National Sauce Month

Cryst(a)l, Bloomington, USA / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

March is National Sauce Month in the United States.

What is a sauce? Well, they are foods that are liquid, cream or semi-solid that are added to other foods, either during preparation or after serving, in order to add flavour, texture or moisture to a dish. Sauce itself is a word derived from the Latin salsa, which means salted, and salsa today is used to refer to a specific type of sauce.

Sauces date back over 2,000 years and vary tremendously in flavour, texture, ingredients, consistency and colour. They are an important part in cuisines all over the world and are used in both sweet and savoury dishes. They are used to dress vegetable dishes and are a common ingredient in pasta. Sauces can be made fresh, by the cook or chef, but many sauces today are purchased partially or wholly made. Partially made sauces are such as powders that are then added to a liquid, whilst those that are wholly made include popular bottled sauces such as ketchups.

National Peanut Month

Texnik / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

March is National Peanut Month in the United States.

The peanut, also known as the groundnut and the monkey nut, is, like so many things with "nut" in the name, not a nut in the botanical sense, only the culinary one. Peanuts are actually a type of legume. Peanuts are high in oil and are also classed as an oil crop. Peanuts, of the wild type, have probably been eaten for over 8,000 years, as evidence stretches back 7,600 years and they have probably been eaten for longer.

Peanuts have many different uses. They are a popular snack food, are made into peanut butter, peanut oil and peanut flour. They are a staple of the cuisine of many different countries. Nutritionally, peanuts are rich in essential nutrients of many different types. They are also high in calories, and some of their nutritional value is rendered less relevant when used in snack foods, as such tend to also contain less healthy materials.

National Nutrition Month

March is National Nutrition Month in the United States

Nutrition is getting enough essential nutrients - those without which a body cannot function properly and which cannot be manufactured in sufficient quantities, if at all, by the body itself.

In this context it is more to do with eating healthily. The modern diet is full of processed foods that are often eaten because they taste nice, but aren't actually much good for you. Fast food is perhaps the most notorious example of this. The tastiness is often the result of adding various supplements that can cause problems such as obesity if too much of them is consumed, such as sugar.

Fruits and vegetables are often considered to be an essential part of a nutritious and healthy diet.

National Noodle Month

March is National Noodle Month in the United States.

Not merely a single day, but an entire month dedicated to noodles.

To users of American English, "noodles" cover a variety of shapes of flour paste products. To those that use British English they are considered to be long, thin strips.

Different kinds of flour can be used to make noodles. Egg noodles are common in many dishes from China and the surrounding countries and can be used in a number of different ways, such as a side dish or the basis of a main meal.

Noodles can be used fresh, or they can be dried and stored for later use. They are a staple in many different countries, especially in East Asian cuisine, but Italian pasta are also a type of noodle. The oldest known reference to what would be a noodle dish dates back to China over 2,000 years ago.

National Frozen Food Month

March is National Frozen Food Month in the United States.

Lengthening the life of fresh food by cooling it down is hardly a new idea. Food, both vegetable and meat, has been preserved in winter months by placing it in cooler areas, with such as natural caves and dug cellars. Freezing food outright is more difficult, although winter frosts have been used to do this naturally.

When food is frozen, decomposition slows down as any residual moisture is frozen, which slows down the growth of most bacteria. Food can be mechanically frozen, which is slow, or cryogenically, which is fast. The faster food is frozen, the better it retains its structure and texture once thawed out.

Modern freezing started in the 19th century and advances over the years allow foods to be frozen extremely quickly, allowing food to be frozen immediately after harvesting. Frozen fruit and vegetables can be better nutritionally than fresh ones, as frozen foods are frozen within hours of harvesting whilst fresh foods are often at least a few days old by the time they make it into a shop to buy. Freezing the food quickly, both in length of the freezing process and soon after harvest, helps preserve its nutritional value.

National Spinach Day

Rasbak / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

March 26th is National Spinach Day in the United States.

Spinach is a leafy green plant that was originally native to Asia but has since spread around the world, even though China still consumes the vast majority of it by far. Spinach is strongly associated with the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man, who would greatly increase his strength, and often gain other abilities after consuming spinach, usually in canned form.

Spinach is a very nutritious vegetable, being a rich source, which means over 20% of the daily value, of a host of nutrients. However, when eaten raw, absorption of calcium and iron in spinach is blocked. Spinach can be served hot or cold and can be cooked and frozen, canned or blanched. Fresh spinach quickly loses its nutritional benefits.

International Waffle Day

Parkerman & Christie from San Diego, USA / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

March 25th is International Waffle Day.

