Filed under Food
The Diplomat – Marea
Marea’s take on the Manhattan
And speaking of Manhattan’s here’s another noteworthy version…
Paris Manhattan
Filed under Food
We’re reading various news reports that Kali Tuna, Croatian based subsidiary of Umami Sustainable Seafood Inc. has successfully spawned and hatched the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna in captivity. While not a fan of farmed fishing (except to counterbalance likely extinction) we are pleased to see that they released something in the order of 500 million eggs into the oceans. Nice one. Press release here
Filed under Food
Quick and simple meal, cook on the BBQ and great for summer…
Finely chop up the shallot and lemongrass, then pound with pestle or otherwise to soften. Add to the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix into a paste. Mix in the beef, which has been cut into little flat rectangular pieces suitable for skewering and BBQ’ing. Allow to sit for 1-2 hours at room temperature. Slide onto well soaked (in water) skewers and take to grill or BBQ for cooking.
Prepare the rice vermicelli (using thinner variety that used on pho) but putting in bowl of how water and leaving. Do not overcook as noodles become very brittle. Drain under cold water and add to bowl with corriander, mint, thai basil, sprouts and cucumber. Quantities depend on your personal preference, but mint tends to be overpowering so I use less. Add the nuoc cham and mix well. Serve by spinkling on peanuts and spring onion oil and garnishing with a slice of lime.
Roberto Burdese, President of Slow Food Italia; Giuseppe di Piazza, Moderator and Guido Barilla, President of Barilla Holding
I was watching an interesting live streaming debate from the website of one of Italy’s main newspapers: Corriere della Sera, between Roberto Burdese, president of the SlowFood Movement in Italy and Guido Barilla, president of the Barilla Holding, one of the most established and large industrial food Groups in Italy.
There are so many *wrong* things going on in Italy at the moment and I am constantly complaining about those, that today I’m glad to praise something that relates to food, a field were we are still doing well, we can leverage on a very ancient tradition and we produce a great dial of research and dialectic that gets exported every where in the world.
It is amazing to see two people like this actually discussing agriculture, industrial processes, GM foods and what needs to be done to educate people about nutrition and taste, two very important weapons to fight modern society’s plagues like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and the same time trying to have an impact on famine and third world nutritional issues etc etc.
Roberto Burdese, SlowFood Movement Italy
Roberto quoted the idea that the skeletal insufficiency and the swollen belly of the African child and the excessive weight of the child in USA are the result of the SAME approach, the SAME system of nutrition and agriculture that we have used in the last 50 years. This echoes the findings of Michael Pollan’s work through the US industrial food system which together with other books started to destroy or at least re define the way we think and buy food. This system has now in the western world, an opportunity to change, in view of the recent medical discoveries that more and more link disease to bad nutritional habits.
Another great area of concern that touches deeply our food system is the environmental pressure we are facing. It seems that there is a lot of great energy in the Italian Slow Food movement to embed sustainability into the discourse about taste, hygiene and nutrition. This is something we at TheFussyDuck would like to see more and more, given the potential damages to the environment that switching from an intensive agriculture to an organic one can bring. Taste, nutrition & sustainability become a very attractive formula.
However a change is not gonna be effective without the help of dialectic between all parts, the consumers first, the providers of cultural stimuli and the corporations and large industrial groups that operate in it. The fact that Guido Barilla was there discussing all those issue which can become quite uncomfortable for a large industrial group, it is a great sign that dialectic is happening and all the parts are talking.
It is refreshing to see that in Italy this process is alive and kicking, and works …that industrialists listen and participate and that consumers are taking a stance doing their part.
Filed under Food
I recently stumbled upon this lecture by Steven Wm Fowkes, Executive Director of the Cognitive Enhancement Research Institute (CERI) for many years, author of various books about nutrition and designer of many supplements formulae.
This specific lecture is about the appropriate nutritional support for the brain and contains very interesting information about diet and natural supplements to improve neural activity . Mr Fowkes mentions various nutritional and supplementation alternatives even to antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications and claims he can help Alzheimer recede.
On a more general note, what I find of interest is his tough stance on Milk, Bread and Sugar and how they should be cut down from a balanced diet given the proven level of damage they make to our body.
A word of warning that the clip is quite long, so maybe better viewed on a lazy rainy Sunday…
Filed under Food
+Slice the eggplants vertically, at about half cm of thickness.
