Gherkins & Tomatoes

Gherkins & Tomatoes

Meditations and Photographs about Food, Cooking, and Life

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Breadfruit William Bligh portrait

Breadfruit: Blight of Captain Bligh

April 20, 2011 by Cynthia Bertelsen

When Captain James Cook entrusted thirty-three-year-old William Bligh (at the time a Commanding Lieutenant) with the HM Armed Vessel Bounty in 1787, breadfruit — not adventure — drove what became an infamous voyage. Bligh and his mutinous men sailed to Tahiti (the largest island in French Polynesia) to bring breadfruit trees back to Caribbean in hopes that the fruit would provide adequate food for the slaves working on sugar plantations there. (Bligh later undertook a second voyage as a captain […]

Categories: Agriculture, Cooking, Gardens, Haiti, Local foods, Recipes • Tags: Ahupua'a, Breadfruit, France, French Colonies, Fritters, Haiti, Hawaii, Limahuli Botanical Gardens, Tahiti, William Bligh

Monticello

Thomas Jefferson: The Francophile Who Became the First U.S. “Foodie”

February 21, 2011 by Cynthia Bertelsen

Thomas Jefferson. President. Scientist. Writer. Man of many passions, some hidden, some not. In his writings and in his actions, food clearly revealed itself as one of those passions. Above all, Jefferson was a Francophile. From the design of his dining room in his house, Monticello, to the gardens surrounding him in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, from Paris to the White House — Jefferson’s obsession with food and its preparation inspired him to train his African slaves, particularly […]

Categories: American Cooking, Desserts, French Cooking, Recipes, Southern Food, White House • Tags: American Presidents, Cooks, Cuisine Francaise, Etienne Lemaire, Food, France, French Cooking, Fritters, James Hemings, Karen hess, Mary Randolph, Monticello, Southern cooking, The Virginia House-wife, Thomas Jefferson

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From the Tacuinum of Paris

Carnevale Cometh: Ricotta and Fritters, Oh My!

February 13, 2009 by Cynthia Bertelsen

Fritters and Carnevale, lumped together like ham and eggs, mashed potatoes and gravy, risi e bisi, rice and beans. Ricotta fritters, to be exact. True, most people associate ricotta fritters more with St. Joseph’s Day, March 19 in Italy. But those fritters lean toward the filled variety, sweetened, creamy ricotta delivering a tantalizing surprise with every bite. No, these particular fritters include ricotta in the batter and puff up like popcorn, spitting and swirling in the oil like little balloons […]

Categories: Cheese, Desserts, Italian Cooking, Recipes • Tags: Carnevale, Carnival, Cooking, Food, Fritters, Mardi Gras, Recipe, Ricotta

George Washington

George Washington’s Family Cookbooks

February 11, 2009 by Cynthia Bertelsen

Martha Washington’s cookbook tells a tale, one that really needs no elaboration:  George went through life toothless. Recipes for soft puddings, quidonys (a type of fruit preserve), and jellies abound. Of course, puddings testified in part to the, well, Englishness of the Father of Our Country and his wife. But the fact of the matter remains: George’s wooden teeth just didn’t cut it. In spite of the lack of modern dentistry, George Washington lived in interesting times. Washington, the first […]

Categories: American Cooking, Apples, Cookbooks, English Cooking, Potatoes, Recipes • Tags: Apples, Cooking, Cooks, Food, Fritters, George Washington, Martha Washington, Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee, Nelly Custis Lewis, Potatoes, Recipes, Robert E. Lee, Southern cooking

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Food forms the very essence of life, from the fruit fly to the elephant, with humans in between. So much of what we do revolves around cooking, eating, and the finding of food. Here you'll discover stories, meditations, and photographs celebrating the places that we call home. And, of course, the food that garnishes it all.

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What’s Cookin’ Here

  • The Grocery List: Color, Primates, and Food Selection
  • A Bare Table is Like an Artist’s Canvas
  • “Stew’s so comforting on a rainy day.” *
  • Singkong, Manioc, Mandioca, Mandió, Tapioca, Yuca: Singing the Praises of Manihot esculenta (Cassava)

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