faves in the hood - liquor store

Yorkshire liquors on first avenue and 85th street is a great liquor store. they have variety, regular specials as well as normally great prices, and wine tastings. plus you can find some really different things there like cachaca, and absinto. they also deliver and give you discounts if you order by the case. we've gotten to know the people that work there pretty well, research of course. they have a website which you can see i've included over there on the side; but it isn't very good. it is worth the visit if you're in the neighborhood. hmmm, i think its time to give them a call and have something delivered. i need to do a little more research. cheers!

YORKSHIRE WINES AND SPIRITS

faves in the hood - indian

there are actually quite a few indian restaurants in my neighborhood which i have gone to; but i think my favourite is Mumtaz on third avenue between 84th and 85th streets. there used to be a Kripy Kreme right next door, it was the absolute perfect combination. anyway, Mumtaz is kinda like most indian restaurants, lots of red tapestries on the walls and ceilings, small metal lanterns and the music. there's something about it that always makes me want to start swaying in my seat. we used to go to another place called Simla with Cath and O when they lived in the city. they knew us there pretty well and they would always give us those chese curd balls that have that rosewater syrup for free at dessert; but they tasted kinda flowery. we never wanted to hurt their feelings by not eating them so we tried to get odalys to eat them all. i think we started telling them that we were lactose intollerant or something to get them to stop. there's a Tamarind close by that's pretty good, and Dakshin is just a couple of blocks away. the Great India restaurant, and India grill both closed some time back. that was a shame 'cause India grill had an all you can eat lunch on the weekends. anyway, Mumtaz is now the indian of choice for me. i like pretty much anything on the menu but i love the mullighatawany soup, the samosas, the chicken tikka masala, the chana saag, the aloo palak...oh and those big fluffy poori and the garlic nan, and the paratha. i guess i could just go on and on. whenever we go to any of them though i always think of Cath and O and how i used to start swaying in my seat to the music and say that i was going to get up, stuff some chutney in my navel and start dancing. Mumtaz doesn't have a website but they've gotten some good write-ups on-line, which i've linked over there on the side, and here's a picture i took. i know it looks dumpy on the outside but really, if you're a fan of indian food and you see yourself in this neighborhood it is worth a try.

MUMTAZ

abuela's cooking

my grandmother is a great cook. she just turned 92 and is usually the cook when there's a dinner at my mom's. yesterday she made some of my favourites, a chickpea aka garbanzo soup, and rice with pork. she used pork ribs for the dish and it was sooooo good! of course, what cuban meal would be complete without homemade flan? it was sweet, and creamy and just the way i like it. as i've mentioned before, after we came to the united states we've always lived in the extended family way. my mother's parents always lived with us. this was until my mom married Luis, and i finally moved out of the house, and everyone had their own living spaces. my mom and grandparents were only living a block away from each other (the umbilical cord could only stretch so far), and then after my grandfather died my grandmother downsized her apartment and wound up moving to the same building, same floor, two doors down from my mom (it was like the umbilical cord just catapulted her back). they were spending so much time together that recently they decided to all move in together into a much larger apartment with more conveniences. they bought a great two bedroom, two bath in an elevator building so they don't have to deal with stairs, and have a dishwasher, and washer and dryer in the apartment.

THE RICE WITH PORK


THE CHICKPEA SOUP


THE FLAN

watch this space...part two

the second of the taste testings was held this past weekend, hosted by my BFFF Marita. this time the pastas were paired with meat sauces. pizzaoile, ragu and goulash were the sauces and rigatoni was the pasta of choice for all. the pizzaiole sauce had chicken and fresh oregano (very delish), the ragu was a bolognese with a little difference in that the carrots were cut into small chunks rather than grated for a traditional bolognese, and the goulash had beef in small bite size pieces with a slightly sweet red sauce. it was all delish but i'm a big fan of bolognese so the ragu was my favourite. rigatoni was a great choice for these dishes because it is a large tube which catches alot of sauce inside. Nelson and Francesco are still working on many things but they are doing alot to perfect the menu. it was a perfect spring evening so the tasting was done outside on the deck, which was better to accommodate the very large crowd this time (word is getting around and the restauranteurs-to-be are now sought after for what is sure to be the next craze...taste testing parties!, who knew?)

