Oh How I Miss California Cuisine

Every chef book I’ve read and each of my chef instructors in school always talk about the food from their childhood. It’s funny how so many of us, even if you’re not a chef or foodie, have childhood memories that involve or center around food. Most of my childhood was spent in the San Francisco Bay Area – an absolutely beautiful and diverse place. As I’ve gotten older, I always feel so fortunate to have grown up in a place where cultures collide and people are genuinely interested in each other. There are, of course, conflicts but again I was fortunate to not be too exposed to any sort of intolerance. I grew up with friends from many races and religions. And from that exposure, I developed a great love for learning about others. Every culture, every community is so unique. This upbringing also inspired me to travel the world. Even as a young teenager I fulfilled my dream of seeing the Eiffel Tower and eating a “real” croissant. Of course it all comes back to the food!

So back to why I’ve decided to write – recently my lovely sister and her fiance moved back to the Bay Area where they both grew up. I went to visit them and wanted to share some photos from the trip. It was funny though being back in the Bay as an adult as my parents left California while I was in college. It was the same yet much more sophisticated than I remembered. All the food was delicious, rich, complex yet incredibly fresh. I have already posted some Yelp reviews for two of the places, so I’ve included the links for them. But hope you enjoy the pictures!

Moscow Mule

First up – Cafe Des Amis. (Click here for my Yelp review). This place was very charming. It was one of those French restaurants that is trying to be authentic which it did a pretty good job at without trying too hard. We had a cozy table in the back next to the fire – very romantic actually. Our whole group was really happy with our dishes (steaks, mussels, lamb, escargot, salmon) but we were even happier with the drinks! They make a great Moscow Mule!

Oysters for the group

Gorgeous buttery, garlicky escargot

Perfectly cooked medium rare salmon on a bed of lentils

For brunch the next morning, my sister and I managed to drag ourselves (and I’m so glad we did!) to Foreign Cinema. My sister’s friend had been to a wedding there and raved about their brunch. They were right.. I’m only sad that I can’t go back to try more dishes!

Slow-cooked, brown sugar smoked bacon

(No longer on the menu) Fried eggs with zucchini, fried prosciutto, harissa and chicken sausage on bed of creamy palenta

Classic Croque Madame with super crispy fries!

The last place we visited was Morocco’s Restaurant in downtown San Jose. (Click here for my Yelp Review) My review says it all, so here are a couple pictures!

Imperial chicken couscous with caramelized onions and raisins

Briwatt phyllo turnovers with mixed fillings such as chicken with cinnamon

I could dream about these turnovers all night long!  The chicken briwatt tasted just like the traditional Moroccan pastilla that I’ve written about. It’s such a surprising combination of flavors. I love it when food catches you off guard like that – just when you think something should be sweet, it’s even better savory!

Hope you’ve enjoyed the photos! What have you been eating lately??

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Southern Hospitality And A Whole Lot Of Seafood

Hello friends!

About a week ago, I was very fortunate to make an unexpected trip to New Orleans for the NFL Divisional Playoffs between the Cardinals and the Saints. Although I do like football, I love food more. So I jumped at the chance to visit the South for the first time.

When growing up, I would hear loads of stories from my parents about the amazing experiences they had in New Orleans. Of course in my family, those stories consisted mainly of crawfish, everything Cajun or Creole, shrimp and muffulettas. And naturally they loved the energy and hospitality that ‘Nawlins’ showed them every time. My experience was no different (despite the fact that I was rooting for the Cardinals). * I warn you that there is a whole lot of food that will be discussed in this post. That’s what happens when you unleash a foodie into New Orleans for a couple days!

But let’s just get straight down to business. Our first stop (immediately after checking into our hotel) was the Acme Oyster House (http://www.acmeoyster.com/). My parents and aunts and uncles had been here many times before, so my mom insisted we go here first. Now let me preface that I do love my shellfish but have only ever tried oysters once and wasn’t all that impressed. But now that I’m going to be going to culinary school, I’ve promised myself to at least try something no matter how scared or grossed out I might be. So first thing was first – raw oysters.

After a moment of hesitation, I swallowed my fear and then the oyster. It was slimy, kind of gooey and covered in hot sauce. Honestly, it didn’t taste like anything other than a delivery system for hot cocktail sauce. So I tried another with lemon juice and a little salt and pepper. Again, it didn’t taste like much. I really was expecting it to taste salty and kind of fishy, but that experience fell a little flat for me. So I moved on to the next thing.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the most beautiful picture because we started digging in immediately before I realized I wanted a picture. The first dish is a combo of beans and rice, gumbo and Cajun Jambalaya. The second dish is a wonderful assortment of fried goodness – fried shrimp, fried oysters, hush puppies and my all-time-new-favorite fried catfish. The gumbo and jambalaya weren’t particularly impressive compared to others I’ve had before. However, the catfish – oh the catfish – was exactly as I dreamed it always would be. From all the food shows and movies I’ve seen with fried catfish – my goodness it was ‘scrumptious’ as my good friend Anwar would say. It seriously melted in my mouth. You have to love fish that is so fresh it melts. The batter was cornmeal and was incredibly light and crunchy. The hush puppies were also fantastic although I honestly felt that if I had to feel guilty about eating fried food I’d prefer the catfish. The fried oysters and shrimp, sadly, just tasted fried – masking the actual flavor of the seafood.

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