Skinny Minnie 90s and beyond

So here we are in the 90s, verging on a new millennium and what is the current food trend? Air basically. Well not really but what was happening in the 90s was drastic for so many reasons. The west had gone from being people who wanted to show off and revel in luxurious food items to people who were actually conscious of what was going on in their bellies and what effect this would have on their bodies. 

It was also a time when models became skinnier with every show and this was how everyone wanted to be. Although it was a very major u-turn many people started looking for low fat and low calorie options and as I said in the very first post crazy amounts of money started being spent on organic fruit and veg. The aim of the upper and middle classes was to show that they were skinny and social, no one wanted to be the housewife anymore. I thought it was only fitting then we had a recipe for a salad: 

Asian Chicken Salad with Ginger-Sesame Dressing

INGREDIENTS

4 cups napa cabbage, chopped
2 cups red cabbage, chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup snap peas
1/3 cup baby corn
1/3 cup bean sprouts
1 red bell pepper, sliced
4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 chicken breasts, pounded out
Salt and pepper, to taste
For the dressing:
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/4 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl, combine cabbage, shredded carrots, snap peas, baby corn, bean sprouts, red bell pepper, green onions and fresh cilantro. Set aside.

To make the dressing - Using a blender or food processor, combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic clove, honey and fresh ginger and pulse to combine. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream and continue blending until mixture is creamy.

Using a meat pounder (or empty bottle), pound out the chicken breasts to a uniform thickness.

Place chicken breasts in a plastic bag and add 2 tablespoons of the salad dressing. Make sure the chicken is completely coated and allow chicken to marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.

To make the chicken - Pre-heat a grill pan or an outdoor grill on medium-high heat and add marinated chicken breasts. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and cook chicken about 4 to 5 minutes on each side until juices run clear. 

Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes before cutting. This keeps them juicy!

Add cut up chicken to the salad and toss with the dressing OR keep dressing in a jar and distribute salad with chicken to 4 individual containers for lunches that week. Enjoy!

But where did we go from here? We're now in 2015 and food is something that is never far from the headlines or from our minds. These days we are all so conscious of where our food comes from and what it does to us that it means some great gems of food are being lost. However there is also the possibility that with an ever growing population our earth will not be able to cope with the amount of people it will need to feed. Will it? Or will we soon be eating nothing but laboratory food? This is why I leave you with the message to always think about what your food is to you. If we don't start looking after our sources there won't be anything there. 

If you're interested in more delicious salad recipes visit http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com/.

Amazing 80s

Hopping over another 2 decades we land ourselves in the 80s. A time full of neon colours and material girls. Although I have stated that this post will be about the 80s, what happened in this time when it came to food all began from the kitsch decade of the 70s. 

The fashion for pineapple and cheese hedgehogs didn't give up that easy and along with these tacky food ideas also came the revolutionary ready meal. It was during the 80s that these really took off. There are several reasons as to why this happened but here is my favourite; women started having lives. Prior to the 80s it was expected of and even desired by women to become housewives and live to serve men. However with the 80s came a massive gust of girl power which was happily accepted by women all over as they began to start having careers and travelling rather than just having a mediocre existance.

Therefore with women no longer in the kitchen, who was going to provide for all those hungry bellies? The factories of course! Off the conveyor belt came box after box of ready made, ready to microwave meals. Although at the beginning it was only "ordinary" meals like roast chicken dinner that were available, soon it was more glamorous and exotic meals like curry and chow mein that became readily available to the everyday consumer. Some tv chefs like Delia Smith recognised how much of an impact all this processed food would have and so began including some of it in their recipes. Here is one below for what is meant to be a cheats christmas cake: 

Last Minute Mincemeat Christmas Cake

Ingredients
For the pre-soaking
 150ml brandy
 1 x 400g (approximately) jar luxury mincemeat
 110g no-soak prunes, roughly chopped
 50g glace cherries, quartered
 175g dried mixed fruit
 50g whole candied peel, finely chopped
For the cake
 225g self-raising flour
 3 level teaspoons baking powder
 ¼ teaspoon salt
 1½ level teaspoons mixed spice
 150g spreadable butter
 150g dark muscovado sugar
 3 large eggs
 50g Brazil nuts, roughly chopped
 50g mixed chopped nuts
 zest of 1 small orange and 1 small lemon
 approximately 18 walnut halves, 18 pecan halves, 20 whole Brazils (or any other mixture you like)

For the glaze
 1 heaped tablespoon sieved apricot jam
 1 tablespoon brandy

Method

Even though this is last-minute, it's best to pre-soak the fruits if you can.  

So just measure  out the brandy, mincemeat and fruits in the bowl, give them a good stir, then cover with a cloth and leave somewhere cool overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours.

When you are ready to make the cake, pre-heat the oven to 170C, gas mark 3. 

Now all you do is sift the flour, baking powder, salt and mixed spice into a very large, roomy mixing bowl, then add the butter, sugar and eggs and beat with an electric hand whisk until everything is smooth and fluffy.  Now gradually fold in the pre-soaked fruit mixture, chopped nuts and finally the grated lemon and orange zests. 

