Mar

Make Any Meal a Travel Adventure

by Joyce McGreevy on March 16, 2020

A food market in Denmark features in the culinary travel adventure of a writer on the trail of food origin stories. (Image by Joyce McGreevy)

You can order French bread in Denmark (but not a “Danish”).
In France, just order bread—in French.
© Joyce McGreevy

Food Origin Fun with a Dash of Cultural Awareness

So you’ve just canceled that upcoming trip, but you’re still feeling the wanderlust? Don’t be consumed by disappointment—there’s a travel adventure in the food you consume.

Lunch time scenario 1: Lee and his friend Ana meet for lunch. Lee orders a French dip, French fries and a salad with French dressing.

Intrigued, Ana asks Lee, “What did you have for breakfast?”

“French toast,” says Lee. “Why?”

“Wow,” says Ana with crystal-clear cultural awareness. “You sure love American food!”

Brussels sprouts, known as spruitjes in Belgium, are one of many foods associated with specific places, even when actual food history differs. (Image by Pxhere

In Brussels, nobody eats Brussels sprouts, but many people enjoy spruitjes.
Photo by Pxhere

Lunch time scenario 2: On a culinary travel adventure one summer, I realize it’s been years since I’ve had a Reuben sandwich. Although it’s non-kosher (mixing meat and cheese), it’s a staple of many Jewish delicatessens.

As Meredith Mileti writes in Aftertaste: A Novel in Five Courses:

“I devour the sandwich, a mountain of corned beef between two greasy slabs of marble rye, leaking cheese and Russian dressing all down the front of my sweater. It’s delicious, and I don’t stop eating until I’ve finished the last thick fry, which I use to mop up the remains of the sandwich.”

Ah yes, the front of every sweater, blouse, and pajama top I own might just as well be emblazoned with an image of an airport runway. I order a Reuben anyway, because here I am in the city that invented it. You know, Omaha.

Wait, what?

It’s not “rye” humor—the Reuben sandwich may hail from the Cornhusker State.
© Kimberly Vardman (CC By 2.0)

A Slice of History

Reportedly, the Reuben sandwich was invented during a poker game at Omaha’s Blackstone Hotel circa the 1930s. Hotel proprietor Charles Schimmel then added it to Blackstone’s menu.

Fern Snider, a former employee of the Blackstone, used the recipe to win a national competition in 1956. That’s when the Oxford English Dictionary cites the first published use of the term “Reuben sandwich.”

Several New York-based origin stories also exist, including one from cookbook author and New York Times food journalist Craig Claiborne.

But I’d keep that to yourself if you’re in Nebraska on March 14. That’s when people in Omaha celebrate National Reuben Sandwich Day. The food fest became official there in 2013.

Oh, I see: Food histories are like mystery novels, except that you can eat the clues, red herrings and all.

In a Pickle

Granted, it doesn’t take gourmet detective Poirot to reveal that a Reuben’s Swiss cheese and Russian dressing are neither Swiss nor Russian—just a case of “Colonel Mustard in the Kitchen with Kraft Foods.”

But even the Reuben’s sauerkraut, well-documented in German culture, has ties to another culture: Mongolia. One reason Genghis Khan galloped from Asia to Meissen, Germany is that his nomadic horsemen packed the perfect lunch for those 4,000-mile commutes. Fermented food: Don’t leave the yurt without it.

Mongolian horsemen features in the culinary travel adventure of a writer on the trail of food origin stories. (Image by Erdenebayar/Pixabay)

From Mongolia to Germany to a Chicago hot dog, pickled cabbage has come a long way.
Photo by Erdenebayar/Pixabay

A Mystery that Takes the Cake

In 1963, when President Lyndon Johnson hosted a luncheon for German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard, the dessert chef served German chocolate cake. One wonders what Erhard thought of this three-layer confection of buttermilk, pecans, and not-exactly Teutonic coconut. No German bakery had ever produced one.

So why “German”?

In 1852, an English American chocolate mill worker named Samuel German developed a baking chocolate sweet enough to eat as a bar. Mr. German sold his recipe to Mr. Walter Baker of Baker’s Chocolate Company in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The resulting product, still on grocery shelves today, was Baker’s German’s Chocolate.

A mere 105 years later, a recipe for German’s Chocolate Cake appeared in The Dallas Morning News. According to National Public Radio, sales of Baker’s German’s chocolate “shot up 73 percent that year, 1957.” Somewhere along the way, folks forgot the apostrophe in German’s. Yes, they fudged the spelling and “German Chocolate” took the cake.

