Flashback: Highlights from London (originally published between 12/29/06 and 1/6/07)

As the London 2012 Olympics wind down, I fondly remember my one trip to the British Isles at the end of 2006 - start of 2007.  I was in London for New Year's, staying with some friends who were working there at the time.  I had some incredible food.  I also met one or two folks whom I had hoped to keep in touch with, y'know, to have a place to crash during these Olympic Games. 5 1/2 years later: I am watching stateside.  Oh well.  Some of my favorite places to eat and drink while I was there were the pubs, London's Chinatown and the country's oldest Indian restaurant.

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London Post 1: Postcard from London / Marlborough Head Pub (originally posted 12/29/06)

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).

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Veeraswamy (originally published 1/3/07)

As I hinted at in an earlier post, there was so little time and so much to do in London that I simply gave up on blogging about each place I visited whilst there. Instead, I am going to post about a few of the notable places at which I ate. And as y'all can see, yes, I did take photos! And possibly annoyed my friend during his lunch.

Veeraswamy was founded in 1926. Legend has it the proprietor was the descendant of an English general and a Mughal princess (if I remember it correctly). Today, its interior is posh and colorful, yet very elegant. We went to the Picadilly Circus tube (subway) stop and walked around for a while, just looking at all the sites (well, my one friend, who had off from work that day, had seen it all by now). We hit a long semicircular row of beautiful buildings. Okay, it was just one looooong building occupied by many businesses, like a long rowhouse (here's a Google map image of it).

We went into the lobby and saw this stainless steel wall tile (very neat), then went up an elevator to get to the dining room. And a lovely dining room it is, all covered in lush tones with rainbow light fixtures above. The luxurious feel continued in the seats themselves, with purple pillows festooning the benches that served as much of the seating, and rose petals strewn all over each table.

For lunch, we went for the fixed price meal for £16 (about $32, but that is disturbingly cheap for a nice restaurant such as Veeraswamy). This gave me three courses of things I would never have thought to order by themselves. For starters, we got a concoction the size of a large muffin, but certainly more interesting! Served on a neatly cut banana leaf, this appetizer featured wheat biscuit, yogurt, pomegranate and other good stuff. I actually can't remember it all, and the photo didn't turn out, sadly.

Then came our main course, a chicken tikka in a not-so-spicy coriander sauce. This came with okra in a ginger sauce that my friend said was the first okra he has ever liked (me too, for the most part, as it's so often slimy when I do eat it). I really loved this, despite the small amount of food. Normally, this paltry amount would not be worth 33% of $32 - and, okay, it isn't. But if anything comes close to being worth that amount, it was this.  Very yummy and tender, this chicken tikka was more tender than most chicken tikka I have eaten. And yeah, the okra was pretty good, again with a lovely presentation.

Our final course came in the form of a blood orange sherbet. Both of us were thrown for a loop by this one, as this pinkish sherbet was served with rose petals and a raspberry in a martini glass. It didn't taste like an orange, but it was tasty nonetheless. And again, there's that ubiquitous banana leaf. Not for eating, mind you, but decoration.

Altogether, our bill came to about £44. This includes two meals for £16 each and two bottles of water, plus tax and tip. This water, by the way, is made by the Belu company, whose profits all go to water conservation and clean water projects, both in the UK and in other countries. One project involves the digging of wells in Mali. We got served with classy glass bottles, though Belu touts its biodegradable corn bottles. It is very proud of only using local sources of water, instead of imported water from other countries.

I am trying to think of the closest Bawlmer-area match to Veeraswamy. Although I haven't been in yet, my best guess would be the Brass Elephant. Although I have never eaten there (and after this trip, probably won't for a while), the atmosphere certainly is of the same caliber as Veeraswamy. OpenTable.com quotes the restaurant's description of itself, the restaurant telling us to step back in time, dine in "an opulent Victorian mansion of hand carved teak, tiffany skylights and lavishly appointed dining rooms."

The menu shows not a drop of Indian cuisine, but for its atmosphere alone it may offer a similar dining experience.

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Aroma (originally published 1/6/07)

To further play catch-up on my trip to London, I will write a little bit about a very good Chinese restaurant that we dined at. Charles and Kevin knew that I wanted to eat in London's miniscule Chinatown at least once, so they took me to this great place called Aroma. It's squooshed inside, like many of the Chinatown establishments, but we got a cozy table in the middle of the jam-packed, brightly-lit dining area.

Like several of the restaurants I ate at in London, Aroma was several tightly-squeezed stories, with bathrooms downstairs and a cooking area on the bottom floor. Apparently there was some dish-washing room on the top floor because I saw a few used plates going up in that direction. Apparently, Aroma is a "mini-chain," with two buildings throughout the city. Many are overpriced, and though I wouldn't call this cheap (what is cheap to an American in London, what with the value of the dollar being what it is?), it is cheap compared to many of the places you could eat at. True, there are some truly rock-bottom places - all you can eat buffets for a mere £4.50, but these are, um, probably not the best places to eat. But the guys liked Aroma, and I was happy to go on their recommendation.

