From Lebanese to Japanese: Labor Day in DC

Since yesterday was the last day for summer hours at many of the Smithsonian's museums, I decided to race down and take advantage of them. Although I've been going since I was a kid, I just can never get enough of the museums - which are all free, mind you. And I got good use out of my Metro Pass, as I hauled it from Woodley Park to see the National Zoo, down to Metro Center from which I walked a good 20 minutes to the American History Museum.* I always learn something new, no matter how often I see the exhibits. A few new things from yesterday's visit:

• There is a new baby gorilla at the Zoo, born in January.
• No matter how many signs say "The gorillas prefer it if you approach them slowly, backs toward them, and never look them in the eye," almost nobody pays attention to that - or else all those families staring at the gorillas just misunderstood.
  
• The newly-refurbished First Ladies' Exhibit at the Museum of American History is a lot more superficial these days. They've redone it from the most recent version, which chronicled the various roles of the First Lady in American culture - (national hostess, campaigner, mother figure, power wielder, etc), back down to what it used to be: an exhibition of gowns and objects. And it's much smaller now. What they had on display was cool, but the exhibition overall is now very disappointing.
• The Julia Child kitchen exhibit, however, never disappoints.
  
• I had not realized that the events in the Star-Spangled Banner - written, of course, at Fort McHenry - happened 195 years ago this Saturday, September 12.
• Trilobites molted somewhat like blue crabs. I've seen that trilobite exhibit at the Natural History Museum for decades and this is the first time I bothered to read it.
• There is a great new forensic anthropology exhibit. I only saw the back end of it since I entered from the Origins of Western Civilization hall (I have until February of 2011 to go back and enter from the front), so I missed a good bit of it. But the part I did get to see was the lead coffin, skeleton and forensic reconstruction of St. Mary's City resident Anne Wolseley Calvert, the most important woman in the Maryland colony in the 1650's (this page has the current reconstruction of Goody Calvert as seen at the exhibit).
• There is also a brand new soil exhibit. I never knew that soil could be so interesting until yesterday. You think I'm kidding but I'm not.
• And I love the new Ocean Life exhibit. The blue whale and the giant squid are back.
• The Air & Space Museum has a new interactive exhibit that the kids will love: how can things fly? It's nifty. Oh, and they've already relabeled every instance of Pluto to "dwarf planet".

Of course I got hungry while I was down there, but it is easy to spend too much money, and with me on a budget I simply had no choice.

For lunch, I went to the Lebanese Taverna across from the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro. Honestly I had no idea it was a franchise. It was a beautiful day to eat outside - even with the rain, since I was under a canopy. Mondays in September there are low-priced lunch options (I think the Baltimore location has that, too).

The complimentary bread was, to be nice, chewy and tough. Perhaps that's how it was meant to be, but it's not how I like my bread. However, the grape leaves (about $3) that I ordered as my appetizer were quite good. Usually grape leaves have a nice tanginess but that's it. These had something extra that I can't quite place my finger on, perhaps an extra citrusiness. These were good, and made the bread a bit more bearable. It's also strange how filling four grape leaves can be, at least in the short term.

Grape leaves

For my entrée, I had a dizzying array of choices, but I finally chose the riz bel djaje ($7 on Mondays in September, more on other days of the week), which the Lebanese Taverna describes as "boneless chicken breast served on a bed of spiced rice, almonds and pine nuts and yogurt salad".

Riz Bel Djaje

The phrase "boneless chicken breast" should have been my clue to not order it, because I rarely have good experiences with chicken breast. It is usually some degree of tough and chewy on the outside, dry and stringy on the inside. Sadly, this is what this chicken breast was. It was better than many chicken breasts I have eaten, but it was still not great: the outside was mildly tough and chewy, except where it was directly touching the rice. It was moist in those spots. Inside it was a little dry and stringy. I ended up picking through the chicken breast and leaving about half of it on my plate. The rice pilaf upon which it sat was what salvaged this meal. It had a wonderful flavor and texture, fluffy and moist. Had I just eaten the grape leaves and the rice, sans chicken breast, I would have been happy.

