Wordless Wednesday: Field Museum, American Indians

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Wordless Wednesday: Field Museum, American Indians

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Happy Birthday, Adam

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2g6Ev-hillSZtL1f6Emm408av8WV8EKghIr3dTpXwV3UrYpa4i9LxbvyXFFrFFsPEKhcO4kr1RXKG16JOq1fo41jWx-MXx4G6Q8q1_Z15BTJ78VsdjFKr20LSO2lYxAKby3DwQtZ1jTB/s1600/adam-bday4964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw2g6Ev-hillSZtL1f6Emm408av8WV8EKghIr3dTpXwV3UrYpa4i9LxbvyXFFrFFsPEKhcO4kr1RXKG16JOq1fo41jWx-MXx4G6Q8q1_Z15BTJ78VsdjFKr20LSO2lYxAKby3DwQtZ1jTB/s400/adam-bday4964.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Espresso Cake with Hot Kahlua Syrup<br />Recipe from Carole Walter's <i>Great Cakes</i></td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1eWGPaf8l169BMvl3tFWp2WYEE3eU7au05rfByfdiXxd2GKJadA-_N02cs2-PljCw9c5swdssVChsTRl4MV2aH4-Kn-0NXG-5u8Efot6V6033owQ5vorB9qqB1n3jhmswJ72MASOdC3Pm/s1600/adam-bday4965.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1eWGPaf8l169BMvl3tFWp2WYEE3eU7au05rfByfdiXxd2GKJadA-_N02cs2-PljCw9c5swdssVChsTRl4MV2aH4-Kn-0NXG-5u8Efot6V6033owQ5vorB9qqB1n3jhmswJ72MASOdC3Pm/s400/adam-bday4965.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adam lights his candles; background Carol the baker.</td></tr></tbody></table>Once more, it's Adam's birthday. Last night we celebrated with a meal at an Indian restaurant and another fabulous cake baked by Carol. She's  made many cakes from the book <i>Great Cakes</i>. The combination of coffee flavor, chocolate frosting, Kahlua syrup to soak into the cake, and a hint of lemon from the candied peel decorating the top was remarkable.<br /><br />Many happy returns, Adam!

Happy Birthday, Adam

Espresso Cake with Hot Kahlua Syrup Recipe from Carole Walter's Great Cakes Adam lights his candles; background Carol the baker. Once mo...

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"Yes, Chef"

