Using Agar-Agar

The Malay word agar-agar (jelly) is also the common name for red algae such as Gracilaria lichenoides or Gelidium amansii, originating in the coastal waters of the Mediterranean and East Asia. For cooking purposes, agar can be found in either powdered or dried form in Asian supermarkets. When dissolved in liquid, heated, and then cooled, agar transforms into a moldable jelly. Odorless and vegan, agar-agar is a superior alternative to gelatin or isinglass and is used in many East Asian and South East Asian desserts.

Talam Agar-Agar, a Singaporean and Malaysian favorite, flavored with coconut and rose.

In the 19th century, South East Asian agar was introduced to the West, where the plant's properties began to be exploited for industrial use. Yet this marine plant has a long history in human consumption. Early Chinese texts such as the the agriculture and pharmacopeia classic Shen neng ben cao jing (ca. 1st century BCE to 1st century CE), record using 海藻, or haizao (sea grass or seaweed) to cure goiter. The bitter and cooling nature of the plant was believed to have a balancing effect on the internal organs. Later in the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), red algae-- 海菜, or haicai (sea vegetable)-- is recorded for the same use (H.T. Huang, Science and Civilisation in China, v. VI: 5 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, 575). Such texts record soaking the plant in wine, to be taken as a tonic, or grinding it and other medicinal ingredients into a powder, which was then compressed into a soluble capsule.

Japanese Kanten

In Japan, the gelatinous product of red algae is known as 寒天, or kanten (cold or frozen sky), and is often used for sweets such as yokan. Today, the technique for extracting kanten is derived from a method documented by Tarazaemon Minoya in 1658, in which harvested seaweed was boiled to extract the gel which was collected on trays and left outdoors on winter nights to freeze.



The benefits of using agar in cooking are nicely highlighted in Agar-agar: Secret Minceur des Japonaises, Paris: La Plage, 2007 (The Japanese Secret to Being Slim) by a French blogger known as Clea. Highlighting agar's use in weight loss, Clea points out that agar promotes good digestion and a feeling of fullness. During the 2 years Clea lived in Japan, she observed supermarkets, cookbooks, and women's magazines advertising the slimming benefits of cooking with kanten. Clea's book, written in French, is filled with beautiful recipes for sweet and savory dishes that use agar-agar to embolden the bright flavors and accentuate the vivid colors of fresh produce. Folded into cream desserts such as in a luscious thyme scented crème caramel, glazing a pear and chestnut cake, or embedded in a subtle goat cheese and honey- vinaigrette verrine, agar-agar shines as the secret ingredient.

Tomato-Basil and Herb Goat Cheese Terrine

Clea's recipe for Tomato "Burgers" particularly caught my attention. Agar is dissolved into strained tomato sauce and molded into round "burgers" filled with a zucchini slaw and toasted pine nuts. I decided to use my rectangular mini loaf pan to mould the tomato mixture. I then assembled the rectangular blocks with herbed goat cheese in between for a refreshing summer side dish. Because agar solidifies when cooled, it is perfect for make-ahead meals that can be left in the refrigerator until serving time.

Recipe
Tomato-Basil and Herb Goat Cheese Terrine (adapted from Agar-agar: Secret Minceur des Japonaises, Paris: La Plage, 2007)

You will need a small rectangular mould, such as a 10-compartment mini loaf pan to make 3 terrine.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups strained tomatoes
1 cup water
3.5 g desiccated agar-agar, or 2 g (scant teaspoon) powdered agar-agar
5 oz. goat cheese
1/4 cup nuts such as walnuts, pecans, or pine nuts, toasted and chopped
1 tsp olive oil
4 basil leaves
2 tsp oregano, chopped
black pepper, to taste
hummus, to garnish (optional)

1. In a medium saucepan, heat strained tomatoes, water, agar, and 1 basil leaf. Stir occasionally as agar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes. Prepare moulds by rinsing under water. Pour tomato mixture into mould and place in the refrigerator 30 minutes, or until firm to the touch.

