Text 4981, 93 rader
Skriven 2013-09-23 01:08:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: trip 210
================
In accord with the plan of showing me the culinary pride of
Rochester, Nancy took me to visit two contrasting markets,
Lori's followed by Lee's, which are in the same complex of
warehouse buildings, which must at one time have been the
regional wholesale market.

Lori's is the local answer to Whole Foods - a quirky, somewhat
yuppie and overpriced place with interesting merchandise from
bulk foods to expensive organic stuff to (huh?) jewelry. We
came for bulk snacks, sesame Cheddar sticks, to be exact,
though a bar of Camel brand chocolate halvah managed to sneak
into our purchases. This company claims to offer the only natural
halvah made in the USA, to which I wonder, what is artificial
about Joyva, my go-to brand since earliest childhood, when I
would beg my father to buy it (my mother tended to be unswayed
by such appeals). Report on the halvah - it's almost identical
in taste to Joyva, with good sesame taste and a fugitive cocoa
flavor. It's softer and less grainy, but at the same time the
mouthfeel is greasier rather than the oilier Joyva, which seems
counterintuitive to me. I was perhaps more favorably inclined
to this place by the fact that there was a quite attractive
brunette in her 40s, dressed in smart neo-hippie garb, who,
while I was scoping out the joint, kept appearing at the end
of my aisle and scooting out of the way when I looked back at
her. As I am too old for hide-and-seek and likely would not
be able to offer what a Rochester-based brunette would want, I
didn't play along, though the apparent overture was flattering.

Lee's is your average hole-in-the-wall Asian market, with a
mishmosh of all things oriental. It suffers from the same
problem as the Lotte that the Shipps used to go to, i.e., it
smells fishy as soon as you get in the door. Inspection of the
seafood department shows finfish of greater or less freshness
and oysters and crabs in the shell, dead and of a certain
antiquity. I guess you could do okay there, but I wouldn't go
out of my way to get fish there, shall we say. The usual
assortment of sauces, seasonings, preserved foods, candies,
snacks, pastries, frozen weirdnesses, slightly exotic produce,
and knickknacks. Nancy got a pack of lotus seed moon cakes,
which to my knowledge remain uneaten as of this writing. As
for Chinese stores, I prefer the Canton Market, an annex of
the Cantonese House restaurant, of which more later, both for
food quality, presentation, and price.

=

A trip to Wegmans to find squid tentacles: mission accomplished,
though at the cost of $9.99/lb. These became dinner.

In the fridge there was a remnant of the Johnson Estate blanc de
blancs 1990 (made I believe from the Aurora grape, a respectable
hybrid that was fashionable in the Finger Lakes around that time
and suitable for cooking if not drinking). I tasted it; it was
still pleasantly acid and distinctly winey, though oxidation had
well set in, and no real character remained. I reduced it quite
a bit, added persillade (see previous post) and a stick and half
of butter, and poached the squid just until it changed texture;
served this mess with bread, and people were happy, especially
myself, as I didn't have much bread.

Less happifying was Crystal Beach noncarbonated loganberry
beverage, which gives itself a glowing writeup about how it was
formulated by some local family for use in its barbecue
restaurant and until recently was available only there. Well,
it tastes like extra sweet raspberry Kool-Aid, and I was rather
disappointed in it. It went okay with the squid, though.

Calamares al ajillo
cat: mine, seafood, main
servings: 3

6 to 8 garlic cloves
1 c parsley
1/2 c dry white wine
6 oz butter
3/4 lb squid tentacles

Mince garlic and parsley together. Set aside.

Reduce wine by half. Add garlic mixture and butter.
Bring to the boil.

Add tentacles and stir-cook until squid texture
changes, a minute or two.

Serve immediately with bread or over pasta.

Source: moi


___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 Join Us: www.DocsPlace.org (1:123/140)