marlena spieler

the most boring image possible......an image to look at and think: i'm glad i'm not there, in that frame, and i'm so glad i'm eating something better than that for dinner. is it a dumbing down thing? or is it arrogance, as in, we're so superior that we don't have to make the effort to look good.....the food too, so plain, so boring.... i see this attitude around, but never in america. still, gourmet mag has been a bit that way of late, sort of making a statement...about something, something other than irrisistably good food. marlena

Cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese! I could barely gag down velveeta unless it was grilled in a sandwich. And yogurt. it was so sour. and butter, real butter. so rich. what was i thinking of? my grandfather once ranted and raved for about 2 hours at my brother and i about how horrible we were and what failures were were in life because, unlike our cousins, who were perfect in every way including eating dairy products, we didn't like these things. how silly was he? now i think: oh man if he could see me with the cheeses, with the fermented dairy products. and also, i do love them, but what was that so important to him? i am just thankful that i have allowed myself to grow into this passion, unlike my brother who declared himself lactose intolerant (i don't think so!) and never ate dairy again until the day he died. Now I yearn for the most flavourful (read: stinky) of cheeses, and am a connoisseur of yogurts, could live on tzadziki. and butter: well butter is beautiful. oh, and i didn't like beets then, love them now. m

Oh You Guys, I am sooooo Depressed about this! But not surprised, alas, not surprised! why is it that as soon as something is getting good, generally the rot sets in. how many places keep up their standards? and as for spitalfields, well, iredevelopment was long on the cards. why don't these folks ever redevelop something to a better rather than worse state? and why can't a felafel place just keep making good felafel? once you got it going, it ain't like you need to emply a crew of chefs to keep the cuisine up to par. marlena

in fact, i read this exact same thing in print (ie that was their aim) when they went after gordon for the show. (and i wish i could say that the examples of mean spiritedness are for the camera only.......) m

I agree with Daniel, have always been under the impression that pasta originated in the middle east with a basic gruely-dough, rolled into balls or shapes and boiled. but from everything i've read, i feel it was very very long time ago, as in one of the first foods that humans created........ oh how i love pasta! marlena

Shake Shack, I love the shake shack, but man, the wrong time at the shake shack is soooo the wrong time, unless you like to spend a long time waiting. last autumn before it closed for winter i went and spent a whole sunday trying to get a shack burger and a fries and of course regretted not getting a concrete! now that its spring going into summer, i can hardly wait for next trip to ny, in a few weeks time. i guess that 10.59 is the time to go, and i'm trying to figure out what to get. i wasn't pleased with the fries so i think i should have a much larger burger, a double. and as for the concretes, any recommendation? i don't even know what a concrete is but several of my shake shack adoring friends always say get a concrete, but i keep forgetting to ask them what exactly it is (ie i don't want to sound stupid). x x x marlena, whose mouth is drooling, just thinking about that burger.......

Ah, Alain Passard's Vegetable, in le Printemps, was deeeee-lightful! there were five of us so we ate everything on the menu, including the chocolate cakes which we had a double order of. everything was divine, except for the raviolis in jerusalem artichoke consomme....... the risotto was creamy, dreamy, topped with a halo-like flurry of thinly shredded raw vegetables; the famous egg was famously delicious. lets see, the pureed mushroom soup with crushed peanuts was a wonderful combination of familiar and exotic...a pureed vegetable soup with a mustard seed mousse on top...the plate of little shivers of vegetables, in piles, with a rosemary sweet-sour vinaigrette.....the less successful items were the croque vegetal, the aforementioned ravioli in consommee, and.......oh the lemongrass creme anglaise with the melten choc cakes was yummy and a nice balance, the the famous red fruit in hibiscus infusion was the same one that I enjoyed at l'Arpege. oh, and how can i forget the onion gratin? the paper thin layer of string-thin onions baked in a casserole.......oh and the steamed peas with grapefruit and basil, another starter. fabulous! get there before its all over, i think the 4th of june..... and if you see alain passard, give him my regards! it is such a delightful venue. (i'm only sorry that i missed the previous restaurant ephemere, by pierre gagnaire). bon appetit! marlena

Photo please. Actually, photo demanded! ← its gorgeous and has the logo of idaho potatoes on it, the colours of the machine front are orange/russet/brown as they should be. it looks like a magic box of potatoes that is ever-ready to fry up some nice fat french fries whenever you want them! except that i've never been able to. I am actually frightened that the machine is going to dissappear before i've had the opportunity to put in my coins and watch/taste it in action. for a photo.....stay tuned. i don't have a digital camera but know that i need one asap. i've just got fear of purchasing the right one. should be sorted out by the time i next reach sacto in the next month or so...... marlena

wow, i grew up in a pawn shop on second street, before it was called old sac (when it was still called skid row). have you ever noticed the french fry machine (by idaho potatoes) at the train station just across the freeway from old sac? i always look at it longingly, but its never working when i have the time....the idea of a vending maching that fries potatoes is quite exciting. thanks for this important info! I love having a mission when i go to sacto. marlena

