Sol Mar, Tarrytown, NY

How far would you drive for a special meal? Yesterday, we drove nearly 50 miles from the Oranges, NJ area to Tarrytown, NY, to meet our niece and her husband for lunch.


J, our niece, had suggested that we meet about halfway between their central Connecticut home and our family's home in New Jersey. To tell the truth, they drove twice as far as we did.


I had read something of dining in and around Tarrytown, on the Hudson River, just north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. (Which,it should be noted, charges $5 USD per car going eastward and nothing going westward. I appreciate the gesture.)


After much intensive Internet research, using Yelp!, Chowhound and other foodie sources, I'd focused on the Portuguese and Brazilian restaurant, Sol Mar. Other contenders were Tarry Tavern and Sweetgrass, but in the end, Sol Mar won.


Why? Because I believe that ethnic restaurants can provide honest cooking and are a good value. It's not that I don't appreciate locally sourced, perhaps organic ingredients presented in creative ways. (Well, to be honest, it doesn't excite me much.) But I get more excited by a family operated ethnic restaurant serving specialties of their native land.

Sol Mar 12 Main Street, Tarrytown, NY

Sol Mar proved to be a very good choice. As always, I sought out dishes of which I was unlikely to prepare at home.


We were brought crisp crusted, warm bread, good butter, and a few small cubes of cheese on food picks. Good start.


The Lunch Menu.

But, first, the drinks.

I had a couple of glasses of a delightful Fuzelo Vinho Verde, throughout the meal. It was refreshing, flavorful, balanced and with an impudent effervescence, an attractive sign of its youthfulness. (Hmm?)

My companions quaffed several kinds of Brazilian and Portuguese beers, including one very black brew. At the opposite end of the visible light spectrum was "Sköl", a light, Brazilian lager. It was the only one presented in a can.

For appetizers, we began with an order of Bolhinos do Bacalau, or codfish fritters. They were everything I wished for. Slightly crispish outside and creamy salt cod interior. The salt was present but restrained.

J. had a Portuguese Salad with grilled sardines, a rather substantial affair, spangled with capers.

Crab cakes on a menu are hard to resist, and while this pair, served with a sweet red pepper sauce and a beurre blanc were fine, they were overshadowed by the other dishes.

Doña Cuevas made a very wise choice in ordering Grilled Calamari with Sun-dried Tomatoes, a treatment which made a mockery of the ubiquitous breaded rubber bands accompanied by overcooked Marinara Sauce, as commonly served.

I opted for Grilled Sardines. These were the subject of some controvery on Yelp! or Chowhound. So, like, OMG! Sardines have bones! Yelp!

The sardines were pure, simply prepared, and tasted like fresh, grilled sardines should. They were seasoned with a little olive oil and coarse salt, and garnished with a few strips of roasted sweet peppers. Boning them was a snap.

WAITER! My sardines have bones! ;-)

G went all out and got Feijoada, the Brazilian national dish. It's a hearty dish of black beans, pork and choriço, accompanied by rice and a trio of traditional condiments.

Feijoada

From left, clockwise: toasted manioc meal; garlicky collard greens, vinaigrette dressing.

J, in an adventurous mood, ordered Porco Alentejano, a remarkable dish of tender pork stewed in a rich but mild sauce, topped with whole Little Neck clams in the shell. I might be tempted to call this dish "a revelation", but I'll refrain.

Porco Alentejano

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Desserts

Of the five desserts presented on a tray, several looked a little tired, but Alex assured us that we would get fresh portions. He is a sincere and affable young man. two were made in house. They were the "Molotov", a soft meringue striped with a caramel sauce; and flan.

Flan. We have eaten hundreds of flans over the years. They have ranged from terrible to acceptable to pretty good. But the flan at Sol Mar is unmissable, probably the best we've ever had. It's a delicate custard, perfectly flavored, and had a serious burnt sugar top, as it should be.

The Molotov would not have been my choice, as I am not fond of whipped egg white desserts. But this was very pleasant. (I only ate a small spoonful.)

We finished with coffee, an Americano for G and an espresso for me. The espresso came very close to meeting the ideal standards of our absent friend, Ron, El Exigente.

Alex returned with a bottle of Moscatel do Douro and four cordial glasses. We were treated to a drink on the house. I went up to Chef-Owner Senhor Carlos Mendonça to thank him and congratulate him.

The bill was serious,, but not because the prices are high. The cost was because we'd totally indulged ourselves, enjoying a great meal.

RATINGS

Food: *****

Service: *****

Cost: $$ (Each $ represents approximately $10 USD per person.)

Ambience: warm and friendly, quiet while we were there.

Restroom: Tiny, clean and it works.

Patio dining available.

