Botticelli in a Bowl… A Bit of History: Whenever I hear the word primavera, my mind immediately visualizes a bowl of pasta and Botticelli. Of course, I always think of food first! Primavera, translated from its Italian origins, means spring. In the USA, pasta primavera consists simply of a pasta dish with fresh vegetables. Personally,…
“Secret’s In the Sauce…” A Bit of History: Every time I hear the words green tomato, my mind immediately recalls the 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes with Kathy Bates. Set in Alabama, the main characters operate a small cafe near a railroad, where they specialize in serving fried green tomatoes. While this movie contains many…
The Ultimate Finger Food… A Bit of History The date palm tree, Palma dactylifera, takes its name from the Greek word daktylos. Daktylos translates to finger and describes the shape of the cultivated date palm fruit. Historians postulate that date cultivation began in approximately 4000 BCE. Not to be outdone, scientists discovered date palm fossil…
Not Just for the Fish… A Bit of History Traditional Romesco sauce hails from the Catalonia region of Spain, known as Tarragona. Originally, fisherman concocted this sauce to accompany their daily catch. Using a mortar and pestle, the locals ground stale bread, almonds or hazelnuts, roasted tomatoes, garlic, and Nyroa red peppers with olive oil….
All You Can Beet… A Bit of History The Guinness world record for the largest serving of hummus, held by Chef Ramzi Choueiri and the students of Al-Kafaat University in Beirut, is 10,452 kg (23,042 lbs. 12 oz). That is definitely enough hummus to stock an all you can eat mezze platter! Hopefully, you won’t…
Stalk of Fire… A Bit of History Currently, my girls love The Last of the Olympians series by Rick Riordan and the Greeking Out podcast by National Geographic Kids. Coincidentally, this recipe for Orange Ginger Pomegranate Vinaigrette over a fennel salad relates to the Promethium Greek myth. According to Greek mythology, Zeus, in a moment…
Smoke & Bog…Part 2: The Bog A Bit of History I am always intrigued by photos of cranberries floating in bogs. It reminds me of a giant swimming pool filled with bath beads! During my research for my latest recipe, Easy Baked Cranberry Oatmeal, I learned that farmers utilize two different methods for cranberry harvest….
Smoke & Bog…Part 1: The Smoke A Bit of History Historians believe that humans have been smoking foods, especially meats, since the Old Stone Age or paleolithic era. Exposing foods to smoke from burning wood, imparts exceptional flavor and serves as a cooking or preservation technique. Early humans definitely had the right idea! I absolutely…
The House of Orange… A Bit of History Wild carrots sport colors of white or yellow, did you ever wonder why we typically consume orange ones? Over thousands of years of domestication, carrots evolved from a bitter, pale, root into a sweeter, orange version with more beta-carotene compared to their wild cousins. This turned out…
Smooth Sailing… A Bit of History China boasts the first cultivation of persimmons over 2000 years ago and today is responsible for approximately 75% of the world’s persimmons. This deliciously sweet and tangy fruit symbolizes many things in Chinese culture. Due to its smooth skin and Chinese pronunciation shi (a homophone for the word things),…