Website Editor: Victoria Laherty Adams
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Victoria Laherty Adams attended San Francisco State University in the Creative Writing Department, has traveled extensively, has written several books, and completed a Culinary Academy. Her studies in biological science and history add to the completeness of the articles in this website. She completed her Bachelor's degree at Excelsior University and was accepted to an MBA program in Rome, Italy for Food and Beverage.
Curated Articles on Food Cultures from Around the World
A Place to Rest Your Weary Soul:
Dublin's Pubs by
V. Laherty Adams
There is nothing so welcoming and cozy as entering an Irish pub, and waiting for your Guinness to settle. It has been poured for you, unique, this one and only pour which in its uniqueness has never been poured exactly like this before and will never be poured exactly like this again. The moment arrives when you brave the white foam and take your first sip.
The walls, often wooden, have heard conversation that is unique in its perfect cadence, a thousand times over, not two of them alike. You look out the doors and windows to the world you have left behind for this moment, and you sigh with satisfaction. You have chosen this place, of all the places on earth, to spend your afternoon, and there is no better place on earth to be.
To be near Grafton Street and St Stephen’s Green is to get swept up in the magic of Dublin. The buskers, the street performers on Grafton Street, move you further into the magic. You dip into a tea house or a pub, and your Dublin dream continues.
Here Are 3 Pubs to Consider
McDaid's
Situated just off Grafton St. by St. Stephen's Green, McDaid's stands as one of Dublin's most iconic literary pubs. Frequented by renowned Irish writers such as Brendan Behan, James Joyce, J.P. Donleavy, and Liam O'Flaherty, it holds a special place in literary history. Joycean scholars have even identified it as the setting of Joyce's story, "Grace". Remarkably, McDaid's occupies a space that once served as the Dublin City Morgue and was also a Moravian chapel.
The Brazen Head
Claiming the title of Ireland's oldest pub, The Brazen Head has been a hostelry since 1198. Its present building, constructed in 1754 as a coaching inn, exudes historical charm. Known for its traditional music sessions, The Brazen Head offers a glimpse into Dublin's rich cultural heritage.
The Stag's Head
Nestled within the captivating ambiance of Grafton Street, The Stag's Head is a quintessential Irish pub renowned for its traditional music and hospitality. Its historical significance, featured in Dublin Pub tours, adds to its allure. Adjacent to the pub lies the Father Matthew Bridge, a historical crossing point over the river Liffey.
From the Stag Head's Website, Est. 1770s
Uncover a hidden gem in the heart of Dublin with The Stag's Head Pub. Tucked away through a narrow passageway off Dame Street, or accessible through Exchequer Street or George's Street, this establishment offers a unique experience reminiscent of Ireland's rich heritage. Upon entering, visitors are greeted with a sense of awe as they step into a virtual paradise of culture and old-world values.
History
Dating back to the 1780s, The Stag's Head gained prominence in the 1830s as 'John Bull's Albion Hotel and Tavern'. Situated near 'Dublin's Theatreland' and fashionable stores, it became a coveted destination. Under various proprietors, including Alica and Henry Murphy in the 1840s, William Wormington in the 1860s, and James Kennedy in the 1880s, the pub flourished as a hub of social activity.
The Stag's Head stands as a beautiful example of Victorian architecture in Dublin, preserving its historical significance through the ages. Notably, it was a favored haunt of Collins, who found solace in a whiskey from "Mick's Barrel" after arduous days fighting for Ireland's freedom.
Neary's Pub
Located just off Grafton Street in Dublin City center, Neary's Pub offers a welcoming ambiance and delectable cuisine. With its main bar and upstairs lounge, it caters to both locals and tourists alike. Named after Leo Neary, who also served as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Guatemala, the pub showcases late Victorian design with a fine brick exterior and elegant cast iron arms adorning the entrance.
Kehoes Bar
Established in 1803, Kehoes Bar epitomizes Dublin's rich heritage as one of its last great heritage pubs. Renovated in the late 19th century, the interior boasts authentic Victorian-style architecture that has been meticulously preserved. Today, Kehoes Bar remains a bustling hub for tourists, scholars, shoppers, and businesspeople, offering a glimpse into Dublin's storied past.
