Bologna

5. Coffee

#17 COUNTRY BY COUNTRY, FOOD BY FOOD

AUSTRALIA

Foods: Wheat, oats, rise, potatoes, beef, mutton, lamb, grapes, apples, passion fruit, bananas, custard apples; most types of seafood, including extra-large lobsters and shrimps.

Notable dishes: For the most part, Australia’s diet reflects the heritage of its English settlers. The native Aboriginal diet includes wild game, fish, wild plants, and insects. Australians do have their own cuisine: barbecue. They barbecue beef, lamb, seafood, and even fruit. Additional influence is coming from immigrant groups from other areas- Europe after World War II and, more recently, Asia.

CHINA

Foods: rice in the tropical south and subtropical southeast; wheat, millet, barley, and soybeans in the north and northeast. Crops in the fertile west include corn, potatoes, and millet. Other crops include adzuki beans, sugar, spices, nuts such as cashews and peanuts, garlic, onions, ginger, many varieties of fruits and vegetables, most types of meat and poultry, and most types of seafood.

Notable dishes: Peking duck (honey-glazed roast duck, with pancakes); bird’s nest soup (gelatinous swallows’ nests, cleaned and simmered); congee (rice porridge); noodles (wheat, egg, mung bean, or rice, simmered or stir-fried with other ingredients); Buddha’s Delight (marinated tofu and stir-fried vegetables); Eight Precious sweet rice pudding (with fruits and nuts, including dates, candied melon and kumquats, and lotus seeds).

GUATEMALA

Foods: in large part, these crops are grown for family consumption: corn, tomatoes, bananas, squash, cassava, sweet potatoes, and rice. Seafood is plentiful; meat and poultry also are widely aviable.

Notable dishes: Mole (spicy chocolate and chile sauce, often served with rabbit, tamales, and plantains); tamales negros (chicken prune, and olive tamales with mole); plantanos maduros fritos (fried plantains); pollo en pepain (chicken is sesame-and pumpkin-seed sauce); chorizo (spicy pork sausage); chuchitos (tamales without filling).

INDIA

Foods: Rice (in the central and southwest), wheat (in the upper Ganges region), potatoes, corn, barley, millet, sorghum, chickpeas, lentils, almonds, apricots, apples, coconuts, spices.

Notable dishes: pakhoras (vegetable fritters); koftas (deep-fried balls of meat, such as lamb; vegetables; or fish); samosas (turnovers filled with spiced potatoes and vegetables or meat); curry (spicy stewed meat, fish, poultry, or vegetables); tandoori (marinated, oven-braised meat or poultry); pilau (rise cooked with spices and vegetables and/or meat); chutney (sweet-sour fruit and vegetable relish).

ITALY

Foods: Wheat; corn; rice; olives; and olive oil; almonds, figs, grapes; dairy products, especially butter and cheese; seafood such as tuna, shrimp, mussels, and squid; citrus fruits; veal; pork; beef.

Notable dishes: Minestrone (vegetable soup with rice or pasta); pasta (spaghetti, linguine, rigatoni, for example) with many types of sauces (vegetable, meat, seafood, and cream); polenta (cornmeal porridge); risotto (arborio rice simmered instock); pizza; bollito misto (mixed boiled meats); gnocchi (potato dumplings); Eggplant Parmesan (eggplant baked with cheese); zabaglione (whipped custard dessert).

JAPAN

Foods: rice, soy and adzuki beans; seaweed; beef; wheat; fruits such as cherries, strawberries, melons, citrus, plums, and persimmons; root vegetables such as daikon radish, ginger, horseradish; mushrooms; nearly all types of seafood.

Notable dishes: Sukiyaki (beef and vegetables simmered in soy sauce and broth); yakitori (broiled chicken and scallions); teriyaki (grilled poultry or other meat soy glaze); sashimi (sliced raw fish); sushi (vinegar-seasoned rice rolled with vegetables, eggs, or raw fish); udon, soba, and somen (wheat noodles, served hot in winter and cold in summer); tempura (batter-coated, deep-fried vegetables, meat, or seafood).

KENYA

Foods: Corn, cassava, potatoes, millet, beans, sweet potatoes, bananas, pineapples, coconuts, papayas, mangoes, chickens in small numbers. Most foods are farmed for family use, not for sale. The most productive farms are in the highlands and the Great Rift Valley.

Notable dishes: Ugali (corn-flour porridge, sometimes served with vegetables and/or meat or fish, and dipped into gravy); fufu (dough-like starchy dish made from cassava, yams, or plaintains; sometimes used to scoop up stew); matoke (steamed banana porridge).

