Food city area

Gefilte Fish

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SWXFYwVPZXzL8qQCC3bi6xAxwpLs-gTK6A69HF5RXQlHvoQeD-KVNGM7mV50wyz9F4gRoWHd4y_ZLWzE2OBIJSTAEMBqb3xvy3B-1Kj92CmP_zZw0NUeQ3TGpY5XLHFvG6OFojTG55w/s1600-h/sederplate2-06.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5045219796993682962" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SWXFYwVPZXzL8qQCC3bi6xAxwpLs-gTK6A69HF5RXQlHvoQeD-KVNGM7mV50wyz9F4gRoWHd4y_ZLWzE2OBIJSTAEMBqb3xvy3B-1Kj92CmP_zZw0NUeQ3TGpY5XLHFvG6OFojTG55w/s400/sederplate2-06.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a> Once a year we have a Seder for Passover -- it's coming up next week. And thus once a year, we eat gefilte fish. The jar from which I get the fish hasn't changed since my childhood, when my mother also served gefilte fish once a year for the Seder. I think of it as much in the list of ritual foods as its garnish of horseradish -- symbol of the bitter lives of the Israelite slaves in Egypt. As symbolic as the matzo with charoset or the parsley dipped in salt water. Much more traditional than the recently introduced orange, which symbolizes women being equal in all respects. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga54XKppkvsuse-OJjwqIT4T6C9IPPoEfTWr6rWgab0PCbTBq8vzrs4w45J8FmCUPuejvnpC5xBPkupxufWCmC0n6W6ySBxr60FoF5xGQTPfu9YVdZgUszBNSq_7PA-tpyGlh_BBrhw-Y1/s1600-h/gefiltefish.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451530927750674594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga54XKppkvsuse-OJjwqIT4T6C9IPPoEfTWr6rWgab0PCbTBq8vzrs4w45J8FmCUPuejvnpC5xBPkupxufWCmC0n6W6ySBxr60FoF5xGQTPfu9YVdZgUszBNSq_7PA-tpyGlh_BBrhw-Y1/s320/gefiltefish.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 137px; height: 239px;" /></a> Gefilte fish is the paradigm of Jewish food, and among the observant, was traditional for Friday night Sabbath meals as well as holidays. Although minced fish balls may play a role in other cuisines (such as quenelles in France) the preparation is mainly unknown in American non-Jewish households, and elicits a very dubious response from the uninitiated. Well, it does taste a bit fishy. But what does it symbolize? I wondered. Searching for how this dish acquired its ritual status I did a bit of reading. Obviously the word "gefilte" (which means "filled" as in mincing the fish with bread or other starch and stuffing the preparation back in the skin) has a Yiddish or German origin. Under other names, though, Jewish minced fish has a much older history. In the aftermath of the fall of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, many of the Jewish customs for celebration of the Sabbath were established and documented in the Talmud and other commentaries. In this era, two reasons emerged to eat fish. First, based on traditions from Syria and from various mystery cults, fish was associated with the coming of the Messiah (a tradition later reflected by Christian symbolism). Second, fish was associated with fertility, "Jacob gave his children a blessing that they should multiply like fishes." Eating fish, however, conflicted with the commandment to rest on the Sabbath. Removing fish bones was considered unacceptable "work." During Talmudic times, therefore, minced fish served in a pie became a common Friday night dinner choice. (Cooper, p. 64-65) Fish, especially minced fish, continued to appear in Jewish history. In the 13th century, a Sabbath song declared "without fish there is no Sabbath." Medieval Jews in Spain prepared holiday and Sabbath fish with egg-lemon sauce. In the 16th century in Spain and