pantry permitting

Berlin Highlights: Kadó - Lakritz

Aplogies for the delay from my Berlin report. I'll do my best to update in the next week!

Admittedly, licorice is an all or nothing treat... you love it or you hate it, and in this country it isn't terribly popular. But, for those of us who love licorice, trips to Europe can mean anis-y, salty and molasses-y gluttony. And since our friend Eric knew that I was a decided fan of European licorice, he pointed me in the direction of a sweet (a salty) little storefront near his dad's art studio in the newly hip Kreuzberg district.

The store front is probably a mere 10 x 12 feet but it is filled with beautiful jars of every type of

licorice imaginable. Overwhelmed, I decided to get a mixed selection of 100 grams- unable to choose from the enormous selection I asked the shopkeep for a 2/3 sweet 1/3 salty combo. The combo came in a beatifully minimally paper cone enclosed with a little kado sticker. It lasted a full 18 hours of our trip-- I must say I showed incredible restraint, but I'll admit that I didn't share. Fortunately my hubby is not a licorice lover so I didn't have to ;-)

If you aren't in Berlin, Kado ships worldwide. Check out their delicious website. The site is unfortunately exclusively in German, so you may have to wing it a bit. But the licorice appears to be from all corners of Europe, if not the globe. So if you were really craving Turkish Pepper (an incredibly strong licorice confection popular in Denmark) you could probably locate it on the site with the aid of the photographs.

Kado's website is www.kado.de

Images from kado.de, and Maja Brugos

Jersey Foie Gras Ban...Let them eat paté!

There's an interesting interview/discussion on the current Foie Gras controversy by two noted foodies today on Salon.com... not to be missed!

One point to bring up, and that I hadn't considered, is that in many cases traditional factory farming of poultry and livestock is much worse than the treatment of those fancy ducks.

Where do I stand? I don't eat foie gras anymore. It's good, but with so many other choices out there why not choose something else. I'll admit that I might have a bite just to savor it if offered. I think it's just a matter of grossing me out enough to be off the food altogether. I used to like smoked eel, which is something I came to enjoy during my year in Denmark. That was until I read Gunther Grass' Tin Drum. Now...can't do it.

Archives: Typewriter Cake

Just had to share...How cute is this cake? This is something my mother-in-law made if for a "writer friend" in 1967. Both our families have been putting old slides onto CD, and if I run across more food photos in the archives I'll post here. This one probably "takes the cake" though! (Ugh, did I just make that pun? Sorry!)

Project Infinite Zucchini

So what do you do when a neighbor/relative/friend gives you 2 zucchinis larger than your arm?

That is what Project Infinite Zucchini is all about. Here is my plan:

Zucchini #1- offload to someone else

Zucchini #2- cook into a lot of baked goodies and freeze

There really aren't a lot of recipies you can make with oversized zucchini, the best seems to be zucchini bread, which I love. So, over the next week or so I'm going to shread the zucchini pictured above into probably at least 8 loaves of zucchini bread. I've never made zucchini bread so I will try a few recipes and report back on my findings... stay tuned. Oh, and if you have a great recipe to share, please let me know!

Seafoodwatch.org

One of the readers on design*sponge mentioned this site, sponsored by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which educates consumers on seafood.

You can plug in your region to find out what are the best seafood choices in your part of the country. Best seafood choices are defined as fish that are humanely caught or farmed in a way does not damage to local ocean habitats, or deplete our oceans of its fish supply. You can also print out a pocket guide to take with your to stores and restaurants to help you make good choices when you are out and about.

The site does not appear to cover mercury content, which is of particuar interest to me because I love tuna, especially in the form of tekka maki. When I find a good site for mercury content in fish, I'll let ya know.

Visit Seafoodwatch.org

Image ©Maja Brugos 2005

Imbibe Magazine

A preview issue of Imbibe Magazine arrived in the mail today. It looks to be a new pub devoted exclusively to libations. My initial impression was that the mag was devoted exclusively to the hard stuff, but upon inspection I saw articles on coffee, tea, and soft drinks in addition to beer, wine and cocktails.

The magazine has a definite West Coast feel, so I was not surprized to find that it is published in Portland, OR. Perhaps something going on in the Pacific Northwest in the beverage sector-- besides  bringing Starbucks to every corner, the Lavender Dry Soda I discovered just last month is also manufactured in Seattle.

This charter issue appears to a sometimes odd balance of Yin and Yang... think Martha Stewart meets Modern Drunkard. I've scanned a few pages to show the unusual combination of refined cocktail recipes and macho beer articles (A subhead of one article reads "Of Microbrews and Men").

In addtion to introducing readers to odd websites such as millioncanmarch.com or beeradvocate.com, Imbibe Magazine could certainly be a useful reference for party planning. In it, one could easily find the perfect boutique cocktail or apertif for a themed dinner party. Additionally, I can appreciate informative articles like the Tips for Budding Wine Collectors on page 38, as well the step-by-step guide to infusing vodka on page 32. It's probably not a magazine that I would refer to regularly, but I will hold on to this charter copy for future reference. It will be interesting to see how this magazine develops over time, and whether there is a market to sustain it.

