The Great Food Truck Thing

In case you missed it, Dan Rodricks had a whole episode last week on his Midday Show on WYPR on the whole food truck phenomenon. Among others, he talked to Heather Shouse, author of Food Trucks: Dispatches and Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels. Shouse goes all over the country to examine local food trucks and the local adaptations to them. For example, Portland, Oregon, has a whole section of town devoted just to food trucks! Rodricks also interviewed several local food truck entrepreneurs, including the good people who bring us the food trucks from Gypsy Queen Café, Iced Gems Baking, Creperie Breizh, and Kooper's Chowhound, as well as the former owner of Juana Burrito who now runs the food truck consulting business Mobile Food Products. The food truck trend is starting to really rocket here, as it has in DC too - surprisingly since DC has such arcane laws that regulate food trucks in such a way that they may not park unless they have a queue of people waiting for them (I found this out a few weeks ago on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU). It's a trend I hope we see continue to flourish in Baltimore in the future.

Royal Wedding Cake? Really?

I should officially smack myself right now (beat y'all to it, City Paper) for even uttering the phrase "Royal Wedding" on this blog. However, I just could not pass up this absolutely gorgeous photo that purports to be the official wedding cake for today's big fête in Westminster Abbey. It comes from Twitter tweeter Robert Popper:

I should post the photo myself but I'll let you click on the link. Sumptuous! Simply sumptuous!!!

Because it's Boxing Day

No, we don't celebrate Boxing Day in the US. In fact, many of us would be hard-pressed to even define it. This day after Christmas is celebrated in many other parts of the English-speaking world, including Canada, the UK, etc. and so on, as a public holiday. It started out as a day to give to those less fortunate than (and/or subordinate to) you - because the poor would traditionally go from door to door with empty boxes for people to fill with goodies. Today it's basically a day to indulge in post-Christmas Day sales, watch sports, discuss last night's Doctor Who (airing tonight on BBC America, by the way - the first time an episode has ever aired so soon after it did in the UK) and have people over for buffets. This video from the UK's Tesco grocery chain makes an oven-baked salmon look fairly easy, especially on a cucumber-watercress salad.



Just remember: when he says 200 degrees, he's talking in Celsius. We would do 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fresh and Easy - That's My Style (or, "Tesco, Can You Hear Me?")

I love Fresh and Easy. That's what my friend Jim told me last September when a Fresh and Easy supermarket opened up in Yucaipa, where he lives. After visiting today, I am of the same opinion: I love the place.

I was early meeting him for lunch (Tokyo Sushi for a super-filling meal), so I decided to visit Fresh and Easy. As I've mentioned in the past, F&E is owned and operated by the UK-based Tesco Supermarket chain. Their mission: to open up supermarkets in urban places, especially the inner cities. Yucaipa is not the inner city. It's about as rural and rednecky as you could ever hope for (besides, maybe, Banning). So why open up a fresh and fun Fresh and Easy store right across from Yucaipa's "master-planned golf course community" (I'm not kidding), now covered in all the ooze and goo that is the uber-bursted housing bubble? Who cares why? It's awesome!!!

The one time I went into a Tesco sandwiched in between compact buildings in a tiny corner of St. John's Wood in London, I saw the same crispness and efficiency of the layout. Like Tesco, Fresh and Easy prides itself on higher quality at an affordable price. The prices were slightly higher than those at Trader Joe's (with more fresh produce and other stuff you would find in a supermarket but not at Trader Joe's), and much lower than those at Whole Paycheck Foods.

They also have a free sample section with several different free samples, just waiting to be eaten. Their hash browns and homemade macaroni salad were pretty tasty - not the best, but definitely good. And employee enthusiasm is not to be taken lightly. The woman manning the free sample section insisted on giving me a ten-minute tour of the place when I told her that I had never before been. She told me about how:

• this location was the first in the Inland Empire that had been built for F&E instead of just moving into a pre-existing location. You can tell by the skylights, which are put in to save on energy.
• everybody who comes in zeroes in on the "Day-Old / Up to 50% Off" section, by the beer (Oh GOD, do I miss living in a state that allows supermarkets to sell alcohol!). I bought lemon bars that were about 25% lower than their normal cost.
• the place prides itself on natural ingredients, without the ridiculous markup that the sometimes-valid, sometimes-dubious "ORGANIC" label brings.
• it's a place that a lot of people come into just to buy something quick and cheap and tasty.
• most of its wares are shipped to their Moreno Valley warehouse and then distributed to all the area F&E's, thereby reducing carbon emissions from the trucks.
  

