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Summer Reads: Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper

August 19th, 2010 · Asian, Books, Restaurants, omnivore books

Summer isn’t over yet! (Really, it’s just beginning here in San Francisco). For anyone looking for some good summer food reading – look no further!  There is still time to hit the beaches and don your sunhat with a good book! Here is the official Omnivore Books Summer Reading List – for those of you who haven’t seen the newsletter – here is the list (I have in fact, read every single one of these books, and enjoyed them myself):

OMNIVORE’S 2010 BEACH READS

By far, one of my favorite books on this list is Fuchsia Dunlop’s ‘Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China‘. Perhaps I’m biased because one of my oldest childhood friends lives in Shanghai, and I feel a kinship to those who write about China, and perhaps my bias extends from my love of Chinese food instilled from my father’s very good Chinese cooking skills (he learned from an Asian grandmother whom he exchanged grocery shopping for her for cooking lessons), but nevertheless there is something visceral that comes up every time I get to recommend this book to someone.

When people come into Omnivore asking for their next good read, I usually direct them towards this book and start waxing poetic and verging on desperation. You MUST read this book. I’m not sure how I would even describe this woman without babbling about how cool she is and how much I admire her tenacity and how much I want to be like her. Here I am doing it again.

Above all, I love reading books by smart, motivated, strong women. There, I said it. Some of my biggest role models are writers such as M.F.K. Fisher, Elizabeth David, and Judith Jones. These women inspire me every day. In brief, Fuchsia Dunlop is certainly one of these women I admire: a witty and persistent Englishwoman, who rather than taking the safe and comfortable route, decided to study abroad in China during her University years. People just didn’t do that in the 90′s. Her brief stint led to a lifelong passion – she went back to live there, and ultimately managed to stumble her way into becoming the first westerner ever to attend the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine.

Ultimately she went on to write two cookbooks, ‘Land of Plenty: A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking‘ and the ‘Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province‘ which are both excellent resources for Sichuan and Hunanese cooking. Beyond the cookbooks, it was a good thing she went ahead and wrote her memoir. Her voice on the page is clearly one of a woman I’d love to go gallivanting off to the ends of the earth with.

Throughout the book, Dunlop has this wonderful way of describing the tastes and the essence of food, and ‘Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China‘ is full of amazing, bizarre, and sometimes even shocking tales. I found myself reading through this book – giggling, getting hungry, and experiencing her remarkable journey as a vicarious travel partner.

The Bottom Line: I highly recommend this book.

And then, of course, once you read it, you too can join the ‘Fuchsia Dunlop Admiration Society’ (OK, so I made that up) and can follow her on twitter! Now if only we could get her to come on vacation and speak at Omnivore! We’ll have a party!

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And now, while we are on the topic, here are a few photos from a dinner I had with fellow food bloggers quite some time ago at Sichuan restaurant Z+Y in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Totally Authentic? Not quite, but it was delicious nonetheless.

I’ve had a soft spot for Sichuan since I was a child, mostly because one of the better Chinese restaurants in our slightly sleepy corner of New Hampshire was called Szechuan Taste. There was one in Portsmouth, and then they opened another one in Exeter conveniently located blocks away from my high school. I can’t really vouch for the authenticity of the food, as they became very Americanized over the years, but I loved the place and have fond memories that guided my pursuit of knowledge into Chinese cooking, so I have to give them credit where credit is due.

At Z+ Y, we ate (somewhat gluttonously, between eight of us): Scallion Pancakes, Spicy Numbing Beef Tendon, Yunnan Style Steamed Chicken Soup in Clay Pot, Peking Duck, Pea Sprouts with Garlic, Special Pork Belly (not on the menu), Chicken with Explosive Chili Peppers and Hot Braised Sea Bass, Cured Beef Wrapped In Scallion Pancake, and Red Bean Buns for dessert.

