Why the San Francisco 49ers Favorite Super Bowl Food Should Be Bourdin Sourdough Bread

There are certain culinary classics that have stood the test of time secure in a city that appreciates fine food. San Francisco is one such city and the legendary food they cherish is their very own and very unique sourdough bread.

This flavorful bread began in 1849 (the same 'golden' year the 49ers Football Team is named after) when Isidore Boudin, a hopeful immigrant arrived in San Francisco from Burgundy. He was drawn to California from his native France by the recent discovery of massive deposits of gold in the region's streams and mountains.

But Boudin had no desire to dig in the dirt. As a skilled baker, he intended to make his fortune baking bread for the hungry miners, yet he started with little beyond but his own knowledge of classic French baking techniques and a precious bag of flour.

Very quickly he noticed a unique tangy taste had developing in his bread. As a professional, he was able to dentify its source and knew that he had found his treasure - a natural occurring yeast. And not just an common yeast, but one unique to San Francisco. 

Scientists would later honor its rarity by naming this terrior bacterium "Lactobacillius Sanfrancisensis". Once incorporated within flour, it naturally causes the dough to raise. By always preserving a small starter portion of the dough, the bacterium will continually act as a levying ageny for future loaves. 

Boudin worked hard and soon his horse-drawn delivery wagons were delivering his signature loaves to elite Nob Hill homes and elegant downtown hotels. Sadly his long days (and perhaps one or two too many pastries) caught up with him and he died in 1887.

But he had not labored alone. His wife, Louise, and his beloved daughter, Lucie, knew the bakery as well as he and on his death continued producing the bread he loved. Year by year the bakery's client list (and its bank account) grew.

Then in 1906, disaster struck as a massive earthquake shattered San Francisco's calm. And although the earthquake was very bad, the resulting fire was worst. Soon huge sections of the City were on fire - including area where the Boudin Bakery was located.

Louise had lost her husband; she had no intension of loosing her bakery as well. Dodging falling bricks and flaming timbers she worked her way to the remains of her baking kitchen and found the original dough starter begun by her husband.

She scooped it into a bucket and carried it out to safety. Referred to thereafter as the "mother dough", it continued to raise dough (pardon the pun there) for the Boudin family at their rebuilt bakery from 1910 to the late 1930's.

Yet by the end of the 1930's the Great Depression had taken its toll. San Francisco's grand families no longer entertained lavishly and many of the major hotels had closed their namesake restaurants. Even the demand for a truly great bread had dropped dramatically as families and corporates watched every penny.

Enter Steve Giraudo, Boudin's Master Baker. An Italian by birth, he was as devoted to fine bread as Louise and Isidore Boudin had been. He bought both the bakery and the mother dough starter. Once again San Francisco had her beloved bread (and so did the many sailors and soliders passing through San Francisco during World War II).

This increased exposure broadened the fame of Boudin Sourdough French Bread so that in 1975, Steven's son, Lou Giraudo, opened their first public demonstration bakery and cafe on Fisherman's Wharf to the delight of thousands of visiting tourists. Today there are eight additional cafe locations in the San Francisco area and seven more throughout the State. 

Not bad for a firm that was started by a Frenchman with a bag of flour. So you can see why the 49ers Football Team should (and do) love this bread. Like them, it has survived hard times and 'risen' to the acclaim of all. And now they are on their way to New Orleans, a city with such a strong French heritage Boudin himself would have loved it. 

Maybe the fact that New Orleans's Super Dome looks a bit like a rounded load of sourdough bread will bring them great good luck! 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

How Coffee Helped Invent the Modern Internet

Today is National Coffee Appreciation Day in the U.S. And less you think this is only a recent marketing promotion, it’s a little known story that coffee, yes coffee, helped create the Internet.

And that’s something we can all celebrate for who in the Industry could get through the day without Internet and its many applications.

Here are the little known details of how coffee promoted the existence of the Internet. Back in 1991, some of Britain’s brightest minds were working at Cambridge University searching out the early secrets of the computer computations.

Their work there was a natural extension of the initial discoveries done at the nearby Bletchley Park where, during World War II, English scientists developed the first computer prototypes to decode the secret messages sent by Germany on their Enigma and Lorenz machines.

The scientists gathered at Cambridge eagerly continued their work, but their physical setting was not as grand as that of Bletchley Park.

The seven story building that served as their research center had no elevator and, to make matters worse, ONE coffee pot for the WHOLE building.

Since scientists as a group drink more coffee during the day than any other professional group, this was a huge problem.  Each scientist there experienced going for a cup of hopefully-inspiring coffee only to find, after going down several flights of stairs, that the lone coffee pot on the first floor was empty!

They solved this problem by inventing the very first webcam, which transferred a streaming image of the coffee pot to their desk computer screen.

Now every trip down to the coffee machine meant returning with a full cup! Heaven! Progress! Science! Technology!

So when chefs today work with newest cutting edge techniques today, be they Ferran or a young chef in training at the C.I.A., they are in good company with the best – starting with all those talented scientists of the 1990s at Cambridge University, who invented the webcam that we all enjoy today, just to get a cup of hot coffee! Many thanks gentlemen!

Post Note: September 30, 2010: As the Internet grew in fame, two million plus people had logged on by 2001 to view the Cambridge coffee pot. When the scientists moved to their new computer center that year, they put the legendary coffee pot up for sale on the then new website eBay. Astoundingly the coffee pot sold for 3,350 English pounds or $5224.33 US dollars to the German online firm of Speigel.  Not bad, no for an old coffee pot.

 Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Restaurants and Hotels Brace for Hurricane Irene Hit

As the East Coast of the United States braces for the impact of mega Hurricane Irene, restaurants and hotels from North Carolina to New York City are getting ready for a major hit – financial as well as physical. 

The approaching storm is now being compared to the legendary New England “Long Island Express” Hurricane of 1938 which caused over 400 million dollars-worth of damage and resulting in the death of over 600 people. President Obama has even addressed the nation via T.V. and advised everyone in the Hurricane’s path to take this storm VERY seriously.

The cancellation of the long awaited dedication of the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington D.C. is further confirmation that this storm is big, very big and very, very dangerous.

The many restaurants and hotels in New Orleans, who endured the very slow response to the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina under the George Bush, Jr. Administration, are watching and wishing the best for their colleagues on the heavily populated eastern seacoast.

Because two-thirds of all hurricanes make landfall within the more southern region of the Gulf Coast, residents there are more historically acquainted with the possibility of stronger breezes and heavier gales. They have even adapted their Victorian wind-blocking “hurricane lamp” into the perfect glass that holds their favorite post-storm beverage: the famed Hurricane Cocktail.

During World War II, the owners of Pat O’Brian’s Bar had to purchase large quantities of the more available rum under wartime regulations in order to be able to obtain any amount of whiskey, bourbon or scotch. Faced with over 55 cases of unwanted rum, there had to be a way to save both the day and the Bar’s profit.

And that is how the rum-based Hurricane Cocktail came to be. Soon it was a must-have before, during and after any storm… be it actual or personal, for such is life.

Just be prepared: stock up, buy extra batteries and have a great network of professional friends to help you out if the waters rise. And be assured that the many chefs of New Orleans, who have not forgotten how the northern chefs aided them during their time of need, are standing ready to help their now storm-threatened colleagues in return.  

Let us all hope such aid is not necessary, but be ever grateful that it is a given within our industry. Now that’s something we can all raise a glass to!

The Hurricane Cocktail (it's the perfect beverage for a benefit fund raiser!)

Ingredients:

1 ounce Fresh Lemon or Lime juice
4 ounces Dark Rum
4 ounces Passion Fruit Syrup

Crushed Ice
Orange and/or Lime Slice
1 Maraschino Cherry

Preparation:

In a cocktail shaker, add lemon juice, rum, passion fruit syrup, and crushed ice; shake vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes.

Strain into a hurricane cocktail glass (but of course). Garnish with an orange and/or lime slice and a maraschino cherry. Serve with a long straw.

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Downton Abbey Reflects Our Own Changing Times

Culinary fans of historic tales have been fascinated by BBC’s new series entitled Downton Abbey.  Set in 1912 just two years before the European start of World War I, King George V in on the throne and the tides of social change are lapping at the shores of England. With the clouds of war gathering on the Continent, more then just a new century has begun. And everyone will be effected whether they like it or not.

The fictitious Crawley Family owns (at least for awhile) the ancestral Downton Abbey nestled in the beautiful rolling green English countryside. But try as they might to avoid them, the waves of change are steadily breaking on the steps of their once peaceful country home.  New and strange inventions such as electric lights, motorcars and ringing telephones are all making their jarring presence felt in the grand house.

But the changes that move Julian Fellowes’ outstanding script forward aren’t just about wires and wheels.  Society itself is changing much to the displeasure of the elder Dowager Countess of Grantham, brilliantly played by Maggie Smith.      

No one seems to know their place. A lowly housemaid wants to be a modern secretary while one of the pampered Crawley daughters longs to be a feminist, attend suffrage rallies and wear Poiret’s new harem pants to dinner.  Shocking, simply shocking! How will one get a husband (and provider) with such unladylike behavior!

From the county flower show to a love affair with a foreigner, nothing is as it was when good Queen Victoria sat firmly on a more moral throne.  As a result, the thoughtful Lord Grantham struggles with the fading value of traditions while Mathew Crawley, a distant younger cousin set to inherit the entire estate, struggles with an undiscovered sense of self and purpose. 

In short, Downton Abbey is the story of a society on the edge of all that’s modern.  But this isn’t the first series presented by BBC that explores this still contemporary issue of racing rapid change.

In 1977 the equally amazing story of Rose Lewis was presented by BBC in The Duchess of Duke Street series.  This story is about a real life individual who rode the same rising waves of change that are now being portrayed in the popular Downton Abbey programs.

Known to her contemporaries as the “Queen of Cooks” she trained under the great "King of Chefs" Auguste Escoffier and went on to own and direct the legendary Cavendish Hotel in London.  Independent and with a sense of humor that broke through Edwardian class barriers, she cooked for Kings and Emperors, all the while keeping their secrets and winning their respect. 

She loved and deeply understood people.  She believed that life should always be a feast no matter the circumstance.  When a heavy bomb fell on the Cavendish Hotel during World War II, an aged Rose emerged from the ruins to the amazement of everyone, dusted the broken glass from her hair, and shook her fist at the departed Nazi bombers.  Then she served champagne to all those crowded into the now rubble filled street! Now that's style! 

If you are enjoying Downton Abbey, be sure to check out The Duchess of Duke Street programs.  You’ll adore Rose’s fighting spirit, fine cooking and courage as she and the cast of real characters around her learned how to be modern in a faster world while still maintaining their love of life. 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011