Tag Archive: Fish

The painted fish

Sunday, March 11, 20120

111014---merluzza-zucchini-chickpeas-sumac_6305467615_o

Buenos Aires Herald
On Sunday supplement
Food and Wine

It’s by far the most common fish found in markets here in Buenos Aires, and often the only fish found in many supermarkets (invariably frozen and often breaded). In consequence, it’s also the most over-fished pescado in Argentine waters, with stocks of adult fish depleted over the last decade by roughly 80% (though experts say it’s a prolific enough fish it will never disappear). It’s the Merluccius hubbsi, the merluza, or, in English, the hake. Not to be confused with the completely unrelated merluza negra, the Patagonian toothfish, what we usually market as Chilean sea bass, it’s a member of the same family as cod, haddock and pollack, it’s also processed into fish sticks, fake crab, and probably airplane glue.

If you walk into any Argentine style restaurant, from a parrilla to a place specializing in one-plate specials, minutas, you’ll find this fish. Generally it’s fried, and often to a point where it approaches the texture of biscotti. Served up with a wedge or two of under-ripe lemon (why are they always under-ripe?), or perhaps covered in a dense white sauce, and sprinkled with a shred or two of chopped parsley. Here and there a marvel of a dish is produced, often calling to mind the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese roots of the majority population, and cuisines where the preparation of hake is raised to an art form.

The best thing about a simple, clean tasting white fish like hake is that it is a canvas for other flavors. As such, the overly simple treatments that one often finds leave the impression that it’s all oh so bland. This is the time for a bit of boldness, a moment to experiment with herbs and spices, letting the fish carry the flavors to your palate. Paint away on that canvas!

Merluza con Puré de Zapallitos

This dish was inspired by Chef David LeFevre of Los Angeles’ Water Grill, but adapted for local ingredients and flavors, and lightened up all around.

2 zapallitos redondos (globe zucchini), diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
60 ml white wine
120 ml vegetable stock
100 ml plain yogurt
olive oil
1 teaspoon pink peppercorns, crushed
salt to taste
4 fillets of merluza

In a splash of olive oil saute the garlic and shallot until softened, 2-3 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin and zapallitos and cook over medium heat until the vegetable pieces are completely softened. (Note: regular zucchini (zapallito largo), or yellow summer squash are both perfectly good substitutes if you prefer.) Add the white wine and continue cooking until it’s absorbed. Put the whole mixture in a blender with the vegetable stock and about 3 tablespoons of the yogurt and puree it until smooth. Add salt to taste.

Mix the rest of the yogurt with the crushed pink peppercorns and again add salt to taste.

Lightly oil a baking dish and place the fish fillets on it. Drizzle a little more olive oil over the top and sprinkle with salt. Bake in a medium-hot oven (180°C) until cooked through, about 7-8 minutes. Serve each fillet over a generous portion of the puree, and then top with a scoop of the yogurt. This is also great accompanied by a saute of chickpeas, which gives me my topic for next week’s column. Stay tuned.

A series of recipes and articles that I started writing for the Buenos Aires Herald Sunday supplement, Food & Wine section, at the beginning of 2012. My original proposal to them was to take local favorite dishes and classics and lighten them up for modern day sensibilities. We’re not talking spa or diet recipes, but at the very least, making them healthier in content, particularly salt, fat and portion size. As time went by, that morphed into a recipe column that, while emphasizing food that is relatively “good for you”, wasn’t necessarily focused on local cuisine. At the beginning of 2013 I decided to stop writing for them over some administrative issues, but it was fun while it lasted.

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Buenos Aires Herald, Newspaper articles

A swamp cabbage by any other name

Sunday, February 12, 20122

Salmon Palmito Gratin

Buenos Aires Herald
On Sunday supplement
Food and Wine

Slender cylinders of gleaming ivory, firm on the outside, tender, moist and creamy on the inside. Sounds like perfection in a vegetable, and for some, the palmito, or heart of palm, is just that. But, just what is it? Does it really have anything to do with palm trees? Why do old British cookbooks refer to it as “burglar’s thigh” and Americans call it swamp cabbage? And just exactly what can you do with it?

First off, yes, it has everything to do with palm trees. Particular varieties that are harvested when young, generally when the trunk of the palm reaches about two meters in height and ten centimeters in diameter. Let it go past that point and the inner core of the tree starts to become fibrous and woody. But harvested at that point it’s one of the world’s great under-sung vegetables.

Traditionally harvested in Brazil from wild palms, closely related to the coconut palm, the trees were single stemmed – that meant that for roughly every two dozen hearts of palm stuck in a can a future tree was lost, and they took two years to reach that size. Ecuador, meanwhile, cultivated a “self-suckering”, “multi-stem” variety that often sends up as many as forty trunks, reaching the necessary size within a single growing season, and they regenerate themselves.

