Add something American to your Superbowl snacks
YANKEE BISCOTTI & SWEET & TANGY SUPER BOWL DIP
It’s just a few short days before the Super Bowl, the day we celebrate that uniquely American phenomenon, the sport of football. But just how unique is football, and the party that surrounds its yearly finale?
The required salsa & chips are from Mexico; the beer originated in Germany; The wieners came from Vienna (Wien); and that apple pie – well, its roots are scattered like seeds all over Western Europe.
And, I hate to burst your bubble, but the game itself was created in England and called Rugby. Sometime in the late 1800’s a man named Walter Camp – the athletic director at Yale University from 1888-1914, began writing down changes occurring on the field, different rules, plays and scoring and eventually football, as we know it today, finally evolved.
For a lot of us, the Super Bowl is all about half time and the food. While the game may not have begun as American, it sure is now. So, I’m thinking of preparing a food that is truly, really (I’m not kidding) American! What could that be?
Many foods are from the New World - corn, tomatoes, zucchini, chocolate, to name a few. But, there is one comestible (I’m sure you have in your pantry) that is not only indigenous to the USA (and Canada), but, is not produced to any degree, anywhere else in the world.
It was known by the Algonquin as “sinsibuckwud; Iroquois called it shesshsheegummavvia, and to the Cree it was sisibaskwat, which is of course, why we call it maple syrup.
There are many legends about the beginnings of the sweet sap. One has it that an Indian chief had “parked” his tomahawk in a tree overnight. In the morning, the weather had warmed, and when he pulled it out to go hunting, the sap began to trickle out of the tree. It seeped into a bark receptacle that chanced to be beneath it. Later that day, his wife on a trip for a bucket of water found the bowl of sap and brought it inside where she was cooking a haunch of moose. She, being a creative cook, added the colorless liquid, and let it simmer. To her delight, it became thick, syrupy and delicious.
Native Americans have been harvesting the amber liquid for many hundreds of years. According to Iroquois fork lore, the discovery was made by watching industrious red squirrels, who would bite on branches, and then come back later, to eat the then crystallized sugar, that had oozed from the tree.
Fortunately for us, we don’t have to hack at the tree with a tomahawk, or bribe a squirrel for this sweet treat. And, there is an added bonus – maple syrup is good for us!
Rich in zinc and manganese, maple syrup promotes HDL (healthy cholesterol), helps lessen inflammation; benefits our immune system; and is thought to help in the control of prostate enlargement. A one ounce serving – about 2 tablespoons, provides 22% of the daily value suggested by the US government.
So, while we watch the Colts and the Bears slug it out, listen to the melodies of Prince at halftime and munch on sweet and savory snacks, the question arises. Why, isn’t there a team called the Red Squirrels? Now, I could really root for them!