NIGERIA

Foods: Rice, taro, beans, corn, sweet potatoes, sorghum, millet, cassava, mangoes, bananas, goats, sheep, poultry. The south favors yams, rice, plaintains, papayas, pineapples; the north has millet, sorghum, and corn, and also supports cattle. Coastal waters provide fish shrimps.

Notable dishes: Meat consumption is low throughout the country. In the south, fufu (see Kenya, above); akara (appetizer of black-eyed pea balls); tuwo (sorghum dumplings with spicy pepper sauce); egusi (soup of ground seeds with peppers and fish or meat); jollof rice (rice with vegetables and chicken or beef). The northern populations use peanut oil for cooking; the southern use palm oil.

PERU

Foods: Corn, beans (lima beans were named after the capital city), squash (the seeds and flesh are eaten, the rinds are used as sturdy vessels), tomatoes, peanuts, cassava, avocados, cacao, vanilla, and corvina. Potatoes and quinoa (keen-wa) are grown in the Andes.

Notable dishes: Meals often are vegetable-laden. They include rice and are complemented by meat. Humitas (meat-filled cornmeal pastries); seviche(citrus-marinated seafood); corapulchra (spicy stew with pork, chicken, potatoes, peanut, eggs and olives); anticuchos (skewered, grilled beef heart with aji chile sauce).

RUSSIA

Foods: Wheat, rye, oats; vegetables that can be cold-stored after the short growing season ends, such as potatoes, beets, turnips, carrots, cabbages, and onions; cold-water fish (salmon, sturgeon, and herring); apples; beef, poultry, and pork.

Notable dishes: Soups such as borscht (beets and other vegetables) and solianka (meat and vegetables); piroshki (meat- or cabbage-filled pastries); kulebyaka (salmon or cabbage in pastry); blini (small pancakes served with sour cream, caviar, eggs, or smoked fish); pickled food such as vegetables and fish (for winter provisions); kasha (porridge made from buckwheat groats).

SPAIN

Foods: Wheat (central region); corn (north); rice (eastern coast). Olives and olive oil; potatoes; grapes; melons; citrus fruits; tomatoes; peppers; garlic; almonds; seafood such as lobsters, cod, and mussels; pork, especially cured, as ham.

Notable dishes: Paella (saffron rice with seafood chicken); gazpacho (chilled vegetable soup); arroz con pollo (chicken with saffron rice and peas); tortilla de patatas (potato and onion omelet); bacalao (salt cod, used in many recipes); flan (caramel custard).

UNATED STATES

Foods: Ideal growing conditions enable the U.S. to grow many varieties of food, in ample quantities. Wheat and corn (central region); rice (south); potatoes (north); sweet potatoes; squash; peanut; beans; citrus fruits; apples; cranberries; dairy products; seafood such as lobster, molluscs, and salmon; poultry; beef.

Notable dishes: Many American family meals include a serving of roast meat or poultry with gravy; a starch such as potatoes or rice; and a vegetable. Popular regional dishes include Louisiana gumbo (soup with okra and other vegetables, and seafood, poultry and/or meat); New England clam chowder; midwestern hash-brown potatoes; filled tortillas such as burritos and enchiladas in the southwest; Florida key lime pie.

#18 Great Grains, Rangy Roots … and a Bit of Bread.

On a worldwide basis, all the carbohydrates we eat, and an average two-third to three-quarters of the protein, comes from plant sources. (The food we get from animals, in turn, derived from plants.) The five leading staple foods of the human diet generally are considered to be wheat, rice, corn (Indian corn; called maize in many parts of the world), potatoes, and cassava – a starchy root grown in the topics.

WHEAT

One of the first two plants to be cultivated in prehistoric time (the other was barley), wheat is the most widely grown plant in the world and the number one staple of the human diet. It may have been first grown in the region between modern-day Afghanistan and Ethiopia, and was brought to the Western Hemisphere during the age of exploration.

About 80 percent of the world’s wheat production today takes place in Russia, the United States, China, India, France, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Argentina. The two main species are bread wheat, high in gluten (which provides an elastic dough that, with yeast, is able to rise), and durum wheat, used in pasta.

RICE

While wheat is the world’s leading crop in terms of the total quantity that people eat, rice is the primary staple of more people than any other. In contrast to wheat, 95 percent of rice is grown in the less industrially developed nations, primarily in Asia (large amounts also are grown in Africa and Latin America). Rice is so valued a crop that, in many Asian countries, the word for rice also is the word for life, food, or agriculture; and a common greeting in Nepal is Bhatt Khaayo? – “Have you eaten rice? ”

Most of people for whom rice is the major staple inhabit subtropical and tropical regions, but rice grows best in temperate zones (Australia achieves the highest yield per acre). Native to monsoon country, rice uses more water to grow than any other grain. In some places, fish are farmed in the standing water in which rice is grown; the fish seem to promote fertility and also help keep down mosquitoes – and are a ready source of protein to accompany a rice-oriented diet.

