yucca
Do not say “yuck” about yucca! Here it is at the Grand Central Market in downtown. Reminds me of one of the creatures in Guillermo del Toro’s “Laberinto del fauno” (Pan’s Labyrinth). In its peeled, boiled and fried form, yucca is a popular South American dish. I’m a fan of the yucca served in bandeja paisa platters at some of my favorite Colombian restaurants, such as Chibcha, La Fonda Antioquena and Meson Criollo.
today's sandwich
One could argue that a sandwich is the simplest food to prepare. Yet, I depend on my “Sandwich Maker” greatly. Ok, so it’s a bit of a misnomer; my Cuisinart Sandwich Maker doesn’t really make the sandwich for you. What it does is grill the sandwich on both sides, and press the ingredients into two neat triangular packages. Everything heats up simultaneously, and at equal temperatures. The bread toasts to a perfect crisp. The resulting sandwiches are a million times more appetizing than the ones I used to make by hand, even with warm ingredients.
Why is this important? Because I’ve had too many hungry moments of staring into the refrigerator and grabbing at leftovers, or munching slices of raw pita bread. It’s mindless eating, and does nothing good for my body or peace of mind. When I use the Sandwich Maker, even if I’m preparing the simplest cheese and prosciutto sandwich, I slow down to consider my food and enjoy it. Yeah, I know, the same should go for any cooked food, Sandwich Maker or not. But my Sandwich Maker is reliable, and easy to use. It has its own little spot on the counter and is always there. Somehow, I’ve come to depend on it.
Dosa at Mayura / Daina Beth Solomon
I have discovered the perfect compliment to Indian food. It is not wine or beer. Nor a seasoning like salt or pepper. And I wouldn’t consider even the raita or mint chutney that I love. No, the perfect compliment is Shah Rukh Khan. Thanks to modern technology, I don’t require his physical presence. A widescreen television will do just fine. Like the one they have at Mayura in Culver City.
Mayura specializes in food of Kerala (which happens to be the setting of one of my favorite books, “The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy). I visited with a couple of friends (on Jonathan Gold’s recommendation) and we dined on dosas, biryani, aloo gobi, and vegetable curry. Everything was delicious. But not enough to keep our attention away from the big screen, and the sexy moves of Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan. Wow! He seemed to dance with a million women, each more beautiful than the next. Every frame revealed a new location ranging from deserts to snow-capped mountains, New York to Paris. The outfits came in shocking fuchsia and emerald. (Many seemed ’90s-era, we thought.) Each music video lasted about 15 minutes. We couldn’t hear the songs, but honestly, it didn’t matter.
Sniglets – made-up words – have been part of my vocabulary for a long time. I do not hesitate to “disconfect” candy that falls to the ground, dismiss the “peppier” at a restaurant or clear out “mustgos” from the refrigerator. (See definitions below.) So many sniglets have to do with food and dining that I was inspired to write the post below – and come up with some of my own.
Once you start making up sniglets, it’s hard to stop. Just look at Paul Appleby who was profiled in The Onion. My newest word is “aripaphobia.” It’s the fear of eating a precious fruit (such as the Warren Pear I picked up at last week’s farmer’s market) either before it’s ripe, or after it’s too ripe. Ah, the terror!
Thanks to Adam at the Lazy Ox Canteen for posing as a peppier for my photo.
The English language is rich and extensive, but sometimes we wish there were more words — especially about the joys and quirks of food and dining experiences. For that, we have “sniglets.” Sniglets were first created in the early ’80s by humorist Rich Hall on the TV show Not Necessarily the News. He defined a sniglet as “any word that doesn’t appear in the dictionary, but should.” The neologisms that appear in Hall’s various sniglet dictionaries express common experiences in ways that are often hilarious and useful. Many consist of word combinations, others of altered spellings. Some are just nonsense. What of “sniglet?”Dictionary.com tells us that the word is “said to be derivative of obsolete sniggle, to snicker.” Perhaps it’s true. Other dictionaries only give its modern meaning: to fish for eels.
These days you’ll find Hall’s sniglets not only in his books but also around the web. We’ve chosen 10 of our favorites and created five new ones. Any mashup specialists out there? Add your own sniglets in the comments. And if you know the derivation of “sniglet,” let us know about that too.
15. Burgacide (n): A hamburger’s death leap through the slots in a barbeque. (From Rich Hall, Fortunecity.com/meltingpot.)
14. Chipfault (n): The stress point on a potato chip where it breaks off and stays behind in the dip. (From Rich Hall, Krishna Kunchithapadam.)