A vintage ad for Baker’s chocolate features in the culinary travel adventure of a writer on the trail of food origin stories. (Public domain image)

I like ads that emphasize the nutritional importance of eating chocolate.
Public domain photo

You Say Croissant, I Say Kipferl

So many foods associated with one place began in another that tracking them down becomes a culinary adventure.

The croissant, that iconic French bread, might never have happened without an Austrian entrepreneur. According to food historian Jim Chevallier, author of August Zang and the French Croissant, the word for croissant did not even exist in 1838. That’s when Zang launched the first Viennese bread bakery in Paris, at 92 Rue Richelieu.

Zang, whose breads included the crescent-shaped kipferl, filled his patented steam oven with moist hay to add “a lustrous sheen.” Customers took notice. So did French bakers. A trend was born.

A Danish features in the culinary travel adventure of a writer on the trail of food origin stories. (Image by Pxhere)

Surely the Danish came from Denmark. No, Austrian bakers invented that, too.
Photo by Pxhere

A Moveable Feast of Food Origins

In the annals of food history, one culture whets the appetite of others:

San Francisco launched “Italian soda.”
New York, not Nome, popularized Baked Alaska.
Dutch Baby has nothing to do with the Netherlands—ask Seattleites.
Indian-style vindaloo has ties to Portugal
Tijuana, Mexico is the birthplace of Caesar Salad.
And a Greek Canadian invented Hawaiian Pizza.

As for the pommes frites that preceded fries, they really are French, right? Belgian food historians say, “Au contraire!” Others credit Pedro Cieza, “teenage conquistador turned historian” of Spain. “Hold on!” say others, “It all began with the ancient Incas.”

Yes, the food on your plate is a gastronomical map of the world. Once you bring cultural awareness to the table, it’s all a culinary travel adventure.

A rice dish in Athens, Greece, and a bowl decorated with names of world cities featuresin the culinary travel adventure of a writer on the trail of food origin stories. (Image by Joyce McGreevy)

An Asian restaurant in Athens evokes the global migrations of culinary cultures.
© Joyce McGreevy

• Team Omaha or Team New York? To read more about origins of the Reuben, see the Blackstone story here and food critic Craig Claiborne’s nod to its New York origin story here.

• Get the skinny on a puffy bread. Order August Zang and the French Croissant here.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy Comments

Cultural Encounters/The World's Chefs/Worldwide Sites

Dec

Cultural Encounters on the Banks of the Seine

by Meredith Mullins on December 2, 2019

Les Bouquinistes
© Meredith Mullins

The Bouquinistes: Icons of Paris Culture

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night . . .

From this familiar and inspiring creed, you may think this story is going to be about a diligent U.S. postal carrier. Not so.

For this “Oh, I see” adventure, we travel to the banks of the Seine for cultural encounters with the riverside Paris booksellers—the bouquinistes (pronounced boo-kin-eests).

Through snow and rain . . .
© Meredith Mullins

This iconic community, like postal carriers, are dedicated to their job—in all seasons, in all kinds of weather. The bouquinistes have been officially authorized in Paris for more than 160 years.

This literary tradition is an integral part of Paris culture. A commonly heard description is that the Seine is the only river in the world that flows between bookshelves.

An integral part of Paris culture
© Meredith Mullins

Bouquiniste Life

Most of the personalities that you meet today on the quay have been selling for 10 or 20 or more years. They are the epitome of timeless Paris. And they love their job.

Bouquiniste Michel has enjoyed this relatively stress-free life for 20 years.
© Meredith Mullins

They open the timeworn green boxes lining the upper quays along the Seine, and voilà—an open-air book market spills out onto the sidewalks, revealing the bouquinistes’ allegiance to Paris’ literary heritage, as well as their unconditional appreciation of books.

A miniature bookstore in the open air
© Meredith Mullins

Some displays look exactly like miniature bookstores. Some look more like tiny antique book fairs or mini flea markets.

A trove of tiny treasures
© Meredith Mullins

Some stalls, because of today’s trend away from print materials (thanks to the omnipresent internet), include more than just books as the sellers struggle to earn a living—from postcards to posters to keychains to magnets to coasters to other tiny treasures.

Inventory to appeal to tourists and supplement the sales of used and antique books
© Meredith Mullins

Whatever the range of inventory, each 10-meter space on the quay represents the personality of the sellers.

