The Cross and the Cleaver: Authentic My… Taste buds
“Nobody believes in racial profiling until they get a red-haired sushi chef with a southern accent.” So writes Jim Gaffigan in his book Food – A Love Story; thus, inviting a conversation on “authenticity of ethnicity” (yeah, I made up the phrase myself). In simple terms – how do we know the stuff on our plates is genuine?
Because not everything is. For example, I have it on good authority there is never any lettuce in Greek (or “village” to be precise) salad, no matter how authentic the restaurant claims to be. When you start substituting, especially haphazardly, about the third of the dish’s ingredients, authenticity goes out the window. Such is my opinion, and I am sticking to it.
We often taste authenticity altered, adapted, and affected. By time, by advance of hygiene, by availability of ingredients. I am sure we can recreate the fare coming of the chuckwagons in the prairies in the early 1900’s as described by Beulah (Bunny) Barss in the book Northern Bounty – A Celebration of Canadian Cuisine. But will it taste, or even look, like it did to the cowboys a century ago? I sincerely doubt it.
For me, authenticity (ethnic or otherwise) gets proven under the ultimate test of “taste like home” or better still “tastes like dad/mum makes it!” I am sure most of us are familiar with that expression and its sentiment. Some of us even subjected various foods to such comparison. My wife, Dawn, makes the traditional Polish bigos exactly, if not better, like it tasted at home (no you cannot have her secret recipe – even I don’t have it).
Which is why, with few exceptions, I like to refer to my cooking as “inspired” by a particular ethnic, historical, or regional, cuisine. It leaves me free to play with spices and ingredients, while maintaining some level of faithfulness to the recipe in front of me.
It is warm summer, and I am getting hungry so why don’t we try to emulate the Spanish tradition of tapas using few ideas of conservas. Tapas are a variety of snacks and appetisers. Conservas are a tinned food, primarily seafood, of high quality. Sometimes plated and sometimes served in their original container. The Spanish love it! There are even restaurants with menus full of “canned fish” 😉. And when I wrote “emulate” I meant get close enough without having to travel to Cádiz. We shall also use cheaper substitutes, from various parts of the world, as the original Spanish stuff costs a pretty penny.
Amount is for a casual/romantic meal for two on the patio.
Skipping what you don’t like, get one tin (or jar) of each: sardines, mackerel, anchovies, snails, artichokes, asparagus. Drain and arrange on individual plates or in bowls. Drizzle with olive oil and a gentle squeeze of lemon.
In a saucepan heat some olive oil on medium heat. Throw in a few sliced garlick cloves and sauté gently for 2-3 minutes. Throw in a sprig of rosemary. Add a handful of whole almonds and stir occasionally for 3-5 min. Add a jar of mixed olives, drained (looks nicer than one colour of one variety), sauté additional 3-5 minutes. Add a generous squeeze of lemon juice, stir, and remove with slotted spoon, keeping oil hot in the pan. Arrange in a bowl, sprinkling with fresh chopped parsley.
Same pan same oil, same heat – throw in a bag of thawed out seafood mix. Stir until cooked through 5-7 min., adding squeeze of lemon and a pinch of Spanish smoked paprika in the last minute. Remove with slotted spoon into a serving dish. Substitute the medley with a bag of shrimp if you like.
Open a tray of prosciutto and arrange on a plate or serving tray. This is much cheaper than any jamón ibérico you can lay your hands on. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction. Top up with shaved parmesan if you like.
Serve it all with sliced baguette or any fresh, crusty, rustic bread. Wash it down with lemonade (easy on sugar), Portuguese vinho verde or any rosé (with slices of lime and lemon if too sweet).
Salud!
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