Small Bites

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Mason) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 03:58:00 +0000

A Wasp's Delight
From Jonah Cool as he observes the seasons change on the eastern seaboard.

Like many Saturdays, this one began at the Farmer’s market. As the season turns tomatoes and basil are quickly replaced by squash and wide leafy greens. I love when the weather develops a little bite and the flavors are sweet. My oven is excited for braising and roasting. As I shopped I ran into a number of good friends allowing time to talk about food and life. One particular friend asked where I had found some delicatta squash the week before and I pointed her in what I thought was the right direction. As I left the market I realized my directions were wrong and was overcome with the guilt of depraving her. I can’t have that kind of weight on my conscience. I quickly called and arranged to drop a few of the tasty treats at her house.

Upon arrival there was a small wooden bowl on the door step, which I immediately recognized as her fig bowl. During the summer, fresh figs were piled in the unassuming bowl. In exchange for the squash she had left me two figs that were without qualification perfect; so perfect I could only take one. Starting with the white tops they ran down into purple and, eventually, brown reminiscent of idealized prints of Mount Fuji at sunrise.

I grabbed one and jumped in my car to drive home.

About a block from the house, I had to stop. I pulled my car up to a stop sign and looked down at the fig. Coating the figs inner processes was a thin layer of bright orange pollen. I was in shock. Initially, the pollen provided a reminder of the Fig’s enchanting provenance. However, these wasps had the good grace to season my fruit for me. The pollen imparted a nutty earthy flavor to the sweet and smooth texture of the fruit. Unbelievable. I kept driving and taking small bites to prolong the life of my fig. These bites were not to be squandered.

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Mason) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:16:00 +0000

Jonah is in town for the long weekend. We battered and bantered each other riding our bikes around Portola Valley, up Old La Honda and down highway 84. Then we headed over to jZ Cool where we met Jesse for a meal.

The More the Merrier: by Jonah Cool

Wine is to food as passion is to love; an inextricable match. Tonight I sat at the wine bar and oscillated between whether I wanted to take a bite or a sip. The answer is an easy one…a little of this with a little of that. Perfect. The saying that a little is good, more is better, and too much is just right seems seriously flawed with respect to wine and food. A lot of a little is perfect. Here, in a litany of small bites, it is subtleties that come forward. There is no time for one flavor to reign.

As I peddled toward dinner my thoughts were not focused. I did not want a steak or a piece of fish or even a bowl of pasta. My minds passion of where to direct my mouth was aimless at best. Since when is passion directed and sensible – I can't think of anything more erratic.

Tonight I landed and with a quick browse scored a bowl of polenta. A simple grain that is a vector for creativity and, perhaps more importantly, all manners of delicious dairy. Asiago, marscapone, and cream were appropriately courted by the velvety touch of a Martella Syrah. My mind quickly changed gears and before long I found myself mixing my vices and introducing a spoon-tipfull of polenta to the jus, chutney, and drippings of lamb. Oh my god. Combine this with my wine and my beautifully complex dilemma becomes clear.

Calamari and Pinot Grigio tempered my tongue. Finally nibbles on a fig combined with a few sips of a red from Skyline (not coincidental where I was on my bike) put me over the top. Truly too much of the little things, which culminated in a meal that was just right.

Good luck with your choices.

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Mason) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 03:58:00 +0000

Pork, the other white vegetable

Did you ever see or hear that catchy pork commercial that went “Pork, the other white meat”. Who didn’t? Pork is the other white meat, isn’t it? That means it must have been a darn good advertising campaign. It is right up there with “hold the pickles hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us…” I hum the jingle every time I walk into a Burger King. But that is another story…and it’s a musical.

Back to pork.

A few years ago Jesse, Jonah and I were traipsing through an east Javanese jungle at the base of Mt. Semeru. Semeru is Holy Mountain to the local Hindu Tengger people who live on its slopes and in the highlands around it. We had been hiking for a couple of hours and as one will do out on the open trail, I asked the stupid theoretical question. I avoided the one about being on the life raft and having to choose which family member to save and the one about alien abduction. Those are good ones but I opted instead for; if you were on a dessert island what three vegetables would you choose to have? They dove into a lengthy discussion while I asked probing question about the selections, logic and recipes behind each selection. Eventually after debate and rigorous defense of veggie choices Jesse asked which three I’d take. I loudly pronounced potatoes, onions and BACON.

Bacon isn’t the other white meat, it is the other white vegetable. I adore bacon. Pigs are more vegetable than chickens could ever hope to be (not that I've ever seen a hopeful chicken). Chickens peck at the ground; pigs, onions, and potatoes live in it! Sometimes I’m embarrassed to say or admit how much I enjoy pork. Something about that claim feels slightly incriminating. Of course, that has to have something to do with Jehovah and Allah (both of them). If it wasn’t so good why make it off-limits? It’s like that apple, forbidden fruit always tastes better. Tell me I can’t have it and I know it must be good. If the twin God’s of Abraham hadn’t made bacon taste so good they wouldn’t have any problem with us grinding down a rasher now and again. But they did and so they do.

Bacon is one food you eat and don’t even consider saying that it tastes just like chicken. I know people who claim they don’t enjoy bacon. But that is like not liking salt! Still not convinced? Then take it from Quentin Tarantino via John Travolta (both of them) as Vincent Vega “Yeah but bacon tastes goooood. Pork chops taste goooood.” Well put gentleman, well put. I’m sure the big boys upstairs agree. I know I do.