Some bouquinistes are specialists, like American Sydney, who has read every book in her stall and strives to connect each customer with the right book.

Bouquiniste Sydney believes “Books are cheaper than therapy.”
© Oliver Gee

Some are generalists, like Albert, who collects all kinds of treasures—from pipes to antique cameras to coins— so that his stall can attract a more diverse clientele (or, as he puts it, so his stall comes closer to reflecting the controlled chaos of his home).

Bouquiniste Albert has a wide variety of treasures.
© Meredith Mullins

In any event, the treasures are all tucked in at night, back into the four boxes allocated to each vendor, and are secured by metal bars, padlocks, and blind faith that no one will dare violate the time-honored bookseller legacy by stealing (although, sadly, tagging is common).

All materials are tucked back in at night, with a hope that their security is assured
through respect of the profession.
© Meredith Mullins

A Dream Job?

As difficult as the job might seem because of the challenges of long hours in an outdoor setting (weather, street noise, pollution, and tons of looky loo tourists during high seasons), the bouquinistes tend to relish the freedom that comes with the territory.

A freedom of selection, although most everything
is covered in plastic because of the outdoor elements
© Meredith Mullins

They can work in their own rhythm, as long as they open their stalls an average of four days a week throughout the year. They pay no monthly rent or taxes.

They can sell the things that they know best or the things that they believe fit their loyal clients’ needs. And, for most, sitting by the river, reading, watching the passing parade, or talking with people who love books, is a stress-free way to spend time.

A bouquiniste’s helper, just passing the time along the banks of the Seine
© Meredith Mullins

The long waitlist to become a bouquiniste is a testimony to the appeal of such freedom. There are now more than 200 commissioned sellers, reportedly offering more than 300,000 books along the three-kilometer stretch of river.

The wait time is several years, and once you’ve passed your interview and been assigned your four boxes, it often it takes many more years to work your way to your preferred spot (seniority rules).

Along the Quai de la Tournelle
© Meredith Mullins

The bouquiniste stalls are from Quai Voltaire to Pont Sully on the left bank and from Quai du Louvre to Pont Marie on the right bank. It seems to be a matter of personal opinion as to what the best spots are.

Brigitte has loved her spot for ten years at the eastern border near Pont Sully. But, the President of the Cultural Association of Paris Bouquinistes, Jérôme Callais, prefers his stall downriver on the Quai Conti between the Pont des Arts and the Pont Neuf. He has been a bouquiniste for 28 years.

What can be learned from a study of bouquiniste collections?
© Meredith Mullins

Understanding the Culture

What can we learn from the bouquinistes, besides the fact that their common denominator is a love of books?

By carefully browsing the stalls, we gain an overview of French culture and history. Which authors appear? Voltaire, Rimbaud, Verlaine, Camus, Colette, Daumier, Hugo, Balzac, Sand, Dumas, Zola, Proust, Sartre, and de Beauvoir. Which authors are most translated? Shakespeare, Beckett, Hesse, Nabokov, Joyce, Cervantes, Hemmingway, and Baldwin.

Books, books, and more books
© Meredith Mullins

We find the Marquis de Sade (for the wild in us) next to Saint Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince (for the child in us at all ages).

The books, magazines, newspapers, and posters are an exposition of French culture, from cinema to cultural idols to sports figures to events such as the Tour de France and the World Cup. Also featured are old Playboys (for the articles, of course) and old newspapers for the headlines of history.

Posters that reveal much about Paris culture
© Meredith Mullins

Posters of Yoga cats and Yoga dogs (a must buy), the Moulin Rouge, absinthe, musicians well-known to Paris (The Doors, Janis Joplin, The Beatles, Queen, Miles Davis) show us what trends took hold, not to mention what makes the French laugh, such as Asterix, Babar, and Tintin humor.

Yoga cats and dogs. Pourquoi pas?
© Meredith Mullins

Snowglobes of monuments (although snow is rare in Paris), magnets, and prints of street scenes are offered primarily for tourists, but we can certainly learn from illustrations of French flora and fauna, maps, and old postcards that show the history of Paris through the last few centuries.

Old postcards offer another view of Paris.
© Meredith Mullins

Like so many of the French traditions in a city that welcomes evolution, the bouquinistes are a potentially endangered species. They have applied for UNESCO World Heritage status to remain an integral part of Paris culture. In the meantime, they welcome our support.

