The phone just rang. It was friends announcing they were going to drop by to deliver some presents. You just got off work and haven’t a thing to serve them. Or so you think. The following are easy appetizers that you can create out of items you may have in your refrigerator or pantry that will make it seem as if you were expecting company.

Some items to keep on hand:

• Chips and salsa. This is San Antonio. Any questions? You can liven up the usual mix with a jar of black bean dip, but even that’s not necessary if your salsa and your chips are good.
• Tins of anchovies, sardines, smoked oysters and other seafood favorites, as well as canned pâté, that some guests will enjoy.
• Several types of crackers, including soda crackers, Wheat Thins and Triscuit, so guests have a choice.
• Three or four distinctly different cheeses. These can range from a soft cheese, like a triple crème, to a harder cheese, such as Manchego. They don’t have to fancy, either. Aged cheddar, a smoky Gouda, a spreadable goat cheese from Texas, a block of Swiss, Colby and Monterey Jack all have their fans.
• Sliced salami of various types, from pepperoni to Genoa to spicy Hungarian styles, and prosciutto or ham are great to have on hand. Also stock up on a couple of mustards you can offer to dip them into.
• Bread of some sort: Cocktail rye slices, pumpernickel, pita bread, flour tortillas and baguette are among the easier styles to serve at a moment’s notice.
• Popcorn. Try seasoning your popcorn with various flavors, from black truffle to Cajun spice to Parmesan cheese and pepper. It takes only minutes to pop a fresh batch in a Dutch oven, which tastes so much better than the stuff that comes out of the microwave.
• Jars of pickled or preserved vegetables and fruits. Roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, cornichons, giardinara and even pickled brussels sprouts are at most area supermarkets. The olive bar is a great place for easy snacks. Ethnic stores offer an even wider variety, including baby eggplants, grilled zucchini and radish.
• A piece of ripe fruit to go with the cheeses. Pears, apples and oranges are all in season now and full of flavor.
• Dark chocolates. Have a bar of 70 percent dark chocolate, another of 85 percent and a third with some sort of flavor. Break off a few pieces of each for a comparison tasting. Serve with dried cranberries, raisins or nuts on the side.
• Good olive oil, good balsamic vinegar.
• Dried fruit and nuts. Mix them together with a touch of coconut or serve them separately.
• Chex Mix. Some snacks are classics for a reason. With this party mix, it’s the irresistible combination of Worcestershire sauce, butter and garlic powder on top of cereal, nuts and pretzels that make it so appealing.
• Keep a bottle of white wine or sparkling wine in the refrigerator or a six-pack of beer, so you are ready with drinks. Reds are easier to have ready since they should be served at around 65 degrees or so; if the bottle is a little warm, pop in the refrigerator for a few minutes before opening.

Here are some quick appetizer ideas:

• Wrap a radish with an anchovy. Skewer with a toothpick.
• Drain assorted olives, rinse and warm in the oven with a little olive oil, your favorite spices, some citrus zest and a skewer of fresh rosemary.
• Take slices of sour dough rye, layer with feta, then ripe tomatoes and fresh herbs. Drizzle a little olive oil on top and some freshly cracked black pepper. Or top the cheese with slices of pear and black pepper.
• Top slices of cocktail rye or pumpernickel with butter, Swiss cheese and slivers of radish.
• Roll and slice of prosciutto or black forest ham around a tender raw stalk of asparagus. The ham also works wrapped around a crunchy dill pickle.
• Offer slivers of smoked salmon and cream cheese on cocktail rye or pumpernickel. Serve with diced onion or chopped hard-cooked egg and a touch of fresh dill.
• Top toasted slices of baguette with hummus and crown with strips of roasted red bell pepper, herbs, toasted pine nuts, olive slices or a touch of spice, such as sumac or Chilean merkén.
• Nachos, fresh from the broiler, are always welcome.
• Baked brie in puff pastry is easy to assemble and always welcome. Just follow the directions on the package of brie. Serve with crackers and fruit. Or, just heat the brie up, either in the oven or microwave until it’s warm and softened and starting to ooze out of its casing. Top with a big handful of thinly sliced scallion.
• Boil your own shrimp, which taste so much better than those processed shrimp rings, and serve with a homemade cocktail sauce that has just enough horseradish and lemon to give it a kick.
• Another appetizer that can be made in a minute flat is to open up an 8-ounce package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese, mound on top of it as much fresh jumbo lump crabmeat as you can afford, then empty a jar of good (cold) cocktail sauce over the crab. Very good with crackers.
• Bagna cauda is a quick-and-easy Italian butter dip that’s great with vegetables. Click here for a recipe.
• Make bagel pizzas. Slice the bagel in half, top with your favorite pizza sauce and garnish with shredded mozzarella cheese. Pop under the broiler until the cheese melts, 2 or 3 minutes. Add pepperoni, bell pepper or mushrooms, to taste.
• Make a dip mixing equal parts 8 ounces each of salsa and cream cheese at room temperature. Whip together until full incorporated. Top with a confetti of diced red onion and green and red bell pepper. Serve with bagel chips.
• Make quick quesadillas by using shredded cheese between two flour tortillas and your choice of filling. Add cooked beef fajitas or grilled shrimp, and it’s so much the better.
• If you have any leftover Holiday Cran-Raspberry Sauce or sweet-spicy jelly, pour it over cream cheese.
• This recipe for crab dip comes from my late sister-in-law, Jeanne Servais: Clean 7 ounces crab meat, mix it with 8 ounces cream cheese softened at room temperature, 1 tablespoon sour cream, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce. Mix well and bake in a greased, oven-proof dish at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
• If you want to use your slow cooker, then here’s a good one to mix together. Grease the dish first, then add 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese softened at room temperature, 1 cup milk,2 1/4 ounces sliced dried beef and1 tablespoon dry mustard. Mix well. Heat on low for several hours until melted together. Serve with cubes of good bread on fondue sticks or wooden skewers as well as vegetable sticks.
• If your guests like a mix of sweet and salty, then place individual butter pretzels (the little square kind)  on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Then place a single unwrapped Rolo candy on each pretzel. Top each candy with pecan half. Bake at 250 degrees until the candy is melted.  Allow to cool or refrigerate before serving.
• Don’t forget one of the simplest of all appetizers: A shallow bowl of extra-good, extra virgin olive oil, seasoned as you like it, with kosher salt and cracked pepper, herbs, a few hot pepper flakes. And, have slices of very fresh baguette to dip into it.

(Photo: Zsuzsanna Kilian)

This rub is from celebrity chef Tyler Florence. I adapted it somewhat by adding dried thyme and sage to the fresh, as I had little fresh sage on hand. Also it’s hard to know what he means by a “bunch” of sage or thyme. I think that by a “bunch” he means the amount you get in a fresh herb packet in the produce section.

Pork Loin Seasoning Rub

1/2 bunch thyme, leaves only
1/2 bunch fresh sage, leaves only
1 teaspoon dried ground thyme
1 teaspoon rubbed dry sage
2 fat cloves garlic, mashed and minced
1/2 – 3/4  cup olive oil
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

In a mortar and pestle or electric mini-chopped, combine all of the ingredients. If doing this by hand, grind the garlic up with herbs, salt and pepper and olive oil.  Rub this mixture on the outside of the pork loin and up toward the ribs before putting the roast in the oven.

Makes enough rub for one 8-10-pound roast.

From Tyler Florence

Bagna Cauda

This classic dish comes from the Piedmont region of Italy and the name means “hot bath.” Some like to put more garlic into the sauce, so you can play with the ingredients and shape the dish to your tastes.

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (2-ounce) can anchovy fillets packed in olive oil, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until soft but not browned, 3 to 4 minutes.

To serve, transfer the hot dip to a heatproof serving dish placed on a warming tray. Serve with raw and/or steamed vegetables as well as pieces of crusty Italian bread.

Makes 8 servings.

Adapted from “The Sutter Home Napa Valley Cookbook” by James McNair

This past week, SavorSA has treated you to a host of stories ranging from the new liquid gold pouring forth in Texas, olive oil, to news ways to prepare red and green enchiladas.

Here’s a quick look at what was posted. Click on the headline to read a story you may have missed.