+Sparkle some salt over each of the sides and leave to drain for about half hour.The salt will push the bitter juices out.
+After the juices have come out, rinse the slices from the salt under cold water.
+Heat up some olive oil in a pan, about one cm deep and fry the eggplant slices until golden on both sides. Leave to drain on absorbent paper for a while.
+Prepare the tomato sauce frying the onion in olive oil, adding the peeled plum tomatoes, the chillies and salt. Let it cook for about half our like you would do if you had to make tomato sauce for pasta.
+Slice the buffalo mozzarella in thin slices, or cut it in fine pieces that you can sprinkle on the slices. Great the parmisan to taste.
+In an oven resistant glass tray start placing all ingredients in layers. Start from some tomato sauce so the eggplants will not stick the the bottom of the pan, then a layer of fried eggplant slices, another one tomato sauce, a layer of mozzarella and a layer of parmisan. Continue up until you run out of space or ingredients. Add large basil leaves on every layer or to taste. Try to finish with a layer of tomato and mozzarella for better presentation.
+Place the layered dish in a pre-heated oven @ around 450 F for approx for half hour or until the top has become a little crusty.
Serve hot or cold with some rustic bread loaf (country sourdough for instance).
I think I can happily claim ownership of this recipe as I have done an extensive search on the internet and not found anything that so dares !
It was a hot summer day, I was bored, I had too much Thai Basil in the terrace…. and that purple cauliflower I always buy when I find it…. just because is, well, PURPLE… of course. So here we go:
Boil the brown rice for about 45 mts to 1 hour, until soft. Cut and steam the cauliflower for about 15 minutes or until “al dente”. Be careful not to overcook it and make it too soppy. Cut 3 of the limes in chunks and squeeze the juice out of the last 2. Cut the Thai basil leaves in chucks and the sunflower seeds.
Put all ingredients in a large salad bowl, adding the fish sauce, the cumin, the chillies and some salt to taste. Mix well and put in the fridge. Let it marinate for half hour and serve cool.
Filed under Food
Here we go again….. picking up a copy of the NY Times on way home from family holiday in Australia and we read the front page article on safety of beef processing. The article talks about a processing to remove E.Coli and Salmonella, which in principal sounds grand, but the magical treatment – well it seems our friendly (Rocket) Food scientists have came up with the idea of injecting processed beef with Ammonia.
Now, as we know, Ammonia is a compound of Nitrogen (NH3) and in nature is a useful way for organisms to access one of natures building blocks (Nitrogen) in creating proteins from Amino acids. TFD is not so much concerned (per se) about some consumption of Ammonia – it is a naturally occurring trace element and can found in soils as salts etc. Although caustic and most often found in cleaning solutions (oven, glass, tiles etc), the human body has a processing mechanism – the human kidney can produce it for breaking down of acids and the liver is able to process Ammonia in the natural (urea) cycle. However this does not mean that it is suitable for direct consumption by Humans in larger quantities. So much for relying on the government to look after our interests.
This whole process is another example of patching up a hole rather than find a solution to the problem. Why do they need to address the E.Coli and Salmonella problems? The article points out that these are more prevalent in fatty trimmings of beef, so our friends in the Food Industry are putting more fat and less meat into our burgers, or trying to squeeze every extra gram of salable product (really??). TFD is not so ignorant as to assume that a beef burger is actually “beef”, nor that food corporations sole interest is anything other than profit.
However what is worrying is that the USDA not only endorsed the process, but worse accepted the company’s own research and findings rather than doing their own investigation. Who are the users of Beef Products Inc – none other than the likes of McDonalds, Burger King, the US Federal School Lunch program. Nice!
But back to the problem – why is there so much E.Coli and Salmonella in our meat that it needs to be treated. This comes down to the Food process – from the way the animals are raised to the way and what they are fed (grain vs grass) and how they are slaughtered. A simple web search will reveal the widespread nature of the problem of contaminated meats entering our food system in the US and their unfortunate and fatal effects. TFD will continue to go to their local butcher, select the meat and ask it to be ground in front of them. We will also inquire as to the origin of the meat and what is was fed on. However we realise this is a luxury the majority of the target audience of processed meat are not in a position to do, unfortunately.
Good luck on getting your hands on some Columbia Crest!
