Read Saveur: The New Comfort Food Online
Authors: James Oseland
Saveur: The New Comfort Food (4 page)
—Joan Nathan
Dozens of styles of this classic avocado dip can be found across Mexico, from elegantly smooth versions to chunky, rustic ones like this, in which diced jalapeños and fresh cilantro add bright notes to the creamy avocado. It comes from the New York City restaurant Rosa Mexicano, which in the 1980s popularized the trend of having servers make guacamole tableside in a molcajete, or mortar.
3 tbsp. minced fresh cilantro leaves
2 tbsp. minced white onion
2 tsp. minced jalapeño
1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
3 medium-ripe Hass avocados (about 1½ lbs.)
3 tbsp. chopped, seeded tomato Tortilla chips, for serving
Serves 4
1. In a mortar, using a pestle, pulverize 1 tbsp. cilantro, 1 tbsp. onions, jalapeño, and 1 tsp. salt to a paste. (Alternatively, on a cutting board, finely chop and scrape the ingredients into a paste and transfer to a bowl.) Set the onion mixture aside.
2. Cut the avocados in half lengthwise. Twist the halves to separate them, and remove the pits with the tip of the knife. Place an avocado half, cut side up, in your palm and make 3 or 4 evenly spaced lengthwise cuts through its flesh down to the skin, without cutting through the skin. Make 4 crosswise cuts in the same fashion.
3. Scoop the diced avocado flesh into the mortar or bowl. Repeat with the remaining avocados. Gently fold the avocado pieces into the onion paste, keeping the avocado pieces fairly intact.
4. Add the remaining cilantro and onions, along with the tomatoes. Fold together all the ingredients and season with salt. Serve immediately, directly from the mortar (or bowl), with the tortilla chips.
Today, they’re almost as common as apples, but avocados have not always been an easy sell. In fact, it took more than 50 years of creative marketing to get Americans to embrace them. Growers—and, more important, the advertisers they hired—had to convince consumers that these exotic fruits were fashionable. How did they do it? Like any successful marketer, they hawked status, patriotism, and sex. Taking their lead from the success of the California orange industry, the avocado growers of California formed their own cooperative, in 1924. Initially, Calavo, as the organization came to be called, positioned the avocado as a substitute for meat. By the late 1920s and the 1930s, however, dieting was on the rise and salads were chic. So, Calavo began to attach new catchphrases to its product—“the aristocrat of salad fruits” was a favorite—in advertisements placed in magazines like The New Yorker and Vogue. In 1943, California Farmer, a trade magazine, ran an ad proclaiming that people with victory gardens (which were patriotically cultivated to provide food for civilians and troops) make their salads more delightful with avocados, which it called “grenades of glamour.” Capitalizing on a vogue for things tropical in the 1950s, Calavo also encouraged consumers to associate the avocado with exotically themed party dishes that could be served at suburban luaus. Such strategies contributed considerably to America’s love affair with guacamole. By the 1970s, Calavo’s marketers had recognized the need to respond to a rapidly liberalizing society and media culture, and began fashioning a sexy image for the once humble avocado; one ad, in McCall’s magazine, called the fruit the “love food from California.” A California Avocado Commission print and billboard campaign from 1983 said it all: it pictured the movie star Angie Dickinson beside the words “Would this body lie to you?” Avocado sales reached an all-time high.
—Jeffrey Charles
Empanadas de Carne
These fried pies are a ubiquitous snack in Argentina, and given the vast cattle ranches that fan out over the landscape there, beef is what you most often find inside. The ground beef in these empanadas gets a spicy kick from red chile flakes; chopped green olives add savory flavor. We based this recipe on one that appears in
Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way
by Francis Mallmann.
4 tbsp. lard or vegetable shortening
1½ tbsp. kosher salt, plus more, to taste
6 cups flour, plus more for dusting
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 lb. ground beef
3 medium yellow onions, quartered lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise
1 tbsp. crushed red chile flakes
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. sweet Spanish smoked paprika
4 scallions, white and green parts kept separate, both minced
¼ cup fresh oregano leaves, minced
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup pitted green olives, minced
2 hard-boiled eggs, minced Canola oil, for frying
Serves 12
1. Bring 3 tbsp. of the lard, 1½ tbsp. salt, and 2 cups water to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over high heat; pour into a large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Add the flour and mix until a dough forms. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, 6–8 minutes. Halve the dough and flatten each half into a disk; wrap each disk in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, heat 4 tbsp. butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 15 minutes. Transfer the beef to a large bowl and set aside to cool. Return the skillet to the heat and add the remaining lard and butter. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, until soft, 10–12 minutes. Add the chile flakes, cumin, paprika, and the white parts of the scallions and cook, stirring often, for about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the scallion greens, oregano, and olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the beef and stir to combine; set aside.
