chez pim

Chili-salt, a fruit booster

Three simple ingredients that do amazing things to fruits: fresh chili, salt, and sugar, simply mixed together.  If you've been to Thailand, I'm sure you've seen this trilogy before.  You get them in little paper packets with every piece of fruit you buy off one of those carts on the street.

They are wonderful on sweet fruits, adding an interesting layer of flavors that take it beyond simple sweetness.  They are even better on fruits that are slightly acidic--the salt and sugar taming the acidity and the chili giving it a kick that make everything even better.  It's so easy, and so crazy good.  You simply must try it.

It's durian season. Would you try it?

It looks like I've been in the mood for not-so-photogenic food.  There was that rather ugly, if delicious, salad, and now this.  Adding insult to injury (quite likely injury at that, can't you see the thorns?) it also stinks to high heavens.  You know what I'm talking about here, yes?  It's durian season!  I've been seeing those big, thorny, smelly fruits every time I was at a Chinese market, and I finally took one home a couple days ago.

Durians are one of those strong flavors that doesn't inspire apathy: one either adores it or abhor it totally.  Ambrosia to some and, um, well, ass--as my friend Katy succinctly put it--to others.  Having grown up in Thailand, you can guess which side of that divide I belong.  Even if you haven't tried it yourself, I'm sure you have heard of it.

When I lived in Thailand, the arrival of durian season signaled the beginning of summer, the blissful end of long-suffered school year, and days on the seaside where salty air mingled with the sweet scent of my favorite dessert, Khao Niew Durian, sweet sticky rice bathed in a custardy sauce made with durian, coconut milk, and sweet palm sugar. 

Even in the best of circumstances--like having high-quality, fresh, never frozen durians to eat--durians can be overpowering enough, but these frozen ones can get worse.  The delicate flesh of the durian fruits also suffer after having been frozen, turning into practically mush once thawed.  I myself find frozen durians unfit to eat outright, but it's just perfect for the Khao Niew Durian.      

Linky Monday

Good things I've found around the interweb lately.

The Revolution Will Not Be Pasteurized
Inside the raw milk underground, in last month's Harper's

A Man of Taste
An engrossing profile of Grant Achatz of Alinea by D.T. Max in the New Yorker (What else?)  And, while on the subject of Grant and Alinea...

Alinea Mosaic
You must first buy the book to get access to this neat website.  You plan on buying the book all along, yes?

...and not on the interweb, our one and only Clotilde is in the Bay Area today, and will be reading from her new book "Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris" down the street from me in Santa Cruz tomorrow night at Book Shop Santa Cruz.  You plan on going there all along, yes?

Oh, right, and, a propos of nothing, Scarlett Johansson is engaged.  Sorry boys, looks like you've been too slow on this one.

anatomy of an ugly salad

Once in a while you find there's little you could do to save a plate of food from being ugly.  You composed it with pretty things: bright green butter lettuce, blushing watermelon radish, slivers of red chili, a beautiful piece of skirt steak--sometimes I can hardly think of anything prettier than a perfectly grilled steak.  You dressed it up in a gorgeous Celadon plate made by hand by a talented friend.  You tried pretty much anything but the upskirt shot and the pictures still came out looking positively ugly.  The homeliness of this plate of salad was rather confounding, especially considering how delightfully delicious it was, as evident by the five minutes flat it took for you know who to polished off his first serving.

Despite it all, this ugly salad is something I do quite often when I want something quick and light for supper.  It's a vaguely Thai salad, with a dressing made with lime juice, fish sauce, chili powder, sliced shallots, mint, and cilantro, with an added (and indispensable) nuttiness from roasted rice ground into powder.  In Thailand, the grilled beef "salad" is a mostly protein affair, with grilled beef slices tossed with the super spicy dressing and served with fresh vegetables and steamed sticky rice on the side as respite from bites of the spicy salad.

Top Chef preview....or, how to blog without blogging

Let's see how many blog post I can do this week without really writing at all.  Well, the magical elves (redundant?) at Top Chef headquarter have been sending me these sneak previews each week, so I guess I'd just put one up for them.

What's my take on Top Chef thus far?

Dale: A pretty good cook who could possibly win but for Hung having taken the only Asian-Dude-Winner spot already last year.

Richard: What's with the faux hawk?  Seriously.

Spike: What's with them lesbian-hatin' words?  I'm sure a lot of it is from editing but still..

Nikki: She should've been off long ago.  Seriously, how did she make it this long?

Andrew: Andrew who? 

Stephanie: She's this year's Top Chef.  Mark my words.

The antipodean dude: Self taught, eh?  Hit the books again, mate.

Lisa: Seriously would you please wash your hair like once before the season is over (or before you're kicked out)?

lost...

No post today I am lost somewhere in this universe.  Blame that Alex.

Chez Pim on Iron Chef this week, again

I've been meaning to tell you, my second appearance as an Iron Chef judge is on air throughout the week.  Check out the schedule and see if you could catch one?  I'd love to hear what you think.

Some dude on some blog wanted me off the show already.  Ha.  I guess I've arrived.

more New Orleans love: Casamento's

A very happy cutie pie waiting for oysters at the counter at Casamento's, one of New Orlean's legendary eateries.  Everybody goes there for the fresh raw oysters.  David and his best friend Josh are known to practically move into the restaurant for the afternoon, downing dozens and dozens of New Orleans oysters between them with nothing much more than a drop of Tabasco on each one, oh, of course, and a lot of beer. 

As for me, I dream of Casamento's when I'm not in New Orleans, but not about the raw oysters.  I dream of their Oyster Loaf.   I dream of this...