rlibkind

Jason, you might actually want to spritz just a light sprinkle of water on the meat halfway through cooking to approximate a steamy griddle. They actually add water at at least a few cheesesteak joints.

Fresser's story that began this topic harkens back to the Depression Automat tales, where the teabag cost a nickel but the hot water and ketchup free: instant tomato soup. Likewise, the lemon, ice water and sugar became lemonade.

So, Curlz, I guess you liked it?

I've lived in Fairmount since 1982 and don't recall any bakery. Zachs was it in the Fairmount/Art Museum area, to the best of my recollection.

New item at the Spice Terminal spied Thursday afternoon: dried oregano on the stem. I haven't seem this since I moved out of Hoboken in 1979 (though I suspect there must be some Italian or Greek grocery store in Philadelphia that sells this). Back in Hoboken I bought them loose. The Spice Terminal's version is in a sealed package marketed, IIRC, by Krinos, the Greek foods importer. When I walked by them I smelled them before I saw them! Limes, which were 10 for a $1 just a week ago, have shot up in price at Iovine's. Today a buck would buy only three. Lemons still five for a buck. The sweet bell peppers also up in price again. Only the greens could be had at the 99-cent price. Avocados were the big bargain at Iovine's. Two for a dollar. They were soft, and you'd would have had to use them either today or tomorrow at the latest. They were priced to move; it's likely they'll be gone (or tossed) by the weekend and replaced by a more expensive 'cado. Still a pretty good selection of fish at all three fish mongers, including live eel at John Yi's. Sardines/herring still available. The variety of shrimps bowled over Curlz, who I was guiding around the RTM this afternoon. However, no Pacific salmon seen, though Golden had some excellent looking farmed Scottish salmon. Fair Food Project sold out of Jamison lamb last weekend, and none to be had this week. Seems they didn't get everything they ordered from Jamison.

Interesting recommendation of Herb for the Art Museum area (especially since I've lived there, a.k.a. 'Fairmount', for all of my 26 years in Philadelphia (I'm a North Jersey transplant). The recommendation is interesting because a restaurant food culture exists in the neighborhood. Two standouts would be London Grill and Jack's Firehouse. London is just about the perfect neighorhood restaurant and has branched out with a small takeout storefront adjacent to the restaurant. (Good Illy coffee.) Jack's is one of those places which you either love or hate; I'm in the former camp. Other neighborhood restaurants of note include Rembrandts (inconsistent but still pretty good, and a great bar), the relatively new Illuminare (good food, better decor, great dining al fresco in warm weather on the patio), and a Greek, Zorba's. Of more direct interest are the small number of food stores. Garden Fresh at 22nd and Fairmount offers good prepared foods and deli as well as bread items from Metropolitan; Klein's, the mini-supermarket on the first floor of the Philadelphian condominium, has good Jewish deli and "appy" delicacies (one of the few places in town where you can obtain "salty" belly lox, not just nova), and prepared foods. All of the food stores and restaurant are on or just off Fairmount Avenue, which also now boasts a coffee shop (Mugshots). There's a lot of new and redevelopment along Fairmount Avenue, and it's nudging eastward toward Broad street. Real estate and rental prices fall the closer you get to Broad, rise the closer you get to the Art Museum. Residential real estate values in Fairmount/Art Museum area have soared like the rest of Center City, but there are still relative bargains. Although I have no direct knowledge of the commercial sector, my guess is it's the same. There do seem to be plenty of storefront opportunities along Fairmount Avenue, particularly in the stretch between 17th and 21st streets. As Herb said, a market exists here. The main competition for the Fairmount Avenue food merchants is the Whole Foods store near the Free Public Library, a 10-15 minute walk away. But Whole Foods doesn't seem to have harmed the business of the other merchants. The Reading Terminal Market, though more distant, also attracts neighborhood residents. Trader Joe's, too. The only serious bakery in the Art Museum neighborhood was Zachs, which concentrated on cakes, cookies, pastries and sweets rather than breads. Although some baking was done on premises, most items were prepped and baked at the main store in the Northeast (a distant section of Philadelphia). After about five years or so Zachs closed shop in the neighborhood to concentrate on their single store. (Likewise, they earlier tried an expansion at the Reading Terminal Market, but that failed; perhaps as much through a personality conflict with the former market manager and Zach's as anything else). Another factor in Zach's closing may well have been rent. The owner of the property, who has long been active as a food purveyor and caterer in the area, probably jacked up the rent; the landlord, when he operated a gourmet grocery at that location, once remarked to a local food writer about the pricing of sweet red bell peppers, paraphrasing Mencken: "One will never go broke overcharging the American public." Unlike some of the other commentators in this topic, I think what Center City needs least is a high quality artisinal baker. What I miss are the old fashioned general purpose neighborhood bakers of my youth. You could get a good rye or pumpernickel (or "corn rye"), a fresh, crackly-crusted kaiser, basic but real white bread, salt sticks, as well as birthday cakes, marble cakes, sweet buns, danish, pies. Perhaps this type of operation in today's market is too wide-ranging and not profitable, but it's what I miss.