2. Combine goat cheese, olive oil, nuts, black pepper, oregano and remaining basil, minced.

To assemble:
Carefully remove 1 tomato slab at a time with an offset spatula, and place on serving plate. Top with a spoonful of goat cheese mixture and repeat. Place a tomato slab on top with a dollop of hummus and serve.


Talam agar-agar is a simple dessert that is perfect on a hot summer night. It is traditionally dyed with food coloring, creating a striking contrast between the colored bottom layer and the white coconut "frosting" but I like the subtle pink hue imparted by rosewater as well.


Recipe
Talam Agar-Agar (makes 4)

Talam agar-agar is usually made in a tray or cake mould but this recipe uses individual ramekins.

Ingredients:

Bottom layer:
3.5 g desiccated agar-agar, or 2 g (scant 1/2 teaspoon) powdered agar-agar
1 1/2 cups water
1 pandan leaf
3 Tbs sugar
1 tsp rose water

Top Layer:
1.75 g desiccated agar-agar, or 1 g (scant 1/2 teaspoon) powdered agar-agar
1/4 cup thick coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 pandan leaf
1 Tbs sugar
pinch salt

1. Heat the ingredients for the bottom layer in a saucepan until agar dissolves. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Rinse ramekins under water. Pour liquid into ramekins and place in refrigerator for about 15 minutes to set.

2. Heat the ingredients for the top layer in a saucepan until agar dissolves. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Remove ramekins from refrigerator and pour over the firmed bottom layer. Return to refrigerator for 10 minutes or until set . To serve, loosen the agar-agar with an offset spatula and turn onto plates. Sprinkle with toasted dried coconut and drizzle with some extra coconut milk.

General agar-agar to liquid ratio:

3.5 g desiccated agar blocks per 2-3 cups of water (1/2 to 3/4 liter)
2 g powdered agar per 2 cups water (1/2 liter)

Recipe: Philippine Eggplant Fritters

Although eggplant (Solanum melongena) also known as brinjal or aubergine, is cultivated around the world, the plant is native to southern India and Sri Lanka. The petite variety, shown below, is often labeled "Indian eggplant" in grocery stores. While "Indian" is indeed redundant, the small, egg-shaped variety is mainly grown in India, where eggplant is called baingan or kathirikkai.



In both early and modern cookbooks, recipes using eggplant usually advise methods to remove the fruit's natural bitterness, or make it less mushy when cooked. Following the recommendation of a friend of mine from the Philippines, I've found the simplest way to cook small eggplants is to first boil them, then squash the softened eggplants with your palm, dip them in beaten eggs and lightly fry them. The fritters are soft with crispy edges, and not at all bitter. You can use any small eggplant variety for this. To make fritters with a large eggplant, thinly slice the raw eggplant lengthwise, dip slices in beaten egg, and shallow fry.



Recipe
Philippine Eggplant Fritters
Serves 4

Ingredients

8 small eggplants, halved
2 eggs, beaten and thinned with 1 Tbs water
neutral cooking oil such as canola or grapeseed
sweet chili sauce

1. Add eggplant to boiling water and cook until the tines of a fork easily pierce the skin. Drain the eggplant and place on a kitchen towel to cool completely.
2. When cool, flatten each eggplant half with the palm of your hand. Heat a large frying pan with 2 Tbs oil.
3. Dip each flattened half in the beaten eggs and place in the hot frying pan. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown, adding more oil as necessary.
4. Place cooked eggplant on a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve hot or at room temperature with sweet chili sauce.

Cooking with Roses

Last August I found a copy of a lovely out-of-print book, The Art of Cooking with Roses (1968) by Jean Gordon. While I waited until roses were again in season (May-June) before testing some recipes, I enjoyed reading Gordon's chapters on rosewater, rose extract, rose syrup, rose petals and rose petal preserves, and rose hips.


