More American, really, for a food just doesn’t get anymore New World/American than popcorn. You probably already know that corn is a New World food. It follows that popping corn is as well, though it’s distinct from more conventional varieties in that its kernels are smaller and harder. Popcorn is a variety of so-called “flint” […]
READ ONWhat we have here is more like Cracker Jack than regular caramel corn, which is the way we roll in the Pastry household. Leave the peanuts out of you prefer, but be sure to add an extra teaspoon of salt to compensate. 1 ounce (2 tablespoon) vegetable oil 3.75 ounces (1/2 cup) popcorn kernels 5 […]
READ ONSo it isn’t pastry, but it’s delicious and a great hot weather sweet. I’m game.
READ ONI’ve been reminded by readers Nate and Sandra that Longfellow wrote an epic poem on the subject of the Acadians and their expulsion: Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie. If you’ve got a little time you can read the whole thing here.
READ ONBeignets offer a great deal of payoff relative to time spent planning and preparing them. As long as you have a fry rig ready to go, they can take as little as two hours from mixing to frying. Start by combining your dry ingredients in a mixer bowl and giving them a whisk (you can […]
READ ONWashington Irving wrote of eating beignets fried in bear fat in A Tour on the Prairies, a memoir of his adventures in the wilderness of America in 1832. An outstanding example of a classic food being adapted to locally available ingredients, don’t you think? Bet they were darn good, too. It’s safe to assume that […]
READ ON…is reader Ellie’s follow-up question. I don’t know the precise answer, however I can say with some confidence that it was a contest to determine who was going to be the boss in North America. The French would have loved nothing more than to push the British right off the edge of the continent. Given […]
READ ONNot really a baking question, but I’ll take it, reader Ellie! Cajuns are descendants of a group of French-speaking colonists known as Acadians. These people, a mixed bag of folks from almost every corner of France, originally lived along the east coast of Canada in a region that was called, not surprisingly, Acadia. They were […]
READ ONTroll around the web and you’ll find all sorts of overwrought beignet recipes, loaded down with eggs, butter, sugar, even evaporated milk. They’re all rather misguided to my way of seeing things. Though New Orleans beignets resemble doughnuts in many resects, they shouldn’t actually be doughnuts. Rather, they should be light and airy little frivolities […]
READ ONI don’t mean beignets as they’re known in France. I mean beignets as they’re known in New Orleans. Proper French beignets are more like what we know as fritters, batter-dipped items of various kinds, often fruits but sometimes vegetables. However the fruit was long ago disposed of in the cafés of New Orleans, and today […]
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