Consuming Ambitions

Kitchen Gadgets

Our kitchen is filled with appliances and gadgetry, some of which are cherished and frequently used, others simply deadweight. One indulgence that sees lots of action is our Gaggia Syncrony Compact Digital automatic espresso machine, a whizzy device that provides no muss, no fuss jolts of java. But this modern coffee maker has not caused us to completely abandon the quaintness of our Bodum French press; there's something very satisfying about pushing that plunger down and watching through the glass as the ink-black elixir swirls about. Speaking of Bodum, we love our double wall Pavina glasses. These award-winning vessels are not only pretty but functional: pour scalding hot coffee or tea into one, and feel only the slightest hint of heat when you grasp it. Put an ice-cold beverage in, and see little or no condensation form on the outside. Most importantly, its thermal properties keep the hot stuff pipin' and cold stuff icy. Bodum makes double wall glasses in several different styles and sizes.

Last Christmas I gave my smarter half a KitchenAid stand mixer, which she said was really a gift for myself because she uses it to make baked goods (now who's the smarter half?). All I could say is, "It's the gift that keeps on giving!" She also gave me abuse for falling for the sales pitch of the Williams Sonoma sales rep and buying the Professional 5 Plus versus the smaller but perfectly capable Artisan model. I explained that for just a bit more money, I secured the 12-cup capacity and a much more powerful engine. Her response: "You're such a guy."

On a recent Saturday afternoon there were a bunch of young girls on the street corner selling snow cones cranked out by a very capable ice shaver. It was a classic lemonade stand setup, with the table on the sidewalk and the whole bit. All proceeds went to benefit the SPCA. Very precious. Of course I had to buy one. As I was walking back home munching sugary ice, I remembered that at home we have a much more modest ice shaver (hand crank, 99 Ranch special). We last used this little gem nine years ago to make the Taiwanese summer treat of bao bing, shaved ice smothered with various toppings such as red beans, peanuts, tapioca balls, grass jelly, and condensed milk. Next summer will be the 10-year anniversary of the last time we used the little guy, gotta dust it off and press it back into service!

Lest you conclude that I will buy any kitchen gadget I come across, I must point out that I do have standards. Recently I was watching late-night TV (bad habit, but at least I was multitasking by brushing my teeth at the same time). On comes a commercial for one of the more outlandish kitchen gadgets I've seen (though there are many candidates), the Scissor Slicer. Think scissors meets knife. "Slice lettuce right into the salad bowl! Bottom blade acts as a cutting board! No tedious chopping!" (Only tedious scissor slicing -- sounds like a one-way ticket to carpal tunnel syndrome, USA). C'mon people, learn some knife skills!

Bodacious Bourbon from Buffalo Trace

A recent family reunion afforded me the opportunity to meet interesting, distantly related people and discover some common interests and connections. In the small world department, I discovered that one of my second cousins was a business-school classmate of one of my partners at Trinity Ventures, and the two of them had socialized extensively in the past. Who knew? Another great epiphany was that a different second cousin had married a senior executive at Buffalo Trace Distillery, makers of a wide range of celebrated bourbons. Making fast friends with my newfound Kentucky kin, I learned that Buffalo Trace is one of the most celebrated of distilleries (over 50 medals and awards since 1990, only distillery to be named both "Distillery of the Year" by Malt Advocate and "Distiller of the Year" by Whisky Magazine, etc.). The Buffalo Trace Distillery is a family-owned business more than a century old, best known for producing Blanton's -- the world's first commercial single barrel bourbon. Buffalo Trace Distillery, in Kentucky's Franklin County, is America's oldest distilling site. Among Buffalo Trace Distillery firsts were: first to ship whisky down the Mississippi River, to use steam power for distilling, and to use reverse osmosis water.

