Quiche Lorraine is a quintessential French dish... or is it?

Quiche is a savory open pie with a filling that consists of cream, eggs, and traditionally bacon. Today you can enjoy quiches with a variety of fillings such as leeks, spinach, arugula, mushrooms, seafood, salmon and cheeses like Parmesan, Gruyere, Emmenthal Camembert, Roquefort or even Brie.

The word "quiche" comes from the German Kuchen meaning "cake." Quiche is thought to have originated from Alsace Lorraine, now part of northeastern France and bordering Germany. Historically the region has changed hands many times between France and Germany, and it is believed that quiche was first made when the area was a German province, Lothringen, which is "Lorraine" in French. When France regained Alsace Lorraine in 1945, the French declared the name of the dish to be "Quiche Lorraine."

After World War II, quiche gained admirers in England and then became popular in the United States. It is now known and appreciated throughout the world as a light and tasty dish to serve at any time of the year

The dough used to make a quiche is pâte brisée, a rich pastry based on butter and flour. While the quiche is a kind of pie, it differs from others in that it is open and includes whipping cream, eggs, nutmeg, and bacon, which are traditional ingredients found in the cuisine of Lorraine. More recently cheese has become a very popular ingredient as well. Reflecting its rustic roots, the dish traditionally cooking in cast iron pans, but now is typically cooked in special quiche or pie pans. Quiche can be served for lunch, dinner, afternoon coffee, or as a side or main dish. The recipe below uses traditional ingredients, but cooks can be as creative as they want with the filling.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 4 ounces butter at room temperature or butter in pommade
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoon cold water
• salt

Filling:

• 3 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled
• 1 cup or 4 ounces shredded Emmental cheese
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• salt
• pepper
• nutmeg

Preparation:

Pastry

1. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt and the butter. Incorporate the butter with your fingertips
2. Add the eggs and the water.
3. Knead gently until a dough forms.
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
5. Heat oven in 350F.
6. Roll dough onto a floured surface with the help of a rolling pin.
7. Roll pastry into a round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch quiche pan.
8. Fold pastry into fourths; place in quiche pan.
9. Unfold and ease into dish, pressing firmly against bottom and side.
10. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pie plate.
11. Fold and roll pastry under, even with plate.
12. Make small holes in the dough with knife.
13. Bake quiche for 15 minutes.

Filling:

1. Sprinkle bacon and cheese in pie crust.
2. In a small bowl, combine all other ingredients.
3. Pour mixture into quiche dish.
4. Bake for 20 minutes.
5. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
6. You can serve the quiche with a salad or with french fries.

Tips:
It is possible to freeze quiche for up to a month.
If you don't have a quiche pan, you can use a standard pie plate.

Bon Bon Appétit or, perhaps, Guten Appetit!

Recipe by Flavia Ferraretto

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Bobotie (pronounced ba-boor-tea) is a mixture of mildly curried meat and fruit with a creamy golden custard-like topping, somewhat similar to to Greek moussaka. The dish melds sour, spicy, sweet and savory flavors to a whole greater than its parts.

Bobotie, the national dish of South Africa, has a history dating back to at least the 17th century, but its origins are hotly debated. Some researchers believe that the dish is of Dutch origin and was adopted by the "Cape Malays" of South Africa. The Cape of Good Hope was a Dutch Colony that existed from 1652 to 1795 when it was occupied by English forces (the same year that France conquered the Netherlands). During the years as a Dutch colony many people from other Dutch colonies migrated there by force or choice. "Cape Malays" were slaves and dissidents from Dutch colonies in the East Indies. Historians who oppose the view that bobotie was a purely Dutch invention hold that quite naturally Cape Malays brought their own cooking traditions with them. They view bobotie as an adaptation to local ingredients of the Javanese dish bobotak. Bobotak is normally a seafood dish that uses shredded coconut, not bread, as a thickener; but the general concept underlying the dish is similar. With ingredients from Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Europe bobotie is a great example of trans-cultural culinary innovation and borrowing.

