English muffins with a hummus schmear, topped with roasted leg of lamb, fried eggs, kimchi, ginger carrot salad, and sauerkraut. Yum! You can’t get more New York than this.

—

Finally, Bare Burger in Manhattan!

After nearly two months of making almost weekly treks to the original Bare Burger in Astoria, they have finally opened their Village location. And the quality is just as good.

Even though I visited on their first day, just about everything was up and running smoothly. The space itself is large and airy, with a huge garage door that opens onto a deck of outdoor seating. According to the waiter, almost everything is built from recycled and locally sourced material. The lights, which they get from a local artist, are made of old spoons and glass milk jugs.

I got my old favorite, the grilled pineapple burger with bison, and it was great. The fries and onion rings combo is as delightful as it is greasy. And the shakes, well, are amazing. (I had peanut butter and jelly). Service was prompt and courteous. They made a small mistake with my burger (wrong bun), but they corrected it very quickly, so no big deal.

All in all, I would say Bare Burger is an excellent addition to the local scene. We have plenty of burger places around, but they don’t offer exotic meats like elk or bison and their burgers not organic, which really makes a difference at Bare. Can’t wait to introduce friends who were too lazy to make the trip to Astoria.

Catherine showed me around her old stomping grounds in London last week.  We walked around, ate surprisingly good food (despite the British stereotype), and hit the requisite tourist sites – Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Notting Hill, etc.  I also had the chance to meet up with Venu, and old friend from my Swedish class at Harvard, and Steph and Olie, a couple of British friends I met in Japan.

Eat! Above: Ploughman’s Lunch at The Spaniard’s Inn, Hampstead

Below: Fish & Chips.  Ok, these are from Giraffe, a chain in Heathrow before my flight back, but it was actually pretty good I had to get my mushy peas fix before leaving the UK

Drink! Below: Summer in England = Pimm’s, of course! @ the Scarsdale Tavern, Kensington

Above: Some photos from the Elephant Parade 2010

Elephant Parade is a conservation campaign that shines a multi-coloured spotlight on the urgent crisis faced by the endangered Asian elephant. Brought to you by www.elephantfamily.org, the event sees over 250 brightly painted life-size elephants located over central London this summer.

Stay: Travelodge Marylebone – inexpensive and centrally located

Panda Eyes at the Design Museum London

More London photos and video on Flickr.

With my ITP thesis ready to go, I finally got a chance to do some creative cooking again.  Tonight I made a fried soft shell crab salad with a curry aïoli dressing.  I improvised through this one (like most things I cook), so no exact measurements.  I got the soft shell crabs (which are currently in season) from FreshDirect, and they were already cleaned, which saved me the scary task of cutting off the eyes of live crabs as demonstrated here by Mark Bittman of the NY Times.

Start with the aïoli dressing.  Put in a blender:
1 raw egg (without the shell, silly!)
1 clove of garlic
2 chopped up cornichons
1 generous spoonful of Dijon mustard
1 shake of curry powder
1 dash of soy sauce
1 dash of Tabasco
1 heaping teaspoon of apricot jam (the sweetness offsets the intensity of the other flavors)
2-3 teaspoons of vinegar (I used a combo apple cider and rice wine vinegar that has been infused with jalapeños. I like to live a little on the wild side, so I chucked in a couple slices of the pickled jalapeños too
2-3 generous glugs (I know, this is hardly scientific) of grapeseed or other neutral oil

Blend everything together and season to taste. It should come out more like a thick salad dressing and less like a mayonnaise. If it’s too thick, add some water or more vinegar to taste.  This makes a lot of dressing, so these measurements would be enough for 4-6 servings.

Now for the crab. Clean the crab if it didn’t come cleaned already. Rinse in some cold water and pat dry with some paper towels. Make a tempura-style batter by mixing flour, ice cold water, freshly ground black pepper, Tabasco, and fish sauce (plain old salt would work here too). The batter should be really cold and rather thin. Don’t over mix.  Dip the crab in the batter and deep fry.  It takes 2-3 minutes per side. When done, drain on some paper towels.

Tonight I served the crab on some heirloom tomatoes and Boston lettuce with the dressing drizzled on top.  I had a glass of vinho verde to go with my delicious dinner, but an off-dry Riesling or Gewurztraminer would also probably work well with the curry flavor.

I’ve been on a cooking spaghetti kick lately.  Here are two kinds I’ve made in the last week.

