In the comments below there is a brief discussion of wedding cake. In fact, I was supposed to think about the issue, and come up with cakes other than the traditional tiered cake, and other than my initial thoughts of Opera and Sachertorte.
I've thought about it, and am sad to report that I have no new ideas.
I guess the initial point is that I think that traditional wedding cakes are just awful, a pointless combination of airy fluff and American style buttercream. I have never eaten such a cake other than because I had to. I realize that you can't stack too many other kinds of cakes to make the spectacular displays brides expect, but I have to confess that every time I've seen some bride to-be gushing about the cake on one of those wedding shows my sister makes me watch when we're together, I really don't understand what they're talking about. Yes, it's a chocolate/yellow butter cake with [Put in your UNIQUE cream here]. Like a Duncan Hines. Yes, even the one from Soutine's. Woot.
So, what to do? You want something festive and different. So out go the brownies, the cookies (except as additions, where they are very nice to have) pies, quickbreads, and tarts. I'm not sure which of the canonical French cakes, traditionally served individually, one can have, except that I could imagine a very large Paris-Brest working. I also played with the thought of a dense, raisin-rich, carrot cake, which I think would be very nice, though I suppose some people might well complain. But in the end, if it was me, and if I was stuck in New York, I think I would call Payard and talk them into making a very large Opera.
UPDATE: Ah. You don't have to talk them into doing anything. They offer Opera for up to 100 people.
4/02/2008
4/01/2008
The Modern World
In honor of the various articles about annoying iphone users
My girlfriend and I were supposed to meet some friends at Luca Lounge on Friday night, putatively at 13th Street and B Avenue here in Manhattan. Stupidly, I didn't call to make sure they were open. It wouldn't have mattered, because they were. Just, no longer at 13th Street and B Avenue, but elsewhere entirely.
By the time we found out, I was already at Union Square, a shortish walk to Luca Lounge, and our guests were on their way. So as I walked along 14th Street towards Avenue B in the desperate knowledge that we might end up at the local taco place, I pulled out my iphone and logged onto chowhound. A search for "Avenue B" turned up Back Forty, one of the leading "back to the farm" restaurants in New York. Google maps told me it was less than half a mile away from where Luca Lounge used to be, so I called my girlfriend, who was still on the train in Astoria, to redirect her, had her check in with her friends, called the restaurant from the imbedded link in the post discussing Back Forty at chowhound to discover that they don't accept reservations, and then opened the menu to figure out what to get. I did all of this before I got to Avenue A. I got to the restaurant, realized I had to wait because everyone else was late, watched a couple of politics related youtubes, and then had dinner. I took a picture of the place with the phone's camera, and then spent the trip home drafting a blog post about the dinner I just had.
Is all this a good thing? I have no idea. But there's no doubt that even five years ago, we would have been left with our guests standing like idiots in front of the closed restaurant, with no idea where to eat, our night would have been ruined, and everyone would have felt awful. Instead, we had fun. At least this time, technology was a net positive.
My girlfriend and I were supposed to meet some friends at Luca Lounge on Friday night, putatively at 13th Street and B Avenue here in Manhattan. Stupidly, I didn't call to make sure they were open. It wouldn't have mattered, because they were. Just, no longer at 13th Street and B Avenue, but elsewhere entirely.
By the time we found out, I was already at Union Square, a shortish walk to Luca Lounge, and our guests were on their way. So as I walked along 14th Street towards Avenue B in the desperate knowledge that we might end up at the local taco place, I pulled out my iphone and logged onto chowhound. A search for "Avenue B" turned up Back Forty, one of the leading "back to the farm" restaurants in New York. Google maps told me it was less than half a mile away from where Luca Lounge used to be, so I called my girlfriend, who was still on the train in Astoria, to redirect her, had her check in with her friends, called the restaurant from the imbedded link in the post discussing Back Forty at chowhound to discover that they don't accept reservations, and then opened the menu to figure out what to get. I did all of this before I got to Avenue A. I got to the restaurant, realized I had to wait because everyone else was late, watched a couple of politics related youtubes, and then had dinner. I took a picture of the place with the phone's camera, and then spent the trip home drafting a blog post about the dinner I just had.
Is all this a good thing? I have no idea. But there's no doubt that even five years ago, we would have been left with our guests standing like idiots in front of the closed restaurant, with no idea where to eat, our night would have been ruined, and everyone would have felt awful. Instead, we had fun. At least this time, technology was a net positive.
Parts of me that I don't like much
I got into the elevator here at work yesterday, and pressed the button to head down to the lobby for lunch. Two girls jumped in just as the door was closing and pushed the button for our top floor. Whoops! They were headed the wrong way. I was just about to tell them about their mistake when I heard:
"I just can't eat pigs, you know? I don't mind eating cows, but pigs, you know, are smart and stuff".
And I shut my mouth.
"I just can't eat pigs, you know? I don't mind eating cows, but pigs, you know, are smart and stuff".
And I shut my mouth.
3/31/2008
Bread and Chocolate
In addition to the pizza lunch below, over the weekend I tried my hand at Michael Laiskonis's "Chocolate Olive Oil". This was my first foray into even the fringes of so-called "molecular cuisine". I am firmly ensconsed in the homey side of the world, and what Wylie Dufresne is doing at WD-50 has little superficial appeal to me.
At the threshold, I've decided that I need to not do food photography with my iphone. It's a wonderful tool, but it really sells my food a little short, compared to all the other pictures floating around on the internet. But moving on to the chocolate olive oil, the finished product was delicious, but I think I made two mistakes.
1. There were small pockets of gummy something in the middle of the individual chocolate packages. I believe they must have been undisolved agar agar, but I'd like to know for sure.
2. I omitted the glucose syrup, which I think is responsible for the relatively matte finish.
Also note, of course, that I hadn't made bread, so I used a crostini instead, and I think that fleur de sel would be better on the chocolate than the sea salt I used. Nonetheless, it was a delightful experiment.
At the threshold, I've decided that I need to not do food photography with my iphone. It's a wonderful tool, but it really sells my food a little short, compared to all the other pictures floating around on the internet. But moving on to the chocolate olive oil, the finished product was delicious, but I think I made two mistakes.
1. There were small pockets of gummy something in the middle of the individual chocolate packages. I believe they must have been undisolved agar agar, but I'd like to know for sure.
2. I omitted the glucose syrup, which I think is responsible for the relatively matte finish.
Also note, of course, that I hadn't made bread, so I used a crostini instead, and I think that fleur de sel would be better on the chocolate than the sea salt I used. Nonetheless, it was a delightful experiment.
3/30/2008
Saturday Lunch, wishing for July
Lunch yesterday was a sort of desperate yearning for July - tomatoes, cold italian style dishes, pizza. Really none of which was at its prime right now. But my pizza is good, the bean dip tasty, and the company, as always, magnificent. Now, when exactly am I going to be able to build a wood fired stove outside, so my pizza hits the next, splinteringly hot, level? Alas for Astoria.
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