Playing Hooky for the Day

Having diligently kept my nose to the grindstone, shoulder to the wheel as I relocated to my new home, I decided to play hooky for the day. The winter storms have been non-stop for the past three weeks, so Rene and I were pleasantly surprised when we awoke to a clear and gorgeous day. We headed to the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, where Rene was keen to see a Mayan archaeological exhibit, followed by a Mayan textile exhibit and marimba concert at the Presidio Officers' Club. However, when we arrived at the Palace of the Legion of Honor, we were crestfallen to discover that the Mayan exhibit had closed on January 2.

With several hours to while away before the textile show and marimba concert, we decided to have an early supper at our favorite sushi bar. Isobune in San Francisco's Japantown is a very special type of sushi bar, where chefs assemble large batches at a prep station in the center of a water-filled moat, and place individual plates of the edible treasures on a procession of little flat-bottomed wooden boats. Diners sit at a low counter on the outer side of the moat and help themselves to the plates of sushi as they float by. When they're finished, the waitress tallies up the bill by counting the empty plates and beverage bottles.

Isobune is my favorite restaurant in all the world, and as always, the sushi was fresh, abundant and delicious. We had the luxury of time to linger over a nice long chat and browse in a Japanese dishware shop next door before heading to the Presidio. Much to our delight, the textile exhibition was dazzling and elegantly displayed. It featured over a hundred garments, each one hand woven and intricately embroidered with flora and geometrics in an eye-popping spectrum of tropical colors.

With great expectations, we took our seats in the auditorium to hear the marimba concert. Promptly at 7:00 p.m., eight musicians dressed in embroidered white linen jackets with red neckties appeared on stage and proceeded to play the absolute worst music I have ever heard. The emcee had promised a selection of salsas and cumbias, but instead of a program of traditional Mayan songs, they had chosen to start with a set of contemporary American standards, one of which I could swear was the theme to the old Alfred Hitchcock Show. The band was off beat, out of tune, and at one point I wasn't even sure all the musicians were playing the same song. What's worse, the music was metered by the stacatto beat of a set of snare drums that made it sound like the 'oom-pah' band at a pathetic polka party. In the middle of the third piece, I leaned over to Rene and asked in a hushed voice, "Do we have to stay for the whole thing?" Much to my relief, he replied, "No. We can leave now if you like." So we did. And something tells me that the rest of the audience wasn't far behind.

On the ride home, we had a good laugh at the musical travesty we'd just witnessed, and to end the evening on a positive note, Rene detoured off Highway 101 down to Fort Baker at the tip of Sausalito, where we enjoyed a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge, with the city lights twinkling across the bay. Fortunately, Rene and I rarely tire of each other's company, and always manage to find something to enjoy about even the worst of days. In this case, it was the excellent company, the gorgeous weather, the delectable sushi, the opulent textiles, and the fantastic view at evening's end.

03:50 PM PST Permalink |

Toward Entropy...

After two weeks in our new home, my kitchen is gradually coming together. I've been living amid a sea of boxes, not knowing the whereabouts of such everyday necessities as fish food, hair brushes, and the electrical charger for my cordless screwdriver. Since I didn't bother to bubble wrap, tape and label each of the boxes for the four-block move from our old place, every day is like Christmas, as I open them with delight at their much-missed-and-needed contents. My brother Michael who lives in Texas has been a constant source of encouragement and optimism via e-mail to help keep me motivated until I've unpacked every last chopstick.

I still have a long way to go before my kitchen is in 'apple pie order', as my Mom used to call it. There's a trip to Home Depot in the offing for such amenities as cupboard organizers and extra shelving. But even amid the chaos, I have managed to prepare several memorable meals, including our New Year's Day dinner which featured Crab Cakes, Vichyssoise, Sashimi Salad, Grilled Petit Filet Mignon, Seafood Brochettes, and Chocolate Coconut Pastry. It was a challenge, but I managed to pull it off nonetheless.

I'm definitely looking forward to my first Dinner & a Movie night in this spacious kitchen. The lighting is much better, there's so much more room to maneuver without running into myself at every turn, and considerably more counter space for prepping, plating and photographing. Can't hardly wait!

12:28 AM PST Permalink |

About the Fresh Ingredients for a Tibetan Dinner

The fresh ingredients for my 'Seven Years in Tibet' dinner are neither delicate nor esoteric. They include Chicken, Lamb, Ground Beef, Kale, Onion, Garlic, Ginger, Chili Peppers, Potatoes, Red Bell Pepper, Yogurt, Limes, Tomatoes, Scallions, Cilantro, Daikon, Spinach, Cabbage, Green Beans, and Heavy Cream. So shopping should be easy and can even be done a couple of days in advance of the dinner, as long as I store the meats in the freezer until the day of the dinner.

