ExtraMSG

They even fry them with halved oranges. All the tortillas are made to order there and they have the best panes dulces selection I've seen in the NW (and competitive with many I've seen in California). btw, did you guys ever read through this thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=10592 I've got a couple posts with pics in there somewhere.

You need to come down to Portland. We have over twice the Mexican population you guys have up there, I believe. I think we have a lot of Michoacanos, too. Michoacan is the state best known for their carnitas. Check out this pic from Salvador's in Woodburn, just south of Portland: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_photo.php

Since it's short notice, I'll try to help: I assume you've already checked out this thread you posted on a while back: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=31240&hl=cabo I would love to have a report on this place: http://www.charlietrotters.com/restaurant/cRestaurant.asp I would stay away from all chain-related places -- Senor Frogs, Shrimp Factory, et al. These are the Applebees of Mexico. Try to find the areas where the locals who are working the resorts, etc, eat. Often this will be a busy street just off a main section. I'm not familiar with Los Cabos, so I don't know how it will be there. Busy stands are the best. I often just ask the people who work at the resort. Ask for a good place for comida corrida or desayunos. The tortillas should be fresh and the salsas excellent. Look for freshly cooked shrimp and fish, or even better, shrimp ceviche. In both Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan, there's a popular dish called pescado zarandeado, which can be fantastic. See here (not the best pic in the world): http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_photo.php Here are some Chowhound threads: http://www.chowhound.com/boards/intl/messages/30211.html http://www.chowhound.com/boards/intl/messages/27452.html http://www.chowhound.com/boards/intl6/messages/24812.html

Cheese? Pastaworks, hands-down. See pics here: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_photo.php And here: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...lbum.php&page=3 The selection isn't going to impress like Cheese Board or the place at the Ferry Building, but in many ways I like it better. It's a manageable selection that changes and on average the cheeses are of higher quality, I think. There are a few mediocre domestics thrown in, but most domestics are top cheeses. And they let you try most everything, unlike Whole Foods or some of the other places that have good cheese selections. I do wish they'd carry a 4+ year aged gouda however. Unless you were talking specifically about the PDX Farmer's Market. There, it would be either Rogue Creamery or Juniper Grove, imo. The Crater Lake Blue at the former and the chevre at the latter. If you go through these two sets of pics, you'll probably see some examples: http://www.extramsg.com/modules.php?set_al...=view_album.php You can walk to Park Kitchen, Powell's, the Chinese Garden, and Pearl Bakery from Hung Far Low, at least. Get your picture and be off, I say. Caprial has a show with her, also cheesy, husband, John. It's better since they got rid of the audience, but it's still not a good show.

I think I do like the classic truffle, though, better than palets (sp?). More ganache and the ganache is more evenly distributed when you bite down. I'll take your word on which has better flavor, though. I never had the two close enough together to know.

Ditto on the chocolates (Elizabeth is an eGer, too, as are the LOW boys -- chefrodrigo, above -- so you know they care about food). I very much appreciate that they're not over-sweetened, they have a great texture, and the flavors are noticeable, but not overpowering. Now that Lemiuex (sp?) left, they're probably the best truffle-like concoctions in town. Way better than a place like Moonstruck.

Thanks for the great report. btw, Powell's City of Books on Burnside is only one of several of their stores. They have a technical bookstore a couple blocks down I used to live at. It has about the number of books of a Borders, but it's all computer and technical books. Their Cooks and Gardeners store is about the same, but all cooking and gardening (mostly cooking). Plus a travel bookstore and a couple other smaller general stores. They have a very good website, too, where you can even buy used and clearance books: http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/partner?htm...artner_id=28368 Glad you enjoyed your visit.

Another rellenos experiement. There were these perfect, but smallish, poblanos at the store (Safeway of all places). Had to use them. Had some shrimp and corn and mushrooms, so.... The chiles are stuffed with a "picadillo" of sauteed mushrooms and shrimp. The sauce below and on top is a mixture of sauteed corn, onions, garlic, and crema (and salt). Pretty decent really, although the poblanos were too spicy for my wife.

Mmmm. Ojo de agua. Although, for my money I'd hit a non-truck and get some tinga on a huarache at La Torta Loca.

