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NEWS: New Pork Cut & Beef Cut Names

April 8, 2013 at 2:59 pm · Filed under Meat & Poultry

Bone-in loin chops will now be called
porterhouse. Photo courtesy National Pork
Board.

  

If you’ve ever wondered why a cut of meat called pork butt is actually the shoulder of the pig, the National Pork Board has decided to help you out—sort of—by changing the name. The cut will be renamed Boston roast.

Why not simply call it pork shoulder? The answer, dear reader, is marketing. Which sounds better in the meat case and on a restaurant menu: Boston roast or pork shoulder? And while there’s nothing wrong with the familiar bone-in loin chops, doesn’t porterhouse sound better?

If it sounds better you can sell more, and at higher prices, too. The renamed Chilean sea bass was originally called the Patagonaian toothfish and orange roughy was the slimehead. How appetizing are those?

The National Pork Board, the industry trade organization, has announced a new set of names for some favorite cuts of pork. The new names are phasing in at retailers nationwide and should be in full force this summer.

 
The new names were chosen to reflect the names of cuts of meat that shoppers are already familiar with, in the beef case and on restaurant menus—and have built-in appeal (as with porterhouse and rib-eye pork cuts). Home cooks will hopefully have an easier time selecting and preparing pork.

The new pork names to look for:

  • Boston roast (previous name: pork butt)
  • Pork porterhouse chop (previous name: loin chop)
  • Pork rib-eye chop (previous name: rib chop)
  • Pork rib-eye chop, bone-in (previous name: rib chop center)
  • Pork New York chop (previous name: top loin chop)

    •  
    Some beef cuts will have new names as well. Examples:

  • Denver steak (previous name: under blade boneless steak)
  • Flatiron steak (previous name: boneless shoulder top blade steak)
  • Coulette (previous name: top sirloin), the French term for the cut

    •  
    We don’t get coulette at all; it’s far more oblique than top sirloin. As with any committee project, some of the recommendations work, and some are no better than the original that has been replaced.

    But don’t worry about mass confusion in the meat case: Package labels will feature the old and new names.

    The new system, which standardizes common red meat cuts, was advocated by the National Pork Board and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The two associationa collaborated to conduct in-depth research over an 18-month period, to develop solutions to help today’s shopper find specific cuts of fresh meat easily.

     

    Called the Uniform Retail Meat Identification Standards (URMIS), it aims to simplify meat cuts by adopting descriptions of cuts people are already familiar on restaurant menus, which come up with better names to sell the products.

  • Few people would buy a “diaphragm cut,” but bistro steak or hanger steak sounds interesting (the cut is also called butcher’s tenderloin).
  • Bavette sounds better than flap steak.
  • Sirloin steak sounds tastier than butt steak.
  • London broil has more appeal than flank steak.

    •  
    Here are two pork recipes that incorporate the new names:

    		  


    Grilled rib chops with spicy barbecue sauce. Photo courtesy National Pork Board.
  • Grilled Pork Porterhouse With Chipotle Cilantro Butter recipe.
  • Grilled Pork Ribeye With Easy Spicy BBQ Sauce and Chive Mashed Potatoes recipe.

    •  
    Find more delicious pork recipes at the National Pork Board’s recipe site, BeInspired.com.
     
     
    FIND THE DIFFERENT CUTS OF PORK IN OUR PORK GLOSSARY.

    FIND THE DIFFERENT CUTS OF BEEF IN OUR BEEF GLOSSARY.
      

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    What To Do With Green Chartreuse & The History Of Chartreuse

    April 8, 2013 at 8:43 am · Filed under Cocktails & Spirits, Food Facts - Food History


    [1] This Gatsby-inspired cocktail is delicious. Photo
    courtesy Moët & Chandon.

    Chartreuse In A Stemmed Liqueur Glass
    Chartreuse in a stemmed liqueur glass (photo © Cold Penguin 1952 | CC-BY-NC-SA-2.0 License).

    Green & Yellow Chartreuse Bottles
    [3] Bottles of green and yellow Chartreuse (photo © Jeremy Brooks | CC-BY-NC-2.0-license).