There is something really reassuring about eating dinner with food bloggers. For one, you don’t have to feel any embarrassment about taking photos of the food, and really the phrase “WAIT – let me just snap a few photos please!” even remains unsaid. Although, to be fair, Devon is very good about waiting patiently for me to take my photos at dinner.

Bloggers in attendance: @cookingwithamy @chefjen, @urbanstomach, @summertomato, @alphaprep (yep that’s me), @divinacucina, @heatherhal and @Jeters.

Another thing about eating with food bloggers is that you can order half of the menu and not skip over the bits and pieces of the animal for fear that your dining partners will not be so keen on your choice. And so here, a dish that we all (or mostly all) enjoyed: Tendon. It’s not just for pho! I can’t get over the fact that it looks like I’m being served food on an easel. I really got a kick out of this dish. The beef tendon was shaved thinly, and served with a tingly numbing sauce.

We food bloggers also really appreciate highly photogenic foods, such as this Chicken with Explosive Chili Peppers. Massive piles of fiery peppers in contrasting red and green! I’m fairly sure this had more peppers than would be needed or wanted in the home, but it made for an exciting presentation.

And then there was the duck. Apologies to @jeters for the “in the moment eating shot”, but I had to put this in as it was the only shot of the duck I managed to take. I’ve been a devotee of duck since my childhood where my favorite memories of Chinatown were the ducks hanging in the windows. I’m sure my parents were slightly concerned about my excitement – I was at that point fully aware of the live happy farm duck being the same, in theory, as the dessicated hanging duck in the window – and I still would ask to eat it pleadingly.

A great part about the food blogging community is that you can eat with people that you greatly respect and admire, and even if their work is heralded across the globe, perhaps in bookstores, or written about in famous magazines, even the best food writers will gather to share a meal – food is something we all have in common. The lovely and talented Divina Cucina in the background (for whom this dinner was in honor of), and quick pickled cucumbers in the foreground.

Food bloggers also have gumption and forethought to order in advance, and throw their hands into the air and say feed me the best you can! The Japanese have a word Omakase, or Chef’s Tasting Menu, that is in the spirit that I like to eat – allowing the chef to choose the best, the freshest, the most interesting foods, and as a rule, I always defer to their suggestions for which I’m often highly rewarded.  The pork belly – not on the menu, but at the recommendation of the chef was delightful – a current food trend, pork belly has been a delicacy for hundreds, if not thousands? of years, and prepared simply, this was one of the better experiences with pork belly I have had to date.

And then there is that moment in many a meal, where sometimes, even seasoned food bloggers are slightly perplexed. In this case, the moment  was when we were served the cured meat wrapped in scallion pancake – Chinese-Jewish fusion food? I wasn’t able to grasp the influence, but I liked it!

Finally, we ended with red bean buns, and slices of orange, which, although I do have some fabulous photos of friends making awkward orange smiles, I’ve held back at posting them, perhaps though, they’ll serve as future blackmail.

For more perspective, check out Alex’s write-up (same dinner, lens across the table). And for even more convincing, Marcia (The Tablehopper) also had a great writeup of her dinner a month ago.

Z&Y Restaurant, 655 Jackson St, between Grant & Kearny

415-981-8988

Monday-Sunday 11 AM-10 PM
Pre-Ordered Nine Course Meal For Eight: $200 after tax and tip (sans beverage)

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Omnivore Books Stone Fruit Contest

July 17th, 2010 · Baking, Challenge, omnivore books

Another smiling shot of the winners (Aleta and Lilly) of an Omnivore Books Food Contest. This challenge: Stone Fruits. The entries were all diverse (okay, except maybe for a noticeable trend of peaches) and everything was delicious. Despite my resolution to keep my tastes to a minimum, I end up trying everything, and eventually went back to seconds. Damn deliciousness breaking my willpower…Here are all photos of all of them to drool over.

The winning dish?

