July 24th, 2004

Hello, and welcome to my food blog! Word on the block is that these are getting pretty popular these days. Anyway, I guess I haven't formally introduced myself yet. My name is Whitford Schuyster. I was a culinary professional for over 30 years, but now I'm starting to unwind into my retirement proper. I'll have you know that Italian food is a favorite of mine. I like to embrace my part Italian heritage; when I was a boy, my grandmother would make some of her favorite meals from the old country. Tasting her food was what inspired me to experiment in the world of food... and from there, the rest is history.

   I worked at seven different restaurants over the course of my career, but for me, Italian food is like a second home. Just one taste of Italy, and I'm brought back to my youthful self. Anyway, here's a chicken parmigiana I made in my home kitchen. The noodles, chicken and cheeses are all outsourced, but the other ingredients were made at home! The basil and tomatoes were both grown in my home garden, and the bread crumbs are my own mixture. To make the bread crumbs, I just take scraps from my old bread that had gotten stale- when nobody in the house takes the heels, the breading is the perfect use for them! Aside from that, I sprinkled a bit of pecorino and romano cheese into the mixture to give it that delectable flare. That means that this dish contains a total of five cheeses!

   When I serve this dish at home, the scent wafts throughout the house and sends a personal invitation right into the nostrils of anyone who smells it. I use the gemelli noodle because I personally enjoy the chewy density when you bite into it. While it doesn't quite scoop sauce in the same way as the rotini noodle, something about the melodic dance of the gemelli makes my heart sing. The word gemelli means “twins” in Italian. Its shape sort of reminds me of the twist of the double helix twist in a strand of DNA. It fascinates me how the simple shapes present in our basic biology can entertain us in the macro-sized world. Have you ever heard about the golden ratio? It's a mathematical value that represents a comparison of the ratio between the components of the parts of a whole. It's often cited as being “beauteous-” when you draw the golden ratio out in sequence, it resembles a shape similar to a chambered nautilus' shell. One thing you may notice about the gemelli noodle is that it bears a striking resemblance to that shape when you look at the bottom of the spiral! How interesting is that? I tend to attribute these principles when composing my dishes, however I'm not that great of a photographer.

   My son bought me a new digital camera for Christmas last year, and while I've been figuring out how to use it, I was inspired to use it to make this blog. So… there you have it! That's all I have to say this time, but I plan on making this a regular occurrence, so stay tuned for more posts! I'll leave off with a little tip for those of you aspiring chefs out there looking to dabble in the culinary world: when boiling water, add a bit of salt to the water- saline water conducts heat faster! That way, you won't have to stand around as long waiting for the water to boil when you're doing anything as simple as boiling an egg, or, in my case, pasta for a fine dish.

July 31st, 2004

Here I am again on a Saturday afternoon with another post for you. This time, my grandkids were over for the weekend. My oldest granddaughter has a photography hobby, so she was showing me around my camera. I made my grandkids a staple classic for breakfast today- simple and clean blueberry pancakes! I apologize for the clutter on the table, I was showing my grandkids how I sort my meds when we took this photo. I had considered making a more elaborate breakfast this morning, but knowing my grandkids I didn't want to overwhelm them. However, that doesn't mean I won't withhold them from some more unfamiliar tastes in future!

   I've noticed a trend with cuisine in English culture. It seems that a lot of fast food and heavily processed derivatives have all stemmed from a trend towards cooking for children. During the early 20th century, and following the war-times throughout the 1950s, a surge in population meant there were more young mouths to feed. With a greater emphasis on family values, advertising shifted to favor foods more palatable for children. Since children have a much more nuanced sense of taste compared to adults, it's no surprise that complex flavor profiles got weeded out by consumerism. This is why American food has developed a contrast to foods from other regions- this trend simply stuck in the minds of the people who consumed the food at a young age, and became familiar to them. If it weren't for my relatives from other countries, I may have fallen victim to the same trap myself. In France, they teach children to try new foods as a skill along with reading and writing. By comparison, we are encouraged to embrace consumerist trends in food, this is why we see American food as either being “bland” or “fusion.” The fusion of elements also comes from the multiculturalism present in English speaking countries, but is also driven by the urge to advertise foods as being from “genres.”

   The sterilization in flavor palettes has caused the rise in calories and sugar in our food. For example, did you know that the most abundant crop in the United States is corn? Corn is not a particularly healthy starch, but it proves to be versatile, yet bland in nature. This perfectly reflects how American foods have appropriated the notion of disregarding nutrition in food. This is why I have snuck blueberries into the pancakes I made for my grandkids today. They're a healthy, but subtle way of encouraging them to try a healthier option; blueberries are full of nutrients and antioxidants. Plus, they're colorful- not many foods come in the variety of indigo they sport, this makes them unique eye candy that grabs the interest of whoever is going to eat them. When I cook for my grandkids, I always employ tactics like this. I will cook a meal that is familiar to them, but shake it up in a healthy way. It familiarizes them with healthy flavors and expands their willingness to try new foods- much like the way of the French.

   Cooking for kids is not easy. Kids are picky and sometimes it's impossible to tell what they're thinking. But kids know what they like. It's good to give them what they like, but if you encourage them to try new things and reward them for doing so, you'll see them sprout up into bright, springy adolescents. I didn't have the same difficulties as I do with my grandkids with my own son, but that was mainly because I was the primary provider of food to him. Sometimes I'll go out for lunch with my youngest grandson and he'll ask to have chicken nuggets... but I might try to encourage him to try something a little out of his comfort zone. How about trying a chicken sandwich? Maybe you could make the chicken even better if you added some extra ingredients. After all, the bread is just like the crust of the chicken nugget.

   To sign off, I'll leave you folks with another tip, this time relating to blueberries. Generally, the larger the blueberry you pick, the sweeter it will be. This principle applies to any fruit in general. When a fruit is younger in its life cycle, it will sport a much more sour taste, but as it ripens and grows, it gets sweeter, but also loses some of its punch. When I make pancakes for my grandkids, I don't discriminate, but sometimes I notice that they've picked out all the big ones...