Waffles are a dish made from unleavened dough cooked between two platers that bear a distinctive pattern that gives the waffle its characteristic appearance. Waffles, in one form or another, are a very old dish; the Ancient Greeks cooked a type of flat cake between two metal plates. The first true waffle recipe dates back to the 14th century and since then many different types of waffle have been made. The modern waffle is recognisable for its hollow pits and it is frequently served as both breakfast and dessert dishes. Variations are used to create types of sandwiches and, although waffles are typically a sweet dish, there are savoury variations, such as the potato waffle.

Waffles are rarely served plain. They are often dusted with sugar or cinnamon, served with ice cream or with maple syrup. They are a traditional accompaniment to fried chicken in the Southern United States.

National Cheesesteak Day

Phil Denton from sunnyvale, CA, usa / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

March 24th is National Cheesesteak Day in the United States.

Cheesesteaks are actually a type of sandwich, and are also known as cheesesteak sandwich, cheese steak, Philadelphia cheesesteak, Philly cheesesteak or steak and cheese. They consist of a hoagie roll containing thinly sliced pieces of beefsteak and melted cheese. This is a type of fast food and, as might be determined from some of the names, originated in Philadelphia. Pat and Harry Olivieri are credited with being the first to invent the sandwich using chopped steak on an Italian roll in the 1930s. They ran a hot dog stand and, apparently, a passing driver saw one being eaten and requested one himself. The pair concentrated on the sandwiches, eventually opening a restaurant.

Rib eye or top round are the most common cuts of beef used and the typical cheeses are provolone, Cheez Whiz and American cheese, which all tend to have low melting points.

National Melba Toast Day

March 23rd is National Melba Toast Day in the United States.

This dish is named after Australian opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba, just as Peach Melba is. Not that she created either dish herself. They were both named in honour of her by the legendary French chef, Auguste Escoffier (who was also a culinary writer and restaurateur who both updated and popularised traditional French cooking methods), who was a fan of hers. Just as with Peach Melba, this dish was created whilst Escoffier was at the Savoy Hotel in London, with it believed to have been created in 1897; at that time, the singer was ill and it became a staple of her diet. The proprietor of the César Ritz supposedly named the dish, not Escoffier himself.

Melba toast is a form of very thinly sliced dry toast. It is served with a variety of dishes, including Lobster Thermidor, and is also often eaten with pate and cheese. To make the toast, a slice of bread is toasted under the grill on both sides. It is then removed from the grill and sliced in half, along the thinnest length, making two pieces of toast the same size but only half the depth. The revealed side of the now two pieces of toast is then itself toasted.

Pre-made Melba toast can also be purchased in packets. This is easier to use, and less risky to make, as slicing an already thin piece of bread so that it is thinner is a recipe for an accident in unskilled hands.

National Flour Month

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March is National Flour Month in the United States.

Flour is a cooking powder that is made by grinding a variety of different substances; beans, roots, grains, nuts and seeds. Flour is often associated with bread, and wheat flour is one of the most important ingredients in many cuisines, but there are far more versions of flour than that. Flour, as well as being used to make a variety of different breads it is used to make cakes and pastries, wit different types of flour having different ingredients and sometimes leavening agents included.

Wheat is, as mentioned, one of the most important types of flour and it has been made for at least 8,000 years, making it one of the oldest processed foods around. Flour is typically made by crushing it beneath millstones, and flour mills have been one of the major recipients in improvements in industrial technology, from hand or animal powered to water- and windmills to steam powered mills.

National Poultry Day

March 19th is National Poultry Day in the United States.

Poultry is a name used to refer to many different types of birds, including those of different birds, that are usually domesticated and kept for their meat, eggs and feathers. The term is also used to include some birds that are killed for their meat (such as pigeons) but does not include those undomesticated birds that are hunted for food and sport, such as pheasants, which are referred to as game. The word "poultry" itself descends from a Latin word, through French and English influences, whilst "fowl" is Germanic in origin. The exact definition of what makes a bird poultry has tended to vary depending on the source.

Chicken is by far the most common poultry animal, and tends to be the bird though of when the term poultry is used, but quails and turkeys from the same order are also eaten. An estimated 50 billion chickens are raised each year, both for their meat and for their eggs, with the majority being raised in factory conditions. Waterfowl includes domesticated geese and ducks. Poultry meat itself is commonly eaten all around the world, and they have been domesticated for thousands of years. Chickens were domesticated in China over 10,000 years ago, making them one of the earliest domesticated animals, and spread slowly across the world. Eggs are also widely consumed, and used as an ingredient in many recipes. Of the different poultry birds, chicken is usually the cheapest to buy. Turkey is a common bird for special occasions, such as Thanksgiving in North America and at Christmas.

