Eric_Malson

I think I can speak for both Sam and me (since I was present at the lunch in Avilés, too) when I say that both the virrey and longaniza were indeed superb and memorable. But I also still remember my first trip to Asturias over 20 years ago, after which I was obsessed with fabada for years... there's just something about it. Unfortunately, back then, the ingredients necessary to try and make it here in the U.S. were even less readily available than they are now (and when Casa Moneo on 14th St. closed, stuff was REALLY difficult to come by for several years). Pelayín, your fabada recipe is almost identical to that of María García Rodríguez of La Máquina (as reported by Penelope Casas in one of her books...incidentally, she does use some saffron). Have you two been comparing notes? Or perhaps it's just part of the asturiano "collective uncoscious"....

I don't think Kathleen will mind my taking the liberty to toss out another, slightly emended, request for eating recommendations. Being in possession of her itinerary, it is also now clear that the hotels in which she will be staying (and therefore serving as the base for meal-foraging) aren't always in the same locales she listed in her original post. Most are places with which I have absolutely no familiarity, and some are places not mentioned in any guidebook of mine, not even my trusty Guía Azul/Trotamundos books. With this in mind, can anyone help with the following places? Getafe (Madrid) - Kathleen will be spending several nights there, and this is one of the places left unmentioned by any of my books (I suspect for good reason...). Ciudad Real - Another multiple-night city. Logroño - Same as above, so further suggestions would be particularly welcome. Zaragoza Cuenca Soria Jaen Albacete Toledo - My reasons for reiterating this one are somewhat selfish, since this is mostly likely the place I will be catching up with her. All previous discussion of Toledo I've been able to find has centered on expensive/high end places... any recs for good traditional/every day places?

Since I'm working in Chapel Hill for a few weeks, I'm glad to see this thread--there are a couple of places I'd now like to try. After a meal at the Weathervane last week, however, I have to say that while it's perfectly fine, don't go there expecting a meal that is in any way memorable--I'd put the food firmly in the "decent" category. And don't order beef there under any circumstances.

Seconded. To fully satisfy me, it has to have a firey chili aioli, like the Cafe de la Fontaine did in Vieux Nice. ← Le Monde (Broadway at around 112th St.) has a very nice fish soup that sounds like what you're looking for... even has the little toast rounds and something that resembles rouille (no chili aioli, though). Whatever particular regional style it is, it IS delicious.

The same is true of me, except for a couple of fairly specific types of dessert. Anyway, I'm glad I clicked on your blog, Darcie. Add me to the list of fellow-eGulleteers that has kitchen envy--I most definitely have "kitchen view" envy! I just got back from a few days in Chicago where my new(ish) favorite ethnic restaurant is a Lithuanian one on the south side where, if their menu is any indication, those people put bacon in EVERYTHING. A cuisine after my innermost heart! On my way out, I noticed a box of rolls for sale marked "fresh bacon buns"... naturally, a few of them left with me. They turned out to be a bit like ordinary dinner rolls (actually, a lot like Chinese baked pork buns) with bacon filling in the center. Quite lovely... I bet they're amazing just out of the oven. My paternal grandfather was born, and lived his last years, in Parkersburg, WV, but I've never set foot in the state (I think he and my father had some sort of falling out before I was born that no one ever talked about). Your blog makes we want to go explore my roots one of these days.

Adding APPLESAUCE to brownies somehow makes them fudgier? Color me unconvinced. Extra butter does actually make them "fudgier", at least to my mind.

Those are modifications that would NEVER occur to me to make in a brownie recipe... Actually, my favorite brownies ever come from the recipe on the Baker's chocolate box, but with an extra stick of butter and a bag of Nestle's Semisweet Morsels added. Those are the kind of modifications that would occur to me, except they occurred first to my piano teacher's housekeeper, who would make them for the receptions after the monthly studio recitals. Invariably, they were the best part of the recital!

