The Difficulty of Translating Japanese Food for Americans

So, I’m sitting here at the CIA Greystone after 2 days of their Worlds of Flavor conference on Japanese food, and I’m puzzled by what the takeaway will be for most people in the audience. Certainly, Japan is an inspiration for chefs around the world. This is as true today as it was in the 1960s, when the Japanese approach to dining inspired the Nouvelle Cuisine in France. Every time I hear of an innovation from the wildly creative Spanish chefs or the impressively local Nordic chefs, I can’t help but think, “Yeah, that’s interesting, but have you been to Japan?”

Still, I wonder if it wouldn’t be more useful for the evolution of American food culture if this were a conference about Japanese eating, rather than Japanese cooking, and if accordingly, the room were full of diners instead of cooks. I can’t help but think that it is American diners who need to learn how to eat, rather than American chefs who need to learn how to cook. Our chefs have proven time and again they are as good as the best in the world.

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We have seen some of the most respected Japanese chefs demonstrating the extreme attention to detail and pursuit of simplicity that are the hallmarks of Japanese cuisine. (Sometimes their demeanor and the simultaneously translation makes it feel like I’m in the middle of a Japanese episode of Iron Chef.) This morning I watched famed chef Kunio Tokuoka of Kyoto’s Michelin 3-star Kitcho salt chicken wings to remove their aku or “impurities” before

Where Has the Time Gone?

This isn't me, but it's how I've been feeling lately when I look at my email inbox.

Okay, so I’m a lousy blogger. It’s not for lack of wanting to comment on things I see and taste, or because I don’t want to keep people up to date on the goings on in the food world and in other worlds and in my underslept, overfed mind. It’s just that life has gotten away from me. A summer of travel (to Japan, to Vermont, to Toronto, well, Orangeville really, to Maine, to Copenhagen, to San Francisco) has made me fall behind on work and emails and all sorts of planning and projects. If I owe you an answer to something, please don’t take it personally. I’m working my way through the back log.

I had built a week into my flight schedules in August to catch up, and then I got called to be a judge on a new series on Food Network that took up a good 20 hours of each day for about a week, and then I was off to Maine from the show’s set. I would tell you all about my fascinating and exciting entry into the world of reality food television, but according to a nondisclosure agreement I signed, that would set me back a fine of $100,000. And believe me, it isn’t that interesting. You’ll have to wait to see for yourself when it airs next May. Divulging the details of a guest spot I taped on a special that will air around Thanksgiving could cost me $1,000,000, so you won’t be hearing about that either (but you won’t have to wait as long to see it). These TV people take their secrecy very seriously.

Anyway, one project I was working on that I can share is a review of The Foie Gras Wars by Mark Caro that I wrote for Gastronomica. Although the book came out last year and I think I wrote the review at least a year ago, it’s in the current issue. Its timing couldn’t be better because I am busy making travel plans with friends for a week at a stunningly beautiful, historic house in France we are renting over the Thanksgiving holiday. It’s in the Dordogne, sometimes called Périgord Nord, but known more widely as “foie gras country.” By November it will also be “truffle country,” and when those two countries come together, you know there is going to be one delicious feast. Okay, so we’ll be the sort of Pilgrims who will be eating duck instead of turkey, but we will certainly all be thankful.

I can also tell you about a few things I am doing that you can actually come to see and/or participate in. On September 23,

Why I Haven’t Written Lately, With a Recipe for James Beard’s Salade Orientale

So, it turns out that updating a blog regularly is like a full-time job. And considering how my full-time job has turned into two or three full-time jobs at the moment, the blog has fallen aside. Here’s just one thing I’ve been up to lately, extolling the culinary virtues of James Beard and his cookbooks. You might say that I’ve been impersonating James Beard. No, that’s not quite right. But I did film this segment of the new Cooking Channel‘s new series Food(ography). Hosted by none other than Mo Rocca, the topic of this episode was American cookbooks. And I was asked both to cook a recipe of Beard’s (I chose Salade Oriental from Beard on Food) and to discuss Beard’s significance in the context of other American cookbooks and food. Watch it now.

Here’s the recipe, verbatim, from Beard on Food:

“Salade Orientale is not just a salad but an elaborate one-dish meal. To serve eight, cook 1 1/2 to 2 cups rice until bitingly tender (not mushy). Drain and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss gently with 2 to 3 tablespoons oil, using two forks. Leave to cool. Meanwhile, cut 1 1/2 cups cooked shrimp into smallish pieces, leaving a few whole ones for garnish Combine with 1 cup crabmeat and, if you like, 1/2 to 1 cup mussels, which have been steamed with white wine and water (or used the canned mussels from France or Scandinavia). For an alternate seafood mixture, you might have bite-sized chunks of cooked lobster or lobster tails or raw bay scallops with either shrimp or mussels. To either seafood mixture add 1/2 cup finely cut celery, 1/2 cup finely chopped green or red onion, and 1/2 up peeled, seeded, and finely diced cucumber. Toss with the rice and a vinaigrette sauce made with 4 parts olive oil to 1 part wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon, 1 tablespoon prepared mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with the whole shrimp, and serve on greens. “

Click here to order your copy of Beard’s personal, eccentric exploration of food.

