What did Shakespeare eat?

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEish8tQAhMQCUMI1ZMJ0oCNhGxtJblJNiUfqR2UFT8Lj0O2GtpUZcUQIF7f9hthibQDoJf8EP9Ozs15ZHQfkKlmtsWNdAjLpJczWX03gXg9lM1X_akqNbZ2GV7VHqdIQf9V_jH7x_38iBA7/s1600/shakespeare-cookbook1085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEish8tQAhMQCUMI1ZMJ0oCNhGxtJblJNiUfqR2UFT8Lj0O2GtpUZcUQIF7f9hthibQDoJf8EP9Ozs15ZHQfkKlmtsWNdAjLpJczWX03gXg9lM1X_akqNbZ2GV7VHqdIQf9V_jH7x_38iBA7/s320/shakespeare-cookbook1085.jpg" width="258" /></a></div><br /><br />What did Shakespeare eat?<br /><br />Definitive answers here: <i>The Shakespeare Cookbook</i> by Andrew Dalby and Maureen Dalby, published by the British Museum Press this year. Andrew Dalby is a culinary historian, so this is a work of scholarship, using contemporary cookbooks and dietary advice books that were in print during Shakespeare's lifetime. I had no idea how many such works existed!<br /><br />Another surprise: many recipes are simple and close to modern cooking. For example, chicken fricassee described on page 54 is almost exactly the way I sometimes use up leftover chicken, though the modern version often includes pimentos (a variety of capsicum peppers, which Dalby says hadn't reached England from the New World yet) and the Shakespeare-era version uses the spice mace, which isn't on my spice shelf.<br /><br />A variety of pies of all sizes combine meat, fruit, suet, and spice into a preparation that predates our mince pies. The small ones are called "chewets" and contain saffron and ground ginger along with cooked meat. If I could find suet, I would be interested to try pies or chewets, as I have always liked that funny packaged mincemeat that is featured at Christmas and Thanksgiving, and I would like to meet its ancestor. (If I could find a swan, there's another recipe in the book I might try too.)<br /><br />Similarly there are recipes for a sort of meatball including meat-egg-dried fruit and flavored with mace. Large ones were called Farts, small ones were called Fysts. I definitely plan to try these, as the modernized recipe doesn't require suet at all. And the name is so amusing! Dalby doesn't offer any word history on this. Although there are many references on the Web to the original recipe, a quick look didn't offer me any insight into why this word meant little meatballs in Elizabethan times.<br /><br />The explanation of what the word "cake" meant to Shakespeare is very interesting. "A cake, to Shakespeare, was a concept that overlapped with the modern English cake but didn't coincide with it." (page 70)<br /><br />So, the authors point out, cakes could sweet or savory in the famous line<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, that there shall be no more cakes and ale?" </blockquote>The word cake could refer to a loaf cake, a tea-cake, or a waffle. It could mean a biscuit. (I think this is the British biscuit, which in America we call a cookie -- the problem of terminology didn't stop in Shakespeare's time.) The book's cake recipe is for Barm Brak, made from white-bread dough, sugar, lard, eggs, raisins, and sweet spices.<br /><br />Every section of the book has a discussion of a food reference in a particular Shakespeare play, with elaborations from the literature of Shakespeare's contemporaries as well as contemporary food sources. Almost every page includes an illustration, also contemporary to Shakespeare. And every section offers a wide range of interesting references and information, as well as at least one recipe quoted directly from the sources and then a modernized version. A fantastic book, for which I'm grateful to my friend Sheila!

What did Shakespeare eat?

What did Shakespeare eat?Definitive answers here: The Shakespeare Cookbook by Andrew Dalby and Maureen Dalby, published by the British Museum Press this year. Andrew Dalby is a culinary historian, so this is a work of scholarship, using contemporary cookbooks and dietary advice books that were in pr…

