Culinary Fool

Interview with Ayun Halliday, “Dirty Sugar Cookies”

05-Jun-2006

In the blogging world, especially the food blogging world, it’s common to follow other bloggers and their activities. There is a huge community aspect to it all and we are constantly welcoming new members to our group. I try to keep up on all the new folks who are out there but it isn’t always easy. Still, I try to take note when someone who tells particularly good stories, or has great photographs, or has an entertaining style comes along.

A few months ago I became aware of Ayun Halliday and a new blog called, Dirty Sugar Cookies. This blog led to her other projects and I found myself perusing her various endeavors and laughing along the way! Ayun calls it like she sees it, which is sometimes just a bit in your face, but yet in an entertaining way. Although her Dirty Sugar Cookies blog is new, Ayun has been writing for many years.

While Ayun has done lots of interesting projects in her life, her newest venture is a book, also called Dirty Sugar Cookies. Each chapter is a particular food memory and as you read it, it’s like you and Ayun are sitting with a cup of tea at the kitchen table having an afternoon chat as she spins story after story. Read a couple chapters and you will soon feel as if you know her.

As part of the book’s release, Ayun is doing a "virtual book tour" and many bloggers will be "interviewing" her throughout June. What follows are her answers to a few questions I posed to her. (I had many more but wanted to make this interview a manageable read for you.) And, after reading her answers I had even more questions but those will have to wait! At some point she may be going an actual tour – in the fall, I think – and I hope she makes it out my way so that I can meet her face to face.

In the meantime, go out and buy this book! The stories will entertain you and each chapter includes a recipe so that you can almost participate in Ayun’s experiences!

The Interview

You seem to have a wide range of interests and delve into all of them! Is this a planned way of living or is it just because you really can’t stick with any one thing too long? (Note to the reader: many of these questions are meant to be a bit teasing, once you see Ayun’s style, I think you’ll understand… I actually ask this question, as I’m a little jealous of some of her interesting adventures!)

I think it’s more of a cumulative effect. There are things I wish I had pursued before the (unplanned) kids came along. Used to be the wind blew, and I blew with it. Now I’m like,
"Take me with you! I beg you! Aw, dang." Will I ever learn to play the accordion? Will I ever get to write that book where I attend every production of Oklahoma staged in any given year, then report on my findings? Your guess is as good as mine. As far as sticking with something, I’ve been publishing my zine, the East Village Inky every three months since 1998, and issue 31’s on the drawing table.

Between your pursuits and your husband, Greg Kotis’ projects, life must be pretty interesting or maybe pretty hectic in your household. How do you guys coordinate it all? (I’m always amazed how interesting people meet and couple with other interesting people.)

Near total lack of housekeeping, save cooking, grocery shopping and loading and unloading the dishwasher (and by the way, we’ve got a little rule that the cook doesn’t have to clean up.) We can keep that up for a while and then one of us – invariably me – flips out. The other night I was buckling under the perceived stressfulness of Greg being in technical rehearsals for his new play, and the million little publicity tasks surrounding the publication of Dirty Sugar Cookies, and the children’s upcoming birthdays, and trying to figure out a way to get to London this August, and the end of the school year, and trying to get our costumes together for the Coney Island Mermaid Parade … After about five minutes of this, of me shooting down his every attempt to comfort me, Greg was like, "But let us not forget that there are many others who would be glad to have problems such as these."

You have an uhmm, interesting (read rather whacky!) style – how does your daughter respond to your ventures?

She hasn’t read the books, but she’s down with the zine. Lately I’ve felt the need to strap on a partial muzzle out of respect for her eight-year-old privacy, but she’s not a particularly reserved child. The public school she and her brother attend is so diverse economically, racially, and culturally that the administration actually has rules against making fun of people’s mothers. No doubt this policy was put in place on behalf of children whose moms wear the hijab, but it also benefits the kid whose mother displays half an inch of ass crack every time she squats down to tie someone’s shoe, whose favorite t-shirt has a picture of Ralph Wiggum announcing "I’m special!" As long as we live in NYC, I don’t think I’m too great a liability, and if I am, maybe she can work it out in a memoir some day.

