eG Foodblog: Pan - How to stop cooking and love life

[Rebel Rose]

This is hibiscus tea.

←

If you have that tea over ice and add sugar, you have agua de jamaica, a very popular Mexican drink - you can even freeze it to make ice-pops or granita - sometimes I put a bit of lime in it...

It's also very good with vodka

Member ranchogordo offers whole dried hiibiscus flowers. I haven't made pure hibiscus tea yet, but I throw a few blossoms into my everpresent pitcher of cold herb tea--they give it a pretty rose color and a bright taste.

Great photos, Pan! And I especially enjoy tripping along with you to the markets.

[tejon]

I love hibiscus in my tea blends - it adds a bracing, tart flavor that really hits the spot. I've paired it with all kinds of things: chamomile, rose hips, red raspberry leaf, black tea, and all alone. All wonderful.

[Pan]

I happen to dislike dried rose hips very much. Somehow, they irritate my throat. Odd, because when I was little, there used to be rose hips preserves available in supermarkets, and I particularly liked them. The preserves were sweet, but the dried rose hips are very sour.

I just had the last of the Ting Ting Jahe candies.

I fell asleep after dawn and woke up for good fairly recently after talking on the telephone with a friend in the morning, and much later, hitting the "snooze" button on my alarm clock several times. I will get myself together and go out. Pictures later.

[LindaK]

Thanks, Linda.

Do you have any idea where the Portuguese place was located? I'm interested.

I have a vague recollection that it was on E. 4th street, and now I'm wondering if it was a Basque (rather than Portuguese) restaurant. What I remember is that the home cured salt cod was excellent, as was the rest of our meal, and that staff and owner were very friendly and attentive. Sorry for being so fuzzy, it was a random pick after a day of wandering and shopping. I hope it's still around, it seemed to have a full house.

[Pan]

Thanks, Linda.

Do you have any idea where the Portuguese place was located? I'm interested.

I have a vague recollection that it was on E. 4th street, and now I'm wondering if it was a Basque (rather than Portuguese) restaurant.[...]

←

Got it. Euzkadi. We actually have an old thread on it, but no recent posts at the moment.

[Pan]

Well, faithful readers, remember when I said I didn't do anything to celebrate 14 juillet? That's no longer true. In the old-time tradition of "Wednesday is Sundae" (some of you may remember that slogan from Carvel ads in the 70s), the Alliance Francaise celebrates Bastille Day the Sunday after 14 juillet with a fair on 60th St. from halfway between Lexington and Park Avs. to 5th Av. The Bastille Day Festival is one of the really nice street fairs in New York. Most street fairs have the same food booths, representing establishments that do all or most of their business on the street (and mostly mediocre or worse), so that the 3rd Avenue fair becomes like the 9th Avenue Fair, etc., etc. This is different. Yes, the regular crepe place is there, but so is the one that made this:

This is a crepe with ratatouille inside. The ratatouille was tasty and the eggy crepe dough was also nice. They guessed wrong about how long to heat it, though: It was a bit cold inside. But no matter, it was very good street food. This was from the booth of:

Maison

1700 Broadway (corner of 53 St.)

New York, NY 10019

(212) 757-2233

Also represented was an establishment called Frere Jacques:

You can't really see the merguez in the sandwich very distinctly, though if you look between the tomato slice closer to the bottom of your screen and the bread, one of the sausages is there. The pasta salad came with the sandwich. The bread was rather hard and the merguez was just OK, but I was still happy to have it.

Then, I found this booth:

I don't recommend showing up close to 5 P.M. at a fair that ends at 6 P.M., but I did have the advantage of missing an earlier downpour and also that, near the end of the festival, the remaining food gets discounted. The guys at this booth were trying to get rid of everything. They priced their tarts at $2 apiece and kept saying "Allez, allez, $2, $2, who wants it? Next!"

This lemon tart was delicious, so I ended up getting two:

Have a look at a long shot, to get a feel for what it was like to be there:

There was a stage between 5th and Madison where musicians were playing amplified dance music.

