For I have Slacked. It has been 18 days since my last blog post...
1) I hope that's not too sacrilegious to anyone out there...
2) I don't have any fans, so I'm thinking it's OK...
So, in typical Ash OCD fashion, I can't wrap my head around the idea of a quick, in-and-out blog post. I feel like my ideas have to be thought (thawed?) out, developed, and explored deeply. But, that results in me just simply not having the time to blog at all and thus, getting anxious and depressed that I haven't been blogging and then "what's the point of this damn blog anyway?"
Plus, I've even gotten feedback from some folks that my blog postings are too long... So, I am going to try and go against the current of my OCD-ridden instincts and try to blog shorter posts, more often... We'll see how that goes.
I have also gotten feedback that I need photos on my blog... and videos! (People probably say that because I am in the video industry.) OK people! I'm just getting into this blogging thing- jeez- cut me some slack for awhile until I get my up-and-running groove down!
So, let me go back a bit and tell you about the Bacon, Beer, and Cheese pairing class I did at Astor Center on July 9th. Unlike my last experience with an Astor Center class, I'd have to say: this one was disappointing...
Here's why:
The class was taught by Josh Ozersky (Grub Street!) and Mary Izett (NYCDAT). Chris Cuzme- another NYCDAT person- was supposed to be there also but failed to show. So, being an avid reader of Grub Street and being aware of "Meat Me in Manhattan" and his burger book, I know "Mr. Cutlets'" as a real, live New Yorker who's "in the know" about food, and especially, about meat. I was excited to put a face to a name, but more importantly, to hear him talk about bacon while sampling some of his favorite slabs.
Granted, I should have been aware of the possibility that, with a class which involves three such gluttonous and cult-following tastes, the class would become more of a novelty and attract the "what could be better than eating bacon and drinking beer" crowd. (FYI- there WAS someone in the crowd that, when Mary mentioned that hops were related to cannabis, asked "Can you make weed beer?" Only to be followed by chuckles from his friends- don't think there were any high fives in there- but there might have been.)
So... the bacon:
Well first of all, Cutlets didn't really tell us anything about bacon. He would commonly say things like, "I could give you all the details of this bacon, but I'm sure you guys just want me to shut up so you can eat your bacon." Since when can our mouths not chew when our ears are listening? No, Grub Street! We are here to hear about bacon from you! Tell us the stories! Give us the grub! Tell more than we wanna hear! We paid $65 for this class!
Perhaps he sensed a vibe in the room that that people were in it for the novelty of it. But I felt kinda like all his incredible meat-related credentials were for naught. He coulda been anyone up there distributing meat.
One thing I want to impart on speakers at Astor Center: People, or at least some people, do wanna hear. If we wanna eat a bunch of bacon, we can go out and buy bacon and save ourselves some of the $65 and two-hours that we spent on the class. I mean, if I were an editor of Grub Street, you can be damn sure that I'd flaunt my food knowledge all over damn town- whether I think people wanna hear it or not.
The other thing about the bacon portion was this: We tried six bacons. And the first one was Oscar Meyer. Now I'm all for comparison and such but, if you're taking a class on bacon, chances are you've tried Oscar Meyer. I did appreciate, however, the fact that he didn't bash it and gave it its due place as the best bacon to put on a bacon cheeseburger. "The reassuring taste of childhood."
But, coming to a class on bacon, I wanted to try artisinal bacons. Bacons I hadn't had before. Bacons that were special and rare and "wow!" But three out of the six bacons were supermarket bacons. Nothing special. Even Cutlets himself said they were nothing special. So, we got three special bacons and three unspecial bacons. Maybe the class shoulda cost $32.50...
