Cleaning up...

A few more items to clear off the desk..sort of a “this and that” approach.. or, as one loyal reader advises: “Of This and That” is more elegant.

Hot Food:

We were in the McKay’s Grocery Store the other day in Leonardtown gather rations for the evening meal, when MFO picked up a little tub of something called “Pico de Guaco” which had what looked like fresh Salsa resting on a bed of Guacamole. Hmm, we like both, and the idea of mixing them sounded good so we pitched it into the basket. That evening as we were settling into cocktail hour, we dutifully mixed the stuff and put it in a little (attractive) bowl and got some little crostini crackers to spread it on. Appropriate libations in hand we prepared to enjoy cocktail hour, sometimes including schedule coordination sessions, sometimes reading the plethora of foodie magazines, and even, get this, conversation! Anyhow we began relaxing and I took a little cracker and spread some of the salsa/guac on it and popped it in my mouth. No sooner did I do that when a searing burning pain started on the tongue, and migrated to the back of the neck and forehead. I downed nearly half the DMOTRWAT before the pain subsided. MFO who has a little more tolerance than I, said: Wow. It went back in the little tub.

So, I took a look at the container, and sure enough, sort of hidden on the lid in red (most of the lid was red, picturing the Salsa) was a little thermometer about a quarter of an inch high, with liquid spurting from the top, and in 3 point font the words “hot”. We never even thought to look. So, okay, our fault.

But, that once again brought to my mind (and I have expressed this before) why do people eat, and even seek out this stuff? We’ve all heard stories about “more hot”, and jalapeno eating contests, and the famous “Too Hot” story from one of the old ITT members. There seems to be a cult around “hot” food. At least to me, serious heat in food overcomes any flavor, nuance, or enjoyment of the ingredients. All there is, is a sweaty neck or forehead. I am just not into masochistic eating.

Another example was a recipe for a Bloody Mary I came across in a supplement to Sauce Magazine. Bloody Mary’s seem to bring these people out of the woodwork. First of all, it has 14 ingredients (so it HAS to be gourmet, right?), among which are whole black peppercorns, tomato juice (thank goodness), Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, prepared horseradish, and Pickapeppa Sauce, plus more standard things like celery seed and salt. To begin with, you muddle or crush the peppercorns and add them to the “high-quality” Vodka (a subject for future feeders) and shake every other day for a week, and strain when ready to mix. You then use that combined with the other stuff to produce the drink. Can you imagine the result? This feeling that a bloody mary has to be highly spiced escapes me. The basic cocktail is highly touted as a hangover cure. I don’t know about your hangovers, but the few I’ve had would not be improved by putting such things in my stomach. Another example of “the hotter it is, the better it is”. I don’t get it.

And before moving on, I will remind myself that I am a fan of “eat what you like, there’s no absolutes”. So enjoy hurting yourself and leave me out of it..

Good Food:

The latest edition of Saveur hit my mailbox the other day. They seem to like the approach of devoting a whole issue to a singular subject and this one featured a couple of huge sandwiches on the cover proclaiming “The Sandwich Issue”. I’m sad to report the little squibs about the articles within used the words “perfect” and “best”. Sigh… Anyway aside from that it’s a great issue treated in depth as they usually do with little articles about how the first bread slicing machine was invented in Chillicothe, Missouri, by Otto Frederick Rohwedder. Where are you gonna find stuff like that? There’s a full two page spread (ha ha) on types of breads, (30, count’ em 30), and a nice little article on the famous Croque Monsieur, the Cubano, grilled cheese and about 85 more. Also a nice little piece about Philly entitled “Sandwich City” which is not devoted cheese steaks, although they are mentioned. They of course have a list of shops, and to my surprise, and their credit (?) Pat’s King of Steaks is not on it (although the founder Pat Olivieri is mentioned). Plenty of recipes..

Good Places:

I was given a publication by a friend who was recently in Seattle called Voracious, “Seattle Weekly’s Dining Guide”, and they listed their “favorite” restaurants (which turns out to be 107). In the little editor’s corner in front he says: “on a good day some of us will be faced with the question “So, what’s the best restaurant in the city?” several times before lunch”. I was pleased to see he further said: “the answer is never a good one, because the answer will be different for someone who really loves fish, or for someone who just wants a hunk of prime rib; one thing for the cutting-edge molecular-gastronomy enthusiast and something else for the moss-stomping locavore”. So the list contains restaurants that cover the range. I know a friend who lives there now said he likes Canlis, and that’s included, but so is the Cheese Cake Factory, and a bunch of Pizza places.. Always nice to have these things at your fingertips.

But, whatever your tastes, be it hot or mild, fin or fur, flat or tall, be sure that you consider that you are:

DFD