Above: Pasta With Sardines, Bread Crumbs and Capers from Mark Bittman of the New York Times.  I had this with some vinho verde, my default house white.  Fantastic.

Below: Shiitake carbonara – my own creation.  Super easy.  Sauté some cubed pancetta in some olive oil, add a diced shallot and diced clove of garlic, some hot chili flakes, a pinch of pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika), 3 chopped shiitake, some herbes de provence, and plenty of black pepper.  When things start to brown, turn off heat and whisk in 2 raw eggs, a handful of grated cheese (I used Manchego) and a bit of half and half or cream.  Then add the cooked spaghetti and serve.  That’s it.  This would make a great brunch dish with some champagne, cava or prosecco.  Or even a some of the 8-bit wine I still have around from last fall.

This is what we had:

Yam Samun Phrai ($9.00)

Special Northern Thai herbal salad with ginger, carrot, parsnip, betel leaf, basil, lime leaf, sawtooth, fried shallots, cashews, peanuts, sesame seeds, dry shrimp, ground pork and Thai chilies in a coconut milk dressing.

I’ve never had anything like this before, but it kind of reminded me of a Japanese kinpira on acid. A definite party going on in my mouth. A taste revelation.

Coconut Rice ($2.50)
Definitely necessary to counteract the atomic Thai chilies masquerading as scallions in the salad

Sii Khrong Muu Yaang ($11 – not pictured)

Carlton Farms baby back ribs marinated in whisky, soy, honey, ginger and Thai spices. slow grilled over charcoal and served with 2 spicy dipping sauces.

I’m not usually a ribs person, but these were very well executed. They kind of reminded me of jerky or Cantonese char siu, in a good way.

Khao Soi Kai ($11.50)

Northern Thai mild curry noodle soup made with our secret curry paste recipe, natural chicken on the bone and house-pressed fresh coconut milk. Served with pickled mustard greens, shallots, crispy yellow noodles and roasted chili paste. Chiang Mai specialty, with Burmese origins.

My favorite Thai noodle soup! It’s not on many Thai restaurant menus in the US, but it should be. Pok Pok’s khao soi is rustic, with big chunks of chicken on the bone, falling apart tender, and a perfectly balanced coconut broth. I wish there were a little bit more broth though, ’cause I downed every drop.

Sankhaya Fak Thong ($6.50)

Steamed Kabocha pumpkin, filled with coconut-palm sugar custard scented with pandanus leaf.

The kind of expected this to be warm, or at least room temperature, but it came cold. Still really good though. I think maybe just a dash of salt would have offset some of the sweetness and made the flavor of the kabocha really pop, but that would be gilding the lily. BTW, the desert portion was more than enough for 2 people to share.

Pok Pok
3226 se division, pdx : 503 232 1387

Next course was Ash-e joe, a thick soup with lentils, black eyed peas and mixed greens, topped with yogurt and fried onions.  Healthy, hearty, and delicious.  The soup could easily be a meal in itself and is perfect for a cold day rainy day like the day we visited.

Then I had some tongue sandwich.  I love tongue for its chewy, meaty texture, and go for it every time I get Japanese or Korean BBQ.  The tongue at Attari was different though.  It was almost falling-apart tender, like the best pot roast or pastrami.  The sandwich itself reminded me a bit of banh mi in the best possible way.

In summary, Attari has generous portions, reasonable prices and an authentic Persian experience in LA.  Definitely check it out.  I heard that they have brain sandwiches there too, try it if you are feeling adventurous.  My dining companions weren’t ready to deal with that when I went.

Attari on Yelp
Review of Attari in the NYTimes

I checked out Kogi, the much-hyped Los Angeles Korean BBQ Taco truck when I was in town visiting the family last week.  We followed them on Twitter and drove out to Encino to wait in line for the Korean/Mexican fusion food cart.  They have multiple trucks that park at different locations in LA on different days.  All I have to say about the experience is “Yes!”

Yes, the place has a lot of hype, but the food was great.

Yes, it’s fusion, but it’s fusion that just works.

Yes, the lines are long, so get there early.

Yes, the truck was late, stuck in traffic on the 405, but this is LA…

Yes, it’s cheap. Two bucks for a taco and five for a quesadilla.