Reservations suggested: Tel 914-333-0151

914-333-0153

Website www.solmartarrytown.com

A Better map:

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When it's cherry blossom time in Orange, New Jersey, we'll make a peach of a pie.

"When it’s cherry blossom time in Orange, New Jersey

We’ll make a peach of a pair. I know we cantaloupe
So honeydew be mine..."

Fragment of an nutty routine by Danny Kaye. Lyrics by Sylvia Fine. Complete, insane routine, "Manic Depressive Pictures Presents" here.


A nutty, insane routine food magazine recipe for stone fruit pie follows, with my snarky comments.

California Dining Part V: Vung Tau

 No Pho, Pa?

We'd almost forgotten about Vung Tau, as our 10 days in the San Jose, CA area drew to a close. Although we love Vietnamese food, the Vung Tau Vietnamese Restaurant had been an alternate choice for our Tuesday lunch with our financial adviser. But we ended up at McCormick and Schmick, which was very nice, indeed, in an Executive Luncheon sort of way. (I see that I haven't posted that yet. Sigh... maybe some day.)



On Sunday we realized that we had an unfilled spot in our California dining calendar. So, with my in-laws, we went Monday at about 1:00 to Vung Tau.

After first parking on a nearby street, my brother in law, R. realized that there was free customer parking at the restaurant, so he moved the car.

The menu is intriguing and presents a style of Vietnamese cuisine that is more upscale, yet accessibly priced, than many other restaurants of the genre. Full PDF menu here. It was notable in that I found only one kind of pho, Pho Bo. Possibly there's others and I just didn't see them.

O.k. Here is the menu. Click to enlarge.

For starters, the Banh Khot were highly recommended by other reviewers. They are described as "cupcakes", but really, they are small, crispy skinned rice tortitas, filled with shrimp and green onions. Truly outstanding.

Banh Khot

We then chose a Shredded Green Papaya Salad with Dried Sesame Beef and Basil. This was a delightful mingling of tart and sweet flavors with small herbal explosions of taste.

Shredded Green Papaya Salad with Dried Sesame Beef

I couldn't resist the Lemon Grass Marinated Grilled Ribs on the menu. They were nearly perfect in the combination of porkyness, aromatics and a nice nibble. The only flaw was perhaps a bit too much salt.

Lemon Grass Marinated Ribs

A Tamarind Soup with fish was next up. R & J got to choose which fish, and they decided on striped bass.

This was a very nice soup, although I would have preferred to have the vegetables cut a bit smaller as well as cooked a little more.

The fish soup was followed by another fish course. From among the many possible options, we chose a Caramelized Catfish with Fish Sauce and Black Pepper in an Earthenware pot.

This is comfort food; extremely soft, almost custard like in texture, in a lush and savory sauce.

Caramelized Catfish, etc.

The restaurant closes for lunch at 3:00 p.m. and at that time, our waiter asked us to place any last requests and to settle the bill. (This, of course, would almost never happen in Mexico.) But it was done courteously, so we paid, after two of us ordered hot Vietnamese drip coffee with condensed milk. My new opinion of that drink/dessert is that I don't have the patience to wait for it to finish dripping. Besides, when it's done, the coffee is usually tepid.

The bill was quite reasonable, $106.89 before tip.

RATINGS

Food: *****
Service: *****
Price: $$-$$ 1/2
Ambience: Simple, modern
Restrooms: Clean and well maintained
Would we return? Most definitely!

Dim Sum in Sunny Shanghai

WikiPedia.org photo

Dim Sum are among the greatest gifts of Chinese civilization to the world.
When we are California, we almost try to have at least one dim sum meal. They're a heart's delight of numerous and highly varied little treats bought to your table. A dim sum meal is best shared so you can sample more varieties of these dainty, savory and sweet little "dot hearts". While a Cantonese specialty, other regions of China also make them a treat.

In Spanish, they might be equated to "antojitos", or "little whims". But they are almost unknown in Mexico.  On the San Francisco Peninsula of California, the challenge isn't finding a dim sum restaurant, rather to choose one from the long and tempting list of dim sum parlors.

California Dining Part 3: Are You Tigellish?

WARNING: The following post describes an exceedingly decadent, indulgent and expensive meal. Reader discretion advised.

Do you enjoy tigelling? What, you may ask, are tigelle? Here's a nice description, from the website Mangiandobene.

Real life tigelle at Tigelleria

They are similar if not identical to piadine, something a bit like crumpets without the holes, or pikelets, but not sweet. They are pleasant but bland and are best with boldly flavored meats, cheeses or spreads, such as these below.

