HOME & LIVING
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
A tip for keeping your
paperwhites from
growing out of control
■ The growth regulator in this case is plain old liquor
By Liz Douville
For The (Bend) Bulletin
Austin Steele/ St. Louis Post-Dispatch-TNS
Margherita pizza from Pizzeoli Wood Fired Pizza in St. Louis.
Best traditional food? It’s
got to be margherita pizza
By Daniel Neman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
It’s offi cial: The best traditional food in the
world is the margherita pizza.
Actually, as such things go, that’s not a
bad choice. Everybody loves pizza, and the
margherita — just tomato sauce, cheese and
basil — has the additional virtue of being
simple and pure. Plus, the red, white and
green colors are also, not coincidentally, the
colors of the Italian fl ag.
A food-based website called TasteAtlas
recently published a list of what it claims are
the 100 best traditional foods in the world, as
ranked by 63,402 votes.
Sixty-three thousand four hundred and
two votes is not a bad sample, though the
votes were obviously cast by far fewer voters
than that. Still, with so many people chiming
in, the results are bound to be thorough. And
this group of voters appears to be unusually
well informed about foods from around the
world.
The second-best traditional food in the
world, according to the site, is adana kebap,
a spiced ground-lamb kebab fi rst popular-
ized in the Turkish city of Adana. Third
place goes to the iconic Japanese noodle dish
ramen.
You’ll get no argument from me with these
and most of the other selections. But I do
have a concern when they get more specifi c
and try to say which restaurant in the world
makes the best example of each dish.
For instance, the list suggests that the
very best margherita pizza in the entire
world is L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, in
Naples, Italy.
I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been to Naples.
For that matter, I’ve never been to Italy.
Nevertheless, I once had a margherita pizza
at Il Giardino Ristorante in Virginia Beach,
Virginia, that was outstanding.
Still, the list fascinates me because of its
unexpected diversity and, frankly, good taste.
Rounding out the top fi ve are lomo salta-
do, a dish of stir-fried beef, vegetables and
fried potatoes from Peru, and doner kebab, a
dish of vertically grilled meat, typically lamb,
from Turkey.
BOOKS
You will note that none of the top fi ve
dishes is from the United States. Neither, for
that matter, is any of the top 10 (6. tacos al
pastor; 7. saltibarscia; 8. gyoza dumplings; 9.
cochinita pibil; 10. sarma).
You won’t hit a single American dish until
you get to No. 21, barbecued ribs. Before
that, you’ll fi nd such worldwide popular
favorites as gyros, risotto alla Milanese, la-
sagna alla Bolognese, tom yum soup, ceviche
and pasta carbonara.
I just now realized this: Five of the top 20
dishes are from Turkey (adana kebap, doner
kebab, sarma, dolma and kofte) and fi ve are
from Italy (margherita pizza, risotto, lasa-
gna, tagliatelle al ragu and pasta carbonara).
The best place in the world to get barbe-
cued ribs, incidentally, is listed as Killen’s
Barbecue in Pearland, Texas. I have been to
Pearland, and it did not seem like the sort of
place that would have the best anything in
the world.
The other top traditional foods in the
world from America, according to the Turk-
ish-Italian voters on TasteAtlas, are fajitas
(No. 31, and they say the best version in the
world is at Ninfa’s in Houston), cheeseburg-
ers (No. 56, they say the best is at a Brooklyn
restaurant called Emily), fried chicken (No.
86, at Prince’s Hot Chicken in Nashville,
which is a specifi c kind of fried chicken),
New England clam chowder (No. 87, at
Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco), New
York-style pizza (No. 89, at Totonno’s Pizzeria
Napolitana in Brooklyn), chili con carne (No.
98, at Woodyard Bar-B-Q in Kansas City)
and jambalaya (No. 100, Jacques-Imo’s in
New Orleans).
I can’t say I’m convinced by the website’s
methodology, but I don’t disagree with the
results. From gyros (No. 12) to bouillabaisse
(criminally low at No. 97), from beef Welling-
ton (No. 92) to peri peri chicken (No. 84), the
list covers all the bases of worldwide regional
food.