    		  

    If you have a bottle of Chartreuse that languishes on the shelf, we’ve got a recipe that’s so charming and delicious, it’s reason enough to call friends over for a cocktail hour.

    The recipe was created as part of The Plaza Hotel’s spring celebration of the new Baz Luhrman film, “The Great Gatsby,” based on the F. Scott Fizgerald novel. The Plaza Hotel is featured in a the novel and the film.*

    The sixth film version of The Great Gatsby stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan. It opens in theaters on May 10, 2013.

    But there’s no reason to wait until then to enjoy the cocktail. Start mixing!

    > What is Chartreuse? The history of the liqueur is below.

    > National Chartreuse Day is May 16th. National Liqueur Day is October 16th.
     
     
    A NEW CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL: THE MOËT IMPERIAL GATSBY

    It couldn’t be easier to make this simple-yet-elegant cocktail. The recipe was crafted for the occasion by mixologist Jim Meehan.

    Ingredients Per Drink

  • 5 ounces Moët & Chandon Imperial or other brut Champagne
  • 1 sugar cube
  • ¼ ounce green Chartreuse
  • Spiral lime twist

    •  
    ______________

    *On an oppressively hot afternoon, Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan and Nick Carraway decide to drive into the city and take a suite at the Plaza Hotel.
     
    Preparation

    1. SOAK the sugar cube in the Chartreuse.

    2. POUR Champagne into a flute or wine glass and add the sugar cube.

    2. GARNISH with a spiral lime twist.
     

    If you can get to the Plaza Hotel, there’s much more to enjoy after the cocktail.

    The Plaza is celebrating spring Roaring ‘20s-style, with period-inspired food and drink throughout its lounges and restaurants; guests can drink and dine like Gatsby.

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age novel, was originally published by Charles Scribner’s Sons on April 10, 1925. Eighty-eight years later, this April 22nd, The Plaza Hotel will unveil a display of props used in the production of the film, along with some of the costumes worn by the cast.

    If you’re in the chips, inquire about the Fitzgerald Suite, inspired by the new film. The 900-square-foot suite on the 18th floor is a dramatic art deco space where Gatsby and his crew could have spent that hot, indolent, and fateful afternoon.

    If you’re headed to The Rose Club or The Champagne Bar for a drink, a live jazz band plays on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

     
     
    THE HISTORY OF CHARTREUSE LIQUEUR

    Chartreuse, pronounced shahr-TROOZ, is a pale green or yellow liqueur made from brandy and aromatic herbs. We prefer the original green Chartreuse, which has more complexity. Yellow chartreuse is a later recipe, lower in proof and a sweeter mix of herbs.

    Who invented Chartreuse? That information is lost to time.

    As the story goes, in 1605 François Hannibal d’Estrées, duc d’Estrées, a French diplomat, soldier, and Marshal of France to King Henry IV, presented the Carthusian monks at Vauvert, near Paris, with an alchemical manuscript. It contained a recipe for an “elixir of long life” (and it may have worked, since the duke reached the unusually old age of 97 [1573 to 1670]).

    The recipe eventually reached the religious order’s headquarters at the Grande Chartreuse monastery, north of Grenoble, in the Chartreuse Mountains in southeastern France.

    The formula, which was further enhanced in 1737 by Brother Gérome Maubec, is said to include 130 ingredients—herbs, plants, flowers, and other secret ingredients—in a wine alcohol base.

    We do know a few of them.

  • Some of the ingredients in Green Chartreuse: cinnamon, mace, lemon balm, dried hyssop flower tops, peppermint, thyme, costmary, arnica flowers, genepi (wormwood), and angelica root.
  • The recipe for Yellow Chartreuse is similar, with the addition of cardamom seeds and socctrine aloes (a species of aloe endemic to the island of Socotra in Yemen). As with Green Chartreuse, the color is all natural.

    •  
    The exact recipes remain trade secrets and are known at any given time only to the two monks who prepare the herbal mixture [source].

    The monks intended for their liqueur to be used as medicine, which was the common use of all spirits back in the day.