The service was also frustrating, as the waiters actually forgot about me after I sat at my table, twiddling my thumbs while three different waiters that had come to my table during my meal passed by and helped others. One waiter apologized, but this is the kind of thing that keeps me from going back, or recommending a place to others. I hope this doesn't reflect on Baltimore's branch of the Lebanese Taverna. If I go there, I won't be ordering the riz bel djaje.

Dinner was at my perennial Chinatown favorite Wok N' Roll, in the famous Mary Surratt House where John Wilkes Booth colluded with others to assassinate Lincoln and his Cabinet (only Booth succeeded, and we know what happened to him. Surratt was hanged for treason). No doubt, Surratt didn't serve her houseguests the satisfying crunchy salmon roll or nigiri sushi I ordered last night. I forget the name of the roll, but it was only $7 and it consisted of salmon and avocado on the inside and crunchy on the outside. For another $3 I ordered two pieces of mackerel sushi, of which both the mackerel and the sushi rice were perfectly warmed to room temperature, and the mackerel was nicely velvety. Another $2 for soda amounted to $12 before tax and tip. The service was better than the Lebanese Taverna, too, so they got a 20% tip instead of a 15% one.

Other photos:

For a sec, I thought it said "Elevator Outrage". That might not be too far from the truth if you want to use the elevator.

Hey, orangutans gotta eat, too. The male on the left was monopolizing the hay in the feeder, and his "friend" was not liking it.

Julia Child's kitchen. No butter offerings left by random food bloggers that day.

Goody Anne Wolseley Calvert, wife and First Lady of the colonial governor of Maryland of Philip Calvert, ca. 1650's - before...

...and after

* Yes I know there's a Smithsonian station right on the Mall, but I didn't want to bother with transferring from the Red to the Blue/Yellow Line, and I don't mind walking.


for Lebanese Taverna (Woodley Park location)


for Wok N' Roll (Chinatown)

Basmati Pilaf with Olives and Two Cheeses

Here's a good use for leftover basmati rice: Take about 2 cups, chop up a 1/4 cup of olives, and about 1/4 total of whatever fancy cheeses you have laying around. I used a little sample of chevre au lait I bought at Whole Foods (from there "ends that we would've thrown away anyway" basket), and some homemade paneer. Yellow ones probably won't work as well. The rice itself already had turneric, curry nutmeg and dried cranberries in it.


It tastes good. Funny thing though, but it smells like Spaghetti-O's.

Don't Knock the Anchovies

Here's a tidbit from the Atlantic Magazine's Food Channel, which has a lot of fascinating foodie articles that you wouldn't expect to see. It's by Ari Weinzweig, who urges the anchovy-wary reader to give those little fishes a second chance. I've loved anchovies for years, so he's preaching to the choir with me. But for most of you who are "anchoviphobes," you've probably been eating crappy ones that don't come from the Mediterranean. The best ones are, it seems, caught by Ortiz of Spain. A bottle like the one above costs $17! Hmmm, maybe I have to stick with the crappy ones?

Exit 24: I-83 North (to Timonium, and York, PA)

I met up with all the folks for our blogger panel - to be held Saturday, February 23 at 3 PM at the Great Tastes Show in the Tremont on Charles, not St. Paul - at Starbucks today. Afterwards, I felt two things: 1) inspired to do my next Beltway Snackin' post, and 2) hungry. So I headed to Timonium, which wasn't that far. Of course, Timonium is off of the JFX, Exit 16A, which is (in turn) the first exit off of Exit 24. But drive five minutes down York Road and you wind up by Exit 16B. So they're really just kind of mushed together.

