Afternoon Snack… Trying out international food.
Someone at work decided it would be good to try out some international foods over the next couple of weeks, this weeks treat… see below.
Next week – a comparison of Baked Beans (US vs. UK) [why does US beans have a lump of pork in the can?].
- Mike
Comments
Anonymous
October 22, 2008
The comment has been removedAnonymous
October 23, 2008
Ahh, an extensive subject on which few people think. If you talk to old Southern women, they'll tell you that beans without the lump of pork on top aren't worth eating. See, if you put too much fat in the sauce for your baked beans, it won't soak into the beans as well during storage. So during the canning process, where the intent is for your beans to marinate in the sauce, the sauce should have little to no fat in it. But because it is good and flavorful to add some pork fat to the sauce before serving, a properly-measured chunk of said fat is dropped on top before the can is sealed. Since it is just sitting there, it doesn't slow the absorption of the sauce by the beans. When you prepare the beans, you will put a saucepan over low heat and empty the can into it - putting the fat on the bottom, where it can melt and be gradually incorporated into the sauce as you stir it. In the mass-production canning world, there is also a separate rationale: if the only animal ingredient is the pork fat, dropping it on top makes it the sole difference between the main product and a vegetarian product, so you can have just one recipe. What few companies actually incorporate their fat into the recipe beforehand still drop a chunk of pork fat - or just plain pork - on top of the can as a basic signaling device to inform the consumer that the beans contain pork.Anonymous
October 23, 2008
The comment has been removedAnonymous
October 24, 2008
I make a mean Jam Roly Poly... with custard. :)Anonymous
November 06, 2008
A couple of weeks ago a few people in the team had an international food tasting experience, starting