The Food Almanac, April 20

Annals Of Food Research
Today in 1862, Louis Pasteur proved the effectiveness of the process that bears his name. In glass jars, he sealed several liquids notable for their ability to turn truly foul. He then heated them to a high temperature, but below the boiling point, and held them for over a month. The liquids were as nasty as when they went in, but no more so. No fermentation or decomposition occurred. The first major use of pasteurization involved beer. Next was milk. Pasteur's method doesn't stop deterioration entirely, but slows it so much that these products, and many more to come, had what came much later to be known as a longer shelf life.

Eating Calendar
Today is National Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Day. When I was a kid, my mother always made two birthday cakes: a regular birthday cake with regular icing, and a pineapple cake. I think it's because she liked the latter. I still do. Pineapple upside-down cake is out of vogue in these days, and served by few restaurants. Too bad.

Today also is Respect Lima Beans Day. I never disdained limas. My parran (godfather to you) was fond of the small green ones, and perhaps because of that I am too. My most memorable plate of limas was at lunch in the famous old New Orleans soul food restaurant Buster Holmes, in 1971. They were the big limas–butterbeans, as we called them. I still remember how delicious they were, and the jet propulsion they provided the rest of the day.

Gourmet Geography
Lima is a community of 160 people in west central Illinois. It is the second most western town in the state, after its bigger neighbor Quincy, fifteen miles south. The Mississippi River is six miles west. Growing corn is the big activity. Somebody must grow lima beans, too, right? Lima was hit by an enormous multi-vortex tornado wedge on May 10, 2003, destroying a number of houses. But not the nearest restaurant, the Hoop and Wink, six miles south in Ursa.

The Saints
Completely by coincidence, this is the birthday of St. Rose of Lima, the patron saint of Peru. 1586.

The Old Kitchen Sage Sez:
When the beans are too big to fit in your ear
You've found the best kind to eat with a beer.

Edible Dictionary
succotash, n.–Corn and lima beans cooked together. Sometimes other ingredients go into the pot too–tomatoes and bell peppers are common–but they play a subsidiary role. Different varieties of bean are sometimes substituted, byt limas are the classic. Corn is the unchanging ingredient, as can be seen int he name of the dish. "Succotash" is of Native American origin, meaning "stewed corn." In the 1970s, jazzman Herbie Hancock re-released an LP depicting a single lima bean and a single kernel of corn in tight close-up.

Food Namesakes
Speaking of jet propulsion, Harold Graham made the first flight with a rocket belt today in 1961. I remember seeing that on TV. It didn't take off, did it?. . . The embarrassingly sappy song Honey, sung by Bobby Goldsboro, was Number One today in 1968.

Deft Dining Rule #745:
It's never a good idea to eat those fried noodles Chinese restaurants bring out with the soup.

Words To Eat By
"Hunger makes you restless. You dream about food. Not just any food, but perfect food, the best food, magical meals, famous and awe-inspiring, the one piece of meat, the exact taste of buttery corn, tomatoes so ripe they split and sweeten the air, beans so crisp they snap between the teeth, gravy like mother's milk singing to your bloodstream."–Dorothy Allison, best-selling American author and former waitress.

Words To Drink By
"The drink is slipping its little hand into yours."–J. Bryan III, pseudonymous American writer.

Copyright ©2011, Tom Fitzmorris.