I pass this way all the time, much more than in the past. But usually I just go there when something's happening at the Fairgrounds, or on the way to the Cockeysville library. There are a few good places around to eat. I was surprised as I drove around that I had never really eaten at any of them - just An Poitín Stil and the occasional hot dog at the Market Pro computer show at the Fairgrounds. Since I've mentioned these before, I won't mention them again.

Sure, there are a few chains in this area, most notably Panera Bread (my GOD, they're springing up like Starbuckses), Starbucks (see previous reference) and the Baja Fresh (the California chain that seemed to just work its way over here). Among the many places I have driven by but just never went to:

• Nautilus Diner (map), which looks kind of like the Towson Diner further down York Road. I have yet to go into Nautilus, but I liked Towson Diner and hopefully this one is pretty good too. Has to be better than the Double T, right? Elizabeth Large seemed to love their $13 crabcake back in 2001. Is it still that cheap?
  
• Steak & Ale (map), which serves what else? Right - steak and ale. Of course, it serves much more. They have this lunch menu where they offer ten different, semi-appetizing-sounding dishes for $7. This is one of those places I have seen many times in passing. I've just never been in. Here's something that surprised me: it's a national chain, with dozens of locations from Colorado to Florida to Michigan. There's only one in Maryland, one in Delaware and two in Virginia.
  
• Cheeburger Cheeburger (map) is another national chain - this one has several Maryland locations. It's near that Panera Bread and the Staples. I've heard people speak fondly of this place but I've never gotten around to visiting. My sister and I almost went into the one by Wegman's when we went Thanksgiving grocery shopping and wanted something to eat, but there were too many children and annoying teenagers around, so we went to Damon's Grill instead.
  
• JJ's Everyday Café (map), across from Cheeburger Cheeburger. A few doors down is the Qdoba Mexican Grill (another chain) and a Natural Market with freezer-case bee pollen and those disgusting Morningstar Farms brand "meat" products (if I was vegetarian, why would I want to eat something that resembled meat, especially as poorly as this does). JJ's looks like a little hole-in-the-wall from the outside, but its description in the link above makes it sound a wee more pricey than a hole should be. The reviewers also liked the food. And this place has a gift shop. This and Cafe Hon - what is it with gift shops where they ought not be?
• Pasta Blitz and Yamato Sushi (map - they're next to each other), next to the REI Camping Superstore and the Super Fresh on Aylesbury Road. They seem pretty self-explanatory. Always up for good sushi and pasta, but not all at the same time, and not today.
  
• Michael's Cafe Raw Bar and Grill (map), which has been in Timonium for almost 25 years. It's a special occasion place. It's not cheap.

I passed by all these places for the Hightopps Backstage Grille (map), which is right next to the Fairgrounds. I was drawn to this place among all others because of the Asian Roast Beef Sandwich advertised on their marquee. That sounded intriguing. I had to try it.

When you walk in you are greeted with an ancient player piano to your right, which betrays the high-tech nature of the entertainment here. This place sports many HDTV's all over the place - SO MANY HDTV'S! There are also lots of autographed photos, guitars and other various things. Hightopps is a place for partying, commiserating and sports-bar-hopping. It was pretty empty on this Sunday afternoon, around 1 to 1:30. Perhaps the food would be pretty good with so few people around to cook for - no need to churn out bland food for lots of drunk revelers.

