Umami Mart

Ok, last plug for Aya’s awesome play oph3lia, and the benefit I’m helping put together tonight. But I’m especially excited because we just secured a gift certificate for two to Jean-George (the formal room! He’s one of my favorites! A 4-star establishment!).

So come out tonight at 7:30pm for the show, afterparty with the cast, and silent auction, and help support a kick ass production and theater company!!! Walk home with fabulous food and spa items!!! Buy tix now! Happy bidding!!!

Photo copyright Carl Skutsch.

Hi,
I am writing a bit of my personal sharing about food that we had during our recent trip to Indonesia. Attached pictures were taken by Antonius Lo (my husband). If you are interested, Antonius’ works can be viewed through his professional photography website, or his Flickr page.
I hope you enjoy.

Cheers,
Jennie

+++

1. The chicken porridge street vendor: the guy goes around the village (mostly) to sell porridge. You can see on one side the cart he carries, pile up of fried chicken dark meat, then some bowls, and the red ‘BUBUR AYAM’ words (means chicken porridge) painted out of that small piece of glass. Some colorful, old tin boxes (ex biscuits’) on the upper side, they are used for storing the fried onions, fried chips, and it is believed that one was used for keeping the money paid. On the other side a big tin pot of porridge sits on a small charcoal stove (did not show very clear in the picture) to keep the porridge warm.

In the below picture you can see the vendor using a spoon to make some sound on the porcelain bowl, it’s the selling ‘call’. A warm bowl of porridge topped with shredded chicken meat, chips, fried onion, plus some sauce and chili, would be a nice and warm treat in the morning for those who are not getting enough time to sit down to have their breakfast at home.

2. A guy was flipping a big bamboo fan to help barbecuing the lamb meat sate (lamb meat skewer) on top of a charcoal grill (the very way used to preserve the heat so the taste would be guaranteed, meat will turn out tender and juicy). You can also see a big pot of peanut sauce sits in there. Antonius was so much fascinated by this ‘basic food’ at the road corner, he could not help but went twice for it (unfortunately i am not a big fan of lamb meat, so he enjoyed the sate by himself :).

In this picture below you can see the sate topped with the rich peanut sauce, was ready to serve, drooling… on the desk you also see a jar contains shallot and cucumber pickles, usually used to add on to the plate, and if you like, one more small spoon of chili. You can order 10 or 20 or even more skewers, and God, what else would you care but just pay the very attention to enjoy this hot food….

3. We had gone through some invites for the seafood at the seafood restaurants during our stay in Jakarta, treated with fried and roasted fish, huge shrimps, shells, crab and what not. But i would show you this very very delicious ‘Smoked crab with cuttle fish spicy sauce, wrapped in banana leaf’. It was done, again, with the charcoal grill, and there is no better seafood can beat it I would say.

I understand people are conscious about what they eat. I am not talking about organic food, Erin, which is a completely different matter. I just don’t buy it because I can’t simply afford to pay $2.99 for a cucumber, compared to $0.99 for two.

Anyhow, healthy food (fat free, low fat, no saturated fat, etc., etc.) is getting its peak nowadays. Some people don’t want to get fat, some others might be diabetic. In my gayborhood, one can find “air fried” french fries (Better Burger), non fat fro-yo (of course, Pinkberry), and the consumption of low-cal beer is significant at Gym Bar (NYC’s only gay sports bar).

Low fat food might be important in our diet, but I FUCKING HATE IT. To me, all you need is portion control. You know why you are fat, many Americans?! It’s because you eat SHIT LOADS of low fat food, which is equivalent of 2 servings of regular fat. That’s why you don’t lose weight!

Norimitsu Onishi at NYT recently wrote a story about Japanese people getting fat. According to the article, if you are a male, above 40, and your waist line is bigger than 33.5 inches, you will be severely “guided” to lose weight. Read this excerpt!

“Under a national law that came into effect two months ago, companies and local governments must now measure the waistlines of Japanese people between the ages of 40 and 74 as part of their annual checkups. ……. Those exceeding government limits — 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women……. will be given dieting guidance if after three months they do not lose weight. If necessary, those people will be steered toward further re-education after six more months.”

Can you believe this shit? I wonder for those who are above 74 and fat. They will be sent to crematorium?

Some healthy food, such as oven-baked french fries, are good, I will admit. But many things should be fried if the name has a word “fried” in it. Oven-fried chicken is NOT fried chicken. Seriously, just eat regular fried chicken!

