Very
cold dishes bring coolness directly into your tummy, which certainly helps cool
you down when the weather is hot. Why would you eat spicy, sweat-inducing foods
when it’s hot outside? It seems illogical, right? Sweat triggers the body’s
natural cooling system, like a sprinkler built into your skin, which is why
eating spicy is traditional in the hottest regions of the globe.
While
ice cream and sorbet are obvious choices, there are also some surprises in this
month’s look at what a variety of cultures turn to when the midsummer
temperatures head skyward.
Italian Gelato
Gelato
is the king of summer treats, but few realize that people have been eating
something ice-cream-like for millennia. Alexander the Great liked to eat snow
drizzled with honey, and Emperor Nero had runners zip up into the mountains and
rush down to bring him a similar treat (let’s hope they ran real fast). But it
was around 1553 that the chefs accompanying Caterina de Medici when he traveled
from Florence to marry Henri II of France, who developed a recipe that closely
resembles the creamy ice cream of today. From around 1660 on, ice cream became
available to those beyond the gates of royal palaces, and Café Procope in
Paris, run by Sicilian immigrants, was the first to serve it to the masses.
North Korean
Mul-Naengmyeon
Cold
noodles in a cold broth sounds pretty cooling. Noodles made of buckwheat and
potato starch are served in a dongchimi, radish water kimchi broth. There are
several variations, but their origin seems to be in North Korea, brought to the
South by immigrants. You can have them spicy or not, but either way the noodles
are cold and the broth is, too.
Peruvian Ceviche
Raw
fish had better be kept nice and cool until served, and ceviche simply calls
for margination in a lightly-acidic liquid, like lemon juice, to ever-so-gently
“cook” the fish through the acid reaction, kicking up the flavor without adding
a lick of heat.
Italian Bruschetta
Italian
bread is often pretty bleak - there’s a centuries-old tradition in central
Italy of refusing to salt bread, dating back to outrage over a salt tax.
Bruschetta is a catchall term for a slice of toasted, usually salt-free bread
loaded with various goodies: olive oil, salt and garlic, for the purists,
chopped tomato, basil and olive oil (and salt), or all manner of other
variations. One constant is that the topping should have a measure of salt in
it.
Levantine Tabbouleh
Light
tabbouleh salad that is just the thing for sultry days. Bulgur wheat is at the
core, augmented with chopped parsley, onion, tomato, olive oil, lemon juice and
mint. The Arabic tabil means “seasoning,” and some might look at the salad as a
mixture of seasonings, but the whole is much more than the sum of its parts. In
the Middle East, tabbouleh’s focus is the parsley, whereas in Europe the bulgur
wheat is the star. Tabbouleh looks like a parsley salad, but the brightness of
mint, lemon and tomato, all fresh in the heart of summer, and the lightness of
the dish, though it is satisfyingly filling, make it ideal for the hottest
months.
Roman Grattachecca
The
story goes that Marco Polo returned from China with a sorbet-like recipe,
introducing the concept to the West. A sort of sorbet or granita, this “shaved
ice” is still a favorite in Rome, scratched from a large block of sweetened ice
so you can eat it with a spoon.
American Deviled Eggs
Historians
can’t quite figure out why they are “deviled” but hardboiled eggs sliced in
two, with the yolk removed, zested with mayo and mustard, whipped, and
reinserted into the cavity of the white, are a lovely, filling summer snack.
Spanish Gazpacho
The
summer favorite of cold tomato and pepper soup is surprisingly complex, with
hits of lime juice, vinegar, raw onion and garlic expanding the palette and
chilling you out, all at once.
Sichuan Cold Sesame
Noodles
Liangmian
cold noodles with a sesame paste are a big hit in American takeout stands, a
super street snack that cools and spices. They are eaten as a street food
throughout China and Taiwan, but the version most Anglophone readers will know
has its origins in New York’s Chinatown.
Capri Insalata
Caprese
As
the history books say that it hails from the island of Capri (as the name
suggests). Slices of tomato and mozzarella are layered on the plate, topped
with some basil. Whatever the case, it’s completely delicious, but utterly
reliant on wonderful, fresh ingredients. And it even looks like the Italian
flag!
Greek Salad
A
Greek person explained to me that in a Greek salad there must be no lettuce,
the salad must not be tossed before serving, feta cheese must not be cubed but
in one large slice, tomato and cucumber must be in large pieces, and it must be
served in a shallow bowl. I guess it depends on who you ask and, since
horiatiki is, by definition, a “village” salad, then the recipe can alter from
village to village. Whatever your definition, it’s going to be good.
Chongqing Hot Pot
In
this region of China, summer weather calls for super spicy hot pot, gurgling
with lava-like beef fat, into which you can dip your choice of ingredients to
cook. The Chinese believe that hot dishes can relieve qing huo, or internal
heat, so the more spice-induced sweat, the merrier!
German Cole Slaw
Shredded
cabbage in oil and vinegar is the base of this German version, Krautsalat, but
the more famous one is the Americanized style, with shredded carrot and loads
of mayonnaise.
By FDL