Truly...
Read on and drool....
http://fat-of-the-land.blogspot.com/
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Why Oyster Liquor Is Like Bacon
Continuing with the Mark Kurlansky inspired fetish...
The cold & the fog, as well as the discussions of turn of the century New York oyster culture, gave me a craving for oyster stew. The experience of making oyster stew this evening became a lesson in how even if you screw up a recipe, oyster liquor (the flavorful juices that surround oysters in their shell and in packaging) will still make it really tasty.
I followed a recipe that broke down like this.
1/2 cup of butter
1 cup of celery
3 tablespoons of shallots
1 quart of half & half
2 12 oz jars of oysters
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
To avoid excessive calories I replaced the half & half with whole milk.
Big mistake. The milk curdled. The stew ended up looking kind of nasty, as you can see below;
Even though it looked nasty, the taste was spot on. The oysters and oyster liquor gave the stew a wonderful salty briny flavor. Combined with the butter, shallots, and celery, it all came together into a rich and satisfying broth.
If I do this recipe again I might not bother with any of the dairy products, just use a clear broth and good quality root vegetables and herbs.
This gets back to the point of the post, oyster liquor is like bacon. Whatever you mix it with, it comes out great.
The cold & the fog, as well as the discussions of turn of the century New York oyster culture, gave me a craving for oyster stew. The experience of making oyster stew this evening became a lesson in how even if you screw up a recipe, oyster liquor (the flavorful juices that surround oysters in their shell and in packaging) will still make it really tasty.
I followed a recipe that broke down like this.
1/2 cup of butter
1 cup of celery
3 tablespoons of shallots
1 quart of half & half
2 12 oz jars of oysters
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
To avoid excessive calories I replaced the half & half with whole milk.
Big mistake. The milk curdled. The stew ended up looking kind of nasty, as you can see below;
 |
| From Storehouse |
Even though it looked nasty, the taste was spot on. The oysters and oyster liquor gave the stew a wonderful salty briny flavor. Combined with the butter, shallots, and celery, it all came together into a rich and satisfying broth.
If I do this recipe again I might not bother with any of the dairy products, just use a clear broth and good quality root vegetables and herbs.
This gets back to the point of the post, oyster liquor is like bacon. Whatever you mix it with, it comes out great.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
OK, now I have a goal
Signed up a few weeks back for Ms Waves to Wine.
http://bikecan.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BIKE_CAN_homepage
The past two weekends I've finally begun to start training seriously for this.
Today while riding with my buddy J on the East Bay waterfront trail I rediscovered what I loved most about cycling -- speed and rhythm.
I also rediscovered what its like to have every muscle from my ass to my heels either stiff or aching.
The price tag of having a goal to work for.
http://bikecan.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BIKE_CAN_homepage
The past two weekends I've finally begun to start training seriously for this.
Today while riding with my buddy J on the East Bay waterfront trail I rediscovered what I loved most about cycling -- speed and rhythm.
I also rediscovered what its like to have every muscle from my ass to my heels either stiff or aching.
The price tag of having a goal to work for.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Mark Kurlansky -- YOU ROCK!
As I mentioned in my last post, I broke, I gave into my oyster cravings this evening.
After my Krav workout, I decided to head to the local seafood joint, Hyde Street Seafood.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/hyde-street-seafood-house-and-raw-bar-san-francisco
I was alone this evening. M was out for the evening. Its my birthday tommorow -- after a rough year, I think I deserve to splurge a little on some gluttony.
I initially just ordered an Anchor Steam and a half dozen of the Chef Creek (British Columbia), Steamboat (Washington State), and another breed of oyster that began with Q and U (QuXXXXXXXX). The Chef Creek and and Steamboat were wonderful, briny, but also creamy and rich. The third one that I can't name was briny, but not creamy.
I chatted briefly with one of the waitstaff. He described his own personal bias towards the smaller oysters, briny being preferable to creamy. Unfortunately he added the same twist that many wine snobs like to use -- "people who really know oysters...."
To each their own.
I ordered another Anchor Steam [Anchor goes great with seafood]. Then ordered a dozen of the Chef's Creek and Steamboat. I was in creamy oyster heaven.
I chatted some more with the barmaid/waitress and another waiter there. Had a wonderful discussion about the word of oyster eating, cited the Kurlansky book. We discussed the odd thing of Kumamoto oysters becoming an Oregon & Washington State product, and how the temperature of the water affects the flavor of the oyster. I also mentioned Kurlansky's shtick about how NY City used to be the center of the universe for oysters. The waiter I talked to wasn't surprised -- he had many wonderful East Coast oysters.
Discussion drifted onto the crab world -- the East Coast blue crab versus the West Coast dungeness. Definitely strong preferences for either crab. The waiter, reflecting terroir cited his love of the dungeness. The barmaid/waitress cited the sweet and tender delicacy of the East Coast blue. I love them both.
I had the best of both worlds that night. Great oysters, and great conversation with people who are passionate about their food.
Mark Kurlansky, Thank you!
