European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 21, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Alifornia cuisine to the 66by Ruth Reichl the los Angeles times what kind of food do they serve Here Quot asks a guest walking into the Best movie restaurant scene of the year. California cuisine Quot the other guests respond in chorus. The movie la Story the implication California cuisine is the hottest new thing around California cuisine you May have noticed has been the hottest new thing Lor a couple of years now. Nobody can Tell you exactly what it is but everybody is excited about it Quot California cuisine Quot is what Wolfgang puck scrawled across the first menu at Sago. It s what Alice Waters has traditionally been called the Mother of California cuisine is fresh simple food often cooked on a Grill. California cuisine is dishes such As the following grilled Trout smoked with Bay leaves after cleaning the fish wipe it dry and spread with a mixture of Salt Pepper Lemon juice and Olive Oil Pul it on the Grill and Burn some Laurel leaves under it from time to time so the fish receives All the smoke serve with finely chopped Green onions and Parsley in the introduction to his 1986 Book new american classics Jeremiah Tower explains How dishes such As this one came to exist. Sometime in the mid 70s, when he was chef at Berkeley s Chez Panisse Tower created a soup made of locally grown ingredients Quot it was american food using French cooking principles Quot he exults. Quot i could not contain my exhilaration Over what i beheld As enormous doors of habit swung open onto a whole new Vista. The restaurant and i a and several others a were never the same  Tower concludes his discussion of this nascent movement by saying i have gone on to develop a style of cooking which. Has become a new american classic How new Well in her 1983 Book the cuisine of California Diane Rossen Worthington claimed to offer the Quot first definition of California cuisine Quot she explained that it borrowed from French italian mexican and chinese cuisines As Well As from the foods of Japan and the Middle East she noted that there were three main principles Brief cooking an emphasis on freshness and an Eclectic interpretation of regional ingredients. She said that grilling was Quot the signature of the California cuisine movement Quot and she stressed that the movement was Quot still in its formative  apparently Worthington never read the books of Helen Evans Brown. In California Cooks Brown wrote that Quot California cuisine like everything californian is a fast growing cuisine. We believe that the More it is nurtured and pampered and appreciated the better the Chance it has of becoming the greatest cuisine in the world it won t be Long  that was in 1946. But Brown Wasny to the first to notice the use of simple fresh locally grown food cooked on a Grill either. Even earlier in 1933, Cookbook author Genevieve Callahan wrote about California As a Quot Way of life Quot and went on to talk about grilling and using All the fresh ingredients grown in the state. Californians she said Quot like to substitute informality for formality imagination for elaboration flavor for  but Callahan was t first either. The truth is California cuisine has been around since the Gold Rush brought Money and adventure into a place blessed with one of the greatest growing climates in the world. As Long As there have been people in California they have been eating Well. A California cuisine a says Dan Strehl of the los Angeles Public Library Quot has been Here As Long As a printed record of Cooks has been  Strehl should know a just about every existing Book on the subject has passed through his hands the Library s rare Book collection offers an astonishing look at the history of California cuisine. Consider for example the recipe for grilled Trout listed above. The recipe 100 years old comes from the first Cookbook printed in Spanish in California Tel Locinero Espanol. The Book was published in 1898 and is Only now being translated for the first time by Strehl the Quality of ingredients As Callahan noted in that quote from the 40s, is one of the first things that makes California cuisine special but salad a the hallmark of the new California cuisine a has always typified California cooking As Early As 1883, Clayton s Quaker Cookbook printed in san Francisco was offering a recipe for a Quot celebrated California salad