May 5, 2010
This is possibly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever created:
Click image for larger, more mouth-watering version.
After procuring a nice chunk of pork belly from (you guessed it) the Meat Hook over the weekend, I was perusing the internet for a recipe when I came across David Chang‘s no-frills pork belly recipe for Momofuku. (As always, a hefty body of related literature is appropriate here, but you can find plenty of documentation of Chang’s unlikely rise to gastrostardom with a [newly redesigned] Google search. For some quick background info, check out his profile in the TIME 100 this year.)
Obnoxious food nerd stuff after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »
April 20, 2010
I’m becoming one of them.
Monday’s lunch: Ridgewood garlic sausage (from Choice Greene) with caramelized shallots and garlic and sautéed kale rabe over tri-color orzo (a variation on a theme). The sweet/salty sausage + shallots played nicely with the slightly-overblanched-yet-still-delicious rabe (the stalks are pretty similar to the broccoli relative, while the leaves are more kale-esque), but I was disappointed in the pasta—it could’ve used more butter and maybe a bit of kick from a wacky spice such as cumin or even just some cayenne pepper. In any case, the dish would probably have been perfect with a liberal topping of shaved romano.
As per the title of the post, I finally managed to make it up to Williamsburg’s newest one-stop foodie outpost the Meat Hook last week, where my friend Lila happens to be produce manager. She hooked me up with said kale rabe, pea shoots and a mesclun mix from Lancaster, PA, while ‘rockstar butcher‘ Tom Mylan himself provided a nice chunk of fresh [pork] belly.
I consumed it in taco form, since I finally got my hands on a tortilla press (also from the Meat Hook… why don’t I just marry it, I know). Fucking delicious.
Bonus video:
March 11, 2010
Ashley Gilbertson for the New York Times
Today is the first day in about two weeks that I haven’t had a cup of coffee. I go through coffee phases, though I’ve been hitting the French press harder and harder, in a manner of speaking, lately. I also drank a fair amount of coffee in Beijing (related excerpt below) and I think I’ve been on the upswing since the beginning of the year…
Meanwhile, the New York Times has an excellent feature on the city’s best coffee, plus an interactive map of coffee hotspots. I’m tempted to try and get a cup of joe at each and every one, moving outward daily in concentric circles from Fort Greene starting with Ortine. NYT also says coffee is good for you and Christoph Niemann’s thoughts on coffee. (Unrelated, but he has cleverly appropriated the iconic visual language of Google maps [which now features bike directions] for the latest installment of Abstract City, which was posted yesterday. Much better than the last two, in my opinion.)
Free associating a bit, City of Sound has an excellent (if rather lengthy) essay on the iPad as a device for the third place (i.e. the coffeeshop).
Here is my analysis of the Wudaokou coffee scene, from a long-lost China post that I drafted on the food & drink situation:
Nevertheless, much of the money I’ve been saving on food, alcohol and cigarettes ends up going towards coffee, a necessary luxury which happens to go for American rates or more—$1.50 for shitty drip, $3 for anything decent—the same price as A.) lunch and an afternoon snack, B.) anywhere between one and five beers depending on the point of sale, and C.) two to four packs of cigarettes. I usually stick with the Americano, which is roughly the same price as the daily brew at 18RMB [$2.66] including one free refill; fancier drinks have fancier prices.
A staple for the wealthy elite, coffee is rarely ordered to go, as per the American on-the-go lifestyle; instead, it is usually consumed in a coffeeshop with a Continental deference (and cigarettes, of course).
Indeed, cafes are typically rather upscale affairs, a fabled “third place” that Westerners might call their own, since the Chinese seem largely unaware that there might be more than two places. Free wi-fi, long (often endless) business hours, decent service and full menus (invariably in English and Chinese) reinforce the classy atmosphere.
Still, I have come to discern clear discrepancies between the clientele of the three coffeeshops that I frequent: The Bridge, Cava Coffee and Beantree (all located conveniently on my block). The Bridge is the largest and busiest, with room for about a hundred patrons on each of two floors, catering to a majority of foreigners representing North America, most of the EU and Australia, not to mention Chinese-American students and a few native Chinese. Cava attracts more native Chinese and other assorted Asians, as well as the occasional 老外, while Beantree’s clientele consists mostly of Korean and Japanese students.