Just spent six weeks in Dallas, and most of the food there was of such middling quality that it's not worth mentioning. I was quite surprised by some good Chinese restaurants in Richardson, though. However, I did have the best barbecue I've had in YEARS at Clark's Outpost in Tioga. Really outstanding. So good that it even comes close to some of the barbecue I've had in North Carolina!

I just remembered that in a couple of her books, Penelope Casas mentions a woman in Sotres (near Arenas de Cabrales) that, at last writing (2000, I believe), still made--by hand--one cabrales cheese every day. Her name is Hortensia Fernández González, and even if you aren't actually able to watch her make a cheese, I think a trip to Sotres sounds like it would definitely be worth making anyway.... I imagine you could learn something about cheese-making there, and the drive there itself sounds incredibly beautiful. A short article mentioning this by Penelope Casas can be found here.

Of the restaurants above, the only one I have been to is Al Son del Indiano in Malleza. The food is a slightly modern take on traditional cooking that tends not to interest me as much as straight-down-the-line traditional preparations... Almost miraculously, I just this moment found my notes on my meal there: we had a tasting menu that consisted of pastel de ortigas, salpicón de fabes, chosco, pimientos rellenos and repollos rellenos (con buey) (excellent), pitu de caleya (probably my favorite because it was the simplest dish), estofado de buey, and mousse de arándanos. Excellent cooking, with heavy emphasis on local and seasonal ingredients. It's a favorite of my friend who plays in the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, and he definitely knows his food. Just found the website... to my mind the menú de degustación is a particularly good deal at 35 euros (including wine): Al Son del Indiano I have always wanted to go to Casa Consuelo, but never have... it's very famous, and I'm told it's for a good reason. Glancing at my notes for that part of Asturias, I see I haven't done much memorable eating there, but I haven't spent a lot of time there, either--I tend to hang out in the central and eastern parts of the province. I had some great seafood at La Gaviota in Puerto de Vega (definitely worth a detour, in my opinion), and I can enthusiastically second Pelayin's recommendation for Casa Maravilla in Cabo Peñas. I had an excellent meal at Guernica in Luanco, but it was so ungodly expensive that it was difficult to abandon myself to complete enjoyment. The best meal I ever had in this part of Asturias was in Castropol. I don't know if you'll be going quite so far west, but it could very well be worth for a trip to Casa Vicente. It's right on the main road, perched next to the Eo estuary. Sort of an upscale take on traditional cooking (I still remember a lovely pastel de merluza y centollo) and not particularly expensive considering the very high quality. Edited to add: It finally occurred to me to re-read Butterfly's original post, and I realized I have been to San Martín de Oscos. In nearby Villanueva de Oscos, the restaurant Los Oscos is quite good. My memory is a bit hazy on this, but I think I had a wonderful cabrito dish here, but I could be confusing this with another place (my notes for some trips are better than for others...). I have a star by my annotation for La Cerca in Santa Eulalia de Oscos, so I must have had an excellent meal here. In San Martín de Oscos, La Marquesita has a good reputation, but I never ate there (at least I don't think I did... ). All of these places, by the way, feature more traditional, "home" cooking, as per butterfly's request! In Pesoz, Mesón As Cortes (<--link) looks and sounds like just my kind of place (and from her post, butterfly's too), but I've never been. I have to say my curiosity is piqued, though....if you go, I'd love a report!

I'm now putting out the call for volunteers to spank Kathleen for falling down on the job. Any takers? That's an extremely interesting little tidbit of synchronicity. I just this afternoon ran into a friend of Kathleen's (and mine) named Carla who had just returned to NYC from seeing--you guessed it--a performance of Porgy and Bess at the Washington Opera last night.

The cheese things are pão de queijo (literally, "cheese bread"). Farofa is that plate of coarse powder that comes as a side. I can never remember the name of the root it's made from, but I think it's manioc root (?). Speaking of roots, Churrascaria Tropical makes particularly delicious fried yucca. I don't know how they do it--it's so much better than any fried yucca I've had anywhere else. Naturally, I'm going to be a participant in tonight's meat orgy, and I can't wait. I've been eating and drinking so little lately, I'm feeling undernourished.

