Tilapia and....Some Collard Greens?

Since I have started studying food and it’s origins on a deeper level I have really realized that each plate, and each dish, has a story.

One of our commonly eaten dinners at home is Tilapia. I never thought much of the tilapia. I just thought of it as a yummy white fish that was relatively simple and quick to cook. After reading “New York Local” by Adam Gopnik, I realize the true health benefits of tilapia. He explains,
“Tilapia is one of the easiest fish to raise, It’s an ancient, ancient fish-It’s the fish eaten at the Last Supper. It’s a warm-water fish, and it’s not carnivorous, so you don’t get the problems of input that you do with, say, salmon.”

This small bit of information has enticed me to do further research about the foods I eat everyday. I decided to start off by looking into the side dishes of our typical Tilapia dinner, which commonly includes ratatouille and sautéed red potatoes.

Lowenthal Ratatouille
-Heat a frying pan
-When the pan is hot, add enough olive oil to thinly coat the bottom
-Sauté a thinly chopped sweet Maui onion
-Add chopped eggplant, zucchini, sun dried tomatoes, summer squash, and mushrooms.
-Place the lid on the pan and let cook for about ten minutes
-Salt and Pepper to taste and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Sautéed Red Potatoes
-heat a frying pan
-When the pan is hot, add enough olive oil to thinly coat the bottom
-chop potatoes into triangular sections
-Put potatoes in the pan and let cook until golden, stirring occasionally
-Salt and pepper to taste (or add additional flavorings if you’re feeling creative!)

Tilapia with Green Onions
1 lb Tilapia sliced
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
3 green onions finely sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter

Sprinkle salt and paprika over tilapia. Coat each slice in flour. Heat olive oil with butter on medium heat. Add green onions. Saute 5 minutes. Add tilapia slices. Saute until light brown on each side (about 1 to 2 minutes on each side depending on the thickness of the slice).

Now for the analyzing:
From my position, as a student here at the University of Washington, I unfortunately cannot analyze where the components in our meal come from, however I can analyze their health benefits and general origin. I did some research and found multiple web-sites explaining the health benefits and origins of the components that make up our meal.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil-
http://www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/olive-oil.htm
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg0397/oohistory.html

Maui Onions- http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhealthinformation/a/swonionhealth.htm
http://www.maui-info.com/onions.html

Eggplant-
http://www.seedtosupper.com/eggplant.html
http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=22

Zucchini-
http://www.thefresh1.com/zucchini.asp
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/firstgarden/planning/dictionary/veggies/zucchini.html

Summer Squash- http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/vegetabletravelers/squash.html
http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/health/Food_Guide/Summer_Squash.htm

Mushrooms-
http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/updates/mighty-mushrooms.php

Parmesan Cheese-
http://www.gianteagle.com/healthnotes/Food_Guide/Parmesan.htm

Red Potatoes-
http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=48

Additional Information on Tilapia-
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/alt-ag/tilapia.htm

The side dishes that come with our delicious tilapia are wonderful and nutritious; however after my latest anthropology of food class, I am tempted to cook-up some good southern collard greens as a substitute or additional side dish. Collard greens, I’ve learned are delicious when prepared stir fried for about five minutes with a little garlic and salt. They are packed with calcium, fiber, vitamin B, C and beta-carotene. Delicious and Nutritious!

National Cuisine/ Beer and Tuna Pasta

The topic of National Cuisine is a fascinating, controversial issue. What is national a cuisine? A national cuisine is a certain food or dish that is associated with a nation or country. For example the national cuisine of Japan is/has become white rice. A national cuisine could be created through various means such as tourism, ancient history, or government.