However, today marked the first time I’ve enjoyed Kombucha in about five months. Maybe that’s what got me all wired this afternoon… though I will most certainly be back on the bean tomorrow.
March 8, 2010
Whole Foods sweet Italian sausage on a baguette with dijon mustard & broccolini sautéed with crimini mushrooms, onions and garlic.
I was pleasantly surprised that I got the broccolini right, since this was the first time I’d ever cooked it—I bought on a whim because it was on sale at Whole Foods. Blanched for a couple minutes while sweating the onions and garlic, then stir-fried over medium heat with diced criminis. I had hoped to get more texture out of the mushrooms, but it only took a few to supply the right amount of flavor, so I probably wouldn’t change the amount in the future. I would consider adding pine nuts (or toasted almonds, on my budget) next time, or maybe some ginger and oyster sauce for a faux Chinese broccoli dish.
This was one of my better meals lately; I was working on tuna melts last week but they weren’t quite going my way, and I wasn’t particularly satisfied with the roast beef I made a couple weeks ago. I’d probably attribute it to low-quality meat (from the local Met Food), though proper seasoning and accoutrements would also help.
January 15, 2010
This detailed account of my Thursday is intended as a window into the life of someone who is currently “between jobs” (i.e. jobless—which is why I have all the time in the world to spend on my blog).
It’s pretty stupid and boring.
Honestly though, I don’t really know why I’m doing this—especially without photos, which might somehow justify the tedious and grossly underdeveloped prose. (It reads like something I would’ve written for a 9th-grade English class.) The closest approximation of a rationalization I can come up with is that I’d like to have some really terrible, shameful writing on the record to spite the rest of the content on my blog.
It’s also littered with hip NYC namedroppings and a cast of ancillary characters who barely qualify as devices. There is no symbolism or allegorical value to speak of. I’ve done my best to minimize foreshadowing… but that’s asking a lot and I’m not that good of a writer.
At best, it’s an exercise, an uncharacteristically intimate portrait of contemporary bohemia, largely unembellished albeit esoteric to the point of being skewed. At worst, it may be remembered as the first symptom of an otherwise untold descent into madness.
We’ll see how long it says online before I decide to delete it. (I’m tracking stats now so I’ll know exactly how many people clickthrough and read it.)
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January 12, 2010
This is yet another version of Assorted Links, culled from newspapers and blogs.
–The New York Times has an interactive feature that maps the popularity of new DVDs by city based on Netflix cues. It’s somewhat predictable (See: Northwest Brooklyn, South Bronx), insofar as there is a correlation between demographic data and taste in movies, but still worth checking out. For better or for worse, the majority of commenters are merely captivated by the pretty colors or curious about the methodology instead of concerned about the greater implications for web privacy. As one commenter succinctly puts it, “Fascinating and disturbing at the same time.”
–An interview with Billy Reid.
–Geico commercials (/short-lived ABC sitcom) paleo in comparison to the new urban caveman ur-food movement. The article is (tellingly?) in the Fashion & Style section.
–”But don’t some foods become trendy because they get taken up by hipsters?” Salon examines Middle American ethnic food trends.
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December 2, 2009
–My subway obsession continues… though I don’t believe that any of those stations could possibly be real. (DB)
–Steven Holl’s Nanjing Museum of Art and Architecture (top) is nearly finished. I’ve been meaning to check out his Linked Hybrid (bottom) in Beijing, but haven’t had the chance…
–I just discovered Sleevage, a blog that explores album artwork new and old. (The Animal Collective and Jay-Z entries are quite interesting and relevant as year-end list time is upon us.)
–PSFK has brought an interesting phenomenon to my attention: adman George Parker cites Starbucks’ unbranding experiment in his post on a resurgent (No Logo-esque) brand backlash (astute readers will note that I just read Naomi Klein’s manifesto). I followed the link to Bryant Simon’s essay on Reuters.com, which provides a nice rundown of Starbucks’ attempt to appropriate the local, indie coffeeshop aesthetic—i.e., the rejection of its corporate encroachment and supersaturation tactics. Very interesting.
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November 14, 2009
Peking duck.