Along with the Asian Roast Beef - tender roast beef with dark greens, ginger and a wasabi aioli, as it was advertised (about $7) - I ordered a side of sweet potato fries (an extra $1.50; chips instead are complementary) and a diet soda (about $2). About fifteen minutes later my food came out. I bit into the sandwich, and my first thought was "Chewy" - very chewy. Except for one or two tender spots, this roast beef was pretty tough. Plus it was not easy to keep on the roll. It was much easier to just let it fall off the sandwich and eat it with my fingers than anything else. Add to that the pretty bland wasabi aioli. Isn't anything flavored with wasabi supposed to have a kick? This did not, and what little wasabi flavor it had was quite weak, and all on one side of the sandwich, along witgrh a slice of ginger that was interesting, but not enough of it was there for my liking. In short: it was a good idea, poorly executed. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't get it again. The sweet potato fries, in contrast, were pretty good - I finished most of them. I skipped dessert, which would've been creme brulée, the cheapest I have ever seen at $3. With tax and tip the total came to about $15. It's probably better as a pub or a bar, though I have had better pub food (Little Havana, Lansdowne Inn, even the above-average Poitín). And I could've spent as much or less money at a diner getting a nice, juicy, not-so-chewy cheeseburger, but oh well. You lunch and learn.

Did I mention the Great Tastes blogger panel? $20 to get into the Great Tastes Show and see us all if you don't drink any alcohol ($50 if you do; all the different price options are here).


Places I visited:

Hightopps Backstage Grille (pub / sports bar) - 2306 York Road, Timonium, MD 21093; Phone: (410) 560-7101

• Would I eat there again? I might drink there again, but I wouldn't eat there again.
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Um, no.

Places to look up later:

Cheeburger Cheeburger (large chain - burgers) - 2135 York Road, Timonium, MD 21093; Phone: (410) 252-4466

JJ's Everyday Café (American / café) - 2141 York Road, Timonium, MD 21093; Phone: (410) 308-2700

Michael's Café Raw Bar and Grill (American / seafood) - 2119 York Road, Timonium, MD 21093; Phone: (410) 252-2022

Nautilus Diner (diner) - 2047 York Road, Timonium, MD 21093; Phone: (410) 561-9236

Pasta Blitz (pasta / Mediterranean) - 49 W. Aylesbury Road, Timonium 21093; Phone: (410) 453-6603

Steak and Ale (large chain - steak house) - 60 W. Timonium Road, Timonium, MD 21093; Phone: (410) 252-6800

Yamato Sushi (Japanese / sushi) - 51 W. Aylesbury Road, Timonium, MD 21093; Phone: (410) 560-0024

Exit 23A: I-83 South (to Baltimore)

I don't even know where to begin with Exit 23. Unlike the last few exits, where you have to travel long and far to find some original eatin', Exit 23 leads to I-83 South - the main artery emptying into Baltimore from points north. And you can find dozens of things to eat off of every exit.

So as I usually do in this situation, I got off the first exit. This is Exit 10, to Northern Parkway and Mount Washington. I am quite familiar with this exit - it's the one I ultimately take home. It's also one I have visited many, many times. And I've talked about a few of the restaurants and markets here - Crepe du Jour, Chiyo Sushi, Whole Foods. Which is why I won't mention them in this space again. But there are still too many other places to mention. A few that I still have not gotten to:

• Sushi Hana (map), which apparently just moved from Towson. It's right at the terminus of Lake Ave in the Lake Falls Village - it's in the same shopping center as the Quantum Yoga and the Blockbuster. A few folks are very fond of this place, so I must give it a look-see. There are a few other places there that I need to investigate, such as Al Pacino Pizza (same map as Sushi Hana);
• Pepe's Pizza (map) right across the street;
• Mt. Washington Tavern (map), part of Mount Washington Village - always crowded, by my estimation;
• Ethel and Ramone's (map), also in the latter village - I ran into a friend at the crepe place that told me about this Louisiana-type Creole food establishment. This is one of the next on my list;

There are so many other places I haven't even mentioned. That's the problem with reviewing this exit - TOO MUCH to talk about.

I remember a few years ago I stopped by the Mediterranean place next to Crepe du Jour. The Desert Café (map) has belly dancing on Friday nights (at least it did in 2006). Their food was a little more than I wanted to spend, but hell, that goes for every restaurant in Mount Washington. The hummus plate I got was okay, even if I haven't been back since.

