A taste of the past

In his recently published book, Creole Italian, Justin A. Nystrom explores the influence Sicilian immigrants have had on New Orleans foodways. His culinary journey follows these immigrants from their first impressions on Louisiana food culture in the mid-1830s and along their path until the 1970s. Sicilian immigrants cut sugarcane, sold groceries, ran truck farms, operated bars and restaurants, and manufactured pasta. Citing these cultural confluences, Nystrom posits that the significance of Sicilian influence on New Orleans foodways traditionally has been undervalued and instead should be included, along with African, French, and Spanish cuisine, in the broad definition of “creole.”

Graham Kerr, aka The Galloping Gourmet, wrote a very modern and revolutionary cookbook in 1969, which was overshadowed by his huge success as one of the early TV cooking personalities. Matt and Ted Lee have resurrected the book and added Kerr's own handwritten commentary. Graham and Matt join Linda to revisit the newly republished book and early stardom of TV food.

In the 1980s, Montgomery County, Maryland set aside one-third of the county—93,000 acres—for agricultural uses. It was a remarkable act of stewardship, especially in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, where land is at a premium. Since then more than 500 farm operations produce food for local residents and for people around the world. The Reserve has become a national model for land preservation and has created space for food production, but also for clean air and water, recreation, and history. Independent writer, Claudia Kousoulas and producer, Ellen Letourneau have created a cookbook whose recipes, profiles, essays and photographs trace the Reserve’s history.

Food is a many layered topic in most cultures and none more so than in Sicily, where the bitterness found in the flavors of almonds and wild greens are also present in the emotions of Sicily's past. Fabrizia Lanza, born and raised in Palermo, left to study and live in northern Italy as an art historian for many years. She returned to carry on her mother's work at pre-eminent Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School on the family property and winery, and realized the roots of so many of those bitter feelings were imbued with love for the land, people and food. She has made it her mission to promote Sicilian cuisine and bitter flavors through her books and films. Her newest film project called Amaro (bitter) is raising funds through a Kickstarter campaign and she hopes to have it completed by next fall. She shares her story with Linda on this episode.

America has long had a love affair with cookies which led big business to get in the game and the choices of commercially made sweets seem endless. Several years ago Oreos, the iconic, #1 American cookie, celebrated their 100th birthday. Food writer and culinary historian Michael Krondl talks with Linda about their history and Nabisco - world's largest cookie factory that transformed cookie and cracker manufacturing.