Imagine my delight when I received on my doorstep a generous gift from my second-cousin-in-law of not one but two bottles of fine bourbon: Eagle Rare Single Barrel, and the flagship Buffalo Trace variety. Though I'd enjoyed a bourbon in bars from time to time, and keep several varieties of scotch whisky at home, these were the first two bottles of bourbon to grace my liquor collection. I sat down to enjoy a mini bourbon tasting. The Buffalo Trace had a powerful bouquet which hinted at the vanilla I was to taste along with flavors of fruit and butterscotch. Delightful! The Eagle Rare was more subdued in the nose, but packed a tasty punch of anise plus the charred white oak barrels in which the whisky was aged, followed by a somewhat fiery kick in the finish.

Buffalo Trace is still working on getting retail distribution in California, but I can report that the cocktail lounge at Zibibbo in Palo Alto stocks Blanton's. Coincidentally the same day I met my second-cousin-in-law and learned all about his bourbon business, which made me crave a taste, I happened to have cocktails at Zibibbo and was able to experience instant gratification when I spotted it on the drink menu. Now thanks to my well-stocked liquor bar at home, I can experience that flavor regularly (though I need to make it last until Buffalo Trace finds its way to our local stores!).

My First Rosh Hashanah Dinner

Last night I was very excited to partake in my first ever Rosh Hashanah dinner, a celebration of the Jewish New Year. The holiday commenced at sunset Friday and ended at sunset Sunday. My friends who hosted the supper were wonderful not only in cranking out a 10-course meal, but also in explaining for us newbies the symbolic significance of the various foods we ate (most of the traditional foods were ingredients in the various dishes, versus standalone dishes):

• apples dipped in honey: to bring us a good and sweet new year


• figs: similar idea, bringing wishes for a year as sweet and happy as a fig


• pomegranate: that our merits be increased like the seeds of the pomegranate


• sesame seeds: ditto


• fava beans: that our foes may fall (I didn't get this one, but my hosts explained that in Hebrew there's a play on words)


• squash: may you "tear up" negative judgments and "read" out your good merits (another play on words: the word for squash, kera, is phonetically related to the Hebrew word for "tear" or "read."


• dates: that our foes and enemies be "consumed" (the Aramaic word for dates, tamri, is related to Hebrew word for "consume" -- note to self: when I launch the Aramaic language version of this blog, call it "Tamri Ambitions").


• olives: that our children would be like olive seedlings around the tree.


• fish: that we be fruitful and increase like fish; it's particularly fortuitous to eat the head of the fish (so that in the new year you may come at the head rather than the tail).

I learned to say the traditional new year's greeting: Shana Tova, (pronounced shah-NA toe-VA), meaning "a good year."

Along with the feast I also had the opportunity to enjoy (for the second time, actually) a wine from the only Israeli vintner I've ever tasted: Flam, which is probably tough to find here in the U.S. but may be available in Menlo Park at Beltramo's. On this evening we enjoyed an excellent bottle of the Flam Classico (50% merlot and 50% cabernet sauvignon).

85 Taquerias in 10 Weeks

From the reader mailbag, young software entrepreneur Ben Casnocha admonishes "don't forget your Latino blog readers" and offers a link to an excellent story by SF Chronicle writer Bill Addison in which he attempts to find the best among the gazillion taquerias with which the Bay Area is blessed. There must be hundreds of taquerias in these parts, and sombreros off to Bill for hitting 85 of them over 10 weeks -- a man after my own heart! He even named in his Top 20 list my local fave: El Grullense, which features at least a half-dozen locations in the mid-Peninsula (mostly in Redwood City, where you are never far from one). A couple of months ago I was excited to discover a new (at least new to me) El Grullense location on El Camino in Palo Alto. Another solid taqueria is Pancho Villa in San Mateo, a place we often hit for a quick bite before catching a movie in the B Street Cinema District.