THE GOULASH


NELSON AND FRANCESCO


THE MOTLEY TASTING CREW


EVALUATING THE FOOD


YOURS TRULY AND THE HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST

525,600 minutes

that's how some people would measure a year in a life. in RENT the song "Seasons of Love" counts the different ways in which a year can be measured and asks the question "how about love?". personally, i feel like i've been measuring the past year (or at least the last 8 months of it) in school assignments. very sad. in the past 3 months its been measured in blog posts, which has been ok because i have been enjoying it and the posts have given me cause to reminisce, and to discover some things about myself. i saw the play RENT about 12 years ago when it first opened on broadway, and tonite again, before its scheduled closing sometime in the next few months. it really is a great show, a testament to the indomitable spirit of survival, and creativity, and revolution, and yes, love. there's very little about food and drink in this play, except when the characters are complaining that they haven't eaten much that day, or that week, or are trying to scrounge some food from somewhere. there's alot about drugs though. and personally if i can't have food or drinks then drugs will do. of course that comes from someone who can get food, and isn't homeless. its easy enough for me to talk the talk. this play rips my heart out; but i like it because it doesn't sugar coat the reality. the characters make their own opportunities. they shape their own lives because they know that no-one else will and if they do its only for their own purposes. they don't rely on hope. it isn't faith that keeps them going, its their camaraderie and will to survive and community. homelessness and hunger are real problems; and you can't eat hope, and you can't live in the house of faith, you can only spend the night on the steps. how do you measure YOUR life? Peace.

the papal visit

today the pope is visiting my neighborhood, yorkville, on manhattan's upper east side. certain restaurants have been making meals with some of the pope's (allegedly) favorite foods to honor him, and probably to get him to stop by for a nosh. i mean, he must get hungry doing all that running around and who wouldn't like a bit of wurst with some pumpernickel and a frosty one? the pope is in the hood because it has german roots, and there are definitely still signs of it. like the heidelberg restaurant on 2nd ave. between 86th and 85th streets, where men in leiderhosen and buxom women in push up bras with their ta-tas hanging out serve you; and schaller and weber, the german deli on the same block. i like german food. when i last visited my family in columbus, ohio, we went to an area called german town. it is a very old, historic neighborhood with beautiful, little homes (all worth a fortune now) and some great german food. i remember i had this huge plate of a variety of wurst and sausage with sauerkraut and potatoes and good hearty bread, all washed down with lots of cold german beer. interestingly, in spanish the word for pope is "el papa", and all you have to do is change the article from masculine to feminine "la papa" and it means potato, which is one of my favorite veggies. boiled, baked, fried, scalloped, creamed, in soup, mashed, OMG!!! spaniards love potatoes, and that's another way i feel my roots. anyway, the pope hopefully got something tasty while in NYC. word has it that he was looking forward to some strawberry shortcake. in any case, no matter what your religious affiliation, i hope you will enjoy some wurst, or some potatoes made just the way you like 'em; and say a prayer for peace.