An Assortment of Galettes. These charming galettes were the clear favorite. Excellent dough, and creative fillings. The dough was a
Pâte à Foncer dough from ‘Advanced Bread and Pastry A Professional Approach’ written by Michel Suas. I’ve attached the recipe at the bottom – perfect for summer baking!

The runner up was Lisa’s individual Financiers with Peaches, Almonds, and ‘lotsa Butter! Let me just say that these were some of my favorites – I’m a sucker for classic french pastries.

Our own Paula brought a lovely Peach Cobbler, which had the glorious addition of a little bit of almond extract, that I must remember to add to my own. It’s a wonderful marriage of flavors.

A savory Peach and Nectarine Salsa was served with chips in this absolutely adorable vintage serving dish. I’d like to get one of these! The salsa was incredible, but the entire presentation was a feast for the eyes. I can see bringing this to every summer cookout.

A Two Plum and Peach Pie was served elegantly on a raised platter (points in my book for presentation), and I loved particularly the way the plums were treated – they had an intense flavor.

A jar of plum jam. Sweet and to the point. I could see this being consumed very quickly in my house, probably equally on toast and stirred into a morning yogurt parfait.

Peach and Nectarine Pie – quite a classic pie, with nice addition of cutout circles of dough adorning the top of the pie there.

Apricot Clafoutis – one of my favorite French desserts. And so easy to make! This version with Apricots was lovely. (The chef also recommends chocolate and cherry clafoutis. I think I’d have to second that – maybe it will be my next baking project.)

Italian Pistachio Plum Cake (and it was vegan!) – a delightful, almost spongy (in a good way!) pistachio cake dotted with the perfect little plums. And it came with a delicious jam (with an extendable spoon to boot – making for the perfect competition servingware) .

Savory Plum Tarts – the last entries into the competition, a little late but they certainly held their own! Came in two flavors – one with thyme, rosemary and lavender jam, and the other with basil, honey, and balsamic.

Jealous?

Don’t worry! We have another contest coming up next month: Tomatoes!

Tomato Cooking Contest! Omnivore Books – August 14th – 4-5pm. Bring a tomato dish, sweet or savory, or just come to eat with $5 dollars in hand ready to judge your favorites. Winners split the door money and earn serious bragging rights.

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Pâte à Foncer

from ‘Advanced Bread and Pastry A Professional Approach‘ written by Michel Suas

Don’t be put off by the metric measurements – baking in metric is much more precise and yields better results. And it’s incredibly easy to find a kitchen scale – mine that tares from metric to standard US I purchased at Ikea for about $12.

yields about 6-7 5inch galettes

Ingredients:
395 grams Pastry Flour
296 grams Butter
79 grams Milk
16 grams Egg Yolks
8 grams Salt
6 grams Sugar
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 425ºF along with a sheet pan or pizza stone (385ºF for convection oven).
2. Allow butter, milk, and egg yolks to come up to room temperature. Butter should be almost mayonnaise consistency.
3. Soften the butter and mix with the paddle attachment.
4. Add the salt, sugar, yolks, and milk, and then add the flour. Mix until just incorporated; dough should look a little bit shaggy.
5. Refridgerate dough for 1 to 4 hours.
6. Divide dough into 7 pieces. Roll dough out to about an 1/8 of an inch thick about 6-7 inch rounds. Fill with either sweet or savory filling. Egg wash crust.
7. Bake until golden about 25-35 minutes.

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The Marvelous Biscoff: Biscoff Coffee Corner Opens at Pier 39

July 15th, 2010 · Cookies, Restaurants, Shopping

Over the past few nights I’ve been going to bed with a spoonful of Biscoff Spread. I know, I know, you dentists out there are cringing. I sit there, savoring it for minutes. Devon has joked that it is my crack spoon. Here is the back story:

Almost a decade ago, I was traveling internationally on Delta Airlines when I was first introduced to Lotus Bakeries’ Biscoff cookies. Biscoff are Belgian spice cookies, known in Europe as Speculoos, traditionally a holiday cookie. Now ubiquitous year round, they are the perfect accompaniment to a cup of afternoon coffee.