L-R, clockwise: humus, sundried tomato, olive

I must back up a bit here.
While doing preliminary dining research for our California trip, my brother-in-law sent us a list of suggested restaurants that he and my sister-in-law had enjoyed. Near the top was Tigelleria, billed as "an Organic Italian restaurant."

California Dining Part 2: Pizza and noise

Two Italians and two Asians walk into a bar...

Not really, although could be hereabouts. The notable restaurants of the latter part of our 10 day visit to the San Jose, CA area were two Italian and two Asian.

The first Italian restaurant, La Pizzeria, was a last minute find via Google Map search last Wednesday. Doña Cuevas and two of her sisters had gone on a drive to view sculpture at Stanford University, then to the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Later, I was asked for suggestions for supper. Pizza and salad sounded good to me, so I brought up Google Maps and typed in "Campbell, CA pizza". The results are below. Click "A" for the top hit.


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At this point, I want to extend my heartiest thanks to Google Maps, Google in general, but a special thanks to Google Maps Street View. In fact, there has been a Street View Car parked not far away from us. It's surprisingly small. I'd been envisioning at least a pickup truck.

My hero!

It's but a short drive to La Pizzeria, in beautiful, affluent downtown Historic Campbell. (Historic for having been a center for orchards and fruit drying in the earlier parts of the XX Century.)

The restaurant is small, noisy but smells delicious. In fact, the noise level at the time of our visit neared the threshold of pain, due in a large part to the group of young, merrymaking ladies whooping it up, seated close to the big front window. We could scarcely talk among ourselves, not to mention our very helpful waitress. But we did successfully order a pretty good antipasti platter to share, three thin crusted pizzas and one calzone.

One of our party also had an Insalata Italiana, which didn't appeal much to me.

Insalata Italiana

We subscribed to the "Less is more." philosophy, so the pizza toppings we chose were fairly simple.

Pizza alla Marinara

Add Pizza Vegetariana

Pizza Valtellina,
And, resembling an Etruscan weapon;

this big calzone

The pizzas had thin, but exceedingly chewy crusts. They also come to the table uncut, a bad combination, in my opinion, although my brother in law liked that. THe sauce was simple but good, and in a couple of instances, we ordered pizzas without cheese. I had a taste of the Pizza Vegetariana and liked it. Mine was the Valtellina, which had bresaola,  thinly sliced cured dried beef, arugula and shavings of Parmesan cheese. I drank a glass of red wine.

Younger sister in law said that her calzone was too done, as evidenced by the blackened blisters on the crust.

Here's the final score, from my viewpoint.

Food: ***
Service: ****
Price: $$-$$$
Ambience: Dimly lit,"Aren't we cool". And NOISY. WHAT??? I SAID NOISY!!!!
Bottom line: kinda good but not worth the money nor the headache.

Next episode: Tigelleria Organic Italian Restaurant. A very different sort of Italian restaurant, only a few blocks away, but also NOISY!

California Dining Has Become a Reality Part 1

On our trip to the South Bay of the San Francisco Peninsula, we found food, too much food, most of it very good. This will be a capsule report for the most part.

Price key: One $ sign equals about $10 USD a person.


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San Jose, California greeted us with beautiful weather on our arrival. On our flight from Guadalajara, the lovely Volaris flight attendants had given us ample beverages, but the food was little more than packaged cookies and snack food.

Facing the Music

It's been gospel that we don't generally enjoy live musical accompaniment with our restaurant meals, especially when the musicians (some of whom barely qualify for that honorable title) come to our table and start in on "Cielito Lindo" or other chestnuts of Mexican music.

But recently whle in Tonalá, Jalisco, we had to come to terms with live musical entertainment.

Cocina Económica "Mary" Uruapan

Mary's is in the white building

A Cocina Económica is an inexpensive place to eat, usually with a three to four course comida. There are often some choices offered in the courses. Author David Lida recently wrote a good description of the comida corrida offered by cocinas económicas.

We first learned of the Cocina Económica "Mary" from a Lonely Planet Guidebook. Since then, we've eaten there three times and nowhere else in Uruapan.

Anniversary Waltz

On June 21st, 2011, Doña Cuevas and I celebrated our 43 years together as man and wife.

We also marked our 5 years here in this house, on the Rancho, or as our amigo, Felipe calls it, "The Sticks".

You are invited to read more about our house, here, on my other blog, Surviving La Vida Buena.

Saludos,
 Don Cuevas

Rehash: Four Morelia Restaurants Revisited

We were in Morelia over a weekend recently, and revisited three restaurants which we'd reviewed earlier. The results were mixed.

Friday afternoon, we went to El Pescador, on Avenida Cuautla, just south of Av. Madero Poniente. This will undoubtedly be our last visit. Its not that the food is bad, it's that it fails to meet expectations through lack of attention to detail.