The Grocery and Snug Bar Experience
Entering this pub lovers' haven, you will be instantly confronted by the austerity and subdued colorings of the Victorian age. When visiting Kehoes take note of the original mahogany drawers, behind the low grocery counter, which once housed rice, tea, coffee, snuffs, and other provisions items. In its former existence, this area was frequented by shoppers of the age who could slip in and enjoy a triple in the snug while the proprietor prepared the provisions order. Everything here remains as it was 100 years ago, including the serving hatch and buzzer in the snug.
The Heritage Bar
The Heritage Bar, accessed through saloon-style stained-glass mahogany doors, retains its original charm, unchanged over the years. Mahogany partitions offer privacy, while vintage advertising signs adorn the walls. Enjoy a Guinness and admire the Victorian black bar, intricately carved from dark-grained mahogany. Note the two bustling ante-rooms and mind your head in the restroom—a nod to traditional pub architecture. The Heritage Bar preserves Dublin's history, inviting patrons to experience its timeless ambiance.
"If Joyce were to return today, I'll bet that he would regret missing out on this one. Writers found a more tolerant welcome here in the less quiet interludes of the morning when less inebriated and when accompanied by the acceptable faces of Dublin's literati. The 40s and 50s were the great literary days at Kehoes."
Restaurants: The Five Mother Sauces
by V.L. Adams
The sound of horses clopping on cobblestone streets in the night air. The sight of women in voluminous skirts and men with stockings up to their knees. The smells of Paris - well, let's just say it wasn't all the fragrance of baking bread. Napoleon III had not yet introduced the irrigation and water supply into Paris, which then grew into a street washing system that is still a wonder. Haussman had not yet designed the broad boulevards with the distinctive Parisian building style, and so much of Paris was made up of putrid, infected, squalid homes built one upon another since the Middle Ages. Dung and rotting mess was in the streets, along with rats. Yet Parisian finery still persisted, a descendant from the era of Louis XIV, and fine ladies and gentlemen alighted to and from their horse-drawn carriages. Josephine Bonaparte continuously held the greatest salon in the world at Versailles.
Careme's Paris was alive with creativity.
It was the era of Chef Marie Antoine Careme, and he was a genius whose legacy lives on into modern cuisine around the world.
One of his greatest contributions: the Five Mother Sauces
Chef Marie Antoine-Careme refined and developed the five Mother Sauces in the early to mid-1800s, sauces which were then further codified by Chef Auguste Escoffier into what would be the backbone and mother from which other sauces could then be made.
The history of the word ‘sauce,’ is that it comes from the Latin salsas, which means flavored with salt. The ancient Roman sauce, called Garum, was basically a fish sauce since it was made from the liquid from heavily salted and fermented fish. This was combined with brine, water, vinegar or wine. Commonly added to this were heavy quantities of spice and scented sauces. The heavy use of spices and aromatics was often used well into the Middle Ages to cover up any rotting food smell and taste. Marinades were often used as well for flavor and to tenderize the meats.
It was Francois Pierre La Varenne who elevated the sophistication of French cuisine, bringing it out of the Middle Ages’ reliance on spices and fermented foods into the use of a fresher array of ingredients. He was the foremost member of a group of French chefs, writing for a professional audience, who codified French cuisine in the age of King Louis XIV. (Louis XIV, Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil),) The other chefs were Nicolas Bonnefon, Le Jardinier françois (1651) and Les Délices de la campagne (1654), and Francois Massialot, Le Cuisinier royal et bourgeois (1691), which was still being edited and modernized in the mid-18th century. The cookbook was still used in France until the French Revolution.
The seventeenth century saw a culinary revolution which transported French gastronomy into the modern era. The heavily spiced flavors inherited from the cuisine of the Middle Ages were abandoned in favor of the natural flavors of foods. New vegetables like cauliflower, asparagus, peas, cucumber, and artichoke were introduced. The 18th century gave birth to the great Chef Marie Antoine Careme.
