We love bacon, but not the nitrates and nitrates*, salts commonly used to cure meat. So we tried vegan bacon, which doesn’t include either.

We’ve enjoyed some tasty vegan bacon like Hooray Bacon, which is based on shiitake mushrooms.

But our colleague Hannah Kaminsky created her own recipe for shiitake-based bacon and has shared it with us.

“Crispy, caramelized shiitake caps retain a hearty, chewy bite after slowly roasting the oven,” she says. “Infused with richly savory, smoky flavors, shiitake mushrooms make even better bacon than meat.”

“Unlike conventional options, there’s no cholesterol, very little fat, plenty of fiber, and zero cruelty.”

The first Saturday in September is International Bacon Day, and we spent just 10 minutes prepping the ingredients.

Then comes the soak: The dehydrated shiitakes soak in the broth for 8 hours to 24 hours or longer (the longer the soak, the better the flavor).

So if you want shiitake bacon and eggs or a lunch of SBLT (shiitake bacon, lettuce, and tomato) or a “bacon cheeseburger,” start the night before.

> The different types of mushrooms.

> The history of mushrooms.
 
 
RECIPE: VEGAN SHIITAKE MUSHROOM BACON

Hannah prefers the Sugimoto brand of dried shiitake mushrooms, which are naturally grown in Japan’s forests (you can see a video on the website). You can find the brand in Asian markets or online.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. WHISK together the water, soy sauce, olive oil, liquid smoke, maple syrup, paprika, instant coffee, and black pepper in a medium bowl. Add the dried shiitakes and stir thoroughly to combine.

2. TAMP down a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface, to cover and keep all the mushrooms submerged in the liquid. Refrigerate and let them soak for at least 8 hours. Longer is better; 24 hours would be ideal.

3. REMOVE the plastic and transfer the contents—mushrooms and liquid together—to a small saucepan (photo #3). Warm over medium heat until just boiling. Let rest until cool. Once the mushrooms are fully hydrated and cool enough to handle…

4. PREHEAT the oven to 300°F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Remove the shiitakes from the brine, remove the stems and save them for another recipe. You can also save the brine as a poaching liquid. Or heat it as hot broth.

5. SLICE the caps into 1-cm wide strips. Spread them into as even a layer as possible on the baking sheet, without any pieces overlapping. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, carefully flipping the strips every 15 minutes or so to keep the entire batch cooking evenly.

6. COOK until the mushrooms are dry to the touch and highly aromatic. Straight out of the oven, the mushrooms will still be slightly soft to the touch but will crisp up nicely once cool. Let cool completely.

7. STORE at room temperature in an airtight container, for up to two weeks.
 
 
HOW TO USE SHIITAKE BACON

You can keep them in short strips, roughly chop them into bacon bits, or grind them into a fine powder to use as a savory sprinkle. Just a few of Hannah’s favorite ways to use shiitake bacon include:

[1] (recipe and photos #1 through #4 © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[2] Toss on a salad, top a burger or sandwich..

[3] The dried mushrooms are reconstituted in a flavorful broth that imparts the taste of bacon.

[4] Right out of the oven.

[5] Sugimoto brand dried shiitake mushrooms. You can find them on Amazon (photo © Sugimoto).

*While nitrates and nitrites are not themselves carcinogenic, they have the potential to react with other compounds to form carcinogens, during the processing of food [source].

†This particular shiitake mushroom is called “koshin” and is picked after the cap of the mushroom blooms into the umbrella.
 
 

[1] Heirloom tomato and ricotta pizza. The recipe is below (photo © Southern Selects).

[2] Fresh ricotta (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

[3] Fresh ricotta can be molded into a cake for a nice presentation (photo © Good Eggs ).

[4] A slice of ricotta salata cut from a wheel (photo © iGourmet).

[5] Ricotta affumicata, smoked. It is molded into a truncated cone shape (photos #5 and #6 © Abbbasciano).

[6] The ricotta affumicato cheeses in the smoker.

Before summer’s heirloom tomatoes fade into memory until next year, here’s an easy pizza recipe from Southern Selects, growers of fine produce.

This is a partially cooked pizza: Only the crust is baked. The other ingredients are layered on top of the cooked crust in their fresh state (photo #1).

It may be different, but it’s delicious.

