Docsconz- The Blog

Taste of the Week - May 24-30

It has been a long time since I have had a piece of fried fish as good as the one I had the other night at the Pub at Cooper's Cave in Glens Falls, N.Y. The piece was a whole side of haddock, crisp on the outside and perfectly moist and flaky inside. It was a true standout. Unfortunately, the rest of the meal was not up to the same level as the fish.

At the Market - May 30th, 2009

Applewood charcoal from Bowman Orchards at the Saratoga Springs Farmers Market should make an interesting ingredient when charcoal grilling. I plan to use some tomorrow to grill skirt steaks. The price is not cheap $10 for a 10 pound bag, but if it is able to impart some nice applewood smoke elements to the meat, it will have been worth it.

Anticipating June

In this part of the country peonies don't bloom until June. As this ant can attest, June is right around the corner.

The Ice(cream)man Cometh

It is not gelato, but American soft-serve ice cream has an allure all its own, with a great smooth and creamy mouthfeel and a comfort factor that brings me back to my childhood and the boardwalk at Coney Island. I have always loved soft-serve ice cream whether from Carvel, Mister Frostee or any number of other purveyors. Never though, have I lived in an area with an abundance and richness of soft-serve ice cream as I currently do in the are of Glens Falls, N.Y. Saratoga Springs and Lake George get the glamor and the press (relatively speaking), but when it comes to ice cream and especially soft-serve ice cream, the Glens Falls area plays second fiddle to nowhere else.

While not exactly a small town, neither Glens Falls nor its neighbor, Queensbury, are major metropolises either. Together they and other surrounding towns comprise a nice community nestled in the foothills of the Adirondacks and just a stone's throw (ok, by an Olympic class shotputter!) from the major urban areas of NYC, Boston and Montreal. Along with the restaurants of Saratoga and Lake George and the bounty of area farms, there is plenty of good food to be had. That a dairy item like ice cream should be amongst them is not really a surprise given that the area has a longstanding tradition of excellence in the dairy industry. That they should be so concentrated in Glens Falls/Queensbury is unusual though. The main reason for that may have been the development and history of our local amusement parks such as The Magic Forest and especially Storytown, which evolved into Six Flags' The Great Escape. It wasn't so much that they developed the taste of this ice cream. Rather one of the area's best, Martha's Dandee Cream was situated across the road from the park. Martha's became an institution, until the family who started it sold it to Six Flags. When that happened, the road to competition opened, with some members of the Martha's family opening Rob & Deb's Frozen Dreams across town followed by an expansion into ice cream both soft and hard of the successful local micro-brewery Cooper's Cave Ale Company. In addition, after owning Martha's for a number of years, Six Flags sold the store back to some members of the family that started the store.

The soft-serve in each of the local mainstays, Martha's, Rob & Deb's and CCAC are all of excellent quality, but they have developed different strategies for their stores. Both Martha's and the related Rob & Deb's use the formula of having only a few flavors available on any given day. Vanilla (my traditional favorite) and chocolate (my wife's) are always available. In addition, every couple of days they rotate flavors amongst a larger variety such that on any given day only a handful of choices are available. Cooper's cave, on the other hand, has a boatload of flavors including plenty of exotic ones like red passionfruit and the pictured chocolate banana available all the time. While I think the marketing plan of Marth's and Rob & Deb's is the smarter one as it keeps people coming back just to see what new flavors or old favorites may be available that day, Cooper's cave is probably a better choice for those with very specific cravings. In any case, all three seem to be doing quite well early this summer season. I'm not complaining.

Madrid Fusión Day Two - The Canned Fish Contest

We are not talking about Star-Kist or Bumble Bee. Spain is legendary for its "conservas" of seafood. They are masters of the fine art of canning seafood of all sorts from cockles to mussels to ventresca de tuna (tuna belly). A panel of culinary luminaries including American chef, David Chang, was brought together to judge dishes created by Spanish chefs centered around various canned seafood products.

The contestants were:

• Hector Cancho, Bocadillo de pulpo en conserva
• Iñigo Gartzia, Ravioli de conservas de mejillón en escabeche 
• Alejandro Cebrián, Ensalada de tomatitos, alcachofitas y sardinillas en conserva  
• Jaime Renedo, Wan ton de mejillones en conserva con Sopa Balinesa y germinados aromáticas
• Esteve Ramirez, Ventresca en conserva de xof de marmitaco y brioch de alcachofa
  
• Alberto Gómez de Letón, Atún claro en aceite de oliva con pil - pil de tomate

   

The winner was Alberto Gómez de Letón,  of the Aris Bar in Madrid, a casual tapas offshoot of El Chaflán, for his Atún claro en aceite de oliva con pil - pil de tomate. Runner-up was Alejandro Cebrián of the Taberna del Gourmet in Alicante, the informal restaurant associated with Maria José San Roman's Monastrell.

