Food Sources – Page 37 – Nicole Peyrafitte

Vive Michael Pollan!

“SUVs in America are competing with eaters around the rest of the world for good food and arable land. You can imagine who is going to win.” Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan is always an inspiration. He is professor at the U.C Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, writes regularly for the New York Times Magazine, and author of many enlightening books. Recently I subscribed to his “upcoming events related to Michael Pollan” and I wanted to share the latest communication, this article makes a lot of sense to me:

“I think you’ll be interested in this interview, “Michael Pollan on What’s Wrong With Environmentalism,” from a terrific new on-line environmental magazine called e360. It’s published by Yale University and edited by Roger Cohn, the former editor of Mother Jones and Audubon –and is full of good stuff.
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2031
Best,
Michael”

Below a list of webcast & videos :
Michael Pollan speak @ Google March 8 2008
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/05/05/explaining-food-vs-n.html

Berkeley Podcasts:

11/05/07	The Death of Environmentalism Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism	Michael Pollan – Moderator
3/21/07	Food Fight: A Teach-in On the 2007 Farm Bill Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism	Various
2/27/07	The Past, Present, and Future of Food Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism	Michael Pollan
4/17/06	The Omnivore’s Dilemma Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism	Michael Pollan
10/26/05	Berkeley Writers at Work: Michael Pollan Sponsored by College Writing Programs	Michael Pollan
10/13/04	Bush Science: Use and Abuse of Science in Policymaking Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism	Various
12/11/03	The Pulse of Scientific Freedom in the Age of Biotech Industry Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism	Various
11/24/03	Fast Food World: Perils and Promises of the Global Food Chain Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism	Various
11/20/03	The Politics of Obesity Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism	Various
11/13/02	The Ecology of Food – Panel with M. Pollan and Others Sponsored by UC Berkeley	Various Pollan
11/12/02	Michael Pollan: Cannabis, the Importance of Forgetting, and the Botany of Desire Sponsored by Townsend Center for the Humanities	Michael Pollan
9/23/02	Factory Food: Are the Alternatives Viable? Sponsored by Graduate School of Journalism	Various

Clich her for Michael Pollan website for a complete bliography and more info.

Asperges/Asparagus (I)

An extremely simple, fast and delicious dinner:
Broiled asparagus and pan fried lamb chops.
We are in the midst (here in New York State) of asparagus season and I found beautiful organic ones ($ 4.59 lb / origin New York State) at the Park Slope Food Coop. I bought 1.40 lb and that was enough for two.
I wash the asparagus and cut the stem when it becomes stringy and hard (never more than a 1/3 from the bottom) — which will depend on the quality and the freshness of the kind you purchase. I place them in an oven proof dish big enough to be able to able to toss them easily. I sprinkle them generously with a good pungent olive oil, salt, pepper, the juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic chopped fine. Toss it all very well and place under the BROILER for 10/20 minutes -depending on your boiler. I do toss them every 5 minutes to make sure they cook evenly.

Meanwhile I preheat my cast iron skillet and 5 minutes before removing the asparagus I pan fry my lamb chops –a great source of lamb is d’Artagnan— in a little bit of olive oil, not much is needed because the fat will give you enough grease. I like my lamb rare so about 5/6 minutes on each sides is enough for me. Add salt and pepper to taste.

The simplicity of the preparation will let you taste all the subtle flavors of these ingredients.
Next post I will give more info on asparagus. Bon Appetit!

Chinatown I : Zongzi

I find food wrapped in leaves very appealing and it is interesting to note that we can find them in many cultures around the globe. It seems they all have one thing in common: the rather blend starch hides something in smaller quantity ans most of the time a good surprise.
A few weeks ago while walking through Chinatown I walked by a lady selling something that looked similar to what I remembered having few years back also in New York Chinatown.
I tried to ask her what was it was. She spoke to me only in Chenise and nedeless to say I couldn’t understand, but buying one of the wrapped leave package from her small portable makeshift stand for $1.25 was possible. I couldn’t wait to eat it but I decided to wait to go home and try to identify it.