National Corn Dog Day

Ocdp / CC0

March 16th is National Corn Dog Day in the United States.

The corn dog can be considered to be a variant of the hot dog, although other sausages can be used. The hot dog is coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter which is then deep fried. The original corn dogs were not served on sticks as current ones are. They are commonly served as fast food, typically from street vendors, and are often associated with such as fairs and sports games.

It isn't known who first developed the corn dog, as several people have laid claim to the title, but it is a comparatively recent dish. The earliest known corn dogs were served in 1937, when ballpark vendors ran out of hot dog buns.

Variants include ones with cheese between the hot dog and the corn, ones made from bratwursts, smaller types served to children and vegetarian varieties.

National Meatball Day

Fruggo at Dutch Wikipedia / CC BY 1.0 NL (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0/nl/deed.en)

March 9th is National Meatball Day in the United States.

Meatballs are just what they sound like; ground meat rolled into a ball. Other ingredients are often added, such as onions, butter, eggs, breadcrumbs and seasoning. There are many different ways of cooking meatballs, such as baking, frying, steaming and braising, and they can be made from different meats. There are also varieties that are technically not meatballs, because they contain no meat, instead either having a meat substitute or fish.

Meatballs or their equivalent can be found in cooking all over the world and date back over 2,000 years. They can be served in a number of different ways, including in soups, covered in sauces and in sandwiches. Most meatballs are small balls of meat, but larger ones that need carving can be found. Meatballs can be a comparatively simple dish to prepare; all that's really needed is some way of mincing the meat.

National Crown Roast of Pork Day

March 7th is National Crown Roast of Pork Day in the United States.

The crown roast is a dish made from the ribs of the animal in question, so in this case it's pork. The ribs are cut into several pieces, and then tied in a circle, with the ribs vertical. With the ends of the ribs all pointing upwards, and the circular appearance of the dish, it resembles a crown, hence the name. The ends of the ribs may be decorated; sometimes with little paper crowns, but apples are also used, as pork is often accompanied with applesauce. The space inside the ribs is also often filled, with stuffing being a traditional choice here. Whilst the actual cut of ribs may be called a rack, a rack itself is not a crown roast, although it can be served as-is. To make a crown roast will often require more than one rack of ribs; the actual size really depends on how large a crown roast is being made.

The dish uses up quite a substantial amount of pork in its preparation - although the exact amount does depend on how large a crown roast is being made - so it's definitely not suitable for just one person. It would also be unlikely to be cooked as an everyday meal, both due to the amount of pork, the preparation and the cooking time, so it would be most commonly seen on special occasions. It is possible to prepare the ribs into a crown roast yourself, but it's certainly easier to buy one that's already assembled.

National Oreo Cookie Day

Evan-Amos / Public domain

March 6th is National Oreo Cookie Day in the United States.

Needless to say, this is definitely one of the more commercial days around, given that the Oreo is a trademark of Nabisco. The Oreo Biscuit was first introduced by the National Biscuit Company - which later became Nabisco - back in 1912. It was originally launched as an imitation of another cookie produced by a competitor, the Hydrox of Sunshine. Today, it is the best-selling cookie brand in the United States.

The Oreo is classed as a sandwich cookie, as it consists of two wafers with a sweet crème filling. The wafers and filling can vary, but the most commonly recognised design is the two chocolate wafers. The cookie is distinctively decorated on the wafers, although the design has changed over the years. Some varieties of Oreo have even covered in dark or white chocolate. Other varieties have included ones with more filling, ones with thinner wafers, smaller varieties and other flavourings for the cookies and filling. The Oreo is popular with people who have dietary restrictions, such as vegans, as the filling does not use any animal products.

National Absinthe Day

Eric Litton / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)

National Absinthe Day is on March 5th in the United States.

Absinthe is a drink that is an anise-flavoured and highly alcoholic spirit that is derived from the flowers and leaves of the grand wormwood. Sweet fennel, green anise and other herbs are added as well.

Absinthe has a natural green colouration, which led to its nickname of "the green fairy," but it can also be colourless. Absinthe originated in Switzerland in the 18th century and became very popular in late 19th to early 20th century France, especially amongst Paris's artistic community.

Absinthe was banned in many countries for its supposed addictive and psychoactive properties, and was believed to cause hallucinations. However, studies do not seem to show it as being any more dangerous than other spirits, and it has recently become legal again.

Absinthe is served by perching an absinthe spoon on top of a glass containing a measure of absinthe on which a sugar cube is placed. Iced water is then dripped or poured over the sugar to mix with the absinthe, which then turns a cloudy white colour.