Niçoise Salad  

The Niçoise salad originated in Nice, France using local fresh ingredients. It famously includes the unique olives and tomatoes of the region, also anchovies and hard-boiled eggs. The earliest recorded recipe dated 1894 has seen many iterations through the years. The most controversial of which was Escoffier’s1903 addition of potatoes and green beans. Some critics have called it blasphemy, but given that Escoffier, potatoes, and green beans are all native to the region, most have accepted their inclusion. (O’Neill, 2023)

Early versions of Niçoise salad did not contain lettuce and resembled an antipasto dish more than what we recognize today as a salad. Because of the proximity of Nice to Italy, the cuisine shares commonalities of both France and Italy, so an antipasto dish makes sense. There is even speculation that the earliest versions of the dish were a sandwich. (O’Neill, 2023)

The simplicity of ingredients has led to the enduring presence of Niçoise salad on the menu of French cuisine. Eggs and tuna make the salad hearty enough to stand as a meal. The salad can be presented anywhere from rustic to elegant with heaps of potato and canned tuna fish, or with artfully designed arrangements and seared fresh tuna.

To modernize a dish such as a Niçoise salad, we can go back to its roots. All fashions have their time and then fade only to resurface again later with a twist. A Niçoise salad sandwich or wrap would be inventive and would provide an easier way to enjoy the flavors of a Niçoise salad on the go. No fork required. Surely there’s a food professional out there who hates this idea just as they hated Escoffier’s addition of potatoes and green beans.

References

O'Neill, M. (2023, January 17). The Contentious Origins of the Niçoise Salad. The Daily Meal. 

https://www.thedailymeal.com/1327925/contentious-origins-nicoise-salad/

Gyro

Just about every cuisine on earth lays claim to a version of a sandwich. The types of bread and fillings vary depending on region, but the basics remain, meat, vegetables, or other fillings supported by a bread product. One such sandwich originating from Greece is the gyro.

The gyro’s name means round or circle and is taken from the way the meat is cooked. Traditionally, a gyro uses ground lamb mixed with breadcrumbs and seasonings. (Helstosky. 2009). It is rotated slowly on a long, vertical skewer in front of a grill. As the meat roasts, shavings are sliced off as the gyros are ordered.

The gyro is a handheld sandwich made in a pita. There is no need for cutlery. (Matalas & Yannakoulia. 2000) The gyro makes use of the natural pocket formed in pita bread during the baking process, or the fillings can simply be rolled up in the pita.

A gyro is typically served with tomato, red onion, and tzatziki, though variations have been introduced. Some modern recipes contain french fries, green peppers, or chicken. (Matalas & Yannakoulia. 2000)

Gyros are among the most popular street food in Greece, being sold by mobile cart vendors with walk-up shops and no seating. (Matalas & Yannakoulia. 2000) It is a quick sandwich to order and, in that respect, is comparable to modern fast food but with a better health profile and a rich tradition that crosses economic classes. Though it is interesting to note that in lower socio-economic neighborhoods, there is an increased number of gyro venders, and the portion sizes of the sandwiches are a bit bigger. (Matalas & Yannakoulia. 2000)

As a sandwich, gyros offer the best of everything delicious, tender, juicy meat inside a warmed, soft pita and topped with cool, creamy tzatziki sauce. The contrasting flavors, textures, and temperatures make for a satisfying meal on the go.

References

Helstosky, C. (2009). Typical Meals. In Food Culture in the Mediterranean (p. 102). essay, Greenwood. 

Matalas, A., & Yannakoulia, M. (2000). Greek Street Food Vending: An Old Habit Turned New. In Street Foods (pp. 1–24). essay, Karger. 

Sausages have a long history of being efficiently utilized and preserved meats. As the keeper of the food, the garde manger was responsible for making the sausage, and as sausages developed in different regions around the world, different ingredients were used. Even grains or potatoes found their way into sausages as a way to stretch meat ingredients. Apples, herbs, spices, and other ingredient combinations were included to enhance flavor. (The Culinary Institute of America, 2012, p. 252) 

Incorporating non-meat ingredients into a sausage is not a contemporary concept. It happened anciently and still can be found today. This concept as explained by Carolien Niebling in her Tedx talk, The Sausage of the Future, is nothing new.

Niebling makes a weak argument that it is time to innovate the world of food toward a meatless diet but doesn’t offer convincing evidence that it’s necessary. With the help of her expert sausage-maker friend, Herman ter Weele, she presents sausages with alternative protein sources, such as insects, as well as plant-based ingredients like vegetables, legumes, seeds, and nuts. (Niebling, 2018) But whether a meatless diet is the answer to global problems or not, she’s picking a fight when she positions herself as the instigator of sausage reform.

