Weekend Whets 5/3

LuckyRice New York, through Sunday, May 5, 2013, Manhattan:  A celebration of Asian cuisine.  Each night showcases a different type of Asian food.  Opening night is a dumpling party.

Food Book Fair, Friday, May 3, 2013 to Sunday, May 5, 2013, Brooklyn:  An event celebrating food books with vendors, cooking demos, tastings and panel discussions.

Guactacular, Sunday, May 5, 2013, 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., The Bell House, Brooklyn: Guacamole cook-off.

Calcotada, Tuesday, May 7, 2013, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., Back Forty West, Soho:  Recreation of an ancient Spanish feast in honor of spring.  $100.

New York City Cartmen, 1667–1850, Thursday, May 9, 2013, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Elebash Recital Hall, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street, Manhattan:   Discussion of the unskilled laborers who hauled goods on horse carts and their impact on New York City politics.  Free.

Frites and Fries with Leonard Lopate, Wednesday, May 15, 2013, 7 p.m., The Cooper Union–Great Hall, Manhattan:  Chefs Daniel Boulud, Jacques Pepin and Eric Ripert chat with WNYC’s James Beard Award-winning host, Leonard Lopate about food and restaurant culture of France and the United States.  Tickets are $30.

North Brooklyn Takes the Cake, Saturday, May 18, 2013, 6 p.m., The Brooklyn Kitchen, 100 Frost Street, Brooklyn:  A cupcake bakeoff!  Tickets are $15.

40th Annual Ninth Avenue Food Festival, Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19, 2013, Noon to 5 p.m., Ninth Avenue from 42nd to 57th Streets, Manhattan:  A celebration of the diverse restaurants on this strip.

Gluttony:  Deconstructing Dinner, Thursday, May 23, 2013, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., The New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich Street, 40th floor, Manhattan:  Part of a series on science and the deadly sins.  Steve Ettlinger, author of Twinkie, Deconstructed, and Dwight Eschliman, photographer of Foodstuff, discuss ingredients in popular processed foods.  $15-$25.

Meat Hooked!, Thursday, May 30, 2013, 6:30 p.m., BLDG 92 , Brooklyn Navy Yard Center, 63 Flushing Ave (at Carlton), Brooklyn:  Gotham Center Director Suzanne Wasserman’s new film, a documentary about meat and the rise and fall and rise again of butchers and butchering in and around New York.  $8/$5 members.

Brunch/Dinner Club

After a brief hiatus, the brunch/dinner club is back.  Recently, we had brunch at Cookshop.  We’ve got dinner planned this week at The Marrow, and a Cinco de Mayo brunch at Toloache.  If you’re interested in coming to those or future events, let me know!

A Sad Birthday

Today is April Fools’ Day.  In my family, it was also my Aunt Mary’s birthday.  It was so fitting for her because she was like a comedian with a quick wit and humorous take on life.  She had that Italian sense of acceptance, “che sera, sera.”  She always said to us, “Life’s a bitch and then you die,” but with her New Jersey accent, the die was elongated, and we would laugh.  She was the only person I knew who had dimples in the top of her cheeks, and she would turn her head to us, cross her eyes, those cute dimples would show and we would laugh. 

As it is when any family member passes, we can’t believe she’s gone.  It’s like a bad dream.  The love we all had for her was expressed with flowers.  There were so many flower arrangements surrounding my aunt. 

My sister and I wanted to get something worthy of Aunt Mary, and we found an arrangement shaped like a dove.  On the florist’s Web site, the dove looked small, so we were worried that it would be too small, but when we got to the funeral parlor, the dove looked like a prehistoric version of itself with its wings outstretched. 

At the cemetery, the men were taking the flowers out of the flower car, and they had to take the dove separately because it was large and a bit awkward.  We all got a chuckle out of that and thought Aunt Mary would’ve appreciated the humor in it too.

That day, I kept looking at her in the casket and hoping she would open her eyes and say she was only joking with us.  I’m still hoping today it is an April Fools’ joke.  But I know it’s not.  I’ll never get to see her again.  She won’t be at my wedding.  The worst part of it is that no one understands what happened to her.  She was sick and had suffered much, but toward the end, it was her personality and cognitive function that changed.  She would go back and forth answering questions appropriately.  In the end, she refused to eat, and in our Italian family, that is out of character.  I don’t think they knew what to do for her.  Some kind of connection wasn’t being made. 

So to us, we don’t understand, any more than medical science does, what exactly happened to her.  In law school, I was taught that there is no black and white in the law, that every issue is a shade of gray.  Such is life.  There isn’t always an answer that the mind can easily process.  My aunt is gone, and so is a light that brightened so many lives.  She was the center of our family, the one everyone wanted to visit, the one who made every party a party.  She had an incredible sense of family and lived by the old Italian way of always helping family who needed it.  She truly lived up to being my godmother.  I knew, even as an adult, that if anything happened to my parents, Aunt Mary would be there for me. 

So it was with great difficulty that we said goodbye to her.  At the cemetery, we also visited my grandparents and great-grandparents and other family members, leaving flowers and saying prayers, missing each of them for their own unique attributes and contributions to our family.  My parents told us stories of their past, of the people we only knew as children or never got to know, in a world that has changed dramatically.  When my parents were kids and young adults, families in their communities lived in the same houses together, on different floors in apartments.  Everyone was together, helping each other get through life, celebrating life’s happy moments on holidays.  

2013 has proven to be a difficult year in my family.  We lost my uncle in January, my cousin in February and now my aunt in March.  I know we are all looking forward to the end of the long winter, and when I saw the small buds of flowers growing up around my grandmother’s grave, I wished for spring, for new growth, rebirth, sunshine and warmth, and much less gray.

Happy birthday, Aunt Mary, I know you have them laughing in heaven.

Goodbye

a happier Easter with Grandma and Aunt Mary

Last night, my godmother and beloved aunt died.  Her life had many joys and many sorrows.  She was a beautiful person with a generous soul.  She always made people laugh with her quick wit.  My birthday wasn’t complete until I got a phone call from her singing happy birthday to me.  She always sent a card with money.  Visiting her at her house in the city was an adventure to a younger me.  She had an open-door policy, and indeed, even in the city, her door was unlocked and we often showed up unannounced but completely welcome.  She always had cookies in an orange-shaped cookie jar on the table.  She’d give us money to go to the corner candy store and requested her favorite Swedish fish.  I have many fun, happy memories of her, and I feel sad for the tragedy and sadness in her life.  I know for sure she was a city girl and loved the city she grew up in.  When I was a young girl, I wrote a short story loosely based (and I mean that, it is highly fictionalized) on a trip to her house.  The story, “Union City,” was published when I was 19 in David Kherdian’s ethnic American literature journal, Forkroads, with a picture of my aunt’s house.  (I’ve since turned that short story into a larger novel called The Weight of Lost Souls.  It’s very Italian; it’s very New Jersey; it’s very life.  A central theme in the novel is how food serves such a large part of our comfort in life and how it symbolizes our feelings at certain times through certain experiences.)  My godmother’s passing represents the end of an era in my family, and my heart is filled with sadness because she suffered so, especially during her later years.  I’ll always remember the fun times we had with her.

Santé Nuts

Santé is a nut company that recently had a Twitter giveaway.  The first person in the United States to answer this question correctly won:  What nut do the Swedes add to rice pudding for good luck?  The answer is almonds, and I am the winner!

I got four bags of delicious almonds, two bags each of chipotle almonds and garlic almonds.  Guess what?  They are all gone!  Yes, I gobbled these right up.  They made a great work snack.  Both flavors are very good, but the garlic was my favorite.  The Web site says it has garlic, cayenne and black pepper along with a touch of pure cane sugar to make them “irresistible.”  I agree!  Sometimes products with garlic can be overpowering, but these had a perfect garlic flavor.  Along with that touch of sweetness, they were addictive!  The chipotle almonds  have chipotle pepper, ancho chile and pure cane sugar, bringing a little more heat.

Almonds are my favorite nuts, so I was happy to receive these great-tasting ones!  I see that Santé also has candied pecans and walnuts, and I’d love to try those.  (Yes, my sweet tooth carries over to nuts too!)

Something’s Rotten in the City of New York

I just went grocery shopping and wanted a sweet snack, so I pulled a lusciously-red red delicious apple from my refrigerator drawer.  I anticipated the crisp sound as I bit into it, but instead I felt mush, and instead of a juicy white inside, I saw brown.  I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me with apples purchased at a grocery store in New York City.  So much so, I thought, why don’t I write about this?  I know this is a city of take out and dine out.  It’s also a city with a drug store and deli on every corner.  Add in the street vendors and farmer’s markets, and the grocery stores have some stiff competition.  Is it just that stuff on the shelves doesn’t move?

How many times have I bought stale crackers and cookies?  Ice cream that has that iciness where you can tell it melted and refroze?  Milk that spoils days before its expiration date?  Shelled nuts that were green molded inside?  Not to mention the dates just nearing their expiration.  When I take it home, it spoils so fast.  What’s going on?  Where do I shop?  Pretty much at Food Emporium, Gristedes, D’Agostino’s and Amish Market.  They are the closest to me.  I don’t go to Whole Foods or farmer’s markets because they are far.  When you live in NYC, you look for convenience because you are carrying home whatever you buy.  Either that, or doing one big grocery shop with one of those granny carts, which is still a big production, especially if you live upstairs.  Some people talk about buying from Fresh Direct, but it’s hard enough for me to get mail and packages in NYC, that another delivery is just another hassle.  Plus, I don’t know about you, but I like picking out my groceries myself.  Have you noticed how many finger nail marks there are on apples?  I want to pick ones that don’t have those marks.  I like grapefruits that are fleshy because I know they are more meaty.  For a city that has everything, something is wrong.

When I first moved to Manhattan in 1997, I fell in love with Balducci’s.  Balducci’s had the most beautiful produce and meat department.  How did it go out of business?  Mostly, I shopped at the Grand Union and had no complaints there.  I’ve noticed this trend in rotten and expired food in recent years.  It’s got me wondering why.  I’d like to know if others experience this too.  I’m wondering if it’s just Manhattan or if it’s the outer boroughs too?  Maybe it’s my neighborhood.  I live in a very touristy area and maybe stuff on the shelves doesn’t move because tourists go out to eat?

I’m not sure what it is, but I’m tired of spending above market prices just to have things be rotten when I open them or turn rotten in a few days.  I recently got a new refrigerator and it works.  Trust me, something is rotten in the city of New York, and it’s not at Murray’s Cheese.

Mangia, Mangia

Because I recently had a head injury, I haven’t been able to do much beyond sleeping and eating.  At a friend’s suggestion, I managed to rewatch a favorite movie, Big Night, and was reminded of the very Italian resolution, when all else fails, eat something.  As my grandma used to say, “Mangia, mangia.”  Indeed, food is healing, and it has been healing me.  I’ve been craving things I don’t normally eat, like noodles and potato chips, and it’s my guess that my body needs something in them to heal my brain.

While I am healing and surviving, my uncle across the river is dying.  Tests disqualified him from a new liver.  He is losing his memory, and short of a miracle, he will be gone from this life soon.  He is retired from the Jersey City Police Department and a veteran of the Vietnam War, but Hepatitis C from a blood transfusion in the 1970s is taking his life.  I wasn’t close with my uncle and rarely saw him through the years, though he always remembered my sister and me at Christmas with a monetary gift.  Because of this, I have few personal memories of him.  But there is one that has always been dear to me, because I am a foodie, and a lover of New York restaurants.  Now, this memory has a new meaning.

When I was a young girl just arrived to Manhattan, my uncle took me to a French restaurant, one of the New York classics, Capsouto Freres.  My uncle spoke of the souffle as if it were something from the heavens.  I don’t remember what I ordered, but stupidly, it wasn’t the souffle.

We took a picture that day.  Now, I look at it fondly, thinking of the world away in Tribeca, a time years ago, when a young girl had dinner with her uncle and the setting sun shone through the window onto their table, onto their plates, onto them, and they smiled, as people do, enjoying the moment, no thoughts of future ills.  When I feel better, I’m going to get souffle at Capsouto Freres, and I know that whatever happens, Uncle Franny will be there with me.