THE POPE


NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH


AND THE BEST WURST

some like it hot

i love spicy foods. not the flame-thrower kind of stuff that wipes out your tastebuds upon contact so that you can't taste anything afterwards; but i don't mind shedding a tear for something good. growing up i was not exposed to this type of food, but i have developed a taste for it. most of the time its peppers which create the heat in a dish, and their intensity is measured in something called Scoville units. capsaicin is the compound in peppers which give it its heat and it is measured in Scoville units, after Wilbur Scoville who developed the method of measurement in 1912. originally the method involved human tasters, how would you like having that job? nowadays it is done through High Performance Liquid Chromotography which measures the level of capsaicinoids in the pepper. i've had food made with habaneros and scottish bonnets, and i've tried the indian vindaloo sauce (not for the feint hearted). i love poblanos, cayenne, jalpenos, wasabi (not a pepper but made from horseradish). well you get the point. the koreans are widely known for indulging in some of the spicier cuisines out there. one of my sisters-in-law, Myung, is korean. one day when John and i were making dinner at John's dad's house Myung and Tommy (her husband) came over and when Myung tried the roasted head of garlic her face lit up. now that's mild comparatively speaking; but there are some people who don't do garlic, even in its milder roasted form. Myung introduced me to a korean spa in palisade park which is just great. i stand out like a sore thumb when i go; but its easy to overcome the cultural divide, especially when everyone is walking around naked. i would call nudity the great equalizer; but, well, ok, never mind, i just wont go there. anyway, as i say this place in pal park is called King Sauna. i highly recommend it. there are separate spa floors for the men and women, 'cause everyones naked, and then there are communal floors where there are massages, saunas, big couches and loungers for sleeping or watching the tube or reading. there is also another floor with a restaurant and more rooms. my favorite is the body scrub. you lie naked on this wet table and you get scrubbed head to toe from every side, and i mean everywhere. then they wash you and splash buckets of hot water on you, and they wash your hair and stretch you and massage you. its fantastic. check out the link over there under King Sauna and then check out the place.

THE SCOVILLE HEAT CHART FOR PEPPERS (in scoville units)

Habanero/scotch bonnets 200,000-300,000
Red Amazon 75,000
Pequin 75,000
Chiltecepin 70,000-75,000
Tabasco 30,000-50,000
Cayenne 35,000
Arbol 25,000
Japone 25,000
Smoked Jalepeno (Chipotle) 10,000
Serrano 7,000-25,000
Puya 5,000
Guajillo 5,000
Jalepeno 3,500-4,500
Poblano 2,500-3,000
Pasilla 2,500
TAM Mild Jalepeno-1 1,000-1,500
Anaheim 1,000-1,400
New Mexican 1,000
Ancho 1,000
Bell & Pimento 0


0-5,000: Mild
5,000-20,000: Medium
20,000-70,000: Hot
70,000-300,000: Extremely Hot

eat your heart out

it's an organ meat i don't have much familiarity with, although i have eaten chicken hearts and they are ok. when i was growing up in cuba my grandmother herrera had chickens in her backyard and sometimes she would just go out there, corner one, grab it by the neck and give a quick yank. the chicken would spend some time flopping around the yard before it just died from a broken neck and then began the plucking and cooking. i can still bring up the smell of the burning feathers. of course every single part of the chicken was eaten, including the heart, and sometimes there would be an egg inside waiting to be laid. nothing is as good as food that fresh. anyway, something made me think of the expression and i found that it is regarded as a re-phrasing of "this will eat your heart out" but generally implies that that you will be missing something essential, from the core. can you eat your own heart out? i guess if you are spitefull enough you could. which brings you to that other expression "cutting off your own nose to spite your face". but would you eat it? i can understand the vindictiveness behind it though. there's alot of guilt and regret being implied here, alot of baggage. some serious "couch time" anyway, the expression is also thought to be an adaptation of a 16th century phrase "eat one's own heart" meaning to suffer from silent grief; and is believed to have biblical roots in the phrase "to eat one's own flesh", used to describe an indolent, or lazy, person. jesus, how lazy could you fucking be you can't get to the fridge so you'd eat your own...what? in any respect, its an interesting phrase. here are some "heartfelt" songs to go with your offal.

