Sam I am

A mango ate my grapefruit!

This morning I received a delivery from FreshDirect, a grocery delivery service. I ordered some red grapefruit.

As you can see, there may be a small problem with how FreshDirect selects their fruit. So much for their improvements of "Better Produce-get what's great right now."

To their credit, FreshDirect refunded the amount of the grapefruit to my credit card and issued me a coupon for $5. But it's a pretty silly screwup. And it's not the first time I've gotten the wrong produce from FreshDirect.

Labels: food

The most beautiful cookbook ever created?

Today, I received my copy of the Alinea cookbook by Grant Achatz. Mr. Achatz may currently be the most innovative chef in the United States, if not the world. The New Yorker wrote an in-depth profile of him in its innovation issue, and there is no question that his life makes for a compelling story even if you do not find his food intriguing.

I have not had the opportunity of dining at Alinea. Not only is it very expensive and difficult to get into, but also it is located in Chicago. However, there is no question that his cookbook is one of the most beautiful cookbooks I have ever seen.

The food at Alinea could be described as "molecular gastronomy." But I believe that does a disservice to the food. Cooks throughout time have always been willing to work with new equipment and "exotic" ingredients, and Mr. Achatz is no exception. From a first glance, the most difficult elements of the Alinea cookbook for the home cook are not the generally unavailable ingredients or the unfamiliar equipment, but the intricate nature of the recipes. Just flipping through the book shows recipes that are composed of six or seven sub-recipes before a final assembly step. This goes far beyond the many layered approach of French sauces.

The Alinea cookbook is beautiful. I pre-ordered the cookbook through the Alinea Mosaic website; the pre-orders generated the funds to allow the bood to be produced. As an added bonus, the pre-ordered cookbooks are signed and numbered.

Here are a couple of quick snapshots of the new cookbook.

I have not cooked anything from the Alinea cookbook yet, but I am looking forward to trying one or two recipes. (It would be like playing a round of golf after receiving instructions from Tiger Woods.) Regardless if my attempts to cook anything from the Alinea cookbook are successful, I'm looking forward to reading Alinea at Home, a blog by Carol Blymire. Ms. Blymire's last project was cooking every recipe in the French Laundry cookbook, which she documented at French Laundry at Home. She just finished her last recipe from that cookbook, the Cornets signature dish.

If you get a chance, definitely check out this cookbook.

Finally, in the it's a small world category, one of the essays at the start of the book is by Mark McClusky. We worked together when he was at Sports Illustrated several years ago.

Labels: food

Dogmatic first thoughts

This past Monday, Dogmatic, street vendor turned fast food restaurant, opened on 17th Street in the former Mandler's space off of Union Square. Mandler's was a fast food store that served high end sausages, fries, and beers. Unfortunately, their food did not match their aspirations, the store always looked dirty, and the prices were a bit too high. Dogmatic is a new sausage store billing themselves as the "Gourmet Sausage System." And they don't disappoint.

The sausages at Dogmatic are served with a variety of sauces, but their bread steals the show. Rather than a standard hot dog bun, or even a fancy Chicago-style poppy-seed roll, Dogmatic uses French bread-style loaves. Each loaf is cut in half and shoved on a spike. The spike has two functions: it warms the bread and makes a nice receptacle for the sausage and sauce. I've tried a couple of sausage so far; my favorite combination is the beef sausage with the truffle-Gruyere sauce. (Don't spill the sauce on your shirt--it is embarrassing, especially when your coworkers don't tell you that you've spilled and you walk around all day with a splotch of Gruyere on your shirt like a nimrod.)

Dogmatic costs more than your typical dirty water dog stand--a sausage costs around $4.50. However, compared with nearby Chop't (salad for $12), or other restaurants (sushi for $15), Dogmatic is a bargain. And I think the bread alone is worth the cost. Also, vegetarians (and those of us who have had their fill of sausage) have a very nice option: Dogmatic prepares grilled asparagus as a sausage substitute.

If you are in the neighborhood and want a quick bite to eat, Dogmatic is worth visiting.

(Dogmatic sausage with horseradish mustard sauce: if you love strong mustard and horseradish, you will love this sauce. For everyone else, it might be a bit too strong.)

Labels: food, New York

Dessert Truck Throwdown

Bobby Flay versus Jerome Chang

Labels: food, New York

Possible Throwdown with Bobby Flay?

It looks like there might be a "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" filming in Union Square. I saw the logo for the show briefly on one of the trucks, and one of the film crew mentioned a contest with Bobby Flay. I wonder if he is competing with the Dessert Truck.

Labels: food, New York

Carpe Diem, New York City edition

I had a fantastic weekend and took advantage of quite a bit of what the city had to offer.

The weekend started out with Dance. Friday evening, I met my friend Mary and her father and we went to see my friend Kristen perform in Sawdust Palace at Dance Theater Workshop. The piece, by Susan Marshall & Company, was a fun and entertaining 80-minute set of 20 dances. Kristen and her fellow dancers are extremely talented. The pieces were sensual and athletic. Some pieces were whimsical, while others were heart-rending. It was a great set of shows, and I wish they had more performances. That being said, they had a grueling schedule of six shows in four days; Friday and Saturday had back-to-back shows at 7:30 and 10.

After the dance, Mary, her father, and I went to Brooklyn and had some light dinner and drinks at Clover Club on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens. I had a "Gin-Gin Mule," a tall gin drink with ginger, and an Anejo Mole Old-Fashioned. The Old Fashioned was made with tequila and flavored with mole seasonings; even though it sounds nothing like a traditional Old Fashioned, it managed to incorporate non-traditional ingredients while still remaining true to the spirit of the original drink. (I apologize in advance if I mangled the names of the drinks.)

Mary headed home, and I wandered towards my house down Smith Street. A few doors down from Clover Club is Char No. 4. I decided to stop in for a quick nightcap. Char No. 4 features over 150 whiskeys, including scotches, bourbons, and ryes. I decided to have a 2-ounce pour of Wild Turkey Single Barrel. It's a very strong bourbon at approximately 100 proof, so I had it with a bit of water and a couple of cubes of ice. To further cut the heat of the alcohol, I ate a small order of deep-fried cheese curds with pimento sauce. Deep fried cheese and hard liquor? Not the worst end to a fun evening. I have two suggestion for Char No. 4, one silly and one serious. It would be nice if the strength of the alcohols were listed on the menu. And it would be nice if they had poutine. I leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure out which idea is serious and which idea is silly.

