The Italian Blog

Ive heard that theres almost no other head of a
Fortune 500-size company who would spend as much time with
the people who buy his products. People are often
surprised that a man with his responsibilities would take
the time for this much face to face contact. But the fact
is, learning what people care about is almost a religion to
him.
Here are some of the questions that people either
write to Frank or ask him in person. In answering the
questions, Ive either used the information Ive heard
Frank give, or else Ive checked with the Perdue food
scientists or home economists.
What should I look for when I shop for chicken?
Whatever city were in, whether its on the East Coast, or
Puerto Rico, or even London or Moscow or Tokyo, Frank
visits supermarkets the way other people visit museums or
monuments. He notices the following kinds of things
himself and would recommend that you do also when selecting
chicken.
_Give the package a little squeeze. Are there
signs of ice along wings, backs or edges? Frank explained
to me that some chicken producers blast their birds with
air as cold as -40o F, but he never does. Freezing causes
a breakdown in protein, loss of natural juices, and reduced
tenderness. Also, when you cook a frozen bird, the bones
and nearby meat may turn an unappetizing dark color.
_Look at the thickness of the meat in proportion
to the bone. If, for example, the breast looks scrawny,
youre paying a lot for bone rather than meat.
_Read the labels so you know what you are
getting. Many different parts and combinations are
available, and some look surprisingly alike even to Franks
trained eye. The label tells exactly what is inside.
_Ask questions. If any meat or poultry product
doesnt look, feel, or smell just right, check with the
professionals behind the counter.
_Notice the pull date. Most stores are
scrupulous about removing chicken before the pull
date expires$but sometimes theres a slip-up.
_Was the chicken well-cleaned? Or are there
little traces of feathers or hairs? These can look really
unattractive when the bird is cooked.
_Is the chicken stored correctly on the chilling
shelf, or are the trays of chicken stacked so high that the
top ones arent kept cold? When that happens, the shelf
life of the top ones is seriously shortened.
_Is the meat case kept so cold that the fresh
chicken is frozen and ends up with ice crystals on the
tray? If so, complain to the manager.
_Look at the ends of the bones. Are they pink or
are they turning gray? Generally, the more pink the bone
ends are, the fresher the chicken.
How should I store chicken at home?
Chicken, like all meat, is perishable. It should be
stored in the coldest part of the refrigerator (40o or
below), sealed as it comes from the market, and used within
two or three days of purchase.
Should I freeze chickens?
Frank doesnt recommend freezing poultry. However, if
a bird must be held beyond three days, freezing will keep
it wholesome.
How do I freeze poultry?
When freezing is necessary, seal chicken or other
poultry in an airtight container, heavy plastic bag,
plastic wrap, foil or freezer paper.
Try to have the wrapping tight against the chicken
because any place where it isnt, small ice crystals will
form. That means moisture has been drawn from the meat, and
where thats happened, the meat will be tough and breading
wont stick.
Frozen uncooked chicken can be stored up to six
months; frozen cooked chicken should be used within three
months. (Personally I try to avoid freezing chicken since I
know that freezing makes the chicken less tender and less
juicy. Still, in spite of good intentions, I sometimes end
up doing it. Ive learned to make it a point to have a wax
marking pencil and freezer tape handy, so I can label the
package with the date and contents. I wonder if youve
found, as I have, that its unbelievably easy to lose track
of how long things have been in there.)

NEW ENGLAND CHICKEN N CORN CHOWDERServes 4-6
Chowders are thick soups which take their name from the
large French pot used in soup-making called a “chaudiere.”
You can use fresh corn in this recipe, but I deliberately
suggested frozen corn first because frozen corn can
actually taste sweeter and fresher than the fresh corn you
buy at the supermarket. Corn loses 50% of its sweetness in
just 24 hours at room temperature, and it can take days for
corn to get from the fields to the supermarket to your
house. In contrast, frozen corn is rushed from the fields
to the freezer in just a few hours, and once frozen, it
stops losing its sweetness. Strange as it may seem, with
corn, frozen can taste fresher than fresh.
1/4 pound bacon or salt pork, diced
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups peeled potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn or kernels from 2 ears of
corn
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 cup (1/2-pint) heavy cream
Oyster crackers, for garnish
In large saucepan over medium-high heat, saute bacon for 3
minutes until its fat has been rendered. Add onions and
celery and cook 3 minutes longer. Stir in broth and bring
to a boil, whisking constantly. Add potatoes and corn,
season with salt and pepper and cook 5 to 10 minutes or
until tender. Stir in chicken and cream, simmer 3 minutes
and serve with oyster crackers.