The other night I stopped in Mt. Washington on the way home, and decided to try out a new place. I first bought some wine at The Old Vine (map; down the street from the Lake Falls Village). Here I got a cheapo bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau (for a small get-together I'm having on Saturday) and some Gekkeikan sake - $18 total. I could've gone into the Mount Washington Wine Company (map) next to Whole Foods, but I figured I'd stop by some other time. And of course, you just can't beat some of the bigger stores (Wine Source? Wells Discount Liquors?) if you want a variety. But we all should patronize the smaller shops - that is, patronize with a long "ā" - give them your patronage, not with a short "ă" - criticize and make fun of them.

Before heading home I wanted to try out one of those now-ubiquitous "pizza-subs-and-curry" places that are popping up all over Baltimore. So I went to Mount Washington Pizza, Subs and Indian Cuisine (map)- only to see that the cheapest Indian food was about $9 (a sub? Just $5, but I wanted something with curry in it, dammit).

So I don't know why I went to the Kabab Stop (map) instead, where the prices for all-halal kebabs are just as high. But I'm glad I did, because for just $14 I got lots of tasty food - some of it was average but most of it was quite good:

• the main course was the lamb seekh kabab ($8), "minced lamb blended w/ herbs, spices, and barbequed in clay oven," as it says on their menu. It was tasty enough, though not enough of it was actually there. This, however, was not a problem, because of all the other stuff that came with it:
• this chickpea stew that had to be the best part of the meal. Man, it was tasty.
• the plain naan bread - I was a bit underwhelmed but I'm used to ordering garlic naan with my meal, so perhaps I was already primed for something other than the plain stuff;
• an iceberg-free salad of carrot, red onion, cucumber and green pepper, which was quite good mixed in with
• the complimentary basmati rice - a little drier than I a m used to but it was much better when I ate it as leftovers later this week;
• a yogurt raita which was, I think, cilantro, but I'm not exactly sure
• Along with that I ordered the veggie samosa ($2.50) - two large, filling and somewhat greasy samosas with their own raita - and the batura ($2.50) - a somewhat oily, puffed bread that could have easily passed as (Native American) Indian fry bread or an elephant ear at the state fair (just sprinkle powdered sugar on it; you won't tell the difference). Still, just as the proprietor said, it was very tasty. But of course, some of the unhealthiest stuff is also the tastiest.

Note that the Kabab Stop is not part of Mount Washington Village, so it is easily passed by while you're speeding towards Whole Foods. Please stop there and give 'em your business. And there is the Pizza Boli's next door if you're in the mood for pizza instead of batura.

Other photos:

This is all the stuff you get for $13 plus tax at the Kabab Stop. Wow.

Of course, Mount Washington also has shopping. But I'm not really a "shopping" person.

Places I visited:

The Desert Café (Mediterranean / Middle Eastern) - 1605 Sulgrave Ave., Baltimore, MD 21209; Phone: (410) 367-5808

• Would I eat there again? Yeah - though it's been a good while, so maybe I should check the place out again.
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? Apparently not, seeing how long it's been since the last time I went.
  

Kabab Stop (Indian, halal) - Address:5719 Falls Rd, Baltimore, MD 21209; Phone: (410) 323-6060

• Would I eat there again? Yes
• Would I go out of my way to eat there again? I would
  

Mount Washington Wine Company (wine / beer / liquor store) - 1340-E Smith Avenue, Mount Washington Mill, Baltimore, MD 21209; Phone: (410) 435-7410

• Would I shop there again? Yes
• Would I go out of my way to shop there again? Probably
  

The Old Vine (wine / beer / liquor store) -6054 Falls Rd, Baltimore, MD 21209; Phone: (410) 377-9599

• Would I shop there again? Yes
• Would I go out of my way to shop there again? Probably
  

Places to look up later:

Al Pacino Pizza (pizza) - 6080 Falls Rd., Lake Falls Village, Baltimore, MD 21209; Phone: (410) 377-3132