Here in Argentina, you see the cans in every supermarket and dietética. On restaurant menus they appear raw in salads, or mixed with shrimp and mayo and stuffed into an avocado half. They’re tossed on pizzas and milanesas, often drowned in swirls of salsa golf, the local mayo-ketchup blend. They make appearances in savory tarts, usually baked with the ubiquitous ham and cheese.

High in protein and low in fat, palm hearts can be cooked in the manner of many another vegetable. An old local recipe uses thin rounds cooked down in a white wine, heavy cream and butter sauce, ladled over slabs of pork loin, covered in cheese, and then baked in the oven until golden brown. It’s an amazing, savory dish that unfortunately is also packed with fat and salt. I’ve taken the classic as an inspiration to create a wonderful salmon dish. And “burglar’s thigh”, “swamp cabbage”? Not a clue. Searched through every historical text I could lay my hands on, print and online, and not one explanation.

Salmon and Palmito Gratin

4 fillets of salmon, 150 gm each, skin and bones removed
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1 large shallot, finely chopped
60 ml dry white wine
200 ml plain yogurt
120 ml low-sodium vegetable stock
100 gm palm hearts, rinsed, sliced in rounds (roughly 4 hearts)
50 gm grated cheese (I’m fond of local Romano or Grana Pampeana)
salt and pepper
chives, finely chopped

Sprinkle the salmon fillets with a little salt and several grinds of pepper, and then rub all over with the chopped garlic and olive oil. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. Heat a skillet over high heat for about ten minutes, until it’s hot. Place the salmon fillets in the pan (no extra oil is needed) with the side that had the skin face down. Cook for 2 minutes until lightly golden and then flip them over. Cook for just 1 minute and remove to a baking dish.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the shallots, cook for a minute, then add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping any stuck bits into the mix. Cook for a minute, then add the stock, yogurt, and palm heart slices. Continue stirring and cook for 10 minutes.. Adjust the seasoning to your taste with salt and pepper. Spoon over the fillets, piling up the palmitos atop. Cover with grated cheese and stick under the broiler for 5 minutes until golden brown. The salmon should just barely be cooked through. Serve, garnished with chives.

A series of recipes and articles that I started writing for the Buenos Aires Herald Sunday supplement, Food & Wine section, at the beginning of 2012. My original proposal to them was to take local favorite dishes and classics and lighten them up for modern day sensibilities. We’re not talking spa or diet recipes, but at the very least, making them healthier in content, particularly salt, fat and portion size. As time went by, that morphed into a recipe column that, while emphasizing food that is relatively “good for you”, wasn’t necessarily focused on local cuisine. At the beginning of 2013 I decided to stop writing for them over some administrative issues, but it was fun while it lasted.

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Buenos Aires Herald, Newspaper articles

Colonial fish

Sunday, January 22, 20120

Pejerrey a la colonial

Buenos Aires Herald
On Sunday supplement
Food and Wine

I am regularly reminded by locals, expats and visitors that there simply is no good fish here in Argentina, except maybe in Patagonia. And just as regularly I find myself arguing to the contrary. While it is true that until a few years back there were no decent supply lines bringing in good quality fish to the capitol, that has all changed over the last decade. There are now excellent seafood shops scattered around the city, ranging from the inexpensive markets of Barrio Chino to exclusive suppliers dotting the streets of Palermo, Recoleta, Retiro and San Telmo, at the very least.

The next comment that follows up the argument is always something to the effect of “I don’t know what any of these fish are, I’ve never heard of them.” To me, that’s not a reason to not try them, it’s a reason to either look in a dictionary and find out what finned creature is laid out on ice in front of you, or, just take some home and give it a try. But, I understand the “need to know” imperative.

Let’s start with the pejerrey, or South American Silverside family, genus: Odontesthes, with several species, including platensis, bonariensis and others. The most common eating fish locally is probably the bonariensis, or Argentine Silverside. These are not generally big fish – tending to be about 15 to 25 cm long, and very thin. The meat is gleaming white, with a silvery sheen or stripe on the outside. They have a fairly delicate flavor, and unfortunately these days are usually served up battered and fried and therefore indistinguishable from any other fish, or smothered in salsa roquefort, a strikingly pungent blue cheese sauce that masks any possibility of knowing what lies beneath it.

One of my favorite recipes for this fish, one that gives plenty of flavor from the preparation but still leaves the delicacy of the fish to shine through, is a dish called Pejerrey a la Colonial. It is a dish that’s rarely seen on a menu anymore, but at one time was popular in Argentina – as best I can determine, somewhere around the late 50s and early 60s. It’s a shame that it has disappeared from local restaurants because it’s a delicious preparation that hits all the right notes – essentially napping the fillets of simply sauteed fish in a rich and tangy mustard cream and butter sauce. During hot summer months it can seem a bit heavy despite being a fish dish and so we’ve lightened it up a bit, changing out the oil and butter for good olive oil and bringing in yogurt to replace the heavy cream (this also works well with lowfat versions of local sour cream substitutes like Casa ‘n Crema or Mendicrem).

