Now That’s Italian
There are a couple of big questions that inspired me to start this blog.
1) Why is the food not better in Albany? And
2) What can be done to improve it?
What may be even more vexing is that many people think the food in Albany is not just good, but very good indeed.
My job is difficult. Because on one level I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade. You like something, and that’s fine. Taste is a very personal matter, and if it’s good to you, then it is good.
I tend to be very selective about where I eat. Some may say fussy. And as I result, I do a lot of research before deciding to spend significant amounts of money at a restaurant. In doing so, I read a lot of menus and a lot of reviews.
My mind boggles when I look at local Albany restaurant menus, and I see the prices they are charging for what appears to be rather uninspiring food.
But how can I demonstrate this? I think the answer is by direct comparison.
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One Universal Wine No-No
I am concerned the wine posts may be in jeopardy. In a rare look under the hood, I’ll tell you that categorically the wine posts are the least well read of any on the site.
And I am not happy about that, especially since I enjoy writing them. If you enjoy reading them, please share them, invite likeminded friends to view them, and comment on them. Here is an easy link to the category archive for your convenience. Otherwise they may have to make room for some other topic in the future.
Maybe I just need to find the right day of the week to put up the wine articles. If you have any other ideas to save this category, I’d love to hear them.
But in the time I have left, I need to make sure I cover the most critical and basic thing about wine. And the thing that I am constantly amazed to see in the houses of otherwise civilized people.
Never.
Never ever.
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We’re Not All Dead Yet
I believe in organic farming.
Sometimes when I think about the name of the practice, I chuckle and imagine what inorganic farming might be. But when I talk about organic farming, you know what I mean. Let’s hear it for the marketing power of the Organic Trade Association.
Still, there is a larger problem looming for organic foods, as the term “organic” is becoming more of a marketing gimmick than a philosophy of stewardship. But that’s not what this post is about.
Today, I want to talk about another one of those handy-dandy links to the right of the post. One specifically that has received little love. And I can’t blame anyone but myself, for I have failed to promote it until now.
Yesterday, it read “Guide to Pesticides,” and maybe that was part of the problem. Who wants to learn about the different pesticides used on our foods? But that wasn’t the information you would have seen if you had clicked on the link.
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The Secret To Oddly Tender Chinese Meat
A while back, before I learned the secret, trying to cook a stir-fry at home was confounding. What I made never tasted like Chinese food. It tasted like American food with a Chinese sauce.
There was just something about the texture of the meat that wasn’t quite right.
You know what I’m talking about. Think about the most quintessential of East Coast Chinese-American classic dishes: Beef with Broccoli. And think about the beef. Think how it feels in your mouth, and how it just gives way when you bite into it.
Unless you know the secret, there is no way you can achieve this at home. And once I tell you, you are never going to believe it.
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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all the good questions and comments. I am glad there are still so many people engaged on a daily basis. More new people are finding their way to the site every week.
If you are new, please make your voice heard. And if you like what you see, tell your friends. My ultimate goal here is to raise the level of food quality in my new community. And every voice helps.
Now on to the most recent questions and answers.
Independence Day
To celebrate my independence, I am taking today off from my grueling posting schedule.
And for those who think, “A day without Fussy is a day without sunshine,” I leave you with a few fussy tips for the holiday from the past few months.
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Lunch with a Luminary
The best perk of my old job was that I got to have lunch with Ruth Reichl.
At the time she had recently left the New York Times and just taken over Gourmet magazine. Her first book, Tender at the Bone, had been published, but she was in San Francisco on a road show with the magazine to meet with advertisers.
Granted, it was a luncheon with about 30 people at a restaurant named Azie that at the time was a hot new place. However, given my well-known love for food, I was seated directly across from Miss Reichl, and I spoke with her extensively over lunch.
It seemed everyone at our table had read her book except me. Which I think was a good thing. Instead of having an assumed familiarity with her life story, we simply had a conversation about her connection to the Bay Area. And among other things, she spoke freely of her years in Berkeley and her history with Alice Waters.
Ruth seems to be one of those people who was in the right place at the right time, and was there when the battle cry of California cuisine—Local! Seasonal! Organic!—was forged.
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Bull’s-Eye
How do you learn how to perfect a dish? You cook it over and over and over again, and then you cook it some more. This is what cooking school is about. By the time you have chopped onion number 1,000 your body knows how to do it without thinking, and can do it with your eyes closed.
For the home cook, this kind of repetition is hard to come by without getting a lot of grief from your loved ones and neighbors. That is, unless you have a small child to cook for.
When Young Master Fussy finds something he loves, he wants it again and again. Yes, he tries new things, and I make certain he gets a varied diet that includes duck, heirloom potatoes, Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray, etc.
But through his continued request, I have become an expert in the preparation of the Bulls-Eye.
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Shiny Sauté Pan
I have a lot of cookware. You already know about my cast iron. But I have a lot of expensive cookware too. And I have a lot of expensive cookware that never gets used.
All those Calphalon pots come readily to mind.
But I also have some expensive cookware that I love and use every day alongside the cast iron. And I want to tell you what it is.
Because I love it, and I think it’s worth every penny. Coming from a cheap bastard, that is high praise indeed.
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The Upper Atmosphere
It has been suggested that I when I review restaurants, I only focus on the food and overlook the atmosphere and service. I assure you that this is not the case. It is just so seldom that the atmosphere or service at restaurants is special enough to mention. But I will call a place on its service or atmosphere if it is noticeably deficient.
Although to be honest, incredible food can make up for a lot of lapses at a restaurant.
But I am able to judge these non-food factors on a sliding scale depending upon the presentation of the restaurant. It’s not rocket science. If it’s a palace of fine dining, with the requisite trimmings, I have very high expectations indeed. Casual family-style restaurants elicit significantly lower expectations. And there is an entirely different set of expectations for diners, hole-in-the-wall counter-service eateries, and food trucks.
When I think of high-end restaurants with truly exceptional atmosphere, one comes readily to mind above all others.
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