Week ahead filled with calendar of culinary opportunities
In addition to a weekend heralding the Sunday arrival of Super Bowl
LVIII, and the start of the Chinese New Year on Saturday, the new week ahead is stacked with menu moments also marked by Fat Tuesday and the dual Feb. 14 observance of Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day for 2024.
While most Super Bowl party buffets are already planned (a new survey sent to me by Journo Research lists pizza, chili, buffalo chicken dip and guacamole among the top five game-day menu highlights), there’s still plenty of time to theme cuisine for Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year, the latter of which continues with celebrations for 16 days through the Lantern Festival on Feb. 24.
If you are a follower of astrology, especially the Chinese zodiac, 2024 represents “the year of the dragon.”
Many might connect the Chinese zodiac to the representations and charts so often depicted on the paper placemats at Chinese restaurants. The 12-year Chinese zodiac calendar cycle is represented by 12 different animals, in this order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.
Since my birth year is 1970, the “dog” is my Chinese zodiac representation.
As for what this year will bring, at least according to the Chinese New Year?
“It’s believed that the dragon represents strong and great leadership,” said Thierry Chow, a Hong Kong-based consultant interviewed by CNN on Friday.
“A lot of people are looking to have dragon babies this year. This year will also
be significant because it’s the year when the world enters a new chapter from the eighth period to the ninth period of Xuan Kong flying star.”
Some might place emphasis on the symbolism connected with the “dragon” for this Chinese New Year and direct it as a reference to our U.S. presidential elections, just around the corner in November, and with leadership results of global impact.
My emphasis for this Chinese New Year is gastronomical rather than astrological.
The culinary gods at Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana in Gary sent me a media alert with both Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year menu specialties at their Hard Rock Café dining destination.
According to Hard Rock Café General Manager Treva Collignon, their “Dragon Burger,” which is served with seasoned fries,
consists of a 7-ounce burger glazed with a sweet yet zesty hoisin sauce, stacked with shaved cucumber, sesame and green onions and a dollop of sriracha mayo, all layered on a toasted artisan bun.
For Valentine’s Day appetites, the Hard Rock Café has an 8-ounce centercut New York strip steak served with grilled shrimp, mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables, drizzled with traditional Diane sauce and finished with fresh chives is the main event.
The dessert finale dreamed up is a “sweetheart sundae” for two formed by layers of strawberry and vanilla ice cream, cubes of lemon pound cake floating in a mixed berry compote topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
The Hard Rock franchise has always carefully protected and guarded their mixing measurements for any of their custom cocktails. But I think my amateur mixologist sleuthing and trial and testing has licked their delectable “pure passion martini,” which is only being served through Feb. 14 with details at www.hardrockcasinonorthernindiana.com/ dining.
I’m fascinated by the use of passion fruit puree as a flavor foundation for this specialty cocktail, especially with Ash Wednesday ushering the start of the Lenten season this week.
While exotic and rooted with a Brazilian origin, fresh passion fruit is now available in the produce section of most supermarkets. “Discovered” around 1700 when locals shared this sweet sensation with traveling Spanish and Portuguese missionaries, these traveling religious leaders used the fruit and the plant’s flowering stage as a teaching tool for their lessons of Christianity in hopes of converting the local villages to find a new faith.
However, the missionaries naming it as “passion fruit” hasn’t any connection to romance.
Rather, the term “passion” is a reference to the “Passion of Christ,” phrased terms interchangeable with the events of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The name is taken from the English translation of the Latin genus name, Passiflora or “passion flower.” The blooming flower of the fruit is purple, which is the traditional color representation of Lent, a reference to the “royal cloak of purple” Jesus was draped in during his mockery by King Herod and Pontius Pilate before being put to death.
The central column of the flower’s bloom is representative of the pillar where Jesus was whipped during his flogging, and the three styles of the flower depict the nails attached to the cross, while the inner circle of the flower resembles a crown of thorns. The blooming flower has 10 petals to represent Jesus’ 10 apostles.
Considering the above, every savor of my own poured tribute to Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana’s “pure passion martini” takes on added sipping symbolism.