Bread of the Dead

This is the local pastry of the beautiful town of Bonifacio on Corsica, called, Pain des morts.  Which, when I read about it in the guide book, naturally we had to find some for breakfast.  It’s nice, dense, with raisins and nuts.

Apparently traditionally it was made only on the Feast of the Dead, 2 November.

But now it’s just a Bonifacio thing.

Here, by the way, is a shot of Bonifacio as we sailed past.

And in honor of bread of the dead, here’s a shot of the town cemetery, which is perched way on the outer edge of the cliff and has one of the prettiest views of any necropolis I’ve ever visited.

Sous Vide Pork Chops

I cooked a pork chop in the old immersion circulator for the first time tonight.  Wow.  As good as the chicken was, this was fantastic.

I have been following the ChefSteps sous vide time and temperature guide.  Did this one on the high end of the guide’s scale, and it was great.  Tender, juicy, flavorful (it’s definitely worth it to get high quality pork for this).

I also set up a few extra and threw them in the freezer.  I can totally see this becoming a regular meal for me.

I'm Delicious

At the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual Sakura Matsuri, reminding myself of my love of almost all things Japanese.  I figure it’s close enough to a food photo, it counts.

The Spice Must Flow

The cinnamon shaker at my favorite work-neighborhood coffee place, Birch (on 27th, just west of Madison). 

Just exactly my kind of geeky.  Also, bye the bye, the honey squeeze bottle is labelled “Beyonce.”

Sous Vide Poached Eggs: A Revelation

I made sous vide-style “poached eggs” for the third or fourth time over the weekend and have had a revelation:  eggs this way (which are actually very softly soft boiled) are sort of gross, and definitely not worth the time.

While I'm not a Creationist, eggs seem almost tailor-made by some higher power to be ideal for poaching.  The proteins in the white require a higher temperature to set than the proteins in the yolk, so cooking at a high heat from outside to inside works really well--pay attention to timing, and the egg takes care of itself.

But sous vide-ing them messes with this miracle of food.  Cooking at all one temperature--the right temperature to make a great yolk--ensures that the whites stay liquid and, by my standards, kind of nasty.

I have a buddy who says I'm wrong, that using ChefSteps's exhaustively researched egg calculator will yield the poached perfection I'm missing today. But look at SeriousEats, which I highly respect, but which says the best way to get a sous vide poached egg is to sous vide it, and then poach it. 

Contrast that with Alton Brown’s recipe for perfect poached eggs, which highlights and celebrates the miracle:  foolproof, five minutes, and the eggs are truly perfect (by my definition of perfection), with firm whites and soft gooshy golden yolks.

I guess if I had to make a bunch of poached-style eggs for a recipe, maybe whipping out the immersion circulator would be justified.  But, lesson learned, I’m going to stick to the old-fashioned way if I’m poaching some eggs for a weekend benedict for one.

Oyster Pan Roast from the Oyster Bar

After a long week at work, on a dreary January night, sometimes the best thing you can do is stop in at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central for a decadent Oyster Pan Roast, full of cream and tomato sauce and of course plump, yummy oysters.

I love Grand Central, and I really love the Oyster Bar.  As someone not really well situated in time myself, I love places that have a bit of an other-time-ly feel to them.  Sitting at the Oyster Bar it feels like you could meet Don Draper or Cary Grant, or really anyone from any moment in New York’s 20th century history, just stopping in for a cocktail on the way to a train.

And there’s nothing like a pan roast to fortify you for a long winter’s night.

Tai-yaki Celebration

It would be immensely hard for me to pick a favorite restaurant in this great city, or a favorite recipe that I make.  My tastes ebb and change with the seasons and moods and other factors.

However, if someone asked me to pick a favorite street for food in New York City, that I could do easily.  The stretch of East 9th between 2nd and 3rd has long been home to a vast and diverse array of Japanese eat-and-drink-eries that have a special place in my heart.

Sobaya for noodles, Decibel for sake, Hasaki for sushi, Village Yokocho for izakaya food...all, surprisingly, part of a mini-empire owned by a guy named Bon Yagi, and close to a number of my other favorite Japanese places, and the source of many happy food memories.

Which are now joined by a new one as Otafuku, the venerable, tiny, takoyaki stand on 9th Street has expanded to larger, fancier digs and added taiyaki capabilities as well!

Taiyaki is, like many Japanese things, easy and difficult to explain at the same time.  It’s basically a baked, stuffed waffle or donut, dough cooked around something sweet (bean paste, custard, chocolate...), and shaped like a sea bream, or tai. 

Why a fish?  Well, there’s a homophone in Japanese between “tai” the fish, and “medetai,” which means to celebrate.  And these yummy pastries, which you find in Japan at fairs and what-not, are wonderful--served warm from the taiyaki iron, they always make me happy.  Not that run-of-the-mill non-fish-shaped donuts don’t make me happy, but the fish-ness of them is an added bonus.

So, anyway, I was in the neighborhood today and I finally stopped by and got myself a taiyaki as a treat.  And instantly I was a junior in college again, in Kyoto for my year abroad, and every day full of new things to explore and experience.  Not all of them as sweet as taiyaki, but still.  A memory worth celebrating.