Chef’s Table
By: Michael Formichella
Where the wild things are
(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are strictly those of the author.)
A rose by any other name is still a rose, but what about a weed? A weed is an unwanted plant that appears in inconvenient places, right? A native, non-invasive weed can have a surprising number of therapeutic and edible uses, and be nice…they also have botanical names. Beyond the farm-to-table niche, beyond the trendy eclectic gastro pubs and bistros a growing re-awareness is happening. In the culinary world I have been watching for the last several years as more wild foraged edible ingredients appear on menus. This experimentation with these uncommon flavors is driving new creations both domestically and internationally. These foraged ingredients are being paired with salads, sauces for proteins, fish and even cheeses.
How did we settle into the selection of spices, herbs and flavoring agents we so readily grab and consider commonplace today? I suppose what I find most curious, and want to learn more about, is how we originally derived the flavors we use the most today. I realize some of these items can be traced back thousands of years in time from culture to culture. Amongst the many uses back in the day, wild native plants masked the strong taste of “cured” meats and were used medicinally for all ailments. Mint is just one example of doing both still, like a tea to help tummy upset and to cover the stronger taste of mutton. My wife mentioned three trees, two shrubs and a slew of wild plants growing in our yard alone that are edible! Using wild plants has not stopped over time; it’s just considered cool now.
Recently I saw an interesting TV segment with a local Chicago chef who asked his guests to chew a type of berry that tricks your palette into thinking sour and tart is sweet. While traveling in Hawaii about five years ago a chef at one of the hotels where we were doing an event turned me onto these berries. He called them miracle berries. He had one of his chefs chew the berry, close his eyes and bite into a lemon. Then he asked them to describe the flavor. The response was extremely sweet. The chef on TV was taking a different tack, saying if we could provide these miracle berries to the masses maybe we could turn many commonplace, healthy (but not so tasty) natural resources into more edible and sustainable resources to help reduce world hunger. One thing for sure, our industry would be lacking a lot had our ancestors not picked all those weeds. I personally still lean towards a juicy steak with or without the foraged flavors.
Chef Michael Formichella
Other News From Meatingplace.com
USDA raises corn use for ethanol forecast
By Rita Jane Gabbett
USDA raised its forecast for corn use for ethanol in the 2010/11 marketing year that began Sept. 1 by 100 million bushels to 4.8 billion bushels.
The use forecast compares to 4.568 billion bushels used for ethanol in the 2009/10 year and 3.709 billion bushels in 2008/09.
In its World Supply and Demand Estimates report, USDA noted record October ethanol production indicated by weekly Energy Information Administration data and favorable ethanol producer margins.
The report also noted that higher ethanol exports and lower imports are expected to add to corn use for ethanol as high sugar prices limit the availability of ethanol imports from Brazil.
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Chicken McNuggets, Big Mac among drivers of McDonald’s sales increase
By Dani Friedland
Core products and the Monopoly promotion helped drive a global comparable sales increase of 6.5 percent in October from the same month last year, McDonald’s announced today.
In the U.S., comparable sales increased 5.6 percent, driven by core products, including Chicken McNuggets and the Big Mac sandwich, featured in the Monopoly game promotion.
McDonald’s attributed October’s 5.8 percent sales increase in Europe to strong performance in France, the U.K. and Russia, while Japan, China and Australia drove the 5.3 percent increase in Asia/Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.
Overall, systemwide sales rose 7.4 percent in October compared to a year ago.
Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s has more than 32,000 locations in more than 100 countries.