3. To form the empanadas, cut each dough disk in half and, working with one half at a time, roll the dough to a
1
/
8
-inch thickness. Using a 5-inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles and transfer to a parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, rerolling as needed to make 24 circles total. Working with one dough circle at a time, place 1 heaping tbsp. of the beef mixture in the middle and top it with a pinch of olives and egg. Lightly moisten the edge of the circle with water and fold the dough circle in half to form a turnover; pinch or crimp the dough to seal. Place on a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough circles, beef mixture, olives, and egg. Chill until ready to use.
4. Pour canola oil to a depth of 3 inches into a 6-qt. Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 375°F. Working in batches, fry the empanadas, turning occasionally, until golden brown and crisp, 3–4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain, and repeat with the remain-ing empanadas. Serve hot.
Hortopita
In many parts of Greece, harvesting wild herbs and greens and baking them into savory pies is an unbroken tradition dating back centuries. Aggeliki Bakali (pictured), a home cook in the central Greek village of Pertouli, makes this pie of greens, herbs, and feta from a family recipe that also calls for her to make her own phyllo dough, which she rolls into large circles to fit a 12-inch round cake pan. We found that store-bought country-style phyllo works just as well to make the pie in a 9 x 13-inch rectangular baking dish.
1 cup plus 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
16 scallions, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
1¾ lbs. Swiss chard (about 2 bunches), chopped
1 cup each minced fresh dill, mint, and parsley Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
12 oz. feta, crumbled
1 16-oz. package frozen country-style phyllo dough, thawed
Serves 6–8
1. Heat ½ cup oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add scallions and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft, 3–4 minutes. Add chard and herbs and cook, stirring often, until tender, 12–15 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Let cool to room temperature and stir in feta; set aside.
2. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with 2 tbsp. oil. Cut 2 phyllo sheets into 11 x 15-inch sheets; layer them in the baking dish
A
, brushing each with 2 tbsp. oil. Spread a third of the greens in pan on top of the phyllo.
3. Heat the oven to 400°F. Cut 4 phyllo sheets into 9 x 13-inch rectangles, and transfer to baking sheets. Bake each until golden, 4–6 minutes, and then set aside to cool. Place 2 baked phyllo sheets on top of greens and cover with half the remaining greens. Top with remaining 2 baked sheets and the remaining greens
B
.
4. Cut 2 phyllo sheets into 9 x 13-inch rectangles. Cover greens with 1 sheet, and brush with 2 tbsp. oil; top with remaining phyllo and fold phyllo dough from the bottom layer hanging over edges onto top of pie. Brush top and edges with 1 tbsp. oil
C
and score phyllo to vent. Bake for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F, and bake until golden brown, 18–20 minutes. Let cool slightly and then cut into squares to serve
D
.
Crostini con Funghi
Simple, satisfying crostini like these are among the many dishes prepared by saveur contributor Beth Elon and her neighbors for a feast held each summer in their Tuscan town of Buggiano. We like the earthy flavor of cremini mushrooms in this classic antipasto, but you can use any variety of mushroom you like.
8 oz. mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, oyster, and button, stemmed and thinly sliced
7 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 slices country-style Italian bread, such as ciabatta Small wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano
Serves 4
1. Heat the oven to 475°F. Toss together the mushrooms, 4 tbsp. oil, parsley, lemon juice, and garlic in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper and let sit at room temperature until the mushrooms have softened, about 20 minutes.
2. Put the bread slices on a baking sheet and brush with the remaining oil. Bake bread slices until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly, then spoon the mushroom mixture over the bread. Using a peeler, thinly slice strips of Parmigiano to garnish the crostini.
COOKING NOTE
The best way to clean mushrooms—rinse or soak in water, or wipe each mushroom with a damp cloth to avoid its taking in water—has long been a subject of debate. It took scientific proof to satisfy us once and for all. In an experiment described in the book The Curious Cook, author Harold McGee demonstrated that after soaking for five minutes, a button mushroom absorbs only one-sixteenth of a teaspoon of water. A speedy rinse, McGee concludes, results in virtually no water retention. The myth of the soggy mushroom, it turns out, just doesn’t hold water.
