Elizabeth Howes - The modern salad innovative new American and international recipes inspired by burmas iconic tea leaf salad

Text copyright 2016 Elizabeth Howes. Photographs copyright 2016 Kimberley Hasselbrink except as noted below. Design and concept copyright 2016 Ulysses Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic devices, digital versions, and the Internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Published in the United States by:

Ulysses Press

P.O. Box 3440

Berkeley, CA 94703

www.ulyssespress.com

ISBN13: 978-1-61243-575-6

Acquisitions editor: Keith Riegert

Project editor: Alice Riegert

Managing editor: Claire Chun

Editor: Susan Lang

Proofreader: Kate St. Clair

Front cover and interior design: Ashley Prine

Layout: whatdesign @ whatweb.com

Photography: Kimberley Hasselbrink except pages 6, 7, 9 (scenic), 93, 100, 102 Marion Montgomery; pages 9 (tea picker), 10, 11 Amy Iftekhar; pages 85, 86 Elizabeth Howes

Food styling: Elizabeth Howes and Kimberley Hasselbrink

Distributed by Publishers Group West

IMPORTANT NOTE TO READERS: This book is independently authored and published and no sponsorship or endorsement of this book by, and no affiliation with, any trademarked brands or other products mentioned within is claimed or suggested. All trademarks that appear in this book belong to their respective owners and are used here for informational purposes only. The authors and publisher encourage readers to patronize the quality brands and products mentioned in this book.

FOR FLETCHER

May you have the curiosity and courage to fearlessly follow the pull toward what you truly love. Your presence in my life is a daily reminder to live the same way. This book is for you. Thank you for being my master tester, source of infinite laughter, most honest critic, and invaluable teacher of life. My tableand my heartwill always be yours, sweet boy.

Table of Contents

Contents

Food has equated to happiness my entire life. From the time I was very young, the kitchen became my sanctuary, my refuge. My parents loved to cook and entertain, so the kitchen was quickly understood as a place of social agreement, kinship, and, for me, internal stability. No matter what was going on around me, this one room, whether I lived in a 500-square-foot studio in San Francisco or cooked in a clients 5,000-square-foot estate in Napa, was home.

This book is not about superfoods, despite the fact that I have incorporated many. Its not necessarily about achieving perfect health, or even about eating in the cleanest way possible. These elements are both included and important, however. The core of this book is about reinvention and the transformative power of exhilarating whole food.

By design, the salads in this book are uncommon. Theyre complex, and intense. And full of unexpected contradictions of flavor and texture that, I believe, only a few types of food can truly offer: tart and sweet; salty and bitter; crunchy and tender; spicy and cool; fresh and cooked.

Striking that powerful balance, and coming up with innovative, modern combinations that excite, was my goal in developing these recipes. To me, the magic of cooking lies in those contradictions, in these unexpected discoveries. This collection of recipesbrimming with fresh vegetables, fruits, spices, herbs, teas, roots, nuts, seeds, and fermentsinspires me. Not only because they are mine, but because theyre brought to life from one iconic dish that people often describe as thrilling, addictive, and unlike anything they have ever tasted: the Burmese tea leaf salad.

My hope is that youll find thrill and inspiration within these pages, too.

Before Burma officially became Myanmar in 1989, this beloved salad was reserved for royalty, served only during special occasions because of the prized ingredients and compelling presentation. Today, this salad, called lahpet (green tea) thoke (to blend by hand) is enjoyed by many. From the moment it arrives at the table, its a sensual and exhilarating experience. The grassy, sour, fermented green tea leaves form the acclaimed epicenter and are what makes this salad unforgettable. When the leaves are tossed, they infuse the entire dish with a bracing, acidic brightness.

Other unique ingredients also breathe life and balance into this fascinating salad. Sun-dried, briny ground shrimp, called bazunchauk, provide a source of protein and bring forth the coveted savory umami flavor. Fried beans or peas supply an alluring crunch and pop that makes eating this salad such a lively experience. Then there are the fried slivers of crunchy garlic, and the oil they slowly infused, along with bright citrus and ginger that dance across the palate. Nutty seeds, toasted peanuts, and fresh tomatoes are also part of the extensive ingredient list. Arranged artfully and with precision in a deconstructed format, this salad is typically tossed tableside, where the slightly damp, tangy leaves permeate every inch of the salad. The end result is crunchy and chewy, bright and earthy, salty and tart, ultra-fresh, and irrefutably addictive.

One of the national dishes of Myanmar, this salad is typically offered at the end of a meal because the fermented leaves are believed to be an effective digestive aid. During some of the most tumultuous times the Burmese people have endured, the tea leaf salad served as a symbolic peace offering and unspoken resolution of disputes. Today, it often graces the table at celebratory occasions such as weddings and religious ceremonies, and has become a popular street food. It is either arranged deconstructed in compartmentalized plates, allowing carte blanche to eat in any desired sequence, or is vigorously tossed together with bare hands before serving. It has been said that students also rely on this acclaimed dish during final exams for the stimulant zing it offers.

A SENSE OF PLACE

Despite the fact that the people of Myanmar create such riveting food, they have long been a culture trying to find its place in the world. Theres a relentless dichotomy of positive and negative, shadow and light. Military rule, war, ethnic insurgencies, and isolation are part of their history, and this hardship is ingrained in them. Still, they possess the constant ability to reinvent. Their relationship with food, and the ritual of gathering around a table to cultivate community, serves as a sanctuary from daily strife. It is the simple rhythm of living, like cooking and eating, while enduring loss, displacement, and immense heartache, that has the ability to create a richness in place, in home. And that feeling is internally constructed and cannot be lost.

In her book, The Art of Eating, M.F.K. Fisher eloquently expanded upon this theory:

I believe that one of the most dignified ways we are capable of, to assert and then reassert our dignity in the face of poverty and wars fears and pains, is to nourish ourselves with all possible skill, delicacy, and ever-increasing enjoyment. And with our gastronomical growth will come, inevitably, knowledge and perception of a hundred other things, but mainly ourselves. Then Fate, even tangled as it is with cold wars as well as hot, cannot harm us.