Mexico, secretly-practicing Jews ate fish on Friday night; in 1488, the Inquisition accused a Jewish woman of making fish pies for Sabbath -- evidence of Judaizing. Modern Sephardic Jews in Turkey preserve some of these recipes. (Shostak p. 72, Gitlitz p. 232, Cooper p. 130) The carp was the traditional Jewish fish in eastern Europe: "it has been suggested that Jewish traders along the silk routes assisted in the dissemination of the carp throughout southern and eastern Europe. ... the really poor Jews in eastern Europe were offered cheap river fish, such as roach, tench, and chub, for the Sabbath, or even a piece of salted herring." In Germany, Jewish carp recipes appear in the late 18th and early 19th century -- including a reference by Heinrich Heine to his aunt's Friday-night carp in brown raisin sauce. (Cooper p. 171, 177) By the early 20th century, eastern European Jews had developed many recipes for what they now called gefilte fish. The dish was sometimes sweet, sometimes not. The use of sugar "followed the same boundaries as did the Polish-Lithuanian Yiddish dialects... there was a geographic belt of sweet gefilte fish wherever Hassidic communities settled." Pomiane, the observer of Polish Jews in the 1920s said, "On the Sabbath every observant Jew eats river fish." He described fish balls among other Jewish fish preparations -- he found them tasteless and added horseradish. (Roden p. 107, Pomiane p. 123 & 135) German and eastern European Jews brought these customs to America. A recipe for fish balls appeared in the first Jewish cookbook in America by Mrs. Esther Levy. During the early part of the 20th century, Jewish women evidently bought a fish every Thursday, kept it in the bathtub overnight, and turned it into gefilte fish on Friday. My grandmother and great-grandmother are said to have done this. Some time in the 1940s or 50s, kosher canned and bottled foods using Eastern European recipes appeared in American grocery stores. Families who retained the custom of Friday night family dinners thus had the option of traditional foods -- especially gefilte fish -- made instantly. Further, Jewish Americans now reflect their local food customs in the way they spice and prepare gefilte fish, though the fish balls may actually come from a jar -- for example, Southwest style gefilte fish served with salsa. (Levy p. 20, Nathan p. 144, Diner p. 195-196) My mother usually bought Manischewitz brand fish, though occasionally maybe one of the other brands. Her cousin had a kosher canning factory where one of the early mass-produced gefilte fish preparations were made in the 1940s or maybe earlier, which may have been the start of her choice to buy rather than make it. Exactly once, she made it herself. I remember her standing by the stove with a boiling pot. She didn't feel that the result was worth the effort, as I recall. Maybe my father didn't like it that much. I'm thinking about gefilte fish as I prepare for Passover, and also as I write my talk about "Who won the war between gefilte fish and chop suey?" The Jewish traders' role in bringing carp from China to Europe is a very interesting piece of information for this endeavor. Sources: John Cooper, Eat and Be Satisfied: A Social History of Jewish Food; Hasia R. Diner, Hungering for America; Gitlitz & Davidson, A Drizzle of Honey; Mrs. Esther Levy, The first Jewish-American Cookbook; Joan Nathan, Jewish Cooking in America; Edouard de Pomiane, The Jews of Poland: Recollections and Recipes; Claudia Roden, The Book of Jewish Food; Patti Shosteck, A Lexicon of Jewish Cooking.