dressing and done to think that salad referred to Plain old leaves of iceberg Early cookbooks talk about All manner of fruits and vegetables we now think of As exotic radicchio the trendiest Quot new Quot lettuce of the 80s, is casually mentioned in a san Francisco Cookbook of the 30s. Another recipe Book of the Early 30s gives recipes for most of the fruits we now think of As new and exotic Cactus fruit Cherimoya Feijao guava Jujube Lychee loquat Mango papaya and passion fruit. Californians grew everything a but there was More to native cooking than Good fresh ingredients there was the Way the ingredients were used. California Cooks Learned about grilling from the mexicans and they have always understood that food tastes Best when it takes of itself while other americans were cooking the life out of food californians were under cooking everything that came into the Kitchen. If you think we owe the notion of undercooked meat and vegetables to Nouvelle cuisine listen to Helen Evan Brown in 1952 Quot i do Hope that those who shudder at the sight of blood will someday close their eyes and taste wild Duck rarer than they think they like it she also gave a recipe for wild geese that would look perfectly appropriate in any modern Cookbook Quot like wild ducks wild geese Are preferred cooked rare by those who know a hot oven and 35 minutes in it is recommended. Prunes Are Good with wild Goose particularly if soaked overnight in red wine or Brandy and if you want a rare delicacy soak the breast of a wild Goose in a Light brine Herb Flavoured then smoke it for three  and while pasta Al Dente May be the cry of the 90s, As Early As the 40s Brown was offering recipes for Spaghetti Olio e Aglio and pleading with her readers to Cook the pasta Alia Dente it s not surprising that Brown was using italian cooking terms California has always prided itself on its cosmopolitan cooking turn of the Century cookbooks casually offer recipes for risotto and cassoulet. And one 1908 Book offers a recipe for Rose salad containing figs roses almonds Honey and chartreuse with the off hand remark Quot this salad was Given to me by a member of the Sultan s  Early cookbooks from both san Francisco and los Angeles Are filled with references to foods from All Over the world. One 1907 Cookbook Quot for epicurus has recipes for tamales Macaroni a la Rossini and Zaba Jone Quot Zagaglione and by the time the 30s rolled around californians were happily e rating foods that the rest of the country would t discover for another 40 years restaurant reviews in the san Francisco news in the Early 30s Are a revelation. Those of us who think of sushi As a 70s food will be interested to learn that critic Ruth Thompson Quot. Ate seaweed and raw fish and enjoyed them Quot and went on to give her readers precise directions for eating Washimi. What a the single trendiest dish on the new California menu gourmet pizza a made in an open Kitchen its hardly new. Here a Thompson writing about pizza in the san Francisco news in the very Early 30s Quot when the order is Given the chef takes one of the rounds places it on the Marble slab and scattering flour Over it he begins beating it Flat with both hands then he picks it up and with thumbs and Index fingers he tears it flatter and then beats it again. All conversation must cease during this rite for one s voice cannot be heard above those energetic slaps. He next places the remaining ingredients Over the dough in the big round pan puts the pan on a Long wooden shovel and flinging open the oven door he places it beside the fire blazing  does the critic like it Quot it is Quot she concludes Quot very  if history is any guide in another 30 years or so somebody s going to discover California cuisine All Over again from a Apple baked to sour Cream Date piety Ruth Reichl the los Angeles times these recipes old and new a were chosen because they represent some aspect of California cuisine Many of them come from articles Helen Evans Brown wrote in the 40s in Quot the  Brown who was probably the first to use the term Quot California cuisine Quot was married to Philip Brown who had what he Calls Quot a passion for  the two had a great collection of old cookbooks including most of the books that the recipes below were drawn from. Helen Brown was also a great collector of recipes Philip Brown says that she went Quot chasing up and Down the coast Quot collecting them for Helen Brown s West coast Cook Book