We started with a starter (appetizer), a duck with rice pancakes. The waitress brought half a whole roasted duck, some cuke sticks and thin strips of spring onion, and a plate of covered-up thin rice pancakes. It was like a Chinese fajita of sorts. Before we could do anything, she took fork and knife and quickly made work of that duck! She pulled that meat apart like wrapping paper through a shredder! It was so cool to see her rip the meat from the bone the way she did, and she made short work of it, too - a mere one or two minutes after she started, we were eating shredded duck fajitas and tacos (sorry, the best analogy I know). This appetizer was about £13, but my friends said it was on them, so who was I to object?

It was all so good, and so filling that we hardly had room for our main course. Kevin and Charles ordered chicken dishes with chicken fried rice, which looked and smelled wonderful. I got an amazing duck in plum sauce (yes, more duck, I know), with plain old egg fried rice. The sauce was so rich and delicious, and the duck came in a dessert-bowl-sized mound of meat and plum sauce. I ate this alternately with the rice, and it was quite satisfying. But I labored to finish this dish, of all about £6.40 for the duck plus £2.50 for the rice, because of all the duck I had already eaten before!

Oh, I just found out a co-worker of mine is going this August to visit a Jamaican friend who lives there, so I have a use for my travel guides now! Maybe I will have to follow her there when she goes. If I do, I may reserve my restaurant visits for other places I haven't tried yet. But if I can, I think I will find a path back to here, or at least recommend it to my coworker. And you, if you find yourself in London at some point! Otherwise, I will just head to the Jasmine Asian Bistro in Towson, which is not exclusively Chinese, and doesn't please everybody, but is tasty nonetheless. Try their Thai bento box!

I have no idea who these people are, but I thought it would make for a good photo.

Mt. Vernon Miscellany: Late April Edition

Just a few things in and around the Mt. Vernon neighborhood that I haven't gotten around to, since life and these dang State-by-State posts have taken up all my time:

1) I love Mughal Garden, and will go back again and again, but you didn't have to get so worried when I ordered my dinner "spicy" last night.  It wasn't very spicy.  Didn't even have to blow my nose more than once with that delicious lamb korma.  Are y'all sure you didn't give me medium-spiced instead?

2) Not sure if Marie Louise Bistro just doesn't want me there anymore, but the last few times I've gone in to wait for a table much of the staff has just stared at me and kept walking - not even a "Someone will be with you in just a moment, sir" (that will keep me patiently waiting for a while).  Note: they won't stop you from going upstairs to seat yourself.

3) What the hell are these things? (Taken not in Mt. Vernon but at the Abingdon Wegman's in Harford County.  Just had to slip this in somewhere.)

I'm scared.

4) Back to Mt. Vernon:: it looks like somebody's doing something with the old Brass Elephant building.  Yay!  (Yes I'm probably the last person to say anything about it, but it's overdue.  The linked article suggests it may be back open by spring, which means soon since it's now spring!)

5) Am going to Kumari again.  Last August I got a nasty bout of something after eating there (avoid the chow chow if at all possible).  But they won me back with their Nepali Bhohan!

6) I really should save up for this sometime: Sotto Sopra's next Opera Night ($58) is Sunday, May 20th.  (Yes, just south of Mt. Vernon but hell it's my blog.)

That's all for now.  Back tonight for some half-priced maki rolls at Minato before the alleged finale of RuPaul's Drag Race at the Hippo (who is hosting RPDR finalist Sharon Needles on May 4!).

And happy birthday to my sister who is once more only a year younger than I am :-P

Lumbini Revisited

My friends Jim & Ralph told me a few months ago: "You have to go to Lumbini!  This place is great."  Funny thing though: I had gone there a year or so ago, and ordered something that I seriously did not like.  In fairness, they told me I probably would not like what I ordered.  It was some sort of Nepalese dried shredded lamb dish.  They were right: I didn't like it, but at least I tried it!  Whatever the case, I headed back this past weekend and got myself a secluded table in a restaurant that was disturbingly quiet for a Friday night.  I did not even realize that my friends were there, along with some other friends of theirs (note to self: call Allison for some of that spare deer meat they have).  We joined up at one table and waited for our meals.