My favorite bacon that we tried was the Benton's Smoky Country Hams Hickory Bacon. This bacon was damn good. Josh called it "the bacon that conquered Manhattan" because Tom Colicchio and David Chang were once driving around Madisonville, Tennessee and found this bacon and loved it and brought it back. Momofuku uses this bacon. I learned that they use old time, traditional techniques to make this bacon. Pork preserves really well : i.e. people used to just eat pigs - cows are relatively new in the eating world. So people would eat ham and bacon all year long. Take a pork belly, salt it and sugar it, and let it sit there for a long time. That's what we call an ambient cure- it gets infused with the flavor and smell of everything around it- no temperature controls, no special pig. Smoking came later (as we know with fish!) "Andrew Jackson would like this bacon." This was good bacon- airy, smoky, thick, salty, and fatty.
Check out these meat markets:
Jubilat- 17th and 5th- Bklyn; Eagle- Windsor Terrace, Bklyn; M&I Market- Brighton Beach; Munchen- Ridgewood, Queens; Black Bull- Astoria; Calabria- Bronx; Esposito- Bleeker
I also learned that, according to Mr. Meats, the best way to cook bacon is in a sheet pan in the oven on 375. Pots don't work cause they're round. Pans are even cook. That makes sense.
Onto the Beer:
So, Mary knew what she was talking about. She knew a damn lot about beer. She spoke of the brewing process and handed some hops and barley around. And we sampled some beers; the best being the Ommegang Rare Vos Amber Ale. And she told us her favorite places to get beer in the city. This is the part where I learned about Jimmy's 43... These were her picks:
Whole Foods Bowery; Jimmy's 43; American Beer; Bierkraft; Eagle; Greenpoint Beerworks
But the confusing part came when she double-dutied as the cheese sommelier... (?)
She really didn't seem to know much about cheese. She kept referring to a class she took on cheese and she had this kind of sad- but good intentioned- slide show about her cheese-making class. It would be like me being hired as the bread baking expert because I have taken a bread baking class. I think that if you are going to offer a class about Bacon, Beer, and Cheese, you really ought to have an expert in all three areas. Don't double-duty. I thought maybe Chris Cuzme who had cancelled that day was perhaps the cheese guy. But, no- he was another beer guy. I didn't think the cheeses were anything special. My favorite was the Jasper Hill Farm Constant Bliss- really creamy. And we only tried five cheeses. What happened to that damn sixth cheese? We got six beers and six bacons... Plus, all the cheese came from Saxelby's.
The class ended with some tasty dark and milk chocolate pig candies from Ronnie Sue Chocolates in the Essex Street Market. YUM. (I typically prefer dark chocolate, but the milk chocolate of these were killer.)
A few other notes about the class:
1) Speakers were not wearing microphones. It was so hard to hear what they were saying. Especially if you are in the back of the room or off to a side. I think everyone should be miked.
2) The "follow along and write notes" tasting menu they gave us was not in the order that we tried everything. Therefore, the cheeses on our plates were all arranged in the incorrect order. This made it really confusing to follow along.
So, alas- the class was more of a novelty. But, I will go back to Astor Center. I love what they're doing and I whole-heartedly support them.
Hmm... I guess my short blog experiment didn't go exactly according to plan...
Friday, July 18, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A Love For All Things Food and Drink
A few ideas on:
Meatpaper: I love that 'zine and feel like it's still early enough in its publication that maybe I could pitch a few ideas to those girls. I have actually had dreams of meating them (get it?) on the street and spewing off any number of meat-related article ideas to them. I am a die-hard meat eater. I love all things meat and almost always order my various meat dishes rare- "bloody," in fact. I also, however, am an animal-cruelty activist and have never been able to justify these two aspects of my personality. I tend to be an argumentative person (in a good, constructive, intellectual way) but have never been able to argue myself out of this conflict of interest. It intrigues me and I have even read philosophy books to try and find some way to justify my actions, but haven't found any resolution. I tried to cut the "less justifiable" things from my diet: foie gras; all things baby (lamb, veal); anything endangered; anything that is caught/farmed in ways that hurt marine life or the environment such as trawled rockfish or farmed salmon. But, I couldn't do it. Plain and simple. Lamb tastes too good. I've heard you should be able to kill anything that you eat. I don't believe that. But I do believe that there is this inherent struggle that people other than me find with being at the top of the food chain. An interesting topic, to me. And another idea for me to pitch to the Meat chicks (I keep making puns.)
