June 27, 2006
#18
Market days for The Cheese Lady
are Thursday and Saturday. 8-2
Busy? Email me your order and I can have it ready!
Or call 231-744-8652.
Holy Toledo! It's almost July.
There have been some too gorgeous to believe days this month.
The yards are green and the evenings are balmy.
WOW
This week at the market Pyrenees
The Pyrénées cheese made from mountain milk has been produced
in St. Girons in the Middle-Pyrénées for a long time.
In the middle ages, almost every farmer in the Pyrénées
produced their own mountain milk cheese.
With their secret recipes, they wanted to get the favour
of the lord/master, who paid for the best cheeses.
During the centuries, a cheese skill developed
that can be tasted today in this Pyrénées cheese.
A cow's milk cheese
from France.
I liken it to a slightly salty havarti
because of it's texture.
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Since The Cheese Lady started selling rice,
I've learned more about it and eaten more too.
I'm not sure about all of the items that
SPICES, RICES & 'SHROOMS has taken on
but the variety and taste of good rice
makes trying new rices fun and healthy.
Rice Folklore
The Chinese word for rice is the same as the word for food;
in Thailand when you call your family to a meal you say, "eat rice";
in Japan the word for cooked rice is the same as the word for meal.
Most of us have either thrown a handful of rice at newly weds
or personally experienced a prickly rice shower.
This ancient rice throwing ritual originally symbolized fertility
and the blessing of many children;
today it symbolizes prosperity and abundance.
Rice is the first food a new Indian bride offers her husband,
perhaps instead of wedding cake;
it is also the first food offered a newborn.
In Japan where there is an almost mystical aura surrounding the planting,
harvesting and preparation of rice it is believed
that soaking rice before cooking releases the life energy
and gives the eater a more peaceful soul.
To encourage Japanese children to eat all of their rice
the grains are affectionately called little Buddhas.
In China young girls with finicky appetites are warned
that every grain of rice they leave in their rice bowls
represents a pock mark on the face of their future husband.
In India it is said that the grains of rice should be like two brothers -
close, but not stuck together.
In China a typical greeting, instead of "How are you?"
is "Have you had your rice today?".
A greeting to which one is expected to always reply, "Yes".
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Chinese Black Forbidden Rice
By Chris Rossi, Citron
1 cup Forbidden Rice
3 tablespoons butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lime, zested and pith removed
Cooking liquid to cover plus 1 inch (chicken stock or water)
Hot sauce (amount to be determined by individual taste)
Saute the onion in the butter till clear; add the garlic,
Forbidden Rice, peeled lime cut into four pieces,
cooking liquid and bring to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer and cook for approximately 1 hour
or till rice is soft but not mushy.
Add more liquid if rice dries out during cooking.
Fluff rice when done and add zest to taste.
Rice will be creamy like a black risotto.
This recipe works excellent with pork, swordfish or prawns
See you at the Market.
Kathleen