Depends. Staccato probably has more interesting flavors on occasion, but Mio probably has better texture and all the standards. Staccato is now selling at the Portland Farmer's Market, though, which is nice. (Including Saturdays. I've also seen them driving around little bikes with the stuff.) I don't really like breakfast, so I'll let someone else go there. Although, on Sunday, Daily Cafe in Pearl has a fixed price brunch that was excellent, even to me. If you have a car, or even if you don't, I'd recommend hitting Ken's, St. Honore, and Pearl. Basically they're enough different that each has their advantage. St. Honore is better for French breads and a wider selection of pastries. Ken's emphasis is on sourdough. Pearl does Italian breads. They're all within NW Portland, with Pearl being in the Pearl, near Powell's, and Ken's and St. Honore being up in Nob Hill on opposite ends of the area. You can get to all three by Streetcar, but it'd be about 10 blocks to Ken's and a few less to St. Honore (each in the opposite direction of each other). If you want to work off some calories, though, it's an interesting walk down 21st to Burnside up to 23rd then over to Thurman and down to 21st again and back. Well, some of it is less interesting. But there are markets, boutiques, restaurants, music stores, etc, along the way. I used to work in that part of town and I often took really long lunches walking around there. The blocks aren't big and there isn't much up and down. Some highlights: Restaurants: Wildwood, Paley's, Papa Haydn (dessert case only), St. Honore, Ken's, the four restaurants of the Italian apocalypse (Serrato, Mingo, Tuscany Grill, and Basta's), etc. City Market NW: a collective with: pastaworks, selling cheese, salumi, produce, and wine; Newman's Fish Market, selling fresh shellfish and quality fish; Viande's, selling meats, both prepared and uncooked. Movie Theater: Cinema 21, an arthouse theater Music Store: Music Millenium Too many little shops to mention I think Caprial's and Wildwood uniquely speak of Portland better than most high end dining. Though that's not to say they're necessarily the best in town. Although each are among my favorites. (Although my last meal at Caprial's was executed poorly.) Paley's is in some ways superior to each. They definitely have better service and the space is cozier. Wildwood has some serious detractors, too. Do a search on Chowhound.com to see people's complaints. Other fine dining to consider: * Hurley's: upscale small plates. Try the savory flan. * Park Kitchen: midscale place with interesting local dishes * clarklewis: very much the trend in PDX, get anything small, normal, or family * Bluehour: Portland chic, but with quality dishes Make sure you go for dinner and get the fixed price meal. The place is exponentially better that way. A few other things to consider: * Split a snack of falafel from Karam in downtown * Banana blossom salad from Pho Van Bistro * A trip out to Tortilleria y Tienda de Leon for guisados (I'll drive!) * Khao soi from Sukhothai * Po pia sod from Cha Ba Thai * Try some cheeses at Pastaworks * LOW's lamb ribs at the Portland Farmer's Market (and some brisket) * Pambiche for Cuban and a fabulous dessert case * Dessert spring rolls from Saucebox * Mother's Bistro white chocolate banana bread pudding * Korean meatballs at Chinese Delicacy * Jerky from Gartner's Meats * Whatever fruit is fresh at New Seasons * Nuestra Cocina or Taqueria Nueve for regional Mexican * Pix for desserts that finally earn the word "decadent" * Esparza's for chips, salsa, and bbq pork nachos * Andina for ceviche and their free rolls Oh wait, you wanted to narrow your choices. I guess it's good I didn't get into the suburbs.

Isn't the butt the top of the shoulder, or something like that? It should be fine as long as it has enough fat on it. I've found that for the boiling/water method, the country style ribs do a better job, but the shoulder will be good enough. Edit: I should go to the links before I post. It confirmed, yes, it's the top of the shoulder.

A link to Seattle's openings and closings thread: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=11595&st=390

I guess I should have been reading that thread about you visiting Seattle. I would have given you the opportunity to satiate that urge to slap me around. I assume you went to the Farmer's Market, then. Glad you enjoyed our city. Have fun in Seattle. Buen provecho.

I've never had it, but I have a couple books that have recipes for it. Apparently it's a dish from the Yucatan. However, there certainly could be Americanizations of the dish. But here's what I got nonetheless: Ortiz, Mexican Cooking: Fry tortilla until crisp. Cover a fried tortilla with refried beans. Top it with a fried egg. Put another tostada on top of that. Add another fried egg. Top with salsa de jitomate and Tabasco. Garnish with peas and Parmesan. Poore, 1,000 Mexican Recipes: Fried tortilla covered with beans. Lightly coat with salsa de jitomate. Place a sunnyside up egg on top of that. Garnish with ham, peas, and fried plantains.

Truman, just a heads up. In the future it'd be best to give a more specific title. Also, since this forum covers the entire pacific nw, it's advisable to put whether it's Seattle [sEA] or Portland [PDX] or another city. Also, search the other forums. eg, there are two threads devoted to new restaurants in Portland and new restaurants in Seattle. Other than that, I don't have any info for you. Didn't mean to slap your hand, but since you're new....

McMenamins, stovetop?

Thanks for day 2. I bought some morels that day. See here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=33737 I really like that Crater Lake Blue, too. It and the Point Reyes Blue from California are my two favorite domestics. Too bad on the panini, that's my favorite thing from Pearl and one of my favorite bakery items in town.