After my Krav workout, I decided to head to the local seafood joint, Hyde Street Seafood.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/hyde-street-seafood-house-and-raw-bar-san-francisco
I was alone this evening. M was out for the evening. Its my birthday tommorow -- after a rough year, I think I deserve to splurge a little on some gluttony.
I initially just ordered an Anchor Steam and a half dozen of the Chef Creek (British Columbia), Steamboat (Washington State), and another breed of oyster that began with Q and U (QuXXXXXXXX). The Chef Creek and and Steamboat were wonderful, briny, but also creamy and rich. The third one that I can't name was briny, but not creamy.
I chatted briefly with one of the waitstaff. He described his own personal bias towards the smaller oysters, briny being preferable to creamy. Unfortunately he added the same twist that many wine snobs like to use -- "people who really know oysters...."
To each their own.
I ordered another Anchor Steam [Anchor goes great with seafood]. Then ordered a dozen of the Chef's Creek and Steamboat. I was in creamy oyster heaven.
I chatted some more with the barmaid/waitress and another waiter there. Had a wonderful discussion about the word of oyster eating, cited the Kurlansky book. We discussed the odd thing of Kumamoto oysters becoming an Oregon & Washington State product, and how the temperature of the water affects the flavor of the oyster. I also mentioned Kurlansky's shtick about how NY City used to be the center of the universe for oysters. The waiter I talked to wasn't surprised -- he had many wonderful East Coast oysters.
Discussion drifted onto the crab world -- the East Coast blue crab versus the West Coast dungeness. Definitely strong preferences for either crab. The waiter, reflecting terroir cited his love of the dungeness. The barmaid/waitress cited the sweet and tender delicacy of the East Coast blue. I love them both.
I had the best of both worlds that night. Great oysters, and great conversation with people who are passionate about their food.
Mark Kurlansky, Thank you!
I HATE YOU Mark Kurlansky!
Recently I started reading Mark Kurlansky's "Big Oyster: History on a Half Shell."
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Oyster-History-Half-Shell/dp/0345476395/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247032094&sr=8-1
I had read Kurlansky's first world history via food book "Cod" many years back. The Goddamn "Cod" book gave me ferocious cravings for canned and preserved fish. All the recipes involving salt cod and various cod organs were downright destructive.
That being said, it was a wonderful book.
"Big Oyster" had the same effect as "Cod." Midway through the book, Kurlansky starts putting in oyster recipes and anecdotes about oyster eating in 17th and 18th century New York. Over the past two days I tried to suppress my oyster eating urges. I tried to visualize the most excessive of the ancient oyster recipes -- such as stuffing a whole chicken with 100+ raw oysters then baking the monster.
No use. I broke this evening. Read the next post.....
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Oyster-History-Half-Shell/dp/0345476395/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247032094&sr=8-1
I had read Kurlansky's first world history via food book "Cod" many years back. The Goddamn "Cod" book gave me ferocious cravings for canned and preserved fish. All the recipes involving salt cod and various cod organs were downright destructive.
That being said, it was a wonderful book.
"Big Oyster" had the same effect as "Cod." Midway through the book, Kurlansky starts putting in oyster recipes and anecdotes about oyster eating in 17th and 18th century New York. Over the past two days I tried to suppress my oyster eating urges. I tried to visualize the most excessive of the ancient oyster recipes -- such as stuffing a whole chicken with 100+ raw oysters then baking the monster.
No use. I broke this evening. Read the next post.....
Monday, June 22, 2009
Demographics & Fitness
About two weeks back I did an open water swim at Aquatic Park, my first in 8 months. It was not that easy. I was out of practice, and had lost a lot of my swimming endurance. It was still wonderful though. Lining up with a bunch of other wetsuit swimmers beforehand, the sun, the surf, there is nothing comparable.
Anyways, before I digress too far....
After being away for so many months, and spending the past 4 months mostly at a combined CrossFit and Krav Maga school, the thing that hit me most was the age difference between the two groups. Open water swimming and triathlon related workouts tend to be dominated by 30 something and 40 something types like myself. There were multiple people in our crew at Aquatic Park that had either gray hairs in their beards or their hair, but still swam beautifully.
Krav Maga/Crossfit on the other hand seems to be dominated by the 20-somethings. After Climb California I checked out the age info on my fellow team members -- I was the 2nd oldest member of our crew.
The question arises of where does all of this leave me. Open water swims, triathlons, thats were I came from. I'm now several years older than I was when I first started that stuff, now I'm diving into a fitness craze dominated by people up to a decade younger than I am.
This doesn't make it any easier to take a hook punch to the jaw.
Anyways, before I digress too far....
After being away for so many months, and spending the past 4 months mostly at a combined CrossFit and Krav Maga school, the thing that hit me most was the age difference between the two groups. Open water swimming and triathlon related workouts tend to be dominated by 30 something and 40 something types like myself. There were multiple people in our crew at Aquatic Park that had either gray hairs in their beards or their hair, but still swam beautifully.
Krav Maga/Crossfit on the other hand seems to be dominated by the 20-somethings. After Climb California I checked out the age info on my fellow team members -- I was the 2nd oldest member of our crew.
The question arises of where does all of this leave me. Open water swims, triathlons, thats were I came from. I'm now several years older than I was when I first started that stuff, now I'm diving into a fitness craze dominated by people up to a decade younger than I am.
