Name This Food!: Baltimore The Merrier

Hey folks!

My Baltimore-based pal Laura was stumped by the last Name This Food! which was disappointing as I tried to make it something she would definitely know, as she was getting frustrated not being able to score any points. (Not that there are any points, but you know what I mean.)

So I deliberately set out to pick something from Baltimore. After a while scouring the 'Net to find out what Baltimore is famous for foodwise, I plumped for these:

She believed these to be something called fleur deuflan,  which sounds fab, however I can find nothing written about such an item. What I can now reveal is that these are...

BERGER'S COOKIES!

What in the blinky o'stinky are Berger's Cookies, I hear you cry. Well, pay attention, dear reader, and I shall tell you. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

Berger Cookies are a kind of cookie made and distributed by DeBaufre Bakeries. They are topped with a thick layer of chocolate fudge that derives from a German recipe, and are a cultural icon of Baltimore

The Berger Cookie recipe was brought to America from Germany by George and Henry Berger in 1835. Henry owned a bakery in East Baltimore that was later run by his son Henry. While the younger Henry took over his father's bakery, his two brothers, George and Otto, opened their own bakeries. Around 1900 Otto died, then George and Henry combined the bakeries to create 'Bergers'.


If you want to know how to make your own version of the famous Berger's Cookies, those kin folks over at King Arthur Flour have given us a 'copycat' recipe for those times when you need a cookie with chocolate overload and just can't make the trip to Baltimore to grab some. Here's the recipe:

Baltimore Berger Cookies


PREP
30 mins.
BAKE
10 mins. to 11 mins.
TOTAL
55 mins.
YIELD
About 20 medium (3") cookies


 These cake-like cookies are piled with thick, rich chocolate icing — the thicker the better. Note that the cookies themselves are rather dry, so the over-the-top amount of icing, rather than being overkill, is just right.

Cookies

1/3 cup (5 1/3 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/3 cup milk

Icing

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 tablespoons (1 ounce) light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (6 ounces) heavy cream
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment paper) two baking sheets.
To make the cookies: In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, salt, vanilla, and baking powder.
Beat in the sugar, then the egg.
Add the flour to the wet ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Do this gently; there's no need to beat the batter.
Using a spoon or a tablespoon cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets. The balls of dough should be about 1 1/4" in diameter. Flatten each mound of dough to a circle about 1 1/2" across; wet your fingers or a knife, or grease the bottom of a drinking glass or measuring cup to do this. Leave 2"; to 2 1/2" between each cookie, for expansion.
Bake the cookies for about 10 to 11 minutes, or until they're a mottled brown on the bottom (carefully tilt one up to look), but not colored on top. You may see the barest hint of browning around the edges, but these cookies are supposed to be soft and cake-like, so don't over-bake them. Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them cool right on the pan as you make the frosting.
To make the icing: Place the chocolate chips, corn syrup, vanilla, and cream into a large microwave-safe bowl, or into a large saucepan.
Heat the mixture until it's very hot; the cream will start to form bubbles. Remove from the heat, and stir until smooth.
Beat in the confectioners' sugar and salt. Let cool to warm room temperature while you make the cookies.
Dip the top of each cookie into the warm icing; swirl the cookie around to really give it a good coating. Set the cookies back on the baking sheet.
Spread the remaining icing evenly atop the cookies. If it's too soft and flows off the cookies, let it set a bit, until it's firmer. It'll feel like you're piling on a lot of icing; that's precisely the point! Allow it to set, then store the cookies airtight in a single layer. Keep at room temperature for several days; or freeze for longer storage.
Allow the icing to set, then store the cookies airtight in a single layer. Keep at room temperature for several days; or freeze for longer storage.


On a side note, I think it's odd that the most iconic cookie from Maryland is the Berger's Cookie, yet over here in the good ole U. of K., if you say the words "Maryland" and "cookie" in the same sentence, people will assume you are talking about chocolate chip cookies.

Which are, let's face facts here, a bit crap.

I mean, Berger's cookies have that certain je ne sais quoi. They have... how should one put it? MOXIE!

Can't wait to get over to Maryland and sample me some of those bad boys. Mmmm.


Right! Now then - what, pray tell, is this?

Name This Food!

Lost, and Found

It's always nice to see new food products being made locally. Well, this isn't exactly local - the product is made in the Cheshire countryside - but the company is based here in sunny Tenterden, and hence they have recently started appearing at our Friday market, in the covered marketplace area next to Majestic Wines. They're called Lost Barn, and they're coffee roasters. Mighty fine ones too I might add. I was given a bag of their coffee the other day, and so far I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

I particularly like the resealable bag design.

Anyhow, give them a whirl - here's all the relevant links!

https://lostbarncoffee.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/lostbarncoffee/

https://www.instagram.com/lostbarncoffee/

A Thorny Question

Last time on Name This Food! I posed this tricky one, namely, what the heck are these?

Well, ladles and jellyspoons, it can now be revealed that they are in fact the berries of the Hawthorn.

Now, I know that in both traditional and herbal medicine, extracts of hawthorn have been used, with many people either saying how good it is or how ineffective it is, but I am not going to address those issues because this is a blog about food and those topics are for a different forum. Not only that but I have woefully inadequate knowledge of the topic and have no wish to step into that potential mire.