I tried the tofu and spicy pork tacos and the kimchi quesadilla.  The tofu was flavorful with Korean marinade and seared to make it taste “meaty” rather than gelatinous.  Worth trying even if you are a total carnivore.  The spicy pork was great too: spicy, sweet, meaty, and fatty.  I have to admit this one was an easy sell for me.  When I go to Korean BBQ, I prefer the pork belly to the usual beef dishes like kalbi and bulkogi.  The quesadilla was amazing too.  The umami that comes out of the ménage à trois of kimchi, sesame, and melted cheese is divine.

Kogi Official Website
Kogi on Twitter
Kogi on Yelp

Elizabeth and I went to The Wine Trials 2010 book release party at Seppi’s on Wednesday night.  I was one of the blind tasters for the first edition of the book. The Wine Trials 2010 is a completely rewritten new edition that “recommends 150 wines under $15 that outscored $50-$150 wines in brown-bag blind tastings of the latest vintages.”

While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, we were served some Brut Cuvée from Domaine Ste. Michelle, a $12 Washington state sparkling wine that was preferred by over two-thirds of The Wine Trials blind tasters over a $150 bottle of Dom Pérignon Champagne.  As a passed appetizer, we had some Alsatian tarte flambée, which looked and tasted like some really good thin crust pizza.  I can’t think of a better pairing to showcase the values of The Wine Trials than pizza with bubbly.

After sitting down for dinner, we were served roasted red beets and frisée salad with goat cheese over apple paired with a Grüner Veltliner, Federspiel Terrassen, Domäne Wachau from Austria.  The thinly sliced beets reminded me a little of beef carpaccio in appearance, which I think disturbed our vegetarian table mate.  I still had some of the sparkling wine left over when the salad was served, and I actually preferred it over the Grüner with the salad.  Although I am usually a Grüner fan, I thought that the herbaceous subtlety of the wine couldn’t really stand up to the vinaigrette in the salad.

Next up was a lobster bisque with crab cake on sugar cake matched with a  White Rioja from Marqués de Cáceres (Spain).  I’m not sure what “sugar cake” on the menu referred to, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise of sugar cane, which formed the “stick” on crab cake “lollipop”.  I appreciated the whimsical tropical allusion in the hearty cold-weather bisque.  I have fond memories munching on sugar cane when I was a kid in Taiwan.  The white Rioja had a vegetal lightness to counterbalance the creamy hearty soup.

The main course was a duo of monkfish “osso bucco” over saffron risotto and miniature rack of lamb over sautéed spinach.  I’m not sure where the osso bucco reference came from, but the dish tasted great.  Both the monkfish and the lamb were perfectly cooked.  I didn’t really taste the saffron in the risotto, but otherwise it was wonderfully executed.  The wine pairing was Rioja Crianza from Bodegas LAN in Spain.   I’m not sure what LAN stands for in this case, but Elizabeth and I noted that it is a geek-friendly name, and could play well with 8-bit wine.  LAN party anyone?

The next course was a cheese plate with blue cheese and Gruyère paired with an Altano Douro, Symington Family Estates from Portugal.  I am a frequent vinho verde drinker, but I had never tried a red from Portugal before.  It was a real revelation.  Elizabeth and I both agreed that it was a unique wine and our favorite of the evening.  I don’t have the words to describe it, just try it, it’s less than 10 bucks a bottle.

Finally, for dessert, we had a flyer chocolate cake paired with a dessert wine from Greece, Mavrodaphne of Patras, Kourtaki, which had a caramelly taste, and a nice lighter-bodied alternative to the usual pairing of Port with chocolate.

More photos on Flickr

The Wine Trials 2010 Official Website

The Wine Trials 2010 on Amazon

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
2 cups of milk
1 teaspoon of herbes de Provence
1/4 teaspoon of pimentón (smoked Spanish paprika)
1 heaping tablespoon of white miso
1 half package of Neufchatel or cream cheese
2 handfuls of grated Gruyère
1 egg, beaten
Olive oil
1 onion, finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
6 fresh shiitake, chopped
2 roasted red or yellow bell peppers, chopped
1 large apple, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces
Half package of membrillo (quince paste), chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 package of frozen sweet potato gnocchi
1 slice of whole wheat toast, blended into crumbs and sautéed in olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Make the Béchamel cheese sauce: melt the butter in a small saucepan and whisk in the flour. Add the milk, herbs, and pimentón. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Whisk until the sauce thickens. Turn off the heat and mix in the miso and the cheese while the mixture is still hot.

