China’s Hunan province is renowned for its fiery cuisine, so much so that’s there’s even a classic folk song “La Mei Zi,” or “spicy girl,”from the region. A savvy C+M reader tipped me off to this rousing video by superstar Chinese soprano Song Zuying. Much as I enjoy hearing her sing the title refrain I am even more amused by the proliferation of hot peppers and the reckless abandon with which they are handled. There’s enough chili peppers in this video to keep the Sriracha plant in business for a year.
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The block of 49th Street that houses Brian Donaldson’s Native Roasters is in the 11103 ZIP code,which covers three neighborhoods Astoria, Long Island City, and Woodside. Between different delivery protocols for the USPS,UPS, and FedEx that can be somewhat of a logistical nightmare he says. Perhaps the fact that his eight-month old small batch coffee roaster exists at the nexus of three neighborhoods explains why this video is part love letter to Queens, and part love letter to coffee. With its jazzy sound track, I know it perked me up. (more…)
Rap has made it all around the world my friend Damianos said marveling at the Tibetan hiphop that played in the background as we munched on momos and laphing at Himalaya Kitchen. “There’s this Greek dude, So Tiri, who raps about food,” he said describing a video about feta and a visit to Titan Foods in Astoria. And to think I thought Action Bronson was the only Queens-based food rapper. I tracked down the song “Feta Kai Psomi,”whose title translates to feta with bread and had a good laugh. I also found out So Tiri is actually a Bronx boy. Nevertheless, he’s Greek through and through and has written a love song to his favorite cheese, or so I learned after reading the English lyrics. “I drink the broth from the pail with fish roe salad for a snack,” the Greek parody rapper sings as a profession of his affection for the salty cheese. Oh, and, in case you were wondering, that’s not a dog he’s walking in the video, it’s a goat.
As I wrote earlier this week the ginormous Pumas from Corona’s Tortas Neza, is one of my favorite sandwiches in Queens. It’s named for the truck’s owner’s favorite soccer team. The truck offers many other slightly less titanic sandwiches, each named for a Mexican soccer team. About a month ago some pals and I met up with James Boo to help him produce the above video love letter “to the moment of celebration when your oversized, painstakingly assembled sandwich hits the counter, informing you that those dinner plans will have to be postponed.” Tortas Neza is also one of the many food trucks and vendors that will be at the upcoming Viva La Comida! festival in Jackson Heights.
Last winter I took Andrew Zimmern on a tour around the world from Tibet to Liberia with intermediate stops in Ecuador, Nepa, and Pakistan all, without ever leavings Queens. I had a blast and the crew were super-cool to work with. There was only one thing Andrew didn’t like, butter tea. “It’s good during winter,” I said as I sipped a cup. I believe his response was something like, “Nope, this is never good.”
There’s one dish we pretty much had the same visceral reaction to and that’s the pepper crab and shrimp combo ($20) at Maima’s Liberian Bistro. The scene of us eating it didn’t make the Queens episode of Bizarre Foods America, which aired last night. I am especially proud of my tour de force reaction to this dish’s blistering heat level at 1:00.
“My lips, my fingers, my tongue, my gums are kind of on fire,” Zimmern said. “This is the hottest thing I’ve eaten all week. You don’t want to bring people here who are afraid to eat. I can tell you that.” Amen to that brother.
In the United States special offers and seasonal items at McDonald’s are limited to bizarre items like Shamrock Shakes and the dreaded McRib. Sure there have been new burgers, notably the McDLT, which I happened to like. Around the world, though the special offers are quite special indeed. And the commercials, as you’ll see below, are hilarious.
1. In India, the McAloo Tiki is presented as a panacea.
It’s like a reversal of Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me. After a visit with the doctor our bespectacled hero is prescribed the fast-food cure. He enters McDonald’s sweating and swooning. After a few bites he gamely declares, “I’m loving it.”
2. I have no idea what’s in the McBangkok.
I do know that in Indonesia it’s penawaran terbatas,or a limited time offer. It looks way cooler than the McRib. Nobody ever rode an elephant to Mickey D’s to get a preformed ersatz pork rib sandwich.
