I thank all the people who wrote to me about the absence of our daily newsletter for the past two weeks. And the guest-hosted radio show, too. My plan was to publish sporadically while I was touring London, Spain, France, and Italy. In past years it worked, but this time we had only two sea days on the ship in fifteen days. All the other days–including three each at the beginning and end of our grand tour–were so packed with activity that there was hardly time to take a shower and a nap in between. I did keep up writing my dining diary, but turning the raw copy into a newsletter or putting it out by email proved almost impossible. Internet at sea is unreliable, slow, and expensive.
To make up for that, everybody will get a bonus month on the ends of their subscriptions. And many more articles and photos in the next couple of weeks. We had much great food, drink, and company with the forty-two Eat Clubbers who joined us on this marvelous trip. We begin where the regular edition left off. By the end of next week, the Dining Diary will be completely caught up, and we’ll archive the diaries of the entire trip in on place for those who might like it that way.–Tastefully yours, Tom Fitzmorris
Wednesday, May 27, 2015.
Overtaken In London.
In contrast with Mary Ann’s well-planned day of shopping through an extensive, looping, moving-right-along route around London, her attempt to have an equally satisfying and expensive day of shopping today didn’t come to much. The Marys left at around eight a.m. for Harrod’s. That’s the world’s most impressive department store, offering for sale such a wide range of potential purchases that it can be said to sell everything. But for some reason that didn’t bring any satisfaction to the girls. Perhaps this is because a) it is rather cold outside, and the Marys are dressed as if it were New Orleans, or 2) MA’s feet hurt, due to uncomfortable shoes–the only kind MA owns, near as I can tell.
The shoe matter is probably my fault. I don’t own a pair of shoes that I would not be able to wear for ten or twelve hours at a stretch. The karmic imbalance might explain everything.
I go to breakfast downstairs in the Langham Hotel, where the opening meal of the day is complimentary and good. The best part of breakfast is reading the Financial Times and the just-plain Times, both of which have a clever style of journalism that doesn’t take politics as seriously as we do in the U.S. The articles all seem to wink an eye at you, regardless of the topic.
I am just finishing my work for the morning when the Marys appear in the room to collect me. Mary Ann says I should go to see the Transport Museum in Covent Garden, which itself is more than interesting. Resembling the French Market but much older and larger, Covent Garden encloses at least a dozen restaurants, most with tables on what the Italians would call a piazza. (English has only “public square” or “marketplace” for this, neither of which sing.) The area is filled with mimes, particularly the kind that pose motionless as statues. Some of these are truly astonishing. Also here are opera singers, yo-yo artists, comedians, and other performers. I get the impression that all of these just show up with their props and/or background music, and just begin their acts, without a by-your-leave to any sort of authority.
Covent Garden, and one of the many restaurants there.
The Transport Museum is about getting around London, starting with boats and ferries on the Thames, then getting into the above-ground roads and railways, and finally a close study of the original subway system–the Tube. That begins with coal-fired locomotives pulling their cars underground through their own smoke. It goes through the electrical era, with special features about how the cars functioned during the world wars.
Some of the older cars look almost identical to New Orleans streetcars. I am pleasantly surprised to see that our city is given credit for more or less creating the get-around-town streetcar. (The St. Charles Streetcar is, you probably know, the oldest street railway in the world.)
We make our way through several floors of old railcars the many children who find this fascinating.
We head outside to the “public square” and have a little snack of fries, juice, and coffee. Then the Marys run out of ideas, as things get colder and colder. ML tries to buy a jacket, but the stores either don’t have her size, or they don’t take American Express. MA continues to wince in pain from the inadequate shoes. Maybe she’ll buy a pair of those rubber boots we saw yesterday.
Rules, on the right, London’s oldest restaurant. And Big Easy, on the left.
At around fiveish, we head over to Rules, the restaurant where the Eat Club will gather in a loose way for dinner. Rules–the oldest restaurant in London, dating back to the 1700s–is a place I enjoyed twice in the past. I needed no reservation either time. But this time I arrive when when every major restaurant in town is full. The Eat Clubbers’ reservations are scattered across the book from five until nine-thirty. Unfortunately, my reservation is for the latter time. I can’t talk the maitre d’ into any kind of accommodation.
None of this is of any concern to the Marys, who have written off Rules as the kind of ancient restaurant that I love but that they hate. They leave me at Rules and head out for dinner in Soho (not very good) and pub-hopping (without taking a draught).
I cab it back to the hotel, take a shower and a nap, don a suit, and return to Rules. As I get out of the cab I meet four Eat Clubbers–the ones with the five o’clock reservations–just as they are leaving. Indeed, they take the cab in which I just arrived.
Nobody else with our group is currently in residence at Rules. I go upstairs to the bar and have a gin and tonic. Three men at the next table are talking about hunting wild game. Wild game is the main stock in trade of Rules. These guys fit right in.
