The Mac-O-Lantern

Happy Halloween everyone! I bring you the Mac-O-Lantern, a real pumpkin with a functioning Macintosh computer and digital video camera in it:

How kids at the University of Arkansas built the Mac-o-Lantern (click)

Luthor or Larry?

Oracle Billionaire CEO Larry Ellison, or Supervillain Billionaire Lionel Luthor from Smallville?

You be the judge.

Spread the word: digg this story

Sacre Bleu! French Violet Garlic Shortage

It seems not just unlikely, but utterly preposterous. The French have run out of garlic. Not, it should be made clear, the white stuff commonly seen in shops and supermarkets. But violet garlic, esteemed by the gourmand and grown only in one small part of France, cannot be obtained for love nor money.

Telegraph | Expat | France runs out of gourmet garlic

NYC Dining: Kalustyan’s

Kalustyan’s
123 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
(212) 683-8458

If you like to cook Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine, then you know how important fresh spices are to making your dishes taste good. You certainly can’t get fresh ground spices at the average supermarket because they hold onto stuff for years at a time and by then, they’ve lost all their pungency and their essential oils have dried up or gone rancid.

One of my favorite spice stores to visit is Kalustyan’s, a New York institution that’s been open since 1944 and is lauded by NYC restaurant chefs and many cookbook authors. Here you can find just about every kind of spice imaginable, and in many different varieties. Need black peppercorns? They got a a whole bunch of different kinds here — Ecuadoran, Brazilian, Indonesian, Telicherry, Malabar, Kerala and Vietnamese, just to name a few. Madras Hot Curry Powder? Garam Masala? Biryani Mix? Mexican Cumin? Persian Saffron from Iran? No problem — they got over 1000 different items in their spice catalog alone. And if you can’t make it to the store, they’ll gladly ship to you, just head over to their web site.

Storefront on Lexington Ave.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry link” below for more of Kalustyan’s.

Eating Game in LA: Literati II

My brother, Brandon Perlow, a computer graphics artist who works in the entertainment industry, lives in LA. Brandon shares the same passion I have for food, except he’s even more of a carnivore than I am. He loves wild game meat, and orders it whenever he has the opportunity. Obviously, living in Los Angeles presents something of a problem for his passion for eating tasty animals, so he usually indulges in game meats when visiting New York. A few weeks ago, however, one of his local favorite restaurants started serving a Fall game menu, and he wanted to tell us all about it.

Literati II
12081 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
(310) 479-3400

I’m a big fan of Game meat, as its not very prevalent in Los Angeles — most LA’ers find it Politically Incorrect to eat Rabbit or Venison. So I was very surprised when Literati II on Bundy and Wilshire was having a fall special menu this past weekend.

Literati II is the sister restaurant to the local favorite, Literati Cafe. Literati II shares the building with Literati Cafe, but it has a separate entrance. Literati II has been getting much critical acclaim from the local papers, and it is not undeserved.

I frequent the Cafe as they serve dinner until 1am most nights, and the food is fairly healthy and not too expensive. Recently I made a stop at the Literati II as I feel they have the best deserts in the West Side. As I was eating desert there I noticed the fall menu and decided to make a reservation for the next day.

My friend Justin Lloyd from Digital Domain was interested in joining me on the culinary adventure. Justin decided to order the Prix Fixe meal which had the Roasted Quail as the main entree. His starters included an Apple and Mango salad with Walnuts, Pumpkin Soup , and Lobster Salad with Pomegranates. I was a little more daring and ordered the Lapin Stew and the Seared Venison a la carte.

 

Pumpkin Soup

Mango Salad With Pomegranate Seeds

The apple and mango salad was good for preparing the palate for the upcoming courses. Justin enjoyed his pumpkin soup first. I tried some of his Lobster Salad and it was exquisite. It wasn’t overly sauced , and the pomegranates worked well with the lobster pieces.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more of Literati’s wild game menu.