The Full list here
Filed under Wines
A quick and simple alternative to soup or risotto for a pumpkin…
Essentially fusion Asian, using traditional blend of coconut milk, fish sauce and chilly and combining with the flavour of a butternut Pumpkin or squash as they call it in the States. Simply chop up and fried the onion with oil, though you can brown it over a flame with the skin on beforehand for more flavour. Then added a butternut pumpkin that has been roughly chopped into 1/2 inch squares, a can of coconut milk and more or less the same amount of chicken stock and half a cup of water. Let this cook over medium flame for about 10 mins, then added chillies, thai basil, corriander, fish sauce, rock sugar and salt. Everything is of course to taste – I think we added some Star Anise and I added some optional other flavours that I think would also work well, but what ever takes your fancy and how hot and spicy you prefer.
Let it cook until ready (ie pumpkin is cooked to your preference). You can blend it to create a soup or serve chunky as we did, adding Vietnamese Rice Noodles during the last stages of cooking. If using Noodles you may have to add some more water or precook the noodles in a separate pot as they will soak up the excess liquid (as happened to us).
Chillies (Thai)
The other week TFD went along to the 4th Annual New York Dumpling Festival in Sarah Roosevelt Park, Manhattan. Always partial to some good dumplings we were enticed by the marketing hype of worlds best dumplings, not to mention the dumpling eating contest that some of TFD’s fellow gastro connoisseurs could have given a run for the money. Upon arriving we were overwhelmed by the crowds, long queues and poor organisation on a wet and miserable Saturday. 2 minutes later we were en route to Shanghai Cafe on Mott St for some great soup dumplings (don’t be put off by the pastel fluorescent lighting).
However this reminds us of another great dumpling find, this time all the way down in the real Chinatown (aka Flushing). There are a number of great places to try (eg Nan Shian Dumpling House), but this literal hole in the wall particularly attracted us. Compared to some of the street sidewalks and dingy back rooms that TFD has eaten in over the years on various travels this was quite luxurious, but by NY standards don’t say you aren’t warned. Having the food prepared and cooked in front of you leaves little for the imagination, but in this case for the better. What to try….. the Hot and Spicy Wontons are a must!
The White Bear
135-02 Roosevelt Ave #5
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 961-2322
Filed under Food
One of my top easy-to-eats. Customizable in different sizes for different needs:
Large, medium and small …
The preparation is the same, count about one hour considering the rice takes time to boil:
Get some chunky Italian risotto style rice…. Wash it. Boil it until cooked in salty water and drain it. Boil the peas, and add them to the rice. Season the rice with butter and parmisan, add some nutmeg and pepper to taste.
Take a small part of the mixture in your palm, flatten it out and stick a small piece of fresh mozzarella in center. Close the hand and work it to make a nice compact sphere. The arancini in the photo are golf ball size, but you can choose to make them bigger or smaller. Remember that the larger the sphere, the more attention you will need to pay in handling them whilst in the frying pan as they are more likely to crack. Suggestion is to start off small. Golf ball size is probably the most manageable.
Hit up the oil in a sauce pan. It should really cover the arancini. I like to fry everything in olive oil because is healthier, but if you are making loads of arancini this might turn out quite expensive. I generally compromise by using half olive oil and half standard frying vegetable oil.
Break the eggs in a bowl and whisk together the yolk and the white part. Prepare some papertowels covered in breadcrumbs. Pass the rice balls into the egg first, letting excess egg to drain off , then pass them on the breadcrumbs, and fry.
Remember to be careful not to touch them too much when in the pan, because they do crack easily, so always manage with a deep spoon and don’t move around too much.
They are generally ready in 10 minutes if you’re using the golf ball size. 15 minutes for larger sizes and about 5 for the small bite size.
Let them rest on absorbent paper to drain out excess oil. Serve very hot when the mozzarella inside is still melted.
et voila`…
Quite a particular taste sensation from the menu of Death & Company, the Kerala is one of those cocktails that I’ll remember. Last time I went it was off the menu, but you can still order as long as they have the Cardamom pods in stock. The combination of juices and bitters give a sweet sour taste that is balanced against a backdrop of rum & bourbon while the unique cardamom flavour just tops it off perfectly. Not simple to do at home, but won’t stop me trying. However I highly recommend a trip down to Death & Company to sample along with the rest of the great drink and food menu. Unfortunately no photo’s…. its very dark (and everything gets a bit too blurry after a couple).