Originally lamb and pork were favored meats, but bobotie is now often made with beef. The dish is often garnished with sliced almonds, walnuts, chutney and bananas and served with sambal chili sauce (from Southeast Asia). Recipes typically call for the use sultanas which are "white" or "golden" seedless raisins (like Thompson seedless raisins)that are a little less sweet than regular raisins. Curry powder and chutney can be obtained in either Middle-Eastern grocery stores (such as the Balboa International Market) or Indian groceries. Malt vinegar can be found in most supermarkets. It is a personal choice whether to use beef, lamb, or pork (or any combination thereof). Traditionally several bay leaves are arranged on the top of the dish.

Nelson Mandela said that bobotie was his favorite dish and rumor has it that it was the first thing he wanted to eat when he returned from his travels abroad while president of South Africa.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of ground beef, lamb or pork
• 3 eggs
• 2 medium onions chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 slices of soft bread with the crust removed(white or brown)
• 1 ½ cup milk
• ½ cup sultanas (golden raisins)
• 1 tablespoon oil (light olive oil)
• ½ tablespoon butter
• 1 ½ tablespoon curry powder
• 1 ½ tablespoon chutney (peach, mango or apricot)
• 1 tablespoon apricot jam
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 ½ tablespoon malt vinegar
• several bay leaves
• 1 pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. Soak bread in milk.
2. Heat oil and butter in a large pan and sauté onions for 3 minutes.
3. Add garlic and sauté until the onions are translucent.
4. When onions are soft, add curry powder, salt, chutney, apricot jam, Worcestershire sauce, turmeric and vinegar and mix well.
5. Drain and mash bread, reserving the milk.
6. Add bread to pan together with meat and sultanas.
7. Cook over low heat, stirring, and when meat loses its pinkness, remove from stove.
8. Add 1 beaten egg, mix well, then spoon into a greased, 11 x 6 inches baking dish and level the top.
9. Beat remaining eggs with reserved milk and the salt and turmeric.
10. Pour the milk and egg mixture over meat mixture and decoratively arrange bay leaves on top.
11. Stand dish in a larger pan of water (this is important to prevent drying out) and bake, uncovered, at 350 F for 1 hour or until the custard is set.
12. Garnish with shredded coconut, chutney and or sliced almonds and serve with rice.

Lekker chow!

Recipe and Photo by Flavia Ferrarettot

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I had the immense pleasure to do my anthropological doctoral research in West Sumatra where I lived in a small (but important) farming community for several years. Typically rendang is made with water buffalo meat, but beef is also widely used. Some non-Minankabau cooks have made it with chicken, although we never encountered this variation in Sumatra. The cooking process turns the white coconut cream into an oily, but relatively dry dish. Cooking the dish for a much shorter period of time creates another fine, but more liquid dish known as kalio, which has a distinctly different (and milder) taste. In West Sumatra, rendang is more commonly cooked without beans, but some cooks there do add small white beans, and we think it's a nice touch. Many recipes call for the use of rehydrated red chilies to add spiciness, but it is more authentic and easier to use sambal olek, which now can be found in most grocery stores here in San Diego. Most rendang is very mild; other versions are spicier but chilies should not be the primary taste you experience. We like it spicier than what is typical, but overdoing the "sambal" will mask the other great flavors.

About the ingredients:

The Minangkabau are devout Muslims but also hold the distinction of being the largest matrilineal society in the world. In matrilineal cultures, family groups (lineages) are comprised of men and women who are exclusively related to each other through females. Matrilineal is not to be confused with matriarchy (rule by women), but Minangkabau women have great informal power in Minangkabau culture. Many important decisions require consensus from all adult members of the lineages. While formal positions of power are overwhelmingly male, such leaders cannot make decisions without full consent from the senior women of the matrilineal. Even though the Minangkabau language does not mark gender (which is true of several languages), gender role differentiation exists. What is different in Minangkabau society is the high value placed on women's roles; they are generally not seen as subservient to male roles or prerogatives. The fact that the Minangkabau are devoutly Muslim and have a matrilineal family system that contributes to female autonomy and power is more of a mystery to outsiders than it is to the Minangkabau themselves. Rendang plays an important role in ceremonial foods and can be bought at nearly all Nasi Padang restaurants. Water buffalo (kabau) and beef (sapi) are relatively expensive in West Sumatra, so it is considered a special food that is not generally eaten as everyday food.