She showed a zeal for the place that lay somewhere between "Scientologist" and "Chick-Fil-Aniac" on the enthusiasm scale (that is, quite high). But while it may be easy to poke fun, I can understand her enthusiasm. It is a lovely place, and many of the items sold at F&E are indeed F&E brand items, packaged in much the same way that Tesco items are packaged.

I did buy some items. I went for the aforementioned lemon bars for a mere £1.40 $2.25. Along with those, I got a bottle of mint-flavored water for 60 cents. They also have cucumber, strawberry and (get this) coconut. Total after tax: about three bucks.

A few snacky things from Tesco, American-Style

Honestly, I do see myself going there next Tuesday (the day before I fly back home), buying a few supplies, and shipping them back to Baltimore. When did I last do that? Oh yeah, it was about 12 years ago, after I had moved to California and found this great place called "Trader Joe's" that had yet to move into the Baltimore area. Then it was for family. This time, it's mine! (Yes, and theirs, too.) Maybe Tesco will plop a few Fresh and Easy's somewhere in Baltimore someday?

Doctor Who hits the big 4-5

Sorry y'all, it's time to get geekalicious.

45 years and one day ago, JFK was assassinated. 45 years ago to the day, a short little children's television serial with a low production budget debuted on the BBC. 45 years and 10 lead actors later, it's spawned a multi-million pound phenomenon that now reaches across the English-speaking world.

As for me, I've been watching Doctor Who since I was a junior in high school, when it aired on MPT. My best friend got me hooked on it. Not sure where the hell Luke is anymore (last I heard, he followed his girlfriend to Phoenix).

Out of all the "tribute" videos on YouTube, this one was the least sappy, the best well-made, and features a catchy song. It is a little heavy on the new series that started in 2005, though I can see why (it compares clips of the new and old shows). The editor made it in 2007 so the most recent season - starring David Tennant and comedienne Catherine Tate and airing Saturday nights on BBC America - isn't in here. I just like this one.



Now I have to see if they sell Jellybabies in the British section at Wegman's.

108 years of British history, through bread

Since I've spent a total of seven days out of my entire life in the UK, and only a few years ago, I'm not familiar with Hovis Bakery. But this ad of theirs runs through over a century of British history, and it's really cool.

From Football to Food: Brits Invade Los Angeles!

Ever notice that the big grocery stores tend to stay away from the inner-cities? Enter the British!

Huh?

On the heels of David Beckham's triumphant, celebutastic debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy, British supermarket chain Tesco is coming to SoCal. This piece from NPR's Marketplace talks about how Tesco is expanding specifically into the US's supermarket-less inner cities, filling a need that the locals desperately need to be filled. Yes, operating costs tend to be higher for grocery stores in areas such as Compton and South Central LA (check out the story for why). But shoppers there usually have to travel several miles to get groceries, or else just go to the McDonald's or the Kwik-E-Mart at the corner, which tend to have junk.

So far, there is only one slated to open, in inner city LA, but they plan more. Anyway, welcome to the US, Tesco, and good luck!

Click here for the audio link to the story (Real Audio file).

Festivals of Washington - Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Yesterday I had enough festivalling to last a very long time. It was the Smithsonian's annual Folklife Festival. Each year this festival showcases three different parts of the world and brings the arts, crafts, music, folklore, history and food to the National Mall for millions of festivalgoers to take in. This year's featured ares: Northern Ireland, the Mekong River Delta (China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam) and the Roots of Virginia Culture. It was important to include Virginia, with this being Jamestown's quadricentennial. The last part included not just modern Virginians of European, African and Native American ancestry, but also people from County Kent, England, and Senegal - the first Europeans and Africans to come to America came from Kent and Senegal, respectively.

It will take me a very long time to write about everything I saw and did, so I'll hit the basics.

I had a date with a friend. It was his first-ever Folklife festival, my third. He decided to make it a weekend in DC (he lives in Towson) - I was astounded at the nice room he got at the Hyatt Regency, for only $65 via Priceline!