13. Dessertation (n): A waiter’s litany of what’s on the dessert cart. (From Melissa N. Hayes-Gehrke, Dr. Melissa N. Hayes-Gehrke’s Homepage.)
12. Disconfect (v): To sterilize the piece of candy you dropped on the floor by blowing on it, somehow assuming this will `remove’ all the germs. (From Rich Hall, Ziplink.)
11. Expresshole (n): A person who goes through the grocery store’s 12-item express lane with 22 items. (From Rich Hall, Ziplink.)
10. Frigerobics (n): Leaning, bending, and stretching while looking into the refrigerator.(From Melissa N. Hayes-Gehrke, Dr. Melissa N. Hayes-Gehrke’s Homepage.)
9. Genderplex (n): The predicament of a person in a restaurant who is unable to determine his or her designated restroom (e.g. turtles and tortoises). (From Rich Hall,Unexplained Sniglets of the Universe.)
8. Musquirt (n): The water that comes out of the initial squirts of a squeeze mustard bottle. (From Rich Hall, Fortunecity.com/meltingpot.)
7. Mustgo (n): Any item of food that has been sitting in the refrigerator so long it has become a science project. (From Bert Christensen, Bert Christensen’s Cyberspace Home.)
6. Peppier [pep-ee-ay] (n): The waiter at a fancy restaurant whose sole purpose seems to be walking around asking diners if they want ground pepper. (From Rich Hall, Ziplink.)
And now, a few of our own:
5. Aquajammer (n): A friend of the peppier, the aquajammer’s sole purpose is to approach one’s table with water refills or fresh glasses every few minutes.
4. Gadgetation (n): The heart-racing sensation of entering a store stocked with shiny cooking gadgets, such as Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, or Surfas.
3. Headtwisty (adj.): The stiffness experienced after craning one’s neck around a restaurant to see: a) celebrities, b) the chef, c) the server, d) the bathroom, e) the specials menu on a far-away blackboard.
2. Reservignation (n): The acceptance of defeat and disappointment after one fails to secure a table at the newest celebrity chef restaurant.
1. Untensil (n): A fork, knife, spoon, spork or chopstick that’s been bent out of shape in an effort to relieve tension.
Read the full article here.
Watermelon Radishes
As a kid in Santa Monica, I went to the local farmer’s markets all the time. They were exotic compared to boring old Ralph’s – always full of surprises, yet consistent enough to be dependable. And who can deny the allure of fruit samples? Plus, they sold clothes and jewelry, a total plus. In fact, I bought my Bat Mitzvah dress at the Westwood farmer’s market.
Lately, I’ve been a regular at the downtown farmer’s market outside City Hall. But it’s more enjoyable for the people watching (I run into LA Times colleagues ALL the time) than the vendors. The market at the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade, however, offers a dizzying array of produce and food options. I stopped by this morning with the LA Weekly food editor, and snapped photos of the particularly colorful and unique-looking plants, fruits, and vegetables.
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Picca / Anne Fishbein
On New Year’s Eve, restaurants celebrate with live bands, festive décor, theme dinners, exceptional ingredients, multi-course meals, tasting menus and endless glasses of bubbly. How to choose the best spot? We’ve selected 11 restaurants that opened in 2011 to represent a sampling of those that will be offering special menus for the holiday. Reservations are recommended for all locations, listed below in alphabetical order.
Click here to read full article.
Voila! Take a look at my best food photo yet. Aren’t you absolutely dazzled? I’ll tell you my trick: a flashlight. Restaurants are too damn dark at night for any photos to come out well. A flash is too harsh and bright (unless you know how to deflect the light). But a flashlight, held a couple of feet above the dish at angle, did the trick perfectly. I only wish the idea had occurred to me before desert.
My scalloped potatoes, thanks to Ruth Reichl's recipe.
When I was 15, I had a lucky break. I mean that in two ways. Literally, because I broke my foot in a ballet rehearsal for “Paquita.” As I prepared to execute a pas de chat, the lisfranc ligament in my right foot snapped. (In retrospect, it was probably because I was also in rehearsals for “Concerto Barocco,” a fabulous Balanchine ballet with a million hops on pointe.) My leg was stuck in a cast for months.
