Lunch at Villa Mozart

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_48QHA05624IombfTE8Vkup4e5kY_BK0yvJUBiZQfY84mP0VKOIqknNiveMlWA6Pae0W6fN4tKt9DJ9Hcom1k759zmtKiMk0NZ45E0ZFcSevGGu8N6ZBSO7jCiNIgwAyAZdnO_4L572K_/s1600/lunch8932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_48QHA05624IombfTE8Vkup4e5kY_BK0yvJUBiZQfY84mP0VKOIqknNiveMlWA6Pae0W6fN4tKt9DJ9Hcom1k759zmtKiMk0NZ45E0ZFcSevGGu8N6ZBSO7jCiNIgwAyAZdnO_4L572K_/s320/lunch8932.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh4aDHVTmaMeoa9RSdJY4a9UzfmjJwuWZEjjQ8YuF6Rr4UeMTmM4K9QvzGN5UzHR1abQ8T8u_j9V-7OV-i8DN_aLKNLsibUCJi2J9EtXa5GdE3PfyspM5CmE1kHgXE5wT1TyCwTobkA4k/s1600/lunch8933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMh4aDHVTmaMeoa9RSdJY4a9UzfmjJwuWZEjjQ8YuF6Rr4UeMTmM4K9QvzGN5UzHR1abQ8T8u_j9V-7OV-i8DN_aLKNLsibUCJi2J9EtXa5GdE3PfyspM5CmE1kHgXE5wT1TyCwTobkA4k/s320/lunch8933.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>The first photo shows my delicious calamari with small discs of polenta, peas, and cherry tomatoes (mainly hidden under the thin slices of toast). Our pasta courses were all very delicious too. The second photo shows Evelyn and Tom about to have their soup and salad, and suggests the very pleasant atmosphere of this Fairfax restaurant.</div>

Lunch at Villa Mozart

The first photo shows my delicious calamari with small discs of polenta, peas, and cherry tomatoes (mainly hidden under the thin slices of t...

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Fifteen minutes would have been enough

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuovM9uOS1GnEkCqv6kQjrGS639qi0OYdIxN1-f1v3atRtBQzBkGTeYZ8zUDJ_Ar09UIOR1De1R1g6bEQgZzP_Qy1jChjlGFmU2h8PA51NKKc1VttxEH2dGBw1ktUcNDfaHa6ApzPMRgOt/s1600/Taqueria.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuovM9uOS1GnEkCqv6kQjrGS639qi0OYdIxN1-f1v3atRtBQzBkGTeYZ8zUDJ_Ar09UIOR1De1R1g6bEQgZzP_Qy1jChjlGFmU2h8PA51NKKc1VttxEH2dGBw1ktUcNDfaHa6ApzPMRgOt/s400/Taqueria.png" width="400" /></a>The <i>New Yorker</i> this week has a brief but wonderful summary -- "<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/01/julia-childs-taqueria.html">Julia Child's Taqueria</a>" -- of the author's special trip to the Super-Rica Taqueria in Santa Barbara, which became a legend because Julia Child liked it something like 30 years ago.<br /><br />In my mind this little Mexican diner may defy any other cultural institution as the most overrated hole-in-the-wall in America, or maybe on the planet. But note I defined this to avoid including the Iowa caucuses, which deserve an overrated category all their own.<br /><br />I'm glad someone has validated my impression, which is shared by many native Santa Barbarans that I know. The everlasting line out the Super-Rica's door -- that's been there, I think, since I first tried it in 1983, or was that 2003? -- is an eternal mystery, but people keep driving up there from everywhere. Last summer I found a taqueria at random that was better and had less waiting, though I admit that the tortillas weren't made fresh by hand as they were when I was at the Super-Rica. See <a href="http://regional-food.blogspot.com/2011/06/super-cucas-and-its-opposite.html">this post</a> for more about the taqueria I enjoyed.<br /><br /> The <i>New Yorker</i>'s image (above/right) doesn't really show the line the way it usually looks -- it often goes out the door to the right and past the back door of the tiny kitchen. Last summer we stood in line for a while, still curious to see how the place was lasting, but the pretentious conversations all around us drove us out.<br /><br /><br /> 

Fifteen minutes would have been enough

The New Yorker  this week has a brief but wonderful summary -- " Julia Child's Taqueria " -- of the author's special trip ...

