Basque Gastronomy and History

I seem to have stored up a backlog of book reviews that I’ve been meaning to post, so I’ll start trying to clear them out of my head and onto the internet now. This first one is somewhat unusual, in that it’s actually non-fiction, which I haven’t been reading much of lately.

This book actually has to be paired with a radio story. Back in May, before I had to leave for my 3-week business trip to Asia (I’m chronicling that over on my personal blog), I heard this piece from the Kitchen Sisters on NPR, from their Hidden Kitchens series: The Sheepherder’s Ball: Hidden Basque Kitchens. While my own cooking skills are notably underdeveloped, I find this series fascinating for the way it explores history and culture through the initial touchstone of recipes and food. In this case, they revealed the existence of a sizable Basque community in the US that I had never heard about before.

Francisco and Joaquin Lasarte came to America in 1964 from Basque country in northern Spain. Francisco Franco, the Spanish dictator who repressively ruled the country for nearly 40 years, made life miserable for the Basque people, suppressing their language, culture and possibilities.

The result was a massive exodus, and the only way to come to the United States for many Basque was to contract as sheepherders. There was a shortage of shepherds in the American West, and Sen. Patrick McCarren of Nevada helped craft legislation in 1950 that allowed Basque men to take up this lonely and difficult job.

Neither Lasarte brother had any sheepherding experience when they arrived in America.

Public Service Announcement: Free Ice Cream!

I don’t know how many people will see this in time, but today, April 29, is Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day! Check the official site for the shop nearest you. I’m seriously considering stopping on my way home from work.

Now, the requisite poll question: What’s your favorite flavor?

I am, unoriginally, a huge fan of Cherry Garcia.

-Dana

Do you live in an “agriculture state”?

And (while we’re on the subject) another thing about Iowa…

Is it really a farm state? Is any state really a farm state?

Fun fact: Agriculture provides 3 percent of Iowa’s gross domestic product. (Manufacturing provides 21 percent.)

Only 56 shopping days left!

I love the holidays as much as the next person.

In fact, I might love them *more* than the next person. I have so many plans for Thanksigiving that I can’t wait the three weeks and two days until it actually happens.

I have most of my Christmas presents figured out.

But… things are a little ridiculous. I’m growing used to seeing Christmas in stores before Halloween. (Especially after living in Europe, where they lack the Thanksgiving holiday buffer.) But tonight was not cool. Not cool at all.

What I’m not used to is living someplace where we might actually get trick-or-treaters, so tonight I stopped off at the grocery store to get some candy for tomorrow.

Only, all the Halloween candy was gone, and there was only Christmas candy.

Dear Children of Northern Virginia,

I apologize for the Christmas colored York Peppermint Patties you will be recieving if you come to my house this year. Next year, I will buy my candy in September. It might be a little stale, but it won’t feature snowflakes.

Forgive me,

Jennie

–posted by kidsilkhaze

Dinner at Chez Geek

In an echo of Jennie’s cry of “I’m an adult, I swear!,” as well as an amusing revisit of our previous conversation about dinosaur to chicken evolution, a picture of the dinner Mark and I had the other night:

I’m an adult, I swear!

When I was a kid, being a grown-up seemed like the ultimate. You could stay up as late as you wanted, eat chocolate cake for dinner, never have anyone tell you what to do, and have money all the time to buy whatever you wanted.

Of course, now I have so much to do I can’t get to bed as early as I’d like, I have to tell myself not to eat chocolate cake for dinner, and I now know that the checkbook doesn’t magically make money– it’s actually tied to something. Yes, my paycheck is bigger than my allowance, but after bills and gas and food and the like, not much.

Still, there are a few times when I catch myself going “heck, I’m an adult now! What’s stopping me?”

Our State Fair is the Best State Fair

You want an awesome day of cheap wholesome fun? A day that’s good for the whole family but not nearly as lame as it sounds?

I have two words for you: STATE FAIR.

Yeah, they sound dumb and boring. But, really? The State Fair rocks. It’s like Niagara Falls–has a bit of an old fogey lame-o reputation, but actually quite neat and fun and awesome.

Rooftop Garden Part Deux

The same day that BBaron harvested her first tomato was the day that I returned from a long research trip to discover my neighbors had been calling the police on my rooftop garden. Someone had reported seeing children playing on the roof, which though untrue lead to an all-out ban on roof access. And wouldn’t I be so kind to remove everything from the roof before they had me arrested? That day would be best, naturally.

This spelled the end of any enjoyment of sunshine and summer breezes in my chaise, but there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about my vegetables. I pulled in all my flowers — most of them never made it to blooming anyway, and the rest cooked to death in our overheated stairwell — but the veggies called for more space and sunshine that the roof still offered. So I fit everything on a 1m by .5 m rectangle of fake grass in front of the window and have yet to receive another “cease and desist, you tomato fiend” letter. Keep your fingers crossed, though, since you never know when the neighbors might go green with bean envy.

And while my harvest can in no way compare to that of gardeners with ample space, healthy dirt and early summer sun, I have been able to harvest to-date one healthy-sized cucumber, a green pepper and a handful of beans. My little golden tomato — the first one which had moved to a stage of ripeness — fell off the vine while I was fussing with the boxes, so I included it in the picture as well. I fully expect more beans, cukes, and maybe three dozen tomatoes before the growing season is over. Here are a couple photos of the goodies.

Gardening Time Again - The First Tomato

I harvested the first tomato from my garden last Saturday, July 1. It came in 60 days after I planted its mother-plant, under the waxing moon early in May. (Here is the sliced version, just before we ate it.)

 

Here it is on the mother-plant, just before I picked it:

All of my tomato plants are ”heirloom”varieties. The First Tomato variety is called “Gary O’Sena,” and it is an open pollinated cross between a Brandywine and a Cherokee Purple. This is the first year I’ve grown it and I must say I’m really impressed. Not only does it produce early, but its fruits are dark and rich with a sweet-acidic flavor. 

What is an ”heirloom” variety? First and foremost, all heirloom tomatoes are open pollinated. This means that seed saved from this year’s fruit will produce the same variety next year, unless natural or intended cross-pollination occurs. A hybrid tomato variety, such as the “Better Boy,” will NOT plant true in the next generation. 

Green Tea Allergy?

I heard something the other day that I’d never heard before. We were talking about the purported benefits of jasmine tea, and green tea in general, at work the other day, and one of my coworkers said that she can’t drink green tea, because she has a horrible reaction to it. She said it made her jittery, anxious, and have big mood swings all day. After her first experience drinking green tea, she had no inclination to do so again. But with all the news about the health benefits of green tea, she tried something with green tea extract in it. Same reaction. No more green tea for her. She said she also had a friend that this might have happened to as well.

Now, I know, the plural of anecdote is not data. And I certainly drink a lot of green tea, as do many of the people I know, with no ill effects. But I was curious to see if this was an acknowledged phenomenon, given how widespread green tea and its extracts are becoming. I’m sure people can develop a food allergy to pretty much anything, but usually it’s to a certain thing in the food, and what would it be in green tea? Is it in other stuff, too?