Life Is Meals_ A Food Lover's Book of Days - James Salter [74]
His connection with the noble families of England led him to the famously liberal Reform Club, where he was chef for fifteen years while also writing books on cooking and nutrition, including The Gastronomic Regenerator, with its two thousand recipes divided into “Kitchens of the Wealthy” and “Kitchens at Home.” Its great popularity was rivaled only by Soyer’s Shilling Cookery, with inexpensive, appetizing recipes for ordinary households. In addition, he invented ingenious clocks, egg cookers, coffeepots, and baking dishes for kitchens, as well as sauces and relishes that were marketed by his friends, Mr. Crosse and Mr. Blackwell. Flamboyant in dress, he also designed his own clothes, hats, and even visiting cards.
Simultaneous with his success in the chic, upper-class milieu, Soyer was asked by the British government to organize soup kitchens in Ireland during the potato famine of 1847, and he was soon feeding eight thousand starving people a day in Dublin. Six years later, during the Crimean War, he volunteered to design a mobile field kitchen, which was so efficient that it was still in use during World War II. Setting new standards, he transformed what had been nearly inedible rations into nutritious meals. Serving alongside Florence Nightingale, he caught a fever and returned to England, but he never fully recovered and died three years later.
YOGURT
“Yogurt” is a Turkish word, and the product itself—essentially fermented milk—probably originated in Turkey, though it also has a long history in India, parts of Asia, and Arab countries. During fermentation, the lactose in milk becomes lactic acid, which gives the slightly sour taste and also makes yogurt digestible by people who cannot tolerate lactose. In France, its first appearance occurred during the reign of François I, whose digestive ills were treated with yogurt by a doctor from Constantinople who went home without divulging the secret of its preparation.
Yogurt is slightly laxative, and some types are a little alcoholic. It is thought to contribute to health and long life, but the famous Bulgarian farmhouse yogurt upon which many longevity claims are based can be found only there. The bacteria responsible for its formation are strictly regional.
A simple and irresistible form of the Indian dish raita can be quickly made from yogurt and cucumbers:
RAITA
Large peeled cucumber
1 cup or less plain yogurt
Paprika to taste
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Chervil and chives, chopped
Split the cucumber lengthwise. Remove the seeds and slice thin. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt and let drain for half an hour in a colander. Mix the yogurt, paprika, salt, pepper, lemon juice, chervil, and chives. Rinse the cucumber with cold water, pat the slices dry, and combine with the yogurt mix. Serves two.
FIRST HOME-COOKED MEAL
In 1973 the Atlanta Braves won their first no-hitter game, with Phil Niekro pitching. Just three weeks earlier, the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, investigating a break-in at The Watergate, had been electrified by the testimony of Alexander Butterfield, who reported that there was a taping system in place in Nixon’s Oval Office. And on this day, in a breakthrough of my own, I was cooking my first meal for Jim.
Id like to say I’d been inspired by the introduction to what Julia Child calls open-faced tarts in her Mastering the Art of French Cooking: “It is practically foolproof …. Serve it with a salad, hot French bread, and a cold white wine; follow it with fruit, and you have a perfect lunch or supper menu.” However, I don’t think I was familiar with Julia Child at that