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Why we didn't have Chinese food for Christmas

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMkuCXNTNQb16OVS2BMPe7vmGW5aqy5jpJPCQGI1RfqTUeEM7gF_pxQr2lbCpTqsb46zcuVLGUWtqK7NN4Xow56nvu0jVb5FQSReAxrA1GxPx9W8QPrrVfzp4HJ7nareVsuWlasEYuXg/s1600/tunamelt8833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMkuCXNTNQb16OVS2BMPe7vmGW5aqy5jpJPCQGI1RfqTUeEM7gF_pxQr2lbCpTqsb46zcuVLGUWtqK7NN4Xow56nvu0jVb5FQSReAxrA1GxPx9W8QPrrVfzp4HJ7nareVsuWlasEYuXg/s320/tunamelt8833.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Christmas dinner for Jews is Chinese food -- old New York custom. Right? We thought we would finally join in this tradition, which we've never observed in our past.<br /><br />Well, not tonight. The one Chinese restaurant that we thought was open seemed to have left the phone off the hook, so we figured they were over-taxed with Christmas customers. They have a few service issues anyway, so we definitely didn't want to drive over to see what was wrong with them. We stayed home, lit the Hanukkah candles, and had tuna melts and champagne. Good combination! Elaine and Lenny, in the photo above, are ready to eat.<br /><br />Earlier, we took a walk in the park and watched "Midnight in Paris" on streaming video. Great way to enjoy the holiday. Great movie, too. From the walk, Lenny's photos:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQzsyFIFs8NFS2Nw_OcPQEwtzYXPbgyhesSj_9n2V892fabKxSECoIMsAg6v9092gLhGA9OEPylSlqql0zATss18vpgfdK4jmat0_HS03ep66H6df-o-Xc6-zy8L3kaKMFN91ENSuFfk/s1600/walk0117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIQzsyFIFs8NFS2Nw_OcPQEwtzYXPbgyhesSj_9n2V892fabKxSECoIMsAg6v9092gLhGA9OEPylSlqql0zATss18vpgfdK4jmat0_HS03ep66H6df-o-Xc6-zy8L3kaKMFN91ENSuFfk/s320/walk0117.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUi1pyVdvt1feiEtUo28Bj6wKsxbFHjpu0-c1hXW67SrKwKS76PElGvEGmRSKmUzLEW96hfIRVFmzmutuG0XrGm_qJGPewkkPi7-EcKWalkioTIbVtskVPwT03RinbAeyPHtl42XNo9UI/s1600/walk0136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUi1pyVdvt1feiEtUo28Bj6wKsxbFHjpu0-c1hXW67SrKwKS76PElGvEGmRSKmUzLEW96hfIRVFmzmutuG0XrGm_qJGPewkkPi7-EcKWalkioTIbVtskVPwT03RinbAeyPHtl42XNo9UI/s320/walk0136.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pUojmUIzK3GP0tLDIHqtDgT9ewjqS5ALIX2czuS0Bfk-LaXN_bc5QxrXKPqpxpLyEcDBMBuyHQT8H21qFiQs_o_qrQjFgGrYuzcRYzugScNq75S0op4jJETGr2HMM2ijfSU1AhyphenhyphenKnig/s1600/walk0160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-pUojmUIzK3GP0tLDIHqtDgT9ewjqS5ALIX2czuS0Bfk-LaXN_bc5QxrXKPqpxpLyEcDBMBuyHQT8H21qFiQs_o_qrQjFgGrYuzcRYzugScNq75S0op4jJETGr2HMM2ijfSU1AhyphenhyphenKnig/s320/walk0160.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />

Why we didn't have Chinese food for Christmas

Christmas dinner for Jews is Chinese food -- old New York custom. Right? We thought we would finally join in this tradition, which we've...

