General | hungry sofia

Aug 17

Vicarious Eating

A few weeks, I listened to the Times Talks podcast from November 2008 where Eric Asimov from of the New York Times moderated a fascinating discussion between Anthony Bourdain and El Bulli’s Ferran Adrià. While Adrià’s passion and intellect were in full display, the slide show that accompanied his evocative words was not. While we’re used to watching people talk about and enjoy food we’re not eating, listening on my iPhone to an audience ooh and ahh over the photographs being projected that I also wasn’t seeing, was just sad. Normally, I could let my imagination run wild, but I don’t think my imagination would be a match in this case. That’s one reason I loved this post by the Amateur Gourmet, Adam Roberts, about his visit to El Bulli this month. It’s exactly how I may have imagined my own meal there but in comic book format with video clips. By far, my favorite vicarious meal this summer.

Aug 7

Film Break

The frenzy of commercials leading up to today’s release of Julia & Julia was so feverish that I didn’t know if I could enjoy it. Like sitting down to a meal when you’re already full, it was just too much. Though I haven’t read the Julie Powell book, I loved My Life in France and really wanted it to be great. I hadn’t planned on seeing it opening day, but after having one of those strange bumper car mornings where nothing goes right, I went to a late afternoon show. Early enough for a healthy senior turnout, I walked into the theater and saw a sea of white hair. I knew this was the perfect audience to see it with. I also knew that the aisle seats would already be taken. Read more

Aug 1

Picking a Pepper

I found myself at Whole Foods last week staring blankly at their large chile peppers selection. The signs above the peppers gave involved descriptions of where they were from, what was mild and fruity, and what was deadly but there was no correlation to the actual chiles. So while I knew each one’s life story, I wasn’t sure which basket of peppers it described. Unsure of what to buy, I took a small selection to figure it out later. Maricel E. Presilla’s A World of Peppers in this moth’s Saveur should help avoid confusion the next time around.

Jul 21

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Under Pressure

I’ve always associated pressure cookers with Cuban cooking. I think it was the cha-cha-cha of the old rockers. I also associate them with terror. If we so much as looked towards the kitchen when the cooker was going, we were reminded that it could, and very likely would, explode at any given moment. Perfectly tender carne con papas or terrible domestic catastrophe. Both were on the menu, and in a few minutes we’d know which was coming to the table. That’s why I’m always surprised when family or friends recommend them. Weren’t they scared? After coming across some pressure cooker recipes I wanted to try and being scolded for not having one when I forgot to soak the beans overnight, I decided it was time to buy one. Nothing crazy, just a harmless 4 qt, stainless steel Presto, just to have on hand in an emergency. When I told my mother, she thought it was a great idea having just replaced hers. Maybe they’d exaggerated the dangers when we were little to keep us shoed away? She then went on to list 4-5 vaguely terrifying way it could possibly kill me. Guess I remembered correctly. Still, I think I’m going to start easy – some platanos sancochados or fricaseé de pollo. No sudden movements. You never know when it’s going to blow.

Jul 15

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More Than Chicken Salad

My friend Mindy from Mindy’s Recipe For Disaster is offering an hour long chicken salad making session in exchange for a $60 donation to Tinh, a beautiful little girl with cerebral palsy she met in Vietnam. Before leaving finance to study at the French Culinary Institute and starting her very funny blog about her experiences, she volunteered in Vietnam one summer through the Global Volunteer Network. Since then, she’s been sending back money every six months to help Tinh. To read more, jump here for a great recipe. sweet story, and good cause.

Jul 7

More Thirsty Spirit

Last month I’d posted this link to A Thirsty Spirit but had to mention it again. I try to keep up, but sometimes wine and spirits articles feels like work. Alexis has great stories about all things drunk, related in ways you won’t easily forget, and answering questions you didn’t know you had. Here are a few posts from this past week where sailors light their rum and tequila worms wear cowboy hats.

Jul 4

Dancing with Firecrackers

Happy Fourth of July! Say it with firecrackers!

Jul 2

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Cooking Cowboys

In anticipation of the barbecues to come this weekend, I thought I’d post Connie McCabe’s Saveur piece, The Capital of Beef about the Argentine Pampa. Watching guachos Vicente Monte and José María Gallardo prepare a roast, she writes:

When the fire is nothing but glowing ash, Monte retrieves his saddlebag and pulls out a plastic bag of salt and three loosely wrapped pieces of beef. Placing one thick steak and two narrow strips of meaty ribs on the burnished leather, he seasons the flesh with salt, threads it all onto the skewer,and perches it on the supports near the heat. Read more

Jun 21

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A Daughter Also Rises

It’s pretty common to spot celebrities in New York. Well, common for most people. I usually stare at them blankly, trying to place their face, then realize half way down the block that I didn’t go to high school with them. It’s a little less common to see someone you can hear yourself reminiscing about in your rocking chair years, beginning with “there was a man who…” That’s what it was like seeing Joe Ades, the “peeler guy” in Union Square Market. Listening to his English sing song selling potato peelers on beautiful market Saturdays made you want to jump in a chalk drawing. I still remember the excitement I felt when I saw him set up at the smaller Greenmarket in Brooklyn’s Borough Hall, feeling that out tiny market had finally “arrived”.

Ballet Break

You’ll have to excuse me for not writing about food. Yesterday, a ticket to see the American Ballet Theatre’s performance of La Sylphide at The Metropolitan Opera House fell from the sky unexpectedly, and I’m feeling a little ethereal today. There was a magical Sylph, a Scottish reel, and a poisoned gossamer veil, but it was still not as dramatic as the Edith Wharton story I cast myself in when I realized I’d be sitting in the romantic boxes ringing the theater. Watching principal Herman Cornejo dance the part of James, I thought of a Today segment I’d seen earlier that day about the recent emergence of Latin American artists and performers in film and television. This has long been true at ABT. In addition to the Argentinians Cornejo and Paloma Herrera, there is the Brazilian Marcelo Gomes, and Read more