Saturday morning, I got up bright and early to prepare brunch with my friends Harri and Kristiina. I always have fun making brunch, and this was no exception. In addition to fresh pastries from Almondine and berries from the farmer's market, I also prepared Eggs Florentine and fresh homemade biscuits. It's gotten easier to prepare brunch the more times that I do it. I've realized that the key to poached eggs is that they can be prepared ahead of time and kept in water before serving. (Thanks Mastering the Art of French Cooking!) This allows everything to come together very quickly. Also, fresh spinach, while a pain to clean thoroughly, is easy to prepare and tasty. This was my first time making biscuits for guests. I used cake flour. While it made for a very nice tender crumb, the biscuits did not rise as much as I would have liked. I think I will try all-purpose flour next.

Saturday evening, I met up with Betsy. We started the evening by going to Los Dos Molinos for dinner. They are a good New Mexican restaurant. It's a bit pricey, but the food is very good with a fair amount of heat. It was also the perfect location for the next stop on our itinerary....

After dinner, we headed down Irving Place to the clumsily named The Fillmore at Irving Plaza. After waiting around for thirty minutes or so, we saw an opening act by Shawn Mullins. If you don't recognize the name, you would certainly recognize his music; for example, check out this video of Lullaby.

The main event of the evening was a performance by Dar Williams. Dar is on tour in conjunction with her latest album release, Promised Land. She performed at one of the first concerts I attended when I first moved to New York City. I remember going to shows of hers at the Bottom Line and Town Hall. I really admire her, and once stood in line after a show to get her autograph on an album. She now lives in New York State very close to my friends Phil and Karen. Below are two shaky, poorly recorded clips from the show; in one she is performing Spring Street and in the other she other she is performing As Cool As I Am. You can really hear the crowd singing along during As Cool As I Am.


Dar has such a great energy, and it was clear that she loved performing in New York City. I'm really happy that I was able to catch her performing again.

Betsy and I stopped by The House for a quick drink after the show. In the future, I would not order a cocktail here; I ordered an Old Fashioned and received a very odd watered-down drink that tasted like it was made with muddled lemons and cherries and no added sugar. Betsy had a perfectly decent glass of Moscato D'asti. We were both going to switch drinks, but our waiter misunderstood us and brought another round. The twist on the evening was that I was charged extra for Maker's Mark without requesting a premium liquor. Despite the odd drinking experience, the wine list and menu look very nice. It's also a very elegant space, and I would love to check it out on another occasion.

I was looking for a fairly calm day on Sunday. I spent most of the day poking around on the computer and reading Elements of ML Programming, and then I met up with my friend Anne for Chinese food and soup dumplings. The default, and arguably best, choice for soup dumplings in New York City is Joe's Shanghai. We enjoyed a terrific meal of soup dumplings, shrimp, and eggplant. Joe's always has speedy and attentive service, and the food is terrific. (When my friend Andrew was visiting town, it was one of only three restaurants we went to in a city full of excellent restaurants.) After a nice late lunch, we walked through Chinatown and picked up some ice cream at the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I had lemon sorbet.

We walked around a bit; the day was surprisingly hot and muggy. (I wish I had worn shorts.) At the South Street Seaport, I was able to scope out my apartment from the Manhattan side of the East River before taking the subway back to Brooklyn Heights.

Overall, I had an amazing weekend. It was the kind of weekend that reminds me why I love New York City.

Labels: food, friends, liquor, music, New York

NY Times Dining section starts continuous publishing

Weekly sections in newspapers have generally run their content on a weekly cycle. (Hence the name "weekly.") The New York Times has just made the decision to start publishing content for their Dining section on a continuous basis. It's fairly exciting, and it's great to see a newspaper like The New York Times adapt to a continuous publishing cycle.

Labels: food, technology

Brunch

My friends Peter and Val stopped by my apartment for brunch this past Saturday. I enjoy having friends over for brunch on the weekends. It's a great way to start the day: I get up early to straighten up the house and clean; I cook a nice meal with friends; we all enjoy a leisurely meal with nice drinks; and we still have the rest of the day to enjoy.


I tend to make and gather an excessive amount of food for brunch. You can see Peter and I sitting before the brunch table. We enjoyed croissants, beignets, and French bread from Almondine, an assortment of jellies and jams, eggs benedict, grapes, melon and prosciutto, raspberries and blackberries, prosecco, bloody marys, coffee, and orange juice.


Eggs Benedict can be a bit difficult to make. The hardest part is trying to make sure everything comes together at the same time, especially when you are preparing the dish for multiple people. I've written about making Eggs Benedict before. One item I should note: fresh eggs are very important for this dish. Not only do they taste better, but preparing the poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce is much easier with fresh eggs.

Despite the challenges in preparing Eggs Benedict, it is worth it: this is a luxurious dish. It's easy to make vegetarian- and kosher-friendly: just swap out the Canadian Bacon for cooked spinach (Eggs Florentine) or salmon. It's not possible to make this dish vegan-friendly.


Well before my friends arrived at my house, I took a walk down to Almondine in Dumbo. The baker at Almondine is Hervé Poussot, formerly a pastry chef at Le Bernardin. The story of Almondine is that it was opened with Jacques Torres of Jacques Torres Chocolate. (His store is across the street.)

Almondine has the best croissants in Brooklyn if not all of New York City. The breads, pastries, and cakes are also amazing. I have only been to a handful of bakeries that compare to Almondine. If you are in DUMBO, I definitely recommend stopping by there, and if you are not in DUMBO, it's well worth the trip.

Brunch with friends is always a lot of fun. I've made these dishes for other friends as well, and I'm always happy to have people over.

[Thanks Val for sending me photos of Peter and the food!]

Labels: Brooklyn, food

Aged eggnog

It's been a while since there have been photos posted on the blog. I'm still taking photos, but unfortunately I haven't had the time to edit, crop, and post the photos. Until now!

Before I left for New Orleans, I decided to make aged eggnog. I used the recipe for Best Eggnog from chow.com. What's the difference between aged eggnog and regular eggnog? Like a traditional eggnog recipe, it's made with fresh eggs. Unlike a traditional recipe, aged eggnog is aged for at least three weeks and up to a year.

Intuitively, we may think that uncooked eggs, cream, and milk will go bad after a significant amount of time even if refrigerated. In eggnog, the eggs, cream, and milk are mixed with quite a large amount of alcohol--the final alcohol content is well over 20%. This prevents the eggs, cream, and milk from going bad. The liquids continue to blend as they age, and the alcohol denatures the other elements. However, the exact chemical reactions are unclear to me.

(As an extra safety element, I took the precaution of thoroughly sanitizing the storage jar I used to store the eggnog. Given that the final mixture is highly alcoholic, I think this was probably an unnecessary caution. But it couldn't hurt.)

I decided to start with some of the best possible ingredients available.

