Current Issue: Artvoice v7n47, week of Thursday November 20 » back issues
Food For Thought |
Hey Hot Stuff!by Joe George |
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I’ll begin this week’s column with a rash generalization: The hotter the climate, the spicier the food. This most likely is not 100 percent accurate, but I feel for the most part it’s true. Think about it for a minute, or even look at a map if you have one handy. The closer to the equator a country is, the hotter its climate and its cuisine. I’ll take this one step further to say that the hotter the climate, the more heavily the cuisine relies on spices in general.
This may seem obvious on one level but not so much on another. What’s obvious, I think, is that it reflects what grows in different climates. Cayenne peppers, for example, grow readily in south Louisiana but not northeastern Canada. Traditional northern cuisines often rely on the heavy use of cream and butter—stuff to really fill you up for a frigid winter’s day. Cuisines of the Deep South, on the other hand, often flavor their food with chilies. I use this example in particular because some believe that Louisiana gumbo is the outcome of an evolutionary metamorphose of chowder (or chaudrée in its original tongue), which was adapted when the Acadians (later to be known as Cajuns) migrated south and adapted the recipe with local ingredients. So this is a perfect example of a similar recipe in a different climate: cold climate, not spicy; hot climate, spicy. Chowder and gumbo are first cousins.
Besides the fact that chilies proliferate in steamy climates, there’s another reason for spicy food in hot weather. Capsaicin is the odorless and flavorless compound in chilies that gives them their fiery kick, but it also makes you sweat, and while this may not be the most attractive thing to do, sweating (or more precisely, the sweat that evaporates) is our body’s natural air conditioning. Sweating cools us off. I realize that I could have chosen the nicer word, perspire, for a food column, but I’m sorry, when you eat hot food in hot weather you don’t perspire, you sweat. It’s interesting how it happens: The chilies sort of fake out the brain. Apparently capsaicin stimulates the tongue and mouth, making the brain think that your body temperature has risen, and as a result the brain turns on your body’s air conditioner.
Another theory about chilies and spices in general is that they were also used as food preservatives. A perfect example of this is chili con carne, which translates literally as “chilies with meat” (second cousin to chowder, once removed). Some say that chili began as not just a recipe but as a way of preserving the meat in the recipe, or at least extending its usability in the hot Texas sun. And early recipes were just what the name suggests: chucks of meat simmered in liquid with salt and chilies. The high ratio of chilies and salt may have preserved meat to a certain extent, and what began as a necessity soon became a staple. I personally have a difficult time believing that spices alone preserve meat; a large ratio of salt maybe, but not chilies. What chilies may do is camouflage the taste of slightly tainted meat; keep in mind we’re talking about pre-refrigeration days.
On a more healthy and contemporary note, there’s somewhat new research that proves spicy foods do far more good than make us sweat. I recently read an article that says spicy foods, or more specifically the capsaicin in them, can raise your metabolism and curb appetite. I’ve come across other sites that claim capsaicin is heart healthy, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and even a natural pain reliever—which seems like an oxymoron to me, given the pain it can inflict when you eat it. I have no idea whether these claims are true or not, but two things are for sure: Spicy food tastes great, and it sure makes you sweat.
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Spicy Asian-style Chicken Salad Yield: 4 servings 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup toasted sesame oil 1/4 cup soy sauce 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon grated lime peel 2 (or more) jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced 1 pound grilled chicken breast, chilled and thinly sliced 1/2 head romaine lettuce, washed and sliced 8 radishes, thinly sliced 4 leaves fresh basil, thinly sliced 8 leaves fresh mint, thinly sliced 4 green onions, thinly sliced Combine the lime juice, vegetable oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, lime peel, and jalapeno in a small bowl; whisk together and set aside. In a separate bowl, gently toss together the chicken, lettuce, radishes, basil, mint, and green onion. Add just enough of the dressing to coat the salad. Serve extra dressing separately. Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo Yield: 3 quarts 1/2 cup vegetable oil 3/4 cup flour 1 medium onion, diced 1 small green pepper, diced 3 stalks celery, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 8 ounces smoked sausage, split lengthwise and sliced 12 okra pods, sliced 1/2 inch thick 1-1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon thyme 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 6 cups chicken broth 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined 2 tablespoons hot sauce 1/2 cup rice Make a roux by heating the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat and stirring in the flour with a wooden spoon. Stir the roux continuously for 5-10 minutes, or until the roux is brown and smells of toasted nuts. Add the diced onion, green pepper, and celery, stir it into the roux and cook it for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, sausage and okra, stir it into the roux and cook it for an additional 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in the salt, thyme, pepper, and chicken stock. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stir it to remove any lumps. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook the soup for 20 minutes. Add the shrimp and hot sauce, then simmer the soup an additional 10 minutes. While the gumbo is simmering, boil the rice. Serve the gumbo in a bowl with a small mound of the boiled rice, or if desired, stir the rice directly into the gumbo. |
Chili con Pollo Yield: 3 quarts 3 tablespoons olive oil 4 chicken breasts, diced 1 onion, diced 2 ribs celery, diced 2 carrots, diced 1 red pepper, diced 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 jalapeño pepper, minced 2 tablespoons chili powder 1 tablespoon cumin 2 tablespoons cinnamon 1 tablespoon paprika 1 tablespoon oregano 1 tablespoon sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon black pepper 2 cups diced tomatoes 4 cups chicken broth 1 cup tomato puree 2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce 1-1/2 cups cooked black beans Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over high heat, then add the diced chicken breast and brown it. Remove the chicken and set aside. Add the onion, celery, carrots, and red pepper; sauté about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and jalapeño; sauté 2 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and add the chicken back to the pot. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, paprika, oregano, sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth, puree, and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil then lower to simmer. Stir in the beans and cook for 30 minutes. Stir often to avoid scorching. Curried Shrimp Yield: 4 servings 16 raw shrimp 3 tablespoons clarified butter or vegetable oil 1/2 cup diced onion 1 teaspoon minced garlic 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger 2-3 teaspoon minced jalapeño 1 teaspoon turmeric 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons chili powder 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup diced tomatoes 2 cups chicken stock, fish stock or water 2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro Peel and de-vein the shrimp, set aside. Heat the butter or oil in a large skillet over a medium flame. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and jalapeño; sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the turmeric, cumin, chili powder, cinnamon, coriander, and salt. Sauté the spices, while stirring, for 1 minute. Add the diced tomatoes and stock, bring to a boil, then lower the heat, and simmer it for 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer for another 5 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked. Stir in the chopped cilantro just before using. |
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Artvoice Blog Headlines
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Paint the Townposted November 14, 11:06 am on Artvoice DailyLate last night, at the tail end of one of the few weeks in the past year in which we did not publish anything snarky about anybody, someone threw two gallons of paint on our front doors. Seems a waste; we hadn’t even earned it. Nonetheless, we were cleaning up all morning... (more) |
Old Editions Book Shopposted November 13, 1:58 pm on Artvoice DailyAV videographer Matt Quinn tours Old Editions, an often overlooked treasure at the corner of Oak and Huron Streets downtown: show enclosure (video/x-flv; 21.29 MB) |
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Silver Lining: Edwards Remains a Good Guyposted November 11, 11:17 am on Artvoice DailyMarshawn Lynch Amid the anguished finger-pointing, plaintive wailing and resigned head-shaking sweeping the region following the Buffalo Bills’ third straight defeat, Season Ticket would like to apportion a minute sliver of credit. Quarterback Trent Edwards, by most quantitative and qualitative standards, failed miserably at New England on Sunday (not coincidentally, this was also his third consecutive regressive outing)... (more) |
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