In recent days I think Jesse and Jonah might be coming around to my way of thinking. Maybe they are not ready to call it a veggie but there is no doubt their love of pigs. Jesse recently wrote an article/blogpost over on Organic To Be .org, entitled My Son, The Pig Farmer (with Pork Chops and Cherry Port Sauce Recipe). Then the other night at jZ Cool Eatery and Wine Bar, Jesse and Talia’s suggested I try the new pork dish on the menu. I bit into the slow (slow) braised Niman Ranch pork roast topped with a meltingly juicy pork belly and served on a bed of greens. The second (slow), is mine because to say “bit into” is a statement made true only by the bed of hearty summer bitter greens. The pork melts in your mouth, creamy, soft, sweet and savory. There was a time when you would only find piglet bellies in China Town…or China. But I’ve seen it on menu’s with increasing frequency. God bless those pork-loving1.2 billion! In this new dish at the jZ Cool Eatery the greens add a counterpoint in flavor and texture that makes every mouthful something to relish.

Don’t eat pork? Try sushi. The closest sushi comparison is a great cut of toro. Don’t eat sushi or pork? I recommend a Red Delicious apple.

All good things, Eric

Butter Beans

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Mason) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:09:00 +0000

Jonah, Jesse’s youngest son, and I were chatting earlier today. He liked the idea of ‘small bites’ so much he wanted to know if he could occasionally submit something from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina where is getting his PhD. When I first started at Flea St. Cafe the other staff warned me about Jonah. At the time he was about 3 or 4 feet tall and was, as the wait staff described him "the devil child". What did they expect his Mom was taking him to markets to hang out with farmers instead to church on the weekends. We got along fabulously from our first meeting and have been pals and brothers ever since.

Butter Beans, by Jonah Cool

Every week I go to the farmers market. Ever since my childhood, Saturday's at the market was as close as I got to a church like experience; praising the harvest and communion with farmers. The market is a weekly event that allows me to blend into a crowd and inconspicuously celebrate my love of food. My goal at a market is less comprehensive, as in a grocery store, and more myopic. I silently ask "what is the single best bite that this cadre of food has amidst it?" To answer this question, I work in steps. First, I walk the whole market without much of a break. I need an overview. At this point I ask myself "what did I see A LOT of?" The answer is usually what is at its absolute prime that week. Secondly, I ask "where did it look the best?" the answer is usually my small bite of the week.

Last weekend I walked my North Carolina market and the answer was decidedly southern. Butter Beans. I returned to my preferred vat of unshucked butter beans and began to pick through them. Once home, I pulled up a chair and began to peel during the height of a hot and humid afternoon. This week’s improvisation resulted in a succotash with the fresh butter beans at its core. All was in moderation but I wanted to treat the pedestrian beans to an exotic, and slightly unusual, spice. To them I added corn, shallots, turmeric, cumin, oregano, olive oil, and finally some fresh basil on top. It was a small amount (one man can only shuck so many beans!) but worth every single ‘small bite.’

noreply@blogger.com (Eric Mason) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 04:28:00 +0000

It’s been a while since a sallied up to this side of the bar. It is a sleepy night in downtown Menlo Park and near the end of summer. The days are growing shorter but the air remains warm and still. Autumn hasn't yet set in.

Many years ago I used to do my part for Jesse up at her flagship restaurant, Flea St. Café. This was well before she wrote her book. One day, back then, Jesse came back from a benefit with other celebrity chefs in Napa Valley. They all had authored books. Jesse, full and angst and frustration knew it was her time to do something more than the monthly columns for the San Jose Mercury and local Gourmet magazine she was writing at the time. I wholeheartedly agreed.

Jesse and I ultimately cut a deal for me to run Flea St. 100% for a year. I worked as the GM while she got that first manuscript under her belt and her first book, ‘Tomatoes’, published. It wasn’t only her first book but the first time she had ever handed over this much control of her business to grow her career in this new direction. It was brave of Jesse. And of me too.

Since then, Jesse and I have grown with typical ups and downs as friends and partners. I now run her website and help her continue to get her name and message to a wider world. I love cooking, serving people, and the theatre restaurant. Jesse has vision, guts, and commitment to build a better world. Representing her isn’t difficult. In fact, it is an honor and a delight. It also comes with the invaluable perks for my taste buds and stomach.

As she stated in the acknowledgements to her most recent and 7th cookbook ‘ONE-POT COOKBOOK’, “Thanks, Eric for being my friend an sharing one-pot meals, possibly more often than any other, and always with vigor.” That’s me! I'm a vigorous eater. I love of food, farming, hard work, wine and the community that comes with it.

Jesse and her team recently asked me to step in a from time to time behind the bar at the new jZ Cool Eatery and Wine Bar. Jesse and her team are getting a new restaurant off the ground and as usual I love seeing new things begin, flourish and build. Tonight is my first official night. I actually jumped in on opening night when the community poured through the wide front doors. Tonight I’ve folded napkins, polished silver, reviewed the pours by the glass, learned the computer, memorized the table numbers, reviewed the menu. As might be expected I've also noshed on the evening specials prepared for the staff by jZ Cool’s kitchen manager Talia in the back of the house.

There isn’t a harder working group of people in our country than those in food service. I honor, value and embrace the work. I’m glad I’m here. Come in. Join us. Every couple of days I’ll update this blog with the nightly specials and seasonal cooking coming out of another of Jesse’s legendary kitchens. From time to time I might also throw in an observation (or three) from that special vantage point of a bartender looking out from behind the bar.

Specials:
Grilled Watermelon with honey & chili flakes
Fresh Melon with house cured Alaska Salmon
Heirloom tomatoes with lightly charred corn and basil salsa
Linguini with scallop
Soups:
Garlic cheese with saffron rice
Minestrone with chicken