I wasn't sure exactly what liquors to use, so I reached out the Lenell Smothers of Lenell's in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Lenell is an expert when it comes to all things alcohol. Her store is famous for its enormous selection of American Whiskey (especially Bourbon) and exotic liquors. It's worth a trip to Red Hook; in fact, it's worth a trip to New York City if you don't live here.

Lenell and I discussed the eggnog before making selections. I didn't want to go with any liquors that were extremely expensive or with an overly strong flavor that would overwhelm the eggnog. We decided on Wild Turkey Bourbon, Old New Orleans Rum, and Prunier VS Cognac. All three have rich, complementary flavors. In the photo, you'll also notice a photo of Jack Daniels. The eggnog requires a bit more whiskey than a single bottle of Wild Turkey, so I added a bit of Jack Daniels to complete the liter. I don't think it will be a problem.

I picked up milk and cream from Ronnybrook at the farmers market in Union Square. Ronnybrook is a farm in Hudson Valley; they produce some of the best milk, cream, and butter I have ever tasted or used. One of the reasons why their products taste so good is that they do not use ultra-high pasteurization. Their milk is still pasteurized, but their pasteurization takes longer to process and bottle and does not have as long as a shelf life. The eggnog was made the same day I purchased the cream and milk.

The eggs are from Knoll Krest Farms in Clinton Corners, NY. Like Ronnybrook, they also set up a stand in Union Square Farmers Market. I picked up a dozen eggs from them the same day I made the eggnog.

The eggs from Knoll Krest Farms were fresh. Really fresh. Separating eggs when they are fresh is a breeze, and I went through a dozen eggs in no time. (I ended up breaking one egg yolk, which is why there are only 11 yolks in the photo.)

I had a bunch of egg whites left over, so I had a couple of egg white sandwiches for breakfast in the next few mornings.


The first step of the eggnog after separating the eggs was blending it with two cups of Domino's granulated sugar. As you can see from the photo, the sugar significantly lightens the color of the egg yolks.


Then I added the milk, cream, and a pinch of salt to the eggnog. I had to switch to a larger bowl. You can also see the setup for what came next: the bottling funnel helped me get the eggnog mixture into the jar.


The finished eggnog perfectly filled my jar. A bunch of liquor was left over; it won't go to waste. I wrapped the jar in foil and put it in the back of the refrigerator. (I'm not sure the foil is necessary, but again, I'm trying to follow the recipe.)

I'm keeping the eggnog in the back of my refrigerator; I check it every week or so. I'm not sure if the eggnog needs to be refrigerated at all due to the high alcohol content, but I want to stick to the recipe at least once before playing around with it.


One week after preparation there's nothing strange growing in the eggnog and it looks pretty darn good. The mixture smells wonderful and it is staying homogenized.

I plan on serving the eggnog near the end of the year. I'm not sure if I will serve it over ice or straight up, but on request I will top it with whipped egg whites and nutmeg. Only four months to go!

Labels: food, liquor

Pizza, pizza

Los Angeles native, Lance Roberts, visits pizza joints in New York City.

I want pizza for lunch now.

Labels: food

Lazy dinner

Sometimes, it's late and you haven't had a chance to buy ingredients for dinner. You just want to be able to throw something together with what you have on hand. After all, it's important to eat before it gets too late. (Personally, I try to finish dinner before 10 p.m.; if I eat later than that I find it hard to get up in time for work.)

So what do you make? Well, if you are like me, you typically have some standard breakfast staples lying around: bacon and eggs. You probably also have some nice dried pasta and Parmesan cheese, and you may have a nice bottle of white wine (preferably dry). So what do you do? Spaghetti Alla Carbonara.

There are many variations to this dish, but the basic gist is as follows. Bring a good amount of salted water to boil. Chop the bacon (pancetta if you have it) into quarter-inch pieces, and saute it in a bit of olive oil until browned. Pour in a glass of wine and cook off the alcohol. Meanwhile, beat a couple of eggs and add in a bunch of grated Parmesan cheese.

Put some of the pasta water aside, and drain the pasta. Place the pasta into a serving bowl, and add in the egg/cheese mixture. Make sure it is well combined; the eggs will be cooked with the residual heat of the pasta. You can add some of the reserved pasta water to the sauce, but make sure you cook off some of the liquid. When the sauce looks ready, pour it over the pasta. Add salt and freshly cracked pepper--you will want to season the dish liberally.

Garnish the dish with more freshly grated Parmesan. Serve it immediately, as it is at its best when served just after preparation.

• Wins: made from readily available and affordable ingredients (breakfast items for dinner), quick to prepare (under 20 minutes), easy to prepare, and tasty.
• Added bonus: 3/4 of a nice white bottle of wine to drink with dinner.
• Bad parts of this dish: quite a few dishes to clean.

Need exact measurements for this dish? Look up any number of recipes on the web. A lot of them may call for ingredients like garlic, peas, mushrooms, onions, or cream. None of these are necessary for this dish, but all of them can be easily added. (Want to make the dish richer? Throw a pat of butter into the sauce or use extra yolks in the egg/cheese mixture.)

Enjoy!

Labels: food

Who owns your organic food?

Good magazine has a graphic showing the relationship between organic brands and major food producers. It's always interesting to learn who produces your food.

[Link via Serious Eats.]

Labels: food

Joe Beef

The last evening I was in Montreal I ate at Joe Beef. Joe Beef was recommended to me by Marc at Au Pied de Cochon when I ate there the previous evening. It was a wonderful experience. I stopped by the restaurant at around 9 or so, and the staff was kind enough to squeeze me into the bar. It's a small but very pretty space, with a large chalkboard listing all of the dishes and wines by the glass and bottle.

Working the bar and shucking station was one of the owners of the restaurant, Fred Morin, and we chatted throughout the evening. Later in the evening, his fiancée/co-owner Alison Cunningham stopped by. She was working at the restaurant next door. Along with David McMillan, they also own a total of three restaurants side-by-side.

I started out with a bunch of oysters from Prince Edward Island and the northeastern United States and followed it up with a large portion of sweetbreads and sausage served over spätzle. Sweetbreads are offal, and I think this makes may people nervous about eating them. However, I believe this preparation could convert almost any hater of organ meats. The meat was crisp on the outside and warm on the inside with delicious flavor. The sausage and spätzle were good complements to the sweetbreads in both their flavor and texture. It was a warm and hearty dish, and it provided good protection against the cold.

Like Au Pied de Cochon, the folks at Joe Beef were passionate about their jobs. They had a love of food and wine, and it was a lot of fun enjoying dinner there. Fred is a fantastic chef and well-respected by his peers. As I was leaving and the restaurant was closing, he was welcoming other chefs into the restaurant. Some of them had been guest-cooking at other area kitchens, and he fired up the burners late at night to cook for both the out-of-towner and local chefs.