PA Dining: Pudge’s

Pudge’s
1530 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell, PA
(610) 277-1717

In New York, short of discussing sports or politics, perhaps the easiest way to start a spirited if not a heated argument is to posit which pizza place has the best pies. In the Philly metro area, its all about the cheesesteaks.

This week I was down in the King of Prussia/Valley Forge area and I really, really wanted to get down to South Philly after hours and head over to some of the more legendary places, like Pat’s and Geno’s, and have my first real cheesesteak experience. But the reality of working in the burbs is that driving into Philly after work can be brutal, and I didn’t feel like braving two hours of traffic or going into Philly late at night during the work week. I still wanted my cheesesteak though, and it had to be a good one. What to do?

Well, I knew one site which would definitely tell me where to go, and that would be HollyEats.com. If anyone could be considered the font of cheesesteak knowledge, it’s Holly Moore. On his site I found a review of Pudge’s, a old-school cheesesteak place in Blue Bell, only about a half an hour away from where I was working. It’s been at its current location for over 30 years, and the Carbone family has been doing cheesesteaks for well over 50 years, starting out originally in Germantown. That puts it well within striking territory of the more well-known establishments.

Pudge’s is located in a small shopping center on Dekalb Ave. The main sign itself isn’t lighted, although the place has a brightly lit Coca Cola ad. Unless you were in the know, you probably would just pass this place by.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for some serious cheesesteak porn.

NJ Dining: Jackson Hole

Jackson Hole
362 Grand Ave, Englewood, NJ
(201) 871-7444

As my buddy Jon recently said, I am a burger slut. I like burgers of all shapes and sizes, and I like all kinds of toppings. One of the best places in Northern NJ where you can indulge in every topping you can possibly imagine is Jackson Hole in Englewood, a stylized ’50s diner that without question you won’t walk out hungry from, especially if its burgers that you’re seeking. The “Hole” also uses a unique method of cooking their burgers, which is to steam grill them using a custom-designed metal dome cover.

Jackson Hole originally started out in Manhattan in the early 1970’s, and branched out to Queens and other parts of NYC, but the NJ branch opened perhaps 10 years ago, maybe a little less.

Storefront on Grand Avenue

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link for some serious Jersey burger porn.

NYC Dining: Ureña

Ureña
37 East 28th Street
212-213-2328

Just on the heels of the Spain’s 10 Event at the FCI, and having had a taste of some really good tapas there, I had a hankering for some more. Aside from the fact that the restaurant just recently was ranked the #3 best new restaurant in the newly published 2007 ZAGAT survey, I had heard many good things about Alex Ureña’s food through a number of sources, including my friend Daisy Martinez who told me quite bluntly in her Brooklyn way, “his food is off the hook” and I had to go and try it, post haste.

This particular Thursday evening at the restaurant though was the monthly meeting of the Brazilian Society, and it was going to feature $5 tapas and $6 Caipirinhas at the bar made with the very good and artisanally made Fazenda Mae de Ouro Cachaça. I don’t need much of an excuse to drink Caipirinhas on a Thursday night, much less eat the cuisine of a former sous chef at Bouley and Blue Hill.

Ureña’s storefront. Originally when the restaurant first opened, it was highly criticised by having a too bright interior, because the ceilings and the walls were painted all the same bright white color. This has now all been fixed and Ureña has very intimate lighting and the dark ceiling contrasts with the walls quite nicely.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more photos of Ureña.

It’s Satsuma Time Again!

Updated 11/3: Welcome Chow.com visitors!

Photo: A supremed Louisiana Satsuma. (Jason Perlow)

It’s the beginning of November, so you know what that means! No, not time to start stocking up with on-sale leftover bags of HFCS-laden industrial confections for last week’s costumed brats. It’s time for Satsumas! Yes, the juicy and wonderful loose-skinned Mandarins that come from Southern Louisiana.

