Sweet and Sour Spectator

June 08, 2008

Your Very Own Star Maiden

Michaan's Auctions by the Bay are auctioning a Star Maiden bronze on June 22nd 2008.

If you are wondering "What is a Star Maiden and why should I care?" take a look at my post here on the Star Maiden and Audrey Munson, the beautiful young model who posed for this work and so many others. Even though there were at least 95 Star Maidens created for the Pan Pacific Exhibition in 1915, prior to this auction, the only way to see one was to journey to the Oakland Museum. I suppose no one knows how many of these sculptures are still in existence, but it's clearly a small enough number that if you want to see one, you should go to this auction.

Posted by Paul at 10:30 AM | San Francisco & California | Comments (0)

June 04, 2008

Short Post

A recent blog post by Mark Bittman reminded me of one of my favorite quotations:

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Posted by Paul at 06:02 AM | Miscellaneous | Comments (0)

May 27, 2008

Farmers Market Product of the Week 05/24/08

Agretti, also known as Salsola Soda, or Opposite Leaved Saltwort, Roscano, or Barba Di Frate (friar's beard in Italian) has the interesting property of thriving when irrigated with salt water, though I am certain that the sample shown here from Star Route Farms in Marin County used POW (plain old water).

I tasted a piece before buying a bunch and can report that agretti is a bit tart (sour), quite crunchy and tends to have a mild salty taste even when watered with POW. Young enough, it can be used raw as a salad green, but more normally it is trimmed from the root, and then blanched for 10 minutes before being incorporated into salads or used as a side vegetable. Also, from personal experience, I can attest to the importance of trimming away all of the light green bottom stalk, as it is woody and tough. The dark green needles are the delectable part.

Here is a nutritional breakdown in Italian, here's a recipe for a Fritatta with Agretti, and here is a link to the Mariquita Farm's Agretti page which is full of links and recipes including this priceless observation:

.... It was really tasty (though the kids thought I made pine needle salad)!

Posted by Paul at 07:17 AM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

May 17, 2008

Eat Molecular Gastronomy and Ruin Your Health

It was inevitable. Someone was bound to accuse proponents of molecular gastronomy of poisoning their customers. And why not start at the top? Why not accuse Ferran Adria? Santi Santamaria, chef of the three-star Barcelona restaurant Can Fabes, made such a charge while receiving an award for his book La cocina al desnudo - The Kitchen Laid Bare - a critique of modern cooking practices. Read all about it in an article published Thursday in the Telegraph newspaper.

The charge is certainly sensational, and it will probably help sell copies of his book, but it doesn't appear to be entirely responsible. Santamaria is primarily complaining about E461 or methylcellulose. This is an interesting chemical that gels at high temperature and melts at low temperatures. This makes it possible to use in making hot ice cream. (Yummy). It is also used as a laxative when enough of it is ingested, but I'm not sure that makes it a health risk; especially as "like cellulose, it is not digestible, not toxic, and not allergenic." In fact, it appears to be a harmless, widely used food additive, and Sr. Santamaria appears to be blowing smoke.

Posted by Paul at 01:16 PM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

May 11, 2008

Kitchen Blogging - New Toy (#2)

It looks a bit like a small chef's hat, except that you can see through it—which makes it entirely inappropriate for hiding small chefs. I'm not certain where I first heard about the Superbag, but it may have been from my gourmet-obsessed friend Dave, who claims he makes sauces and stocks almost daily and who swears by his 1.3 liter 100 micron Superbag.

A Superbag is essentially a flexible chinois. You use it for straining, and if you get one with very fine 100-micron holes, you can use it for clarifying things such as consommés. Since it is flexible, you can squeeze it to wring out the moisture and flavor from whatever you are straining. They use them at El Bulli (see Chow.com link, below) to make almond milk, and there are reports on the web of using them to collect tomato water and other concentrated (and very clear) fruit juices.

I've used mine to clarify chicken stock, and to wring out all of the moisture from reconstitued porcini mushrooms when making mushroom stock. I think it's really neat, and like all really neat things, it causes me to think about interesting problems it might solve that I didn't even know I had.