Cook the vegetables: in a large (12 inch) cast iron pan or other oven-proof pan, heat up some olive oil and sauté the onions and garlic until they start to brown. Then add the shiitake and cook until lightly golden. Add the bell pepper and sauté for another minute or two. Turn off the heat and stir in the apples and the membrillo.

Cook the frozen gnocchi in boiling water for 1 or 2 minutes, until the just start to float. Drain and add the gnocchi to the vegetable mixture. The sauce will have cooled off slightly by now. Whisk in the egg and pour the mixture into the pan and mix.

Bake the gratin in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Add the bread crumbs on top for the last 10 minutes of baking.

My friend Sophia IM’ed me the other night while I was at school. She asked me for some cooking advice based on the ingredients she had in her kitchen.  It turned into a game of IM Iron Chef or Stump the Cook from The Splendid Table.   Here is a log of our chat (edited for readability).  I’ve also posted photos from Sophia of the final result.

Sophia: ok Iron Chef, I’ve got ground turkey, yellow squash, broccoli florets, onion, tomato, garlic, some white rice, bag of frozen cut veggies (carrots/corn/peas), heavy cream. olive oil and balsamic vinegar and soy sauce, ground pepper.
And Fage yogurt

me: ok. You have a rice cooker?

Sophia: yup

me: Ok, easy. Cook the white rice.
while that happens, saute onions, garlic
add tomatoes and ground turkey
add the cooked rice in
and use that as stuffing in the squash (cut in half and partially hollowed out)

Sophia: woaaaahhh

me: you can chuck in some of the other veggies too
or a bit of the yogurt/cream to enrich things
and then put the stuffed squash in the oven
until the squash is cooked through

Sophia: nice – so I’m stuffing the raw squash?
(they’re skinny, is that ok?)

me: yeah, cut them in half lengthwise
and partially de-seed using a spoon

Sophia: oh shoot they’re yellow zucchini
that’s what I meant to say

me: yeah, you can still do it
to save time, you can parboil, steam, or roast the squash while the rice cooks

Sophia: I’m hazy on what cooked through for squash is – got an estimate on time?
oh ok

me: 30 minutes (or however long it takes for the rice to cook)
you can pre-cook the squash and make the squash then
if you have cheese, you could melt it on top
or put the Fage yogurt on as a topping instead of the sauce

Sophia: nice
that’s amazing – you need to do this for a living
or we have to put you on a blog

Sophia: how long would you cook ground turkey for? It’s always dry for me

me: because there is very little fat in the turkey, put the ground turkey in the sauce after you saute and onions and garlic and add tomato
so it cooks in sauce instead of frying it dry

Sophia: also – I was always taught to cook meat separately from veggies – in this case it’s ok to add raw meat to the tomatoes/garlic/onion?

me: yeah, because you are cooking it a long time
the turkey is not frozen, right?

Sophia: nope

me: or if you want to brown the turkey for color or taste, cook the turkey first in olive oil.
remove it from the pan, then cook the onions, garlic and tomatoes
then put the cooked turkey back in when the tomato sauce reduces

Sophia: I like it better not browned. So I can just add it raw to the onions? How long do I simmer/cook this together

me: here are the steps:
heat the pan. When it gets hot, put some oil in. Then the onions and garlic
then put in some turkey
and saute it until it changes color
then the tomatoes
bring to boil
then turn the heat to the lowest setting
until the rice is done
which would be about 20 minutes or so
if you are putting yogurt and cream into the sauce, put that in after you have turned the heat to low

Sophia: it’s ok to cook yogurt?

me: if you use yogurt, just stir it in just before you stuff the squash
but for cream, put it in when you turn heat to low
but I would choose 1, not both

Sophia: awesome. I’m going cream I think

me: sounds yummy. I’m in class and STARVING

Sophia: lol I have green onions too – would that mess it up?

me: no, I would chuck in the green onions at the end, just before you stuff the squash

Sophia: gotcha

me: in order of doing stuff: preheat oven to 400 degrees, wash the rice and get it going
then cut all the veg. Pop the halved squash in the oven
then make the sauce

Sophia: Definitely blog this!

Thanks so much for your help!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
1 teaspoon of minced jalapeño
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 pinch of saffron (optional, I just couldn’t help myself)
1/2 teaspoon coarsely-ground coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds
4 pods of cardamom
2 bay leaves
1 bag of live mussels
1 cup of dry cider (I used Cidre Bouché Brut Etienne Dupont, an unfiltered and unpasteurized cider from Normandy)
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup of crème fraîche, I suppose regular heavy cream would work too
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chopped parsley and/or cilantro for garnish

Instructions
Clean the mussels and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan and sauté everything except the mussels and the liquids over medium heat until lightly browned. Take your time with this part to achieve a nice caramelization of the onions.

Add the mussels, cider and lemon juice and simmer until the mussels pop open. Stir in the crème fraîche and serve immediately with crusty bread (or, if you are hardcore, French fries) to soak up the sauce. To drink: the rest of the bottle of cider. Yum!

Serves two people as a main course, or 3 or 4 for an appetizer.

Ingredients

1 pound of hake, filleted and cut into 4 inch chunks (or substitute cod, pollack or similar flaky white fish)
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 roasted red bell pepper, sliced
1 handful of green olives
1/2 teaspoon of pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika)
1 cup of dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon of saffron, soaked in the white wine above
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
Minced parsley and/or cilantro for garnish
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Instructions

Sauté the onions and garlic in plenty of olive oil, until softened and ever so slightly browned (about 10 minutes on medium heat).  Season with salt and pepper and the pimentón.  Add the hake, olives and roasted red bell pepper.  Cover with the saffron-infused wine, stir, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a low simmer until the fish is cooked through (about 8-10 minutes).  Season to taste and garnish with the boiled eggs and herbs.  Serve with crusty bread and/or boiled potatoes.

Ingredients (serves two)
For the chutney:
6 fresh apricots, stone removed and roughly chopped
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons of ground coriander seed
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4 tablespoons of sherry vinegar or lemon juice
1/3 cup of brown sugar
2 dashes of Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
2 dashes of fish sauce (or to taste)
salt and pepper, to taste

For the scallops:
1/2 pound of scallops
1 beaten egg
3 tablespoons unsweetened dried coconut
3 tablespoons flat rice (poha), bashed up into a powder in a mortar and pestle or food processor
salt and pepper
Neutral oil for frying (I use grapeseed oil)

Instructions
First make the apricot chutney (this part can be done ahead of time). Purée the apricots, ginger, shallots, and vinegar in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a small saucepan and add the remaining chutney ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Heat the oil for deep frying. Moisten the scallops in the beaten egg and then coat in a mixture of the dried coconut and flat rice that has been seasoned with salt and pepper. Deep fry into lightly golden brown. Serve immediately with the apricot chutney as a dip.

Last night on No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain visited San Francisco.  One of the places he checked out was the Pirate Cat Radio Café in the Mission District, (in)famous for their Maple Bacon Latte ($5).  Joe, Michelle, and I went after work to check it out for ourselves.

The lowdown:

Milk, maple syrup, and concentrated bacon grease.

Mix and foam the previous ingredients together.

Double shot of espresso.

Top with crunchy chewy powdered bacon bits.

Sweet porky caffeinated goodness.  And pure evil.

The maple bacon latte came with a vegan chocolate truffle, which was covered in a scary, unidentifiable pink powder.  Sort of guilding the lily if I do say so myself.  Perhaps a shot of whiskey in the concoction would have been a better bet.  As Bourdain once said, “vegans are the Hezbollah-like splinter faction of vegetarians.”  Pink powder is a weapon of mass destruction.  But I digress.

Let me just say for the record that I am rabidly pro-pork fat in the most un-kosher/un-halal way possible.  After all, I hail from the pig-loving Pacific island of Taiwan, where a common comfort food from simpler times is a steaming bowl of rice mixed with lard and soy sauce.  Lard runs through my veins.  Liquid pork fat is the lipid love in my beloved Japanese tonkotsu ramen.  Pork and maple syrup is certainly not without precedent; they are all over the pork and maple combo up in Québec.

Back to the matter at hand. The maple bacon latte tasted alright at first.  The mouth-feel was definitely creamier and richer than a normal latte because of the bacon fat.  But as the drink cooled, the bacon grease started to separate and congeal a bit, feeling a bit heavy.

But that part was ok.  My biggest issue was with the smell.  The porky, smokiness smell was more off-putting than the presence of bacon grease in my coffee.  If anything, the bold flavors the maple and the bacon overshadowed the coffee.  More astringent bitterness from the coffee would have balanced some of the cloying sweetness and lipid overload.

My palate was craving something.  Perhaps a bit more saltiness to bring out the flavors.  Or some freshly ground pepper (or something spicy) to tie together the sweetness of the maple with the richness of the bacon.  Or maybe a shot of whiskey to help it all go down.

