Appenzeller Biber

Known for its elaborate embroidery and delicious cheeses, the Appenzell canton of Switzerland is also home to an addictive pastry. Appenzeller biber ( or Appenzeller Baerli-Biber ) is a special gingerbread filled with almond paste.

The gingerbread was first baked several centuries ago, and today it is still made in bakeries throughout the region. Although the gingerbread shares similarities with the German lebkuchen, Appenzeller biber is unique in that it starts with a layer of dough pressed into a decorative mould ( often of a bear ). This dough is then topped by layer of marzipan or homemade almond paste, and finished woth another layer of dough.

The gingerbread often has honey in it, sometimes has liqueur, and always has spices, but the exact amount of spices and exactly which spices depend on the baker.  Most often it has ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and sometimes rosewater is also added. It can come in the form of large cakes known as fladen, but is also served as cookies known as biberli, traditionally served as a Christmas treat.

Taste :

The gingerbread has a dry, cake-like texture and is not overly sweet, which goes nicely with the very sweet almond paste filling. Perfect good hot choccolate.

Geoduck

One of the strangest creatures to be eaten from the sea, the geoduck ( pronounced gooey-duck), Panopea abrupta, is the world’s largest burrowing clam. A slow-growing clam, it is among the longest-living creatures in the world, living for over 100 years in some cases. Its name is thought to derive from a Native American word meaning “dig deep.” Indeed, this oversized clam can borrow more than 3 feet ( 1m ) into the sand. The average weight of a geoduck is around 2 pounds ( 0.9kg ), although it can weigh as 7 pounds ( 3 kg ). The most striking aspect of the clam’s appearance is the thick, long, ivory-coloured neck or siphon, which protrudes outside the hinged shells.

The geoduck is indigenous to Pacific waters from northern California to southeast Alaska, with the largest harvest coming from Washington’s Puget Sound. With geoduck meat highly esteemed in Asian cuisines, particularly those of japan, Taiwan, and China ( where it is called the “elephant trunk clam”), there is profitable market in live geoducks shipped to those countries. In the regulated market, geoducks are harvested at twelve years old divers who use a directional water jet, called a “stinger,” to wash away the sediment and reveal the lurking clam, which is lifted out. Wild harvesting of geoduck is increasingly closely regulated, which has led to a marked growth in geoduck aquaculture.

In Japan, the firk, sweet neck meat is prized for use raw in sushi or sashimi, blanched and served with a dipping sauce, or stir-fried. The dried meat is used in China for broths. In the United states the neck meat is used in chowders, whereas the more tender body meat is simply pan-fried.

Taste :

Meat from the neck ( siphon ) of the geoduck is typically eaten raw. It has a firm, almost crisp texture and briny sea flavour. The body meat is richer and more tender.

Goose Fat

Goose Fat

A mature goose of any breed popular today can lay down 2 pounds ( 900 g ) of soft fat around its internal organs, or even more. Rendered down, this fat is used for cooking in the same way as lard. While once closely identified with the Jewish cuisine of Central Europe,goose fat is now more commonly associated with southwest France. It is a key ingredient in rillettes d’oie, pottes goose, all forms of confits, and, very often, the Bearnaise garbure, the cabbage-based soup-stew simmerd in an earthenware pot.

In nutrition and diet, graisse d’oie has been linked to what is known as the French paradox: the question of why, despite a high-fat diet, cardiovascular disease in France has been historically low. Goose fat is rich in monounsaturated ans polyunsaturated fatty acids. The British, too, once valued goose fat for its health-giving properties – they spread it on working men’s vests in winter as a protection against respiratory diseases. Roast goose has always been a popular festive dish and Anglo-Saxon cooks know that goose fat makes absolutely the best roast potatoes.

Taste : Although goose fat absorbs other flavours, it is never bland. The rich farmyard taste lingers on the palate, adding to any ingredient with which the fat is combined.