At first bite, I marveled at these crunchy caramelized spice cookies, which tasted similar to a gingersnap. I was so smitten in fact, that on our return trip, I begged the stewards to give me an extra supply as I exited the aircraft. For years I hoarded these cookies, requesting all traveling friends to bring them back for me.

The Biscoff was originally developed by the Boone family in Belgium in 1932, and sold as Lotus Speculoos. In 1984, Lotus partnered with The Gourmet Center in San Francisco, and  introduced the cookie to the United States as “Biscoff”, an amalgamation of the words ‘Biscuit + Coffee’. Delta began serving Biscoff cookies on their flights in the 1980′s, and since then they have been sold to a growing fan base through mail order catalogue, on their website, and just recently popping up in retailers across the country.

In addition to their cookies, the new Biscoff Spread is a food revelation. A few months ago, David Lebovitz raved about it on his blog, and I knew I had to get my hands on some. A similar consistency to peanut butter, it is a smooth spread made of blended Biscoff cookies. (Think Nutella, except tasting like Biscoff). The spread is perfect on toast, stirred into oatmeal, warmed and drizzled over vanilla ice cream, or, as I do most frequently, eaten directly from the jar.

I’ve been ordering the spread from the internet, but for the first time, it is available for purchase in San Francisco. Lotus Bakeries, and the Simmons Family, owners of Simco Restaurants’ PIER 39 establishments on Fisherman’s Wharf have partnered to open the Biscoff Coffee Corner and Coffee Cart, the first retail store of Biscoff products in the United States.

As a local, I don’t often find myself down by Pier 39, but it’s only a quick walk away from the Embarcadero, and well worth the trip in order to get yourself some Biscoff.

The Biscoff Coffee Corner opened last Thursday with free samples of Biscoff cookies, Biscoff cookie jugglers on stilts, a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Boone family, trivia, and giveaways. One hundred percent of sales were donated to The Marine Mammal Center, which rehabilitates seals and sea lions. In the future, 1% percent of all cookie sales will be donated to The Marine Mammal Center.

The Biscoff Coffee corner gives a free Biscoff cookie with the sale of each cup of coffee. The shop retails Biscoff cookies, Biscoff spread, as well as features menu items such as toasted bagels with cream cheese and Biscoff spread, and coffee with Biscoff flavoring and Biscoff crumbles (probably my entire calories for the day, but it was delicious!!). Additionally, Simco Restaurants will be featuring Biscoff cookies in dessert creations in their restaurants. Next time I head down there, I think I’m going to get some more Biscoff to make into ice cream.

Biscoff Spread is available at the Biscoff Coffee Corner for $5.50 for a 14 ounce jar. Biscoff Cookies are $3.50 for an 8.8 ounce loose package. Coffee with Biscoff flavoring and Biscoff crumbles is also on the menu at the Biscoff Coffee Corner. I highly recommend the trip out there.

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Dinner Notes: Grilled Chicken with Jicama Slaw

July 11th, 2010 · Salads, chicken

Dinner: No recipe here – Jicama slaw made with corn and pepper relish (homemade, although Trader Joe’s corn relish might be a good substitute) , a handful of chopped parsley, salt, pepper, lime and meyer lemon dressing made with good olive oil. A dash of this and a dash of that until it tasted right. Served with grilled chicken, my first attempt in my newly acquired (saved from the San Francisco streets) cast iron pan. Chicken thighs from Drewes. Simply seasoned with salt, pepper, Rancho Gordo ground red chile pepper, Rancho Gordo Indio Oregano, and Cumin. Seared to form a lovely spice crust.

