Southern Food and Beverage Museum
Dear Friends,
It has been a busy month at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, filled with artisinal cheese workshops and oyster demos, Tabasco history lectures, and book signings. We are now "twittering" and you can also find us on Facebook (see the links in the right sidebar.) And, we have formed the Southern Food and Beverage Museum Collection at the New Orleans Public Library. This month promises to be equally busy as we enter the Mardi Gras season with more programming. Chef Ashbell McElveen will demonstrate two mystery dishes on February 15th. Robb Walsh signs and discusses his book, "Sex, Death and Oysters" on Valentine's Day.
We would like to encourage you to show your love for museums by using the "Shop for Museums" link on our website. Whenever you shop online and enter your destination through that link, SoFAB receives a portion of the proceeds of your purchase. It costs you nothing and means a great deal to us.
In this Mardi Gras edition of the newsletter, you will find:
- Food News
- Event Listings
- A Quick Bite: King Cake
- Recipe: Mardi Gras Party Cake
- The Southern Food and Beverage Museum Collection at the New Orleans Public Library
- Product Review: Gourment Mom Sauce
- Recent Acquisitions: Solari's Box
- Book Review: You Are Where You Eat
We wish you a happy Mardi Gras Season!
Cheers,
Stephanie Carter
Editorial Director
stephanie@southernfood.org
Food News
Stephanie Carter
Food, Sex, and Movies - Houston-based food writer Robb Walsh chooses the top ten food and sex scenes in movies. He also lists the necessary foods to have on hand should you try to recreate any of them this Valentine's Day. Our readers agree with him on the top two, although has anyone ever gone wrong with quail in rose petal sauce (#5)? Click here to check it out.
Obamas Hire Chef from Chicago - Sam Kass, a private chef from Chicago, will work alongside Cristeta Comerford. He has a special interest in the environment and poor eating habits in this country. Read the article from the New York Times - click here. Also, check out another article on the new appointment on seriouseats.com - click here.
photo by Cody Pickens3-D Fabricator Runs on Caramel - Looking for something sweet to give your Valentine? Why not a caramelized version of a dodecahedron? Windell Oskay and Lenore Edman have made a 3-D fabricator that runs on sucrose. Check out the article in Wired Magazine - click here.
February/March Events
Sex, Death and Oysters
Date: Saturday, February 14, 2009
Where: Museum Store, Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Riverwalk Marketplace, Julia St Entrance
Time: 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Cost: no charge
Contact: 504-569-0405
Robb Walsh signs and discussed "Sex, Death, and Oysters." Join him for some hot oyster stew and an even hotter book just in time for Valentine's Day. "When award-winning Texas food writer Robb Walsh discovers that the local Galveston Bay oysters are being passed off as Blue Points and Chincoteagues in other parts of the country, he decides to look into the matter. Thus begins a five-year journey into the culture of one of the world’s oldest delicacies." read more...
Chef Ashbell McElveen Demo and Tasting
Date: Sunday, February 15, 2009
Where: Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Riverwalk Marketplace, Julia Street Entrance
Time: 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Cost: Museum admission required; SoFAB members free
Contact: 504-569-0405
Chef Ashbell's demo will be a mystery 2 in yellow ingredients: He will name the main ingredient in each recipe and members will have the opportunity to guess what the dish is on the museum blogs and on twitter.
Hint: One southern state is famous for both recipes. Be ready to taste a bit of the real south with Chef Ashbell....bring your family recipe books and your grandma.
RedBeans and Rice Lundi Gras Ball
Date: Lundi Gras, 2009
Where: The Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Riverwalk Marketplace, Julia Street Entrance
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Cost: advance online purchase: $20; at the door: $25
Contact: Devin Meyers: 504.520.9953 or devmeyers@gmail.com
To purchase tickets now, click here
Featuring the music of Paradig'm Soul Band
Coming this Lundi Gras, a new cultural expression will debut on the streets of New Orleans- The RedBeans and Rice Pleasure Club. Combining elements of pre-existing New Orleans traditions, this new group of 25 members will take to the streets with elaborate hand-made costumes created with red beans, rice, and bay leaves. A new tradition that celebrates one of the city’s most beloved culinary traditions, Monday Redbeans n’ Rice.
Since October, the group has been meeting discretely every Sunday to socialize, eat, and create their costumes. Each suit takes over 30 hours to complete and can weigh up to 50 pounds. Each red bean and grain of rice is attached using hot-glue. After many months of “beaning” the group is ready to take to the streets and bring yet another cultural tradition to the people of New Orleans.
On Lundi Gras day, Beans and Rice will begin in the Marigny and meander to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, where a celebratory ball will be held. The event is open to the public and foodies are encouraged to attend!
DISH Book Club Meeting: The Omnivore's Dilemma
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009
Where: Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Riverwalk Marketplace, Julia Street Entrance
Time: noon
Cost: SoFAB members: no charge; all other: museum admission required
Contact: chris@southernfood.org
SPECIAL GUEST: Kathia Duran of Dona Blanca House of Cheese and Dairy
In this groundbreaking book, one of America’s original writers turns his omnivorous mind to the seemingly straightforward question of what we should have for dinner. To find out, Pollan follows each of the food chains that sustain us—industrial food, organic or alternative food, and food we forage ourselves—from the source to a final meal, and in the process develops a definitive account of the American way of eating.