Needless to say, none of us could finish our drinks, but I guess that’s hardly the point.  If reading Tony’s books and watching his show have taught me anything, it is to go with the flow and take in the local attitude and charm.

I may have enjoyed it more if the weather were colder, or if I were hung over or something.  Hanger helper or breakfast of champions perhaps.  Gut bomb, for sure. But definitely not an ideal after-work-on-a-Tuesday kind of beverage.  But that’s my bad.  We probably should have went for beer (or whiskey) somewhere.

Definitely a worthwhile once-in-a-lifetime experience.  I thought I was going to have a heart attack walking up the hill on my way home.  For sure, there are worse ways to die, but alas, I live to tell the tale.  Despite eating some pineapple to clear my palate, I can still smell swine on my breath three hours later.  Thanks for the thrills Tony!  The LOLs are on us.

T minus 3 days until NYC.

See also: Pirate Cat Radio Café review on UrbanDaddy

The cringe-worthy Cobb salad scene where Julie Powell has lunch with her friends made me strangely homesick for NY.  The depiction of Julie’s shamelessly ambitious, cell phone-tethered friends was pretty-right on.  They represent all that is terrible yet strangely charming about NYC (or maybe it’s just because I’ve been away for the too long).

Watching all that French food being made and eaten on the big screen piqued our appetite, so I busted out the iPhone and found Le Charm French Bistro in SoMa.  The restaurant is a charming, old-school French bistro, with a very reasonably-priced $30 three-course dinner prix fixe.  I had the French onion soup, a seafood bourride, and the strawberry tart for dessert.  Yum!

One more week to go for my ccLearn internship.  The rest of the ccLearn crew will be in Vancouver next week for the Open Education Conference, while I will be sticking around SF wrapping things up and documenting my work.  Then back to NYC next Friday.

Panel discussion from the the Aspen Ideas Festival.  Thanks to the Breakaway Cook Eric Gower for the tip.

Billions to Be Served: Meeting the Needs of the People and the Planet

The United Nations has determined that, in the next 40 years, we must double crop production to feed, fuel and clothe nine billion people. How do we meet this challenge with converting every forest and savannah into agricultural land? What are the unexpected alliances that can lead the way forward?

My thoughts:

Panelist Jason Clay mentions that one of the ways to increase agricultural yields is to open up patents and other research information to foster innovation and increase equality of access of food production technologies.  Controversy over genetic engineering aside, I can agree in principle with that strategy.  He makes the unfortunate use of the words “intellectual property,” an overreaching and unhelpful term.  What is at stake here is patents specifically, as well as research data (scientific facts, whose protection as “intellectual property” under copyright is questionable).  Patents and copyrights are temporary monopolies designed to promote innovation.  “Intellectual property,” is a confusing and problematic umbrella term that conflates this kind of monopoly with actual physical property.  (See Richard Stallman’s article for more)

I find it troubling that the panel takes it as a given that the human population will continue to grow to reach 9.5 billion and that the trend of increasing income and increased demand for more energy-intensive foods (i.e. more meat) will continue.  Lots of things could happen to prevent the human population from reaching 9.5 billion.  The competition for diminishing resources could lead to large-scale geopolitical conflicts that result in millions of casualties.  But that’s a worst case scenario that I hope does not come true.  My real point is that we also need to look at ways to slow population growth and consumption patterns, not just increase yield to meet demand.  Increasing the educational and social status of women and family planning programs are examples of ways to decrease birth rates.  If a more holistic economic model that takes into account the REAL costs of factory farmed meat were taken into account, either through taxation or more effective environmental protection standards, then the price of meat would go up, and put a check on consumption.  Cheap food is not necessarily a good thing across the board.  Affordable grain yes, cheap meat, not so much.  Grain riots are real, filet mignon riots are not.

It’s not helpful to simply increase corn production if most of the corn is used to feed livestock or used for biofuels.  I’m not anti-meat, but is indisputable that it is less efficient to feed grain to cows to make beef than to feed the corn directly to people. We can’t just focus on increasing yields without reevaluating how those yields are distributed.  We can’t just blindly increase supply using our current business and production models without trying to respond to ways to modify demand.

