“what was the coolest thing before sliced bread?”

After braving the rain and arriving to the food show absolutely soaked, I stood in the hellaciously long line to check my raincoat.  Twiddling my thumbs, I surreptitiously listened to the conversation going on in back of me.  “What was the coolest thing before sliced bread?” the man asked the woman.  “I dunno.  Ice water?”  she said.  Since her answer didn’t really make any sense to me, I began to ponder that very question myself.  Bread has been around for at least 5,000 years.  I have no idea what food was trendy 5,100 years ago.

But now, having finished my tour de Fancy Food Show 2010, here are some more thoughts on what I thought was haute…

Hits:

Yuzosco – hot sauce using a flavorful combination of vinegar, chili peppers and yuzu (a Japanese citrus).  Yuzu is growing in popularity, most of which I’ve seen in salad dressings, oils, and the zest on sushi.  But this is the first time I’ve had it in a hot sauce.  Think orangy limey tabasco.  Not available in the US yet, but they’re working on it.

Hudson Valley duck prosciutto – my love for all things duck has grown and their prosciutto is absolutely, sinfully delicious.  More oily than its piggy counterpart, you know it’s so bad  but it tastes sooooo good.

Bridgebrand Chocolate Straws – ingenious!  It’s a conventional looking plastic straw filled with chocolate beads inside.  Just stick the straw into a glass of milk and sip!

And the absolutely coolest food at the show has got to be this:

The Humboldt Fog wedding cake.

Misses:

Sir Francis Bacon Peanut Brittle.  This was the only “miss” I experienced today.  While the picture of Sir Francis wearing a pig nose was promising, I thought my homemade bacon brittle to be better, mainly because I use pecans and not peanuts (which, IMHO, goes much better with the smokiness of the bacon), and their bacon flavor was a bit overpowering.

Trends:

I saw were coconut water, yuzu, and agave sweeteners.  I didn’t see as much artisanal bacon as I had thought (and hoped) I’d see.

Hoping to hit the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York in June.

“you must be in heaven!”

My cell phone rang while I was standing in the middle of the Moscone Center, surrounded by artisan cheeses, chocolate, salumi, coffee, olive oils, vinegars, and just about every specialty food item there is.  I looked at my phone and noticed it was Jim calling from the east coast.  “I’m at the Fancy Food Show eating my weight in cheese and now staring at the Vosges chocolate booth and their chocolate bacon bars!” I exclaimed.  “You must be in heaven!” he quipped back. Yep, that pretty much summed it up.

Hits:

Fernando Pensato – This family run company from Monaco first made their fortune making shoes.  Now, they make high-end olive oils and vinegars and I’ve gotta say, I had the best vinegar I have ever had in my life here.  Their 8 year balsamic was thick and full of flavor.  Their white balsamic was clean and light.  Both had a soft, yet dense consistency that was extremely pleasant.  I can’t imagine having any other brand of vinegar now and be happy.  Their bergamot olive oil was absolutely dreamy.   Unfortunately, you can’t get any of these in the US.  Yet…

Yancey’s Fancy – NY Maple Cheddar.  By far, my favorite cheese from the show.  Sweet maple syrup blended into mild and sharp cheddars.  I see a mac ‘n NY Maple Cheddar cheese in my future.

Beehive Cheese Co. – Seahive.  Last year, Beehive introduced me to their Barely Buzzed which is now one of my favorite cheeses.  This year they are introducing Seahive, a yummy blend of  salt and honey.

Kelly’s Kitchen – Strawberry Cheesecake Cheese Ball.  I am normally not a cheese ball kinda gal but this one was really tasty.  Cream cheese, butter cheese and strawberries rolled in graham crackers was a shot of  melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.

Ohgave! – Maple Agave Syrup.  If you love the flavor of maple syrup but hate the sugary sweetness, this is a great alternative.

21st Amendment Brewery – Hell or High Watermelon Wheat in a can!  Finally!