Gefilte Fish

Once a year we have a Seder for Passover -- it's coming up next week. And thus once a year, we eat gefilte fish. The jar from which I get the fish hasn't changed since my childhood, when my mother also served gefilte fish once a year for the Seder. I think of it as much in the list of ritual foods a…

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22Mar2010

Delicious Indian Dinner

Delicious Indian Dinner

…

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19Mar2010

Gardiner Museum, Toronto

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-AHqZfSTrbR8iZ6qCMXt9AOHnL8PXFGHvZHzVz24MZLtLRXqcvbiitK9-0hqQPz_BDTGH_03IRUzCAuA-32s5yGXRDhpfwIU3JiH1MPZ7OKWvlnta_MSZHMMSxpXnGsWp-zimXsF_fcM/s1600-h/gardiner1699.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450071968858651362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-AHqZfSTrbR8iZ6qCMXt9AOHnL8PXFGHvZHzVz24MZLtLRXqcvbiitK9-0hqQPz_BDTGH_03IRUzCAuA-32s5yGXRDhpfwIU3JiH1MPZ7OKWvlnta_MSZHMMSxpXnGsWp-zimXsF_fcM/s400/gardiner1699.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>First, the <a href="http://www.gardinermuseum.on.ca/abtmain.aspx?TopNavImage=0">Gardiner Museum</a> has a special exhibit: "From the Melting Pot into the Fire: Contemporary Ceramics in Israel." This sculpture by Mirvat Issa is titled "Our Daily Bread." Obviously, it consists of ceramic pita breads freshly puffed in the oven. The exhibit is very tuned to life in Israel in a very positive way; depictions of buildings, dancers making ceramics while dancing, and reflections on ancient and Biblical history. Of course most of the ceramic works on display were intended as vessels for serving, cooking, or dining -- intensely food related. But some of the works also made direct reference to food. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbIONYqFSvF5Et1FOikQp-SQyO0YVdjL9V_1H1fO5TPrtnWJRBHpJMdzzJ7IsO-LB4yaCHNC2fFcQsyywug5-h2IT8nK1ztNeUA6JfXJXuNSm0V450lFGcLiJU4XghDTgf0oBoZIXE0X7/s1600-h/gardiner1700.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450071958788064914" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHbIONYqFSvF5Et1FOikQp-SQyO0YVdjL9V_1H1fO5TPrtnWJRBHpJMdzzJ7IsO-LB4yaCHNC2fFcQsyywug5-h2IT8nK1ztNeUA6JfXJXuNSm0V450lFGcLiJU4XghDTgf0oBoZIXE0X7/s400/gardiner1700.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 348px;" /></a>From the Chinese collection: a plate from the era 1625-1645 depicting the manufacture of salt. In my experience, this is a very special piece because it represents essentially a peasant activity. <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQR2i11ZrnbVMiZ7VoTzKCQOybq415KZvzHd_cXP9ztzbBHlfWrJQA4SINf5D_RIkLq1Cb1e34dC1TDGiIXz01wa0Clk5r37jEBE5xoAhNSo4RlR4gD6IVIQk5pnk-gWpzPDi0nVais1S/s1600-h/gardiner1717.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450071950426738306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQR2i11ZrnbVMiZ7VoTzKCQOybq415KZvzHd_cXP9ztzbBHlfWrJQA4SINf5D_RIkLq1Cb1e34dC1TDGiIXz01wa0Clk5r37jEBE5xoAhNSo4RlR4gD6IVIQk5pnk-gWpzPDi0nVais1S/s400/gardiner1717.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 329px;" /></a>From the modern collection: "Garden Armchair" </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_jJY-CsKg83Cv2yjZNlMeGOo8XUwzM0rmF9Z4RCdzTUtHimoQ9flIEpyBnyBNwLWHFfqDi0iJf84RHxuIWcy_Y8fUZJqf7Q-V4C9LMEsuafQo64zra0Qc8mjuELLLOs2zo2mEMhGndfK/s1600-h/gardiner1718.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5450071948923753810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_jJY-CsKg83Cv2yjZNlMeGOo8XUwzM0rmF9Z4RCdzTUtHimoQ9flIEpyBnyBNwLWHFfqDi0iJf84RHxuIWcy_Y8fUZJqf7Q-V4C9LMEsuafQo64zra0Qc8mjuELLLOs2zo2mEMhGndfK/s400/gardiner1718.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 220px;" /></a>"Cabbages and Kings" </div>

Gardiner Museum, Toronto

First, the Gardiner Museum has a special exhibit: "From the Melting Pot into the Fire: Contemporary Ceramics in Israel." This sculpture by Mirvat Issa is titled "Our Daily Bread." Obviously, it consists of ceramic pita breads freshly puffed in the oven. The exhibit is very tuned to life in Israel in…

