Harvard Bookstore is selling my book Eating Soup with Chopsticks! Thank you! Veritas - thank you.
https://shop.harvard.com/book/9798638488505
Ruth Paget
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Woody's at the Monterey (CA) Airport by Ruth Paget
Woody’s at the Monterey (CA) Airport by Ruth Paget
On a recent visit to the Monterey-Carmel Airport (California) to pick up my daughter Florence Paget from a winter vacation in snow-bound Wisconsin, we decided to go to Woody’s, the upstairs bar-restaurant at the airport with an observation deck and indoor/outdoor seating.
The suitcases came with us, and there was plenty of room to store them. Woody’s is set up to accommodate golf club suitcases for tournaments at Pebble Beach and other courses on the Monterey Peninsula. The region promotes golf tourism for all budgets.
Florence was welcomed back to Monterey with a heaping dish of calamari as an appetizer. The calamari came with creamy tartar sauce and pungent cocktail sauce made with freshly grated horseradish. (I consider horseradish an elixir of good health.)
We next ordered dishes featuring beef from the Harris Ranch northeast of Monterey by Highway 5.
I had a cheeseburger that came with tangy cheddar cheese, 3 slices of thick-cut bacon, the Harris Ranch beef patty, lettuce and tomato, slices of red onion, pickled red onion, sweet pickles, and a brioche bun. I had pub fries and pepperoncino peppers on the side. The pub fries can be made into truffled fries for an extra charge.
Florence ordered the patty melt, which came with the same vegetable additions for the burger with cheese on grilled and buttered rye bread.
Sometimes you just want a cheeseburger, and Woody’s amply delivers on that.
Woody’s will also validate parking tickets for up to two hours, so you can literally park across the street from the airport entrance and take the elevator or stairs up to the restaurant.
Woody’s at the airport is a gem bar-restaurant that merits a detour on the way home from work for local commuters on Highway 68 for dining or take-out.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Wednesday, January 17, 2024
10 French Antioxidant Foods by Ruth Paget
10 French Antioxidant Foods by Ruth Paget
When I moved to France as a young woman, I was happy to learn that the French eat many antioxidant foods that remove free radicals that cause cancer in addition to drinking red wine, which they claim reduces breast cancer when combined with Camembert cheese.
I still eat these foods in California where I live now to help with “digestion” as the French say:
1-Homemade Yogurt
I use a yogurt machine made by Mueller to cook 8 pots of yogurt. I buy Euro Cuisine Yogurt Culture from Amazon and add it to six Horizon organic whole milk packages to make my own probiotic yogurt. The cooked yogurt goes in the refrigerator overnight to further solidify. The taste of yogurt made this way is slightly sour and perfect with the addition of jam or fresh fruit.
2-Maille Mustard from Dijon
I make my own vinaigrette with Maille mustard (part red wine vinegar, 2 parts olive oil, and 2 parts Maille mustard). I use this vinaigrette on salads like the following:
-baby greens
-grated carrot salad -sliced tomato salad
-tuna-black bean-roasted red pepper-black olive-pepperoncino salad
-pasta salad
3-Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate for Breakfast
4-Dry and Fresh Mushrooms
The French eat mushroom quiche and sell it frozen at the grocery store. I tend to eat mushroom-cheese pizza in the U.S. as a quiche substitute. I also make mushroom soup and sauté mushrooms to go with steak.
5-Pain d’épice de Dijon
Gingerbread made with delicious spices sometimes called antiseptic such as cloves, ginger, and cinnamon.
6-Carte Noire Coffee
Coffee brand of strong Arabica coffee to sip after dining.
7-Sauerkraut for Alsatian Flavor
Sauerkraut with caraway seeds and seeds does taste really good with a cold wheat beer, hefeweizen.
8-Curry Rice
The French at one time had a colony in Pondicherry, India and have retained “curry” as a spice. Cooked rice with one teaspoon of curry and butter is a nice side with chicken or fish.
