Pistachio paste is made from pistachios and powdered sugar.

Q. I have some leftover pistachio paste, but I don’t know what to do with it. Any suggestions?

– S.W.

A. Desserts naturally come to mind: cookies, baklava, custard, rice pudding, Indian sweets, actually anything that calls for marzipan or almond paste.

We ran a recipe for a rich pistachio gelato last year that includes the paste. The recipe also tells you how to make this confection, which mixes the nuts with powdered sugar.

You could also add it to a sweet-and-savory sauce, such as a mustard dressing in place of honey, and pour it over pork tenderloin or roast chicken.

If you have a question for a foodie, please e-mail info@savorsa.com.

Q. I found a bag of something dried at the health food store called goldenberries. All it said on the back was that they were high in flavonoids and that they were from Peru. But what are they?

-Sue

A. Goldenberries are a fruit originally from Peru and Colombia but are now grown in warm climates around the world.

Here’s a bit of background information from the website BeOnLiving.com: “Also known as Inca Berries or Incan Berries, these sweet and tangy dried fruits were a staple of the Peruvian ancients but were nearly lost to history. Luckily, this delicious, nutritious berry has been rediscovered and is once more making culinary conquests.

“Dried, goldenberries are like chewy, citrusy raisins. Tart, sweet, and highly nutritious, they’re great for snacking right out of the bag.

“They’re bursting with nutrients – especially phosphorous and Vitamins A, C, B1, B6, and B12. They also deliver a healthy dose of bioflavonoids (known to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiviral properties).”

According to LiveSuperfoods.com,  goldenberries are also high in protein. Each serve offers 16 percent of the daily recommended allowance.

Use goldenberries in most ways you’d use raisins, yet want that more citrusy flavor: oatmeal cookies, rice pudding, granola, smoothies, pies.

Q. I love hushpuppies, especially when they have a little chopped onion and cayenne pepper in them. But I’ve always wondered why that are called that.

— A.R.

A. You might be able to guess why these delicious, deep-fried cornmeal dumplings are called by this name. According to “The Food Lover’s Companion,” by Sharon Tyler Herbst,  tradition has it that the name comes from the fact that, to keep hungry dogs from begging for food while dinner was being prepared, cooks would toss scraps of fried batter to the pets, telling them to “Hush, puppy!” Hushpuppies traditionally accompany fried catfish in Southern cooking.

In “The Dictionary of American Food and Drink,” by John F. Mariani, the author mentions another reference, the “Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins” that cited the phrase as referring to deep-fried salamanders, sometimes called “water puppies.” This was a particularly lowly food, often used as bait. The phrase might have come about because a Southern wife might not want her neighbors to know she was making it for dinner, and so changed its name.

Q. I’m hoping you can help me with a recipe for Valentine candy. I always send my daughter candy for Valentine’s Day. After reading your stories about peppermint bark,  I wanted to make my own candy for her this year.  She likes dark chocolate and dried cherries. What kind of nuts would go well with these?       —  Judy B.

A. Oh, this is a tough question. You might need to send samples. After discussion among SavorSA folks, we decided the best nuts with chocolate (and cherries) would be almonds, hazelnuts and pecans. But, then you have to consider those dark chocolate “turtle” candies made with English walnuts (be still my heart) and peanuts in Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups. Why not black walnuts? I don’t think I’ve tried black walnuts in chocolate, but they have quite a different flavor from English walnuts. (They are, however, very good in black walnut ice cream, if you can find it.)

Maybe it would be easier to tackle this question from another angle. What nut isn’t best with chocolate? I’d venture to say that pine nuts might be overwhelmed by the dark chocolate flavor. Roasted, salted cashews are so good eaten just as they are that I wouldn’t be interested in going the extra step to put them in candy. Macadamia nuts? I don’t care for these myself, but for some reason these seem to turn up most often with white chocolate. Again, they have a  mild flavor, as do Brazil nuts.

Hope this helps, Judy. I have a feeling your daughter will love whatever you send her, though.

Q. I was given some vanillin sugar recently. What is it? And how do I use it?  –Judy

A. The thought behind vanillin was to produce a powdered version of vanilla.

The food dictionary at epicurious.com says there are two types of vanillin:  “Natural vanillin is a substance intrinsic to the vanilla bean, whereas artificial vanillin is made from wood-pulp by-products.”

The artificial variety is often included in what is sold as vanillin sugar. According to the Nordic Recipe Archive, “Vanillin sugar is slightly bitter in taste. It is added to foods only in small amount (usually 1 – 2 teaspoons per a batch of batter, dough, etc. ). It should be added to custards and sauces that are cooked on stovetop no sooner than just after cooking, otherwise it will turn bitterer.”

The following is a recipe for muffins that uses vanillin sugar as a dusting powder after the muffins have been baked. You could also use it on cereal or to dust lightly other dishes to which you want an added vanilla flavor.

Strawberry Muffins

1 cup strawberries, hulled, halved
6 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups almond meal (also sold as almond flour)
1/2 cup flour
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled
Vanillin sugar, to dust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 12-hole muffins pan.

Place strawberries on a large plate and use a potato masher to crush.

Place the egg whites and vanilla bean paste in a large bowl and whisk until just frothy. Using a coarse sieve, sift over the powdered sugar, almond meal and flour. Add the melted butter and crushed strawberries and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Divide the mixture among prepared muffin holes and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until muffins are golden and a skewer inserted into the centers comes out clean.

Stand in the pans for 3-4 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with vanillin sugar before serving.

Adapted from taste.com.au.

Q. What is sumac? Where does it come from? Is it any relation to the poison sumac plants I have in my yard? –Carol

A. The sumac served at Middle Eastern restaurants is a tart spice that adds plenty of flavor to the food, not poison. But the plants you refer to are related to the source of the spice, and they are poisonous.

