Tag: japanese

Stuff to read while I’m gone

I leave for Syria on Wednesday, for a week of dining with Anissa Helou and a gang of other people who think this is a delicious idea. It is my third trip to Syria, and I cannot wait. I’m looking forward to green almonds, buttery sweets, passing kindnesses and maybe the elusive desert truffle. I will probably be too stuffed too blog regularly, but believe you me, I will let you know in the end.

In the meantime, you may content yourself with SALTS: The Society for the Appreciation of the Lowly Tinned Sardine. The helpful folks sent me a link months ago–I’m finally leaping into action. I’m a huge canned sardine fan, having been raised on them enthusiastically enough that I thought it was normal to take them for school lunch. No one ever wanted to swap with me, but their loss.

Also, if you need some more home-cooking inspiration, visit Cathy Erway at Not Eating Out in New York. If you’re not hopelessly out of the Brooklyn food loop like I am, you probably already know about her. But it is great to see someone take the leap to home cooking (especially in NYC), and rock it in such a short time. Totally coincidentally, she has a book coming out this fall, from the same publisher as ours and Tamara’s. And I like that a lot of her food skews Asian-y, because I don’t cook that way much.

And in that same vein, yowza, thanks Eric Gower, aka The Breakaway Cook! His food is the kick in the pants I need–I’ve got a pantry full of spices, condiments and assorted syrups, and a lot of days I do precious little with it. His blog might also be the way I break into Japanese food, which I’ve failed with before because I can’t get the underlying rules. I promptly ordered his cookbook, and am very excited to see it.

Between that and my Syria trip, this summer, it’s gonna be hot in my kitchen, for sure.

The Lunch Is a Good Day Pastime

Hi, WNYC listeners. This is the genius Japanese lunchbox I have. It’s deceptively simple, but so effective. I got mine at Katagiri, on E. 59th Street.

Here it is open:

lunch box open

The little white divider is almost symbolic–it slides, and it comes out completely. It doesn’t form a perfect seal, so if I really want to keep something dry–nuts, say–I put it in a silicone muffin cup.

Then I close it all up:

lunch box closed

Seriously, it looks small, but it actually holds a pretty hefty lunch. I like having everything spread out, like it’s on a plate. And the plastic is really heavy and doesn’t stain, even if you microwave it.

I also bought this lunch box, but it is nowhere near as satisfying. I show it to you here, because you might get seduced by it at the store. Trust me, it’s not as good (even if it does have a dedicated spot for your chopsticks). For one, just too many pieces. And it actually holds _too much_ food (for me, at least).

boy box open 2

They do fit into a tidy stack–but it doesn’t seal quite as well as the plain one-piece box. Which makes me nervous.

boy box closed

Honestly, I bought it for the Engrish. How can you resist this?

dear label

Lunch is a good day pastime! This failed lunchbox pays for itself through sheer inspiration!

Like an elephant

So here I am back in New Mexico, land of enchantment (state bird: roadrunner; state cookie: biscochito), and I'm sitting in a cafe in Albuquerque using the wireless Internet, and I hear some guys next to me chatting.

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The Radar I Have, As It Pertains to Restaurants*

Last night I realized mine needs to be specially recalibrated for Mexico.

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