Wine Pairing: Dashwood Sauvingnon Blanc 2009 – Vavasour Wines, Marlborough, New Zealand. Slightly overpowered by the jicama slaw, but overall, citrus notes went well with dinner. This is a lovely wine that I’m looking forward to drinking more of. Actually, dinner is over and I’m still drinking it!

(Disclaimer: I was sent this wine  as a sample from Pasternak Wine Imports – purveyors of some extremely good wines. They are in my book of awesome.)

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Ad Hoc 4th of July

July 9th, 2010 · Restaurants

Sometimes we are creatures of habit.

We don’t go out to dinner very often, but when we do, we tend to go back to Ad Hoc, Thomas Keller’s down home establishment in Yountville, right down the street from the French Laundry. This time, we were there to celebrate – both the 4th of July, and Devon’s graduation – a gift from my family in his honor. Lobster rolls were on the menu, and we were not prepared to pass these up.

We headed down without a reservation, and so we made a pit stop to Bouchon Bakery while we waited. Yes, imaging that – enforced waiting means that you have to walk down the street in the beautiful weather and gorge yourselves in a sugar rush “amuse-bouche”.

A TKO (Thomas Keller Oreo).

And a Bouchon:

By the time we came back from our little stroll, Julia, the ever lovely beverage manager had scored us a spot at a table in the dining room. She gets so many bonus points in life for remembering my name, having not seen us since March. With a cursory glance at the menu, and assurance to our server that we indeed had no dietary restrictions, we held up our hands and said “Feed Us!!”.

A small amuse arrived from the kitchen: fresh nectarine wrapped in a cured pork product. Can you think of a better way to start?

The first course was a Frisee and Melon Salad, made with yellow and red watermelon, sharlyn, galia melon, d’avignon radish, black olives, and a tondo balsamic vinaigrette. At some point, I tasted some gelatinous morsel of goodness, and the melons, I believe, were compressed? In any case, it was so refreshing to have melon served in a nice savory salad. And I must say that I was just as entranced by the Heath Ceramic bowl it was brought to us in. Covet!

It looked like something from Michel Bras’ Essential Cuisine.

The main course were Maine Lobster Rolls, possibly my favorite food in the world. The generous lobster was nestled in these beautifully crispy buttered rolls from Bouchon bakery, and topped with pickled red onions and shaved celery. They were served with a side of refreshing savoy cabbage cole slaw, and a dish of new potatoes which had been cooked sous vide, and Brentwood corn on the cob with an outrageous amount of butter slathered on.

I was tempted to eat the entire contents of our table – the lobster rolls were sure to go bad if we didn’t eat them right away, right? But under the sage advice of Julia, we ended up saving half of our dinner for midnight when we came home. (This is a brilliant tactic.)

And so we still had some room for the cheese course:

A slice of Wisconsin Sheep Dairy Co-op’s ‘Dante’, served with a little salad of white nectarines, shaved endive, and toasted marcona almonds.

And a close-up of those nectarines.

As we sat for a while to digest, I ordered a pot of my favorite Jasmine tea, and sat, blissfully, until we ended up sitting agog (yes, agog I tell you) as we listened to the table of city folks next to us argue with the server about the lack of meat option on the menu. Really folks? It’s Fourth of July! The ultimate summer food, the lobster roll is on the menu! There is one menu, every day, and you are not vegetarian, or even, in this case, allergic to sea food!! It reminded me, just briefly, of the fact that I wish that I could own a rambling farm in Napa and avoid the city in it’s entirety. Fortunately, dessert brought me back to my fantasy world.

Red Velvet cupcakes, served with a bowl of strawberries, blueberries, and buttermilk sorbet. We ate our sorbet and fruit, and saved the cupcakes for our impending second dinner at midnight. (Again, thanks to Julia for her wisdom and forethought!)

It was an agonizing wait as these babies sat in the car with us on the drive back.

But it was worth it.

Cue up a mental image here of me stuffing this thing in my face at midnight in a gleeful frenzy.

Oh Ad Hoc, how I love thee.