I was just having this discussion last week in Paris with my friend, Paule Caillat who runs Promenades Gourmandes. We have these discussions periodically, discussing when spices first began to seap into the Parisian kitchen, when modern influences from outside France began to trickle in...... When I was writing Paris, (Williams Sonoma) i thought about the subject a lot, and tried to incapsulate the Parisian kitchen in its pages. there are so many influences, and there is the history, tradition/s at the table, a sense of order and schools that teach the classics, restaurants of great elegance, and also ethnicity. the markets especially reflect the neighbourhoods and offer a true taste of Paris. (by the way, a big huge giant couscous is to be made in marche d'aligre, omigosh, one of these weekends, i forget which one.). there are so many foodie happenings too, people are interested in good food, even if they are not cooking as much as they once were (in fact are not cooking much at all, a complaint i hear a lot). also, when i was working on the book, and I would travel in France outside Paris I was struck by how all of France comes to Paris, and how all of the world also comes to Paris and yet how more than the sum of its regional parts Paris is, and yet how often it is less than its particular regional part.........(the quality of bakery goods in the loir, for instance, was often higher than in Paris, the ingredients of a higher quality, and yet the putting it together lacked the pizzazz of paris.......) i don't know. i would expect anything cake-or dish-wise from any region in france, in paris and feel that it belonged there, because it probably does somewhere in one of the little shops or bistros. ditto for the various ethnic neighbourhoods/shops/restaurants. Marlena.

used to live around the corner and every so often would go to the arkansas and have Kir whip me up a bbqed duck breast. if you make it there, ask Kir if he has any duck breasts. his bbq sauce is delish. once i did a radio programme (BBC radio 4) on spitalfields market which was the foodie place before borough......its charming around christmas time especially, and the butcher used to sell sausages from happy pigs only. also i think the felafel place was quite good. but then, well, moved to the country and hardly every get spitalfields way any longer. marlena

I honestly can't imagine poutine grossing anyone out. What's not to love about it? I found a place here in Sacramento that sells fries from "around the world". That's all that's on the menu...just chips. One of their menu items is poutine, called "Quebec fries". I ran in and ordered it as poutine and the fellow behind the counter said, "So, what part of Canada are you from?" (He was from Ontario.) ← ----- where is this palace of french fries exactly? i've always wanted to taste poutine and now you say they are right there, right there in river city! will be visiting parents in sacto fairly soon and need to try the poutine. any precautions i should take? is eating them in the afternoon a good idea? i don't forsee much alcohol intake in sacto for me, its a family visiting time and we ain't drinkers. happily looking forward to this, marlena

i find it hard to believe, but whenever i serve kasha, people go crazy, and not in the most positive of ways. even my daughter, with whom i made the mistake of not feeding it to her as a small child, refuses to eat it. as for my scots husband, say no more. he finds it horrible. i'm convinced that one as to grow up eating kasha, to love it! (sad to say). marlena, the kasha eater

hmmmm, i've eaten there a handful of times in the last two years and always enjoyed it hugely, though more at lunch when the prices are a bargain than at dinner. i've always come away with a dish or two that became an inspiration or part of my repertoire: simple stuff like lamb with aubergine, or tarte au moutarde, and an iced beetroot soup with hazelnut creme. and very friendly waiters. its the place i take family or friends, or young people, who have never eaten in paris or in france, because its always been so pleasant and quite honest. nice clear flavours if no culinary handstands. meanwhile i'm looking for ideas for my famous friend from a famous newspaper who's visiting paris, and her recommendations from an equally famous writer were chez denise, chez michel, and cafe moderne. also l'os de moelle. i think that chez michel is not as good as it used to be so thats off my list. and i haven't been to the other two......chez denise is a scene. so i said okay, chez denise, but they want to go at 7 pm to avoid the crowd as they are unsure of themselves in a big crush in french, the communal tables and all...... what do we think? any other suggestions? which cheese shop would you' all recomend, which bakery for crouissants (i have the recommendateion from LKCHU for the oragnic maison kayser on rue monge and will take them there.......maybe marriage freres...... merci beaucoup in advance, marlena

at l'as du felafel, on rue des rosiers, be sure to get the delux felafel, the one with everything. it comes with eggplant, the plain ones are not as gaudily delicious. museums recommended really great. if you're on rue des rosier any time near a jewish holiday there is usually a very festival spirit. at chanukka chabadnicks sometimes give out little chanukkiot. and the bakery, oh what is the name, it starts with an S, makes special chanukka treats, and the women in there are a laugh. you can get H and H bagels on rue de turenne, there are a couple of pleasant jewish cafes there. there is a kosher sushi place not far, but i forget the name. when i was there last, about 6-8 months ago, many of the young observant jews said they did not wear their kippot (and kept their tzitzes tucked into their trousers) as they were not safe on the street if they had obvious signs of being jewish. isn't that sad. marlena

anyone tired of matzo brie yet? i never think its possible, but i do come close during pesach. i have been thinking about porcini/cepe matzo brie. went to make it last night but didn't have any porcini/cepe! and omigod, was all out of matzo, too! (we'be been busy eaters!). marlena