Pejerrey a la Colonial, Light

4 pejerreyes, approximately 20cm in length, cleaned and filleted (8 fillets)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
120 ml dry white wine
200 ml lowfat, unsweetened yogurt
35 gm Dijon mustard, preferably with seeds
3-4 stalks of parsley, leaves chopped
sweet paprika (pimentón dulce) to sprinkle over
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the cleaned fillets (if they’re not already prepared, remove the heads, tails, fins and bones to leave clean fillets) and saute them in a pan quickly over medium heat, two minutes on a side. Remove them and set them aside (if you can, maintain them warm, in a low heat oven). In the same pan, without changing the oil, cooked the sliced garlic and chopped onions until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a simmer, letting most of the liquid be absorbed into the onion mixture. Add the yogurt and mustard, stir well to smooth out the sauce and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Serve two fillets to each diner, spoon some of the sauce over each end of the fillets, leaving the center length uncovered, and then sprinkle the whole thing lightly with the paprika and chopped parsley. Delicious accompanied with boiled potatoes.

A series of recipes and articles that I started writing for the Buenos Aires Herald Sunday supplement, Food & Wine section, at the beginning of 2012. My original proposal to them was to take local favorite dishes and classics and lighten them up for modern day sensibilities. We’re not talking spa or diet recipes, but at the very least, making them healthier in content, particularly salt, fat and portion size. As time went by, that morphed into a recipe column that, while emphasizing food that is relatively “good for you”, wasn’t necessarily focused on local cuisine. At the beginning of 2013 I decided to stop writing for them over some administrative issues, but it was fun while it lasted.

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Buenos Aires Herald, Newspaper articles

Brazilian Kitchen on Tour

Monday, June 7, 20100

tobacover

Time Out
500 ways to experience Brazil around the world
June 2010
pgs 131-132

Brazilian Kitchen on Tour
Spice up your repertoire with these three classic recipes

feijoadaYou could spend years exploring the canon of dishes from various parts of Brazil; but if you’re new to Brazilian food, a dip into a handful of classic regional favorites will make a useful starting point to appreciating the richness and diversity of what’s on offer.

From the delicate flavors of a crab casquinha to spicy, aromatic fish moqueca, and on to the rich depths of the feijoada, Brail’s iconic bean-and-meat stew, the three simple recipes that follow demonstrate just how varied Brazil’s cuisine can be.

Any one of them will bring a smile to the face of a homesick Brazilian friend, and though at first glance they might appear complex, none of these dishes is difficult to make. While they call for the odd ingredient that might not be available where you live, there are easy-to-find substitutes for each that, while not preserving the dish’s pristine authenticity, do preserve its spirit and flavors.

Casquinha de Carangueijo

This easy-to-make stuffed crab is from the area around São Luis in the northern state of Maranhão, a region known for its beautiful coastline and fresh seafood. With its delicate crabmeat enhanced by familiar flavors like tomato, onion, garlic and parsley, the dish is especially evocative of the region. Serves six.

1 lb (450 gm) lump crabmeat, with pieces of shell removed
juice of 3 limes
2 oz (60ml) olive oil
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
4 tablespoons chopped parsley
2-3 hot peppers
4 oz (110 gm) butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
12 oz (340 gm) manioc flour
12 black olives, chopped
salt and pepper

Mix the crabmeat and lime juice and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain off the liquid. In a frying pan, saute the tomato, onion, green onion, peppers and parsley in olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Add the crabmeat and combine well. Fill crab shells or gratin dishes with this mixture.

In another frying pan saute garlic in butter until it is golden. Add manioc flour (or breadcrumbs if not available) cook for another minute. Add the olives and season with salt. Spread this mixture over the top of the crabmeat. Place under the broiler and cook until golden brown – 1-2 minutes.

Feijoada

This deep, complex and delicious meat-and-bean stew is the national dish of Brazil, and there are countless variations, from the type of beans used to the cuts of meat, and even which animal they come from. Almost all come with farofa on the side; but While the “poor man’s” feijoada usually involves some nose-to-tail eating including pig’s trotters or calve’s feet, ears tongues and the like, it’s by no means a requirement, and many home cooks and restaurants use more familiar cuts of meat and sausages as the base. It’s a lot of ingredients, but don’t be put off: it all comes together easily. This is a Bahian version, without the ‘variety meats’. Serves six.

