Posts filed under 'Travel Food'
Q’s, located in the historic Boulderado Hotel, is a classic Colorado establishment. You won’t hear the thumping of techno music as this is a serene environment with elegant food and excellent service. Here are Chef John’s answers to the Flavorista 5:
1. What are you currently working on other than making sure the restaurant and bar are running smoothly 24/7?
"As usual, I’m working on a number of catering and benefit dinner menus, as well as instituting some menu upgrades for the restaurant. Keeping it seasonal and fun. Our Q Bar menu is the best in town and it is fun keeping it that way.
I got bored with doing the same stuff for too long. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and brainstorming to try to recharge my culinary batteries. Also trying to come up with a theme for our next Q’s Food and Wine Series dinner….maybe old world vs. new world wine styles and varietals? I am also looking forward to spring and getting my garden going!”
2. What are the food ingredients you can’t live without?
"Hmmmmm…my little squeeze bottle of lemon juice and good olive oil, potatoes, beer, bacon, slow cooked onions, Cholula and Sriracha hot sauces, sherry vinegar and Haystack Mt. Goat Dairy Chevre."
3. Who are your mentors or what has influenced you the most?
"I’ve been my own mentor and mentor to others for a while now, but past influences would have to include the chefs I worked for at the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel in the mid 80’s, my Mom, my wife Sabrina, my talented sous chefs past and present, and Boulder’s Dave Query."
4. What is your favorite food memory?
"Swordfish steaks charcoal grilled with butter, lemon, salt and pepper on summer vacation with my family on Cape Cod. Also, Mom’s cheese fondue and a veal and mushroom dish with noodles that she learned how to make when we lived in Switzerland for a year when I was 11.
Best Restaurant Meal Ever: A perfect 9 courses at the French Laundry in 1998."
5. What would be your ultimate meal, any and all details (place, menu, guests)?
"A simple outdoor meal made after a day on the beach or a day of fly fishing: Wellfleet oysters with lemon and hot sauce, a really great chargrilled steak, lobster steamed in seawater, sunwarmed garden sliced tomatoes with sherry vinegar, oil salt and pepper, several Sierra Nevada beers, Sabrina’s chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
Dinner with Sabrina and our boys would be just great. Celebrity guests could include Thomas Jefferson, Jimi Hendrix."
March 9th, 2010
Some folks said I was brave to even try eating street food but I was quite conscientious about the things I chose to consume. I was very careful to watch the process and the flow of customers. This technique worked as I did not get sick and the food was incredible and inexpensive. There were some things I chose not eat from small food stalls.
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Steam Buns.
Scallion Pancake.
Some of my best finds were the different types of breads and savory scallion pancakes redolent with the aroma of 5 spice powder and artistically dosed Sichuan peppercorns. Some flat breads were accented with sesame seed breads and it was these that had the texture of light, airy focaccia. I did not partake in the skewers of meat on barbeque, mostly because I was out in the morning and wasn’t quite in the mood.
My favorite breakfast was this "burrito" known as Ban Din.
Admittedly, I didn’t make all over Shanghai. I tended to return to the same street (Shandong Rd.). partially because it was 8 minutes from my hotel. Shanghai is such a study of contrasts, ultra modern buildings, yet there were still these amazing alleys where life has not seemed to have changed much.
My favorite street to find delectables.
In the end, the key to safe street food is to make sure you don’t use any of the utensils or plates. They do not wash the plates or bowls but dip them in buckets of water as these stalls barely have sinks, let alone use soap. There was no point in taking chances.
I love dumplings and steamed buns and could eat them 3 meals a day. There was not one disappointment among my street food buys. I found the dough here to be lighter and fluffier than I’ve ever had. I’d say it was the water but the water is not potable, not even by the Chinese. Maybe it is the secret, but I’d rather not dwell on that thought.
February 7th, 2010
My lovely and gracious hosts in Shanghai treated me to many meals but one unexpected "find" was the lunch at the Islamic restuarant, Hong Chang Xing. The food was outstanding and the menu was a source of great entertainment.
Favorite menu translations (these are not made up):
French fries - "Explodes the Earth Thick Wire"
Papaya hollowed out and filled with crushed ice - "The Chinese Flo wearing quince cooks the snow clam."
Seafood Dishes - "Diligent Right Eyed Fish" and "Thermal Explosion Milk Shrimp"
My personal favorites - "Bad Chicken Feet" (as it turns out this is a dish that is chicken feet which are preserved in alcohol) followed by "Sea Hibernation of Insect Head". Oh My! Clearly one should not order by translation.
