GIRL ABOUT TOWN p 42 SPORTS p 43 FLY GIFTS p 44 ASTRO p 45
FLICKR/AVERAIN
FLY DIY p 46
had a long shelf life and was not given to crumbling easily. Early gingerbread was probably not as decorated nor as sweet as modern tastes dictate. We know that the 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson loved to bake and that gingerbread was one of her specialties; she sent her recipe for gingerbread to at least two friends. A few years ago, the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, Mass., held a baking contest, asking participants to recreate several of Dickinson’s recipes, offering prizes based on criteria such as flavor, texture, overall appearance and historical integrity. The contest rules stipulated that makers must use only the ingredients listed in the author’s recipes, but amounts and by Emily Vieyra process could vary. My sister and I entered the contest in the gingerbread category, and gave a lot of Although modern gingerbread, as in holiday houses, is sweeter and more decorated, in thought to how a person baking in a much Emily Dickinson’s day, gingerbread was a dense cake. more simplified environment would go about this. We opted for fresh ground ginan you smell the gingerbread? One of the mainstays of the ger paste, knowing that Ms. Dickinson kept a garden and so might holiday season, it can be found everywhere in December have a preference for fresh herbs and spices. We also did some rein many forms: as Christmas tree ornaments, decorated as search on what kinds of glazes people used in this period, finding that little men and women; or on display as miniature replicas of a smear of egg yolk was quite popular. houses in people’s homes and store windows. We won first place for our gingerbread. The resulting gingerRecords show that gingerbread making goes back centuries, as bread can be described as more of a dense cake than a true bread or a the ingredients were usually non-dairy and the bread, once baked, cookie, and it is enhanced when accompanied by a cup of tea.
True Gingerbread
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CULINARY STAR HEADS TO CITY GROCERY by Kathleen M. Mitchell
December 5 - 11, 2012
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told anybody, yet ... but four guest chef dinners, I was flattered.” Houseach four days long, for ton told the Jackson 16 days of pop-ups. Free Press. Most of all, HousHouston was able ton said he enjoys workto redesign City Groing with Currence and cery’s menu with Curhopes to see old faces rence’s input, and the come in to appreciate collaboration is wasting the food they are makno time planning more ing together. “I’ve had of the pop-ups Housa lot of great support ton has become syn- Jesse Houston joins Oxford’s from the locals and also City Grocery restaurant. onymous with. a lot of people come up “We have a whole from Jackson, friends month of pop-up resand former customtaurants planned in January, so we’re going ers,” he said. “I really want all my friends to pick up right where we left off in Jack- in Jackson to be able to come up, see the son,” Houston said. At City Grocery they pop-ups and hang out on the weekend.” are planning to combine pop-ups with Find out more at citygroceryonline.com. COURTESY JESSE HOUSTON
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esse Houston is bringing fresh ideas to an iconic Mississippi eatery, City Grocery in Oxford. Houston, who parted ways with Jackson’s Parlor Market in October, was appointed chef de cuisine of City Grocery last month. Houston is joining chef and owner John Currence, who won the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef: South in 2009. “I could not be any more excited about welcoming Jesse to the team. City Grocery has just turned 20, and it is time for a younger and more vibrant palate to take the rudder,” Currence stated in a press release about the appointment. “I was definitely very honored when John gave me the phone call, shortly after I left Parlor Market. In fact, I hadn’t really
Emily Dickinson’s Gingerbread 4 cups flour 1/2 cup heavy cream, whipped by hand until a little stiff 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 tablespoon ginger paste 1 cup Grandma’s brand molasses
This is what we did, using methods we thought a 19thcentury cook might employ. You may need to adjust or modernize to fit your own needs. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two oval 7-and-3/4-inch pans. We also wrapped each pan with a cloth wrap—a method we learned in a baking class, which is supposed to ensure the cake will have a flat top. Mix the cream and butter. In a separate big bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Add the butter/cream to the flour mixture—it will be very dry. Then add the molasses. The mixture should spring to life—the powdered clumps take on a coffee brown hue and inflate with airy thickness. (This is where we quite understood the origins of the gingerbread man story!) Mix, then divide the batter in half, and pour into the two pans. Flatten the batters with a spatula. Arrange the pans in the oven diametrically (one on the right upper rack, one on the left lower rack). After baking for 20 minutes, remove from the oven, brush an egg yolk glaze over the top of each loaf, then return them to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes more, for a total oven time of 30 minutes.