The other customers of the restaurant are also fun and gracious. I spoke with a local wine/liquor distributor named Paul throughout the evening. At one point, I admired his Homer Simpson bottle opener--every time it's used it says, "Mmm... Beer. Heh heh heh heh. Yes Oh Yes! Woo Hoo!" Despite my protests, Paul insisted on giving it to me!

I left my contact information with the folks I met there, and I hope they reach out to me if they ever visit New York City.

I don't have the best photos from Joe Beef, since I try not to use a flash inside of restaurants. (It's bad enough that I take photos at all.) Regardless, below is a picture of my main dish and the general decor behind the bar.

Labels: food, Montreal

I didn't eat here

Wow. They aren't just in China!

Labels: food, Montreal

Thoughts on foie gras

Kristiina asked me my opinions on foie gras production. You can read some thoughts in a response to her comment.

Labels: food

Au Pied De Cochon

On my way to China, I watched a few episodes of No Reservations, Anthony Bordain's latest television exploit. One of his trips was to Quebec, where he visited a duck farm to see how foie gras was made, cooked at the Montreal Culinary Institute, ate a breakfast of maple syrup at a sugar shack, and stuffed himself silly at Au Pied De Cochon. I was amazed at and jealous of his bacchanal at Au Pied De Cochon, and it was one of the reasons why I was interested in going to Montreal. (Interestingly, when I mentioned to my friend Mary Taylor that I was going to Montreal, one of her questions was if I was going to Au Pied De Cochon. It was also well known by the folks at the hotel.)


Au Pied De Cochon is a restaurant with a love of foie gras, duck, and pig. When you walk into the restaurant, you know that you are going to have unique experience. After the coat rack (heavy coats are a necessity in Montreal in the winter), you look down to a refrigerator full of shrink-wrapped foie gras. Check out the menu: the foie gras section has nine dishes dedicated to this elegant ingredient. I only wish I had the stamina, time, and money to taste them all.


I started with the Plogue à Champlain: a layered dish of potatoes, cheese, and bacon below a seared piece of foie gras and topped with chopped apples. The entire dish was covered in maple syrup. It sounds decadant and heavy, yet the dish felt light, and all of the elements were able to hold their own against the sweet syrup. (Apologies in advance if I had gotten ingredients of the dish incorrect--it was a long, but fun, night.)


I followed up with the "Melting Pot"--a variety of meats and potatoes in a large 10-inch diameter, 6-inch high dish covered with pastry dough and baked in the oven. That is a marrow bone poking out in the photo above. A waiter noticed me struggling with the standard fork in trying to get the filling out, and he was kind enough to bring me a demitasse spoon. This was heartiness in a pot, the perfect winter dish. Although the dish was heavy, the meat was rich, tender, and flavorful.


I was lucky enough to be given a seat at the end of the bar by the pass-through between the kitchen and dining room. In addition, the kitchen is open, so I was able to see dishes move back and forth between the kitchen and the brick-enclosed wood-fired oven before being passed off to the servers. Like all restaurants, it's a fast paced, hot environment with food zipping back and forth.



The chef of Au Pied Du Cochon, Martin Picard, was not working that evening; the person running the kitchen was a gentleman named Marc. I was able to chat with him throughout the evening even though he was busy preparing dishes. Unfortunately, I did not think to get his full name even as he prepared my food.


The staff at Au Pied De Cochon has a passion for good food and wine. This was not a job where members of the staff were phoning in their work--they were excited and happy to be working there, and their enthusiasm was contagious. I tried to thank everyone at the restaurant who made my visit there so pleasant, but I'm sure I missed people. For those of you who I did not thank, please let me thank you again here!


Au Pied De Cochon is truly a meat-lovers paradise. The large cuts of meat fell off the bone; they looked luscious and tender.

This is a wonderful restaurant: I was welcomed with opened arms even though I was dining by myself, and the food was excellent, hearty, and made for a perfect meal on a cold night. Another single diner was seated next to me; we had a fine conversation and I enjoyed splitting my bottle of wine with her.

I would want every restaurant meal to be good as the meal I had at Au Pied De Cochon.

Labels: food, Montreal

Tom Dowdy passed away

Several blogs have noted that Tom Dowdy passed away this past weekend. Tom was a software engineer at Apple; he worked on products like QuickTime and iTunes. In his spare time, he wrote Darkside of the Macintosh. It was a very well-written and free screen saver for Macs prior to OS X. Tom took a 12-week course at the Culinary Institute of America in 1998; his journal, Life at the Other CIA, is still a lot of fun to read.

I've referred to Tom's Butter Pig blog before. I always enjoyed reading him, and I'm sad that we never got to meet.

Labels: food

Menu For Hope 4 ends tomorrow!

Just a reminder that Menu for Hope 4 ends tomorrow! Tickets are only $10 each, and you can enter as many times as you want. There are great prizes, it's for a good cause, and it's a good time of year to give (for both religious and tax reasons).

Labels: food

Another reason not to vote for Huckabee

From the New York Times Magazine profile on Mike Huckabee by Zev Chafets:

Six weeks ago, I met Huckabee for lunch at an Olive Garden restaurant in Midtown Manhattan. (I had offered to take him anywhere he wanted and then vetoed his first choice, T.G.I. Friday’s.)

It's not a matter of elitism or cost. In a city with over 18,000 restaurants with tasty and affordable food, many of them small businesses, it's sad that a presidential candidate would choose to visit a large Florida-based chain restaurant with mediocre food that promotes overeating and homogeneity. At the very least, he could have chosen to dine at a restaurant owned by a company whose core values mention food beyond becoming "the best casual dining company." (Check out Darden Restaurant's core values; they are a cookie-cutter set of values that could describe almost any business.) Given the level of imagination and innovation Huckabee has in his restaurant selection, can you trust him to lead the country?

Link via Ed Levine

Labels: food, politics

Menu For Hope 4

Food bloggers are once again running the Menu for Hope fundraiser. Last year, they raised over $60,000 for the UN World Food Programme. It's a raffle with food and wine related prizes. Tickets for the prizes are $10 each, and you can enter as many times as you like for as many of the prizes as you like. So far, over $20,000 has been raised.