Variation: Shellfish Chowder
Add 1 cup chopped green pepper and 1 cup cooked crab or
shrimp to soup when adding chicken.
HEARTY LANCASTER CHICKEN, VEGETABLE AND DUMPLING SOUP
Serves 4
This is a famous Pennsylvania summer soup made with extra
vegetables for hearty winter eating. You can substitute
noodles for the dumplings, or add crackers, pretzels $ and
some people have told me that even popcorn works. Im
skeptical about the popcorn, but if youre feeling
adventurous, give it a try.
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup parboiled potatoes, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup parboiled carrots, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup shredded green cabbage
1 cup thinly-sliced leek, white and tender green parts
only, or 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 package (10-ounces) frozen corn kernels from 2 ears of
corn
Knepp
In large saucepan over high heat, bring broth to a boil.
Add other ingredients and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 3
minutes while making dumplings.

Rosses” how it was that he, who girds at all things bourgeois and
commonplace, ran the restaurant on such simple and non-eccentric lines;
and he shrugged his shoulders, which I took to mean that you may trifle
with a mans intellect but not with his stomach. About two in the
morning, in the upstairs room at the Tréteau, there is often some
amusement forward. Upstairs at the Rat Mort, you may dine in comfort
with _Soupe à lOnion_ and _Tournedos Rat Mort_ in the menu; and at the
Abbaye de Thélème, and at the Restaurant Blanche in the place of that
name, you will find the artists and sculptors of the Butte.
In the Quartier, Thurions in the Boulevard St-Germain is an interesting
restaurant for a wandering Anglo-Saxon to become acquainted with, for
there he will see most of the young Americans and English who are
climbing up the ladder of pictorial fame. It is a Parisian “Cheshire
Cheese.” The floors are sawdusted, the waiters rush about in hot haste,
and the chickens stray in from the courtyard at the back and pick up the
crumbs round the tables. The place has its traditions, and you can hear
tales of Dickens and Thackeray from the plump lady who makes up the
bills.
Good Cheap Restaurants
I feel tempted in connection with this heading to write as did the
naturalist of snakes in Iceland; but besides the _tavernes_ and
_bouillons_, which give wonderful value for the money spent but do not
require any lengthy mention in a book dealing with temples of the higher
art, there are one or two interesting _table-dhôte_ restaurants where
the meals are very cheap. One of these is Philippes, on the first floor
of the Palais Royal, next door to the Petit Vefour, and another is the
Dîner Français, 27 Bd. des Italiens.
St-Germain
The Pavillion Henri IV., on the terrace of St-Germain, where every
travelling Briton and American breakfasts once during his summer stay in
Paris, is “run” by the management of the Champeaux, and one gets very
excellent cookery and service in consequence, the prices not being at
all exorbitant. One groans, sitting at the little tables on the terraces
and looking at the view, to think of the chances some of our hotels near
London, with even finer views, throw away through lack of enterprise.
St-Cloud
The Pavillion Bleu at St-Cloud, the proprietor of which, M. Moreaux,
bought the greater portion of the “grands vins” of the Maison dOr,
deserves a special word of commendation.
N.N.-D.
CHAPTER II
FRENCH PROVINCIAL TOWNS
The northern ports–Norman and Breton towns–The west coast and
Bordeaux–Marseilles and the Riviera–The
Pyrenees–Provence–Aix-les-Bains and other “cure” places.
I propose to take you, my gastronomic reader, first on a little tour
round the coast of France from north-east round to south-east, pausing
at any port or any watering-place where there is any restaurant of any
mark, and then to make a few incursions inland.
Calais is, of course, our starting-place, and here my experience of
leaving the buffet at the Terminus and exploring in the town is that one
goes farther and does not fare so well. The buffet at Calais always has
had the reputation of being one of the best in Europe, and though the
Englishman new landed after a rough passage generally selects clear soup
and stewed chicken as his meal, it is quite possible to obtain an
admirably cooked lunch or dinner in the room off the restaurant; and the
cold viands, the cream cheese, the vegetables and fruit are all worthy
of attention. The “wagons-restaurants” which are attached now to most
of the express trains, no doubt have cut into the business of the buffet
restaurant; but as a contrast to the ordinary British station
refreshment- and dining-room the Calais buffet deserves to be mentioned.