This time, I did like what I had for the most part.  I ordered some veggie samosas ($5) - rich potato samosas with a more tender and delicate pastry crust than I usually find in most samosas I have out.  The guys also let me try a chicken momo (dumpling) which was something I will likely order the next time I go.  The others had ordered their own things, and I ordered the paneer makhani  ($13).  I was trying to go meatless for Friday, and except for that chicken momo I more or less succeeded.  I loved the silken sauce, especially with my garlic (and green chile?) naan, though the flat pieces of paneer cheese tasted very slightly burnt.  It wasn't really a problem, and I did enjoy this dish.

I am a bit puzzled at why so few people were there. True, there are a lot of Indian / Nepalese restaurants in the area, so maybe that dilutes it.  But do stop by sometime soon.

Snacking State-by-State: New York II - "Murgh" is the word!

The New York Metropolitan Area has the nation's largest South Asian American population, comprised of over 550,000 persons of Indian ancestry.  It goes without saying that New York City is a center of South Asian cuisines in New York State.  I've had some excellent Indian food at the acclaimed Jackson Diner in Queens, for example.  The Jackson Diner is just one of many in a long tradition of Indian restaurants in New York, which was (likely) home to the country's very first.

Official Name: State of New York
State Nicknames: The Empire State
Admission to the US: July 26, 1788 (#11)
Capital: Albany (6th largest)
Other Important Cities: New York City (largest in the state, largest in the nation!), Buffalo (2nd largest), Rochester (3rd largest), Syracuse (5th largest) 
Region: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic; Mid-Atlantic (US Census)
RAFT Nations: Maple Syrup; Wild Rice; Clambake
Bordered by: Québec (Canada) (north), Lake Ontario (northwest), Ontario (Canada) & Lake Erie (west), Pennsylvania (south and southwest), New Jersey (south), Connecticut & Long Island Sound (southeast), Massachusetts & Vermont (east)
Official State Foods and Edible Things: apple (fruit), milk (beverage), sugar maple (tree - for the maple syrup), rose (flower - they are edible, you know), trout (fish), apple muffin (muffin), bay scallop (shell), beaver (mammal, though outside of "Bizarre Foods" you won't see many people eating these)
Some Famous and Typical Foods: In New York City, anything and everything - it is one of the most multicultural and diverse cities in the United States, and is a culinary capital of the nation; typical NYC foods include: Waldorf salad, bagels & bialys, corned beef and pastrami, chocolate egg creams, hot dogs, New York pizza, General Tso's chicken, Baked Alaska (invented in New York City), and so on; New York cheesecake; "garbage plate" (Rochester only); Buffalo wings (Buffalo of course); apples and maple syrup, and of course, more apples

Immigration from South Asia was a trickle before 1924, when the Johnson-Reed Act reduced immigration from the Indian Subcontinent (not to be righted until the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act).  But even before 1924, there were Indians in the largest metropolises of America, and a very small number of restaurants.  Both Chicago and New York City lay claim to some of the earliest Indian restaurants in the United States.  As Anita Mannur notes in the South Asian American Digital Archive, one of the first Indian restaurants in the United States was Manhattan's Taj Mahal Hindu Restaurant.

An advertisement for the restaurant appears in the pages of the February 1920 issue of Young India dating the restaurant to a few years earlier, while a search through the archives of the New York Times leads [historian] Vivek Bald to note that near boarding houses which were home to South Asian laborers—dock workers, restaurant workers, factory workers—that were located on Eight Avenue were a smattering of South Asian restaurants. Bald notes that only four blocks to the west of the Eight Avenue Boarding house were, “two of the first Indian restaurants in the city, which were four blocks south: the Ceylon Restaurant (est. 1913) on Eighth Avenue at Forty-Third Street and the Taj Mahal Hindu Restaurant (est. 1918) on Forty-Third Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, as well as to the Ceylon India Inn, an expansion of the Eighth Avenue Ceylon which was opened in 1923 nearby on West Forty-Ninth Street” (67). [Mannur 2011]

From there Indian cuisine (and South Asian cuisine in general) have become more and more a part of the American food landscape, as have Chinese, Italian, Jewish, Mexican and Japanese before it.  Today famous Indian-American chefs like Manhattan-based chef and actress Madhur Jaffrey and Brooklyn-based chef and cooking school proprietor Julie Sahni are influencing home cooks all across the country.  Jaffrey's cookbooks are famous, and my sister has one or two of hers on her kitchen cookbook shelf.  I have a well-worn copy of Julie Sahni's Moghul Microwave, a cookbook in which the author utilizes the microwave as a handy tool for making Indian food today.  Just from Sahni's microwave cookbook I've attempted everything from basmati rice (don't let it boil over) to potato and peas vindaloo to ready made ghee in just seven minutes (also useful for making the Ethiopian spiced ghee known as nitter kibbeh, as I noted in a past State-by-State post on the District of Columbia).  I was going to make yet another helping of potato and peas vindaloo, but two things stopped me: one, I have already written about that (a few years ago, but still), and two, I want to try something different.  This time, I sought out Sahni's now classic cookbook Classic Indian Cooking to attempt one of my all-time favorite Indian dishes, murgh makhani (or makhani murghi) - that is, butter chicken.  As she notes.