The internet investigation revealed that it appeared that I had purchased A Zongzi. They are mostly made for the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival that takes place every year the 5th day of the 5th moon. This year it was June 8th. Mine was wrapped in bamboo leaves and filled with peanuts & pork and but they come with different fillings.

I printed out the name and returned to Chinatown on Wednesday to see if I could confirm my identification. The old lady wasn’t there but a sidewalk cart stand had a pile of them. I showed the lady the print out, –see image of print out above– and she nodded positively

Then she tried to explain something about the position of the threads in chinese, a man came to my rescue and translated that: one one thread at the bottom indicated that it was a peanut zongzi and the other a bean paste zongzi. I got one of each.

At first the sticky rice tasted a little blend and gooey but when you I hit the peanuts and then pork it all comes together. The pork meat tasted very similar to pork confit we make in the South of France. I much prefer the one with peanut than the one with the yellow bean paste. Also I must say that the one purchased at the cart on Wednesday were really mediocre compared to the one I got from the old lady. I had gotten only a peanut one from the old lady and it was delicious, the pork was moist and perfectly salty and what appeared way to much rice and very little meat, dotted with still crunchy boiled peanuts was PERFECT. I also found out they are also called zong in some parts of China.

Fava Beans (II)

It is fava bean season. This wonderful old world legume is believed to have originated in the Orient and was already cultivated by ancient Egyptians. In the South of France fresh fava beans are also eaten raw, just dipped in a little salt. I have chosen a very simple recipe but they can also be prepared mashed, added into soup, or prepared with béchamel sauce. According to some French websites fava bean flour can be used as an additive to regular bread because of its containt of an enzyme called lipoxygenase that among other things whitens the dough.

The bean will need to be released from the pod. One pound per person will provide a good size portion. Note that the pods gets the darker as the beans mature.

If your fava beans are really fresh you will not need to peel them. If the outer skin is whitish you will need to do it, otherwise the skin gets tough.

Mine where fresh enough so I didn’t peel them

I sauteed one small onion in a spoon of olive oil until golden, then I add the fava beans,one teaspoon of kofte spice, 1/2 teaspoon of fresh savory herb, salt & pepper and 1 tablespoon of water. Cover and cook until the beans are tender or about 6 minutes.
Voilà! for today and if you cook any of my dishes or need more info do not hesitate to write to me.

Ovid, May & Fava Beans (I)

It is time to brush up on our Latin, celebrate the month of May & eat fava beans!
According to Ovid the origin name May, could derives from maiores –the elders. The ritual he describes in the Fasti’s book V –transcribed and translated below– certainly supports it.

OVID FASTI LIBER V
“Cumque manus puras fontana perluit unda,
Vertitur et nigras accipit ante fabas,
Aversusque iacit; sed dum iacit, ‘haec ego mitto,
His’ inquit ‘redimo meque meosque fabis.’
Hoc novies dicit nec respicit: umbra putatur
Colligere et nullo terga vidente sequi.
Rursus aquam tangit, Temesaeaque concrepat aera,
Et rogat ut tectis exeat umbra suis.
Cum dixit nouies: ‘Manes exite paterni!’,
Respecit et pure sagra peracta putat.”

“Once his hands were cleansed with spring water, he turned around and took the black fava beans. While throwing them one by one behind his back he says: ‘I offer these fava beans, with them I redeem myself and my people.’
He says it nine times without turning around. Meanwhile, without being seen, the shadow is supposed to collect the fava beans. Then he touches the spring water and rings the Témésa bronze. Now he commands the shadow to live the house. For that he will say nine times: ‘ Out, manes of my fathers‘”.

The drawing/collage above titled V (May) is part of a series of 12 drawings-collages developed into a performance piece: “The Calendar”, I premiered in 1997. The performance consisted of a computer projection of an animated version of the drawings and the singing of texts accompanied by musicians. For the first six months Ovid’s Fasti primarily inspired the texts. In this case directly connected to the rituals Ovid describes in Liber V (verses 419-445) cited above.

Next post will be a simple recipe of fresh fava beans. Happy May!

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Category: Food Sources