We’ll get to today’s tip in a minute or so. But here’s what inspired it.

Frenchly.us is a website for Francophiles in the U.S. that covers news, arts, culture, style and all things French.

Which includes food.

In the past, the website sponsored a Best Baguette competition in different cities, naming some 15 finalists from the best in bakeries the city. Buy a ticket, and taste them all in one place.

This year it was the Best Croissant competition, which we attended recently. If you’re a croissant lover, imagine being in a venue with the city’s 15 best croissant bakers, who bid you to sample as much as you’d like.

More than 700 eager eaters went from station to station in a Manhattan location, eating as much as they desired. How many croissants do you think you can eat?

We’d be stuffed at two…although we calculated that if we only ate two bites of 15 croissants, that would be about three croissants.

But the bakeries brought more than classic croissants. They brought almond croissants, chocolate croissants (pain au chocolat), specialty flavors like pistachio, along with muffins, fruit breads and rustic loaves.

Plus unlimited coffee, tea, jam, butter, and other French delights like pâté.

What’s a taster to do?

For one thing, don’t order the optional brunch. You won’t have room to sample the cornucopia of croissants.

The competing bakeries are shown in image #2.

While every bakery’s products were of the highest quality, participants were asked to vote for their favorites.

And the winners are…

 
 
PARTY IDEA!

Coordinate your own Best Croissant competition. Ask friends and family to bring the best from their neighborhoods.

You can do this with any food, from eclairs to chicken wings. Our friend Cricket has an annual Super Bowl event where everyone brings their favorite wings for a wing-off.

[2] The 15 finalists in the 2018 Best Croissant competition.

Croissants are breakfast breads, traditionally a breakfast bread served with jam and butter, and coffee.

Variations include the almond croissant, filled with frangipane and topped with sliced almonds, and the “chocolate croissant,” correctly called pain au chocolat, baked with a piece of dark chocolate in the center.

There are also pretzel croissants, which adapt German soft pretzel dough into the crescent shape.

The rich, buttery, crescent-shaped rolls are made of puff pastry. Puff pastry layers yeast dough with alternate layers of butter, a process known as laminating.

Stories that the roll was made in the shape of the crescent of the Turkish flag, after the defeat of the Turks in the Siege of Vienna in 1683, are a perpetuated myth.

[2] Cayenne chiles (photo courtesy Good Eggs).

While the first chile may have been domesticated in Bolivia, the oldest known traces of have been found in bowls in Ecuador, dating back 6,100 years*.

Chiles were carried to different parts of Latin America, where soil, climate and cross breeding created many different species. Today there are six species of chiles in the genus Capsicum.

But how did we get so many different spellings for the chile? And why are chiles called peppers?

 
And by the way:

Chiles are a fruit, not a vegetable. Here’s the difference between fruits and vegetables.

But Columbus’ name stuck, but it isn’t correct. Our suggestion is to simply call hot chiles—ancho, jalapeño, habanero, serrano, etc.—chiles.
 
If you live in the U.S. (we can’t address other countries):

 
MORE

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*Science magazine, February 16, 2007.

†Taxonomy includes Kingdom, Subkingdom, Infrakingdom, Superdivision, Division, Subdivision, Class, Superorder, Order, Family, Genus, Species. The simplified list is Kingdom, Division, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. Black pepper (Piper nigrum genus and species) and chiles (Capsicum genus, 6 different species), are not related at all, although both are in the plant kingdom.

Their only relationship is that they are both members of the plant family in the official taxonomy.

Taxonomy is the branch of science concerned with classification of organisms plants and animals.

PIPER NIGRUM

Kingdom Plantae Plants
Subkingdom Viridiplantae
Infrakingdom Streptophyta – land plants
Superdivision Embryophyta
Division Tracheophyta – vascular plants, tracheophytes
Subdivision Spermatophytina spermatophytes, seed plants
Class Magnoliopsida
Superorder Magnolianae
Order Piperales
Family Piperaceae – peppers
Genus Piper L. – pepper
Species Piper nigrum L. – black pepper

[Source]

CAPSICUM

Kingdom Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass Asteridae
Order Solanales
Family Solanaceae – Potato family
Genus Capsicum
Species Capsicum annuum
Species Capsicum baccatum
Species Capsicum chinense
Species Capsicum frutescens
Species Capsicum pubescens
Species Capsicum praetermissum

[Source]

[4] Bell peppers, the non-spicy chile.

