A while back, I was spending time in a burger shop (no, not that one, this one), and my travelling companion and I began to discuss what would be, the perfect burger. Admittedly, I’ve talked about good burgers before, including the one I’d had at Skillet, but in this case, I am not talking about something that someone adds bacon jam, or Foie gras, short rib meat, truffles, engages it with a knife and fork, or is a dish for an environment where six month reservations are needed. What is being talked about here is the purified essence of what a burger is, with nothing added or taken away. From that essence, then we should take each ingredient, and bring it to its essence. In short, we are talking about taking the humble hamburger, and bringing it to its eventual truth.
One-Pan “Glad To Be Alive” Brekkie
For those who are familiar with my current living situation, in short, I’m living in a hotel, and the wife, well, away on a family emergency. While the room is generally small, it does have a kitchen, of sorts, if a microwave, a mini fridge, a sink, and a two burner stove can be called a kitchen. Along with the pot and pan, and dish service for three, it presents a challenge. Since I tend to take on such challenges, it should at least represent something very accessible to a person who needs to cook in less than ideal circumstances, without sacrificing the qualities of good food.
A Walk To The Market
I enjoy it when needs and wants go together like peas and carrots. You see, getting settled in Melbourne means adapting to new situations, new accents and new ways of doing things. Maybe that is not the best way of stating things. I tend to muck about with parables, and this is likely not to be an exception.
Let me put it this way. I grew up in New York City, a city that is known for its large immigrant culture. Its not hard to spend a day speaking to people with accents from China, Russia, Latin America, India, Nigeria, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, and Greece, all in one day. Over here, though, I’m the one with the accent. Now I’m the one with more in common with the Chinese, Russians, Indians, and the like, at least after I open my mouth. Before then, I could be Australian. Until I open my mouth, and then of course, I become the obvious American amongst them.
So, how does this accord with being someone who enjoys food and talks about it incessantly. In this case, I was watching Australian TV, listening to a woman who asserts that if one wants to save money in their food purchases, that the reasonable thing to do is to avoid the supermarket. Having lived in the US for more years that I am prepared to admit to, my experience is actually the reverse.
A scene from a market (Preston Market)
The Harbour Public House
I’d mentioned this particular spot a few posts ago, as an alternative to Doc’s Marina Grill, a few doors over. Known by the locals simply as “the pub”, mostly because there is no other bar or pub on Bainbridge Island, it also serves as the local watering hole and late night food spot for many on the West Sound.
sign at the pub
The Harbour Public House
231 Parfitt Way Southwest
Bainbridge Isle, WA 98110
(206) 842-0969
On the tasting of coffee
Ever wondered what raw or green coffee tastes like? Like the rest of the world, I’ve seen the display of the different levels of roast (between green, and burned) that a coffee bean can have. But really, what do they taste like?
Desperado Chilly Sauce
3 Tablespoons Cayenne powder
Desperado sauce, frying the spices.
More On Curry
As I mentioned earlier curry is too big of a topic for a single post. While I devoted the last article to wet curries, this one is more about the dry variety, specifically those from South Asia. Curry, while generally thought of as coming from India is more of a product of the Spice route that traversed Asia Minor, Persia, India, China and South East Asia. While many of these spices are from India, some are not, and some actually travelled large distances to be a part of the cuisine. Noted here are several of the characteristics of the spices in use in most curries.
Vietnamese beef stew (Thit Bo Kho)
Some of the ingredients used in curries are as follows:
Short Cuts, Volume 1
I promised myself that I wouldn’t be so negative, and yet here, in the very next post, will be negative.
First, I am combining reviews here, so that I might avoid doing three negative posts. I can call this the Dog Food award, with no offense to dogs. My dog eats something like this, and is made of human grade food, if blandly seasoned. So let’s get this started.
Hangover remedies
And welcome to the year 2010. Here at Adephagia, I have resolved to do several things of note.
I hope, with that, that it can make for a more harmonious blog in general, except for the spammers, who seem like they revel here (silly spammers, do you understand that I moderate?). Anyway.
The first resolution is to blog more regularly, with that, I will tend to delay posts a while so as to minimize the time between posts. This will also help me, as I always seem to forget one little thing after I post. This should make the posts more regular, as well as a bit more readable.
