[Any umami experimenters?]

Bloody marys (tomato) with L&P Worcestershire (anchovy) is a umami classic. I also have a Thai infused vodka which I made, and I'll now have to try it with a few drops of fish sauce.

[C.S.I. Southern California]

<sigh> Yet another place I never got to try. It's now a Drago place, correct?

[LA]

As mentioned, the Wednesday am market in Santa Monica is probably your best option.

IMHO, the Wine House is also a good store.

~Tad

[TDG: My Journey to becoming a Food writer]

Monica,

congratulations on making these choices and thank you for sharing the process with us.

BTW, for anyone who can relate to denying themselves permission to be follow their passions, may I recommend reading The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron with Mark Bryan (eG link).

[C.S.I. Southern California]

Thanks for that.

Not my favorite, but Polly's in Santa Monica apparently decided to close recently instead of paying the rent which had been tripled.

[Songkran at Wat Thai LA]

<snap> <snap> <snap> <snap>

[Songkran at Wat Thai LA]

I just flashed on West-siiiiiiide Story for a second.

[C.S.I. Southern California]

As a food geek and future entrepreneur, I'm morbidly curious about restaurants that close, especially ones that I like.

According to Zagat Newswire, 5 Dudley in Venice and the Woo Lae Oak location in Koreatown have closed. I was not a regular at either, but I did enjoy my visits. Does anyone know more details about the circumstances of either closing?

Any other closings of note lately?

[Best Indian Food Movies]

Well now we have Bend it Like Beckham that does talk about the food. Any others to add to this list??

FWIW, the DVD of Bend It Like Beckham has a bonus segment of the director making aloo gobi under the supervision of her mother and aunt. It couldn't be funnier if it had been written.

[Songkran at Wat Thai LA]

I think there were too many converging events this year - Easter, Passover, tax day...

I'm probably going on Sunday for an hour or two, if anyone would like to meet there.

[Songkran at Wat Thai LA]

Just bumping this up because it's this weekend.

[Home Grown herbs]

Rosemary, basil, lemon grass, thyme, parsley, epazote and lemon verbena do well for me in LA. I also have ti leaf plants - not really an herb, but used in Hawaii as a wrapper leaf. Key lime and lavender have not done as well, although alive. This year I'd like to find a laurel tree and a kefir lime tree.

[LA Thai Restaurant Tasting Tour]

Just bumping this up as a reminder: the Thai Town event is this Sunday.

["Real" Hawaiian Food]

Food Zealot (or others)--

Haupia.  Would you have a recipe?

NeroW, I can't vouch for it because I haven't made this recipe for haupia, and I'm not a coconut lover either, but it looks about right to me. Hopefully someone else will offer one that they've tested personally.

If you happen to have real coconuts, I've heard of people making their own coconut milk (heating coconut flesh with water and straining) and it's a million times better, etc. etc., but it's not very common. I imagine it would make sense to reserve the liquid from the coconut to use instead of water to punch up the flavor.

["Real" Hawaiian Food]

Although lomi salmon (massaged spiced salmon) uses imported salmon, the technique would seem to be native, as with lomi oio.

Very interesting - would you know what would have been used instead of tomatoes and onions?

[Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet]

FWIW, I watched a lot of his shows during that period, and whatever his weaknesses as a cook or a TV personality, he always seemed to respect and appreciate the cuisines and cultures he featured. He influenced my ideas about food, but not so much how I cook.

["Real" Hawaiian Food]

Thanks, SK. Kalua pig is on the head, near guanciale, tocino and head cheese!

[Smoked Meat - March Marathon]

I could not attend, and I weep. Brilliant!

[Bentos (2003-2008)]

Coincidentally, a friend of mine sent me this fun bento link today. It's been around for a while, but it's worth a look.

[Food pics with a consumer level digital camera]

phaelon, judging by your blog, you're getting great results. Gorgeous food and pictures! I'm also jealous of the panorama/stitching function you have on the Canon. Anyway, I'm a hack photographer, but I'll offer a few comments for whatever they're worth.

I cut out a square of tracing paper, and I have it taped over my built-in flash all the time (I have a Sony DSC-F717). My camera has an adjustment for low/normal/high flash, and I usually use low, whether for food or people. For my camera, it seems to work out the best.

In restaurants, I don't like to use flash at all, so unless it's well lit, I manually set the ISO to 600 or 800, even though the increased noise is significant. I always take several shots to play the numbers game and get at least one or two usable shots. I've been thinking about doing some guerilla lighting - LED flashlights and such. But now I'll also look into getting a setup like the Perlowes'.

For white balance, I'm still learning how to do it properly on the camera, and I usually end up setting it in the Photoshop Levels adjustment if necessary. BTW, the new Photoshop has an adjustment called Shadow/Highlights that can do some amazing things for low light photos.

I second a vote for an eCGI class by Ellen.

edit: duh - 400, not 600

[Cooking Dried Beans]

Thanks to all for the great info and discussion.

I just wanted to bring up that in her book Cookwise, Shirley Corriher (I hope I made the eG link correctly) discusses beans quite a bit. I'll have to refresh my memory, but one of the things I got out of that chapter is that sugar makes it possible for beans to withstand long cooking without breaking down into mush, by keeping the skins intact. Although lots of bbq folks doctor up canned beans, when making bbq beans or Boston baked beans from scratch, its important not to add the sweeteners until the beans are already tender.

edit: spelling

[LA Thai Restaurant Tasting Tour]

While the Wat Thai Temple Songkran Festival will be on April 10 and 11, I just learned that the Thai Town area is holding their celebration the week before, on Sunday, April 4th. Hollywood Boulevard will be shut down in that area, with food booths (many of the vendors from the Temple and many of the restaurants we discuss on eG), a parade starts at 10am, with cultural activities and the whole gamut. More details are available here.

I know one of the organizers socially, and it sounds like it will be a great event.

["Real" Hawaiian Food]

Willie, I just noticed that no one answered your question on this thread. I'm sorry I missed it the first time, but here's the start of an answer - everyone else, please correct me where I'm wrong. As discussed above, it depends on when you think the tradition started, but in broad terms:

• kalua pig - whole pig cooked in an underground oven by stuffing it with hot rocks, and burying it to cook for many hours.
  lau lau - pork chunks wrapped in taro leaves and steamed.
  poi - taro root steamed, then mashed into a smooth paste
  sweet potatoes - simply steamed/roasted in the imu with the pig
  whole fish - simply steamed/roasted in the imu with the pig or grilled over fire
  poke - raw fish sliced and marinated with seaweed, salt, roasted kukui nuts (candlenuts)
  chicken or squid luau - taro leaves stewed with coconut milk and chicken or octopus (octopus is sometimes referred to as squid in Hawai'i)
  opihi - raw limpets
  salted, dried fish of various kinds
  more modern additions
  lomilomi salmon - a "salad" of tomatoes, onions, and salted salmon which has been shredded.
  chicken longrice - chicken stew with cellophane noodles
  haupia - coconut pudding for dessert
  

~Tad

[Suggestions for an Argentinian Dinner]

Not sure if this will help, but one of my favorites is provoletta, a slice of provelone grilled over live fire. Most of the meat items mentioned above could be made as brochettes or otherwise skewered.

[Q&A: Mexican Table Salsas]

Excellent class from all angles - writing, photos, recipes and resources. Thank you and congratulations!

~Tad