Some of the prizes I have my eye on include:

• UE01: Dinner for 2 at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, from Adam at Amateur Gourmet
• UE43: Personalized Copy of Michael Ruhlman's 'The Elements of Cooking' from Ruhlman.com
• WB02: Dinner in New York with Eric Asimov of the New York Times from Vinography

There are also prizes that I would enjoy, but would not be able to use easily:

• EU31: A personal tour of elBulli kitchen laboratory at the new Alícia Institute with Ferran Adrià himself, from Chez Pim
• EU01: Edible Paris custom food itinerary from Rosa Jackson
• UK08: Custom designed wedding cake (worth £600 pounds) from Vanielje Kitchen
• WB15: Labor of Love, a day in the vineyard in the South of France from La Gramiere

The fund raiser is for a good cause, so enter to win before it ends on December 21!

Labels: food

Thoreau Wine Society

My friend Mary has been hard at work selling wines. She has a new website with stories and wine offers. I helped her out by fixing minor technical problems on her site (long story short: don't use GoDaddy). Check out the Thoreau Wine Society and the Thoreau Wine Society's blog

Labels: food, wine

Hairy Crab

Hairy crab is a specialty of Shanghai. You can buy the crabs around the city, including in the airport. In fact, the Shanghai airports recently had to enact a ban against carrying around unsecured crabs--apparently there were too many incidents of escaped crabs skittering around the airport.

Folks in Shanghai are very proud of their hairy crab, as you can see in the photos from Yuyuan Garden. I took this photo of a hairy crab on Wulumuqi Road, just around the corner from Sharon and Mark's apartment. Note what looks like arm warmers near the claw--this is where Hairy Crab gets it name.


Mark and I went hunting for Shanghai Hairy Crab on Saturday morning. The first place we tried to go (a hotel restaurant) was fully booked and a bit too expensive. We ended up across the street at Jade Garden on South Mao Ming Road. Jade Garden is a small chain of restaurants mainly located in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. As you can see from their website, they definitely cater mainly towards the Chinese. In fact, Mark and I were one of only three obvious non-Chinese people in the restaurant, and it was full of families and groups of people. It was very elegant, and the staff was polite and kind despite our inability to speak Chinese fluently.


We started out with some dumplings, both shrimp and pork.


The pork dumplings were nice and juicy and reminded me a bit of soup dumplings from Joe's Shanghai in the New York Chinatown. However, I don't believe there was any additional soup; I think the liquid in the pork dumplings in Shanghai was simply juicy goodness from the dumpling filling.


We wanted to get some vegetables, so on the recommendation of the waiter we ordered this dish. Neither of us were sure exactly what it was. We believe it was a pickled melon of some kind. It had a nice fresh and vinegar flavor with a nice snap. It was very nice dish--I wished that I understood more Chinese so that I could know the name of this dish.


Mark felt that we had not ordered enough vegetables, so he ordered this broccoli dish. The broccoli dish was at best interesting. I don't think that either of us would order it again. The white substance on top of the broccoli was a very strong fish sauce; it was almost like a fish puree. The broccoli was just barely cooked, so there was a sharp contrast between the crisp broccoli and the thick, creamy fish sauce. This was the most challenging dish I ate in China. The joke was on Mark, of course--neither of us thought of this dish as a "vegetable" dish.


Our final dish was the hairy crab. We ordered two crabs. They were served split in two in a thick soy sauce. The crab was delicious. It reminded me of the flavor of blue crab from Baltimore, but with a creamy, rich taste and a soft texture. Unfortunately, the crab were as difficult to eat as blue crab, and the sauce made the crab even more difficult to handle. The restaurant provide us with utensils to crack open and eat the crab, but it was messy business all around.


Mark and I had a fun time at Jade Garden. I recommend checking the place out.

Labels: China, food

Chinese street food in Shanghai

(Or as the Chinese say, street food in Shanghai)

Shanghai has a fantastic street food scene. A typical breakfast in Shanghai can consist of walking to your favorite street vendor and ordering up a small bit of food.

I got breakfast several days in a row on Wulumuqi Road next to Sharon and Mark's apartment. It's close to both the U.S. and Iran consulates. (Interestingly, these two friendly countries have consulates across the street from each other.)

Several of my meals were of a slightly sweet pork-filled dumpling. The dumplings are cooked in front of you and are sold in groups of four. However, no one orders just four--four is bad luck and not enough to eat. Eight is a more typical number--it's just enough and a lucky number. Eight dumplings cost around 25 cents (one Yuan, eight Mao).




Mark and I took a group of dumplings back to the apartment to enjoy.



Another typical dish is steamed buns. You can get them with pork or vegetable filling, or even just plain. The dough is sweet, spongy, and filling. The steamers for the buns are all stacked on top of each other. The steam comes from the bottom and cooks the food as it rises through the steamers. Each level has a different kind of bun; you can ask to see the different levels or just ask for a specific bun.



I bought other street food while in Shanghai, but I don't have pictures of all of them. Some other good street food I enjoyed included fried pancakes and roasted chestnuts. Here, people are lining up for either duck or chicken for lunch.


Like many other cities in the United States, Shanghai has any number of semi-outdoor groceries.



I also enjoyed sugar cane juice. For two Yuan (around 26 cents), you can get a glass of fresh squeeze sugar can juice. The sugar cane goes in one end and juice comes out the other end. The juice is both sweet and sour; it is very refreshing and a good afternoon snack. The plastic glass is very flimsy, and you need to be careful not to squeeze it too tightly or the juice will flip out all over the place.


I was very happy with the street food scene in Shanghai. The food was fresh, affordable, and tasty. For the record and those folks who are nervous about eating food from street vendors, I did not get ill from the street food.

Labels: China, food

Duck, Duck, Roast Duck!

My first night in China, we decided to eat regional food. There is a unique Scottish restaurant on the Wangfujiang shopping promenade. The Chinese seem to love this restaurant's delectable items, which center around something they call a hambaobao. The United States would love this concoction, which is two all beef patties, topped with what is called "special" sauce, layered with crisp lettuce, luscious cheese, pickles, and onions. Finally, it is topped with a sesame seed bun. It is truly a combination of the best of Scottish and Chinese cuisines.

(Please feel free to throw in your own anti-globalization rant here. McDonalds and KFC outlets appear to be ubiquitous here. I have not visited either, although I have drunk both diet Coke and regular Coke!)

For folks who do not know me, the thought of eating McDonalds in a foreign country would be a bit odd. At the risk of sounding overly elitist, I am more likely to skip a meal than grab McDonalds, especially when I am visiting a new country. For my first meal in China, Mark, Sharon, and I decided to visit Quanjude, a restaurant that specializes in roast duck. We visited the newer branch of the restaurant; it is closer to my hotel. We got into the restaurant around 5:30 pm. While we were one of the first customers and were immediately seated, there was a large group of people waiting for seats when we left.

