Category — Ingredients

Plantains are almost identical to bananas in appearance. In some parts of the world, plantains are called bananas and what we know as a banana is a “dessert banana.” A plantain, however, is much harder than a banana, with a very high starch content. Plantains require cooking and, as I like to describe them, are like the lovechild of a banana and a potato. They combine the flavor neutrality of a starch with the sweetness of a banana.

Like bananas, plantains are native to Southeast Asia, however, they have flourished in Central America and the Caribbean, both botanically and culturally. Plantains are a staple starch in the Caribbean and Central America. Tostones are ubiquitous in this part of the world. They are made by first frying a slice of plantain. Once the slice is slightly softened, it’s flattened into a disk then fried once more, often in pork lard, to create a crisp-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside delicacy that can be topped with anything from mango to black beans to coconut.

Tostones: A fried plantain delicacy

The plantain tree yields other edible treat besides it’s fruit. The blossoms are often harvested and used in salads in Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos, much as you might find banana blossoms on the menu at a Thai restaurant. Plantain leaves can be used as wrappers for Mexican and Central American style tamales. Since the plantain is in a family of starches, thin slices can be deep fried and caramelized to perfection, yielding a slightly sweet but impressively crunchy snack.

Keep your mind, eyes, and RSS feeds glued to Garrett’s Table in the coming days for a dish incorporating fried plantains, along with other tropical flavors.

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Fennel is a fantastically flavorful and versatile ingredient. It can stand alone as the main flavor of a dish and play an accompanying role (as in Latke Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Braised Fennel). Its delightful anise flavor can be used in savory and sweet applications (as in Fennel and Orange Páte de Fruit). We even drink fennel, considering its role in flavoring the notorious spirit absinthe.

Fennel owes its aromatic, licorice-like flavor to anethol, a volatile aroma compound also found in anise and star anise. The fennel we eat is a cultivated form called Florence Fennel. The anethol in Florence Fennel is not nearly as intense and the flavor is more sweet than other wild forms of Foeniculum F. vulgare. Culinarily, the bulb of Florence Fennel is most commonly used. Shaved very thin and dressed with a light balsamic vinaigrette, fennel bulb makes a bright, refreshing salad. Sliced into wedges and braised with butter and white wine, the flavor of fennel mellows significantly and the bulb becomes and tender and succulent side dish. Although the stalks and fronds of the fennel plant are not used very often (the stalks are notoriously woody) they can be blanched and pureed or used to garnish a dish. Aside from the bulb, we eat fennel seeds quite often and they are a ubiquitous ingredient in Italian sausage.

A pile of delicate fennel fronds

The ancient Greeks called Fennel marathon and Marathon (of the famed Battle of Marathon in 490 BC) owes it’s name to this aromatic vegetable. Fennel’s aromatic qualities are not surprising considering its close relationship to dill, evident in the shape and nature of it’s flowers. Like most herbs and aromatic vegetables, Fennel has been used as medicine in addition to food.

Fennel bulbs and seeds have been used as herbal medicine for millenia. Fennel aids in digestions, improves eye sight if eaten raw, is a natural diuretic, and improves the nutritional potency of breast milk. So eat all the fennel you possibly can!

Visit Garrett’s Table in the coming days for a fantastic recipe incorporating fennel.

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The coffee bean is the seed of the coffee tree, which are a group of trees belonging to the genus Coffea.  The most commonly grown and cultivated is Coffea arabica, from which we get our beloved Arabica coffee.  The fruits of the coffee tree are commonly called coffee “cherries” or “berries” and within each fruit is two coffee beans, with the flat sides in contact with each other.  The endosperm of each seed contains 0.8-2.5 percent caffeine…and this is a very good thing indeed.

Cultivation of the coffee tree began in Ethiopa in approximately 850 AD. The word “coffee” comes from the Ethiopian region of Kaffa. When the coffee beans are harvested they are initially a dull green color.  To develop the flavor, and maximize caffeine extractions, the beans must be roasted, and this can be done to a variety of levels:

Coffee berries (left) contains the green coffee beans (right) which are then roasted to develop flavor and extract caffeine

A light roast is often called a New England Roast and these beans have a very light brown hue with no visible oily residue.  Moving up the chain is the American Roast, Espresso, and then the double roast French Roast.  At the French roast stage, the beans begin to smoke slightly and some of the sugars turn to carbon.  The result in an intensely (but delightfully) bitter coffee with slight smokiness.