A contest like this is not likely to elicit much excitement in the U.S, simply because the quality of our canned seafood is nothing special, unlike that from Spain, where it is an art just to place the seafood in the cans as these two photos taken at Madrid Fusión 2008 attest:

Given the quality of the product, it is no wonder that Madrid Fusión started this contest to highlight these wonderful products, that have a magic of their own, different from the fresh product, but only slightly less enticing (to some, they are no less enticing). Imagine a contest like this in the U.S.? Me neither.

Madrid Fusión Day Two - A Late Lunch

Chefs Ricardo Sanz, Ferran Adriá, Juan Mari Arzak, Gaston Acurio and others gathered around a private table for a late and quick lunch.

Chive Flowers

Chives are possibly the easiest herbs to grow. If they weren't so pretty and tasty, they could easily be considered weeds since they self propagate so readily. It is so convenient to step outside and snip a few to add to any number of dishes. Have you cooked with chive flowers?

Happy Memorial Day!
Remember those who sacrificed their lives for us.

Blog Find: The People Who Feed Us

There is little that I respect more than a well run farm growing and raising top quality produce. This blog produced by Staci Strauss and Craig McCord, does a wonderful job of highlighting the people behind some of the very finest farms and artisanal producers around the country. Check it out!

Aidan Brooks: A Great Developing Story

I became an instant fan of Paco Morales and Rut Controneo the moment I met them and had what is still my meal of the year at Senzone in Madrid this past January. I reported on their move to the Hotel Ferrero in the Spanish region of Valencia this past February. That was picked up by Aidan Brooks, a young British Chef-in-training and food blogger, who has been advancing his craft in Spain, most recently in Barcelona. Trig, as he likes to be called, was intrigued by this young couple of Morales and Cotroneo and applied to work for them and  got a job. He started work a few weeks ago and after a period of no reports has finally written his first breath-taking post  about this experience, which promises to be a fascinating culinary adventure! I  plan on going along for the ride and can't wait until I can get back there myself.

Taste of the Week - May 17-23

I love soft-shell crabs and a had serious jones for them yesterday as I realized that the end of the east coast season is approaching and I hadn't had any yet this year. Fortunately, they had some at Max London's Restaurant in Saratoga, so I asked them to set some aside and took my family for dinner. The crabs were perfect, dipped in Wondra flour and pan-fried in clarified butter. Simple, crisp, hot and pure of flavor, they were exactly what I was looking for.They were served with a remoulade along with roasted asparagus and pickled ramps, making a large plate well worth the $27 price tag. The rest of the dinner including a shared pizza Margherita, halibut cheeks and sorbets along with an excellent cocktail and some albariño weren't too shabby either.

At the Market - May 23rd, 2009

With this post, I am introducing a new regular feature on Docsconz - The Blog. I love food markets, all kinds of food markets, but especially public or farmers markets. I go to them every chance I can, whether they be my local farmers markets or special markets when I'm traveling, like Barcelona's Boqueria, Mexico City's Merced,  or Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market. I love them because they have unique and great displays of food and represent the ideals and customs of their communities. I love my local markets because they provide wonderful quality produce unmatched by the local supermarkets. In addition to improving my home pantry and dinner table, they make me feel good knowing that I am helping to support people who care about what they are doing and do a great job in the process. It is nice developing relationships and friendships with the people who grow and raise the food that I and my family eat. It also happens to be a great place to socialize with other customers.

For this feature I will mostly be chronicling the markets of Glens Falls, Queensbury, Saratoga Springs and Troy, N.Y., but I will occasiionally include other markets as I visit them. With each post, I will focus on one particular product on sale that day at the market.

The local asparagus season is in full swing, though I don't expect it to last much longer. For the last couple of weeks, I have purchased asparagus from Saratoga Apple at the Saratoga Farmers Market. Picked fresh that morning, the asparagus is tall and straight, demonstrating little phototropic curve like asparagus that has been picked some time ago. Cooked, it has been tender and sweet requiring little to no adornment. I peel the bottoms of the stalks, par-cook them in a microwave with a little water for about three minutes on high, then finish them on the charcoal grill. Just a little salt and olive oil is all that I have generally been adding. I might try shaving some of the asparagus from today's batch to include in a salad. How do you like to prepare your asparagus when it is fresh and sweet like this?

White Lily

I am so pleased that one of my favorite cheeses is back in season and has returned to area farmers markets. White Lily, a white-rinded , soft, ripened goat's milk cheese from Sweet Spings in Argyle, N.Y.
With a mild, but true goat flavor, this creamy cheese is wonderful simply spread on a piece of fresh or toasted bread without further adornment, though it complements other flavors marvelously as well. Made by proprietors  Jeffrey Bowers and Milton Ilario, the cheese is produced from the milk of Nubian dairy goats.