This chicken preparation is a classic example of the true flair and skill of Indian cooks.  In this dish, Mahkani (meaning "buttered," or "in butter") and Murgh (meaning chicken, and referring in this context to the leftover day-old tandoori chicken pieces) are combined.  They are simmered in cumin scented butter and a creamy rich tomato sauce and become a delicacy craved far more than tandoori chicken. [Sahni 1980:225-226]

She also points out that if you don't have any tandoori chicken just lying around, you will need to take the extra step of making tandoori chicken.  So guess what I did?  Yup - in order to make makhani murghi, I first had to make tandoori chicken.  Yes, this is going to take a while.


The Recipe: Makhani Murghi (Butter Chicken)

First, the tandoori chicken, the recipe for which is in Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking pages 221-225.  I halved her recipe.

The Recipe: Tandoori Chicken

* chicken (Sahni calls for 3 whole chickens, about 2 lbs each, cut into pieces.  I cheated and bought 3 lbs of chicken drumsticks and thighs.  I thought about buying Cornish game hens, but the chicken parts were cheaper.  I bought it for about I got it on sale for about $1.99 per lb at Wegman's)

* lemon (had a few)

* meat tenderizer (I had none of this on hand, and didn't know it would be so pricey.  A few ounces will run between $3.50 and $4.50)

For the marinade you will need:

* yogurt (I forgot to put this in the photo, but had it on hand.  I used a small container of plain Greek yogurt, bought for 85¢ at Wegman's)

* ginger (bought a few ounces for about $1 at the 7 Mile Market while shopping for matzah meal for the previous post)

* garlic (had it)

* paprika (had it too but I'm running out.  Oh, need to stock up on smoked paprika while I'm at it)

* cardamom (I had it on hand.  Still fragrant but it's getting old.  Will need to replenish it soon).

* red pepper and cumin (had both)

And finally,

* ghee (for brushing on the marinated chicken before cooking.  Had none on hand, but no problem here!  Just follow Julie Sahni's recipe for quick microwave ghee - a stick of butter, uncovered in the microwave for 90 seconds, then covered, oh for the love of God covered! for 5 minutes or until the sputtering stops, and then strained into a fine cheesecloth to get rid of the burned bits.  Yields about 1/4 cup.  Smells awesome.)

Strip the skin off the chicken pieces.  Here's a Heloise-ish hint: using a paper towel to pull it off makes it come off much more easily.

Prick the chicken with a fork all over, and cut gashes into the flesh about an inch apart.

Throw the chicken into a bowl, and cover it with the meat tenderizer and lemon juice.  Rub this into the gashes in the chicken flesh.

Now you're ready for the marinade.

Throw the components into a blender or food processor.

After a minute or so you get this.  It's not terribly easy to get out of the blender.  I hate that.

Dump the marinade over the chicken, and work it all around until the chicken is completely covered.

Put the chicken in a large Ziploc bag and let marinate, either on the counter (!) for four hours or in the fridge overnight.  Sahni strongly suggests you marinate it for no more than two days, lest the meat tenderizer cause the chicken to become "soft and doughy".  Ick.

Prep the oven.  In retrospect, I didn't need to cover the bottom rack with aluminum foil.  The chicken drippings all drips into a dish after all.

Sahni gives three options for the home cook that doesn't have a tandoor conveniently located on their property: grilling, broiling and cooking in the oven.  The last option seemed the easiest - no constant basting, and it will stay moist.  Turn your oven up to around 500 to 550° - as hot as you can get it without actually turning on the broiler (a tandoor regularly gets up to about 800 to 900°.  You can see why that's not going to happen).

And yes, I need to wipe down the outside of my oven,.  Shut up.

Here is the dish I mentioned earlier.  Preferably you will put the tandoori chicken on a rack, but not all of mine would fit on top.

Brush the raw chicken with ghee.  I was worried I would have too much.  I had just enough.

Put the chicken in the oven and roast for half an hour.

Since I didn't use food coloring or tandoori coloring, my chicken didn't turn out red.  Fine with me since it'll be covered in a delicious orange sauce very soon.

By itself, the tandoori chicken is perhaps the softest, juiciest tandoori chicken I have had in ages.  Like spaghetti, I've become tired of the tandoori chicken I find locally, opting for other dishes.  I could get used to tandoori chicken again with this recipe.

Now you have some tandoori chicken.  It's time to makhani-ize it.