1 lb (450 gm) of black beans (dry), soaked in water overnight
3 bay leaves
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
½ lb (225 gm) bacon, cut in small cubes
1 lb (450 gm) smoked sausage, cut in slices
1 cured chorizo style sausage (or any spicy cured sausage)
2 fresh chorizo style sausages (or any spicy fresh sausage)
½ lb (225 gm) chuck or rump roast, cut in cubes
½ lb (225 gm) pork shoulder, cut in cubes

4 oz (110 gm) butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
12 oz (340 gm) manioc flour
4 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 oranges, peeled and sliced
12 oz (340 gm) uncooked white rice
32 oz (950 ml) water

1 large bunch of kale or chard, washed and cut into strips
1 garlic clove, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil

Drain the beans and place them in a pot with the bay leaves and twice their volume of water. Cook until tender. Keep warm. Remove one cup of beans and puree them in a blender with a little water.

In a large stewpot saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until they start to brown. Add the meats and cook, stirring regularly, until browned. Add the beans and their cooking water plus the pureed beans. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat and cook until the meat is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.

For the farofa, sauté the remaining garlic in butter until lightly browned, then add the coarse manioc flour (or breadcrumbs) and cook for 1-2 minutes until lightly golden. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Separately, saute the kale or chard with the sliced garlic in olive oil until wilted.

Place the farofa and greens on the table and ladle a plate of feijoada out for each person, garnished with orange slices and accompanied by cooked white rice. Let people add the accompaniments to their personal tastes.

moqueca

Moqueca

This wonderfully aromatic fish and tomato dish probably comes in a close second for national dish. This version is from the south-east. On the spicy side and very aromatic, moqueca is delightful when paired with a well chilled, medium-bodied beer, or a fragrant wine such as Riesling, Gewürztraminer, or Viognier. Serves six.

3 lb (1.5 kg) of white fish fillets – pollack, sea bass, perch are all good choices
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut in wedges
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut in thin strips
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bunch of basil, chopped
4 oz (120ml) coconut milk
2 tablespoons dende oil
4 tablespoons olive oil
5-6 malagueta peppers (usually available pickled, in small jars)
salt and pepper

Saute the onion and garlic in the oils for two minutes, just to soften. If you couldn’t find dende oil, use six tablespoons of olive oil, and add a half teaspoon of ground turmeric at the beginning for color.

Add the fish fillets to the onions, garlic and oil in one layer. Cover the fish with the remaining ingredients. If malagueta peppers are unavailable, use any small, hot chilies, pickled if available, or add a tablespoon of vinegar to the dish to give it some zip. Cover the pan and cook for ten minutes over low heat without stirring until the fish is cooked through. Place fillets with vegetable and herb toppings intact on to plates and accompany with rice. Season the liquid in the pan to taste and pour over the fish.

Ingredient notes

farofa dumplingsDende palm oil adds delicious earthiness and a vivid orange color to the dishes, and it’s the hallmark of the Bahia region. It’s tricky to substitute, as its flavor is so unique; but if it’s impossible to find where you live, you can mimic the color, at least, with a pinch of turmeric – see the moqueca recipe.

Manioc flour, finely ground, is used as a thickener; and in coarse form is toasted to create golden farofa, a essential accompaniment to many a Brazilian dish. It’s also known as ‘tapioca flour’. If you can’t find it, cornstarch will do for use as a thickener; but for farofa, if manioc flour is unavailable in coarse form, then breadcrumbs prepared the same way make a good substitute. Better that than trying to use ordinary flour, which will just end up as a paste.

The folk at the “home office” of Time Out contacted me after I’d written for Time Out Buenos Aires for several years and asked if I’d write a recipe section for their forthcoming book on Brazilian culture.

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Books (Mine)

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Priorities!

Wednesday, March 10, 20040

Outlet Radio Network
March 2004

Priorities!

Bombs in Iraq, bombs in Pakistan, terrorism threats, the rise of anti-Semitism, banning of head scarves in French schools, gay marriage and a bad white truffle harvest. It’s clear we’re headed for some sort of disaster… or, to paraphrase the Ghostbusters team:
Real wrath of God type stuff. Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies. Rivers and seas boiling. Forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes. The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats, living together. Mass hysteria!

Now I know this stuff is important. But my cholesterol is up and I put on a few pounds. I’m supposed to go on vacation and lay around a pool with some friends in a few weeks. While that may not sound like a disaster of Biblical proportions, it certainly borders on Rubenesque proportions.

I have to admit, that occupies more of my concern than any of the above, except perhaps the white truffle harvest. I don’t want to start taking Lipitor, that would just seem like license to go out and eat badly. I didn’t put on enough weight to “go on a diet”.

It’s more like I actually have to make use of my gym membership and eat more carefully.

