Germans and Vegetables
This is inspired by Ashton's comment in Oh Pun!: "Veggies are good; even the Germans see that:"
The Germans have long used vegetables, to a minor extent, and are the only people who felt that the Victorian English undercooked their vegetables**.
A journalist for Smithsonian Magazine, a few years ago, was preparing an article on German sausage makers. He chose a sausage shop with an owner who was talkative and agreeable to showing him the whole process.
A year or so later, to finish up his article, the journalist went back to the same sausage shop. The guy still sold sausages, but he didn't make them any more.
What happened? The sausage maker was falling into very bad health. His doctor told him he had to eat a lot of vegetables. This horrified the sausage maker, as eating vegetables was such an alien concept. He couldn't stand vegetables, not even the thought of vegetables - so the doctor showed him how to make smoothies out of vegetables, something he could choke down. The effect on his health was so stunning, that by time the journalist got back for a final review, the guys specialty was making vegetarian entrées.
Entrées: This is a confusing term. The Smithsonian Magazine article was written in the United States, where an "entrée" is the main dish. This is true also in some parts of Canada. In the rest of the world, an "entrée" is the first dish to the table, the "entrence". For this reason, I don't use the term on Clovegarden.
** Some English recipes I have made make very good use of "overcooking" vegetables. They are cooked down into a sauce, which is quite good. Some chefs in England are working hard to restore the glory of pre-Victorian English cuisine, which was well respected in that time.
After WWII, quite a few young German chefs got kitchen jobs in other countries, and came back to Germany with a new concept of vegetables. One result is the New German Cookbook (HarperCollins), where traditional recipes are reconstituted with a better understanding of vegetables.
The Germans have long used vegetables, to a minor extent, and are the only people who felt that the Victorian English undercooked their vegetables**.
A journalist for Smithsonian Magazine, a few years ago, was preparing an article on German sausage makers. He chose a sausage shop with an owner who was talkative and agreeable to showing him the whole process.
A year or so later, to finish up his article, the journalist went back to the same sausage shop. The guy still sold sausages, but he didn't make them any more.
What happened? The sausage maker was falling into very bad health. His doctor told him he had to eat a lot of vegetables. This horrified the sausage maker, as eating vegetables was such an alien concept. He couldn't stand vegetables, not even the thought of vegetables - so the doctor showed him how to make smoothies out of vegetables, something he could choke down. The effect on his health was so stunning, that by time the journalist got back for a final review, the guys specialty was making vegetarian entrées.
Entrées: This is a confusing term. The Smithsonian Magazine article was written in the United States, where an "entrée" is the main dish. This is true also in some parts of Canada. In the rest of the world, an "entrée" is the first dish to the table, the "entrence". For this reason, I don't use the term on Clovegarden.
** Some English recipes I have made make very good use of "overcooking" vegetables. They are cooked down into a sauce, which is quite good. Some chefs in England are working hard to restore the glory of pre-Victorian English cuisine, which was well respected in that time.
After WWII, quite a few young German chefs got kitchen jobs in other countries, and came back to Germany with a new concept of vegetables. One result is the New German Cookbook (HarperCollins), where traditional recipes are reconstituted with a better understanding of vegetables.
