Cooking With Ideas

Murder on the Wine List?

In addition to loads of books focusing on murder and food, mystery authors have turned to wine as a gimmick. Rita Mae Brown, for example, focused on Virginia wines in a recent book entitled Sour Puss. (Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and there are wines in Virginia -- in fact a long history of wines in Virginia.) Alas, her book read a bit like an under aged perhaps then oxidized red. Not her best effort, though I generally love her animal characters. And, her career from her important role in feminism to her authorship of lesbian classic Rubyfruit Junglethrough to today's cozy murder mysteries illustrates some of the many things you can do with a Ph.D. in Political Science.

Anyway, murder and wine lists. Yes, there are series that focus on this. Michele Scott's "wine lover's mysteries" include Murder Uncorked and Murder by the Glass, both of which include recipes with wine pairings. I read the latter which, alas, is filled with clichés and dialogue which tries to be chatty and ends up being poorly written. These days, it seems as though every series needs a smattering of gay characters -- and here they begin as potentially disturbing stereotypes and end up being a girl's best friend. Perhaps the series needs romance? All too often this romance deteriorates into soap opera; this book is particularly damaged by this tendency and the author's mistaken belief in cliff hangers as effective plot devices. Not to mention that the women are at each other's throats. The mystery itself is ok, with a very sharp turn toward the end which is not (even on reflection) tied into the earlier parts of the book very well. On food related matters -- the food/wine pairings are introduced in an annoyingly cloying (or is it unctuous?) manner -- and for "wine lovers" there is much to little on the wines themselves. Indeed only the setting, a few mentions of Napa/Sonoma rivalries, and suggestions of wines with recipes hint at the wine theme.

Conclusion: If you can get these novels for 25 cents at a library sale, read them. Or borrow one from a friend. But . . . otherwise, have a glass of wine instead. Or read Michele's entries at the blog called The Cozy Chicks where various female mystery authors chat away. Despite my cranky response to her book, I like Scott's entries there. . . .

Ithaca's Commons -- No Tragedy There

Ithaca Commons has a some dandy opportunities to eat well. A few comments on just two:

Taste of Thai is right there on the Commons and serves a dandy Thai cuisine. When last there, the fish cakes were up to their usual standards (yes, the sauce is part of the reason for ordering the fish cakes). An order comes with 4 of the lovely thin cakes. Also deserving a mention: the Tom Kha, a light coconut/broth soup which can come with various add ons (chicken, tofu, veggies, etcetera). We went for the tofu. Part of the fun is the lovely sterno heated pots that the soup arrives in. And then we had a green curry -- emerald, in fact. Again, we went with tofu. What was great was the difference between tofu #1 (in the soup) which was soft and smooth and tofu #2 (in the curry), which was puffy and chewy. Not to mention tasty. A fine meal for three for under $40.

Madeline's -- also on the Commons -- is a great place to have dinner, but on our last visit we focused on desserts. The best way to do this is to ignore the menu (which is not quite up to date on their web site) and check out the display at the back of the restaurant. Their vanilla creme brulee, rasperry galette with vanilla ice cream and pecan chocolate cake (which involved huge amounts of both chocolate and pecan ganache) each got raves. I had to take 1/2 the cake home. And hte raspberry galette was described as perfect in its raspberry-ness. Along with the calories we had some lovely teas -- a decaf earl gray, a lemon ginger (and a third which I cannot recall). They were presented beautifully, each from tea forte. Our quibble, that each takes a different amount of time to steep, was just that, a quibble. And then again, we spent as much for dessert as we did for dinner. Totally worth it.

Not Just a Dance

Tango is not just a dance. It is a restaurant in Bryn Mawr (Pennsylvania) , home as well to a famous women's college. When I was there recently I had a nice Tempranillo and rainbow trout with browned butter and almonds. The trout came with rice and some very al dente stir fried veggies (two snow pea pods, some sliced carrot and. . . ) A nice venue, and the trout was good. The caesar salad which preceded it was just ok. A short walk from the College, across from the train station in Bryn Mawr, the most challenging aspect of the restaurant was crossing the rather awful intersection to get there. The best thing was the modified lychee martini (who would have guessed how good this was) that a friend had at the end of the meal.

