How often have you had a cocktail with an orange wheel—a horizontal slice of orange?

How would you feel about another shape?

An unnamed Japanese bartender cut hexagonal orange garnishes for an Aperol Spritz. They look great, don’t they?

The problem is, the oranges were shaped in a hexagonal mold while growing (like the Japanese square watermelons).

So, we can’t cut hexagons that include the orange peel, as in the photograph. But we can cut hexagons without the peel—or triangles, or squares.

We found it easier to first slice the orange in half, then in slices; and then we trimmed each slice into the hexagon. Use a very sharp knife!

Other round citrus, like Meyer lemons and Key limes, work as well.

Nothing is wasted: Save the scraps of orange and peel and make ice cubes with them.

Just plop them into each cube section, fill with water and freeze.

Hexagon cocktail garnish (photo courtesy Aperol Spritz | Facebook).

[2] Fine & Raw Chocolate Bars are portioned for daily enjoyment.

[3] Say good-by to environmentally harmful straws with these look-alike alternatives from Repurpose Compostables.

Our favorite products of the week, in alphabetical order:

1. A. VOGEL SPICY SEA SALT

A. Vogel makes a popular herbed sea salt. Joining it is new Spicy Sea Salt, with a touch of hot chiles. It is the recipient of a 2018 Food Essential Award.

Add extra heat and spice to your your recipes: Pep up grilled food, Mexican, Italian and other recipes. Or simply shake some heat onto grains, fruits and vegetables.

A. Vogel advises: Add seasoned salts after cooking for enhanced taste (i.e., so the flavor doesn’t “cook out”).

A. Vogel products are available nationwide at health food stores and online retailers. They are certified kosher by KSA, Non-GMO, Eco Cert, and Biologique Canada.

Discover more at AVogelUSA.com

2. FINE & RAW CHOCOLATE BARS

Fine & Raw is a line of hip, small-batch, artisan chocolate bars that are a delectable alternative to processed chocolate.

The raw food movement does not process food at temperatures higher than 118°F, in order to preserve the nutrients.

The cacao beans are barely heated, ripening some of the flavors but leaving the taste of raw (unroasted) cacao beans. No dairy is used; the bars are vegan.

Coconut sugar was chosen as the sweetener, because it enhances the rich, deep flavors of cacao—and has much more nutritional value than cane sugar. (It does not taste like coconut.)

The creamy one-ounce bars—some two ounces—are available in fab flavors:

 
Check out the individual bars, collections and gift sets at
FineAndRaw.com.

Repurpose is a line of eco-friendly, sustainable tableware that keeps plastic waste out of the landfill. They are 100% compostable, so they break down in months, not millennia.

The products are made exclusively from plants, and are durable, BPA-free and guilt-free renewable alternatives.

The material used is ingeo, made from carbon stored in plants during photosynthesis, in the form of dextrose sugar.

The latest addition to the line is drinking straws—and yes, they are flexible (they bend towards the top), and won’t crack or break. They have the same look and feel as plastic straws.

With recent press about the plastic straws, we know that Americans use 500 million drinking straws every day, enough to fill 46,400 school buses every year (source)!

While major restaurant chains and other foodservice outlets are putting plans in place to end the practice, you can start immediately. They’re available on Amazon.

See the rest of the line at RepurposeCompostables.com.

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*Lúcuma is a fruit native to Andes Mountain valleys.
  

This year, we’ve combined the two into one fun recipe: Banana Split Waffles. The waffle becomes the split banana.

It’s timely, too August 24th is National Waffle Day and August 25th is National Banana Split Day.

Prep time is 10 minutes, total time 25 minutes. A round waffle maker is required. Thanks to Krusteaz for the recipe.

But first:

 
 
RECIPE: BANANA SPLIT WAFFLES

Ingredients For 4 Servings

For The Waffles

 
For The Fillings

[2] In addition to the “banana split,” a round waffle maker enables you to fold the waffles, taco style, to hold the fillings (photo courtesy All-Clad).

1. PREHEAT the waffle iron. To toast the nuts, preheat a dry, heavy skillet over medium heat, add the nuts and toast for 1 to 2 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and give off a rich, toasty fragrance. Stir constantly for even toasting. Remove from the pan to cool.

2. WHISK all the waffle ingredients together in a medium bowl. The batter will be slightly lumpy.

3. POUR the batter onto the prepared waffle iron. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the waffles are golden brown, or according to the waffle iron directions.

4. FOLD the waffle into a small bowl and add the fillings.
 
 
MORE BANANA SPLIT FUN

[2] Hot dogs are available in different sizes and seasonings.

[3] Hot dog production: ready to roll into the oven for smoking.

A & H, Abeles & Heymann, is an old-world-style producer of top-quality kosher processed meats—corned beef, hot dogs, pastrami and salami. The products are made from recipes brought from Austria to New York City.

Founded in 1954 by an uncle and his nephew, the small company prospered. Decades later, when the founders planned to retire, they didn’t want to sell to a large corporation that might seek higher profits by changing the quality of the ingredients and the manufacturing process. So the company remains privately owned, and the quality is still the highest.

The hot dogs are glatt kosher. The difference between kosher and glatt kosher is a higher standard of supervision. To be certified glatt kosher, the meat must come from an animal with adhesion-free or smooth lungs; glatt means smooth. Here’s a longer explanation.
 