> The history of pizza.

> The history of tomatoes.

> The history of ricotta cheese is below.
 
 
RECIPE: HEIRLOOM TOMATO PIZZA WITH RICOTTA CHEESE

If you’re not a fan of ricotta, you can substitute fresh goat cheese, diced from the log.
 
Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 400°F. Sprinkle whole wheat flour onto the countertop and roll out the dough into a round circle, about 1 inch thick.

2. PLACE the dough on a pizza pan and use a fork to poke holes in the crust all over. Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes.

3. WHISK together in a small bowl the ricotta, garlic powder, oregano, salt, and pepper. Spread the cheese mixture onto the dough and place the tomato slices on top. Sprinkle with basil and serve, with more oregano and a peppermill or chile flakes, as desired.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF RICOTTA CHEESE

Ricotta cheese is so old that, like yogurt, it predates written history.

Ricotta is made from the whey leftover from regular cheesemaking. The whey is re-cooked into the fresh cheese we know as ricotta (which is the Italian word for “re-cooked”).

Some scholars believe that the practice of reusing leftover whey started with cheesemaking itself. No one could afford to waste any drop of food.

The Neolithic* humans who invented agriculture at the end of the Stone Age were skilled farmers.

The men tilled the fields and saw to the herds. The women were responsible for dairying, cooking, and making cheese and beer.

It is likely that some Neolithic woman in the Fertile Crescent discovered that cooking the whey leftover from cheese-making yielded…more cheese.

When the whey is boiled again, the remaining keratin proteins in it create solids that float to the top, clumping together in a form that can be skimmed off (photo #1).

The Neolithic period was followed by the Bronze Age. Archaeological evidence dates the production of ricotta on the Italian peninsula to the second millennium B.C.E.

Most scholars agree that ricotta came to Italy by way of Sicily, and was likely first made from sheep’s milk (sheep were the mainstay of the island).

Over time, the “recipe” for ricotta spread north to the rest of Italy. Its sweet, milky, fresh flavor and soft, creamy consistency was delicious and versatile for cooking or enjoying in its plain state.

In addition to sheep’s milk, ricotta was made from the milk of cows, goats, and water buffaloes, depending on the region.

By the height of the Holy Roman Empire, ricotta was widespread throughout Rome and beyond, in the form in which you find it today. The process is the same—boiling the whey and skimming the curds [source].

However, the fresh ricotta was very perishable. Over time, cheesemakers learned how to turn fresh ricotta into two variations with longer staying power: ricotta salata and ricotta affumicata.

 
It’s not easy to find ricotta affumicata in the U.S. We couldn’t even find it on Amazon!

But if you happen to be in Italy, and can bring some back, your cheese-loving friends would be delighted to join you and the affumicata in a tasting experience along with fresh ricotta and ricotta salata.

*The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which man used stone to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is the final part of the Stone Age. It spanned 10,000 B.C.E. to 4,500 B.C.E. The last great ice age ended, and the nomadic hunter-gatherers settled down to raise their food via farming. The earliest farmers lived in the Fertile Crescent, a region that included modern-day western Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, southeastern Turkey, and Syria. Here’s more about it. The Neolithic was followed by the Bronze Age, which saw the development of metal tools.

Sometimes in the business of discovering new food products, we come across true greatness. That’s how we feel about the gourmet ice pops from The Hyppo in St. Augustine, Florida. They are well worth sending for and will make a memorable gift to any lucky recipient of your largesse.

The brilliance is in not just in the quality, but in the combination of many flavors rarely seen in an ice pop (or in any dessert, for that matter). Your personal palate will prefer some flavors over others, but all are exciting!

The flavors are intense. A simple strawberry pop, for example, will be the most flavorsome strawberry pop you could hope to have, chock full of the most scrumptious strawberries.

We now have a new travel destination: St. Augustine, Florida. The city has many attractions and we will see them all—including, of course, an hour or so of daily tasting at The Hyppo.

After all, the stores (there are two in St. Augustine and others in Gainsville, St. Petersburg, and Tampa) carry some 40 flavors each week!

It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to taste these pops. We know we’ll be a regular customer. We’re already clearing out the freezer to make more space.
 
