—Spaghetti All’italiana e Salsiccia— Hᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ sᴏᴍᴇ ᴀɴsᴡᴇʀs to questions you never had about spaghetti. Where did spaghetti originate? Many believe Marco Polo (1254–1354), who spent 17 years in China with his father and uncle, brought an Asian rice noodle recipe home to Venice. The clever Veneziani substituted wheat for rice. Is that a certainty? No, others think Arabs introduced spaghetti to Europe during a conquest of Sicily in the 9th century. How much spaghetti do Americans eat each year? It is reported that American supermarkets sold enough spaghetti in 2000 to circle the globe nine times ..read more

Trader Joe’s Flatbread—Slightly Modified If I didn’t live conveniently close to a Trader Joe’s, I would probably have to move. It is nearly the only grocery/wine store I patronize. It was the late 1960s.      The sand was barely out from between his toes when Joe Coulombe, fresh from a trip to the Caribbean, decided to rename his Southern California Pronto stores. Coulombe felt it unwise to continue to directly compete with the aggressive 7-Eleven juggernaut running roughshod across the convenience store landscape.      A new name, combined with a new theme, woul ..read more

— Pasta Carbonara — For a printable PDF of this recipe, click here. Pasta carbonara is said to have its origin right after World War II when many Italians, experiencing a scarcity of food, were eating eggs and bacon supplied by troops from the United States.       This recipe is modified a bit from the classic, but it retains the classic flavors. I sometimes substitute crumbled feta cheese for the Parmesan, just to be crazy. You’ll need:         8 oz. dry spaghetti (about a half-inch diameter bundle)—whole wheat is best 16 slices turkey bacon 12-second ..read more

— Basque Shepherd’s Pie —      Page 796 of Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management (1907) places recipe number 1427, Shepard’s Pie, below recipe 1426, Sheep’s Tongues, and above recipe 1428, Toad-in-the-Hole.      Recipe 1426 calls for a tin (!) of, you guessed it, sheep tongues. I’ll leave you wondering what recipe 1428 calls for.      ——-     Apparently, there is no verifiable record of where shepherd’s pie originated. Someplace in the United Kingdom seems most likely.      While there are no claims to be found that it ..read more

Sweet, Sweet Corn on the Cob      Tʜᴇ ɪɴᴅɪɢᴇɴᴏᴜs ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Tᴇʜᴜᴀᴄᴀ́ɴ Vᴀʟʟᴇʏ in Southern Mexico were thought to have been the first to domesticate corn—about 10,000 years ago. It was also thought that multiple, independent domestications coevolved to produce today’s linages. But those understandings have been challenged.      A study reported on in 2002 indicates all corn evolved from a single instance of domestication arising in the Balsas River Valley which is adjacent to the Tehuacán Valley.      A single instance of domestication is particul ..read more

Oysters are thought to be an aphrodisiac.     It’s well-known that women find writers excitingly sexy.     I’m sure that was the case in 1864 when Mark Twain wrote of lodging at San Francisco’s Occidental Hotel where he would, “move upon the supper works and destroy oysters done up in all kinds of seductive styles.” As a lover of oysters, Twain was likely to have been served Hangtown Fry many times. The dish is said to have originated about 1850 when a recently-enriched gold miner stumbled into the Cary House Hotel in Hangtown, California (today’s Placerville) and or ..read more

Select brown rice over white rice. This is quick and healthy. If you don’t happen to have fresh spinach on hand, add any other fresh or frozen vegetable you like.             Ingredients ½ cup of frozen or fresh peas 1 medium size carrot sliced into ¼-inch thick circles 1 handful of fresh spinach ¾ cup cooked brown rice (cooked brown rice is available frozen) Chopped red onion to taste Fresh-cracked black pepper to taste 2 tablespoons of crumbled herbed feta cheese Directions Spray a nonstick frying pan with PAM and sauté the onion and carrot with the cracked pe ..read more

— Sole Maria Walewska — For a printable PDF of this recipe click here.      Mᴀʀʀɪᴀɢᴇ ᴛᴏ Nᴀᴘᴏʟᴇᴏɴ Bᴏɴᴀᴘᴀʀᴛᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅɴ’ᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀ ᴄᴀᴋᴇ ᴡᴀʟᴋ.      When he wasn’t off conquering lands-afar, he was conquering Polish countesses.      Well, at least one.      Marie Walewska, a Polish countess, claimed she was persuaded to have an affair with Napoleon, who was openly desirous of such a development, by a handful of Polish aristocrats. The aristocrats hoped she could influence the French emperor into backing Poland’s struggle to regain independ ..read more

— Zuke Soup — Tap here to download a PDF of this recipe. Somewhere around 9,000 years ago, hunter-gatherer Sexy Beasts living in the area we now call Mesoamerica, began the transition to sedentary villages by cultivating foods. These foods included a prolific squash that is the predecessor to the vegetable we call “zucchini.” In the 1800s clever farmers near Milan, Italy, bred the original squash into the green, cylinder-shaped one we know today. The Italians dubbed it “zucchini” or “little pumpkin.” It is thought Italian immigrants brought it the U.S. in the 1920s. According to the University ..read more

— Shrimp Linguini — THIS RECIPE IS BASICALLY SHRIMP SCAMPI WITH PASTA. “Scampi,” by the way, is the plural of “scampo” an Italian word for a type of shrimp, so, as many a dining-table wit will tell you, “shrimp scampi” is redundant. This is easy to prepare and open to tweaking. Consider increasing the garlic and/or lemon juice. Leave out the bell pepper, Add a few handfuls of fresh spinach, a large tomato diced, or even a can of anchovies drained and chopped. You might replace the parmesan cheese with a couple of tablespoons of bacon bits. Coat the shrimp with Old Bay seasoning before addi ..read more