I miserably failed making oven-baked doughnuts this weekend. Yeah, I completely and utterly failed! Do you know why the doughnut tastes so good? Because it’s FRIED, NOT BAKED! From the pictures below, it does look like doughnut, right? But it tasted like a soft sweet bagel. After they came out of the oven, I sprayed it with “fat free” butter “flavored” spray (which sounds very scary), then coated half with cinnamon sugar, the other with powdered sugar.

When hot, it was edible. I now remember the recipe said “eat while warm”, and I know why. As soon as it got cold, it became tough, dry and doughy. Also sugar totally dissolved, and looked like glazed doughnut.

Look at this, this is not what doughnut should look like! It looks like bread! WTF!

Some things are meant to be fried, and you can eat one, just don’t eat dozen.

I try to buy as much organic dairy as possible because I am worried about hormones in my food, but it gets very expensive. One item I always buy organic however, is EGGS. I want my eggs hormone free, without antibiotics, free range and local when possible. I pay about $4 in my local grocery store for organic eggs, but they can be up to $7 a dozen in health food stores, especially if they’re local. $7 a dozen, you say…isn’t that insane?? It’s pricey, but when you think about where they came from, they are actually quite fairly priced. High cost is a result of farm workers being paid fair wages, organic chicken feed being much more expensive than standard, the fees farmers pay annually to maintain their organically certified status, more land for fewer chickens to roam around on it, etc. More info on that here.

On my recent farm visit to Garden of Eve on Long Island, one of my tasks was to wash eggs. Once the eggs were taken out of the chicken coop, they were put in big buckets of water to be washed and sorted. All the dented and cracked ones were set aside and given away. The oversized ones were separated and priced higher, and broken ones were fed to the pigs.

You can buy Eve’s eggs at Urban Rustic in Willamsburg for $6.75/doz or at her farmstand for $5. I buy eggs at the farmers market all the time, and it makes me feel good to be able to have a much clearer picture of what those eggs went through before they made it to my fridge. See for yourself….

All the cracked eggs that were given away to farm employees and volunteers:

The egg washing tent:

Farmer Eve showed us how to clean all the schmutz, poop and feathers off the eggs before sorting them into cartons:

Sorting the eggs:

Here’s a little schill for my lady Aya Ogawa’s brilliant 3-part play which opened at HERE in SoHo last week. I’m organizing a benefit evening for her company, knife inc., this Thursday which each and every one of you need to come out for. Here’s why: for $50, you get the play, then the after party with the entire cast with booze, food, live acoustic melodies by guitarist Peter Lettre, and your hand at the fabulous silent auction.

We’ve amassed an amazing line-up of items for the auction- here’s some food-related goodies:
– Gift certificates to Kyotofu, Ristorante Barolo and Vesuvio bakery
– Sake tasting at Astor Wine Center
– One-year membership to Slow Food USA

For a detailed list of everything, visit the knife, inc. Benefit webpage

So come out and support some kickass downtown theater! Get your bid on! I kid you not, you do NOT want to miss this play- it’s contemplative, hilarious, and bursts with creative energy from the ground up. Literally.

BUY YOUR TIX NOW!

Over the weekend, 3 friends and I went to stay for a night on Garden of Eve Farm, an organic farm on eastern Long Island in Riverhead, near the Hamptons. Two hours from the city, you’ll find a beautiful piece of property right on the Long Island Sound run by a lovely farmer named Eve who sells her produce in Brooklyn and all over the northeast. In exchange for volunteering on the farm, you can stay in the farmhouse for free. We planted seeds, gathered eggs, moved bails of hay and fed baby turkeys. Even though I grew up in rural Sonoma County, it’s nice to get a visual reminder of where my food comes from and the process people go through to get it to me. Apart from the fairly dirty farmhouse that houses all volunteers and interns, it was a beautiful experience that I’d highly recommend.

Josh on the tractor in an Hermes scarf and Oakland A’s cap.





Josh, Stephen and Louis planting flower seeds which will later be turned into bouquets that are sold with CSA packages. We spent the morning planting sunflowers and zinnias. The farm also grows edible flowers.

The farmstand:

The beach is about a 20 minute walk from the farm stand, at the end of the property.



Feeding the baby turkeys:


Josh holding one of the baby turkeys.

The goats on the farm are really just pets. Garden of Eve doesn’t have the proper licensing to be able to slaughter and sell organic meat so they focus mostly on eggs, flowers and produce.

We picked Strawberries for breakfast

Garden of Eve Farm
PO Box 216
Aquebogue
New York, 11931
T: 631.523.6608

I’m not doing a lot of food reading these days- in print or online. I haven’t even checked Eater in weeks, which could either mean I don’t have the time right now, or that I just don’t have patience for the hype machine at the moment.

