Many dishes are named after real people. Here are a few simple ones to prepare at home.
THERE are Malaysian foods with unusual (some even indecent!) names, most of which are descriptive in nature, but we don’t tend to name dishes after real people like other cultures do.
General Tso’s chicken, for example, is named for General Zuo Zongtang of the Qing Dynasty, but it was invented by Taiwanese chefs in the 1970s to appeal to the American palate.
Ignacio “Nacho” Anaya, the maitre d’ at Victory Club in Piedras Negras, Mexico, came up with a dish of fried tortilla triangles, topped with cheese and jalapeños for a group of US military wives visiting from Texas. And no prizes for guessing the artist honoured with creamy Chicken Picasso and Sole Picasso, a dish of grilled fish in ginger-lemon sauce.
The delicious almond pastry Frangipane is named for Marquis Muzio Frangipani, a 16th-century Italian living in Paris, while the Swedish St Lucia buns, or Lussekatter, are named after the patron saint of light. The saffron buns are often shaped into an “S” to resemble a curled up cat.
When I heard about the Luther, the person who came to mind was British actor Idris Elba since he played the eponymous detective in the TV crime series. Turns out the bacon cheeseburger that uses a glazed doughnut as the bun is the possible invention of multi-grammy award winner Luther Vandross.
Sometimes, though, the name of a dish doesn’t impress as much as a plain old description. Bananas Foster was invented in 1951 at Brennan’s in New Orleans. The restaurant owner Owen Brennan named it after his friend and loyal customer Richard Foster.
Simply put, it’s flambéed bananas in rum butterscotch sauce. Now, doesn’t that just sound much more inviting?
GRAHAM CRACKERS
The cracker gets its name from Sylvester Graham, an American clergyman in the early 19th century who preached against the evils of meat, alcohol, fat and processed grains such as refined flour.
Graham had been a sickly and small child and he suffered from mental breakdowns. He believed a healthful diet would mend his body and mind.
He encouraged housewives to use healthier ingredients, which led to his name being used for coarsely ground whole wheat flour. In 1829, he came up with the recipe for a cracker using the flour and baked without any fat or refined sugar.
Graham denounced commercial bakeries and suggested that their products were tainted. It is ironic that the crackers that bear his name are today produced in large operations similar to those he criticised.
The recipe that follows makes crackers that are slightly bigger than commercial Graham crackers. It is easily doubled.
200g whole wheat flour 80g light brown sugar 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt
50g butter, cut into cubes 1 tbsp milk
40g honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
Line an oven tray with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
Add the butter to the dry ingredients and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture is crumbly.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, honey and vanilla. Add this to the flour and mix until a soft dough forms. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for at least 1 hour.
On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough to 3mm thick.
Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut the dough into 5cm by 10cm rectangles. Using the blunt side of the knife, score the cookies down the centre, making two 5cm by 5cm squares (do not cut through). Using a fork, prick each square three times. Carefully transfer the cookies to the prepared oven tray (they will be quite soft).
Bake the cookies at 180°C until just set, 10-12 minutes. The cookies will become crisper as they cool.
Remove cookies from the tray and cool on a wire rack. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Makes 10 crackers.
S’MORES
Graham crackers are used to make S’mores, a campfire snack popular in North America. It’s a sandwich cookie with chocolate and marshmallow in the centre. The crackers and Hershey’s chocolate bars are commonly used as they are the perfect size for the snack. Makes 1 serving.
1 graham cracker
1 large marshmallow
1-2 squares of a milk chocolate bar
Break the graham cookie in half along the scored line (you’ll have two squares – one for the top and the other for the bottom of the s’more).
Place the chocolate on the bottom half.
Oven method: Place the other half on an oven tray. Top it with a marshmallow. Broil the cracker until the marshmallow is lightly seared. Immediately invert onto the chocolate-topped cracker. Press gently and leave to stand until the chocolate softens, about 1 minute.
Kitchen blow torch method: Place a marshmallow on the top half of the cracker. Gently sear the marshmallow all over with the torch. The marshmallow may catch fire – just blow it out. Press on top of the chocolate-covered cracker.
Gas stove method: Stick the marshmallow on a skewer or fork. Light the stove and hold the marshmallow over the flame, turning to sear all over. Place the seared marshmallow on top of the chocolate, take the other half of the cracker and press it on top of the marshmallow, then pull out the skewer.