Taqueria El Grullense
3636 El Camino Real
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(650) 251-9317

Pancho Villa Taqueria
365 S B St
San Mateo, CA 94401
(650) 343-4123
(650) 343-4447

Fisher Farm

Recently I have had the pleasure to work with Doug Klein, former CEO/CTO of Vernier Networks and veteran of companies such as Packet Design, NuvoMedia, and NCD. He shared the lovely photo above featuring the succulent produce he found at one of his favorite Central Valley produce stops, Fisher Farm. This particular stand happens to be almost exactly halfway between the Bay Area and his family's cabin in the Sierras (just for kicks, I figured out that it's 82.6 miles from my home in Palo Alto). In Doug's own words:

On the way home we (of course) stopped at Fisher Farm, just outside of Manteca. For 80c per pound, I picked up some yellow and pink brandywine heirloom tomatoes and a few white peaches. Should make a good side for dinner :) One of these days you're going to have to give up your big city LA and SF ways and wander out to the central valley... I only regret that I didn't take a picture of the stand so you could get the whole effect. The other benefit of this particular stand is that it is almost exactly half-way (time-wise) to the cabin, so it makes a convenient pit stop, although I must admit an outhouse in the central valley heat is not a place one cares to spend much time :)

Fisher Farm is on Highway 120, about halfway between Manteca and Escalon. It's open for business roughly May through October, 7 days a week from 8am - 6pm (open until 7pm Friday - Sunday).

C & R Fisher Farm
17747 E Hwy 120
Ripon, CA 95366
(209) 982-4184

Fooled by True Lemon!

My colleague Mike Woosley, CFO at BDMetrics, tipped me off to a crystallized lemon substitute known as True Lemon. Though the Consuming Ambitions readership is likely no larger than the size of Bon Appetit circulation in Monaco, Mike kindly suggested to his friends at manufacturer Grand Brands that they send me a press kit so I could sample and blog the product. In case anybody from Sony is reading, I want to say that besides food, I love consumer electronics and I'm sure I could find some way to manufacture a food connection to any devices that might happen to show up in my mailbox!

True Lemon factoids:

• True Lemon is a crystallized lemon substitute made with 100% all-natural ingredients and is available in both packets and a shaker bottle for use in cooking, baking, and seasoning.


• True Lemon is made from the oils and juice of lemons, capturing the flavor and taste (for the geeks among us, the taste fidelity relates to how the lemon oils are encapsulated and how the particle size distribution facilities dissolution -- patent pending!).


• Diet and health friendly: no natural or artificial sweeteners, preservatives, or sodium. 0 calories, 0g carbs, 0 fat. Does give you 25% RDA of Vitamin C.

To put the product to the test, I devised an extremely unscientific "True Lemon vs. real lemon" taste-off. I prepared two glasses of lemonade, one with 1/2 tablespoon of True Lemon, the other with its equivalent of 1/4 cup lemon juice (straining out the telltale pulp for a fair test). To each lemon product I added 8 ounces of water, and a teaspoon of sugar (I like it tart). I closed my eyes and asked my wife to mix up the glasses and hand them to me. After trying both, I had to admit that I could not distinguish True Lemon from the real lemon juice. I ended up deciding that the more fragrant and tart glass was real lemon -- but got fooled by True Lemon! The True Lemon actually packed a stronger lemon aroma than the real juice. It turned out the the real lemon happened to be sweeter than average, which should have been a clue (since True Lemon is made only with lemon oils and juice and contains no sweetness).

I didn't have time to test True Lemon in cooking or baking, but will update the post if I do. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy it in my water and cola. I stashed a handful of the packets in my desk at work.

Under the theory that every kitchen should always have fresh lemons and limes on hand, but inevitably will be caught short from time to time (damn that incompetent butler!), I'd recommend keeping some True Lemon on hand. You can even give it a try on somebody else's nickel. In my neighborhood True Lemon is available primarily at Albertson's, a supermarket chain which seems to be rapidly disappearing in these parts, but you can check your own ZIP code to find it. Of course, there's always eBay. Another option that we have had reasonable success with at home is Minute Maid's frozen lemon juice (which maintains flavor much better than refrigerated pasteurized products I had used in the past) but the frozen format is less convenient for quick use.

