A few months ago, there was a list floating about containing the 100 Greatest Moments in Food History. I felt that the top 10 items were sorely lacking in actual historical significance, so I've decided to come up with my own list. Feel free to debate and add your own as you see fit.

10. Television: Everything from Julia Child to children's television ads affects our food culture. McDonald's explosion in the 60's and 70's can be partially attributed to their advertising campaigns. Today the Food Network (properly or improperly) helps affect the trends and discourse of their viewers. Television's role in food culture is difficult to deny. And let's not even mention the TV Dinner.

9. The Restaurant is invented: We take them for granted today, but restaurants are really a recent phenomena. Prior to the late 1700's, selling a full meal was either a secondary role of taverns or inns, or one had to go to several different vendors throughout any given area. It was the French, after their revolution, who brought forth the idea of a full sit down meal could be bought for a modest sum.

8. Immigration: What happens when people of the far away land come to a different nation looking for a new opportunity? The bring along their traditions and tastes, where it's adapted into their adopted homeland. You want proof? Check out the kebab houses in England, or the many Italian-American restaurants here in the States. None would exist without immigration.

7. Discovery of Fermentation: It made farmer's crops more valuable, as it extended the reach of grain crops. It affected medicine, religion, and governments. Tax and import/export laws would look far different today without it. Then there's the economics of drunkenness. How many work days do you think have been lost throughout the ages due to hangovers and alcoholism?

6. Old World meets New World: Prior to the age of exploration, the following foods were unheard of to Europe and Asia - Maize, Potatoes, Turkeys, Tomatoes, Chocolate, Sugar Cane, and a variety of spices and herbs. The affect of these foods on the Old World was nothing short of a tremendous paradigm shift.

5. The Silk Road and Trade Routes: If you think food was regional 100 years ago, imagine what it was like 1500 years ago, where carrots, cabbage, and a multitude of other food products we take for granted were seen as "exotic".

4. Invention of Refrigeration: People have known for ages that food keeps longer in cold regions. The Romans even had set up an ice trade that some of the wealthy had used to keep food stuffs longer (not to mention storing their own versions of ice cream). However, once refrigeration became affordable to the middle and lower middle classes, foods that were once available only seasonally now had their shelf life extended. Leftovers now became a food source. And the ability to ship foods long distance also became realized.

3. Green Revolution: Anytime technology allows you to produce anywhere between two times to ten times the amount of edible crops than previously, it changes the dynamics of society. Prices for food goes down, and the lower classes get to eat more often. Lifespans increase, and economies of countries shift. Just ask India.

2. Pursuit of Salt: Humans cannot exist without this mineral, and for the longest time in history, it was the primary way of extending the shelf life of food. Empires have grown up around the control of salt, and have failed when they took such control for granted. Mark Kurlansky explains the impact of salt far better than I can in one paragraph.

1. The Domestication of Fire: Food plus fire allowed humans to process foods internally far more effectively than before. The domestication of fire meant that we could cook food on a regular basis, and far better diet (or at least extract far more nutrition) out of the food that was available. And healthier humans eventually leads to more productive humans.

The stupidity that was the Chicago Foie Gras ban is no longer. The City council has repealed the act of two years ago.

Just out of curiosity...I wonder how much time and money was wasted in this blip of an issue?

Several people sent me the link from Boing Boing which in turn linked to a Wired article regarding the shortage of hops in the United States and how is affecting the micro-brewer and Micro-Breweries.

The coincidental thing here was the Tara and I were talking about this subject just last Wednesday over deep fried clams and an order of fish and chips (for which beer is the perfect side). Both of us posited what was essentially voiced in the Wired article - mostly that the big breweries will be able to absorb the cost, and the smaller micro-breweries will simply provide less hoppy brews onto the market.

The big question mark here in my opinion, are those breweries that are too small to be considered major breweries, but too large to really be considered micro-brewers. I'm thinking about the Red Hooks and the Anchor Steams - how will they be affected, especially those breweries who have a fair amount of investment (both financial and reputation-wise) in the more hoppier brews like the India Pale Ales?

And as a side note, my hope is that we do start seeing less IPA's on the market. From a purely personal stance, there's very few IPA's that I like. Most of them are way too bitter for me, and I find that the hops often mask any subtlety that a well crafted beer may have. Additionally, every microbrewery seems to make an IPA. What's the point of having a diverse marketplace if everyone makes the same thing?