The booth that didn't seem to be attracting any business was a French express-mail company. I almost felt bad for them. Booths selling food, CDs, clothing and such seemed to be attracting a lot of interest, and people were talking to some tourism promoters as well. I didn't look at all the food; I had had an adequate meal. Besides, I had another reason for coming to the fair.

Edited July 18, 2005 by Pan (log)

[Pan]

Ed Hamilton, host of the Ministry of Rum, was at Bistro 60 at 37 E. 60 St. to promote a wonderful drink called Ti Punch, made with a rhum agricole from Martinique that Ed is importing into the US. This is Ed with two lovely young women -- Marie on the left and Natalie on the right -- who work for the Martinique Promotion Board in New York and Paris, respectively:

Marie and Natalie are sisters. They were born in Paris of Guadaloupais parents and have relatives in both parts of France (Guadaloupe, though in the Caribbean, is politically just as much a part of France as European departements).

And here is the drink:

I probably took too close a shot for it to come out really good on this camera (Panasonic DMC-LC33), but I wanted you to see how clear the drink is.

I don't drink that much. And lately, I've been getting away from cocktails with rum and having drinks with vodka more often, except for an occasional caipirinha or mojito. Rum is usually distilled from molasses, and that gives it a somewhat unpleasant overtaste Ed calls its "molasses bite." The Ti Punch is made with a rum that's fermented from pure sugar cane syrup. As a result, the drink has a pristine quality and a very pleasant aftertaste. It's a delicious drink, and I had two.

Ed is a real free spirit and a delightful guy to talk to. He's importing a product which I hope gets wide distribution, so that I can have more rum cocktails. I was really impressed. If you have a chance to try a Ti Punch or get your hands on a rhum agricole, consider it, even if you don't drink much.

It was great to meet Marie and Natalie, as well.

[Edited based on Ed's corrections downthread.]

Edited July 18, 2005 by Pan (log)

[Pan]

Is it just me, or has the activity died down in this blog lately? Did you all go away for the weekend?

Well, guess what, Amy? I had Japanese comfort food for dinner. I wanted to feature a longstanding Italian restaurant, Col Legno, in this blog, but I wasn't hungry enough. In retrospect, there's something a little funny about that statement.

Well, here's the place:

I'm so pleased that a night shot came out well. I usually have so much trouble with night shots. Anyway, there are two branches of Menkui-Tei: The Midtown branch and this East Village branch, on Cooper Square (the extension of Third Avenue) between St. Marks and 7th St.

This is a real Japanese place that seems to me (at least based on two visits so far) to cater to Japanese customers more than any others. And there are signs up inside that look like this:

Such a funny beer ad! Can someone please translate it? Will the translation make it less funny?

But I digress. My friend ankomochi told me the gyoza are really excellent at the Midtown branch of Menkui-Tei, so I tried this branch's version:

Really flavorful, definitely meets my approval.

I then got Chan Pon:

This soup includes almost everything but the kitchen sink, including shrimps, squid or cuttlefish (I forget which), surimi, and pork, but I got it in large part because it has a lot of vegetables (cabbage, snow peas, bean sprouts, carrots, etc.). It was very soothing, but I wonder if you can tell just how humongous that bowl was! It was almost like some kind of mega-oversized crock pot. Especially as I was already getting full by the time I finished the gyoza, there was no way in the world that I was going to finish that bowl of soup. I took most of it home.

All that said, the total bill including tax was $14.65.

I thought of getting green tea ice cream but didn't. Perhaps I'll get something cold later; if I do, I'll post about it.

Tomorrow, unless something happens to change things, I'll be taking a friend to a late dinner at an Italian restaurant in this neighborhood. It can't be Col Legno, because they're closed on Monday, so it may be one of the newer places.

[AmyDaniel]

Well, guess what, Amy? I had Japanese comfort food for dinner. I wanted to feature a longstanding Italian restaurant, Col Legno, in this blog, but I wasn't hungry enough. In retrospect, there's something a little funny about that

I'm so pleased that a night shot came out well. I usually have so much trouble with night shots. Anyway, there are two branches of Menkui-Tei: The Midtown branch and this East Village branch, on Cooper Square (the extension of Third Avenue) between St. Marks and 7th St.

