Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookies

When life gives you Meyer lemons, makes lemon cookies!

I first discovered Meyer lemons last April when they seemed to pop up in every food blog under the sun. A cross between a normal lemon and a Mandarin orange, Meyer lemons are also sweeter, less tart, and have a beautifully floral aroma. They also have a pretty orange colored peel, which could explain why they were such popular decorative plants in China (way before anyone knew the fruit actually tasted good!). Click here to see some cool side-by-side photos of Meyer lemons next to normal lemons.

Why did I decide to make these cookies? Well, a number of reasons: it was the holidays; I had just gotten this really cool letter press stamp and I was dying to try it on some non-leavened cookies; and my friend had some Meyer lemons on hand.

Stuck with limited ingredients in my tiny urban kitchen, we found a simple butter cookie recipe which only involved a few basic ingredients (to which we added our cool citrus twist!).  It was so good, I decided to make it again in January for a Boston bloggers cookie swap (more on that later!).

I love this recipe because it's so versatile. You start with this really basic butter cookie recipe and essentially tweak it slightly by adding different sorts of flavors. The cookbook gave examples of add-ins like orange zest, ginger powder, nuts, coconut flakes, or chocolate. The sky's the limit here. Maybe matcha? Or black sesame for an Asian twist?

Of course Meyer lemons work beautifully, creating a shortbread cookie that's actually not that tart and also not too sweet. Light, buttery, and slightly fragrant with the floral scents of Meyer lemons - perfect for a simple, afternoon tea.

You'll need about two Meyer lemons to get enough zest for this recipe. I'd recommend chopping the zest a bit  to ensure that the zest bits are small enough to spread out evenly throughout the cookie.

No stand mixer? No need! Mix in the lemon zest with the butter and sugar, and cream away!

It's hard to ensure that your cookies are the same thickness without using special equipment with nicely raised edges. I improvised by using chopsticks, but you can probably use anything that is the right thickness on either side (e.g., thick rulers, thin books, CD case?). In all honesty, I felt that the chopsticks were too thick, and my cookies turned out a bit thicker than I would have liked. I just need to find thinner chopsticks!

Work quickly, because the dough slowly warms up and becomes harder and harder to handle! This becomes especially difficult if you are trying to cut out many cookies! Using a really thin spatula helps tremendously!

Again, I whipped out my cool letter press stamps that I bought in Japan (the same ones I used to make my personalized Thomas Keller Oreos). Aren't these cool? I'm really tempted to make conversation hearts next! [update - I believe Williams Sonoma sells similar ones here]

Bake, cool, and eat!

Enjoy!

Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookies
adapted from The Joy of Cooking

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp Meyer lemon zest, finely grated
1 cup superfine sugar (or process regular sugar in a food processor for 30 seconds)
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg yolk
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cream butter, lemon zest, sugar, and salt in a large bowl with a mixer at medium speed. Add in the egg yolk until well blended, and then the egg and the vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add in the flour until just combined. Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (up to two days).

Preheat oven to 375°F, placing the two racks on the upper third and lower third of the oven. Working with one batch of dough at a time, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Use either a well floured surface or a Silpat liner and plastic wrap. Cut out shapes using cutters, trying to use up as much dough as possible. The dough should only be re-rolled out once. Alternatively, if you don't have a cookie cutter, scoop cookie dough with a small ice cream scoop and roll out and flatten by hand.

Bake 2 sheets at a time until the cookies are slightly golden brown at the edges (about 6-8 minutes). If your cookies are thicker than 1/8 inch, you may have to bake for longer. After baking, immediately transfer to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.


It's not to late to enter the Giveaway for a beautiful gift box of reserved tomatoes from Muir Glen! Giveaway ends This Friday, January 28th, 2011.

Tomato Vine Dining Tour with Will Gilson + Giveaway!

Anyone who's been reading this blog for awhile or listened to my interview on NPR would know that I'm a huge fan of Will Gilson, chef of Garden at the Cellar. Bryan and I probably dine there at least twice a month, if not more.

The food quality is excellent, the prices are very reasonable, and . . . those rosemary truffles fries! Will Gilson cares a lot about sustainable ingredients and responsively-raised food. He is fanatical about sourcing quality ingredients, and his menu changes frequently to reflect the freshest local produce available, many of which come from his family's farm in western Massachusetts.