Here is my limited (but still recommended) readings for the week:

• New Yorker’s in-depth profile on last week’s James Beard Award winner Gary Aschatz. How does one become America’s #1 chef if he can’t taste anything? Ingenuity and a little bit of imagination. (New Yorker)

• Japan tackles “obesity” via your midsection- if you are over 40 and fatter than the waistline (33.5″ for men, 35.4″ for women: GASP!), the government will step in and give you a six-month probationary period to get yourself in check. It’s pretty laughable, but it just might work… (via Adam of SE, New York Times)

• How to eat less meat: this is why I love Bittman (New York Times)

• Tastespotting RIP. So so so sad. Who’s the asshole that brought them down???

This week, I’ve gone into my girl Vanessa’s fridge, who lives in San Francisco at the moment. She has moved since these pictures were taken, so you will be looking at what was eventually all thrown out. Sad! But I think that as a generation of transients and constant apartment movers, we all have this fridge dilemma when moving out- you’ve just gotta let it go though.

I’m going to do her fridge in two parts, cause she just had so much fun stuff that I’m starting with the freezer first. Here goes!

Edamame- which reminds me that everyone should have an emergency bag of this stuff. Perfect to add to summertime salads.

Natto! I’ve taught this girl well.

A treasure trove of Trader Joe’s items- I’ve never seen some of this stuff here in the NY store. NO FAIR! Buffalo burgers:

Korean style short ribs??? OMG!!! I am dying to try these- can anyone comment on how they taste?
This bag of bbq chicken was just chillin in the freezer opened and all of it fell out when I went to grab it. HILARIOUS!

Spinach and mozzarella ravioli.

Some sort of fancy “pizza” with ham, carmelized onions and gruyere.
Thin mints!!! They are best frozen, for sure.

Chinese sausage- good call!

Coffee beans- the storing of coffee beans and teas has come up a few times in Fridgin’ Out. I’ve heard both arguments of storing them in the fridge, and out. At this point, I think it’s just a matter of preference.

Pre-seasoned eel- this is actually the perfect summertime meal too, just put it in the broiler or toaster for like 5-10 minutes and make a cucumber salad with it. Add some edamame too!

Does this stuff really work?
V’s freezer reminded me that it’s smart to buy ready made meals more, or just start freezing stuff for later, in general. I never really freeze anything, but I think that’s also because I don’t have a microwave. I’m not so into nuking stuff, I find it to be a weird concept.

Stay tuned for her totally stocked fridge!!!

*V and I met in college, and had a radio show together- we aired at like 3am, and attracted all sorts of vampire lunatics and midnight cabbies. We would get some crazy phone calls- we had some loyal fans. To this day, she keeps my music library in check. Lykke Li!

In the spirit of missing Kanitra, I’m continuing her column w(h)ine-o. I’m not qualified to talk about wine the way she does, but I can at least show you pictures of what I’m drinking these days.

When it’s hot out, you gotta go for the pink stuff. There seems to be a myriad of terms used for this genre of wine, but my favorite is “blush wine”- it reminds me of the 80s and boxed wine. Awesome.

Here’s a great bottle of the blush stuff by the Italian Tuscan winery Carpineto. They call it “rosato” in Italy, which directly translated would be “what was red”. It’s pinked! I got this at my corner liquor store for $10.99- they’ve totally upgraded their wine selection, and sell all sorts of international wines for really cheap. Score for Franklin Avenue!

Rosè to me just tastes like watered down, unsweetened grape juice- which in theory, it is. This bottle is light and refreshing- it’s a little too easy to drink actually. But let’s be real- this column wouldn’t be called what it is if it weren’t true.

I must admit, I chose this bottle not only because it was cheap, but because the label is just darling. I’m such a packaging whore! Decisions are often totally dictated on the principals of aesthetics, wouldn’t you say? I mean, wouldn’t you pick this up if you saw it?

Let’s get pinked! Get into it- summer is HERE!

Chef Jacques Freres (pictured below) has been perfecting his souffles for years. I’m not even into souffles and I was swooned by his. Swooned!

As stated on their website,
Capsouto Freres is a classic French bistro housed in a former spice warehouse by the Hudson and referred to as the “soufflé sanctuary.” While the menu is an alluring [interesting] blend of traditional French and contemporary fare, it is the soufflés, both sweet and savory, that garner the most attention. For more than twenty-seven years, Jacques Capsouto has been making, which he very proudly states, the best soufflés you will probably ever eat.

Get on down to Tribeca and try one of the 3 flavors he offers: – chocolate, raspberry and hazelnut. Worth the trip, just for dessert!

all photos copyright www.eringleeson.com

Capsuoto Freres
451 Washington Street
New York, NY
212.966.4900