This is a real Japanese place that seems to me (at least based on two visits so far) to cater to Japanese customers more than any others. And there are signs up inside that look like this:

←

Pan, I pass by Menkui-Tei all the time! I've always wanted to try it - my sister and I are partial to Menchanko-Tei on 45th St., but we're constantly talking about these other ramen places. Have you tried Rai Rai Ken, or Momofuku?

Re: falafel, I pass by Al Manara when I pick up hookah supplies and sweets on Steinway St. I always manage to go to Astoria after I've already eaten... And I did have an unpleasant experience at Chickpea - I think I mentioned it on the Chickpea thread in the NY forum - ah yes, here. I really will give Chickpea another go soon.

[Pan]

I have to go to Brooklyn College tomorrow to teach a flute lesson from 12-1:30. I don't know what I'll do for lunch, but I want you to see some pictures of that institution. Brooklyn College is a truly beautiful campus, and it's no exaggeration to say that one of the reasons I enjoy teaching at Brooklyn ever Saturday, even though I have to get up early to get there at 9 A.M. during the regular school year (it takes me about 1 hour to get there by subway, and the trains aren't too reliable before 9 on Saturdays), is that I get so much joy from just walking on campus and looking at the beauty that surrounds me. I've taken many photos of Brooklyn College over the last two years. Here are some of my favorites.

Do you want to see what the view out my classroom window is like in mid-April? I took this photo on April 16, 2005:

I have a great boss at the Prep Center (Preparatory Center for the Performing Arts) at Brooklyn College, and I like the students and the subjects I teach there, so those would be sufficient reasons for me to want to work there, but looking at views like these is a really big bonus. Don't people understand that ugly architecture and surroundings are enervating and beautiful architecture and landscaping promote happiness, harmony, and an enthusiasm for living? I feel sure that the feeling of peace and wonder in the Creation that is elicited by all the beauty and harmony in the artistic composition of the campus helps BC to maintain its identity as a college where teachers enjoy teaching and students enjoy learning. New Yorkers don't have to rob Fort Knox and go to Yale to find a good college with a lovely campus, and I'm happy to be a small part of that.

Edited July 18, 2005 by Pan (log)

[Pan]

Pan, I pass by Menkui-Tei all the time!  I've always wanted to try it - my sister and I are partial to Menchanko-Tei on 45th St., but we're constantly talking about these other ramen places.  Have you tried Rai Rai Ken, or Momofuku?

←

No, I haven't.

I'll be curious to find out what you think of Menkui-Tei. But ask the waitress how big the soup is before ordering.

Re: falafel, I pass by Al Manara when I pick up hookah supplies and sweets on Steinway St.    I always manage to go to Astoria after I've already eaten...  And I did have an unpleasant experience at Chickpea - I think I mentioned it on the Chickpea thread in the NY forum - ah yes, here.  I really will give Chickpea another go soon.

←

Oh yeah, I had forgotten you mentioned that. I do have to try Hoomoos Asli. I have to reiterate my suggestion that if you do go back to Chickpea, you should try the chicken shawarma.

I'm finishing a cup of hibiscus tea now. That was really good; I think I'll make another.

Edited July 18, 2005 by Pan (log)

[helenjp]

The ad....it's not like an ad campaign, it's just a well-known chunk of folk culture, with the name of the beer added in! The takarabune or treasure ship, is a kind of lucky dream - if you dream of this ship loaded with treasure at New Year (and the 7 gods of fortune who ride it!), you will have a good year. Seems like they left this poster up a bit too long!

The beer being advertised is Sapporo Draft. Yum!

The noodle shop looks like fun - the name is a pun with about 3 layers - The Noodle Eater's Mansion/Restaurant, I-Wanna-Eat-Noodles, and the Fool-for-a-Handsome-Face Mansion/Restaurant.

That lemon tart looks good - nothing just quite like that around here!

[Pan]

Thanks for those explanations, Helen. There are two identical posters of that type up in the restaurant: One closer to the front and one in the back (where I was eating today). I have a feeling they intend to leave them up for the long term.

