Inside Harvard’s New Science of Cooking of Class
Ten minutes before Science of the Physical Universe 27 – better known as the food/science extravaganza that’s bringing in Ferran Adrià (El Bulli), Wylie Dufresne (wd-50), and José Andrés (minibar, Jaleo) to campus — the doorway was already mobbed. See the press release about the food science class here. .
There’s a seven minute rule at the school. Classes never start on time; students always arrive at least a few minutes after the hour. But this was something different. By the time Applied Math and Physics Professor Michael Brenner pushed his way to the door (see video below), anxious students were ready to charge through the doors.
Finally, I managed to run over to a seat, but not before almost being trampled over. People were sitting in the aisles, standing in the back, and between the seats. Some ended up just leaving in defeat.
The class sounds amazing. You can read through my notes after the jump. Except… it’s being lotteried with no preference for seniors! Even though it’s probably going to be offered again next year (albeit, with different speakers). I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get in, but will be pretty upset if I don’t. Sigh. I’m sure taking intro to Computer Science will take up enough of my energy…
Anyway, if you’re curious about happened in that first lecture, check out my notes.
Notable events: Brenner made some insta-gel using Calcium Chloride. He also fried an egg, had students whisk up some mayonnaise, and promised that we’d make custards, sous vide eggs, molten chocolate cakes and use MEAT GLUE to make shrimp noodles. Man.
Also, there were some bizarrely actor-like chef photos that caused the audience to explode into giggles. Dan Barber of Blue Hill, I’m looking at you.
Tags: el bulli, ferran adria, harvard, harvard food science, jose andres, wd-50, wylie dufresneNo Comments »
The Berkshires’ Amazing $5 Tomato
I picked up some beautiful heirloom tomatoes at Rubiner’s in Great Barrington, MA. One of them was truly a beaut: a giant green tomato that tasted better than any ketchup-red supermarket pretender. But it did cost about $5.
The finished display, with slices of mozzarella, drizzled with olive oil and liberally doused in kosher salt.
I have to say, if you’re in Great Barrington, Rubiner’s is a must-see. They have a beautiful selection of artisanal cheeses and other rotating specialty foods. One time, my better half and I decided to get the smallest possible quantity of five different cheeses for a picnic lunch. The employee was extraordinarily gracious about it.
Good job, Rubiner’s.
Tags: berkshires, heirloom tomato recipeNo Comments »
Attention, NYC Chinese Food-venturers!
I got this interesting email the other day. Josh is starting up a group to explore NYC’s food scene, with the first trip using my two guides for the Golden Shopping Mall. If you’re interested in joining other people to eat Seriously Good Chinese food at the Golden Shopping Mall in NYC, do take Josh up on his offer this Saturday…
No Comments »My name is Josh and I just started a new Meetup Group, called the New York Epic Food Adventurers Club. The idea of the club is that we will go on long walks to get to our food destinations as a way to explore the city, get exercise, and work up an appetite. For the first meeting, this Saturday, September 4, we will meet at the Manhattan side of the Queensboro Bridge at 9am, walk across it, and make our way to Flushing, where we will dine at the Golden Shopping Mall. I intend to use Lingbo’s guide (basement guide here) as a reference.
Anyway, I just started the group and I am trying to recruit members. If anyone on your team is interested, or if you even think the group merits some kind of note on Serious Eats, I would very much appreciate it. Thanks!
Josh Goldblatt
Founder
New York Epic Food Adventurer’s Club
http://www.meetup.com/New-York-Walk-to-Eat-Club/
Persian and Italian Prix Fixe Traveling Meal
I ignore a lot of press releases, but I got an interesting one recently about a Persian/Italian dinner done by Lala Rokh and Bin 26 enoteca.
I had to reread the description before I figured it out. This is not some fusion dinner, per se. It involves two courses at Lala Rokh (Persian homestyle food) before getting up and walking over to Bin 26 enoteca (for the Italian portion). You can also pair it with wine for a surcharge, of course. Click through the jump to see the menu and deet – it’s every Tuesday. I actually might go.