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Julia Child Recipes

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">More spinoff from thinking about Julia Child's 100th birthday ...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tIepJ5qAEtpP3t0Bj_S05L7bEiBy-KShhKHNfjjZnveB5DO4Gb8oM3W3OApYNVGdfqJfgNb93hSP9zG1uDudCux-RdxEFIM53g8uGXq3y4HZJVyGGNW4yRqYW-EuZ82Tys1sfc5YRryk/s1600/champigons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tIepJ5qAEtpP3t0Bj_S05L7bEiBy-KShhKHNfjjZnveB5DO4Gb8oM3W3OApYNVGdfqJfgNb93hSP9zG1uDudCux-RdxEFIM53g8uGXq3y4HZJVyGGNW4yRqYW-EuZ82Tys1sfc5YRryk/s320/champigons.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />August 17: Champignons a la Grecque, served with tomato, cucumber, and cilantro.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNJjXvTvMTQQQw1ojdP4JlZH1qXhHrK-wIbgaSie-gIuv0VE2Kdfvt_tKkmgQmh_72W5lqBSFN4dIjV2PhgSH0BtBvJhHHLif8fYJ3O0sS1nqG8cBbD0Lq6P3XvqYWkKVtA2YtdX_2o-sL/s1600/clafoutis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNJjXvTvMTQQQw1ojdP4JlZH1qXhHrK-wIbgaSie-gIuv0VE2Kdfvt_tKkmgQmh_72W5lqBSFN4dIjV2PhgSH0BtBvJhHHLif8fYJ3O0sS1nqG8cBbD0Lq6P3XvqYWkKVtA2YtdX_2o-sL/s320/clafoutis.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Tonight: a clafoutis made with huge black cherries. I think I last made this in 1965, though I suspect I have made clafoutis with other fruit once or twice in the intervening years. My guest in 1965 quipped, "What about clafou-coffee?"

Julia Child Recipes

More spinoff from thinking about Julia Child's 100th birthday ...August 17: Champignons a la Grecque, served with tomato, cucumber, and cilantro.Tonight: a clafoutis made with huge black cherries. I think I last made this in 1965, though I suspect I have made clafoutis with other fruit once or twice…

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Happy Birthday Julia Child and Evelyn

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu9w9rhULo8OVXegTfXABYXpU7VpLJaoGASA81FxXnqs2_BHIlBI_ZrHlZWTZL6DPjeK9w1f4gRRXddU9rnOlvdFEUlza-rahkb7aikTbB_uINEDWM_DXQogQctUjHvXtgKaXqlJGBCw_y/s1600/julia-child1039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu9w9rhULo8OVXegTfXABYXpU7VpLJaoGASA81FxXnqs2_BHIlBI_ZrHlZWTZL6DPjeK9w1f4gRRXddU9rnOlvdFEUlza-rahkb7aikTbB_uINEDWM_DXQogQctUjHvXtgKaXqlJGBCw_y/s320/julia-child1039.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Julia Child would be 100  years old today -- as every food blogger and food writer knows. I first encountered her work and TV show in the fall of 1964, when I was newly married and learning to cook. Marcy, the secretary of the office where I was working was a member of Book of the Month Club, and purchased <i>Mastering the Art of French Cooking</i> for me at a reduced price. I loved it immediately!<br /><br />In gratitude, we invited Marcy to dinner, though in fact we didn't have much in common with her. I made the recipe on page 246: "Roast squab Chickens with Chicken Liver Canapes and Mushrooms" -- I used Rock Cornish Hens. I have never made that recipe again, though I've tried dozens of others in that book. Why I remember that one, I can't imagine. I served it on a beautiful Danish Modern wood tray that had been a wedding present. Forever after it faintly smelled of liver.<br /><br />Over time, I've memorized many of the recipes from <i>Mastering the Art of French Cooking</i>, and now make them without looking. A few of these favorites: onion soup, carbonnades a la Flamande, casserole roasted veal, gratin Dauphinoise, salade Nicoise. I once roasted a goose according to her recipe (memorable, but it's hard to find another goose), and once made Riz a l'Imperatrice (disappointing). I made clafoutis a few times. I use her recipes for crepes, ratatouille, daube de Provence, and chicken with tarragon, and quite a few others. Despite my love of artichokes, I don't recall having tried her method of trimming them down to the artichoke bottoms and then stuffing them. And I admit that I've never had the patience to try the most challenging desserts, those with puff pastry.<br /><br />Over the years, I have acquired other Julia Child books, beginning with the second volume of <i>Mastering...</i>, which was published a few years later. Compared to my original copy of Volume I, full of stains, splashes, and dog-ears, my Volume II is pristine. I'm not sure I've ever made a single recipe from it, though Lenny did make the French bread recipe for a while. It's full of things I would be afraid to try, like roast suckling pig.<br /><br /><i>Julia Child & Company, </i>published in 1978, turned out to be a real favorite. My copy is full of notes about when I cooked various dishes or even whole meals. For example, the "Indoor Outdoor Barbecue" gave us the idea of cooking a butterflied leg of lamb on the barbecue. It's fantastic -- we have done it often. My handwritten notes on page 193 record that I made the entire dinner on May 6, 1984 (including the Topinambours, or Jerusalem artichokes), and repeated all or part of it in 1992, 2004, and 2010. Here's the photo of that meal from the book:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59w3Jn7c1df5Ja6rH-uxs8lcCGz6xwDOf63uZiwlvFeK4O0gP8syjaw9tU6_IlEwh1pw2I3wy8Ncxrozp2dsf_4-dGRMsixVr9YbkW4LaGxXB_5ZgcbelilVSxI5YYzH3Gp-7CamVgdzG/s1600/julia-child1040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59w3Jn7c1df5Ja6rH-uxs8lcCGz6xwDOf63uZiwlvFeK4O0gP8syjaw9tU6_IlEwh1pw2I3wy8Ncxrozp2dsf_4-dGRMsixVr9YbkW4LaGxXB_5ZgcbelilVSxI5YYzH3Gp-7CamVgdzG/s320/julia-child1040.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I have loved all her books that I own -- shown at the top of this post. The one I bought most recently was <i>My Life In France</i>, her wonderful autobiography. And I have also enjoyed her kitchen in the Smithsonian, <a href="http://regional-food.blogspot.com/2008/06/julia-childs-kitchen-in-smithsonian.html">which I wrote up here</a>.<br /><br />Happy Birthday, Julia. And also happy birthday Evelyn, who shares her birthday.