The recipe: The Actual Butter Chicken

In addition to the tandoori chicken, most of which made it into this recipe (I was hungry, alright?), you will need a few more things (recipe follows the tandoori chicken recipe in Sahni's book, pages 225-227.  I did the whole recipe, and plan to save the leftover sauce for the next time I make this)
:

Before I list the rest of the ingredients, I need to point out one thing I forgot to put in the photo: cilantro.  You need a lot of this, firmly packed and chopped.  The fresh cilantro is part of what makes the makhani murghi taste the way it does.  Make sure you buy some. Also note: I put garlic in the photo, but you won't need any in this recipe.  My bad!

* canned tomatoes (I bought Cento brand for $3.70.  You can go ahead and splurge on San Marzanos, but please note: most brands of canned tomato that I found are flavored with basil.  Search for one that is basil-free.  This can of Italian-style tomatoes were, in fact, free of basil.  Don't get me wrong: I love basil, but not when I'm making butter chicken).
* heavy cream (more than I bought - get yourself a pint for the full recipe of sauce.  You'll need most of it)
* butter (about a stick and a quarter)
* ginger (fresh)
* chile peppers (a few that I grew, from the freezer)
* salt, cumin and paprika (have them all)
* And you will need the following to make garam masala, which will probably taste better than the store-bought premade version: whole black pepper, cloves, cumin (not a few teaspoons either - about 1/4 cup for half a recipe.  You will need A LOT), coriander (same thing: you need about a quarter cup of this.  Again, A LOT), cinnamon and cardamom.  Exact amounts in Sahni's cookbook, page 38.  She says you can halve the recipe, but I probably should have quartered it.  I need more cumin now.)

Make your garam masala if you don't already have any.

Ta-da!

Put your tomatoes, ginger and chiles into your blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Next, melt a stick of sweet butter in a large pan (my 12" cast iron skillet in this case.  Coat the bottom.

Sear the tandoori chicken for a few minutes in the hot butter.

About 2 minutes total.

Take out the chicken and set aside, and quickly stir in some ground cumin and paprika for a few seconds.

Pour in your tomato mixture slowly.

Note, it will splatter even when you pour it slowly.  So the slower the better.

Stir the mixture for about 5 mintues.

Pour in and stir your cream

And next, put in the chicken.

This from the pan in which I made the tandoori chicken.  It's tandoori schmaltz!  Yes, I had my fork out.

Add the rest of the butter and a few teaspoons of garam masala.

Cook for about half an hour, uncovered.

Before serving, stir in your chopped cilantro.

I've eaten a lot of butter chicken over the past few years.  I love the stuff.  This is as satisfying as any I've had in a sit-down restaurant, but with the sheer satisfaction of making this deliciousness myself.  It's so buttery and silky, with the strong cilantro taste at the very end.  Serve this with basmati rice and maybe some fried onions and naan (note: pick up some naan).  Now if only Julie Sahni had a microwave recipe for this...

Sources:


Anchor Bar.  "The Original Buffalo Wings Story".  Published 2008.  Copyright 2008 The Anchor Bar.  All rights reserved.


Beekman 1802 (Josh Kilmer-Purcell & Brent Ridge).  "December 12" (Maureen Lodes' Apple Cake).  Posted on the "Sharon Springs Heirloom Recipe Advent Calendar" page, Beekman 1802 website.  Copyright 2011, 2012 Beekman1802.com. All rights reserved.


Beekman 1802 (Josh Kilmer-Purcell & Brent Ridge).  "Sharon Springs Heirloom Recipe Advent Calendar" page, Beekman 1802 website.  Copyright 2011, 2012 Beekman1802.com. All rights reserved.


Bon Appétit.  "Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup".  Posted on the Epicurious website, December 1998.  Copyright 1998, 2012 Epicurious.  All rights reserved.  


Center for Jewish History.  "Jews In America: Our Story".  Copyright 2005 Center for Jewish History.  All rights reserved.


Mannur, Anita.  "Indian Food in the US: 1909-1921".  Published on the South Asian American Digital Archive website October 18, 2011.  Copyright 2008-2012, South Asian American Digital Archive.  All rights reserved.


Mitzewich, John.  "Authentic Anchor Bar Buffalo Chicken Wings".  Published on About.com, date unknown. Copyright 2012 About.com.  All rights reserved.

Roberts, Adam (Amateur Gourmet).  "Fall Out Of Fall With A Matzah Ball".  Posted November 21, 2006.  Copyright 2004-2012 Adam Roberts.  All rights reserved.


Sahni, Julie.  Classic Indian Cooking.  William Morrow & Company: New York, 1980.


Sheraton, Mimi.  "Introduction: A Table Before Me".  In The New York Times Jewish Cookbook, edited by Linda Amster.  St. Martin's Press: New York, 2003.


