Distraction

I have been asked numerous times about the lack of intersection among my work (urban education), my passion (cooking), and my academic pursuit (human geography).  There is an underlying commonality - justice - access to education, access to quality food, and being saddled with the burden of landscape.

I learned a new word - bistronomy - and it is timely because I recently went to a gelateria and found myself amazed at the price point.  My first brush with gelato was at Capogiro's 7 or 8 years ago; more recently I get it at the Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting.  The gelato I had last week was just as delicious but targeted at a different demographic.  While I ate, I kept marveling at how the masses would be able to enjoy it because the upscale decor associated with gelato in this area has been stripped down to a family friendly decor. 

Although it's likely that the ingredients aren't sourced locally, seasonally, and sustainably - this normalizes the gourmet foodscape a bit. 

Conversion

Last night I went to Whole Foods to return that despicable Allegro coffee and stopped by the seafood counter because my son wants seafood salad.  My plan was to buy a half pound of the shrimp and a package of the imitation crab meat. 

There was whole boneless trout for $7.99/lb that I thought would be nice fried with some grits for breakfast.  The only drawback was that it was farm raised...and that has nothing on wild caught trout.  But supposedly the trout is farmed in conditions that mimic a running stream, so I went for it and it was delicious. 

On my way home I stopped at Fresh Grocer for Hellman's mayonnaise....I took a look at their seafood counter.  Everything looked so dead.  There was wild caught fillets of silver and rainbow trout that were unimpressive and there was the whole boneless trout at the same $7.99 price point.  But it looked lifeless.

I can't seem to figure out why inferior food (fish, meat, produce) hovers around the same price as more wholesome and sustainably produced food.  I'm now even more cautious than before about farm raised fish.  My concern about the fish was basically the same as the feedlot cattle - an unnatural diet of grains and hormones coupled with overcrowding mitigated by antibiotics.  Well it's worst than I thought.  Whole Foods statement about tilapia sex-reversal prompted me to do a little investigating.

I remember when tilapia first hit the supermarkets 15 years ago - it was a delicate fish that was almost a delicacy, now it's omnipresent.  It's native to Africa but is now being farmed all over the world.  It has become the "Factory Fish."  But there are a couple of problems with that - it's almost nutritionally useless; it's environmentally degradative; and this sex-reversal thing sounds like frankenscience.  Mixed-sexed ponds can become overcrowded due to reproduction - this adversely impacts the size of the fish.  The solution is to feed the fish a synthetic sex hormone (or use hybrids) to produce an all male population that can grow to a large size for the market. 

We need to get the food system back to the basics - not only are we engineering chickens to grow faster and have larger breasts but we are meddling with animal reproduction.  Dairy cows are getting hormones to increase lactation and we are reversing the sex of tilapia to meet the demands of the market.  Is anyone concerned that this might adversely affect humans?

While I may have converted to the farm raised rainbow trout at Whole Foods, I'm literally scared to death of tilapia.

Terroir terror

Once again I have a new obsession - coffee.  Words can't begin to describe how wonderful this particular brew is.  There is an espresso and coffee guide online that tells you everything there is to know about coffee.  Ever since it was smuggled from Ethiopia to Yemen it has been a commodity and a source of wealth for merchants, particularly when they held monopolies.  Until the Dutch smuggled plants to Indonesia, the Arabs and Venetians had a monopoly.  The kicker is that coffee grows best in the global south but the commodification of coffee only truly benefits those in the global north - hence the push for fair trade coffee.

Coffee became mass produced in various western hemisphere colonies and we can clearly see who has reaped the benefits of the exploitative coffee plantation economy that stretches from Central America to the Caribbean. 

Learning a bit about the history has helped me to put my coffee preferences in perspective.  Coffee from the western hemisphere lacks the body and flavor that I love because it is so far removed from the original source and is essentially a mass produced grandchild of the original coffee plant.

The thing that's even more crazy about the history of coffee is the role of the Dutch East India Company.  I wonder if my friend realizes that she embodies the rags to riches story of coffee.  Her mother is Eritrean and her father is Dutch.  Eritrea is an Abyssinian country that was colonized by the Italians in the 19th century (initially the Venetians held the European coffee monopoly before the Dutch establish plantations on Indonesia).  I am waiting for a jebena so that I can experience coffee from seed to cup.