Henrietta Holsman Fore frames agriculture and food production as a meta-issue that encompasses politics, economics, education, etc.  I agree, but I have a problem with her specific claim that farmers growing opium poppies in Afghanistan instead of “legitimate crops” is a political issue.  Actually, it’s an economic issue.  Even if drug prohibition laws are firmly enforced in Afghanistan as an extension of the US jihad on drugs, simple economics still govern behavior.  Prohibition simply keeps the price of opium and derivatives high, and farmers will still be willing to take the risk of growing opium if they can make more money than growing food crops.  There is also the demand side of things, which is an economic and public health issue in that we need to address the conditions of poverty and alienation that induce people to start using opiates in the first place.

Hugh Grant (CEO of Monsanto, not the actor): “When a farmer can’t feed herself, than something is broken…Farmers need help and training.”

I actually agree with the head of Monsanto on this one.  But that training should not necessarily impose US industrial food production practices on developing countries.  That training should not become a promotional tool for biotech businesses.  Farmers need training, but the people doing the training also need to be knowledgeable and respectful of traditional knowledge.  Farmers can’t feed themselves when they become dependent on growing monocultures of commodity crops.  Crop diversity is one of the keys.

Jason Clay: “Coca Cola’s operations where shut down in many areas of the world (during the food crisis) because they couldn’t buy sugar.”

Sorry, but it’s hard to shed tears over this one.  Just because the world’s billions need food does not mean that they all need to drink Coke.  The worlds farmers could be growing a diverse variety of food crops to feed themselves instead of large monocultures of corn and sugarcane to sell to Coca Cola.

The Canadian Council of the Blind has published a fundraising cookbook, Kitchens of the World, which features 200+ recipes and photographs from around the world.  A couple of my photos (including the one above) appear in the Haiti and Domincan Republic chapters.  The book is available online as a paid e-book download or in printed hardcover form.  Proceeds from the book go towards supporting programs for the blind and disabled.

The ad was made by Americans Against Food Taxes, an interest group that includes some big agro-businesses and industrial fast food producers who are opposed to a proposed tax on soft drinks and juice drinks, in other words, beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Pardon the pun, but this ad, like HFCS found in soft drinks and juice drinks, is pretty corny stuff.  Let’s cut through the saccharine images of an All-American family and the folksy populist spin.  First, “juice drinks,” as defined by the USDA is different from “100% juice.”  Juice drinks only constitute a small percentage of actual fruit juice, and can contain added water, sugar/HFCS, coloring, and vitamins.  In these USDA health guidelines (PDF), the example juice drink only contains 5% juice.  The proposed tax is on soda and juice drinks, NOT on 100% juice or fresh fruit.  Last time I checked, soda and juice drinks were not essential foundations in the food pyramid.

I’m no fan of big agro-business lobbies or a Federal nanny state, but guaranteeing all Americans basic access to health care is an important issue that needs funding.  So where do we go from here? Well, if we follow the money (and the trail of corn kernels), we find that soft drinks and juice drinks are able to be sold relatively cheaply because of existing government intervention in the form of subsidies.  These government subsides—our taxpayer money— artificially lower the price of corn and corn derivatives like high fructose corn syrup.  When we buy a soda, we aren’t paying the REAL market price because the cost of producing corn syrup, a major ingredient, is subsidized by our tax dollars.  Hey, isn’t that soda socialism or something?

Now here’s the part where I might even get mistaken for a conservative:  Instead of levying taxes on soda and juice drinks to fund health care, why not just cut costs by reducing or even eliminating the corn subsidies, and use the savings to fund health care reform?  These subsidies are taxes that we have already paid that are a standing government bailout that props up an essentially non-market-based business model.

Insert folksy Fox News-worthy soundbite:  “Calm down about socialized medicine ’cause corn subsidies ain’t so capitalist either!”

The Environmental Working Group’s Farm Subsidy Database shows that there were $21.6 billion in corn subsidies in the four-year period from 2003-2006 (inclusive).  The Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University found that HFCS producers received an implicit $234 million dollar a year subsidy derived from overall corn subsidies.  Meanwhile, the WSJ reports that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that “adding a tax of three cents per 12-ounce serving to these types of sweetened drinks would generate $24 billion over the next four years.”  If the amount of money spent on four years of corn subsidies were redirected towards health care, we would already be 90% of the way to the potential $24 billion that could be raised by new taxes on soda and juice drinks.

Why bother with new taxes on struggling American families when the government can just stop using our taxpayer money to subsidize artificially-cheap corn, the staple of the industrial agro-businesses, and use it as a down payment on health care reform?