When I went to Japan I tried an array of “typical” Japanese foods from the city of Toyokawa, and I did notice that white rice is eaten with almost every meal in some shape or form. I was an exchange student staying with a host family and I thought it would be nice and fun for them if I cooked them a “typical” dish I ate at home. I went through the foods I considered typical American cuisine ( Hamburgers, Hot dogs, baked potatoes, mac and cheese etc. ), but then I realized that I don’t normally eat any of these foods at home. The foods I eat at home (the foods my mom cooks) are actually not American based, rather Italian based. My mom is from Northern Italy so practically all of her recipes come from her Italian heritage. Since I couldn’t place my finger on any one “American food/meal,” I decided focus on a smaller scale and cook a typical Lowenthal house dish.

I made Beer and Tuna pasta, one of my favorites. I brought some of the non-perishable ingredients from home, however I had to make an additional trip to a Japanese market to purchase the rest. This was an interesting experience in it’s own trying to find familiar ingredients. Even the onions looked, smelled and tasted slightly different. I made due though and returned to my host families house loaded with ingredients and ready to cook.

The whole operation went very smoothly. I served each member of the family a big bowl of saucy pasta with French bread (or as close to French bread as I could find in the Japanese market). All four of them finished every bite! They loved it. They were so open to trying new foods and had so much fun with this completely unfamiliar food. My host mother liked it so much she asked me for the recipe, which I was honored to give.

Beer and Tuna Pasta

1 large brown onion finely chopped
1 Tbsp butter
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp sugar
1 can of sliced mushrooms
1 red pepper thinly sliced
2 6 oz cans of tuna (drained)
3 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
3/4 can of beer
1 package of pasta (any kind)
Salt and Pepper

Put butter and olive oil in a sauce pan. Add onions and sauté on medium heat until onions are translucent. Add sugar, mushrooms and pepper. Sauté for about 10 to 15 minutes on low heat. Add tuna and sauté for 5 more minutes on medium heat. Add tomato sauce and sauté for 10 more minutes on low heat. Turn up the heat to high and add beer. Stir for about 15 seconds on high heat and then turn down heat to low and sauté another 10 to 15 minutes. Stir every now and then.

In the mean time, cook the pasta as directed on the package. Drain pasta and add the above mixture. Serve with shaved parmesan cheese on the top.

P-Patches

Today in my anthropology of food class, we took a field trip to look at two local P-patches, or community gardens. I was enthralled by the beauty and worth of the gardens. In Seattle alone there ate 6,000 gardeners and 23 acres of land devoted to the P-Patch system. At an affordable price of $40 dollars a year for a ten foot by ten foot plot, one can acquire a space in one of these fertile gardens.

Teresa Mares, a Ph.D. student in Anthropology and expert in community gardening showed us around the gardens and taught us about how beneficial they are, especially to low-income families. For many individuals, the plots of land are not cultivated for a hobby, but for sustaining a healthy way of life. The gardens not only output a variety of good food and plants, but also friendships among the plot renters. The plots are all very different, and Teresa mentioned that “you can map cultures by studying their gardens.” When studying the gardens from an anthropologist point of view, it is often apparent which plot belongs to which culture. For example, a Russian family garden plot may have potatoes, roots and cabbage, whereas a Mexican family garden may have beans, corn and cilantro. These community gardens are in Teresa’s words “A social movement that’s building around local food.” Making it easy to cultivate local based foods will allow us to get away from the use of petroleum in overseas food transport. It is easier on people and the environment to eat locally. My hope, along with many others, is that community gardens will continue to emerge and build a positive reputation throughout the United States.

Our First Date in Seattle

“Relationships established through the sharing of food create a sense of social personhood” (Professor Anagnost). When people share a food or a meal, they create or build upon a social connection.

My boyfriend, Evan and I have gone on countless dates in Cupertino, California, our home town. We have discovered various fun, fancy and delicious restaurants together. When we moved to Seattle for college, we decided to explore the surroundings one night and find a restaurant near Pike Place market for our first date in Seattle.

