1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (137 page)

Credit for its invention goes to Julius Keller, a former maître d’hôtel at the Narragansett Pier Casino, on the coast of Rhode Island. In his 1939 autobiography, he says he developed the dish in 1917 for a Mrs. Paran Stevens, a local (and expectedly demanding) social butterfly who hosted a luncheon at the restaurant.

Keller’s version probably wasn’t original in anything but the name (after the restaurant), as concoctions with clams and bacon are documented in cookbooks as early as the 1880s. But he put his particular clam treatment on the map, and ever since it has been associated with Rhode Island, as well as with the old-fashioned northern Italian restaurants that seem to have adopted clams casino as their own. It’s even traveled to the stage, by way of a modern burlesque performer who calls herself Clams Casino—an homage, she says, to Coney Island’s boardwalk fare.

Where:
In Baltimore
, Mama’s on the Half Shell, tel 410-276-3160,
mamasmd.com
;
in New York
, Patsy’s, tel 212-247-3491,
patsys.com
;
throughout the U.S.
, Palm restaurants,
thepalm.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen
by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich (2001);
Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home
by Mario Batali (2005);
saveur.com
(search clams casino);
cookstr.com
(search clams casino mariani).

Although much in keeping with the French tradition of the
salade composée
, Cobb salad speaks to nothing so much as good old-fashioned American ingenuity. Invented in the 1930s at the Los Angeles restaurant The Brown Derby, during the heyday of the Hollywood studio system, it was allegedly composed of a host of leftovers that owner Robert Cobb found hanging around in the kitchen—Roquefort cheese, chopped bacon, hard-cooked eggs, tomatoes, boneless skinless chicken breast, and avocado among them. Cubing and dicing the solids, Cobb tossed them with salt, black pepper, and a vinaigrette of olive oil, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and garlic.

Cobb may have been starting with leftovers, but the success of this salad rests on the thoughtful preparation of each separate ingredient, and on varied and distinct textures ranging from tender to crunchy to creamy. The salad’s distinctly American aspect probably comes from its resemblance to a chopped-up BLT sandwich, minus the bread; but thanks to the Brown Derby’s history as a storied movie-star hangout where the likes of Ronald Reagan, Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, and Lucille Ball lunched, the dish took on a life of its own, becoming an early and enduring symbol of the power lunch and of California cuisine.

The original Brown Derby closed in 1985 and the landmark building that housed it was destroyed in an earthquake, but the tradition of Cobb salad continues just about anywhere “American food” is served, and today it’s possible to find it bedecked with all manner of diced things. The salad comes up routinely in popular culture, memorably so on an episode of the HBO series
Curb Your Enthusiasm
called “Trick or Treat.” (A character named Cliff Cob tries to convince main character Larry David that his grandfather invented the Cobb salad at Chicago’s Drake Hotel. Larry eventually proves him wrong.)

Where:
In New York and Santa Monica
, Michael’s,
michaelsnewyork.com
,
michaelssantamonica.com
;.
in Toronto
, Oyster Boy, tel 416-534-3432,
oysterboy.ca
.
Tip:
Ladies who lunch should take note: The not-so-diet-friendly Cobb packs a wallop in calories.

The summery fritters can skew savory or sweet.

For some, the true flavor of summer can be found in a juicy red tomato, fresh off the vine. For others, nothing quite captures the innocent farm-fresh taste of the summer months like good old-fashioned corn fritters, the best of which are light in
texture, creamy on the inside, and crisp on the outside—and most importantly, loaded with fresh sweet corn flavor.

Native Americans had been roasting corn and grinding it into meal to make cakes, breads, and porridges long before settlers adopted the practice and expanded the corn crop, along with the burgeoning nation’s repertoire of corn dishes, throughout the colonies. (Cornbread, for one, is the obvious legacy of the Indian corn pone, from the Algonquin word
appone
, for a dish made of cornmeal, salt, and water.) But in colonial America, wheat was prized and corn was lowly. Corn pone, hoe-cakes, johnnycakes, spoon bread, and other corn-based “breads” were lesser foods, with the corn fritter born of a desire to stretch summer’s bounty by mixing kernels of corn into a fairly standard batter—flour, egg, baking powder, a little milk, sometimes beer for extra leavening—just before frying it.

In many coastal Southern communities, corn fritters are dubbed “corn oysters” for their resemblance to the fried bivalves, and the South in general is eternally associated with the fritters. Emblems of the region’s fried-food culture, they are beloved side dishes alongside fowl, traditional fare at Thanksgiving dinners, and a great way to use up that stash of summer corn in the freezer. But the fritters are hardly restricted to the area below the Mason-Dixon Line—they’re also a Yankee favorite, a standard offering with a bowl of corn chowder or as part of a breakfast repast, served with maple syrup. (Reports of harvest breakfasts in the Connecticut Shaker colony, founded in 1792 in Enfield, show that autumnal breakfasts included hot apple cereal and corn fritters.)

Similar golden-fried, starchy puffs can be found around the globe. In Umbria, they are made with a batter that includes the famed local lentils; throughout India their batter incorporates freshly ground cumin seed. In Indonesia, corn fritters are a popular street food sold on carts throughout the day and into the night.