J & D’s Bacon products – Their products impart a certain smokiness (but not necessarily bacon-ness) to whatever you’re cooking and will make your mouth water.  Their goods are kosher and vegetarian, too.  And, they gave me a bacon envelope, which when licked, tastes like bacon!

Misses:

Susan Rice Truffled Popcorn – I can’t pinpoint it, but this just didn’t taste right.  And I LOVE truffles.

Jelly Belly’s Barf jelly bean – One of their “Beanbozzled” items, I decided to try the Barf (which was originally called “Vomit”).  I thought,  “How bad could it be?”  After a few chews, it was definitely reminiscent of those times when I’ve had a few too many beers.  Not pleasant.  After seeing my face, the kind sales rep immediately handed me their “Toothpaste” flavored jelly bean, and wouldn’t you know it, it cleared up that Barf taste right away.  Go figure.

Chocolate Cheese – I don’t remember what purveyor had this, but I remembered thinking it tasted too much like chocolate and if you wanted chocolate, why not just eat chocolate?

On The Fence:

Black Garlic – Fermented garlic looks like a fig, tastes like garlicky prune.  Interesting texture, milder in smell than a normal clove of garlic but still has that nice, residual taste of garlic.

Nice Try But I Don’t Think It’ll Ever Fly:

Cupless Joe coffee pills – While the fewer bathroom breaks are an incentive to take these, you need to take four of these horse pills to equal one cup of coffee.  I think I’d miss the warmness of holding a steaming cuppa joe in my hand.

Tomorrow is Day Two of the show.  More manana, I’m sure!

fo sho! gatsu 2010

• Spicy ginger pork in endive
• Green tea ice cream
• Curried tofu dip
• Wasabi dip
• Vegetable crudites
• Tsukemono
• Sesame string beans
• Shrimp with basil ponzu
• Sushi with sea bass, ahi, and/or unagi
• Mochi from Fugetsu-Do
• Red Velvet cake from Claudia

I wish I had taken photos.

expectations

Last night, Christmas eve, I was solo so headed out to my favorite sushi bar, Koo, for an evening of sublime fish and welcoming service.  My usual seat at the bar was waiting for me, as was Suzuki-san, my favorite chef there.  Spoonful of Happiness, and a multitude of screamingly fresh fish,  along with a few glasses of Otokoyama, was all it took to make my night a merry one.

A couple of friends of mine are on their way to New York today for the holidays.  Knowing my penchant for fine food in the Big Apple, they made reservations at my recommended three Hall of Fame  eateries there – Jean Georges, Le Bernadin, and Blue Hill.  All three I have extolled on numerous occasions, my love for the chefs there and I am a bit afraid that I have set their expectations up so high, there is no where to go but down.  But, today being Christmas, expectations are bound to be high, all over the world, not just New York.  And not just on food.  I can only hope to not disappoint too terribly.

jean georgie fed the girl and made her cry

A few weeks ago, I experienced what I can only say is the best meal deal in New York City.  Nougatine at Jean Georges is the “bar” section of the famed Jean Georges.  Though they share the same kitchen, some of the menu items, and a smidgen of the stuffiness, I can only imagine that they do differ on your culinary value/return.

Here is what we got on our pre-theatre (served only 5:30 to 6:30) prix fixe:

• Jalapeno cheddar fritter skewered over a shooter of cream of tomato basil soup
• Tuna tartar on a bed of chopped avocado, topped with spicy radish and a ginger marinade
• Slow smoked salmon atop a small mountain of baby carrots and baby beets
• Crispy roasted chicken served with sautéed trumpet mushrooms
• Warm chocolate molten cake with vanilla bean ice cream