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18Mar2010

Farmer's Chop Suey

<blockquote style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">"Jewish Chop Suey... is our own name for a mixture of diced scallions, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, and whatever else you like mixed with heavy sour cream." -- from Modern Kosher Meals by Mildred Bellin, 1934, p. 27. "Farmer's Chop Suey: No one knows how this simple dairy salad came to be, but it has been a hot-weather favorite in Jewish-American kitchens for at least a century. Served with good pumpernickel or rye bread, it is a light, satisfying summer lunch." -- Blue Plate Specials by Jane and Michael Stern, 2001, p. 137</blockquote> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hx8IAvq880Ze4eniXMka5jJsroGQWFaUzXCNTAidGLH6A63nrsjvIr0ASkUuVwdyXvYVnzZD5tk9DdPHUPhPh-SC96hqTUAh0uZvlyVmXGvYHkrl7lAV8uy2XnZwZqQgCfiZcZ-3ZWkX/s1600-h/farmerschpsuey1678.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448685024594092546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-hx8IAvq880Ze4eniXMka5jJsroGQWFaUzXCNTAidGLH6A63nrsjvIr0ASkUuVwdyXvYVnzZD5tk9DdPHUPhPh-SC96hqTUAh0uZvlyVmXGvYHkrl7lAV8uy2XnZwZqQgCfiZcZ-3ZWkX/s400/farmerschpsuey1678.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a> Similar recipes for the same salad, under the name Farmer's Chop Suey, appeared in The Jewish Sentinel Cook Book in 1936, and in Love and Knishes in 1956. "Our family made it with cottage cheese," said my cousin Merilyn. "I remember my mother making it," said my brother-in-law Jack. Both were thinking of the 1930s. My parents ate chopped vegetables with cottage cheese and sour cream too, but I never heard that name for it. Why would this obviously Eastern-European dish acquire a name like "Farmer's Chop Suey"? Its only resemblance to standard Chop Suey is that there are chopped vegetables. I heard of Farmer's Chop Suey while working on a talk I'm going to give next month titled "Who won the war between gefilte fish and chop suey?" It's about the popular topic of Jews and Chinese food, subject of various jokes, wisecracks, Yiddish puns, recipes, cookbooks, and annual articles about eating Christmas Dinner in a Chinese restaurant. My interest is in the interaction of two immigrant groups in America: the Jews and the Chinese, and in general in the history of Chinese food in America. Surprisingly, I learned that the Jewish love of Chinese food goes back almost to the beginning of American Chinese restaurants in the 19th century and early 20th century. At this time, Chop Suey was virtually a synonym for Chinese food; as late as the 1950s, Chinese restaurants were often called Chop Suey Houses. The book Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States by Andrew Coe describes the origins of his title food -- contrary to popular impressions, the dish wasn't a joke played by the Chinese on Americans, but an honest reinterpretation of Cantonese home cooking. It was native to many of the early immigrants, and eventually adapted to the taste of American restaurant goers. Its popularity came and went for around 100 years. In the 1890s eating Chinese food was a sign of modern adventurousness. During prohibition, Chop Suey Houses offered live music and dancing -- alcohol had never been integral to Chinese food so it wasn't missed. As a side effect of this popularity, all kinds of dishes became "so-and-so's Chop Suey." There was "Polish Chop Suey," "Italian Chop Suey," "American Chop Suey," etc. These were ethnic dishes that hardly resemble the Chinese dish. No one claims to remember exactly when or how a traditional Jewish chopped salad acquired the name "Jewish Chop Suey" or the maybe politer name "Farmer's Chop Suey," but it doesn't seem hard to imagine. But the existence of this dish speaks to the early adoption of Chinese food into Jewish life. The 1934 book Modern Kosher Meals by Mildred Bellin included a wide variety of non-Jewish ethnic foods, as well as traditional ones. I mentioned the recipe for "Jewish Chop Suey." She also gave a recipe for standard Chinese Chop Suey, including soy sauce and water chestnuts; and one for "Chinese Soup," which is egg-drop soup. She wanted her readers to keep kosher without being old-fashioned; Chinese food was familiar enough for kosher cooks to want to make some at home. Adaptations of non-Jewish foods appear in many kosher cookbooks -- there are even a few exclusively kosher Chinese cookbooks, just as there are surprisingly many kosher Chinese restaurants. It's an interesting subject. Maybe one of the strangest references to Farmer's Chop Suey is in the narrative of an elderly woman about a subject that fascinates some people: the death of the world-famous Houdini. The author was the widow of Dr. Daniel Cohn, who treated Houdini in a Detroit hospital during his last illness. Years after the event (which occurred in 1926) she wrote: <blockquote>"Houdini told Daniel he was born in Hungary and was brought to the U.S. by his mother whom he adored all his life and his father, a rabbi. They settled in Appleton, Wisconsin where he and his siblings were raised. "One evening while talking about his favorite foods, he said, 'I have a yen for Farmer's Chop Suey.' Farmer's Chop Suey, a dish familiar to most Jewish families, is made of chopped raw vegetables combined with sour cream. Daniel walked to a nearby delicatessen, returned with two portions and while they were eating, Houdini reminisced about his life. 'If I die, ' he said, 'don't be surprised if phony spiritualists declare a national holiday!' His disagreements with spiritualists had taken the form of many public battles." -- From "<a href="http://www.seniorwomen.com/articles/articlesSchatzHoudini.html" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Houdini and My Husband</a>" </blockquote> In short, 75 to 100 years ago the identification of a Jewish dish as "Chop Suey" probably was one of many indications of widespread Jewish interest in Chinese food. The increasing frequency of Jews eating in Chinese restaurants reflected Jewish assimilation into American life and American foodways. While some Jewish leaders found the trend away from Jewish and kosher food alarming, by 1928 when a Yiddish journalist wrote an article titled "The War Between Chop Suey and Gefilte Fish" it was probably too late to do anything about it.