I haven’t had them all, and some I haven’t
even heard of (khachapuri? Apparently it is a
Georgian cheese bread topped with an egg).
But the list did what it is supposed to do: It
made me hungry to try them all.
of culinary reclamation —
which is to say, as a reaction
Continued from Page 2B
against industrialized food
“The Rise” is as useful in
systems.
the kitchen as it is meaning-
With this slim, 118-page
ful on your reading table. To
volume, Katz turns from reci-
spur further immersion, an
pes to philosophy. He consid-
invaluable resources section ers the wider meanings of fer-
highlighting other chefs and mentation: “Anything bubbly,
media is provided at the back anything in a state of excite-
of the book: It’s a conclusion
ment or agitation, can be said
and also a beginning.
to be fermenting.” Later he is
more specifi c: “When a group
TWO NOTEWORTHY NON- of people whose reality has
COOKBOOKS:
been pathologized organize
to claim respect for who they
‘Fermentation as
are, that is fermentation.”
Metaphor’
“Fermentation as Meta-
Sandor Katz calls himself
phor” is a swift, spicy, timely
a “fermentation revivalist.”
read. Addressing viruses
He’s spent the last 25 years
(including his own experi-
learning and practicing the
ences living with HIV), our
microbial transformation of
obsessions with cleanliness
foods into sourdough starters, and borders, and the need for
yogurt, kombucha, kimchi,
ferment in a time of social
beer, wine, cheese and cured upheaval, Katz is provocative
meats. His dedication meets but also calm and reasoned.
a moment in America when
If his observations stoke your
the food world has embraced literal appetite, check out
fermentation as an aspect
his bestselling books “Wild
Online ordering,
carry-out, and
delivery available
What!?? That’s what I said
when I read a 2006 research
paper on how to stunt the
overly tall development of
forced paperwhite bulbs. Pa-
perwhites are one of the tra-
ditional winter bulbs to force,
but they have a problem.
They grow tall and fl op over,
dumping water and possibly
breaking the container.
The old method was to
force the bulbs in water
on top of a bed of gravel or
pebbles. The bed had to be
fairly deep to hold the roots
adequately secure in the con-
tainer. The water level needs
to be maintained just below
the bottom of the bulb. If the
bulb is submerged in water,
it will rot.
The new and improved
method was developed
through several years of
research on bulbs at Cornell
University. The study was
released in 2006. Every
article I have read since then
confi rmed the results of the
“growth regulator.”
No, it wasn’t any expensive
laboratory developed elixir.
It was plain ol’ booze — gin,
vodka, whiskey, rum or
tequila. Do not use beer, wine
or fl avored liqueurs as they
are too sugary.
The report stated that
when the liquor is properly
used the paperwhites tested
were 30% to 50% stunted in
growth but the fl owers were
as large, fragrant and long
-lasting as usual.
The process starts the
same as above mentioned, on
a bed of gravel or pebbles but
it doesn’t need to be as deep.
Allow the bulb to establish
roots that are several inches
long. Usually, it will take
about seven days. Drain the
water and replace it with a
solution of 4% to 6% alcohol
— hard liquor or rubbing
alcohol.
To make a 5% solution
from 80-proof liquor, which
is 40% alcohol (gin, vodka,
whiskey, run or tequila) add
one part liquor to seven parts
water. To use rubbing alcohol
(isopropyl alcohol), which is
70% alcohol, dilute one part
with 10 to 11 parts water.
learned helming the restau-
rant and her transition to
cookbook author. The kernel of
‘An Onion in My Pocket’
the narrative, though, emerges
Since publishing “The
from the nearly 20 years
Greens Cookbook” in 1987,
Madison spent as a student
Deborah Madison has been
and practitioner at the San
one of America’s guiding think- Francisco Zen Center, begin-
ers and instructors around
ning in the early 1970s. It’s a
modern plant-based cuisine.
period of her life, she admits at
She cooked at Chez Panisse
the start of the book, that she’s
before becoming, in 1980, the
spent little time examining un-
founding chef at still-thriving til now. The self-inquiry pushes
Greens in San Francisco. Her her writing into absorbing
books mirrored the evolving
terrains.