Char is a nice choice but its availability is very limited. It's certainly possible you had wild char, since that constitutes about one-third of the commercial volume of arctic char; but since the season for wild char is late summer and fall, it's more likely your fish monger was selling farmed char, from either Iceland or Canada. Note that the closed system technology for farming char is much less harmful to the environment than the estuarine salmon farms. As a food fish, and taxonomically, it's closer to trout than salmon, though all three are salmonids.

Definitely head over to the RTM. If you want a "taste" of the market now, go to its web site or the Reading Terminal Market topic in the Pennsylvania forum. Keep in mind the RTM is closed on New Year's Day (Sunday), and some merchants take the week or two after New Year's off; in any event, the Pennsylvania Dutch merchants are only there Wednesday-Saturday. Also, some merchants will close earlier than normal on New Year's Eve. If you can get to the RTM this Friday or Saturday, though, you'll be amazed. And come back on May when the fresh local produce starts to roll in. In the meantime, you'll have to "settle" for a roast pork sandwich with provolone and greens at Tommy DiNic's. None of this should dissuade you from visiting DiBruno's, also. But if you have time on Friday or Saturday, a stroll through the 9th St. Market (the blocks from Washington Street to Christian are the busiest), that's worth a detour, too. Have a tripe sandwich at George's. And visit the original DiBruno's, and Claudio's, too.

Highly unlikely your Pacific salmon was fresh this time of year. There is excellent quality previously frozen salmon which, when carefully thawed, is a a superb fish.

According to Wegman's web site, the new Mt. Laurel store is tentatively scheduled to open March 19, the Cherry Hill store sometime in the first half of 2006. I'm ready!

Yuengling's Chesterfield Ale (my go-to cheap brew) with my pickled fried smelts and onions on rye.

I arrived at the RTM today, Christmas Eve's morning, just two minutes after the 8 a.m. opening. The line at Termini's was already to the end of the counter: By the time I left at 9:20, the line was around the corner of the counter all the way to the Filbert Street door. By now I figure it's down the block. Otherwise, between 8 and 9:20, while the market was slightly busier than normal for those hours on a Saturday, it was not outrageously so. I suspect that has changed by the time of this posting. The displays at Iovine's were particularly colorful, and it was conceivable (from a distance) to confuse the citrus and bell pepper exhibitions: Note the price of the peppers: green and orange still at 99 cents, but red and yellow are back in the stratosphere from a couple of weeks ago. All the citrus was available in various sizes. I picked up one large Indian Rivers priced at $1.49 apiece. Update on fish: in my last report I said John Yi had the carp. Wrong. The carp (still there today) is at Golden Seafood. About those smelts I picked up the other day. They were delicious. But I bought way too much just for me (She Who Must Be Obeyed does not eat fish that looks like fish.) So, I consulted Alan Davidson's "North American Seafood" and found a Danish recipe that called for fried herring. Since smelt has many of the characteristics of herring, I tried it. It involves a mild vinegar pickle (1/3 c vinegar, 3 tbs sugar, 2 tbs water) brought to a boil then cooled. Layer the herrings/smelts in a dish, top with thinly sliced onion and pour the cooled pickle over it; a couple of cloves (I used them) are optional. Let them sit overnight, turning once or twice if the vinegar mix is insufficient to cover all the fish. Serve on rye bread which you've slathered with coarse mustard. And, as Davidson advises, be sure to eat the onions! I think this preparation was even better than the smelts served hot from the fat -- the light pickle does a nice job in balancing the fatty fish. Here's hoping your holiday is a very tasteful one . . . .

Last night was fresh smelts simply dipped in milk, flour then deep fried. Nothing but a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper on the plate. But I had half of the batch left over. What to do? Alan Davidson, "North Atlantic Seafood", had the answer. He's got a Danish recipe in which fried herring sits overnight in a mild vinegar pickle made with with sugar, black pepper, onions and (optional) cloves. Well, smelts may be in a different family than herring, but their eating characteristics are close enough. It worked beautifully. I enjoyed the marinated fried smelts cold over rye bread tonight with a beer. A great, hearty dish.

Where do I send my resume? ← Starting new topic: Sono Leaving Phila. Daily News Post in Food Media and News.

Sorry no picture, but since I fell off the roast pork wagon at Tommy DiNic's last week, I still haven't climbed back on. Today I tried the sausage sandwich with peppers and onions. Yum!