Good lord do I love Italian food. Jus' sayin'.

I do not need any more Italian Cookbooks, but I pick them up the same way that a numismatician picks up coins. When I see a new one, I have to at least look at it, and most likely it will end up in my collection, regardless of its quality.

The latest into my library is The New Regional Italian Cuisine Cookbook, which, if I ever were to write a Italian Cookbook, would look remarkably like this one. Recipes are not only divided into regions, but also into Antipasti, Primi Piatti (first course), Secondi Piatti (second course), Contorni (vegetables, including salads), and Dolci (desserts). And unlike the great majority of the Italian Cookbooks found here in the States, pasta takes a distinct back seat. There are sections which cover specific ingredients, and each region gets its own wine guide.

It is from this book that the recipe below comes from. It contains ricotta cheese, lemon, and sugar, all in a tart. There's little more needed in a dessert in my opinion.

Crust

• 1 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla)
• Salt, pinch
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 1 egg yolk
• 6 oz. Limoncello (water will work if Limoncello cannot be found)

For the filling

• 4 Large lemons
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 sugar
• 16 oz Ricotta Cheese
• 2 Tbsp powdered Sugar

Starting with the dough ingredients, mix together the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt together. Add the butter and egg yolk, and work together by hand. Add an ounce of the limoncello and incorporate that into the dough. Repeat until you get the consistency to the point where you can shape the dough into a ball.

Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until it is slightly larger than your tart pan (I used my 9 inch tart pan, but it could have accommodated the ten inch). Line the pan with the dough and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least one half of an hour.

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Zest two lemons and set the zest aside. Get the juice from one of the two zested lemons. Also set aside.

In a glass bowl, cream together the 2 eggs with 3/4 cup of the sugar. Fold in the ricotta cheese, and mix well. Fold in the zest and lemon juice.

Pour the filling into the chilled tart shell. Place in the oven and bake for forty five minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

Slice the remaining two lemons into thin slices, and quarter those slices.

Meanwhile, in a skillet place the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar with 10 tablespoons of water. Mix and bring to a boil. Add the lemon slices and lower the heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Place the sugared lemon slices on the tart before serving. Dust with powdered sugar.

Serves 12

Good lord do I love Italian food. Jus' sayin'.

I do not need any more Italian Cookbooks, but I pick them up the same way that a numismatician picks up coins. When I see a new one, I have to at least look at it, and most likely it will end up in my collection, regardless of its quality.

The latest into my library is The New Regional Italian Cuisine Cookbook, which, if I ever were to write a Italian Cookbook, would look remarkably like this one. Recipes are not only divided into regions, but also into Antipasti, Primi Piatti (first course), Secondi Piatti (second course), Contorni (vegetables, including salads), and Dolci (desserts). And unlike the great majority of the Italian Cookbooks found here in the States, pasta takes a distinct back seat. There are sections which cover specific ingredients, and each region gets its own wine guide.

It is from this book that the recipe below comes from. It contains ricotta cheese, lemon, and sugar, all in a tart. There's little more needed in a dessert in my opinion.

Crust

• 1 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla)
• Salt, pinch
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 1 egg yolk
• 6 oz. Limoncello (water will work if Limoncello cannot be found)

For the filling

• 4 Large lemons
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 sugar
• 16 oz Ricotta Cheese
• 2 Tbsp powdered Sugar

Starting with the dough ingredients, mix together the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt together. Add the butter and egg yolk, and work together by hand. Add an ounce of the limoncello and incorporate that into the dough. Repeat until you get the consistency to the point where you can shape the dough into a ball.

Roll out the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until it is slightly larger than your tart pan (I used my 9 inch tart pan, but it could have accommodated the ten inch). Line the pan with the dough and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least one half of an hour.

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Zest two lemons and set the zest aside. Get the juice from one of the two zested lemons. Also set aside.

In a glass bowl, cream together the 2 eggs with 3/4 cup of the sugar. Fold in the ricotta cheese, and mix well. Fold in the zest and lemon juice.

Pour the filling into the chilled tart shell. Place in the oven and bake for forty five minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

Slice the remaining two lemons into thin slices, and quarter those slices.

Meanwhile, in a skillet place the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar with 10 tablespoons of water. Mix and bring to a boil. Add the lemon slices and lower the heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Place the sugared lemon slices on the tart before serving. Dust with powdered sugar.

Serves 12