This doesn't make it any easier to take a hook punch to the jaw.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Kansai is the Heart & Soul of Japanese Cuisine
Had the pleasure of finally visiting Kansai with M earlier this month, specifically Osaka and Nara. My first visit ever to Japan was to Kyoto in 1998, so in a way this was a homecoming. It was also a homecoming of sorts for M as well. Her family is from Osaka originally, and they are still fans of the Hanshin Tigers (think Boston Red Sox but Japanese).
But back to the subject of my post...
This trip hit home the fact that while Tokyo might be the center of Modern Japanese culture, Kansai is the real home of Japanese cuisine. And when I mean Japanese cuisine I mean both the high and the low, the super refined Kaiseki and the street food that Japanese salaryman survive on. Anyone visiting Japan, seeking to experience the full range and depth of Japanese cuisine needs to go to Kansai, eating and drinking their way through Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, and (if possible) Kobe. In theory, you can experience the high Japanese cuisine and the low Japanese street food culture in Tokyo. But its just not the same. Its like eating Chicago deep dish pizza in Manhattan.
While in Nara we stayed at a beautiful old hotel that looked like it was frozen in the 1930's. Beautiful old woodwork. No ambient music playing in the background. The hotel bar served a few beers, tons of whiskey and imported liquors, but no mojitos or cosmos. The hotel provided a very nice Kaiseki dinner menu, some of which you can see below.
Very dainty, very nice, extremely refined in terms of taste & texture.
We then hit Osaka. M and I did a kuiadore, to eat and drink to excess the way Osaka people do it. I can spend several paragraphs boring you with the details, but the pictures below probably capture it all the best. Imagine each of these dishes with a soy sauce bottle size bottle of Japanese beer. You get the picture.
On a side note, the stuff you see just above is a kind of deep fried meat & seafood on a stick. Eating this stuff is subject to certain rules as you see below;
The raw egg on curry rice you see below was our brunch meal the next day. It was damn good....
Our dessert was takoyaki. Not the healthiest way of eating.
Anthony Bourdain's episode in Japan does a decent job of explaining that the origins of Osaka's eating culture are rooted in discriminatory laws dating back to Tokugawa era Japan. Specifically, the laws forbade merchants from spending their money on big houses and large parcels of land in order to prevent them from showing off their money, from challenging the merchants from using their money to challenge the power and authority of the Samurai. Instead, merchants spent their money on food and drink, leading to a rich and diverse food culture developing as a result of the patronage of the merchant class.
Frankly, I think the merchants got the better deal. Eating and drinking my way across Kansai, I appreciated their legacy.
But back to the subject of my post...
This trip hit home the fact that while Tokyo might be the center of Modern Japanese culture, Kansai is the real home of Japanese cuisine. And when I mean Japanese cuisine I mean both the high and the low, the super refined Kaiseki and the street food that Japanese salaryman survive on. Anyone visiting Japan, seeking to experience the full range and depth of Japanese cuisine needs to go to Kansai, eating and drinking their way through Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, and (if possible) Kobe. In theory, you can experience the high Japanese cuisine and the low Japanese street food culture in Tokyo. But its just not the same. Its like eating Chicago deep dish pizza in Manhattan.
While in Nara we stayed at a beautiful old hotel that looked like it was frozen in the 1930's. Beautiful old woodwork. No ambient music playing in the background. The hotel bar served a few beers, tons of whiskey and imported liquors, but no mojitos or cosmos. The hotel provided a very nice Kaiseki dinner menu, some of which you can see below.
 |
| From Japanese Porn (food) |
 |
| From Japanese Porn (food) |
 |
| From Japanese Porn (food) |
Very dainty, very nice, extremely refined in terms of taste & texture.
We then hit Osaka. M and I did a kuiadore, to eat and drink to excess the way Osaka people do it. I can spend several paragraphs boring you with the details, but the pictures below probably capture it all the best. Imagine each of these dishes with a soy sauce bottle size bottle of Japanese beer. You get the picture.
 |
| From Japanese Porn (food) |
 |
| From Japanese Porn (food) |
On a side note, the stuff you see just above is a kind of deep fried meat & seafood on a stick. Eating this stuff is subject to certain rules as you see below;
 |
| From Japanese Porn (food) |
The raw egg on curry rice you see below was our brunch meal the next day. It was damn good....
 |
| From Japanese Porn (food) |
Our dessert was takoyaki. Not the healthiest way of eating.
 |
| From Japanese Porn (food) |
Anthony Bourdain's episode in Japan does a decent job of explaining that the origins of Osaka's eating culture are rooted in discriminatory laws dating back to Tokugawa era Japan. Specifically, the laws forbade merchants from spending their money on big houses and large parcels of land in order to prevent them from showing off their money, from challenging the merchants from using their money to challenge the power and authority of the Samurai. Instead, merchants spent their money on food and drink, leading to a rich and diverse food culture developing as a result of the patronage of the merchant class.
Frankly, I think the merchants got the better deal. Eating and drinking my way across Kansai, I appreciated their legacy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