Anyway, the festival: I got there mighty early, taking the Metro from New Carrollton right to the Mall. The Smithsonian Metro stop let me out between Northern Ireland and the Mekong River. Since my buddy was just on his way down, I figured I'd head over to the Virginia area to investigate. I saw some great stuff: wood crafts, metal crafts, pottery, basketry - all things made by artisans from Virginia, Kent and Senegal. And I could not pass up the Ham and Peanuts booth, where I got to see different grades of peanuts, as well as the ham curing process. Also interesting was the the Tobacco and Hops kiosk, where real tobacco and hops were growing while Kentian beer makers talked about their craft and Virginian cultivators of tobacco (also a domesticate in North Carolina and right here in Maryland) showed dried tobacco leaves. I even watched a cooking demonstration featuring Kentian chef Amanda Cottrell* making Coronation Chicken and an African American chef Clevie Wingate* making yeast biscuits (here's a PDF file of showcased Virginian, Kentian and Senegalese recipes. Chickahominy Indian dancers were flanked by African American gospel singers to their west and a bluegrass trio from southern Virginia to their east.

I meandered away from the bluegrass group for a quick bite at the Virginia food pavilion. No quick bites here, though, at any affordable price anyway. The smallest, cheapest thing I found amidst the fish and chips ($9), Three Sisters Succotash Salad ($8; also try their equally overpriced version at the National Museum of the American Indian) and Virginia barbecued chicken ($9) was an astoundingly average mini cornbread ($2). Cold, grainy, a little sweet, but definitely not the best I have ever had.

When my friend got there, his hotel a mere twenty minute walk from the Mall, I had seen the hell out of Virginia. But he was hungry and thought Virginian food would be a safe bet. So he got the fish and chips, which he was none too crazy about. He let me try a little bit. He was right - it wasn't that good. The fries were all dried out and the fish was fishier than fish and chips usually is. I decided to make way into the Mekong food pavilion and got some tasty enough Yunnan chicken ($9), gingery and sweet, with a ton of plain white rice. The dish was much better at the time than I remember it. But it was certainly better than the fish and chips.

We gasped and gawked at wonderful Thai silk makers, Vietnamese shadow puppets, Chinese pottery and Laotian mouth organs (khene). Both of us marveled, and squirmed a bit, at the fascinating Cambodian fish traps on display. These light bamboo creations are designed so that fish can swim in easily, but they go through a very spiky tube that will shred them apart if they try to swim through the other way. Some were child-size, while others were huge! We saw a similar fish trap when we headed into Northern Irish territory. Some culinary delights we saw while being deafened by large frame drummers (the drums were large, not the drummers) and dazzled by mummers:

• the Bushmill whiskey kiosk with, sadly, no free samples, but lots of equipment used in the whiskey making process. We smelled wood from barrels that must've held whiskey for decades, and been utilized for centuries;
• the Ulster agriculture kiosk, showing lots of things that come from Northern Irish farms;
• another cooking demonstration by an award-winning but very down-to-earth chef/hotelier Norah Brown (she strikes me as the Paula Deen of County Tyrone), and that she was very impressed with American ingredients. Norah, who had a sourpuss of a sous chef, stresses the importance of preserving your heritage through food. She made a wonderful Irish dinner: herb-crusted salmon with creamed scallions and champ, that buttery, scalliony take on mashed potatoes. Alas, we could not try any of it - health code laws kept us tempted and drooling.

We also headed to the Northern Irish food pavilion and got drinks (water for him, Guinness for me) and dessert - vanilla ice cream in a Bailey's / Bushmill whiskey sauce ($4). Tasty, probably the best-tasting thing I'd had all day.

We finished the day listening to some more bluegrass by Spencer Strickland and Gerald Anderson before heading to the Museum of Natural History to take in some dinosaur bones, gems and minerals and award-winning nature photography. We headed to Dupont Circle for dinner, which I will talk about some other time. My hands hurt from all this typing!

* Oh, I hope I'm getting their names correct!

Other photos:

This is the insidious Cambodian fish trap, from the front. We're looking in the end that the fish get stuck in. It's quite ingenious! But humans tend to be when they're hungry.