We looked up the bus schedule and found the correct bus that would bring us to Pike Place. From there we searched around on the streets for a good restaurant, but couldn’t find anything that looked too appealing. That’s when we decided to ask a local for a recommendation. She recommended going to the waterside, where there are a variety of fresh fish restaurants. Just like Richard R. Wilk in his article, “Building Local Identity in the Transitional Caribbean” wanted typical Belizean cuisine when over at people’s houses or in restaurants, on our date, fresh Seattle fish is just what we craved.

We walked through the market down to the waterside. There we found a perfect restaurant right on the water called, “Fisherman’s Bar and Grill.” The Hostess seated us outside right on the waters edge. The sun was just setting and it was extremely romantic. It was a little chilly out so we started off by sharing a big bowl of hearty clam chowder and fresh sourdough bread. It was delicious and warmed us up immediately. Soon after we finished our chowder, our Halibut and Chips arrived. The Halibut was flaky, lightly battered, fried and absolutely delicious topped with tarter sauce and malt vinegar. The french fries were golden, crispy and lightly salted. The meal, though rather pricy, was satisfying and just the right amount. We took a look at the dessert menu but nothing looked especially appealing so we decided to pay up and go elsewhere. On our way to the bus, we were captivated by an enormous illuminated sign called, “Chocolate Box.” http://www.sschocolatebox.com/ Inside there was chocolate prepared in everyway imaginable. The gelato looked delicious, and the mini chocolate cupcakes were tempting, but I finally decided on a 72% dark chocolate truffle and a rich, creamy hot coco. Our night ended on an incredibly sweet note. First date in Seattle-Success!

Smoking Kills

In many parts of Europe, it is now a requirement of the Tobacco companies to put a label on cigarette boxes that says, “Smoking Kills.” In my opinion this is a good way to deter people from smoking. This label can often create a sense of awareness or even guilt, causing people to quit smoking. Due to addictions and other factors, it does not stop all smokers from purchasing cigarettes. There is no doubt that plenty of individuals in Europe that continue to smoke despite the threatening labels. Consumers however, are properly informed that what they are doing is not good for their health and how they choose to use the information provided is then a personal decision and right.

First, I think America should follow the Europeans in terms of the “Smoking Kills” labels, but I also think we should adapt this clever method of deterrent to genetically enhanced foods. In Ozeki’s, All Over Creation, during a time of protest there is a flyer that reads, “Demand accurate and responsible labeling on all genetically modified foods! It’s your right to know!” I am in complete agreement with this flyer. It should be the consumer’s prerogative to know what is going into the “fresh food” that they purchase. Also in All Over Creation, at a grocery store protest, Frankie questions the CEO by saying, “How do you justify your claims that genetically altered crops do not need labels because they’re safe, when there’s no research or evidence to support this?” Since the safety of these foods is unclear, consumers should be properly warned and as of now that is not the case.

If labels are placed on genetically altered foods, it may persuade more shoppers to go organic or grow their own produce. This will be beneficial to the overall health of our country, and may also cause organic food prices (which are now substantially higher than non-organic food prices) to decrease leading to a more pure diet. Ozeki conveys that, "Consumers are dangerous only when they think they've been cheated of their right to exersice free will." Undoubtedly there will still be customers purchasing genetically enhanced products, but these buyers will at least be aware of the risk they are taking.

Mangiamo

Mangiamo (Italian meaning, time to eat)

It seems these days that too many American families have forgotten the importance of sharing a meal together. More and more often, busy Americans are bypassing a healthy sit-down meal for a take-out Whopper at Burger King. According to "The Omnivores Dilemma," by Michael Pollan, ninteen percent of American meals are eaten in the car and one in three American children eat fast food everyday. This new trend is detrimental to physical health as well as social health. People tend to eat healthier and more balanced meals when sitting in a more formal setting, or even better at their own kitchen table. Eating meals with family members or friends is also very important and necessary to cultivating good relationships, building trust and letting out emotions and feelings. A quick stop at a greasy fast food joint contains minimal nutritional benefits and human interaction. In my opinion we should be more like the Europeans, in particular my family in Paderno, Italy.

