The Culinary Timeline is a side-project that I've been working on since October. I'm hoping to have most of it complete by the end of January, with any luck. Until then, updates around here will be weekly, rather than twice weekly. Do stay tuned.
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End-of-the-year recaps present a great opportunity to “re-purpose” some old content (I learned this valuable euphemism during the dot-com era). Here are 10 dishes that I really enjoyed this year, in no particular order. I’m not saying this list comprises my top 10 dishes for the year, but some of them could definitely qualify. Clicking the photos will transport you back to the original article — and perhaps, a much simpler time and place.
Crispy shrimp with ginger and onions @ Huong Tra, Richmond.
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Flounder special @ Yuet Lee, San Francisco.
What most Americans would recognize as “Chinese food” is far more likely to be Chinese-American, than anything truly Chinese. That said, it may seem surprising that there’s no chop suey or General Tso’s chicken in China, at least not as we know them. The staunch food-snob might label these Americanized dishes as a bastardization of the original form, although I feel that “bastardization” is much too strong of a term. Okay, if the food is served from a steam-table, then it probably is a bastardization. But whether it’s a buffet set-up or not, mom-and-pop Chinese restaurants outnumber McDonald’s franchises [... read more ...]
Photo by Anne Fishbein, LA Weekly, 2010.
These days, I see lots of food photos. When you consider all the blogs, the magazines, and the cookbooks that have become available, there is so much more today than there was yesterday, and amazingly, there will be even more tomorrow. The photo above really caught my eye this afternoon, as I was flipping through the LA Weekly’s top food photos for 2010. I rely on the LA Weekly almost exclusively to keep up with Los Angeles food culture (as I did when I lived there for 10 years). The last [... read more ...]
Asterisks denote all of the dishes ordered; the red asterisks were my favorites. Click the menu image for the full-size scan.
Among the hip new restaurants that have opened in San Francisco this year, Commonwealth certainly has more pedigree than most. Located near the corner of Mission and 18th, Commonwealth arrived with instant neighborhood cred, being the new venture of executive chef Jason Fox, who solidified his reputation at Bar Tartine, just two short blocks away. I have several friends who live and cook in the city — old cronies from when we all cooked in Napa restaurants [... read more ...]
Up front: Chicken and nettle dumplings; In back: Biscuit with ham, mustard, and blueberry preserves.
I’ve been an early adopter of the Fremont Diner, having made my first visit there sometime in the summer of 2009, on the way out to a wine-tasting excursion in the Russian River Valley. Since then, I’ve covered their menu extensively within these pages, and my favorite dish remains the black-pepper brisket hash. My recent lunch of chicken and dumplings, pictured above, ranks somewhere in the middle of the pack, which is good indication of the Fremont Diner’s overall consistency. It’s a nice [... read more ...]
In early October, I first broke the news that the Martini House would be closing after its nine-year run in St. Helena. As I had reported back then, Paul Fleming allegedly had a hand in the purchase of the Martini House restaurant space, although the specific concept for a new restaurant was never mentioned. Fleming is the name behind Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and P. F. Chang’s China Bistro, although I couldn’t see either of those restaurants moving into sunny St. Helena (by my understanding, the Chamber of Commerce would sooner see St. Helena burn than allow any chain restaurants [... read more ...]
"Gastronomical Map of China" as published in "The Chinese Festive Board." Click the image for more detail…
Originally published in 1935, “The Chinese Festive Board” offers a brief-yet-comprehensive overview of Chinese cuisine, including etiquette, sample menus and an impressively extensive food glossary. The core of the book, however, is its collection of 50 recipes, which addresses the basic foundation of Chinese cookery. The specific edition of “The Chinese Festive Board” that I found was a sturdy paperback from 1985, published by Oxford Press Hong Kong, and featuring the pictogram map presented above (this clever line-drawing provides the design [... read more ...]
How much for just one rib? Sweet ginger pork spare ribs with basmati rice and steamed vegetables.
As the weather’s become cooler, I’ve become increasingly fascinated with curries. Both rich and filling, curry certainly ranks among the great comfort foods of the world. I had ventured over to Sa Wad Dee Thai for some green curry today, but when I sat down to order, the owner sold me on the daily lunch special, which was sweet ginger pork ribs with basmati rice, pictured above. It happens. Perhaps she sensed that I was a proponent of pork, or maybe [... read more ...]
It was a current iPhone commercial where I was recently reminded of “The Ketchup Conundrum” by Malcolm Gladwell: The article zips by in a milli-second, as a finger flips through the virtual pages of an iPhone screen. Originally published in The New Yorker in 2004, “The Ketchup Conundrum” is an intriguing account of food and marketing. If you’re like me, you have at least five kinds of mustard on hand at all times. And according to the article, lots of other folks are the exact same way.
As an aside, the Heublein Company (mentioned in [... read more ...]
Yes, please: The garlic pork broth ramen with extra pork belly at Ramen Dojo.
I must admit, the garlic pork broth at Ramen Dojo caught me a little bit off guard last week, as I had to stifle a small cough after the first jolt of pepper hit the back of my throat. Wow, I thought, this is the regular spicy? Okay, then. As my eyes began to water, I wondered, have I totally lost my edge? Maybe so. I chased the first spoonful of soup with a healthy swig of oolong iced tea, then readied my taste [... read more ...]
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