Love with Food January 2013

I got my Love with Food January 2013 box.  What a surprise since I’m home sick.  The theme is international, and the products have international flair.  Inside–gluten-free shortbread cookies in brown rice, matcha green tea and black sesame from Kyotofu, a restaurant right here in Hell’s Kitchen that makes modern Japanese desserts; firecracker ChocoPod mini chocolate bar from Chuao Chocolatier (a Venezuelan chocolatier based in the U.S.) with sea salt, chipotle and popping candy in dark chocolate; dark chocolate in speculoos and cannelle flavors from NewTree in Belgium; David Rio tiger spice chai mix of the U.S.; GoGo Squeez (my new favorite applesauce) apple strawberry sauce from France; Turbana plantain chips from Colombia; and almond anise biscotti from Biscotti di Suzy.

Seamless

My name is Dina, and I have an addiction.  To what, you might ask?  Rice pudding? Haha.  No.  Seamless.  The food delivery site.  Yes, in most of America, one can order only pizza or Chinese.  Not in the big city.  It’s no secret that New Yorkers have it made when it comes to food delivery.  Pretty much any time of the day you can get pretty much whatever you want.  With Seamless, the process is, well, seamless.  You pay by credit card which you can add a tip to, so no more looking around for five dollar bills to tip the delivery guy.  The best thing is ordering whatever you are craving.  Using the search function, you can search for a food item (like rice pudding, yes) and see who has what you’re looking for.  It’s easy to order, and most deliveries arrive within the specified amount of time or sooner.  I use Seamless when I’m tired after work and I don’t want to cook.  I’ve been sick, and it’s been great ordering chicken soup from restaurants on Seamless.

My Response to “20 Things Everyone Thinks About the Food World (But Nobody Will Say)”

My response to First We Feast’s 20 Things Everyone Thinks About the Food World (But Nobody Will Say) is that some people do say these things.  I’d like to go through some of them because I thought some of them were really good.

1.  Not so sure I agree with this.  I think categorizing all people who won’t try different foods as racist is not fair.  Some people are just resistant to new foods because they are unfamiliar.  Think of comfort food–don’t we all think of what our grandmas made.  For me, that’s chicken soup or lasagna, because I’m Italian American.  Everyone has their tastes.  I’m not a big fan of spicy food, so Indian and Thai are not favorites of mine.

2.  Well, I think Ruth Reichl was the best.

4.  Yes, traditional New York foods are not what they once were.  Italian bread can’t even be found anymore–real Italian bread, that is.  I had it because those places started dying out in the 80s and 90s.  Pizza isn’t what it used to be.  You can get good Italian pastries still though.

6.  I completely agree with this one.  You need to have a nest egg in order to do the things people do to eat sustainably.  Especially in NYC.

7.  I don’t have a problem with tipping, but I believe in paying restaurant workers a living wage and would support that.

8.  On the flip, nostalgia is all about very good food too.

10.  I’m Italian, I have to disagree with this one, and I do.

11.  I knew this one just because Italian food in restaurants isn’t usually authentic.

12.  I disagree.  I think you can fight for whatever you think is right, and to animal activists, this is a big cause.

13.  Not sure this photo is the best way to get respect.  What about Harold and Kumar?

14.  I don’t know about this one.  I think it can be very enjoyable.  It depends.  I’ve only been to wd-50, Per Se and Eleven Madison Park for molecular gastronomy and tasting menus, and they were all excellent.

15.  I agree with this statement, just from what I know about the writing world and life in general.  I can say I never got paid to review a restaurant!

16.  Isn’t this a racist comment?  Hey, I love stuffed cabbage.  Polish food is delicious to me.  So it’s rich and filling.  When it’s cold out, you want that!

17.  If you’re female, you’ve experienced some kind of sexual harassment in every field, so this is no surprise.

19.  Gluttony is a sin.  I think this one is an unfair characterization of food bloggers and writers.  Not everyone is into the duck fat fries and 20 oz. burger.  And if you have it once and write about it, that hardly makes you a glutton.  Just like the craving for a Big Mac every three years doesn’t make me a glutton.

20.  I agree with this one.