02:32 AM PST Permalink |

A Little Background Info on 'Seven Years in Tibet'

Based on a true story, the 1997 Jean-Jacques Annaud film 'Seven Years in Tibet' stars Brad Pitt as Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who escapes from a World War II POW camp and flees to Tibet. There he enters the forbidden city of Lhasa, where he meets the young Dalai Lama, and eventually becomes his lifelong friend and confidant.

Heinrich Harrer wrote an account of his adventures, also titled Seven Years in Tibet, and later starred as himself in the 1956 version of the film, directed by Hans Nieter.

04:18 PM PST Permalink |

A little background info on history & culture of Tibet

The history and culture of Tibet are closely associated with the lineage of the Dalai Lama. A few months ago, I wrote a lengthy article for ThingsAsian featuring biographies of all fourteen Dalai Lamas, and a second article that focuses solely on the Sixth Dalai Lama, best known for his elegant poetry and amorous escapades.

By clicking on these links, you can read my articles The Fourteen Dalai Lamas of Tibet, and The Don Juan of Dalai Lamas.

11:47 AM PST Permalink |

Tracking Down Exotic Ingredients for My 'Seven Years in Tibet' Dinner

For such exotic cuisine, the ingredients for my 'Seven Years in Tibet' dinner are remarkably commonplace. My list of specialty ingredients include Soy Sauce, Curry Powder, Chili Paste, Sherry or Brandy, Turmeric, Sechuan Pepper, Cashew Nuts and Bleu Cheese, the closest thing we have to fermented yak's milk.

Most of these items are already in my pantry, and any that aren't should be readily available at any good grocery store. The Sechuan Pepper may pose a challenge, however, I also have several other types of pepper that will serve as acceptable substitutes.

12:19 AM PST Permalink |

A List of Ingredients for My 'Seven Years in Tibet' Dinner

Specialty Ingredients:

Soy Sauce, Curry Powder, Chili Paste, Sherry or Brandy, Bleu Cheese, Turmeric, Sechuan Pepper, Cashew Nuts

Fresh Ingredients:

Chicken, Lamb, Ground Beef, Kale, Onion, Garlic, Ginger, Jalapenos, Potatoes, Red Bell Pepper, Yogurt, Limes, Tomatoes, Scallions, Cilantro, Daikon, Spinach, Cabbage, Green Beans, Apples, Cream

Basics:

Butter, Flour, Cornstarch

12:15 AM PST Permalink |

Deciding on the Dishes for My 'Seven Years in Tibet' Dinner

Appetizer: Momo (Meat-Filled Steamed Dumplings)
Soup: Churu (Tomato Cheese Soup)
Main Course: Mar Jasha (Butter Chicken), Then Thuk (Lamb Stew) and Tema (Green Beans with Potatoes)
Dessert: Spiced Winter Apple Compote

12:04 AM PST Permalink |

Designing a Tibetan Menu
For my 'Seven Years in Tibet' dinner, I want to try all the most common dishes. No doubt there are dozens, however the Tibetan recipes I was able to find all seem to fall into four basic categories: soups, dumplings, stews, and meats. So, I'm going to try one of each.
12:01 AM PST Permalink |

Getting Acquainted with Tibetan Cuisine
When I began researching Tibetan food, I imagined that the recipes would all be simple and hearty. And that's exactly what I found. Tibetan food appears to be significantly limited compared to that of neighboring countries such as India and China. Tibet does not seem to enjoy the same abundance of naturally occurring edible flora and fauna, and therefore, the range of flavors and methods of preparation are less varied than those I have found in other Asian cuisines.

With the prevalence of Tibetan Buddhism as the country's main religion, vegetarian food is quite common, using ingredients such as tofu, potatoes, grains and leafy greens. However, the Tibetan diet also includes meats and dairy products, especially those produced by yaks, which are native to the mountainous terrain. These ox-like creatures are raised for both their meat and their milk, which also makes a pungent cheese.

Steamed dumplings filled with savory meats and vegetables are an everyday staple. Rich meat stews made with potatoes and a kind of rustic, doughy pasta are served to warm the cold winter nights. And spicy curries, similar to those of India, are commonly featured at the Tibetan table. Meals are also typically accompanied by simple flatbreads.

12:06 AM PST Permalink |

Dinner & a Movie for the Month of March

Welcome to Dinner & a Movie for the Month of March. This month, I am excited to be featuring the cuisine of Cambodia, and not one but two excellent films: The Killing Fields, and Swimming to Cambodia.