Fish galore today in preparation for Christmas. If you consider yourself a fish lover, now is the time to indulge, because you will never find a bigger variety of high quality fish than now. Smelts, for example. You can get smelts year-round, but they are almost always previously frozen. Not this week. Yes, you can pick up the the formerly frozen smelts. But the tiny fresh ones look absolutely scrumptious, $3.99 a pound at John Yi. I picked up some which I'll dip in milk, flour then fry 'til they are crispy brown. Eat them with or without bones, as you prefer. BTW, the herring/sardines I picked up last weekend were delicious. I simply oiled the filets, broiled them with salt and pepper, and enjoyed them with beer and good bread and butter. Lots of other varieties of fish and shellfish to choose from. Yi's had king, snow and dungeness crab legs (all frozen) as well as a variety of lobster tails. Lots of shrimps, too. You could get langoustines (a.k.a. scampi, Dublin prawns and lots of other names) for $19.99/pound at Wan. (They stock them regularly, not just at Christmas.) Looking at the big whole carp in John Yi's display case, I thought it was Passover and time to make gefilte fish, not Hanukah. Golden still had arctic char at $5.99. Among fin fish, John Yi's Spanish mackerel looked good at $2.99. (The fish bonanza even extends to supermarkets. At the Columbus Boulevard Super Fresh yesterday I saw dry scallops at $16.99/pound, as well as whole frozen octopus and any number of other seafood items not normally sold there.) Fisher's in the Pennsylvania Dutch section always has nice selection of "penny" candy sold in bags for considerably more than a penny. If you like hard Christmas candy, stop by and pick up a bag. Jamison lamb is finally in stock at Fair Food Project, though it didn't arrive until this afternoon, disappointing customers who reserved lamb and tried to claim it this morning. In addition to legs (all of this week's stock claimed, except perhaps for one as of 3 p.m. today -- it may be gone by now), this week Fair Food offers Jamison's boneless shoulder, cubes, shanks, sausage and ground. If you have something in mind you'd like to reserve in the future, call Ann Karlen at 610-626-5220. Both L.L. Halteman and Godshall's Poultry are offering goose this week. These big birds go for about $3.89/pound. (The D'Artagnan whole goose I spied at Super Fresh yesterday was being sold for about twice that price.) If you don't want the goose schmaltz but want a rich tasting piece of bird meat, both sell Muscovy duck, including boneless breasts. Last weekend at Coastal Cave I picked up a quarter pound of Duck Trap Farms' "Winter Harbor" smoked salmon. It was okay, but it was sliced much too thickly (by machine, I presume) and its "dark matter" left untrimmed. Not a very high quality fish for upwards of $20/pound. I think I'll limit my smoked salmon buying to decent delis (though the Marshall and Acme nova sold at Shop Rite for $9.99/pound are good values).

As usual,Russ nails it. A smaller oyster is more user-friendly for a beginner; variety and origin of oyster is secondary in this regard. Try as many as you can and see what you like.

Abra, if you've got a good quality frozen fish already, go for it. It will make perfectly good gravalax. Perhaps not quite as fine as a perfectly fresh, in-season sockeye, but very good nonetheless. Besides, someone please correct me if I am wrong (Jamie, you're the expert, are you reading?), but where does anyone get fresh wild salmon in late December? All the king and sockeye I see this time of year, at least here in Philadelphia, has been previously frozen. Some of it is very good quality fish, but it has been previously frozen. The season's over in Alaska, BC and PNW for king and sockeye, isn't it? Or is there an active fishery this time of year for those sub-species?

Is the 6 for 7€ price for oysters standard?

Like he said. Good steak houses can be found, of course (I'm fond of Casey's in Elkhart and St. Elmo's in Indianapolis). The northeastern part of the state offers Amish fare (no high-falutin' gourmet eating, but good food and lots of it). Indianapolis itself can boast a reasonable diversity of fare; if it's not as deep and wide as Gotham or the Second City, well, it still offers one of the best corned beef or pastrami sandwiches west of the Delaware River (Shapiro's). And sliders can be had at White Castles in many different locations (I have to travel from home in Philadelphia to North Jersey to get my fix), though my travels in the Midwest have also encouraged a fondness for Steak 'n Shake.

Since I'm the perpetrator of the Reading Terminal Market thread, I'll complicate matters further. There's also the brisling or sprat, which is canned as a sardine. And there's also a Pacific variety (it's what powered California's "Cannery Row" industry in Monterey). All of these fish are related (see "North Atlantic Seafood" by Alan Davidson) as members of the Clupeidae family. Think of sardine more as descriptive of size than a particular species. In the case of herring, it's the immature fish that is called a sardine.

My favorite cheap ale: Chesterfield, made by Yuengling. With broiled fresh sardines, baguette, and butter.

How To Cook Everything, Mark Bittman On Food and Cooking, Harold McGee (not a cookbook, but an invaluable reference) Jewish Cooking in America, Joan Nathan New Fish Cookery, Beard North American Seafood, Alan Davidson (again, more reference than cookbook, but also offers some very good recipes) American Family Cookbook, a World War II era cookbook (not unlike Joy or Fannie Farmer) that offers solid basic recipes "from scratch".

I'd either bake or broil. Keep the preparation simple, as suggested by I_Call_The_Duck. You don't want anything to get in the way of the luscious richness of this delectable, fatty fish. Gussy-ing it up too much will get in the way. Instead, concentrate on cooking it right and on some nice sides. Wolfgang Puck reproduce's Nobus recipe at his website here.

Price update: add $1 a pound for cleaning, at least at Golden. I bought them today, and since I didn't have time nor feel like gutting them at the kitchen sink, I spent the extra $. At least this morning, the "sardines" at Golden looked better than the "herring" at John Yi's. I was at the Market about 8:30 and by the time I left at 10 a.m. it was crowded. Benuel Kaufman still had cider, but only half-gallons.