Ingredients:

Main Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless beef short ribs (cut into cubes)
• 1/2 cup of white beans
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 cups coconut cream
• 1 stalk of lemongrass, either pounded or deeply scored with a knife
• 2 tablespoons of tamarind sauce
• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• Salt to taste

Spice Paste:

• 5 shallots
• 1 inch piece of galangal
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 2 - 5 Tablespoons of Sambal Olek

Preparation:

1. Soak the dried white beans in water over night.
2. Chop the spices and blend them in a food processor until smooth.
3. Heat the coconut oil in a large wok, add the spice paste and fry until aromatic.
4. Add Coconut cream, beef, lemongrass, tamarind sauce, and kaffir lime leaves and bring to boil.
5. Turn heat down to a simmer.
6. Simmer the rendang stirring frequently for 3/4 hour.
7. Test the sauce for sweetness and saltiness but remember that by the time the dish finishes cooking the flavors will intensify (so don't overdo the sugar or salt).
8. Add the hydrated white beans and continue to cook and stir until the Rendang becomes dark brown and oily.

Serving:

Serve with white Jasmine rice. The rice must be somewhat sticky. The traditional way to eat rendang is with your fingers. Serve the rendang and rice side by side on a plate. For each individual bite, mix some rice with some of the rendang with your fingers and then bring your fingers to your mouth. It takes a tiny bit of practice, the mouthful of rice and rendang is held with the ends of your index, middle, ring fingers and your thumb. After bringing the food to you mouth, use your thumb to push the food into your mouth. It takes a bit of practice but once you figure it out your enjoyment of rendang will be heightened considerably. Green beans, or Chinese long green beans (which is what they have in Sumatra) go well with rendang. Like many dishes, rendang tastes even better a day later and keeps very well. It is one of the dishes that Minangkabau take along when they are traveling as it keeps well even without refrigeration.

Recipe by T. Johnston-O'Neill
Photos by S. Johnston-O'Neill

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Escabeche with Cauliflower and Hearty Bread

In Spanish, Escabeche refers to an acid (and oil) marinade. Protein, either in fish, meat or eggs, can be "cooked" by prolonged contact with acids such as vinegar, lime or lemon juice. The technique involved in preparing this dish has a remarkable history that dates back to the oldest cookbook ever found—a set of clay tablets from Babylon dating to 1700 BC. The recent book by Stanford Linguist, Dan Jurafsky, The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu, lays out this history in lovely detail.

Originally a method applied to beef or lamb, the original form of the dish grew to become the signature dish of the Persian Empire of Koshrau Anushirvan, who ruled the Sasanian empire from 531 to 579 AD. Known as sikbäj. Jurafsky notes, "Sikbäj must have been amazingly delicious because it was the favorite of kings and concubines for at least 300 years…" Eventually it became a method for preparing fish, and the 13th century Egyptian cookbook "The Treasury of Useful Advice for the Composition of a Varied Table" contains a recipe for fish dredged in flour, fried and then infused with marinade of of vinegar, honey and spices.

Given sikbäj's resistance to spoilage (among other things, vinegar kills many microbes), it became a favorite of sailors who set out on long voyages. Acidic marinades also denature proteins, changing them to look like and have the texture of having been cooked. This effect is more pronounced with fish and eggs, but somewhat less so with meat. When applied to meat, it does soften the proteins somewhat allowing for a greater penetration of flavorings.ates back to the oldest cookbook ever found

>A curious thing happened, however, when the recipe landed on the shores of Christian communities in what is now Italy and France. Unlike Muslim areas such as Spain and the Middle East; fish, not meat, became the basis for the dish. Jurafsky suggests that in Medieval Christian Europe perhaps as many as one third of all days were fasting (actually abstinence) days that proscribed the consumption of meat, but not fish.

The history of the ancient technique extends all the way to modern day English "fish and chips." The process of battering, frying and preserving fish is presented in a 1796 British cookbook under the heading of "The Jew's Ways of Preserving Salmon and Other Fish." The description ends with "they will keep good a twelvemonth, and are to be eat cold with oil and vinegar: they will go to the East Indies."