9-Ratatouille
A delicious vegetable stew made with olive oil, garlic, onion, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, thyme, and rosemary. Ratatouille is excellent with baguette slices to soak up the cooking juices.
10-Chocolate Mousse
Mousse made with less sugar and more dark chocolate becomes a strong antioxidant.
These foods have the added benefit of being delicious as well as good for you.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Sunday, January 14, 2024
Eating Loco Moco in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget
Eating Loco Moco in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget
Loco Moco, a Hawaiian dish, is my first choice on the Alvarado Street Brewery’s menu for breakfast or lunch with my family in Monterey, California.
This California Brew Pub’s version of Loco Moco features a well-done Harris Ranch beef patty on top of a mound of bacon-fried rice. Shredded cabbage, grated ginger, and a fried egg sit on top of the beef patty. Bacon gravy covers everything. I like my fried egg over easy so that every bite of loco moco is unctuous and makes me forget about the calories.
Loco Moco is a go-to dish in California as well as Hawaii, because California grows rice in the area around Sacramento north of Monterey.
The Alvarado Street Brewery also makes excellent beer-battered, Pacific Cod Fish and Chips, pub-made pretzels, and pizzas in addition to brewing several kinds of beer, especially IPAs (India Pale Ales).
The best thing about the Alvarado Street Brewery in addition to food is that it is a warm, welcoming place with music, regulars, and an outdoor beer garden.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Fish Tacos in Seaside, California by Ruth Paget
Fish Tacos in Seaside, California by Ruth Paget
Tourists seeking local flavor at Googie’s Restaurant in Seaside, California (close to Monterey) might want to try the fish tacos. The Pacific cod used in the fish tacos can be broiled or deep-fried. I like crunchy extra calories, so I always get deep-fried fish tacos.
The fish tacos come three to a plate with soft, corn tortillas, shredded cabbage, pico de gallo salsa, and fresh lime slices for squeezing. The pico de gallo salsa, pronounced “ga-yo,” is made with chopped tomato, onion, Serrano peppers, salt, lime juice, and cilantro. Its perky flavor ties the deep-fried Pacific cod and cabbage together with the savory flavor of the warm corn tortillas.
Googie’s also serves traditional English fish and chips complete with vinegar in a bottle on the side.
The restaurant’s location by the ocean and the Embassy Suites Hotel and Holiday Inn Express make it a great location for breakfast before touring downtown Monterey or shopping in Seaside. (Googie’s is in the Seaside Auto Mall for starters.)
For Salinas diners, Super Pollo by Star Market also does great fish tacos with a creamy sauce.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Vegetable Vindaloo in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget
Vegetable Vindaloo in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget
Vegan visitors to Monterey, California might want to try the vegetable vindaloo at the Ambrosia India Bistro located in downtown Monterey by the historic Casa Munras Hotel and on Cannery Row.
Vegetable Vindaloo is a dish from the southern Indian city of Goa, a former Portuguese colony. The website www.epicurious.com gives a recipe for pork vindaloo that covers the sauce or curry ingredients. I have left out the pork and list the spices below:
The spices make the vindaloo curry hot, pungent, and delicious. Epicurious.com lists the following spices that go into a good vindaloo:
-Kashmiri chiles which can be replaced by guajillo chiles
-garlic
-ginger
-cinnamon stick
-vinegar
-sugar
-tamarind paste
-peppercorns
-cumin seeds
-turmeric
-cloves
-salt
The seasonal vegetables for a vegetable vindaloo are stir-fried in an Indian wok called a kadai. Ambrosia tends to always use potatoes, cauliflower, sweet red peppers, green beans, and onions in its vegetable vindaloo with additions from the 200+ crops grown in the Salinas Valley just east of Monterey.
The spicy vindaloo curry tastes great with basmati rice. I order naan bread as well to soak up every last bit of the vindaloo. I like to think that the vegetables used in Ambrosia India Bistro’s vegan dishes are all organic and come from the Salinas Valley just east of Monterey.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
Saturday, January 13, 2024
Peruvian Cuisine Introduction by Ruth Paget
Peruvian Cuisine Introduction by Ruth Paget
Peruvian food is not similar to Mexican food I learned as I read Everything Peruvian Cookbook: 300 Recipes for Fresh, Flavorful, and Exotic Dishes by Morena Cuadra and Morena Escardo.