    The liqueur soon became popular, and in 1764 the monks adapted the elixir recipe to make what is now called the Elixir Végétal de la Grande Chartreuse.

    Life in Europe was unstable due to the ongoing shifting of power. In 1793, the Carthusian monks were expelled from France along with all other religious orders and the manufacture of Chartreuse ceased. A copy of the manuscript was made and kept at the monastery, but the original manuscript left in the possession of one of the monks.

    In the best cloak-and-dagger manner, on his way out of France, the monk carrying the recipe was arrested and sent to prison in Bordeaux. He was not searched and was able to secretly pass the manuscript to one of his friends, Dom Basile Nantas. He sold the manuscript to a pharmacist in Grenoble, a Monsieur Liotard.
     
    The Monks Regain Their Recipe

    At the death of the pharmacist, his heirs returned the manuscript to the monks, who had returned to the monastery in 1816.

    In 1840, the monks developed a milder version called Green Chartreuse and a sweeter version called Yellow Chartreuse. The green “Liqueur de Santé” was the first liqueur made from the original recipe of the Elixir Végétal de la Grande Chartreuse. It was so popular that Father Garnier, an attorney and responsible for the liqueurs at the time, later decided to officially name it “Chartreuse Verte” and registered the “Chartreuse” mark in 1852. It is still produced and manufactured today by the Chartreux Fathers in their Aiguenoire distillery in Entre-Deux-Guiers (Isère – France).

    Oh no: The monks were again expelled from the monastery following a French law of 1903, and their real property, including the distillery, was confiscated by the government.

    The monks carried their secret recipe to their refuge in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, and began producing their liqueurs with the same Chartreuse label, but with an additional label that noted, “Liqueur fabriquée à Tarragone par Les Pères Chartreux (the liqueur is manufactured in Tarragona by the Carthusian Fathers).

    At the same time, the Compagnie Fermière de la Grande Chartreuse, a corporation in Voiron, France that had obtained the Chartreuse assets, produced a liqueur without the monks’ recipe, which they sold as Chartreuse.

    While this French corporation was acting legally in France, the monks successfully prevented the export of the liqueur to many other countries, since the order retained ownership of its foreign trademark registrations (largely because the recipe had been kept secret). One trademark dispute was litigated in the U.S., which the monks won.

    Sales at the French company were very poor, and by 1929, it faced bankruptcy. A group of local businessmen in Voiron bought all the shares at a low price and sent them as a gift to the monks in Tarragona.
     
    The Monks Return To Their Monastery

    After regaining possession of the distillery (even with the expulsion order still in place), the Carthusian brothers returned to the monastery with the tacit approval of the French government and began to produce Chartreuse once again. When a mudslide destroyed the distillery in 1935, the French government assigned Army engineers to relocate and rebuild it at a location near Voiron where the monks had previously set up a distribution point.

    After World War II, the government lifted the expulsion order, making the Carthusian brothers once again legal French residents. In 2017 the distillery moved from Voiron to nearby Aiguenoire.

    Today, the liqueurs are produced using the herbal mixture prepared by the two monks at Grande Chartreuse.

    Isn’t this story worth buying a bottle of Green and a bottle of Yellow?
     
    Current Expressions Of Chartreuse Liqueur

    Today there’s more than Green and Yellow. The line of herbaceous liqueurs is all natural, made with no artificial flavors or preservatives.

