"Sultanas" a.k.a...
"Raisins"
Well, technically, sultanas are a type of raisin. They're raisins treated with sulfur dioxide and flame dried to give them that sexy "golden glow." Almost all grapes in the US are sultana grapes and thus are raisins are sultanas as well, we just don't call them that. The history of the name "sultana" is probably more interesting than the food itself. The name refers to the feminine form of the title "Sultan". According folklore from the Ottoman Empire (and Wikipedia) a sultan was enjoying some grapes one day when a tiger began attacking him. Like a womanly coward, he fled, leaving the defenseless grapes at the mercy of the cruel sun. Thus, "sultanas" were born.
Disenchanted trick-or-treaters everywhere can thank his sorry ass every time they get a box of raisins instead of candy.
But I'm not complaining. Raisins/sultanas have their place and they've certainly had their place in my life. So far, I've made rueglach, "Kitchen Sink Cookies", cinnamonrolls and various other things with them. I added them to the coconut rice pudding I made for my Thai dinner which one of my Kiwi guests said was a nice touch. Molly, I think you would really like the pudding- it starts to taste like coconut cake batter after a few days.
If you're interested, which judging by the number of comments I recieve about Kiwi Food of the Week you're not, here's a short list of common US foods and their Kiwi names:
Peppers= capsicum
Cucumbers=courgettes
Cilantro =coriander/ Chinese parsley
Red onions: pickling onions
Papayas= paw paws
Oranges= mandarins
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Kiwi Food of the Week
This week’s food was the first “foreign” item I bought five long here in New Zealand, those five long weeks ago. I was so naïve back then. In my excitement to discover the wonders of exotic Kiwi cuisine I failed to take into account the possibility that some the US’s most boring foods had different names in New Zealand. As Shakespeare eloquently put it: this don’t make them taste better. Like this week’s food:
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Those foods look good and I want that statue. Molly and I were discussing the fact that although most blogs are written by people who are totally self-absorbed so that they never mention anything other than themselves, your blog isn't selfish enough. You should throw in some life details. Don't get me wrong though, I never even knew there was a myth surrounding the almighty raisin. Every dried fruit should have one really.
ReplyDeleteRachel, those food pictures look great, especially the kitchen sink cookies, which look rather chic with that lighting.
ReplyDeleteCapsicum --> capsaicin --> Alan Alda in Scientific American Frontiers clip --> psychology --> Dr. Short
Rachel I am glad that you still cook, that way you won't be rusty when you come back and start cooking dinner again. Anyways, I just want to say that I think your blog is just lovely!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments! I know this blog is probably boring for most of you but I consider the education of my readership my primary goal. Knowledge is power!
ReplyDeleteI also think Alan Alda just got a little sexier. Libbie, thanks for giving me reason to get excited about buying peppers. That progression truly Rachel logic. I feel like you crawled inside my head- probably because we're so close.