What we are here to talk about is a little bit of the history behind the hawthorn and its use in comestibles.

Crataegus, commonly called hawthorn, thornapple, May-tree, whitethorn, or hawberry, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name "hawthorn" was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe, especially the common hawthorn Crataegus monogyna, and the unmodified name is often so used in Britain and Ireland. The name is now also applied to the entire genus and to the related Asian genus Rhaphiolepis. The name haw, originally an Old English term for hedge, applies to the fruit.

The "haws" or fruits of the common hawthorn are edible, but the flavour has been compared to over-ripe apples. In the United Kingdom, they are sometimes used to make a jelly or homemade wine. The leaves are edible, and if picked in spring when still young, are tender enough to be used in salads. The young leaves and flower buds, which are also edible, are known as "bread and cheese" in rural England.

The fruits of the species Crataegus pinnatifida (Chinese hawthorn) are tart, bright red, and resemble small crabapple fruits. They are used to make many kinds of Chinese snacks, including haw flakes and tanghulu. The fruits, which are called shānzhā in Chinese, are also used to produce jams, jellies, juices, alcoholic beverages, and other drinks. In South Korea, a liquor called sansachun is made from the fruits.

The fruits of Crataegus mexicana are known in Mexico as tejocotes and are eaten raw, cooked, or in jam during the winter. They are stuffed in the piñatas broken during the traditional pre-Christmas celebration known as Las Posadas. They are also cooked with other fruits to prepare a Christmas punch. The mixture of tejocote paste, sugar, and chili powder produces a popular Mexican candy called rielitos, which is manufactured by several brands.

In the southern United States, fruits of three native species are collectively known as mayhaws and are made into jellies which are considered a great delicacy. The Kutenai people of northwestern North America used red and black hawthorn fruit for food.

On Manitoulin Island in Canada, some red-fruited species are called hawberries. They are common there due to the island's alkaline soil. During the pioneer days, white settlers ate these fruits during the winter as the only remaining food supply. People born on the island are now called "haweaters". In Iran, the fruits of Crataegus (including Crataegus azarolus var. aronia, as well as other species) are known as zalzalak and are eaten raw as a snack, or made into a jam known by the same name.

So, now that we've all been edjumacated, let's have a recipe, shall we?

Hawthorn Berry Wine from lowcostliving.co.uk

This is an easy hawthorn berry wine recipe, the most difficult thing is picking the hawthorn berries. Be prepared with antiseptic cream for your scratches!

Hawthorn is found growing wild and as a hedging plant. If foraging for the berries do be careful about venturing onto private land as the owner may well want the berries for himself.

Never strip a tree bare or take more than you can use just because it is there. A lot of wild birds depend on hawthorn berries to get them through the winter.

Ingredients 

2 to 3lbs Ripe Hawthorn Berries
2 Oranges
1 Lemon
3lb Sugar, preferably Demerara but white granulated will do
1 Gallon Water
Wine Yeast (A general wine yeast)
Yeast Nutrient

Method

Strip the berries from the stalks, a fork makes this an easier task. Wash well. If you immerse the berries in cold water for a few minutes, any hidden insects will float off.
Place into a fermenting bin or wine bucket and crush a little. A traditional potato masher is ideal for this.
Boil the water and pour over the crushed berries. Put the lid on the bin and leave for 7 days, stirring daily.
Zest and juice the oranges and lemon, place into a large pan with the sugar and strain the liquor from the bin into the pan. Put the pulp into a muslin bag or similar and squeeze out any remaining juice to extract all the flavour.
Heat the pan whilst stirring until all the sugar has dissolved and then allow to cool back down to 20°C . Pour back into the fermenting bin which should have been washed to remove any sediment.
Add the yeast and yeast nutrient, allow to ferment for 3 or 4 days.
Strain into a demijohn, topping up with cooled boiled water as required. Fit the airlock and leave in a warm place until fermentation has finished
Rack, as necessary, and add 1 Campden tablet after the first racking to stop secondary fermentation.
Syphon into bottles
This hawthorn berry wine recipe makes about a gallon of wine. Allow 6 months minimum for the wine to mature when bottled.

For winemaking equipment and yeasts etc. head to your nearest home brew supplier or go online to http://www.home-brew-online.com



Hawthorn berry ketchup

Ingredients

500g of hawthorn berry
300ml of cider vinegar
300ml of water
170g of sugar
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper

Method

1 To begin, remove the berries from the stalks and wash well with cold water. Add to a large pan with the water and vinegar, then bring to the boil. Allow to simmer for approximately half an hour, until the skins of the berries begin to burst.
2 Take off the heat and pour the contents of the pan through a sieve to remove any stones and tough pieces of skin.
3 Transfer the liquid to a clean pan with the sugar and place over a low heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar.
4 Once dissolved, bring to the boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes more, until syrup-like and reduced.
5 Season the syrup to taste with salt and pepper, then transfer to sterilised bottles. The syrup is good to use for 1 year.

Credit: Monica Shaw

Okey-dokey then. My pal Laura from Baltimore has requested something a little less taxing for the next Name This Food!  I don't want to make it too easy though, so what to do, what to do?

Name This Food!