Topic: Culinary Regions of California (North Coast Highlands)

Edited 12/31/2013

The Smith River.

A lighthouse in Trinidad.

The area covering Del Norte County and Humboldt County north of McKinleyville is what I consider to be the North Coast Highlands culinary region of California.  I have designated and named all of these regions, because I don't know of any official regions for cuisines within California.

The area in red is the North Coast Highlands culinary region.

The region is characterized by an abundance of fish and shellfish from both inland and marine waters, and a strong influence by the Native American community.  Smoked salmon from northern Humboldt County, trout from the Smith River, and dungeness crab result from this.  Also, meats and local produce shipped from the North Coast Lowlands, the Shasta Cascades, and parts of Oregon are considered commonplace.

Crab cakes are popular here.

Smoked salmon.

I'll be talking about the geography of smoked salmon in California on the next post, then move on to another culinary region.

Topic: Culinary Regions of California (Introduction)

Edited 12/30/2013

When most people who don't live here think of California, the image that typically comes to mind is something like one of these:

The Golden Gate Bridge.

The Hollywood Sign.

What many people don't think of are these places:

Arcata.  Probably my favorite place on earth.

Yosemite National Park.

Death Valley.

With such diverse landscapes, it is only fitting that California has a very diverse range of cuisines within its borders.  In fact, I think each merits its own post.  It'll probably take today and tomorrow, but there's a chance I may cover them all today.  We'll see.

Topic: Green Bean Casserole

Edited 12/30/2013

Green bean casserole is unique in that it is a tradition that was made for the purpose of commercialism, by a company to promote business (namely Campbell's Soup Company; original recipe here).  This creates a lack of place, or a placelessness, for this food.

What do I mean by place?  Usually, when people associate something with a place, this is known among cultural geographers as a "sense of place".  I am using the word "place" in a slightly different way to mean the geographic space (location or region) that a food is commonly associated with.  It does not have to be a place of origin.  As mentioned in a previous post, the original form of Hollandaise sauce probably originated in Holland, but is now associated with France as its culinary place.

The closest thing green bean casserole has to a culinary place is the United States.  But can this qualify as a nationally unifying food?  I'd say if there's any food I can think of that does, this would be it.  Made by a corporation, all across the U.S. and within it, and enjoyed on a national holiday by millions, this is more of a national food than the apple pie, burger (both German in origin), or turkey (raised long before the nation was founded, I might go into it on a separate article next Thanksgiving) put together.

But as well as a unifying food, green bean casserole has recently celebrated the country's differences.  Because of the differences in cooking styles of the regions, variations have popped up.  In mine, for instance, I add avocado because they are readily available in California.  A Google search will give results for many other regional and personal variations of green bean casserole as well.

Green bean casserole.

That's all for today, hope you enjoyed the post!

Pictures: Thanksgiving (Part 2)

Sorry I didn't post the photos yesterday, I got exhausted from cooking.  Here they are:

Vegan Pumpkin Lasagna

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Sauteed Pearl Onions

Vegan Stuffing

Who needs Tofurkey anyway?

Topic: Thanksgiving (Part 2)

For vegans, people who do not eat dairy or meat, Thanksgiving can be difficult, especially since one of the key components of a traditional Thanksgiving is the consumption of poultry.  My dad happens to be vegan, and since it is also his birthday, I am cooking for him today.

For the meal, I am putting together a cranberry, nut, and lettuce salad with raspberry balsamic sauce, a vegan green bean casserole, a vegan pumpkin lasagna, cornbread stuffing, and roasted onions.  I'll put up pictures later today.

Pictures: Thanksgiving (Part 1)

Here are the photos of Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's:

The table.

Strawberry Nut Salad

 

Cornish Game Hens with Wild Rice

Green Bean Casserole

Topic: Thanksgiving (Part 1)

Edited 12/30/2013

Thanksgiving (we're talking about the U.S. version, although Canada has one too) is a tradition celebrated differently depending on who you are talking about.  But it all has one common theme: a gratuitously large amount of food.  Often, it looks something like this:

A common symbol of Thanksgiving, the cornucopia.

But it doesn't have to be.  For example, my mom eats less food, so when I spend Thanksgiving at her house, we have about 3-4 dishes maximum.  Usually, there is turkey in a Thanksgiving dinner.  But we have a family recipe for Cornish game hen with wild rice that works just fine in its place.  We also usually have green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, and strawberry nut salad for dessert.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and also my dad's birthday, so I'm spending Thankgiving with him.  Today, I will be having Thanksgiving dinner a day early with my mom.  I'll post photos of what we made later tonight.  Tomorrow, I will describe Thanksgiving with my dad and post photos of that dinner.  The next day, I'll be talking about the geography of each dish I prepared.

Check back later for some photos of my Thanksgiving dinner!

Welcome to Foodie Geographer! (Topic: Hollandaise Sauce)

Edited 12/30/2013

Welcome to Foodie Geographer!  This will be a food blog in which I relate everything to cultural or physical geography.  For example, consider Hollandaise sauce, a key part of an Eggs Benedict.

Eggs Benedict.  My fave!

I won't provide a recipe for Hollandaise sauce.  I might post recipes for other things in the future, but I am terrible at making this, so I won't for now.

Hollandaise sauce was invented in its original form by the Dutch, first appearing in a cookbook in 1593 by Carel Baten.  It became very popular in France, and was known as Dutch sauce until the 1800s.  It is difficult to know what was in the original Dutch version without knowing Dutch, which I don't.  The only partially-translated form of the text I found online is here:

http://www.kookhistorie.nl/index.htm

(Hint: After clicking the link, scroll down to see the partially-translated text.)


The classic French version is more well-known.  From there, it was popularized in Great Britain and Germany, and now in the United States.  Today, it remains to be considered a quintessential French sauce.  The cookbook Larousse Gastronomique hints that egg yolks were not originally in the recipe (now a key ingredient).  Instead, it was a butter-based sauce.

Now for the geography!  Where in the Dutch sphere of influence did the original recipe for Hollandaise sauce come from?  Well, usually when people moved to different countries in the late 1500s and early 1600s, they had to travel short distances, unless by boat.  Assuming the Dutch who brought Hollandaise sauce to France did not go by boat, they would have came from a region that was then under Dutch control situated relatively close to France.  The modern term "Hollandaise" seems to suggest Holland, so it would be southern Holland because the south of Holland specializes in the production of butter.  Also, southern Dutch cuisine is famous for sauces and gravies.

Now, we can see what the original Hollandaise sauce may have been like.  There is still a sauce in Dutch cuisine known as "Volendam fish sauce" (butter en eek), a butter sauce where vinegar is added (recipe).  This sounds something like the Hollandaise sauce we know today, except we add egg yolks and substitute vinegar for lemon juice.

And there you have it, an example of applied food geography.  Hope you enjoyed reading it; check back later!