I'm don't drink beer much and haven't tried Sapporo Draft, but I find that I like beers that are dark and nutty (though also some amber-colored beers). Can you describe the taste of Sapporo Draft? My Japanese friends tell me that you're really supposed to have beer with your gyoza, but I just ordered green tea.

[Pam R]

Michael - Thanks for blogging - I've enjoyed it so much. I can't wait to get to NY again (which will hopefully be within the next year) and get to eat every meal in a different restaurant (and not just the kosher ones this time!).

Thanks!

[Abra]

I'll be away tomorrow, so I wanted to thank you a bit early for your blog. You've convinced me of one thing - I couldn't live without cooking! I feel exhausted just watching you eat out for a week. The key difference, for me, is that when I cook I know what I'm going to eat. When you eat out, you HOPE you know what you're getting, and sometimes it's disappointing. I'd find that way too aggravating on an ongoing basis.

Thanks for an amazing little window into a world I never suspected existed.

[rjwong]

Michael,

Did you buy some more Ting Ting Jahe? I don't want you going through withdrawals ...

Okay, your foodblog did it. I'll give New York a chance, ONLY if you come out to Los Angeles to "seal the deal."

I can imagine myself eating out a few times. I probably wouldn't go out as much as you did. Ever thought of being a food critic, Michael?

Mind you, I'd still want to cook.

[Pan]

Russell, someone else suggested that I consider becoming a food critic, and he knows who he is.

You know very well that I'll be in LA in a little under a month.

No, I haven't had a chance to buy more Ting Ting Jahe yet. But I think I'll go downstairs and get a dessert.

Thanks for your kind remarks, Abra. It's a tribute to the quality or/and consistency of your cooking that you know what the results will be every time you cook. But you know what? I feel pretty confident in the quality of most of what I order. Why? Because I've been there before and gotten the same thing or at any rate had other things that were really good. And of course, I do try new things. Why not? Don't you try out new recipes sometimes, without knowing whether they'll turn out good or not? I know that my parents certainly have, because I was there assisting them with shopping, prep, stirring, tasting, and such. Don't you have some comments written in your cookbooks, pronouncing recipes "delicious" or "bad" or inserting steps that were missing or changing the proportions of this, that, and the other thing? I can definitely relate to the desire to feel in control of things, but the truth is that hardly anything is certain in life except that our bodies only last a certain amount of time, and then we die. What happens after that is way, way beyond the scope of this thread or this site. But the pertinent remark that I can make is that one can get a certain enjoyment from taking life as a journey, embracing the uncertainty, and taking each new day as a series of unique experiences. Actually, I wish I thought more like that, not less. It probably doesn't surprise you that my basic philosophy of performance (though variously executed to remain within the limits of each style) is that no performance should be the same twice. Similarly, one excellent dining experience that makes me smile as a remember it was getting Buddha's Delight three nights in a row at a hotel in Hangzhou, China in 1987. The three other Americans I was travelling with and I ordered that as one of our dishes each night we stayed there, because one of us (not me!) was on a macrobiotic diet. Like most of the other food I ate in Hangzhou, the Buddha's Delight was great, but it was different every time, because the chef was creative and used the vegetables that were best that day. Surprises can be very good.

Edited July 18, 2005 by Pan (log)

[Pan]

Midnight (more like 2 A.M.) snack:

Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Fudge Brownie lowfat frozen yogurt.

Sure, ice cream is tastier, but it's a lot fattier and has a lot more calories. And this is very good. The other frozen yogurt flavor I like is Dulce de Leche. The Dulce de Leche ice cream is way better than the same flavor of frozen yogurt, but Haagen-Dazs has recently started a line of "lite" ice creams, and I find that the light version of of the dulce de leche flavor is almost as good as the full-fat one.

[therese]

Fun blog, Pan. And nice to know that there's somebody out there that actually dines out more than me

The dining out vs dining in approaches are complementary: sometimes we want the surprise and no work aspect of dining out, sometimes we want the control and creative pleasure and certainty that we're getting exactly we want of dining in.

After this week I feel like I need to eat a lot of salad.