Lunchtime is the big, long meal for Italians. For a couple hours in the middle of the day stores close, business firms take a break, children get to come home, and the whole family enjoys a home cooked lunch together.

Right when my relatives find out that my mom, dad, sister and I are coming to Italy for a visit, they begin thinking about where to bring us for our family lunch. Each time we go to Italy they organize one lunch where all the relatives are invited. Typically we go to a place in the hills that smells of cows and manure. The reason it smells this way is because all the slaughter animals are kept right there on the farm next to the family owned restaurant. Also on the farm there are freshly grown vegetables and grains. These fresh, extremely local ingredients make for a delicious meal.

In Ozeki’s, All Over Creation, a group protests in a local supermarket about the extra, un-natural hormones and chemicals added to perfectly good meat and vegetables in order to enhance their size or prolong their shelf life. Most people are completely ignorant to the fact that the “pure” vegetables they commonly eat, usually aren’t quite as pure as they believe them to be. It is a lot better for ones health to eat completely pure, fresh, un-processed food products. These are the kind of products we receive at the family owned Italian restaurants in the hills. Pure, fresh and delicious.

We sit down with about thirty of my relatives and are presented with wine, usually made by my great-uncle, Berto. There are also big pieces of freshly baked bread and thin bread sticks scattered around the table cloth. Our first course is an anti-pasti for example, proccuitto e melone. This is a light, fresh way to warm-up our stomach and taste-buds for the rest of the courses. The second course is a pasta dish. A typical pasta dish could be anything from hand made pasta with a veal tomato sauce, to a soft, cheesy lasagna. After this comes the meat. In this course we are offered breaded chicken cutlets, steak, veal, pork, and even cow tongue. You are encouraged to choose any combination of meat you would like. I learned however, that if you don’t say anything to stop the server, they will pile your plate with every option of meat. This past year when I went to Italy, I failed to say ”basta”, or stop, and they served me more meat than I consume in a week. The meat course comes with potatoes (usually French fries) and lots of vegetables.

After we are completely filled up, we are offered an Italian café and dessert. The dessert course is completely optional and generally only half the group orders it. Though I usually skip the dessert, I always have a little cup of thick, strong, pungent espresso; a great way to finish up a large meal.

Now, I have been focusing a lot on the food at this typical lunch, but thus far I have not mentioned the interesting social interactions that occur. First off, even though there are thirty of us, there is only one long table. The kids sit at the end, so that when they get antsy after a couple courses they can run and play in the playground near by. The conversational part of the meal between the adults is very interesting. There is a buzz surrounding our group of about ten different conversations at once. Most are in Italian, but a couple conversations are in English as well. It is fun to listen in to all the different conversations and learn about the local gossip. Over the course of the lunch I start to pick up words and general meanings from the “sing-songy” Italian language.

At the end of the meal, we have a good-bye session that lasts around a half an hour, where everyone double kisses and hugs one another. This shows caring and compassion and is a fine way to end the meal.

We return home feeling socially and physically satisfied and hop in the hotel bed or couch for a very needed afternoon cat nap.

Manresa

As we talked about in class, and also as mentioned in “The Boy Who Became a Muni Bird,” to be hungry is more than just a physical need. To be hungry solely for food is one matter, but we are also innately hungry for human interaction. The people or person one shares meals with can be important to ones social health and well being. Personally, I enjoy eating along side of a loved one, a lot more than eating alone.

For my graduation I received a $225 gift certificate from a friend to a gourmet French restaurant located in Los Gatos, California called Manresa. http://www.manresarestaurant.com/Manresa is my favorite restaurant of all time, however it is extremely pricy so I don’t get the chance to go there very often. This present was a truly wonderful treat!