  • Green Chartreuse (Chartreuse Vert).. The original chartreuse has been made since 1737 and is the only liqueur in the world with a completely natural green color. The current formulation has been made since 1840. (55% A.B.V.).
  • Herbal Elixir de la Grande Chartreuse. Made by the Carthusian monks since 1764, the recipe was adapted from the manuscript given to them by Duc d’Estrées in 1605.
  • Yellow Chartreuse (Chartreuse Jaune). Introduced in 1840, Yellow is milder and sweeter than Green Chartreuse. It has spicy notes, rather than the herbaceous notes of the green expressions. The yellow color is completely natural (40% A.B.V.).
  • V.E.P. Green Chartreuse and V.E.P. Yellow Chartreuse. V.E.P. stands for Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé, Exceptionally Prolonged Aging. These expressions were created in 1963 from the same recipe as the traditional Chartreuse expressions. However, by extra-long aging in oak casks, they develop greater complexity and are appreciated by connoisseurs. (V.E.P Green Chartreuse is 54% A.B.V. V.E.P Green Chartreuse is 42% A.B.V.)
  • Chartreuse 1605 Liqueur d’Elixir. This liqueur was created in 2005 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the duc d’Estrées’ delivery of the recipe manuscript to the Carthusian monks. It is less sweet than the other expressions. (56% A.B.V.)
  • Special Cuvées. These currently include Foudre 147 Liqueur (Vert); Chartreuse MOF Liqueur (Jaune), created in collaboration with the Meilleur Ouvriers de France Sommeliers (M.O.F).; and Liqueur of the 9th Centenary, created in 1984 to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the founding of the Carthusian Order in 1084, by Saint Bruno.
     
    All can be drunk straight or in cocktails.

    By the way, it was the liqueur that gave its name to the greenish-yellow color.

    [Thanks to Wikipedia and the Chartreuse brand for much of this historic information.]

     
     

     
     

    CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

     
     

      

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    TOP PICK OF THE WEEK: Onion Crunch, The New Condiment Sensation

    April 8, 2013 at 7:17 am · Filed under Condiments, Top Pick Of The Week


    From hot dogs to filet mignon, Onion Crunch
    adds something special to every dish it
    garnishes. Photo courtesy Loeb’s Onion
    Crunch.    		   It‘s not often that a new condiment appears. Generally, like salsa and wasabi, it enters our cuisine due to the popularity of a foreign cuisine in the U.S.

    In fact, the inspiration for Onion Crunch comes from Scandinavia. The crisp, crunchy bits of fried onions can be used as an ingredient or garnish with just about any savory dish. It’s like shaking fried onion rings on your food, whenever you like.

    And shake them we do: on eggs, hot dogs and burgers, mac and cheese, potatoes, salad and soup. And that’s just for starters.

    If you love onions, read the full review.

    Then, load up on thes wonderful crunchy onion bits.
    FIND MORE GOURMET CONDIMENTS.
     

      

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    Homemade Napa Cabbage Kimchi Recipe

    April 7, 2013 at 8:40 am · Filed under International Foods, Recipes, Tip Of The Day

    We have a love for kimchi, Korean spicy preserved vegetables. We found ourselves buying many small packets of kimchi for $3.99 a pop. Then the light bulb turned on: These ingredients are very inexpensive and the finished product a long shelf life. Make it yourself! It’s easy, although time consuming; but we love making double and triple batches at a time.

    Kimchi is a very healthful food, low in calories, high in fiber and bursting with vitamins and minerals. Variously spelled kimchee, kim chee or gimchi, it is the national dish of Korea. The name has origins in Korean or Chinese words referring to vegetables soaked in salted water.

    Historians believe that kimchi was first made by Koreans living in Manchuria, to preserve the vitamins and minerals in vegetables for the long winters.

    Kimchi can be served as a condiment, a side or in recipes that vary from kimchi stew or soup to kimchi pancakes and fried rice.

    		 

    A delicious side of kimchi. Photo courtesy Bento.com.sg.
     
    We like it on a burger, hot dog or sandwich, with scrambled eggs, as a side with grilled meats and as a low-calorie spicy/tangy snack. Kimchi is the Korean analogy to sauerkraut, another fermented cabbage dish; but it has much more complexity of flavor and texture.

    There are many different recipes for kimchi. The first step is to select the principal vegetable—typically cucumber, Napa cabbage (Chinese cabbage), radish or scallion. Then, add other fruits and vegetables, including the aforementioned and Asian pear. The sauce can be adjusted to your individual preferences and access to ingredients such as Korean fish sauce, crab fish sauce and salted shrimp.

    Kimchi is a “signature dish”: Each person can add his or her favorite ingredients to create a vibrant recipe. Don’t hesitate to add “American“ vegetables, such as bell pepper and carrots. Just keep the slices thin.

    This recipe is from one by John Ryan on LoveWithFood.com. This recipe makes 6 servings.
     
