Saturday, May 30, 2015
Friday, May 22, 2015
Unrequited Food Desires
A list of the foods that bewitch my mind and ensnare my senses. Many of these are regional in nature and are best fully appreciated in their natural habitats. Most of these have reached mythical status in my mind. If there is such a thing as "sex on a plate", then surely these offerings must be celestial courtesans with all-encompassing knowledge of the innate longing that lies within our hearts, and the exact pressure points to manipulate to give us what the French refer to as "la petit morte".
Despite my Father-in-law Frank Piersimoni's warning to avoid "Ristorantes", this is one exception I think he would have allowed.
1. Central Grocery is home of the muffuletta, one of New Orleans’ great sandwiches. A circular loaf of soft Italian bread is sliced horizontally and piled with salami, ham, and provolone, which are in turn topped with a wickedly spicy melange of chopped green and black olives fragrant with anchovies and garlic. An Italian style sandwich unique to New Orleans!
Central Grocery 923 Decatur St. New Orleans
2. Beignets and Chicory at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans.
3. Adjarian Khachapuri at Brick Oven Bread in Brooklyn.
Khachapuri is a traditional Georgian (Eastern European) cheese bread.
Go to Brick Oven Bread 109 Brighton 11th St. Brooklyn to try this delicacy.
4. Korean Bibimbap
I must confess, I've had this one. Only on rare occasions. It truly is a sensual and savory dish. It comes out sizzling in a cast iron bowl and a raw egg is cracked over the top of it. You then mix the egg in as everything continues to cook. It becomes sticky and delicious. The rice on the bottom has a crunch to it. Utterly sumptuous.
As I write this, a friend at work has informed me that Oriental Food and Gifts in Gulf Gate (about 15 minutes from where I am now) serves Bibimbap and other Korean dishes from 10 to 4 pm. I know where I'm going this Saturday.
Update: We now have a sit down Korean Restaurant in Sarasota. Try Charlie's Bulgogi.
We even tried our hand at this dish.
5. Hamburger Sandwich From Louis' Lunch
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| 261-263 Crown Street New Haven, CT 06511-6611 Louis' Lunch |
6. Ramen at Mr. Chow
I've been craving this one since I watched this special feature on the Kung Fu Panda DVD.
Mr. Chow has a few locations, but since I live in Florida this one is my best bet...
7. Philly Cheesesteak from Pat's and Geno's
The "City of Brotherly Love" is sharply divided over who makes the best Philly Cheesesteak. I say, why not a little of both, K-Dog. BTW, whenever I meet someone from Philly I immediately ask which one they think is best, and several times I have been answered with various third options. People from there mostly say that these are "tourist traps" and that the best sandwiches can be found far afield, away from the manufactured feud between these two giants. I'm torn. How could you go there and at least try these two?
8. Real New Orleans Po' Boy
A staple sandwich of New Orleans with as many variations as there are opinions about who makes the best and who made the first. My particular desire is for a fried shrimp Po' Boy from Parkway Bakery and Tavern located at 538 Hagan Avenue New Orleans, LA 70119.
Here is a good resource to help you navigate the world of Po' Boys.
9. Rib Sandwich Combo at Robinson's No. 1 Ribs in Chicago
We took a trip to Chicago a few years back. We stopped in at Robinson's No. 1 for a taste of real Chicago barbecue. It was lunchtime. Very busy. We didn't know what to order. Got something off the menu. It was... okay. Then I noticed that every single patron had ordered, and were enjoying, the exact same thing. A boneless rib sandwich with fries. Lesson learned. When you don't know what to order - look around you. It was a lesson that I had been privy to once before - when we had Vietnamese for the first time. I ordered fried rice (to play it safe) and everybody else enjoyed big steaming bowls of delicious noodles, as I stumbled my way through my non-threatening pedestrian choice glumly. I'll repeat myself - IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO ORDER - LOOK AROUND YOU! If everyone is ordering the same thing, chances are it's pretty damn good. The rib sandwich may not be the best thing on earth - but it has become a larger pursuit in my mind. When I eventually make the pilgrimage back to Chicago and finally bite into that sandwich, it will be a chance to right an old wrong.
10. Squid Ink Pasta at Casa Nostra Ristorante & Bar in Los Angeles
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11. Italian Tartufo
I know I want it. Don't know where to get it. Any suggestions?
12. White Clam Pizza from Frank Pepe's of New Haven
"Made with fresh shucked clams, garlic, olive oil, and grated cheese..." I should think that one has lived an incomplete existence if they have not had this delicacy.
13. Sour Oranges
I was listening to WUSF radio when this piece by Amy Bennett Williams came on.
I had to scramble for a pen and paper while I was driving and scribble down enough info so I could look it up on the interwebs. Her piece reminded me that there were still mysteries and adventures to be had in the food world. It made me reconsider my adoptive home of Florida as something beyond the extremist politics, insufferable humidity and cookie cutter architecture. There is much natural beauty and majesty here far and away from the Wal-Marts and wealthy windbags. Most importantly, it made me covet Amy Bennett Williams' Sour Orange Poundcake recipe.
14. Italian Limoncello
Not sure which brand I should try, although I do hear that Danny Devito has his hat thrown in that ring. Fitting to end with a drink. For now I shall wish you buon appetito and good hunting.
Achievement Unlocked!
Thursday, May 14, 2015
“You Don’t Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows…”
“You Don’t Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows…”
May 4, 1886…
A lit bomb sailing out of the darkness.
An explosion.
Chaos. Screaming. Blood. By the time the smoke cleared 7 police officers were killed and 60 others were wounded. civilian casualties have been estimated at 4 to 8 dead and 30 to 40 injured.
Later 8 radical anarchist labor activists would be rounded up.
Coincidentally, the meeting in Chicago’s Haymarket that night was about the battle for the 8 hour workday.
The trial was a sham. A frame up. A mockery of justice. More than this, it was a chance for the captains of the “gilded age” to get rid of agitators and to send a clear message to those who would stand up and fight for their rights.
On November 11, 1887 - 4 of the 8 defendants were executed by hanging.
George Engel had been at home playing cards on the day of the bombing.
Adolph Fischer was at a local saloon called Zepf's Hall when the bomb went off.
Zepf's Hall at 630 W. Lake Street
Before he was hanged, August Spies shouted, "the day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today."
Albert Parsons left as the crowd dispersed and before the bomb exploded.
The executions were botched, some believe intentionally.
The Chicago Tribune reported the next day:
… Then begins a scene of horror that freezes the blood. The loosely-adjusted nooses remain behind the left ear and do not slip to the back of the neck. Not a single neck is broken, and the horrors of a death by strangulation begin.
Louis Lingg, perhaps predicting this fate, tried to circumvent it. On November 6, 1887 He used a blasting cap smuggled to him by a fellow prisoner. He put it in his mouth and lit it at 9:00 AM. The explosion blew off his lower jaw and damaged a large portion of his face. He wrote "Hoch die anarchie!" (Hurrah for anarchy!) on the cell stones in his own blood before the guards came. He survived in agonizing pain for another 6 hours before expiring around 3 in the afternoon. He was 23 years old.
In 1893, the Haymarket Martyrs' Monument by sculptor Albert Weinert was raised at Waldheim Cemetery. It was dedicated on June 25, of that year.
Utah Phillips spoke at Waldheim Cemetery in May 1986 during ceremonies commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Haymarket affair.
Lucy Parsons, widow of Albert Parsons, continued to fight for labor causes well into her 80’s. She died in a Chicago house fire on March 7, 1942. After her death, police seized her library of 1500 books and all her personal papers.
Haymarket Memorial
175 N. Desplaines St.
Chicago, IL 60661
There is, of course, another monument…
In 1889, a commemorative nine-foot bronze statue of a Chicago policeman by sculptor Johannes Gelert was erected in the middle of Haymarket Square.
It was contentious from the start.
On May 4, 1927, the 41st anniversary anniversary of the Haymarket affair, a streetcar crashed into the monument. The driver said he was “sick of seeing that policeman with his arm raised.”
In 1956, the statue was moved to a pedestal overlooking the newly constructed Kennedy Expressway. It was not far from the original location.
The Haymarket statue was vandalized with black paint on May 4, 1968, the 82nd anniversary of the Haymarket affair, following a confrontation between police and demonstrators at a protest against the Vietnam War.
On October 6, 1969, shortly before the "Days of Rage" protests, the statue was destroyed when a bomb was placed between its legs.
The Weathermen, a radical offshoot of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), took credit for the blast, which broke nearly 100 windows in the neighborhood and scattered pieces of the statue onto the Kennedy Expressway below.
No one was injured.
The Weathermen took their name from a line in the Bob Dylan song “Subterranean Homesick Blues”.
“You Don’t Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows…”
The statue was rebuilt and unveiled on May 4, 1970…
only to be blown up yet again by Weathermen on October 6, 1970.
The statue-less pedestal of the police monument.
The pedestal has since been removed.
The location where the pedestal stood, a block west of Desplaines Street at 700 West Randolph Street, just to the east of the Kennedy Expressway.
After the statue was blown up again, Mayor Daley posted a 24 hour guard. When that became too costly, it was moved to a secure interior courtyard in the Chicago Police Education and Training Division facility on West Jackson Street.
On June 1, 2007 the statue was rededicated at Chicago Police Headquarters located at 3501 South State Street, where it resides today.
For Further Reading.
Friday, May 8, 2015
May 2015 Current Obsessions
I haven't done this for awhile now. I used to post a monthly current obsessions list, but I fell out of the habit. Here is my attempt to fix that...
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| Pasolini Memorial monument in Lido di Ostia, where he was killed in 1975 |
1. Pier Paolo Pasolini, his leftist politics and the mystery surrounding his death.
2. Sour Oranges
3. Giant Globes
4. Blaze Pizza
5. Donald Duck Lost in the Andes by Carl Barks
6. The Canterbury Scene
7. The Land Where Lemons Grow by Helen Attlee
8. Need Roger Daltry & John Entwistle to complete the set.
9. The brick road that lies beneath our streets
10. The Zero Theorem by Terry Gilliam - Go See It Now!
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