I decided to take my older sister along with me. I knew she would be the perfect person to share this elegant meal with. We walked into our 8:00 reservation wearing our evening dresses and best jewelry and were seated by the hostess at a table near the window. There, a waitress approached us and asked if we would be having the tasting menu (eight courses) or the four course dinner. We thought about it, and after further inquiry decided that for times sake, the four course dinner would be a better fit for us. We also ordered one wine sampler which allowed us to taste a different wine with each course.

First, came two items that weren’t actually listed on the menu, walnut bread and an egg. Those sound rather typical and boring, but it was the exquisite preparation that made them irresistible. The warm walnut bread came with a pat of unsalted butter, with added course citrus sea salt sprinkled on the top, and the egg was soft boiled with several added tastes and textures that made it sweet and tart at the same time.

Our next four courses followed after those unexpected surprises. All though I can’t remember our exact courses in detail, here are some examples of the fine dishes of Manresa:

-Amber jack, sashimi style, with olive oil and chives
-Veloute of garden greens and crème fraiche with a slow egg, parmesan
-Beefsteak and oyster tartare with horseradish, watercress
-Vegetables from the garden, potato dumplings and burrata, vegetable juices
-Local spot prawn in exotic Indian spice, cauliflower
-Asparagus roasted in salted butter with a coulis of black truffles
-Roast john dory with braised endive, apple, bacon emulsion
-Sea bream on the plancha, roast shellfish juice and artichokes, truffles
-Abalone in brown butter with braised pig’s trotters, avocado
(supplement of ten dollars)
-Farm poularde in a rustic stew of black radish and sunchoke, prunes
-Roast suckling pig, our boudin noir and root vegetable choucroute, chestnut
-Snake river wagyu rib eye, carrots and Chinese cabbage, bordelaise
-A selection of artisan cheeses, toasted walnut bread
-Brown butter waffle, banana and passion fruit, kieffer lime ice cream
-Parfait of green apple and crème fraiche, cool rhubarb soup
-Chocolate soufflé, hot fudge sauce and mint ice cream

The food was amazing. Each dish was aesthetically pleasing. I tried a variety of unimaginable flavor combinations for example citrus foam (that looked just like sea foam) on top of a crab curry bisque. The first bite of that foam almost knocked me off my chair due to its pungent and delicious flavor. Each dish down to the warm, sugary, melt-in your mouth chocolate soufflé was an experience in itself. A true culinary journey.

At the end of the meal, my sister and I were fortunate enough to get a complete tour of the kitchen from the owner. The kitchen was all stainless steal and completely spotless, aside from the creations being prepared in the ovens, and on the stoves and counters. All the cooks were welcome to our questions and praise. It was an excellent and personal way to wrap up our amazing night.

The experience I had at Manresa, complete with a variety of small, perfectly put together and delicious courses is comparable to the experience a young Japanese child has with the typical Obento box. The Obento box process requires food to be “organized, re-organized, arranged, re-arranged, stylized and re-stylized to appear in a design that is visually attractive” (Allison). It was apparent that this same process was carried out in the Manresa kitchen. Also similar to the Obento boxes, seasonal touches are added to some of the courses at Manresa to represent naturalization and freshness. This makes the food that much more intriguing to taste.

The Weenie Roast

We have blackberry cobbler in Bertaleda all nights but one, the night of the Weenie Roast. The weenie roast is not fancy in terms of food or surroundings. We tried to bring in Adiel’s gourmet sausages one year, but they just didn’t beat the classic 100% beef hot dog. Truthfully, I don’t even like hot dogs, but for some reason on this one night of the year a good old fashion hot dog tastes delicious.

Our menu consists of some sort of invented cocktail (this year it was champagne mixed with pomegranate juice) in white Dixie cups, watermelon wedges, hot dogs and of course, s’mores. The actual menu in this case however isn’t what makes a good weenie roast. What makes the weenie roast is the smoky fire pit encompassed by Bertaleda river washed, smooth stones, the open sky that dims and fills with stars as the night progresses, and most importantly, the feeling of love and togetherness.