• Chefs’ Corner: Garlic-glazed Tofu a Hit
• The New Green Gold of Texas Olive Oil
• Grilled Pizza, Two Ways – Faster Than Ever
• Kids Get a Taste of life in the Kitchen
• ‘The Flavor Bible’ Partners You With Great Combinations
• Daily Dish: Dady to Move into Fairmount
• Fishland Fish Market: Fried and Fabulous
• WalkerSpeak: Red or Green Enchiladas Work for a Crowd
• Griffin to Go: A Chance Encounter Leads to Great Reads, Great Eats

Learn to cook recipes containing delicious and healthful olives, as well as olive oil, at a new lineup of classes beginning soon at Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard near Elmendorf (about 20 minutes drive south of San Antonio).

The first class is 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Sept. 26. The class begins with a tour, at which time you can look at the plantings and nursery, the olive press, orchard and other facilities at this beautiful working ranch. Class begins after the tour, as Saundra Winokur and her staff teach, prepare and serve a multi-course lunch. The class will feature information on the health and diet benefits of olives and olive oil. The meal will focus on Spanish and Spanish-style dishes, and be served with wine.

The cost is $35. Students will receive written recipes and also have a chance to visit the Sandy Oaks gift shop after class. To sign up for the class call Sandy Oaks at (210) 621-0044. Sandy Oaks is at 26195 Mathis Road. For more information and directions, go to www.sandyoaks.com.

This book is not a collection of Chicken Fried Steak or Poke Salad With Ham Hocks recipes. The title refers to different countries, not “out in the country.” In that pursuit, this is a great sampler of recipes from different cultures and climes. The book can give you a peek into styles of cooking you may want to explore in greater detail. There are French, Italian, German, and Spanish recipes. But there are also recipes from Lebanon, Romania, Peru, Venezuela, Japan, Iran, Israel, China, and Poland.

Take a journey from your kitchen to places you always wanted to visit. Once you get to know what they eat in Tunisia, maybe you will relate more to that country. Try this recipe; it may be your first ‘culinary travel ticket.’

Braised Beef with Rice and Olives (Marketzeit)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound stewing beef cut into 1-inch cubes
2 onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 ounces raw (uncooked) long-grain rice
1 cup beef broth
2 cups canned tomatoes
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup pitted green olives, sliced
1 cup chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or enameled casserole. Add the beef cubes and sauté evenly over moderately high heat until barely browned, about ten minutes.

Stirring constantly, add the onions, garlic, and rice and cook for a minute or two. Reduce heat and stir in beef broth and tomatoes.  Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for one hour.  Add the sliced olives and continue simmering until meat is tender, about 30 minutes.

Serve in the casserole, garnished with chopped parsley. (Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 1 1/2 hours)

Make 4 servings.

From “Larousse Treasury of Country Cooking”

The Way To Be.

That is not the title of the cookbook, it is more my feeling about Julia Child.  I remember watching her in an interview on a late night show when she was promoting “The Way To Cook.”  The interviewer/comedian was fishing for a funny situation or material for a quick joke when he asked, “So if someone follows the recipe in your book and it doesn’t work, what did they do wrong?”

That is a type of question that would make many people search their minds for the answer he wanted.  Not Julia.  She told him in a matter of fact way that if they follow the recipes in her book, it would work.  He tried again, with a “yeah, but what if” line and she came back to her point.  Then she said all of the recipes were tried and true, that it is the way to cook.

That was the “bingo” for the interviewer.  He shrugged, held up her book showing the title and said he guessed she had a point.  He got his laugh.

I was already a fan of Julia, so I bought a copy of “The Way to Cook.”  After looking at many recipes, using her master recipe highlighted shorts for reference, and preparing many of the dishes listed, it dawned on me that it was the way to cook.

The following recipe for tomatoes works with the beautiful offerings at farmers markets now.  It also includes a classic Julia view on using your little finger.

The book notes that the slight acidity of the tomato blends especially well with red meats, and especially with roast lamb.  “In addition, Tomatoes Provençale are attractive with brunch dishes such as omelets or scrambled eggs.  For this easy recipe, stuff them in advance, and bake them just before serving.”

Stuffed Tomatoes Provençale

For 8 tomato halves:
4 large fine firm ripe tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup lightly pressed down crumbs from fresh homemade type white bread
2 tablespoons minced shallots or scallions
1 large clove garlic, puréed
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil

Special equipment suggested: A rack for draining the tomatoes; a lightly oiled baking dish that will hold them.