You don't know the half of it... you should have seen what she wore to the cocktail party! I enjoyed watching men ogling her in the subway immensely. Referring back to our trip to Pegu the other night, Kathleen was quite right, my second drink was a Dubliner, and I can still taste it. Can't wait to have another one. The name of my first drink finally emerged from the misty recesses of my alcohol-befogged memory: it was a Diamondback. In fact, I believe I was present when Brian first learned about that drink, when he was talking with the guy from Zig Zag in Seattle... I was eavesdropping and a couple of the drinks discussed sounded so good that I decided I needed to quickly scribble down the recipes, including that one. So, a Diamondback is 1½ oz. rye, ½ oz. yellow chartreuse and ½ oz. apple jack. And if you go to Pegu and sit in Brian's section, he has a really beautifully-formed muddler--you must ask him to show it to you!

Brava, Diva! A really wonderful meal. Where Kathleen got this idea that she can't cook is a mystery to me. As delicious as those spare ribs were (and they were very, very tasty), my favorite dish was the gratin dauphinois. I know of no better way to enjoy a cup or two of heavy cream. And re an earlier post on this thread: I had a look in Elizabeth David, who says that while Escoffier and Austin de Croze include cheese and eggs, other regional authorities say the authentic version is with potatoes and thick cream only. After tasting this, I'm a believer!

As someone who has been coaching opera singers for over 20 years now (um, yeah, ever since bergerka was in elementary school...that's right....), I can tell you just how completely unglamorous the lives of most opera singers are (but I probably shouldn't and ruin the mystique). They do tend to know how to have fun, though! And as the lurker behind the scenes for the latter part of the evening, I can attest to the deliciousness of the black bean soup. Kathleen is a good friend for (among many other reasons) feeding me after an extremely long day that began with a 10 a.m. Orchestra of St. Luke's rehearsal, wended its way through about a dozen opera auditions (which involved running between venues 3 times), and ended with performing an art song recital. I was exhausted and hungry, and she plied me with food and drink and the odd tidbit of gossip (although I think I gave better than I got--just this once--this evening!). Those simmering short ribs smelled truly wonderful. (Strange--the Carly Simon song "Anticipation" just popped into my head....)

To quote Wayne..... "WAY!!" For some odd reason, I'm having trouble remembering the names of the drinks I had (why on earth could that be? I'm sure all that alcohol had nothing to do with it... ) , but I can remember the chief ingredients. First drink was rye whiskey and yellow chartreuse...surprisingly mellow and a really great starter. Followed by a drink made with Red Breast Irish whiskey and... oh crap, I can't remember what else, but I'm pretty sure there were some bitters in there somewhere... damn. It was my favorite drink of the evening, too--complex, with just a hint of smokiness to it. Come to think of it, there may have been another drink between the first and second ... if I think of it, I'll emend my post. Right now, it's time for bed

Well, I have been known to play rehearsals, so technically she's not completely without. Have you ever seen "Pink Flamingos"? The black beans have definitely piqued my curiosity.

Speak for yourself! As you know, I am always the model of decorum! There's very little to add, except that my favorite drink of the evening is the one Phil surprised me with--a Little Italy. Rye, sweet vermouth and Cynar, served up. It tastes even better than it sounds... a pretty spectacular drink.

