05.13.08
Posted in 5. Rants and Raves at 9:49 am by Chef Matt
The show on the Discovery Channel about crab fishermen in the Bering Sea, The Deadliest Catch, is a wonderful reality drama, and brings some perspective to what some people have to endure just so we can have whatever food we want whenever we want it. But being a resident of the DC area, there is another type of crab that we focus on around here - the Maryland Blue Crab.
And simply put, they are not doing so well.
The harvest numbers have been declining year after year in the Chesapeake Bay as they are over-fished year after year for crab cakes, crab bisque, crab boils, crab dip and so many other wonderful crab creations. As a child growing up here, I remember the days when a bushel of these crabs were plentiful and cost only about $20. This year, I have seen the cost as high as $220 for a single bushel. But these incredible costs - like our addiction to gasoline - do not seem to be deterring customers. Simply put, we are running this resource into the ground and fishing them out until there is nothing left.
Sure, over-harvesting is not the only factor effecting these crabs. Water pollution - namely agricultural run-off - is killing lots of these crabs as well. But pulling crabs out as soon as they are able to reproduce surely keeps the population down as there is no chance for the current generation to create a next one.
In response, the governors of Maryland and Virginia have listened to this crisis and made the difficult, but correct, decision this year to cut the female blue crab harvest by 34%. Drastic situations have gotten us to the point where we need drastic measures. Yes, some fishermen will lose their jobs. But simply put, having some crab fishermen lose their jobs is better than having ALL the crab fishermen lose their jobs, (and all the crabs lose their lives…) which is the direction we are headed if we keep full steam ahead with our harvesting. Just ask any North Atlantic Cod fishermen what happened up there…
We want a future for these beauties, so let’s control our present… |
But as consumers, we have to take some action as well. We have to cut down our consumption of blue crabs as well. Make no mistake, the fuel on this fire is the fact that we eat these crabs in huge numbers, and thus sustain this $125 billion industry. Cut down the demand, and the harvest will decrease as well. The crabs will have a chance to recover, and then hopefully we can re-establish a more sustainable fishery for the animals. And this will of course only happen with the fishermen themselves understand and cooperate with the regulations that make the fishery sustainable. We have a long way to go here, but it will all be well-worth the effort.
And if you think that’s just wishful thinking, I ask you to take a look at what happened with Maine lobsters.
Chef Matt
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04.23.08
Posted in 5. Rants and Raves at 11:48 pm by Chef Matt
It seems that the consistent need for a “bad guy” in American public has extended itself to the world of food. Just like we need a “Public Enemy #1″ to be scared of when we walk down the streets, we need a “health enemy #1″ to avoid like the plague (pun not intended) to check for on labels.
“I’ve come for you… and I’ve brought Crisco!” |
And of course, our enemy du jour is: trans fat! (Dramatic chord.)
Yes, this is the root of all evil in food. If you eat any trans fat, you will surely die a quick, yet horrible death. So check those labels for trans fat people. If there are none in there, then it is good for you!
What a load of crap. I mean, doesn’t it seem like just yesterday that avoiding carbs was the ultimate solution to preventing a miserable death by tastiness? And before that, all we had to check for on labels was the cholesterol content. Before that, it was just the calorie level that caused the most concern. (”Just for the taste of it… One Calorie!… Diet Coke! ” Never mind what aspartame does to you…)
There are two things wrong with this kind of thinking when it comes to nutrition.
How odd that their circle seems to “cross out” both “saturated fat” and “cholesterol”…. |
First, as I alluded to earlier, this approach puts blinders on us when we look at nutrition labels. I was taste-testing a pack of Gorton’s Shrimp Temptations (final verdict - pretty good, but not worth $9/box…) and the box said that I could “indulge myself all I wanted” since there were no trans fats! Indeed, take a look at the nutrition label to the right. This is how they present it on their website, and the nutrition label does indeed back up this claim - the trans fat count per serving is indeed 0g. But the overall fat count in a serving is 12 grams, and let’s not neglect the 670mg of sodium. If you were to eat this entire box - which is not an unreasonable meal size - that would be 81% of you total daily sodium intake!
Yes, they were yummy, but I would hardly say it was safe to “indulge all I wanted”. But if I was only paying attention to the trans fat though, I just might have believed that.
The other problem with this narrow-focused thinking with respect to healthy eating is that it does not recognize that nutrition science is a very new science. We are still a long way from knowing everything there is to know. So much so that for quite a long time there, the recommended replacement for butter to keep cholesterol down was margarine. For those who don’t know, margarine contains trans fat. To put it more accurately, margarine IS trans fat. A big stick of it. This is what doctors were suggesting their patients with heart problems eat to reduce their cholesterol intake.
Almost as good an idea as those cigarettes that had asbestos filters, huh?…
The flip side of this is also that there usually seems to be one “magic bullet” cure-all good-for-you food that you should be getting as much of as possible. Right now, that seems to be whole grains. Which are indeed good for you, and you should get as much of them as you can. But let’s not forget when green leafy vegetables were the best thing going. Or anti-oxidants. Or tofu and bean sprouts…
The trick to healthy eating of course is to have as much of these beneficial foods as possible, and limit that which we know is bad for us. Oh yeah, and get up, get outside and stop reading this drivel while you’re at it too!
But before you go, allow me to share with you my guess for the next “bad guy” in the dietary world. I think it is going to be “refined sugars”. There is already some rumblings in this court, and I don’t think the “anti-carb faction” has been totally silenced - they are licking their wounds (which probably taste like bacon) and refining their message. Also, riding the wave of how whole grains are “good carbs”, the “bad carb” will soon have to come into some sort of prominence.
Makes my teeth hurt to look at this. |
So yes, “raw” sugar (or will they call it “whole cane”?) may become the next “good” thing for you as the flip side of this coin when refined sugars are burned at the stake. Please don’t fall for it.
A Snickers bar by any other name would taste just as sweet. And will make you fat.
Chef Matt
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01.22.08
Posted in 6. Reviews, 5. Rants and Raves at 11:16 am by Chef Matt
Since I live near a major metropolis, I‘m able to partake of the grand tradition of restaurant week. It’s a wonderful tradition that allows people like me - who live on a chef’s salary or it’s equivalent - to enjoy three course meals on the cheap. Lunches for $20 and dinners for $30 are not only affordable, but they also offer the chance to try new places and perhaps sample a restaurant that is otherwise out of touch price-wise.
I’ve been enjoying this tradition for several years now, and the list of places I’ve been to as a result is very long and my opinions are quite extensive. So I’ll save you from all of that, and just pass on my review of this year’s selections. Those of you who don’t live near DC may still find this interesting as there are some themes that still may resonate with you and your own restaurant week experiences. (In other words, don’t stop reading yet just because you can’t go to these specific places.)
In the straw or out of it, I’m a fan of the chianti. (Also with or without fava beans…) |
Sesto Senso - This charming little Italian restaurant just south of Dupont Circle has a regular menu that is both traditional as well as seasonal. I always give extra points to places that attempt to cook with the seasons. The wine list was also extensive with plenty of Italian varietals which always makes me happy. (By “happy”, I mean “tipsy”.) The menu that was offered up for restaurant week though was a tad limited in choices, but the food on it was still quite good, and the portions were not completely skimpy (as is often the case unfortunately…). I recommend trying to get the table on the balcony that overlooks the rest of the dining room. That was a real treat for us. I give this restaurant a solid B.
Sonoma - This wine bar near the capitol was very inviting in that they offered up almost their entire menu as part of the restaurant week promotion. I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, it shows that they are not trying to cheat you out of the experience by giving you a full range of choices of their normal fare, but on the other hand, I like to see a place that makes a special effort for the occasion. In this case though, there were a few items that carried an extra charge, but those items were not clearly labeled, and could only be discovered on close inspection of the menu. But we had plenty of time for that, as the service was rather slow. The first courses we had were equally uninspiring as my wife’s beet salad was flavorless and my scallops tasted slightly burnt. The porgy I had for a main course was beautifully presented and perfectly cooked, but again horribly under-seasoned. The lack of salt and pepper on the table was either an oversight, or just plain hubris, but it left me not with a bad taste in my mouth - just no taste. I give them a C.
Ceiba - I was really excited to try this restaurant since it is part of a fabulous restaurant group and the other chefs at Rustico were all agreeing it had incredible food. They were right. Again, practically the whole menu was fair game as part of the restaurant week offerings, and only a very few dishes carried any extra charge. The ceviche that arrived as my first course was the best I’ve ever had, and my braised pork shank was nestled in a bed of black beans and rice that has known no equal. Additionally the service was kind and attentive - even the coat-check girl was warm and friendly! This was a great night out with fabulous food to boot. I applaud their efforts to put their best foot forward on restaurant week and give them a well-deserved A.
If you are not familiar with beignets, you are missing out on one of the great culinary treats of the world. |
Mendocino - This was the only restaurant that I’d been to before in my restaurant week selections. And how odd was it that they sat my wife and I at the exact same table?… This restaurant is owned and operated by the same people who run Sonoma, so I was a tad worried that maybe it was not going to be as good as I remembered. Once again, the menu was open for selection, but almost every item carried an extra charge. This really gets my goat. If you’re going to open your menu, then open it. But don’t pretend to be part of this promotion, and then have everything be more expensive. It is like a bait-and-switch on the customers. (But this is not the worst offense… more on that later…) Despite the fact that I was not able to get a meal for $30, and had to pay extra for my selections, the rabbit with gnocchi, mushrooms and grana padano was fabulous, and the venison chop that was my main course was perfectly cooked. Even the desserts blew me away with a melt-in-my-mouth goat cheese cheesecake and my wife’s warm, rich apple beignets. Their wine list is quirky and interesting, if not horribly overpriced, but that didn’t stop me from trying out all it had to offer. A repeat performance that was well worth the return. They can enjoy their A-.
Of course, being a foodie, and working with other foodies means that I got to relate my stories about my experiences to others while hearing about their adventures as well. And the worst offense of all happened to a fellow sous chef of mine at a restaurant I won’t name since I wasn’t the one who was there. (However, I’d been there for a restaurant week before, and had a similar experience.) The restaurant in question has great food but is normally unbelievably expensive. The concept of dining there for $30 seems like the steal of the century, so I can imagine they book themselves solid come each and every restaurant week.
But when it came time to see what you choose as part of his restaurant week menu, my friend was crestfallen to see the only selection available for the first course was:
Is this some kind of joke?!? |
The house salad.
There is no excuse for this whatsoever. I really would like to call this place out by name since this is such an egregious example of by-passing the rules and spirit of restaurant week. They deserve scorn for this, and I myself have not returned since my similar experience of a few years prior. (Though they had a few more selections than that back then, and the main motivation behind my pseudo-boycott is financial…) Simply put, if you are only going to offer a salad, just do everyone a favor, and don’t be a part of restaurant week. Sure, you get more people in the door, but do you think they are going to say great things about their experience when that was all that was offered?
Anyway, this restaurant week ends, and I have a few new places under my belt. Next time it comes around, I already have a place or two in mind based on suggestions from my friends. I just hope you all give me a chance to make my reservations first…
Chef Matt
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01.02.08
Posted in 5. Rants and Raves at 12:05 am by Chef Matt
It seems that this country goes through periods of culinary stagnation wherein one ingredient is seen as the magical cure-all for whatever it is that someone is cooking. It is the epitome of culinary stagnation, like some collective “writer’s block” that all chefs suffer from simultaneously, and they collectively fill that void in their creativity by all agreeing to use the same ingredient to death while they all work on their own dishes in secret until the public has finally had enough.
The return to sanity has thankfully come for these guys. |
For example, I remember quite clearly the period of the early 90’s where you couldn’t go into any restaurant without finding at least half the dishes adorned with sun dried tomatoes. They were everywhere and on everything. Pizzas, breads, salads, canapés, pasta dishes, sauces, just about anything you could think of had sun dried tomatoes involved in them in one way or another. I never saw it, but I’m sure somebody tried to sell sun dried tomato ice cream at some point. It was that insane. Entire cookbooks were hastily written on the subject so as to cash in on the fact that people saw this ingredient as the only way to make their dishes popular and palatable. The madness quickly subsided thankfully until cilantro made a similar run in the late 90’s and early 00’s.
Now we are in the midst of yet another such run. Where one ingredient seems to be the end-all-be-all of haute cuisine. That ingredient is of course, the truffle. I’m specifically noticing more the white truffle than the prohibitively expensive black truffle of course, but it is in and on everything. White truffle oil is drizzled onto almost every dish as a finishing touch while white truffle shavings adorn every appetizer imaginable - regardless of how their flavor and/or aroma compliment (or conflict with) the food with which they are paired.
In comedy, they say the ultimate example of a hack is a comedian who just goes up to the microphone and merely tells jokes. I would have to say that the moniker of “hack” could just as easily be applied to a chef who just liberally sprinkles the “ingredient of the month” around on whatever dish without a care. And in at this point in history it seems that truffles are being tossed around like poker chips on a Vegas craps table.
White truffles. Great when used PROPERLY! |
This is not to say I don’t like truffles myself. If used sparingly and properly, they are nothing short of wonderful. I even have some in my fridge as I write this, as well as some truffle oil on my counter. But I don’t go pouring them on to every dish I make just to impress my wife and friends.
And it’s not to say that we don’t use truffles at my restaurant either. With the Autumn pizza’s run coming to an end thanks to the end of back mission fig season, Andrew (another sous chef) has come up with a wonderful winter pizza. Roasted cauliflower, white truffle peelings and a fines herbs salad topped with white truffle oil together make a fabulous pizza that works together in harmony and balance. It’s not just truffles for truffles’ sake, it is part of the winter theme and works well with all the other ingredients atop the crust.
All I’m asking for is some sort of wake-up call among chefs and home cooks and the celebrity chefs. Please, for the love of God, realize that truffles, like any other ingredient, are not meant for every dish you make. There are foods they go well with, and foods they will easily overwhelm. It is important to know which are which, and to use that knowledge to create good food.
Of course, all I really have to do is wait until truffles go out of favor, which will happen soon enough… and then brace myself for whatever ingredient is the next “chosen one”.
Chef Matt
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