Happy Birthday Julia Child and Evelyn

Julia Child would be 100  years old today -- as every food blogger and food writer knows. I first encountered her work and TV show in the fall of 1964, when I was newly married and learning to cook. Marcy, the secretary of the office where I was working was a member of Book of the Month Club, and pu…

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Salad Number 4

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckLZdUCjfuH4NhSdD9LtRc_vItvaftP2cdVYSi9r8mO7OjbahoYL2Q6vGyFigLmKPmZRJbqUsCpuZk5vejmmVU1Hf0W4MCu8QGJf2kzsCxyrenq6fF_UUiNlrPVOcEVhDZptxRUkT90Wk/s1600/salate1027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckLZdUCjfuH4NhSdD9LtRc_vItvaftP2cdVYSi9r8mO7OjbahoYL2Q6vGyFigLmKPmZRJbqUsCpuZk5vejmmVU1Hf0W4MCu8QGJf2kzsCxyrenq6fF_UUiNlrPVOcEVhDZptxRUkT90Wk/s320/salate1027.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZBuG237RjKgGEIBEJgkD5CUZRbNvra2VaUN32RANBS7C-laMjISOSLxaAm4b2GJdnic2xFsQH_I9JP4we6oT5XIXsmRH45GDpV35bHoBbyiHg-o-VNbfdA_aMJOym6IU1RIfyxQhxtX6/s1600/salate1028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZBuG237RjKgGEIBEJgkD5CUZRbNvra2VaUN32RANBS7C-laMjISOSLxaAm4b2GJdnic2xFsQH_I9JP4we6oT5XIXsmRH45GDpV35bHoBbyiHg-o-VNbfdA_aMJOym6IU1RIfyxQhxtX6/s320/salate1028.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />Favorite salad flavor for Miriam and Alice: the spice blend Maggi Number 4, available only in Germany. They unselfishly gave me a jar of it, which you can see I have all ready to make a salad. Last night, I mixed some of this blend with olive oil and red-wine vinegar and sprinkled it on skewers of mushrooms, onions, and red/orange bell peppers. I kept this separate from meat, so after cooking we used the remaining marinade as a dressing for the vegetables. It's really a wonderful flavor blend.