Madrid Fusión Day Two - Lunch Break

After the Molecular Gastronomy Discussion, it was time to break for lunch. Following are some photos from the Press Room, the main Product floor and behind the scenes.

Jamon Iberico de Bellota


Nobu Matsuhasa and Gerry Dawes


Passing Out Canned Mussel Conserves


Peruvian Chef and Pisco Sour Master Johnny Schuler at the Peru Mucho Gusto Booth


A View onto The Main Product Floor


Andoni Luis Aduriz and Gaston Acurio


Arzak and Aduriz


Interview


With Yours Truly


Dani Garcia Arrives


Some Galician Nibbles

I'm not sure what, but something I ate that afternoon seemed to not set well with me and a number of other folk - so much that I could not eat, drink or stay at the Gala Dinner at The Madrid Casino that night. While that was a pity, fortunately I was better by the following afternoon.

John Talbott's Paris

Going to Paris? Looking for restaurants and restaurant news? Check out John Talbott's Paris, a blog featuring the restaurants of France and more written by a good friend from eGullet, Dr. John Talbott, perhaps the foremost expert on Parisian restaurants writing in the English language.

Madrid Fusion Day Two - Sicilian Scents

 

From my visit to Noto 2002

My father's grandmother was born in the town of Noto in Southeastern Sicily, so I was excited to visit that town when I traveled to Sicily in 2002. I was also excited to visit Noto, because that is where Corrado Assenza operates the Caffe Sicilia, a pastry shop founded in 1892 (about the time my forebears left Sicily for the U.S.). Assenza has been running the Caffe since 1985, when he took it over from his aunt to avoid the Caffe's closure. Though I didn't get to meet him then, I did visit the shop, where I enjoyed exceptional Sicilian pastries, gelati and confitures. I brought home some wonderful Marmellata from that trip including, Assenza's Marmellata di Cedro (citron).

Over the years, Assenza has developed a reputation as one of the foremost proponents of native Sicilian ingredients used both in traditional and creative ways. One of the trademarks of his art has been his ability to capture the aromas and essences of the Sicilian countryside in his work. This focus on the scents of Sicily, the aromas and perfumes of his homeland, was the subject of his presentation at Madrid Fusión.

Assenza and his assistants prepared two dishes each highlighting the natural produce of Sicily along with flavors and product from other parts of the world. He highlighted specific products in each dish such as the justly famous Sicilian pistachios from Bronte, ricotta, Sicilian "Rosselo" wheat, mandarin leaf syrup, almonds and apricot flowers from Sicily as well as some non-Sicilian ingredients like black Venere rice, green tea and jasmine. The dishes were called Time of a Rest and Sweet Freshness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preparing "Time of a Rest"

Preparing Sweet Freshness

"Sweet Freshness" is more classically Sicilian as it combines bronte Pistachios, ewe's milk ricotta, Sicilian olive oil, mandarin honey and "Rossello" wheat, which I believe is a Sicilian wheat varietal, though a Google search was unable to turn anything up on it.

 Preparing Time of a Rest

"Time of a Rest" is a contemporary example of the melting pot that has always defined Sicily as it mixes Asian ingredients with those from Sicily as well as other parts of Italy. Fusing green tea and jasmine essences in the forms of jellies with black venere rice, a cross between Chinese "Forbidden" rice and an Italian variety and the very Sicilian products of almond cream, apricot flower syrup and sedro (citron marmelade), the dish is designed to impart an intoxicating blend of sents that perfume Sicily.

Assenza is a master of pastry, but also a master of Sicily, incorporating as he does the products and traditions of that island in his work, while also remaining a man willing to incorporate new approaches and ingredients into that same work much as Sicily has done since the days of the Greeks, the Romans,  the Arabs, the French, the Spanish and the Italians.

Of note, I believe that the recipes and descriptions of the dishes on the Madrid Fusión website are mixed up. Assenza's Citron marmelade and other products from Caffe Sicilia can be purchased here or here.