Top that off with some of my readers actually demanding that I provide vegetarian and fish recipes! I was all ready to share some sort of spring lamb extravaganza and then the weight of the world is dumped on my shoulders. Well, if Atlas can shrug, so can I. Have some fun with these dishes:

Pan Seared Salmon in Shallot Sauce

Serves 4

4 6-8 ounce salmon fillets, 1″ thick
garlic powder
coarse salt
olive oil
2 dozen small shallots, peeled and quartered
1 stick unsalted butter or margarine
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon almond or hazelnut oil
2 branches of fresh rosemary
green lentils
butter or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Start the lentils cooking according to package directions (plan on 20 minutes cooking time). Melt the butter with the nut oil, salt and sugar. Add the shallots, rosemary, salt and pepper, toss to coat. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until shallots are soft and caramelized (plan on 15 minutes). Lightly coat the salmon fillets with salt and garlic powder. Sear in olive oil until lightly browned on both sides. Cook until medium rare-medium. Drain lentils, toss with butter, salt and pepper to taste. Put into individual serving bowls, top with salmon fillets and portion the sauce over each fillet.

Okay, there’s butter in this recipe. Deal with it… (actually, I’ve found this great “butter-flavored” olive oil spread from Fleishmann’s that I’ve been using as a substitute).

Farfalle with Peas & Radishes

Serves 4

1 pound package of dry farfalle (bowtie pasta)
8 ounces fresh green peas
8 ounces french breakfast radishes with greens
1 tablespoon chopped mint
salt & black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Follow package directions for cooking farfalle to “al dente” texture. Simmer peas in water with one tablespoon of the butter until tender. Drain. Thinly slice the radishes, salt lightly and cook slowly in the other tablespoon of butter. Rinse the green thoroughly and roughly chop. Quickly saute in the olive oil. Add peas and radishes and season to taste. Add drained pasta to vegetables. Toss with the mint, adjust seasoning and add additional olive oil if needed to coat pasta.

I started writing food & wine columns for the Outlet Radio Network, an online radio station in December 2003. They went out of business in June 2005.

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Online Publications, Outlet Radio Network

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A Taste of Hawaii

Friday, May 5, 20000

Q San Francisco
May 2000
Pages 54-55

A Taste of Hawaii

HibiscusPurpleClipArtThere are many things about Hawaii that captures our imagination including: beaches, volcanoes, palm trees and ocean waves, but until recently food was just an afterthought.

Only a decade or so ago, most major restaurants in Hawaii served what chefs thought the tourists would want to eat. Not wanting to offend the sensibilities of the islands’ major source of income, typical “mainland” fare was the order of the day. The thought that the average New York, Iowa or San Francisco bumpkin would want to nibble on local chow was simply not considered.

Luckily for everyone, a few intrepid kitchen maestros decided enough was enough. It was time to share the amazing local produce, seafood, and spices with the inbound masses. Hawaii is fortunate to have the influences of several major world cuisines to draw from. Recipes, techniques, and nuances from Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Spanish and Portuguese cuisines add their flavor to the Polynesian and uniquely Hawaiian ingredients and classic dishes.

Hundreds of different edible fish, many available nowhere else in the world, now show up on dining tables throughout the islands. Some are even finding their way to the restaurant kitchens of major cities throughout the rest of the country. Fruits, vegetables and seaweeds of varieties that some cooks only read about are readily available for serving, garnishing and saucing of plates.

Names like Roy Yamaguchi, Alan Wong, Sam Choy, and Jean-Marie Josselin are popping up on food networks next to the likes of Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. In fact, while he may not be the pinnacle chef of Hawaiian food, Roy Yamaguchi is certainly its pinnacle ambassador, with more than a dozen outposts of his famed restaurant, Roy’s, around the world.

Internet sites devoted to Hawaiian cuisines are easily accessible for any home cook’s browsing pleasure and a quick search of the web turned up a half-dozen books on Hawaiian cuisine published in the last year.

Like much of American regional cooking, modern Hawaiian is a synthesis of the cuisines that come from its immigrant populace. James Michener, the author of the historical novel Hawaii, notes in the introduction to a Hawaiian cookbook that it is near impossible to attend a Hawaiian dinner and not have dishes from at least three different cultures.

Though by no means definitive, it would probably be fairly safe to say that modern Hawaiian cooking tends to be on the sweet side. It is not at all unusual to have sauces that are some form of sweet and sour, or based on sweetened coconut milk, or an Asian style soy, vinegar and sugar marinade. Fruit is often used in dishes. Unfamiliar (at least to us mainland types) produce, like purple Molokai sweet potatoes and poha berries sit side by side with fish like kumu, moano, moi, and wahoo.

