Bagels don't have blueberries

My jaw muscles (probably my best toned body part) are completely exhausted. I've just eaten a toasted H&H poppy seed bagel. Given a genuine bagel, this is an anaerobic activity. You will "feel the burn" if you work your way through a proper bagel without a resting period. Bagels aren't easy.

I hear a voice somewhere saying "I've never had that problem with a Duncan Donuts bagel."

And cinnamon and raisins - like blueberries - are not properly to be found in bagels. Bagels don't have blueberries.

OK - I know, they do. Even at places that should (and probably do) know better, like H&H. But despite the ready availability, I maintain that bagels don't have blueberries. The blueberry bagel demonstates the danger of popularity, of assimilation. Doubtless, many people reading this would already be lost - What's so wrong about blueberry? So pernicious?

"I like blueberry bagels. What's your problem? You're a bagel snob!" Dare I say it (that is, imagine them saying it) - "A bagel nazi!".

I admit I'm intolerant - but I feel I have just cause. It has come to this - I can get a thing called a blueberry bagel just about anywhere. (It might not actually contain real fruit, but that's a topic for another piece.) This product, this blueberry bagel, will have blue spots in it. It will have an aroma that its makers expect to be evocative of blueberries. It will be sweet.

But whether blueberry flavor or not - I cannot buy an actual bagel, something I regard as a proper bagel, almost anywhere. With rare exception, the bagel as I knew it has become unobtainable. The market is flooded with bagel shaped bread-units sold as (gasp) bagels.

The essence of bagel is not shape. The bagel contract is not fulfilled by virtue of shape alone. Proper bagels (though having a very slight sweetness on the outside) are savory, not sweet. While not a difinitive test, consider the phrase:
"What would lox do?"

Bagels, in addition to not being sweet through-and-through, are also not soft. They are not readily compressable. They can not be crushed to make a pasty substance suitable for sculpting - as can be done with white bread.

But this isn't just about bagels - the point here is that the bagel is like so many ethnic or regional specialties. It has crossed over and become a popular, broadly distributed product. And the product that so many Americans enjoy today is not true to the original product - and I miss the real thing. I am Noshstalgic.

Kathy's back dinner

Whole family home again. Cooked a quick chicken kofta masala:
Made this up as went along. Couple of mishaps - discovered I was out of garam masala; didn't have the specific curry I'd have normally reached for; on the other hand - had some miscellaneous spices left over from a recent vaguely Mexican dinner (smoked paprika and ancho chile) that I decided to throw in. The substitutions worked out fine.
I used 2.5 lbs of skinless/boneless chicken thighs, stripped off the obvious excess fat, ground once with grinder attachment to KitchenAid using fine blade.
Grated fresh breadcrumbs with stale leftover sesame seed ficelle - about 1/2 loaf. Processed breadcrumbs with 1 large clove fresh garlic and a goodly quantity of fresh-grated ginger. Not sure how much - the piece cost me 40 cents before peeling and grating. Mixed in about the leftover mexican dinner spices - 2 teaspoons of smoked spanish paprika, and 1 teaspoon of freshly ground dried ancho chile. Added about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground pepper and a rounded teaspoon of Balti seasoning mix (Penzey's).
Incorporated the breadcrumb mixture with the ground chicken and added about ~3 tablespoons heavy cream and two (jumbo) eggs. Corrected moisture level with besan flour to proper kofta consistency (?3-4 tablespoons?).
Formed koftas and fried over medium heat in a heavy cast iron pan moistened with olive oil (could have used any decent oil or ghee instead).
Meanwhile made a creamy tomato sauce:
Butter (or ghee), 2 large onions diced, 2 large yellow peppers, sliced and slices halved.
1 large can Muir Glen Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes, a large splash (1/4 jar) of whatever fairly neutral brand of spaghetti sauce is kicking around open (in this case it was Newman's Marinara). Balti seasoning mix, salt, and sour cream to taste.

Saute onions in butter (ghee) until they start to become translucent. Spread onions to outside of pan, exposing center. Add Balti mix to pan and toast until it starts to darken a bit then incorporate with sauteed onions and redistribute throughout pan. Add peppers and saute until they just start to soften. Add Muir Glen and other tomato product. Mix, correct seasoning, mix in sour cream, and cook down to desired consistency. Add koftas for last minute or two - do not mix to incorporate - it's better if the koftas are not sauced all over. If you've fried them properly, they will have dark crunchy surfaces that you don't want to soften with the sauce. The interior texture should be soft and light - much as you'd expect from a good veg kofta.
Serve over rice. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander (cilantro).

Accompanied by: Willm Pinot Gris - off dry. I'd rather have served an Alsatian Gewurztraminer, but this wine worked well.

Children, by the way, will eat this if you avoid making it too hot. Secondo is a picky eater and he cleaned his plate.

Welcome

Good Morning. Friends and family have been after me to start blogging for some time now and since Spencer's still sleeping - a remarkable event at 9am - I'm going to at least make a start. People have been after me to blog because I'm usually on a soap box where nobody but friends and family can hear me - and either they figure the world might want to hear what I'm on about, or maybe its as simple as "misery loves company". You'll have to decide. I can't tell anymore.

Why Noshstalgia? Noshstalgia reflects my interest in preserving great, endangered, food traditions and sharing them with others. I'll elaborate on this later - but first a few words to better set the stage...

I recognize the danger of nostalgia generally. As we grow older, we're prone to looking back and romanticizing our earlier life experiences. It's a cliche that things used to be better. And if we fixate there then we may miss the present altogether. Very dangerous stuff.

There are plenty of worthy developments in the world of food today, and I don't mean to suggest otherwise. I have great interest in and admiration for many contemporary growers, producers, distributors, chefs, restaurateurs, etc. But this blog is not about the new - it's about our culinary roots.

It's obvious that food has become fashionable. As I look at the success of popular food-focused media outlets, the proliferation of specialty foods, the growth of Whole Foods, food celebrities, and now even Hollywood movies set in the context of the food business I can't help feeling that we may be approaching the zenith of the fad.

But most people don't actually cook. Time is precious and people can't spend hours as they used to. And there are many more impediments to real cooking at home - reasons that I hope to discuss later. For now, just consider the ratio between the number of primary ingredients required to produce food, and the number of products selling in the market. At the Fancy Food Show in New York two weeks ago, there were well in excess of 100,000 products on display. Modern supermarkets carry tens of thousands of distinct items on its shelves. The proliferation of items on offer reflects first and foremost on people's need for convenience. One way or another, many of these products are substites for the time, effort, and know-how otherwise required to produce meals from primary ingredients.

And most of those who do cook are in a hurry. Time is precious, even for self-identified foodies. The focus of many recent cookbooks and tv shows is on producing meals quickly. So - am I all about "slow food"? No - but it's certainly a part of the picture for me.

So back to this - Food is fashionable. I appreciate the attention that good food and its contemporary heroes are receiving. But, it seems to me that many of the most important aspects of our food culture - past and present - have yet to penetrate for many people. The foodie trend has reached a point that suggests it may soon be "over". It feels to me like we're at about (Warhol) minute 14. Popular culture is very harsh with fads that have passed. And too often, good, important ideas are lost because of their nominal association with a defunct trend.

My job here is to share what strikes me as important and hope to build impact beyond the fad. I hope that you'll find some value in my jottings.