The standard American recipe is so forgiving as to be almost impossible to mess up—you can use the corn kernels whole or grated or incorporate some of each (which gives the fritters more textural variety). They are best when made with sweet fresh corn, but both leftover grilled or roasted corn and frozen corn are acceptable substitutes. The batter may be spiked with any number of ingredients, from a confetti of colorful peppers to fresh herbs to Parmesan; although they’re often fried in vegetable oil, cooking them in rendered bacon fat, lard, or butter will work beautifully, too.

Makes 20 fritters

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons milk

8 ounces corn kernels, fresh or frozen and thawed

¼ cup beer (optional)

Canola oil or shortening, for frying

1.
In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

2.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg, milk, corn, and beer, if using. Gradually combine the liquid into the flour mixture, mixing just until the batter is no longer lumpy. Cover and chill in the refrigerator
for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 hour.

3.
In a heavy saucepan, heat 1 to 2 inches of oil over medium-high heat; it’s hot enough when it quickly browns a small drop of batter. Drop the batter by the tablespoonful into the oil and fry, turning once, until the fritters are puffed and golden on both sides, about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately, or place the fritters on a pan lined with paper towels and hold them at room temperature for up to 15 minutes. Remove paper towels and reheat them in a 200ºF oven for 10 minutes before serving.

Where:
In Chester, VA
, Brock’s Bar-B-Que, tel 804-796-7539,
brocksbbq.com
;
in Pigeon Forge, TN
, The Old Mill Restaurant, tel 865-429-3463,
old-mill.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Spice
by Ana Sortun (2006);
The Joy of Cooking
by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker (2006);
Hoppin’ John’s Low Country Cooking
by John Martin Taylor (1992);
Jasper White’s Cooking from New England
by Jasper White (1998);
epicurious.com
(search corn-jalapeno fritters);
latinfood.about.com
(search frituras de maiz);
epicurious.com
(search corn fritters with salsa; corn fritters with arugula and warm tomato salad).
Tip:
Chilling the batter for 30 minutes to 1 hour before frying helps the fritter hold together as it cooks.

Summer’s bounty, best eaten right off the cob and directly after harvest, here served Mexican-style.

Among the many delicious gifts of the American summer, none seems quite so symbolic or so worthy of celebration as corn on the cob—nor has the year-round availability of corn from far-off places dimmed the excitement of serious eaters when local corn makes its first appearance. Because of the speed at which the corn’s sweet sugars turn to tasteless starch after it is picked (especially in heat), the sooner corn is eaten after being harvested, the better. Boiled for three to five minutes in salted water, then slathered, steaming hot, with softened (but not melted) sweet butter and sprinkled with coarse salt to add a nicely gritty texture to the soft sweetness of the kernels, truly good corn on the cob is a fleeting pleasure that should never be taken for granted.

Not to be confused with the field corn used as grain and feed, sweet eating corn is grown commercially in several main varieties. Golden Cross Bantam is a deep yellow-gold and tends toward a heavy sweetness. Silver Queen generally has small white kernels and a mild sugar content that doesn’t overwhelm its essential corn flavor, while the too-easy-to-like Honey and Cream or Sugar and Butter varieties with their combinations of gold and white kernels, overdo it with candy-sweet overtones. One of the best of the old-time corn varieties is Country Gentleman, with pearly-white kernels whose irregular rows suggest the gentleman might be in serious need of orthodontia. It is the most sophisticated and delicate of all corns, rich in flavor with a mildly sweet milk emanating from the kernels. Unfortunately, Country Gentleman isn’t widely available—if you can’t find it at a farmers’ market near you, you may have to consider growing your own from seed.

When buying corn on the cob, the two things to look for are ripeness and freshness. The corn is ripe when the silk tassels poking out
of its husks are a deep golden brown—pale tassels indicate the corn was picked too soon—and the tip of its ear is as fully covered with full-grown kernels as the body. To evaluate freshness, look for plump kernels. Stale, dry kernels will look a bit caved in. If in doubt, puncture one with a fingernail; a milky liquid should ooze out.

To store corn, keep it well wrapped in the vegetable compartment of your refrigerator; if you plan on keeping it for more than a day, wrap it in a wad of wet newspaper first. Wait to husk the corn until a few minutes before you’re ready to cook it.

While whole corn cobs are most often boiled or steamed in a pot, a superior method is to cook them on an outdoor grill. To do that, pull the husks back without tearing them off, and remove all of the silk. Wet the palms of your hands and brush them over the kernels before folding the husks back in place. This protects the kernels from burning and traps moisture so that they steam and roast at the same time, emerging both tender and pleasantly smoky. Place the ears on a grill over white-hot coals and turn the ears every couple of minutes. The corn should be finished (depending on the heat of the fire) in ten to fifteen minutes.

Where:
For seeds,
burpee.com
(search country gentleman).
Further information and recipes:
I Love Corn
by Lisa Skye (2012);
Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking
by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart (2012);
Jasper White’s Cooking from New England
by Jasper White (1998);
epicurious.com
(search corn on the cob with lime-chive butter);
foodandwine.com
(search grilled corn on the cob with roasted garlic and herbs).
Tip:
For an alternative to simple toppings of butter, salt, and pepper, take a hint from Mexico and sprinkle each buttered ear with lime juice and spicy chile powder.