The French mastered the roast for a cup of brewed coffee but the ultimate coffee award must go to Italians for sheer ingenuity.  Yes, of course, I’m speaking of espresso.  No other drink is so ubiquitous in this modern world of double foam mocha caffe latte whip caramel-chinos than espresso.  This intense drink is fantastic on it’s own and can create a myriad of other classic drinks including the latte (espresso and steamed milk), the cappuccino (espresso and foamed milk), and the cafe Americano (espresso and hot water).  To make espresso, the beans are roasted dark then ground fine. The grounds are then pressed into a puck in a special espresso maker.   Hot water is then pressed through the espresso puck, creating an intensely rich coffee drink with a thin layer of foam called the crema.

Not only is espresso great for creating coffee drinks, but it’s a major inspiration for a classic Italian dessert: Tiramisu.  Please stay tuned to Garrett’s Table this week for a unique take on one of the world’s favorite desserts!

As a side note, coffee is indeed a cash crop and has resulted in the exploitation of workers in numerous countries, especially Central and South America.  Coffee that is labeled as “fair trade” means that the operation of the coffee plantation is sustainable and humane both for workers and the environment.  Fair trade coffee is more expensive, but the small increase in price assures the support of the movement and a trend toward revolutionizing the coffee industry.

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Have a heart this Valentine’s day…literally. Perhaps the most uncommonly used organ meat, heart can be delicious when carefully prepared. Here are a few photos of heart dishes, along with links and recipes, from around the internet. So return that box of chocolates and grab a heart from your local butcher!

Grilled beef heart with basil vinaigrette, roasted tomatoes, and poblano-brie grits from foodtease.com.

Lamb’s heart sandwich with rocket and wild garlic mayonnaise from Jason Lowe at The Independent.

Russian chicken heart stew from Russia Now

Peruvian grilled veal heart from Piolyn Restaurant

Beef heart shepherd’s pie from The Worldwide Gourmet.

“Hearts of Palm” from Chicago’s Alinea. I thought I’d throw this option in for vegetarians!

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This week’s star ingredient is the orange (Citrus xsinensis)

It’s hard to find an ingredient as versatile as the orange. It’s great simply squeezed into a glass and can be used to flavor nearly everything from duck to cookies. I can literally think of nothing that doesn’t go well with orange. The juice and zest have flavors and applications that are so similar and so different all at once, that I think of oranges, and any other citrus fruit for that matter, as two fruits all in one perfect package. So you won’t be surprised that the fruit is probably my favorite ingredient to cook with.

The orange is of Southeast Asian origin and thought to be an ancient cultivated cross between the pomelo and tangerine. The first evidence of cultivated oranges in the West were the sour oranges of 11th century Sicily. Sweet oranges were planted later when the Portuguese discovered the sea rout around Africa and brought the sweet fruit from the east. Columbus brought the seeds to Haiti in the 15th century and soon oranges were planted in Florida.

Most oranges we eat in America come from either Florida or California. Florida oranges have thin skins with varied coloring and blemishing. They are best suited for juicing whereas picture perfect, thick-skinned California oranges are best for eating. Oranges , and all other citrus fruits, keep their juices in elongated bags called vesicles which are inside of each segment. Oranges also contain an incredible amount of aromatic and flavorful oil which is stored in oil glands within the fruits scaly skin, sort of like fruit zits. Between the segments and the skin is the white, spongey pith. Bitter and un-enticing on its own, the pith can be candied along with the skin, at which point it’s delicious dipped in chocolate.

Close inspection of this blood orange shows the elongated, juice-holding vesicles

My favorite common orange to cook with is the ubiquitous navel orange. My favorite specialty orange is the blood orange. Blood oranges are delectably sweet and sour and their crimson color provides dramatic presentation. For example, Blood Orange and Grand Marnier Popsicles.

Keep reading Garrett’s Table this week for a modern interpretation of a French classic using the mighty orange!

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