I've been meaning to add my two cents here, and luckily tsquare jarred loose a few memories. First of all, if renting a car is not too expensive for you, do it. You'll be happy to have the extra freedom. Planning your life around train and bus schedules, while fun at first, can get really irritating after a while. And there so many great spots that are all but inaccessible by public transport. I, myself, don't have all that many recommendations for the coast. Like tsquare said, don't miss Sintra. And if you drive up the coast from Cascais to Guincho, don't miss Mestre Zé (I posted about it here). A bit further north from Sintra on the coast, Ericeira is an interesting fishing town. As I remember, the restaurant with the best view was also the one that was supposed to have the best food...not much to go on, I realize. Unless you're going north of Porto along the coast (I love Viana do Castelo in particular), I tend to prefer the mountains, anyway--most Portuguese coastal towns are kind of trashy (I mean that in a good way!). And that's where the car really comes in handy. As tsquare mentioned, DEFINITELY eat suckling pig in Mealhada (Pedro dos Leitões used to have the best reputation, although I have to admit at this point it's been a while). And from there, I suggest heading inland toward the Serra da Estrela mountains. Tsquare is so right about the Buçaco forest--it's an almost magical place. From there, head east on N-234--shortly before you get to Nelas, there's a truly wonderful old hotel in Canas do Senhorim called Hotel Urgeiriça (have a look at their website here). In off-season, it's a real bargain considering how beautiful the hotel, grounds and setting are...I had the most wonderful view of rolling hills, forests and mountains from my balcony on which, had it been a bit warmer, I could have had breakfast with twenty of my closest friends. Nearby Nelas--a small town with labyrinthine streets--is where I found the restaurant Os Antonios. It is a restaurante tipico, with a relaxed, traditional decor (gleaming white walls with dark wooden beams), and outstanding traditional food. Unfortunately, I only had one meal there, and I was alone, but I hit the jackpot with costeletas de porco em vinha d'alhos, com arroz de fiejao. The dish turned out to be a cousin of the region's famous chanfana (a stew of kid goat or lamb that has been simmered in red wine)--it was pork spare ribs which had been simmered in an earthenware pot with red wine, garlic, onion, chourico (for my money, the Beira Alta makes the best chourico in Portugal), and slab bacon, accompanied by a pot of arroz de feijao--slightly soupy rice with red beans (and a bit of chourico and bacon for good measure!). An extremely unsubtle, robust local red wine was the perfect accompaniment. This is, obviously, very heavy, rustic fare--not for the faint of heart! (I suppose it is possible to find lighter items...I just never seem to remember to look for them!) The Hotel Urgeiriça also has the inestimable advantage of putting you within striking distance of the restaurant where I had probably my most memorable meal in four years of living in, and several trips to, Portugal--O Albertino in Folgosinho. I posted about it here. Other miscellany which tsquare's post brought to mind.... Obidos is lovely--good for a half-day trip at the most. Forget about memorable food here--best food I ever found was a bifana at an ancient-looking (but definitely full of character) bar. And if you're at all interested in the Knights of Templar, don't miss Tomar. I posted about some of my other favorite food trips in this general part of the country here. I personally loved the train ride east of Porto, to Peso da Régua. Slow, yes, but incredibly beautiful country. The drive between Vila Real and Penafiel, through Amarante, is pretty wonderful, too.

Until I discovered Grand Sichuan (thanks to Fat Guy's old site!), the 48th St. location of Wu Liang Ye was my favorite Chinese restaurant in the New York. I've tried a lot of things here, but my two favorites that I always come back to (both missing from Fat Guy's list, but I know from personal experience they're not as good at the uptown location) are: Hand-shredded chicken with spicy sesame vinaigrette (cold appetizer) Double-cooked fresh bacon with spicy capsicum Both are pretty sensational...even better than the equivalent dishes at Grand Sichuan. (and do not be fooled by the "double cooked pork" item on the lunch specials menu--it's a better execution of the same dreck that any other Chinese restaurant has. I made that mistake once, and sent it back)