     
    RECIPE: NAPA CABBAGE KIMCHI

    Ingredients

  • 1 large Napa cabbage
  • 1 medium daikon radish
  • 3 scallions (spring onions), chopped
  • 1 bunch mustard leaves (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 2″ piece of ginger root, peeled and grated
  • 1/2 cup red chili powder (Korean red chili is called gochugaru)
  • 3 tablespoons sugar (we use just 1 tablespoon; you can also use noncaloric sweetener)
  • 2 cups sea salt (kosher salt)
  • 10 cups water
  • Large jar, ideally wide mouth, with tight cap
    		•

     


    Napa cabbage, also called Chinese cabbage. Photo courtesy LaurelOnHealthFood.com.    		   Preparation

    In earlier times, kimchi was often fermented in jars buried underground for months. Today, a few days in a dark corner, plus a week in the fridge, does the trick.

    1. REMOVE the outer leaves of the cabbage if they are not fresh-looking. Trim the edges of the cabbage and separate the leaves. Reserve 4 leaves; chop the remainder of the cabbage into quarters, lengthwise.

    2. PLACE water and salt in a large bowl, skillet or other container, stirring to combine. Soak the cabbage leaves for 6-8 hours (we do it overnight).

    3. REMOVE the cabbage but reserve the salted water. Rinse the cabbage in cold water; shake, then wring out the excess water and move to paper towels to dry.

    4. SLICE the daikon into matchsticks and chop the mustard greens.

    5. COMBINE the ginger garlic paste and chili powder in a large bowl; make a paste by slowly adding 1/2 cup of water and whisking thoroughly.
     
    6. BLEND daikon, scallions and mustard greens into the paste. Wear gloves and toss with your hands. Then add the cabbage and finish blending the kimchi.

    7. PLACE one of the reserved cabbage leaves on a plate or other surface; top with a few spoonfuls of kimchi. Repeat the process for all 4 leaves, making a stack of layers.

    8. LIFT the layers into the jar and pack them tightly. Add any additional kimchi to the top.

    9. POUR the reserved salt water into the jar until it reaches the brim. Tightly cap the jar.

    10. FERMENT at room temperature for 3 days in a dark place; then place the jar in the refrigerator for 7 more days. Finally, you’re ready to enjoy the fruits (actually, vegetables) of your labors. The kimchi will continue to ferment in the jar; keep it in the fridge. Any bubbles you observe are natural fermentation.
      

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    FOOD HOLIDAY: National Caramel Popcorn Day

    April 6, 2013 at 3:04 pm · Filed under Food Holidays, Snacks


    Popsations’ dark chocolate caramel corn.
    Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.    		  

    Caramel corn, also called toffee popcorn, is popped corn covered with caramel or molasses.

    Caramel corn can be drizzled with chocolate or tossed with nuts, like peanuts or almonds. The most famous of these recipes is the classic baseball stadium treat, Cracker Jacks: caramel corn with peanuts.

    If you don’t like the sweet style of caramel popcorn, Popsations, a Maryland-based artisan producer, offers an alternative.

    The company makes a lightly sweetened caramel: not sugary, not cloying, just light and crunchy air-popped corn. Options include:

  • Classic Caramel Corn
  • Dark Chocolate Caramel Corn
  • Milk Chocolate Caramel Corn
  • White Chocolate Caramel Corn
  • Classic Mix, a combination of caramel corn and cheddar Corn
    		•
     
    Popsations also makes Classic and White Cheddar popcorns. But we say: Celebrate National Caramel Popcorn Day with chocolate caramel corn.

    Popcorn, a whole grain snack, is naturally gluten free. The Popsations line is currently nut free as well. Learn more and buy popcorn at PopsationsPopcorn.com.

    POPCORN TIPS

    Popsations offers these tips to keep popcorn fresh:

  • Store popcorn in an airtight container at room temperature
  • Keep popcorn away from humidity and heat.
  • Do not refrigerate, freeze, reheat or microwave popped corn.

    •  
    FIND MORE ABOUT POPCORN & OUR FAVORITE GOURMET POPCORN BRANDS.

      

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