Do you Tango?

Blog Watch (and Other Exciting Internet Venues)

Wandering the internet - and blog watching -- as a sport may not rank up there with team memo writing, but, then again. . . . lots of fun hidden out there (here?). What's the best site you have visited lately?

A few options:

For those interested in higher education and women, try HERS.

For those loving murder mysteries, try Mystery Loves Company. This is a blog by an owner of a murder mystery book shop in Baltimore.

For a topic which brings the two together, check out the pseudonymous mystery, Overnight Float by Clare Munnings. Here's a review. Not great literature, but arguably the best ethnography I have read of a small liberal arts college. . . not really, but. . . you'll see what I mean.

Is all this making you hungry? Restaurants with menus -- Canadaigua, click here. For Ithaca, click here.

And for a good recipe for disaster, click here. This site, it turns out, involves Andrew Boyd, author of one of my favorite little books, Daily Afflictions, who I met when he was a visitor at the Fisher Center in Spring 2004. I had no idea until I dropped a note to say I liked the site! Small world. His recipe might just mean you start to worry. So, for kitchen disaster preparedness, click here.

For pure silliness, try this one. Really. It'll make you feel better if you watched the State of the Union address. Or even if you didn't and someone told you about it. Or, you could read it and weep.

Death Du Jour

Death Du Jour is a Spice Box mystery, one of two mystery series written by Lou Jane Temple. This is, I think, my first one (though I admit to not having checked the shelf at home) and it comes from the "spice box" series. Her other series features a character (I think) called Heaven Lee and includes titles such as A Stiff Risotto and Death is Semisweet and other punny titles.

Death du Jour is a step above the reading equivalent of fast food, and in fact is a pretty fun read. We all know that french and food go together, and we may even associate the rise of the restaurant with controversies accompanying the French Revolution. But this novel, set in the 1790s, uses a female chef's assistant whose parents are artisans, a chef, the fall of the Bastille, and the women's march on Versailles to good effect. The mystery itself holds up well -- it took me quite a ways into the story to begin to suspect who might be the "bad guys." Temple makes effective use of setting --both Paris of the era and the particularities of gardens, houses, ectcetera. And, the read gives you a bit more on food than usual -- in addition to the recipes at the end of the books (referring to recipes cooked in the book -- veal blanquette, for example, and crepes suzette) -- there is some lore on Parisian restaurants of the era, imperial cooking, and guilds. She strives for historical accuracy in both recipes and in the novel as well. In regard to food and related matters, Temple brings to her novels her own experience as chef and restaurant owner -- and this may explain the stronger than usual culinary emphasis. (I assume -- hope? -- she brings less direct experience to murder and revolution!)

For other articles and a sample recipe from her other books, see this one. For a review of an earlier spice box book by Temple, which at least one blogger says is a better book, click here.

Teaching Food

Susanne McNally is a professor of history at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva. She teaches, as well, in the Women's Studies program. She graduated from Douglass College with a B.A., has a M.A. from Claremont and a Ph.D. from SUNY Binghamton. Her 1976 dissertation is entitled "From Public Person to Private Prisoner: The Changing Place of Women in Medieval Russia" (something I only learned working on this entry). Susanne has taught at the Colleges since 1972. She's been quoted on the importance of Community Supported Agriculture in our area (for the article, click here.) She teaches a course on food in history.

Here's bibliochef's interview with Susanne.

Bibliochef: Hi. Susanne. Can you describe your food course? What's its title? How long have you been teaching it?

Susanne: I have been teaching about food for maybe 25 years, since some students asked for a course on hunger in the 80's. I have done it in its present form for 5 or 10 years. It's called World Food Systems in History, which is a little ambiguous. Maybe someday I will do a research seminar that lets the students focus on particular cases when food issues really shaped events. That might be, for example, whether the Roman Imperial elite was really crazy from lead poisoning, which some have argued. (What's OUR excuse? would be on the final). Or they might investigate Cuba's miraculous escape from famine when the Soviet Union fell. Or any of the multitude of other "cases." But the course I teach now is a breathtakingly fast narrative of how human food systems have changed from the stone age to now. It might seem unserious to try so much, but it does provide them with a very real thread (not a "constructed" one, only) on which to string beads from all over the curriculum.