Ethel & Ramone's (Creole) - 1615 Sulgrave Ave; Baltimore, MD 21209 Phone: (410) 664-2971

Mount Washington Pizza, Subs and Indian Cuisine (pizza & subs / Indian) - 1620 Kelly Ave
Baltimore, MD 21209; Phone: (410) 664-1111

Mount Washington Tavern (pub) - 5700 Newbury St., Baltimore, MD 21209; Phone:
Get Directi(410) 367-6903

Pepe's Pizza (pizza) - 6081 Falls Rd., Baltimore, MD 21209; (410) 377-3287

Sushi Hana (Japanese) - 6080 Falls Rd., Lake Falls Village, Baltimore, MD 21209;I can't find their new phone number since they moved here from Towson

DC Restaurant Week? It'll have to wait...

Sad to report that I didn't make it down to Washington today - family emergency, and of course family is much more important than some restaurant. So I'm not able to try Butterfield 9 until the next Food Week. Instead, I'm perusing the list on the DC Foodies' website that shows more than a few restaurants are extending the Winter Restaurant Week thing through the end of January. Unfortunately, B9 isn't one of them, so next week I'll just go to one of the others. I've narrowed it down to

• Oya , a chi-chi Mediterranean in Downtown (DCRW prices until January 31), and
  
• Farrah Olivia in Alexandria (dinner offered the same dates as Oya, though the $20.08 prix fixe lunch is available for the entire year).
  

BTW: Farrah Olivia is the restaurant run by Ivorian former Next Iron Chef also-ran Morou Outtara, who combines American, African (specifically West African) and French cuisines. I've been drooling to try chef Outtara's foods. But since Farrah Olivia offers its prix fixe lunch year round, I think I'll go to Oya, which does not.

As for y'all, try to make it down there this week if you can. If not, there are other options.

San Francisco #5: Japantown and Hummus in the Castro

Japantown has a longstanding monument to the tragedy of Japanese internment during WWII, when whole neighborhoods of Japanese-Americans were “evacuated” from their homes and sent to camps, for the alleged safety of the country (this was chronicled in Come See the Paradise, a great little flick from 1990 starring Dennis Quaid and Tamilyn Tomita; it takes place in LA but the same thing happened in SF). A disgraceful, tragic event in our nation's history, and not something that should be forgotten.

In the Japanese Mall on the Peace Plaza, with the large Peace Pagoda sticking up in the middle of the square, there are lots of sushi joints. I mean lots. But stuffed with chorizo and rosewater ice cream (I’m still belching roses), I had no room for sushi. So I just had to wander around and look. I did buy gifts for home, though: two large samplers of mochi and some roasted green tea. And I got a bag of Okinawan brown sugar cookies to boot. And you should see the Japanese grocery stores in this mall. Lots of cool Japanese products!

After Japantown I realized that I only had time to see one more thing before heading to the B&B for my things. I gave up on the Golden Gate Bridge (which, coincidentally, melted in another flick co-starring Dennis Quaid and Tamilyn Tomita, the eco-disaster flick The Day After Tomorrow), which was too far anyway, and hopped on a bus for Golden Gate Park. When I got there I headed past the majestic de Young Museum and (sticking with the Japanese theme) went for the Japanese Tea Garden. It was gorgeous and breathtaking, and very peaceful. Less peaceful were the people drinking tea. I didn’t get any myself.

Long story short: it was late, I hopped on the taxi, made it back to the Castro, fetched my things and sought some food. My last meal in San Fran could’ve been fish, burgers, sushi, but instead I got Mediterranean food at La Méditeranée Café. There I watched the people pass by while sipping a crisp Greek beer, sipping very lemony avgolemono soup (steam was still blowing off of it when I got it) and savoring curried Egyptian chicken on a bed of rice. The chicken was moist and tasty, the veggies retained their own flavors even as they had been stewed together, and the hummus it all came with made it even better. Total cost: $22 after tax and tip.