Nothing else much happens until, at eight-thirty, two groups of two Eat Clubbers each show up. One of them gets a table for four, and mentions that I may be on the premises somewhere. The waiter finds me and beckons me to the table. Hurrah! I will not have to dine alone after all.
These folks take full advantage of the game orientation of the restaurant. She has lamb sweetbreads (!) as entree. He has a roast duck that is perfectly done. I have a special lamb presentation of a lamb neck, a lamb shoulder, and a lamb saddle. The two men each have the soup of the day, a creamy potage made with smoked haddock. It needs some Tabasco, I say, crossing my fingers that they have the stuff in house. (They produce it immediately.) All of this is delicious, and the prices are fair enough. My check, with a cocktail and a glass of wine, is about £75.
The other couple is at a table that will hold only two. I pop over there a few times during the meal, as well as after the other couple finishes dinner and departs.
Turns out the deuce people are also staying at the Langham Hotel. So we share a cab back. Sort of. The gentleman is a convert to Uber, the New Age taxicab, relying heavily on the internet and smart phones. He has the app on his phone, and demonstrates how it works. After he links in (the Uber outfit already has his credit card number), it is three minutes before a Bangladeshi driver arrives with an ordinary car to pick us up. He follows the GPS to the hotel, and makes it there faster than either of the two black cabs did earlier today. (In fairness, I note that traffic was much worse then, and now it’s almost midnight.)
I can see why the method of travel is so popular. But for the moment, I think I’m going to stick with the classic London black taxis.
Horseradish-Crusted Halibut
This is an idea inspired by Gautreau’s Sue Zemanick, but different enough from her great works with halibut that she avoids all blame. The detonator is a crusty topping with horseradish and garlic held in a matrix of bread crumbs. While the fish roasts, the thick crust get toasty brown.
Crust:
1/2 stick butter
1 cups bread crumbs
2 Tbs. fresh horseradish, finely grated
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped or even pureed
10 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped
1 Tbs. Creole seasoning
4 thick halibut fillets, cut across, about 8-10 oz. each
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
1. Melt the butter and blend it with the other crust ingredients until it almost but not quite sticks together. Divide this into four portions, and cover the top of each grouper fillet with a layer of the crust.
2. Place the encrusted fish fillets in a large skillet or baking pan, lightly oiled with olive oil. Sprinkle lemon juice over all. Bake the fish in a preheated 400- degree oven for 10-12 minutes. (To test the fish for doneness, push a kitchen fork into the center of the biggest fillet. Hold it there for five seconds, then pull it out. Touch the tines of the fork carefully to your lips. If it feels even warm, the fish is done.)
Serves four.
Sizzling Jasmine Rice Soup @ Little Chinatown
People who discover this fast-food restaurant turned into a Chinese place are invariably thrilled by it. The ducks and pork hanging in the glass warming case make a big statement visually, suggesting further adventures to come. This soup is perfect for the cold month. It’s a hot broth loaded with vegetables, with squares of puffed rice that sizzle if you add them immediately at the table. It’s a meal unto itself for six dollars.
Little Chinatown Sizzling Soup
Little Chinatown. Kenner: 3800 Williams Blvd. 504-252-9898.
This is among the 500 best dishes in New Orleans area restaurants. Click here for a list of the other 499.
June 10, 2015
Days Until. . .
Father’s Day 11
Eating Around The World
This is Portugal Day. The reason is unusual: it’s the anniversary of the 1580 death of national hero, poet and adventurer Luís de Camões. (Nobody knows when he was born.) Even stranger, Portugal lost its independence to Spain that year, and remained part of Spain for sixty years. But they and we celebrate, especially on the culinary front. Portugal’s cuisine, although uncommon in American restaurants, is influential. It followed the peripatetic Portuguese sailors around the world. The most popular dishes are those made with beans and sausages, but the best involve seafood–Portugal being a country of fishermen. The most famous Portuguese-American chef is Emeril Lagasse, who grew up in a Portuguese community in New England. So let’s toast Portugal with a glass of port–among the world’s greatest wines, and the unique property of Portuguese vineyards.
Music To Drink Caipirinhas By
João Gilberto, Brazilian singer (in Portuguese and English) and guitarist, was born today in 1931. His is the male voice at the beginning of The Girl From Ipanema. The short radio version of the song cut his part out and goes straight to the sexy voice of his wife (at the time) Astrud.
Edible Dictionary
foie, [fwah], French, n.–The French word for liver. Any kind of liver. So you have foie de veau (veal liver), foie de volaille (chicken liver), foie de porc (pork liver), foie de canard (duck liver), and many others. The most famous is foie gras, the liver of an overfattened goose or duck.
Today’s Flavor
Today is National Iced Tea Day. Well, we certainly drink enough of that. Although there are times when iced tea hits the spot, in gourmet restaurants you’re taking a chance by ordering it, especially when everyone at your table does so. Waiters register iced-tea drinkers as penny-pinchers and low tippers, and give less good service. Not all of them do, but the effect is widespread enough that we wouldn’t recommend it. The restaurant doesn’t care: nothing a restaurant sells carries a profit margin that can match that of iced tea.