Bibliochef: How did you come to teach the course? Why a course on food?

Susanne: My intellectual reason is because I have concluded that it is the single most powerful lens into human reality that there is. But my real reason is that I want so terribly that we arrange things so that every day, every body can eat lunch. And food is a place where anyone can push for significant social change. It doesn't matter if you are interested in the environment or women's lives or children or health or smart economic growth. Food touches everything

Bibliochef: What makes the course fun for you?

Susanne: Well, all the answers I just gave you . . . . and all the answers that follow.

Bibliochef: What do you read in the course? What's your favorite reading? Why?

Susanne: We used to read lots of articles, because there were no books that tackled the whole picture. But now thre is new stuff pouring out. Diamond's book, Guns, Germs and Steel is useful now. (editorial comment: turns out there's a website now. Click here for more on Guns, Germs and Steel.) And Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma does gather a lot of research together in a high quality popular form. (Yep, me the editor again: turns out he has a site too as many food bloggers know. Click here.) Robert Fogel's Escape From Hunger and Premature Death: 1700-2100 is good on how food and Europes' global domination are a self reinforcing cycle. (Me again: on Fogel's book, click here.) Kenneth Pomeranz and Steven Topik's World That Trade Created has a lot on food. But there's a great deal more. I don't have a favorite.

Bibliochef: Can you tell us something about the students who take the course? What
are they like? Why do you think they take it? What do they do in the course?

Susanne: They are divided into 3 groups. One group are upper level environmental studies or public policy types who know that this is where the game will be decided. They are very satisfying to work with. One group is First Years who are not sure what to make of it and many of them really get it and are very excited. And then there is a third group who think it that because it's about food, it will be easy because it isn't "serious," like symbolic logic or biostatistics. A few of this type starts to care, but not all.

What do they do. Well they read and write and take exams, of course. But they also keep personal food diaries and work on local farms and cook and eat odd, sociological meals.

Bibliochef: Have you learned anything from students in the course? What?

Susanne: Of course. You always do. And honestly that's so constant that I can't pick out one thing.

Bibliochef: What's your best memory related to the course?

Susanne: The papers that students write after working for 5 hours on a cold wet day at Andy Fellenz's organic farm in Phelps. (Again, the little voice intrudes: For the Fellenz farm site, click here. They do community supported agriculture, by the way.) They notice some pretty real stuff - that Andy's grade school age kids are more capable than any they have seen, and seem to prefer helping out to TV or video games, that the paid farm hand was a slender girl, who one Hobart student said, "seemed so strong. She just kept pushing her little fingers into that still freezing cold ground. I thought of myself as tough because I am big. But I really wanted to quit and she looked as if she could do this forever." And a William Smith student heard another farmworker saying to each plant, "Grow little one."

But, you know, they have brought some fabulous "family recipe" dishes to the Future Food Feast at the end. I remember a an amazing pasta dish, a great Central Asian plov and a dessert from Sweden, involving lingonberries.The girl who brought it looked like Santa Lucia, I swear. And they did a very nice job on Vandana Shiva's dinner when she spoke at the Fisher Center.

Bibliochef: If you had an unlimited budget, what would you add to with the course?

Susanne: I would take them to the Heifer Project farm in Arkansas, for a week of work and living on what most of the world's population eats.

Bibliochef: Some say those that can do, and those that can't teach (and those that
can't teach become administrators). We know this is nonsense -- and I know you can cook. And I know you can eat. How would you describe yourself as a cook? Is teaching the course related to your cooking? What do you like to eat? How would you describe yourself as an eater?

Susanne: I am a responsible cook when it comes to the "making it delicious" part, but not a gifted one. I love the feeling of abundance and lots of people to feed, especially if music comes after. There's a new website called "The Ethicurian." I guess that's what I aspire to. As far as eating goes, I like to do it! My tastes are pretty wide ranging, except that I have never enjoyed spicey hot food. I can't taste through it. I am an ardent eater.

Bibliochef: What's your favorite thing to cook? Least favorite?

Susanne: I like making home made pasta, with my great old style Newtonian machine. But I like soup too, and I consider myself somewhat an artiste with pie crust.

Least? I don't know. If it's no fun, I don't do it.

Bibliochef: Who would you most like to take your course? (I don't mean which
student, I mean in your imagination. . . .) If you could have any guest speaker at all for the course who would you invite? Why?

Susanne: Alice Waters, who saw the link between all the different ways that food can be "good" or not be. It can be good on your tongue, for your health, for the planet's health, for the welfare of those who grew and cooked it. Or it can fail in some or all of these. If we were to improve our food in all these ways, we would put a real floor under the human condition. She knew all this before anyone, I think. Maybe MFK Fisher. But she's gone to be part of the cosmic feast.

Bibliochef: What’s the absolutely best meal you have ever had? What made it the best meal?

Susanne: Oh, I can't answer this. It's like the best song or book or child. I recall a small dish of pale tomato sauce, placed on the table in Florence at the end of a day I had been travelling with nothing to eat, all across Italy during a General Strike in maybe 1968. The very old German restaurant owner was the only person we could find who would feed us, because she hated socialists. She was probably a Nazi. A few tablespoons on perfectly cooked pasta was ... memorable. The table fell totally silent. But I could write about this for the rest of my life, as could you.

Bibliochef: What music, films, books related to food would you recommend? Why?

Susanne: MFK Fisher (ok, the little voice says, a second mention deserves a second link, so click here) writes absolute magic about food. And Babette's Feast is the best food film, I think. (See my little bit on that, says the little voice. Click here.) The song "Slow Food" is sidesplittingly true and funny.

Bibliochef: What do you eat for comfort food?

Susanne: Macaroni and really good cheese works. So do sweets.

Bibliochef: Do you have a favorite restaurant in the Finger Lakes?

Susanne: I like Port's quite a lot. But there are many new ones opening up. The standards are rising steadily around here. It's really fun.

Bibliochef: What am I not asking that I should?

Susanne: Can't think of more either.

If you can, use the comment slot! And remember -- history matters.

French Fried (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries)

Nancy Fairbanks is a prolific writer of food-related murder mysteries who I have reviewed here before. (Click here.) Her newish, French Fried, while marred (alas) by typos that the publisher failed to catch and may have even caused, was a fun read. One wonders if the publisher considered, either, that there is another relatively recent book of the same title: Harriet Welty Rochefort's French Fried: The Culinary Adventures of an American in Paris, published by Thomas Dunne. Clearly the two authors (or at least their publishers) share a fondness for silly/punny titles; Rochefort's other title is French Toast: An American in Paris Celebrates the Maddening Mysteries of the French. Having never read Rochefort's books, on we go to Fairbanks' version.

French Fried features the adventures of the series' amateur sleuth Carolyn, puzzling over mysterious deaths and encountering a bit of rough and tumble, while her chemist professor husband attends a conference.This time, she's in Lyons and in Avignon. She quotes Waverly Root on the culinary traditions of both cities. Sprinkled amidst the bodies are bits of historical trivia, descriptions of sight seeing expeditions, restaurant meals detailed with love, and an occasional recipe encased (as usual, at the end of chapters) in the character's newspaper columns. On occasion, the tone of this book is snide -- Carolyn or perhaps her husband Jason or perhaps the author herself --does not really like food snobs. And, oddly, Carolyn certainly seems squeamish about some foods. Americans lack of cultural sophistication gets some notice as well --with Carolyn mistaking fowl pox (aka chicken pox) for syphillis; I liked this tidbit of anti-Americanism sprinkled amidst the otherwise fairly tame representation of the American professoriate (especially given the not-so-nice representation of French academics and intellectuals). As always, I am mixed about Fairbanks' views of men and women --somehow these come off as ambivalent -- and the characterization of all French academics as carrying on affairs is, of course, overblown. While part of the fun is the overblown cliches, they do eventually wear thin. On the other hand, the token gay character is sort of a hoot.