Why did you decide to write a food memoir? How do we know your memory is good enough for any of it to be at all accurate? (I ask as I’m trying to remember what I did last week…)

James Frey was actually the first to encourage me to try my hand at a food memoir, back when we were cell-mates in prison. To pass the time, I’d entertain him with stories from my travels and about growing up in Indiana, and he was like, "God, Ayun, it’s amazing how you can remember entire conversations dating all the way back to third grade! You owe it to the world to get this shit down on paper! With recipes!"

What’s your favorite chapter in the book? Is that because of the memory, the recipe or?

I really like the chapter about Gnawbone Camp, probably because I always enjoy hearing about how kids behave when they’re loosed from the parental tether. I get a big bang out of that scene where I’m feeding the horses watermelon rinds, praying that one of them won’t accidentally bite my arm off.

My absolute favorite thing in the book, though, is the phrase "a lifetime supply of lingonberries". For some reason, that just fucking slays me.

Is there anything you forgot to put in the book that you’d like to share now?

I’d like to thank my friend, Allen Brown for putting together a power point presentation, juxtaposing close-ups of fried eggs and pancakes with these incredibly erotic nude photographs taken by our friends, Delta and Aeric. I’m performing an excerpt of the Post-Coital Breakfast chapter tonight at this reading series called Smut, and I wanted to hedge my bets.

San Francisco: Postrio

04-Jun-2006

When the shrimp up at the Petit Café left a bit to be desired, I decided I needed something a bit more satisfying for dinner. A friend had recommended Postrio, which was also in the general vicinity so I made my way over a couple blocks and entered the welcoming atmosphere of the bar. Soft lighting, warm granite surfaces, dark wood, copper accents and a brick oven all came together to invite you in. At the time I didn’t realize it but this is a Wolfgang Puck restaurant.

By this time the bar was fairly empty, which was a bit surprising to me as it wasn’t that late but I suppose this is more of a dinner place. I noticed a couple sitting at the end of the bar who had earlier been at SWIG, too. Although there were not many people, those who were there were having interesting and animated conversations and most of them seemed to be known to the bartender.

I decided to peruse the menu before ordering my wine. My eye soon lit on something that called my name – Duck Confit.

Once that was settled I ordered a Novelty Hill Syrah to go along with my dinner. I was impressed that they carried this wine as Novelty Hill is a fairly small Washington producer.

My Duck Confit arrived and I was amazed at what I saw before me! The was a large mound of duck covering a substantial portion of the plate – it was probably three times more than I had expected – this is not bad. Dried cherries and pistachios were combined with the duck on a bed of wilted arugula. Toasted flatbread was served along with the confit. The pistachios, cherries and arugula reduced the richness of the dish. I made a good dent in my order but ended up having a large portion of it boxed. When I returned to my hotel room it would be tucked into the mini-bar and consumed for breakfast the next morning.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Postrio. I will certainly return here on future trips to San Francisco. If I have any complaint, it would be that as a solo traveler this perhaps isn’t the place to join in friendly bar conversations. However, that may have been due to the timing of my visit. Hard to say. Either way, if the Duck Confit is any indication, the food here is well worth a visit.

Postrio

545 Post, between Taylor and Mason.

Union Square

San Francisco

415.776.7825

San Francisco: Grand Café

03-Jun-2006

After my cocktails at SWIG, I was ready for a bite to eat. On the way to SWIG, I’d passed a place that looked rather lively and inviting, so I made my way back to The Grand Café.

I entered into what was actually the adjoining Petit Café. The crowd was lively, perhaps fueled partially by the cocktails that had been consumed earlier in the evening. The bartenders were friendly and greeted me promptly. I found a seat at the smallish bar and ordered a glass of wine. While perusing the menu I was served a lovely little baguette with a side of olive and sun-dried tomato tapenade. I’m am not normally big on tapenade. It’s okay but not something I crave. This version was really good. I found myself dipping back into the little dish over and over again.

