July 31st: I turned in the final draft of my master's thesis!! The title ended up being: "To Fetishize the Aura: The Ironies of Capitalist Marketing Schemes for Balsamic Vinegar in American Epicurean Culture." If you are so curious (I am not offended if you are not) here is my abstract:
"Today more so than ever, we live in a society dominated by commodity consumption. However, not all commodities in this capitalist culture are deemed equal. Certain commodities are marked or marketed as a certain kind of commodity with specific social or cultural significance and value, thus to write off all commodities as simply “fetishes” is overly simplistic. In an era with increasing concerns about the ills of crass materialism, industrialization, and over-consumption certain segments of American society are seeking ways to separate themselves from the culture of “millennial capitalism”--clearly demonstrated through social movements and trends around food, and namely an increased interest in eating and buying hand-made “artisanal” food products. In the midst of a growing opulent gourmet food culture in the United States, we can look at food as a form of material culture in which the marketing schemes for these products play on an ever-present anxiety about the nature of industrial food and therefore attempt to paint artisanal foods as certain types of commodities that are separate from the capitalist system by highlighting narratives of the time, place, and people who produced the product. However, this marketing scheme illuminates certain ironies in a culture of capitalist consumption."
So, the thesis is done, and I now officially have a master's degree, which is a little scary. It is scary in the way that I feel like I really need to face the real world now and make something of my life. However, I have decided not to face the real world until September 1 to give myself a mini summer vacation. But since finishing my thesis on July 31st, here is the rest of what I have been up to.
August 1st: Left for Minneapolis with Ben to visit his family for five days. This was not my first time in the Twin Cities, but it was my first visit to last longer than twenty-four hours. Also, I decided that a new pie was in order to express my gratitude for Ben's parents' gracious hospitality (plus, it had been a fortnight since my last pie, therefore it was time for a new and different creation). Because this pie was destined for an extra-special destination I decided that only a lattice topped pie would do (because I think they are the prettiest pies) and it had to showcase the farmers' market's freshest and ripest fruit of the moment--This meant berry pie. I was originally going to call this pie a quadruple berry pie, but I then learned that a cherry is actually not a berry, but rather a stone fruit, related to peaches, plums, and apricots (which does make sense, considering the pit in the middle). So I re-named my pie, "triple berry and cherry pie" (I think it has a nice ring to it). Thus far, it is my favorite fruit pie that I have made. The berries were so delicious--there is something about the mixture of berries that gives such a perfectly balanced favor of tart and sweet.
I made my normal pastry and filled the shell with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and dark sweet cherries--in about equal proportions. This time I used a quarter cup plus an few extra pinches of tapioca flour (to be sure that the filling was not runny like the last pie) and a half a cup of sugar. I tossed in a squeeze of lemon juice and the zest of the lemon before weaving the lattice on top. Here are the pictures...
I think that the pie turned out very well, and always, my favorite part is not just eating the pie, but rather enjoying it with wonderful company I am in. So, Rick and Mary, thank you again not just for helping me out as eaters in my pie-per-fornight project, but for your gracious hospitality.
But more about Minneapolis. I was so impressed! I highly recommend a visit, because it is such a wonderful city. We went to the farmers' market on Saturday morning and it was such a great market. There was not only great produce, but such a variety of cheeses, breads, honeys, meats, baked goods, flowers, and even clothing and jewelry. I bought three different types of honey to give to my mom as a birthday present which were amazing. I am a big fan of raw local honey (I know they are good because I got to sample them all--one of my favorite parts of farmers' markets). Also, all the farmers, producers, procurers, etc. were so friendly. I saw choke cherries for the first time, and the farmer let us sample one--man was it tart! But delicious. I could go on, but needless to say, I am a big fan of the Minneapolis farmers' market.
That afternoon Ben's parents took us to a local establishment called the Convention Grill for lunch. This places was great! It has been there since 1934 and the decor has not changed much. It really has an old fashioned, old town feel. Here is one review I found for it online, and I could not put it better myself:
"Here is the great American hamburger. Not the biggest or the best-dressed, not-stuffed with foie gras like the $100 oddities made by show-off chefs, not so lean it's dry nor so greasy it is unctuous, this is a thick, bun-sized patty sizzled to crusty perfection on an extremely well-oiled grill. It oozes juice and radiates beefy savor, and is especially good topped with a mantle of melted cheese and/or California style (with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise)....On the side you want a malt. Huge and so thick that they must be spooned from their silver beaker because pouring is impossible"
I had a chicken sandwich (not a burger, but still delicious) and a honey malt. I can safely say that it was the best malt I have ever had. It had a decidedly honey flavor, and as I mentioned earlier, I am a huge fan of honey. Yea, this place was great. I keep hearing that Minneapolis has a great dining scene, so hopefully I will get back to explore it some more.