Ad Hoc Restaurant
6476 Washington Street, Yountville, CA
707-944-2487

Ad Hoc has a daily pre-fixe menu, which is updated in the morning on their website.

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Jamie Does + a Recipe for Summer Minestrone Soup

July 2nd, 2010 · Books, Food Travel, Soups, omnivore books

I have a little secret to share with you. Ok, so it’s not a secret to anyone who knows me, but, I happen to be obsessed with Jamie Oliver. It started in 1999, right around when we first got cable television, I discovered the Food Network, and then I discovered the Naked Chef. It was one of the first cookbooks I cooked through. I should have blogged about it. Oh well. When Jamie married Jools, I put his photo up next to my bed (which I had clipped from my grandmother’s People Magazine) and cried a little bit.

I can’t believe that it was over 10 years ago. Now, 14? 15 books later? He has come out with a new one – except it isn’t out in the states yet. Jamie Does is another brilliant book from Jamie Oliver that I encourage you to get your hands on. Don’t be put off by his media presence - he is legit – I assure you this man can cook seriously good food.

I took home a copy of ‘Jamie Does‘ about a month ago from Omnivore, and could not be more excited about it. It’s a fantastic cookbook. The premise is based on Jamie’s travels across Europe and North Africa (Lucky Bastard!) : he heads to Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece and France, searching for the flavors, techniques, and recipes of each country.

There are so many reasons I love this book (aside from the fact that everything Jamie Oliver does is wonderful,) but my favorite part are these beautiful spreads of the main flavor components and ingredients of each country. The tagline of ‘Jamie Does’ is “Easy twists on classic dishes inspired by my travels”. So many people are afraid to cook new types of cuisines, but as long as you have the flavors and the general cooking techniques, you can fiddle around and make things taste delicious and fairly authentic.

Each page of this cookbook is filled with beautiful spreads and photographs by David Loftus – real food that you want to eat, and feel empowered to prepare. You don’t have to go to these places to eat, you can travel right in your own kitchen. (Although, frankly, this cookbook makes me yearn to whip out my passport and my credit card and make reckless financial decision…) And yes, there is a tv show. I’ve been watching the grainy version on youku, because British networks are cruel, cruel people and will not stream online to the U.S. audience.

Here are links to more of Jamie’s recipes: head over to his website to access hundreds of his recipes . An incredible resource!! And of course, he’s on twitter, too. Now if only we could get him to Omnivore Books for a signing….

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Last night I put together a quick summer minestrone soup with some of the contents of my farm box. I also had a loaf of bread that our neighbor baked, which needed to be eaten, and I decided that soup would be the perfect accompaniment. After searching for the proper treatment for my veg,  I was inspired by the ‘Spring and Summer Minestrone’ in ‘Jamie Does‘

Spring Minestrone with Pesto

adapted from ‘Jamie Does’

Serves 2-3, 25 minutes

In a heavy bottomed pot, heat a glug of olive oil. Saute an onion, a couple of chopped carrots, a few cloves of garlic, and a few slices of really good thick cut bacon, chopped. After those have been going for about 5 minutes, add in two chopped zucchini, and cook for a few more minutes. While that’s going, chop up a tomato, and a bunch of parsley, and whatever greens you have in the fridge, and stir it all in. Swiss chard? Kale? All I had was lettuce. It worked just fine. Add a handful of peas if you have them (I didn’t.) And then cover with some good organic chicken or vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, and add a small handful of pasta (I used 1/2 cup israeli cous cous). Season with salt and pepper, and turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.

While the soup is going – you make your pesto. A classic pesto will have fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan and olive oil. I had basil, garlic, walnuts, Kerrygold Dubliner with Irish Stout, and olive oil. It worked out just fine. I dumped a large handful of the basil into my mortar and pestle with a pinch of coarse salt, and bruised them well. I added a few cloves of garlic, a couple of walnuts, and made a paste. I grated in about an ounce of cheese, and loosened it all up with a few good glugs of olive oil.