I felt bad about how much humor I found in these translations especially when the hostess came over and implored my hosts that I not remove the menu from the restaurant. I assured her that I thought the food was excellent, which it was, but that the translations were just very "charming."
Another incredible meal was enjoyed at a "farmer’s-style" restaurant just outside of Shanghai proper in Chuan Sha. The restaurant is actually on a farm and the food was some of the best I’ve had anywhere.
Here we feasted and I feel truly blessed to been the company of locals so that they could order for me. The people of China take cuisine (basic and regional) very seriously.
These soy sauce pickled turnips were outstanding.
The broth on this shrimp soup was incredible and the crispy sauteed greens (that I forgot to photograph) along with an herbacious grain style salad (I think it was buckwheat but no one could confirm) were some of the best things I ate on the trip.
By far the most beautiful restaurant I got to experience was South Beauty. The food did not disappoint as our hostess knew how to order. The interior of this old French Colonial home was renovated by an American architect named Phillip Stein. The atmosphere was terrific.
One highlight was the dessert shown below which was supposed to represent a calligrapher’s table. You dip the cookie tip of the brush into the sauce and "write" on the sheets. The black sesame cakes (which were excellent) and the brown sesame cakes represent the paper weights. A lovely presentation and the perfect ending to a fabulous meal.
February 5th, 2010
While in New York I made it a point of visiting the Mastihashop on Orchard street. I had been wanting to go there since 2007 when I first read about mastiha in a trade publication. The word mastiha is the root for masticate. It is the original chewing gum.
Long praised for its therapeutic properties, mastiha has made its way into many different types of foods and body products. The resin is harvested from a tree that is related to the pistachio - the same way it was done centuries ago.
The flavor is slightly pine-like but not at all overwhelmingly so. I purchased a powder of mastiha and salhab (more on salhab to come) that when added to hot milk makes a thick, sweet creamy beverage. I also picked up a pasta called trahana that is a couscous-type grain which contains mastiha and feta cheese. The MastihaShop also offers chewing gum, nougats and honey-type products which all contain mastiha.
Here is a recipe using trahana. The grain which is hand rolled with chios mastiha is pictured here raw (first photo below) and cooked with chicken (second photo). If you feel especially motivated, there is a recipe for homemade trahana by Cat Cora on the Food Network site (minus the mastiha). It’s not quite couscous, not quite bulgar. It has its own unique texture.
Trahana Pasta with Chicken
6 chicken thighs
2/3 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. Limnos Lamb rub from Savory Spice shop
(or substitute Greek Seasoning)
1 cup tranhana
2 cups water
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
crumbled feta cheese, to taste
Sprinkle the chicken thighs with the Limnos spice blend. Heat the olive oil and brown the chicken thighs, turning once. Add the white wine and bring to a boil.
Add the trahana and the water. Bring back to the boil. Lower heat and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to rest. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.
Slice the cherry tomatoes in half. Crumble the feta cheese into the tomatoes. Chop the parsley and add to the tomatoes and toss well.
Place the chicken and trahana on to a plate and top with the tomato salad. Enjoy!
December 30th, 2009
Greater Boston Flavoristas - This one is for you!
The Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails, also known as LUPEC is having a big party next Saturday in the South End, a Tiki Bash no less! The event will feature 1950’s-style libations and hors d’oeuvres. There will be live music and a very cool prize raffle. Fruity rum cocktails anyone?
LUPEC’s 3rd annual fall fundraising event will benefit On The Rise a Cambridge, MA, non-profit that supports the initiative and strength of women living in crisis or homelessness.
Tickets are $35 in advance and $45 at the door. Tickets may be purchased online at The Boston Shaker.
FMI - Click here.
November 8th, 2009
Get ready greater Portland Flavoristas! It is time for Harvest on the Harbor. The festival begins this Thursday, October 22nd and runs until Sunday. There is certainly something for everyone, from vegetarians to BBQ-lovers and everything in between.
LeRoux Kitchen is running free cooking demos.
The opening night festivities (Grand Tasting on the Harbor) and theLobster Chef of the Year Competition are sold out, but there are plenty of events with space available.
Like Lucinda Scala Quinn, of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Foods, promoting her newest book of Italian specialties. At $35 for a two hour demo including food and wine samples, it is a bargain.
Local restaurants, like Bibo’s Mad Apple Cafe and 20 Milk Street, are offering Harvest Dining specials.
There are plenty of tipples to be had at Harvest on the Harbor with over 100 local beer producers and wine importers participating at different events.
If you did not happen to catch the September/October issue of Food Etc, click here. It offers an in depth look at several of the Harvest on The Harbor participants.
Bon Appetit!
October 20th, 2009
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