A michelada con clamato was passable, but came with a branch of celery  that had seen better days.

I had a Coctel "Viagra". of mixed seafood. It had some really unattractive shrimp "cooked" in lime juice and other chunks of seafood, all in a "chabela goblet" with an acidic tomatoey broth. The bits of green olives added nothing to the overall good.

Doña Cuevas ordered Camarones al Mojo de Ajo. It was overcooked and the garlic was burnt. It was accompanied by the usual insipid, sweet mayonnaisey, shredded carrot salad and some unimaginative salad garnishes.

Moderate, but not worth the price at that.

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We did much better late that night, returning from the Morelia Airport with our in-laws to Hamburguesas Richard's, Av. Morelos Sur # 396. Weekend nights are the best time to eat at Richard's, if you want to enjoy the special Hamburguesa al Pastor, a freshly cooked, all beef patty topped with crisp shavings of pastor meat. Our vegetarian in-laws loved the fresh cut papas fritas. We think that they are the best in Morelia.

But this is the classic combo: a hamburguesa con queso, an order of French fries, some searingly picante chiles toreados and grilled onions on the side, and a soothing glass of horchata.

A bargain!

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On Saturday morning, we walked from our lodgings at Casona Rosa to the Mercado Niño Santo, Calle Nicolás Bravo at Calle Granaditas, to breakfast at at Cocina Económica Doña Feli's, aka Local # 127.

We enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and ate some Chiles Rellenos de Queso, frijoles y arroz.

What distinguishes the chiles rellenos at Local # 127 is that they are dipped in the egg batter and fried only when ordered. It is attention to detail that is not usually found in most restaurants.

We also enjoyed a tall glass of melon juice, brought up from the juice stand on the main floor below.

A bargain!

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On Saturday afternoon, we took a cab from Casona Rosa to Spaghetteria Gian Carlo, on Av. Aquiles Serdan at the corner of Calle Revolucíon. It's across from the Hotel Pórtico.

There we split an Ensalada Árlequin with a excessivly thick but delicious cilantro dressing. Doña Cuevas then had Spaghetti Palermo with tomatoes garlic and chunks of swordfish. I had a simpler plate of Spaghetti with fresh shrimp, tomatoes and parsley. My in-laws, Ellen and Dave, both ordered penne pasta dishes, one with butter and fresh sage; the other with cream and gorgonzola cheese. The gorgonzola dish was deemed to be the better one, as the sage was very understated in the first.

Spaghetteria Gian Carlo rates as one of the best Italian restaurants that we've vsited in Michoacán. Perhaps it's because they focus on pasta, salad and panini, without venturing into meats, poultry and seafood dishes. That also keeps the prices low.

The "wine list" is extremely limited. You can get a glass of house red or white. I didn't care for the white. It was more yellow and tasted sweeter than I like, with a "cooked" taste.

A bargain!

Extolling Atole de Grano

You can talk all you want of tacos, brag on birria, squawk about enchiladas de pollo, or marvel at menudo. But for me, the finest street food Pátzcuaro has to offer is atole de grano. It's pure, clean, nourishing, comforting and delicious, as well as cheap.

Ray's Focuses On Pizza

A wedge of Ray's Pizza

We went out for pizza recently while visiting family in New Jersey. There's no shortage of pizzerias in the area, many of them notable. My mom and sister chose Ray's Famous NY Pizza, in Verona, NJ.

The surprisingly small building  is located on a busy suburban corner, and is shared with two or more other businesses. Ray's has counter type seating facing out the big windows, and a few concrete picnic type tables outside. One would imagine that most of its business is takeout, but it seems to do a good trade in slices. When we were there, they were running a special of two slices and a soft drink for either $5 or $6, depending on the chosen toppings.

We ordered a large pizza with sweet peppers and onions; a family favorite. The pizzas are made up at a baker's table in a narrow nook to one side of the ovens, The small space doesn't seem to inhibit the skills of the pizzaiuolo. The wait was about 20 minutes, but worth it. While we waited, I scoped out the pies that they had ready to offer by the slice. The variety was large and most all very attractive.

When our pie came, it was a beauty, heaped with thickly cut sweet onions and red peppers, simple crushed tomatoes, and just the right amount of cheese. Less is best. The crust was a bit unusual, with an even, regular texture. But it was o.k. We had no problem consuming the entire pizza on the spot. It was filling, but without the heavy greasy feeling one might get from over the top toppings.

Rays ratings:

Food: ***1/2

Service: friendly, but limited. Order at the counter, carry food yourself to car or table.

Price: unavailable, but probably average for the area.

Ambience: very casual and functional

Hygiene: looks very good

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Back home once more, the memory of that pizza remained with me, so I indulged an impulse and on Monday made pizza. I decided to keep it simple for a change. For the dough, I used only 1 teaspoon of instant yeast in over 4 cups of flour, plus a 1/4 cup of gluten. The fermentation took place over some 4 hours. That gives a better flavor.

For sauce, I followed the simple instructions of various Italian cookbooks. A can of Italian plum tomatoes in puree and juice, coarsely chopped and drained over a strainer. The saved juice and puree made the foundation of a great Bloody Mary later on.

The seasonings were salt, freshly ground black pepper, a little orégano, a bit of (o.k. A lot) of crushed garlic, and a tiny squirt of olive oil.

The toppings for the two medium pizzas would be alla Margherita, with tomato, mozzarella* and fresh basil; and the second alla Puttanesca; with anchovies, two kinds of olives and a dusting of hot red chile flakes.

*I used a funky chunk of mozzarella that needed to be trimmed of mold before being sliced and placed on the pizza. Nothing to be scared of. It tasted fine when baked and there were no ill effects.

I stretched and rolled the dough balls gradually and placed the circles on my dark, solid (not perforated) medium sized pizza pans. They baked well and in a shorter time than than I'd experienced with the perforated pans. The finished crusts were more characterful than Ray's.

The pizzas not only looked good, but tasted wonderful. Different from Ray's, both good in their own way.

RECIPE:

Pizza dough (adapted from The Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two, by Anna Thomas)


1 tsp dry yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 tsp sugar
3 or more cups of flour
1/4 cup gluten flour (optional)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil


Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of the water with the sugar. Let sit 5 minutes.


Put the dissolved yeast and the rest of the water in the mixing bowl, along with the salt and 3 cups of flour and the gluten, if used. Add the tbsp of olive oil.


Begin mixing with the flat paddle beater. Beat on low to medium speed two minutes, approximately.


Switch to the dough hook, and mix on low speed about 8 minutes, adding enough flour to make an elastic dough. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl from time to time.


When the dough forms a ball, wrapped around the dough hook, and cleans the inside of the bowl, it's ready. Oil lightly the ball of dough and put back into the bowl, covered with a clean kitchen towel or similar. Let rise until more than doubled, about 2 to 3 hours.


During this time, you should prepare your sauce, cheese and other toppings.


Lightly punch down the dough and form into two balls. Cover with the towel and allow to rest 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450º F or as high as it will go. The oven racks should be well spaced to allow for optimal heat circulation.


Gently pat, stretch and roll a ball of dough into a circle of even thickness and enough diameter to reach up the shallow sides of your pan.


Set that aside and repeat with the second ball.


Cover each pan of dough with chopped and well drained canned Italian tomatoes, seasoned as above, or the sauce of your preference. In either case, they must be thick and not runny.


Place toppings sparingly, and when done, place pizza into oven. With our oven, they take about 20 minutes to bake.


Rotate the pizzas top to bottom and reverse on the shelves to ensure even cooking. When the toppings are cooked, the cheese melted nicely, and the bottom of the crust is browned, they are done. 


Remove each pizza from the baking pan to a cutting surface, and with a large, sharp knife or pizza cutting whel, divide into desired serving sizes.


Try to wait a few minutes before eating, as mouth burns may otherwise result. 

More Pizzas In History

Pizza Margherita

Pizza Puttanesca

The Popeye's Caper

We'd considered going to the Morelia en Boca 2011 affair, but family matters took us to the U.S. 

We were compensated with a flying visit to a favorite fast food spot at Houston International Airport. When we lived in Little Rock, AR, I’d visited Popeye’s Fried Chicken on a few occasions for chicken and buttermilk biscuits.

But at that time I was not a big fan of the local Popeye's. Once, while heading home from work, I wanted to buy some biscuits only, but the counter person couldn't figure out how to do that.

On a previous trip from Morelia to Houston Airport, we arrived early and nearly the first food place we saw was Popeye’s. An order of freshly cooked Chicken Tenders, a hot biscuit and a side of mashed potatoes with Cajun Gravy looked to be just the thing; and it did hit the spot.

On our recent trip, we were rushed heading north but had plenty of time coming back. We definitely wanted some Popeye’s chicken.

Problem was, we weren’t sure where Popeye’s was located. We left Terminal C and took the Terminal Link train to Terminal B. There’s a food court at the hub, including Chile’s, Harlon's BBQ (just fair) Panchito's, a Tex-Mex place, McDonald’s, Shipley’s Donuts (a Little Rock favorite as well), and best of all, a Peet’s Coffee; but no Popeye’s.

It was then that Sra. Cuevas mentioned that we’d passed a Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen back in Terminal C, but she'd thought it was some knock off of the real thing. We contemplated the nearby dining options, few of which appealed. But as we had over 3 hours until our connecting flight, we decided to retrace our steps through the maze to Popeye’s.