Farmer's Chop Suey

"Jewish Chop Suey... is our own name for a mixture of diced scallions, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, and whatever else you like mixed with heavy sour cream." -- from Modern Kosher Meals by Mildred Bellin, 1934, p. 27."Farmer's Chop Suey: No one knows how this simple dairy salad ca…

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15Mar2010

Pi Day pies and other round food

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoi5mrN_WArg42O522dcw4sq7K_7zZI_k-C9j15aMF8bTo3PAB19nbwI_RHHe7mEKoQ8nGnL-Ive3GZ7rpdIz3RC2q-6A8w3g364u-HubR2xMSdGoomeNLlJzKLpY0zkn3_07wkUti_iwy/s1600-h/PiDay0587.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448640331106779938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoi5mrN_WArg42O522dcw4sq7K_7zZI_k-C9j15aMF8bTo3PAB19nbwI_RHHe7mEKoQ8nGnL-Ive3GZ7rpdIz3RC2q-6A8w3g364u-HubR2xMSdGoomeNLlJzKLpY0zkn3_07wkUti_iwy/s400/PiDay0587.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 201px;" /></a>Breakfast: a round omelet, round tomato slices </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0_u5WmGEkfq95i2ip3t8dy27TpJjBaGaCjY9dJxcSBVTtW_KR33j9oWaGY9eJksrr9ZV775puxSZAMUcGPT6SYE3zGnslh8FXnDZ8k08N8eIYvhB7bsdSzG2kBfmAQteIwj-VDIynaMCw/s1600-h/PiDay1684.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448640325813455826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0_u5WmGEkfq95i2ip3t8dy27TpJjBaGaCjY9dJxcSBVTtW_KR33j9oWaGY9eJksrr9ZV775puxSZAMUcGPT6SYE3zGnslh8FXnDZ8k08N8eIYvhB7bsdSzG2kBfmAQteIwj-VDIynaMCw/s400/PiDay1684.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 371px;" /></a>Lunch: 2 Pi inches as measured along the edge of the 8 inch pita bread </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyl_fE6i15kOhFDG1rzaaupIIR4VxN-PLIjwxYvwAIC3cnrEg23bu4JJdfGFgU93XGHMsB0J83jnSCQTvPMzE0mdbw8INZOEYvWknoQePFED6n0uCJ6fyFN-zK89dC9-9M4RN5tslTh-PG/s1600-h/PiDay0595.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448640321241640162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyl_fE6i15kOhFDG1rzaaupIIR4VxN-PLIjwxYvwAIC3cnrEg23bu4JJdfGFgU93XGHMsB0J83jnSCQTvPMzE0mdbw8INZOEYvWknoQePFED6n0uCJ6fyFN-zK89dC9-9M4RN5tslTh-PG/s400/PiDay0595.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 330px;" /></a>Dinner: Chicken Pie with a mashed potato crust AND the Pi Day masterpiece -- </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRl2RSAVBWw5OGphqMhvOnF2l712ka2uRAdrO2xn1UVZDLZtA8Zr7JZkbDC_4r_XhPfPtN_ByeyindjkgGgmV6ORh6OD_VjAJwqme9tYoGCyoqZyaBDRcf5lfvKOnOuRElMCu_N5vQNTJ/s1600-h/PiDay0594.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448639956887818594" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRl2RSAVBWw5OGphqMhvOnF2l712ka2uRAdrO2xn1UVZDLZtA8Zr7JZkbDC_4r_XhPfPtN_ByeyindjkgGgmV6ORh6OD_VjAJwqme9tYoGCyoqZyaBDRcf5lfvKOnOuRElMCu_N5vQNTJ/s400/PiDay0594.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 359px;" /></a>Be-Bop-A-Re-Bop Rhubarb Pie </div>