JIMMY SOMMERVILLE


JANIS JOPLIN


BLONDIE


TONI BRAXTON

nutrition

my friend Melissa King is a nutrition counselor and life coach with a real lust for life. i met her because she does some work at a club in manhattan where i rent space for massage, and got to know her because she interviewed me for the club newsletter, which she writes. when you visit her site listed there as "my heart dances" you can see all the things she offers, including group and personal cooking classes, and her page of recommended instructors/doctors/other professionals (where i am also listed).
obesity has become a terrible problem for americans, young and old, leading to higher mortality rates, secondary diseases such as diabetes and many musculo-skeletal problems, and an overall diminishing in quality of life. i realize that the adjustments necessary to begin leading a healthier and more nutritionally sound lifestyle may seem very daunting for many; but they do not have to be. approached in the proper way these things can be manageable and therefore more easily incorporated into our lives so that they can become lifelong changes. changes which you will enjoy, introducing you to foods you may never have enjoyed before and to daily routines which can be lived with and which will get you positive results not just now and in the next few months; but for always.
as an exercise physiologist i can assure you that there is alot to the saying "you are what you eat", and that improper nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle are your worst enemies.
please take a moment to think about this, visit Melissa's website, and others like hers to familiarize yourself with the range of possibilities. there is a right one for everyone.
here's to your fully-lived, healthy life!

cannibalism

i know, first you thought, "EWWW!"; but then you decided to read the post anyway right? its one of those "repulsively compelling" things that most of us just can't turn away from. like rubbernecking at a car accident on the road. (which is actually one of my pet peeves...what the hell are these people looking for? body parts?) anyway, the french culinary penchant for eating the flesh of humans (it isn't really french i just...well, you know.) on the menu today are movies with that as either a major theme or a subplot thet have made it to the top ten. shall i tell you my "specials":

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS-really the only one that includes a character who thinks about the pairing of wine with his obsession,

EATING RAOUL-opportunistic and entrepreneurial,

THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER-cannibalism as revenge, my favorite,

ALIVE-as a last resort, everyone asked themselves "could i do it? to survive?" could you? and if so what part would you eat first?

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW-again, revenge,

SWEENEY TODD-another one as opportunistic and entrepreneurial,

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-gratuitous munching of humans by zombies.

except for the odd national geographic special of cannibals newly discovered and living a solitary existence in the remote jungles of some country, the theme of cannibalism is usually meant to disgust us. and yet we display it with, shall i say it?, gusto! perverted culinary thrill-seekers aren't we? whatever your preference, just remember that there are others out there eating god-only-knows what, and washing it down with a nice chianti.

you gotta have a gimmick

last nite i went to see gypsy on broadway, and it was awesome. i've seen it before once with bernadette peters and once with tyne dayley; but with patty lupone it was wonderful. the entire cast was fantastic. there are so many great lines; but when rose says, "i was born too soon and started too late" it just makes you think of everything you've ever wanted. food and drink are alot like that. you come around at just the right time and you make the kind of mark in history that goes down in the record books. tapas, meatloaf, roasted garlic, bearnaise sauce, dates wrapped in bacon, or as rose always fancied, chow mein...anyway, you get the idea. it might just be a comfort food or just something that's unusual or new... a gimmick. just that right twist of flavors. everything that catches on has that, has IT! at least to one other website, this one has it. I'VE BEEN LINKED!!! please visit uramember.com its existentialism served in big heaping spoonfuls, blue plate specials to mull over, and over, and over; and desserts, just and otherwise: but only you can tell. wash it down with your poison of choice. and your own life? well, do something with it, be unique, find your own gimmick, serve it up and remember that the only one that has to enjoy it is you. make it a heaping helping. as auntie mame said, "life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving!" another broadway show, i know; but i am, after all, a card carrying member of the 10%. a cliche? maybe. you don't approve? fuck yourself! this is my dish, and i'm gonna eat it all up with gusto!
YOU GOTTA HAVE A GIMMICK