The amuse-bouche fritter was a complete surprise as it was not only not on the menu (a “gift” from the chef), but deceptively exploded in your mouth, oozing of warm, fluid spicy cheddar cheese.  Then came the tuna tartar – a sweet tower of diced ahi crowning a salad of melt-in-your-mouth avocado.  I could have easily eaten a half-dozen plates of this.  What followed were what seemed to be full-blown entrée-sized plates of the salmon and chicken.  I’m not a big salmon person but I was a member of the Clean Plate Club on that one.  By the time the chicken came around, I was sufficiently stuffed and had to enlist Jim to help me finish.  But wait, there’s more – dessert!  The chocolate molten cake was everything I have always wanted my homemade molten cake to be but never achieved – fudgy but simultaneously delicate and crispy on the outside, fudgy hot chocolatey lava on the inside.   A glass of tawny port (not included in the prix fixe) capped a perfect end to the bestest meal deal I’ve ever had.  It makes me a bit teary eyed, in astonishment and amazement, at the quality and quantity of food this four-star restaurant churned out – all for $38.

the soul of a chef and his eyebrows

Cleveland is in my bucket list of places to go before I kick it. He is the only reason I would visit Cleveland. Okay, maybe one of two reasons, but I digress. I’ve been following his career for the past eight years – since Michael Ruhlman first wrote about him in The Soul of a Chef. He is Michael Symon. Chef and owner of Lola and Lolita in Cleveland, and Roast in Detroit, an Iron Chef (who most thrillingly beat Nate Appleman in a challenge), James Beard winner and now cookbook author.

When I found out he was signing at the Williams Sonoma in Union Square, my palms started to sweat, my pupils dilated, and I think I even wet myself. My head swam with this scenario of our introductory meeting – after I regale him with my sweeping Symon knowledge, he invites me back to his hotel suite outfitted with a gourmet kitchen (of course) where he proceeds to fry up crispy pig ears and we pork out.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Not even close. Although, as I inched my way down the line with the other fan boys and fan girls, I tried to think of something witty to say to induce his little girl laughter, or maybe if I asked kindly, he’d let me pat his globulous head. But when I finally reached the signing table, he looked up and flashed me his ha-cha-cha smile,  like Deborah Kerr in “An Affair to Remember,” all I could say was “hello.” And all I could see were his eyebrows.

to sho or not to sho…

By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, I usually have my menu planned out for Oshogatsu.  This year, a few days after Thanksgiving, I’m still on the fence whether or not to host shogatsu at all.  I am not sure why.  I am hoping that I will wake up one morning (hopefully sooner than later) and have a divine inspiration (or intervention).

fresno food memories

Yesterday was Black Friday.    The family hit our usual but most anticipated post-Thanksgiving breakfast joint in downtown Fresno – George’s Shish Kebab.  George’s is a little gem of an Armenian diner hidden in a small business park near the civic center, open for breakfast and lunch only.  We’ve been annual regulars there, gorging on shish kebab  for at least the past 20 years. This year I decided to mix it up by ordering the Hy burger patty (a combo of ground lamb and beef mixed with Mediterranean spices and parsley) and eggs instead of the lamb shish kebab.  But while all of their  breakfast entrees are tasty, what I really look forward to is their peda bread.  Not to be confused with and very unlike the pita  they sell in grocery stores, this peda is more like an airy French bread, sliced thick like a Hawaiian sweet bread and just as light. Delivered to the table still warm from being toasted, I spread a thin layer of butter on a slice and I’m golden as the bread I’m about to eat.

After breakfast, we wandered through the tiny indoor mall that houses George’s and came upon a new tea shop – Teazer World Tea Market.  One of only a few retailers in the small building, and one of the fewer still that was open in that weekend-deserted part of town.  A very zen-like young man was working and I asked if he carried milk oolong.   “Oh, no.  You can only get that in San Francisco.”  How did he know?  “That tea is made  especially for the people who buy the tea there.”  Interesting.  But he did show me a similar type of naturally cream-tasting tea – Cream Earl Grey.  I bought an ounce and will try it out this weekend.