CSAs: I LOVE the idea of them. I would feel cool as hell being "part" of a real, working farm. And I think that's part of the reason that the idea of it appeals to New Yorkers. We are starved for green and land and the idea of farming is so out of our everyday life that it's cool. We use our fire-escapes as lame-ass gardens with potted plants and buy hibachi grills for out there to feel like we aren't in the city. However, as far as we are from "the farm," we have more access to it than most people who live closer to the farm. In my neighborhood alone, I can go to three greenmarkets per week. So, I don't think that I would ever sign up for a CSA.
Home brewing: I just got back from Eugene, Oregon. Wild place- the home of the home brew, it seems. Everyone there brews his own beer. And what a difference. They serve it in small glasses, and it reminds you that you want to sip this beer. Not guzzle it down. Funny that I think I'm going right to the source when I bring my growler to Whole Foods :)
Burrata: As much as I LOVE Cacio e Pepe, I have to say, their burrata ain't nothing compared to that of DiPaolo's.
Cooking classes: I have never liked cooking classes. What can you learn about cooking in a few hours? I have taken many and always felt like they were a waste of time and money. The ones I felt were the most beneficial were the very, very specific classes- and even these, were a series of classes. I took a class series of seven classes on baking sourdough breads. So, not only was this 28 hours of class, but it was all about bread. And not only was it all about bread, it was all about sourdough bread. And I still left there feeling like, "Damn- I thought I'd know a whole lot more about sourdough bread after these classes were over." I think doing a generic class like, "The Essentials of Cooking" is silly. It's too broad. What knowledge do you come away with? I think these classes appeal to more of the young-couple-who-just-moved-in-together-and-think-it-might-be-cute-to-take-a-cooking-class-together crowd. It's mainstream and accessible and easily marketable. But, if I were a cooking classes, I'd stay away from that crowd and cater to people who have a deeper love and respect for the industry. And I know I'd have a bottom-line you need to think about, but I think there are ways to do that with cooking classes that don't water it down too much. Make them more targeted or offer a series of classes so that the take away is valuable. Do things around holidays: Have someone from Veniero's come before Easter and show how to make that kick-ass ricotta-cheesecake; do a class on how to assemble the perfect cheese plate with someone from Murray's; do an entire class on pulled pork. Or the other key may just be a different spin on the class- incorporating a little cooking into a food theory class. Have a class about The Cuisine of Morocco, which incorporates a few simple Moroccan recipes in there but is more of a history and educational class on the spices and the regional cuisine, traditions, cookware etc. Things like that.
The modern culinary world: The culinary world right now is exploding. Everyone and their mother has a food blog. The term "foodie" (which I despise!) is used about as often as the word "food." The Food Network, Iron Chef, Top Chef, Kitchen Nightmares, and the likes are some of the most popular things to watch on TV; it's no longer people in "the industry" that know who Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, David Chang, and Wylie Dufresne are; the James Beard Awards are a coveted ticket; and half the books on the display tables at Barnes and Noble are food-related. Thus, anything in the "food-industry" is not a hard sell in this day and age. If people know about it, they will come. So, it's just getting people to know.
Urban chicken raising: I dig it! (Although illegal in Manhattan...)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/dining/19yard.html?ex=1347940800&en=f845e9a338a72fb7&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Ash
Meatpaper: I love that 'zine and feel like it's still early enough in its publication that maybe I could pitch a few ideas to those girls. I have actually had dreams of meating them (get it?) on the street and spewing off any number of meat-related article ideas to them. I am a die-hard meat eater. I love all things meat and almost always order my various meat dishes rare- "bloody," in fact. I also, however, am an animal-cruelty activist and have never been able to justify these two aspects of my personality. I tend to be an argumentative person (in a good, constructive, intellectual way) but have never been able to argue myself out of this conflict of interest. It intrigues me and I have even read philosophy books to try and find some way to justify my actions, but haven't found any resolution. I tried to cut the "less justifiable" things from my diet: foie gras; all things baby (lamb, veal); anything endangered; anything that is caught/farmed in ways that hurt marine life or the environment such as trawled rockfish or farmed salmon. But, I couldn't do it. Plain and simple. Lamb tastes too good. I've heard you should be able to kill anything that you eat. I don't believe that. But I do believe that there is this inherent struggle that people other than me find with being at the top of the food chain. An interesting topic, to me. And another idea for me to pitch to the Meat chicks (I keep making puns.)