Preparing the tomatoes for stuffing:  Cut the tomatoes in half (not through the stem).  Gently squeeze them to remove excess juice; dig out the seeds with your little finger. Salt and pepper the insides lightly and turn upside down on a rack to drain while you prepare the stuffing.

The stuffing: Toss the breadcrumbs with the shallots or scallions, garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste, blending in droplets of olive oil as you do so.

Divide the stuffing into 8 portions and mound into each tomato; arrange the tomatoes in the baking dish. Drizzle a little more oil over the crumbs, if you wish.

Ahead-of-time note:  May be prepared in advance to this point.

Baking:  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  About 20 minutes before serving, bake in the upper third level until the crumbs are lightly browned and the tomatoes are hot through but still hold their shape.  Serve them soon, since they risk a collapse if kept warm.

From “The Way To Cook” by Julia Child

I can’t imagine anyone who loves homegrown or farmer-grown tomatoes not having a favorite way to make gazpacho.  If you have a tried and true recipe, we’d love to hear about it and share it with SavorSA readers.

Gazpacho wasn’t always my favorite cold soup in the past. But I think I finally learned three valuable secrets to  success with gazpacho. First, of course, is the rule to use the freshest homegrown tomatoes you can find.

The second is not so much a rule as a process: Apply the same balancing act to the gazpacho that you do when making a good vinaigrette.  This means that everyone’s gazpacho will be a  little different. It means parting ways with the recipe, if necessary.  I have friends who love tart, acidic salad dressings. I like my dressing a little less acidic.  If you have tasted your way to making a vinaigrette that works for you, then use the same approach in balancing the flavors in your gazpacho.

Finally, think of this soup as a “cool” rather than cold soup. If you want to nestle the bowl of gazpacho down into ice as a serving presentation, that’s fine. But the soup should not be icy. In fact, I think it should be closer to cool room temperature than downright cold.

I’m making my own version now, using lots of olive oil, garlic and roasted red peppers along with those good tomatoes.  Scott Cohen, chef at Brasserie Pavil, puts a helping of cold jumbo lump crab on top of his.  In Spain, we’ve had versions that crowned the cool soup with  salty strips of Jamón Serrano.  Other garnishes: warm, herbed croutons, or  just a sprig of fresh basil.

Tips for making a good gazpacho:

• Get the best, ripest tomatoes you can grow, buy or beg from friends. Don’t refrigerate them.
• Make the gazpacho early on the day you are going to serve it. The flavors need some time to blend, but again, the tomatoes in the soup won’t taste as good if they sit overnight in the refrigerator.
• Decide if you want it to be an appetizer, soup course or main meal. If the latter, consider putting some grilled shrimp or fresh crab on top. (I like gazpacho with diced avocado on top, served with hot garlic bread a glass of white wine, such as an an Albariño.)
• I put most of the ingredients in a blender and gently pulse until it is a well-mixed, but still coarse, blend. Then, I add diced vegetables that will contrast nicely with the tomato (white cucumber, green avocado).
• When it comes to the olive oil, salt and vinegar, add to your taste. Start with small amounts and build, tasting as you go. After the gazpacho has cooled and sat for awhile, and just before serving, taste and adjust seasoning again.
• Use your really good, cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil here.  If you put in a tablespoonful, that’s too skimpy — put in 2 or 3 or more.  It is good for you, adds wonderful flavor and puts a pretty sheen on top of the gazpacho.
• If serving gazpacho for a group, don’t hide its beauty in a crockery serving bowl. I like to use a glass bowl or a clear glass jar with an interesting shape. (I used to save the empty half-gallon maraschino cherry jars from an Italian restaurant I worked at for just this purpose.) Put a ladle in it and let guests serve their own. If you are putting out crab or shrimp, pile it on a plate,  garnish it with fresh basil and let people add their own.
• The gazpacho does need cooling, if not chilling. I put it in the fridge, covered tightly, a couple of hours before serving. It chills it down but not too much (consider it a cool soup rather than a cold one). If you have leftover gazpacho, you will need to keep it overnight in the refrigerator or it will sour. Cover it well. It will pick up off flavors from the other food in the fridge. To serve the next day, take it out about an hour or so before serving so that it’s not too cold.