Filed under Wines
Always partial to a nice and delicate Sake and consistent with our desire to learn more about Japanese culinary culture , the Fussy Duck went along to a tasting last weekend put on by the chaps at Union Square Wines. Over the years TFD has enjoyed some amazing Sake, but either failed to remember the name (after too many) or was deterred by the hundred dollar plus price tag. Unfortunately we did not walk away raving about anything in particular from this event, but there were one or two things that did catch our eye.
The first is Funaguchi (Kikusui Funaguchi Nama Genshu) from the Niigata region, which is noteworth because it is a pleasant flavoured, slightly sweet unpasteurised Sake and secondly it is sold in a 200 ml can and costs around $4.99! This makes it a perfect accompanyment where you want a little sake but not a whole bottle! Consequently we highly recommend that you go and get your hands on some quickly. (Ed Note – sorry, we bought the last 4 cans from USQ, but it is on back order).
What else….. but Italy’s version of the Roast Suckling Pig.
A whole pig, deboned, stuffed with herbs, roasted and served between a bread roll…. NICE!
Shopping at our local Italian (Buon Italia) in the Chelsea Market, we saw this on the counter and just couldn’t resist. On the road the East Village namesake makes it a whole lot easier to savour this mighty sandwich, although mixed reports that it doesn’t quite do it justice and keep an eye to make sure that you don’t get too much fat rather than meat!
As for doing this at home…. perhaps something to do when The Fussy Duck returns to London, but below is one recipe (Antonio Carluccio) and here is Gennaro’s (via Jamie Oliver).
1.8kg/3lb 15oz lardo (available from Italian delis, or alternatively use very fatty air-cured bacon), finely chopped
1kg/2lb 3oz goats’ or lambs’ livers, finely chopped
500g/17½oz sweetbreads, trimmed and chopped
200g/7oz seedless raisins
4 tbsp each chopped fresh mint, marjoram and parsley
4 free-range egg yolks
20g/¾oz freshly ground black pepper
20g/¾oz ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
300g/10½oz dried prunes
300g/10½oz dried morello cherries
200g/7oz pecorino or parmesan cheese, grated
olive oil, for frying and brushing
3 onions, roughly chopped
10 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
300g/10½oz stale bread, soaked in water to soften, squeezed of excess moisture and torn into pieces
salt, for sprinkling
1 small suckling pig weighing around 8kg/17lb 10oz, bones removed (ask your butcher to do this for you)
1. Place the chopped lardo, livers, sweetbreads, raisins, herbs, egg yolks, spices, dried fruit and grated cheese into a very large bowl and stir well.
2. Heat a little oil in a pan and gently fry the onions until softened. Add the garlic and bread pieces and stir well.
3. Add the onion mixture to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
4. Sprinkle the cavity of the suckling pig with salt, then stuff with the stuffing mixture.
5. Sew up the pig, with someone else to help you, and tie it up. Put the pig onto a spit, brush with oil and sprinkle with salt.
6. Place the pig into a large bread oven, with glowing embers, not lots of flames, for 1½-2 hours, basting frequently.
7. Finally put the pig on the spit in front of the fireplace to crispen up. Allow to rest before carving and serving.
Simple, easy and eye catching…… Lotus Root can be bought from Chinese or Japanese food stores, either pre-sliced or as a complete root. The marinade is a simple combination of:
These are rough measures, so be preared to play around with the sugar and sesame to suit your taste preferences. You can also add a touch of salt if preferred. Best if left a few hours to marinade before serving. Lovely crunchy texture, similar to water chesnut with the delicious flavour of the marinade. Enjoy!
Here’s one for all you iphone lovers who care about what you eat….. a great free application courtesy of Monterey Bay Aquarium that will help you with the tough decisions around what seafood is sustainable and what to avoid. Not only will it give you a short list of the different fish by region as well as a sushi guide, clicking on each fish will give you a further detailed breakdown of the fish, the issues etc. At the moment only set up for North American regions, but it is still useful given the globalisation of the seafood market
For those without an iphone, here are the details at their website. While there sign up for their newsletters.
All fish lovers, please do not miss this documentary. If you like seafood, you should also be responsible and know how and to what price it ends on your table. Also we need to help initiatives like this, so go and watch it or buy the DVD !
