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Food and Culture |
Food & CultureIn southern New Hampshire, we have the opportunity to experience the benefits of this "melting pot" of society in many ways. Many of this area's restaurant owners have come from other countries around the world and have chosen to share their wonderful culinary delights with us. But what many of us know about what we eat often ends right there on the plate. In this section, we delve a little deeper into the "kettle of knowledge". Our features this month have a Mediterranean flare... Check in with us regularly, as we will be discovering another country soon! CAVIAR At close to $50 an ounce, caviar is not a daily staple in too many homes these days. Take your special occasion, however, add these tiny sturgeon eggs to the party platter and your reputation as a host or hostess will soar. True caviar, which is only harvested from the sturgeon roe found in the Caspian Sea, is now a delicacy of the first degree. There are three types of sturgeons which produce the roe used for caviar. The beluga sturgeon is the largest and rarest of the three. The eggs are the largest and run in color from light to dark gray. Beluga caviar has the mildest flavor and sell for approximately $50 an ounce. Osetra caviar is taken from the sturgeon of the same name and has a stronger flavor. The eggs are smaller with a yellow gray to brown black color. Selling for approximately $30 an ounce, osetra caviar is considered to be in the middle price bracket of caviar’s "big three". The sevruga sturgeon is the smallest fish and in turn, produces the smallest eggs. Considered to be the most flavorful although coupled with a brinier taste, this caviar is also the darkest. Sevruga eggs are medium gray to black and sell for close to $25 an ounce. Physical characteristics are important here because one of the ways to tell if the caviar is "true" is to compare the size and color of the eggs to make sure that the beluga you just paid for isn’t really sevruga instead. The caviar harvesting process is simple, but delicate. The sturgeon’s ovaries are removed and the roe is gently pressed through a screen. The eggs must then be kept at a temperature somewhere between 28 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit, so salt is then added as both a preservative and a method of keeping the eggs from freezing. This is a tricky business, because if too much salt is added it will overwhelm the flavor. Too little, and the eggs will spoil. The perfect caviar is nothing short of a delight, however, and well worth all of these efforts. Fortunately, most people have learned not to bury this exquisite taste by mixing it with chopped egg or minced onion. Top of the line caviar is perfectly able to go it alone, perched on top of toast points or oyster shells. Perhaps the best method of all for enjoying this Balkan delicacy, however, is to sample it unadulterated, straight up and right off the spoon. Greece has often been called the cradle of Western culture. Over thousands of years, many different cultures have flourished on its mainland and islands. First there were the Minoans of Crete. The famous city state of Athens grew dominant in 480 B.C., but became exhausted by wars with the Spartans and was conquered by the Northern Greeks (Mace-donians) in 338 B.C. The Roman Empire took over in 146 B.C. and ruled Greece for five centuries. Greek cooks were much sought after by the Romans, both because of their recipes and their progress in cooking techniques. When the Western Roman Empire collapsed in A.D. 393, Greece fell under the rule of the Byzantine Empire. With the decline of the Byzantine Empire in the Middle Ages, Italian states seized the islands of Crete, Kefallinia, Ithaca and Zakinthos. French Crusaders took Constantinople in 1204 to establish the Eastern Roman Empire. In 1453, the Turks took Constantinople and occupied Greece until she finally gained her independence in 1828. During the 400 years of Turkish rule, the Greeks were forced to adopt Turkish names for their recipes (and other things). So what do modern Greeks eat? While you might guess some combination of Balkan and Turkish dishes with a few miscellaneous flavors thrown in, the truth goes right back to the beginning. Traditional Greek dishes really haven’t changed much from those described by Archestratus in 350 B.C. He writes that early Athenians enjoyed tunny fish, dried or salted, especially those caught in the Black Sea. Archestratus traveled many lands in his desire to carefully test the delights of the belly, and insisted that fresh tunny fish from Byzantium were the best. Archestratus isn’t the only one to enjoy Greek cuisine. According to George Logiotatos, proprietor of Charman’s Restaurant in Nashua, Greek food is still hot. Forty to fifty percent of his customers order Greek food from his daily selection of moussaka, spinach pie, souvlaki, shish kebab, grape leaves, Greek salad and bakalava. Highly popular, Logiotatos says he sells more Greek food than anything else. Logiotatos thinks Greek cuisine appeals to people because it is healthy. Classic Greek food, he explains, is baked rather than fried and is based on grains, oil, and wine, using only the freshest ingredients. Food is tastefully seasoned with lemon and olive oil as well as numerous herbs and spices. Complimenting the hearty Greek cuisine are numerous delicious Greek wines. A few excellent examples of whites are St. Helena, Demestica, Mantina and Robola. Rose selections include Roditys and Rosella, while Reds consist of Pendali, Castel Danielis, Mont Ambelos. Dessert wines include Mavrodaphne, Commanderie St. John and Samos wine made from the muscat grape. Retsina is a generic name for any wine, white or rose, that is flavored with pine resin. Originally, the resin was used as a preservative. Retsina is an acquired taste and should always be served cold. A traditional Greek meal is not complete without it. ISLAND SPICE It would be difficult to imagine a meal without spices. From pepper and mace to cinnamon and nutmeg, these seasonings can either accentuate or create flavorful dishes in an easy and sometimes colorful way. Fortunately for us, growing conditions on the Caribbean islands have combined to create some of the world's most zesty spices-right in our own back yard. Many older and more durable spices like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg have been around for a thousand years. Cinnamon, in fact, was once considered more valuable than gold and was used for embalming, witchcraft and religious rites. A whole nutmeg in the kitchen, on the other hand, was believed to be a good luck charm for a happy marriage. When the Spanish explorers invaded Jamaica in the late 1500's, they noticed a tropical evergreen tree with aromatic berries. Mistaking it for a type of pepper, they called it pimenta. The flavor of the berries, however, was more that of a mixture of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Today we call it allspice, but to Islanders it is still Jamaican Pepper. Grenada, on the other hand, is credited with cultivating some of the finest and most flavorful nutmeg trees in the world. The nutmeg tree actually produces two spices: nutmeg, which is the inner seed of the fruit and mace that grows as a lace-like covering over the nutmeg's outer shell. So, while you can make applesauce without cinnamon, bake pumpkin pie without all spice and garnish eggnog without nutmeg-why would you want to? The Caribbean spice growers hope you will. |
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