Last Sunday, Jennifer Esperanza, an anthro prof. from Beloit College, led B&P's Discussion Section about eating and culture. She spoke about how immigrant food traditions change and adapt, when brought to the United States. Many of the habits from the "old country" absorb convenience items offered by the US, other, more time-consuming are dropped. She discussed what is lost as these practices fade; the act of cooking together and the community it creates, the healthier options that come from home-grown/home-cooked food. It was very interesting, especially as everyone seems to be looking to the past for ways to become more thrifty, more economical, more authentic in their eating and living.
(There were some comments about the healthfulness of lard-soaked dumplings, schmaltz, etc., but never mind...)
She also mentioned her visit to the Slow Food conference that was held in San Francisco this fall. The Italian founder, Carlo Petrini, called for the establishment of the University of Grandmothers as a way to preserve this old habits and customs that have fallen victim to convenience and processed foods. It got me to think about my Grandmothers--Klara Plakans--a Latvian emigree who came to the US in 1952 and Peg Sweeney, whose Irish ancestors arrived in the Pittsburgh area in the 1840s. I'm quizzing my parents over the holidays to find out more about the source of our family's food traditions. I know a lot of the stories, but I'll bet there's 
some deeper stuff that gets unearthed.
I'll keep you updated as I learn more... (for instance, the Plakans family kept a goose they traded food rations for while housed in a US Displaced Persons Camp in Germany in the late 1949s, for instance. A Goose?!?)
Oof, one thing after another and suddently it's 10 days later. There's a name for this...slow blogging..and I wrote about it on GTTSB. So let's just say I'm trying to guarantee quality blog. Here are some pics from the last couple of weekends at the store. We also had the first couple of episodes of B&P's Discussion Sections, but maybe I'll talk about those in a couple of days.
First up, Bath Fizzies with those Dodges of Double D's B's. Simple to mix (oil, scent, baking soda, citric acid), delightful to use. 
We combined, compressed and took them home as gifts. Eamonn loves them, but is frustrated that they don't just fizz for the whole bath time--just until they dissolve. He kept trying to sit on one in tonite's bath, so now his can smells like cranberry. Could be worse. A lot worse.Next up was Truffle Making, in kid-(grand)parent teams. The class was lead by Jinjer Miller, who is has great truffle-expertise. We rolled coffee-flavored, vanilla, almond and peppermint. They were all very pretty, but I thought the almond rocked (secret ingredient: Watkins Almond Extract). Delish.
Last, but not least, was Shrimp Three Ways--as cocktail, proscuitto-wrapped and in gumbo. We were a small, but dedicated bunch and Chad even broke out the crab cakes as an extra treat. Chocolate, seafood, last weekend was rather decadent.
We were a boisterous bunch last Saturday. A few dates, a girls' night out, some of the regulars. Chad Measner of South Padre Sea Foods (and the B&P chef, btw) demonstrated ho
w to peel and boil shrimp for cocktail, sauteing for scampi and searing sushi-grade tuna. He even whipped up a couple of sushi rolls using the raw tuna--a treat for some, a (scary) adventure in eating for others.
Watching Chad, with some assistance from Erich, it occurred to me how loose one should be when cooking. A dash of salt, a squirt of dressing, a splash of oil...there was very little measuring, bu
t lots of tasting and adjusting that went on as we watched. I guess it pays to have quality ingredients within an arm's reach so you can just add a bit of this and that (and have the confidence to mix whatever flavors are on hand).
Anyway, it was quite tasty and the Crane's Lake Chardonnay and Brut were respectable matches. Cheap, but not headache-inducing. We were all pleasantly surprised by the Brut--bring on the bubbly!
Sadly, my cord to download photos from my camera took a field trip to Beloit College, so you'll have to wait another day to see pix from Entertaining with Seafood.
In the meantime, there were several interesting articles in today's NYT Science section about food. One about a pediatrician who has tried to eat only organic food for the last three years. Conclusion: he feels much healthier, he can't afford as much meat, many people still don't know what organic means ("You mean vegetarian?" he got asked a lot).
The other is about the "health halo" surrounding foods that are labeled healthy (whether with a stamp announcing "O Trans Fat!"or a picture of some one eating oatmeal while doing yoga), people tend to underestimate the calorie count and overestimate how healthful the item actually is. It goes back to the whole issue of health claims of processed foods. I remember reading some where that the more labeling a food item has to convince you how healthy it is, the less you actually need it. How many labels were on the last apple you ate? Exactly.
One of the researchers was French and commented that, "“Europeans obsess less about nutrition but know what a reasonable portion size is and when they have had too much food, so they’re not as biased by food and diet fads and are healthier. Too many Americans believe that to lose weight, what you eat matters more than how much you eat. It’s the country where people are the best informed about food and enjoy it the least.”
Sigh. Bring on the reasonable portions of wine and chocolate, monsieur.
some deeper stuff that gets unearthed.