MOTAC Presents: Drink Like You Eat
Date: Monday, March 2, 2009
Where: Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Riverwalk Marketplace, Julia Street Entrance
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Cost: $20 advance, online registration. Visit www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org to purchase
Contact: 504-569-0405
Join Adam Seger, from Chicago’s Nacional 27, for market-fresh, seasonally-inspired twists on classic cocktails. Taking a chef-like approach to local produce, Adam will be celebrating March's bounty of winter citrus: Meyer Lemons, Yuzu, Sudachi, Blood Oranges and Satsumas. Enjoy some delicious cocktails and load up on Vitamin C!
A Quick Bite
Susannah Albert-Chandhok
My two sisters, who are in college in Connecticut, come home every winter holiday for a few weeks, and in that time, they eat Christmas cookies, New Year’s Eve delicacies, and even try to squeeze in a king cake. It is difficult for them to achieve their last culinary goal because Mardi Gras season does not officially start until Twelfth Night on January 6, about the time that they go back to college. My sisters await hopefully that day when they can rush down to our local French boulangerie and order “gâteau des Rois”.
The king cake is an intrinsic part of the Mardi Gras season. It is a tradition in my social surroundings to bring king cakes each Friday to school, clubs, or sports, which amounts to a lot of fluffy pieces of cake. The king cake is hardly an orthodox cake; when friends come to visit my family from the North or the West, they ask, “Isn’t that just bread with icing?” Well, one could just call a soufflé “whipped eggs”, but that does not signify the full meaning attached to the culinary item. King cake, though bread with icing it may be, is a food that connects people together in Mardi Gras season. When my friends and I skillfully try to find the piece with the baby inside or go to our local supermarket to sample king cakes with fillings like cherry and chocolate, we are embracing the communal happiness and joy that come with Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras Party Cake
Stephanie Carter
In 1959 Eunice G. Surles of Lake Charles, Louisiana, became the first southern woman to win the Pillsbury Bake-Off. She won for Mardi Gras Party Cake, a heavenly concoction of butterscotch, coconut and “sea foam” frosting. A few months ago, Juanita and Jack Surles generously donated the memorabilia of that win to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. With the Mardi Gras Season upon us, it seems reasonable to reprint this recipe. If you are interested in other winning entries from the Pillsbury Bake-Off, visit their website. They have every single one archived. click here.
Mardi Gras Party Cake
Cake
2/3 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup water
2 1/4 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose or Unbleached Flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk*
1/2 cup shortening
3 eggs
Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup half-and-half or evaporated milk
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup butterscotch chips
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped nuts
Seafoam Cream
1cup whipping cream
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Generously grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.** In small saucepan over low heat, melt 2/3 cup butterscotch chips in 1/4 cup water, stirring until smooth. Cool slightly.
2. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In large bowl, combine flour, all remaining cake ingredients and cooled butterscotch mixture; beat at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Pour batter into greased and floured pans.
3. Bake at 350°F. for 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans. Cool 30 minutes or until completely cooled.
4. In medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch; stir in half-and-half, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup butterscotch chips and 1 egg. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in margarine, coconut and nuts; cool slightly.
5. In small bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add brown sugar and vanilla, beating until stiff peaks form.
6. To assemble cake, place 1 cake layer, top side down, on serving plate. Spread with half of filling mixture. Top with second layer, top side up; spread remaining filling on top to within 1/2 inch of edge. Frost sides and top edge of cake with seafoam cream. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Store in refrigerator.
SOUTHERN CULINARY LEGACY FINDS A HOME IN NEW ORLEANS
SoFAB CookBook Collection Will Be Housed at New Orleans Public Library
The Southern Food and Beverage Museum and the New Orleans Public Library have joined together to create a publicly available collection of cookbooks and culinary writings to be known as the “SoFAB Culinary Collection at NOPL.”
The non-circulating collection will open at the Main Branch of the NOPL in a separate area. The collection consists of approximately 5,000 volumes.
“New Orleans, of all places, deserves a world class collection of cookbooks,” says Rica Trigs, chief operating officer of the NOPL. “This collection will be a valuable resource for researchers and scholars delving into the culinary history, as well as cooks who want to track down long-lost recipes. We are pleased to make this collection available to the public.”
The books also can serve as a resource for students from the Institute for the Study of Culinary Cultures at Dillard University, the culinary students at Delgado and Nunez Community Colleges, high school programs such as the one at NOCCA, students at UNO and the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University.
“Students of the culinary arts will benefit greatly from this collection,” says Trigs. “It’s a huge resource to the City of New Orleans. Music, food and architecture are what we celebrate.”
The SoFAB collection was created from tragedy, says Liz Williams, president of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.