But I ended up very fortunate. Instead of spending the summer at Boston Ballet as I had planned, I trekked up to UC Berkeley for studies and a taste of college life. By then, my foot had healed enough to walk. I was eager to explore a new city, and Berkeley enchanted me. The diverse people, bustling streets, sense of history – all with Cal as a hub. At the same time, I was becoming acquainted with Ruth Reichl. Continue reading
It may be land-of-the-bäcos, but Bäco Mercat serves up much, much more than flatbread sandwiches. The lunch and dinner menus change daily and include a couple of dozen specials. On a recent evening, diners could choose from small plates of salads, vegetables, cheeses, meats, fish, and pasta. And there are waffles for breakfast, as I reported in the LA Weekly. Jonathan Gold has observed that the menu mixes “flavors from Italy, France, and Western China, Georgia (U.S.) and Georgia (eastern Europe), Tuscany and Peru.” I decided to research some of the more unusual ingredients to see what he means…
Cubeb pepper: This pepper is native to Indonesia. According to Spices Inc, “Cubebs have a pleasant aroma that is pungent, lightly peppery with hints of allspice.” Read more here. Dish: Crispy head-on shrimp with sea salt, cubeb-long pepper.
Fava bean: This bean with the buttery texture and nutty taste is often described as “ancient.” It has been grown and eaten in many regions, including Asia, the Middle East, South America, North Africa and Europe. Dish: fava bean fritter bäco with poblano feta, chickpea, salmorejo.
Harissa: Hot chili sauce from North Africa. Dish: el cordero [lamb] with merguez, harissa, chevre.
Lebni: Strained yogurt with the consistency of sour cream, said to have a sour or tart flavor. It is Eastern Mediterranean, and sometimes described as a cheese. Dish: Zataar and olive oil with lebni.
Long pepper: This pepper was used centuries ago in early African, Indian, Indonesian and Mediterranean style cooking. Today it’s not widely used. Read more here. Dish: Crispy head-on shrimp with sea salt, cubeb-long pepper.
Manchego: This cheese was originally made from the milk of sheep in La Mancha, Spain. Dish: “Deli meat plate” with pork belly ham, prime rib, and manchego.
Merguez: Merguez sausage, usually made with lamb, has its origins in North Africa. Dish: El cordero “coca” [baked crispy flatbread] with merguez, harissa, chevre.
Morcilla: This is a type of blood sausage typically made with pig’s blood, rice, onions and spices that derives from Spain. Dish: Morcilla with potato, butter, and socca.
Pecorino: Italian cheese (encompassing a variety of types) made of sheep’s milk. Dish: Marinated pecorino with chile flake.
Rapini: Also called broccoli raab and and Chinese flowering cabbage, rapini is a leafy green often used in Italian and Chinese cooking. Dish: Rapini with chile and preserved lemon.
Romanesco: Romanesco is a type of cauliflower that resembles broccoli. It is not to be confused with romesco, the Catalonian sauce. Dish: Roasted romanesco with anchovy, garlic, cilantro.
Salbitxada: A sauce from Spain’s Catalonia region featuring tomatoes and almonds. Dish: the original bäco – pork belly and beef carnitas, smoked aoili, salbitxada.
Salmorejo: A creamy, cold tomato soup from Cordoba, Spain. It’s richer than a gazpacho. Dish: fava bean fritter bäco with poblano feta, chickpea, salmorejo.
Socca: A thin, crepe-like dough made out of chickpea flour. Dish: Morcilla with potato, butter, and socca.
Zataar: Middle Eastern mixture of thyme, sumac and sesame seeds. Dish: Zataar and olive oil with lebni.
Lemon Pound Cake / D. Solomon
Josef Centeno has had his plate full since his new restaurant, Bäco Mercat, opened its doors in early November. Good thing it’s only half a mile from the Lazy Ox Canteen where he continues as chef.We recently found Centeno perched high on a ladder outside Bäco Mercat wielding a squeegee. It was his first day off in weeks, he said. “But I guess I’m still working,” the chef-owner added with a shrug as he wiped another window clean.There’s a reason for Centeno’s high spirits. “After a great soft opening, Bäco Mercat is happy to announce our grand opening,” he tells us in an e-mail. The downtown L.A. restaurant is now open Monday through Saturday with expanded hours and is taking reservations.
Read the full article here.
Sandwich with leftover turkey and kabocha spread. / Daina Beth Solomon
Who else is still eating turkey sandwiches? I am, and I’m not even tired of them yet. That’s because I have kabocha spread. See the orange goop oozing out of the sandwich in the photo above? Just kabocha (winter squash with a Japanese name) that’s been baked with sugar, salt and oil, pureed, and mixed with sour cream.