Potted Shrimp

Potted Shrimp

Potted shrimps are identified with Morecambe Bay, a treacherous expanse of inter-tidal mudflats off the Lancashire coast in England. The small brown shrimps are netted by fisherman who cook their catch by dropping them briefly into boiling seawater to guarantee freshness. ( People who live around Morecambe Bay believe that shrimps taste sweeter and juicer when simmered in fresh rather than salted water, but this is a privilege only available to those who go shrimping for their own account, rather than buy a commercial product.) When the tide recedes from the vast area of mud it is possible to catch the shrimps without a boat, and a handful of local fishermen driven tractors over the flats at low tide trailing nets through the shallow water.

                              The “potting” stage of the process is done o land. First the small crustaceans are chilled. The head and carapace are pulled off and the flesh is squeezed and twisted out of the tail. Removing the flesh is a labour-intensive operation because no machine can do the work; a good picker extracts no more than 1 pound ( 700g ) of meat in an hour.

                             The shrimp meat is then packed in pots with butter, seasoned with pepper and nutmeg, then coated with a second layer of clarified butter that insulates the food from the air, helping to preserve it. Shrimps  cost more than butter, and so the higher the proportion of tails in the product, the better the quality will usually be.

                             Potted shrimp is eaten with hot brown toast or crusty brown bread, sometimes served with a wedge of lemon, or in cucumber sandwiches in which the potted shrimp take the place of butter. It is also served as a starter with green salads.

Taste : The sweet shellfish taste balances the salty, iodine flavour and the fattiness of the butter. Spices add an extra piquancy. Potted shrimp taste best eaten with hot toast. In Morecambe Bay, England, shrimp are cooked as soon as they are caught to preserve their freshness.

Bassano White Asparagus

In the spring, asparagus fever hits the pretty town of Bassano del Grappa in northern Italy. The wonderful white asparagus grown here has a unique flavour: so much so that it carries a DOC.

A member of the lily family, asparagus has been grown in Bassano for many years: it was valued as a delicacy even before Roman times. In the early sixteenth century, or so the story goes, a devastating hailstorm destroyed the town’s asparagus crop. Faced with such destruction, the farmers had little choice but to harvest the part of the plant which had remained undergroud. The shoots were white becasue they lacked exposure to sunlight, but the asparagus was strikingly tender and flavoursome. The delighted farmers decided to cultivate the whole plant underground from that point on.

In late May every year,  Bassano hosts a festival to celebrate its most prized crop. Farmers present their asparagus on the streets, while restaurants compete in A Tavola con l’Asparago DOC di Bassano to create the most spectacular succession of courses involving their beloved white asparagus.

Taste :

The long, chubby spears have a notable succulence. The elegant, restrained sweetness is quite remarkable: it opens up over the entire tongue with each mouthful.

Icre

Icre

Today we think of caviar as a Russian contribution to the world’s list of gourmet foods. but history suggests it was the Chinese who first made caviar – not with sturgeon roe, but with the eggs of the river fish crap. Genghis Khan took Chinese caviar with him when he invaded Russia, but sturgeon soon gained supremacy as the roe of choice because of its attractive colour.

Although taramosalata made with cod roe has become a national dish in Greece, it has long been produced in southeastern Europe using carp roe. Carp plays an important part in Balkan cuisine, especially in Romania, where their version of taramosalata has the unfortunate name ( at least to English language-speakers ) of icre de crap ( the latter word being Romanian for carp ). After removing the membrane on the carp roe, it is salted, and left until the roe turns orange. It is then pounded with fresh breadcrumbs and blended with oil so that it emulsifies with the roe. Seasoned with lemon juice, salt, and sometimes finely chopped onion, it is eaten on crackers or rye bread for a tasty snack.

Taste : Icre has a soft, creamy texture and a delicate fishy flavour that is less salty and strong than commercial taramosalata. Naturally cured, it has a warm orange hue.