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Tuesday, December 7, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
DOROTHY
FLESHMAN
DORY’S DIARY
Infamy versus
Christmas
I’m falling into the snow of
December and would do so whether the
white of winter is here or not. Even the
thought of snow couples with planning
for Christmas.
As an adult it’s simply changing dec-
orations from November’s Thanksgiving
to colors of red, white and green. But,
as a child, it took over the whole of the
month in anticipation with toy cata-
logs from Montgomery Ward and J. C.
Penney’s.
However, every month of every
year is fi lled with things to remember
and things to forget and, as one grows
older, memories take a diff erent sense of
importance.
The calendar tells us of wars and
reminders of wars and people who
shouldn’t be forgotten.
As I glance through the past diaries
of my mind I see things that made me
sad; nothing I could do to prevent or
change the outcome; things that made
me fearful because I didn’t understand
the reason for their happening — like
the Day of Infamy for instance.
Then there were deaths of those
close and those at a distance. So I turn
the next page of December and fi nd the
happy ones of birth, marriages (my own
included), anniversaries, and happy
times together.
Christmas comes near the ending
of the month before we turn the page
on another new year. Most of us have
always looked forward to that and the
visions it brings.
Christmas is a word and so is infamy,
and they both bring memories to mind,
some good, some bad.
But, am I now allowed to use either
one in our changing world?
Age has its advantages in spite of
the disadvantages. One of them is to
remember the good that brought happy
times and to forget the ones that caused
pain and unhappiness. But, can we?
I can select and rerun my happy
times like a movie on a screen or
fast-forward to acknowledge but dismiss
the parts fi lmed as they happened.
I begin this month’s remembrance on
the Day of Infamy (now known as Pearl
Harbor’s Remembrance Day) in the days
of my youth when I didn’t really under-
stand the horrors of war. It is there and
even fast-forwarding the fi lm doesn’t
erase those days of what it meant at
the time. It is history and we weep our
losses.
Tomorrows could always be better if
lessons were learned from the past.
So often, though, it seems that les-
sons are never learned and the same
mistakes or horrors are repeated. I lean
towards kindness and forbearance even
while some things try to “stick in my
craw,” as we used to say.
Let the snow fall in the mountains
and cover the pain of the past that rained
upon our own as well as other shores
even though we can’t really forget the
losses.
Let us by mind play like children
at sleighing and building snow people,
friendships enduring, and adults
walking down the aisle to a beautiful
future.
And, when it gets here this month, be
sure and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS
for the right reasons!
CURD
CONSUMPTION
A centuries-old Indian
cheese takes hold in America
Dreamstime-TNS
The spinach-based saag paneer is many Americans’ introduction to the Indian cheese.
By LARISSA ZIMBEROFF
Bloomberg News
Given the current obses-
sion with plant-based cooking,
cheese might seem like a food
in decline.
But curd consumption has
risen 19% in the past decade,
according to recent data from
the U.S. Department of Agri-
culture’s Economic Research
Service. It’s the main catalyst
of per capita dairy consump-
tion. Last year was great for the
dairy case, as sales increased
$7 billion from a year earlier to
$61 billion, according to Mad-
ison, Wisconsin-based Inter-
national Dairy Deli Bakery
Association.
At Kroger Co., the sec-
ond-bestselling overall product
of 2020 was four-cheese Mex-
ican blend. (Zero-calorie soft
drinks were No. 1.)
Now a beloved Indian staple
is making inroads in the U.S.,
even though it’s been around
since the 1500s. Paneer is the
fi rm cheese that’s the hero
ingredient in the vegetarian
dish saag paneer.
There are several reasons for
the groundswell. Paneer is high
in protein and fat, which makes
it a favorite among those on
the keto diet, a market valued
at $9.5 billion in 2019. (The
U.S. is the biggest market for
ketogenic diets.) And because
it’s got a high melting point,
it keeps its shape when it’s
cooked, making it a good can-
didate for center-of-the-plate
vegetarian dishes.
Unlike many faux-meat
options, however, paneer is
clean-label, meaning it’s made
with minimal ingredients.
There’s also increased culi-
nary interest in its place of
origin. Searches for “Indian
restaurants near me” rose 350%
last year on Google Trends.
“Paneer maker” was up 140%.
“Indian cuisine has grown
in popularity, and people have
become more interested in
learning to make it at home,”
says Joey Wells, global senior
principal for product develop-
ment at Whole Foods Market
Inc. Paneer sales are up, he
adds: “We continue to see
growth in the category overall.”
Paneer has been pushed by
artisans on the East and West
coasts who were dissatisfi ed
with the options on super-
market shelves in the U.S.
In New York City, the stellar
version made by Unapologetic
Foods chef Chintan Pandya has
raised the cheese’s profi le. “The
higher the fat, the better the
paneer,” says Pandya, who uses
a blend of milk and cream from
a dairy upstate to make his
light and incomprehensibly pil-
lowy product. It took more than
a year for him to create a viable
version. (Supply chain issues
contributed to the delay.) Now
it’s a top seller at his Lower
East Side restaurant, Dhamaka,
where it’s grilled and topped
with garam masala.
“A lot of people ask us
what’s diff erent,” Pandya says.
“It’s just that we invest time
and money in it.” In fact he
invests so much time that, from
a cost perspective, it’s on par
with the amount he spends on
lamb and goat.