I’m also doing a review soon of some cookware (ehm, I’m thinking of a chef’s knife or a cast iron skillet) sponsored by CSN who sells all kinds of crazy stuff in their 200 niche e-commerce stores – shoes, kitchen tables, etc. They’re also Boston-based, which is cool. I wonder if they deal with wholesalers or dropshippers. How many people doing SEO. Whether they outsource support staff. Anyway. That’s the ecommerce/Tim Ferriss-obsessed nerd in me.
Tags: bin 26, italian, lala rokh, persianNo Comments »
Zinneken’s in Harvard Square Brings You Belgian Waffles
This exclusive tip just in: Zinneken’s, a Belgian waffle shop, will be opening in about four months in Harvard Square.
Zinneke in Brussels dialect means someone of mixed origins, which not only represents the founders, but also their ambitions to introduce authentic Belgian food to Bostonians. They promise that Zinneken’s baked-to-order offerings will to put your standard Americanized “Belgian waffle” to shame. Zinneken’s signature showpiece is the Liège waffle, aka sugar waffle, which is sweeter, smaller in size, and denser than their conventional brethren.
But it gets better!
All photos courtesy of Nhon Ma.
These sugar waffles ($4-6) are named for their caramelized sugar coating and will be served with everything from Nutella to Chantilly cream. I particularly like the proposed “Oreos Freakin’ Party” (no joke) special which involves a grind-tastic blend of Oreos, strawberries, and whipped cream. See the menu from their brochure below.
Harvard Square’s Waffle Pioneers
Who would chase the perfect waffle recipe across continents? One founder, Nhon Ma, is a Harvard grad who jumped from the corporate world to pursue his true passion: food. But it wasn’t a random coincidence, by any means. In fact, his mother was the only Asian chef to ever get a coveted Michelin star in Europe. After spending his childhood taste testing her creations, Nhon cut his teeth by working for her.
He met his business partner Bertrand Lempkowicz in high school, who’s leaving behind his Brussels communication company to join the venture. They’re still in the process of signing the lease, but envision the shop will be “a cosy European atmosphere” that serves up authentically light and fluffy waffles to passing crowds.
Photos from their Facebook page and Twitter show a test run of snackers munching on waffles with a variety of toppings.
Beyond waffles, Nhon promises that Belgian chocolate, French macarons, flourless fudge, Belgian chocolate brownies, and sweet crepes are also in the works.
Their retail space will be at 1 Mifflin Place, #400. Looking on Google Maps, it looks like it’ll be near FedEx and Harvest. Actually, this is their administrative space – the actual location is under wraps. Nhon reveals that it’ll be closer to Harvard Square, not far from Tommy Doyle’s andUpstairs on the Square.
Can’t wait! Look forward to an interview with Nhon Ma coming soon.
Their tentative proposed menu – with delicious photos! – after the jump.
Tags: belgian waffles, harvard square, omg yay!, zinekens, zinikens, zinikins, zinnekens, zinnekins, zinnikins1 Comment »
How To Make Trailer Trash Eggs Benedict (Recipe!)
Eggs Benedict with Hot Dogs. I’m not joking. (My photo, with a Canon Rebel XS + kit lens + PS)
I was cooking up breakfast one Saturday morning for my better half when the urge hit me. You know. The urge. That crazy little idea in your head.
Yeah, I thought. Yeah, I’m a cooking badass. I’m going to make EGGS BENEDICT.
You don’t understand how exciting this idea was. I had never successfully poached an egg, nor had I ever attempted a French sauce. This recipe also contained four simultaneous (sort of) components.
To my “lazy girl curry”-making self (instructions: chop up onion/garlic/ginger, fry and add curry paste + protein + veggies, dump in coconut milk, cook it ’til it tastes good) making eggs benedict seemed like nothing less than scaling a cooking Everest.
Ok. So a real cooking Everest for me would be doing something like brining and deep frying a Thanksgiving turkey, but regardless.
There was only one problem. No, two. No bacon. No lemon (for the Hollandaise).