Soon after settling in I was in conversation with the bartenders and the other folks at the bar. A woman, previously seated in the dining area, made her way down to the bar and squeezed into the last seat so she could join in. Although she was a nice person, she was one of those people who can’t just order from the menu. Every single thing she ordered had to be tweaked and modified in some way! I was so amazed as I listened to her go through her list of questions and requested modifications. Do you remember the scene in "When Harry met Sally", where Meg Ryan is placing an order? This woman was Meg Ryan squared! Through it all the bartender simply did everything he could to accommodate her.

I ordered a shrimp dish, which turned out to be okay but not great. However, I’m not sure I should judge the place on this dish. Apparently, they were actually out of what I’d ordered and the kitchen put together a reasonable facsimile. I didn’t really mind but I think the original dish may have been better.

Before I’d finished my shrimp the woman next to me left, and the bartenders breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did I see any sort of exasperation with her excessive, detailed requests. I finished up and decided to check out one more place before calling it an evening…

Although I had mixed feelings about the food, the friendly atmosphere of the place would bring me back again to see if there were menu items that I might prefer. If nothing else I could just sip a glass of wine and munch on the bread and tapenade!

The Grand Café

501 Geary at Taylor Street

Union Square, San Francisco

In the Hotel Monaco

415.292.0101

San Francisco: SWIG

02-Jun-2006

On a recent quick trip to San Francisco I did my best to check out as many little places around the city as possible. I was staying in the Union Square area and a friend recommended SWIG as a fun place in the area.

On my first evening in town I made my way to the little bar and arrived around 6:00. Happy Hour was in process (I love that!) and that meant that all of their specialty cocktails were reduced by $2. They had an interesting list of items, although many seemed like they might be a bit sweet. I settled on one that sound really intriguing, a Strawberry Basil "Martini", and asked for it to be made a bit tart.

They muddle fresh basil and lime, then shake it up with vodka and fresh strawberry puree. It’s a beautiful deep rose-colored drink and smells absolutely heavenly – the first aroma you smell is the earthy basil, followed by the flowery strawberry.

While sipping this excellent concoction I talked to people sitting near me and took in the scene around me. There were a combination of regular locals and not-so-regular travelers like me. Three women friends on one side of me were dressed in typical not-too-formal office attire and the bartender made their drinks as they arrived (without being prompted). On the other side of me was an interesting couple; she was a bit buttoned up, while he looked like he’d just hopped off his Harley. Friendly people all.

I happened to be sitting at a place where there was a slight gap in the seats – the place where those not at the bar tend to squeeze in to place their orders. Among others, I talked to a lovely gentleman well into his 70s who, with his wife, was visiting the area from England. We had a nice chat while he waited for his drinks to be prepared.

The Absolut Girls were in residence and passing out "coupons" good for $2 cocktails. Well, I had to take advantage of that. So while sipping my second cocktail I talked with a few guys from somewhere an hour or so outside of town, barely 21, itching for a little city adventure. I liked that Swig attracted a range of ages, occupations, and both locals and visitors. That always makes a place more interesting.

My one disappointment was that they didn’t serve food at all. So after my two cocktails it was definitely time to move on. For a casual place with interesting people and creative drinks check out SWIG next time you’re in San Francisco!

SWIG
561 Geary before Jones
San Francisco
415.931.7292

Umi Sake House

01-Jun-2006

My how time flies! I take a few days off to go to San Francisco and that results in nearly two weeks of no updates on this little blog!

I’m not sure how that happened but the silence is broken, due in large part to a new place opening tonight!

Last night I had a chance to get an early look at Umi Sake House, formerly Bada Lounge. Umi still has the same owners but they realized it was time to do a massive shift in concept and they wanted to get back to a focus on food and not so much on lounge – Bada actually started out that way but over the years drifted more toward the lounge seen, with food as a secondary focus.