Having spent the past two week on vacation, and the past two days writing film reviews for Cinequest 15, I am a little behind with wrapping up my Road Home Dinner & a Movie. So...without further ado, here are the links to all the Recipes and Photos, as well as my film review of The Road Home.
06:34 PM PST Permalink |

In Search of Tibetan Recipes
As expected, not one of my cookbooks contains a single Tibetan recipe. But when I went online in search of information on Tibetan food and recipes, even without a Sherpa guide, I was pleasantly surprised at the bounty of choices that a simple keyword search yielded. There are at least a half-dozen websites that feature a repertoire of classic Tibetan dishes. So, I cut and pasted all the ones that looked interesting into a single recipe file. Some were duplicates, but among the choices, there was enough variety to come up with a hearty, four-course menu.
12:10 AM PST Permalink |

My Tibetan Cooking Experience
The very idea of preparing a Tibetan meal feels so exotic and exciting that I can't begin to describe it. When I think of Tibet, of course the Himalayas are the first image that springs to mind. And picturing that lofty terrain, I can only imagine the hardships that must be necessary to sustain human life. What grows at that altitude? And how would one manage to lay in an adequate larder of food supplies for the long, harsh winters?

Needless to say, my knowledge of Tibetan food is practically nil. The closest I have come is perusing a menu posted outside Annapurna, a Tibetan restaurant Rene and I happened upon a few months ago in Santa Rosa, California, a town about an hour northwest of Napa. We had just come from a visit to the Charles Schulz Museum, where we enjoyed the collection of memorabilia from the Peanuts cartoon strip. We were on our way to a nearby sushi bar (where else?) when we discovered Annapurna, and although I was most intrigued and curious to learn about Tibetan food, I already had my palate set for sushi. After all, it is my favorite food. Given the choice between sushi and any other kind of food on the planet, I will choose sushi every time. So, alas, I didn't get to try Tibetan food that evening, but something tells me I'm about to learn everything I could possibly want to know about Tibetan cuisine... and more.

12:28 PM PST Permalink |

Happy New Year! and Welcome to ThingsAsian Dinner & a Movie for January 2005!
The film I have chosen for this chilly winter season is Jean-Jacques Annaud's 'Seven Years in Tibet', and a hearty menu of traditional Tibetan dishes to go with.

Based on a true story, the 1997 film stars Brad Pitt as Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who escapes from a World War II POW camp and flees to Tibet. There he enters the forbidden city of Lhasa, where he meets the young Dalai Lama, and eventually becomes his lifelong friend and confidant.

Heinrich Harrer wrote an account of his adventures, also titled Seven Years in Tibet, and later starred as himself in the 1956 version of the film, directed by Hans Nieter.

01:41 PM PST Permalink |

A Beethoven Bon Enkai
About five years ago, Mark Kent, one of my oldest and dearest friends, gave me a boxed CD collection of all nine of Beethoven's symphonies. Mark is a newspaper editor for the Mobile Register in my hometown. In fact, that's where we met 30 years ago. I was just out of high school, working my first job as a typist in the Classified Department. My desk had a view of the lobby through a glass divider, and every afternoon about 3:00, Mark Kent would come riding into the lobby on his ten-speed bicycle and carry it up three flights of stairs to his desk, where he worked as a night reporter in the news department. Over time and a mutual love of music, we became friends, and soon after I moved to California, Mark began making annual sightseeing trips across the country in the late summer, with my house in the Napa Valley being the turnaround point at which he headed home to Mobile via Los Angeles.

The year that Mark gave me the boxed set of Beethoven symphonies, he raved about the exhilarating experience of listening to all nine of them in a row on the long stretches of highway between Alabama and California. So, a few months later, on New Year's Eve, my son Will and I decided to give it a try. We calculated the length of each symphony, added them all up and discovered that if we began with Beethoven's First at about 6:00 p.m., Beethoven's Ninth would finish just after midnight. That evening, as we listened to all that glorious music, Will and I made a gourmet dinner of Roast Duck with Wild Rice and Haricots Vert. It was heavenly and has since become an annual New Year's Eve tradition for the two of us.

As a caricature artist and entertainer, naturally Rene always works on New Year's Eve. He's been working the same gig for several years now: an alcohol-free gathering at a community center here in Napa. He always finishes at 11:30, just in time to arrive at my place for a kiss and a glass of champagne at midnight. And, of course, I always have a portion of our gourmet dinner warm and waiting for him.

Here's the menu I have planned for my Annual New Year's Eve Gourmet Beethoven Dinner:

Appetizers: Puff Pastries filled with Bleu Cheese & Bacon; and Crab Croquettes with Lemon Caper Pimiento Mayonnaise

Soup: Creamy Potato Leek Vichysoisse

Salad: Mixed Baby Greens and Watercress with Maguro Sashimi, Daikon Radish and Wasabi Vinaigrette

Main Course: Grilled Petite Filet Mignon, Shrimp & Scallop Brochettes, Spinach and Mushroom Tart; Steamed Yams with Honey Butter; and a Sauteed Vegetable Medley

Dessert: Chocolate Coconut Pastry with Butterscotch Ice Cream

And...we'll be enjoying it on the first night in our new home. We've moved to a lovely Victorian duplex, just four blocks from where we used to live.

Here's wishing all our ThingsAsian readers a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

12:55 AM PST Permalink |