Cha Cha

Southern Cuisine/Soul Food still dominates the culinary scene when it comes to character and reputation. No other style of cooking that I’m aware of is associated with fullness, comfort, and family. Yes, the fried stuff is bad for you. But some soul food has health benefits. For instance, let’s take succotash. Succotash consists of stewed tomatoes, corn and okra. Tomatoes are extremely high in vitamin C and Lycopene; two important nutrients that help prevent cancer. The list for okra is endless. Fiber found in okra helps to stabilize the blood sugar by curbing the rate at which sugar is absorbed from the intestinal tract.
Okra's mucilage binds cholesterol and bile acid carrying toxins dumped into it by the filtering liver, helps lubricate the large intestines due to its bulk laxative qualities. Okra fiber absorbs water and ensures bulk in stools. This helps prevent and improve constipation. Unlike harsh wheat bran, which can irritate or injure the intestinal tract, okra's mucilage soothes, and okra facilitates elimination more comfortably by its slippery characteristic. ( the herb Slippery Elm has the same affect). Okra binds excess cholesterol and toxins (in bile acids). These, if not evacuated, will cause numerous health problems. Okra also assures easy passage out of waste from the body. Okra fiber is excellent for feeding the good bacteria (probiotics). This contributes to the health of the intestinal tract.
Okra is used for healing ulcers and to keep joints limber. It helps to neutralize acids,
being very alkaline, and provides a temporary protective coating for the digestive tract.
Corn is extremely high in fiber and contains Vitamin C and folic acid. One can’t go wrong with that.
So back to the Cha Cha. Cha Cha is what salsa is to Mexican Food or Shittoh is to Ghanian Food. It's a type of relish that can be spicy or mild made from green tomatoes, cabbage, and sweet peppers. There are slight variations in the recipes. I had the opportunity of sampling some of my cousin's homemade Cha Cha and it was absolutely delicious ( pictured above) Cha Cha can be added to coleslaw, beans, salads, casseroles, etc. Actually, it can be added to just about anything, if you’re feeling adventurous.


My cousin Shari also cans fruits and vegetables. Our great grand parents used to practice the art of canning as well, Check out her cabinet. Read about the history of canning here.

The Los Angeles Times Food & Wine Festival

The First Annual Los Angeles Times Food  & Wine Festival was held on September 5th at Paramount Studios on Melrose in Hollywood.  I had such a blast. I'm looking forward the the second L.A. Times  Food Festival and so should you !  There were hundreds of people in attendance. The weather was hot but I was prepared; I had my pink back pack and a cap. I gave most of my beverage tickets away because I’m not really a drinker like that anymore. But hey back in the day, I probably would have tried to stand in every line ! There were dozens of booths offering samples of wine and spirits. All in all, I sampled one drink similar to a Mojito from Brazil. It contained strawberries and lime and I also sampled a Merlot.
I also enjoyed eating lavender and honey flavored ice cream! Delicious !   There were food panels, book signings and cooking demonstrations.  While I stood in a long long line to taste some basil lemonade at the Nam Nam food truck, there was a cooking demonstration going on by Roger Mooking.

Roger gave the best advice about cooking with and utilizing fresh herbs, which I use a variety of herbs mainly for teas but sometimes for cooking. The problem is I always have a lot of a particular herb left. So Roger suggested that we lay the herbs on a piece of paper or a paper towel and place them on a book shelf and allow them to air dry. Once they’re dry the herbs can be crushed and used to flavor meatballs, meatloaf, baked fish etc. Then here’s the best advice, we can also used the left over sticks of the herbs and place in a bottle of olive oil, and viola ! You have a special flavored olive oil that can be used on salads, used to sauté, etc.

To my surprise, the food booth that received the most compliments and praise was from Long Beach ! Once again as I stood in line and began talking with this woman she mentioned that there’s a restaurant from Long Beach serving some delicious calamari. She couldn’t think of the name but showed me which direction it was located. So I headed over to find out which restaurant she was talking about. It was Tantulum. In fact as I snapped photos of the Tantulum booth, a few more people complimented the Tantulum staff! Long Beach represent !  Wooohoooo ! The booth display was absolutely exquisite and the calamari were tasty! The secret was in the sauce. The name of the sauce that made the calamari so tasty is called yakiniku. It's a Japanese sauce. The aioli , (green sauce) was shishito pepper aioli. and homemade by Tantalum's chef named Jack.  Make sure you order some when you visit. The samples were going so fast I couldn't snap a photo of a whole tray quick enough !  I've been to Tantalum once for a birthday dinner and my experience was memorable. I've heard many good things about Tantalum's Happy Hour as well. So if you're in Long Beach, you must put Tantalum on your agenda.

My favorite food sample of the day though were mung bean pancakes from the Korean Cultural Center. Delicious and flavorful ! Everyone should make an effort to visit the center and learn about Korean Culture. The center had these Korean Cuisine handbooks free for the public, so I got one and in the near future I will be trying to make those mung bean pancakes !

I also had the honor of meeting  Betty Fraser of  Top Chef and owner of  Grub in Hollywood. I had some of Grub's refreshing Blueberry Lemonade which was very much appreciated in the hot weather!  Mmmmm... Mmmmm. Thanks again Betty !

And remember foodies, there's still time to submit a piece to The Culinary Coquette Anthology ( Women Writers On Food) click here for more  info

The First Annual LA Times Food & Wine Festival was today !

The festival was held at Paramount Studios in L.A on Melrose. I had such a good time ! Pics will be up sometime on Monday.