[2] You can buy pistachio flour or grind your own from pistachio nuts. See the technique below (photo courtesy Gourmet Food World).

[3] For more festiveness, look for green foil muffin/cupcake liners (photo courtesy Fox Run).

February 26th is National Pistachio Day: a perfect day to bake something with pistachio nuts.

We love the concept of pistachio “surprise” muffins: The surprise is the melted chocolate center.

A lesser surprise is that they’re sweet enough to be served as dessert; in which case you can call them cupcakes and serve them with ice cream or whipped cream.

 
This recipe was adapted from an Italian recipe blog, Agnese Italian Recipes. Here’s Agnese’s original recipe.

Jumping from Italy to Ireland:

St. Patrick’s Day is in less than three weeks: Another occasion to make these tasty green muffins.

Use green food coloring to make the batter as green as you like.
 
 
RECIPE: PISTACHIO MUFFINS WITH CHOCOLATE CENTER

Ingredients 12 Muffins

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Prepare the muffin tins: Line the wells with paper or foil liners.

2. WHISK together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, oil and milk. Add the dry mixture into the wet, and blend with a wooden spoon.

3. ADD the coffee and the pistachio flour, and the optional food color. Divide the mixture into 2 bowls.

4. ADD a heaping spoonful of the batter into each muffin cup. Next, place a square of chocolate in the center of the cup, and top with another spoonful of batter. The muffin cups should be 2/3 full.

5. BAKE for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry.

What You Need

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the nuts in the food processor and pulse until they are a flour-like consistency. Don’t over-pulse or they will turn into pistachio butter.

2. ADD the ground nuts to a sieve and sift them into a bowl. Re-pulse pieces that are too large to fit through the sieve and repeat as necessary.

You can store the flour for one month in the fridge or several months in the freezer. Don’t keep it at room temperature: The oil in the nuts can become rancid.

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*Each Baker’s Chocolate package has 8 one-ounce squares. You can also use squares from 3.5-ounce chocolate bars, which are better-tasting chocolate. You’ll need 3-1/2 large chocolate bars.

†Pistachio flour is expensive. Since you need only a small amount, it may make sense to grind your own from whole pistachios (or pieces).

It’s a happy day when we discover a new food. We discovered celtuce [photo #1] in our local Chinatown.

There are a number of fruits and vegetables in Chinese cuisine that are unfamiliar to non-Chinese Americans. They move slowly into the hands of mainstream American chefs, and then trickle down to home cooks.

One of these is celtuce (sell-TOOSE): not new, but new to us.

Celtuce, Latuca sativa, is a member of the same genus and species as bibb, iceberg, romaine and the other lettuces. It is also known as stem lettuce, Chinese lettuce, asparagus lettuce and celery lettuce. The Cantonese name is wosun.

(Here’s the history of lettuce and the different types of lettuce.)

The sword-shaped leaves look like they’re related to romaine; the stems are pale and long but thick, like broccoli. As you can see in photo #1, celtuce stems have horizontal ribs, which remind us of bamboo.

The name is a portmanteau of celery and lettuce,” and—surprise!—it tastes like a blend of both, crisp, delicate, and mild.

The flavor is mild with notes of nuttiness to it. Some people find a smoky aftertaste.

The stems have the crunch of celery; when eaten raw they will appeal to fans of jicama and water chestnuts. They retain their crispness when cooked.

Chefs love celtuce. Chef April Bloomfield thinks celtuce a most underrated vegetable, describing it as “slightly nutty and totally amazing.” [source]

For a new taste treat, seek it out.

In Asia, the lettuce is grown primarily for its stem; so if you purchase it in an Asian market, the leaves may have been cut off. Buy it for starters, but if you like bitter greens, persist in seeking stems with their leaves.

