Suzi’s Blog

Are We One Food Nation?

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Are we all just one big America? Politically, we have red and blue states [and some purple ones, too] but some lines are definitely drawn. Are they lines or perhaps  barricades?

How about food wise? Can food be a common base for us all?

Not really. We are not one food nation but many. Actually our food diversity is one of the fascinating characteristics about this country. The great regional differences make our nation exciting and not blah.

Take, oh, say, “sweet potato casserole.” On the day before Thanksgiving, folks in Florida are 3 times more likely to be hunting for a recipe than people in my native Oregon.

How do I know that? Who cares?

Well, first the knowing part. There is a book, not a cookbook for food but a cookbook for visualizing data, that is a treasure of ideas: Visualize This by Nathan Yau. Nathan points us to all kinds of fun things like this link from The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/26/us/20091126-search-graphic.html

Go to this site, and you will marvel and what Americans search for recipe-wise. Two years ago, Matthew Ericson and Amanda Cox of The Times monitored the top 50 recipes searches on the website Allrecipies.com on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. They took that data, and for each of the 50 most popular recipe searches, plotted a US map showing by state the relative number of people who searched for that term. Now, “sweet potato casserole” was the #1 search item in the nation that Wednesday. But, as the map shows, there were very stark differences among the states.

Why should we care? First, these 50 maps reveal a very detailed map of the “recipe chaos” that is America. Those regional differences may explain why, for a transplanted Oregonian like me, I still search for a decent Bear Claw in New York City. If you think that the foods you grew up with are no longer available, just because you’ve moved a few hundred or thousand miles, you are probably right. They are not where you moved to, but they probably are still back there, back home.

Despite the “levelers” of television, cookbook publishing with national book chains, and recipes sites populating the internet, these maps give us a very clear picture of the diverse food preferences that exist by region and by state. They demonstrate the opportunity that may exist for “regional” cookbooks and recipes websites focusing of what the populations of those places long for.

Suzen thinks I’m a bit warped with my love for pies, a dish she does not relish. Go to Map #9 for “pie crust” and you’ll see that folks out in the Pacific Northwest are way, way more likely to be pie crust recipe hunting for their Thanksgiving feast. You can move, but you can’t forget.

I find these maps fun and very reassuring.

Yes, that is a picture of sweet potato casserole at the top. Yes, those are marshmallows. Yes, that’s the kind of mother I had.

 

Tales from the Batter Ho’: Oatmeal Cookies from Tish Boyle

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cookies

“This is it,” I pointed to the racked, cooling cookies. These were a chocolate chip experiment, with lots of chips sitting on top. Melted, seductive. [No, that picture above is for these oatmeal cookies!]

“Here,” she began to point. Her fingertip was dripping chocolate. Apparently her idea of counting involves physically touching the still warm chips. I know where the finger is going to end up.

“Don’t mess the book!” I said. I like my cookbooks pure.

“It doesn’t matter.” Suzen likes her cookbooks looking worn. Very worn.

“Here,” she pointed. “This recipe makes 36 cookies. You have 23.”

“That’s all I got,” I shrugged my shoulders.

“You ate the batter for 13 cookies!” she accused me.

“No, I did not. Some, yes. But not enough for 13.”

“Do you know what a blood sugar count is? Do you think batting 1000 there is ideal?

“Now wait,” I interjected.

“No, you wait. In the Bible, if you are a jerk you are turned into a pillar of salt. You are on the way into becoming a pillar of sugar. You are a batter ho’,” she dangled the insult as she stomped off.

“Well, think of the marketing opportunity,” I said to her retreating body. “You could put a tent over me to protect me from the rain. Charge for admission. Charge double for a lick!”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” she growled. She kept talking but I think it was all Anglo-Saxon. You know, short, guttural, lots of consonants.

There is problem with many cookie recipes in many of the books you will find. They are all based on old recipes that our grandmothers made, but never really carefully tested. So the books have a mismatch between the expected number of cookies, the size each cookie is supposed to be, and the baking times.

When you see a recipe calling for dropping batter by teaspoonfuls, you have entered this perilous territory. That size cookie is just, just unrealistically small. If you bake them for the stated time, you get very small bricks.

What we need are recipes that are realistic about the number of cookies, their size and the baking time. And those recipes can only come from a professional writer who tests the recipe to confirm all their facts and figures.

Tish Boyle is one of those very important writers. And The Good Cookie is filled with recipes you can trust.

To make amends, and because she loves oatmeal cookies, Suzen and I made these together. These are not your standard oatmeal cookies. In addition to the raisins, there is coconut for sweetness and nuts for even more crunch. Cinnamon complements the coconut.

The result? These really are great oatmeal cookies. Even if you not normally a fan, these will have you grabbing for a second, then a third, ..

Suzen scooped these oatmeal cookies out in rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets. She got 53, not 66. Ah, again a difference of 13. I handed the sheets to her as she put them in the oven. She did not see me grab off an unbaked cookie to sample the dough. But she has a good eye, and as she slipped the sheet into the oven, she did a quick count. She was left with a puzzled look on her face.

She inspected me. The dough was in my left hand, behind my back. I smiled with innocence. She shrugged and set the timer. I backed out of the room and sampled the batter. I’m not sure what was better. The batter or my acting skills.

Oatmeal Raisin Nut Coconut Cookies

Yield: 66 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • teaspoon salt
  • 3 ½ cups quick-cooking rolled oats
  • cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened
  • 1 ½ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
  • ¼  cup granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons whole milk
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup raisins, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

Arrange two racks near the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F. Grease two baking sheets.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the rolled oats.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat at medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in the brown sugar and beat at medium-high speed until well blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract, then add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides bowl as necessary. Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients, A until combined. Add the milk, coconut, pecans, and raisins and mix just until combined.

Drop the dough by rounded tablespoon onto the prepared pans spacing them at least 2 inches apart. Moisten your palm to prevent sticking and flatten the mounds of dough slightly. Bake the cookies, two sheets at a time, for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden brown, switching the sheet positions

Halfway through baking. Cool the cookies on the sheets for five minutes, then transfer them to wire racks and cool completely.

 
Source: The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle