I Miss Food

I've had some kind of stomach bug since Tuesday, which means that I haven't eaten "real" food since Monday . . . at least not food that stayed down. My diet currently consists only of the following:

Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup
Campbell's Chicken with Stars Soup
Bananas
Rice
Applesauce
Toast
Saltines
Gatorade

I know the above foods are "real," but they're boring and bland and altogether uninspiring. I'm pretty sure I've only been eating about 600 calories a day. Thursday when I went to the doctor, I'd lost 5 pounds (in 2 days)--I was dehydrated, though, so I guess I've likely gained a couple of pounds back since I started drinking Gatorade.

All of this has caused me to think about the emotional value food has in my life. I really love trying new foods; I think I was adventurous about food long before I was adventurous about life. In fact, food might be the one place that I'm truly adventurous. Yeah, I travel a lot and often times alone, but I play it safe when I travel (which is probably something I should blog about sometime). But food . . . there are a lot of things I'll try: pig butt, whole crispy sardines (including the head and eyes), prawns (that was a big deal for me since I hate shrimp), blood sausage, ox tail soup, bone marrow, bones cooked until they were soft enough to eat for that matter, reindeer tongue, moose heart. To read that list, you'd never believe that I'm picky about meat.

And I've tried a lot of different national cuisines--in fact, I'm always excited to try a new-to-me national/ethnic food. By trying new food, I find new things that I love . . . and I believe that loving new things adds depth to my consciousness and richness to the ways that I relate to the world.

I don't know, maybe I'm making too much of this food thing. And I have to confess that the food I most crave right now is a cheeseburger and fries, hardly daring food for an American.

Addendum: After I posted this, my friend Jonathan sent me a link to a blog that expresses far more evocatively how I feel about food. Check it out.

New-to-Me Mexican Food

Recently, I went to Guadalajara and Oaxaca and discovered dishes I'd never seen in Mexican restaurants in the U.S. Who decided that a taco was worthy of an American diner but entomatadas weren't????? Mexican cuisine is so varied, so interesting, so delicious. It really is a shame that restaurants here in the U.S. reduce Mexican food to tacos, burritos, and enchiladas.

While I was in Mexico, I tried the following:

Chilaquiles (tortilla chips cooked in tomato sauce served as breakfast):


Tlayuda (a crisp tortilla--think tostada--covered with beans, lettuce, tomato, avocado and topped with cecina, cured pork):


Sopa Xochitl (soup with squash, sweet corn, and squash flowers):


Sopa de guia con chochoyotes (soup made with chayote squash leaves):


Entomatadas (think enchiladas prepared with a tomato sauce rather than a sauce with chile):


Sopa de nopal (soup made with prickly pear cactus):


Chile en nogada (this dish at Azucena Zapoteca in San Martin Tilcajete was a stand out: poblano chile stuffed with picadillo and raisins, topped with a walnut cream sauce and pomegranate seeds):


Sopa de Azteca: (thick broth with tortilla chips and chunks of cheese and avocado):


Guajolote con Mole Manchamanteles (turkey served with a mole sauce made of chile and fruit, banana stuffed dumplings and corn fritters eaten at the wonderful Los Danzantes):



I loved each one of these dishes and wish that I could find them here in Fresno. Yes, I bought a cookbook. Yes, I already own a cookbook by Rick Bayless. Yes, I know about Susanna Trilling. I guess I'm going to have to start cooking . . . as soon as I lose the pounds I gained eating this delicious food in the state of Jalisco, Mexico.

Restaurante Azucena Zapoteca
Highway 175 to Puerto Angel (Km 23.5)
San Martin Tilcajete
Oaxaca, Mexico
(951) 510 7844

Los Danzantes
Macedonio Alcalá 403-4
Centro Historico, C.P. 68000
Oaxaca, Mexico
(951) 501-1184

Dogs and Cats

I haven't been to Dog House Grill for a very long time, even though it's located right across the street from my corner of campus. Today I met my friend Izzy for lunch at, well, Jasmine Gardens (see, Izzy, I mentioned you in my blog). But before I even sat down, we decided to leave and go to Dog House Grill. The Jasmine Gardens workers looked very confused . . . but the restaurant was busy and, I don't know, we were just in the mood for the noise of a sports bar instead of overheard live conversations???? Yeah, that's right, that's my story.

Anyway, we walked down to Dog House Grill which is a very Fresno kind of restaurant: lots of meat, big portions, and television screens all over. Thinking of the pulled pork sandwich I had at Dinic's in Philadelphia, I ordered Dog House Grill's version . . . but I neglected to notice that they served it with barbecue sauce. This didn't necessarily mean disaster, except that the sauce wasn't even close to being subtle . . . it was heavy and sweet and overpowering. The sandwich was also huge--I only ate half . . . and I allowed at least a third of the meat on that half to drop out onto the tray. My favorite bite was a really large chunk of pork that didn't have so much barbecue sauce.


Izzy, on the other hand, ordered his favorite, a beef taco--which looked good. Yeah, I totally had food envy.


We also shared a basket of french fries . . . I very rarely have anything bad to say about fries. In fact, maybe I should change my food blog to be a french fry blog. I think I could become a connoisseur of fries. I'd like that. Dog House Grill's fries were of the thin and somewhat crisp variety. Izzy dipped his in barbecue sauce . . . I dipped mine in ketchup.


Over the next few months, I hope to feature more Fresno restaurants on my blog. I'm looking for friends to accompany me as I eat my way through restaurants in the Tower area. I'm going to map some boundaries and review every restaurant within that area--except anything that is a part of a national chain.

Before that begins, though, I'm off to eat my way through Guadalajara and Oaxaca.

Oh, and Izzy . . . my cat was waiting for me when I got home. I have a cat. It's mine. It's no longer a stray. Here's a picture.


Dog House Grill
2789 East Shaw Avenue
Fresno, CA 93710-8205
(559) 294-9920

Three Dinners in Philly

Time for my last post on my dining adventures in Philadelphia. This post will feature my dinners at three restaurants.

On our first night in Philadelphia, Sheri, Kristin, and I decided that we wanted to go to an Irish pub for dinner. Tir Na Nog was just down the street from our hotel--it had a nice cozy, dark atmosphere with wooden furniture . . . and great food. All three of us decided that we wanted to try the cottage pie with kobe beef. The dish was creamy, spicy and oh-so-yummy. We also really enjoyed the salad.


On Friday night, we decided to try an Italian restaurant, Portofino. On the way, we passed a restaurant, El Vez, that looked really fun. I really wanted to eat there, but there was a 90 minute wait and we were hungry, so we went to Portofino where there was only a 5 minute wait. Sheri, Kristin, and Joanne all really enjoyed their food. Mine was okay, but definitely not great. I had beet infused pasta with chicken, peas, and a thyme-rosemary sauce.


Saturday night we went to a fabulous organic restaurant I'd eaten at last time I was in Philadelphia: the White Dog Cafe. I liked the food there so much that I bought their cookbook and have enjoyed the several dishes I've made from it. On this night, I tried the mushroom soup with Amish chicken and truffle chive creme fraiche. They brought out a bowl with just the creme fraiche, then poured the mushroom mix on top of it so the diner could eat it freshly mixed. I also ate braised short ribs on a bed of pureed cippiolini and celery root with the leaves of brussel sprouts. I loved the short ribs--no bone and so tender and juicy. The celery root puree was rather bland--but served as a fine backdrop for the amazing beef. It was really a good meal to end my Philly dining adventures with.


Tir Na Nog
1600 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
267-514-1700

Portofino
1227 Walnut St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-923-8208

White Dog Cafe
3420 Sansome Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-386-9224

Celebration

While I was in Philadelphia at the annual conference of the National Writing Project, I attended a retirement party for three California Writing Project directors who are retiring: Carol Tateishi, Sheridan Blau, and our own Faith Nitschke. The party was held at the Continental Restaurant and Martini Bar, an establishment with great retro decor and drinks. Jayne and Katie had ordered a really nice slate of tapas . . . in fact, we were the happy recipients of wave upon wave of yummy food.

Menu

First Course:
Continental Salad (greens, tomatoes, cucumber, feta, and herb vinaigrette)
Shoestring fries with Chinese mustard sauce (tasted like horseradish to me)
Barbecue Chicken Quesadilla


Main Course:
Beef Satay Skewer with peanut sauce
Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Seared Tuna with mushroom risotto
Wasabi Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Soy Garlic Braised Vegetables


Dessert:
Tray of many, many different types of dessert


I think my favorite dishes were the quesadilla with avocado cream and the lettuce wraps--and I was so full by the end that I barely ate dessert.

After the meal, people made speeches about the retirees. Joanne had created a great list of the top 10 things we'll miss about Faith. The list included funny items like how we'll miss her list of instructions, "including instructions on how to read her email with instructions" and more serious items like her great contacts with teachers and schools--and how effective she is at creating strong partnerships with schools. I hope she'll continue to advise us over the coming years.



Continental Restaurant and Martini Bar
138 Market St.
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: 215 923-6069

Reading Terminal Market

I'm in love with markets like the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia which dates from 1893. I love the bustle of vendors and customers, the variety of foods available, the fact that there aren't any national chains present. I love wandering around deciding what to have for lunch--and then hovering over tables waiting for someone to leave so that we can sit. This market in particular is interesting because of the presence of Amish merchants who sell everything from baked goods to a country breakfast to fresh meat. I love this market so much that I ate there every day for lunch on a recent trip to Philadelphia.


Day One: I had to try a philly cheesesteak, so we went to Carmen's, who told Kristin and I that the classic cheesesteak was made with cheese whiz. We both were willing to try it, even though I'd always thought that provolone was the classic cheese of choice. The sandwich was a bit spicy because it was prepared with peppers and very, very enjoyable. We ended our meal with a cupcake from Flying Monkey's--espresso bean with a butter cream frosting. It was to die for.



Day Two: On the recommendation of my former renter Michael (who used to live in Philadephia), we ate at Dinic's . Kristin and I again split a sandwich (they were all so enormous): pulled pork with broccoli rabe. Oh, my. The pork was juicy and so tender and the broccoli rabe was a little tart, cutting the richness of the meat. This was the best lunch I had in Philly. Cupcake for the day: peanut butter plaid (not nearly as good as the espresso bean). I liked Flying Monkey's practice of "taking the chill off" by microwaving the cupcake a couple of seconds before serving.


Day Three: Technically this was brunch rather than lunch. I was in the mood for something salty, though, so I had a slice of ricotta and caramelized onion pizza at Mezze. It was a fantastic combination. In honor of Kristin who had to leave early that morning, I had her favorite cupcake: vanilla, vanilla.


Day Four: I was on my own Sunday since everyone else had gone home early that morning. After wandering around the Philadelphia Marathon, I was ready to eat. I had a falafel sandwich at Kamal's--good, but not even close to how good my previous three lunches had been. Still, I had one last cupcake, the espresso bean since it had been the perfect cupcake.

Next time I'm in Philadelphia, I hope to do the exact same thing: eat lunch every day at Reading Terminal Market.

Reading Terminal Market
51 N 12th St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 922-2317

Impromptu Cooking

I've been complaining lately that I haven't had a meal good enough to blog about for far too long. But yesterday, I was looking at my i-Phone and discovered photos I'd taken a few weeks ago of food that merits a blog entry.

My friend John B. is a really good cook. I still salivate when I think of a vegetarian taco feast he prepared years ago--and I continue to hope he'll do it again in my lifetime. A few weeks ago, he and John J. were housesitting for Kathryn and Doug, who had left a fully stocked refrigerator. John invited me over to play Scrabble--and to eat. To plan the menu, he basically looked in the refrigerator and came up with this: cheese souffle, braised green beans, and roasted potatoes. I brought a nice loaf of crusty ciabatta and another of our friends, Tanya, brought a yummy green salad. The table was rustic and the food was so delicious: creamy souffle, perfectly cooked beans, potatoes with a nice crunchy shell, and Tanya's fresh green salad. The meal tasted like someone had spent days devising the menu--but John whipped it up so nonchalantly . . . . and then he beat us all quite soundly at Scrabble.