Page 10 - Palm City Spotlight - August '23

Page 10, Palm City Spotlight

Book revieW

Foods That Made History: street food in Italy for many Careme (1784 to 1833). “His entire life was dedicated

The Big Names Behind The centuries before cheese was to ‘la grande cuisine.’ Every moment of his waking time
was spent on improving existing recipes and methods
eventually added.” When
World’s Favorite Dishes tomatoes were brought of preparing food, and on developing a new generation
over from the New World of French chefs. With respect to souffles (whether sweet
By Nils A. Shapiro they were considered to or savory), Careme was constantly improvising and
Some of the most be poisonous and were innovating. Occasionally, he would flavor a souffle with
fascinating books I have used only as houseplants, any wine or liqueur he thought might improve it. When he
reviewed over the years except by poor people who decided, one day, to season a souffle with a clear liqueur in
have been on the subject eventually began to eat the whose body shimmered innumerable minute flakes of gold
of food –Salt, Consider vegetable and found it to leaf, it seemed only natural to him to dedicate the recipe
the Fork and The Secret be edible. Around 1889, to the wealthy Rothschild banking family, in the kitchen of
History of Food, just to “Queen Margarita of Italy whose Paris residence he worked for several years.”
mention a few – so when I – who was on vacation in And so was born Souffle Rothschild –“A very rich
discovered this title on the Naples with her husband, dessert.”
list of new publications it King Umberto I and the royal court – expressed an interest One of the ingredients in the recipe, notes the author,
attracted my attention … in tasting some of the local foods. A local pizzaiolo, or is Danziger Goldwasser, a liqueur that continues to be
and I am delighted that it did. pizza maker, named Raffaele Esposito, was summoned made to this day, which contains flakes of gold leaf and
This just released addition to the genre, by author to the palace. His pizzeria was considered to be the best is flavored usually with anise or orange.
Rafael Agam – a notable chef who studied at Le Cordon in Naples. In response to the Royal summons, Esposito We have barely touched upon three of the background
Bleu in Paris, has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants loaded his donkey with dough and other materials, and stories here; there are 50 more. Imagine how interesting
and now owns the successful Voila Swiss-French made his way to the palace. you will be at any dinner gathering, tossing off tidbits of
restaurant in Israel – offers in one convenient paperback Esposito made three different pizzas. One in particular historic food facts after you have digested Chef Agam’s
volume a buffet menu of gastronomical history, delicious caught the queen’s fancy. eight-course, 345-page treat. Or being able to serve up
entertainment and practical, useful recipes that will more “This particular pizza was a felicitous combination any of these original classic recipes at your own party.
than satisfy the literary appetite of any foodie reader. of fine flavor and patriotic sentiment, for its colors were *****
Chef Agam’s purpose in putting together this book is those of the recently adopted flag of the united (well, Note: The author, Chef Agam, has concocted a
made clear in his introduction: almost united) Kingdom of Italy: Red (slices of tomato), wonderfully tasty recipe for his book, one that as a reader
“Historians of the past tended to focus on subjects more white (mozzarella cheese, made from buffalo’s milk) and I greedily devoured. But as an editor I could not help
‘important’ than food – war, famine, plague, navigation, green (fresh leaves of basil). The Queen was captivated by but notice a number of grammatical errors in the form
and the discovery of new continents. They didn’t bother this dish, and it was immediately named after her. From of too many commas where they were not needed. And
much with recording the history of fine eating. Subjects that day forward, ‘Pizza Margarita’ was the flagship dish he refers to a pizza as Margherita in the chapter heading,
such as the international trade in spices, or the discovery on the menu of Esposito’s pizzeria…and eventually, this then spells the name of the Italian queen as Margarita.
of the New World and its treasury of fresh culinary simple dish of humble but ancient origins … made its way, Apparently, Agam could have used a final editing of his
delights, might receive a certain amount of attention from in one form or another, to all four corners of the earth.” manuscript. But unless you are the kind of guest who
historians, but out of thousands of years of glorious feasts, A final nibble of an example from the book will have would complain about one burnt biscuit in an otherwise
dedicated chefs, and revolutionary new dishes – not a to suffice. sumptuous banquet, don’t let this deprive you of his
great deal of solid information has come down to us.” One of the greatest chefs in all of history was Antoine literary feast.
Agam has set about correcting that by revealing the
fascinating stories behind the origins of 53 of history’s
most famous foods, organized into eight categories: First
Courses, Two-Legged, Four-Legged, Fish and Seafood, School Bus Safety
Pizza and Pasta, Salads and Side Dishes, Pastries and
Desserts, and Beverages. Many black-and-white line
drawings are sprinkled throughout the text. Stay Alert. Keep Them Safe.
Included among the vast array of 53 foods – there is
space here to name just a few – are such famous dishes
as Eggs Benedict, Chicken General Tso, Beef Wellington,
Schnitzel Holstein, Oysters Rockefeller, Lobster Newberg,
Pizza Margherita, Fettuccine Alfredo, Waldorf Salad, Crab
Louie, Tarte Tatin, Crepes Suzette, Earl Grey Tea, Kir and
Kir Royal. Perhaps less familiar, but equally interesting,
are such names as Soupe Parmentier, Chicken Tetrazzini,
Sole Murat, Pavlova, Sachertorte, the Bellini cocktail …
and so many more.
(A note of caution: If you plan to try any of the recipes,
be aware that Agam uses European measurements – grams,
kilograms (kg) and milliliters (ml)—instead of pounds and
ounces when listing the ingredients, so you will need to
be prepared for converting them to ounces, pounds, etc.
As for the rest, the chef does refer to cups, tablespoons,
teaspoons, etc., just as in American recipes.)
But even if, like me, your cooking skills are limited to
popping frozen meals into a microwave – fortunately, my
beautiful wife, Linda, is not only a fine artist and jewelry
designer, but also a kitchen wizard – there is much to be
savored between the covers of this book. While each of
the more than half a hundred background histories takes Life moves fast—
up several pages, here are just a few teaser highlights to

serve as a hint of what awaits you in its pages. prepare for the unexpected
Giuseppe Cipriani opened his famous Harry’s Bar
restaurant in Venice in 1931. A great exhibition of the with Accident Insurance.
works of the Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio (1472
to 1526) was held in Venice in 1950. At that time, “One
of the restaurant’s regular patrons was the beautiful
Countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo. She had been advised
by her doctor not to eat cooked meat for a few weeks,
doctor’s orders. Cipriani had just been to the exhibition We’re here to help.
and asked Cipriani to prepare her a dish according to the
of paintings and was overwhelmed with the marvelous
variety of shades of red that he had seen in Carpaccio’s Accident insurance complements your Florida Blue Health Plan. Call to learn more
paintings. The dish he prepared for the countess, from thin about insurance plans from USAble Life.
slices of raw beef interwoven with a pale mustard sauce,
reminded him irresistibly of these splendid colors, and he M&A Insurance and Financial Services Inc.
named it ‘Carpaccio’ in their honor.” 561-440-9940
The Etruscans, a people who dominated Northern
Italy before the rise of Rome, were fond of eating a kind M&A Insurance and Financial Services Inc. is an Independent Broker of Florida Blue.
of flat bread, embellished with a variety of additives Florida Blue is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Supplemental, Life, and Disability products are offered by USAble Life. USAble Life is an independent company
and flavorings … The name ‘pizza’ may be derived from and operates separately from Florida Blue.
the Latin word picea, which describes the browning 22L-USAL-0872 112941 1222
of the dough in the oven … The flat bread was sold as