Now take a large spoon and spoon it into the prepared tin, levelling the top with the back of the spoon, then arrange the whole nuts in circles or rows on the surface.

Finally, take a double square of baking parchment with a 50p-sized hole in the centre (which gives it extra protection during the cooking) and place this not on the top of the mixture itself but on the rim of the liner.  

Bake the cake on the centre shelf of the oven for 2 hours or until the centre springs back when lightly touched.  

Cool the cake in the tin for 30 minutes, then remove it to a wire cooling tray to continue cooling.

While that's happening, heat the apricot jam and brandy together and brush the nuts with this mixture to make them shiny and glossy.  

Store the cake in an airtight tin or in parchment-lined foil and it will keep beautifully.

What we can take from this time of food is that as humans we are always learning to be more efficient, more versatile when it comes to food. Although during the 80s healthy food clearly wasn't a priority it is clear to see that the fashion of ready meals and such drastic new food ideas meant the development of food was on a whole new roll. 

Soulful 60s

Let's skip a few decades now and move onto one of my favourite period of time; the swinging 60s. More specifically the 60s in America. This was a revolutionary period of time all over the world with the rise of bands like the Beatles and hippie culture becoming popular, but it was particularly important in America as it was the time when the civil rights movement became widespread and was actively in full swing. Books like The Help by Kathryn Stockett were written about this time too to show the struggles that black working class folk had. As well as this, food is also a recurring theme within the book, highlighting how black women could gain control through food. One of the most famous scenes in the book is when one maid makes her previous mistress a pie made from human faeces in revenge for sacking her. However the mistress knowing what a competent cook Minnie is, continues to eat it until she finally realised what she is eating.

Food played a massive part in this time frame as it was in many restaurants that sit ins' and political demonstrations were made, but it also was a time when food from black cultures also became popular.  This food was often labelled as soul food as it gave the warm, comforting, safe feeling that many people  craved during a turbulent time. Although it was laden in calories from the heavy amount of carbs and sugar used it was there to do the job of sustaining people and keeping them going when days might be long from campaigning for freedom. Even though it would and could not do much for your waistline, soul food is meant to be some of the best food that will ever greet your mouth. 

Although it is the most stereotypical of choices, here is a recipe for fried chicken: 

Buttermilk Brined Fried Chicken.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups buttermilk
• 1/3 cup coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2-1/2 to 3 pounds meaty chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, and drumsticks)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• Cooking oil

METHOD:
1. For brine, in a resealable plastic bag set in a bowl combine the 3 cups buttermilk, the coarse salt, and sugar. Cut chicken breasts in half crosswise. Add all chicken pieces to the brine; seal bag. Chill for 2 to 4 hours; remove chicken from brine. Drain chicken; pat dry with paper towels. Discard brine.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, the 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Place the 3/4 cup buttermilk in a
shallow dish. Coat chicken with flour mixture. Dip in the buttermilk; coat again with flour mixture.
3. Meanwhile, in a deep, heavy Dutch oven or kettle, or a deep-fat fryer, heat 1-1/2 inches oil to 350º degrees F. Using tongs carefully add a few pieces of chicken to Dutch oven. (Oil temperature will drop; maintain temperature at 325º degrees F.) Fry chicken for 12 to 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (170º degrees F for breasts; 180º degrees F for thighs and drumsticks), and coating is golden, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Keep fried chicken warm in a 300º degree F oven while frying remaining chicken pieces.
Makes 6 servings.

It may seem odd to us Brits but the Americans happily put very savoury food like this with very sweet food like maple syrup on a regular basis which brings me to the argument of this post; food can be considered weird a lot of the time because we don't know where it comes from or we haven't experienced it before, but as we can see through history without tasting new things or allowing ourselves to be brave and try them we would only slow our pallettes down. Without opening ourselves to other cultures traditions and foods we are only hindering ourselves. 

Woeful Wartime

On to our next period of time; the Second World War. This was actually a topic we looked at in the food of literature module so hopefully this will be of interest to you. 

It was not a great time for food as even though the Brits were winning the war against the evil nazis, they were being penalised at home in the form of food rationing. This even went on after the war, much  to the dismay of the hungry Brits. However due to the lack of food and how hard it was to come by certain ingredients many new foods, like spam, were made. It was often so hard to find the meat for sausages that they were often heavily bulked out by bread crumbs; upsetting butchers everywhere. What is also interesting is that our friends fruit and veg were not really rationed. Why you ask? Well I'm certain you'll have all seen the famous "you can do it!" posters, you may now associate it with Beyoncé  but it was initially there to encourage the land army. The government wanted to get as many women as possible growing their own fruit and veg so the the uk could be a sustainable country during the war years. 

Although these war foods often did not taste nice they did provide the sustenance a country at war needed. They also provided some great novelty recipes which may be hilarious now (did seriously eat that?) but at the time were everyday meals for hundreds of Brits. Below is the recipe for spam fritters, something that as a non pork eater has always intrigued me

Spam Fritters

Ingredients - 340g/12oz SPAM® Chopped Pork and Ham.

