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you have a question for
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Selected questions and answers
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Thanks.
ASK! The FOOD
Museum
by Meredith Sayles Hughes, ©
2006
|
Q:
Do you know where cookies got started?
I am looking for some historical info
on cookies, the who, what, where, when
& why.
Amy @ aol.com
A:
Cookies may date back to the 7th century
in Persia, but the North American cookie
is probably from the late 1600's. (In
England, cookies are called biscuits.)
Many immigrant groups contributed to the
cookie, including the Dutch whose word
for "little cake" is koeke. The notion
of rolling up dough and keeping it cold
before slicing and baking is a German
tradition. As for “why” anyone
would create a small, sweet, treat such
as a cookie, I cannot imagine…
Q: I’m doing a paper
for my public speaking class about rice
pudding. I was wondering if you know where
it originated.
Desiree @ aol.com
A:
Rice pudding goes back to the medieval
period in England, though the Chinese
and Japanese were probably making pudding-type
sweet desserts with rice for many generations
before that. In the middle ages cooks
boiled up rice until it was soft, then
added sweetened milk. As rice had to be
expensively imported, this dish was for
the wealthy and usually eaten at Lent.
Q: Apparently, root beer
is made from acacia roots. Can you tell
me any more? Is it related to licorice
at all?
Lonn @BMDsol.net
A:
The first root beer I have read of started
as an herb tea prepared in 1875 by Charles
Hires--it included 16 different herbs
and berries including sarsaparilla, wintergreen,
and juniper, possibly ginger and sassafras.
Hires was a pharmacist and evidently tinkered
with the formula before presenting it
publicly in 1876 as "rootbeer." Later
commercial breweries added sugar and caramel
coloring and eliminated many of the other
flavors. There is a resurgence in brewing
up this drink more in the old style, as
also with ginger beers, so you might be
able to find a good example. I have not
found acacia noted in any sources as a
root beer ingredient. Licorice and acacia
are distantly related. Both are legumes,
members of the pea family.
Q: We are trying to do a
project on Ancient Egyptian food and we
know they imported spices, but we can't
figure out what kind. We're trying to
roast meat in spices like they did. Do
you know what we should use?
Kevin @home.com
A:
Ancient Egyptians used marjoram, mint,
juniper, and resins such as frankincense
and myrrh, as well as cinnamon to flavor
their dishes. Onions and garlic were everyday
flavorings, often used on flatbreads
Q: Could you please send
me some information on the history of
baklava?
Pazgas @aol.com
A:
Russians, Greeks and Turks each claim
they invented baklava, the supremely sweet
pastry eaten throughout the Middle East
and parts of Asia. The paper thin pastry
dough known in Greek as filo probably
originated with nomadic Turkish people,
who began the custom of layering it with
nut filling and a sweet syrup topping.
Q: I am a fifth grader in
California. We have an assignment to research
a fruit. I chose Guanabana (Soursop).
What can you tell me about it?
RCB @aol.com
A:
The guanabana is made into a luscious
fruit drink by vendors all over Costa
Rica and in many other tropical areas.
People also prepare ice cream from the
fruit. It probably originated in South
America and is related to the cherimoya.
Its yellowish-green skin is covered with
smooth spines. The white flesh of the
unripe fruit is sometimes cooked up and
eaten as a vegetable.
Q: I was curious if you have a date
on the invention of sliced bread. I think
it happened in the 1930s, but I am not
entirely sure.
Joe @home.com
A:
Evidently a commercial bread slicer was
first used in 1928 by inventor Otto
Rohwedder in Battle Creek, Michigan. He
introduced it at a bakery in Chillicothe,
Ohio.
Q: Why is apple butter called
apple butter?
RS @aol.com
A:
Apple butter is made by slowly cooking
together apples, cider, sugar and spices
into a thick, brown spread which slathers
on bread much in the manner of butter,
hence the name.
Q: What is the history of
cheesecake?
Taryn @flash.net
A:
Even the Romans may have had cheesecake
of some kind, according to Cato, writing
in the second century BC. People have
been tossing cheese together with dough
for centuries and in many countries. Italians
make a cheesecake with ricotta cheese
and almonds. Russians eat cheesecake at
Easter. North American cheesecake usually
is made with creamed cheese, eggs and
flavorings
ASK! Archives
Cheers! * Meredith
Hughes * The FOOD Museum
ASK! The FOOD Museum
by Meredith Sayles Hughes, c 2001