The greatest improvement to iced tea in my memory was when classy restaurants began to served simple syrup with iced tea. It obviates the need for long, clanky stirring of slow-dissolving sugar.
Deft Dining Rule #615:
Bottled iced tea in restaurants is primarily a scheme to get you to pay for additional glasses, instead of getting unlimited free refills. The tea itself is not as good as freshly brewed.
Gourmet Gazetteer
Snail Bay is in lower Lafourche Parish in southeast Louisiana, about twenty miles north of Grand Isle, the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. The bay is about a mile wide and two miles long, with Snail Bayou passing through from east to west. Just south of Snail Bayou is Barataria Bay, one of the finest estuaries for oysters, shrimp, and fish anywhere in America. It’s also one of the places most endangered by the current oil spill. While most of this land has been eroding away as a result of rising sea levels and hurricanes, silt coming in from Bayou Lafourche makes the land around here a little more solid. If you find snails, in Snail Bay, you won’t want to eat them. The nearest restaurant is fifteen miles east by boat in Galliano: The Kajun Twist.
Moving Food Around
Today in 1869, a shipment of frozen beef from Texas arrived in New Orleans. It was the first long-distance shipment of frozen food in the world. It was a big deal, and occasioned celebration in the streets. If only they had known where that would lead!
Annals Of Popular Cuisine
On this date in 1965, the first Subway sandwich shop opened in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Fred DeLuca, a seventeen-year-old, had the idea of selling sandwiches to earn money for college. There are now 32,996 Subway restaurants serving their mediocre sandwiches in eighty-six countries. I congratulate the outfit on its success, and scratch my head wondering why anyone would eat a Subway when they could have a poor boy.
The Saints
This is the feast day of St. Brigid of Ireland. She lived in the fifth century, long enough ago that she heard St. Patrick preach. She is the patron saint of poultry farmers, cows, and milkmaids.
Annals Of Teetotaling
This is the birthday, in 1935, of Alcoholics Anonymous. Dr. Robert Smith started it by laying off the bottle for a full day. He and his friend Bill Wilson, who also had a problem, talked through the idea and launched it with zeal. I have several friends whose lives were saved by AA. I like the organization for that reason, and also because its only goal is sobriety for its members. AA turns up where it’s needed. Every cruise ship, for example, has a scheduled AA meeting daily, under the name “Friends of Bill W.” I hope neither you nor I will ever need to attend, but it’s good that the help is there
Food And Drink Namesakes
Frederick A. Cook was born today in 1865. He was an arctic explorer who claimed to be the first person to reach the North Pole. His claim is not generally accepted as valid, but a society named for him says it was legitimate. It’s still a controversy among those who care. . . Another explorer named Cook–Captain James Cook, a frequent visitor to this department–ran aground on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef today in 1770. . . Movie actor Russell Waters was born today in 1908. . . Fairfield Porter, an American painter, made his first strokes today in 1907.
Words To Eat By
“Portuguese, n.pl.–A species of geese indigenous to Portugal. They are mostly without feathers and imperfectly edible, even when stuffed with garlic.”–Ambrose Bierce.
Words To Drink By
“A hardened and shameless tea-drinker, who has for twenty years diluted his meals with only the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle has scarcely time to cool; who with tea amuses the evening, with tea solaces the midnight, and with tea welcomes the morning.”–Samuel Johnson.
“If you are cold, tea will warm you–if you are too heated, it will cool you–if you are depressed, it will cheer you–if you are excited, it will calm you.”–William Gladstone.
A Realistic Kitchen Gadget Manual.
It tell you the most closely-held secret about the thing. And that that switch on the side is for.
Click here for the cartoon.
Recent Back Editions
Click on any date below to see the entire 5-Star Edition for that day.
5-Star Back Edition WE 6/11/15
Vacation Editions Not Published 5/22–6/9/15
5-Star Back Edition WE 5/21/15
5-Star Back Edition WE 5/20/15
5-Star Back Edition TU 5/19/15
5-Star Back Edition MO 5/18/15
5-Star Back Edition FR 5/15/15
5-Star Back Edition TH 5/14/15
5-Star Back Edition WE 5/13/15
5-Star Back Edition TU 5/12/15
5-Star Back Edition MO 5/11/15
5-Star Back Edition FR 5/8/15
5-Star Back Edition TH 5/7/15
5-Star Back Edition WE 5/6/15
5-Star Back Edition TU 5/5/15
5-Star Back Edition MO 5/4/15
5-Star Back Edition FR 5/l/15
5-Star Back Edition TH 4/30/15
5-Star Back Edition WE 4/29/15
5-Star Back Edition TU 4/28/15
5-Star Back Edition MO 4/27/15