East Boston Arts, Food and Life

The Omnivore's Hundred

2008-08-31T09:55:00.003-04:00

I found the Ominvore's Hundred through a wonderful food blog called Chocalate & Zucchini (http://chocolateandzucchini.com/). It was originally posted by the folks at another terrific food blog on the other side of the pond, Very Good Taste (http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/uncategorised/the-omnivores-hundred/). Following the original list and the rules of the game are the items I have not yet tasted.

Here’s what they ask that you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

25. Brawn, or head cheese

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
Although we live in a town that serves chowder everywhere I’ve only had my Guiness stew in a boule...

35. Root beer float

38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
Do grain alcohol / Everclear jello shots count?

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut

51. Prickly pear
Only as an ingredient but haven’t had it on its own.

59. Poutine
On the agenda for our next trip to Canada.

60. Carob chips
As an ingredient / chocolate substitute but never as a chip.

63. Kaolin
I’ve seen it used in the ingredients of spa treatments and I’ve consumed bentonite clay but nver kaolin. Do you have an example of its use in food?

64. Currywurst

65. Durian
After watching Andrew Zimmern struggle getting it down I’m actually more determined to give it a try.

74. Gjetost, or brunost

75. Roadkill
When clearing a couple animals newly killed outside the neighbour’s farm we ground venison for dog food but never for ourselves.

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

83. Pocky

91. Spam

*93. Rose harissa
I enjoy harissa and make my own from time to time but haven’t tried it with rose petals.

Taste of Eastie 2008 invite from East Boston Main Streets

2007-12-29T16:20:00.000-05:00

Below is the announcement for the 2008 Taste of Eastie event from the East Boston Main Streets web site (http://www.ebmainstreets.com/). It sounds like a wonderful event with quite a list of participating businesses. We are really looking forward to attending this year.

Taste of Eastie 2008
-- Our 12th Annual --
To be held at the Logan Airport Hilton on Thursday, January 17, 2008
Please join us for an evening of great fun and great food!

“Taste of Eastie”

East Boston Main Streets (EBMS) will once again highlight our local eating establishments at the 12th Annual “Taste of Eastie” on Thursday, January 17, 2008 at the Hilton Boston Logan Airport Hotel, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. In the past we have had over 30 local restaurants specializing in Italian, Latin American, American and Asian cuisine provide samples of their most popular foods. This event has become the largest East Boston dining charity event.

Our art auction and basket raffle add to the evening. If you would like to take part in this great event, please call the EBMS office at 617.561.1044 for more information.

EVENT TICKETS ARE $35 AND MAKE PERFECT GIFTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

Boston Organics - produce, bread, eggs, coffee, etc.

2007-12-29T11:39:00.000-05:00

Since moving to East Boston last year I have been looking for alternatives to Whole Foods. I have been trying to do without a car for at least 1-2 years and one big challenge is grocery shopping. For several years, while living in Beacon Hill and the North End, I received a weekly box of produce, breads, eggs and an expanding list of "add-ons" from a wonderful service called Boston Organics (http://www.bostonorganics.com/). As is the case with several services I had used in the past, Boston Organics does not currently deliver to East Boston.

My understanding is that should a sufficient number of Eastie residents express an interest, they would add us to their Tuesday delivery schedule. While I am happy for Jeff, et al., I was discuouraged to learn that their tremendous growth over the past few years has made it challenging for them to staff their current routes. So, it looks like we would need an even greater number of people to request service before they can manage.

I would encourage anyone who is interested to visit their web site and fill out the contact form requesting service in our area. In the five years I used their service I was very happy and their customer service is the best.

A More Traditional Thanksgiving Menu?

2007-11-25T10:11:00.000-05:00

From eyewitness accounts of the first Thanksgiving it's not clear whether turkey was on the menu. We know that venison and a lot of fowl were present but, this in a time when swan was one of the most popular game birds on the menu. There would also have been quite a lot of seafood on the menu. In an effort to changes things a bit and to have a more historically typical menu we searched many sources for recipes. Finally settling on a New York Times article from 1896 that describes recipes passed down through generations of Adirondack guides and hunters. I have also listed several of the foods likely to have been on that first Thanksgiving table:

Seafood: Cod, Eel, Clams, Lobster
Wild Fowl: Wild Turkey, Goose, Duck, Crane, Swan, Partridge, Eagles
Meat: Venison, Seal
Grain: Wheat Flour, Indian Corn
Vegetables: Pumpkin, Peas, Beans, Onions, Lettuce, Radishes, Carrots
Fruit: Plums, Grapes
Nuts: Walnuts, Chestnuts, Acorns
Herbs and Seasonings: Olive Oil, Liverwort, Leeks, Dried Currants, Parsnips

These recipes are taken from a New York Times article, The Secrets of the Carver. An Early English Dinner – Studies in the Operative Surgery of Animals by Juliet Corson, published on March 1, 1896. The venison recipe comes from Mme. Jule De Ryther, “a descendant of a line of hunters and hosts whose forest cookery has long been famous” and seems to have origins with early Adirondack hunters and guides. The entire article is quite interesting and available in .pdf format from the NY Times archives. As you can imagine, a few adjustments had to be made but, we were very fortunate that a hunt club we used to frequent down in Long Island, with proper meat lockers, was willing to age our saddle with our other cuts of venison for several days with its cloves. The indented text is taken verbatim from the article.