bibliophagia

Francis Bacon was quoted as having said “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.” In the Bibliolexicon of A Passion for Books, a Bibliophage is described as “One who eats or devours books”, figuratively speaking. i don't believe anyone was thinking of enjoying books in quite exactly these ways when they planned the International Edible Book Festival which happens around the world on or about April 1st where participants create edible books that are exhibited, documented and then consumed. (April fools day, a coincidence? i think not) April 1st is the birthday of French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), famous for his book Physiologie du goût, a witty meditation on food (witty from the country which worships jerry lewis as a genius). April fools' day is also the perfect day to eat your words and play with them as the "books" are consumed on the day of the event. all very interesting to say the least; but when i think of eating books i am always reminded by a freakishly intense scene in a perfectly psychotic 1989 movie called, "the cook, the thief, his wife and her lover" here's the synopsis "The wife of a barbaric crime boss engages in a secretive romance with a gentle bookseller between meals at her husband's restaurant. Food, colour coding, sex, murder, torture and cannibalism are the exotic fare in this beautifully filmed but brutally uncompromising modern fable". totally awesome right? and here's the scene...after his affair with the wife is discovered, the lover (who is a librarian) is killed by having a book on the french revolution shoved down his throat one page at a time (yet another instance of a gastronomic french faux pas). the scene involving cannibalism is equally fantastic; but i'll leave that for you to see yourself. i've always considered myself a devourer of books, although you wouldn't know it now that i'm back in school, and to be a librarian too. (the studying this semester is just taking so much of my time that i haven't read a single word that has not been text). oh well, that's enough of that riff. but i am looking forward to the semester's end and some time to catch up with reading and movies like this.
HERE'S THE TRAILER

notes from a wineaholic/cava

ok, so much for the piss and vinegar (don't you love that expression?) now the good stuff. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, the Penedes is the most important wine making region there, and the area where Cava, the spanish sparkling wine, is principally made. to be called Cava, a Spanish sparkling wine must be made in the champenoise method, which is that the secondary fermentation which creates the bubbles takes place in the individual bottle. and like champagne, Cavas can range from brut to sweet. Cava, however, is not sparkling wine trying to be champagne (and who likes pretentious wine anyway, except maybe the french) there are numerous things they do not have in common, including the fact that all the grape varieties used in Cava are white, unlike most champagne, which is a marriage of red and white grapes. the length of aging, the number of still wines used in the making of each, and finally, the fact that climatically, the Penedes and Champagne have almost nothing in common. also, while the drinking of champagne is thought to be a luxury, accompanied by the comparable indulgence of caviar, Cava is comfort wine. not being such a "separatist" drink it even seems more politically correct (for those of you that care). much like its italian cousin, prosecco, it is the perfect way to start a summer evening, accompanied by a humble appetizer like pan con tomate, which is a Catalonian specialty of thick slices of warm grilled country bread, rubbed on both sides with the cut side of a juicy ripe tomato and then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. so enjoy your Cavas; little fuss, it wont break the bank and you don't have to wait for some fish to ovulate to have a nosh with your wine.
CAVA BY THE GLASS

