European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 25, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 1g the stars and stripes the epicurean experience goes american by Craig Claiborne new York times in major metropolitan Arena throughout i reunited states come of the most intriguing walks me through the Well decked Halls of recently installed Lood emporiums i is As though the Pas decade had Given Rise to extraordinary museums with edible works of an i thought of i his recently when i navigated through crowds in one Manhattan Lood gallery. Dean & Deluca s there were tureens of cooked owl including Partridge Wilh Orange Lavor and Squab Wilh i my lies. Nestled close by Weie stuffed and trussed confils Savory preserves of Duck and Goose ready to be cooked and served or added perhaps to a line Imler cassoulet. Great slabs of Salmon Iron Norway and Scotland Lay near an elaborate selection of stalled. Fresh Madg Agnoletti. Tortellini. And Ravioli i tilled Wilh wild mushrooms pesto sauce pumpkin or ground veal blended Wilh finely chopped a Roscilio and mor Ladella Dollaga. Or pressed tuna Roe irom Sardinia vied for conce Wilh Tampone cooked pig s loot with a Savory ground meat filling. Shoppers had their Choice of six types of Wilaj mushrooms and a Wei ill of Iresh i ruffles Black and White. Irom Italy or Fiance there was a Mountain of Iresh shallots. A member of the onion family thai until recently was neglected by the majority of american Cooks tha menage Wai Clear the United states has a lived a astronomically. As Al no other time we Are indulging ourselves in foods from i he far reaches of the Globe. Here at Home we Are producing everything from fruits to foie Gas thai compare favourably with their european counterparts. It is mostly Price not availability or familiarity that limits Access to these items. Some of the most modest grocery stores and supermarkets carry impressive displays of Fine Mustard great Virgin Olive oils Goat cheeses Sun dried tomatoes the whole epicurean experience once reserved for so culled gourmets. Many foods that were novelties Only a decade ago Are taken Lor granted now. Consider for example greens like Arugula Raddi chlo and lambs lettuce or herbs like fresh coriander Chervil Ginger and Basil which i Lisl encountered 20 years ago in a restaurant in Manhattan s Lille Italy. My lunchtime Host recommended Fiat i Sample be Puccine Wilh a Basil based sauce called pesto in was love at first taste. For Many americans Basil and other condiments entered the lexicon Only recently jul Ivich a vengeance signalling a major shift in culinary tastes from the provincial to the cosmopolitan. The forces contributing to this shift have seen Many. There has been Tor example a mechanical revolution. The food processor has come into its own along Wilh professional cooking ranges and an Anay of machines for making everything from ice Cream to crepes ten years ago those who communicated about cooking and dining were an innocent lot. Today the Public is being educated by a Host of Well trained writers and instructors witness Lor example the explosion in books and articles on food the growing Rosier of cooking schools Here and abroad and the number of americans who travel to Sample new dishes and new restaurants and who on hum reproduce their discoveries Ai Home. There has come a particular fascination with the cooking of Asia China. Japan India. Thailand and saturday january 25, 1986 French chef Jean Troi Sgroi toll new York vegetable far Frei Tinen. York times nolo Loa lesser degree Vietnam and Cambodia in Par because More americans have visited those countries in part because in the Wake of War and economic or governmental upheavals Many Fine asian Cooks have Migra led Here. The opening of China s Borders helped Foster interest in that nation s cuisine. Recent exhibits films and celebrations of India have enhanced interest in Indian foods beyond Curry Ai the same time increasing numbers of Young american men and women have mastered the Art of Fine -. To Llu j wbk York Tim i Chelala Tyve brn Noud americana is French cuisine. Professional cooking and have discovered their ability to improvise. Taking their Lead from advocates of Nouvelle French cuisine Young american chefs such As Jonathan Waxman of jams and Anne Rosenzweig of Arcadia both in new York Dean fearing of the mansion in Dallas and Patrick o Connell of the inn in Washington a. Have initiated a great american Homecoming. Ii is a thorough appreciation of american foods Wallfi imaginative european borrowings thai concentrates on cajun and Creole. Tex mex barbecues and soul food. O Connell s preparation of Black eyed Pees is one such example he anoints this generally pedestrian dish with a Vinaigrette sauce made Wilh Balsamic vinegar and thin slices of Virginia Ham smoked Goose breast and to sauteed Domestic Loie gras. This justifiable Pride in regional american cookery has not found us wallowing in mom s pot roast fruit Flavoured Gelatin desserts and Blueberry Cobbler. Rather it has Means Hal Young Chels Are taking Downs ii products Blue Corn meal Domestic goal cheese. American caviar locally produced foie gras wild mushrooms Quail eggs free Range chickens and the Ilka and Are transforming them into what May become the classics of the future. Word of this american revolution has spread until More of us than Ever before Are a ble i o discuss without explanation or apology dishes such As bouillabaisse Coul wac of Salmon Kung Pao Chicken hoi and sour soup Spring rots Tara Adalala and Duck a i Orange. We discourse and Dine on croissants and brooches and lanes latin As easily As we once nosed on danish the Only disturbing note is the attitude of Many who appreciate Fine cooking and of Many More who critique the subject. It is an attitude Hal says we Are in a period of overkill in which too Many foods have become too much a part of our cuisine and Lor which the Only appropriate response is of. Thai again these same critics deplore quiche Lorraine and ridicule anything that has Kiwi Ruil in it on it or around it. It is an attitude i deplore. A quiche May no longer Appeal As the most original and elegant of dishes but like Kiwi fruit. It is Worth being integrated Inlo our new culinary culture. What will we embrace next a new recipe or dish i i Hank that will be an outgrowth of a cuisine we already have mastered. There will be borrowings from foreign cuisines to is sure but less than in the recent past. I am convinced that we will see an enormous increase in sophisticated to ores that Are ingeniously packaged so that they retain their just cooked freshness while being easy to prepare just heat Ana serve sweetbreads and truffle creations lobster in Elezam sauces a Treasury of dishes Wilh wife mushrooms a variety of preserved poultry dishes of the sort known to the French As co fits and so on indeed Resh and simple to prepare May become the byword of the year. Considering he thousands of hours thai we spend at the dining table we should not Only enjoy but revel in this culinary expansionism. I Betrue this nation Linn ii rang that. Expansionism. I Belit sve this natio is finally
