SobaAddict70

Somehow, I never thought of Chicama as a serious competitor to the likes of Patria and Asia de Cuba. That Grimes review (or was it Reichl?) didn't give me a good impression, and recent postings only serve to reinforce that view. SA

Isn't there salt already in the ketchup and W. sauces? If so, why would you want MORE salt? SA

ok, I know its past time seasonally speaking for bbq sauce, but I love bbq and no place in NYC serves passable bbq except for Pearson's in Queens and Blue Smoke (and that's a stretch....for some of the items. Other ppl may concur or not, after all, this particular thread promises to be HIGHLY subjective in more ways than one.) I love bbq in all its forms from wet bbq (with sauce) to dry bbq (without sauce or with spice rubs, usually with sauce on the side), to Asian style bbq (hoisin sauce/Peking duck comes to mind/roast pork and spare ribs). However, I think the crown jewel of all things bbq is the sauce. Some sauces are tomato based, some are vinegar based, some are fruit based, and most are delish. Some (thankfully) are bastardizations of the real thing....Heinz bottled stuff and Shake-and-Bake are two egregious examples. What are your favorite bbq sauces? Composition? Recipes? Ways to serve? Experiences? Debate, kvetch, and discuss. SA

Thanks for the note. Sorry about my reaction...everything's clear in that context. I was speaking about MY personal experience at such an occasion, having had the honor of attending only one banquet in the past. Sorry for the confusion. (And if anything, there wouldn't have been any criticism of the dishes...well maybe perhaps, but only in private. I am of Chinese/Filipino ancestry...) I remember the occasion vividly enough, but not the details. Among other things, it was an occasion of firsts for me: having more food to eat than your typical restaurant meal; eating jellyfish for the first time and remarking on the texture and near blandness; red bean soup (!)/soup as dessert. My eyes were certainly opened that day. SA

It wasn't a "stuff-your-face-and-complain-that-the-chinese-dishes-weren't-done-right" affair. Au contraire, my aunt married into a Cantonese family, and so had to learn Cantonese (she speaks Mandarin, Tagalog and English -- her in-laws prefer Cantonese), and as I said, it was a classic banquet with the usual cold plates, soup courses, palate cleansers, certain suspects like shark's fin soup, bird nest's soup, red bean soup, steamed fish, noodles, etc. And it was rather high quality, given the size of the dinner party, the number of guests and where it was held (some place in Chinatown that I can't remember). *shrug* SA

What Fat Bloke said. Speaking of AA, when are we going? SA

The last Chinese banquet I attended was in 1985 when my aunt Dorothy married her husband. Classic banquet with 12+ courses. That post brought back memories... SA

While in San Francisco (some of the more "noteworthy" meals I had at various restaurants/diners and friends' homes): salmon puttanesca (salmon with olives, tomatoes and capers); steamed veggies; brown rice. [This is one example of why I loathe fusion cuisine. The concept didn't sound right, although it was tasty....THIS TIME.] homemade enchiladas [didn't get the recipe, but it was authentic Mexican]; refried beans. [The beans were a textbook example of HOW NOT to cook refried beans. Dense, sludgy without a hint of redeeming flavor qualities. *sigh*] meatloaf sandwich; sweet potato fries; guacamole. [This was the night I got in, and American Airlines lost my luggage, so I needed some comfort food at my favorite diner in the Castro -- Bagdad Cafe. Fortunately, they sent it the next day.....somehow it missed the plane even though I checked in at JFK at least two hours beforehand. *sigh*] meatloaf sandwich (with ginger-pineapple catsup, no less); green salad with oil and vinegar; apple pie w/vanilla ice cream. [different diner] zucchini vichysoisse (basically vichysoisse with zucchini instead of leeks); squash ravioli with fried sage leaves; endive salad with pears, toasted almonds and Roquefort; orange terrine. *sigh* Now I know what Toby says when the food in California is way different than in NYC (produce, etc.) SA

Steak, roasted potatoes/carrots/onions (sprinkled chopped tarragon, salt/pepper and melted roasted garlic butter). Apple cider. SA

Well, you've reserved the domain name and URL. I guess that's a trademark of sorts. SA

Just finished: East of Eden (John Steinbeck); A Reporter's Life (Walter Cronkite's memoirs) Starting: The Winter Of Our Discontent (John Steinbeck) In the middle of: The Fifties (David Halberstam); Persian Letters (Montesquieu); Daniel Deronda (George Eliot); To The Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf); Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Nikolai Leskov) Yes, I'm a Steinbeck fan. I used to be vehemently anti-American lit, but my tastes are gradually changing....hopefully for the better. Next stop: Hemingway and Faulkner (both I've never read...yes, gasp (!), sad but true). SA

You haven't lived in food hell until you've had PB&J sandwiches made from Goober's. They were big in the late 70's and 80's. SA

I'd like to come. I'll bring the olives. =) SA

Last night -- dinner with friends in Brooklyn: broiled pork chops, Gaeta olive-red onion relish (Gaeta olives, red onion, balsamic vinegar, EVOO, red pepper flakes, minced garlic, kosher salt, cracked black pepper) and nectarine chatni (OO, yellow onions, nectarines, red bell pepper, jaggery, molasses, raisins, fresh orange juice, vinegar, salt, cracked black pepper, coriander seeds, fresh lemon juice, chopped fresh mint), rice pilaf. Evian. "mochachino" sorbet (coffee/chocolate mix -- not great, but not awful either....) I'll be in San Francisco from now (Friday) until Wednesday. Dinner at Fifth Floor on Monday -- report to follow... Take care, everyone and have a good weekend. Tommy...behave! hehe SA

Evian.