There isn't much on the web about the Superbag, but I've collected what I could find in the links below, including a link to Le Sanctuaire in San Franciso, where they will be happy to sell you a Superbag of your own.

Chow.com story on strainers including the Superbag
Blog entry on the Superbag by Chef Shola Olunloyo of Studiokitchen in Philadelphia
eGullet Superbag thread
Buy your own Superbag at Le Sanctuaire

Other Sweet and Sour Spectator Kitchen Blogging Entries: New Toy (#1)

Posted by Paul at 03:51 AM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

May 07, 2008

Ten Trend-setting Bay Area Restaurants

Michael Bauer (food critic for the San Francisco Chronicle) posted a list on his blog of ten places to dine in the Bay Area that would showcase current food trends. You can click on the link to see the places El Michael picked. It's not a bad list, but it is a bit conservative, and it illustrates some things that aren't really food related, for example Foreign Cinema is listed as "highlight[ing] a location that is fast become a testing ground for cutting edge concepts." Since list-making is fun, and seems to be genetically wired into humans, I've come up with my own list of places and trends:

Coi: the next step beyond the Chez Panisse straight jacket, Coi uses and showcases top quality local ingredients, but adds that extra touch - cooking with technique. Coi is the only Bay Area restaurant I know of that offers only a tasting menu. The food incorporates some modern molecular techniques, but never to the detriment of gustatory pleasure. Let's call it 'mainstream' molecular cooking.

Continue reading "Ten Trend-setting Bay Area Restaurants"

Posted by Paul at 10:51 AM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

May 02, 2008

Short Reviews: Fish.

"Fish." Take a close look, that isn't a sentence fragment, it is the name of one of the two best places to eat in Sausalito. Besides the desserts, one salad, a pun, and two dishes pandering to fishaphobes (ichthyophobes?), all you can get at this place is fish. Period.

Set out on a pier overlooking the marina, Fish. is a casual, California kind of place. Except for the Marin County prices, and the lack of surfer dudes, it reminds me of a Southern California fish shack. There are picnic tables to sit at outside, and inside you get the same thing: picnic tables. However, unless it is raining or colder than San Francisco in the summer, you'll want to sit outside and enjoy the California sun and the view of the marina and its inhabitants. (Watch out for the hungry and highly-practiced seagulls though).

The menu is casual, sporting items like clam chowder (both red and white) shucked oysters, and a grilled fish sandwich; but it is also creative. You can also get "The Fish. Parfait" which is a parfait glass layered with Dungeness crab, salsa, tomatillo, lime crema, and cocktail sauce.

Continue reading "Short Reviews: Fish."

Posted by Paul at 08:37 AM | Short Reviews | Comments (0)

May 01, 2008

Old Zinfandel Vine - Lodi

Posted by Paul at 06:58 PM | Wine Tasting | Comments (0)

Tasting Note: 1997 Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel

I bought this seven years ago. It has been waiting patiently in the celler getting better and better and now...

1997 Ridge Lytton Springs - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley (4/30/2008)
From a 375ml bottle. Deep brick red color with some lightening at the rim. Clean expressive nose of plums and spice. Palate shows beautiful smooth fruit, acid, and integrated tannins with everything in perfect harmonious balance. A beautiful mouthful of wine at absolute peak right now. This is the kind of wine that makes everything all right with the world. The best Ridge Zins have a restrained elegance that reminds you of a four-star hotel... just like top quality aged Bordeaux. Excellent. (93 pts.)

Posted by Paul at 10:09 AM | Wine Tasting | Comments (0)

Two Legendary California Chardonnays

Recently, I had the chance to try two legendary California chardonnays side-by-side. One is legendary because it is highly rated, expensive, well-made, and hard to acquire. The other is legendary because the winery that made it has been making wine from it's now very old vines (the oldest pinot noir and chardonnay vineyard in the U.S.) the same way for more than fifty years.