>At least until 1846 when the first Jewish cookbook was published in English, a distinction was made between English fried fish that was served warm and Jewish fried fish that was eaten cold. Around that same time in England, deep fried potatoes were paired with battered and fried fish, and the English fish and chips was born. The first literary mention of "chips" is to be found in Dickens' Tale of Two Cities, published in 1859. While "fish and chips" is considered to be a solidly English custom, records indicate that the first fish and chips shop was opened by the Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant, Joseph Malin, in the early 1860's. While sikbäj was most closely associated with the cuisine of kings, fish and chips first gained popularity in the English working class. In the 19th century, seasoning Jewish fried fish with vinegar was prevalent; and today malt vinegar is considered by many Brits an absolute must. The concept behind the dish also traveled eastward. When Jesuit priests visited Japan in the mid to late 1500's, records indicate that they introduced the technique that evolved into the modern day tempura.

Jurofsky ends his chapter on this culinary cultural history with the following observation:

This family of dishes that are claimed by many nations as cultural treasures (ceviche in Peru, Chile and Ecuador, fish and chips in Britain, tempura in Japan, escabeche in Spain, aspic in France) were prefigured by the ancient Ishtar worshippers of Babylon, invented by the Zoroastrian Persians, perfected by the Muslim Arabs, adapted by the Christians, fused with Moche dishes by the Peruvians and brought to Asia by the Portuguese and to England by the Jews.

Escabeche is now found throughout the Spanish-speaking world in one form or another. Many different kinds of fish can be used in escobeche, depending on what is available locally. So in Cuba, the firm white flesh of sawfish (sierra) is popular while in Spain, oily fish like sardines (sardinas) or mackerel (caballa) are more common. Some versions don't use a marinade per se but instead use a cooked acidic sauce (such as a sofrito) poured over the cooked fish. As the vinegar or citrus juice cuts through the oiliness of some fish, escabeche can even be enjoyed by people who generally don't care for such fish. Although the fish is fried or grilled, escabeche is normally served at room temperature or chilled. While most contemporary versions of escabeche are savory and acidic, in the Philippines, the standard recipe calls for the addition of sugar, creating a dish also known as "Sweet and Sour Fish." While this might be a recent innovation, it should be recalled that the 13th century Egyptian recipe mentioned above was also sweetened with honey. The Mexican or Peruvian ceviche is rooted in the same history, but forgoes any frying or grilling allowing the acidic marinade to "cook" the seafood.

It should be noted that many recipes for escabeche reverse the order of cooking and marinating so that the fish is first marinated and then cooked. In deference to the illustrious history of this dish, our recipe calls for breading and frying the fish first and then marinating it for many hours or even days. No two escabeche recipes are the same, so feel free to experiment to your hearts content!

Ingredients:

1. Slice the peppers, removing the seeds and inner membranes.
2. Slice the shallots and garlic thinly.
3. Juice enough limes to make 1/2 cup.
4. Mix flour and 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper.
5. Dredge fish fillets in flour.
6. Fry fish (a batch at a time) in the light olive oil for about 3 to 5 minutes on medium high until lightly browned. (Cooking time depends on thickness of and type of fish, but don't overcook!)
7. Transfer fried fish to glass storage bowl that can be tightly covered.
8. In the remaining oil in the frying pan, saute shallots, Jalapeños, peppers and garlic for 2 minutes on medium heat.
9. Remove pan from heat.
10. Mix in the remaining ingredients (virgin olive oil, vinegar, lime juice, capers, some more salt and pepper) in the pan with the cooked peppers, onion and garlic.
11. Cover the cooked fish with the sauce from the pan (moving the fillets around or layering them with the marinade to get full coverage).
12. Cover and refrigerate the escabeche anywhere from several hours to several days (the more the merrier!).
13. Serve cold, garnish with fresh cilantro and a hearty bread (good for sopping up extra sauce!).

Buen provecho!

Recipe by T. Johnston-O'Neill
Photo by Shari Johnston-O'Neill

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