Our cave exploring experiences served us well. We sniffed out the trail to the Terminal Link Train, and before long, after passing the notable Echo Dome Junction, we found Popeye’s with little difficulty. It’s behind a Z’Pizza and some juice joint.

This time, we got the Spicy Tenders, as modest 3 piece traveler’s combos, powerfully seasoned with cayenne, and the Mashed Potatoes with Spicy Cajun Gravy (lots of black pepper). They included a side (mashed, what else?) and a medium soft drink. (Dr. Pepper, a weird soft drink originating in the American South, but appropriate accompaniment to certain foods.)

While the meal was satisfactory, it didn’t quite rise to the level of that first meal. In fact, the spicing level contributed to a later digestive malaise. But I don’t blame Popeye’s. I could have ordered differently.

But we’d return. We’d just get the Regular Tenders, or maybe, try the regular chicken on the bone.

(If your companion doesn’t like Popeye’s, there’s a Subway immediately adjacent.)

(Suggested dessert, if you are still hungry: a Shipley’s Donut and a cup of Peet’s Brewed Coffee. Peet’s is great! Good tables in the Food Court near Shipley’s, and there’s wi-fi, but it’s paid. If you subscribe to Boingo, you’ll connect.)

For more info on Houston International Airport, visit http://www.fly2houston.com/iah

Ratings:

Food: ***1/2

Service: ***

Ambiance: Noisy and crowded at peak times

Price: (in dollars): $+ Our 3 piece combos ran about $8 each, with tax.

Cleanliness: Acceptable.

Sra. Margarita's Floating Pozole Stand

I went yesterday  morning into Pátzcuaro centro by combi van. When I alighted at la Plaza Chica, I saw this compact cart with pozole for sale.

Young pozole attendant

The pozole was boiling hot in its large pot; a good sign.

I was already in the mood for menudo or birria, but my favorite menudo place is 6 or more blocks away, and we'd had birria on Thursday. I usually think of pozole as evening food, but in Pátzcuaro, they eat it in the morning as well. Could it be the cooler, upland climate?

I asked the price of the pozole, and the friendly Sra. Margarita told me "$12 pesos". At that price, I couldn't pass it up. I ordered a bowl, and Margarita's daughter daintily garnished my pozole with only what I wanted. If you like, you can add more yourself.

Here's what I got for my money (Just over $1 USD.) I had my choice of fatty or lean meat. The maíz was the red, criollo (non-transgenic) corn, with more resistance to the bite. I was grateful that it wasn't the cloudy, starchy "pozole batido) type. The large grains of corn were intact. There was a strong tomato component in the broth. In itself, it was barely picante.

Soup, beautiful soup

It not only tasted good, but was attractive as well. Really, it was the most beautiful bowl of pozole I'd ever seen. I could have also had shredded cabbage or lettuce on it, but I decided not to push my luck. Here's a serving for another customer, unfortunately slightly blurry.

Fully garnished pozole

I was offered a free refill on the caldo, or broth, which I accepted.

How can such good stuff be sold so cheaply? Could be that the overhead is very low. You can stand and eat there, from a china bowl with a metal spoon, or take it to go in a polyfoam container. There's nothing else sold. If you want something to drink, you can get it elsewhere nearby.

There's only one, part time employee, Margarita's daughter. The garnishes are limited to the classics: shredded cabbage or lettuce, finely diced radishes, lime halves, chile manzano, orégano, and chile en polvo. No aguacate, chicharrón, or tostadas.

Margarita's  Floating Pozole Stand changes location, depending on the day and other circumstances. But it's to be found Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, somewhere in or around the west side of the Plaza Chica in Pátzcuaro. Or possibly around the corner by Oxxo, on Calle Ramos.

Now, it's possible that you or I have had better pozole elsewhere, but this one scores pretty high on the charts.

Ratings (if that is possible)
• Food: ****
• Service: *****
• Ambience: from zero to five, depending on your    perspective.
• Hygiene: I would stay away from the lettuce and cabbage, just to be sure. The money/food handling interface is somewhat lax, but I survived unscathed.

The Marceva Mission

Fonda Marceva, Calle Abasolo, Morelia 

We knew exactly where it is. We’d walked by many times. In the last three years, we’d read many glowing reviews of the restaurant and its cuisine of the Tierra Caliente. For some reason, we often planned to eat there but something would always come up to prevent it.

On Saturday May 14 2011, we had an opportunity to accomplish our mission. We were staying just a few blocks away.