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Latke Dinner

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSJjcOVcpm3vuLL8lkCrTPt5wnrzYWCmDewCXvjDyid3Oe3BjOL-DjgPtozaUQXeWZgp_-GYH3eyb8zv72yOYo_rjrGVovEpxx-HHDtndbZdlNuFssZjQLe4mLH9tZ_PB2ylpqKHuPtK0/s1600/latkes8828.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSJjcOVcpm3vuLL8lkCrTPt5wnrzYWCmDewCXvjDyid3Oe3BjOL-DjgPtozaUQXeWZgp_-GYH3eyb8zv72yOYo_rjrGVovEpxx-HHDtndbZdlNuFssZjQLe4mLH9tZ_PB2ylpqKHuPtK0/s320/latkes8828.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Our latke dinner included latkes, leg of lamb, and lemon layer cake. I made the cake from scratch instead of from a mix this time. In the photo: Elaine and Larry, here to enjoy the holiday.<br /><br />Also to celebrate, we saw the movie "Hugo" with Ben Kingsley and Sasha Baron-Cohen this afternoon. It was great. How could I not love a movie about wind-up toys? <br /><br />The cake:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcS0SevOf_pPzb5KGP_-rK4jgsvzvGJPvQ1StXwgCyuqxUOmczq70Io4_A6Bv-uSHPKsbog8X7z2IETvB0TeeCCrAN0GdQKkGMkM5mzfd8csSAnW5emAb_ZNdzrL32V8Oj03DazQJ2UVg/s1600/cake8830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcS0SevOf_pPzb5KGP_-rK4jgsvzvGJPvQ1StXwgCyuqxUOmczq70Io4_A6Bv-uSHPKsbog8X7z2IETvB0TeeCCrAN0GdQKkGMkM5mzfd8csSAnW5emAb_ZNdzrL32V8Oj03DazQJ2UVg/s320/cake8830.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>

Latke Dinner

Our latke dinner included latkes, leg of lamb, and lemon layer cake. I made the cake from scratch instead of from a mix this time. In the ph...

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Bread

I just read <i>Bread: A Global History</i> by William Rubel and "Barms and Leavens -- Medieval to Modern," an article about bakers' yeast, brewers' yeast, and sourdough starters, by Laura Mason, in the collection titled <i>Over a Red-Hot Stove: Essays in Early Cooking Technology</i> edited by Ivan Day. Here's a photo of these two books sandwiching a few other books about bread:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswF-kW960n2REWxJ6xyiy0MRxvqZtJuYzhpQ6m1qD-tbkVpf-ikEjp3FaC4CzgZneoiyd_e1mky2l9dGkSs_8SlB6vtH6177qte49xBAn3Oq5B6Pr-4m3HDyjFs8JhGheXzzIGgsf5C12/s1600/bread8824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswF-kW960n2REWxJ6xyiy0MRxvqZtJuYzhpQ6m1qD-tbkVpf-ikEjp3FaC4CzgZneoiyd_e1mky2l9dGkSs_8SlB6vtH6177qte49xBAn3Oq5B6Pr-4m3HDyjFs8JhGheXzzIGgsf5C12/s320/bread8824.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Rubel's first chapter presents the prehistoric origins of bread. He writes: "Long before the Neolithic Revolution, when the hunters and gatherers in the Fertile Crescent made the cultural shift to farming and raising large animals..., the peoples in the region were harvesting and eating grains from vast fields of wild barley and wheat." He sets the earliest date for some type of bread-making in this region at 22,500 years ago, explaining that both wheat and barley, when winnowed, ground, and perhaps roughly sifted, could be used for a dough that would form "an aerated crumb, not a dense mass of starch." Archaeology identifies grindstones and traces of hearth fires that confirm this early bread-making. One major theme of his work is that early examples of bread were not necessarily primitive or crude: early people had and used tools and ingenuity to make bread that was tasty by modern standards, and moreover, was often visually creative in its decorative uses.<br /><br />Both Rubel and Mason explore at length the chemistry of bread-making. Mason's concentration is on the historic use of various substances to raise dough, mainly in England, and on the flavors and varieties of bread that resulted from the choices of housewives, noble kitchens, or professional bakers. The early bakers depended on either yeast -- which came from brewing beer or ale -- or on sourdough starter -- which resulted from exposing dough to ambient yeasts and bacteria. Both types of leavening resulted in a variety of flavors; only in the last 200 years or so has yeast exclusively intended for baking bread been prepared, preserved, and sold. Chemical baking powder is very recent, and is barely mentioned in either source.<br /><br />Rubel discusses the same choices in a number of historical and modern contexts, exploring not only the taste and chemistry, but also the social and cultural associations of various types of bread. He makes a case that the past 40 years or so have been a time of very rapid change in bread consumption and in worldwide changes in taste in bread, and especially in the globalization of some types of bread with the possible decline of some local products.<br /><br />Some tastes come and go, for example in some eras bread made from yeast has been highly prized, while in other eras, including the present, a higher value has been placed on sourdough. Also, some bakers cultivate practices that make sourdough bread more sour or less sour -- the famous Poilane bread (described in one of my books depicted) is much less sour than the well-known San Francisco sourdough breads. Mason interestingly pointed out that sourdough, relying more on bacteria, facilitates baking with non-wheat flour such as rye, while yeast creates less of a rise in rye or other grains.<br /><br />My previous favorite bread history was H.E.Jacob's <i>Six Thousand Years of Bread</i>. The two more recent works are much more scientific, and more based in analytic archaeology than in Jacob's more mystical views of bread, though his descriptions are very fascinating. All these books have a large and interesting amount of information and historic detail -- the subject seems almost inexhaustible.<br /><br /><br />

Bread

I just read Bread: A Global History by William Rubel and "Barms and Leavens -- Medieval to Modern," an article about bakers' ...