In his memoir <i>Yes, Chef</i>, the celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson shows himself to be a man who loves food and who is dedicated to several ideals of ethnic awareness and racial equality. Though I knew that Samuelsson was a native of Ethiopia, adopted as a small child and raised in Sweden, author of a book of pan-African recipes, and later an immigrant and naturalized citizen of the US, I wasn’t expecting the high quality of writing and high level of global consciousness that I found in the book. <br /><br />Always loving food and cooking, Samuelsson credits his Swedish grandmother Mormor with introducing him to food: <br /><blockquote>“At <i>Mormor’s</i>, the smell of food was omnipresent: The yeasty aroma of freshly baked bread or the tang of drying rose hips hit you as soon as you walked in. Something was always going on in her kitchen, and usually several things at once. My grandmother would start chopping vegetables for dinner while sterilizing jars for canning, while stirring a pot of chicken stock or grinding pork for a month’s worth of sausages. If I had to try to pinpoint my earliest food memory it would not be a single taste, but a smell – my grandmother’s house.” (kindle location 268) </blockquote>“Every country has a cuisine,” Samuelsson says (kindle location 3317). He shares his fascination and respect for the deep flavors of Swedish food. He describes vividly his voyages long and short in search of unusual spices and cooking techniques in Europe, Asia, Africa, and among immigrant communities in New York. From a stage on a cruise ship to Southeast Asia to walks through New York and spending all his meagre earnings on meals at respected restaurants, he searched for good tastes. <br /><br />His discovery of obscure flavors like the spice mix <i>berbere</i> native to his Amharic village in Ethiopia comes alive, while he also painfully explains the harsh poverty in which his natal family subsists. His efforts to be generous and helpful to his family (whom he found when he was over 30, after long efforts) depict his struggle to treat them with respect for their culture, while trying to give his much younger half-sisters a better chance through education. His emotional life is complex and maybe he’s not always perfect in his relationships with others, but I think he describes it in a way that makes one understand him.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmE6NPXeFV6WJLs9ZmbWuYSr9HOJyW-UWgFysQeUsZXtdBfoS8QE5cxpKuMVpazAszkJCjH3-zS9AWkvnyCsFZsWR7c2h8n4RznQG_fid-dbCSYkItTLsHJNpEgbX5NzeGMhucoBXobpWK/s1600/redrooster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmE6NPXeFV6WJLs9ZmbWuYSr9HOJyW-UWgFysQeUsZXtdBfoS8QE5cxpKuMVpazAszkJCjH3-zS9AWkvnyCsFZsWR7c2h8n4RznQG_fid-dbCSYkItTLsHJNpEgbX5NzeGMhucoBXobpWK/s1600/redrooster.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Website of Samuelsson's restaurant Red Rooster.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Samuelsson began his education in a Swedish culinary school, but quickly sought apprenticeships in three-star establishments in Switzerland and Austria. The toughness of life in such kitchens is characterized by the automatic response of a subordinate when given an order: "Yes, Chef!" The apprenticeship of a chef in a modern kitchen is a frequent subject for chef memoirs; this one seems to me very vivid but less sensationalistic than some of the others.<br /><br />Samuelsson was always conscious of his racial difference, not least because a worker in those kitchens is often referred to as a “negre” – not a nice word. He’s especially clear about racism in high-end American restaurants and how it affected him during his development as a chef, beginning just above apprentice level and quickly progressing to be a head chef, a partner in a high-profile venture that failed, and finally as the chef chosen to cook the Obama's first White House state dinner and eventually as owner of a successful Harlem restaurant The Red Rooster.<br /><br />

"Yes, Chef"

In his memoir Yes, Chef , the celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson shows himself to be a man who loves food and who is dedicated to several id...

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Wordless Wednesday: Air Travel Dining

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Wordless Wednesday: Air Travel Dining

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Coming soon...

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFbZmcWd-GqFU-E1MAd-Ejd8nBMqkdSMIquNiW_y6Ojfw3pNbEmJJwSVTG8B3PswR1g7XIQBDvujCHRu60EwosR6XwQY5kJ51P4ifvIJppQSnyFY6NVhQHtPW-84zPXKzh-jcS7pAZQd5l/s1600/art-appetite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFbZmcWd-GqFU-E1MAd-Ejd8nBMqkdSMIquNiW_y6Ojfw3pNbEmJJwSVTG8B3PswR1g7XIQBDvujCHRu60EwosR6XwQY5kJ51P4ifvIJppQSnyFY6NVhQHtPW-84zPXKzh-jcS7pAZQd5l/s400/art-appetite.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />I spent several hours at the Chicago Art Institute today, enjoying their vast collections of American art, Impressionism, African art, Asian sculpture and ceramics, and more. Sadly, an exhibit that I would love to see doesn't start until next week.<br /><br />The saddest part: many paintings that represent culture and cuisine are not on view now -- for example, "Nighthawks" which I wrote about earlier this week. There is little chance for me to get back to Chicago before the show ends January 27, but maybe I'll at least be able to get a copy of the catalog -- no, it wasn't available in the gift shop yet!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VapkvCoGHbJjNG41sBmX8yGL0NUqLbbxURmP2BpZEYlnK8hKJpq5haEkI6o4W5scLWKY-Q48mBG0S7Z08yFbTNbjw6amMcWqAZeqqSg0cAbFqkiHcqz1rVRmfOCBfJy984coTWgyb7hW/s1600/candypile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VapkvCoGHbJjNG41sBmX8yGL0NUqLbbxURmP2BpZEYlnK8hKJpq5haEkI6o4W5scLWKY-Q48mBG0S7Z08yFbTNbjw6amMcWqAZeqqSg0cAbFqkiHcqz1rVRmfOCBfJy984coTWgyb7hW/s640/candypile.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But there was a candy pile by artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres <br />(who also did the <a href="http://regional-food.blogspot.com/2009/01/edible-art-photos-from-fort-worth.html">green candy in Fort Worth</a>).<br />You can eat the candy -- <a href="http://www.timeoutchicago.com/things-to-do/this-week-in-chicago/16153426/art-institute-candy-sculpture-what%E2%80%99s-up-with-that">here's how it works!</a><br />(This caption has been updated to correct the name of the artist and give links.)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />

Coming soon...

I spent several hours at the Chicago Art Institute today, enjoying their vast collections of American art, Impressionism, African art, Asian...

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Tapas

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lwsAEjqokcAUTIY_ZRke7smgJJLfLJhGDlRu1Y9Hz7uJRXM3jkXyQ6XnSSBuKFMq0VGO_7NTV1tojfFr84-WlQkiJIglwSXVjBrTdYEclAJoVsMHkndsrg4Kzq-ZrX-ONXwyESb3cbm2/s1600/mercat-window.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lwsAEjqokcAUTIY_ZRke7smgJJLfLJhGDlRu1Y9Hz7uJRXM3jkXyQ6XnSSBuKFMq0VGO_7NTV1tojfFr84-WlQkiJIglwSXVjBrTdYEclAJoVsMHkndsrg4Kzq-ZrX-ONXwyESb3cbm2/s640/mercat-window.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking out the window of Mercat Restaurant towards Michigan Avenue in Chicago.<br />We arrived in Chicago at 3:45 PM, spent an hour in the Art Institute, and went on down the street to eat at Mercat.<br />We ate there one other time, <a href="http://regional-food.blogspot.com/2010/08/chicago-dining.html">in August 2010</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiON5roN5sxAywChKyLd5SWxTlrVEcwUfwz9c7EDrln4CF2fbyB1aZoogPB_V3buZ0LmL9SIqfEA_7JdRiSekJjUU-pPSUyaCv6VVhlGTMr7f_oFTOR3VTHaZ45hXokYAYOgsXWF0LUBe-O/s1600/mercat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiON5roN5sxAywChKyLd5SWxTlrVEcwUfwz9c7EDrln4CF2fbyB1aZoogPB_V3buZ0LmL9SIqfEA_7JdRiSekJjUU-pPSUyaCv6VVhlGTMr7f_oFTOR3VTHaZ45hXokYAYOgsXWF0LUBe-O/s640/mercat2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boquarones (white anchovies) with pine nuts and herbs</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhneBFzquhWv20aTOicoSV6sMwLG4iRewRVD7_4N6z1B_Tm8YrTrZoXlQJ0e-27xPuvRdwUi3VGMwSuAaYgIW4_37bo0LOEUbYLXGzwkuZFq_oHFtgVMWY2yzP5wzk5SOo95rNPxzWS5U8q/s1600/mercat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhneBFzquhWv20aTOicoSV6sMwLG4iRewRVD7_4N6z1B_Tm8YrTrZoXlQJ0e-27xPuvRdwUi3VGMwSuAaYgIW4_37bo0LOEUbYLXGzwkuZFq_oHFtgVMWY2yzP5wzk5SOo95rNPxzWS5U8q/s640/mercat.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Serrano ham and fig salad with spinach, almonds, sherry vinaigrette</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZ5CsFie3whRmdLzoKxPSyr9LN3ZXZWZ2R2qTRXDD2u_5f0COv4ISR3Oy4MdOT-qANs0uvqyJXC9oKWTOo1bYePf_Pi07l9RdPoRUtalOb48hgI3O0ocT-iuwnQB_dm2mG83MIq7mOWQS/s1600/mercat3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZ5CsFie3whRmdLzoKxPSyr9LN3ZXZWZ2R2qTRXDD2u_5f0COv4ISR3Oy4MdOT-qANs0uvqyJXC9oKWTOo1bYePf_Pi07l9RdPoRUtalOb48hgI3O0ocT-iuwnQB_dm2mG83MIq7mOWQS/s640/mercat3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Razor clams with piquillo pepper sofrito and grilled focaccia</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9wu8AtIZ142QmnK2lTeN-xF4uYSPhJaE9kwt1dQHSZ3Qb6dS4b5b2jZmBjTbhSh4v6ggBvzVYT3y6f9ikqCPJhOvQsj1TzACqwHml31nvid0AGnNOovjsSuYImhEvnBRKhPR4-qTRoNa/s1600/mercat-interior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9wu8AtIZ142QmnK2lTeN-xF4uYSPhJaE9kwt1dQHSZ3Qb6dS4b5b2jZmBjTbhSh4v6ggBvzVYT3y6f9ikqCPJhOvQsj1TzACqwHml31nvid0AGnNOovjsSuYImhEvnBRKhPR4-qTRoNa/s640/mercat-interior.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The highly-decorated interior of the restaurant.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />

Tapas

Looking out the window of Mercat Restaurant towards Michigan Avenue in Chicago. We arrived in Chicago at 3:45 PM, spent an hour in the Art I...

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Wordless Wednesday: Hopper's Nighthawks

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoVZ2c7Ny2vCnCjuBIB-e_S-OhJqdLf0OXsl2MteRCffVy28vsf0-_SSaOZItVgg9yXCg309K0hnIhNvkRO7PBzKP4K2fyYo3lMzW8yukazKkOTPVGZVHnddq2wPrD5uWDhD9VjSVmz-e/s1600/Nighthawks-Hopper-1942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQoVZ2c7Ny2vCnCjuBIB-e_S-OhJqdLf0OXsl2MteRCffVy28vsf0-_SSaOZItVgg9yXCg309K0hnIhNvkRO7PBzKP4K2fyYo3lMzW8yukazKkOTPVGZVHnddq2wPrD5uWDhD9VjSVmz-e/s640/Nighthawks-Hopper-1942.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAonCeSG51J0Cn_rSRyB105Rh8S-v_dDfkcyMWih9NXLCbWpA0RaXNt8XDcWNlv52RyS0U0KSD8PkWsuAwlgXjmCuOGL16XJ_M2zN-puJqBqQKVA8jmmfWJwBMvKrotOMZGMAX7Za2HcQY/s1600/nighthawk-simpsons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAonCeSG51J0Cn_rSRyB105Rh8S-v_dDfkcyMWih9NXLCbWpA0RaXNt8XDcWNlv52RyS0U0KSD8PkWsuAwlgXjmCuOGL16XJ_M2zN-puJqBqQKVA8jmmfWJwBMvKrotOMZGMAX7Za2HcQY/s400/nighthawk-simpsons.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2nzfG-9vxxGjPOkf2ENVQQHBeHFSKbhxKi4gw1f_WdhPDSzrYQK2p1FSS1FYW33Alqac1lD8JZvGn_wL20qxd1ZehTXEPSU7-S4ee6ob4pEECX0SKiaUXG6dsaPYy2kb-IMAJOUWuN2r/s1600/vangoghvisit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij2nzfG-9vxxGjPOkf2ENVQQHBeHFSKbhxKi4gw1f_WdhPDSzrYQK2p1FSS1FYW33Alqac1lD8JZvGn_wL20qxd1ZehTXEPSU7-S4ee6ob4pEECX0SKiaUXG6dsaPYy2kb-IMAJOUWuN2r/s640/vangoghvisit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div>

Wordless Wednesday: Hopper's Nighthawks

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