Salad Number 4

Favorite salad flavor for Miriam and Alice: the spice blend Maggi Number 4, available only in Germany. They unselfishly gave me a jar of it, which you can see I have all ready to make a salad. Last night, I mixed some of this blend with olive oil and red-wine vinegar and sprinkled it on skewers of m…

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Jackson Lodge, Grand Teton National Park

Jackson Lodge in Grand Teton National Park overlooks a broad meadow wetland near Jackson Lake. Just beyond, the mountains rise spectacularly on the near horizon. They look like a child's drawing of mountains: steep, craggy, each separate from the others.<br /><br />The hotel dining room has huge windows facing the view as well as interesting murals of nostalgic conceptual images of the Old West. In the evening they lower screens that dim the very bright light, but still allow diners to enjoy the scenery. The food surprised us: the chef follows the practices of molecular gastronomy (though the waiters don't seem entirely unfazed by the choices they recite).<br /><br />Below, you can see Len's appetizer: tomato, little balls of mozzarella, and "powdered" olive oil that had been treated with an enzyme to make it into a new substance. He says it did taste faintly like olive oil.<br /><br />   <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/7683975692/" title="jackson.dinner 1 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="jackson.dinner 1" height="480" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8145/7683975692_1e31caa336_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/7683976216/" title="jackson.dinner 2 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="jackson.dinner 2" height="480" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7270/7683976216_b70a892c38_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />My main course: Idaho trout with baby brussels sprouts and chopped vegetables -- all illuminated by the rays of the early evening sun.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/7683976656/" title="jackson.dinner 3 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="jackson.dinner 3" height="480" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8021/7683976656_29971a75d9_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />After dinner, we sat on the benches behind the lodge and enjoyed the view.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/7683977640/" title="jackson.dinner by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="jackson.dinner" height="480" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7259/7683977640_8cf90de44a_z.jpg" width="640" /></a>

Jackson Lodge, Grand Teton National Park

Jackson Lodge in Grand Teton National Park overlooks a broad meadow wetland near Jackson Lake. Just beyond, the mountains rise spectacularly on the near horizon. They look like a child's drawing of mountains: steep, craggy, each separate from the others.The hotel dining room has huge windows facing …