Done with dinner, I grabbed my mess of stuff and headed for the Muni, ready to wend my way back to Oakland Airport. And wouldn’t ya know it: cheapy airline Southwest (which I used) is going to start up service directly into San Francisco Airport at the end of the month – after I needed it!

Dips and Spreads from Africa, Asia and Europe

I spent way too much today. Most of it was at Jiffy Lube - $20 for a new air filter (it was pretty disgusting), $40 for an oil change, $90 for a radiator flush! And an extra $30 to fill my not-so-large gas tank down the street.

Today I happened to choose the Elkridge Jiffy Lube to get my car serviced. Hey, if I'm driving it to OC, Jamestown and all over the Baltimore area this summer, I'd better damn well make sure it's in top working order. Yes, I know I should take it to a mechanic for that, but I don't have a lot of money to work with here.

I was hungry, and my family was going to this cookout in Essex (two hours after they were supposed to even leave, there they are, still waiting in the house). So I didn't want to eat too much. I took a walk (it's healthy) past the KFC, past the Taco Bell, even past the Subway, to the little strip mall across from the Super Fresh shopping center at the corner of Montgomery Rd and US Route 1. Famous mostly as the location of a now-shut-down "massage" parlor, it now houses some spas and beauty parlors, as well as a Chinese take-out place, a deli and an international market. The deli was closed, the Chinese take-out place had nowhere to sit, and the market had no food ready to eat. But I went in there anyway to see what I could find.

This market is an "African-Caribbean-Latino" market. I'd say it's about 50% Caribbean, 30% Latino and 20% African, but I may be way off on those figures. As much as I like food from all those areas, I went for the one least known to me - African. There are not many African groceries or restaurants in the Bawlmer area. You have to go to Washington for a better selection. And this one, like all other African groceries I have set foot in, smelled like dried prawn (baby shrimp). And there it was aplenty! Also close by were some jarred African spreads. One, from Ghana, didn't really catch my eye. But the one next to it, Olga's Liberian Hot Fried Pepper ($4.49), did. I haven't tried this yet. Frankly, I'm a little scared to, due to the prominence of habanero chilis in the list of ingredients. But I can tolerate the spicy stuff better than most people in my family (even with the Crohn's - I didn't say I ate a lot of it), so I'll be the sport. Interestingly, it's not from Liberia; instead, it's a Liberian-American product, and the entrepreneuses are Liberian Americans sharing an old family recipe. Olga's is even based right in Elkridge!

After paying the lube guys* and filling up on gas, I ran some errands and eventually found my way up at Whole Foods - the one at the Inner Harbor. God, I love that place. Their free samples are why I love it so much. On a mission to buy some hummus (Asmar's Mediterranean Hommus, Original and Extra Garlic, $2.99 for each 8 oz. tub) with little pitas for the cookout - my sister now owes me $12, by the way - I passed by this table by the cheese section that had the most divine spread made of fig spread and Italian-style mascarpone cheese. I usually avoid the impulse buy, but this tasted too good not to buy. And it helped me avoid the cake I would've inevitably picked up. This was a mixture of, it seemed, 60% mascarpone cheese (this from the Vermont Butter & Cheese Company, $4.99) and 40% fig spread (Whole Foods Organic Adriatic Fig Spread, $4.99 for an 8.5 oz jar - which, for Whole Foods, is pretty damn cheap; I figured it'd be $8, $12 easily).

I wonder how the Liberian fried pepper would taste with the fig spread? Stranger things have been mixed together...

UPDATE: No, I haven't mixed the fried pepper and the fig spread. But I did try just a little bit of the fried pepper - not even the pepper, just the liquid it was sitting in - on a boneless steak. It is hot! Also found out that, as much as I love cake, the cake they sell at Geresbeck's in Middle River is too damn sugary for my tastes.

* That didn't come out right, especially after passing that ex-"massage" parlor.