MAKING CAVA

THE PENEDES REGION

asparagus

i figure as long as i'm in THAT frame of mind i would touch on a subject that i've noticed gets some discussion and that is, why does your pee smell funny after you eat asparagus? first of all i don't mean funny "ha-ha" i mean funny "strange" and apparently it doesn't happen to everyone. i decided to do a little fact checking and found out that about half the population develops an unusual odor in their urine after eating asparagus and it has something to do with asparagus having these sulfur containing amino acids that break down during digestion imparting the "unique" smell to the urine as it is excreted. according to a dietitian, Barbara Hodges, at Boston University's nutrition clinic, it is the same sulfur group of compounds that makes skunks smell the way they do. lovely right? there is apparently another group of thought, according to Dr. David Stollar, chairman of biochemistry at Tufts University Medical School, that believes everyone digests asparagus the same way, but only about half of us have a gene that enables us to smell the specific compounds formed in the digestion of asparagus. some dispute eh? it seems to me that the easiest way to work out the answer would just be to get a couple of thousand people together (that's probably a large enough study group for this), eat some asparagus and then have those people pee into cups and they all have to smell each one of the urine samples. if some of the people can smell the sulfur in a sample and some can't then that obviously means that the odor causing compounds are actually there but some of the people just cannot sense them and then in fact it just has to do with the fact that there are those of us (yes, i am one of those that can definitely smell the sulfur) that CAN smell the presence of the "unique" odor and some people cannot as opposed to the idea that some people will process the asparagus differently than others. on the other hand if all the people that smell the urine can sense the odor and those that cannot agree whether it is there or not then it obviously has nothing to do with some people being able to smell it or not and it just means that some people process the compounds differently than others. its definitely alot to go through for this, and not very pleasant either; but perhaps we could get some of those people that like to eat shit, or maybe some of their friends that like to smell piss, and get them all to do it and get their jollies at the same time! not to mention settling a scientific debate. asparagus also comes in two colors, the green most people are used to and a white variety, somewhat milder in flavor but just as smelly. in any case, asparagus is apparently one of the most nutritionally well-balanced vegetables, plus it is also really delish. so eat your fill, join the debate and do your own test.

eat shit and die

okay, it seems pretty obvious that if you ate shit, you probably would die, or in the least become really sick. so it is definitely a really great thing to say to someone if you, well, just want them to drop dead and also do something disgusting in the process. (my politically correct apologies to all of you out there who do regularly like to eat shit, but i'm also not going to get into the whole scat thing) the closest i get to eating shit is eating shrimp in chinese food that hasn't been cleaned really well (you've all seen it, i know) as this is a blog about food and drink i feel perfectly justified in posting about this. i'm just in that mood. someone is just yanking my chain, i'm a loaded gun, my nerves are being plucked. (welcome to my cliche festival) and all i want to say is "eat shit and die, goddam you, motherfucking bitch" i feel better already, but not quite over it, so here goes. i don't really get it but the definition of "shit eating grin" is enough to aggravate anyone and i'm in that mood so here it is..."a look of extreme satisfaction on someone's face that is annoying to other people who are less happy". isn't that great?! don't you just wanna have that look and face some one particular person sometimes?! i do!!! right the fuck now!!! here's some more. one of my favorite characters on south park (and i have several) is mr. hanky the christmas poo. it has nothing to do with shit per se; and nobody ever eats mr. hanky (at least not in any episode i've ever seen); but its just the fact that it is a piece of shit that somehow, to the crazed minds of the south park creators, has come to represent something about christmas. well, i'm all for pretty much anything that goes against the status quo and this goes just about as far as you can. ok, so much for toilet humor. please watch this and feel better. poo is all of us.

Pescatore

pescatore means fisherman in italian, and this restaurant in the turtle bay area of manhattan's east side is a seafood delight. it has gotten some great zagat ratings, the food is delish, the portions are large and the price won't bust your wallet, so what more could you ask for? alfresco dining you say? in the summer they offer sidewalk seating and on a terazzo which overlooks the street. a very unique feature of the restaurant is that it has two entrances leading to two separate dining rooms and bars all connected by a kitchen. there is one side which is original and predates the other, and many customers who have been patrons for years don't even realize there is another section. John and i were recently there for dinner and were treated to a great evening by Charles the general manager, gracious and friendly, like all the staff we met. we shared the mussells in white wine and garlic with scallions and the crab cakes with fresh dill and cream sauce for appetizers. john had one of the daily specials, the tilapia nicoise with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes and i had the grilled monkfish with a caramel soy sauce over basil mashed potatoes. i love monkfish and grilling is a great way to enjoy this meaty white flesh fish. the restaurant has a reputation for its cheesecake which we did try and it was amazing. the combination of mascarpone cheese with ricotta and cream cheese makes it feel so silky its like eating cream cheese flavored cotton candy. everything was great. i'm linking the restaurant website over there on the side for you to check out; but just go. it's comfortable, reasonably priced, and delish.