The bassist doesn't usually play with them. Glad he did. These fellas rocked the Tudor Rose Stage.




Chef Norah Brown preparing a simple cream sauce to go with her delicious Irish salmon while dour sous chef "Alex" works on the champ.



And now she's plating the salmon onto the champ...


...and here's the final dish! Brown also put sprigs of fennel in the upper left side of the plate, but that photo was blurry.



And here we have some Virginia cookery. The chef on the far left is making yeast biscuits while the chef in the middle, who is from Kent, is making Coronation chicken.



Here is a reconstructed garden of enslaved Africans in Virginia. There's actually a lot more, but I didn't get it in the photo.



And finally, a little Laotian mouth organ music!

How's that for a slice of fried gold?

Just vegging out right now watching my all-time favorite movie of all-time, Shaun of the Dead (here's the louder Paramount UK site), on Comedy Central. It makes me laugh harder every time I see it! And it really is a classic when you think of it, taking that most hallowed of horror genres, the zombie flick, and just making it all funny. And not in a sarcastic Scream way, but instead you can tell that the auteurs really love this genre. Simon Pegg (Shaun) is perhaps a bigger George Romero fan than I, though I am a pretty big one - the original Dawn of the Dead is my next most favorite movie of all-time. Sort of puts my love for food in a whole new, slightly disturbing perspective.

While I don't particularly like eating people, there are a few other tasty things in the film.

• There's that Cornetto and Diet Coke that Shaun gets from the local grocer (Oh I wish I knew what that Hindi radio station was saying in the background).
• Of course, Shaun failed to make reservations for himself and girlfriend Liz to eat at "that place that does all the fish" - was it Italian or Portuguese? I don't know, though Shaun did suggest Thai at one point.
• And of course Shaun's mum Barbara greets Shaun with the promise of tea, without two lumps of sugar (he hasn't taken it that way for years).
  
• And there's the most favored meeting place of Shaun and BFF Ed, the Winchester Pub. When I went to London this past December I tried to find the actual pub they used, but I just didn't have the time, so I shrugged my shoulders and decided it was as good a reason as any to come back. Were I not sequestering myself indoors tonight (supposed to be rain, and I spent too much this past week anyway), I would go out to my local pub and have a cold pint of Guinness. I'll pass on the bar peanuts and corn nuts.

So my next question is: are there any good English pubs in town? This is a very important question because it may be this type of establishment I visit before I go see the new Simon Pegg movie Hot Fuzz (directed by Shaun director Edgar Wright and co-starring Shaun co-star/BFF Nick Frost). The movie is already doing gangbusters business in the UK and is opening here next week.

So to answer my question, I did a Google search for "british pubs baltimore" (it works whether or not you capitalize everything), and the City Paper website came up with a list of (gasp) British/Irish pubs. The lack of distinction would irritate some, at least some Irish-Americans. Maybe it should irk this one, but I don't know. It seems that only one of the pubs on the list was British, the Red Brick Station in White Marsh. A little out of my way, though definitely worth a trip in the not-too-distant future. But I think next week will be my time to try out Mick O'Shea's, per so many commenters' recommendations.


Here's hoping no rampaging zombie outbreak strikes Charm City. At least these guys can lend a hand.

Postcard from London 3: Back in the USA

Well, I just got in a few hours ago, and am fighting jet lag while I head back to work tomorrow morning. Again, I will expand on many of the places I went to eat while in the UK. It is truly a fabulous place!

Also am still quite impressed with British Airways' service. I got served an unusual sandwich for a dinner snack (the big meal was lunch): on a roll, roast beef with rocket (arugula), and a spread of mascarpone and horseradish. Sounds a bit nasty but is delicious!

Here are some of the places I visited in the last leg of my trip. It shouldn't be too difficult to play catch-up, not just because it is all fresh in my head, but because I have spent so much money that I will probably not be eating out again anytime soon!

Cafe Valencia - above-average Italian coffee shop, one of so many in London's Soho. Had a "caramel" bar consisting of a thick layer of chocolate on top of a bar that broke into crumbles when you breathed on it. Also had an okay cappuccino - I drank a lot of that in England.