It was an almost nippy evening--the first real hint of autumn this year--and my thoughts turned to chili peppers. Since I hadn't been there in a while (almost two weeks!), I went to the Grand Sichuan at 9th and 50th this evening. For some reason, be it the weather or the cook on rotation--I don't know, it was particularly satisfying tonight. Since I was alone, the scope of dishes was naturally a lot more limited than usual, but it also meant that I was inspired to order a dish I don't usually get when I'm with other people because it's rather a lot of work to eat--the cold appetizer diced rabbit with hot and peppery sauce. I forget that this is really one of my very favorite dishes here....somehow the synthesis of the diced rabbit meat (bone in, which is why this is so difficult to eat--those little bone pieces can be quite tricky to eat around), peanuts, diced scallion, cucumber and spicy sauce is almost perfect. And when they say "hot and peppery sauce", they ain't kidding around. For you red pepper fans, it's one of the spiciest dishes on the menu. The only dish I can think of I've tried that's consistently hotter is the pickled cabbage in red oil cold appetizer. Of course, the ma po tofu tonight kicked some serious ass, too, but I just thought I'd take a moment to pay tribute to a beloved menu item here that I tend to neglect.

I noticed the revival of this thread and decided to peruse it from pure morbid curiosity. I find it totally baffling to contemplate what the logic behind this statement could possibly be.... At any rate, to touch briefly upon a point raised by the previous poster, I had dinner at Bolo sometime around the time this thread appeared (I never noticed this thread at the time, or probably just rolled my eyes if I did), and my meal was so relentlessly mediocre, I never for a moment considered returning for another one, ever.

Last night, I had my second meal at Tropical and I can only echo the posts above... both meals were pretty sensational. Last night's especially: the salad bar, although not as opulent as at some other rodizios, was exceptionally high in quality. Everything I tried was scrupulously fresh and tasty (and that definitely can't be said of most other, significantly more expensive places), and the hot dish was simply fantastic--some really lovely fish filets (red snapper, perhaps?) topped with shredded vegetables and fresh calamari rings in a zesty sauce flavored with coconut milk and dendé oil. I went back for seconds of the fish--not my normal practice when I'm anticipating an avalanche of meat. As for the meat, I agree completely with slkinsey... they are all of similar quality to, or better than, Plataforma at its best. It should be noted, too, that the carvers really know what they are doing. I've noticed that with picanha especially, it makes a noticeable difference just how it is carved... if it is sliced too thick (and the Newark rodizios are especially guilty of this), the taste and texture of the meat actually suffer. It was ALWAYS perfect here. The side dishes I also find to be exceptionally good. I don't know what they do to their black beans (simmer them with some beautiful pork product, no doubt), but they're positively addictive. I'm not usually crazy about fried yucca, but I couldn't seem to stop eating the light, perfectly fried cubes. And theirs are the best fried bananas I've had anywhere. As an unrepentant carnivore, this place is, for me, just about the best value I can think of in New York. Edited to add: It just occurred to me that at the table were both a Grammy Award winner and a Grand Prix du Disque winner (neither one of them me, unfortunately!). I'm thinking that's probably a first for that restaurant, but this being NYC, you never know!

I'm so glad you liked A Cabrita in Cacilhas! I have always thought that was worth the trip--that ferry ride is really lovely in nice weather. I'm glad to hear that it seems the sardinhas there are as good as ever, and it had slipped my mind how good their chocos grelhados were. The next time, you really HAVE to try the bacalhau com natas!

The most basic piri-piri couldn't be simpler: steep red pepper flakes (with the seeds, of course) with vegetable oil at room temperature for a day, or overnight. Start with about 4 parts oil to 1 part red pepper flakes, and adjust to taste from there. This is exactly how the make piri-piri sauce at that bastion of frango assado no espeto in Lisboa, Restaurante Bonjardim. I used to be there many a late evening as the waiters were finishing up their side work, which included repleneshing the piri-piri pots, and watched them do it dozens of times. You could tweak it suit your tastes--I think a pinch of salt would not be amiss. Adding some vinegar is a possibility, I suppose, but it's not to my taste at all. I rather like the utter simplicity of red pepper flakes in oil. And as far as I could tell, the red pepper flakes were nothing exotic (they certainly weren't the tiny Spanish malaguetas), just the dried red pepper flakes available in every supermarket in Portugal, which look and taste like the ones available everywhere here in the U.S.