Taste Tidbits: In Pursuit of more, More, MORE Flavor, and the Question of Complexity

My interview with Wall Street Journal reporter Miriam Gottfried for her article about our relentless pursuit for increasingly intense flavors and the way they might be changing our palates really got me thinking about taste. I’m pretty much always thinking about taste these days, as I move closer to writing the first book I think will emerge from my dissertation on restaurant reviewing, which I intend to call “A Short Treatise on Taste.”

As the James Beard Foundation moves into the realm of sustainability and public health by launching a national dialogue on how the restaurant industry can participate in the growing global movement, I find the actual taste of food is often neglected in meetings about how to address these issues. That’s what I believe the Beard Foundation and the chefs who support us have to contribute to the conversation. In fact, it has become my personal mission to insert taste into the dialogue about sustainability and public health. It isn’t enough to just make fruits and vegetables available to school children and affordable for others. You have to make them taste good or people aren’t going to eat them. I

Looks Good Enough To Eat: Chinese Roast Duck

Looks Good Enough To Eat: Chinese Roast Duck

Originally uploaded by Kitchen Sense

This beautiful bird was purchased at the Union Square Greenmarket from Fazio Farm (new on Fridays). It came complete with head and feet, just in case you weren’t sure its. (Nate threatened not to come home.) To cook it I marinated it for a day in my roast Chinese pork marinade (see Kitchen Sense), then scored the skin and roasted it for about an hour at 400°F. It was on the rare side of medium rare, so
after cutting it up Chinese style—with a cleaver through the bones—I stir fried the pieces for a few minutes in a hot wok to crisp the skin and cook the meat through. Served with stir-fried sugarsnap peas with garlic scapes and stir-fried purple asparagus (turns green when cooked) with spring onions. Plenty of steamed jasmine rice, too. Yum.

Why Didn’t I Think of this Sooner? My Own Office Fridge

My new fridge in its new home, my office.

Two days ago I had a brainstorm while trying to figure out the logistics of buying fish at the Union Square Greenmaket in the morning on my way to work and keeping it chilled through the evening when I got home from my tai chi class around 9:15 pm. I realized I could buy my own fridge for my office exclusively for the purpose of preserving my greenmarket purchases.

My own fridge would alleviate the guilt I felt for occupying precious, chilly real estate with my egg cartons and yogurt quarts in our tiny office fridge, which is intended for everyone else’s lunch. Besides, the constant opening and closing of the office-fridge door isn’t what the fish doctor ordered.

So, early yesterday morning, unable to sleep for a whir of work details racing through my mind, I logged on to amazon.com and ordered the lovely little 2.7 cubic foot, black Haier fridge pictured above. It was on sale for $93, a small price to pay to preserve what will certainly be my near daily $50-plus greenmarket purchases now that the harvest has begun. Too cheap to rush it, though, I chose free super saver shipping from amazon. The fridge arrived today. And doesn’t it look like it was meant to be, nestled there between my lateral file cabinet and my shredder? If only I knew to expect it so soon, I wouldn’t have had to run home from the market this morning to put my Fazio Farm duck in the fridge before I went to work. I can’t wait to fill it up first thing Monday morning!

Food for Thought: Two Restaurant Trends that Intrigue Me

Dinner last night at the Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare Kitchen and tonight at ABC Kitchen underscored two (unrelated) trends in restaurants that intrigue me lately—besides using the word “kitchen” in the name. The first is actually a combination of two trends we’ve seen before, the Benihana chef show that debuted in the 1960s and the chef’s table that became popular in restaurant kitchens in the 1990s. Let’s call this trend “Chef Front and Center.” The second trend is also something old that’s new again. It’s the return of the piece of pie or cake for dessert. I’ll explain.

Chef Front and Center

The dinner setting at Brooklyn Fare Kitchen.

One of the things that struck me on my first visit to Japan about 10 years ago was the way the Japanese molded other cuisines into their own dining format. I ate in an English style steakhouse and a Mexican restaurant that were both set up as a sushi bar would be, with the chef preparing the food to order in front of guests who were sitting at a bar watching. The chefs also served the guests.

Master sushi chef Jiro, outside his restaurant in Ginza.

I remember thinking then that if I had to weigh the value of paying $500 for a meal which the chef actually served me from his or her own hands, or $500 for a meal in a large restaurant where the chef was four or five layers of service hierarchy away from me, the former would win. At arguably the best sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Sukiyabashi Jiro in Ginza, the master literally fed me from his own hands.