Grand Brands also produces True Lime, same deal for limes. Indeed, "Citrus made simple."

Palo Alto Weekly Best of 2006

The results are in! The Palo Alto Weekly has announced its Best of 2006 list as selected by readers. I'm not sure I'm on board with all of the picks listed, but was happy to see Junnoon, one of my favorite new eateries, win Best New Restaurant.

Grilled Fish: 2 Hawaiian Kine Sauces

Grier Graham of TechDirt passed along a couple of recipes for sauces to marinate grilled fish, courtesy of a friend in Hawaii. Yes, summer is basically over, but thanks to our balmy Northern California weather we can live in denial until that first El Niño soaker slams us upside the head. The next time you fire up the grill, enjoy some flavor that is distinctly "Hawaiian kine" (that's island-style in case you don't speak pidgin).

Ponzu Sauce
1 cup ponzu
1-2 Tbs grated ginger (1 inch piece)
2-3 chopped scallions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (half a bunch)
1 finely chopped red chili or red pepper flakes (optional)
If you don't want hot then use finely chopped red or yellow pepper for color.
3-4 grinds of black pepper

Combine and let flavors marry in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

For an added layer of flavor try a dash of sesame oil.

Poipu-Kai Mango or Papaya Salsa
1 mango or small papaya (must be slightly firm, not overripe)
Juice of 1 lime
¼ red onion finely slivered
½ red pepper finely diced
1-2 chopped scallions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 finely chopped red chili
3-4 grinds of black pepper
Good pinch of sea salt

Combine and let flavors marry in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Juicy Dumplings

Upon graduating college I decided it was time to discover my roots and spend a year in Taiwan and China studying Chinese language and culture. As the bumbling foreigner, I provided countless hours of amusement for my native Chinese friends. Like the time I accidentally tried to order beef testicles (I could decipher three out of the four Chinese characters -- "crispy fried beef" -- but it turned out that the fourth character was really packed with meaning!).

It was no different the first time I experienced Shanghai-style juicy dumplings (in Mandarin, xiao long bao). Traditionally filled with pork and steamed in bamboo baskets on a bed of cabbage or lettuce, the magic of these dumplings comes in the form of tasty broth introduced by packing in some frozen or gelatinous soup during wrapping, which liquefies upon cooking. So a good xiao long bao is like a meatball swimming in flavorful broth, all wrapped up in a neat package. Proper eating technique varies slightly, but generally involves carefully plucking the dumpling from the steamer, taking care not to pierce the delicate skin, and placing it into a large Chinese soup spoon. Some shredded fresh ginger and a few drops of dark vinegar may be added. From there, one can nibble off the top of the dumpling, slurp out most of the juice, then pop the remainder into the mouth. Neat and clean, no wasting of the juicy goodness. However, if you're the unwitting foreigner, you may re-enact my first tasting of xiao long bao which consisted of suspending the dumpling in mid-air as I bit it in half, thus unleashing a fountain of broth down my chin and onto the table, scalding my tongue in the process -- much to the amusement of my dining companions. One of my friends wryly noted, "You're wasting the best part!" Never a dull moment with the American jester in court.

That first taste of xiao long bao was actually at a place of some reknown, the multi-story Taipei house o' dumplings known as Din Tai Fung. Like me, the place has been kicking since 1969. In recent years the restauarant has expanded to include a second Taipei store as well as locations in Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Los Angeles (Arcadia). I have enjoyed juicy Shanghainese dumplings many times since leaving Taipei but have always felt that none could match the flavor and tenderness of Din Tai Fung. Perhaps it was the magic of the first time. I will say that the Nanxiang dumpling shop at Yu Yuan garden in Shanghai turns out some pretty incedible specimens with liberal use of crab meat (half the fun is watching the skilled restaurant staff shell crabs at blinding speed, pictured at left).

