Did you know that President Obama and family have an “Official White House Photostream” page on Flickr?   You can view photos posted almost daily of the goings-ons at the White House!  And if you are like me, you’ll be very interested in what dessert he’s serving at his next dinner party or what Michelle and local students are planting this spring in the beds of the White House Vegetable Garden.  How cool is that?!

Did you know that our 32nd president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had an interesting taste for foods?  He was known to have had three favorites–frog legs, pig knuckles and scrambled eggs.  I wonder if he ever ate them mixed together…

I don’t really know if this is true because I can’t exactly ask Mr. Roosevelt myself, but it’s one of many trivial facts I found from my boyfriend’s iPhone application “Awesome Facts,” which has been keeping me entertained for the last couple of days.

This weekend is the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival.  Ponchatoula is about 45 minutes from New Orleans - a great little town that has been celebrating our magnificent, solid-through-the middle strawberries, for over 30 years.  After some rather intriguing politics and legal wrangling, Ponchatoula was declared “The Strawberry Capital of the World” in 1968.  Click on that link for very interesting reading about how the whole thing went down.  The Strawberry Festival is a dizzyingly delicious event with all sorts of local foods and most important, all things strawberry, including the “bake off” winners in categories for Strawberry Cake; Strawberry Jelly/Jams; Strawberry Pie; Strawberry Muffin, Loaves & Cookies; Strawberry Misc.; and other Strawberry Dessert.  Inspired by the bright red berries stunning bright, floral flavor, I’m heading to Ponchatoula to taste all the spectacular foods and pick up a flat of strawberries so I can whip up Emeril’s Strawberry Shortcake with Fresh Strawberry Bread.  Heavenly.

This is a St. Lucy’s “eye pie.”  St. Lucy is the patron Saint of eye ailments and blindness and even though her Feast Day is December 13, the pies appear on St. Joseph’s altars (yesterday was St. Joseph’s Day) because she is a Sicilian Saint.  The ancestors of Sicilian immigrants who settled in New Orleans in the 1800’s are vibrant and St. Joseph’s Day is a big deal, celebrated with meatless dishes and many symbolic cookies, cakes and breads.  The St. Lucy’s Eye Pie is fig-filled, and, if made traditionally, has a chick pea flour crust.  People with eye ailments are said to abstain from wheat as homage to St. Lucy.

I just started reading a new book on food history called Moveable Feasts by Sarah Murray.  I’ve only read 22 pages of the book and I’ve already learned that the banana is actually a giant herb; Spain actually produces more olive oil than Italy; and that Yves Saint Laurent was forced by French champagne grape growers to change the name of one of his fragrances called Champagne to Yvresse in the 90’s!

So far, the book is absolutely fascinating and explores the movement of food from ancient Roman times to modern day.  It compares age-old practices with current systems, which in some cases haven’t changed much.  It brings to light many of the hidden secrets kept by food producers and distributors—both savory and sweet.   And above all, it is stuffed full of enticing information that will certainly make you think differently about your future food purchases…

In New Orleans, there’s a Holiday tradition (”Carnival” being a perfectly legitimate holiday) for celebrating and feasting on Oyster Patties  - oysters gently cooked in a thick Bechamel-like sauce flavored with oyster liquor and of course, a healthy dose of seasoning (salt, pepper, onions, parsley and cayenne).  That sauce is ladled generously over what is locals call “patty shells,” but are otherwise known as vol-aux-vents.  Back in the day, New Orleanians bought patty shells (both large and small) from beloved but “ain’t dere no more” Mckenzie’s Bakery, a local classic.  Nowadays, finding freshly baked patty shells is more of a challenge, but it can be done with a little effort.  The pictured Oyster Patties were recently served at a family dinner and are the 100 year-old recipe of “Nanny,”  (my husband’s great-grandmother) from a recipe handed down by her mother, who got it from her mother before her…buttered Le Sueur peas served alongside.  Chef Emeril’s recipe deliciously subs crawfish tails for oysters, and shrimp or crab meat will work too.  If freshly baked puff pastry shells aren’t available, there are ready-to-bake versions in the freezer section of the grocery.