 
WHY THE HYPPO POPS ARE SO WONDERFUL

The Hyppo uses the freshest fruits—the season’s best, many from local farms on their sunny Florida home turf. There’s no middleman: It’s farm to freezer!

The fruits are not just seasonal and freshly picked; they’re luscious. The pops include all of the conventional frozen dessert flavors (Blood Orange, Blueberry, Coconut, Peach, Mango, Pumpkin, etc.), the less conventional ones (Kiwi, Persimmon, Prickly Pear, Starfruit), and those rarely seen north of the sub-tropics (Dragonfruit, Guanabana, Mamey [sapote], Sapodilla).

There are so many creative flavor combinations, and the wholes are truly greater than the sum of their parts.

With one of our first bites, the bright flavor of fresh-off-the-tree Key lime juice simply burst from a Cherry Key Lime pop, along with succulent cherries. We were hooked!

There are hundreds of these duos, and some trios. Just a few: Blackberry Clove, Cucumber Lemon Mint, Kale Apple Cucumber, Pear Prosecco Mascarpone, Red Chile Cantaloupe, Strawberry Basil, Watermelon Jalapeño Margarita.

And yes, there are more familiar combinations: Banana Chocolate, Blueberry Greek Yogurt, Caramel Apple, Coconut Chocolate Chip, Guava Mango, Maple Walnut.

But for people who only want a simple flavor: pick a “plain” pop in Apricot, Pineapple, Pink Grapefruit, Raspberry, and numerous others in the lineup.

Are you overwhelmed yet? Skip to the online store, or continue to the next section.
 
 
OMG: 500 FLAVORS!

While the company claims more than 500 flavors, the 210 flavors that are listed on the website are themselves awe-inspiring: How can one get to taste them all?

They’re seasonal flavors but even so: Divide 210 by the four seasons and you’ve still got 50 flavors per season.

That means that there’s always something new and exciting to try.

Imagine if you lived near The Hyppo in Florida, where each of the stores has between 30-40 different flavors in stock at a time. You could have a different pop every day of the month!

Don’t be daunted if the choices seem overwhelming: There are “only” 26 flavors from which to choose in the online store.

You have to look at all the flavors to get an idea of the riches-on-a-stick, but a couple of examples:

 
You get the picture; and what a heavenly picture it is!

All flavors are made in limited quantities, “while supplies last.”
 
 
OUR FAVORITES

Our first shipment included 10 pops, which spanned a spectrum from Blackberry Goat Cheese to Pineapple Cilantro. All were winners.

We were asked to pick a favorite. Truth to tell, two flavors blew us away to the point where there were tears (almost) when the last bite was gone.

The seduction of the Strawberry Cheesecake pop—even better than a slice of strawberry cheesecake—and the Horchata, its cinnamon lingering on our palate long after the pop was devoured—drove us to ecstasy (well, ice cream ecstasy). The dairy-lover in us was overwhelmed by the creaminess of these pops.

We’d never seen sherbet-style pops before, with dairy ingredients that make them so smooth, creamy, and rich.

Which brings us to Food 101: a bit of food education.
 
 
SHERBET VS. SORBET

Some of the flavors are dairy-free (think sorbet), others have dairy added (think sherbet).

When dairy is added, it is no longer technically an “ice” pop. The difference:

 
 
HOW THE HYPPO GOT ITS NAME

Do not expect an adorable hippopotamus logo: The name of this brand has nothing to do with animals.

Rather, it pays homage to The Hyppo’s hometown, Saint Augustine, Florida. The town was named St. Augustine because the location was first sighted by a Spanish expedition on the day of the Feast of Saint Augustine of Hippo*.

Thus, the company is named after the city’s patron saint. Whether St. Augustine ever met a hippo during his residence in Africa, we’ll likely never know.

More hippo: The flagship store sits on Hypolita Street†, so founder Stephen DiMare named the company Hyppo with a ‘y’ instead of an ‘i.’
 
 
GET YOUR POPS FROM THE HYPPO

Head to the website.

The online store is here.

Also check out:

> The different types of frozen desserts.

> The history of sorbet.

> The history of ice cream.
 
 
HOW ABOUT AN ICE POP COCKTAIL?

Make a Strawberry Mint Moscow Mule with fresh strawberries and mint, and combine it with a strawberry ice pop (photo #7). Use the pop as a stirrer and as a bite between sips.
 