The difference in diet comes from the influence of more cultures being assimilated into Peru’s national culture than in Mexico. Cuadra and Escardo discuss the culinary contributions of Peru’s multicultural society as follows:
*The Incan Diet of Ancient Peru
-The Incans ate a mostly vegan diet with eggs and dairy being taboo except for the ill -meat was eaten at celebration and religious rites
-fish and seafood were good to eat and raw fish became what is known today as cebiche
-On a daily basis, the Incans ate many carbohydrates such as potatoes, corn, quinoa, and kiwicha (amaranth)
*Spanish Influence
-The Spanish brought European food products to Peru that are now integral to Peru’s national cuisine such as rice, wheat, sugar cane, bananas, figs, dates, grapes, cilantro, garlic, onions, cows, goats, lambs, and pigs. -The Spanish had local farmers produce these items to save money and encouraged the eating of eggs and cheese called queso fresco, a type of Parmesan
-Grapes went into the production of Peru’s national alcohol called pisco.
-The Peruvians use onions and garlic along with native ají (chile peppers) to produce their base cooking sauce called aderezo.
*The Arab Influence
-The Spanish in Peru had recently freed themselves of Arab domination. However, some Spanish men brought Arab wives and servants with them to Peru who were considered very good cooks.
-Empanadas, a small crescent-shaped pie stuffed with meat and/or vegetables is credited to the Arabs.
-Very sweet desserts are also credited to the Arabs such as rice pudding and candied lime.
*African Influence
-Peru Imported slaves to replace Incans who had died.
-Africans according to the authors used variety meats such as the heart and intestines to help economize. Many street stalls today sell items such as these.
*Chinatown
-When slaves were freed, Peru hired Chinese laborers to take their place as had been done in Cuba. -When the Chinese obtained money, they set up stores and street stalls that sold rice dishes.
-The main Chinese contributions to Peruvian cuisine are ginger, scallions, and soy sauce.
*The Italian Influence
-At the end of the 19th century, Italians from Liguria came to Peru. The authors state that everyone in Peru now eats lasagna, gnocchi, ravioli, gelato, and panettone.
-Salsa verde is Peruvian pesto.
-Queso fresco, a white cheese, is Peru’s version of Parmesan.
*Japanese Influence -Japanese farmworkers replaced Chinese farmworkers. -The Japanese brought their superb knife skills for sushi and applied them to cebiche, Peru’s raw fish dish cured with lime juice.
After that informative introduction, I did read the 300 recipes, but thought trying Peruvian sauces is the best introduction to learn the flavor of the food when cooking at home. I chose the following sauces, because I thought they would go well with pasta, rice, potatoes, quinoa, sandwiches, some soups, or cooked fish:
-salsa criolla made with onion, ají Amarillo (yellow peppers), lime juice, salt and pepper, olive oil, and cilantro. There is also a recipe for this with radishes.
-scallion salsa criolla made with red onion, scallions, ají Amarillo, limes, olive oil, and chopped cilantro
-black olive mayonnaise made with black olives, garlic, mayonnaise, roasted red bell peppers, and salt and pepper
-avocado cream made with avocados, lime juice, scallions, ají amarillo, mayonnaise, salt and pepper, and cilantro leaves
-salsa verde made with vegetable oil, onion, garlic cloves, spinach, basil leaves, evaporated milk, queso fresco
-scallion and egg dip made with vegetable oil, ají amarillo, sliced scallions, eggs, and salt and pepper
-papa a la Huancaina made with ají amarillo, oil, evaporated milk, soda crackers, queso fresco, Bibb lettuce, potatoes, black olives, eggs, and parsley
Cooks interested in trying a new cuisine might enjoy Everything Peruvian Cookbook by Morena Cuadra and Morena Escardo with its 300 recipes.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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