Chefs across the U.S. have
likewise become inspired. At
Ghee in Miami, Niven Patel
smokes the cheese and serves
it with charred corn. Paneer
pies are a popular option at
Chicago’s Pizza With a Twist,
which has locations around the
country. At a recent pop-up
dinner, Contra chef Fabián Von
Hauske Valtierra bathed Pan-
dya’s paneer in a wine sauce
and served it with caviar.
At Aurum in Los Altos, Cal-
ifornia, Manish Tyagi reimag-
ines classic palak paneer
as lasagna, using slices of
the cheese in place of pasta.
Between the layers are sautéed
spinach, ground paneer, cumin,
and fenugreek leaf powder. It’s
baked with shredded mozza-
rella and served with tomato
sauce.
In the San Francisco
Bay Area, two former tech
employees, Jasleen and Tarush
Agarwal, have also boosted
paneer’s local profi le. In 2019
the married couple, who
worked at Facebook and the
children’s platform Toca Boca,
started Sach Foods, which spe-
cializes in small-batch paneer,
made with organic grass-fed
milk from Holstein cows.
Their product has a creamy
texture that stands out from
most widely available commer-
cial versions such as Nanak,
made by Canada-based Punjab
Milk Foods; Amul, based in
Gujarat, India; and Mother
Dairy, a wholly owned subsid-
iary of India’s National Dairy
Development Board. The Agar-
wals found a place for their
paneer in Whole Foods after
meeting regional buyers at
cheese festivals in Portland,
Oregon, and San Francisco
who said it was superior to the
Gopi brand they were currently
carrying.
Retailing for $8 for a
6-ounce package — in fl avors
ranging from plain to turmeric
twist to spicy habanero — it’s
now on shelves at about 200
Whole Foods and 140 Safeway
stores, as well as specialty food
stores.
Bay Area-based grocer
Good Eggs has seen a four-
fold increase in sales since
launching the product in late
2019. Meherwan Irani, who
owns Chai Pani in Asheville,
N.C., switched to Sach paneer
in 2021; since then, sales of his
paneer tikka roll, made with
yogurt marinated cheese that’s
char-grilled and served in but-
tered naan, have increased
more than 30%.
“Our growth is unique in the
cheese world, especially during
a global pandemic, when the
normal ways of selling to new
accounts don’t apply,” Tarush
says.
As grocery store sales
remain strong, the Agarwals
are doing research and devel-
opment on a second paneer-re-
lated product. They’re also
ramping up production to fi ve
days a week — from two to
three days — to start serving
1,000 stores in the fi rst quarter
of 2022.
Donna Berry, a former Kraft
Heinz Co. scientist who’s now
a dairy industry consultant,
says sales of paneer in America
can continue rising along with
awareness, as in-store tastings
and other events return. “It’s
products like paneer that keep
consumers interested in dairy,”
she says. “Cheesemakers have
upped their game to be com-
petitive with plant-based
innovators.”
Basements and billiards
GINNY
MAMMEN
OUT AND ABOUT
On the southeast corner of
Adams and Elm in downtown La
Grande stands the two-story blond
brick West-Jacobson Building,
serving 1302-1306 Adams and and
several businesses on Elm. It was
constructed in 1913 on a lot that had
been vacant since the fi re of 1891,
which destroyed the wooden struc-
ture housing a general store.
Nathanial K. West, the pioneer
merchant who ran a clothing and
dry goods store at 1210 Adams,
found a partner in C. S. Jacobson
of Portland who wanted to invest in
the progressive city of La Grande.
Their partnership created this fi ne
structure.
The building provided commercial
space on the fi rst fl oor and offi ces
on the second fl oor. Even though
this was the same year the Foley
fi ve-story building was completed,
it didn’t take long before this new
building was fi lled with a variety of
businesses and services. The second
fl oor housed doctors, dentists, law-
yers, architects and accountants. The
attorney James Slater was one of the
earliest occupants.
The street level became the loca-
tion for many businesses over the
years. With the spacious main fl oor,
and by being constructed on a corner,
it off ered space for up to fi ve busi-
nesses and became a hub for shop-
ping. One of the very fi rst stores was
Morgan’s 10 & 25 cent store. Some
of the others located in the commer-
cial spaces over the years included
White’s Candy Kitchen, in 1916; La
Grande Pharmacy, around 1915-mid
1920s; The Men’s Wear in the mid
1920s; National Serve Yourself Shoe
Store, 1927; Earnie’s Buster Brown
Shoe Store, in the 1950s; Townes
Studio, a photograph studio; A&W
Root Beer; Jack Allens Auto Supply
Company in the late 1920s; and Red
Cross Drug, opening here in their
new location December 1940. In
later years the building was home to
Marie Josephine and Looking Glass
Books. Today 1302-1306 serves
as the location of Raul’s Taqueria,
Raul’s Cantina and a vacant
storefront.
For most downtown buildings,
basements were used for storage of
supplies. But not this one. One of the
more interesting occupants, and per-
haps the most lively, was the one that
was located in the basement for a
number of years.
In June of 1913 it was announced
that C. C. McCornick of Eugene
was to open a billiard parlor in the
Fred Hill Collection
See, Mammen/Page B8
The West-Jacobson Building, photographed around 1915 to 1920.