• 1998 Hanzell Chardonnay - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (4/29/2008)
  Dark gold color, crystal clear and gem-like. Flinty nose of ripe fruit and minerals. Medium body with layers of flavors including baked bread, and citrus, with honey on the finish. Clearly new world, but made in a very refined style. Beautiful fresh wine with elegance and complexity. (94 pts.)
• 1998 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast (4/29/2008)
  Deep golden color, slightly cloudy indicating no filtration. Fairly reserved nose of ripe fruit and vanilla. Medium-full body, big full tropical and lime flavors with just noticeable oak. Good finish, but ultimately lacking finesse and complexity. (92 pts.)

Continue reading "Two Legendary California Chardonnays"

Posted by Paul at 07:36 AM | Wine Tasting | Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

Memories

Bizou, a restaurant where I had many fine meals, and where I acquired many fond memories closed three years ago this month (becomming Coco500).

Alas, I almost never visit the new incarnation, having eaten there only three times in the past three years. The food is good, and there's really no logical reason not to eat there, so it must be illogical. It must be emotional. I miss the staff and the environment, I miss the good times, and the food that was Bizou. The picture is of a pork belly dish served the last night Bizou was open for business. (click on the pic for a larger version). I remember it was delicious.

Posted by Paul at 11:22 PM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

April 23, 2008

Baby Artichokes and Shrimp

I like baby artichokes. They aren't really cute, but often they don't have a choke thus making them much easier to clean. This time of year I can find baby artichokes on Saturday at the Iacopi Farms stand at the Ferry Plaza farmer's market, and also in Chinatown where they are priced much cheaper at 10 for $1. Mark Bittman's blog Bitten recently featured a recipe for Baby Artichokes With Potatoes, Garlic, Olives and Shrimp. Since I had some baby artichokes and shrimp in the refrigerator, the constant what's for dinner question seemed settled. However, not finding any olives or potatoes, I had to make do with what I did have. Here is dinner—a recipe for Baby Artichokes, Fennel, Parsnips, Capers and Shrimp. (This does use one luxury ingredient. I had a corked bottle of 2004 Aubert Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay which makes for a stupendous cooking wine!)

For 3 to 4 servings:

Continue reading "Baby Artichokes and Shrimp"

Posted by Paul at 08:02 AM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

Manresa: The Mauro Colagreco Dinner

This past weekend, Manresa hosted Chef Mauro Colagreco of Mirazur, a one-star Michelin restaurant set in a cliff-top grove of lemon trees in Menton on the Côte d’Azur. Manresa executive chef David Kinch shared creating a menu with M. Colagreco and two evenings of dining were presented.

I was fortunate enough to attend Sunday evening. My dinner proceeded as follows:

Three Amuse bouche:

Garden barbajuans (beet greens, chard, chrysanthemum…) - small pastry filled with creamed (though I don't think there was any cream involved) garden greens.

Shot of shallot cream, Granny Smith apple, & 'sode de dulse' - an 'Arpege Egg' substitute with layered ingredients/flavors, with rich and salty tastes and contrasting textures.

Oyster with kohlrabi choucroute, champagne vinegar - an oyster shell filled with shredded pickled kohlrabi, topped with a raw oyster and covered with a champagne vinegar foam. Yummy!

Continue reading "Manresa: The Mauro Colagreco Dinner"

Posted by Paul at 09:49 AM | Restaurants | Comments (0)

April 21, 2008

Orson Kiosk Now Open

The Citizen Cake bakery has now moved to 508 4th Street (actually, it is on Bryant), and the Orson Kiosk is now open five days a week, serving caffeine- and sugar- craving commuters . From 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, the Kiosk serves up coffee and espresso drinks and a menu of baked goods.

The early morning crowd can get a 'citoyen croissant' as well as a fresh fruit scone, pain au chocolat, ham and cheese croissant, and a cinnamon roll. Other offerings include cookies, including a signature chocolate chip version, german chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, chocolate espresso, and ginger molasses. Vanilla and chocolate cupcakes are always available, with additional chef's choice flavors as the muse dictates.

I've tried an espresso and a cappuccino. The espresso had little crema and was too cool, and the cappuccino had too much milk and also wasn't hot enough. I'm hoping that these are teething problems. I think they'll eventually get it, and the pastries are certainly a lot better than what you can get at Starbucks.