“The original collection of about 2,000 books, as well as the computer that held all of the collection information, was lost during Hurricane Katrina,” she says. “We had to start all over again. So we did. We put out a call for help in recovering the drowned heritage, and the world responded: more than 5,000 volumes of culinary history, cookbooks and reference books came in to the SoFAB collection, so many that they overwhelmed the museum’s own space.
The collection is important, she says, because food plays a central role in the life of the city.
“This collection adds an intellectual component to the city’s food heritage,” she says. “It represents the nourishment of the mind, as well as the body. These books are every bit as precious as photo albums and heirloom furniture. They serve as replacements of family recipes and dog-eared cookbooks that have been passed down through the generations.”
The volumes consist of hardback cookbooks as well as smaller spiral bound books created by church groups and non-profit organizations. The museum continues to collect more books to create a comprehensive collection that represents the national and international scope of food, cooking and the culinary arts.
Those who are interested in donating cookbooks should contact the Southern Food and Beverage Museum at (504) 569-0405.
Products We Love
Gourmet Mom Sauce
Last Sunday was one of those adventuresome days for me where I was relaxed, hungry, and in need of some excitement for dinner…to help satisfy my craving for something yummy and different I decided to venture out of the French Quarter to see what I could get my hands on. I ended up at Dorignac’s in Metairie.
As I was perusing the isles in search of something new and delicious to eat, my eyes caught a glimpse of a purple and rather festive Mardi Gras like label. I literally screamed out loud with excitement! Now my friends just laugh at me and smile because they know how much food excites me. But, to those that get to experience my “intimate personal food moments” without understanding who, what, when, or why…I apologize, I realize that it might be somewhat strange to look up in the grocery isle and see some strange woman literally jumping up and down with excitement over a jar of tomato sauce.
Ok, back to my dinner, there it was…not only dinner but my first thoughts of what was coming my way in the next few weeks as Carnival season has begun. Dinner parties, pre-parade meetings, pit-stops on the parade trail and more! And what better product to stock up on than Bayou Creole Sauce!
Bayou Creole Sauce is made by Sue Shattuck of Gourmet Mom Sauce in Pensacola, Florida. Sue’s story is one that I continue to fall in love with; she has no formal training, she claims “I am just a mom who cooks.” In my opinion you can’t get anymore down home than that!
For dinner, all I added to this naturally delicious sauce was a pound of shrimp and voila! Perfection on a plate in less than 15 minutes. I cooked a little pasta to accompany my sauce, but you could most certainly use rice or even eat it on its own. Sue proclaims, “this is a true entrée sauce” meaning all you have to do is add a protein. This product is also perfect if you want to use it as a base for any tomato based Creole sauce.
In addition to the Bayou Creole Sauce, you can try Marseille Marsala Sauce, Maui Sunset Sauce, and French Market Brandy Butter Sauce. Each sauce is named after a different ethnic place in the world.
So far, Dorignac’s is the only retail location to purchase Sue’s Bayou Creole Sauce, but if you can’t get out to Dorignac’s be sure to plan ahead and order now to be sure you have yours in time for all the Mardi Gras festivities. Order by calling (850) 572-6706 or visit the website www.gourmetmomsauce.com
Recent Acquisitions:
Solari's Box
Stephanie Carter
The Southern Food and Beverage Museum recently acquired Solari's Market box that had been used for deliveries.
Solari's Market opened on the corner of Royal and Iberville Streets in 1868. A soda fountain and lunch counter, the market specialized in imported goods and "out-of-season" fruits. Of course, the trend toward out-of-season produce that has been imported to our current trend toward eating locally and in-season is an interesting study in food history on its own.
Solari's closed its doors in 1965 and many New Orleans locals still remember it fondly. The Solari's box is on display in the Louisiana Exhibit.
Book Review:
You are Where You Eat
You Are Where You Eatreview by: S. Carter
You Are Where You Eat
by: Elsa Hahne
224 pages (approx.), 9 x 9 inches, 33 color and 64 b&w illustrations, 1 map, 85 recipes, index, $35
While a great time, Mardi Gras does not offer the truest reflection of the character of New Orleans or the characters in New Orleans. Elsa Hahn arrived in New Orleans in 2002 to a city whose characters are enormously diverse in background. A journalist by trade, she documented how and what people cook, in their own words.
"You Are What You Eat" reflects culinary preferences of different groups of people living in New Orleans neighborhoods. The group is colorful in background. The book offers intimate introductions to people like Croation fishermen, Mexican cooks that arrived with the construction boom post-Katrina, and cooks whose families have been in New Orleans for generations. Hahn creates an authentic experience by leaving the stories in the cooks' own words, including beautiful photographs of the individuals cooking in their own kitchens and recipes for dishes a visitor will never find in the restaurants. By the end, one feels like she has met the characters and been to one of the most intimate spaces in the house and the center of family life - the kitchen.
According to Hahn, "Eating and cooking New Orleans foods is such an intrinsic part of local culture that one doesn't truly arrive until something is simmering on the stove." So, if you are just visiting for Mardi Gras (or even if you aren't), take this book home, cook out of it and finally arrive in New Orleans.
The Museum Store has limited autographed copies for sale.
<< Return to Newsletter Archive
|