[Chufi]

Pan, I am enjoying this blog so very much. I've only been to NY once, last october, and fell in love with it.. if I were rich, I'd go back this year!. Still I hope to go back sometime.. soon.. and I hope the places you featured in your blog will still be up and running, I can't wait to visit some of them.

Like Abra, I can't imagine a life of not cooking. But I also think that eating and living like you do, is only possible in a place like where you live.. with such a huge variety of restaurants that serve high quality food for relatively low prices. I have been thinking about your blog while doing my errands and shopping in Amsterdam this week, and I must say I think it would be difficult to eat out every night, on your budget, in my city.. if you're looking for quality that is.

thanks for sharing your adventures

Edited July 18, 2005 by Chufi (log)

[zeitoun]

Chickpea is a fun place. Give it a try for a quick, good meal when you're in this neighborhood.

←

I walked by there on Sunday with my wife, we were coming back from brunch at the Miracle Grill ( ) on our way to Sunrise mart so she could re stock on some stuff. I really want to try this place and I wonder Michael how you would compare it to a place like Mamoun's? (for those who do not know, it is another notorious falafel place in the village)

[Tess]

The dining out vs dining in approaches are complementary: sometimes we want the surprise and no work aspect of dining out, sometimes we want the control and creative pleasure and certainty that we're getting exactly we want of dining in.

And then there are those restaurants where you're pretty sure what you're going to get, the "home away from home type of places." We have a few of those in our regular rotation.

When I briefly lived in Rome, I was surprised at how many people ate out more often than in. Kind of like New York. In my part of Rome at least, it wasn't necessarily that much more expensive to eat out and there were some casual places where you would go again and again. I really enjoyed that. I was stuck inside doing research a lot of days and it was nice to get out and see people.

Anyway, cool blog, Pan. I used to spend time staying with family at 10th and University. They moved away a few years ago and I miss it; your blog brings it back.

[Laksa]

Sure, ice cream is tastier, but it's a lot fattier and has a lot more calories. And this is very good. The other frozen yogurt flavor I like is Dulce de Leche. The Dulce de Leche ice cream is way better than the same flavor of frozen yogurt, but Haagen-Dazs has recently started a line of "lite" ice creams, and I find that the light version of of the dulce de leche flavor is almost as good as the full-fat one.

←

I could find no discernible difference in taste between H-D lite and their regular. That's the good news.

The not so good news is... even though they claim to halve the amount of fat, the calories per serving remains quite high... something like 250 vs 290 (comparing lite s'mores with full-cream pistachio -- I know, not scientific at all).

[Ed Hamilton]

After enjoying the Bastille Day fair from another angle, I only wish I had been able to try more of the food. It was great to meet Pan and some other egulleteers. I should note, however, that Marie and Natalie aren't distributors but work for the Martinique Promtion Board when they aren't working other jobs. I wish they were distributing my rhums as they are both very knowledgable and lovely ladies, not to mention that they enjoy both the rhum blanc and the older rhums from Martinique.

This was my first year at the Bastille Day on 60th St but it won't be my last. Great party, music, food and drink in spite of a little rain.

[Pan]

Chickpea is a fun place. Give it a try for a quick, good meal when you're in this neighborhood.

←

I walked by there on Sunday with my wife, we were coming back from brunch at the Miracle Grill ( ) on our way to Sunrise mart so she could re stock on some stuff. I really want to try this place and I wonder Michael how you would compare it to a place like Mamoun's? (for those who do not know, it is another notorious falafel place in the village)

←

I'm surprised that you evidently had a bad brunch at Miracle Grill. Perhaps they're slipping.

I haven't been to Mamoun's in some time but have liked their shawarma; I'm not sure how to compare theirs with Chickpea's, though. They don't have the variety of extras (salad, pickles, etc.) available at Chickpea, and the place is of course way older and grungier.

I'd hesitate to give a strong recommendation of a shawarma place to you, though, as you really know the real stuff. I've spent a grand total of one week in the Middle East so far in my life, and that was in 1977. Also, during that week (in Israel), I was spending more time eating brains and bull's testicles at Yemenite restaurants than getting shawarma. As you can see, I've been adventurous for a long time.