Oldest Operating Kitchen Tool

I just saw a discussion beginning on the Any Port In A Storm forum. It's about Oldest Kitchen Appliance. I believe that ours is a Foley Food Mill, dating back to the 1950s or earlier. (I don't think a tool has to be electrically powered to be considered an appliance. I would include my molcajete as an appliance.)


The Foley Food Mill is a device which predates the electric blender by many decades, yet is still useful today. I'd better illustrate it before continuing.

The appliance is sovereign for straining large quantities of food, such as cooked fruit. The action relies entirely upon muscle power. The food is placed into the wide mouthed receptacle, thence the handle is turned, forcing a curved metal plate against the food, and pushing it through a perforated metal base. Less desirable parts remaining behind in the receptacle can be cleared from the perforated plate by briefly reversing the direction of cranking.


A knurled knob at the exterior bottom is spring loaded and helps scrape off the pureed food as it emerges from the mesh plate. 


Last year, I made Yellow Plum Sauce with Chile Perón for Chinese Egg Rolls, using the Food Mill. I learned that it's important to pit the fruit before cooking, no matter how onerous, thus avoiding the task of trying to mill the plums and their stones within the food mill. In spite of the strain I caused it, it nobly weathered the challenge.


I'll admit that I use my high power blender far more than the food mill. But there are times when the food mill is just right for the task. An example is pureeing and straining the little bitties of carrots in my pasta sauce. (I've since stopped using the carrots.)


While researching this topic, I encountered an old booklet describing the many ways the food mill can be used. I'm uncertain as to whether I can upload it to here, as it's in PDF format. 
No; can't do it. But you can find it here, at Fantes.com


For cooks and fans of kitchen ware, Fante's is fascinating, and not just for food mills. There's an enormous array of foods and tools. Click here.


I suppose I should offer an illustrative recipe, but I'm lazy.
(See comments.)


UPDATE:
Thanks to inquisitive commenter Lor, I Googled additional info on "Foley Manufacturing Company".
 I found this on news-antique.com

New Foley Facts and Sale At Mamas Treasures
News-Antique.com - Apr 30,2007 - One of the great Houseware Manufacturing Companies was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. If you ask most people about the Foley Manufacturing Company, they will either look very perplexed or say, “ that’s the food mill company, isn’t it?” Most people don’t realize they grew up using a variety of Foley products.
Foley Manufacturing was founded in 1926 by Walter Ringer, Sr. and yes, their first product was a food mill acquired and licensed from a foreign patent in 1933. This product grew in popularity during the Depression years with a reputation for thrifty food preparation and a timesaver in the canning process. This food mill is still in production today. Two other early products that were very succesful was the tri-blade Foley chopper and the Foley blender. Although most of us today refer to the blender as the Foley Gravy Fork. Both of these are very sought after by collectors but more so by people who want to use them on a daily basis.
During the war years the factory concentrated on producing mess kits and other neccessities for the war effort. When postwar production resumed, Foley expanded by acquiring the Meets-A-Need Co. and their Sift-Chine flour sifter and started making sifters under the Foley name.
During the 50s and 60s Foley continued to introduce new products such as handheld juicers, shredders & measuring tools that expanded their kitchenware line. In the 1960s, many of their items were made for them in Japan. In 1984 the Foley Company became part of the Newell Companies and production continued as the Foley-Martens Co. Products are currently manufactured at a plant in Kingsford, Michigan. Because their
products were such useful kitchen tools, finding them in mint condition with labeling intact is very difficult.

(Article continues.)

I checked Ebay for "Vintage Foley Food Mills, and typically, you can get them for under $10 USD.

 Saludos,

 Don Cuevas

Fast Visit to the Big Enchilada

We'd been invited to the wedding of the oldest son of our dearest friends in Mexico city, to a girl he met in Monterrey. The wedding would take place Saturday, April 16, 2011 in Vista del Valle, a suburb of Naucalpan, Estado de México.

A Yen For Chow: Wang Jiao Comida China

Not long ago, our amigo in Morelia, Peter Terry told us of a better-than-average Chinese restaurant, Wang Jiao Comida China, at  Avenida Universidad # 695, corner of Jesús Romero Flores in Morelia. Peter had heard of it from world traveler, Michael LeBroy. Last Thursday, we went to Elaine's Garage Sale (not to be confused with Elaine's in Manhattan) and because the Wang Jiao Comida China is only a few blocks away, we went to dinner there.

Hey, Mr. Tangerine Man!

When I was a kid growing up, a small glass of orange juice was an obligatory start to each breakfast, Sometimes there'd be a grapefruit juice variation. The juice was poured into an approximately 4 ounce glass. Usually the glass was a bonus "gift" from having emptied out a Kraft cheese spread jar. This juice was tossed down as if it were medicine. Back then, before we started using frozen juice concentrates, the family morning oj was usually from a can. Back then, I wasn't fond of orange juice.