Ingredients Per Drink

[1] Most of the pops are dual flavors. Here, strawberry is combined with datil, a very hot chile pepper grown in the St. Augustine area. The freshest fruits are a collaboration with local farms (all photo © The Hyppo).

[2] There are more than 500 wonderful flavors. Here are half of them.

[3] Fall is coming. Look out for Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Pie, or Pumpkin Stout pops.

[4] In The Hyppo stores, customers can have their pops dipped in chocolate. You can do it at home. Here’s how to do it at home.

[5] An example of clever flavor combinations: cantaloupe and black pepper.

[6] A trio of flavors: Blueberry Lavender Lemonade.

[7] Toasted Coconut.

[8] Use the pops to make “poptails,” dipping them in a cocktail. See the recipe at the left.

1. ADD the strawberry halves and mint leaves to a glass and muddle until the berries are broken down into smaller pieces.

2. ADD the ice, vodka, and lime juice, and top with ginger beer. Stir using an ice pop (or a conventional stirrer+ to mix well.

3. PLACE the pop straight up in the glass, or across the top. Serve immediately.

________________

*Saint Augustine of Hippo was a theologian, philosopher, and bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia in Roman North Africa (Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria). a threat to the Spanish fleets that sailed the Gulf Stream beside the east coast of Florida, carrying treasure from Central and South America to Spain. A fleet commanded by Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés arrived at the location on September 8, 1565. With 600 voyagers cheering, Menéndez set foot on the shores of Florida. In honor of the saint whose feast day fell on the day he first sighted land, Menéndez named the colonial settlement St. Augustine. Here’s more about it.

†Hypollita with a double “p” was the queen of the Amazons given in marriage to Theseus by Hercules./span>
 
 

[1] A bowl of lemons can brighten a table or kitchen counter (photo © Justin Schwartfigure | Unsplash).

[2] The parts of a lemon. Thanks to Lemons From Spain for this information (image © The Lemonage).

[3] Before lemons ripen into their bright yellow color, they look green like lilmes (photo © Chandra Oh | Unsplash).

[4] Add sliced lemons to a pitcheror glass of waterto make lemon water (photo © Julia Zolotova | Unsplash).

August 29th is National Lemon Juice Day. Let’s give the lemon some respect: It doesn’t even have its own holiday. Just the juice does.

So it’s time to discover what’s under the peel besides pulp and juice. A number of different things to do with the juice itself is below.
 
> The different types of lemons.

> The history of the lemon.
 
 
LEMONS 101: THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE LEMON

The lemon is a member of the Citrus genus of flowering trees and shrubs, in the Rutaceae family.

In addition to lemons, members of the Citrus genus include familiar citrus fruits such as citrons, grapefruits, kumquats, limes, mandarins, oranges, and pomelos, as well as less-familiar citrus fruits such as Buddha’s hand, finger limes, and kaffir limes.

The Citrus genus is native to South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Melanesia, and Australia. Lemons are thought to have originated in northwestern India.

Here’s how a botanist looks at a lemon (photo #2). Instead of presenting the parts in alphabetical order, we’ll start at the rind and work our way inside.
 
 
FLAVEDO (the peel layer, also called the rind or epicarp)

Ranging from green to bright yellow in color depending on the level of ripeness, the flavedo contains essential oil glands that provide the lemon’s aroma. The flavedo is an important source of vitamin C, polymethoxyflavones and carotenoids—both cancer-fighting flavenoid antioxidants.
 
 
ALBEDO (also called the pith or mesocarp)

Immediately under the flavedo (rind) is the white, spongy inner layer of the lemon. It’s the most important source of pectin and carbohydrates.

The albedo is also an important source of phenolics and flavanones, both antioxidants.
 
 
ENDOCARP (the pulp)

The endocarp, or pulp, is the edible part* of the lemon rind, representing between 65% and 70% of the lemon’s weight. It’s pale yellow in color and is divided into segments that contain elongated cells—known as the juice sacs or vesicles—where water, carbohydrates, and citric acid accumulate.

Each slice of lemon contains hundreds of juice sacs, and there may be one or more seeds. In the aggregate, the juice sacs make up the pulp.
 