The interior has been completely remodeled and is absolutely beautiful! Built to resemble a house the entrance is the "front porch" with seating almost reminiscent of picnic tables, well Japanese picnic tables; the main room is the house complete with tatami room and a centrally focused sushi bar; and there’s a glassed in section in the back corresponding to the "backyard" with more casual seating.

The woods and materials used throughout are inviting – it’s a place you want to come in and stay for awhile. Plans also include a snow machine for the backyard! When sitting at the sushi bar you face large windows enclosing the backyard space. At specific intervals the snow machine will do it’s job and you’ll be inside cozily sipping sake and eating sushi while the snow gently falls outside the windows. I’m not positive but I believe that will start in the fall sometime. For more about the transformation there’s some interesting background on Seattle Dining.

This is truly designed to be a sake house with fifty sakes on the menu. That will be more than enough to keep me coming back to try to taste my way through the menu. I sampled three different types last night and loved that the bartender really knew his stuff! At least the first one did. The second bartender was still learning but with Umi’s focus on sake I would expect that having knowledgeable staff will be a key element for them. Last night a man, that I didn’t recognize or know but who said he was a sake expert and I have no reason to doubt him, spoke for a few minutes about the emphasis on sake and it was his observation that there are only three true sake houses in the US; two in New York and Umi. Who knows? But from the line-up they have here, I’d say this is definitely a top tier sake house.

During last night’s party they were passing all kinds of bites from the menu. We were also able to sit at the sushi bar and order from the sushi menu and I saw other people ordering from the extensive main menu. The menu is actually a bit overwhelming, there are so many choices. The main menu is divided both by type of dish – appetizers, soups, noodles – and the entrées are divided by preparation method – pan fried, steamed, baked.

The sushi menu is also huge with over 25 specialty rolls, another 12 standard rolls and over 30 sushi and sashimi offerings. M and I grabbed one bite each of a Seattle Crunch from a passed platter as we made our way to the sushi bar – it was a bit warm and the cream cheese inside was soft and gooey, melding with the salmon and avocado. What a great way to start our evening!

At the sushi bar we ordered the Umi House Roll (I always like to see what they name after the house) and a couple pieces of individual sushi.

The house roll was enormous! And delicious. Scallop and cucumber were rolled and then topped with a slightly spicy tuna. We shared the order with the people sitting next to us, who thought it was too spicy, but I had to tell them they were wimps as the slight heat was so fleeting. :-) Our individual pieces were beautifully prepared. We sampled Yellowtail; Tako Wasabi and Sweet Shrimp. Then the chef prepared a special dish for us. We couldn’t quite figure out what it was from looking at the menu and believe it really was a specialty that the chef just prepared for us. It was basically a beautiful crab tower, wrapped in salmon, perched on a slice of cucumber and topped with caviar and wasabi caviar. Delicious!

I really can’t wait to go back to Umi and best of all they have an extensive Happy Hour menu! The "regular" Happy Hour runs from 4:00 – 6:00 and they have an extended Happy Hour, available on the "Front Porch" until 8:00. There is also a late night Happy Hour Sunday through Thursday.

So even though I normally don’t recommend going to a place too early after their opening, I’m going to break my rule for Umi. My one caution is that if you go have a little patience as I’m sure it might take some time to become a well-oiled machine. Still, the way they were operating last night, that may not take anytime at all.

Umi Sake House

2230 First Ave

Belltown

Seattle

206.374.8717

Baby Apples

17-May-2006

Two years ago my little semi-dwarf Red Gravenstein Apple tree had it’s first crop of about 20 apples. I was thrilled! I ate them fresh off the tree, made a couple pies, and dreamed of what would come the following year (last year) since fruit crops will increase over time. Well, mostly that’s what happens.

All fruit trees have cycles. Crops will be heavier some years and they have a "resting" year, where the crop will be really light. Last year was my "rest" year and being such a young tree really light meant no apples at all! I was so sad.

This year, however, the tree was covered with blossoms and I can already see lots of little baby apples making their way into the world! Hooray! The tricky part now is that I didn’t do worm prevention when I should have. :-( I’m going to have to keep my fingers crossed that not too many are affected… And I probably should thin them so that the fruit quality and size is better. I hate killing the babies, though. We’ll see if I actually ever get around to it.