Probably not a surprise to Scott, but I disagree to an extent. The danger in "eat whatever tastes good", especially as we become wealthier nations, is that we never develop a more interesting palate. Just make everything high in sugar, high in salt, and high in fat. Extra butter, extra salt. Mmmm, butter, salt. That's not to say that I think there should be a food police, but we should engage the question of authenticity actively. We should try to discover how the foods we eat sit in the history of their cuisine. We should encourage diversity in our restaurants. I don't want Taco Bell's approach to Mexican food to infect every other cuisine out there, where salsa gets replaced by ranch and thousand island. Fusion is fine, Americanization is fine, but when it becomes the dominant approach to a cuisine, I get worried. (And worse is when it gets passed off as traditional or "real" and we go around ignorant.) Cuisines largely arose by necessity, geography, and the concentration and mixing of distinct cultures. These aren't really issues any more. The world is becoming smaller. I can get fish sauce, tomatillos, or cous cous at my local Safeway. I can afford meat in every meal. I can afford as much cheese on anything I want. Sugar is cheap. Salt is cheaper. If we're not careful, I think we'll become food hedonists (I think largely we are here in the US already) "eating whatever tastes good" without an attempt to get a deeper and broader palate for the bounty of the earth. We should consider it a flaw if we can't learn to enjoy and understand the subtleties of other cuisines. The thing is, we're mostly born with the same tongue, so we should be able to train ourselves to appreciate foreign foods. You can live your life fucking anything that moves. Likewise, you can live your life adding ranch to anything you put in your mouth. I just don't think either life will result in meaningful relationships with the world's cultures and peoples, nor provide much enduring satisfaction. At least not for me. (Scott, I call your rant and raise it one meandering response.)

Golf courses generally don't use many sprays, though. They're generally more heavy on the fertilizers. Also, I know these aren't sprayed and they're really around the edges of the golf course. But thanks for thinking of me. One thing to remember is that we're in the west. A NYer friend of mine out here was amazed at how we handled ice and snow in Portland. "You guys just let it melt." Well, mostly. We put some gravel down, maybe some salt, and get the machines going. She said that in NY they put as much chemicals as necessary and shove the whole mess in the river. I got home late last night so I just made something simple with about 1/4 of them. I cooked down some port with the blackberries and some lavendar. Then I strained it, added some honey, and cooked it down until it was a light syrup. I served that over vanilla ice cream with some fresh berries. It was pretty tasty. Maybe I'll have time today to do something more interesting. Thanks for all the help so far. Oh yeah, I did make some lunches for my wife, too. I made a stew of port, dried apricots, blackberries and figs with chicken demi-glace and the dark meat of the chicken that I cooked in the sauce. I'm going to make some polenta today to serve it over and put it in freezer containers for her lunches. But that has nothing to do with pastry.

Went golfing yesterday and my wife tagged along. We brought a 2 liter pitcher with a lid and along the course stopped at several blackberry patches and filled the pitcher (and our bellies). I think they're the reason I only shot 1 over. They're gorgeous and perfect. I'll try to upload a pic or two of the things. Better tasting than the ones at the farmer's markets, too, imo. Maybe I just like himalayan blackberries better than evergreen blackberries. Anyway, I had an idea, but I don't think it would work, so I'm asking for suggestions. One caveat: I do have a couple pounds of day old pate brisee in the fridge. It's not necessary, but I wouldn't mind using that up.

I need some better sources on Mexican and Central/South American food history. All I can do is guess. I know that potatoes, however, were a staple for the Incans, so they might not need to go through the complexities of nixtamalization. I have no idea what ancient Argentinians and Brazilians ate. I imagine many Brazilians were able to stick to the bounty of the Amazon. The Native Americans had things like bison in the plains and salmon and marine mammals in the NW. I imagine that surplus of meats and fish that may have also been present in eastern South America may have required less creative uses of maize. But again, I'm totally guessing.

Thanks for going through the thread and clarifying some stuff, esperanza. Where are you located, btw? How common are wheat flour tortillas and quesadillas there? My experience in Mexico was that only in the north and touristy areas did you find wheat flour quesadillas. Also, how traditional is the quesadilla made from tortillas rather than from masa (especially of maiz)? I would think that it may be more of a modern convenience now that so many, especially in cities, get their tortillas from the store or tortilleria rather than making their own. I've grown to really dislike most flour tortilla quesadillas. I prefer the most distinct textural contrast of the corn-based quesadillas, especially the empenada style. Also, there's less of a tendency to overdue the cheese in the empenada style quesadillas.

Quesadillas con flores de calabaza Also check this link on squash blossoms: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=33739

Chiles en nogada and the bounty of our Portland Farmer's Market inspired me to make something a little different: hongos rellenos. Made a picadillo of sauteed onions, garlic, diced criminis, corn kernels, and dried apricots. I roasted some huge morels in the oven until softened. Then I stuffed the mushrooms with the picadillo. The morels were surprisingly flexible once roasted and I could stuff a lot of picadillo in them. I then heated those through in the oven. I served them on top of a chipotle cream, dishing a little more picadillo over the top. See here: I also made quesadillas con flores de calabaza, but I'm using those for an upcoming class on antojitos. It's so nice getting fresh squash blossoms as opposed to the canned stuff.

Rancho, do you have a calendar of when your produce is in season?