And as many vegetables and fruits have different flavors depending on subspecies and soil, some raw stems can be very bitter; i.e., not good for eating raw.

Some varieties don’t have a thick head like romaine, but more of top leaves like a plumed bird or Sideshow Bob.

Nutritionally, celtuce is largely water (like celery and lettuce, but with:

 
 
HOW TO USE CELTUCE

Celtuce is as easy to prepare as broccoli.

Both the leaves and the stem can be served raw or as a cooked vegetable. Like some broccoli, the stem’s outer skin can be tough, and should be peeled.

Then, start with this lista:

 
 
CELTUCE RECIPES

 
Modern Farmer recommends looking beyond Asian flavor: “…it plays very nicely with Mediterranean flavors like walnuts, lemon, and olive oil.”

Don’t forget the tomatoes, onions and fresh herbs [photo #2].

[1] Celtuce, from southern China (photo courtesy Epicurious).

[2] Celtuce in a salad, with cherry tomatoes and scallions (photo courtesy Sid Wainer).

[3] Bacon and shiitake mushrooms are cooked with stem-lettuce leaves in a simple stir-fry from Lillian Chou, in Saveur magazine. Here’s the recipe.

[4] Stir-fried celtuce stems with garlic, ginger and Sichuan peppercorns. Here’s the recipe from China Sichuan Food.

[2] The whole tail, ready to be sliced (photo © Andrew Grygus, The Clove Garden).

[3] Oxtail ragu, a popular preparation (recipe and photo from Sara Kate Gillingham | The Kitchn). The cooked meat is removed from the bone.

[4] Oxtail stew, meat on the bone. Here’s the recipe for the classic Roman oxtail stew, Coda Alla Vaccinara, from Saveur.

In earlier times, when oxen did the heavy pulling of carts and plows, oxen who could no longer “pull their weight” became meat.

In times when every scrap of food was precious*, every part of an animal (and vegetable) was used, from the head to the tail to to the hooves.

Today, you can still buy oxtail (also spelled ox tail and ox-tail [photo #1]). It’s the tail of a cow or steer [photo #2].

Once considered food for poor people who couldn’t afford better cuts, chefs and home cooks alike have discovered the charms of oxtail. The price, accordingly, is no longer rock-bottom.
 
 
OXTAIL IN YOUR KITCHEN

The tail typically weighs 2 to 4 pounds. It is cut into short lengths, ideally 2-1/2 inches, by the butcher [photos #1 and #2]; although you can buy the entire tail and slice it yourself.

The pieces are bony, fatty and gelatinous, the latter of which gives body to soups and stews. Each section includes some of the tailbone and its marrow, with meat and fat surrounding the tail.

Oxtail is a tough cut that needs to be slow-cooked, typically in a stew, braise or soup. (Tip: Use a pressure cooker.)

“Persevere,” says one butcher, “and you’ll be rewarded with one of the most tender bits of the cattle, with an intensely rich flavor.”

Some recipes like stew serve the oxtail “on the bone” [photo #4]; others, like a ragu, specify that the meat be removed from the bones [photo #3].

But it’s not just tasty dishes: Beef stock and beef bouillon cubes are often made from oxtail.
 
 
WHAT IS AN OX

An ox is a bovine that is trained for draft work: pulling carts, wagons, plows, etc.

Oxen can be either cows (female) or castrated bulls (steer); the latter were preferred for their greater strength. The males were castrated to make them gentler and thus easier to handle.

Thus, there is no specific breed called “ox.”

In Biblical times, ox was a term used for any domesticated bovine, regardless of age, gender, breed, type, or draft purpose [source].

Today’s description of bovines is much more complex. See how many terms you know.

Oxen were the principal beasts of burden for millennia, and still are in less developed areas of the world.

When oxen could no longer do their work and were slaughtered for food, it was discovered that the [castrated] males had a better flavor. That’s why steer are today’s source of quality beef.

The term “oxtail” has retained its heritage, and to some of us sounds more exotic and appetizing than “cowtail” or “steertail.”
 
 
OXTAIL RECIPES

Recipes abound online. Here are two to start you off:

 
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*And in many parts of the world, it still is.