Food History

Happy National Fettuccine Alfredo Month!

by Alexa Weibel, Posted Feb 7th 2011 @ 1:15PM

Fettuccine alfredo with seafood. Photo: Deedoucette, Flickr

Happy National Fettuccine Alfredo Month!

Pasta has been graced by cheese since the Middle Ages, but it's Alfred Di Lelio who perfected the unctuous trifecta of cheese, butter and pasta in 1914 Rome. According to legend, Alfred was worried when wife lost her appetite after birth, refusing to eat any of the dishes served at his restaurant below their apartment. To restore her health, he lovingly created the rich meal using homemade butter, egg noodles and the best parmesan he had. The meal was a success, he began serving "Fettuccine Alfredo" at his restaurant, and the rest is history.

Today, the dish includes a smattering of popular additions like cream, chicken, and fresh peas, but Mario Batali's classic preparation -- using only pasta, butter and parmesan -- is simply unbeatable.

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Filed under: Holidays, Food History

Happy National Chocolate Fondue Day!

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by Alexa Weibel, Posted Feb 5th 2011 @ 1:15PM

Photo: Denis Dervisevic, Flickr

Happy National Chocolate Fondue Day!

Chocolate features prominently as cold-weather comfort in these bitter months: casually in a cup of hot chocolate or more indulgently in a bubbling pot of molten chocolate fondue. Reportedly invented by New York restaurant Swiss Chalet in 1966 in an effort to promote Toblerone chocolate, chocolate fondue can make use of any sort of bar. While the Hershey's bars provide a classic base, feel free to use more adventurous sweets too, like chile-, mint-, sea salt- or even bacon-spiked varieties from companies like Lindt or Vosges.

You don't need a fondue pot to create the silky snack. Simply heat some heavy cream at a simmer, then whisk in the chopped chocolate of your choice until the two merge. For the original recipe from Swiss Chalet, which suggests puff pastries, meringues and more for dipping, click here.

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Filed under: Holidays, Food History

Happy National Baked Alaska Day!

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by Alexa Weibel, Posted Feb 1st 2011 @ 1:15PM

Photo: Chrispy!, Flickr

Happy National Baked Alaska Day!

The origins of this dessert are convoluted: One French food writer claims chef Balzac was taught to bake ice cream in pastry by a visiting Chinese delegate at Paris' Grand Hotel; others say a chef at Delmonico's created it in honor of the U.S. purchasing Alaska from the Russians; yet another credits chef Jean Giroux of the Hotel de Paris in Monte-Carlo for the dessert.

What is certain is that the dessert started to appear in the 1800s, to the delight of many, including the British cookbook author George Augustus Henry Sala, who sampled the dish at Delmonico's restaurant in 1880. He marveled, "Imagine carrying the employment of ice to such an extent that it culminutes in that gastronomical curiosity, a baked ice!"

The "gastronomical curiosity" -- also known as a Norwegian omelette -- is still a hit today. Judge for yourself, by picking and baking a Baked Alaska recipe to your liking from the Food Network.

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Filed under: Holidays, Food History

Happy New England Clam Chowder Day!

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by Alexa Weibel, Posted Jan 21st 2011 @ 1:15PM

Photo: Elle @ Gato-Azul, Flickr.

Happy New England Clam Chowder Day!

Unique to the East coast, this rich soup has been warming Americans since 1836, when clam chowder was first recorded in Boston. The chunky, hearty chowder takes its name from the chaudiere, a French name for the cauldron in which fishermen would simmer their fresh catches into a filling stew, a custom which was brought to the Northeast from Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The New England clam chowder as we know it made use of the abundance of clams and typically included potato for heartiness and cream to transform the seafood, so sailors wouldn't tire of eating it plain. Today, the creamy dish still brims with bobbing clams and potatoes, but also makes more use of fresh vegetables and herbs for color and flavor, and is usually accompanied by crackers to be frittered on top.

For the hearty classic, try the Culinary Institute of America's New England Clam Chowder with bacon and sherry for added complexity

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Filed under: Holidays, Food History

Happy National Fig Newton Day!

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by Alexa Weibel, Posted Jan 16th 2011 @ 1:15PM

Photo: The Boastful Baker, Flickr.

Happy National Fig Newton Day!

Fig Newtons weren't ever the most popular on elementary school playgrounds -- kids seem to have the proclivity to scorn anything perceived to be remotely healthy, inevitably opting for the most junk-food-oriented products when it comes to snacks. However, the discerning palate has been relishing the gooey fig contents enveloped in a soft cookie shell since the late 1800s.

Cookie maker Charles Roser from Ohio is credited with creating the recipe for these sweet treats, but the Fig Newton as we know it today was popularized by Nabisco, who purchased and mass-marketed the recipe. Inventor James Henry Mitchell created the machine that would pump out the fig-filled cookies in lengths to be sliced into the sizes of individual cookies, which began mass production in 1891. Though the cookie first took the name "Newton," after the neighboring Massachussetts town, it later took on the specification of "Fig," after popular acclaim.