We ordered three dishes--a whole roast duck, a beef dish, and a dish of sauteed celery. The celery was tossed with oil, peeled walnuts, and red beans. The beef dish was rich and tender. However, the star of the meal was the duck. The skin was crisp, and yet it melted in your mouth. The meat was tender and lean. Unlike most duck meat in the United States, which is generally darker, this mean was pale but still flavorful.

The duck was sliced in front of our table. It was served with pancakes, sauce and chives. We also order some sesame rolls and formed small duck sandwiches with those as well. It was a treat, and the culinary highlight of my trip so far. The restaurant hands out a commemorative card for every duck sold. Our duck was the 1,150,292,355th duck sold since 1864.




After dinner, we walked around a small market by Wangfujiang. Small food stalls are scattered throughout the area. The food on the sticks are scorpions and seahorses.



Yesterday, I visited the Forbidden City, and this afternoon I fly to Shanghai.

Labels: China, food

Eggs Benedict

For the past few weeks, I've had a craving for Eggs Benedict. It takes a few minutes to prepare the dish from scratch, and I've been a bit busy the past few weekends. In addition, the dish can be a bit complex, especially if you make the hollandaise sauce from scratch. This morning, I finally got my act together and decided to prepare the dish.

I started out with the poached eggs. While it takes a bit of practice to make poached eggs that look beautiful, the basic recipe is very simple. First, simmer two to three inches of water in a saucepan wide enough for all of your eggs to sit without significantly touching. You should add some vinegar to the water; this will help the eggs to form up more quickly.

Here is an important trick when poaching eggs: don't drop the eggs into the water. If you are very slick, you can break the eggs just over the surface of the water. I find it easier to break the egg into a small dish and gently slide the egg into the water. After the eggs are into the gently simmering water, just cook them for three to five minutes.

After a few minutes, use a slotted spoon to transfer the eggs to a small dish or bowl of clean water in order to remove any of the vinegar flavor. Then, transfer the egg to a towel and pat dry. (Be careful, of course, not to break the egg open--the yolk should still be runny.) You can choose to trim the egg of any excess whites if you like--it depends on your presentation.

While I was poaching the eggs, I quickly heated some Canadian bacon. Simply heat a pan or griddle and cook the bacon on both sides for a minute or so. Canadian bacon is generally fully cooked, so you really just have to heat it through.

English muffins are simple--pop them in a toaster and cook. I wish I had turned down my toaster a bit. Crispy English muffins are great for eating with your hands, but I think it's easier to cut through English muffins with a regular knife when they are still a little soft.

For the last component of the Eggs Benedict, I prepared the hollandaise sauce. For all French sauces, one of the best references is Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck. I enjoyed preparing the sauce--in fact, it was the highlight of the dish. In essence, a hollandaise sauce is a butter and egg sauce flavored with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. In short, you use low heat to gently cook egg yolks with a bit of water. Salt and a tablespoon of lemon juice and is added and the cooking continues. Then, you add some whole butter and whisk it into the mixture to help stop the cooking. Melted butter is gradually added to the mixture to form a sauce; salt and white pepper is added to taste. In the end, there is around three tablespoons of butter for each egg yolk.

One of the keys of making a hollandaise sauce is to manage the heat. If the heat is too high, you end up with scrambled egg yolks. In order to manage the heat, I prepared the sauce using a double boiler. (Well, not really--I used a metal pan over a sauce pan with boiling water--same thing, though.) The hollandaise sauce has a lovely creamy texture and a delicate yellow/white color. It's rich and velvety with a tangy (but not overpowering) flavor.

Assembly of the Eggs Benedict is a snap: English muffin, Canadian Bacon, poached Egg, and a generous topping of hollandaise sauce. And it's an awesome dish. There's a variety of textures as you bite through the bread, meat, egg, and sauce, and the flavors of each ingredient balance each other. The tang of the lemon juice balances against the smoke of the bacon, and the eggs and sauce provide a beautiful compliment to each other.

When I prepare the dish again, I would prepare the hollandaise sauce before the other elements. I believe I could have kept the sauce warm easily while keeping the other elements of the dish warm was a bit more difficult. The sauce is the most difficult element, and the other three elements can come together at the same time without trouble.

In the end, this dish is not so difficult. The entire time to prepare everything was between 30 and 60 minutes including cleaning. (And cleaning does take a bit of time--you end up using quite a few dishes to prepare everything.) It's well worth it; I will certainly be making Eggs Benedict again.

Labels: food

Fun food review

Check out this interesting food review from the New York Times on January 1, 1859. [From kottke.org via megnut.]

Labels: food

New BBQ in NYC

I am enjoying my job tremendously, even though I left just after 10 p.m. tonight. Objective C is an odd hybrid between languages like C and languages like Java. And the XCode development environment is not nearly as sophisticated as Microsoft's Visual Studio. That being said, I'm enjoying learning a new language and working with a great bunch of people.

However, that's not what this blog post is about. While we are going to be moving to Union Square, our offices are currently located at Broadway and 26th Street. Right around the corner from the offices, on 26th between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, is Hill Country Barbecue. I visited there tonight for a quick bite to eat on the way home.

My friend Jeremy and I went to Hill Country the weekend they opened. Unfortunately, there were a couple of service issues and by the time we were seated they were out of all beef products. However, I'm happy to say that after a couple of weeks it appears that the service issues have been resolved. And I got to have some brisket.

Hill Country is cafeteria-style dining of a sorts. It is similar to Katz's Delicatessen. Each person gets a card on the way in; as you order food from the various stations, a record of your purchases are attached to the card. Unlike Katz's, you are seated by the hostess and drinks are brought to you by the wait staff.

Today I had their lean beef brisket. It was probably the best barbecued beef brisket I have had in New York City. It had the obligatory rosy ring, a thin layer of fat, a blackened exterior, and a rich and smoky flavor. The beef was lean but still tender. There was no need for barbecue sauce as the meat was full of flavor.

In addition to the beef brisket, I also picked up some of their jalapeño cheese sausage. (Jeremy and I had enjoyed this sausage on our visit.) This was probably the best sausage I have had in New York City. Chunks of jalapeño add fire to the smooth texture of the meat. The snap of the sausage as you bit through lead me to believe that they are using a natural casing. And, while it doesn't affect the flavor, the sausage also look good. (I'm tempted to order a bunch from Kreuz Market, but I don't know if I could cook them as well!)

Of course, no restaurant is perfect. Jeremy and I shared the ribs. They aren't bad, but I wouldn't go out of my way for them. Personally, I prefer the ribs at Daisy May's. And if you are looking for pulled pork, look elsewhere--this is Texas-style BBQ! (I recommend Virgil's for a good, if sweet, pulled pork sandwich.)