Orson Kiosk
508 4th Street (at Bryant)
San Francisco, CA 94107

Postscript: My review of Orson - the restaurant is here. It is from a visit on opening night. I've visited a few times since then and will be posting further thoughts later. Enough later so that it doesn't look like I'm the Orson PR agency!! :-).

Update: A recent cappuccino (in the afternoon) was much better. There was less milk, making it a cappuccino instead of a latte, and the temperature was better. I do believe they are getting the hang of it.

Posted by Paul at 11:17 PM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

Salt and Pepper

Courtesy of the BBC News, a new look at seasoning: Salt & Pepper.

Posted by Paul at 01:10 PM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

April 04, 2008

Tasting Note: 2000 Ojai Syrah Melville Vineyard

I opened this last weekend for dinner at Syrah Bistro in Santa Rosa (an excellent place, BTW) after a number of winery visits. I really enjoyed it. Ojai does not get the respect that they deserve for making very fine wines.

2000 Ojai Syrah Melville Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills (3/29/2008)

Color was a dark and opaque deep red-black with little or no lightening at the rim. Nose was very expressive showing herbs of provence, reserved elegant fruit, and cold-climate pepper. The palate showed completely dry with no California pruniness or overripeness at all. There were tastes of rich dark berries, spices, minerals and marked pepperiness. The wine showed great balancing acidity, and initially there were prominent tannins on the finish. After 20 minutes or so, the tannins began to integrate and the wine really opened up. It was still obviously Californian, but closer to a Northern Rhone profile than any other California syrah I've ever tasted, save for Edmunds St. John. No obvious oak, and certainly no excessive alcohol. Although delicious now, this has great structure and is still young with years ahead of it. Most excellent. (92 pts.)

Posted by Paul at 10:11 AM | Wine Tasting | Comments (0)

March 31, 2008

How to Make Champagne

George Leonard Herter, a sporting goods magnate who lived in Minnesota, is responsible for the most outrageous and wildly entertaining series of cooking books ever published. I know that this is a mighty tall claim, but “Bull Cook and Authentic Historical Recipes and Practices” (volumes 1 through 3) will make your jaw drop and your eyes bug, and  will provide endless amusement and occasional enlightenment.  It was fortunate that Herter was wealthy and was willing to finance the self-publishing of these volumes, as no publishing company would ever have touched them, and without Mr. Herter’s initiative, we wouldn’t know How to Make a Peanut Butter Sandwich. (“Most modern cooks have no idea how to prepare one.” Okay, I’ll tell you: butter then toast the bread.)

The opening paragraphs give an accurate flavor of what is to follow:

Continue reading "How to Make Champagne"

Posted by Paul at 04:01 PM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

March 25, 2008

Deconstructed Meatloaf

From reading the headling to an entry on Michael Bauer's blog this morning "Food that reaches for the stars," I thought Bauer was going to ridicule restaurant dishes presented as architectural towers. But the actual complaint was something else. A reader had written complaining about the need to "deconstruct" his food. ".... the house special, meatloaf, that was supposed to be comfort food; instead it discomforted me. Again, mashed potatoes as the foundation, with a thick slice of meat loaf next, with vegetables on top of the meatloaf, all topped by a lava flow of gravy. In deconstructing this dish, the result on the plate looked even worse than the pureed beet escapade -- sloppy and unappealing."

This complaint is certainly something very new and surprising. It is a child of the obsessions of post-modern cuisine. It wasn't so long ago that putting multiple ingredients together was a way to make something delicious: beef stew comes to mind. Then chefs started 'deconstructing' the food. A few years ago, I had a particularly interesting Bloody Mary constructed/deconstructed by Ludovic Lefebvre consisting of frozen vodka crystals, tomato sorbet and celery foam. This trend along with the recent super infatuation with farm-branded terroir-driven ingredients as pure as the driven snow has led to the complaint above where someone is upset when meatloaf is served atop mashed potatoes. Ridiculous, I say. Where's my Hungarian Goulash?