With no claim to authenticity on my part, and full license on yours to play with your food, I offer a recipe, in tribute at least, to the new Hawaiian chefs. Influenced, of course, by my own cooking background…

Grilled Shutome with Molokai Hash
Serves 4

4 6-ounce shutome (Pacific swordfish) steaks
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
salt & white pepper
1/4 cups raw macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
4 molokai (purple sweet potatoes), peeled and cut in 1/4″ dice
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 green onions, sliced thinly
1 fresh medium-hot pepper, sliced in thin rings
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons corn or canola oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper the swordfish steaks (you can substitute any good steak fish, like tuna or shark), and coat both sides with hoisin sauce. Marinate for two hours.

Heat the oils together over medium heat and add garlic, green onions, pepper rings, and ginger and cook, stirring, until they start to turn golden brown. Add the macadamias and sweet potato dice (you can substitute regular sweet potatoes), turn the heat down low and cook, stirring regularly, until the potatoes are cooked through. Add the soy sauce and sugar and mix thoroughly. Remove from heat.

Grill the swordfish steaks on both sides until cooked through – preferably over an open grill. Kiawe wood (a Hawaiian wood) would be ideal, mesquite is a good substitute. A stove-top grill is the way most of us city-dwellers have to go. Serve with the hash.

Hawaiian Wines

Hawaii has two active wineries. Given the range of climates over the various islands and altitudes, grape growing is not all that difficult. Nonetheless, what is more important to the wine industry in Hawaii is an emphasis on local fruit wines. For those of us who’ve bounced around the country and sampled various fruit wines, we know these can range from insipid to quite good, but can almost always be counted on to be interesting. World-class is not the aim here – but fun drinking is.

In the wine business, Tedeschi Vineyards, located on Maui, is perhaps the more famed of the two. Often joked about amongst wine-folk, the winery’s specialty – Maui Blanc – is legendary as THE wine made from fresh pineapple juice. In business since 1974, Tedeschi produces a range of eight different wines, from grapes to passion fruit to pineapple. A visit to the winery, in upcountry Maui, is a must for the adventurous wine lover. In fact, 180,000 visitors make the trek annually.

Volcano Winery, on the “Big Island”, is nestled between two active volcanoes – Kilauea and Mauna Loa. Claiming distinction as America’s southernmost winery, they produce nearly a dozen different wines. Producing wine since 1986, Volcano, too, is worth the trip. Volcano’s claim to fame are their Symphony wines and their honey wines. The former are made from the Symphony grape – a hybrid between Grenache gris and Muscat of Alexandria. The latter are fermented entirely from local honey – unlike heavy, cloying European honey beverages like mead, these are light, fresh and delicately sweet.

Volcano Winery was able to ship some samples for my review. Symphony Dry is made from the hybrid grape Symphony and was a medium bodied, very aromatic wine and dry wine that reminded me of canned apricots and lychees. It worked well with the swordfish, though probably would be a better match with a less spicy sauce. Passion Chablis is a blend of an unidentified white grape and passion fruit wines, and tasted of, well, passion fruit. Being slightly off-dry it worked beautifully with the spicy sauce on the swordfish. With dessert, preferably something with banana or coconut, the Macadamia Nut Honey Wine was delightfully light, refreshing and tasting of honey and macadamia flowers.

Both wineries have well designed websites that are worth a visit, respectively at www.mauiwine.com and www.volcanowinery.com

Q San Francisco magazine premiered in late 1995 as a ultra-slick, ultra-hip gay lifestyle magazine targeted primarily for the San Francisco community. It was launched by my friends Don Tuthill and Robert Adams, respectively the publisher and editor-in-chief, who had owned and run Genre magazine for several years prior. They asked me to come along as the food and wine geek, umm, editor, for this venture as well. In order to devote their time to Passport magazine, their newest venture, they ceased publication of QSF in early 2003.

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Magazine articles, Q San Francisco

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The Burger Lover’s Ultimate Burger

Friday, April 5, 19960

Q San Francisco
April/May 1996
Pages 42-43

The Burger Lover’s Ultimate Burger

There are swimsuit issues for sports magazines, for fashion magazines, for car and truck magazines, even for pet magazines. As best I can tell, nobody has ever done a swimsuit issue for a food and wine magazine. I’m going to do the next best thing. Welcome to the swimsuit edition of the food and wine column. The priority here is to find a beach. Now, for those of you who don’t happen to live on an ocean coast, a lakefront beach or riverbank will prove perfectly suitable. I grew up with outings on the Huron River in southern Michigan, so I know this works. Wear appropriately skimpy clothing, don’t mousse your hair (windblown or mussed is the proper look for beaches) and bring along your local all-purpose insect repellent.

While cold picnics are the easiest route to travel here – and nobody enjoys a wedge of Camembert, genoa salami, piccoline olives, baguettes and champagne more than I do – anyone can pack a cold picnic. You and I will be equipped for a proper cookout.