Oil for frying or deep frying.
Batter: 125g/4oz (1 cup) Plain flour Pinch of salt 1 Large egg 125ml/4 fl oz (half cup) Milk, or milk and water, or water, or beer. 

Method - Mix together all the batter ingredients in a bowl. The mixture should be thick, in the proportions given above, in order to coat the SPAM® well. Cut the SPAM® into 8 slices.
Meanwhile, heat 2-3 tablespoons oil in a frying pan or wok, or heat a depth of oil in a deep-fryer to 170oC/340oF or until a cube of day-old bread turns golden in 1 minute.

Coat the SPAM® slices once or twice with the batter then drop them into the hot oil. If shallow frying allow 2-3 minutes on each side; if deep frying allow a total cooking time of 3-4 minutes, turning over the fritters as required. 

As you will notice all the ingredients in this recipe are relatively cheap and would have been easily rationed during the war. This would be important for any wife or mother at the time as it was vital to be thrifty when your whole world could fall apart in just a few moments. If we then take this back to the overriding theme of the blog it easy to see just why and how the fashion of food changed during the war; it wasn't an option to eat cheap food it was a necessity. 

Edible Edwardians

The Edwardian era was one of decadence and glamour. Coming just after the Victorians, Edwardian chefs and food enthusiasts wanted to continue the legacy of their adventurous ancestors by continuing to find new and exotic food to put on the plates of the British. However, what also came to be defined in this period of time was the divide between the poor and the rich. In this post I’ll give some examples of how extravagant the rich were with their food choices compared to the poor; usually stuck having just one or two meals a day.

The way that food fashion began to change in this era however, was the fact that ingredients we take for granted like sugar, were being cooperated more and more into the diets of everyday people. This wasn’t usually the case in the times before as sugar and coffee etc. were considered luxuries. Yet, due to economical circumstances and the slow decline of the empire exotic ingredients became more available for the wider public. As well as this more influence came in from Europe with the influence of the French making French food extremely popular as well as things like afternoon tea.

However this did not stop the upper classes with their showing off. They were inclined to have huge meals with courses that went on forever (a running theme of the rich throughout time!) and these usually came with supplies of decadent wine and spirits. Sophistication was its height during the Edwardian period and this was something that rich folk wanted to put across through the food they made.

The Telegraph posted an Edwardian menu in 2002 which highlights exactly how fancy the Edwardians could be. For instance, looking at the recipe for “Puree de pommes Parmentier, crouton de huitre” (fancy leek and potato soup and an oyster crouton) we can see that the Edwardians were desperate for others to feel their wealth.  Here is the recipe:

Puree de pommes Parmentier, crouton de huitre

 (serves 6)

Escoffier's puree de pommes Parmentier is really the forerunner of vichyssoise: a simple enough leek and potato soup, but velvety smooth and enriched with cream. The oyster crouton is from Mrs Marshall.

 For the soup

2 lb 3oz/1kg floury potatoes

4 large leeks (white part only)

2oz/55g butter

2 pints/1 litre chicken or vegetable stock

Pinch of curry powder

6 fl oz/150ml double cream

A little milk

Peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks. Rinse well. Clean and slice the leeks. Melt the butter in a pan, add the leeks and sweat until soft. Add the potatoes and the stock, bring to the boil and simmer until completely tender. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and rub through a sieve (better than blending them, which can make the soup gluey). Puree the leeks in a blender with a little of the stock, and a pinch of curry powder.

Return the sieved potatoes to a clean pan, add the pureed leeks, the rest of the stock and the cream. Mix well with a whisk so the soup is velvety smooth. If it seems a little thick, thin with some milk. Reheat the soup thoroughly, without boiling, before serving.

For the oyster crouton

6 slices white bread

Little clarified butter or oil

2 glasses white wine

1 glass water

6 large live oysters, in their shells, scrubbed clean

1 tbsp of cream

A sprig of chervil, finely chopped

Use crimped pastry cutters to stamp out six pretty oyster-sized ovals from the white bread slices. Fry in clarified butter or oil until golden brown.

Bring the wine and water to the boil and add the oysters. Replace the lid and leave for just two minutes. Take off the heat and remove the oysters. The shells should have opened a fraction. Open them and remove the poached oyster whole, pouring any juices back into the pan. Strain these winey juices into a clean pan through a cloth, and bring to the boil. Reduce to a couple of tablespoonfuls and add the cream. Reduce till thick and glossy, take off the heat, and stir in the chervil.

 To serve

Ladle the hot soup into warmed plates. Place the fried bread crouton in the centre. Place the warm poached oyster on the crouton. Spoon over a little of the creamy sauce and garnish the bowl with a few sprigs of chervil. Serve at once.

Just looking at all the ingredients is a massive contrast to a poor Edwardian persons meal. According to historians they were lucky to get one meal a day and this would usually be something that consisted of the some of following staples: bread, jam, potatoes, bacon and dripping. Things like meat were considered a treat and could only be brought once or twice a week so unless you liked jam sandwiches you were buggered.  It is something that many writers of the time used in their work when highlighting the differences between rich and poor and something that many still use to show how little the divide between classes has become.