When the pasta was cooked, I ladled it into bowls, and topped with a dollop of pesto. I toasted thick slices of the bread, and topped them with a pat of Kerrygold Butter.

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Wordless Wednesday: Chocolate Cake Spoons

June 23rd, 2010 · Books, Chocolate

Alright, almost wordless. These lovely spoonfuls were made for us at Omnivore by Barbara Passino, author of Chocolate for Breakfast, and proprietress of the Oak Knoll Inn in Napa, California. She bakes them right on the spoon! I found them delightful when dipped in her home made chocolate sabayon.

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Post at The Good Taste Review + Recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

May 21st, 2010 · Books

Yes, I’m here, there and everywhere.

Head over to The Good Taste Review for my review of Lucinda Scala Quinn’s ‘Mad Hungry Feeding Men and Boys’. Plus, there is a great recipe for these delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I reckon I’ve made about 20 recipes from this cookbook so far, and it is one of my favorites this year.

Don’t be thrown off by the title! This cookbook is for you.

Yes, even if you are single woman living on Lake Itasca in Minnesota. It’s for everyone, I swear.

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Influential Women at Omnivore: Victoria Wise

May 17th, 2010 · Books, omnivore books

I’ve been thinking lately of how many amazing influential women I’ve met at Omnivore books over the past year. The list is pretty astounding – Paula Wolfert, Cindy Paulson, Alice Waters, Mollie Katzen (although she didn’t speak) to name a few. So I think I’m going to make a point to post about these great women – they deserve immense credit for changing the world of food for the better. Here is the latest in influential women at Omnivore:

Behind those super hip red glasses is a woman we should all respect – Victoria Wise.

At 27 years old, Victoria was the first chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley. A former philosophy grad student at Berkeley, her cooking education was mostly trial by fire. The first dinner she cooked was Duck with Olives. She sourced the duck from Chinatown, made the stock, sauce, everything from scratch. One of the big lessons she learned that night – you can’t take a recipe for 12 and multiply it by 20 and expect it to turn out. It was, in her words, “Very Tomato-y”.

After Chez Panisse, she set up shop across the street and opened a charcuterie deli called Pig-by-the-Tail. “It was an artist’s workshop, it was not a business” she confided – but it was a different time then – like Chez Panisse, the goal was never to get rich, it was to make delicious food to share with friends. While Pig-By-The-Tail may not have made Wise wealthy, it gave her the material for her first book in a long line of cookbooks – “American Charcuterie“, a standard that we sell at Omnivore (nominated for a James Beard in ’87). (It’s out of print, but if you call we can send you a signed copy!)

Since writing ‘American Charcuterie’, she has gone on to write over a dozen more cookbooks, including ‘Good & Plenty: America’s New Home Cooking’, ‘The Well-Filled Tortilla Cookbook’ , ‘Foods Of The World: Mexico’,  ‘The Vegetarian Table: Mexico’, ‘The Well-Filled Microwave Cookbook’, ‘The Vegetarian Table: Japan’, ‘The Pressure Cooker Gourmet’,  ‘Stories and Recipes from the Robert Mondavi Kitchen’, ‘The Armenian Table’, ‘The Olive and The Caper: Recipes’, and ‘Gastronomy, and Lore of Greek Cooking and The Gardeners’ Community Cookbook’. Her newest book, ‘Sausage’ came out just last month, and she has another book, ‘Bold Food’ on the docket.

As you can see, the breadth of her work is pretty incredible.

Victoria’s goal in life is to “convince people that they really can cook.” Her cookbooks are approachable, filled with great recipes, but importantly great stories. Cookbooks are so much more than recipes – a good cookbook creates the context for good eating. Victoria loves writing about food as much as she loves eating, and confided unabashedly that she thinks about food all the time.

That’s a woman I admire.