A dedicated rose enthusiast, Gordon founded the Rose Museum in St. Augustine, Florida in 1956. She also organized national rose exhibitions in the United States, lectured and published articles on the uses of roses, and was a member of the American Rose Society. Gordon wrote several rose-themed books including Pageant of the Rose, Rose Recipes: Customs, Facts, Fancies, and Immortal Roses: One Hundred Rose Stories, as well as Orange Recipes and Coffee Recipes. Although I could not find any information on the Rose Museum, operated from Gordon's home, the New York Botanical Garden's Library archives include a collection of Jean Gordon's papers: "newspaper clippings, photographs, notes, correspondence, journals, seed catalogs, book reviews, posters, photographic reproductions, booklets, leaflets, bibliographic index cards, and postcards" from the years 1950-80.

The Art of Cooking with Roses by Jean Gordon (New York: Walker & Co., 1968).

The Art of Cooking with Roses is particularly delightful, with uncomplicated recipes from around the world, including Turkish Rice Pudding (Kazandibi), courtesy of the Turkish Embassy, Chestnuts with Coffee Sauce, Indian Nut Custard, Scrambled Eggs with Rose Petals, Pickled Rosebuds, and Black-Eyed Carrots, cooked with black currants, butter and rosewater.

A recipe for crystallized rose petals caught my attention. Dipped in egg whites and dusted with sugar, the fragrant petals become crunchy like a delicate candy- a perfect decoration for cupcakes iced with Gordon's recipe for rose-flavored butter frosting.

Crystallized Rose Petals

Recipe
Crystallized Rose Petals, from The Art of Cooking with Roses

Select highly scented fresh roses. Wash and dry well. Beat white of one egg to a foam. Dip small pastry brush (or use fingers) in egg white and brush well over sides of rose petals. Be certain that no surplus egg white remains on petal, but that both sides are moist. Shake granulated sugar on both sides and place on tray to dry in refrigerator.



Recipe
Rose-Flavored Butter Cream Frosting, from The Art of Cooking with Roses

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 lb sifted confectioners' sugar
dash of salt
4-5 Tbs rosewater

Cream butter with salt; add part of the confectioners' sugar gradually, blending after each addition. Add remaining sugar alternately with rosewater, beating vigorously after each addition until smooth and creamy. This amount should be enough to cover top and sides of two 9-inch layers, or 15 to 20 cupcakes.

Rose Cream Cupcakes Topped with Crystallized Rose Petals

For more on roses and gardens, including my rosewater recipe, see Rosewater: Essence of the Garden

Rhubarb: A May Vegetable

Although common cultivated rhubarb is a vegetable from the Polygonaceae family (of which sorrel is also a member), the ruby toned stalks are mostly used in dessert recipes. Besides imparting its lovely hue, rhubarb's tart juices meld nicely with sugar.

Rheum rhabarbarum 'Valentine'.

Rhubarb, a cool-climate perennial, starts to appear in March and reaches its peak around May to June. While rhubarb is often grown in vegetable gardens, I prefer to plant rhubarb throughout my garden, wherever there is an opening amidst other low, sun-loving perennials and herbs, ensuring a bountiful crop. While the poisonous leaves are inedible, the plant's attractive appearance makes it a lovely choice for many locations (until the stalks are picked, of course).



While at Kitchen Arts and Letters in New York, one of my favorite bookstores, I found Mary Prior's Rhubarbaria: Recipes for Rhubarb, a brief but thorough collection of rhubarb recipes from early and modern cookbooks. From Prospect Books' "The English Kitchen" series, Rhubarbaria begins with "Rhubarb in Britain," a 24-page micro history that traces rhubarb's journey from China to the British kitchen through early modern cookbooks, botanical, and travel writings. The following chapters feature rhubarb in a variety of recipes; one chapter is titled, "Rhubarb as a Vegetable" and Prior includes many savory recipes, such as the Afghan Sabzi Rahwash: Spinach with Rhubarb and Dill. Some of the best recipes that combine ingredients from the garden are found in Chapter 4, "Rhubarb Soups." I think either Rhubarb, Ginger and Mint Soup, or Chilled Rhubarb, Ginger and Elderflower Soup would be perfect for a summer meal. Sweeter versions could be served as a dessert, such as Hungarian Sweet Rhubarb Soup, made with sour cream, or this pretty Danish Cold Rhubarb Soup.