CSAs: I LOVE the idea of them. I would feel cool as hell being "part" of a real, working farm. And I think that's part of the reason that the idea of it appeals to New Yorkers. We are starved for green and land and the idea of farming is so out of our everyday life that it's cool. We use our fire-escapes as lame-ass gardens with potted plants and buy hibachi grills for out there to feel like we aren't in the city. However, as far as we are from "the farm," we have more access to it than most people who live closer to the farm. In my neighborhood alone, I can go to three greenmarkets per week. So, I don't think that I would ever sign up for a CSA.
Home brewing: I just got back from Eugene, Oregon. Wild place- the home of the home brew, it seems. Everyone there brews his own beer. And what a difference. They serve it in small glasses, and it reminds you that you want to sip this beer. Not guzzle it down. Funny that I think I'm going right to the source when I bring my growler to Whole Foods :)
Burrata: As much as I LOVE Cacio e Pepe, I have to say, their burrata ain't nothing compared to that of DiPaolo's.
Cooking classes: I have never liked cooking classes. What can you learn about cooking in a few hours? I have taken many and always felt like they were a waste of time and money. The ones I felt were the most beneficial were the very, very specific classes- and even these, were a series of classes. I took a class series of seven classes on baking sourdough breads. So, not only was this 28 hours of class, but it was all about bread. And not only was it all about bread, it was all about sourdough bread. And I still left there feeling like, "Damn- I thought I'd know a whole lot more about sourdough bread after these classes were over." I think doing a generic class like, "The Essentials of Cooking" is silly. It's too broad. What knowledge do you come away with? I think these classes appeal to more of the young-couple-who-just-moved-in-together-and-think-it-might-be-cute-to-take-a-cooking-class-together crowd. It's mainstream and accessible and easily marketable. But, if I were a cooking classes, I'd stay away from that crowd and cater to people who have a deeper love and respect for the industry. And I know I'd have a bottom-line you need to think about, but I think there are ways to do that with cooking classes that don't water it down too much. Make them more targeted or offer a series of classes so that the take away is valuable. Do things around holidays: Have someone from Veniero's come before Easter and show how to make that kick-ass ricotta-cheesecake; do a class on how to assemble the perfect cheese plate with someone from Murray's; do an entire class on pulled pork. Or the other key may just be a different spin on the class- incorporating a little cooking into a food theory class. Have a class about The Cuisine of Morocco, which incorporates a few simple Moroccan recipes in there but is more of a history and educational class on the spices and the regional cuisine, traditions, cookware etc. Things like that.
The modern culinary world: The culinary world right now is exploding. Everyone and their mother has a food blog. The term "foodie" (which I despise!) is used about as often as the word "food." The Food Network, Iron Chef, Top Chef, Kitchen Nightmares, and the likes are some of the most popular things to watch on TV; it's no longer people in "the industry" that know who Mario Batali, Anthony Bourdain, David Chang, and Wylie Dufresne are; the James Beard Awards are a coveted ticket; and half the books on the display tables at Barnes and Noble are food-related. Thus, anything in the "food-industry" is not a hard sell in this day and age. If people know about it, they will come. So, it's just getting people to know.
Urban chicken raising: I dig it! (Although illegal in Manhattan...)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/dining/19yard.html?ex=1347940800&en=f845e9a338a72fb7&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Ash
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