Being like any other lazy human being, I didn’t want to put on clothes to run to the corner store. I preferred to let the oil splatter my bare skin, of course. (Don’t try this at home, and don’t try it in high heels.)
So I subbed in hot dogs from the freezer and figured out I might as well use up the chicken stock in a velouté sauce, a French sauce made by combining roux (flour and butter) with stock. It’s more often paired with poultry and seafood dishes, but hey, I was gonna try.
Click on the link to get my humorous (but totally serious!) recipe.
Tags: eggs benedict, lingbo cooks, trailer trash, using up hot dogs4 Comments »
Flushing Mall’s Improbable Statue
There are some things in life that can only be elegantly described as “WTF?”
This statue (with me hamming it up on the left to convey scale) was found in Queens’ Flushing Mall en route to the Flushing Mall Food Court. Photographer Robyn Lee was equally perplexed.
Yes. WTF indeed.
Tags: flushing mall, nyc, queensNo Comments »
Why Chinese Restaurateurs Get Stuck Selling Cheap
Egg drop soup, courtesy of Serious Eats’ Robyn Lee
I got an interesting comment on my post about why Chinese restaurants are so cheap about a month ago. (And my friend Sam sent in an excellent post about the culinary fundamentals that work against Chinese chefs.) The reader was Jack Neefus, a Baltimore resident who works in finance and dabbles in cooking and travel. He’s been to China few times, including my dad’s hometown of Heilong Jiang.
I asked if I could repost his comment, so he took an extra step beyond to rewrite it into a thoughtful essay. For space purposes, I’ll recap the beginning and excerpt my favorite parts. (I’m so high on my editorial power. You have no idea.)
Jack makes an economically-driven argument for Chinese restaurant owners’ motives. Chinese restaurants, he contends, are frequently owned by immigrants who view their businesses as a relatively stable form of income, compared to the restaurateur driven by love of cuisine and hospitality.
In his writeup, oversupply and price competition are major issues. One interesting point he raises is that American Chinese food tends to favor cheap, bulky vegetables that don’t require a lot of cleaning or cooking, and maintain volume. Ex. broccoli and onion. He also touches on the commodification of Chinese food, and how it’s now viewed as another fast food category with a factory-issued menu.
I found that his personal experiences (let’s call them abbreviated case studies) added the most value to his argument. He draws on his connections in China as well as Baltimore to make some pretty provocative statements.
Jack also breaks down the variety of niche, higher-priced Chinese foods, ranging from jacking up the decor to regional dish specialization.
If you’re nerdy about food (as I am), this is a fun read. I don’t necessarily agree with all of his logic or assertions, but that’s part of the fun.
Please chime in with your own experiences, thoughts, or rebuttals.
Tags: chinese food, economics, jack neefus8 Comments »
Cambridge Restaurant Search Directory
I stumbled across this useful page, which may interest the Cantabrigians and Cambridge-lovers amongst you. It’s a check-the-boxes style of restaurant search where you can sort by cuisine and neighborhood.
It is, however, two years out of date. Craigie on Main “will open in November 2008″ on their Central Square directory. Yeah… But worth a glance if you’d like to browse a comprehensive list of eateries.
2 Comments »Review of Umami in Brookline, MA
The Chilean sea bass, the one thing I would sort of recommend here.
I visited Umami in Brookline because UrbanDaddy wrote it up.
The food is creative Asian (billed as Japanese, but it’s not that exclusively). From the menu, it reads, “Asian Inspired Global mix of culinary imagination with a creative twist.” I first had inklings of what was to come reading the Umami menu, which sounded more like a hopeful amalgam of seasonings than a clear vision. Also, they picked an ugly font, so the typographer in me balked.
Service was bumbling, but earnest. I liked our server, actually. He was kind of awkward, but very sweet.
My suspicions as to the food, however, were confirmed with their free “appetizer.” So there’s nothing wrong with free appetizers, but I mean… just look at this:
The matchstick cucumbers were actually the wet, seedy cucumber innards. When you picked on up, it flopped.