Cold rhubarb soup from Rhubarbaria, made with porridge oats and vanilla.

Roly-poly with rhubarb jam filling and vanilla custard sauce.

Rhubarb-Green Tea Jam by Le Palais des Thés.

In dessert recipes, rhubarb is almost always cooked with sugar until it breaks down to a jam-like consistency. When rhubarb is not in season, simply substitute a good quality rhubarb jam for the fresh stalks. There are usually several enticing combinations to choose from such as strawberry-rhubarb, raspberry-rhubarb, or this rhubarb and green tea jam, from Le Palais des Thés. I recommend using the jam in a Bakewell Tart, a fruit and lemon curd filled cakey-pie topped with almonds, a riff on the British pudding.



Recipe
Bakewell Tart, adapted from Tea & Crumpets by Margaret Johnson (Chronicle Books, 2009).

Ingredients
(for a 9" tart pan)

your favorite tart or pie dough

Filling:
1/2 cup rhubarb jam
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs lemon zest
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup grated almonds/almond meal
handful of chopped almonds

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Roll out chilled pie dough and line base of tart pan. Bake blind with pie weights for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Meanwhile in a large bowl mix together butter, sugar, salt, lemon zest, and eggs. Add flour and almond meal and mix well.

2. Spread jam over pastry dough in tart pan. Pour filling mixture over jam and spread evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle top with chopped almonds.

3. Bake for 30 minutes or until browned on top. Check on the tart periodically. If the top begins to get too brown, cover with aluminum foil for the remainder of baking time.

Rhubarb Bakewell Tart with Wisteria frutescens "Amethyst Falls."

Kitchen Arts & Letters is an independent bookstore specializing in literature on food and culinary culture and carries over 13,000 thoughtfully chosen current and out of print titles.
1435 Lexington Avenue (between 93rd & 94th St)
New York, NY 10128-1625
(212) 876-5550
www.kitchenartsandletters.com

Celebrating Food and the World's Fair

The images in this post are from a set of commemorative postcards issued to promote the 1939 World's Fair, held in Flushing Meadow Park in New York City.

From street festivals and village fêtes to county carnivals, fairs have historically functioned as sites of both commercial and cultural exchange. Going to a fair represents a break from the quotidian-- a chance to experience something new and unexpected. Food, in the form of old favorites and new discoveries, is invariably part of the entertainment. Perhaps no fair has existed on a grander scale than the World's Fair. Beginning with London's Crystal Palace Exposition in 1851, in which 28 countries exhibited in pavilions, the World's Fair has been a stage for the performance of national identity through art and industry. This year's World Expo in Shanghai, which opened on May 1st, is no exception, with nearly 200 countries participating and a projected audience of 70-100 million.

Postcard from the 1939 World's Fair in New York, depicting the "Plaza of Governments."

The history of the World's Fair is very well documented and there is a large amount of archival material on the subject, including pamphlets, menus, and design plans. It is particularly interesting to consider the role of food and cuisine as a demonstration of national identity at these events. For instance, at Expo 67, held in Montreal to commemorate Canada's centennial anniversary, indigenous Canadian food was employed to illustrate and define Canada's cultural identity. The pavilion's restaurant, La Toundra, was decorated with line drawings of indigenous life and featured dishes of meat and fish particular to Canadian land and waters. An enlightening study on the subject can be found in "The Cuisine of the Tundra: Towards a Canadian Food Culture at Expo 67," by Rhona Richman Kenneally in Food, Culture & Society, vol.2 (3), 2008: 287-314.

