2009 May | hungry sofia

May 15

Coop Break

Today was my work shift at the Park Slope Food Coop. I am on a food processing crew which means that, every four weeks, I make my way across Union street, pull on an apron and start bagging spices, grains, nuts – whatever is missing. I thought this was only means to an end so I could shop there, but it’s become something that I look forward to every month. I love the easy, early morning chat that transpires between a handful of people with only dried cranberries and brazil nuts in common. It’s a nice lull before turning in my apron and heading upstairs to jostle with the tatooed yoga mommies for organic mangoes, green peppers and Spanish cheeses, another shift completed.

May 14

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Fear of Frying

When I decided to write a food blog about Latin food, I knew this day would come. I can’t blame the blog. I’d been looking for an excuse to buy a deep fat fryer since I came across this best of list in Food & Wine last year. When a top appliance pick is also the most economical, my mind goes blank and I don’t come to until I’m punching in the three digit security code on the back of my credit card.

I’d avoided it this long because I believed my deep fear of frying was the only thing keeping me safe from the sleeping Cuban monster inside me. The monster that will fry anything that can’t fry it first. Apart from small batches of plantains or potatoes, I mostly avoid deep frying. I’m never quite sure of the temperature, so everything comes out uneven and random pops from the pan sends me scurrying. But now churros, empanadas, and croquetas aren’t just temptations to be indulged in moderation, they’re research. So today, after 3-5 business days, the Amazon stork delivered my deep fat fryer, and it’s an entirely different kind of monster.

Cuban Potatoes

I should confess that when I admitted to my host family, during my year abroad in Madrid, that one of my favorite dishes from home was tortilla de plátanos maduros (fried ripe plantain omelette), I thought they might ask me to leave…the country. I don’t think they would have been so shocked if they knew that for Cubans, plantains are as ubiquitous as the potatoes they put in their own tortilla de patatas. Read more

May 10

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His Mother’s Son

The first time I read about Spanish avant-garde chef Francis Paniego I fell in love, with his mother. An award winning chef in her own right, Marisa Sánchez is responsible for Echaurren, a restaurant serving traditional Riojan food connected by a small inn to El Portal, the cutting edge restaurant run by her son.

Now that I am looking more thoughtfully at traditional cooking, I see the push and pull between old and new everywhere. I like of the thought of these two restaurants sharing a kitchen, side by side like a whim of Gaudí. I decided to try to make Marisa’s Chicken and Serrano Ham Croquetas, served at both restaurants. I included a picture above of the uncooked breaded croquetas because they were much prettier before I inflicted my skittish frying on them, as seen below. Read more

May 8

Mariachi Stew

Photo by by buckaroo kid

Mariachis at a special family party are what Santa Claus is to kids on Christmas Eve, no less thrilling for being completely expected. When the appetizers have been passed, food served, and toasts made they seemingly fall from the sky. In a moment, everyone is joining in a loud, emotional chorus of Cielito Lindo or El Rey. Then just as quickly they move on to the next quince or wedding anniversary as the evening winds down. The highpoint of any gathering yet they never stay long, and never eat. So naturally I was fascinated by this Jonathan Kendall article from Saveur:

While their usual schedule is from dusk to midnight, they’re often called out of bed on short notice to sing amends beneath the balconies of peeved wives and girlfriends at dawn.

Like most mariachis, Barrón and Trujillo neither eat nor drink during work hours—but they agree that their favorite food is birria. No two versions of birria are alike—even the basic form may vary, from shredded meat to be eaten with a soupy sauce to a thick soupy stew with meat and sauce combined—and if a chef gains a reputation for his birria, his recipe will remain a closely guarded secret.

It makes sense that they would keep superhero hours, but it was the description of the off duty mariachis that I found riveting.

May 7

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Home!

So after 4 sad calls to technical support, 3 customer satisfaction surverys (I grade on a curve) and several emails to my new best friend (St.) Anthony of WordPress.com Automattic, I’m up and running. If you’re reading this, you had no problem finding me. I’m still decorating, but please let me know what you think of the new place…

May 5

Is Cinco de Mayo the Mexican Chanukah?

I must admit that when my uncle told me that Cinco de Mayo was just an excuse for Corona to sell more beer, I thought he was kidding until I found this editorial in the New York Times. Apparently it’s a minor regional holiday hardly observed in Mexico outside of Puebla, which celebrates the defeat of the French army there in 1862. Still, it does offer an all too brief day of recognition for Mexicans remaking their lives north of the border. Besides, as the article points out, what holiday isn’t tainted by commerce? I’m sure even ancient pagans would have harsh words about what Nestle’s done to the Easter Bunny. Read more

May 4

The Hard Way

I love doing unnecessary things, and I’m good at them. I run ridiculous distances when not being chased, am a meticulous Christmas present wrapper, and a refrigerator door alphabetizer. That’s why I am determined to make guava pastries from scratch even though I haven’t been able to pull off the puff pastry. I tried again this afternoon with a dough I had made, and I ended up with guava scone/pop tarts instead. To add insult to injury, I made a second batch with frozen Trader Joe’s artisan pastry that puffed pretty and were much less trouble. Still, no sense of ownership on the Trader Joe’s, so I’ll just have to keep trying.

May 3

Make It Hot, But Not Yet

I hate being cold, but I love getting warm. As soon as I found this recipe for “Age of Discovery” Vanilla-Scented Hot Chocolate from Maricel E. Presilla’s The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural & Natural History of Cacao with Recipes, I had to try it. Based on a seventeenth-century treatise by Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma, the drink discovered in Mexico and brought to Spain was touted as a cure-all. I had set off to make this a couple of months ago but had gotten sidetracked. After the sudden onset of summer heat last week, I thought this would be my last hot chocolate for awhile. Read more

May 2

Next Time in Chile

I have no present plans to visit Santiago, Chile but I love saving these travel articles when I come across them. I thought this wonderful review of Hosteria Doña Tina worth keeping if only because it says there are few restaurants in Santiago that serve traditional Chilean food, so I’ll want to remember where they put this one. Actually, I find this true of many Latin countries, and I’m not sure why. Perhaps because so many swear that the best, most authentic food can only be found in their homes, the only alternative is to have their actual mother as the chef and the brothers and sisters as waiters.