Tags: asian fusion, brookline, umamiNo Comments »
Deuxave opening in Boston’s Back Bay’s menu, hours
I have been observing Deuxave’s construction on Mass Ave and Commonwealth for months now. I’m frequently found traipsing around Back Bay these days, so an ambitious new neighborhood restaurant is much welcomed.
The food is seasonally inspired new American, with emphasis on sourcing local ingredients, and priced at around $26 an entree. The whole shebang is set to open “around” Labor Day (September 6th) and is the foodbaby of exec chef Chris Coombs (formerly of Ming Tsai’s Blue Ginger; Aujourd’hui; Troquet; and the Food Network’s Chopped) and owner Brian Piccini (of Aquitaine and dbar).
I instinctively kind of like Coombs – he knows to spin his youthfulness to his advantage. How’s that for a PR lesson, college kids?
One thing that perplexes me is their pronunciation. It’s explained as “doo-ave” in their press release. But I remember that in French class, there’d normally be a “z” sound to transition between vowel sounds. So I’d been thinking of it as “duhz-ave.” Any French speaker input?
To see their sample menu, click for the jump.
Tags: Back Bay, Boston, deux ave, deuxave, menu, opening2 Comments »
CampusTweet interviews me on video; Korean food ensues
The very talented Lynne Guey of CampusTweet interviews me on video. Dinner was at Woorijip, a Korean fast food place in NYC’s Korea town. She’s also written up a lovely and insightful blog post about meeting someone you’ve been following through the Internet.
There are some embarrassing photos in there. Yes, I wore a spike bracelet and red zebra print tank tops. I thought I was pretty badass.
Thanks to mutual friend Mindy Z. for the introduction! (and Danielle for the introduction to Mindy.)
CampusTweet.TV Episode 3: Dinner with Lingbo Li from lynne guey on Vimeo.
Tags: harvard, lynne guey, video1 Comment »
Calling all Boston Vinophiles
Want to win tickets to Morton’s Uncorked Tasting Series? Have ace recommendations? See the blurb below:
Tags: wineUncorked Tasting Series, Morton’s The Steakhouse Back Bay is asking Boston vinophiles to submit wine suggestions for the August 30 tasting (theme is “You Tell Us”) for the chance to win four comp tickets to the event. All folks have to do is send suggestions (sky’s the limit) to cm.mbo@mortons.com by August 26. The winner and three guests will be treated to five wines paired with five signature Morton’s hors d’oeuvres at the August 30 tasting from 6:30 – 8:00pm at Morton’s Back Bay (699 Boylston Street). Tickets are also available for $40 each (call 617-266-5858 to reserve a spot).
No Comments »
Best food in Flushing, Queens: 11 food stalls, 1 monster post
The followup to yesterday’s post about the Golden Shopping Mall’s first floor can only be outshone by the followup.
This is truly epic, and I say this with no twinge of marketing bravado. You should take a look at it, even if you have no interest in visiting Queens, because you want to see what a truly obsessive, twisted blog post looks like.
Seriously. This stuff took weeks. And there’s a video coming.
2 Comments »How to eat Flushing, Queens
Don’t miss my most recent post for Serious Eats, a monster roundup of Golden Shopping Mall’s first floor. Yeah, I did all the graphics. Because I’m obsessive and like twiddling bits on Photoshop for hours and hours.
My roundup of the basement is tomorrow, and there will be a Flushing Mall food court post as well! Finally, I’m working on a video to accompany these posts where I’m the genial, marrow-eating host who interviews chefs in Chinese. Exciting!
Tags: flushing, nyc, serious eatsNo Comments »
About
This food blog is penned by Boston (maybe the Internet's) most gutsy blogger. Mmm, offal. I blog a lot about Boston food.
My mission: to inspire you to live an adventurous life through food.
If you need encouragement, read about my bizarre life: I was a beauty pageant contestant in Miss New York USA 2010 and ate delicious brains on video. (Separately.)
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Inside Harvard’s New Science of Cooking of Class 7 minutes, 23 seconds ago- Some reflections on pageantry 9 minutes, 25 seconds ago
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