matzo brie, this is the thread for me. i loooovvvvveee matzo brie. make it simple, plain: 2 sheets matzo to one egg, soak in water (my ex husband used milk, and sugar and orange flower water and cinnamon, then cooked it in butter like a pancake, served it with jam or sugar. since i'm a strictly savoury and crisp girl is it any wonder things didn't work out). so like i said: i like mine crisp and savory, cooked in extra virgin olive oil, with a sprinkling of coarse grains of salt after the cooking (otherwise it will get soggy if you add them too soon). and you must break the matzo up so you have chunks, and bits, and crispness, and then chunks with soft egginess inside and crisp edges on the outside.... and i think that who you eat your matzo brie with is as important as the way you make it. marlena ps my beloved grandmother used to make matzo brie almost every sunday morning for breakast. she served it was crisp bacon. i model myself after her. i haven't mentioned what else she made for breakfast to go with it all: corned beef hash. boiled potatoes. scrambled eggs. wheatena. fresh fruit. stewed prunes. watermelon. green onions. you get the picture.

i've tried this before with my own books and the person looking through the book usually runs away fast, thinking that i'm a maniac, or at least someone with delusions. if i can get them to look at my photo, things go much better however..........

one of our lodgers when we lived in london always insisted on her space in the kitchen, you know, stay out of my space, made a big deal of it. fair enough, everyone has their own comfort level of this sort of thing, but our warehouse kitchen was the size of a small football field. and always, as we would be cooking at basically the same time, she made it a point of extoling the virtues of her food over ours. i would be testing the recipes for my cookbooks, columns, etc, and she would take her ready meal from its package and make some comments about the superiority of her meals as she waited for the ting! the one thing that killed me was when she made pasta. i was writing a pasta book at the time. but she's extoling her technique. she put the raw pasta in a tiny pot, so small the raw stuff barely fit. then she poured boiling water from the kettle on it, and only then put it on the stove. cooked it for about an hour until it was so gluey i thought that they'll never need to kill another horse for glue. then she tried to drain it . then opened a jar of gloppy gluey supposedly carbonara stuff, and a cardboard container of cheese to shake on. once i couldn't bear it, and wanted her to have a nicer meal, so i had the gall to suggest that she use a larger pot and put the pasta into boiling water instead of vise versa. she said : you have your way, i have mine thank you very much. its not that i wanted to impose my way of doing things over hers. nor was she jealous and wanted to eat my food. she adamantly did not cause i offered her, invited her to our dinner parties (she would come but eat her own food). i still feel queasy when the image of her pasta comes up in my minds eye. so stubborn and determined to make the most disgusting pot of pasta on this planet. and as i said, if she wasn't eating ready meals, this is what she was eating.

i had a friend from australia get a white collar job at one of the competing fried chicken chains. she said as part of her training she had to learn the difference in taste between each and every fried chicken chain in america. she said all she has to do is smell the oil and she knows exactly which one it is...... but maybe there really aren't too many. i don't know. still, i'm glad i have never had to develop that particular skill..... marlena

you've made my day! x marlena

I refer the honourable lady to the Altnaharrie Inn in Ullapool, or more recently, the Three Chimneys on Skye. ← thanks very much for the suggestions--they are so well known, nothing like my little trattoria/bistro/taqueria by the side of a dirt road along the shore with the sea lapping at it....... in any event, when i'm up at the Lochaber highland games (on the Road to the Isles) this summer i'll head over to the Three Chimneys on Skye, but titillate me with a few words about what they serve? As for as the Altnaharrie, I think i'll give that a miss for purely personal reasons, as en route there a long long time ago my family had a catastrophic car crash--brother in law was working there. So neither i nor husband wish to return to those memories..... but thanks for the suggestion. this proves how subjective these things can be.........

Waaaa, they passed up the culinarily entertaining moi. i could have given them something to chew on........seriously, not surprised the final choices were....less than......effervescent or full of ideas. mostly the big room was filled with people who were aggressively boring, but had that look in their eyes: CHOOSE ME AND I'LL BE FAMOUS. oh well. but it would have been fun to have done the programme...... x m

Dear Moby P: yes. i eat as broadly as i can and ditto for travelling. the two usually go together but not always. and brithack: yes. you're so right, exactly as i said: its subjective, and yes, i would have meant it at the moment, and looking back did, with a small change. but yes, so much not there, so much. so if i put on my list, like, a little trattoria which no name on an island that you have to row to and wade in the water to get ashore what kind of chance would it have. who else would be going there? maybe we should just forget the awards and just throw big parties with lots of yummy canapes and free booze? ? marlena

I have to add that I also love this stuff and big bottles sit on my counter without going bad. I don't think any oil benefits from long exposure to sun and heat but I don't find Bariani particularly sensitive. L ove this stuff and it's a very good bargain. ← I've long been a big fan of Bariani olive oil from the very first moment i saw a little old couple selling olive oil under the freeway farmers market in sacramento. i bought a bottle and couldn't believe such honest good quality right there in river city! i do love the stuff, excellent olive oil. and nice people, all of the bariani people i meet. i often tell people about the oil and recommend it. we used it in my cooking classes at the chronicle cooking school at the ferry building. x marlena