So imagine my surprise when I was invited to a dining tour with Will Gilson in partnership with Muir Glen.

Muir Glen? The company that makes organic canned tomatoes? Canned? Really?

Yes canned. I seem to have forgotten something kind of basic.

There's about 3 feet of snow outside as I am typing this. There's no such thing as local produce during the winter. You can only source produce locally for about 6 months out of the year.

Will explained how during the winter months in New England it's virtually impossible to get fresh local produce. In the past, the restaurant imported canned tomatoes from Italy during these cold months. However, he has since switched to Muir Glen, citing the fact that not only does it taste better, it's being sourced from a place that's at least a bit more local than Italy.

Muir Glen tomatoes are grown in northern California using certified organic methods. For the past two years, Muir Glen has been growing a limited "Reserve" line of tomatoes. These special tomatoes are a different variety than the classic Muir Glen tomatoes. This year, the Reserve variety is the Meridian Ruby, a deep red tomato with a "delectable" tomato flavor.

We got to taste these Reserve tomatoes firsthand. Will prepared a "Tomato Vine Dining Tour" where every single appetizer and entree incorporated Muir Glen tomatoes.

Slow Cooked Pork Belly with Sweet and Sour Tomato Jam

We started with a bunch of delicious appetizers. Pictured at the top of the post, clockwise starting from the top left: flatbread pizza with smoked tomatoes and roasted cauliflower; grilled bruschetta with tomato, eggplant, and smoked feta; cheddar sandwiches; and tomato soup shooters.

I loved the flatbread pizza (can I tell you how amazing roasted cauliflower tastes on pizza??), though the tomato soup shooters came in a close second. Both the tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich are staples on the menu at Garden at the Cellar, which I've ordered often. According to Will, "the tomato soup pays my mortgage during the winter months."

Bryan's favorite was the slow cooked pork belly. Lingbo Li (who I finally got to meet in person!) quipped to Bryan as he munched on what must have been his third or fourth pork belly appetizer, "I love how the tomato jam is, like, sitting on fat."

So true!

Local seafood and tomato stew
We sampled several main entrees which were prepared using the special Reserve Muir Glen tomatoes. The seafood soup was quite good, made with a lobster stock and augmented with mussels, shrimp, and lobster meat.

Braised Lamb with tomato and curry leaf confit
Will cooks his lamb sous vide for about 17 hours before further cooking it with curry leaf (purchased from Shalimar right in Central Square!), edamame, and Muir Glen tomatoes. I thought this dish was only OK. I couldn't really taste the essence of the curry leaf, and I'm not sure how much the edamame added to the entire dish. The overall flavor was fine (the lamb was still very soft!), but nothing particularly exciting.

Pasta with grilled sausage and parmesan
Everyone at the table agreed that the pasta was excellent and probably the universal favorite. It definitely disappeared the most quickly. Will's own housemade sausage was absolutely delicious, and the overall flavor of the sauce was hearty, rustic, and wonderfully satisfying on such a cold winter evening.

As a side note for those concerned about cans, Muir Glen announced this past year that, starting with this past summer's harvest, their tomatoes will use metal cans that do not contain BPA. Although they maintain that there's no proof that BPA is harmful, they want to address their customers' concerns, and therefore have introduced this new type of approved can.

The Giveaway

Muir Glen was kind enough to give me THREE beautiful gift boxes to give away on this blog.

Each gift box contains four cans of Muir Glen tomatoes: two cans of the Reserve line (diced tomatoes and fire roasted tomatoes) and two cans of the the classic organic line (diced tomatoes and fire roasted tomatoes with chipotle).

The best part? Included is a small book containing recipes developed by 5 different chefs around the country (including Will Gilson) for the tomatoes! In this book, you'll get the recipe for Will Gilson's tomato soup shooters, grilled cheese sandwiches, and the sausage pasta!!

This Giveaway will be open until this Friday, January 28th at Midnight. To enter, please comment below and tell me your favorite way of enjoying tomatoes.

Good luck!

P.S. It was great to meet so many Boston bloggers at this event, like Wine Dine With Us, Vegitate, Meal Makeover Moms, Free Food Boston, Travel, Wine, and Dine, Lingbo Li, and A Thought for Food.

Disclaimer
Time to time I receive free products, meals, etc. as a food blogger. I do not receive any payment for blog posts/reviews nor am I required to write a post when I receive free products, meals, etc. The views expressed in this post are completely my own. The above meal was sponsored by Muir Glen.

Noodle Loft [Mian Ku]

Once Anthony Bourdain has visited your restaurant, it's really hard to keep quiet about it.

Funny thing is, I don't watch TV. Well, hardly ever. I might occasionally sit down and watch an episode of a food-related show if Bryan has the TV on. Or I'll watch some Boston sports games. But by in large, I almost never watch TV.

So I actually had no idea that Anthony Bourdain had visited this authentic Shanxi noodle restaurant (in Beijing) when I visited last fall. My goal, as always, was just to seek out the best hand-pulled noodles I could find. We picked this place because it was close to our hotel (we had a flight to catch right afterwards!) and came highly recommended by the hotel concierge. In fact, we were cutting it so close we actually brought our suitcases to the restaurant and headed straight to the airport afterwards.

The best part about Noodle Loft is the noodle making show in the open, circular kitchen. Definitely try to get a seat at the bar, or at least on the first floor, where you can see the action.

Noodle Loft focuses on the cuisine of Shanxi, a region that is actually not very well known outside of China. Shanxi cuisine is known for its use of vinegar, lamb, and (of course), it's wide variety of interestingly shaped noodles. In fact, Noodle Loft makes its own special vinegar, using a complicated process that ends with a three year fermentation! This apparently makes the vinegar much more aromatic and slightly sweeter than typical, supermarket vinegar.

The food here is good, and the atmosphere is definitely swankier than your average noodle shop. We loved the fresh chewiness of the handmade noodles. The soup did soften the noodles just a tad, but it was still quite good. Pictured above: the classic beef noodle soup with knife-shaved noodles.

I had originally ordered some simple sauteed greens. Alas, they had sold out, so the waitress recommended the dish pictured above, saying it was very popular. I had no idea what I ordered (my Chinese is still not that great and sometimes I just nod and pretend to know what they are saying) but I must say I really really liked it. The green vegetables were perfectly cooked - crisp, fresh, and just lightly salted. The white fungus-like things (they look like walnuts but they are not) were really good. I just wish I knew what they were. Does anyone know?

We also ordered a simple chili oil noodle dish (油泼面 you puo mian), inspired by a similar dish we had in Xi'an, China just a month earlier. The texture of the noodles was great (even better than the soup noodles, which just a tad softer than I would have liked), and surprisingly, the dish is not nearly as spicy as it looks!

Some may argue that the posh atmosphere makes this noodle place seem less authentic, since typically these humble dishes are served in much simpler environments for a fraction of the cost. Though there may be some truth to that, I wouldn't be surprised if there are some people (like Bryan, ha ha) who prefer the clean, comfortable, and service-oriented atmosphere of this place (not to mention the English menus - a huge plus!), even if it means paying a bit more for your noodles.

At the end of the day, you're still only paying around 80-100 RMB ($11-$13 USD) for two. A steal by by US standards.

20 Xi Dawang Lu
CBD, Chaoyang District, Beijing
tel 8610-67749950
朝阳区西大望路南20号

This is part 13 of the China Series detailing my recent trip to Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai. 

Other posts in this series: 

part 1: Wander the Streets of Beijing

part 2: Xian'r Lao Man (handmade dumplings)

part 3: Made in China (Peking duck)

part 4: Noodle Bar (hand pulled noodles)

part 5: Bao Yuan Dumpling (handmade dumplings)

part 6: Da Dong (Peking duck)

part 7: Jia Jia Tang Bao (Soup dumplings / xiao long bao)

part 8: Yang's Fry Dumpling (Pan fried steamed buns / shen jian bao)

part 9: Din Tai Fung (dumplings)

part 10: Eating At the World Expo
part 11: Crystal Jade (Dim Sum)
part 12: Jiu Men Xiao Chi (Nine Gates Snack Street) - the best Street Snacks in Beijing

China: Lost in Translation

Happy Birthday Bryan: an Ode to Noodles and Ducks

Best Artisanal "Oreos"

January is a month that is often associated with new beginnings. Resolutions, goals, a new outlook on life. It's a time to clean out your closet, reorganize, and start anew.

That's almost always impossible for me.

I always travel like crazy around the holiday season. We fly to Southern California (Bryan's family), and then Ohio (my family), and then every year we've been going to CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, which is always the first week of January.

By the time I'm settled back in Boston, January is almost half over. Not only that, my house is a mess and the mail is piled up way beyond any optimal height for physically stability. It takes me a week just to get groceries, clean up, and get back to life.

Meanwhile, we end up eating out a bit more than normal. The funny, sort of strange side effect to that? We stop by a lot of bakeries, which means I've had a unique chance to do something I've always wanted to do.

A tasting of artisanal homemade "Oreos" throughout Cambridge and beyond. :)

[source of photo]

OK . . . first thing's first. I should at least acknowledge the cookie that "started it all." I put that in quotes because, in reality, the Hydrox cookie, which basically looks just like an Oreo cookie, was founded first (in 1908). Oreos didn't come around until 1912. Some even accused Oreo of copying the Hydrox cookie.

Some interesting facts: Oreos were introduced to China only in 1996. By 2006 (after Nabisco changed the recipe by reducing the sugar), the Oreo became the best selling cookie in China. China is now the second largest market for Oreos, right behind the US.

I admit, I do love the taste of the Oreo chocolate cookie, and "cookies & cream" is one of my favorite ice cream flavors. However, I've always disliked the sugary center, thinking it's too sweet. I wonder if I would like the ones from China . . .

More recently, I've come to realize that "Oreos" from real bakeries are nothing like the packaged cookie we've all come to love. They're better! Here's the lowdown on my opinions for some local (and not-so-local) chocolate sandwich cookies that I've tried recently.

First stop: Hi Rise Bread Company
Hi Rise is one of my all time favorite sandwich shops in Boston. They also make an absolutely heavenly vanilla loaf. The other day (while stopping by to pick up yet another vanilla loaf), I saw these cute little guys in the window.

Of course I had to get one . .  or . . uhh, actually three (heh heh).

I love the smaller size of this cookie. It's much more manageable than a typical bakery cookie, which is often really huge! The cookie part is thick and chocolately - definitely made with butter! Unfortunately, the cream part was just a bit too sweet and sugary for my tastes. I was almost tempted to scrape off the white part, something I'd always done as a child with real Oreo cookies (which taste like pure sugar to me). Though it's still 10x better than a packaged Oreo cookie, I think I'll still stick with the vanilla loaf here.

Second Stop: Flour Bakery
The cookies at Flour are significantly bigger than the ones at Hi Rise. They are sized more like a typical cookie, about 3 inches in diameter. The chocolate cookie was very good, comparable to the one at Hi Rise. The cream, however, was more buttery and a little less sweet than the one at Hi Rise. I did not feel the need to scrape off the sugar of this one.

Overall, the Flour Oreo is a fine choice, and I wouldn't mind getting it again. The overall cookie is still sweet, so I'd probably order a nice cup of coffee to go with it.

Third Stop: Bouchon Bakery
There are only three Bouchon Bakeries in the world: Yountville, New York, and Las Vegas. Thomas Keller is the brains behind this delectable bakery. I have always loved the macarons at Bouchon. However, it was not until much later that I decided to try their oreos, which are called "TKO's" (Thomas Keller Oreos).

This, my friends, is the pinnacle of Oreo goodness. The cookies at Bouchon really reach a higher level of sophistication. Every single cookie is beautiful and perfectly formed, with precise fluted cookie edges and 6 flattened spheres of cream.

I loved the flavor of the overall cookie. Of course, the chocolate cookie had a lovely, deep rich chocolate flavor. The cream part is made with white chocolate and butter, which enhance the richness while cutting down on the "sugary" feel of the filling.

I definitely prefer it this way!

Furthermore, the cookies have just a tad of salt added to them, which actually enhances the flavor quite a bit. Overall, this is my favorite chocolate sandwich cookie, and I always seek it out if I'm in a city with a Bouchon.

Fourth Stop: My Own Kitchen

Alas, I'm sort of cheating here, as I used a recipe from Bouchon Bakery to make my own TKO's at home. The recipe makes a chocolate cookie that is not very sweet at all. In fact, there's a healthy amount of salt in the recipe, and thus the chocolate cookies don't really taste that good on their own. They're too salty!

However, when you pair the chocolately cookies with the white chocolate cream, the resultant cookie is absolutely delicious. The salt in the cookie really helps balance the sweetness of the cream. 

Alas, I've still got a long way to go before I can make cookies as beautiful as the ones from Bouchon Bakery. Nevertheless, the homemade cookies are still very good, and are quite effective at satisfying any TKO cravings that I might have. 

Recipe here.

Have a great weekend!

Sous Vide Chicken with Pesto

We were curious. Very very curious.

We'd heard amazing, almost fantastically amazing things about sous-vide chicken. All over the internet, people raved about its unique, velvety, almost "melt-in-your-mouth" tenderness. They said it was nothing like normal chicken. "You'll never be able to eat normal chicken again."

This miraculous chicken was supposed to be juicy, succulent, flavorful, and moist.

Really? We were skeptical, yet intrigued at the same time.

Admittedly, the sous vide machine had already done wonders for scallops, not to mention the perfectly cooked steak, delicious custard-like eggs, and duck confit. Even the sous vide salmon I had made from a hacked water bath system had really incredible texture.

But chicken breast? Which is inherently bland, tasteless, and boring?


Just a tiny bit of background - cooking food sous vide is essentially cooking food in a vacuum sealed plastic bag in a precisely temperature-controlled water bath. If you want gory details (e.g., some history & science), visit this post, where I cook a multi-course meal, complete with Thomas Keller (French Laundry) and David Chang (Momofuku) recipes, completely using the sous vide technique.

Although the official instruction manual tells you to cook the sous-vide chicken at 146 ° F, I was pretty convinced (after poking around the internet a bit) that 140 ° F was the way to go if I wanted a juicier, softer result.

140 ° F is right on the edge of the danger zone (between 40 ° F and 140 ° F). Typically, if you cook at temperatures below 140 ° F, you run the risk of bacteria growth. This is why any meat cooked in that "danger zone" should not be cooked for more than 4 hours.

Making this chicken was really really simple. I basically vacuum sealed the chicken (after seasoning with a bit of salt & pepper), and dropped it in the machine for one hour. After it's done, remove from the bag, slice, and serve with your favorite sauce.

Verdict?
Sous vide chicken is definitely different from traditionally cooked chicken. It's much more plump, soft, and juicy. Because the water bath is held at a constant temperature, you can't really overcook the meat that easily.

However, I would hardly call it a transcendent experience.

Bryan's reaction?

"It's good, but not as amazing as people make it seem."

"Just tastes like really good poached chicken."

True. At the end of the day, it's still tastes like chicken. Sure, it's much juicier, and much more evenly cooked. It's definitely got better texture than traditionally grilled chicken, though some (like Bryan!) would argue that a good poached chicken tastes equally juicy and soft.

With the sous vide technique, however, there are some advantages.  I do like how you don't have to worry about it while it's cooking. If you leave the meat in the water bath for a little longer, it won't really overcook. It's best for dinner parties where you don't know exactly when the guests you will arrive, but you want the food to be perfectly cooked right after they arrive. Furthermore, unlike poached chicken, all of that chicken-y goodness stays right in the bag. The flavors won't dissolve into the water bath during the cooking process.


Sous Vide Chicken with Pesto
1 boneless chicken breast
salt and pepper
homemade basil pesto

Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper. Seal in a foodsaver bag and cook sous vide at 140 ° F for at least an hour. If using skinless breast, just slice and serve or brown the breast briefly (mostly for color). If there is skin, brown the skin in a hot pan with a little bit of oil for about 1-2 minutes until browned.

Top with homemade pesto and/or serve over pesto pasta.

For more general background of sous-vide as a cooking technique, please refer to this post.

Enjoy!

Related Sous-vide Posts
Bacon Wrapped Scallops - sous vide
Momofuku 48-hour Braised Short Ribs
Duck Leg Confit
Spaghetti Carbonara with Sous Vide Egg
Duck Fat Fried Potatoes
Sous Vide Salmon
Sous Vide Steak

Teranga

Growing up, my exposure to international cuisines was limited, to say the least.

Perhaps it's because I was raised by immigrants, and thus mostly ate Taiwanese food at home. Or, maybe it's because, when our family did eat out, we almost invariably ate mediocre "Chinese" food, pizza, or your typical Midwestern suburban buffet.

I still remember trying my first falafel (from a food truck, no less!) when I arrived in Boston for school. What delicious exotic flavors! Hummus? What a neat concept!  I can still picture my first meal at a Korean restaurant (also around college time). I marveled at all those little freebie appetizers that kept appearing on the table, plate after plate after plate. What treasures! Why don't other cuisines do this?

Over a decade later, the journey still continues.

Imagine my excitement the other day when I found out that Boston opened its first authentic Senegalese restaurant. The food of Senegal is really really interesting. Because of its unique history, Senegalese cuisine incorporates aspects of French, Asian, Arabic, and African cuisine.

Can you even imagine how one lumps all those cuisines together?

Thiébou Djeun (National Dish) -15
Herb-stuffed white fish cooked in tomato stew with broken jasmine rice served with cassava, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, eggplant, and pumpkin

We were so surprised when we got our appetizers and saw things that looked like spring rolls ("nems" pictured at top). Not only did they look like spring rolls, they were filled with rice vermicelli, beef, chicken, carrots, scallions, and dried mushrooms! That sounds almost downright Asian!

Oh . . and you dipped them in Nuoc Mâm! Yes, the Vietnamese sauce!

Why Vietnamese? 
As former French colonies, Vietnam and Senegal actually have several links throughout their history. Senegalese men served in Vietnam as soldiers from France, many of whom married local Vietnamese women. In the 1990's, several groups of Vietnamese people sponsored by the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Program went to Senegal to teach the Senegalese various agricultural practices (such as beekeeping) and food ideas (such as how to make Nuoc Mâm).

Michoui 17
Marinated roasted lamb shank served with a caramelized onion sauce and Moroccan couscous

We really enjoyed all of the appetizers. In fact, they turned out to be our favorite part of the meal. I loved the Croquettes de Poisson (pan fried fish cakes), which were served with this absolutely addictive cilantro garlic sauce. The Accara (black eye pea fried cake) was also really really good.

We tried two really unique sounding drinks. The Bissap juice is sorrell juice (petals of a flower) mixed with pineapple juice. The Bouye juice was made from baobab tree fruit mixed with cream. Both are flavored with orange flower water and vanilla sugar. Though a bit too sweet for my tastes, I think the juices are still really unusual and definitely interesting to try.

Mafé 14
Lamb stew with carrots, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and cabbage in a ground nut sauce and served with jasmine rice

The main entrées were delicious as well. The Michoui lamb shank was fall-off-the-bone tender and worked really well with the caramelized onion sauce. Likewise, we really liked the ground nut sauce in the Mafe (lamb stew).

The only dish we did not like was the national dish, Thiébou Djeun. The waitress had cautioned us that the fish is cooked "really really well" - something not everyone likes. I guess that should have been a warning. The fish definitely was waaay overcooked, although I have a feeling this is the authentic way to prepare this dish. The fish was very tough and dry, and not really fun to eat at all. I would skip this if you like any moisture in your fish. Despite the disappointment with the fish, I really liked the texture of the "broken Jasmine rice" that accompanied the fish.

Thiacry 6
Thin pudding made with couscous, tropical fruits (optional) and raisins in a vanilla-cream sauce

Dessert was the Thiacry, which was like a watery rice pudding made with couscous. To be honest, I thought it was quite average, and I much prefer normal rice pudding. But then again, this is most likely a cultural preference.

Impressions
Overall, it was really really fun and interesting to try such a unique cuisine right here in Boston. The word "teranga" actually means "hospitality" in Wolof (one of their main ethnic languages), and the service at Teranga lives up to that meaning. The staff is super friendly and the ambiance is warm and cozy. It can get quite crowded on weekends, so come on a weeknight if possible.

Some say that Senegalese cuisine is one of the best in Africa, largely because of its diverse influence from different cultures. I thought it was fascinating to see how local African ingredients (like cassava) could co-exist peacefully with seemingly really Asian ingredients (like nuoc mam and rice vermicelli!).

It's a neat (and tasty!) lesson in seeing how geography, history, and migration patterns can have such an effect on food.


Teranga
1746 Washington St.
Boston, MA 02118

Romanesca Cauliflower

Fractal - noun
A complex geometric pattern exhibiting self-similarity in that small details of its structure viewed at any scale repeat elements of the overall pattern

Have you seen this curious looking vegetable? It's sort of a relative of both the broccoli and the cauliflower, though it's quite unique in one very special way.

It's nature's version of a "fractal," a geometric pattern where the buds form logarithmic spirals. More specifically, the entire vegetable is a huge spiral composed of smaller conical buds that are each a mini-spiral.  You end up with this spiralmania where tiny spirals combine to form bigger spiral cones, which combine to form even bigger spiral cones . . . you get the picture?

This differs from a real fractal in that these spirals are finite, limited by physical size.

So what to do with this funny looking mathematical model?

Well, you can slice it in half, for starters.

Don't they resemble little Christmas trees?

So cute!

In many ways, this cruciferous, less-famous cousin of the Broccoli and Cauliflower is quite similar to cauliflower in both texture and flavor. You can use it in any recipe that uses cauliflower, or even broccoli! Just don't overcook it, as it will actually take on quite an unpleasant taste!

Me, I decided to use my favorite cauliflower recipe.

It's simple, delicious, super healthy, and just a slight twist from the daily routine. And who's going to object to a little drizzle of truffle oil on top?

Fun!

P.S. Also known as Romanesca Broccoli, Romanesco Cauliflower, Romanesco Cauliflower, Roman Cauliflower, Summer Cauliflower, Broccoflower, Coral Broccoli

Sadly, these things have a super short season (like Sept-Nov), so they are probably pretty hard to get now. Next year!

The New Gastronomy Fiesta

Fifteen Michelin Stars.

One week.

Together, five of Spain's top chefs from the Basque region (a region known to have among the best food in the world) worked together to create a tasting menu of a lifetime.

How often do you get to sample dishes from five Spanish Michelin-starred chefs in one meal? In one room?

Not only that, they're ALL in the kitchen, cooking for you.

Unreal.



Bryan and I felt like the luckiest kids on the block when we found out we happened to be in Shanghai during the culminating week of the New Gastronomy Fiesta, a seventeen week long celebration of Spanish food sponsored by the Spanish government in conjunction with the World Expo in Shanghai.

Each week, the program highlighted a different region of Spain by bringing in Michelin-starred chefs specializing in those regional cuisines. These chefs created a tasting menu, which was served at a restaurant called Acqua in the Cuban-owned Gran Melia hotel in Pudong (the eastern side of Shanghai).

We went during the week celebrating the food of the Basque Region. This unique region in Spain sits right on the border of France, and thus draws influence from both countries. It's located close to both the mountains and the sea, giving chefs abundant access to some of the freshest seafood, produce, and quality cured meats. It's no surprise that the Basque region holds more Michelin stars than any other region in Spain.

A little background on the chefs, shall we?

In order, from left to right:

Andoni Aduriz, chef of the two-Star Michelin restaurant Mugaritz, experiments with food like he's playing with a chemistry set. He developed the now iconic "potato stones" and "chocolate bubbles." Potato stones look like shiny rocks but taste creamy and soft. Chocolate bubbles burst spontaneously soon after they've been served, delightfully surprisingly the diner.

Pedro Subijana was born in San Sebastian and has been a renowned chef for quite some time. His 3-Star Michelin restaurant, Akelare, also sits atop a mountain overlooking both water and prairies. He has received numerous honors throughout his career for both his food and also his TV programs!

Juan Mari Arzak is chef owner of Arzak and is widely considered one of the masters of New Basque cuisine. His namesake restaurant, Arzak, has 3 Michelin Stars. He's won awards for making Basque cuisine "one of the most innovative of the world."

Martin Berasategui is another innovator when it comes to contemporary Basque cuisine. He also plays around with molecular gastronomy, creating dishes like "cheese and carabaoa oil bubble with endives, red onion juice, and Iberian bacon." Between his restaurants Martin Berasategui, Lasarte, and M.B., he has a total of 6 Michelin Stars.

Eneko Atxa, chef owner of Azurmendi (1 Michelin Star), is one of the youngest and most innovative chefs cooking in the Basque tradition. He has also won numerous prestigious awards, such as "Chef of the Future" by the International Academy of Gastronomy, an award given only to the most promising and innovative chefs.