which was published in 1952. The Book annotated by Philip Brown was reissued this year by Knopf. It s a wonderful Book filled with recipes that you la have a hard time believing were written in the 50s and it s certainly the Best argument for California cuisine that has Ever been published mrs. Fisher s Apple bake what mrs. Fisher knows about old Southern cooking the first Cookbook published by an african american in California was printed in 1881 this probably in t a California recipe but it was so unusual that i could t help copying it Down when we tested the recipe we found it so delicious that i had to include it Here 1/2 Pound unpeeled apples grated i Pound Monterey Jack grated 1 Tablespoon sugar 1 cup milk 4 eggs dash ground Nutmeg 1 Tablespoon butter Cut in pieces place grated apples in cheesecloth and squeeze dry. Place in bowl and mix with cheese stir in sugar and milk. Beat eggs lightly in separate bowl add to Apple mixture blend Well. Season with Nutmeg. Pour into greased 9-Inch pie plate or 1-quart baking dish. Dot with butter. Bake at 350 degrees until set and puffy in Center 20 to 30 minutes. Makes 8 Servings. Each serving contains about 215 calories 228 my sodium 237 g cholesterol 16 g fat 7 g carbohydrates 11 g protein .5 g fiber 67 percent calories from fat. Cioppino this is a real native dish it dates Back to the last Century and its origins Are unknown. Some historians say it was invented by portuguese fishermen others that it was an italian Fisherman in san Francisco s fishermen s wharf who first cooked the dish one thing nobody argues about is How Good it is this is Helen Evans Brown s recipe i cup Olive Oil 1 Teaspoon minced garlic 1 cup chopped onion 1 cup chopped Green onions i cup minced Green Pepper 1 8-ounce can Tomato sauce 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes 2 cups red wine i cup minced Parsley 1 Teaspoon Salt a Teaspoon coarsely ground Black Pepper a a Teaspoon ground oregano a Teaspoon crushed dried Basil 1 i pounds firm fleshed fish cubed v6 Pound raw shrimp shelled 1 Large crab cleaned and cracked 1 dozen clams heat Olive Oil in Skillet. Add and saute garlic onion Green onions and Green Pepper add Tomato sauce tomatoes wine i cup minced Parsley Salt Pepper oregano and Basil Cook 5 minutes. Arrange fish shrimp and crab in layers in big casserole or pot. Add sauce cover and Cook on Low heat or in 350-degree oven 30 minutes or until fish is cooked. Add clams and As soon As open Sprinkle Over remaining i cup Parsley. Serve in casserole or Tureen makes 6 to 8 Servings. Each serving contains about 476 calories 1,039 my sodium 110 g cholesterol 22 g Tat 15 g carbohydrates 41 g protein 1 3 g fiber 42 percent calories from fat. Costillas de puerto Fresco con Setas fresh pork chops with mushrooms Encarnacion Pinedo who wrote Al Locinero Espanol in 1898, was a remarkably sophisticated Cook in addition to recipes we would think of As Spanish Salt cod in Tomato and mexican Sweet tamales stuffed Chiles with Walnut sauce her Book offers recipes using truffles and Pate do foie gras and yet the bulk of her recipes Are simple sophisticated a and perfect for modern life this is one of those. We be printed the original recipe but it needs adjusting. Be sure to read the note following the recipe 1v pounds pork chops 4 chops Salt is ppr 1/2 Pound mushrooms 1 medium onion chopped a cup minced Parsley 2 Tablespoons Basil minced 1 cup White wine i cup hot water heat non stick Skillet and sear pork chops until Golden Brown. Turn several times seasoning both sides to taste with Salt and Pepper. Remove chops. Reheat drippings and Cook mushrooms onion Parsley 1 Tablespoon Basil wine and hot water. Return chops to pan and cover with sauce. Cover pan and simmer until chops Are tender 35 to 45 minutes. Uncover last 15 minutes of cooking to reduce liquid Garnish with remaining 1 Tablespoon of Basil. Makes 4 Servings. Noie. Because pork is now a lot leaner than it was at the turn of the Century it s Likely that you will have few drippings left in Skillet after the chops Are seared we added t Tablespoon Olive Oil in place of the drippings Vou May also want to add an additional 1 Tablespoon Cue Oil before searing the chops. Lion serving contains about Ubo calories 612 my sodium 247 g cholesterol 60 g i carbohydrates 71 g protein 5 g fiber 60 percent s from fat continued on Page 16 Page 14 a the stars and stripes Friday. February 21 1992 the stars and stripes a Page 15