Pi Day pies and other round food

Breakfast: a round omelet, round tomato slicesLunch: 2 Pi inches as measured along the edge of the 8 inch pita breadDinner: Chicken Pie with a mashed potato crust AND the Pi Day masterpiece --Be-Bop-A-Re-Bop Rhubarb Pie…

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14Mar2010

Pi in the Kitchen

Happy Pi, Day! In honor of Pi Day, I'm going to use pi to solve a frequent baker's problem: what size baking pans are equivalent? While actual pie pans have sloping sides, no one bakes a pie crust in a square or straight-sided pan if they can help it, because the crust will get wrinkly. So the problem occurs with straight-sided pans for baking cakes, and with how much filling goes in a pie. Obviously, if you want the same depth of batter when you change pans for a cake recipe, you need to find a substitute pan with close to the same number of square inches of area. (The amount of frosting also scales something like that, but would vary depending on if you iced the sides of the cake. OR used jam between the layers.) In any case, what we need to start with is the number of square inches per pan type. First the basic calculations. The area of a circle is π times the radius squared. So: 8 inch round pans have diameter 8, radius 4 so they have 3.14 x 4 x 4 = 50 square inches of area 9 inch round = 63.5 sq. in. 10 inch round = 87.5 sq. in. 8 inch square = 64 sq. in. 9 inch square = 81 sq. in. 9 by 13 inch = 117 sq. in. Some equivalents: <ul><li>An 8 inch square and a 9 inch round are virtually identical.</li><li>A 9 inch square and a 10 inch round are less than 10% apart.</li><li>Two 8 inch squares are very close to a 9 x 13 inch rectangle.</li></ul>But here's another important consequence of this arithmetic: if you make the right amount of filling for a round pie in one size (8- 9- or 10- inches in diameter), it will be really wrong for a pie only one inch different in diameter. The sloping sides of most pie pans make the difference even worse: a 10 inch pie probably holds close to twice as much filling as an 8 inch pie. The consequence also applies to the amount of pie crust that is needed. Not intuitive, exactly, unless you are one of my many mathematician readers. Did you wonder why today is Pi Day? Because π = 3.14 and today is March 14. Actually 22 July (22/7) is a better Pi Day as well as being my birthday. I always felt kind of transcendental. And the best Pi Minute will be in a few years at 3/14/15 9:26 AM. I guess the best Pi Day ever would have been back in the Renaissance before sufficiently accurate clocks -- <div style="text-align: center;">3/14/1592 6:53 AM <div style="text-align: left;"> Thanks to my whole family for long discussions of this important Day. </div></div>

Pi in the Kitchen

Happy Pi, Day!In honor of Pi Day, I'm going to use pi to solve a frequent baker's problem: what size baking pans are equivalent? While actual pie pans have sloping sides, no one bakes a pie crust in a square or straight-sided pan if they can help it, because the crust will get wrinkly. So the proble…

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13Mar2010

10% Local Food?