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Cheese at Omnivore Books

May 15th, 2010 · Books, Cheese, omnivore books

[This photo of Laura Werlin (cheese lover and author) is a perfect example of how much fun we have at Omnivore Books.]

Laura came by to talk about cheese, but more importantly, to lead us in a mini-tasting. We had a tasting of three American cheeses, all of which I’d purchase again, and recommend highly. Forgive my cheese-tasting notes, I need to work on cheese vocabulary without sounding inept or worse, ridiculous – “grapefruit and foie gras notes in that cheese Marty, don’t you think?…”

1. Crocodile Tears (See photo below) – made by Judy Schad of Capriole Dairy in Indiana. This was an aged but still soft goat cheese with a really smooth goat-cheesy texture, and nice tangy flavor. While sampling this cheese we learned that most goat cheeses are that characteristic whitish color because don’t metabolize beta carotene the same way that cows do, producing a lighter milk.

2. Pleasant Ridge Reserve – made by Uplands Cheese Company in Dodgeville, Wisconsin. A special cross breed of cows, and rotational grazing techniques used by the farmers makes this cheese a nice golden color. It was a firm (semi-hard?) cheese with such pleasant complex notes – a little bit like tasting the grass the cows were eating in the plains, just a little bit of nuttiness and a tiny crunch.

3. Oma – made in Vermont by the Von Trapp Farmstead, aged in the Cellars of Jasper Hill, one of the only Affineurs (cheese agers) in our country. Yes, those Von Trapps. We tasted this cheese last, as it was the most “aromatic” aka delightfully smelly. It was also wonderfully creamy.

But maybe it’s something about people who work with cheese:

Here’s Gordon Edgar – Cheesemonger at Rainbow Grocery, and author of one of the best food books I’ve read this year. His book, ‘Cheesemonger: A life on the Wedge‘ single-handedly doomed me to uncontrollable cheese cravings for the past month. (Fortunately, my family just gave me a gift certificate to Rainbow Grocery for my birthday, so I now have the funds to spend it all on cheese. I’ll have to use restraint.)

I loved this book because the voice is uniquely Gordon Edgars’ – and is as passionate about cheese as he is about politics, activism, music, and the Bay Area. I learned more about my city from reading this book than from living here. (Which just tells me that I have to be more involved. Folsom St. Fair anyone?) In fact, I enjoyed it so much, that when I finished reading it…. I went back to his livejournal, which to my delight has archives dating back to 2002. I know, I’m a little creepy.

And he loves dogs! And dogs love him.. Maybe dogs also love cheese?

But then, he too fed us delicious cheese:

Dee Harley’s freshly made goat cheese from her farm in Pescadero. Not only was this goat cheese delicious and fresh, but I had the privilege to take home some of the leftovers. It went on asparagus, morning toast, and in a glorious trick – in the cavity of my roasting chicken. Delicious!!

Jealous?

Come to Omnivore! Here’s the event calendar. There are events every week – usually on the weekends, but some excellent ones scheduled during the week as well.

As for more cheese lust- this is what I’ve been reading over the past few weeks:

It’s Not You, It’s Brie : Kirstin loves cheese, and works as a ‘cheese program director’ among other fabulous food related jobs. She also takes some beautiful photographs of cheese, and makes me hungry on a regular basis.

@formaggio on twitter: I follow Formaggio Kitchen because I’m a masochist. Some of the best cheese (and foodstuffs) on the East Coast. A few years back I went to a cheese tasting with Ihsan Gurdal (the owner) at Tanglewood. Do it if you have a chance.

Gordon Edgar’s Blog: Yes, the Cheesemonger keeps us updated and laughing.

I also am in the middle of reading ‘The Town That Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food‘ about a community in Vermont at the center of a food revolution/scandal/hype/or what have you. (You’ll have to read it.). It also has a good amount of information on cheese and dairy’ing. Worth a look.

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