Get acquainted with the snack by making your own Fig Newtons from scratch with this artfully executed recipe by the Boastful Baker -- she promises they're "as good as the store kind... if not better."

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Filed under: Holidays, Food History

Happy National Peach Melba Day!

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by Alexa Weibel, Posted Jan 13th 2011 @ 1:15PM

Photo: HaraldWalker, Flickr.

Happy National Peach Melba Day!

For those less familiar with the beloved dessert of yore, peach Melba involves the refreshingly simple pairing of peaches and (ice) cream topped with Melba sauce.

Created by the noted French chef Auguste Escoffier, this dessert is fit for a queen -- or at least a diva, like Dame Nellie Melba, the Australian opera singer for whom it was created. While Melba was performing in London, Escoffier created the dish in her honor, serving the peach-topped vanilla ice cream in an ornate ice-carved swan and topping the dessert with spun sugar. He later adapted it for the Carlton Hotel in 1900 by creating a new "Melba" sauce, consisting of pureed red currant jelly, raspberries, sugar and cornstarch.

Make your own Melba sauce from this sophisticated recipe -- it enlivens everything from peaches to pound cakes.

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Filed under: Holidays, Food History

Happy Milk Day!

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by Alexa Weibel, Posted Jan 11th 2011 @ 1:15PM

Photo: Joyous!, Flickr

Happy Milk Day!

As evidenced by ancient cave drawings, humans have been drinking milk since animals were first domesticated, roughly 10,000 years ago. Today, cows produce a whopping 90 percent of the world's dairy supply, but potable milk is also produced by a variety of animals across the world, including sheep, water buffalo, camels, llamas, goats and even reindeer.

Milk is unique in that no other beverage contains as many natural nutrients. It is composed of 87% water and 13% solids, which include carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and proteins, making it, according to the International Dairy Foods Association, "nature's most nearly perfect food."

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Filed under: Holidays, Food History

Happy National Tempura Day!

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by Alexa Weibel, Posted Jan 7th 2011 @ 1:15PM

Assorted seafood tempura. Photo: Ayngelina, Flickr

Happy National Tempura Day! Attesting to the veritable melting pot that is American cuisine, today is officially appointed as a day to celebrate these Japanese specialties.

Introduced in Japan in the mid-1500s, these deep-fried, batter-dipped morsels of vegetables or fish have pleased hungry eaters for centuries for their ability to transform inexpensive food into much more flavorful finished products.

Legend has it that Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of Japan's Tokugawa shogunate, was so enamored with tempura that he died from his gluttony upon the dish. What's your favorite tempura dish? Share your recommendations in the comments!

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Filed under: Holidays, Food History

Happy National Shortbread Day!

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by Alexa Weibel, Posted Jan 6th 2011 @ 1:15PM

Oatmeal shortbread. Photo: Pastrystudio, Flickr

Happy National Shortbread Day!

Once predominantly a Christmas treat -- or, depending on where you live, perhaps associated more strongly with the festival of Hogmanay, the Scottish New Year's Eve -- these buttery cookies are a welcome bite year-round, satiating both sweet and savory cravings.

Taking cue in shape from the traditional Scottish bannock, a griddle cake of oatmeal and barley, shortbread also followed its predecessor in avoiding an overly saccharine taste. Traditionally baked in an ornate, earthenware mold, the cookies would be often be perforated to be broken into individual pieces, as popularized by Walkers Shortbread.

Today, shortbread still frequently takes a circular form, but its flavors have diversified significantly, from sweet to savory. If you're feeling adventurous, perhaps these savory Parmesan-Rosemary Shortbread Rounds or the Oatmeal Shortbread pictured above will pique your interest.

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Filed under: Holidays, Food History

Happy National Cream Puff Day!

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by Alexa Weibel, Posted Jan 2nd 2011 @ 1:15PM

Chocolate cake. Photo: Timothy Gerdes, Flickr.

Happy National Cream Puff Day!

Much like cupcakes, this heavenly dessert is as precious to taste as it is to regard, with two crispy choux pastry shells enveloping a light cream or custard filling, topped off with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Unique by right of the hollow crust it forms, choux pastry is thought to have originated in Renaissance Italy and France, where it was supposedly dubbed "choux" ("cauliflower") for its bulbous appearance. Catherine de Medici's pastry chef is credited with the inclusion of a moist, creamy filling, but it is Antonin Careme who is thought to have perfected the dessert.

The trick of the cream puff is in the pastry, not the pudding. For a detailed recipe, we suggest that of the Food Network, who pairs it with a promising -- if untraditional -- chocolate whipped cream center.

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Filed under: Holidays, How To, Food History