Tag: food

On global food crisis

Some of these food-related historical anecdotes are fascinating:

The G8 met in Hokkaido, Japan, in July 2008 to address the global food crisis. Over an eighteen-course meal—including truffles, caviar, conger eel, Kyoto beef, and champagne—prepared by sixty chefs, the world leaders came to a consensus: “We are deeply concerned that the steep rise in global food prices coupled with availability problems in a number of developing countries is threatening global food security.”

Via Kottke.org.

Food timeline : marshmallows

By accident I came across Food timeline website, which covers the history of some foods.  For example, I had no idea about marshmallows:

“Marshmallows are one of the earliest confections know to humankind. Today’s marshmallows come in many forms, from solid…to semi-liquid—to the creme-like or as an ice cream topping. Originally…marshmallows were made from the rood sap of the marsh mallow (Althaea officinalis) plant. It is a genus of herb that is native to parts of Europe, north Africa, and Asia. Marsh mallows grow in marshes and other damp areas…The first marshmallows were made by boiling pieces of the marsh mallow root pulp with sugar until it thickened. After is had thickened, the mixture was strained and cooled. As far back as 2000BC, Egyptians combined the marsh mallow root with honey. The candy was reserved for gods and royalty.

Modern marshmallow confections were first made in France around 1850. This first method of manufacture was expensive and slow because it involved the casting and molding of each marshmallow. French candy makers used the mallow root sap as a binding agent for the egg whites, corn syrup, and water. The fluffy mixture was heated and poured into the corn starch in small molds, forming the marshmallows. At this time, marshmallows were still not mass manufactured. Instead, they were made by confectioners in small stores or candy companies.

By 1900, marshmallows were available for mass consumption, and they were sold in tins as penny candy. Mass production of marshmallows became possible with the invention of the starch mogul system of manufacture in the late 19th century…

In 1955, there were nearly 35 manufacturers of marshmallows in the United States. About this time, Alex Doumak, of Doumak, Inc., patented a new manufacturing method called the extrusion process. This invention changed the history of marshmallow production and is still used today. It now only takes 60 minutes to produce a marshmallow. Today, there are only three manufacturers of marshmallows in the United States, Favorite Brands International (Kraft marshmallows), Doumak, Inc. and Kidded & Company.”

Suckling pig – a dream come true

Cooking and eating a whole suckling pig has been a dream of mine for a few years now.  Not just me – it was a dream that I shared with a very good friend of mine.   Yesterday it finally came true. My friend decided that we’ve waited enough and that we should finally do it.  So he got the pig and invited me over (as well as a few other people).

We soon discovered that cooking this thing was not as easy as we imagined.  For one, it seemed that the pig was too heavy for the motor to rotate it.  A new motor, more powerful, was bought.  But it still it didn’t work.  Luckily, almost everyone at a party was an engineer in one sense or another.  So we figured out that the pig had to be re-adjusted, for better balance.  It took us a couple of tries and a few meters of metal wire, but we managed to set it perfectly.  Too bad it was still too heavy for the motor and it simply died.  Gladly, we had more motors that finished the job.

One other thing we had to re-adjust was timing.  Somehow we thought it would be somewhere around two hours to cook it.  But finally it took more than four.  I know there is some formula to calculate the time based on weight of th meat, but nobody seemed to knew it.  Not to worry though – we had plenty of beer and things to talk about.

When the pig was finally cooked, put on table, and tried, I realized that all the wait was definitely worth it.  It was one of the best dishes I ate ever.  And it was the best pork ever.  So soft and so tender, it was unbelievable!

Now that we tried it and realized that it’s even better than we expected it to be, something tells me we’ll do it again.  With more preparations and better understanding of the process.  And even though I’m still digesting it, I can’t wait for that next time.  And if you never tried a suckling pig, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s one of those things everyone just have to try.  Yes, it was really that good.