CULINARY CORNER: Ed Kane

By Ed Kane
Review Journal

      Thank you for your many wonderful comments on the recent column featuring kitchen hints. That's what this column is all about: sharing. Keep sending your kitchen timesavers; a few more and we'll have enough for another column.
      As a longtime culinarian, I always enjoy kitchen trivia. I'll take this opportunity to share. If you have some kitchen trivia, please send it in to share. In addition to my mailing address, I have finally entered the computer age. E-mail may be sent to chef@fia.net.
      Eggplant. The first color of the eggplant was white, and it is still available today, thus its name.
      Broccoli. The name "broccoli" comes from the Latin word brachium, which means "branch" or "arm" -- an apt description for a vegetable with numerous thick, fleshy stalks supporting a head of compact florets. A close relative of cauliflower, broccoli has grown wild in Mediterranean areas for hundreds of years.
      Pineapple. "Pineapple" was derived from pina, a name supplied by the Spanish, who thought the fruit resembled a pine cone.
      Peanut butter. Peanut butter was originally devised by a St. Louis physician as a means to nourish elderly and invalid patients.
      Pistachio. In their natural state, the shells of pistachios are tan. In the 1930s, however, pistachio importers began dyeing the shells red to make their product distinctive to customers, and to disguise blemishes that occurred during harvesting. In general, imported pistachios are dyed; those grown in California are usually sold with tan shells, but some are still dyed to meet the demand of customers who either prefer pistachios that way or wouldn't recognize them in their natural state.
      Baked Alaska. The invention of this famous ice cream dessert is credited to physicist Benjamin Thompson, the inventor of one of the first efficient cooking ranges and of a revolutionary coffee percolator. In the course of his research, Thompson conducted many experiments with heat. It was probably one of these that led to the invention of the dish that eventually became known as Baked Alaska, a meringue topping and a cake base that insulate an ice cream center from the heat of an oven.
      Chateaubriand. Originally a method of cooking meat, chateaubriand is now a specific cut of meat. It was named for Francois Rene, a renegade from the French Revolution. He moved to England and was living in a manor named Chateaubriand, when his chef, Montmireil, discovered that the tenderness of meat could be preserved if two pieces of lesser meat surrounded it.
      Mayonnaise. The origin of mayonnaise is one of the most disputed in French history. The most common story is of a French marshal named Richelieu, after seizing Fort St.-Phillippe at Mahon, Minorca. There was no butter or cream available, so his chef had to make a dressing from eggs and oil. When they returned to the mainland, the concoction was known as sauce mahonnaise.
      Croissant. Although commonly thought of as French, croissants were an Austrian invention. In 1683 the Turks invaded Vienna, Austria. Tunneling under Vienna to start a surprise attack, the local bakers were the first to hear them, and raised the alarm. To commemorate the saving of the city, the bakers sculpted a flaky pastry in the shape of the crescent on the Turkish flag.
      Oysters Rockefeller. It was not John D. Rockefeller who created this dish, but a chef in a New Orleans restaurant. When served, a customer exclaimed that the oysters were "as rich as Rockefeller," and thus the name was created.
     
      Chef Ed Kane is certified by the American Culinary Federation. If you have any food questions, write to Chef Kane, Chairman, Culinary Arts Department, Southern Nevada Vocational-Technical Center, 5710 Mountain Vista St., Las Vegas, Nev. 89120.