This French Fried, a mass market paperback, was a quick read. Alas, the fair play aspects of the mystery made the killer's identity reasonably obvious early on --and the initial method as well. The reason for this particular killing spree, though, appears further into the tale. And besides, its entertaining to think about the author, pseudonym or not, living through chemistry conferences and dreaming up these murders. And I admit, it was only this read that led me to realize her biography actually does say she is married to a chemist (Professor Emeritus, University of Texas at El Paso). Also fun: the variety of recipes included this time and the fusion food aspect of this tale! I have never cooked recipes from Fairbanks' books (or any of the other mystery authors who offer recipes). Perhaps that's next? Meanwhile, would I buy it again, read it again, recommend it? Of course -- I love these little quick reads where the mystery comes encased in restaurant and food silliness. And a bit of academia is just the right seasoning. So, great literature, no. A spot of fun -- yes. Definitely yes.

How Do You Spell . . . .

A few comments on a favorite: Rosalie's Cucina in Skaneateles. (How IS that town spelled? Certainly not like it sounds.)

Breaking out to new places is not the only way to deal with a New Year. Ordering differently at a favorite spot helps too. And, so, instead of the usual slow roasted (and incredibly delightful) pork preceded by a spinach salad at Rosalie's, we went with new possibilities. What did we have? As usual, our meal began by trying to resist the fresh baked bread --with olive oil into which we mixed garlic, cheese, chili pepper seeds, oregano, etcetera. As entrees, though we ventured out! We had: pheasant ( a special, alas) which came with candied small onions and brussel sprouts and braciole (some of which is in the refrigerator encased in aluminum foil shaped like a swan; some things never change, nor should they). We preceded these entrees with an excellent new salad --beets, frisee (yes, its a trend), slow dried pears, cheese, balsamic. And we concluded our meal with coffee -- and two desserts which, admittedly, we were not new to: a chocolate hazelnut biscotti (yum) and lemon sorbetto served in a lemon.

WINES: They have a nice wine list, including some swell Italian wines. We tried something new that starts with an Sassoalloro, 2003, Biondi Santi -- a sangiovese/cabernet blend. Soft and strong. Lovely. Rated 87 at this site.

SERVICE: Chad and Kate were our servers. Yes, we know their names -- because they write them upside down on the white paper that covers the tables. Ok, this is a bit cliched. But . . .

SETTING: Rosalie's is a bustling place which takes no reservations. So, the bar is crowded. Turns out you can order appetizers there if the bread sticks are not enough (or out of reach). The restaurant itself can be a bit noisy. The restaurant is right on Route 20, nest to Mirbeau Spa. Loads of parking.

ON THE WALLS: Signatures, signatures, signatures. Including Bill, Hilary and Chelsea Clinton. (I wonder why her signature is the biggest of the three. The price of being the child of fame?) Anyway, anyone can sign for $100 contribution to a charity working against cancer. The restaurant is named after a loved family member who died in what seems, these days, like a pandemic.

BATHROOM REVIEW: The stairs down are a little steep and it is cold down there. But, then again, you can listen to Italian the whole time. I think it used tobe italian lessons -- now it sounds (ok, I cannot really understand one tiny bit of Italian) like a soap opera?

MINOR QUIBBLE(S): As noted, we ordered the beautiful and tasy lemon sorbetto but it arrived at our table SOOOO hard it was impossible to eat for quite a while. Our server, though, deserves kudos for noticing and then for not charguing us for it. The anonymous bathroom reviewer thinks, too, it might benefit from a bit of basil. Nice idea. More generally, the servings are huge, so it might be worth warning new patrons. And, they serve Starbucks coffee. Might they try something local? Creekside in Skaneateles itself roasts their own beans and has some lovely roasts.

EXCITING EXTRAS: Rosalie's has a bakery open daily from 6 am to 6 pm. We've never been -- but once years ago they awarded us loaves of bread when we left the restaurant. And I just read on the web site that you can get fresh pasta at the bakery. Hmm.

OVERALL: Noisy, fun, tasty, and good even when we break out from the usual.

ALSO REVIEWED AT: the Syracuse Post Standard and . . . post as a comment if there are more.

WEBSITE: www.rosaliescucina.com
PHONE: 315-685-2200.

