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deconstructing
explanations from the inside out
oysters rockefeller
More than 100 years after the birth of Oysters Rockefeller, the dish still carries the image of luxe life, just as intended. Owner Jules Alciatore of the legendary Antoine's restaurant in New Orleans came up with the oysters on the half shell appetizer in 1899 and named it after John D. Rockefeller, the most famous wealthy man in America.
One story has it that Alciatore was inspired to hang the Rockefeller name on his dish because of its richness. Another version claims that after the appetizer was developed, Alciatore said, "That's a dish good enough for Rockefeller."
Either way, Oysters Rockefeller is still considered a fancy-shmancy offering.
Even today, Alciatore's exact recipe remains a heavily guarded secret at Antoine's. Most commonly, Oysters Rockefeller is made by ladling a flavored puree of greens over the oysters, which are then broiled for a few minutes. The combination of greens and the flavorings are disputed.
A recipe attributed to Alciatore ran in Life magazine many years ago, but most foodies suspect several ingredients are missing. Craig Claiborne, the late food critic of the New York Times, suspected that the original contained no spinach - a common ingredient in most modern versions - and suggested that it was watercress or maybe even lettuce.
That recipe also does not call for cream, which is common in many modern takes.
Some of the guesses on flavorings are Worcestershire, Tabasco (which would make sense, because it's a Louisiana native), Pernod (also a New Orleans favorite), anchovy paste and garlic.
this web site cooks
Who knew there was enough news about tequila to fill a Web site? Between tequila tasting events and sad laments about falling popularity, this site has more information about tequila than you could possibly want. And yet, it's intriguing. Obviously, there's more to this storied spirit than shots. For instance, the success of flavored vodka has inspired the tequila industry to experiment with fruity varieties. Look for them in 2004.
cooking class
The difference between bisque and chowder, two dairy-based shellfish soups, is primarily textural. A chowder is a thinned-out stew; rustic and chunky, it allows all the ingredients to maintain their discrete identities: potatoes remain potatoes, clams clams, etc. A bisque, on the other hand, is really just a sophisticated puree where the ingredients blend. Silky smooth and rich, bisque is a soup of great refinement, produced through a time-consuming, multistep process designed to capture the essence of the shellfish.
out-of-print books
Several outlets can come to the aid of cooks looking for out-of-print cookbooks, including:
www.half.com a division of eBay.com, sells new and used books at all price levels. You pick the price and condition.
www.alibris.com boasts more than 35-million used, new and hard-to-find books.
Kitchen Arts & Letters, an independent bookstore in New York City, has an international selection, material from scholarly sources, conference papers and out-of-print volumes. Reach the store at 1435 Lexington Ave., New York City, NY 10128, 212 876-5550. Or send e-mail requests to kalstaff@rcn.com
Ici La Press (www.icilapress.com) which reprints European and American cookbooks.
antidiet book
The season of gluttony is over in 5-4-3-2-1 days, giving way to at least a month of paying the piper. If you aren't ready to put down the sweets, pick up Eat This!: 365 Reasons to Stop Dieting by Mary McHugh (Chronicle Books, $7.95). Starting with "Diets don't work" and ending with a saying of similar sentiment, McHugh has amassed some of the most common - and ridiculous - excuses we have for not dieting. One of our favorites: "Diet programs make over $40-billion a year. Keep your share to yourself."
keep it sharp
Take care of your cook's knife, and it will be up to the task when called to duty. Tossing a sharp knife into a drawer is a surefire way to dull its edge. Store knives in a block, on a wall-mounted magnet - or, if all else fails, wrapped in a kitchen towel. Hand wash knives. A high-heat dishwasher will warp or melt a handle, and the vigor of the cycle jostles and dulls the edge.
Compiled by JANET K. KEELER from staff and wire reports