Farley’s and Hazel’s Kitchen have become my usual San Francisco Sunday morning spot for a one-two punch of caffeine and breakfast burrito.  Farley’s is a coffee shop, and Hazel’s is a tiny deli/takeout joint.  They are located right next door to each other in in Potrero Hill.  You can order food to-go from Hazel’s and eat at Farley’s or when the weather is nice, they have tables outside on the street.  As a creature of habit, I always order the breakfast burrito with tofu at Hazel’s, so I can’t comment on the other food, but the other stuff looks good too.  Everything is fresh and homemade.  Farley’s is an shabby-chic anti-Starbucks, with hip and friendly baristas and an awesome selection of magazines for sale (including my favorite, Monocle).

Farley’s
1315 18th Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
415.648.1545

Hazel’s Kitchen
1319 18th Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
415.647.7941

I had dinner at Yamo, a hole-in-the-wall Burmese place in the Mission tonight.  When I say hole-in-the-wall, I really mean it, it’s just 10 seats along a long, narrow counter looking on to the kitchen area with three Cantonese ladies engaging in a frantic ballet of taking orders, cooking, pouring water and collecting money.  I had the fish chowder noodles (above), which consist of rice noodles in a velvety turmeric-spiced broth with shredded fish, and topped with crunchy fried lentils.  The noodles, like most of Yamo’s entrees, were only $5.25.  CASH ONLY!

I also recommend the fried rice.  They don’t serve alcohol, but if you want more than water, I suggest the fresh young coconut, which is literally a whole coconut that they cut open with a cleaver in front of you.

As far as Burmese food goes, Yamo is not as good as Mandalay in the Richmond, but it’s much closer to home and the prices can’t be beat.

Yamo
3406 18th St
(between Mission St & San Carlos St)
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.553.8911

• Yamo on Yelp!
• Yamo on MenuPages
• Yamo on MenuPix

Photo: Portuguese-style tuna salad ($11.50)
Line caught tuna conserva, new potatoes, garbanzo beans, kalamata olives, cage free egg, red onion and parsley dressed with Victor Guedes olive oil and red wine vinegar

I went to check out Horatius, a “market gallery, bistro, wine bar and event venue” at the base of Potrero Hill today.  The food is simple and flavorful California cuisine with strong Mediterranean and Portuguese influences, reflecting the founder and CEO Horacio Gomes’ Portuguese roots.  I had the Portuguese-style tuna salad, which resembles the classic French salade niçoise but with the addition of chickpeas and spinach.  A tasty and light lunch for a sunny Saturday in San Francisco.

Horatius
350 Kansas Street
(between 16th and 17th Streets)
San Francisco, CA 94103
415.252.3500

After work on Friday, I headed to the University Club of San Francisco in Nob Hill for a Young Ivy Alumni Mixer.  It was my first time in Nob Hill, and it was cool to check out the neighborhood’s historic ritzy grandeur.  I’m glad the University Club of SF doesn’t have a strict dress code like the University Club of NYC (one of the venues for last summer’s HRW Council Summit), so I could just show up as my normal casual self (after living out of a suitcase for an entire summer, I’m almost ready to burn my wardrobe and start all over agin).  I enjoyed talking to other young alumni in the University Club’s gorgeous 4th floor lounge with sweeping views of downtown SF, and got to practice my Creative Commons talking points when addressing the inevitable question of  “what do you do?”.

I spotted this piece of decoration/obsolete technology (photo below) at the University Club.  Anybody have any idea what it is?  It resembles a faucet and sink, but with a wooden box with upholstery inside instead of a sink.  Weird.

After the mixer, I walked down California to my bus stop on Polk St.  I was feeling a bit peckish after three Sierra Nevadas and a bit of cheese an crackers, so I stopped into Cordon Bleu (a Vietnamese restaurant with a French name and Cantonese-speaking chef-servers) for dinner.  Cordon Bleu is the sort of the Vietnamese equivalent of a greasy spoon.  It’s a tiny restaurant with a counter around the open kitchen where two Cantonese/Vietnamese ladies cook your meal.  I had the “number 1,” which consisted of a few pieces of grilled pork, a fried imperial roll, cole-slaw like “house salad,” and “meat sauce” on rice.  The meat sauce closely resembled my aunt’s Taiwanese “spaghetti sauce,” a slightly sweet, perhaps ketchup-based bastardized (in the best sense of the word) Bolognese with meat and onions.  Perfect guilty pleasure gut bomb to cap off my Friday night.