Model of fairgrounds, previewed to the public at the Empire State Building.

Indeed, one can begin to trace the experience of the World's Fair through the period literature on the subject. The Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893, was the subject of a charity cookery book compiled by Carrie V. Shuman titled, Favorite Dishes. A Columbian Autograph Souvenir Cookery Book. Over Three Hundred Autograph Recipes, and Twenty-three Portraits, Contributed By The Board Of Lady Managers Of The World's Columbian Exposition, published to raise admission funds for women who could not afford to attend the fair. Produced by the Columbian Exposition's Board of Lady Managers, a group of influential society women from 7 different states, the cookbook reflects the interests behind the fair's Woman's Building, which featured exhibits on women's achievements and a library of women's writing. At a time when women's rights was a commonly contested issue, the building's presence represents an attempt to situate the role of women within discourses on the nation. The cookbook, with its collection of regional favorites, attempts to bring together the experiences and allegiances of women across the United States through food. In an introductory piece Shuman decribes the collection as "the exponents of the Art of Cookery, at this stage of its best development in this country, and as cheerful assistants of women who need the encouragement and blessings of their more fortunate sisters." As a side note, the book's first chapter, "Tea," includes recommendations for serving "Five O'clock Tea" with a "teaball," as it is a convenient tool for the busy hostess and allows for an economical use of tea leaves.


Postcard from the 1939 World's Fair in New York, depicting a night view of the fair's signature monument, the Trylon and Perisphere.

The World's Fair attempts to portray, not just the character of individual nations and corporations, but a view of the world through dominant political and economic paradigms. The Fair was, and continues to be, a projection of the future as reflected through capitalist ventures. The 1939 World's Fair was themed "The World of Tomorrow" and featured a futuristic display of modern technology, culminating in the Trylon and Perisphere buildings (above), a monument to human ingenuity through industrial and scientific development, as the Second World War approached. While the preparation of food was reconsidered in exhibits featuring electric kitchen tools, the appearance of food itself could symbolize the future. For instance, the Sealtest Dairy pavilion pamphlet featured recipes for orbs of fried macaroni and cheese, an American classic reinvented as a futuristic spheroid.

Postcard from the 1939 World's Fair in New York, depicting the fair's Planetarium, a technological achievement in which "intricate machinery moves the heavens at will."

One can experience a culture through its cuisine. By consuming the exotic delicacies at the World's Fair, audiences came into contact with a romantic, fantasy image of foreign cultures and societies. Yet food can also stand as an embodiment of what seems 'foreign' about another culture. But cultural convergence can be unsettling, particularly if there are socio-political inequalities involved. This idea is illustrated in a 1936 Japanese novel by Yumeno Kyusaku, titled Ningen soseji, or Human Sausages. In this story, after a series of fantastical events a Japanese carpenter is plunged into the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, where he comes into contact with an American gangster trafficking in Asian women in a secret hideaway on the fairgrounds. Most frighteningly, the man discovers the gangster's personal sausage machine (a Western food product), into which humans have been fed. (See Tomoko Aoyama, Reading Food in Modern Japanese Literature, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2009, for more analysis on this subject.) In this fantastic tale, technology is represented by a machine of annihilation, allowing the foreign West to consume the East through an act of anthropophagy.

Postcard from the 1939 World's Fair in New York, depicting the marine amphitheater.


A fortuitous occurrence at the St. Louis World's Fair led to the invention of iced tea at the East Asian Pavilion (Hohenegger, Beatrice, Liquid Jade: the Story of Tea from East to West, NY: St. Martin's Press, 2006). As the St. Louis summer heat turned visitors away from the pavilion's tea samples, the exhibitor, Richard Blechynden, added ice to the tea, creating a new and popular beverage. I think this story sums up the notion of the World's Fair quite well, as a global marketplace generating consumerism and conspicuous consumption through the ideologies put forth by the self-declared tastemakers of the day.