So, take a stroll along the Seine and breathe in the essence of Paris—cultural encounters of the literary kind.

Thank you to Oliver Gee’s The Earful Tower and French Moments for inspiration. To hear a podcast from The Earful Tower with the American bouquiniste Sydney, click here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins 6 Comments

Cultural Encounters/France (Paris)

Aug

Cultural Encounters with a Competitive Edge

by Meredith Mullins on August 12, 2019

Bullfrog who is part of one of the most bizarre competitions in the world and also a part of the cultural encounters of competitions around the world. (Image ©

Is this the celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County?
© iStock/Stevelenzphoto

Five of the Most Fascinating Competitions in the World

Grab your frog, your worm, your spouse, your crying baby, your cheese-chasing outfit, your cherry pits, your cockroaches, and your mustache wax.

Let the games begin.

From Calaveras frog jumping, to British cheese chasing, to Japanese baby crying, to Finnish wife carrying, to Indian mustache competitions, it’s time for some competitive cultural encounters.

What is it that drives us to compete . . . besides that thrill of victory? And, more to the point, what is it that drives us to compete in competitions unique to our cultures?

Most competitors in these kinds of contests say the same thing: it’s just fun.

But it may also be the cultural connection. Often, the competition is part of a country’s traditions and customs, shared with pride.

We will leave cherry pit spitting, worm charming, and cockroach racing for another day and focus here on an OIC Moments introduction to five of the world’s most fascinating competitions.

Hip hop at its best
Courtesy of Frogtown

A Hip Hop Dream: The Calaveras Frog Jumping Competition

Mark Twain made this competition famous in his first well-known short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” based on a tale he heard in a bar in Angel’s Camp, California during the gold rush.

A bar bet was offered that the jumping frog “Dan’l Webster” could outjump any frog around. A city slicker visitor took the bet and, while Dan’l Webster’s owner went to get the city slicker a frog to compete, the visitor filled Dan’l Webster with buckshot.

When the race started, Dan’l Webster was, as Mark Twain described, “planted like a building.” He was so heavy he could not jump. So the city slicker’s frog won the race and the $40 bet.

Fast forward to the present, where, each May in Angel’s Camp (since 1928), the frog jumping competition continues (minus the buckshot).

Frogs, like current champion Rosie the Ribeter (holding the world record since 1986 of nearly 22 inches), Jumping Jack Flash, E. Davey Croakett, Springs, You Can Croak, San Francisco Warty Niners, and Will B Happening, compete to jump the farthest, cheered on and guided by their frog jockeys.

Slum Frog Millionaire may hold the record for the worst jump, says his frog jockey.
© Merita Callaway

The frogs rest at the “frog spa” until it’s their turn to race. Then they are placed on a small green faux lily pad. They must start with all four feet (including toes) on this “launch” pad.

The next three hops are what count, and must be completed within one minute.

The frog jockeys, naturally, want their frogs to jump in a straight line. However, frogs have their own idea about how, where, and when to hop, making the competition a bit unpredictable.

Some frogs just sit (an homage to Dan’l Webster?), even though their jockeys are yelling, pounding on the stage, and doing anything they can think of to motivate their frog.

How do you motivate a frog?
Courtesy of Frogtown

Some frogs place height rather than distance as a priority, and some make a good first jump but then zig zag or U-turn resulting in a short measurement or even a negative distance.

If a frog breaks Rosie the Ribeter’s world record, an additional $5,000 is part of the prize. However, no recent frog has come close to the 1986 record.

So . . . search for that perfect frog from that secret place for the 2020 competition and begin the training regime. And don’t worry . . . be hoppy.

Extreme Cheese

What better way to welcome spring than to tumble down a steep hill in pursuit of a wheel of Double Gloucester cheese?

The annual Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake in the Gloucestershire, England countryside attracts locals as well as daredevils (or cheeselovers?) from around the world.

The competition, which is thought to have begun long ago as a pagan rite of spring, has been popular since the 1800s and was first mentioned in writing in 1826.

The thrill must be in the “journey,” not the “destination,” since no one ever catches the cheese. The Double Gloucester gets a head start and is heavy enough to reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour.

The contestants, on the other hand, slide, stumble, dive, somersault, flip, fly, and bounce like rubber balls down Cooper’s Hill—like toy humans whose owners should know better than to hurl their breakable bodies down such a steep slope.