Lettuce

17-May-2006

I forgot what the name of this one is but it really doesn’t matter. It speaks for itself.

"Picked" at U-Dist Farmers’ Market.

Anthony’s Bell Street Diner

15-May-2006

As R and I were finishing up our time at the Cheese Festival, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to go back to mundane weekend tasks. It was such a perfect day! Instead we decided to head down to the waterfront to enjoy a bit more sun and the water.

We made our way to Pier 66 and Anthony’s Bell Street Diner, one of three Anthony’s restaurants in the same complex. The diner has casual fare and a large outdoor seating area – a prerequisite for our afternoon!

Our visit started off a bit rocky. We placed our cocktail orders, a cucumber martini and strawberry lemonade (the adult version) and waited. And waited. Our server finally came by and apologized for the delay – the bar was backed up. While we had her there we placed our food orders, too.

Our drinks arrived and all was well once again. R’s lemonade was a bit sweet, but you sort of expect strawberry lemonade to be that way. My Cucumber Martini was very refreshing! Basically, instead of olives you get little matchsticks of cucumber as garnish in a gin martini. Very summery!

Our food arrived shortly thereafter. R’s clams were beautifully presented in a small covered copper pan. The lid was removed and the gorgeous baby clams revealed. It was a simple wine, butter and garlic recipe but perfectly executed. I wish I could say the same for my shrimp. The menu simply stated "Barbecued Garlic Prawns" and was listed in the appetizer section so I was really just expecting some garlicky, smoky prawns. What I got was a few, rather tasteless prawns on top of fried potatoes (??) and drizzled with a flavored oil, that was now puddled in an unappetizing manner on the bottom of the plate. The prawns were cooked nicely, even if they were just blah, not at all garlicky so I fished them from the potatoes and was done with it. The good news is that I mentioned my disappointment to the server and she removed the item from our bill. That was very good and speaks well to Anthony’s policies. I still find the presentation and menu description to be totally at odds with one another.

If you are looking for a place to enjoy the waterfront on a nice sunny day this is a great spot to get outside and have a bite or two while you are at it.

Anthony’s Bell Street Diner
2201 Alaskan Way
Waterfront, Seattle
(206) 448-6688

Scenes from Seattle Cheese Festival 2006

14-May-2006

This year’s festival was much improved over last year’s as I’d expected it would be. It seemed the number of cheeses available to sample had grown and that people had come to Seattle specifically for the festival! While in Artisanal Alley I heard a couple of different retail-cheese folks from California introducing themselves to the vendors.

With this banner weather we’re currently having, the crowds were large and it was still sometimes tough to actually get in to get a bite. Artisinal Alley was relatively quiet and a good option for folks who are a bit more serious about their tasting.

I have two recommendations for next year’s festival and both are related. Both for Artisinal Alley and for the premium versus non-premium wine tastings it wasn’t clear to me why or how cheesemakers or wineries fell into what category. Some cheesemakers that I would have expected to be in Artisinal Alley were not – Point Reyes and Rogue, for instance. For the wine tasting there were many producers that I didn’t know but still we purchased both a premium and a non-premium set and for all intents and purposes couldn’t tell that much difference between them.

All in all though, this event was a big success and I look forward to next year!

Last Week on The Spirit World

14-May-2006

We start off with a look at a new magazine, "imbibe". At the time I’d only taken a cursory glance but have since read the whole thing. Interesting new concept and lots of Seattle connections!

On Monday, Robert gives you the history and proper recipe for The Jasmine, one of my favorite cocktails.

Tuesday finds us a little deeper in the heart of Bube’s Brewery.

We had a few site troubles during the week, so we pick back up on Thursday with a Mother’s Day weekend suggestion for our Happy Hour at Home, a big batch of Strawberry Daiquiris and Rumaki.

Friday we take a look at come cocktail related sites around the Internet.

Saturday we finish off with another cocktail suitable for Mother’s Day, the O Fizz.