I recently read a part of “The Boy Who Became a Muni Bird,” that made a lot of sense to me. It immediately brought me back to my time in Bertaleda during our annual weenie roasts. In Bosavi, “food is the major vehicle in expressing, developing, and validating social relationships.” The time in the day where families and friends can sit down over a meal is the time when social relationships are formed and appreciated. We may not always realize it, but as we swat pesky mosquitoes away and watch our marshmallows accidentally turn into mini torches, we are actually building upon an incredible bond that keeps us happy and powers us through our busy lives. Every bite we take becomes a summer memory.

Blackberry Cobbler

There is not a Wikipedia link I can give you to connect you with the meaning of Berteleda. Though unknown and foreign to most of the world, Bertaleda is a word that contains a great deal of meaning and feeling to my family and close family friends.

Bertaleda is the name given to a big wooden cabin on the Smith River in Crescent City, California. It has been in my family since 1923. My grandma still tells stories about playing in the crystal clear river when she was a little girl in the summer time. I have seen countless pictures of my grandpa as a teenager holding 6 feet long fish that he caught on the Smith River in the little blue boat that I still row in today.

MFK Fisher intelligently states that there are three basic needs; food, security and love. Bertaleda is the place where these needs are not only satisfied, but experienced and enjoyed from day to day. My summer trip to the river is a week out of the year, usually in August, for pure fun and reflection.

Fishing, hiking, biking, watching movies, rafting and lounging by the river are all common activities of Bertaleda goers. The food however, is what I look forward to the most as our trip to Bertaleda approaches. I find myself surrounded by fresh vegetation, clean drinking water from the river, freshly caught fish and best of all, an endless supply of juicy, sweet blackberries.

Another quote from MFK Fisher’s, “A Thing Shared,” that I could really relate to is, “I saw food as something beautiful to be shared with people instead of a thrice daily necessity.” This phrase sums up the feelings I have circulating through my head as I pick buckets of blackberries for the night’s cobbler.

I put on my long pants and a sweatshirt despite the 90 degree heat and mist myself with OFF bug repellent and I am ready to brave the blackberry bush thorns. When I pick berries, I don’t just take the surface berries. No, those just won’t do. I reach all the way in and get the juiciest and sweetest berries of them all. Sometimes I run into the problem of a tall, unreachable bush. That doesn’t stop me. Instead, my dad pulls out the big red tractor, I jump in the tractor bucket, and he raises me up to just the right height to pick those top ripest berries. They are so ripe, that they fall off the bush even with the lightest touch. When my dad lowers me from the tractor, I give him the best one, I take the second best and I then throw the rest of the handful in the “cobbler bucket.”

At dusk, I come back into the house with some minor thorn scrapes and blue fingers and I hand over the big bucket of perfect berries to Karen, my family friend, the official cobbler baker. She soon prepares the cobbler:

Berry Cobbler

• 
  
  
  Fill a 9" x 13" pan 2/3 full of fresh blackberries (more berries are fine!)



• 
  
  
  Mix 1/4 cup Bisquick and 2 Tbs. sugar with the berries.



• 
  
  
  Sprinkle a little cinnamon over the top.



• 
  
  
  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.



• 
  
  
  Mix: 2 cups Bisquick2 Tbs. softened butter2 Tbs. sugar1/2 cup milk



• 
  
  
  After berries have baked remove from oven and add biscuit mixture in 8-10 bloobs
  


• 
  
  
  Return to oven and bake an additional 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
  
  
  It’s a simple recipe with very satisfying results. After our big family dinner comes the best part- cobbler and creamy vanilla ice cream. We set up an efficient assembly line, complete with cobbler, bowls, ice cream, spoons and napkins. Sitting at the table with all my family and friends, I organize a perfect bite of berries, crust and ice cream on my spoon. It tastes amazing every time. We all let out the sound that Rachel Ray from The Food Network is so famous for, “hmmmm, YUM!” Well worth the minor scrapes and blue fingers!