Traveling through Colorado last summer, I was struck by the culinary inventiveness of sanctioned "dispensaries" that sell marijuana to those who qualify for medical exemptions.
We came upon the once-forbidden bud prepared in various forms, usually in cookies and cakes but also in less predictable "delivery systems" such as ice cream.
Usually, when I write about a certain kind of food, I eat it; it's research. In this case, I can't say I've sampled any of these hempen preparations (no, really). I am intrigued, though, by the challenge of rendering palatable a supposedly not-very-pleasant weed.
Ganja Gourmet in Denver, for instance, rolls out an impressive marijuana menu, including Ganja-laya (jambalaya), LaGanja (lasagna) served with "medicated garlic bread" and Panama Red pizza.
Andrew Huff of the Gaper's Block website, though he has an allergy to the stuff and so cannot enjoy it in food or any other form, suggested to me that one could substitute it for oregano in many Italian and Greek recipes.
"I mean, doesn't it smell like oregano?" Huff asked rhetorically.
Dominated by tomato, garlic and cheese, many Mediterranean dishes may also have strong enough tastes to suppress any off-flavors in the weed.
Last spring, I posted on the culinary chat site LTHForum.com, inquiring if any of these food enthusiasts had experience deploying marijuana in their cooking.
One poster pointed out, "The fat solubility of THC has been exploited for use in 'special' foods back when my ancestors started mixing it with hot ghee and getting buzzed off of bhang."
A Chicago chef (whose name you might recognize) is quite familiar with what he calls "bud butter." The recipe is simple, he told me: You just grind up the herb and add to butter, let it cook for a while and strain through a cheesecloth.
"As a chef," he said, "it was interesting to me that it tasted good and wasn't grainy or herbal."
"I've found that boutique marijuana, like the type grown in California, has delicious flavors and smells," observed another LTHForum.com poster, "and that the disagreeable flavor of pot brownies and such is from mishandled lipids, a result of a lack of cooking knowledge and ability, not something inherent in the marijuana flavor profile.
"When marijuana is finally legalized, culinary minds will find a way to use it as a spice or flavoring agent instead of something simply intoxicating."
In Illinois, we'll have to wait for the prohibition to be lifted before we can discover if a bottle of cannabis sativa really does deserve a space on the spice shelf.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Author: David Hammond
Contact: Contact the Chicago Sun-Times
Copyright: 2010 Sun-Times Media, LLC
Website: Food Detective: Marijuana on the menu
We came upon the once-forbidden bud prepared in various forms, usually in cookies and cakes but also in less predictable "delivery systems" such as ice cream.
Usually, when I write about a certain kind of food, I eat it; it's research. In this case, I can't say I've sampled any of these hempen preparations (no, really). I am intrigued, though, by the challenge of rendering palatable a supposedly not-very-pleasant weed.
Ganja Gourmet in Denver, for instance, rolls out an impressive marijuana menu, including Ganja-laya (jambalaya), LaGanja (lasagna) served with "medicated garlic bread" and Panama Red pizza.
Andrew Huff of the Gaper's Block website, though he has an allergy to the stuff and so cannot enjoy it in food or any other form, suggested to me that one could substitute it for oregano in many Italian and Greek recipes.
"I mean, doesn't it smell like oregano?" Huff asked rhetorically.
Dominated by tomato, garlic and cheese, many Mediterranean dishes may also have strong enough tastes to suppress any off-flavors in the weed.
Last spring, I posted on the culinary chat site LTHForum.com, inquiring if any of these food enthusiasts had experience deploying marijuana in their cooking.
One poster pointed out, "The fat solubility of THC has been exploited for use in 'special' foods back when my ancestors started mixing it with hot ghee and getting buzzed off of bhang."
A Chicago chef (whose name you might recognize) is quite familiar with what he calls "bud butter." The recipe is simple, he told me: You just grind up the herb and add to butter, let it cook for a while and strain through a cheesecloth.
"As a chef," he said, "it was interesting to me that it tasted good and wasn't grainy or herbal."
"I've found that boutique marijuana, like the type grown in California, has delicious flavors and smells," observed another LTHForum.com poster, "and that the disagreeable flavor of pot brownies and such is from mishandled lipids, a result of a lack of cooking knowledge and ability, not something inherent in the marijuana flavor profile.
"When marijuana is finally legalized, culinary minds will find a way to use it as a spice or flavoring agent instead of something simply intoxicating."
In Illinois, we'll have to wait for the prohibition to be lifted before we can discover if a bottle of cannabis sativa really does deserve a space on the spice shelf.
NewsHawk: Ganjarden: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Author: David Hammond
Contact: Contact the Chicago Sun-Times
Copyright: 2010 Sun-Times Media, LLC
Website: Food Detective: Marijuana on the menu