The main thing to watch out for is how you order. This is not a cheap barbecue place, and you can spend a lot of money quickly! Most of the meat is sold by the pound. Keep in mind that a quarter-pound of brisket is a fairly decent portion. A bit of brisket and a sausage is easily enough food for one person. And if you are looking to get some side dishes and dessert, then I would only get one or the other. Another way to look at it is that this is a great place to go with a bunch of people. I recommend starting with less food than you think you want. You can always go back and get more since the setup is cafeteria style.

Jeremy and I shared a couple of side dishes. We got the cole slaw and potato salad. If I remember correctly, the potato salad was awesome and the cole slaw was not so great. The deviled eggs looked great, but were a bit too pricey to try.

The beer list at Hill Country is a standard list of popular beers with a couple of interesting additions. They are a full bar, but I have not had any mixed drinks there.

The atmosphere at Hill Country is very nice--lots of communal tables with several two and four tops. There are high ceilings giving the room a nice open feeling. I haven't been downstairs, but they have live music which is piped to the upstairs. At times it felt a little loud, but it just added to the charm. They have worked out a lot of kinks in the service since Jeremy and I visited, but I would still be nervous about visiting if it were really busy.

I recommend Hill Country for good food and a fun time.

Labels: food

Easy summer dish

This first day of summer was last week, and a perfect dish for summer is pasta with pesto sauce. It's a very easy dish with any number of variations. My pesto tonight was fairly traditional: basil, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and a bit of salt and pepper. I threw everything in a small grinder and a few minutes later I had a nice sauce. While I prepared the ingredients, I boiled some water and cooked linguine. When the pasta was done, I mixed it with the sauce and the dish was ready to eat!

I had my pasta with a nice half-bottle of Domaine de la Solitude Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It had a spicy flavor which complimented the strong flavors of the pesto.

Labels: food

Woo Hoo!

Kasetsart University is awesome: Fruity cocktails count as health food, study finds. Best snippet:

The study did not address whether adding a little cocktail umbrella enhanced the effects.

Labels: food

"Wendy's banishes ‘Biggie’ size"

This is the oddest story I have read in a while. MSNBC reports Wendy's banishes ‘Biggie’ size. However, when you read the article, you find that Wendy's isn't really getting rid of the size, they are just going to rename "Biggie" to "Medium." "Great Biggie" will become "Large" and the size formerly known as "Medium" will become "Small." On the Wendy's web site, I can see that there is also a size known as "Value," which has fewer calories than "Small."

I remember when Wendy's introduced the "Biggie;" it was a nice way of saying extra-large. Basically, in less than 15 years, extra-large has become "Medium." This doesn't seem like a good trend.

[Thanks to the Accidental Hedonist for the link.]

Labels: food

If you're on a diet...

Here's a fun site that tell you how many vegetables make up 200 calories.

Labels: food

Interesting places I have eaten regularly

For my birthday, Larry took me to Veritas. Thank you Larry! It was very nice and tasty. At the end of the meal, they delivered some cookies with the check. They also found out it was my birthday, so they put a candle on the cake. The service at Veritas is so nice, and it is such an elegant dining room.

A friend of mine from work also had a birthday recently. To celebrate, we went to Le Bernardin for an early dinner. Le Bernardin is one of the few New York Times four-star rated restaurants. Dinner was amazing. It started with a lobster bisque as an amuse-bouce. I followed with a tuna and foie gras dish as a first course and a langoustine sambal as a second course. For my main course, I had a perfectly cooked piece of black bass with an smooth and rich cardamom broth. Finally, I finished with a dessert of corn and chocolate concoctions. Corn may sound weird for a dessert, but eating the corn ice cream was reminiscent of eating a fresh piece of corn on a hot summer day. It's a beautiful restaurant with friendly and professional service, and I wish I could go there more frequently. That being said, it really seems like the web site was hit with the ugly stick; someone should redesign their site for them.

Finally, a couple of days ago, Larry and I went to Stone Park Cafe in Park Slope for dinner. As you go through the dishes, you realize that the food is both hearty and heartening. I was reminded again and again of comfort food, even though the presentation is neither rustic nor simple. The "don't miss" dish, in my opinion, is their signature "Short Rib 'Sandwich.'" It is a the diameter of a slider, with a thick short rib sandwiched between two soft, large potato rolls. The sandwich is served open-faced and topped with a friend quail egg. Adding extra richness and nutrition to the dish is a layer of creamed spinach sitting just below the short rib. It's an excellent sandwich. I will certainly try to get back here.

Labels: food

Menu for Hope III

The winners of the Menu for Hope III raffle were announced. Over $60,000 was raised for the UN World Food Programme.

Labels: food

Post on chocolate

Dallas Food ran an interesting article on Noka Cholocate, finding them a poor value at best. It's an interesting article to read. If you are looking for great chocolate, I recommend, Jacques Torres. His chocolates are very, very good. The article discusses how most chocolatiers use chocolate sourced from other producers to make their candies. However, as distinct from what the article states, Jacques Torres also makes chocolate from beans as well as using chocolate from other sources for bon-bons (or truffles).

Thanks to Jason for the article!

Labels: food

Eating in Seattle

The Amateur Gourmet is going to Seattle next week and asked for food recommendations. What I wrote is below, but I've added hyperlinks.

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Definitely go to Salumi. It's only open for lunch and pick up a couple of salami's to go. It's not really Mario Batali's dad's place as much as it is Armandino Batali's place. If you can't make it there, make sure that you get his meats at any number of restaurants around Seattle.

Harvest Vine is a great traditional tapas place in Madison Park. Lark is a great northwestern tapas place in Capitol Hill. Both places are fun to go with a lot of people. Make reservations if you can.

I just went to Zoë last week and thought it was amazing. It's located in Belltown with nice modern cuisine in a contemporary setting. I can echo the comment on Macrina. Get there for brunch if you can. Another great breakfast place is Coastal Kitchen on Capitol Hill.

Le Pichet is one of my favorite places in Seattle. They have around 25-35 affordable French wines by the glass, and a very nice bistro menu. It's also in Belltown very close to Pike Place Market.

Pike Place Market is a lot of fun to walk around. There are any number of places to see there:

• Check out the truffle oil place, La Buona Tavola. Taste the truffle oils and buy several bottles.
  
  
• The Tasting Room is a really cool wine tasting store on Post Alley; a friend of mine is the manager. It is a co-op of several different Washington wineries.
  
  
• I don't love the cheeses at Beecher's Cheese, but it is fun to see them make cheese. And their cheddars are very nice, if simple.
  
  
• Get freshly made tiny donuts from the donut shop. (On the top level near Pike Place Fish.) They are very good for snacking on as you walk around.
  