Every year, there are injuries such as fractured bones, bruises, sprains, dislocations, and torn muscles. But everyone seems to have a good time, in spite of the inherent danger. If it’s misty or raining (as it often is in the Cotswolds), the steep hill becomes even more challenging.

Not only do the competitors have to scramble down the hill in pursuit of the cheese, they have to claw their way up the hill to position themselves for the start of the race.

The competition is so wrought with injuries that the official competition was closed in 2010. The rogue competition continues.

If video does not display, watch it here.

The winner is awarded the wheel of Double Gloucester cheese—made by the same cheesemaker for the past 30+ years). (It is interesting to note that during WW II rationing, the competition used a wooden cheese with a tiny bit of real cheese in the center.)

What is the secret to success? As one of the past winners offered, “If you go fast from the beginning, the hill will do the rest.”

What seems to work best is a basic philosophy of reckless abandon.

Why Would You Want To Make a Baby Cry?

The Naki Sumo baby crying competition has the answer to why it’s not cruel to make a baby cry—and why a parent pays $150 to enter a baby in this competition.

In the case of this 400-year-old Japanese tradition, the baby’s cries ward off evil spirits as well as portending good health for the baby who breaks into tears first. (A rare instance where being good natured doesn’t count for much.)

The April competition takes place at several Japanese shrines, but the most famous event is at the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo.

Babies compete in pairs and are held by sumo wrestlers who are, on their own, some might say a bit scary. But it is up to the sumo referee to incorporate clever scare tactics to get the babies to cry.

The referee can wear a mask (often the bird demon tengu), can shout, or can just yell Nake Nake (Cry! Cry!).

The first baby to cry is the winner. If the babies cry at the same time, the loudest crier is the winner.

If video does not display, watch it here.

Strength and Endurance in Wife Carrying

Some competitors in the Wife-Carrying Competition seem to think its Finnish origin is because, after a long dark winter, people just want to go a bit crazy.

Others believe the tradition of Wife Carrying has deep roots in local history. In the Finnish legend, “Ronkainen the Robber,” a gang of men pillage villages and carry the women off on their backs to marry them.

Today, in Sonkajärvi, Finland, the Wife-Carrying Competition takes place on a 278-yard obstacle course that is said to be the distance needed to be safe from these pursuers of yore.

The man carries the woman through the course on a sand track with several obstacles, including waist-high water.

A challenging obstacle course makes wife carrying more difficult than you might think.
© Nick Lambert/Sunday River Resort

The woman doesn’t have to be the wife of the man. The man can convince his wife, “steal a wife” (or so say the organizers), or select any woman who is willing to be carried through an obstacle course on his back.

The woman must be at least 18 years of age and weigh at least 108 pounds (although these rules may differ depending on the country of the competition). Some competitions require helmets for the women; some do not.

The winner receives the trophy, as well as the “wife’s” weight in beer. Awards are also given to the most entertaining couple, the best costume, and the strongest carrier.

Wife Carrying is gaining popularity around the world. Competitions are also held in North America, Poland, Australia, China, and England.

Mustache Magnificence

There are mustache and beard competitions around the world, where categories like most creative beard, most realistic mustache, most Dali-esque mustache, best Fu Manchu, best sideburns, and fullest beard are in the spotlight. Countries vie to be the next facial hair leader.

For a different kind of contest, we travel to India and the mustache competition at the Pushkar Camel Fair, where length, creativity, and volume are the focus of attention.

Men grow their mustaches for years in anticipation of entering the competition. They arrive with their mustaches tightly coiled or carefully woven, so that they can unfurl them dramatically for the crowds.

Some swing their mustaches like lassos. Some raise their arms triumphantly, mustache ends in each hand. Some just strut and smile because they know their mustaches are enviable. They don’t need to win a prize to tell them that.

Each year that these unique competitions occur, they become more embedded in the culture’s customs and traditions. Yes, everyone is there to have fun, but they’re also part of a cultural encounter, which gives them further insight into the country’s traditions. And that makes the competitions even more meaningful.

To prepare for next year’s fascinating competitions:

Calaveras Frog Jumping at Frogtown in Angel’s Camp: May 14-17, 2020

Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake in Gloucestershire, England: May 25, 2020

Baby Crying Competition in Tokyo, Japan: April 26, 2020 (Of course to enter this one, you have to have a baby born in 2019.)

Wife Carrying Competition in Finland: July 2020

Wife Carrying Competition in North America: October 12, 2019, Sunday River Resort

Pushkar Camel Fair in India: November 4-12, 2019