Beat-the-heat Gazpacho

6 large homegrown or farmer’s market tomatoes, peeled (see note)
1 large red or yellow bell pepper, roasted, seeded and skinned
1 English cucumber (long ones, usually wrapped in cellophane) or regular cucumber, peeled and seeded
4 large cloves garlic
1 bunch green onions
6 red radishes, trimmed
3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or more, to taste
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons sea salt, to taste
Small pinch of black pepper
Red wine vinegar, to taste, if needed
4-6 large leaves fresh green basil
2 medium, ripe but not mushy, avocados, diced

Note: To peel tomatoes, dip each one in water simmering on the stove. The skins will split and loosen after a short time, 30 seconds to a minute. Take them out immediately and the skins will slip off. (I don’t mind tomato seeds. But if you do, go ahead and seed the tomatoes.)

Coarsely chop the tomatoes and the roasted, seeded and peeled pepper and put them in large steel or glass bowl.  Peel the cucumber, seed it if you’re using one that has large seeds in a mushy center.  Cut it in half. Put one half aside and cut the other half into large dice. Add to bowl. Peel, mash and mince cloves of garlic and add to bowl. Cut white parts of green onions off, chop white parts coarsely and add to bowl. Reserve some of the green parts.  Add 3 of the radishes and set the others aside.

Mix the vegetables in the bowl together gently. In batches, put vegetables in blender and pulse until mixture is just at a coarse purée. Pulse the blender slowly to keep mixture from being frothy.

When all the vegetables are puréed, put them back into a large bowl. Stir in the olive oil and lime juice.  Add 2 teaspoons or more of sea salt and small pinch pepper. Stir these in. Now the tasting begins. Add vinegar if more acid is needed. Add more olive oil if you can’t taste it  (doesn’t need to be a strong or overpowering taste, you just want it evident). Add more salt, to taste. When the gazpacho is as well-balanced as a good vinaigrette, to your taste, don’t fool with it any more. Cover it with plastic wrap and set it aside.

About two hours before serving, cut into small dice the remaining three radishes, the other half of the cucumber and thinly slice green parts of onion so you have about 4 tablespoons. Add to gazpacho. Mince 3-4 tablespoons of the fresh basil and add.  Now, put it into the fridge to cool down before serving.

At serving time, take the bowl out of the fridge and taste again for the acid-salt-oil-sweet (tomato) balance. Adjust if necessary. Stir in the diced avocado. Pour it all into your serving bowl or jar.  Serve right away.

Makes 6-8 servings.

From Bonnie Walker

(photo: Cherice Montgomery)

If you’ve ever puzzled over which olive oil to buy at the store, or whether you can use the same one for salads or for frying, here are a few pointers.

One of the reasons there are so many different oils and different flavors is that there are so many different varieties of trees producing the olives.  Some will produce a strong, assertive and even slightly bitter oil, while others will be more mild.  Just as winemakers can choose among a variety of grapes to make a blend, or use the same type of grape from different growing locations for a wine,  so can olive oil bottlers produce the flavor of oil they want by blending oil from different olive trees or from  trees grown in different locations or climates.

A brief example: the Spanish variety, Arbequena, produces a mellow, smooth-tasting oil, while an Italian Frantoio is bolder, offering a characteristic sharpness on the finish. Also, don’t overlook Australian olive oil producers, as there are some fine oils coming from there.  As you learn olive varieties, you’ll notice some labels will name those used in the blend.

While you might not want to learn all the names and characteristics of olive varieties (there are hundreds), you can select from a number of oils in a price range you want to pay, then taste them and note their flavors. You’ll find a spicy, herbal-tasting oil that you might like for salads or marinades, and a milder tasting oil for baking.

As you familiarize yourself with the olive oils on the shelves at the store, read the labels. These have important information about the relative acidity in the oil, and quality. Cold-pressed extra virgin oil is made by using a light pressure to extract the oil with lowest acidity, which is desirable. Plus, chemicals are not used in the extraction. Extra virgin olive oil comes from the first cold pressing and has about 1 percent acidity.

Virgin olive oil is also a first-press oil, with a slightly higher acidity, between 1-3 percent, according to “Food Lover’s Companion.” Fino olive oil is a blend of extra virgin and virgin oils, and a product labeled simply “olive oil” contains a combination of refined olive oil and virgin or extra virgin oil.