Gratin of leeks. In a soup with chicken broth, leeks, sweet peas, watercress, fennel and mint. Braised in vegetable stock and white wine, along with some fennel, topped with melted butter and chopped fresh herbs. SA

And once again, my browser is overwhelmed by the sheer number of threads on that site to the point that the "stop" button becomes my best friend. Thank god and Jason for e-gullet. SA

Just as there are innumerable recipes for gumbo, there seem to be double that for fried chicken. I've had battered versions and versions without a batter-produced crust. Buttermilk vs. non-buttermilk. Shake-and-bake vs. pan-fried with garlic and oil. I'm a sucker for punishment, what can I say? What are your favorite methods for fried chicken? Down with KFC!!! SA

Seared scallops in balsamic brown butter, with roasted cauliflower puree. Roasted carrots, lemon zest, nutmeg, drizzle of Spanish EVOO. Couscous (cooked in vegetable stock), chopped parsley, handful of currants tossed in for kicks. Evian. SA

Went to Fire Island this weekend....and it was a lesson in what to do with a limited supply of resources. For those of you who don't know about FI, its a little barrier island near the south shore of Long Island that's accessible only by ferry, and around this time of year...a limited amount of transport times. Most ppl bring in supplies from the mainland, as the stores have limited stock. The general store in the Pines has a more varied selection than the one in Cherry Grove, but that's not saying much. If ever there was a poster child for tomatoes with cracks and blemishes, the market at Cherry Grove takes the cake. That's ok. My housemate had a vegetable and herb garden that we used for much of the weekend. Tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and an assortment of herbs: Italian parsley, rosemary, sage, cilantro, chervil and summer savory. Friday: Fettucine with fresh pesto -- garlic pounded to a paste in a mortar, w/ sea salt. I decided to use a food processor for the sauce, since it was 9 pm and I didn't feel like spending 30 min. pounding away the basil. Lemon, Thai and regular basil from the garden. EVOO, Parm-Reg., pine nuts. With the pasta and sauce, a simple salad of mache and just-picked tomatoes with an oil/vinegar dressing. Poland Spring water. Lemon and ginger tea. Saturday: Stuffed omelettes for breakfast: chopped onions, tomatoes, EVOO, sea salt, pepper, and a T. of medium-hot salsa. Cooked down the sauce until it reduced by half. Served the omelettes with toast. Coffee, tea. Grilled tuna with yellow pepper, potato and onion sauce. Pasta with a seafood marinara sauce. (The sauce: tomatoes, onions, herbs, shrimp, striped bass, salt and pepper.) Salad of Boston lettuce, red onion and tomatoes; dressing of EVOO, pumpkinseed oil, distilled vinegar, mustard, sea salt and pepper. White wine for everyone but me. Water for me. Sunday: French toast for breakfast. Strawberry-rhubarb jam/clover honey as toppings. Leftover tuna and pasta for lunch. Spaghetti with EVOO, Italian tuna, chopped parsley and mint, sauteed garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Evian. Pineapple and orange sorbet. SA PS to Toby et al.: Having experienced just-picked tomatoes, the supermarket variety is an incredible letdown!!!! Ah...I think I'm spoiled now. edit: added mention of Saturday breakfast and note.

Actually, I felt bad for the pirate. How would you feel with a hand up your tukhes? hmmm that depends on whose hand it belonged to and what said hand was doing up there... heheh SA

Ah, but are there any worthwhile vegetarian versions? Me, I'd rather have a good oyster gumbo anyday. SA

Now you're assuming things that have no bearing on the subject matter at hand. I had a bad time, true, on many levels -- but that has nothing to do with the topic at hand. Your reply to me may not have been intended as patronizing or condescending, but I perceived it that way. FYI, I've never read "Evangeline" (nor am I a fan of pre-20th century American literature, but that's neither here nor there). Your reply sounded VERY patronizing and if you can't see that, well then...I offer an example below. Listen to what you're saying. You say and I quote -- "I assumed you had already read "Evangeline" at least once -- an accomplishment I doubt MANY PEOPLE YOUR AGE HAVE, THESE DAYS" (caps added for emphasis). If that is not patronizing on the face of it, then I don't know what is. Since when is my age relevant to having read a poem of that length? Since when is it relevant to anything? FYI, I've read "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" in the original Middle English, and "The Canterbury Tales", also in the original ME, and parts of "The Odyssey" in the original Greek -- things many ppl my age do so these days. I don't assume things about other ppl, and I would appreciate it if you'd do likewise. It was not a non-sequitur. The editors of that magazine are Cajuns. They're not Creoles. When I've had gumbo in NO, these were in fact Creole versions, and followed certain Creole traditions: no mixing meat and fish, use of okra as a thickening agent moreso than file powder, etc. But again, whatever. I am NOT accusing YOU of anything because I had a bad time. On the other hand, you're assuming I am, for some perverted line of reasoning. And I am "picking a fight", to quote you, because you made a statements that rightly or wrongly, I perceived to be patronizing and offensive. I'm just standing up for myself. Apologies to anyone who needed to wade through this sideshow. Side note: if you think this is a flame, well...you haven't yet seen me parading my asbestos underpants. I do assure you, they're quite flame-retardant and can be ordered on the Internet Home Shopping Network for the cheap-ass price of $19.95, shipping and handling not included. I do believe they take all major credit cards, and Paypal for the credit-card-challenged. SA

I love Ms. Dash. heh SA

No, tommy, you have to say it like a true New Jersey mall rat: What-EVER! (pity egullet has no voice files or mpeg attachments.) Talk to my hand, man! SA