Some interesting information that we can summarize from the movie:
At the screening here in NYC we had the chance to stay for a Q&A with the producer of the film… she told us that the only seafood she eats that is 100% sustainable is:
-River trout
-Tilapia & catfish (because they are omnivorous and are fed vegetable stuff instead of other fish)
-Oysters and Mussels (because again they eat everything)
However in general any fish coming from Alaska is ok (as we say in our previous posts) because they only allow fishing up to 10% of fish stocks against 50% in the North Atlantic. So I also eat wild Alaskan salmon, Alaskan Cod etc. Please remember that pretty much ANYTHING coming from the Atlantic is EVIL and very ANTI-ENVIRONMENT so please watch out and always ask your restaurants / fish stores where the fish comes from and how it is caught. It will put pressure on them to change their suppliers / offer more environmentally friendly fish.
Also small fish like sardines and anchovies is ok because they are at the bottom of the ocean’s food chain. So please do substitute you red snapper (another overfished species now endangered) with delicious sardines !
Please refer to our previous post Eco Friendly Fish & Seafood to know which fish is ok to eat. There are great resources to make a more informed choice for a better effort to use sustainable and replenishable sources.
Another very interesting information we gathered from the movie was that both MacDonald and Walmart buy their fish from sustainable sources. I think this is great news and shows that we can come out of these bad habits and maybe provide an hope for our oceans.
The situation of the blue fin tuna is very dramatic and it is overfished to the point of extinction. The investigation connected to the film discovered that Mitsubishi (the large Japanese electronics conglomerate) is speculating on the extinction of the blue fin tuna, financing the fishing of it well over the levels allowed by international regulation and is stocking up on frozen tuna to make money when the price will go up due to extinction. SHAME on you MITSUBISHI….. some people do not deserve to live on this planet ! Others involved are obviously the Italians (my country is such a big embarassment for me when it comes to corruption).
The film promotes the formation of marine reserves, if you want to know more about their campaigns, see here
We can do a lot to make changes to bad habits without giving up the gratification of good food !
There is a fantastic world of Japanese cooking outside sushi and ramen instant noodles. Our experiences in some great Japanese restaurants has lead us to explore further the delicate and particular flavours of the country’s cuisine, starting with the purchase of our guide. We kick off with the simple and easy to make Soba Noodle dish, perhaps inspired from our recent trip to Matsugen.
The basis of the broth or soup is a fish stock (Dashi), which can be made in one of 2 ways. The simple way is to go to your local Japanese market and buy some concentrated Ichiban Dashi (translated as first brew). Remember to dilute down with water and avoid our initial teething problems due to instructions being in Japanese. Sometimes I guess you can try and be a bit too authentic…. The more labour intense (yet authentic) way is to buy some Dried Bonito Fish flakes (Katsuobushi) which is derived from Skipjack Tuna and Kelp (Konbu) - I’ll post later about the method for the various Dashis. The later obviously takes longer but aside from the self rewarding / brag value it also benefits from being lack of preservatives and MSG however I read that even in Japan it is rare to make a proper Dashi. Most housewives chose the packet or premade variety.
Ichiban Dashi (1 quart)
Dark Soy Sauce (Shoyu) – a splash
Light Soy Sauce (Usukuchi shoyu) – a splash
Sugar (about a tablespoon)
Salt can be added, but the Dashi may be quite salty so i would leave until the end
Simply mix all the ingredients together in a pan and bring to simmer. If too salty add water to dilute it down.
Soba Noodes are very simple to cook. They are usually sold in packs with individual servings wrapped very beautifully together. Simply add the noodles to a pan of boiling water and let cook for about 5 mins (or as per directions on the packet). When ready put into a strainer and run under cold water. Using your hands wash the Noodles, rubbing together to rid them of any sticky residue from the cooking process. Let them drain in the colander.
You can really add anything you like to this dish. Any meats, vegetables, herbs etc that take your fancy. In our first batches we tried Beef and Lotus Root (Renkon). Simply thinly slice some lotus root and put in the broth to boil. Then take a fillet steak and fry it on a pan as you like (medium rare for me). Thinly slice and add to the dish as ahe last stage. Alternatively thinly slice the raw fillet and put in the simmering dashi to cook.
Another alternative was duck breast and spring onions, but the list could go on…. (shrimp, chicken breast, pork, tempura etc)
Serving is a matter of adding the soba noodles to the simmering pan (so that they don’t reduce the temperature of the broth when added) for a minute or so then dividing between the bowls. Then add whatever topping takes your fancy.
The last important step is obviously the Shichimi Togarashi. Magical seven spice powder – oranges, sesame, pepper. A must have addition to finish off with!
