Cynthia D. Bertelsen's Gherkins & Tomatoes
A Writer's Musings on Nature and Culture, Since 2008
Folklore or fakelore, the general consensus seems to be that the Irish who came to America brought their custom of carving turnips for All Hallows Eve. They must grow large turnips in the sod over there! Lacking a turnip, rutabagas, beets, or gourds would also do. Delicious legend, that's what started the practice of carving…
Like old cookbooks? Like old recipes? Then don't miss this down-to-earth video, shot by Liza de Guia, entitled “The Historic Gastronomist,” about a 27-year-old Brooklyn woman named Sarah Loman who is resuscitating centuries old recipes from American history. Loman writes a food history blog called "Four Pounds Flour." Meet Sarah Lohman. She's not a professional…
Continue reading ➞ The Historic Gastronomist
Learn to Make Risotto with Biba Caggiano:
A history of American gardens, a part of the "Eat the View" effort to turn the 18 acres of the White House backyard into a garden. Sounds like the Obama garden is not the first garden to be planted there.
Considering that people over the centuries have blamed eggplant for "causing insanity, acting as an aphrodisiac, and serving as a dental cosmetic,"* it's no wonder eggplant tended not to "take" in certain cultures. United States, yes. India, no. Some experts say India gave birth to eggplant, called brinjal or baingun, originally called vartaka or vrntaka.…
Continue reading ➞ Eggplant: Passage from India
Nearly all writers on Southern food agree that African slaves influenced the evolution of Southern food. Here's a video of Burkina Faso, where I lived for two years, and a lunch served in a village.
Instead of forking out thousands of lire for a cooking class in Italy, take a look at these videos. Buon appetito! Cooking Sicilian with Mamma Agata Amalfi Coast with Mamma Agata (Looks like somebody got into the wine a bit early on) Lezione di cucina dl ristorante La Finestra a Padova (Italian Cooking Class at…
Continue reading ➞ Cooking in Italy
Lara Templin, an historical interpreter at Jamestown Settlement in Virginia, demonstrates how people baked bread over 400 years ago, in a Cloam oven. Click on the picture to go to the video, shot by Culinary Media Network:
Frank Clark, supervisor of the Historic Foodways program at Colonial Williamsburg, appears in this detailed and eye-popping video, shot by Culinary Media Network. Click on the picture to go to the video:
