In my childhood days, there were two huge sour cherry trees in our yard.  When the time was just right, I would volunteer to climb the trees and pick cherries for my mother's pies.  Nestled between two substantial limbs, with a pail hooked over one arm, I would fill the pail slowly allowing as much time as possible for “tasting.”  Thus began my life-long addiction to anything cherry!

As you know, Michigan has been the source of 80% of all tart cherries grown in the United States for decades – the vast majority being the Montmorency variety.  In 1981, however, Dr. Amy Iezzoni began a research program at Michigan State University to identify tart cherry varieties with better fruit quality and disease resistance.  She soon began a collaborative effort with scientists in Hungary, the ancestral home of tart cherries and the center of a similar investigative effort that had started after World War II.

In 1986, researchers from MSU and Hungary jointly released a variety called Bunched of Újfehértói (the Hungarian name) in the United States under the newly trademarked name Balaton®.  As the story goes, the name was selected both to recognize the variety’s Hungarian heritage and because Lake Balaton is one of the few places in Hungary familiar to most Americans.
I “discovered” Balaton cherries about five years ago at the aptly named Cherry Street Market in Kalkaska, Michigan.  To my (very unprofessional) eye, Balatons look very similar to sweet cherries.  They are about the same size and have the same almost ruby color – unlike the Montmorency cherries which are somewhat smaller and fire engine red.  The primary difference (in my view) is the taste.  Balaton cherries have a richer flavor – more tartness and at the same time more sweetness.  They also retain their beautiful color during cooking.  Balaton cherry pies are not only delicious; they are a work of culinary art.  The red color is magnificent!  (Stand by for pictures – it’s not cherry season quite yet.)
There is some bad news, however.  Even after almost three decades Balaton cherries are still not widely available.  Beginning typically in mid-July, you can find Balaton cherries in some fruit markets in western Michigan (south of Traverse City) and in Chicago. You can also get them at Overhiser Orchards in South Haven – even pitted if you choose.  Act quickly though.  The season is short, the supply is limited, and the demand is growing each year.

Buon appetito.

P.S.  My Tart Cherry Pie recipe works equally well with any tart cherry variety – fresh or frozen.

I wrote a piece earlier extolling the virtues of extra virgin olive oil.  One of the subscribers to this blog, my brother-in-law in fact, posted a comment recommending a recent book by Tom Mueller entitled Extra Virginity.  The subtitle of the book, The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil gives you an excellent picture of what the book is about.  I take recommendations from my brother-in-law seriously.  He is a very accomplished hobby chef, an avid reader, and shares my passion for homemade pizza.  He also has been an adviser and editor for several of my earlier posts.

I have just finished the book and I must report now that most of what I thought I knew about olive oil is either completely wrong or only partially correct.  Either way, there is ample material and justification for another blog about extra virgin olive oil.

First, it is important to know what extra virgin olive oil really is – or more correctly, what it should be!
The standards for extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) have been set by several governing bodies, including the European Union and the International Olive Council.  To qualify for EV status, an olive oil must be processed solely by mechanical means (i.e., no chemical processing), it must be kept at temperatures lower than 86° F (30° C), and it must pass several chemical and organoleptic (taste) tests.  The tasting panel is expecting rich olive flavors, a pleasant acrid sensation on the tongue, and a peppery sensation on the mouth and throat.  It is worth a few minutes to read the full description of the standards on the Olive Oil Times web page.

Second, it is important to know why we should even be concerned about EVOO.  Other than the fact that it has a superior flavor to other oils, eating EVOO has proven health benefits.  EVOOs are rich in polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants.  Antioxidants reduce the effect of free radicals in the body and thereby inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells.  (Much more information about the health benefits of EVOO is available online and, of course, in the book Extra Virginity.  I was amazed at what EVOO can do to keep us healthy!) 

So far, so good, but to state the problem in one sentence:  There is no enforcement of these standards!  Consequently, the oil in the can or bottle on your store shelf is frequently not what is described on the label.  More specifically, when the label says EVOO, many times the oil inside is technically not extra virgin.  In addition to receiving a product of inferior quality, we are paying more than what the container is worth!

Much like with wine grapes, there are many varieties of olives.  These are called cultivars, and there are roughly 700 olive cultivars in the world – each with its own taste characteristics.  As one might expect, some cultivars taste better than others, but all are capable of producing oil.  Again as one might expect, clever food chemists and engineers (hopefully none of my former colleagues) have discovered ways to eliminate disagreeable flavors and aromas by chemical treatment (much like caffeine is removed from coffee).  The resulting oil is edible and safe, but it hardly qualifies for EVOO status – having violated the prohibition against chemical processing.  With no enforcement of the rules, converting inferior oil to ostensibly better oil that will command a higher price has become a standard practice in many areas.

I mentioned in my earlier blog on olive oil that most of the olive oil imported to the U.S. from Italy actually is not oil produced in Italy.  Fortunately, most of the popular brands that I have examined state this quite clearly on their label – albeit in very small and difficult to find print.  These non-Italian oils are produced primarily in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, and South America and exported to Italy for blending, bottling, and export.

Importing and exporting olive oil does not happen quickly, and time is important.  As a matter of chemistry, the antioxidants, which help to make EVOO so special, like to react with other compounds and do so easily, particularly at elevated temperatures.  The 86° F temperature limit on EVOOs was imposed for very good reason!  These reactions also occur at lower temperatures, but at a much slower rate.  Consequently, oils that spend weeks or months traveling from one country to another (and then a third) are clearly not as fresh and certainly not as nutritious as oils bottled the same day the olives were picked and crushed  (as many fine EVOOs are).

In light of all of this, you may be tempted to give up on olive oil entirely – but I sincerely hope it is only a temptation.  There is a way for us to get what we are paying for.

I will submit that your kitchen should be stocked with two EVOOs, one for cooking and one for eating.  By eating, I mean using on foods after they have been cooked, or for salads or dipping.  You should be comfortable with the taste of both oils, but especially the finishing (eating) oil.  It should be intensely fruity, acrid (remember this is a good thing), and peppery.  I should mention here that true EVOOs are rated as robust, medium, or delicate – terms chosen to reflect the intensity of the three important taste sensations.  If the sensations of the robust oil are too much for you, move down a notch.  Clearly, tasting before you buy is important.

Fortunately, there are an ever increasing number of EVOO purveyors offering tasting opportunities, especially in and around metropolitan areas.  I suspect if you “google” Olive Oil Store you will find one nearby that you can visit and experience the taste of a real EVOO.  You’ll pay a bit more, but it’s worth the premium.  This is now your finishing, or eating, oil.  No cooking allowed.  You’ll destroy the polyphenols!!

Now you need a good cooking oil.  I suggest a can or bottle of anything with the label:  Product of [country name].  I prefer the country be Italy, Spain, or Greece.  This means the oil inside was produced in that country.  I’ve discovered excellent cooking oils in the $15 to $20 per liter range. 

Author Mueller has created a web site entitled Truth In Olive Oil, where he offers his opinions of several specific EVOOs and where to buy them.  If I’ve piqued your interest, this is a good place to start.  I also have two recommendations of my own, but remember these are oils that satisfy my taste requirements – not necessarily yours.  For cooking, I use Saica Brand Castelvetrano Oil, a product of Sicily.  My preferred finishing oil is Frantoia, a product of Italy.  Both are robust EVOOs.

I would enjoy (and learn from) hearing from you about the EVOOs you’ve discovered and use.  I suspect other readers might, too.  You can share your experiences by clicking on the Comments link at the top right or bottom left on this blog and then entering the information in the pop-up window that appears.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Buon appetito.

P.S.  I have another recommendation.  Please stay away from oils labeled just Olive Oil, or Light Olive Oil – regardless of the price.  You’ll need to read Extra Virginity to learn all the reasons why, but to sum up with a generalization (meaning there could be exceptions):  the oils in these bottles would be very distasteful were it not for the (sometimes extensive) chemical processing they received.  You are better advised to select the least expensive EVOO, even if it is not pure extra virgin!

For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed working in the kitchen.  It never mattered whether I was peeling something, stirring something, or chopping something; or whether I was assisting and learning, or in charge and teaching.  Until now, I never really thought about why I enjoy cooking, I just do.  Now, as I think back looking for answers, I realize I'm probably attempting to over-analyze something that defies explanation, or more likely, simply needs no explanation.

I think it's important to note, however, that for me, cooking has always been a hobby.  Except for a few short years in college and graduate school, I never needed to cook to survive.  For nearly half a century, Grandma Karen ensured her family was always well fed and well nourished.  When I cooked, it was a diversion, a stress reliever; it was relaxing and it was fun.  It also served a purpose; it fed the family for a day or two.  It was an ideal hobby.  It still is.

When I wrote the introductory material for this web site, I promised simple, reliable recipes.  During the past several months, as I reviewed and edited each recipe for inclusion here, I began to realize that many of my recipes require an ingredient that not everyone has available to them – time!  Being retired now, it's easy to overlook (or simply forget) the years when our family "joke" was: if we can't cook it, eat it, and clean up after it in less than an hour, we don't have it!  That's an exaggeration, of course, but the fact remains.  Some recipes are simply less practical than others for on-the-go families – at least some of the time.

In an earlier blog, I remembered my grandmother being constantly in her kitchen.  I can’t say the same for my mother.  In addition to her responsibilities raising a family, she worked outside her home much of her life.  We always ate well, but meals requiring extra preparation times typically were reserved for weekends or special occasions.

There were some exceptions.  When my mother (or oftentimes my father) prepared tomato sauce and meatballs, they would almost always make multiple batches.  Three hours of work would ensure several meals over the course of the next week or so.  There was almost always sauce and meatballs in the refrigerator ready to be reheated for a quick meal.  A hard roll, a meatball, a scoop of sauce, and a sprinkling of Romano cheese made an incredible meatball sandwich in less than five minutes!  To this day, I seldom prepare less than a double batch of tomato sauce; and I still enjoy those spur-of-the moment meatball sandwiches.  Some things never change.

My favorite recipe for meatloaf is another exception.  When it comes out of the oven, we usually serve it with a baked potato and a side vegetable.  Inevitably, there also will be some left for the next day.  Cold, and sliced thin, it makes another delicious sandwich.  I like mine with catchup, but any condiment will work.

The point of all this is simple.  Even recipes that require extra preparation time can be fit into busy schedules.  It takes some advance planning and some refrigerator space, but I’m convinced the rewards are worth the time and effort.

Buon appetito.

I have been asked to write more about “Italian Foods” – specifically, how and why foods differ from region to region throughout Italy.  The request is a special one for me.  It comes from one of my favorite cousins, the wonderful lady who convinced me to create this website.  I owe her a debt of gratitude for what has quickly become a labor of love.

Writing about Italian foods is both easy and difficult.  It’s easy because there is so much to write about, and difficult for the same reason.  The challenge is choosing where to begin, and more importantly, where to end.

I’m choosing to begin by considering Italy’s topography.  Most obviously, Italy is a peninsula.  It has no bordering countries except in the north where the Alps separate it from its neighbors.  Italy, however, is hardly isolated.  It has over 4,700 miles of saltwater coastline, making it readily accessible by sea from literally everywhere.  At the same time, the east and west coasts are separated by the Apennine Mountains, making east-west travel limited at best.

Politically, Italy is even more interesting.  Until the Kingdom of Italy was established in 1871, the country consisted of a collection of city states, some dating back to the fifth century.  Prior to unification, the city states were fiercely independent and competitive, and most maintained individual versions or dialects of the Italian language.  In 1946, a Constitutional Referendum ended the monarchy and created the Republic of Italy.  In 1957, Italy became one of the founders of the European Economic Community, a predecessor of the European Union.  Italy, as we know it today, is younger than I am!

Italy is interesting economically, too.  For centuries, much of the country’s wealth was concentrated in the middle and northern regions.  Northerners also dominated the Italian government.  The southern regions remained mostly rural and much less affluent.  Beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century, overpopulation and illiteracy became severe problems in southern Italy.  Southerners also were victims of high taxes and protective tariffs placed on northern industrial goods.  Consequently (and understandably), most of Italy’s nineteenth century emigrants were from the south.

Enter the food!  For all the reasons cited above – topography, politics, and economics – foods and food supplies varied greatly from region to region and from one city state to another.  Tomatoes grew best on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius near Naples.  Olive trees, which thrived in the south, were unknown in the north.  Pigs and cows, and the resulting pork fat, butter, hams, and cheeses were predominant in the central regions near Florence and Parma.  Every area jealously guarded their recipes for cheese and salumi.  Most of the people were immobile, but so was most of the food – movement restricted by topography, politics, and economics.  Consequently, old world Italian cooks primarily used ingredients that were readily available to them – grown in their own garden or produced locally.  As a result, foods not only differed from region to region, it often differed from village to village and from household to household.  It should be no surprise then that Italians tend to revere their grandmothers – the iconic sources of old world Italian recipes.  (Mothers are revered, too, but if I may be allowed a generalization, they are more revered when they become grandmothers and, typically, matriarchs of their families.)

My “rules-of-thumb” for identifying the origin of old world Italian recipes are straightforward.  Recipes are most likely from southern Italy if they use tomatoes, olive oil, goat’s or sheep’s milk cheeses, and hard pastas.  Middle and northern region recipes typically use butter, pork fat, cow’s milk cheeses, veal, beef, rice, potatoes, and soft (egg) pastas.

I must emphasize, though, that I am referring to old world Italy, not modern day Italy where (fortunately) everything is available everywhere.  That makes it easy for us modern day folks.  We can enjoy all these wonderful foods, regardless of their origin and past history.  At the same time, I still think it makes each traditional meal just a little more special – a little more enjoyable – knowing something about its roots.

Buon appetito.

P.S.  Thank you, Mary Ann.  This one is for you!