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Latkes

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGJTUIYyc5P0o8UcufV881_jRuOO4dLl04UysZuFlqFSiOIv2lrH8t4Ke7FRAVRAteDufGKi_vfKVnHUNxdig6NBMgPkPvrnP6ZDUUCsMlayGEuzyw3Z0SxWaohwpOUgQtZJ0oT5LGx7M/s1600/latkes0111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifGJTUIYyc5P0o8UcufV881_jRuOO4dLl04UysZuFlqFSiOIv2lrH8t4Ke7FRAVRAteDufGKi_vfKVnHUNxdig6NBMgPkPvrnP6ZDUUCsMlayGEuzyw3Z0SxWaohwpOUgQtZJ0oT5LGx7M/s320/latkes0111.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygkeUgzmM4WOtdeweYTuGx9WGvfBqr2ptat7XVqF4gC0tcPNOXnf0Nc57nJZu4u7ad_DKhZqtbAIijEzACyioM74t8nmoEZMghfom38jxj09XqnFqgZrxsxP0LQEk6CQe4xBYLvgmULVS/s1600/latkes0112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgygkeUgzmM4WOtdeweYTuGx9WGvfBqr2ptat7XVqF4gC0tcPNOXnf0Nc57nJZu4u7ad_DKhZqtbAIijEzACyioM74t8nmoEZMghfom38jxj09XqnFqgZrxsxP0LQEk6CQe4xBYLvgmULVS/s320/latkes0112.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5yrSTUEKT27WXbt-OVuCSwd2keWtR-tFFHjSUwaRVUqIJrjwVC32rDwEw5PNSfDLwV8-CRaPexq9WksryJlCdG8W9bZ6WriTek1qfro2lfk6j5Mv9HCfaCzp2xtiZx1g8hLtnjSFTy6dL/s1600/latkes0114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5yrSTUEKT27WXbt-OVuCSwd2keWtR-tFFHjSUwaRVUqIJrjwVC32rDwEw5PNSfDLwV8-CRaPexq9WksryJlCdG8W9bZ6WriTek1qfro2lfk6j5Mv9HCfaCzp2xtiZx1g8hLtnjSFTy6dL/s320/latkes0114.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />We used 10 pounds of potatoes, and two electric griddles, and made latkes for 10 people.

Latkes

We used 10 pounds of potatoes, and two electric griddles, and made latkes for 10 people.

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The Belly of Paris

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIV6LsBrOlXM3obgfGz_AVvR8dupqXdOmHo4A8sGFBESgdbw4yeMSXpCotPldwFmrZdGmbtBcMatg1m7gMQ-uOeykQ_tGAB3RNyWRQSCoFA5qXuiO8yTAr9wSTRi1Hj-V_eqD98TcXwhRH/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-12-16+at+4.51.19+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIV6LsBrOlXM3obgfGz_AVvR8dupqXdOmHo4A8sGFBESgdbw4yeMSXpCotPldwFmrZdGmbtBcMatg1m7gMQ-uOeykQ_tGAB3RNyWRQSCoFA5qXuiO8yTAr9wSTRi1Hj-V_eqD98TcXwhRH/s320/Screen+shot+2011-12-16+at+4.51.19+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />I just read Zola's <i>The Belly of Paris</i> in a new translation by Mark Kurlansky. It's the topic for the next meeting of the culinary history book club I belong to.<br /><br />What a masterpiece! The perceived conflict between thin people (who crave social justice) and fat people (mainly the small shopkeepers of the area) is presented vividly. The descriptions of the sights and smells of the market combine perfectly with the pettiness of the characters and their escalating quarrels. The market itself is the central image, along with the streets all around. The map above (<a href="http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/lib/public/full_screen.html?http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/maps/paris/G5834-P3F7-1890z-P6/">from here</a>) shows all the little streets that he mentions.

The Belly of Paris

I just read Zola's The Belly of Paris in a new translation by Mark Kurlansky. It's the topic for the next meeting of the culinary h...

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