identifying People by Food (continued)

          Two aromas conjure my father's cooking, a phrase that sits strangely on my tongue

because he only cooked two things: mackerel and steak. Either one, especially the steak, was a rarity on the table and sign of a special dinner for one reason or another, often a reason the children knew nothing about. My father prepared the steak and stuck it in the oven, to be broiled with onions and served with French bread and Worchestershire sauce, a condiment with a powerful transmogrifying effect on me even now. The mackerel was also broiled, with lemon and onions. While my father took care of the fish, my mother fried the hushpuppies, filling the kitchen with the rich odors of hot oil and frying cornbread, underneath which floated the delicate aroma of fresh fish in the oven.

          When I was growing up, I was told that hushpuppies were named because the odor of frying fish made the dogs whine and beg. The cook would throw some fried cornbread at the dogs, saying, "Hush, puppy." That's what I was told, anyway.

          Artichokes, strangely enough return me to my days as a student at Cambridge University, not because they were ever served in the college's bland-food dining hall, but because a friend once served them to me in his flat. I had never seen artichokes before. It was he who taught me how to peel back each petal, dip its end into the dressing, and pull it through my teeth to scrape off the edible pulp, then to scoop the thistle fluff from the top with my spoon, exposing the delectable heart. Though I can't remember his name or anything else about him, he secured a place in my memories through the taste of artichokes.

         The food with the most evocative power for me is probably pancakes. Before my son was born, when his father and I were living on a commune in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Dan would often get a hankering for pancakes

late at night. So I cooked pancakes. I could make pancakes out of anything. I became famous for my pancakes. In the commune I was known as the Pancake Queen. I made pancakes for Dan night after night. Then it became one of those things. You know. That's why, now, whenever I make pancakes, they have a wry taste, no matter what the flour.

Next week: Cheese-apples Make Me a Winner (Once)

Recipe from this post:

     Broiled steak

     Broiled mackerel

     Hushpuppies

     Pancakes

BROILED STEAK

Serves: an indeterminate number

My father is 97 years old. [He passed away two years later.] These are the instructions he gives today for broiling steak a la Ken Coogle: "Start with a good piece of meat. Rub it with vegetable oil. Slice onions over it. Broil it till it is done. Chop a clove of garlic and put it with butter in the slices of French bread cut to but not through the bottom. Heat the bread in the oven."

BROILED MACKEREL

(The number of servings depends on the size of the fish.)

Ingredients

Mackerel fillet

Vegetable oil

Lemon

Onions

To make

Rub the mackerel with the vegetable oil. Slice onions over it. Squeeze a lemon over it. Broil till cooked, says my father.

HUSHPUPPIES

makes maybe 15-20 hushpuppies. 

Ingredients

Vegetable oil for frying

1 1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix (see below)

3/4 cup self-rising flour

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preparation

Pour 3 inches of oil into a large pot. Heat to 375º.

To make

Combine cornmeal, flour, and sugar, then add the egg and buttermilk. Stir until just moistened. Let stand 10 minutes. Drop by rounded tablespoons into hot oil. Fry in batches to maintain oil temperature. Drain on brown paper bags.

Self-rising cornmeal

Makes: 1 cup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup + 3 tablespoons cornmeal

To make

Combine all ingredients.

PANCAKES

Ingredients

          The basic rule for pancakes is 1/2 cup liquid for every cup of flour, plus at least one egg. Use baking soda (1/2 teaspoon) with sour liquids (buttermilk, yogurt, fruit juices, etc.) in addition to the baking powder (1 teaspoon) used when the liquid is not sour (usually milk). Add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sweeten to taste with sugar or honey. Add 2-4 teaspoons oil. The batter should be the consistency of thick cream. Add anything else that suits your fancy: cut-up fruit, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, dried fruits, spices, etc. Experiment with different kinds and combinations of flour, with various liquids (milk, sour milk, buttermilk, yogurt, fruit juice, coffee, flavored yogurts), and with other ingredients (nuts and seeds, peanut butter, other nut butters, maple syrup, honey). The wonderful thing about pancakes is that they are so versatile and so forgivable. They respond well to experimentation. Just watch the consistency of the batter, and keep cut-up fruit, nuts, raisins etc., small.

To make

Someone once told me that he never could make good pancakes because he couldn't get them perfectly round. My pancakes are always only approximately round. They have little bulges here and there, and sometimes they straighten out their edges to make room for each other. I don't consider roundness a criterion for a good pancake. They are beautiful if they are golden brown, slightly mottled, and cooked through without getting hard, and they are good if they taste good.

          Mix all the dry ingredients together. If you're using unbleached white flour or whole wheat pastry four, it's good to sift the dry ingredients, but heavier flours sift out the good brans. Beat the wet ingredients together (eggs, liquid, oil). Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together with a few rapid strokes. Do not overmix! Lumps are fine. Add nuts, fruits, and other extras at this point.

          Oil the griddle or skillet and heat well, to the point that water flicked onto the griddle jumps and hisses. With a 1/4 cup measuring cup or a ladle, pour circles (more or less) of batter onto the griddle. Don't overcrowd the cooking surface, and don't use the whole 1/4 cup if there isn't room on the griddle for large pancakes. Let the pancakes cook until bubbles appear on the tops and the surfaces look dry. Then loosen the pancake with a spatula and flip it neatly to cook on the other side. If the pancake is ready to flip, it will slide easily off the griddle onto the spatula. If the griddle is too hot, the pancake will also stick (and burn). If the griddle isn't hot enough, the pancake will cook but never brown and will taste soggy. The trick is to cook the pancake through without hardening it. Cut into the first one to see if it has cooked in the middle before you flip it. That'll be your gauge for temperature. Continue to cook the pancakes until brown on the second side. This won't take as long as cooking the first side, and the bottom side won't be as pretty, either. Serve the pancakes top side up with toppings of your choice. Some ideas follow.

Suggested toppings

Buckwheat pancakes

Applesause and plain yogurt, with or without honey or maple syrup

Real maple syrup
Good honey

Fresh fruit of the season

A berry sauce (berries sweetened with sugar and cooked to thicken a bit)

Sweetened ricotta cheese whipped with butter or cream cheese

Kefir, yogurt, etc.