Roast Saddle of Venison.–Stick from twelve to eighteen whole cloves in the top part of a saddle of venison and hang it up in a cool dry place for several days, after which lay the venison in a large, deep earthen dish. Then add a sliced onion or the crushed clove of garlic, two bay leaves, one tablespoonful of French wine vinegar, one tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar, a sliced carrot, then pour over the whole enough good sherry to cover the venison, and let it soak for twelve hours. At the end of this time remove the venison from the arinade, put it in a dripping pan, cover the top with strips of larding pork, sprinkle with salt and pepper, stand it in a quick over for one-half hour, then change the temperature of the over so the venison roasts slowly for a half hour longer. Remove the pan from the oven, lift the saddle tenderly, being careful not to pierce it with a fork – if you do it will lose its juice and flavor – lay it on a hot platter, and stand it in a hot pace while you make the gravy, which should be made as follows:

[For the cooking we first wrapped the saddle of venison in pancetta and seared it over high heat until well browned / caramelized, then cooked as we do many roasts – preheat the oven to 500 degrees, place the roast in the oven, after five minutes shut off the heat and allow to cook for ninety minutes without opening the door – for our 5 lb. saddle to be medium rare].

To Make the Gravy.–Stand the dripping pan on the stove and pour into it the liquid in which the venison has been soaked. Mix two tablespoonfuls of flour in enough sherry to make it the consistency of a rich cream. As soon as the liquor in the pan begins to boil, stir in the flour and let it simmer gently till quite thick. Season with a little salt. Pour the gravy through a strainer, serve in a separate dish beside the venison. The platter should be very deep. Fleck the saddle all over with currant jelly before sending it to the table.

[We did also deviate here and used our own relish made from dried currant.]

Broiled Partridge.-Select fine, plump birds, and let them be fresh, for eating stale game is one of those barbaric customs no longer indulged in. Time was when a so-called bon vivant did not consider a bird fit for eating until it had so far decayed that its feathers fell off, or the bird falls when hung up by the tail feathers, but now no one would, if he or she knew it, insult the stomach with decayed food of any sort. Having selected the partridge, pick them dry. This must be done at home, as they are sure to scald them if left to be plucked in the market. After they are plucked singe off the hairs over a little burning alcohol; then split the bird down the back, wipe it dry inside and out, sprinkle well with salt, lay on a well-buttered gridiron, and broil over a good fire, turning them several times. When done, place them on a very hot platter, dot them all over with flecks of fresh butter, and serve. The more simple the manner of cooking a partridge the better.

[Again we deviated from the original recipes leaving the partridge whole, buttering the cavities, stuffing in some vine leaves and trussing them to keep them moist.]

Needless to say I am quite passionate about cooking, wild game, my dogs and hunting and this year’s meal required quite a lot of advance work, starting last weekend. Both the venison and the game birds were hung for several days before we started cooking and it took three ferries and several hours drive for my guests to transport these ingredients to Boston. I’m a big fan of the slow food movement and love to get my hands on such fresh ingredients and to take my time preparing and eating the meals – guests started arriving at two, we sat down to the meal at three and the lasts guests left shortly before nine. I was quite happy to see second (or more) helpings all around, clean plates and nobody remarked on the lack of desert. Fruit, a bit of cheese, coffee and digestifs finished a wonderful evening.

Art and Ayn Rand

2007-10-14T09:43:00.001-04:00

Recently, on The Hubster blog, there was a brief discussion of the importance of art. With the 50th anniversary of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged I thought I would share a quote from Rand on art and ask everyone's opinion. Personally, I believe art is as important now as ever and, like language, is inherently human. Art began with the hunter gatherers 30-40,000 years ago.

Art is a selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value judgments. Man's profound need of art lies in the fact that his cognitive faculty is conceptual, i.e., that he acquires knowledge by means of abstractions, and needs the power to bring his widest metaphysical abstractions into his immediate, perceptual awareness. Art fulfills this need: by means of a selective re-creation, it concretizes man's fundamental view of himself and of existence. It tells man, in effect, which aspects of his experience are to be regarded as essential, significant, important. — Ayn Rand, "Art and Cognition" The Romantic Manifesto, p. 45.