First, build a fire. I like to use a hibachi, but any small grill, or dig a small sandpit, will do. This serves three purposes. It gives you something to cook over and it will keep you warm as the shadows lengthen into early evening. Most importantly, it will bring down a cadre of state troopers who start by telling you about the rules of the beach and end by joining you in a game of beach blanket twister.

After finishing your man or woman in a uniform fantasy, it’s time to get cooking. The obvious all-American choices are hot dogs and hamburgers. I much prefer the latter, so, without further rambling, here is my definitive guide to the world of Burgers on the Beach – for those carnivorous and those herbivorous.

The Carnivore’s Ultimate Burger

1-1/2 pound sirloin, coarsely chopped
1/4 pound foie gras paté
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup mixed, chopped herbs (the classics – parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme – are perfect here)
1/4 cup red wine
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 small red onion, dijon mustard, sourdough rolls

Mix all but last line of ingredients together. I like the coarsely chopped beef because it has more bite to it than finely ground. The paté will add flavor, fat, and help hold it all together. You can use different herbs if you prefer, adjust the salt and pepper to your tastes. Make into four patties and grill to the appropriate doneness for you and your guests. Given that you’re using good sirloin, err on the rare side. Top with a slice of red onion, mustard and serve on sourdough rolls.

The Pescivore’s Ultimate Burger

3/4 pound fresh salmon, chopped
3/4 pound fresh tuna, chopped
Juice and grated peel of 1 lemon
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup black olives, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/4 cup chives, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 tomato, dijon mustard and/or mayonnaise, sourdough rolls

Mix all but last line of ingredients together. Make into four patties. Salmon and tuna make a great combination in a burger – I’d cook this medium rare, but that’s me. The eggs will hold it together, make sure the patties are tightly packed so they don’t fall apart. Serve topped with sliced tomato, a little mustard and mayo, on, once again, a good sourdough roll.

The Herbivore’s Ultimate Burger

1/4 pound mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, grated
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon dill, chopped
2 tablespoons tahini
3/4 cups chickpeas
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
salsa, sourdough rolls

This one requires a little advance cooking, and a few more ingredients than the others, but it’s worth it. Even meat eaters will love this version of a veggie burger. Saute the first four ingredients in a little olive oil till soft and lightly browned. Remove from heat, cool, add the other ingredients, and form into patties. This will make about eight burgers, but it’s too hard to make in smaller quantities. You can freeze any extras and save them for future outings. Grill and serve topped with your favorite salsa – on, what else? A sourdough roll.

The Burger Lover’s Ultimate Wine Picks

Now the truth is, being at a beach calls for champagne. Serve it pre-dinner, while everyone is waiting for those burgers to come off the grill. Being a nice hot summer day, go for something on the light side with lots of acidity and fruit. If you can find it, Ployez-Jacquemart Brut Extra Quality is my top pick. I’d also go for Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs or Champagne Deutz Brut. On the domestic front, I’m particularly fond of both Iron Horse Brut and Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs. If you’re feeling particularly budget conscious, go for a sparkling wine from Spain, I tend to like the Codorníu Brut Clasico.

Now you could continue to serve sparkling wine throughout dinner. But the carnivore burger just screams out for red wine. From the French side, I’ve always felt that the best hamburger wine is Château Greysac. There’s something about a good Bordeaux and beef, and this wine just captures the right combination of flavors to go with a burger. The paté and herbs in the burger add a dimension of flavor that works especially well with more rustic styled wines. A nice lighter style Rioja from Spain, like Bodegas Montecillo Viña Cumbrero or a fruity and spicy Cantina Zaccagnini “dal tralcetto” Montepulciano d’Abruzzo take top honors from the rest of Europe. Back in the U.S. of A., Acacia Pinot Noir and Lolonis Petite Syrah from California or Palmer Cabernet Franc from New York top my list.

The salmon and tuna burger can go either way, red or white. As regular readers know, I’m fond of many pink wines, which is where I’d go with this one. From Provençe, Domaines Ott Château Romassan Rosé “Cuvee Marine” Bandol with its spicy, herbal flavors gets my first pick. Julián Chivite Gran Feudo Rosé from Navarra, Spain comes in a close second. And for those, like me, who just can’t resist sparkling wines, especially at the beach, Argyle Brut Rosé from Oregon can’t be beat in the out of doors.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told how difficult it is to pick wines for vegetarian cuisine. And one “macrobiotic” customer of mine spent five minutes giving me a lecture on the evils of alcohol while he downed his third cola of the meal and asked for another. Nonsense. Vegetarian cuisine is the easiest to pick for – the flavors are fresh and bright, the herbal and vegetal qualities match some of the best that wine has to offer. This veggie burger can also go either way, and, in truth, almost any of the wines above would go well. But to particularly accentuate the flavors, try the Z Moore Gewurztraminer or the Jekel Vineyards Johannisberg Riesling, both from California. My favorite German Rieslings come from J.J. Christofel, for those of you into spending a little more. On the red side, a lighter Pinot noir from Burgundy, like Château de la Charrière Santenay would be a good choice. William Baccala Estate Merlot from Napa is another winner.