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1iEVXaylwsZYPB-O1GdOAqZ4HGhIxi2-1YUhmqz7jhxX3JEyHI7Iisf5lis4vbnj5hruw5wFumRQKYqwwwFGtWdJrcBGmnyv0PZelsk2cfmK6hmrvTqfU0Lvm4kjvSXHKwIUynfQ9Jysy/s1600/fallmkt468.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406572064018626626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1iEVXaylwsZYPB-O1GdOAqZ4HGhIxi2-1YUhmqz7jhxX3JEyHI7Iisf5lis4vbnj5hruw5wFumRQKYqwwwFGtWdJrcBGmnyv0PZelsk2cfmK6hmrvTqfU0Lvm4kjvSXHKwIUynfQ9Jysy/s400/fallmkt468.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>A movement is afoot called "<a href="http://tenpercentwashtenaw.org/10things.html">10 Percent Washtenaw</a>" -- the purpose, to encourage people to look for food grown here in Washtenaw County, Michigan. The quantitative goal is to expand both growing facilities and purchasers, and in 10 years have 10% of the food budget of county residents going to local food. (It's now around 1%.) Not only mentioning the benefits of local food, but also setting real goals, seems like a good idea to me. I like to shop at the Ann Arbor farmer's market -- one of my most recent fall trips is illustrated in these photos. However, I can't say I keep track of what I spend here there or anywhere. Budgeting my food purchases isn't really in my routine. But I'd be willing to try to keep track for a good reason. What I also like about this idea is the wide number of reasons given that local food is a positive thing. An increase in local purchases would sustain the local economy. Though individual results differ, more local purchasing ultimately could reduce the total "carbon footprint." Local produce offers better quality and freshness. The initiative encourages organic production, and brings people together in a positive way. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixD3O3bQU7U16z66RpKeQ8zaqn9oCE5SXLViRVnxJIfDb1aTmPA_FZEBGWlYuPc9yR8D_n-_yDNqxiNjAnoLLgLGSux59TBn1asSrlpRpiLYqV2NoVQpwjvDF-DKou40pw4bNKwDdMv9ly/s1600/fallmkt470.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406572060958273506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixD3O3bQU7U16z66RpKeQ8zaqn9oCE5SXLViRVnxJIfDb1aTmPA_FZEBGWlYuPc9yR8D_n-_yDNqxiNjAnoLLgLGSux59TBn1asSrlpRpiLYqV2NoVQpwjvDF-DKou40pw4bNKwDdMv9ly/s400/fallmkt470.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>Some of the benefits would be multiplied as more people committed to local buying. The hope: more produce farmers, egg and chicken farmers, producers of honey and maple syrup, fish-farmers, and raisers of lamb, beef, pork and even buffalo. Maybe we could get a legal slaughterhouse. Maybe more people would shop in smaller stores, allowing the prices to come down. The long view of this initiative seems very intelligent to me! Here's what they say: <blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-family: trebuchet ms;">To get to 10% we are going to need major changes to our food system including buy-in from institutional players and major inroads to our current supply system. Change has to happen from where we currently are...while we're waiting for our leaders to catch on, let's look at things that we can do immediately and as individuals to ignite this change!</blockquote>

10% Local Food?

A movement is afoot called "10 Percent Washtenaw" -- the purpose, to encourage people to look for food grown here in Washtenaw County, Michigan. The quantitative goal is to expand both growing facilities and purchasers, and in 10 years have 10% of the food budget of county residents going to local f…

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13Mar2010

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