Links to World's Fair archives and ephemera:

ExpoMuseum- features a timeline with information on every World's Fair, podcasts, and useful links.
Shanghai Expo 2010- official site
Treasures of the New York Public Library: The New York World's Fair, 1939-40- video with information from the library's archives.

New York World's Fair, 1964/1965- exhaustive set of information on the pavilions at the 1964 fair.

Postcard from the 1939 World's Fair in New York, depicting the marine amphitheater at night.

Stick Cakes: An Elegant Confection

Although the concept of individual sticks of cake may not seem unusual, a look at the Japanese Tiny Stick Cakes Recipe Book (ちっちゃなスティックケーキのレシピブック) by Yuko Kurokawa (黒川 愉子) published in 2006, reveals how a simple form can inspire infinite creative variations. Kurokawa's recipes are accompanied by charming photos of the cakes artfully arranged with pretty serving pieces, textiles, and ephemera such as books, and vintage packing cartons. The images are playful yet sophisticated and Kurokawa's refined, cosmopolitan aesthetic comes across as fresh and natural.



Within her stick cake genre, Kurokawa plays with a variety of cake types, including pound cake, cheese cake, shortbread wafers, mini gâteau-like sponge and cream confections, cream-filled pastry, puddings, and even doughnuts. The variations seem endless and range from easy pumpkin stick cakes, flecked with chunks of kabocha squash, to more complex soy custard cream napoleons. The text is in Japanese with recipe titles in French but even if you do not read Japanese, the pictures will inspire and delight.



I was able to translate some recipes and provide a rudimentary English version below of Kurokawa's "Baton de cake au thé indien" (Indian tea stick cake), made with Assam tea and aromatic spices, with a flavor reminiscent of chai. These cakes make wonderful snacks for travel, or to have at home with tea or coffee.

Recipe
Baton de cake au thé indien (Indian tea stick cake), adapted from Tiny Stick Cakes Recipe Book by Yuko Kurokawa.

You will need a perfectly straight square metal baking pan. The sides must meet at sharp right angles in order to produce the cake's precise, neat lines. Kurokawa's recipe is for a 15 x 15 cm baking pan but the smallest I was able to find on amazon.com was 8" (roughly 20 cm) square. In this case, double or even triple the recipe to accommodate the larger pan.

Ingredients

60g (1/2 cup) all purpose flour
scant 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp ginger powder
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
60g (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
60g granulated sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp milk
1/2 Tbs Assam tea leaves

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line the pan with parchment paper. You may need to cut the parchment paper at the corners to allow for a crisp fold. Make sure that no part of the pan will touch the cake batter- this will ensure a smooth transfer from the pan.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg and add the dry ingredients. Stir until combined and pour into the pan. Smooth the surface with a rubber spatula and then make it flat and even by gliding the edge of a metal or plastic ruler across the batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool off for about 5 minutes, then pull parchment lined cake out of the pan and trim off edges so the sides of the cake are perfectly straight. Cut into 1.5 cm sticks.



The book, and others by Yuko Kurokawa, such as Tiny Square Cakes Recipe Book, can be found outside of Japan at Japanese bookstores such as Kinokuniya.

Book Review: The Hour of the Goddess: Memories of Women, Food & Ritual in Bengal

The Hour of the Goddess: Memories of Women, Food and Ritual in Bengal by Chitrita Banerji.
Delhi, India: Penguin, 2006. 144 pp.

Food and ritual are often intimately bound to one another in instances as varied as religious observances and tea ceremonies. In religious rites, food is often used to transcend a spiritual plane, thereby facilitating communication between the corporeal existence of mortals and the elusive world of the divine. In The Hour of the Goddess, food historian Chitrita Banerji describes her memories of food and its associations with Hindu rituals and the roles of women, contextualized within the broad culinary traditions of Bengal. The book is composed of a collection of short essays and will appeal to anyone interested in food and culture. Much of Banerji's discussion is framed by the geography and agricultural practices of India's northeastern Bengal region and the cuisine is indeed informed by the availability of river fish and fertile soil for growing a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains.

