08 Jan 2013
by scolgin
in Food, Humor
Tags: Andy's Market, beer, IPA, Pliny the Elder, Russian River Brewing Company, San Francisco, Sierra Nevada, Sonoma, Wine Guerrilla
While in Sonoma for a holiday visit, my mother said, “I was just telling Leslie about Pliny the Elder. She didn’t know about it.”
Pliny the Elder, the guy
According to Wikipedia, Pliny the Elder was a Roman author, naturalist and philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire and close personal friend to emperor Vespasian. Why my mother was telling my wife about Pliny the Elder was lost on me. Until she said, “It won best beer in the world!” And I realized she was talking about beer. More
04 Jan 2013
by scolgin
in Food, Pork
Tags: caviar, fois gras, Kobe beef, langoustine, matsutake, New Year's Eve, pork belly, salmon, Topanga
Another year come and gone. And with it, another of my New Year’s Eve dinners — a tradition that’s been going on for as long as I can remember.
Each year I push myself a little further, and this may have been the best meal yet. Even the strange inspiration to accent vodka-cured ivory salmon and caviar with a black licorice reduction was delicious. More
29 Dec 2012
by scolgin
in Food, Observations
Tags: caviar, fois gras, food, Kobe beef, New Year's Eve, salmon, Seville bitter oranges, Snake River, white truffles
It begins with a few sketches. Not physical drawings, but culinary ideas thrown down on paper — or in this case, a Microsoft Word document on the computer.
I’m speaking of my annual New Year’s Eve dinner, in which my wife and I host up to a dozen friends — many of them the same for more than a decade — and present a dinner of anywhere from eight to 12 courses.
Matsutake mushroom duxelles for course #5
The planning begins with a consideration of the time of year, and what sorts of things I have on hand or might be likely to find at the market. For example, I’ve usually just returned from my mother’s house in Sonoma, and often come back with pounds of prime wild mushrooms — as I did this year. More
28 Dec 2012
by scolgin
in Food, On the Road, Video
Tags: Boccalone, Embarcadero, Ferry Building, foodie, Hog Island Oyster Co., San Francisco, The Slanted Door
When I was a kid, I remember the Ferry Building in San Francisco being a beautiful relic, sad and unused, its iconic clock tower hidden behind the elevated 480 freeway.
Flynn & the Ferry Building, San Francisco
The Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989 destroyed the freeway, which resulted in one of the most extraordinary and successful urban redevelopment projects in history. Today, vintage street cars from around the world run along the Embarcardero that fronts the Ferry Building. Craftspeople sell their wares across the street, while a daily farmer’s market brings the city’s residents the freshest produce from the farms of nearby Sonoma and Marin. More
24 Dec 2012
by scolgin
in Food, Humor, On the Road, Video
Tags: blewit, California, candy cap, Christmas, Japanese cooking, matsutake, mushroom hunting, porcini, Sonoma, wild mushrooms
I like the thrill of the hunt. But not one for killing animals or dealing with blood, I mostly limit my hunting to wild mushrooms in the woods and groovy cowboy shirts at thrift stores. It was the former that had my wife and I up to our ears in Sonoma pine duff, hunting the elusive matsutake.
Orange jelly fungus
“Matsutake” translates as “pine mushroom,” since they often grow in symbiotic relationship with pines. “Take” is Japanese for mushroom, while “matsu” means pine — I have a friend named Kazue Matsunaga. I’m not sure what the “naga” part is, but she’s got something to do with pine trees. She’s a “Pine naga-er,” I guess. More
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