Welcome to our series featuring Food Holidays: September 29th, 2022. Did you know today is National Souffle Potato Day. I don’t know about you but I don’t think I’ve ever had Souffle Potatoes. Have you?’
Five Food Finds about Soufflé Potatoes
- Souffle Potatoes, also known as Pommes Souffles or Potato Puffs, are a type of fried Potato.
- Souffle Potato was created by French Chef Jean-Louis-Francois Collinet completely by accident, sometime in the 1830s.
- Souffle Potatoes are fried once to seal the outside, then fried again at a higher temperature, causing the steam inside to puff them up like balloons.
- The hand-cut Souffle Potatoes are often accompanied by Bearnaise Sauce.
- Burbank Russet Potatoes puff the best, due to their intrinsic moisture and high starch content.
Mulled Wine was originally consumed as far back as the 2nd Century. Created by the Romans who would heat Wine to defend their bodies against colds.
Did you know nothing speaks comfort like Fall, and nothing speaks Fall like wrapping our hands around a warm beverage. As the temperature drops and days become shorter, lay on the couch, turn on the T.V., and let the scent of Apple, Nutmeg, and Cinnamon fill your home. It’s time to celebrate National Hot Mulled Cider Day. While most people are acquainted with Mulled Ciders, on September 30th we bump it up a notch and mull it with Spices, Cinnamon, Cloves, Orange Peel, and Nutmeg to celebrate the arrival of Fall.
History of National Hot Mulled Cider Day
Before the Pumpkin Spiced Latte took over, the American Fall was marked by Hot Ciders and other spicy beverages. All it took was a single crimson leaf to drop for us to immerse ourselves in these hot wintery beverages.
The end of September is a sign to get our affairs in order before the holiday season is upon us. Enjoy the end of Spring with a Hot Mulled Cider. Humans have been mulling Ciders and Wines since the Ancient Greek period. A process of heating up Alcoholic beverages to utilize leftover or substandard Wine soon made a name of its own.
Americans have never tiptoed around their love for Apples, and Apple Cider was embraced just as graciously after it was introduced to the continent by the Europeans. The first Cider Distillery in the U.S., called the Laird’s, was established in 1780 and this Cider Distillery functioning to this day.
The modern-day love for Mulled Ciders comes from its commercialization in the Victorian Era. Lest we forget, it was Charles Dickens who immortalized Mulled Alcohol with the mention of ‘Smoking Bishop’ in his 1943 novel “A Christmas Carol.”
Although the origins of National Mulled Cider Day are unclear, isn’t National Hot Mulled Cider Day the perfect time to heat up Ciders, fill our homes with the sweetest aromas, and brace ourselves for the imminent chilly winds of October?
Five Food Finds about Cider
- The Cider industry uses 45% of all Apples grown in the UK.
- The UK Cider industry grew nearly 200,000 tonnes of Cider Apples in 2010; Bulmers alone has 10,000 acres of Cider Apple Orchards under its control.
- There are more than 300 varieties of Cider Apple grown in the UK. All with the sole purpose of making Cider.
- Varieties include Foxwhelp, Brown Snout, Ball’s Bittersweet, Kingston Black, Merrylegs and Slack-ma-Girdle.
- Cider Apples are different from dessert Apples in that they contain tannin, which is also found in Coffee and Red Wine. It gives Cider a full-bodied flavour and drying of the mouth (astringency).
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
