WHAT IS HUNTSMAN? This English bastard is an offspring of Stilton and Double Gloucester . It is basically a pasteurized cheese sandwich. Huntsman is a blend of a spicy 3 month old blue between 2 slabs of a mellower, 36 month old Double Gloucester. The actual name of this type of cheese is Double Gloucester with […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF FOOD
ARCHAEOLOGY OF FRUITS & VEGETABLES – Arugula (Rucola)
WHAT IS ARUGULA? The anti-thesis to evil iceberg lettuce and a relative of the more evil broccoli. Arugula is a cruciferous vegetable. Often described as peppery or flavorful, it’s a great way to add flavor to an otherwise boring salad. Also known as rocket (it grows quickly), while Americans discovered this delicacy in the 90’s, Italians […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Valencay
WHAT IS VALENCAY? Valencay’s origin is rumored to have sprung from Napoleon almost killing French politician Talleyrand in the 18th century. This civil servant was famous for his survival skills. At the time, Talleyrand was hosting a dinner in Napoleon’s honor. The feast was to celebrate the French army’s return from a campaign in Egypt. […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEAFOOD – Butterfish
WHAT IS A BUTTERFISH? Much like with Chilean sea bass, (formerly known as the Patagonian toothfish), escolar or snake mackerel are sold under the more appealing name of “butterfish.” However they are not the same fish! Restaurants realize that many customers aren’t too savvy about which fish they are eating, and Atlantic Black Cod or […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Havarti
WHAT IS HAVARTI? So if you have whiny kids, melt some havarti on toast and watch their palettes grudgingly expand. This block of cheese looks like a loaf of yellow bread with lots of tiny eye holes. It is soft but firm enough to peel for a thin slice in a nice cucumber and dill […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF FRUITS & VEGETABLES – Kumquat
WHAT IS A KUMQUAT? Officially known as Citrus Japonica (Japanese citrus), these small citrus fruits are slightly larger then a grape and grow on equally tiny evergreen trees. While there are many variations, they are generally renowned for being more durable then other citrus fruits like their cousin the orange, The thin skin of the kumquat […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEAFOOD – Anchovy
WHAT IS AN ANCHOVY? This marine forager is famous for its oil content. While often harvested when small, they can grow to over a foot (40 cm) in size. Anchovies tend to favor warmer, saltwater environments and are particularly abundant around Europe. They are one of the few natural sources of umami, or the 5th […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Chaumes
WHAT IS CHAUMES? Nicknamed “stubble”, this cow’s milk cheese looks like a cross between an orange and a pancake. It is a Trappiste-style cheese made in the South West of France since 1971. Despite being a washed rind cheese (giving it notes of hazelnut), it is popular with French children. This is due to its […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF PASTA – Ziti
WHAT IS ZITI? Popular at weddings, the name “ziti” is rumored to come from the word “zita” or “bride”. These short, narrow tubes are often used in baked macaroni dishes (ziti al forno) in Italian American recipes. While this cut looks similar to penne (both are short, hollow tubes), there are two differences. Penne is cut […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Livarot
WHAT IS LIVAROT? This pungent, washed rind cheese stars on only the most famous restaurant cheese plates. Its faint, orange wheels of this faint are usually just under a pound in size. Livarot’s color nowadays often comes from annatto die. Even in France today most of the cheeses produced are pasteurized cow’s milk. During production […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF MUSHROOMS – Morel
WHAT IS A MOREL? It is an edible mushroom famous for its’ honeycomb texture and tall, slender shape. However morels can vary quite a bit in appearance. The name morchella also refers to the morel, though they are known as the “true morels.” While truffles are among the most expensive fungal ingredients known, morel mushrooms aren’t […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Maroilles
WHAT IS MAROILLES? Created over a thousand years ago in the Abbey of Maroilles, this fromage is another member of France’s orange, washed rind cheese community. Maroilles is a bit bigger and so will last longer from production then Livarot. The cheese has different names depending on its size, small being called a Quart (quarter), […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF FRUITS & VEGETABLES – Red Cabbage
WHAT IS A RED CABBAGE? Cabbages in general are leafy, ball-shaped vegetables that are relatives of broccoli. The red version is just a regular cabbage that’s rich in anthocyanins. This compound gives the head its’ unique scarlet or purple coloration. The lower the pH of the soil, the redder will cabbage will become. Long ago the color […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Formaggio di Fossa
WHAT IS FORMAGGIO DI FOSSA? The Italian name of this little known cheese translates as “cheese of the pit.” It is made from either cow or a cow/sheep’s milk. Originally in the 13th century these subterranean silos were used to store grain. But farmers started hiding their precious cheese in their underground granarys every time […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEAFOOD – Carp
WHAT IS A CARP? Believe it or not, this giant, oily fish is actually a member of the minnow family! It also has an undeserved reputation as the bad boy of freshwater seafood. Considered by many to be an invasive species, they are a hardy and adaptable, surviving in environments where food or even oxygen […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF FRUITS & VEGETABLES – Blackberry
WHAT IS A BLACKBERRY? These dark, delicious fruits are from prickly bushes that are members of the rose family. Similar to raspberries but black in color, the blackberry is often thought to have originated in North America, but it’s a European import. They are both easy to gr0w and perrenial! WHY ARE BLACKBERRIES GOOD […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Brillat-Savarin
WHO WAS BRILLAT-SAVARIN? At the end of the 19th century, Henri Androuet named this cheese after French gastronome and physiologist Brillat-Savarin. Born over 100 years earlier, he was the author of such famous statements as “Dessert without cheese is like a beauty with only one eye”. Think of him as the bachelor gourmet precursor to […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEAFOOD – Oyster
WHAT IS AN OYSTER? It’s a salt water bivalve mollusc that is often asymmetrical in shape and delicious. They feed by sucking water through their gills and eating the particles of plankton trapped there. Oysters play a critical role in their local ecosystem with a single mollusc filtering up to 50 gallons of water a […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF CHEESE – Caciocavallo
WHAT IS CACIOCAVALLO? Caciocavallo looks like a cheese that was made into a sad pear. Normally you don’t hear the term “strung up” outside of 50 Shades of Grey. But this cheese is hung from the ceiling while drying. With the neck of the cheese hanging from a rope, gravity causes the formaggio to stretch. […]
ARCHAEOLOGY OF PASTA – Cannelloni
WHAT IS CANNELLONI? This Italian pasta is a short cut tube which is stuffed and covered in sauce. The name comes from the latin word for “reeds”. This evolved into the Italian word cannello or “tube.” In the States the name “manicotti” is also used for this cut, which means “big sleeve.” For Americans manicotti has […]