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The Night Circus

Hot cocoa, spiced cider, popcorn with caramel, chocolate mice with licorice tails, pastry dipped in cinnamon-sugar... these are the tastes and smells of the magic Circus in Erin Morgenstern's delightful novel <i>The Night Circus</i>. The author seems to have intuited and absorbed the conclusions also being studied by the emerging science of neurogastronomy, that is, the exploration of a kind of synesthesia between taste and smell. The novel presents profound reactions and memories based on these senses.*<br /><br />Several of the recurring events and experiences in <i>The Night Circus</i> are intensified by aromas and flavors. Food is vividly described (as well as interactions between the eccentric host and guests) at exotic Midnight Dinners held by one of the founders of the circus.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white;">"Dish after dish is brought to the table, some easily identifiable as quail or rabbit or lamb, served on banana leaves or baked in apples or garnished with brandy-soaked cherries. Other courses are more enigmatic, concealed in sweet sauces or spiced soups, unidentifiable meats hidden in pastries and glazes.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white;">"Should a diner inquire as to the nature of a particular dish, question the origin of a bite or a seasoning, a flavor she cannot put her finger on (for even those with the most refined of palates can never identify each and every flavor), she will not be met with a satisfying answer. ...</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white;">"The desserts are always astonishing. Confections deliriously executed in chocolate and butterscotch, berries bursting with creams and liqueurs. Cakes layered to impossible heights, pastries lighter than air. Figs that drip with honey, sugar blown into curls and flowers." (p. 70-71) </span></blockquote><span style="background-color: white;">And </span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white;">"Dessert consists mainly of a gargantuan tiered cake shaped to resemble circus tents and frosted in stripes, the filling within a bright shock of raspberry cream. There are also miniature chocolate leopards, and strawberries coated in looping patterns of dark and white chocolates." (p. 301-302)</span></blockquote> <span style="background-color: white;">In the circus itself, caramel and smoke smells and unimaginably delicious food and beverages like the cider and cocoa trigger both real and magical responses. The intensity of the story, which is multi-layered and sensual in many other ways, is constantly amplified by descriptions of both identifiable and mysterious aromas.<br /><br />The power of aromas is especially captured in one particular scene in the novel. Little bottles and jars in one of the many magic circus tents hold aromas that trigger the memory of stories for Widget, one of the keepers of the circus tale. When a character opens it, one bottle behaves like this: </span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white;">"A small wisp of smoke escapes, but other than that it is empty. As he peers inside he smells the smoke of a roaring fire, and a hint of snow and roasting chestnuts, Curious, he inhales deeply. There is the aroma of mulled wine and sugared candy, peppermint and pipe smoke. The crisp pine scent of a fir tree. The wax of dripping candles. He can almost feel the snow, the excitement, and the anticipation, the sugary taste of a striped candy. It is dizzying and wonderful and disturbing. After a few moments, he replaces the lid and puts the jar carefully back on the table." (p. 314)</span></blockquote><span style="background-color: white;">This character, Bailey, who is being brought into the circus to make it last forever, experiences Widget's little bottles, especially one that preserves the memory of an oak tree on his family farm:</span><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white;">"He pulls out the minuscule stopper, relieved that it remains attached to the bottle with a curl of wire.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="background-color: white;">"The sensation inside is so familiar, so comforting and recognizable and real that Bailey can feel the roughness of the bark, the smell of the acorns, even the chattering of the squirrels."(p. 359)</span></blockquote><span style="background-color: white;">The book has a wealth of other magical aspects, relating to the two central characters Celia (who wears a deeply personal perfume!) and Marco. Celia's father Prospero, one of the magicians who sets the events going, is especially fascinated by Shakespeare, and he would have liked to name her Miranda, but she answered only to Celia, perhaps because he had nothing like the control of Shakespeare's Prospero over his little island realm.<br /><br />Secrets and stories -- like the ones Widget collects -- are an intimate part of magic. One of Widget's stories is often mentioned by the magical circus people -- it's the tale told of a wizard who revealed his secrets and was imprisoned in a tree by one of the enchantments he himself disclosed. Like the Shakespeare theme, it's totally absorbing, but I'll limit myself to what I've said about aromas and tastes, rather than trying to review the book as a whole.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibI4W8u3Wb2-Gil0pDxLKoPlKBzUuZ0FTYmkQ65SHHNWw6qHAsy7QV6l4bEE6A8WiVV7Xd108uy59yUWQpFVcv-N1Qfb3XDJE3WCXv5uGHcV-5bFVej4mfBcMw8dkfdDM52Bv3jOETVfls/s1600/nightcircus.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibI4W8u3Wb2-Gil0pDxLKoPlKBzUuZ0FTYmkQ65SHHNWw6qHAsy7QV6l4bEE6A8WiVV7Xd108uy59yUWQpFVcv-N1Qfb3XDJE3WCXv5uGHcV-5bFVej4mfBcMw8dkfdDM52Bv3jOETVfls/s320/nightcircus.jpeg" width="207" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*The science of taste and smell as I refer to it, is described in the book <i>Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why it Matters</i> by Gordon M. Shepherd, and other sources. Shepherd provides strong arguments against the old belief that the human brain is deficient in processing aromas and flavors, and he describes in detail how the brain creates flavor-smell images. It's not necessary to be scientific to read The Night Circus, but the connection is fascinating. The author does credit a perfumery called <a href="http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/welcome.html">Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab</a>, though not that I noticed any scientific writing!</span></span>

The Night Circus

Hot cocoa, spiced cider, popcorn with caramel, chocolate mice with licorice tails, pastry dipped in cinnamon-sugar... these are the tastes and smells of the magic Circus in Erin Morgenstern's delightful novel The Night Circus. The author seems to have intuited and absorbed the conclusions also being…