Sweet succulence

Last night we went to my favorite restaurant and over indulged as usual.  I almost deviated from my regular and ordered shrimp and cheese grits - but when I inquired about the shrimp, they were farm raised.  Fortunately, I had purchased wild caught shrimp from Whole Foods so I planned shrump n grits for breakfast this morning.

I don't make shrump n grits quite the way they do in the low country but we only eat shrimp from the southern coast because shrimp from anywhere else are just plain inferior and tasteless.  I paid $13.99/lb for shrimp that go for $6.99/lb or less at the source, but it's worth it for shrimp that are sweet and bursting with flavor. 

Jackpot

I went to Whole Foods to take advantage of the one-day-sale on cherries and hit the jackpot.  I was greeted by organic cherries from the Ranier Fruit Company - I bought 6 pounds without even tasting them.  I was beginning to think that I was going to have to quit cold turkey because the cherries I've purchased in the last few weeks were lacking to say the least.

I was even more excited when I approached the seafood counter -- I bought fresh wild caught 16/20 shrimp and a whole rockfish - both on sale. 

Finally, One Village Coffee had a sample table setup.  Initially I was going to keep going because I already know that I like the House Blend and I have decided that I would just alternate between that and Swing's G Street blend because the Allegro Blend I just bought on sale was a total waste of time.  Apparently that's because it's roasted in large batches in Colorado and shipped all across the country.  I chatted with the vendor a bit and settled on the Smart Blend (mocha java). 

I came home and immediately brewed a pot of coffee.  The aroma enveloped the house in a way that buffered the torrential downpours outside.  With one sip, I declared it my favorite (full bodied with a hint of blueberry) and before I knew it, my cup was empty and I was desperate for a refill.

Cofee and cherries just might be my two favorite berries. 

3 courses, 3 hours

My mother bought a deviled egg carrier for $2 and couldn't wait to use it.  Last night I bought some drumsticks and called to tell her that she could bring some deviled eggs over today; she was thrilled.  My husband wasn't impressed with the menu - he wanted corn on the cob.  My son suggested lamb, but the loin chops were frozen...so I set the vac-pacs in water and drove to Whole Foods for the corn.  I also bought zucchini and squash.

I skinned the drumsticks and marinated them and the chops arabesque style. 

I had to take my daughter to camp so the plan was that my husband would put the food on the grill at 4 and we would eat at 5.  I got home at 450, my grandmother was sitting on the couch, but there was nothing on the grill.  I got the corn into the oven and sauteed the zucchini with onions and garlic.  We ate the zucchini at 545 as our first course.  The lamb chops came in and we at those with the corn at 630.  My grandmother absolutely loved the flavor, the meatiness, and the tenderness.  She couldn't remember the last time she had a piece of lamb that good.  I told her I saw loin chops for $16.99/lb at the market, but I had gotten mine directly from the meatpacker for around $9/lb.   

At 715 we had the main course - the deviled eggs, accompanied by the chicken.

Back to biryani

In order to avert Friday night takeout I decided to make biryani.  I thought it was early enough in the afternoon and I had all of the ingredients at home (if I substituted the "laban" for yogurt) , even for the hara marsala (left over from the Thai) except green chilis and rice.  Technically I could have substituted with the jasmine I had at home but who knows how that would've turned out so I scraped together $15 to buy a 10lb bag of tilda. 

I came home at 4, fried the onions, skinned the thighs, then got to work mixing up the marinade for the chicken, etc.  I stuffed it all in my 5 quart cuisinart (I don't have a de chi pot) and let it cook.  When my husband walked
in the door a little after 7, he said, "wow, it smells like biryani, and it didn't take hours to make."  In fact, although I wasn't tired (running on adrenaline from a successful work week I suppose), it had taken many steps and a significant amount of time to prepare. 

We sat down and ate as if it were a basic chicken and rice dish...everyone helped themselves to seconds and thirds.  I suppose ethnic dishes have become a bit too common place in this house.