Many of Banerji's early memories of food are connected with worship and the women of her Hindu household who were involved in food preparation, both for the household and for ceremonial purposes. She describes Bengali food conventions and the stories of the gods and goddesses they complement, as passed down by her mother and grandmother. She also considers references from Bengali literature including poetry and epics as well as folk tales, songs, etymology, paintings, cooking treatises, and Ayurvedic texts. In the second chapter, "Feeding the Gods," Banerji recalls her childhood memory of offering food, such as fruit and various sweets, to altar statues of the gods Krishna and his consort Radha, before consuming it herself. Besides an act of obeisance and propriety, this ritual inspired concentration and awareness of the act of eating. As Banerji observed her grandmother's daily offering ritual, she felt that a silent understanding existed between her grandmother and the gods she worshipped, like that of old friends. Her grandmother once told her, "Remember, you are food, because the god who made you is also food. Give him what you love most and you will find it tastes so much better afterwards" (18). As an adult living in America, such rituals gone from her life, Banerji wistfully remembers "the self forgetful joy" of feeding the gods.

Not all of Banerji's reminiscences are pleasant. In chapter 3, "Patoler Ma," Banerji introduces the reader to a frail woman employed by Banerji's family with the physically demanding daily task of grinding fresh spices for the family's meals with the traditional stone shil (mortar) and nora (pestle). Banerji realized the class distinctions inherent in this role when, as a child, she asked the servant about her favorite spices. Banerji writes, "She turned towards me with the saddest smile I had ever seen. 'People like me can't afford to buy garom mashla,' she said, 'we only handle and smell it in the homes of people like you'...What must it feel like, I wondered, to spend so much energy processing ingredients that you may desire but could never obtain?" (33). Banerji points out the inequities often present in food systems, and indeed the consumption of spices is historically linked with privileged social status (see for instance my post on saffron).

Benerji's detailed and thoughtful discussion is a pleasure to read and recipes appear at the end of several chapters. While recipes are not provided for every dish mentioned, Banerji describes the dishes so well that reproducing them is not hard. One of my favorite chapters is ""How Bengal Discovered Chhana," featuring an intriguing bit of food history pertaining to milk-based sweets and the introduction of chhana (acid cured cheese resembling cottage cheese) into this repertoire. Banerji's description of raabri (cream skins floating in thickened milk), originally called dugdha-laklaki, was so enticing that I had to make it. My recipe is below.

Rabri (Creamy Milk Pudding)
Rabri is usually flavored with kewra (screwpine/pandan) essence. Since I didn't have any I used 3 pandan leaves instead.

Ingredients
1 12oz. can evaporated milk
kewra (screwpine/pandan) essence or pandan leaves
1 Tbs sugar

1. Heat the milk in a wide mouthed pot such as a wok and add the pandan leaves (if using essence, add later). Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a simmer stirring constantly to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

2. Have a plate nearby and remove the milk from the heat. Fan the surface of the milk and when a skin develops, gently skim it off with a wooden spoon and put it on the plate. Return pot to the heat and simmer and stir for half a minute, then remove from the heat and skim again, placing the skin on top of the first skin. Repeat this process until you have about 10 layers of milk skin. By this time the milk should have reduced and thickened slightly. Add the sugar and kewra/pandan essence (if using) and allow to cool to room temperature.

3. While milk cools, place the dish with the layers of milk skin in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to solidify a little. Remove from the refrigerator and cut into 2-4 pieces. Divide the thickened milk in the pot between bowls and gently slide one of the milk skin pieces into each bowl and serve.


Recommended Bengali food blogs:

Cooking in Calcutta
Cook Like A Bong
The Calcutta Wallah