Stradley, Linda.  "New York Egg Cream - How To Make An Egg Cream".  Published on What's Cooking America (WhatsCookingAmerica.net) 2004.  Copyright 2004, 2012 What's Cooking America.  All rights reserved.


Suddath, Claire.  "A Brief History of Buffalo Wings".  Published on the Time Magazine website (Time.com), September 3, 2009.


Sussman, Lance J.  "Jewish History Resources: New York Jewish History".  Posted on the New York State Archives website, date unknown.  Copyright 2012 New York State Archives.  All rights reserved.

Stallworth, Lyn, and Rod Kennedy Jr. The Brooklyn Cookbook.  From the Knopf Cooks American series.  Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1991. 


Some information also obtained from Wikipedia's "New York" and "Demographics of New York City" pages and other pages, and the Food Timeline State Foods link to "New York".

Delicious Italian - er, Indian - pizza

I saw this at the Bel Air Wegman's the other night:

Because nothing says "Italy" like naan.

Indigma to reopen next week

After last winter's devastating fire in Mount Vernon that shut down several businesses - and could have claimed the Helmand and Thairish restaurants had it gotten even worse - one of the hard-hit restaurants is planning to reopen next week. Baltimore Magazine reports this in a recent Twitter posting, and on CityPeek. The new location will be right across the street from the old location. Best wishes to Ann and Tony Chennamoor. I'll be back soon!

Tidbits: Early July Edition

A few things I've been eating lately:

* I have been playing a lot of soccer lately - both pickup and league, and my shins hurt like hell (note to self: find something to make these shinguards more, er, comfortable to wear while running around for one or two hours). Last night after one such pickup game down in DC (where I did pretty well, considering my lack of experience), I headed to Adams Morgan for a quick beer and bite before making the long slog home. I ended up at the cozy L'Enfant Cafe & Bar where I ordered a delicious savory crepe of salmon & boursin cheese ($13). It was a bargain, though the refreshing cherry beer I ordered, normally served with ice, clocked in at $10! That kind of took me by surprise (note to self: ask how much the damn beer costs).

* Whenever I eat Indian, I often gravitate to one or two recipes that are tried and true favorites: chicken tikka masala, saag gosht (lamb with spinach), murgh makhani (butter chicken), etc. At Mughal Garden the other night I settled on something somewhat different: their lamb methi ($14), which is lamb in a fenugreek sauce (hence the methi, which is fenugreek). It's not a taste I can easily describe, because I don't have a reference point. It's a very mellow dish, a lovely one with a lot of sauce you can soak up with much of your garlic naan. I recommend it.

* I haven't been to Rocket 2 Venus lately. I did go last week, and could not get over how quickly I was seated... and how my waiter just completely forgot about me (very irritated about that). Fortunately after about ten minutes of tapping my fingers and checking my email, a waiter did come by to find out if I was being helped (nope), and my service was quite fast after that. R2V is a place with such an eclectic menu that you can spend a good long while trying to figure out what to order - maybe that was a plus for waiting while people seated after me ended up ordering first. After all the classic American, Southern, Western, Chesapeake, Cajun and Korean offerings, I ordered the bulgogi plate with fried rice ball, mashed potatoes & kimchi ($13). It was a very satisfying experience, with the soft bulgogi, kimchi and potatoes providing a flavorful contrast against each other. Plus, my food came out much faster than I had anticipated.

* Alas, all the area Super Fresh stores are now history, excepting for the one downtown on N. Charles Street. Some of them are already slated to become something else (like the one in Hampden, for example). The rest are just sitting around, twiddling their thumbs. I hope a Harris Teeter or something moves into the one on Putty Hill.

* I realized the other day: sometimes you want a nice, hearty breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, etc., just like Mom used to make. And other times, all you want is a bowl of kimchi flavored noodles (second kimchi reference in this post, by the way).

* Find out in a few weeks what happened to this little guy that I got at the Maine Avenue Fish Market in Washington, DC, for all of $7 a pound:


* Soda update: I have been sticking to about 2 cans a day. With Dad in the hospital and the occasional late long drive back from DC I have allowed myself a little more of the stuff. But on the contrary, I have also found myself just normally drinking less. It's been a long time since I have ordered it in the restaurant, preferring beer, tea or water (I did order a soda at Lou's City Bar after a game the other day, to give me a shot of caffeine - which worked). But overall I have been going through a good bit less of it lately.

* And finally: I know he is moving out soon (er, being forced out by our landlord), but could my idiot neighbor please stop putting all his crap out by the side of the road for the trash and recycling people to just leave there!?!? It's bad enough he used to go through my recycling bin for cans, and the only reason he doesn't seem to do this anymore is because I have started putting it in a place where he is too lazy to look.

Ouch, did I just let all that pour out? Maybe I should smack him with one of my shinguards?