Pizza Express - They have several locations around London (I ate at one in the shadow of the Tower Bridge and the reconstructed Globe Theatre). I had a delicious pizza of caramelized red onions, basil, anchovies, etc.

Tuk Tuk - Thai place that my friends believed until last night had been going down hill. Had a good, utilitarian pad thai that was quite satisfying.

Pret a Manger - Did you know that McDonald's apparently runs a healthier take away (take-out) place? No, neither did I. But this place is just a place to grab ready-made sandwiches and cakes, fancy potato chips and drinks, and go. And these aren't just your ordinary sandwich. I had a smoked salmon, butter and lemon juice on whole wheat for £2.50 or something like that. It was both hearty and decadent at the same time, if you can imagine that! Oh, there are tons of 'em in the UK. And one whole one in the US (New York, to be precise).

Benjys - like a mini-7-Eleven. I bought a hot Cornish pasty of beef which was filling, if nothing else. Also got a Pepsi Max (Europe's version of Pepsi One). Total: about £4, if that.

And now to sleep. So much to process about this week in London. Stay tuned, and Happy 9th Day of Christmas!

Postcard from London 2: OMG there is so much here!

And it all costs so much, too!

Have had little time to write, and don't have a lot right now. So I figured I would save it for a bigger post when I get back. Some highlights of the past few days:

Veeraswamy - the UK's oldest Indian restaurant. One friend and I had a three course meal of very chichi Indian food, including some okra-ginger concoction and coriander-covered chicken tikka (the tenderest I have ever eaten) for £16. Also a bottle of water that is more expensive than I wanted to pay for, but it all goes to fighting global warming, so what the hey.

Wagamama - a famous, international noodle house with a fun and eclectic setting. Your food is brought out quickly but you are still served. Had ramen in a coconut soup with prawns (shrimp) for £8. Tastes much better than it sounds. Don't think Wagamama would sell in the US, though, because it is all cafeteria-style seating, at several loooong picnic-type tables. Also an interesting soft drink of elderflowers.

Giovanni's Ciabatteria - right by the WONDERFUL British Museum. My friend and I got panini for a mere £3.50 for each of us.

Aroma - We did Chinese at this good restaurant. A little pricier than I had wanted, but the food was good. My friends and I had shredded duck (that woman sure knew how to shred that duck fast) with spring onions and cucumbers, and wrapped them in thin rice pancakes (kind of like fajitas, in a sense). That starter (appetizer) was £14, but they treated me to that. Out of my own pocket I paid for a delicious braised duck in plum sauce, with egg fried rice, together for £9 (the duck alone was £6.50 or so).

King's Arms - A gay pub popular with my friends. Guinness sells for about £3 a pint. Yum!

That's it for now. Will expand on these when I get back to the US. Cheers!

London Post 1: Postcard from London / Marlborough Head Pub

Haven't posted in a while. I have been so damn busy! It is now Friday, the day after my plane landed. And oh my, British Airways is amazing, simply for the stuff they provide on the flight that American airplanes used to provide. For example, a meal. I had a braised beef which, considering it was airplane food, pretty decent. Also had a salad, a Cadbury crunchie candy (kind of like a butterfinger, only it didn't fall apart as soon as I bit into it), and I think a mini mince pie - those are popular for Christmas over here, as they bring good luck if you eat one. By the way, it is the fifth day of Christmas over here. On the contrary, back home in Bawlmer it is, simply, Friday.

In the airport I ran into this gay couple from San Francisco. It was such a coincidence because one of them was originally from Cockeysville! Both had been to London before, and let me in on a few sights to see and things to do. Small world after all, I guess.

After my small encounter with the London tube (subway)* yesterday, which puts Baltimore's to shame (but any subway system puts Baltimore's to shame, so what am I talking about), I walked to my friend's flat (apartment). He lives very close to London's central mosque and we are very close to a big and bustling Muslim section of town. My first thought: mmm, Middle Eastern food. But there is also Turkish, Pakistani, and I've hardly scratched the surface. A lot of cheap takeaway (take-out) places selling shawerma and kebabs, lots of halal (and one kosher) store. And we are near the popular Tesco food market.