  
• Pike Place Fish is where they throw the fish if you buy one. They were on the Megan Mullally show trying to break the fish throwing record. The local wild salmon is not in season right now. This is a great time of year to buy oysters and other shellfish. Also, the smoked salmon is not like the smoked salmon we get here. It's worth picking up a few pounds.
  
  
• The Spanish Table is on the lower level on Western Ave. It has one of the best selections of Spanish and Portuguese wines in the country. I have never seen a wider selection of ports.
  
  
• Across the street from The Spanish Table is World Spice Merchants. It's a great store with any number of spices and teas. They supply many restaurants in Seattle, but their shop is very retail friendly. Each spice has a sample jar with one ounce of spices. You can open the jar to smell the spices.
  
  
• The first Starbucks is in Pike Place market. It is not like every other Starbucks--it feels a lot less corporate. There are better places to get coffee in Seattle, but it is a fun touristy thing to do.

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I could go on and on--I love the food in Seattle. There are definitely many foodie things to check out there.

You might not realize it, but Seattle is also a great place for cocktails and "mocktails." The majority of places in Seattle can make a better drink than 90+% of places in New York City. They take a lot of pride in their cocktail abilities, and it is worth drinking there. At the same time, they value non-drinkers and have extensive mocktail menus.

Enjoy your stay in Seattle!

Labels: food

Menu for Hope III

Good charity. Good prizes. Good use of the "blogosphere."

Check out Menu for Hope III for more information. I recommend buying a few tickets.

Labels: food

Dining at Del Posto

Larry and I went to Del Posto for dinner last night. It was very good. A friend from Otto, Morgan Rich, is the wine director. He is wicked smart about wine and a really nice guy to boot. We also ran into two women who work at 'inoteca. It's a very small city sometimes. Hi Jen and Andrea!

We visited the restaurant late and sat in the bar area, so seating was a breeze. You can't actually dine at the bar, but there is a small seating area just off the bar called the "enoteca." The selection of items is a bit more affordable.

The service was great; the wait staff was friendly, prompt and helpful. And the food was fantastic. Larry and I ended up talking about all of the really fancy restaurants we have visited; we only do that because we are searching for comparisons. Restaurants we compared Del Posto to included Veritas and Per Se.

Larry and I had the tasting menu. As distinct from what the website displays, the tasting menu at the enoteca at the time was a choice of any antipasti, primi, secondi, and dessert. We did not have to have the same dishes. It's a good deal versus going a la carte. The only snag we encountered was near the end of the meal. We went to get a glass of wine, but didn't notice that the prices were for "tastes" and "glasses." We assumed the prices were for glasses and bottles. Our mistake, but for what we paid for two glasses, we probably would have purchased another bottle of wine.

I took some photos during dinner. It can be a bit annoying for someone to take photos at all, so I didn't use my flash. I apologize if the images aren't of pristine quality.

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Primi


I should pause here to note something a bit interesting. The portion sizes of all three courses was fairly large for a four course meal. We both felt that the pasta portions could have been a bit smaller. While I don't think we walked out stuffed, it felt as if the Secondi was pushing a bit. Fortunately, we didn't fill up on bread.







We both had a wonderful meal at Del Posto. I think Larry's antipasti and primi were better than mine, but I think my secondi and desserts were better than his. So once again we have tied in the dining experience.

I have been to Del Posto twice for drinks and enjoyed the experience both times. However, I had read so many mixed reviews in the past about Del Posto. (Check out some of the Del Posto reviews.) So I've been a bit nervous about eating at Del Posto--it's not cheap. After having eaten there, I can definitely write that Frank Bruni's review of Del Posto understated it's friendliness and quality. While I agree with his three-star rating, I feel the restaurant deserved much more than a backhanded review. After this meal, I can say that I will be back.

Labels: food

Milk is Milk?

I saw an interesting Google advertisements on my site for www.milkismilk.com. I shouldn't have been surprised to see it; the way Google advertisements work is that they key off of words on your site. This advertisement is for a site that is fairly transparently against organic milk and for industrial farming. You can read some of their distortions on the page titled All Milk is Produced the Same Way. It provides helpful statements like, "All Milk is Produced the Same Way - By Cows."

I see this as an inherent flaw with Google advertising. I may not want advertisements like this on my website. I fully support the right of the Milk is Milk people to publish their stupidity. I just don't want to publish their inane ads on my site. Unfortunately, if I choose to have Google advertising on my website at all, I give up the right to restrict what appears on my site.

Labels: food

R.W. Apple dies

R.W. Apple died this morning. This makes me a bit sad; he is someone I would have liked to meet. Coverage can be found at the New York Times, R.W. Apple, a Times Journalist in Full, Dies at 71.

Labels: food

On raw milk and foie gras

Two good posts on food today at megnut. First, Michael Ruhlman writes on a proposed bill in New Jersey banning the production of foie gras, Foie Inanity Reaches New York. Second, Meg writes on raw milk consumption, Raw milk and E. coli. Both posts were quite interesting, and I agree with Michael and Meg wholeheartedly.

With respect to Michael's post, factory farming practices are much crueller and dangerous than U.S. foie gras production. Any politician who decides that foie gras production is evil while turning a blind eye towards the majority of chicken and pork production is naive at best.

Meg is spot on the money with respect to raw milk. Milk is pasteurized for a reason. While there are good reasons to enjoy raw milk cheeses, it is important to understand the risks. If you don't like typical milk, I encourage you to seek out milk that is not ultra-pasteurized and homogenized, like the milk at Ronnybrook Farm Dairy. Of course, everything has costs; Ronnybrook milk is more expensive than large-scale factory farming produced milk.

Michael Ruhlman's post and comments has references to a book by another Michael, The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan. I read this book while I was on jury duty last month and meant to write about it earlier. This is a very well written book that documents how food gets to our table from the start of the process. He visits a variety of farms and finishes the book with a description of a meal he made with vegetables and meat he gathered and hunted. Michael also researches how our farm system is heavily linked to corn. Several parts of the book were published in various forms in the New York Times Magazine. You can read these items and others on his web site; they give you a good idea of the style of his book. One good sample to read is The Modern Hunter-Gatherer. I recommend picking up the book--it is an important work on the food we eat.

Labels: food

Hell's Kitchen

I should really do a post with more photos and relate various funny stories. But I've been busy. So all I really want to write right now is that I really enjoyed watching Hell's Kitchen on Fox last night.

Labels: food

Beer in New York City

There's a pretty great discussion about good places to drink beer in New York City on Eric Asimov's blog, The Pour. I did my part and contributed.

Labels: food