Tidbits: Early June Edition

A few items that have been waiting:

* While I wrote the other week about my food truck experience in LA, I never got around to my experience the week before in DC with their food trucks (I did send out Twitter posts about them though). I was specifically seeking the fabled Red Hook Lobster Truck (Twitter: @lobstertruckdc), parked that Wednesday at L'Enfant Plaza metro along with several other food trucks. It sells - what else - lobster rolls. Okay, it also has shrimp rolls, but they're known for the lobster. $15 for a lobster roll but this is absolutely worth it. They have two kinds: the Maine-style lobster roll, which is mayo-based, and the Connecticut-style roll, which is butter-based. I went with the Connecticut-style, and it was just wonderful. I could not stop little pieces of lobster from falling out of the roll, so I just ate those with my fingers - forgetting the obligatory fork, of course. They also have whoopie pies and New England lines of craft soft drinks.

Of course, I had to try the others, but how to do so with only $5 left? Get some small bites! The Fojol Bros (of Merlindia) (Twitter: @fojolbros) serve Indian plates, usually $7 or $8. Don't have that? Get one of their $2 "dingo bites" - sort of like a shot of one dish with rice. I got their silky butter chicken. After a free sample of jerk chicken from Goode's Mobile Kitchen (Twitter: @mobilekitchen), I got a massive side order of chickpeas for only $2 at the Tasty Kabob truck (Twitter: @tastykabob). I'm not kidding about the "massive" part either. This was easily as big as two lobster rolls, and as filling as two dozen of those dingo bites. If you have just two bucks, go to the Tasty Kabob truck, and you will get filled up.

* Heads up: both Baltimore and Washingtonian Magazines have similar themes this month: where to get the cool groceries, find the best butchers, peruse the nicest cheeses and sample the hoppiest beers. Read them for yourself to find out where to get the foods and shopping experiences you've been craving in the Baltimore-Washington area.

* Watching a soccer game at Sláinte Pub soon? Like, maybe, during the CONCACAF Gold Cup 2011 matches this month? (USA 2 - 0 Canada, yippee!) But you want to save some of that food money for beer or dessert? Why not sample the Sloppy Jim? For $10 (on special - it might be more at its regular price), you get a Sloppy Joe-style sandwich on an onion brioche bun, with cheese. And the Sloppy Jim isn't ground beef - it's bison sausage. Mmmm.

* Did you catch the Midday with Dan Rodricks show last week, with the big fried chicken smackdown between Gertrude's John Shields and the Baltimore City Paper's Henry Hong? No??? Check it out on the WYPR website here.

ADDENDUM: Speaking of food on the radio: today's Kojo Nnamdi Show featured a large segment on military food. Watch below as Kojo samples a delicious MRE:

* The last of my bacon-pancetta wot that I made for last year's Great Grapes bacon cook-off (info about this year's Great Grapes festival is here) has been sitting in my freezer - in a freezer ziploc bag - for almost exactly a year. Now? Still good.

Food Truck Crawl on the Miracle Mile in LA!

En route to an hour of eating. I'm following that guy. Okay, I'm going the same direction as that guy, not really following him so to speak.

Tuesday was my day to venture into the wilds of Downtown Los Angeles. I had chosen Tuesday because I was going to a Web Soup taping that evening - fun as always, and the nice people there helped me find my lost keys and even gave me a bottle of water to make me feel better. Awww... (plus, Web Soup Chris Hardwick is coming back to the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse in June).

But I started my day in LA by seeking out food trucks. It all started out the night before when I read on my new phone about the Dim Sum Truck (Twitter: @dimsumtruck - NB: since so many of these food trucks get their word out through Twitter, I will post links to their Twitter feeds. This will be helpful if you visit LA, or if you actually are visiting my Bawlmer-based blog from the City of Angels). It's one of those Android phones (Hey, these things really are useful!!!) and I downloaded one of those free "apps" to tell me where food trucks are. The Dim Sum Truck was at the Miracle Mile yesterday, right across from the LA County Museum of Art (or LACMA). I had even set my GPS to its location (5850 Wilshire Blvd, LA, CA) to just go right there. What I found, however, was more than just the Dim Sum Truck. Oh yes, much, much more.

If you see this across the street, you are in the right place.