If you’ve never had Louisiana citrus before, it is sensational and a true eye opener, and totally worth the premium of having it shipped to you. Louisiana only produces a fraction of the produce that Florida and California does, but in my opinion the Satsumas that are grown in Louisiana are far superior to mandarins grown in those states and the clementines brought in from Spain. The Southern Louisiana climate is ideal for these fruits, which have a highly aromatic peel that is literally almost falling off in the first place and are absolutely brimming with sweet and tangy juice.

Here’s a bit of interesting info from Charles over at LaLagniappe.com:

“Orange trees will only survive Louisiana winters in the areas near the Gulf of Mexico. Even in those areas, we usually have a severe freeze every 10 years or so that cause major damage to the orchards. But we’re a persistent bunch and always replant and try again <grin>. Most orchards were southeast of New Orleans, along the Mississippi River as it heads into the Gulf. That was the area hardest hit by Katrina. Most of those orchards were wiped out and all sustained major damage from salt water and winds. The oranges we sell come from an orchard also along the Mississippi River, but northwest of New Orleans, just across the river from the New Orleans airport. This area was spared the worst of the storm and the trees were somewhat protected from the eastern winds by the Mississippi River levee.”

And don’t forget to order Red Navel oranges from Louisiana either:

“The best kept secret of south LA citrus is the red Navel oranges. Navels can not withstand as much cold as the Satsumas or Louisiana Sweets, so we lose some every time there is a decent freeze. However, those that survive and the best Navel oranges I have ever eaten. They are somewhat rare and seldom seen for sale since almost all are consumed by the growers or their friends and relatives. They look like a ruby red grapefruit when cut open, but believe me they are *all* Navel! Maybe I am just prejudiced, and maybe it is because you never really get a tree ripened Navel elsewhere, but I really believe they are the best tasting oranges in the world. And I’ve eaten oranges from Israel to California to Brazil.”

Here’s a video I took in November of 2005, where I had a 40lb box of Satsumas sent to me from Simon Citrus Farm.

Simon is going to be selling Satsumas again this year but the trees got pretty beat up by Katrina and are still recovering, so I am going to give them a break this time. This year I ordered two boxes from Charles at LaLagniappe.com, who seems to have trees utterly filled with fruit according to photos he’s supplied me with:

A Satsuma orchard northwest of New Orleans (Charles Copes)

Satsuma fruit closeup (Charles Copes)

Satsumas are picked at this color in the first part of the harvest. The fruit is juicy ripe inside even though the color is a mottled orange-green. Two weeks later, they are bright orange. (Charles Copes)

Don’t be afraid of ordering 40lbs worth. It’s totally easy to eat four or five in one sitting because they are so easy to peel and they are small fruits. The zest is phenomenal for using in cakes and pastry, Chinese stir fries (the most killer Orange Beef you’ve ever had) or for making liquor infusions — just grate up a ton of the zest with a Microplane and then dump it in a bottle of premium vodka for two weeks, then strain out. Best Martini you’ve ever had, I garontee.

And you can make this killer Satsuma Cake too:

Flourless satsuma cake, made with Nigella Lawson’s recipe (Jason Perlow)

This uses whole satsumas, cooked for 2 hours in a pot of water, then
blitzed in the food processor with eggs, almonds and sugar and butter and baked in a springform pan.

The Taste of Chinatown

Today was the Taste of Chinatown, which is held twice a year. It’s a particularly cool event because it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with all the great Chinese and Southeast Asian restaurants in Lower Manhattan for a very small amount of money. This time, 55 restaurants participated, each having a stall in front of their premises with $1 or $2 tasting plates, effectively turning Chinatown into a gigantic standing room only Dim Sum parlor. The crowds were insane, and some of these stalls were so popular you practically had to fight your way into them.

For further reading about Chinatown, check out this great article written by Bruce Edward Hall in 1999, which discusses some of its more historical sites.

Our first stop was a Vietnamese restaurant.

Cha Gio, spring rolls.

Mixed meat fried rice.

Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more Taste of Chinatown photos and commentary.