August 6th-10th: My parents visited from California. We ate at some great places including Fronterra Grill, Eleven City Diner, Piece (a pizza place with great thin crust pizza and amazing beer that they brew themselves), and Cafe Bolera (an awesome Cuban restaurant in Bucktown). However, the main reason why they came out was to go condo hunting. My dad bought a condo out here which I will rent from him. It was nice because I got to experience the real estate process without having to front the cash, which was a really interesting/draining/stressful experience. I was treking around the city for three weeks prior going to Minneapolis looking at places, thus also not conducive for me keeping this blog updated. We found a place in Lakeview, and I officially have a new place to live which I move into on September 12th if escrow goes smoothly. I am very exited about my new neighborbood--including the bar on the corner of my block that has one of the best tap selections in the city, and serves fried cheese curds (mmmmmmm...).
August 16th: I made two more pies for a pie and drinks party. This time I made Lemon Meringue Pie and a Malted Chocolate Pie. The Lemon Meringue is my great grandmother's recipe, which is the best Lemon Meringue I have ever had. My mom used to always make this recipe when I was growing up, but I had never made it myself. The filling uses condensed milk instead of cornstarch, so it is sweet and creamy and lemony. The other key is to use Meyer lemons as opposed to normal ones. Meyer lemons are very hard to find in the stores, so unless you know someone who has a Meyer lemon tree, it is unlikely that you will find them. Luckily, my parents brought me out a whole bag of them from their trees in CA. Meyer lemons are much sweeter--people are not really sure where they came from, but think that the tree may have been the result of a cross between a mandarin orange tree and a lemon tree.
The meringue was a little hard to get right because it was so humid outside when I was whipping the egg whites (especially as I did not have any cream of tarter) so it was not as fluffy of a meringue as I normally like, but it still tasted delicious. I made the pie in a graham cracker crust, which I must say I am getting excellent at making. I add a pinch of cinnamon, some nutmeg, vanilla and almond extract to the crumbs before pressing them into the pie plate. The almond extract is key...but just a touch.
The Malted Chocolate pie was also amazing--so incredibly rich and fudgy. For this pie I did a chocolate cookie crumb crust (I used Newman's own chocolate alphabet cookies)--just the cookie crumbs, butter and a little vanilla extract pressed into the pie shell. Then the filling is 8 oz. of melted chocolate mixed with a cup and a quarter of heavy cream and a half of a cup of chocolate malted milk powder. This is all heated up until the chocolate is melted and smooth and then left to cool until firmed up a little. Then I poured two thirds of the mixture into the pie shell and then refrigerated it until cold and set firm. Then I topped this filling with crushed malted milk balls. Next I whipped up 3/4 cups of heavy cream and folded in the remaining chocolate mixture and spread this over the filling and chilled until ready to serve. Ohhh man it was good. The bottom layer was thick and fudgy and the top layer was like chocolate silk. Both pies were a hit...
Here are pictures...
August 24th: My latest pie was Ben's request. I asked him what type of pie he wanted before he left for Russia for nine months, and he wanted Banana Cream Pie. So, I not only made Banana Cream Pie, but made "Over the Top, Banana Cream Pie". This pie was great--by far my favorite cream pie that I have made thus far. I started out making my delicious graham cracker crumb crust and then filled this with vanilla custard. To make the custard I whisked together 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of corn starch, 3 egg yolks, and 3 cups of whole milk. I whisked this constantly in a sauce pan over medium heat until it cooked and thickened--about 7 minutes. I then added vanilla extract and poured it into the pie crust and put it in the fridge until chilled and set firm. Then I sliced three large ripe bananas and whipped up a cup of heavy whipping cream. After the custard was chilled I spread a thin layer of whipping cream over the custard, topped this with the sliced bananas, and then piled the rest of the whipped cream on top. The final touch was to crumble a Butterfinger candy bar on top--the perfect finale for an already awesome pie. Here are pictures...
So that leads me to today, and one final comment before I sign off. On my post about Gardening for Yuppies I received a comment from an former co-worker of mine, Russ. I found his comment to my quandaries about our relationship to food and the earth quite profound--I think that he hit the nail on the head. He said, "Perhaps the trouble you're having is not with your ambivalent feelings towards well-intended yet disconnected yuppies, but rather with the inability of Marxist criticism to deal with something so spiritual at its very core as the need to "connect with the earth."' I think that this is so true. One of the reasons I have decided to take a step back from academia is precisely for this reason...the inability of Marxist criticism to deal with many issues related to food--and not just Marxist criticism, but academic thought in general. I mentioned in an earlier post that I love to cook for people for many many reasons, all of which I could "anthropologize" to look at the semiotic, structural, or functional reasons for, but at the end of the day, those academic reasons do not matter and I really don't care about them. At the end of the day the reason why I love food and love to cook for people and eat with people is more of a spiritual connection with earth and those I love--a connection that no amount of academic theory will ever be able to comprehend. I plan to write more about this and try to express these thoughts in a more coherent way in the future, but this is about the best I can do for now. So thank you Russ, for putting into poignant words what I could not. And for now, I will end this monstrous blog post...
1 comments:
I must say the triple berry-cherry pie with the lattice-top was absolutely wonderful! Best pie Minneapolis has ever seen!!
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