3. Just for kicks here’s a recent Big Mac commercial from China.
It features various bright, shiny young businessmen going decisively about their day all set to dynamic music. The tagline: “100% man, 100% pure beef, Big Mac.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel especially manly after eating a Big Mac, I usually feel ripped off and kind of sick.
The first time I tried the Andean delicacy cuy was in a Peruvian joint in the Bronx called Chim Pum Callao. The owners were clearly proud of their product. They had the waiter show us the guinea pig—frozen, butterflied, and flat as a board—in a package emblazoned with the Peruvian flag. What came out of the kitchen was nothing to be proud of though. Little had been done to the critter other than deep frying. What meat there was dry, stringy, and devoid of flavor. Eventually I tried it roasted on a rotisserie at El Pequeño Coffee Shop in Jackson Heights. It was pretty good, almost like a cross between pork and rabbit.
Years later I would see little old Ecuadorean ladies in Flushing-Meadows Corona Park slow spit roasting cuy over charcoal fires. It looked absolutely delicious, like a miniature suckling pig. Once while walking home through the park I encountered a New York Times reporter who did a video interview with me about the delicacy. So when Nathan Vickers, a student at Columbia Journalism School, contacted me to talk cuy and then invited me to eat roast guinea pig at the home of an Ecuadorean family in Corona I jumped at the chance. We hung out with the family and listened to tales of guinea pig smuggling while they slowly roasted the cuy. It had spent the better part of a day in a garlicky marinade so the aroma coming off it as it cooked was incredible. And the end result was truly delicious. It’s experiences like that day that make me glad to live in Queens, one of the most culturally diverse places on the planet.
My first experience with Marmite, the viscous pitch-black spread made from spent brewer’s yeast was in a sandwich at M. Wells Diner. The British spread was slathered on a demi-baguette, along with some butter. Topped with thinly sliced cucumber, it was really quite nice in an umami bomb sort of way. Then again I used to chew Herb-Ox bouillon cubes as a kid. Many Brits are quite found of the spread and many are not as you can see in the above commercial.
In case you are wondering whether large jungle cats are fond of the stuff you will be glad to know that you needn’t undertake this dangerous taste test at your local zoo. Big Cat Rescue has done it for you. The video begins with a disclaimer “Small amounts were given to the cats, Marmite is not used for regular enrichment.” Here’s what I’d like to know: Do you love Marmite or hate it? Tell me in the comments or hit me on the Twitter, @JoeDiStefano.
As far as I’m concerned all gastronomy is molecular, and has been since the first caveman stuck the first piece of wooly mammoth meat in a fire. I’m willing to bet that Julia Child, the face of French cuisine in America for many years, had never heard the words “molecular gastronomy.” Yet here she practicing a very particular very molecular form of gastronomy to great effect for a PBS show, “The Ring of Truth: Atoms.” Mme. Child describes it as “a very special meal. And without giving too much away, it is really a rather unique meal. Child transforms the ingredients with great artistry. All this without spherification or meat glue.
Last week I received quite an honor, a recognition of my work if you will. Alas, it was not a James Beard Award. Nor was it another television appearance, although I do have one coming up February 27 at 9 p.m. on the Travel Channel. No, this was a far greater mark of prestige than any medal or TV spot. The TripeMarketingBoard (@TripeUK) followed me on Twitter in response to a post about the Sichuan dish fu qi fei pian.
They also sent along a link to the fascinating film above: Marketing Tripe: a Brief History. I was especially intrigued by an old-timey still of an Italian eatery called Antonia’s Tripe & Pasta Hut. Along with such slogans as “Tripe for Stamina,” the whole thing seems fake. It is in fact quite legitimate as a Google search for the Lancashire–based Tripe Marketing Board reveals. And yes, there was an Antonia’s where they served pizza topped with reticular tripe, which is something I’d like to try. There is one thing that I am sure does not exist though, a Chinese Tripe Marketing Board.