 
COLUMELA & MEMBRANES

The columela is the central axis that connects the membranes that form between the sections of the endocarp. The membranes separate the fruit segments and help to hold the pieces of pulp together. The texture is thin and papery; depending on the variety, it can be thinner or thicker.
 
 
WHAT’S A HESPEREDIUM?

A hesperidium (plural hesperidia) is a fruit with sectioned pulp inside a separable rind, e.g. in a lemon, orange, grapefruit, or another citrus.

Carl Linnaeus (1707 to 1778, also known as Carl von Linné), “the father of modern taxonomy,” was the great Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalized binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms.

He gave the name Hesperideae to the order containing the genus Citrus, in allusion to the golden apples of the Hesperides†. [source]
 
 
THINGS TO DO WITH LEMON JUICE

Now that you have a botanist’s perspective on lemons, here are uses for lemon juice. After all, it’s National Lemon Juice Day!

________________

•The flavedo, or peel, is also eaten: as grated zest, as cocktail garnishes, and cut into strips and turned into candied peel, which is enjoyed as a garnish or as a confection, eaten plain or dipped in chocolate.

†The Golden Apples in the Garden of Hesperides were a wedding gift to Hera from Gaia and were protected by a great serpent called Ladon. The Apples as well as the rest of the life in the Garden were tended by the Hesperides, minor earth goddesses or nymphs and daughters of the Titan, Atlas. Herakles (Heracles) was sent to fetch the golden apples of the Hesperides as one of his twelve labors.

Red wine lovers: August 28th is National Red Wine Day. There are many different types of red wine made around the world. With more than a thousand varieties of wine grapes grown, that’s no surprise.

Today, we’ll highlight all of the red wines widely available in the U.S. and give you some “food homework”: Try a varietal** you’ve never had before.

Varietal refers to the type of grape used in making wine. Examples of familiar varietals include Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay*, Merlot, Pinot Grigio*, and Zinfandel.

In much of the world, wines are sold by their varietal names.

In France and some other countries, the wines are known by their place names. Thus:

 
There are many more red wine holidays below.
 
 
POPULAR RED GRAPE VARIETALS

We start with some red wine varietals that you’ll find in stores labeled with their varietal names. These grapes are grown worldwide, but we’ve included the county of origin.

 
 
POPULAR RED WINES

[1] Beaujolais, made from the Gamay grape, is one of the lightest of the red wines. Here it’s seen in a glass that’s specially crafted to show off its flavors and aromas (photo © Schott Zwiesel).

[2] Pinot Noir in a glass designed to enhance its flavors and aromas (photo © Crate & Barrel).

[3] Zinfandel with chocolate truffles (photo © Stella Rosa Wines).

[4] Cabernet Sauvignon with blue cheese, figs, walnuts, and grapes (photo © Alex9500 | Panther Media).

[5] Taylor Tawny Port 20 Years, delicious with cheese, dessert, or an after-dinner wine (photo © Taylor Fladgate).

[6] Serve Madeira wine with nibbles such as olives, with salads tossed with a tangy dressing, with sushi or smoked salmon, with sheep’s and goat’s milk cheeses, and with desserts such as apple tarts and other fruity pastries (photo © Blandy’s Madeira Wine | Facebook)

*These are white wine grapes.

**A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single, named grape variety, and that typically displays the name of the variety on the wine label. There are numerous varietal wines, but examples of some of the most popular include Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Merlot.

†Super Tuscans and Chiantis are both types of red wine made in Tuscany. The difference between a Super Tuscan wine and Chianti is D.O.C. status. For a wine to be labeled as Chianti D.O.C., it must be made from at least 80% Sangiovese grapes that are grown in one of the approved Chianti areas that lay between the cities of Florence, Sienna, and Arezzo.

Super Tuscans don’t follow the strict rules of the Chianti appellation. They can be made entirely from Sangiovese or can include or be made entirely from French grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Syrah.

Super Tuscans are labeled I.G.T. (Indicazione Geografica Tipica), a designation that was created in 2013 that indicates a lower quality level. This does not mean, however, that Super Tuscans are cheaper than Chiantis. Quite the opposite is true: even the best Chiantis do not usually reach the high prices commanded by the top Super Tuscans. Toscana I.G.T. simply refers to wines not covered by the various D.O.C., D.O.C.G., or other designations in the region of Tuscany. Here’s more about them.