Boulogne
At Boulogne there is a restaurant in the Casino, but I think it adds
very little to the revenues of the establishment. Most people take their
meals contentedly or discontentedly in their hotels, but the little
restaurant on the pier, which used to belong to the widow Poirmeur but
is now the Restaurant Garnier, with its miniature terrace and its
windows which look out on to the waves when the tide is up, has an
individuality of its own, and is one of the haunts of the gourmet who
enjoys a meal with unusual surroundings. In the winter the little
restaurant hibernates. If customers appear the wife of the proprietor
cooks dinner or lunch for them, and cooks very fairly; but with the
advent of summer a cook is engaged for the season, and it is a matter of
importance to the sojourner in Boulogne whether that cook ranks as
“fair” or “good.” He generally is good. Fish, of course, is always fresh
at Boulogne and generally excellent in quality, and the shell-fish are
above suspicion–at least I never heard of anybody suffering from eating
_moules_,–therefore a _Sole Normande_ or any similar dish generally
forms part of a _déjeuner_ on the pier, and this with an _entrecôte_ and
an _omelette au rhum_ makes a fine solid sea-side feast. The buffet at
the station, since it was taken in hand by the South-Eastern Railway, is
not the dreadful place of ill-cooked food it used to be. At the terminus
of the tramway which runs into the forest a little _cabaret_ gives a
simple meal, and the trip out and back is the pleasantest short
excursion from Boulogne. At Wimille it is wise to inquire what charge
the new hotel proposes to make before sitting down to a meal. Ambleteuse
is another little watering-place to the north on the coast. Here the
mid-day meal at the principal inn is lengthy if nothing else.

Amsterdam
The Restaurant Riche is managed by a Frenchman, and the cuisine is
French. It is necessary to order dinner in advance, and it is well to be
particular. Under these circumstances an excellent dinner is obtainable.
There is a cellar of good wine, the Burgundies being especially to be
recommended.
The Restaurant van Laar, in the Kalverstraat, has a celebrity for its
fish dinners, and excellent oyster suppers are to be had there.
Scheveningen
Curiously enough, this important seaside resort has no restaurant with
any claim to celebrity. The dinners to be obtained in the hotels have to
suffice for the wants of the visitors to the place.
Rotterdam
The Stroomberg here deserves a word of commendation, the food to be
obtained there being excellent.
The Food of the People
The cuisine of the country, the food the people of the country eat, is
not recommended to the experimenting gourmet; for the favourite dish is
a sort of Kedjeree, in which dried stock-fish, rice, potatoes, butter,
and anchovies all play their part. Sauerkraut and sausages, soused
herrings and milk puddings also have claims to be considered the
national dishes.
CHAPTER VI
GERMAN TOWNS
The cookery of the country–Rathskeller and beer-cellars–
Dresden–Münich–Nüremburg–Hanover–Leipsic–Frankfurt–
Düsseldorf–The Rhine valley–”Cure” places–Kiel–Hamburg.
A German housewife who is a good cook can do marvels with a goose,
having half-a-dozen stuffings for it, and she knows many other ways of
treating a hare than roasting it or “jugging” it. She also is cunning in
the making of the bitter-sweet salads and _purées_ which are eaten with
the more tasteless kinds of meat; but, unfortunately, the good German
housewife does not as a rule control the hotel or restaurant that the
travelling gourmet is likely to visit, but rules in her own comfortable
home. The German Delikatessen, which form the “snacks” a Teuton eats at
any time to encourage his thirst, are excellent; and the smoked sprats,
and smoked and soused herrings, the various sausages and innumerable
pickles, are the best edible products of the Fatherland. The German meat
is as a rule poor. The best beef and mutton in the north has generally
been imported from Holland. The German is a great eater of fresh-water
fish,–pike, carp, perch, salmon, and trout all being found on his
menus, the trout being cooked _au bleu_. Zander, a fish which is partly
of the pike, partly of the trout species, is considered a great dainty.
The vegetables are generally spoiled in the cooking, being converted
into a _purée_ which might well earn the adjective “eternal.” Even the
asparagus is spoilt by the native cook, being cut into inch cubes and
set afloat in melted butter. _Compotes_ sweet and sour, are served at
strange times during the repast, and lastly, as a sort of “old guard,”
the much-beloved but deadly Sauerkraut, made from both red and white
cabbage, is always brought up to complete the cooks victory. The
potatoes in Germany are generally excellent, the sandy soil being
suitable for their cultivation.
The cookery in the big hotels on much-frequented routes in Germany is
now almost universally a rather heavy version of the French art, with
perhaps a _compote_ with the veal to give local colour. In the small
hotels in little provincial towns the meals are served at the times that
the middle-class German of the north usually eats them, and are an
inferior copy of what he gets in his own home. As a warning I give what
any enterprising traveller looking for the food of the country from the
kitchen of a little inn may expect:–