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the dish > Recipes
Peanut's influence in history spreads far
beyond the lunchbox
By Joanna Poncavage, Of The Morning Call
The recent recall of peanut butter was a blow to our collective
culinary heart. What would school children eat for lunch? How would
Americans maintain their quota of eating six pounds of peanuts per
year? When it comes to America's signature foods, peanuts are right
up there with apple pie and hot dogs.
How they came to the list of foods that Americans
eat more of than anybody else is a long, wide road across continents
and oceans, spurred on by the tragic forces of war and slavery.
But the turning point for peanuts occurred about 100 years ago when
George Washington Carver, a scientist who had been born a slave
and became a giant in the annals of black history, helped Southern
farmers make money with them, thus ensuring peanuts a place on everyone's
plate.
While Carver is remembered for his list of 300 uses
for the peanut, often overlooked is Carver's work on the peanut
as part of crop rotation to break the cycle of the boll weevil,
the insect pest that devastates cotton. Peanuts are also legumes,
plants that actually improve soil by adding nitrogen as they grow.
''Growing peanuts helped farmers,'' says Shirley Baxter,
a park ranger with the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site
in Alabama.
After farmers started growing them, they needed to
find more markets for them. Hence, Carver's list of 300 uses.
The peanut story starts thousands of years ago in
South America, where peanuts were so revered that their pictures
decorated clay pots, and people wore gold, peanut-shaped jewelry.
Incas took them to the grave.
''The belief was that if you buried peanuts in the
tomb, people had strength in the afterlife,'' says Marie Fenn, president
and director of the National Peanut Board.
Carried around the world by Spanish and Portuguese
explorers (they've always been a great travel food), peanuts landed
in Africa, where they took over the continent's cuisine in the 16th
and 17th centuries.
''They were quickly adopted because there was another
plant very similar to the peanut being grown there, except the peanut
had more oil,'' says Andrew F. Smith, author of ''Peanuts: The Illustrious
History of the Goober Pea'' (University of Illinois Press).
''Africans who were enslaved didn't bring peanuts
with them, but they ate them on the slave ships,'' says Smith, an
expert in culinary history.
In the South, peanuts grew mainly in slave gardens.
Conveniently, the long growing season of the Southern states was
perfect for them. But they were not adopted by others until the
Civil War, when people became hungry enough to eat anything.
''They discovered peanuts were a very nutritious food,''
says Smith.
After the war, huge numbers of Union soldiers took
their taste for peanuts back north with them. As African-Americans
left the South and found work in the culinary trade, one of the
few areas open to them, they took peanuts with them there, too.
Used as a substitute for coffee and chocolate, peanut
beverages were tasty and popular. Roasted peanuts were sold on the
streets of New York. Recognizing its value to elderly, undernourished
patients, Dr. John Kellogg of corn flake fame promoted peanut butter.
Carver also collected peanut recipes for a pamphlet,
''How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human
Consumption,'' published by the Tuskegee Institute Experimental
Station in 1916.
''That was a huge thing,'' says Adam Smith. ''Even
African Americans were not aware of the multitude of things peanuts
could be used for.''
But just what is it about these little morsels that
find them at breakfast, lunch or dinner, and all snacks in between?
Good taste that's good for you.
They have more protein than any other bean or nut.
They're high in B vitamins, including folate, which prevents birth
defects. Peanuts are a good source of unsaturated fats, with no
cholesterol. Peanuts help maintain a healthy immune system, function
as a natural anti-inflammatory and help with cell growth and repair.
In fact, peanuts are so healthful, the FDA allows
the claim that small amounts of peanuts (1.5 ounces, or a small
handful per day) as part of a low-fat diet may reduce the risk of
heart disease.
Combined with herbs and spices, peanuts make it to
the dinner menu. ''People associate 'crust' with crunch and flavor,
and peanut crusts do not let down,'' says Pensiero, who grinds peanuts
for a variety of crispy coatings for poultry, pork, meat and fish.
Peanut-spice crusted pork medallions
Peanut crust
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts
3/4 cup all-purpose or peanut flour
1 tsp. ground curry
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
2 14- to 16-oz. pork tenderloins, each cut crosswise into 6 slices
(about 11/2 to 2 inches thick)
2 beaten egg whites
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
1. Prepare peanut crust: Grind the peanuts in a food
processor and then pulse them until fine; do not overdo this step
or the nuts will turn oily and pasty. Add 1/4 cup of the all-purpose
or peanut flour, curry, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne, and pulse 3
to 4 times to combine. Transfer the spice mixture to a large plate.
2. Dredge the pork medallions in the remaining flour;
shake off excess. Dip in egg whites, season with salt and pepper,
and pat both sides in the peanut spice crust to evenly coat. Heat
the peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet or well seasoned cast
iron pan over medium-high heat. Add the spice- crusted pork and
saute until crusted and lightly browned, about 1 minute. Turn the
medallions over, lower the heat to medium-low and cook until just
cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes. Take care when turning not
to rub off the crust. Transfer pork to a platter or individual serving
plates.
Serving suggestions: Serve over dressed salad greens
or a whole grain such as polenta, whole-wheat couscous, brown rice,
wild rice or barley pilaf. Makes 6 to 8 servings
Per serving: calories 275 (42 percent from fat); fat
13 g (sat 2.5 g, mono 6 g, poly 5 g); protein 35 g; carb 5 g; fiber
2 g; chol 86 mg; calc 28 mg.
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