Visit Imbibe Magazine's website at imbibemagazine.com.

Images from Imbibe Magazine.

In Season: Favas

What looks or tastes more like early summer than freshly shelled fava beans?

These are one of the foods that I feel are truly worth the work... and they are a lot of work: One must shell them twice: first the outer pod layer with its downy lining, and then the rather thick membrane around the bean itself.

Once the work is done and the beans are cooked a little bit al dente, one is rewarded with a delicious seasonal treat. Fresh, the bean has a delicate flavor and rich texture somewhere between edamame and fresh peas. The beans are typically about .75 in wide and can make for a satisfying side dish or a summery, vegetarian main course.

I cook my fresh favas in risotto with fresh corn and zucchini for an early summer treat. I originally had this dish a few years ago at Frantoio in Mill Valley and have continued to try to replicate it at home. Because I am still perfecting the recipe I won't include it tonight, so stay tuned--

But you may have not heard the last of my favas-- as I bought a very large bag that I am still working through. I think that I'm going to try the remainders in a salad recipe...I'll let you know how that goes.

Additional Notes:
Favas are also known as Broad Beans or English Beans. The best quality pods are not necessarily the largest pods, but the glossiest. They should be heavy for their size. Buy more than you think you need for your recipe (about 1.25 pounds yields 1 cup shelled). I'm told that blanching the beans in boiling water for 30 seconds can also make peeling the second skin a bit easier.

You can also buy favas dried. The cooked dried beans have a very hearty flavor, lending them to a fall or winter dish. But watch out, for some reason boiling dried favas gets stinky! The odor goes away as the beans cook down, so not to worry! I'll make sure to include a dried fava soup recipe in the fall.

Does anyone else have some fava recipes or tips to share? Maybe I could be a little more adventurous. (Hannibal, I am not talking to you.)

Image: © Maja Brugos

Lentil Soup with Carmelized Onions, Carrots and Ginger

I made my lentil soup the other day. I know, it's totally the wrong time of year, but lentil soup is a year round standby for me. It's a staple at our house that I vary a number of ways. And the great thing is that you can nearly always pull together the ingredients. I was quite pleased with this photo, so I thought I would share it. I'll include the recipe soon, but since I make it by feel, I'll need to actually pay attention next time!

Image by Maja Brugos.

Think Global. Eat Local.

A neighbor turned me on to the Eat Well Guide.

The site is a sister site of sustainabletable.org, and features a zip code locator which lists farms, stores, restaurants and organizations in your area which support sustainable agriculture, more specifically as it pertains to eggs, meat and poultry.

Perhaps it is sheer laziness on my part, but I feel if you start off with quality ingredients, you don't have to fuss around too much to make something delicious. So, it would follow that I do my best to seek out the best ingredients whenever possible, both at home and when I go out to eat. This site is a great resource for finding quality ingredients and sources for them. Additionally, there are links to many of the farms, many of which you can visit to get an upclose and personal view of sustainable farming. I'm already planning a visit to one of those farms soon.

But what does that sustainable label mean? To quote sustainabletable.org, a product can be considered sustainable if its production enables the resources from which it was made to continue to be available for future generations. A sustainable product can thus be created repeatedly without generating negative environmental effects, without causing waste products to accumulate as pollution, and without compromising the wellbeing of workers or communities. Many different agricultural techniques can be utilized to help make food production more sustainable.

Unlike organic foods, sustainable foods are not certified by a USDA-approved food certifying agency, but often sustainable and organic go hand-in-hand. The sustainabletable.org and Eat Well sites recommend visiting your local farmers to learn more about where your food is coming from.

Check out sustainabletable.org to learn more about the tenets of sustainable agriculture and why it is an idea whose time has come (or come back as the case may be). For example, did you know that an average meal comes over 1,500 miles to get to your table? Think about all of the resources that can be saved buying from local farmers.

http://www.sustainabletable.org/home/

http://www.eatwellguide.org/

Image from sustainabletable.org

Kitchen Confessional

I'm always looking for inspiration in the kitchen, and I'm sure you are too. But, I have a confession to make... I am not a gourmet home chef. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy cooking, but each day after work you will not find me in the kitchen whipping up a three course meal. Who has the time?

What I do seek out and make at home are dishes which feature local ingredients (pantry permitting), that are simple, fresh and easy to make...in a sense, modern. I don't believe that good food needs to be fussy or pretentious, either. There is really nothing wrong with eating a grilled cheese sandwich every now and then.

I would call myself minimalist in the kitchen, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I realized that there are a lot of people like me who are looking for uncomplicated, good food that they can enjoy at home. The purpose of this blog was to have an outlet to to share ideas and discoveries, to seek out simple but noble ingredients, and to satisfy my designer's eye with modern presentation and entertaining ideas. I think that there are a lot of us out there who could be described as "modern" cooks... people short on time, but not on style. To inspire, I will also explore and supply ideas on entertaining, introduce artisan goods and local farms, and generally do my best to provide an alternative *modern* voice that will help you rekindle your relationship with your kitchen.

Image by Maja Brugos 2004