I would argue that Niebling is not a food innovator at all but merely walking in the footsteps of an already established garde manger tradition. Throughout history, garde manger has been concerned with the food supply by smoking and preserving food against an uncertain future with ingenuity and creative courage. They had no choice but to constantly innovate based on the ingredients available and how they could use them to feed the people.

At first, Niebling comes across as an environmental activist as she begins her Tedx talk, claiming her purpose in suggesting alternative protein ingredients is a sustainability goal with the idea that meat is a dwindling commodity. (Niebling, 2018) But then content of her presentation shifts away from this hook and focuses more on the variety and inventiveness of her sausages, which leads me to believe she only starts out with the environmental headline to grab attention rather than truly persuade anyone to share her standpoint. Her true purpose seems to be to showcase her new sausages which, conceptually, are not new. Not that they don’t deserve to be showcased, but the misleading introduction doesn’t resonate throughout the presentation.

Niebling would do better to present herself as an artist. The photos of her creations on her website are dramatic and elegant, but not revolutionary as food concepts. (Niebling, n.d.) 

References

Niebling, C. (2018, June 15). The sausage of the future | Carolien Niebling | TEDxGeneva [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3LKtFAFHPY

Niebling, C. (n.d.). The sausage of the future. Carolien Niebling. Retrieved from

https://carolienniebling.net/THE-SAUSAGE-OF-THE-FUTURE

The Culinary Institute of America. (2012). Garde manger: The art and craft of the cold kitchen (4th ed.). Wiley.

There are lots of place to get olive oil, but according to Tom at the Temecula Olive Oil Company, theirs is the best. And for good reason. From their growing and harvesting practices to the way they co-mill the olives to create different flavor blends, their process is designed to thoughtfully produce very fine olive oils.

 They aim to take the olives from harvest to processing within twenty-four hours. They mill and press the olives on the property or take their mobile equipment to their remote olive groves in order to get the oil promptly.

Olives that are allowed to wait longer than twenty-four hours for processing can develop a “fusty” quality, which is a result of fermentation. This taste defect that can be described as “waste pond” or horse droppings indicates the presence of bacteria. (Guillaume, n.d.) A common reason for fustiness to occur is the need to transport the olives great distances to be milled and pressed. Another has to do with the way the olives are harvested.

Tom explained that his olives are removed from the trees when they are ripe. By shaking the tree or raking the branches, the olives fall into nets laid on the ground to be collected. Other companies’ practices involve waiting until the olives are beyond ripe and fall to the ground on their own. Then the workers come along and gather them. This allows too much time for fermentation and creates a fusty oil. The Temecula Olive Oil Company has found a way around the delay between harvest and milling.

To the Garde Manger, a quality olive oil is paramount and has been since ancient Rome. The finest flavor is important when preparing salad dressings and other cold applications. Just as critical though is the use of olive oil in food preservation. Olive oil serves as a barrier to protect foods from oxygen and moisture. By submerging items such as sun-dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, or marinated cheeses, the olive oil minimizes oxidation and microbial growth. (AgroPuglia. n.d.). 

I already knew that olive oil was considered a healthy oil because it is so minimally processed. Other oils such as vegetable and seed oils undergo a lengthy and complicated transformation to become a product for culinary applications. It is a widely accepted fact that less processed foods are better for human consumption.

One thing Tom did not address in his presentation about the health implications of various oils, however, was the price differential between his premium olive oils and common seed oils found in supermarkets. When using a teaspoon at a time, the higher priced olive oil doesn’t seem like a burdensome investment in one’s health. But when recipes require larger measurements, such as when making mayonnaise, I can see how price may be a deciding factor.

I had seen olive oils with infusions of herbs or other ingredients and those with the addition of essential oils and found it interesting to learn that co-milling ingredients with the olives resulted in better integration of flavors. Co-milling also extends the shelf life of olive oil by combining all the ingredients’ natural antioxidants during extraction. Infusions and essential oils decrease the shelf life of olive oil.

In the tasting portion of the tour, we were offered several varieties of olive oil that had been co-milled with other ingredients. Each was uniquely flavorful on its own, but when a few drops of specialty vinegars were added, it was magic. I could easily imagine recipes for salads, breads, and other delicious dishes with each flavor combination. It’s always fun when an ingredient inspires creativity and discovery.

References

Guillaume, C. (n.d.). Sensory analysis in olive oil: Negative attributes. Olive Wellness Institute.

https://olivewellnessinstitute.org/article/sensory-analysis-in-olive-oil-negative-atributes/

AgroPuglia. (n.d.). Preserved foods in oil: Origins and legends. Retrieved from 

https://www.agropuglia.com/en/archive/preserved-foods-in-oil-origins-and-legends/