Posted by Paul at 06:57 AM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

March 23, 2008

STS-41-B

On February 7, 1984, Bruce McCandless while on the STS-41-B Space Shuttle Challenger mission, tested the MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit). At one point he was 320 feet from the Challenger, the farthest from a spacecraft in free space that any man has ever been. A famous photograph was taken that day, which NASA suggests may be one of the most remarkable photographs ever taken of a human being. I'm not going to disagree. See the continuation for the photograph.

Continue reading "STS-41-B"

Posted by Paul at 06:45 PM | Technology | Comments (0)

Concert for Easter Sunday

The finale to Mahler's incomparable Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"

(Click on through for the lyrics)...

Continue reading "Concert for Easter Sunday"

Posted by Paul at 07:09 AM | Music | Comments (0)

March 21, 2008

Best Cookbooks

Mark Bittman is evidently about to publish a new cookbook list, as he is soliciting suggestions on his blog. This got me thinking about my favorites. A cookbook list should be neither intimidated by tradition nor a slave to innovation; it should cover both ends of the spectrum. So here is my list of old favorites and new wonderbooks....

Continue reading "Best Cookbooks"

Posted by Paul at 08:19 AM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)

March 12, 2008

Short Reviews: WD-50

WD-50 in New York City is the showcase for the cooking of Wylie Dufresne. Chef Dufrense is the Milton Babbitt (contemporary composer who wrote a famous article: "Who Cares if you Listen?") of the contemporary food scene. The food at WD-50 worships creativity and uniqueness to the exclusion of taste. Some dishes are inspired, some are edible, and some are bad jokes. If there ever was a place where one can see the relationship between the creative impulse and arrogance, this is the place. Recommended only for food journalists doing research.

Note: My meal here was two years ago. Although Frank Bruni in a recent New York Times review agreed somewhat with my opinion, saying that "many visitors to the restaurant understandably feel that what they’ve experienced isn’t so much a meal as a prank," he now says that the food at WD-50 has moved towards emphasizing providing dining pleasure above simply showing off: The Shape of Eggs Benedict to Come. If true, this is certainly a welcome development.

Posted by Paul at 07:55 AM | Restaurants | Comments (0)

March 11, 2008

Bet Too Cool, Rat

Most folks know O Fortuna! from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana from the soundtrack to Excalibur. Or maybe they know that Hitler was supposed to be fond of the piece. However you've come across it, and I'm betting that you certainly have, it is a bit tough to get all of the nuances because it is sung in Latin and most of us have pretty rusty Latin skills.

Don't despair! Some kind soul has posted an absolutely stupendous ENGLISH version of Carmina Burana. (Hit reload when you reach the page to ensure proper synchronization of the music and images. From The Rest is Noise)

P.S. The post title will make more sense after you have clicked through.

Posted by Paul at 09:28 AM | Music | Comments (0)

Two Internet Tips for the Food Obsessed

Eventually I suspect we'll all be connected to the matrix with some sort of brain-WiFi interface, but for now, we've got to use cellphones. The amount of information available on a cellphone is fast approaching infinity.

A particularly interesting IM (instant message) source for people who like to eat fish, but who wish to do so without depleting what stocks we have left is Fishphone. They have a neat service that will tell you about the sustainability of most any species. This can come in handy when you are standing in front of the fish counter and trying to buy dinner and save the world at the same time. Just send an IM to 30644 with "fish" followed the name of the fish you are wondering about. Wait a few seconds, and back will come the answer. I sent "fish ono" and the Reply was: "(GREEN) few environmental concerns: wahoo are not targeted directly but are caught as a bycatch in other fisheries; HEALTH ADVISORY: high mercury content."

If the cupboard is bare, and you are too famished to drag yourself to the store, there's another new website that will be helpful. GrubHub will help you "Discover who delivers." If you live in Boston, Chicago, or San Francisco, you can use GrubHub.com to find every restaurant that delivers to your abode. Just enter your address and choose from the list. You can sort by distance or cuisine. I was gratified to find that I can get sushi, dim sum and greek food delivered.

By the way, have you ever noticed how few seafood restaurants deliver?

Posted by Paul at 08:45 AM | Food & Wine | Comments (0)