According to the website, TheSpiceHouse.com, “Sumac is considered essential for cooking in much of the Middle East; it served as the tart, acidic element in cooking prior to the introduction of lemons by the Romans. In the U.S., you might see sumac growing along the roadside, but this relative of the Middle Eastern sumac is poisonous and should not be consumed. Sumac has a very nice, fruity-tart flavor which is not quite as overpowering as lemon. In addition to their very pleasant flavor, flakes from the berry are a lovely, deep red color which makes a very attractive garnish.”

Ground sumac is the form most often seen at Middle Eastern restaurants, including Shiraz, 4230 McCullough Ave.

So, the answer to your question is this: If you want to try this spice at home, buy it from a grocer and don’t pick it from the side of the road.

A. We’ve been seeing “sliders” on menus lately. I know they are very small burgers, but I am wondering where the name came from.     — Alison

B. I thought that it was probably because they were so delicious they slid easily down the throat.  Or maybe they were so greasy, as a friend of mine suggested. Checking with the White Castle website (originators of “sliders”) and a Google search, turned up some other ideas about the name.

White Castle started marketing its small, square burgers with five holes in them in 1921. The burgers at this Wichita, Kansas store were 5 cents apiece and were steamed on a bed of chopped onions. The holes in the burgers were to speed the cooking.

When the founder pocketed $3.75 at the end of the first day, he knew he was onto something, says the White Castle website. The small burgers, sold by the sackful, were called sliders.

Unless I missed it, the website doesn’t say exactly why the burgers were called “sliders.” But, we checked at Chow Hound to find an amusing discussion of this very topic. Also, Wikipedia mentions that the term is sometimes spelled “slyders” but I didn’t see that particular spelling on the White Castle website.

Anyone else care to tackle this probing question?

Q. What is Cambozola cheese, and what wines would pair well with it?

A. Cambozola is a popular cheese, though we note that food writers Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst, in “The Cheese Lover’s Companion”,  say it’s not particularly revered among true cheese aficionados.

It was “invented” in Germany in the 1970s, and is a blend of Camembert and Gorgonzola cheeses, from which the cheese gets its name. By adding extra cream to the Cambozola, the fat content swells to 70 percent. Then, it is injected with blue mold Penicillium spores and ripened for three weeks, according “The Cheese Lover’s Companion.”  The result is a triple cream cheese with just a touch of blue cheese flavor.

Those who like it  find it a creamy, good accompaniment to fruit, such as pears or figs, as well as with fruity red wines such as a Cru Beaujolais, Zinfandel or dry, red Primitivo.

Q. My parents had a very fruitful harvest from their lemon tree, over 400 lemons before the big freeze.  They have juiced the lemons and frozen hundreds of cubes, made lemonade, used the zest for lemon poppy seed muffins, looked into making lemon extract (but are not big vodka drinkers and don’t want to invest in a bottle…). They’re trying to brainstorm other recipes to try before the crop ripens any more. Any other lemon-filled suggestions? They still have a ton. Any recipes requiring lots of lemons would be great. —H.H.

A. First, I invite anyone with the same “problem” to check in and comment here with any tips you have.

Next, I congratulate your folks, H.H.,  on their terrific crop: A wealth of lemons is a good thing. Before we get to food preparation tips, have your folks thought about donating some of the fruit to a food bank or giving away baskets to friends or take them to their church? Just an idea, especially if they get tired of lemon processing.

Here are a few other suggestions and links to recipes:

1. Make preserved lemons. These are great for Middle Eastern dishes and are supposed to be easy to make. Check out a recipe and method at http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_preserved_lemons/

2. Lemon Curd: Nearly everyone loves lemon curd, and it is useful in many ways (including eating by the spoonful out of a bowl). A couple of jars of good lemon curd also makes great gifts.  Look for a recipe at http://www.recipezaar.com/Lemon-Curd-for-Canning-269028

3.  Try the recipe, below, for Honey Lemon Marmalade, from www.foodinjars.com.  The author says the lemons require some knife work — and you might want to be sure you don’t have any paper cuts on your hands before you begin. But, it’s one way to use up 14 lemons.

Honey Lemon Marmalade

8 cups chopped lemons (14 lemons)
2 cups honey (I used buckwheat honey, but you can use whatever you’ve got)
4 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups water
2 packets liquid pectin (6 ounces)

Sterilize your jars (try using a combination of pint and half pint jars).

Combine lemons, honey, sugar and water together in non-reactive pot. Bring to a boil, reduce temperature and let simmer for 30 minutes.

Add pectin to the fruit and let it gently boil for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and fill jars. Apply lids and rings and process in a water bath for ten minutes. Let the marmalade sit overnight, to give the pectin time to fully activate.

Makes 6 pints.

From www.foodinjars.com

Q. Dear SavorSA:  I have been wondering what the difference is (aside from the color) between light and dark brown sugar?  If a recipe specifies one, can you use the other?  If a recipe doesn’t specify, what should you use?  — Alison

A. Dear Alison: This is a good question. I know I always seem to have one type in the cupboard when the recipe is asking for the other kind. Both light and dark brown sugar are flavored with molasses, which gives the sugar a soft texture.  The darker sugar will have a stronger taste of molasses, so a cook might just decide which flavor would be preferable.

Usually, light brown sugar is called for more often, so if a recipe doesn’t specify I assume it is light brown sugar. Also, if you have only dark brown sugar, you could mix it half and half with granulated sugar to cut down some on the molasses taste. Good luck!

If you have a question for a foodie, e-mail walker@savorsa.com.

(Photo: Gaston Thauvin)