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A Beautiful Restaurant

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_Xn26qHW2N1o1LkXaP_kaQcwiwhi4EONDgh5p3ANfi7Hj7HMbsLD9DEYNWf2NXHU7rG5XVrRLrkgFE1nl_yNkKFblwM7ya5rswLGJRfs7eX3r6_IoYWA4OXnAIPCmIh7cgdDd0CpO_oC/s1600/fleastreetcafe+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_Xn26qHW2N1o1LkXaP_kaQcwiwhi4EONDgh5p3ANfi7Hj7HMbsLD9DEYNWf2NXHU7rG5XVrRLrkgFE1nl_yNkKFblwM7ya5rswLGJRfs7eX3r6_IoYWA4OXnAIPCmIh7cgdDd0CpO_oC/s320/fleastreetcafe+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Our friend Roberta took us to Flea Street, a beautiful restaurant in Menlo Park while we were spending the weekend there with her (also visiting relatives). Flea Street was on the cutting edge a couple of decades ago, when a few pioneers invented the idea of restaurants and local producers partnering to develop local cuisines. It's still a lovely place, especially the patio where we ate. Roberta's dish (above) was the Summer Organic Vegetarian Tasting. We shared a bottle of white wine.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwDFHyT0V_VyILuTq4b9fxAUPGJq-MasAwq1Ss55ViAZDRC1KEsBDKeauxqfrT_oCVzYbfXsILgTwB4pLgslY6Xnc3tMyKsjZfa_zEH1dtFFtJxGjWROQeIh3m2PGzQziVd5pZgZXQJQi/s1600/fleastreetcafe+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijwDFHyT0V_VyILuTq4b9fxAUPGJq-MasAwq1Ss55ViAZDRC1KEsBDKeauxqfrT_oCVzYbfXsILgTwB4pLgslY6Xnc3tMyKsjZfa_zEH1dtFFtJxGjWROQeIh3m2PGzQziVd5pZgZXQJQi/s320/fleastreetcafe+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Len had Ricotta and Chive Gnocchi with mushrooms, fava beans, and pancetta.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvLNTmsl3ialvk8oEPaUo26AabkadEnm8CgplbZJzYT3pZq_U9PGa5cLq1ihMVf573k4mR-j9cn2s3OAy-WJUGR0j2cQc6Fv744iPjkKfaGCTc7wHqGHK8Z9A9OJAqkJrw5LMYLLZd0QD/s1600/fleastreetcafe+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRvLNTmsl3ialvk8oEPaUo26AabkadEnm8CgplbZJzYT3pZq_U9PGa5cLq1ihMVf573k4mR-j9cn2s3OAy-WJUGR0j2cQc6Fv744iPjkKfaGCTc7wHqGHK8Z9A9OJAqkJrw5LMYLLZd0QD/s320/fleastreetcafe+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I had the salad titled Little Gem Lettuces with Half Moon Bay Crispy Sardine, which was totally delicious. Fresh sardines are a rare treat! And for an appetizer, we shared a dozen oysters from Tomales Bay/Point Reyes. The restaurant makes its own buttermilk biscuits, which are also wonderful. <span style="background-color: white;">All the vegetables are from local farms, which are listed on the menu, along with other suppliers of cheese, fruit, meat, eggs, bakery goods, and so on.</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74dwK3O5Vwzs0TkovZ47E1utF5q_lXWxmMpvWsG7mbURfzzBtQPriC2vo1nZ9FR2Rd0UK9Prj89XOHfFLqpxlNM895gQ0OELCseidg39rwQtQr5PHSpFQXG5NyilOmeMa7D4svrArsi4g/s1600/fleastreetcafe+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74dwK3O5Vwzs0TkovZ47E1utF5q_lXWxmMpvWsG7mbURfzzBtQPriC2vo1nZ9FR2Rd0UK9Prj89XOHfFLqpxlNM895gQ0OELCseidg39rwQtQr5PHSpFQXG5NyilOmeMa7D4svrArsi4g/s320/fleastreetcafe+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />We shared a fruit tart -- blueberries and small cubes of nectarine with ricotta under the fruit and a semi-sour cream on top. Also a slice of crisped nectarine. Very original. And of course coffee:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjpy7CjuwJBw1nNFYRGrhRX_kBsaV8R3JmnFEPqsH7EZ2KEovm8U65Y69trwpR8jYRQ4mA_UjT9YLp0jWGdQvqjw7fYPGSZP-jE4hQDJ33izqXbljDsGxO3pONfp-mX5VgY8f26tZ4rMe/s1600/fleastreetcafe+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjpy7CjuwJBw1nNFYRGrhRX_kBsaV8R3JmnFEPqsH7EZ2KEovm8U65Y69trwpR8jYRQ4mA_UjT9YLp0jWGdQvqjw7fYPGSZP-jE4hQDJ33izqXbljDsGxO3pONfp-mX5VgY8f26tZ4rMe/s320/fleastreetcafe+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />

A Beautiful Restaurant

Our friend Roberta took us to Flea Street, a beautiful restaurant in Menlo Park while we were spending the weekend there with her (also visiting relatives). Flea Street was on the cutting edge a couple of decades ago, when a few pioneers invented the idea of restaurants and local producers partnerin…

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