Buttermilk

 

Superabundant Dispatch: Sweet Treats and News from the Pacific Northwest

This week's Superabundant newsletter is a delightful blend of delicious recipes and interesting food-related news from the Pacific Northwest. Heather Arndt Anderson, the resident culinary historian, food writer, and ecologist, curates this informative and engaging dispatch.

Strawberry-Linden Blossom Compote with Vanilla-Buttermilk Shortcake

The centerpiece of this edition is a recipe for a delectable strawberry-linden blossom compote served over a moist vanilla-buttermilk shortcake. This dessert is a celebration of June's bounty, featuring the floral fragrance of linden blossoms alongside the sweetness of local strawberries.

News Nibbles

• Ancient Agriculture in the Pacific Northwest: A recent study reveals evidence of sophisticated plant management by Indigenous communities, suggesting practices beyond simple hunter-gathering. This includes the controlled burning of land to encourage camas, a starchy root vegetable, to thrive.
• Genetics and Coffee Cravings: A new study suggests a possible genetic link to coffee cravings. While coffee has only been a part of American and British diets for a few hundred years, it seems our taste for it may be tied to genetic predispositions.
• Summer Meals for Oregon Kids: The Oregon Department of Education ensures free meals are available to children aged 1-18 throughout the summer months, regardless of immigration status or paperwork requirements.
• LangBaan Chef on All Things Considered: OPB's "All Things Considered" recently featured an interview with Portland chef Akkapong Ninsom, who recently won a James Beard Award.
• Seasonal Produce Update: The newsletter offers insights into the current availability of local produce, including strawberries, cherries, raspberries, garlic scapes, fennel, and more. Tips for storing and using these ingredients are also provided.
• Superabundant Garden Update: The newsletter shares updates from the "Superabundant" garden, highlighting the blooming linden trees and offering tips for harvesting fennel pollen and self-seeding vegetables.
• Superabundant Kitchen Experiments: The newsletter shares some creative kitchen endeavors, including using maple sugar on bacon, making meatloaf parmesan, and repurposing leftover rotisserie chickens for stock.

The "Welp, You've Stepped in It Now" Segment

This week's edition introduces a new segment called "Welp, You've Really Stepped in It Now - You Impulse-Bought Three Entire Flats of [ ]." This lighthearted segment addresses the common experience of overbuying seasonal produce. The newsletter offers solutions for using up an abundance of strawberries, including freezing, making jam, infusing vodka, or incorporating them into the featured recipe.

Recipe: Buttermilk Pound Cake with Strawberry-Linden Blossom Compote

The newsletter concludes with a detailed recipe for the mouthwatering strawberry-linden blossom compote and a vanilla-buttermilk pound cake (though technically not a true pound cake). The recipe includes helpful tips and variations, making it accessible to bakers of all skill levels.

This Superabundant dispatch is a delightful example of how food can be a lens through which to explore history, science, and local culture. It provides readers with not only delicious recipes but also a deeper appreciation for the natural world and the food system that sustains us.