have any doubts about celebrating Bastille Day in a restaurant, just consider a much enjoyed tradition within the Culinary Industry, the Waiters' Race, now run in over 53 countries by the very best with a tray! 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012

Celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee and the London Olympics with Fortnum and Mason

All of Great Britain is getting ready to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. And what a party it is going to be – especially when followed by the London Olympics!

From boat races on the Thames to fireworks over London Bridge, the Queen should be pleased. And why no – she’s is second only to Queen Victoria in the length of her time on the throne.

She has seen England recover from World War II, her former colonies become independent nations and English arts and industry continue to influence the world's culture. Not a bad resume for a monarch!

The citizens of Great Britain will confirm these accomplishments in a seemingly endless stream of street parties, which are a unique English way of celebrating.

The first street gatherings were held in 1919, though they were actually more of a tea than meal, to celebrate the signing of the peace treaty at Versailles, which marked the end of World War I and its terrible trench causalities.

Street parties came into their own as full neighborhood food fests, complete with banners and dancing, as England celebrated the coronation of George VI in 1936, the coronation of the present Queen in 1953 and a host of royal weddings.

But if kitchen fare on paper plates isn’t quite your dish of choice, well, there is, always and forever, Fortnum & Mason’s, English esteem purveyor for over 300 years of all that’s tasty and unique.

Their hampers marked with the famed “F&M” logo have, like the English culture itself, crisscrossed the world, bringing pleasure to anyone lucky enough to receive one. The contents are always outstanding and true culinary treasures.

If you are in London for either the Queen’s Golden Jubilee or the Olympics, go and purchase one. If London isn’t on your itinerary, you can order a basket via the Internet.

Either way, you will never forget the experience. And the basket once it’s empty, can sit proudly on a shelf in your office silently telling all who enter that you shop at simply the best – London’s unforgettable Fortnum & Mason.

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012

Spanish Food and Wine Connects to the Future with iPavement Tiles

The first decade of a new century is the perfect time to launch change and embrace the future. And no European city has done that better than historic Madrid, Spain’s classic and captivating capital. 

Working with the members’ of ASEPI, which include the best of the best among Spain’s universities, manufacturers, computer experts and skilled installers, the very new iPavement tiles have been laid in Madrid’s main square, la Puerta del Sol.

Each digital tile enables those in the Square to connect with the Internet and receive information about hotels, restaurants and culinary events in Madrid and beyond. Now in place, this new technology has brought this historic Square forward into a future where the cities of tomorrow will become dynamic digital habitats, not merely residential domains.

The ancient Romans who came to Spain in 214BC (and fell in love with the country as so many have) understood that roads were really about commerce.

Without smooth stone roads, Roman wagons full of goods could not move. Trade stopped.

Today the Internet is the new road of commerce. The insightful members of the ASEPI consortium understand that fact and so have laid new stones, using the innovative iPavement, to create a pathway to the future that can, for those with imagination, includes us all.

These amazing ‘stones of the future’ enable hotels and restaurants to move beyond traditional marketing beginning now. Their application points are nearly endless. 

The ancient Romans, who so loved Spain’s wine and cuisine, would have died to have such stones! Aren’t we lucky to be in the 21^st century!  

 (City of Art and Science - Valencia, Spain) 

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012

Celebrate Spring At White House Egg Roll with Bo and then Italian Easter Bread and Egg Art

Easter Sunday will soon be upon us and that means that come the Monday after, the White House will host the 134th (and oh so much fun) Easter Egg Roll. Invitations to the event can be obtained only via lottery luck and any resulting adult, fortunate enough to attend, must be accompanied by a child in order to gain final admission.

But best of all, the 2012 event will be co-host by Bo, the beloved First Family’s pet dog. In fact he will even be honored with his portrait on this year’s commemorative wooden Easter egg.

And though these memorable eggs have their original origin in the humble wooden darning egg, used by countless women for centuries from Boston to Moscow, just consider the skill and beauty of the current exhibition by Oksana Mas, made entirely from painted wooden eggs. 

Her amazing work, using thousands of traditional Ukrainian painted wooden eggs known as “krashenki”, has been shown in Stockholm, Barcelona and Venice.  Each egg is individual painted by a different artist and then crafted together by Mas to create a collective icon of meaning. The effect, whether seen close up or at a distance, is simply unforgettable.