CORN

Corn, which originated in Mexico, vies with potatoes as the world’s third most important staple food crop. Adaptable, the plant is able to grow in regions from the tropics to temperate areas, and from sea level to elevations of about 11, 000 feet. Corn is cultivated in almost every continent. Almost 50 percent of the word production of corn takes places in U.S., mainly in the 12 – state corn belt. In countries that produce much livestock, a great portion of the corn crops goes to feeding animals. But in the developing nations, most of the crops is eastern directly to by people.

Heavy reliance on corn in the diet has been found to be associated with the deficiency disease pellagra – because the niacin in corn is in a bound form, inaccessible as a nutrient. (Niacin is needed by the body for growth, healthy tissues, and for the conversation of carbohydrates into energy.) But in Mexico and Central America, where corn tortillas are a main food, the corn is treated with lime – a process developed by Native Americans – which makes the niacin available.

POTATOES

Like corn, potatoes originated in the New World – but in the Andes Mountains of Peru, too high for corn to grow. (Potatoes often are thought to be native to Ireland, because they became such a prominent food there. For an account of the potato’s importance in Ireland, see The Staffs of Life, by E.J.Kahn, Jr.; Little, Brown and Company, 1984.)

The early wild potatoes were starchy and bitter; and the leaves of the plant were poisonous (as they still are). For those and others reasons, the potato was slow to find acceptance in Europe when the first delivered there by Spanish explorers. (Long ago, the highland South Americans worked with nature on this problem: the high Andes are prone to frost – generally not good for potato storage. The mountain dwellers left the potatoes to frees at night, then stamped on them as they thawed. Repeated for several days, this process removed the water, leaving a desiccated potato – called chuno – that could be kept for a long periods and used as required. With the water went the alkaloids that made the potatoes toxic and bitter.) potatoes grew to play a vital role in Europe’s history and became valued around the world. Today they are grown in 150 countries, in most kinds of environments except lowland tropics. Major producers include Russia, China, Poland, Germany, and India.

CASSAVA

Also known as manioc and yuca (not yucca, which is a different plant), cassava is a root crop that probably originated in Brazil or Venezuela. By the time Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean islands, cassava was already there. The Portuguese probably took cassava – and corn – from Brazil to Africa in the 1500s. Cassava is a little eaten in the U.S.; the most common use is for tapioca pudding. But cassava is a primary food staple in almost all subtropical and tropical countries. (Mainly the roots are used, but the leaves are also eaten as a vegetable.) Cassava grows well in humid tropical lowlands and in poor soil conditions. It is locust – proof, so it is grown widely in Africa. It has the disadvantage of having one of the lowest protein contents of any food crop, but it is a good famine reserve plant: its roots (which often weigh several pounds) can be left in the ground for up to two years and lifted as needed.

#19 EXPLORING BREAD: LET’S COOK CHAPATIS

Each major staple is eaten in many countries and in many forms. Wheat is most eaten as bread; it is a leading grain for bread. Some breads contain other grains; some include ingredients such as potatoes. Ask students to explore the many kinds of bread around the world, and traditions associated with bread. But first, let’s cook…

Here is a simple recipe for chapatis (cha – pa – teez), a Indian flat bread eaten with curries. You can find more elaborate recipes for this bread, but the version here (a lot like a flour tortilla) offers students a chance to experience how wheat dough behaves – and enjoy hot, fresh bread in class. Work with a spoon as long as possible to minimize messy hands, and have a wash basin and paper towels handy. Ones several chapatis have been rolled, you – or students, if permitted – can begin the cooking.

2¹ /2 cups whole – wheat flour

¹ /2 teaspoon salt

1 to 2 tablespoon oil (optional)

1 to 1¹ /4 cups cold water

Combine all ingredients, adding just enough water to make a dough that holds together but isn’t sticky. Have students take turns stirring the mixture. Then show students how to knead the dough (check a bread cookbook first, if necessary, and then experiment and enjoy) and let students take turns until the dough rest, covered with the damp cloth, for 20 minutes. (To fit your classroom schedule, the dough could sit for just 5 minutes.) Divide the dough into 10 to 12 pieces; smooth each into a ball, push it flat, and roll thin (dust with flour as needed to prevent sticking). Bake on medium hot, seasoned or lightly oiled griddle, turning over several times to brown the dough lightly and evenly. Tear or cut into pieces for students; serve hot, with or without butter.