Closing off my post Thanksgiving in Fresno, my family stopped off at the cemetery/crematory to visit my uncles, aunts, and family friends who have passed.  But the first person(s) I always visit at the Chapel of the Light is my maternal grandmother, who is urned with my grandfather and shares a niche with my mom’s oldest brother, Fred.  In the 37 years since my grandmother’s passing, I don’t think there’s been a day that has gone by that I have not thought about her.  Although she barely spoke English to my measly Japanese, we got along famously I believe it was she who first started my love of food.  She used to make this tomato-sauceless spaghetti that, to this day, I crave and beg my mom to replicate whenever I’m in LA.  It seems fairly simple – spaghetti with stewed tomatoes, ground beef (or Chinese sausage or bacon), onion, mushrooms, and mozzarella.  But I have never gotten even close to the taste I remember from childhood.  I think it must have been that extra dash of grandmotherly love she added.  I also think she would have loved the shish kebab at George’s.

bachan and me on her farm near Fresno.

who said pie

For more than half of my life, Thanksgiving started on the Tuesday before.  Everyone in my immediate family (and sometimes not-so-immediate) would gather at “The Plant,” in Inglewood (my dad’s baking headquarters), and help box and deliver pies to the dozen or so outlets of Grace Pastries, for pick up on what is the retail food industries’ “Black Wednesday.”

Every Thanksgiving week, Grace Pastries produced thousands of pies – pumpkin, sweet potato, apple, pecan, mince, and custard.  And every Thanksgiving morning, the family would travel over the river and through the woods (more like over to Highway 99 and through the Grapevine) to grandmother’s, auntie’s, or uncle’s house for the annual family reunion. Through those years, the number of  family members gathering in Fowler, Selma, or Fresno has held steady at about 30 to 40 (give or take 10), thanks to siblings and cousins and their kids along with a gaggle of significant others.  One thing that has changed are the pies.  Gone are the Grace Pastries desserts, and in its place are grocery store bought, fresh or frozen pies.  I can only imagine that my dad set such a high standard, everyone knows they can’t compete to what used to be.  But for the past six or seven years or so, I’ve tried.  And tried.  And tried.  While I know I am in a completely different league, I almost feel the need to carry on a tradition of bringing a non-store bought pie. My contribution every year has been a chocolate pecan pie.  This year, I switched up the recipe a bit and made a lard based crust (because we all know lard makes the best crust), omitted the bourbon (because, well, I forgot to buy some), used organic nuts and chocolate, and a little less corn syrup.  Hoping it’s all for the best.

Now, on my way to Fresno via Amtrak, two homemade chocolate pecan pies boxed and tucked underneath my seat, I am ready for my 40+ Thanksgiving in Central California.   But not before I made sure the day started out right by making slow cooked (10 minutes) scrambled eggs, a dollop of creme fraiche, a dash of white pepper, cooked in a pat of duck fat (thanks, Howard!) and sprinkled with black truffled salt.  So far,  so good.  Tomorrow morning, hopefully, will be the second thing I look forward to every Thanksgiving weekend when I’m in Fresno – breakfast at George’s.

bucket list 2: electric boogaloo

It’s been a year since my last (and first) bucket list of restaurants and I can proudly say I did manage to knock one off, albeit it was the easiet (and by far, the cheapest) – Grey’s Papaya.   2010, I hope to up my numbers to three.

1. Per Se (NY)

2. French Laundry (Napa)

3. Jean Georges (NY)

4. El Bulli (Spain) this will have to wait until at least 2010. They’re booked up in 2009.

5. Lolita (Cleveland)

6. Alinea (Chicago)

7. Tru (Chicago)

8. Joe’s Stone Crab (Miami) been here twice before, but it’s been a while and I need to go back.

9. K Paul’s (New Orleans)

10. Les Halles (NY) just because.

11.  Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills) because Dan Barber is a god to me.