Equally unforgettable is Italy’s “Pastelli di Pasqua” or egg-wrapped Easter Bread.  Similar to Mas' egg icon, chefs around the world will gather their individual ingredients together, and create a larger experience to share with others. 

 

Whether offered to guests as a full wreath or as individual smaller savory wreaths, this bread captures, like the egg icons, the essence of the season, spirit of Spring, hope and meaningful change.

This bread, like the season, is sweet and the colored cooked fresh eggs have the perfect holiday appearance and flavor. Consider celebrating Spring this year with friends and guests – all within the circle of friendship, fun and fine bread. Bo would so approve as would the First Family! Enjoy!

Post Note, April13, 2012: Each year there is a holiday idea that simply wins the hearts of all who see it.  This year's winner is Cheesecake Easter Eggs - a true delight! Each chocolate egg shell is filled with cheesecake while the 'yolk' center curd is a creative blend of fruit jams and purees (see recipe below for center accent).

And though Easter may have passed, this attractive (and very tasty) presentation is well worth trying as well as saving until the Easter Bunny comes hopping back around next year.

'Yolk' Fruit Curd - 1 tbsp passionfruit puree, 1 tbsp apricot jam, 1 tbsp unsalted butter.

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012

Gumbo Is the Perfect Food When Tying on Some Mardi Gras Fun

It’s Mardi Gras all over the world right now and no food says “Carnival!” quite like a bowl gumbo from a warm Louisiana kitchen. And no food better represents the diversity that is critical to the culinary world that we all enjoy each and every day.

American gumbo owes its first conception to the French settlers who colonized the southern region of the Mississippi River for King Louis XIV, hence the name "Louis-iana", in 1682. Being on a great river and near the Gulf of Mexico, they adapted their beloved bouillabaisse fish stew from the French port city of Marseille to include the local ingredients that were then available.

Home cooks who lived near the region's various waterways enriched their sea stew with crawfish, catfish, oysters, crab and shrimp. Those cooks who lived further inland added instead wild birds, deer, duck, squirrel, goose and boar instead – all flowing with the season’s availability.

The resulting hunting trips and journeys along the area’s many bayous and streams, led to the French colonists encountering the region’s first inhabitants, members of the Choctaw Indian nation. The tribe’s resourceful cooks shared their knowledge of file’ - a unique flavorful powder created from ground sassafras tree leaves, with the newly arrived Europeans. Everyone agreed the resulting difference in the stew was simply amazing.

As Louisiana expanded and grew in wealth, its cuisine continued to develope, embracing in a unique way all the influences that made it then and now one of America’s truly great cities.  

Spanish influences added the tomato, still considered a poisonous fruit in the northern English colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as bell peppers, celery and onions.

Black slaves were soon brought from Africa to work in the vast landed cotton plantations and rice fields of the South in one of the darkest periods of American history. And though enslaved, many still remembered their homeland and added okra to flavor and thicken the stew. In fact, it is the Africa word for okra that gives gumbo its present name.   

Many of the freed black slaves of New Orleans (yes, there were freed black slaves in the city and many ran very successful businesses) were known as outstanding cooks. Many spoke French and ran restaurants, bakeries and taverns  – all adding to the elegance and flare that is still the hallmark of Mardi Gras today.

That unique style can be seen in how the freed black women of New Orleans worked around a restrictive and oppressive law that required all freed female slaves to wear a scarf or fabric tie around their head instead of the fashionable hats worn daily by the elegant white ladies of the City.

Working again with the ingredients at hand and their rich African heritage, these remarkable women created wrapped head turbans, called tignon, that were works of art and far more stunning than any milliner’s creation.

Today those head wraps form the basis of many of the much more elaborate head pieces worn in Mardi Gras parades in Rio de Janeiro and around the world. 

Similarly when file’ and okra were not available, these cooks reread their vaulued French cookbooks and created a roux of flour browned in pork lard that added color, texture and taste to the now legendary gumbo of Louisiana.

Later additions would include cayenne peppers, Tabasco and other hot seasonings, but to this day, the purist among southern cooks adds NO additional spices and depend on the essence of the base ingredients (along with the mandatory roux, okra or file’) to do the job.

Perhaps that simplicity is a lesson to us all as well as a reminder to do the simple with such flair and style that our efforts become as unique and as unforgettable as la belle New Orleans herself.

Laissez le Bon Temp Rouler! Longue vie Carnival!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012