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Fun facts of the day
Sep. 12th, 2008 10:14 pm(From Wikipedia: "Carmine is not required by the FDA to be explicitly named in all ingredient lists, and may sometimes be represented under "color added". As of the end of January 2006, the FDA is evaluating a proposal that would require food products containing carmine to list it by name on the ingredient label. It was also announced that the FDA will separately review the ingredient labels of prescription drugs which contain colorings derived from carmine. A request from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (article titled: "FDA Urged to Improve Labeling of or Ban Carmine Food Coloring" [1]) to require ingredient labels to explicitly state that carmine may cause severe allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock and that is derived from insects was declined by the FDA. Food industries were aggressively opposed to the idea of writing "insect based" on the label and they finally agreed to simply putting "carmine."")
Gosh, I wonder why food industries were aggressively opposed to putting "INSECT BASED" on their labels. Hmmmmmmmm.
In more appetizing facts, here is the story of Su Dongpo (more famous as Su Shi the 11th century calligrapher), as recounted by a commenter on the forums at chowhound:
"Sometime before the year 1100, Su Dongpo, the famous Chinese artist, who somehow managed to combine devout aceticism with ribald sensuality, wrote a poem called "Ode to Pork". In it he described his favorite pork dish.
"Pork in Huangzhou is plenty
there it costs utterly lowly
The rich detest it; the poor fluff it
slow the fire, hold the water, it comes alive when the time is right"
This just might be the oldest recipe extant, and perhaps the oldest dish still commonly served. Most Shanghainese restaurants have it, named in the poet's honor, Dongpo Pork. In calling it a poor man's repast, Dongpo was being modest. It takes two days to prepare properly. Pork belly is simmered in a mixture of rice wine and soy sauce for hours, kept overnight, and then steamed.
I read about this dish many years ago but tried it for the first time tonight. They have it at Shanghai Cafe in Chinatown. Brightly lit, trendy young crowd, all the waitresses in black t-shirts and black jeans, you'd never expect it to have such a traditional dish. But they do. It's not on the English menu, but if you ask for dong po rou you will get it.
It's a huge and almost perfect cube, five inches by five by three. Most is soft, succulent meat, but the top layer is rich, luscious fat. It reclines on a bed of crisp spinach, and is surrounded by a rich brown sauce made of the cooking liquid reduction. It is wonderful.
The Chinese believe that if you follow the brushstrokes of calligraphy with your mind's eye, you will feel what the artist felt when he painted, even though he is dead a thousand years. Surely the same is true of food. Today Dongpo came alive for me. Li Bai drowned trying to kiss the moon. Dongpo would howl at it."
I really want to make Dongpo Pork now. HT Market sells pork belly, and I just found a recipe for it at EatingChina.com. Some glistening, crispy pork fat, sauteed greens, white rice, and beer would help pack on the pounds to prepare for the cold months of winter.
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