On my trip down to L.A. this weekend I was happy to visit the Arcadia branch of Din Tai Fung (Los Angeles Times article). Better yet, as we were driving there, my dining companions remarked that, at a nondescript restaurant across the street, they had recently enjoyed xiao long bao that were even tastier than at Din Tai Fung. Immediately we hatched the idea of a xiao long bao taste-off. Round 1 at Din Tai Fung: three varieties of xiao long bao (pork, crab, and soup style consumed in bowls of chicken broth) followed by a couple of desserts of sweet red bean paste dumplings and steamed sponge cake. Pausing to digest only for the three minutes it took to run the credit card through, we got up and walked right across the street to the considerably less famous Nice Time Deli. Round 2 was a second complete meal of xiao long bao (pork and crab), stir-fried Shanghainese rice cakes (chao nian gao), and for dessert a pan-fried crispy crepe filled with red bean paste. Then we proceeded to Phoenix Food Boutique for more dessert. Ay caramba! Three back-to-back restaurant visits including two complete meals -- even for a foodie nut like me, that was definitely a first. The dumpling taste-off was something of a draw, with underdog Nice Time actually scoring higher on juiciness while Din Tai Fung prevailed for the generosity of crab meat in that variety, and overal ambience and experience. Neither of them can compare to the Din Tai Fung in Taipei (at least as I remember it through the distant haze of memory) or Nanxiang.

Din Tai Fung does score extra for user interface. To spare the uninitiated the indignity of lost juices and bodily harm as I suffered, the Arcadia branch of Din Tai Fung actually provides a brief tutorial on the correct eating technique on the back of its chopsticks wrapper!

(Click to enlarge)

Here in the Bay Area, xiao long bao can be found in many Chinese restaurants, but unfortunately none of them stand out as superlative. Two places I frequently visit for dependable xiao long bao are Joy Restaurant in Foster City, and Happy Cafe in downtown San Mateo. Any tips from the Consuming Ambition readers?

DIN TAI FUNG Dumpling House
1108 S. Baldwin Ave.
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 574-7068

Joy Restaurant
1495 Beach Park Blvd.
Foster City, CA 94404
(650) 345-1762

Happy Cafe
250 South B Street
San Mateo, CA 94401
(650) 340-7138

Chocolate Festival This Month at Lark Creek Restaurants

I've always found Bradley Ogden's take on American cuisine to be refreshingly simple and satisfying. His Lark Creek Restaurant Group includes the Lark Creek Inn up in Larkspur, One Market restaurant in San Francisco, Lark Creek in Walnut Creek, Parcel 104 at the Marriott in Santa Clara, and a pair of Yankee Pier restaurants in Larkspur, and at Santana Row in San Jose.

If you are a fan of chocolate (who isn't?), September will be sweeter than usual, and maybe a little more savory too, as the Lark Creek restaurants celebrate their annual Chocolate Festival. Combining top-tier chocolate with the freshest seasonal ingredients, special menus will include wine pairings from the Lark Creek Restaurant Group's all-American wine lists. In addition, a "Chocolate Tasting Plate" will be available to sample the very best unadulterated "bean to bar" chocolates produced in America. Each restaurant will feature savory and sweet chocolate items, chocolate tasting opportunities, and chocolate and wine pairings during a month-long ode to chocolate.

The Lark Creek Inn
234 Magnolia Avenue
Larkspur, CA 94939
(415) 924-7766

One Market Restaurant
1 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 777-5577

Lark Creek Walnut Creek
1360 Locust Street
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
(925) 256-1234

Parcel 104
At The Santa Clara Marriott
2700 Mission College Boulevard
Santa Clara, CA 95054
(408) 970-6104

Yankee Pier
286 Magnolia Avenue
Larkspur, CA 94939
(415) 924-7676

Yankee Pier
378 Santana Row, Suite 1100
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 244-1244