Catching Up with Madrid Fusión 2009

It has been difficult to find the time to continue my posts on Madrid Fusión as well as live and report on the rest of my experience. I apologize for falling so far behind that the timeliness of what is left is questionable at best. Nevertheless, I think the subject matter is interesting enough to some and inherently worthwhile. As such, I will continue to plod on as best I can. I am afraid, however, that I may have lost some useful detail in the delay. I will continue to post these as and when I can until I finish. Hopefully, that will be some time before the next one rolls around :)

A Simple Enhancement

I don't know why I am surprised, but I am. I shouldn't be given all the inroads of savory into the world of sweet. Maybe because the underlying recipe is so simple, ordinary and classic. My wife made some Rice Krispie Treats using a standard recipe to send to my sister-in-law, who is serving in Iraq, and made some extra for our family. I generally don't eat them, but I had a small one for dessert. I ate a bite then put it down to start cleaning the kitchen. It happened that I  handled some rosemary and as I ate the next bite of the Treat, a subtle but distinct flavor of rosemary was part of it, much enhancing the final product by giving it a little depth and dimension. With a couple of leaves added on top of a bite it was even better. I had my wife and children try some and they agreed. I wonder how it would be with some rosemary added to the recipe? What other herbs and spices would make ordinary pleasures even better? In addition to Rosemary Krispie Treats, I could envision Toasted Cumin Krispie Treats, Saffron Krispie Treats and so on. Sometimes it is the simplest discoveries that are the most fun.

Taste of the Week - May 10-16

Until the ridiculous planned tariff on Roquefort was repealed, I was beginning to lament that great blue cheeses would be that much harder to come by here in the United States. Mind that many other excellent European blues would have remained unaffected as well as American blues. The problem with American blues, though, is that I haven't experienced too many great ones. This week, though,  I can add one more to my experience - Jasper Hill Farm Bayley Hazen Blue. Eaten with a fresh baguette from Mrs. London's, it made me nearly forget about the tariff on Roquefort.

I picked up the cheese during a recent visit to the Upper Valley Food Co-op in Lebanon, N.H. made from the raw morning milk of Ayrshire cows in Greensboro, Vt., the natural-rinded blue is firm and crumbly. Well but not overly salted, the cheese has a deep, rich grassy flavor that is complemented, but not overwhelmed by the penicillium veins coursing through it.

In addition to enjoying the cheese simply with the baguette, I had some atop a burger this week, making a wonderful cheeseburger.

The Pizza Truck

David Britten, the assistant to Robert Irvine on The Food Network's Dinner Impossible and long time chef-owner of The Springwater Bistro in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. is closing that restaurant no later than the end of this month. His newest venture is a mobile wood-fired pizza oven. The truck, designed by Britten and fabricated by Arrowhead Equipment holds everything a portable pizza parlor would need including a beautiful, large beehive style oven at the rear, which can purportedly attain temperatures in excess of 1000ºF, refrigerated drawers underneath the oven deck, storage along the sides and a bin for firewood at the front of the truck.

Britten, who went to Italy to study the art of the pizzaiolo, is still getting to know the intricacies of his new oven, but the initial results from a Slow Food dinner the other night were promising. Britten also intends to cook many other dishes besides pizze, including paellas, roasted meats and more. It will be interesting to see how and to where he drives this new venture.

Food Blogger Ethical Guidelines

Recently there has been a spate of interest in the ethics of food blogging with a variety of people weighing in on the topic from food blogs like Varmint Bites, FoodWoolf.com and Spicy, Salty, Sweet.com to an organization like The eGullet Society for Culinary Arts and Letters. The Code of Ethics developed by food bloggers Brooke Burton and Leah Greenstein can be found here. The one developed by the eGullet Society can be found here. Though I find neither document to be perfect for all parties or situations, they are both laudable efforts to fix a problem that I'm not really sure needs to be addressed. I have always made every effort to conform to the spirit of these codes and don't see any reason not to be transparent about it. As such, given my longstanding membership in the eGullet Society, I have signed on to the eGullet ethics code for online writers.

While the eGullet Code is pretty complete, I want to take it a little further and explain my point of view for anyone who may not already know it and who may be interested. I don't post from the point of view of a food critic. I don't write about every restaurant that I visit or item of food that I eat (although it may sometimes seem that way). I am first and foremost a culinary enthusiast, which means that I tend to write about the experiences that turn me on. That doesn't mean that I don't approach those experiences critically. I do and I do discuss elements of food or a dining experience that I find less than titillating within a generally positive report. However, unless I have a particularly egregious experience or am particularly disappointed by a generally highly regarded culinary experience, I tend not to write about things that don't excite me. I am not here to try to ruin anyone's livelihood.

I will accept comps to try various products or even a meal. If I like it, I will write about it. If I don't, I generally won't, except as stated above. If everyone is raving about a particular restaurant and my experience differs, I will write about it to express a dissenting opinion. That is true whether I pay for something or it is comped. I do not and will not write positive things about an experience, a business or a person because of a comp or a personal relationship. I make no effort to be anonymous though I generally am, since I am not particularly well known to most establishments. I write about my experiences, some of which may be a bit more special because of relationships that I  have, but I try to make those relationships (developed from mutual respect and never from financial considerations or a quid pro quo.) as transparent as I can in my posts.  

I hope  that the point of view expressed above has been clear all along from my writing. I apologize if it hasn't.