Of course Benihana wasn’t exactly Jiro,

What’s for Dinner? Curried Pink-Eyed Pea Kati Rolls

Back in March, when Nate and I unexpectedly (and delightedly) hosted an Indian street foods cooking class in our apartment taught by Geetika Khanna, one of the marvels she revealed was the technique of making kati rolls. Originating in Calcutta, the kati roll is a sort of Indian burrito with egg and other fixin’s. The magic occurs when the roti, chapati, or paratha (you can use a flour tortilla, too) adheres perfectly to the egg frying in the pan and, voilà, makes for a delicious and nutritious wrap for whatever you have on hand.

Having just returned from Alabama yesterday with a bag full of fresh Alabama peas and beans (from Andy’s Farm Market and Landscaping Center), I set out for my first solo kati roll attempt. I shucked and stewed the fresh pink-eyed peas with onion, garlic, tomato, and a selection of Indian spices (toasted cumin, coriander, ginger, cinnamon, cayenne, asofetida, and turmeric). Tender and sweet, the peas were done after less than 15 minutes of simmering. I made a quick Indian “salsa” with tomato, spring onion, nigella seeds, amchur powder, oil, and vinegar. And I heated up some leftover mujedrah for bulk. The fillings ready to go, it was time for the magic.

Kati (un)roll(ed), in order of layers: roti, fried egg, mujedrah, curried pink-eyed peas, tomato salsa, cilantro.

To make the kati roll wrap,

Recipe Box: Mujedrah—Instant, Universal Comfort Food

Isn’t it funny how sometimes you encounter a food that is so darn yummy and satisfying that it becomes an instant comfort food, even if you’ve never tasted it before. I felt this way the first time I tried Indian poha, for example, a fluffy, mashed-potato-like starch dish made from dried, pounded rice that’s rehydrated and sautéed with spices. One bite and I knew I could eat it every day, even for breakfast.

Mujedrah (aka mujadara) is another candidate for an instant, universal, comfort dish. Made from rice, lentils, and caramelized onions, it’s a specialty of Lebanese cuisine, where it’s usually served with yogurt. This recipe is adapted from my dear Lebanese Kiwi friend Dorita Hannah. When her mother found out she shared the family recipe with me, her mother was embarrassed because, apparently, it was an easy, everyday, ersatz way of making mujedrah. Of course, that’s one of the reasons I loved it! The recipe was delicious and easy.

Lentils, rice, and caramelized onions: Lebanese comfort food.

I try not to make this mujedrah too often because I can eat the entire batch, which really serves 8 to 10 people. It’s too good to resist. Mujedrah is perfect as a side dish with roasted lamb or chicken. Sometimes I even serve it as a vegetarian main course. I find the best rice for it to be basmati, the best lentils, green or brown. You can serve it warm or at room temperature (which makes it great for a buffet or pot luck).

The Hannah Family’s Easy Mujedrah
Makes 7 to 8 cups, 8 servings

Recipe Box: Spaghetti alla Carbonara

Although this dish on mediterrasiancooking.com might be tasty, it has nothing to do with the Italian technique of risotto. It looks like pilaf.

There are a few Italian dishes that are so simple but that require such attention and care that they are only at their best when they are made at home or in the fanciest, most expensive restaurants. Risotto is one of them. In order to make a perfect risotto, you really need to start it 20 minutes before you intend to serve it. Although you don’t have to stir it constantly, you do have to stir it often. You also have to dedicate an entire burner to the process. Then you have to eat it almost immediately. Most restaurant can’t afford to produce and serve a dish in this manner. And if they do, they have to charge a fortune for it. You are better off making risotto at home.

Spaghetti alla carbonara is another dish that’s usually better in the hands of an experienced home cook. Though simple, the temperatures have to be just right: too cool and the eggs will be runny, too hot and they will curdle. Like risotto, carbonara also has to be eaten as soon as it is ready. If it sits, it clumps; if it’s reheated, the eggs scramble. What’s more, most restaurants doctor the recipe with cream or cream sauce, both aberrations of the original Roman speciality.

Guanciale is cured, seasoned, and air-dried pig's jowl. Traditionally, it is not smoked. Photo by Kyle Phillips.

In addition to only using eggs too make a true carbonara, you should also use guanciale, or cured pork jowl, a Roman specialty. Guanciale is becoming more common as the charcuterie craze takes hold across America, but often guanciale made outside Italy is cured and smoked. It is not traditionally smoked. If you can’t find true guanciale, pancetta or unsmoked country bacon are my preference. And then, when all else fails, just use your favorite smoked bacon, which, it should be noted, makes a mighty delicious carbonara. no matter how inauthentic.

What follows is my favorite recipe at the moment for spaghetti alla carbonara