So, one might think of the darker-in-color, more expensive oils almost as condiments. Pour them on a plate with a little balsamic vinegar and some herbs and fresh garlic for a bread dip. Pour into a hearty minestrone to enrich the soup. Use it on salads and in cold emulsions, such as mayonnaise.  Use the lighter oils, such as virgin oil, to cook with. Olive oil can be safely heated up to 350 degrees.

Store olive oil in the refrigerator and it can keep up to a year. If it gets cloudy, let it sit at room temperature for awhile and it will clear up and melt to pouring temperature. It can be kept unrefrigerated as well, in a cool dark place (or in a dark-colored bottle, for up to 6 months.

Portrait of Charlemagne

“Well, that is one of the few things that is redeeming about those blasted Moors,” Charlemagne said grudgingly. “Even the lowest of their cooks pays great attention to preparation. I wish my cooks would do as much when they prepare my dinner.”

We were discussing food offerings on the Spanish Campaign.  “So you have tried shish-ke-bab, your Majesty?  Perhaps some of your cooks are not so inept?”

I paused to see if I still had his attention and to try to determine whether I could expect an answer.  He was often distracted by the interlocking, revolving circles of military, political, religious, and financial advisors that created a daunting shield around him.

“Yes, I have, and no, they are not.  A woman that was in contact with the Moors seems to have a practical attitude toward making herself useful without regard to religious convictions.  While that may be a problem for her later, right now I am enjoying how she prepares recipes learned while the Moors were controlling this part of my Empire.”

He paused. Noting that the advisors had moved out of earshot, he continued.  “I had a couple of the cooks try to recreate shish-ke-bab and some other dishes, but their results were bland and tough.  They do not take the time to properly season and age the meat.  They also failed to clean the leeks well and I HATE the grit between the layers.”

“Your attention to detail should not be a surprise to me, your Majesty, but I am impressed that you have taken the time to evaluate the nuance of how to prepare the dish properly,” I remarked.

“I do not get much time alone as you might expect,” Charlemagne said, grinning. ” So I find that while dining I can at least have a private conversation with myself about the details of my repast.  So I have taken to comparing versions of specific dishes as a distraction.”

Impressed with this sharing of a personal nature, I encouraged him to continue.

“There are a few things to keep in mind for shish-ke-bab,” he said, warming to his subject.  “You have to season the meat; whether it is bull, or ox, or camel it needs some of those seeds, ’spices’ they call them, to wake it up.  I personally think that boar or pig would be good, but the Moors have some religious objections to that.  Secondly, the meat needs to be cut small enough to cook through in a short time so that it is ready before the vegetables on the skewer get burned.  Browned shallots are delicious, burned shallots are awful.  Third, you should oil the iron skewer so you can get the meat off without having to gnaw on it like a rib!”

Here, he paused for effect, as if to remind me that I really needed to remember that last part.

“Lastly, they make up a liquid to baste the whole thing while it cooks.  This is where you help the vegetables bring out their flavor and keep the meat from getting too dry.  There is a lot of olive oil in the mix and that makes the meat much more palatable.  We will have it tonight!”  He signaled to one of the people riding nearby and gave instructions.  “I might as well enjoy it now, none of them will remember how to fix it when we head home.”

“But surely you could have a scribe preserve your analysis of the recipe?” I urged.  “This could be an entirely new section of books for your library.”

“Pointless,” he sighed. “The scribes show no interest in food at all, so they could not be expected to prepare dishes competently. No other man would think of doing it, and the cooks are women — what hope could there be in trying to teach them to read?”

I discerned a finality to his evaluations, so I did not contest his conclusions. Cheerfully, I just asked about other foods he liked.

“Over the Alps, on the peninsula, they have lots of great stuff.  I guess it is a memory of the Romans.  The Huns just boil stuff, the Slavs at least cook with some wine — which helps. Otherwise, it’s mostly boring.”

“How about closer to home, any traditional favorites?” I asked.

“We do well with beans, like cassoulet.  But that is most of it. It is sad that I, the King of the Franks, have to say this but we need to get cooking ideas from other cultures.  Otherwise, all that will be remembered will be Franks and beans.”