California culinary ethos: eat
Though I’m a long-lapsed
what grows close to home,
Zen student, I recognize the
study the world’s cuisines for
existence Madison describes:
unending inspiration. Any
the aching knees after hours of
serious cook should own her
meditation, the disappearance
two knowledge-packed mas-
into community, her struggles
terworks, “Vegetarian Cooking as tenzo (head cook) to please
for Everyone” and “Vegetable everyone’s tastes. Zen is any-
Literacy,” if only to crib her
thing but the spa-induced calm
gifts for fl avor combinations.
that popular culture makes it
“An Onion In My Pocket,”
out to be. Practice teaches you
Madison’s foray into memoir,
to observe the mind — your
traces her upbringing in Davis, own as well as the commonali-
Calif., the path to opening
ties of the human mind — and
Greens, the hard lessons she
there’s a wonderful, ambling
Fermentation” and “The Art
of Fermentation.”
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The (Bend) Bulletin File
Growers can coax paperwhites to have shorter, sturdier
stems with help from a little alcohol.
bulb dry for a few hours.
The waxing process can be
paraffi n household wax or
old candle stubs with burnt
areas removed. No need to
remove the wick, the wax
will melt away from it.
Melt the wax in a tin can
in a pan of hot water. Let
the wax cool slightly and
dip the bulb up to its neck.
Or you can use a brush and
paint the wax on. Continue
until you have a thick coat-
Festive decor with bulbs ing. While the wax is still
I may be a day late and
warm, press the bulb onto
a dollar short as the saying a fl at surface to fl atten the
goes for a project I want
bottom. While the wax is still
to try this season. It is a
warm you can cover it with
DIY project from the 2020
sprinkles or glitter. To be re-
edition of the “Old Farmer’s ally elegant you could apply
Almanac Garden Guide.”
gold leaf.
The project is waxed ama-
It takes the bulb about 6
ryllis bulbs. It’s a very el-
weeks to fl ower when placed
egant and unusual method in a warm environment. You
of featuring the amaryllis
don’t have to water or plant
bloom. The directions are
in a pot. The bulb or multi-
from a Canadian blog titled plies could be displayed on
the “Art of Doing Stuff.”
a tray lined with evergreens
You start by soaking the
and mini lights. Very festive!
bulb for 4 hours to no longer
I hope you have some
than 8 hours. With a sharp fun decorating projects for
knife cut off the roots as
you and your family. That’s
well as the hard basal plate the best part of the holiday
after the soaking. Let the
season.
According to the research
paper, the preparation of the
alcohol solution is critical,
as toxicity begins between
5% and 10%. Use this treat-
ment for the duration of the
bloom time, remembering
to keep the liquid below the
bulb base.
A word to the wise, it isn’t
necessary for the preparer
to test the main liquid
ingredient.
quality to the book’s fl ow that
feels keenly infl uenced by
Madison’s reclamation of her
Zen years.
A passage on page 127
discusses how the food served
during a practice period near
the end of her time in the Zen
community had morphed
from monkish (often simple
soups and grains) to on-trend;
she was startled to fi nd one
bowl during lunch fi lled with
an arugula and goat cheese
salad. “It made everything the
same,” she writes, “and what
had been special about eat-
ing in the zendo (meditation
hall) was the opportunity to
experience food that was truly
modest, even humble, and
maybe not very well prepared,
and have it be okay. Even more
than okay. For me zendo food
was about having less and
discovering that it was more.”
The intersections of food and
spirituality are under-explored
topics in American literature.
Nourishment can be about
more than an inventive recipe
or a dazzling meal. Madison’s
refl ections remind us of larger,
slipperier kinds of hunger that
call to be satisfi ed.
Order Early!
We have hams,
smoked turkeys and
prime rib.
Baker County
CUSTOM MEATS
2390 11th Street
Baker City OR.
Owners Del & Jana
Woodcock