Ask UNL’s Food Doc: Did Runza really originate in Nebraska?

I hosted a number of out-of-state guests just lately and picked up Runzas for lunch. They claimed to be aware of these however with totally different names. How did these merchandise originate after which unfold throughout the U.S.?

In line with their web site, Runzas have been launched greater than 70 years in the past proper right here in Lincoln. Regardless of their native historical past, meat fillings stuffed inside pastry dough have been round a really very long time. They definitely didn’t originate in Nebraska.

Surprisingly maybe, these meals date again a thousand years in the past to China. Marco Polo himself doubtless introduced them again to Europe following his travels to the east.

These early variations have been within the type of dumplings, like wontons or potstickers, and have been cooked by steaming or boiling in soup or broth. In jap Europe, they morphed into ravioli, pierogi, pelmeni, kreplach, and dozens of different variations. Finally, immigrants introduced these merchandise to the Americas within the 1800s.

To make them, they observe a standard recipe – meat on the within, dough on the surface. Nonetheless, a number of traits distinguish them from each other. They range in form from spherical to triangle to crescent to half-moons. The dough could be bread-like or pastry-thin. The filling can include solely meat (of varied varieties) or meat combined with cabbage, onion, potatoes, or breadcrumbs.

Certainly, one motive why these have been thought of “peasant” meals was as a result of one might stretch a small quantity of meat by including fillers and wrapping it in dough.

Sooner or later, somebody bought the sensible thought of constructing baked variations. This led to a variety of merchandise like empanadas, calzones, Cornish pasties, and knishes.

One might even say the ever-present Scorching Pocket developed from this lineage.

I simply heard that we have to eat extra “blue meals”. What are these?

By all means, we should always eat loads of blueberries, grapes, and plums, that are a wealthy supply of wholesome vitamins. However this new blue meals pattern is about one thing else.

Fairly, this refers to aquatic meals from oceans, rivers, and lakes. It contains not simply fish, shellfish, and mollusks, but in addition marine vegetation like algae and seaweed.

In case you assume that algae and seaweed won’t ever cross your lips, assume once more. You might be already consuming them as thickening brokers in ice cream and salad dressing. They’re even in your toothpaste!

In line with current articles within the journal Nature, diets wealthy in blue meals present higher diet than beef, hen, or pork. Plus, they are often sustainable and assist tackle world meals safety and starvation issues.

Right here in Nebraska, terrestrial meals like beef, corn, and soybeans get all the eye. However 70% of the planet is roofed by water, so maybe blue meals will probably be greater than only a passing pattern.