We had a choice of the "small" tasting or the "large" tasting. Well, the large tasting had more courses to try, so of course we went with that one. :)

Voila . . here's our meal, course by course.

Note - the descriptions of the dishes are taken straight off the menu. They lack the normal finesse you'd see in a menu with food of this caliber. I would just attribute this to poor translation, which is not uncommon in China.

Rice souffle with hake cake, Fish mousse with lotus flower, and Pineapple with red pepper
These were fun little bites, although they didn't blow me away as being super innovative.

Fois triangles with melon

Red shrimp bunch with corn soup
Many of the dishes had slight Asian bents, and we started to wonder whether we were really tasting dishes that were representative of what these chefs would make back in Spain. Perhaps they were trying to cater to the local Chinese palate?

Baby squid soup

Clams with peas in green sauce
This was one of my favorite dishes. I love the "pop" of fresh peas, and in this dish they went really well with the juicy clams and the aromatic clam broth.

Sea bass with leek ash

Beef brochette with oat and Saracen wheat
We were both really impressed with this dish. I was surprised how much I liked "Saracen wheat" (whatever that is). It reminded me of some sort of popped brown rice. It had beautifully toasted and grainy aromas plus a nice crunch that I just loved.

Pork cheek with nuts and dried fruit scent

"Fruit Bubbles"
This dessert was just fun, and I'll bet it was devised by one of the more molecular gastronomy-focused chefs. This special mango-flavored puree bubbled up (most likely due to dry ice / frozen carbon dioxide), adding a unique and dramatic spin to the presentation.

Creamy eggs with cava
Cava is Spanish sparkling white wine, and I found this dish to be really unusual and interesting. I've never had "fizzy" jello before, but the cava "gel" (for lack of a better word) underneath still retained the fizziness of the original drink, which was really interesting. This dish was fun to try, with interesting flavors and textures.

Les Mignardises / Petit Fours and Coffee
Finally, we ended our relaxing and long meal with a few cookies and chocolates plus a nice, strong cup of espresso.

It had been raining all afternoon, so it was actually a perfect day not to be at the World Expo. Instead, we enjoyed a long, lazy 10-course lunch in Shanghai (we had been unable to make any dinner reservations - all sold out for the week!)


Although we enjoyed the meal a lot, in many ways, it seemed like a compromise. Perhaps it's because the five chefs had to somehow work together to make one menu, and thus no one could really be his creative, unleashed self. Or perhaps it's because they didn't have access to their local ingredients. Or perhaps it's because they were trying to cater to local Chinese tastes. Whatever the reason, the meal was interesting and fun, but it did not knock our socks off like other three-Star Michelin meals we've tried.

Nevertheless, trying this meal and reading about the Basque region really really makes me want to visit Spain! The region sounds picturesque and almost romantically unreal. Soaring mountains on one side, the sea on the other, plus the fertile Ebro valley that produces so much good crop - just the ingredients alone probably taste better than what we can get here in the US (and definitely the East Coast!).

Add to that the plethora of excellent chefs that have restaurants in the area, you've got an amazing foodie destination that surely won't disappoint.

I'm glad I got to experience a tiny taste of that in Shanghai. :)

Total cost: 788 RMB + 15% gratuity per person (about $136 USD total each)

This is part 13 of the China Series detailing my recent trip to Beijing, Xian, and Shanghai. 

Other posts in this series: 

part 1: Wander the Streets of Beijing

part 2: Xian'r Lao Man (handmade dumplings)

part 3: Made in China (Peking duck)

part 4: Noodle Bar (hand pulled noodles)

part 5: Bao Yuan Dumpling (handmade dumplings)

part 6: Da Dong (Peking duck)

part 7: Jia Jia Tang Bao (Soup dumplings / xiao long bao)

part 8: Yang's Fry Dumpling (Pan fried steamed buns / shen jian bao)

part 9: Din Tai Fung (dumplings)

part 10: Eating At the World Expo
part 11: Crystal Jade (Dim Sum)
part 12: Jiu Men Xiao Chi {Nine Gates Snack Street} - the Best of Beijing Snack Food

China: Lost in Translation

Happy Birthday Bryan: an Ode to Noodles and Ducks