Because I prefer to get a look at what the locals do, I avoided the touristy things on Thursday and walked around with my friend to see the local things. We went into two popular department stores that both sell food (and may be the basis of lunch soon), Selfridge's (like a more expensive Nieman Marcus), where I bought one small container of Turkish delight (I wouldn've bought a shirt for only £20 - but it shouwed everything underneath, so, uh, no) and the much more reasonable Marks & Spencer (like Macy's), where I bought a damn fine looking shirt for £15 (most shirts were at least £25, but they had jeans on sale for £9.50 (that's 9 pounds, 50 p - said like "50 pee," for pence)

For lunch we ate at the Marlborough Head Pub. My friend and his partner call it the "Scary Pub" because it has all this morbid stuff around it - coffin-shaped boards on the outside advertizing nightly specials and whatnot. He opted for the chicken Caesar salad. I went more local and got fish (haddock, in this case) and chips. It came with peas (different from the mushy peas of Café Anglais in Frederick), which I hardly ate, and vinegar and tartare (tartar) sauce. All in all, very tasty. Though I have been warned: that's as good as indigenous English food gets.

Today, I hope to try some Chinese, or maybe M&S. or perhaps even the UK's national cuisine: Indian food!


* Whenever there is a word that is popularly used in the UK but not in the US, I'll give the US version of that word in parentheses - for example, flat (apartment).

Café Anglais

Have not been on for a while - so busy, and wrapped up in this fascinating Mark Foley thing (oh my, isn't THAT big news or what).

Not all the places where I dine are within the Baltimore City limits. Last week I took a trip with my sister and her friend to an English restaurant (yes, you read that right) in nearby Frederick. Frederick is a lovely town - very picturesque. Interestings thing about the city: in terms of city limits, it's supposedly the second-largest city in Maryland. Though in terms of metropolitan areas, it's not even in the top 5. It is a walking city, and a pleasant walk it is. And Frederick was traversed by both Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War. This in a state of strong Confederate and Union supporters.

I have heard that English food is so awful that the national cuisine is Indian, the popular cuisie brought to England by its former Indian and Pakistani subjects. But English cookin' is, as I aslso hear, undergoing a renaissance! But even traditional British food has its place. To try some, we parked a few blocks away, and walked the rest of the way to the restaurant that was our destination: Café Anglais. The friendly Lancastrian proprietor, Michael Harrison, runs the place with Brigitte King, who is from Marseille (so says this review of all things Frederick from the Baltimore Sun). The Café Anglais has a small dine-in area with an even smaller section of English groceries. This is a quaint little place to eat, but if the garden is open, please eat there, because it is a wonderful experience! It is a beautiful garden with several tables and chairs. It's a great place to have tea. Café Anglais prides itself on its tea service, and the three of us started off with tea. There were several patrons there that day, so the service was a little slow, but well worth the wait. We got a porcelain teapot with cream, sugar (no Sweet N' Low for us, though I didn't ask), and cups for everyone (well that last part is understood). The waitress will refill the teapot if you ask, at no charge!

The menu contains both English and French foods, but mostly English. My sister and I both were in the mood for fish and chips with mushy peas (fish with fries and, well, mashed peas). Our friend went for a small quiche. It was a scant thing, like one meat pie I ordered the last time I visited, before a trip to NYC to see the quintessential musical about meat pies, Sweeney Todd. But I digress...

The fish was crispy on the outside, and it was a generous helping. There were lots of chips, and they come with a side of vinegar if you want it. We didn't want it, but opted for ketchup. I've never been a big fan of vinegar as a condiment. Now mushy peas may take some getting used to for an American. Mashed peas? Why? They were a little bland, and a little buttery; I did salt them for a little extra flavor. The meal was good, though. It must have been, as this is the second time I have ever ordered it.

After our filling fish and chips, it was time for dessert. I forget what the others ordered; I was too taken by my creme brulée. It was what any creme brulée should be: crispy and sweet on the top, smooth and delicious underneath. This has to be one of my favorite things to eat! It would have been even better had it not started raining. Fortunately, it was toward the end of our meal.

For the three of us, the cost for tea, sodas for two (in cans), plus our entrées and desserts, and tax came to $66 - that was before the tip. I am looking toward my next visit there. Please do visit the place, because the food is good. You might even grow to like English cuisine! Perhaps the national cuisine of the country isn't vindaloo after all!