Restaurant: The Five Mother Sauces
The sound of horses clopping on cobblestone streets in the night air. The sight of women in voluminous skirts and men with stockings up to their knees. The smells of Paris - well, let's just say it wasn't all the fragrance of baking bread. Napoleon III had not yet introduced the irrigation and water supply into Paris, which then grew into a street washing system that is still a wonder. Haussman had not yet designed the broad boulevards with the distinctive Parisian building style, and so much of Paris was made up of putrid, infected, squalid homes built one upon another since the Middle Ages. Dung and rotting mess was in the streets, along with rats.
Yet Parisian finery still persisted, a descendant from the era of Louis XIV, and fine ladies and gentlemen alighted to and from their horse-drawn carriages. Josephine Bonaparte continuously held the greatest salon in the world at Versailles.
Careme's Paris was alive with creativity.
It was the era of Chef Marie Antoine Careme, and he was a genius whose legacy lives on into modern cuisine around the world.
One of his greatest contributions: the Five Mother Sauces
Chef Marie Antoine-Careme refined and developed the five Mother Sauces in the early to mid-1800s, sauces which were then further codified by Chef Auguste Escoffier into what would be the backbone and mother from which other sauces could then be made
The history of the word ‘sauce,’ is that it comes from the Latin salsas, which means flavored with salt. The ancient Roman sauce, called Garum, was basically a fish sauce since it was made from the liquid from heavily salted and fermented fish. This was combined with brine, water, vinegar or wine. Commonly added to this were heavy quantities of spice and scented sauces. The heavy use of spices and aromatics was often used well into the Middle Ages to cover up any rotting food smell and taste. Marinades were often used as well for flavor and to tenderize the meats.
It was Francois Pierre La Varenne who elevated the sophistication of French cuisine, bringing it out of the Middle Ages’ reliance on spices and fermented foods into the use of a fresher array of ingredients. He was the foremost member of a group of French chefs, writing for a professional audience, who codified French cuisine in the age of King Louis XIV. (Louis XIV, Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi Soleil),) The other chefs were Nicolas Bonnefon, Le Jardinier françois (1651) and Les Délices de la campagne (1654), and Francois Massialot, Le Cuisinier royal et bourgeois (1691), which was still being edited and modernized in the mid-18th century. The cookbook was still used in France until the French Revolution.
The seventeenth century saw a culinary revolution which transported French gastronomy into the modern era. The heavily spiced flavors inherited from the cuisine of the Middle Ages were abandoned in favor of the natural flavors of foods. New vegetables like cauliflower, asparagus, peas, cucumber, and artichoke were introduced. The 18th century gave birth to the great Chef Marie Antoine Careme.
Bechamel: Milk, flour, butter
Bechamel is a simple sauce using a roux. You will only need butter, flour, milk, and a little salt. Melt butter over a medium heat. Sprinkle the measured flour over the butter in the pan. Cook it down until it is a light color. You don’t want to burn the butter. Reduce the heat to low and gradually add the milk, very slowly so that the milk will not curdle. Stir frequently so that there are no lumps. Add salt.
Hollandaise: Clarified butter, egg yolks
All you’ll need for this sauce are six ingredients.
Egg Yolks – 3 eggs
Lemon Juice – 1 tablespoon
Dijon – 1 teaspoon
Salt – 1/4 teaspoon
Cayenne Pepper – just a pinch
Butter- 1/2 cup of melted butter
Melt the butter in a microwave for about 1 minute until hot. Combine the egg yolks, lemon juice, dijon, salt and cayenne pepper into a high-powered blender and blend for 5 seconds. Slowly stream in the hot butter into the mixture as the blender is running.
Pour the sauce into a small bowl and drizzle over your meal!
Valoute: simmer white stock with roux (roux is equal parts butter and flour)
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
2 cups chicken stock
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in the stock, 1/2 cup at a time. Whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and serve.
Espagnole: basic brown sauce thickened with roux
This classic brown sauce is used as the base of a number of sauces that are served with meat or poultry, including Bordelaise, Robert, Chasseur, Madeira, Estragon and Diable. The key to sauce espagnole is to slowly cook the roux so it becomes brown without burning. You can begin with clarified butter, which has a high smoke point.