While living in Madrid, the most exciting celebration I experienced was “Nochevieja,”  Spain’s New Year’s Eve.

Just before midnight, millions of people gather at Puerta del Sol square in the city’s center and watch the final countdown from the huge clock on top of the post office.  Tradition requires that with each stroke of the clock at midnight, you eat a grape.  The saying goes that with each of the twelve grapes you eat, you are ensuring luck for the twelve months of the New Year ahead.  Following the mass grape gobbling are several toasts of cava (Spanish bubbly), and hours of singing and dancing in the streets!

It is an absolutely great time and the party goes until the wee hours of the morning, usually ending with chocolate and churros (hot chocolate and fried dough) at San Gines, the city’s best chocolateria.

What is Mayhaw you ask? Mayhaw is a fruit that comes from the May Hawthorn tree, found in swamps and low-lying, generally, wet areas of the Southeastern United States. The May Hawthorne begins to ripen in late February and early March; the blossoms are quite pretty and remind me of cherry blossoms. The fruit, which looks something like a cross between a crab apple and a rosehip, ripens in late April and May.

Wild Mayhaw fruit is harvested using boats or what we call pirogues; the limbs of the trees are shaken and the fruit is then gathered in nets. Mayhaw has been harvested for generations by those lucky enough to have the sweet fruit nearby. But the wild trees have dwindled due to development.

Mayhaw has a slightly tannic quality to it. It’s flavor reminds me of rose hips or quince, which makes sense since the May Hawthorne tree is a cousin of the rose. The fruit is processed and made into jams, jellies, syrups, pie fillings, sorbet and even Mayhaw wine. Mayhaw is unique and distinct to this region of the South. It is something I grew up eating on toast for breakfast when I would visit my great aunts in Tensas parish. It brings back fond memories and every year I look forward to May. Mayhaw products are often sold at farmstands along the side of the road in areas where the trees grow. There are a few farmers who sell their products online.

The town of Marion, Louisiana hosts its annual Mayhaw Festival this Mother’s Day weekend on May 10. There will be games, food and of course a Mayhaw jelly making contest.

Happy Persian New Year!  A dear friend called to wish me happy Persian New Year and told me that the New Year (Norouz or Nowruz) begins on the first day of spring and is a two-week celebration of rebirth and renewal.  Quoting an Internet source, she sent me this:

Foods served during Norouz communicate spring themes. Sweet and sour flavors are meant to represent the duality of good and evil. Eggs represent fertility, and are served in dishes like the popular kuku (somewhat similar to an Italian frittata). Ash reshfte  a warm noodle soup, typically begins the new year meal. The symbolism of the noodles it is said represent wishes for the unraveling of life’s knotty problems. The main course for a typical Iranian New Year’s meal is sabzi polo hami, or green herbs and rice, served with a white fish sauteed with chopped onion, lemon juice, turmeric, salt and fresh garlic.

So, I pulled out my favorite Persian cookbook, New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies, by Najmieh Batnanglij, where I found a rather lengthy, intense but beautiful recipe for Ash-e reshte (Noodle Soup).  I’ll be making the soup this weekend and will happily share my results.   

A local bakery has begun making matzo and I had the chance to get in on the act.   We made stacks of the stuff that was not kosher-for-Passover or even kosher, but a simple, everyday matzo to celebrate the spirit of the Passover season.   Matzo is simply flour and water that rests for a maximum of 18 minutes before being rolled out very thin and baked crisp in a hot, hot oven.  The resting time limitation has to do with preventing leavening and ensuring the bread remains flat.  Pricking the freshly rolled dough with a fork just before baking, also helps. 

In my home, there is always a box of matzo for snacking, but historically matzo is specifically eaten during Passover (a commemoration of the exodus from Egypt) as a  symbol of the Israelites hasty departure.  Matzo is also symbolic as a reminder to be humble, and to not forget what life was like in servitude.