The Spice in Life

I grew up eating about as bland and middle of the road as possible. We had good food, and plenty of it, but if you looked up WASP in the acronym directory you would see our diet. My mother thought she was being exotic by adding garlic salt to a meatloaf. Her mother only used herbs or spices when she made stuffing for a turkey.Our neighborhood was multinational though and my friends were Polish, Italian and Norwegian. And I accepted any invitation I received to eat at their homes so I knew there was more to food than met the eye. My mother-in-law to be was happy to include me when teaching her daughters, but while I learned sour cream heals all ills, there still wasn't much spice in my life.

Then we moved to California and I was introduced to Mexican food and Chinese food beyond Chicken ala King. I loved the flavors and aromas and ordered it whenever we were out, but never even considered I could cook it myself. Several trips to Baja and down into the southern regions of Mexico taught me there is a world of difference between Tex-Mex and Mexican and that regionally there were many differences, but generally corn products and peppers are mainstays, along with beans. The native cocoa is also used in many savory applications for richness.

Moving east again, we were starting to see Puerto Rican and Dominican food appear out of their enclaves and I learned to like plantains and discovered that here tamales were wrapped in banana leaves and called pasteles or pastelillo and bacalaitos (salt cod fritters) are amazing! The West Indies influence is obvious with the special rubs for chicken or roast pork and the spices that make beef stew exciting. Rice and beans turns into rice and pigeon peas and seafood is more prevalent. Peppers are not usually hot and flavors tend to be derived from sofritos and adobos and are more subtle.

Factor in Cuba, with the Chinese influence and now what seemed so simple really is confusing, especially if you don't speak Spanish.

Goya simplifies things for us with products for each different Latin palate. Now they want those of us who may have shunned the cuisine from lack of familiarity or unavailability of product, to try it. Which I did and I loved most of what I tried.  

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mediterranean-Chickpea-Salad-2/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cheesy-Chicken-and-Yellow-Rice/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grilled-Pork-Chops-and-Onions/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Simply-Sensational-Chili/Detail.aspx

BEEF CAKE

OK, now that I have your attention....um, you over there, eyes on the written portion for now, please!

My grandfather's family business was butcher shops.  They owned a few and they provided a nice living, which included good meats.  I grew up eating the best quality chops and steaks and roasts and ground beef and learned a little bit along the way.  I got married and moved around the US with my serviceman husband and that meant I had to face the reality of buying meat in different geographic markets.  I knew the standard cuts of beef, shoulder, chuck, loin sirloin, rump, bottom and top round, flank steak and skirt steak and knew how marbling affected the grade.  I knew the difference between grass fed and corn fed and how the way meat is cut affects the tenderness.  So I was completely flummoxed standing in Lucky's Supermarket in Sacramento, Ca.  trying to figure out the difference between a NY strip, Kansas City steak and Chicago steak.  I stood there gazing at the diagram of the steer and trying to relate it to my mental map of the US.  

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That was in the early 1970s and things have gotten more confusing ever since.  Today, one is offered Tri Tip, Ranch, Club and Flat Iron steaks.  Ground beef used to be Ground sirloin, Ground Round, Ground Chuck or just Ground Beef and it was safe to eat it raw, because it had been properly processed and handled and ground right in the store a few hours or less earlier.  Today you get percentages of fat with no indication of the origin of the meat so it is like playing roulette on the flavor and you have to cook it way beyond the point of best flavor to be safe from food borne illness.  And if one can believe what is reported, someone with much too much time on his hands has managed to produce tasteless stuff purported to be ground beef in a petri dish!!!

Unless.....you locate a local butcher shop where you get to know the people handling your dinner and can rely on them to offer the best they can because they need you in order to stay in business.  Or a local farmer who raises his own stock and can tell you what they had each day for breakfast.  

Then you are in for a treat.  It is absolutely possible to get lean ground chuck with all its inherent flavor or ground sirloin safe to serve as Steak Tartare!

So be good to yourself, spend a little more and invest in the healthy, tasty goodness of beef.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beef-Filets-with-Ancient-Grain-and-Kale-Salad/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=national%20cattlemen&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beef-and-Blue-Cheese-Stuffed-Mushrooms/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=national%20cattlemen&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page