 
PRODUCING THE HOT DOGS

After creating the proper lean-to-fat ratio, the mixture is moved into a rotating paddle machine where the ground meat and fat create a bind that reduces greasiness. The meat then goes into an emulsifier, where spices are added.

The spiced meat heads to the stuffer, where the meat is extruded into the linker—the machine that forms the individual hot dogs, or links in trade parlance.

The linked hot dogs are placed on a hanging tree (photo #3) and rolled into ovens, where the meat is smoked for 12 to 24 hours. After cooling, the links are separated, packaged and shipped.
 
 
YOU CAN TASTE THE QUALITY

Most hot dog brands taste fatty and overly-spiced. That’s to cover up lesser-quality meat and a greater percentage of [cheaper] fat.

Bite into an A & H hot dog, and you’ll immediately taste the meatiness. It’s one of the best-tasting beef hot dogs you can hope to find.

There’s no sponginess (an indication of fat), no excessive spicing ready to be burped.

If you’re looking to grill something more special for the holiday weekend—or any day of the year—pick up some A & H hot dogs. They’re more expensive than big brands; but isn’t all good meat more expensive?

If you can’t find the hot dogs locally, you can buy them online from A & H.
 
 
LEARN MORE AT ABELES-HEYMANN.COM.

The history of the hot dog explains the terms frankfurter and wiener. The hot dog traces its lineage to the 15th-century Viennese sausage, or wienerwurst in German.

Johann Georghehner, a butcher from the German city of Coburg, in Bavaria, is credited with inventing the “dachshund” or “little dog” sausage in the 17th century, and he brought it to the larger city of Frankfurt. The style became known as the frankfurter.

Yet, it was still a sausage eaten with a knife and fork, no bun. The hot dog, a slender sausage in a bun, was undeniably an American invention.

The attribution is given to a German immigrant named Charles Feltman, who began selling sausages in rolls at a stand in Coney Island in 1871.

The 1893 World Exposition in Chicago marked the debut of the hot dog vendor. According to National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, around this time that the hot dog first made its first appearance at a ballpark, at a St. Louis Browns game.

The first published mention of the term “hot dog” as a food first appeared in print in a September 1893 issue of The Knoxville Journal. However, it was well established prior to then.
  

August 22nd is National Bao Day, a relatively newly-established holiday reflecting the increased availability of bao in the U.S.

Baozi, called bao for short (and pronounced like bow-wow), is a traditional Chinese steamed filled bun (photo #1). Bao are served at restaurants as appetizers, made at home, and sold by street vendors. You’ll find them on dim sum menus.

While Americans may think of them as dumplings, bao are not made with a pasta/noodle dough but with a soft yeasty white bread made from wheat dough. Steamed in bamboo baskets and served warm, they are a real comfort food.

Meats or vegetables are the most common fillings, and you’ll also find sweet bao, filled with custard, chocolate, red beans or other sweet.

And there are many presentation styles, too. Some bao are perfectly smooth domes, others are more rustic and pinched together on top (photo #1).

For gua bao (photo #2), the bread is shaped like a soft taco shell and filled with sliced ingredients, as opposed to the chopped ingredients in self-contained bao. They originated in Fuzhou, the capital of China’s Fujian province, and are popular in Taiwan and Korea.

Chinese immigration brought bao to other Pacific Rim countries, each putting their own touch onto fillings and shapes (source).

While bao can be eaten at any meal, and are a go-to breakfast food, in the U.S. bao have gotten the “American breakfast treatment.”

Wow Bao in Chicago sells bacon, egg and cheddar bao; scrambled eggs bao with mushrooms and spinach; and spicy sausage and egg bao.

We’re waiting for the PB&J bao for lunch.

Check out the different types of bao. But be warned: They will make you hungry.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF BAO

According to legend, baozi was invented by the Chinese military strategist and chancellor of the state of Shu Han, Zhuge Liang, during a military campaign in the third century C.E.

In actuality, bao were derived from mantou, steamed buns without a filling, that originated in the north of China.

Mantou are thought to have originated in the Qin State of the Zhou Dynasty during the reign of King Zhaoxiang (307 B.C.E.-250 B.C.E.).

Along with other wheat-based foods like noodles, mantou and bao became popular during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-206 C.E.)

Originally both styles—plain and filled—were called mantou. But centuries later, by the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127 C.E.), the term bao or baozi was used to differentiate the buns with filling (source).

But bao didn’t stay in China.

It is believed that the Mongols brought bao to Central and East Asia, about the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century. Thanks to them, filled dumplings emerged in the cuisines of Persia, Turkey and Uzbekistan, among other cuisines.

With the arrival of more Chinese immigrants to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s, Chinese cuisine expanded beyond the Americanized Cantonese foods that were previously available.

Ask for bao the next time you visit a Chinese restaurant. It will most likely be BBQ pork, but you may find chicken bao, seafood bao, and those delicious dessert bao filled with sweet custard (recipe below).
 
 
BAO RECIPES

 
 
BREAD DOUGH HACK

If you want to try bao without investing a lot of time, use store-bought biscuit dough. They won’t taste exactly the same, but will give you an idea of what from-scratch will be like.

Check it out.

[2] Gua bao, a variation of presentation. Here’s the recipe from Curious Nut.

[3] Some styles of bao look like perfect, smooth domes. Here’s the recipe from Kitch Me.)

[4] Dessert bao can be filled with custard, chocolate or other sweet. How about Nutella (photo courtesy Wow Bao)?