Archive for the ‘Cuisine and Culture’ Category

A Popsicle

History has it that the Popsicle was invented (or discovered) by an 11-year old California boy who accidentally left his soda, with a stirring stick still in it, outside on a cold night. The next morning he had frozen soda on a stick. He called it an Epsicle, a play on icicle and his name, Frank Epperson. It took him nearly 20 years to obtain a patent for the Epsicle ice pop, which was later renamed “Popsicle“by the encouragement of his kids.

Popsicle has come a long way since the days of Frank Epperson. Instead of soda, the ingredient list contains sugars, stabilizers, colors, and flavors. Color and flavor are important for consumer appeal, but it’s the choice of sugars and stabilizers that governs the physical attributes of the Popsicle. Without sugars and stabilizers, it would just be a colored ice cube.

Sugars reduce the freezing point of water. That is, sugared water freezes at a lower temperature than pure water, which means that, even though it seems pretty hard, there is still some liquid water in a frozen Popsicle. A Popsicle is essentially a bunch of ice crystals held together by a slush that contains dissolved sugars, colors, and flavors. The more ice (less slush), the harder the Popsicle.

Frank Epperson

The manufacturing process is also much more high tech than what Frank Epperson did. Thousands of Popsicles are made every hour in modern continuous automated Popsicle freezers. The sugar concoction is deposited into molds and then submerged in a very cold brine (saltwater) to induce rapid freezing. Sticks are added just as the mixture freezes. This type of freezing, called quiescent freezing because there is no stirring, results in long, needle-like ice crystals. They form initially at the mold surface where it’s coldest and then grow radially inwards, toward the center of the mold. All ice crystals lead to the stick. Next time you bite into a Popsicle, check out the pattern of ice formation.

Popsicles have also developed beyond the single stick variety. There are numerous variations to the traditional one-stick Popsicle of Frank Epperson. There are twin pops, with two sticks and two Popsicles, joined at the hip. There’s the rocket pop, a multicolored ice pop made by sequentially freezing three or four different layers of sugar syrup. There are Popsicles that glow in the dark, with a glow stick inserted down the middle. You can even make your own frozen ice pop, just like we did as kids, by pouring liquid Jell-O, Kool-Aid or fruit juice into molds and letting them solidify in the freezer.

Next time you pull one out of your freezer, study the ice crystals while you enjoy the cool refreshment. A Popsicle may be a simple treat, but there is still a lot of science involved.

Peking Duck

Peking duck is a whole Long Island duckling, a descendant of the Beijing duck brought over from China in late 1700s. It is slaughtered and dressed with its head and neck intact. While few non-Asian cooks attempt this dish at home, the birds are readily available in Chinese restaurants and shops, and can usually be seen hanging from their feet in display windows.

In Peking duck, the plucked bird has air pumped into a small hole in its neck, inflating the space between the skin and the meat. The duck is trussed, glazed with honey, and hung to dry for twenty-four hours. It is then roasted, vertically, until the skin is brown and extremely crisp.The duck is served with thin Chinese pancakes for rolling the rich meat and sweet, chewy skin and with hoisin sauce for dipping.

Chicken Gravy

Whisking together flour and water, and adding it to hot pan juices tends to produce lumps. Instead, make a roux, and add your hot water (or stock) to this, whisking consistency over a low flame. This should produce a lump-free gravy. If not, you may strain the gravy, and reheat It gently. If all else fails, and your gravy makes up in taste what it lacks in looks, keep the lights dim during dinner.

What is a roux?
A roux is a thick paste made of flour cooked in butter (to rid the flour of any chalky taste) or other fat, such as oil, lard, or beef drippings. Roux is used as a base for gravies and sauces, and as a thickening agent in dishes such as étoufée and gumbo.

While Northerners simply stir a little flour into butter to thicken their gravies, roux is taken very seriously down South, particularly in Cajun and Creole cookery, with some lard-based roux’s being cooked for an hour or more, until the mixture turns mahogany and the flavor becomes deeply roasted. This is called  brown roux; mixed with beef stock, it becomes the base for brown sauce, which occasionally goes under the name Espagnole.

There is also white roux, barely cooked and suitable for light white sauces, and the longer-cooked blond roux, pale gold and slightly nutty, the choice for gumbo and other dishes that require a stronger flavor.

Bread Loaves

While many bread recipes simply for yeast to be mixed with flour and other ingredients and left to rise, what if the yeast is already dead? Proofing shows whether yeast cells are active. To do this, you prove the yeast is effective. The simplest way is to dissolve a packet of yeast granules (about two teaspoons) in one quarter cup of warm water (anything over 120 degrees instantaneously kills yeast cultures), to which you’ve added a teaspoon of sugar.

Sugar is yeast’s favorite food, and if yeast is living, it will begin to gobble up the sugar and bubble madly. If the mixture shows no sign of foaming within five minutes, the yeast is dead and has lost its leavening power.