Over the years, packaging improved, and as an adult, my wife and I enjoyed various fresh pack, with pulp, not-from-concentrate Florida orange juice.

What's this doing here in Michoacán?

Youmaynotbelieveit, but we have seen refrigerated Tropicana Florida orange juice in cartons at Costco in Morelia. Why would anyone would select this packaged juice (although it's decent stuff), when oranges and other citrus fruits are so relatively inexpensive here in México?

Prices for naranjas dulces vary seasonally. Right now, we can get 5 kilos for $20 pesos (about $1.70 U.S, for 11 pounds. And they are delivered to our street, at least twice a week. In the off season, the prices are higher, and the citrus fruits probably not worth consuming.

How about some nice, large, juicy mandarinas (tangerines)? This truck, heaped with mountains of mandarinas (also 5 kilos for $20 pesos). It's stationed every day in season, down by the Tzurumutaro RR crossing.

Truck by the Tzurumutaro tracks

But wait! There's more! Now, for a limited time only, you can get sweet juice oranges from the same guy for only $20 pesos for 6, yes SIX kilos.

With an inexpensive lever-action citrus squeezer, you can make freshly squeezed juice in a few minutes, with little effort.

Great looking hardware!

(Psst. Last night, before bedtime, I squeezed enough mandarinas and some oranges to make a very large glass of juice, which I drank with no inhibition but with the greatest pleasure. It could serve as a refreshing dessert after a substantial meal. There's juice enough for two generous glasses at breakfast time.)

A Mexico City Weekend Part 5

Mojing Comida China

Monday, January 31, 2011

In the late morning, we made another visit to the Mercado San Juan and neighboring shops. The visit was bookended with two Twisted Taxi rides.
Our shopping list was light, and we spent less time at MSJ than usual.

Our dining goal was the Mojing Comida China restaurant, first reported by Nick Gilman as "The Real Thing". It's located at the corner of Calle Humboldt and Artículo 123, south of the Alameda Central, and a block from Metro Júarez station. We could have walked there from Calle Ayuntamiento and Balderas, but we did not know that when we hailed our second Twisted Taxi of the day.

A Mexico City Weekend Part 4

An evening at "La Embajada Jarocha*".


Sunday night, after our walk through the park, we were hungry again. After all, our meals that day had been light picnic fare and a lot of coffee.

None of us wanted a big deal meal nor to travel very far. We did a Google Maps search for Colonia Roma Norte and restaurants. Near the top of the results was "La Embajada Jarocha", only 6 or so blocks from our hotel, at the corner of Calle Jalapa and Calle Zacatecas. Doña Cuevas and I had eaten there in 2009, and had mixed feelings about the food, but we were willing to give it another try.

La Embajada Jarocha, esq. C/ Jalapa a C/ Zacatecas

A Mexico City Weekend Part 3

Nibbling La Condesa

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Parque México is the green heart of Colonia Condesa-Hipódromo. I confess; I don't know where one colonia ends and the other begins. But it's one of the mellowest areas in el D.F.

The Parque is defined by the course of the former horse racetrack. Avenida México takes an elliptical course within the outer ring of Avenida Amsterdam. Parque México is surrounded by every sort of café and restaurant imaginable, with the possible exception of Mexican restaurants, as Nick Gilman implies in his Good Food Mexico City blog.

A Mexico City Weekend Part 2

The Rosetta Enigma

Saturday, January 29, 2011

The pivotal dining focus of our weekend was the much lauded Rosetta, a northern Italian restaurant located a short walk from our hotel. We'd congratulated ourselves on being able to get a greatly coveted reservation for five (we were joined by our friends Luz Ma and Paco).


The building and its interior are beautiful, and the food is presented simply but attractively. However, our experience was marred by crowded seating and noise in the atrium dining room. The food was good, based on fresh, seasonal offerings, but often very simply and carefully prepared, and with high prices. It was an experience, but not one we'd be likely to repeat soon. The highlights of the meal were, in my opinion, the house baked breads and the coffee. What came between was often enigmatic. I'm not accustomed to paying high prices for such understated food and in such modest portions.

Details inside...

A Mexico City Weekend Part 1

Seven months had passed since we'd last visited Mexico City. While we enjoy the quiet and natural beauty of our home on the rancho, from time to time I need  the stimulation of the vibrant megalopolis of Mexico, D.F.

We especially enjoy the greater variety of restaurants available in the City. So, with our friend, Ron Granich, we planned an extended weekend for the end of January. We traveled the sensible and economical way, on the AutoVías buses, at 50% discounted senior fares, thanks to the generosity of the Mexican government's INAPAM program.