July 04, 2004
Insolent Poutine
Maciej, over at Idle Words has this fabulous description of poutine: (9DR)
I was eating it sober, and under the watchful eye of a native (NEVER swim or eat poutine alone), so it was a great relief to find out that the stuff was delicious. The cheese curds did indeed melt and pull the dish together into one gooey mass, although the French fries stayed crispy enough to be individually discernible in the collective, giving the dish a pleasing light crunch. The brown gravy was turpid and dark, with a sturdy tannin structure supporting notes of oak, wood smoke, spice, aniseed and musk. There was the faintest hint of chocolate and raspberry in the finish, though that may have reflected a previous use of the serving dish. In the nose, the poutine was beefy and slightly insolent - I detected an almost wanton playfulness, the evanescent flavors frolicking together like young beavers in a Gaspé pond at dusk - but in the mouth it opened to reveal a velvety (or perhaps Velveeta-like) smoothness that tenaciously clung to every membrane in my mouth, esophagus, and stomach for the next three hours. Small wonder that food is renowned for its ability to enhance heavy drinking. The aftertaste was rich, dense, and interminable, returning to say hello at various times in the afternoon from its rock-hard, baseball-sized headquarters in my stomach. (9DS)
I've never had poutine, I'm not sure I want any, but I'd like to read more descriptions like this. poupou had some vegetarian poutine when she was in Montreal. I am relieved that she did not come back with a poutine baseball. (9DT)
January 04, 2004
Kitty Coffee
For a few years now I've been hearing people talk about a very special coffee made from beans that have passed through a type of cat that eats coffee fruit. This always made me go "huh" but I never looked into it. (2G5)
Today while cruising for information on bathroom fans (I'd like to install one) I found an entry on Dennis Judd's blog that covers the genesis of the coffee in suitable detail. (2G6)
The cat is an Indonesian palm civet and the coffee is called Kopi Luwak. The name is a combination of local words for coffee (Kopi) and the civet (Luwak). (2G7)
A place called Raven's Brew sells it. (2G8)
Somebody named Chris Rubin tried a cup and found it "interesting and unusual": (2G9)
Is it worth the money? Five dollars for a single cup? Sure, why not? You'll pay more than that in any Paris cafe for a bad au lait. Might as well spend it on something rare and exotic. (2GA)
I would know most of this already if I watched Oprah as apparently the coffee was sampled on the show back in October. Oh the things I must miss. (2GB)
January 22, 2003
Tuna and Ramen
Some years ago, way back in the dark recesses of solitary living, I ate a lot of ramen. Not because it was cheap or because I liked the taste but because I could put it in a bowl, add some water, stick the whole lot in the microwave and be sated some short number of minutes later with just the bowl and spoon to clean (not that I did).
Problem with this is that ramen is rather boring: Noodles and salt. I like salt plenty and noodles are okay, but there’s nothing happening there. I must have realized this the same day that I realized there wasn’t enough protein in my diet because I stuck some tuna in there.
And it was good.
I don’t mean it tasted good, at least not at first, but that it satisfied. It fixed what ailed me. It granted depth to my eating experience and returned meaning to my cooking.
Thus began a long series of experiments to see what could go with tuna and ramen to make it good. I started with soy sauce, various hot sauces and the like, but that wasn’t quite enough. First came canned peas. Then came a raw egg dropped into the water with everything else (it comes out cooked in the end). Or combinations thereof.
I mention tuna and ramen because the initial reaction from the public was one of disgust and dismay: "That stinks, how can you eat that? Gross!" As time went by, however, converts were made, brought around by the convenience and the satisfaction. Maybe you can be a convert too, or maybe you found this, or similar, path independently?
Since the early years, I’ve branched out to other forms of food in a bowl. For example, put tuna, peas, salt, pepper, hot sauce and sesame oil together in a bowl. Microwave for a bit. Stir. Enjoy. I’ve even been so bold as to sometimes use a plate. And every once and a while I’ll boil something on the stove or use the frying pan or a wok.
But I’ll always know that my own true cooking-tool love is the bowl.
Tonight’s creation in a bowl, the one that inspired this entry and creation of a new MT category, is new:
- Get a bowl.
- Put in a small amount of dashi concentrate. Do not overdo or suffer the fishy consequences.
- Add a reasonable amount of memmi by whatever definition of reasonable you find reasonable.
- Stir in a dollop of garlic red chili sauce.
- Dump in a small can of tuna.
- Nuke for a while.
- Drop in a handful of frozen veggie dumplings (gyoza sorts of things).
- Nuke a while longer.
- Eat.
Turned out surprisingly tasty. I made too much broth this time around so I’m going back for a second round of dumplings here in a bit to finish it off.
I’m home more often now. Maybe there will be more experiments.
