Spot-On: Book Review - Bananas

Many years ago, as a teenager, I ate lunch in an Indonesian household on most Fridays. The meal always featured a huge platter of what I thought at the time were fried potatoes. They were highly spiced and slightly sweet and I adored them. But as a callow youth I didn't think to ask anything more about them. Some 20 years later I was reading an article on plantains and realized that's what I had been eating. I ran out to the grocery store, bought a plantain, sliced it into rounds, doused them with curry powder and a touch of sugar, and fried them. Yep, that was it.

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | review | kevin d weeks | spot-on

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Review: Hawaiian Yellowtailfrom Kona Blue

Unadulterated Delight



A week or so ago I got an email from someone commenting on SG and wondering if I was interested in receiving some free fish: "I’d be happy to send you Kona Kampachi and invite you to prepare it any way you like. If you’d like to share about the fish with your readers, great, but if not, don’t worry about it – it’s completely up to you." I happen to be a great believer in getting free stuff I'm interested in with no strings attached, so after checking out Kona Blue's Web site I told her to send it along. I'd try it and might or might not write about it and I might or might not be positive about the experience.

I'm here to say, "Wow!"

Yesterday (as I write this) I received a large, heavy package from the company. I was expecting it having received notification that it had been picked up by Fed-Ex two days earlier. I opened the box and found a huge plastic bag. I opened the bag and found an aluminized thermal blanket. I opened the blanket and found about a dozen frozen freezer packs. I dug through them and found a smaller plastic bag. I opened it and found two fresh (not frozen) fillets weighing about a pound each wrapped in plastic. I stuck my nose in the bag and sniffed — pure ocean. Supper had arrived.

Kona Blue raises Hawaiian Yellowtail (also known as Almaco Jack and trademarked as Kona Kampachi) commercially in deep-water farms near Hawaii. The company claims their methods are sustainable and minimize environmental impact. I read about this type of ocean farming several years ago and from what I recall, if done properly it can meet both claims.

The fish I received had been harvested on Sunday. It then went into an iced brine which killed it. On Tuesday it was gutted, cleaned, and shipped. Kona only harvests enough fish at a time to serve that week's orders so the fish is always as fresh as they can make it, but most of their sales are wholesale and for whole fish to restaurants. The company's retail presence is limited.

It's not cheap. The two fillets I received retail for $17.00 each and shipping is another $33.00. Nevertheless, I could have easily fed six for that $67.00, about the cost of a good steak dinner at home. And as I said above, "Wow!" This was certainly in the top 10 of fish I've ever eaten. They say it's sushi grade so I tried a bit raw and it certainly is. But I elected to cook it.

I cut a fillet into thirds and brushed two of the thirds with olive oil, sprinkled sweet Spanish paprika on them along with a bit of salt, and then broiled it until barely cooked through. It was like eating butter. My plan had been to eat only one third and use the other cooked third in a salad for lunch today. Not possible. The fish was just too good and I ate it last night as well. I still have the third third and will do something with it this evening.

I also understand why the company was so laissez faire about whether I wrote them up or not. They knew that no real foodie could resist singing the praises of this fish once he or she had tasted it. It really gripes me to be so predictable, and I wish I could think of something negative to say to at least give the appearance objectivity, but the truth is saying something negative wouldn't be objective. The fish is just that good.

Hmmm, perhaps I should have held out for a press junket to Hawaii...

Technorati: Food | review | kevin d weeks | seriously good | seafood | hawaiian yellowtail | Kona+Kampachi

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Spot-On: Review — the Art of Eating

Although I seldom buy cookbooks anymore, I do subscribe to food magazines. The magazines offer loads of ideas even if I don't follow a specific recipe. That's also why I publish recipes on this blog. It isn't that I expect a reader to follow the recipe explicitly — in fact I post a disclaimer warning against doing so (look in the right-hand sidebar) — but I hope someone may find my use of cornmeal in pancakes or the addition of juniper berries to beef stew worthwhile.

You can read the complete article on Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | review | kevin d weeks | spot-on

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Spot-on:Elements of Cooking

During a recent episode of Next Iron Chef America Michael Ruhlman, serving as one of the judges, criticized one of the chefs for serving a consommé that wasn't perfectly clear. "Technically, consommé is a clear soup or broth," according to Ruhlman and in this case the liquid showed the red coloration of the watermelon it was made from. Picky? Yes. Technically correct? Yes. Important? Not in my view.

You can read the complete article at Spot-on.

Technorati: Food | review | kevin d weeks | spot-on | book

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Spot-On: Southern Belly

John T. Edge is a member of the food writing culinoscenti, although he would blush to read that assessment — perhaps not least because of the awkward neologism. But how else should I describe someone who combines a knowledge of food and culture with insight into the combination and an ability to articulate that knowledge and insight? He, along with Calvin Trillan, Russ Parsons, Michael Ruhlman, and a few others, is one of the best food writers in the business and his latest book, Southern Belly: The Ultimate Food Lovers Guide to the South, reflects that skill.

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | review | kevin weeks | seriously good | book | southern belly

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Spot-On: How to Pick a Peach

Russ Parson's How to Read a French Fry is an outstanding introduction to the science of cooking and I enjoyed reading it immensely. So when his latest book, How to Pick a Peach:The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table, was released I was looking forward to reading it as well. Interviews with Parsons on All Things Considered and The Splendid Table further whetted my appetite for the book. Sadly, when I finally read it I was disappointed. Not greatly disappointed, less so as I continued reading, and I'm glad I stuck with it...

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | review | kevin weeks | seriously good | Pick a Peach | russ parsons

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Spot-On: Going for Silver

My mother gave me a copy of the first edition of The Silver Palate Cookbook for Christmas the year it came out and it quickly became my go-to book for recipe ideas, as it did for many other cooks. A couple of years later The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook was published, followed in turn by The New Basics Cookbook. By this time my siblings also had copies and we took to calling them the White Book (because of its white spine), the Red Book (because of its red spine), and the Big Book (because it was big).

You can read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: Food | review | food column | spot-on | cookbooks

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