Blue Cayenne

For those of you who, like me, have slight imperfections (you know who you are), here is an interesting article from NPR that raises the possibility that ugly fruits and vegetables actually may be more nutritious than the “super-model” produce that edges them out on most supermarket produce counters. Their consumption also may reduce the obscene amount of food waste in the U.S. and abroad–2.9 trillion pounds a year according to National Geographic Magazine. That is enough food to feed the world’s 800,000,000 hungry two times over.

According to United States Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsach, the U.S. wastes enough food in a year to fill 40 skyscrapers. Put another way, that translates to a loss of 40% of the food grown in the U.S. in a given year, not to mention the labor, water and other resources that have gone into the cultivation of that food. Pretty shameful.

There is a growing movement afoot in the U.S. to cut food waste. Grocers Giant Eagle and Whole Foods Markets, for example,  have teamed with Oakland-based Imperfect Produce to test-market the sale of blemished and misshapen produce at reduced prices and there is pressure on other markets to do the same. There is, of course, some irony in Whole Foods’ embrace of ugly produce and lower prices given that company’s reputation for high prices–“whole paycheck market,” as some of my friends call it. It’s a good deed on their part, nevertheless.

The growing popularity of farmers markets increasingly moves imperfect produce onto American dinner tables as well as do food banks. My local Second Harvest Orange County food bank branch feeds 200,000 hungry people each month.

Europe is ahead of us in this area with E.U. countries like France and England leading the way in promoting the virtues of ugly fruits and vegetables. They are doing a bit of clever marketing, too. The French have a program to promote “inglorious fruits and vegetables.”  Here is a link to France’s Intermarche market’s famous promotion video for “unfortunate clementines” and other inglorious produce. It is well-done, makes you think, and worth your time to watch. It is also clever.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQQMygivn0g

Speaking about food waste and an American food industry whose standards emphasize cosmetic considerations like size, diameter, and consistency over taste and ripeness, California organic grower David Matsumoto gets it right: ” If we picked our friends the way we selectively picked and culled our produce, we’d be very lonely.”

We would also miss out on some very healthy friendships.

Here is the link to the NPR article about nutrition and ugly produce:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/04/26/475739569/beneath-an-ugly-outside-marred-fruit-may-pack-more-nutrition

Here is  a beautiful piece of writing about bread baking and about finding a personal connection with the food you prepare in general.

I’ve vowed that I will be a better bread baker starting this year. I’ll let you know how that comes out.

http://www.saveur.com/baker-apprentice-frederic-lalos

Here is your history lesson. Stay with me here. We get to Fabio a bit later in this post.

Dates were a staple of the Babylonian diet as long as 8000 years ago, putting the date in the running for the distinction of being the oldest cultivated fruit. Subsequently, date cultivation flourished throughout North Africa and the Near East in climates where date palms could get the “hot heads and wet feet” that they require to flourish.

The Moors introduced the date to Spain from North Africa during their occupation of parts of Spain from the 8th century until they were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492 with the fall of Granada.

Cultivation of date palms in Spain turned out to be problematic, however, and crop yields were small. When the Spanish expanded their reach to North America, Spanish missionaries planted date palms at the California missions during the 1700s. Crops were sparse at the missions but the cultivation of dates in California’s Central Valley eventually took off.

In 1898, the United States Department of Agriculture created a special department of “agricultural explorers.” The explorers were tasked with traveling the world and identifying exotic (and potentially lucrative) crops to introduce into cultivation in the United States. At least one historian has labeled these explorers “the Indiana Joneses of the plant world.”  Thank them for the introduction of the avocado, the mango, new varieties of oranges and new varieties of dates to the American market.

One such “adventurer” was William Swingle who, in the early 20th century, oversaw the importation of twelve Medjool date palm offshoots to the Coachella Valley from Morocco. Date production in California exploded after Swingle’s project. Propitiously, California’s young movie industry fell in love with everything Middle Eastern at about this time, giving the California date industry an unexpected boost. The 1920s discovery of Tut’s Tomb in Egypt segued perfectly with the enhanced marketing of California dates and California-made movies.  Movies like “The Queen of Sheba” and the blockbuster 1921 Valentino film, “The Sheik,” created unexpected opportunities to promote California date production. Suddenly, dates were sexy. Valentino ate dates. Shouldn’t you?

Today, California date production accounts for approximately 95% of U.S. production of dates.

Whatever its lineage, the date, particularly the soft caramel-flavored Medjool, is one of my favorite foods. It is a nutritional powerhouse, rich in (low-glycemic) carbohydrates, potassium and magnesium, a good source of fiber and relatively low in calories at 110 calories per serving (2-3 fresh dates). No fat. No cholesterol. No sodium. No problem.

My love affair with dates wasn’t always so. I’ve had my share of the hard, shriveled, flavorless dates that come in those round plastic packages that appear to have been packaged sometime during the Spanish Inquisition.

I’ve chopped them. I’ve soaked them. I’ve microwaved them. Mostly I’ve thrown them out. There wasn’t much there to love.

Then a year ago, across the tables of zucchini and tomatoes, I spied the buff swarthy date salesman at the Farmers Market. He proffered one of his deep amber-brown Medjool dates and I lost my heart. (This is beginning to read like the opening sentence in one of those steamy Fabio novels. Sorry. I got carried away.)

In this recipe, I combined magnificent nut-stuffed Medjool dates with a bulgur salad for a neighborhood birthday party. The presentation was beautiful and the combination worked wonderfully. Here is the recipe. I previously posted the recipe for the dates that I used with this recipe on this site under the heading “Best Date Appetizers in the Parade.” You can find the recipe by clicking on the appetizers category on the right side of this page.

Recipe: Bulgur Salad with Mangoes and Pistachios
1 C. uncooked bulgur (fine)
1 C. boiling water

3 sliced honey mangoes
1/2 C. sliced green onions
1/4 C. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 T. chopped fresh dill
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
3 T. white balsamic vinegar
3/4 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly-ground black pepper
3-4 T. chopped pistachios
Pomegranate Seeds for garnish
Lettuce leaves for garnish
1 recipe stuffed dates (see recipe index on this site for Best Date Appetizer in the Parade)

Directions:

Pour one cup of bulgur in a large bowl and cover with 1 cup of boiling water. Cover and leave on your counter for about an hour. When the hour is up, use a fork to fluff the bulgur.

Add parsley, green onions and dill to the bulgur and mix.

Prepare oil and vinegar dressing (olive oil, vinegar, salt and black pepper). Pour the dressing into the bulgur mixture and mix. Refrigerate overnight to let the flavors develop.

Just before serving, garnish bulgur salad with sliced mangoes and lettuce leaves. Sprinkle generously with chopped pistachios and pomegranate seeds. Arrange stuffed dates around the edge of the plate.

Cook’s Notes: When I first prepared this, the flavor of the oil and vinegar dressing was too strong for my taste. I wanted to taste the bulgar grain not the dressing. I added some additional bulgur. I would suggest that you might want to do the same, adding the dressing judiciously rather than all-at-once.