Dijon -- Not Just a Mustard

A new place in Ithaca, we visited Dijon recently on a friend’s recommendation. Think Bistro French stuck in a strange strip mall that seems out of place in Ithaca (unless you already know Ithaca is odd). Dijon is a cozy small place once you are inside. (In fact, our table felt like it was on top of a few others. With my hips, I could have used another inch or two.) Each day has a featured special aka plat du jour (choucroute, braised ribs, cassoulet. . . ) and the general menu is pretty interesting. The meal began with some sliced baguette placed directly on our table. Hmmm. And we ordered some bottled flat water (turned out to be one of my faves, Fuji). We ordered a frisee salad complete with a poached egg on top, crispy lardons of a fairly smokey bacon, and blue cheese. I would not have ordered it, but the salad came close to persuading me I like poached eggs – it was recommended by our waiter and was, in fact, absolutely swell. And, definitely share-able for two. For entrees, I ordered the duck confit on pumpkin/blue cheese risotto and the anonymous restaurant reviewer went with the choucroute. The risotto was not quite what I expected (it was pureed pumpkin/cheese and thus orange-ish; the consistency was something closer to puree/soupy with rice in it than my usual preference for risotto); its tastes were an intriguing balance of salty and sweet, not overwhelmed by the sage or walnuts. The house-made confit (two legs) was extremely hot –and stayed that way throughout the dinner. It was tasty, but the heat was hard to deal with. (The waiter warned that the plate would be hot; it was not. And, the risotto was a perfectly acceptable temperature. The confit, though, was HOT!) The second entrée was the Friday special – and came with braised cabbage and a wide variety of sausages (not house made) including andouille, chorizo, a garlic pork sausage, a blood sausage, and etcetera. And, after our entrees we had dessert – couldn’t resist. We tried the sabayon with berries (which got delighted reviews – “the best part of the dinner”) and lemon tart. The tart’s pastry shell was better than any we've had elsewhere in the Finger Lakes lately and the filling lemon-y.

WINES: What I like about the wine at Dijon is that every wine they provide can be ordered by the glass. What they do is set a price per glass by the general price of the bottle. Nice idea. (Though even better would be laws letting people take opened bottles home, suitably sealed.) Anyway, we had a light and nice red to go with our meals. I think the waiter should have recommended an Alsatian white to go with the choucroute but. . .

SERVICE: The waiter was well-informed about the food -- the sausages, he said, some from a vendor with whom the owners have dealt for 7 years. And the owners were, previously, in New Jersey (confirmed by the bio on the restaurant site.) On the other hand, we ate early-ish (arriving circa 6 pm) and service declined toward the end of our meal when the place filled up. We had to wait a while to pay our bill. . .

SETTING: Weird strip mall location, but nice inside. And the parking was easy.

ON THE WALLS: French posters and mirrors. Nice detail to avoid the cliche of a blackboard menu and use caligraphy on the rear mirror instead.

BATHROOM REVIEW: Primary colors on the walls. And the door already broken to one stall. But, definitely clean.

MINOR QUIBBLE(S): We'd like to see (and taste and eat) a bit of local sausage on the choucroute. Why not?

OVERALL: Once in a while, a new place is a good idea. We spent less than we do sometimes -- circa $100, so reasonably priced.

ALSO REVIEWED AT: this place and . . . let us know if there are more.

WEBSITE: www.dijonbistro.com
LOCATION: 311 Third Street, Ithaca
PHONE: 607-256-0503

Get Out Your Calendar

So, January is a fun month, according to the folks at this site, filled with food-related dates. According to them, January is both National Hot Tea Month and National Soup Month. So: drink, sip, warm your tummy.

And celebrate the following January dates as well:

January 16 Hot and Spicy International Food Day
January 19 (and 31) National Popcorn Day
January 22 National Blonde Brownie Day
January 23 National Pie Day (also December 1)
January 29 National Corn Chip Day

If you are free January 23, National Pie Day, you might want to check out their website -- and you may want to know that this is also the date Elizabeth Blackwell received her medical degree in 1849. Maybe we should get the day off from school. Or, take January 24th off, the date in 1935 beer was first sold in cans and, in 1922, the Eskimo Pie was patented. Try them together. Or, if you don't like cans (or fear the combination), wait 'til January 31, the anniversary of the 1956 invention of the twist-off bottle cap. (All as listed here.)

Happy Holidays!