Still hungry?

When I was growing up, my parents would take me and my sister to all sorts of restaurants. We were much less of a food fixated society back then, but exotic food could be found in the Bay Area if you looked for it. In the suburbs there wasn't much in the way of Asian food but there was a wonderful Indonesian restaurant that we went to from time to time. It was a cozy place where the walls were covered with woven mats and maps of Indonesia and from the moment you stepped inside you felt like you were in another world. We always ordered the rijsttafel and got a chance to try lots of dishes.

Ever since eating at the sadly now closed Rice Table, I have been curious about the cuisine of the Spice Islands. My other exposure to the use of the spices from this region was in Portugal. The Portuguese colonized the Spice Islands and use spices like nutmeg and cloves in their cuisine. Portuguese cuisine is very different from the cuisine of Spain that relies more heavily on saffron, paprika and pepper for seasoning.

I would love to explore the cuisines of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia but until I get a chance to travel there, I can delve into the cuisine in a wonderful new book about this region, Cradle of Flavor:Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

READ MORE For my review of Cradle of Flavor, head over to Bay Area Bites

FOOD

Sunday's sea feast in Autumn

I am in Saumur, a beautiful town 200 miles west of Paris, on the Loire river. Its landmark is this beautiful chateau.

The colors of autumn are beautiful, and Martica's garden is at its best. Sunday morning I went to the market in Montsoreau , a delightful town across the Loire from Varennes-sur-Loire , where I am staying. One of the stands is the sea food lover paradise! The seller comes from the Atlantic coast, where he produces oysters and other delicacies. I bought stone crabs , oysters, gray shrimps, large shrimps, langustines. Our friend treated us with a Saumur white wine, made 100% with Chenin grapes, also known as Loire pineau.

Langustines are a slim, coral color mini lobster of around 8-10 inches long that grow in cold seas .... You see one clearly in the picture "resting" over a stone crab, on the left.

The stone crabs were cooked on sea water the day before. I asked the seller to cut them in two, as half crab per person is plenty.

We all love oysters, and had six per person.

After the seafood, I treated our friends to a cheese platter I had brought from Amsterdam. Our favorite: Old Amsterdam.

Our dessert came from Bourgueil's Mery pastry shop and it was their trademark cake: Bourgueilloise, a brioche type flat cake cut in two and filled with a more than delicious mousse creamy custard ...

We went for a (long) walk after our meal!

Photo du Jour

Autumn is on its way!

Mussels, wine, and an excuse to eat whipped cream

Everything I said about her is true, and more. Kate is dreamy, and so are her mussels—so tender! So sweet! So cheap! So full of crabs!It was a crisp Sunday late afternoon, and my grumpiness was no match for the sun, shining persistently even as it set. I arrived chez Kate just in time to savor the spectacular view of Elliott Bay from her eighteenth-floor sublet before we rushed down to the market

Tomatoes and Basil - The Classic Summer Duo

Thank god/budda/zeus/shiva/(insert name of favorite deity here) for recipes like this!

Our kitchen gets pretty darn hot in the summer. These beautiful, thick stone walls seem like they would stay cool but definitely start to warm up when the sun beats down on them day after day. And turning on the oven to do any baking or roasting certainly doesn't help matters! If I do need the oven I try to use it only in the morning. We usually eat cold food and salads in the summer anyway.

This Tomato Soup with Basil recipe is one of my new favorite's. It's fresh, simple and ultra flavorful. You can enjoy it warm, at room temperature or cold.
And in the height of summer, when tomatoes are ripening on the vine and basil is in abundance, there's nothing better!




Tomato Soup With Basil
from Patricia Wells At Home in Provence

2 cloves
1 onion, halved
2 pounds (1 kilo) firm, ripe tomatoes, quartered
4 plump. fresh garlic cloves. peeled and quartered
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 stalk celery, minced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups (50cl) water
1 bunch fresh thyme
2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
4 tablespoons basil leaves, rinsed, patted dry, and cut into julienne strips
Several tablespoons cream, of a few drops of extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish (optional)

Press a clove into each half of the onion and place in a stockpot. Add the tomatoes to the stockpot along with the garlic, salt, celery, oil, water, thyme and bay leaves.
Bring to a boil over high heat, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Remove the onions, thyme and bay leaves, and discard.
Pass the soup through the coarse blade of a food mill into a bowl.
Taste for seasoning.
The soup can be served either hot or cold, sprinkled with fresh basil.
For a richer soup, swirl in cream, or olive oil, if desired.

Floating Market on the Mekong Delta

Here's the thing about Vietnam, it still feels authentic. I mean it doesn't feel prettied up for tourists. You can easily get a view of the real workings of the country and see how things get done. It's exciting and invigorating and sometimes gritty.

In Saigon I visited several supermarkets but none of them seemed that bustling. Daily grocery shopping is still done at traditional covered markets and in the side streets that surround them. It is also done in the street. Everywhere you find people, you find women selling fruit from baskets. But how does the produce get there? Not from a distribution warehouse, but from the fields, down rivers, by boat.

Near Can Tho on the Mekong Delta we visited a floating market early in the morning. Unlike the colorful floating markets in Thailand this was a market for the locals only. We were just observers catching glimpses of commerce and life on the river. By checking the sign posts--literally posts with some fruit or vegetable attached, you could see what was for sale. Most of what they were selling was below deck but as deals were made you could see cabbages or pineapples flying through the air. Larger boats sold to smaller boats, big basketfuls at a time. Everyone seems to be an entrepreneur and I wondered what the rest of the journey might be like for a boatload of bananas...

FOOD + VIETNAM

Contest Winners

Congratulations to my chicken-smart readers. The first three to answer correctly, Sarah, Debbie and Ed have won a copy of 150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken (And 50 Ways to Roast It) courtesy of Taunton Press.

1. A four pound chicken is typically raised in six weeks with
A. 20 pounds of feed
B. 15 pounds of feed
C. 10 pounds of feed
D. 8 pounds of feed

2. In 1950 what percentage of US chickens were "free range"?
A. 50%
B. 80%
C. 90%
D. 40%

3. You shouldn't eat a chicken liver if it is which color?
A. Green
B. Red
C. Brown
D. Grey

4. Which part of a chicken has the most calories?
A. Gizzard
B. Wing
C. Breast
D. Drumstick

5. In Ancient Rome someone who said "you were raised by a hen" was
A. Insulting you
B Complimenting you
C.Teasing you
D. Annoying you

6. Swiss law requires that all chickens raised in country
A. Have access to the outdoors
B. Have milk with their cereal
C. Are fed organic feed
D. Get chocolate if they lay eggs

READ MORE Over at Bay Area Bites is my post on the Steele Wine Dinner @ Luella

FOOD