Directions
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour to make a smooth paste. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon and lowering the heat as needed to prevent burning, until the roux is several shades darker than peanut butter, 18 to 20 minutes.
Stir in the carrots, celery and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, then whisk in the white wine and cook until the mixture thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Don’t worry if the vegetables get stuck in the whisk; as you add more liquid, they will release and combine with the sauce. Whisk in the stock, 1 cup at a time, and lower the heat to a simmer.
To make a sachet, place the peppercorns, parsley, thyme and bay leaves and in a square of cheesecloth and tie it into a bundle with kitchen twine. Submerge the bouquet garni in the sauce.
Simmer the sauce, using a spoon to skim off any fat or scum that rises to the surface, until it reduces by half and has the consistency of gravy, 30 to 45 minutes.
Remove the sachet, then strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Use as desired as a base for sauces.
Classic Tomate Sauce: tomato sauce with roux
While most tomato sauces are described as Italian cuisine, the French have their own classic tomato sauce, Sauce Tomat.
The sauce starts with lightly browning diced salt-cured pork, followed by softening the mirepoix (The French flavor base called mirepoix is a combination of onion, carrot and celery generally cut to the same size. It's used in a ratio that's 2 parts onion to 1 part celery and carrot. Finely chopped onions, carrots, and celery) for a few minutes. Add garlic, a bay leaf, a few sprigs of thyme, whole tomatoes crushed in a bowl, and stock. Cover the pot and pop it in the oven for a slow simmer.
The sauce needs time to simmer, a couple of hours to build and concentrate all of those flavors, but that can be done in the oven.
It is not like a chunky marinara sauce; it's creamy and tastes intensely of tomatoes.
From Soda Fountains to Smoothies
The emergence of soda fountains, malt shops, and shake shacks as social hubs can be traced back to the historical significance of fizzy beverages. This cultural phenomenon finds its roots in ancient practices surrounding curative mineral waters, such as those found in Bath, England, transformed into spas by the Romans in 43 CE. Believed to possess healing properties, these mineral waters were bottled and sold as early as the 1600s, with the Holy Well in the United Kingdom being the site of the inaugural water bottling in 1621. Jackson's Spa in Boston further popularized bottled water in America with its commercial distribution in 1767, marking a pivotal moment in beverage history.
The evolution of beverage culture took a significant turn with the introduction of carbonation into mineral water, a development reminiscent of scenes from classic films featuring patrons ordering sarsaparilla at old-time saloons. This innovation, pioneered by Swedish chemist Torbern Bergman and English scientist Joseph Priestley in the early 1770s, laid the groundwork for the establishment of soda fountains, where carbonated beverages were served by individuals colloquially known as "soda jerks."
These soda fountains underwent a transformation into establishments serving milkshakes and malted milkshakes, ultimately becoming synonymous with terms like "malt shop." In 1922, the milkshake achieved mainstream popularity when a Walgreens employee in Chicago, Ivar "Pop" Coulson, introduced a variation consisting of an old-fashioned malted milk blended with ice cream, captivating the palates of young adults nationwide. This innovation marked the transition from malt shops to a burgeoning smoothie culture, reflecting the evolving tastes and preferences of consumers over time.
History of Smoothies
Health food stores on the West Coast of the United States embraced the introduction of electric blenders by offering smoothies for sale. The term "smoothie" gained traction in recipes and culinary circles by the mid-1980s. In the 1960s, Steve Kuhnau, drawing from his experience as a soda jerk, innovatively experimented with smoothie recipes as a lactose-intolerant individual seeking alternatives. His unique blends of fruit juices, vegetables, protein powder, and vitamins garnered early success, leading to the founding of Smoothie King. This pioneering venture paved the way for the expansion of smoothie businesses across the nation, including notable establishments like Jamba Juice. Fast food chains later adapted the concept, introducing sweeter variations with ingredients like chocolate and Splenda. By the 2000s, homemade smoothies gained popularity as individuals began incorporating fruits and vegetables into their dietary routines.
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