3 quick bites: Don’t know jackfruit?

Don’t know jackfruit?
“With the heft of a large watermelon and peel like a studded, leathery reptile, a jackfruit can certainly look intimidating,” cautions Tasting Table in an article and video tutorial on breaking down jackfruit. The fact is, once you conquer jackfruit, the sweet and savory possibilities are endless. The veggie-centric world is already buzzing about using jackfruit to create a believable substitute for pulled pork. Amazing!

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The scoop on the history of ice cream 
While chocolate and vanilla ice cream may seem pretty basic now, there was a time when only the richest of the rich could enjoy a scoop on a hot summer day. Before modern ice cream-making techniques were discovered, a dish of the Persian sherbati required a trip to the mountains to acquire snow! Flavors like chocolate and vanilla weren’t easy to come by, either. A recent article at First We Feast recaps a talk at The Museum of Food and Drink by food historian Sarah Lohman, also the author of “Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine.”

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What is shaved catfish?
Hint: it’s not a catfish without whiskers. In a video by Mind of a Chef, James Beard award-winning chefs John Currence and Sean Brock set out to recreate a New Orleans classic: shaved catfish. The fish is sliced super thin, coated in cornmeal and deep fried. As Brock comments, the thinner slice “means more breading.” It was a thrifty Depression-era measure that today has become the signature dish at Middledorf’s, an institution in the city.

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