Archive for March 3rd, 2010

Father of Modern Day American Gastronomy

James Beard

American food and cooking expert James Andrews Beard promoted excellence and variety in dining experiences.  A native of Portland, Oregon, he was born on May 5, 1903 to Mary Elizabeth Jones Beard and Jonathan A.  Beard, a shipyard appraiser.  His mother taught him cookery of all types, including informal dishes suitable for picnics, backyard feasts, and barbecues.  In the introduction to The Cook’s Catalogue (1975),  Beard quipped, “I grew up in the Iron Age of American cookery.  We had a cast-iron wood stove.… For stove top cooking we used iron skillets, iron Dutch ovens, and iron stew pots.” He declared iron the king in his mother’s kitchen in Gearhart, seventy miles northwest of Portland, but conferred some culinary credit on “earthenware, tin, some copper, and the ghastly enameled pots known as graniteware.” Read the rest of this entry »

cosas de picar, cazuelas & pinchos

After Mohammed’s followers gave up gambling, pork, and alcohol following his death in 632, the spread of Islam reduced the number of places in the Arab world where alcohol was available.  In Muslim Spain, laws forbade the serving of alcoholic drinks except as an ingredient in cooking or an accompaniment to food.  Barkeepers began serving drinks in mugs capped with a lid, or tapa.

From the practice of placing small morsels of food on the lid came the Spanish tradition of tapas, small dishes of bar food that made drinking legitimate. As described by the Spanish food critic Alicia Rio, these tasty bites encouraged diners to admire the cook’s art and to engage in genial conversation.

Today, the small savory servings come in three types: cosas de picar (finger food) such as olives, pinchos served on toothpicks, and cazuelas (small servings), dishes topped with sauce.