Q San Francisco magazine premiered in late 1995 as a ultra-slick, ultra-hip gay lifestyle magazine targeted primarily for the San Francisco community. It was launched by my friends Don Tuthill and Robert Adams, respectively the publisher and editor-in-chief, who had owned and run Genre magazine for several years prior. They asked me to come along as the food and wine geek, umm, editor, for this venture as well. In order to devote their time to Passport magazine, their newest venture, they ceased publication of QSF in early 2003.

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Aussie Dishes

Saturday, October 2, 19930

GENRE
October 1993

Hungry Man
Aussie Dishes
Vegemite Sandwiches and Kangaroo Tails for All

GenreThere’s a bistro in the heart of Sydney that serves Pineapple Right-Side-Up Cake. Australians with a sense of humor about themselves? Could be…

In digging my way through to the other side of the world, I suddenly found myself down-under an avalanche of unfamiliar dishes. I decided to pass over the “bush tucker” of the outback with its fruit bats, witjuti grubs, kangaroo tails, honey-ants and blue tongue skinks. A couple hundred years of colonial cuisine did little to alleviate my bewilderment, what with yabbies, Moretan Bay bugs, pie floaters, dog’s eye and dead horse, damper, ANZAC biscuits, lamingtons, tim tams, vegemite, and pluto dogs.

I stayed on the yellow brick road, watched out for the witch, and found myself in “Oz Mod,” the new cuisine of Australia. The climate and isolation of this former penal colony have given rise to a spectacular array of fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, meats and seafood – many species found nowhere else on earth. Settlers from across our spinning orb have spiced the cuisine with everything from thyme and tarragon to star anise and wattle seeds. In a land where lemons grow on trees in the backyard, and papayas, passion fruit, custard apples, and mangoes are available at roadside markets, anything is possible.

On one hand, fish, low fat, and low alcohol are in fashion. On the other hand, Australians are the third-largest consumers of ice cream on the globe, and incredible ingesters of sugar, averaging a whopping 100 pounds of sugar per year, each. The “national” dessert of Australia, Pavlova, is a sugary meringue basket filled with fruit and whipped cream.

Just what is Oz Mod? To answer that I must point out that Australia is big. Nearly three million square miles of land area, almost 1,500 miles north to south by 2,000 miles east to west. Regional tastes can be as different as New England Clam Bkaes, Shrimp Creole, and Chili are in the U.S. My trek through the menus from coast to coast came up with a sampling that ranged from Indonesian-influenced King Prawns in Lime Sauce in southern Adelaide, through Mideast-style Lamb with Dried Fruits in eastern Sydney, to the very French Coral Trout with Beurre Blanc in northern Port Douglas, on to Italian inspired Grilled Kid Chops with Rosemary and Garlic in western Perth, and even south across the water, where a delicate Carpaccio of Tasmanian Salmon with Caviar and Edible Flower Confetti awaited in Hobart.

Since your local market may not carry warrigal greens, bunya nuts, or Balmain bugs, many “authentic” Australian recipes didn’t seem appropriate to share here. So, I picked a little favorite that you can make the next time you want to impress that special someone. Australian wines are in this year, so make your toasts with an outstanding Riesling from the Hunter Valley.

Sautéed Trout with Macadamia Nuts

2 fresh trout, each ½-¾ lb., gutted and scaled (leave the head and tails on)
½ cup chopped macadamia nuts
½ cup flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
½ lb. fresh spinach
¼ cup safflower or other light oil
chopped parsley and lemon wedges for garnish

Heat a large (big enough to hold the two trout) frying pan over medium heat, add about half the oil and the nuts and sauté until just starting to color. Remove the nuts and set aside on paper towel to drain.

Mix the flour, salt, pepper, and orange peel in a plastic bag, put in fish and shake to coat thoroughly (one at a time). Add remaining oil to the pan, sauté the fish 5-6 minutes on each side until the skin is browned and when you look at the inside, the fish should be cooked through. Remove the fish and drain the oil out of the pan.

Quickly toss the spinach in the hot pan until just wilted. Mix in half the nuts, spread out on two plates. Lay whole fish on top of spinach bed. Top with the remaining nuts, chopped parsley and a couple of lemon wedges. Serves two. (Oh, if you just can’t deal with a whole fish, use fillets, and only cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.)

Special thanks for some of my Australian menu research to Kit Snedaker, Harry O’Neil, and Christine Cook.

Genre is a gay “lifestyle” and travel magazine. It was launched in 1992 by three entrepreneurs, two of whom shortly thereafter left to found QSF magazine. I went with them…

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