In retrospect, there were about sixteen trucks along three blocks of the Miracle Mile, including the Cool Haus ice cream truck (Twitter: @COOLHAUS) on the other side of the street. When I first saw the trucks I almost short circuited: I literally wanted to go to each one, but I knew this was not going to happen. So I had to peruse them all. A few of the many standouts:

* The Wien (Twitter: @thewientruck), one of two wiener trucks there, with regular, all beef, Polish, spicy Polish and (if I remember correctly) veggie dogs all priced around $5, before toppings and stuff. A dog is still going to run you not much more than $6 or $7 if you get a few toppings. And yes there is a bacon dog.
* Bool BBQ (Twitter: @BoolBBQ), which I ate from last year, with its revolutionary Korean BBQ tacos
* La Rue de Paris (Twitter: @laruedeparis), which sells pastries and especially crepes from between $4 and $8.
* No less than two Indian and two Mediterranean trucks, selling everything from tikka masala (New Delhi Express, Twitter: @newdelhiexpress) to pitas (Pita Pusher, Twitter: @pitapusher) to Mediterranean-Mexican fusion (Kabob Express, Twitter: @mykabobexpress).
* And of course, several taco trucks, including one of at least three Korean food trucks (the aforementioned Bool BBQ).

The Dim Sum Truck

After much hemming and hawing, I finally settled on three. The first one was the whole reason I went to the Miracle Mile in the first place: the Dim Sum Truck, which was the very last food truck I stumbled upon. For just $6, I got three pieces each of pork shu mai ($3) and shrimp har gow dumplings ($3), along with a garlicky soy dipping sauce. And I got my food almost instantly, too - warm as is usually the case from dim sum carts, and flavorful. This was as good as I've had dim sum lately, certainly better than your standard "Asian buffet" or "frozen" variety, and as good as the stuff you'll usually find in most restaurants.

dim sum and samosas

The next one I stopped by was the Bollywood Bites food truck (Twitter: @BOLLYWOOD_BITES). I stepped up to it before the enthusiastic guy came out to draw in customers, and went for the cheaper $2 order of potato and pea samosas. Theirs came with two dipping sauces, and were incredibly fragrant, flaky and tender. The filling also was better than many samosas I have eaten, even at many restaurants.

The Bollywood Bites food truck

My last stop was a taco truck. This time I stopped at the Komodo Food Truck (Twitter: @komodofood). Though I almost went with the Bool BBQ truck again, what drew me to Komodo was not its intriguing pan-international fusion tacos, but the Baltimore Ravens flag hanging from above the window.

There it is, hons.

Yes, I am a sucker for a Bawlmer ex-pat. I bought one of the Java tacos - Indonesian spices with pork, scallion and cucumber for $3.


While not nearly as spicy as they advertised (it didn't make my mouth hurt anyway), it was still a juicy, slightly sweet and savory, and tasty soft taco. I had some flashbacks to a cochinita pibil that I had made a while back, not so much for the flavor as for the look. Ooooh, I wonder if anyone is planning a Yucatecan food truck? (Note: some of the trucks take Visa or Mastercard. Komodo does, but you must spend at least $10. They make this easy for you, since they offer whole meals that cost $10).

I drove away from the Miracle Mile thinking that this was, by far, the best $15 I had ever spent on lunch in Los Angeles, and I have had more than a few of those over the last several years.

Finally, a helpful list of food trucks that showed up at the Miracle Mile on Tuesday. I have posted Twitter links wherever I could.

All-American Gourmet Grill (American food - Twitter: @AllAmericanGG)

Bollywood Bites (Indian - Twitter: @BOLLYWOOD_BITES)

Bool BBQ (Korean fusion, including their legendary Korean BBQ tacos - Twitter: @BoolBBQ)

Chili Dancer (pan-international dishes, focusing specifically on Thai and Southeast Asian food, that showcase chilis - Facebook: The Chili Dancer, though nothing is posted; Twitter account has been so inactive that I'm not sure it's even theirs)

Cool Haus (gourmet ice cream sandwiches - Twitter: @COOLHAUS)

The Greasy Wiener (hot dogs, including New Jersey-style "rippers" - Twitter: @TheGreasyWiener)

Happy Cup Ramen Truck (ramen noodles, duh - Twitter: @HappyCupRamen)

Kabob Express (Mediterranean-Latino fusion - Twitter: @mykabobexpress)

KoManna (Korean - Twitter: @KoManna)

Komodo Food Truck (pan-Asian and pan-international tacos - Twitter: @komodofood)

La Rue de Paris (pastries and crepes - Twitter: @laruedeparis)

New Delhi Express (Indian - Twitter: @newdelhiexpress)

New York Galbi (Korean - Phone: (213) 985-8219 - I cannot find a Twitter or Facebook account for them)

Pita Pusher (Mediterranean - Twitter: @pitapusher

Vchos (pupusas and "Central American-inspred tapas" - Twitter: @vchostruck)

The Wien (hot dogs - Twitter: @thewientruck)
Other photos:

The view towards the Mediterranean food trucks

Got pupusas indeed!

All those food trucks

Guido-Approved for the Left Coast. Orange people welcome.

And from New Jersey to New York, all in a small section of the Miracle Mile.