Iranian Seder in Beverly Hills

Read this delicious article about Iranian/Jewish cuisine at Passover! There are some related recipes as well... Now I understand why the kosher shops in LA also sell Iranian food products.

Iranian Seder in Beverly Hills - NY Times

The almond cake with cardamom and pistachio sounds divine.

Celebrate Passover Iranian style!

Goat Heaven

As I sit here on a rather wet, London day, I wish I were in California with my mom and uncle who are lucky enough to be heading out to Harley Farms this morning to hug baby goats!



If you haven't been, it's worth the trip over to the sleepy coastal village of Pescadero. Harley Farms is on the edge of town and supports quite a herd of goats who dutifully line up each evening to be milked. Their milk is made into delicious, award-winning goat cheese which is available for purchase. At this time of year, the farm is overrun with newborn goats. Apparently they are expecting over 200 this year and the current count is at 173. You have to book to go see them, but what could be better than spending time with rambunctious kids? Sadly, Bart, the goats' 'guard llama' recently passed on.



The cheese is SO good at Harley Farms. You can sample them at the farm shop and read more about them here:
http://www.harleyfarms.com/cheese.php
My favorite is probably the cranberry-walnut cheese, but the ones with edible flowers are beautiful. They're all really tasty!

When you're weary of goats (how could you be, but I suppose everyone gets a bit of fresh-air poisoning), head down to Duarte's Tavern (pronounced "doo-arts") and have some of their world-famous artichoke soup and olallieberry pie! It's and old-style diner that's been around since 1894. I absolutely love their crab melt in the winter, but try out seasonal salads with locally sourced ingredients, too.



Finally, have a stroll around and visit the little shops and my favorite, Arcangeli's, which is stocked with cured olives, local jam, sauces, Harley Farms cheese and their own, wonderful variety of Italian-style breads. Delicious!

Watch this nice little video on Arcangeli's:


I usually come home from Pescadero very happy and incredibly full! On a nice day, head down to the local beach and digest as you watch the sun set into the Pacific Ocean. It's only an hour's drive from Silicon Valley - perfect for a day out.

Lazy cooks

Here's a slightly horrifying, but not unexpected article from the BBC Magazine regarding the rise in sales of pre-peeled and pre-chopped vegetables and fruit. There are some good comments at the end from readers.

The rise of lazy foods - BBC Magazine

And thus follows my rant:

I find it pretty ridiculous that people want to buy a peeled potato or a chopped carrot. You can perfectly easily eat those foods without peeling them, just by scrubbing them well and chopping them up, which takes no time at all. The peeling doesn't take long, either, if that's what you prefer. I think it's a sign of a really sick society when people can't even find the time to cook meals from scratch anymore. Why not gather up the family and make everyone chop something? It cuts the time and you still get to spend time with the family, right? Plus, you educate everyone about the work and rewards of cooking your own meal. I also don't understand this excuse of young professionals who have no time to cook. It takes a remarkably short time to prepare a nutritious, interesting meal. Why not cook up a batch of something that will last a whole week?

In addition, buying all this pre-packed stuff means more rubbish in the dump - plastic, plastic, plastic, petroleum, petroleum, petroleum. In the outdoor markets here in the UK, many of the vendors still force plastic bags on you. What is the problem?Why is it weird that some of us don't want to have any more plastic bags in the house? Education of the public is seriously failing, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The more we distance ourselves from the tradition of cooking, the more people will be afraid of raw ingredients and society will continue down the ever more slippery slope of obesity. And we'll just keep adding to our overflowing landfills. Come on people! Try harder!

Rant over.

Fish farming - the ecological model

Watch this great talk by chef Dan Barber.

From ted.com:

"Chef Dan Barber squares off with a dilemma facing many chefs today: how to keep fish on the menu. With impeccable research and deadpan humor, he chronicles his pursuit of a sustainable fish he could love, and the foodie's honeymoon he's enjoyed since discovering an outrageously delicious fish raised using a revolutionary farming method in Spain."



(thanks M2)

Best news EVER

There is a NEW Ottolenghi cookbook coming out on 5 May 2010!! This is the most exciting news since Ottolenghi cookbook 1. The recipes will be all vegetarian and based on Yotam Ottolenghi's column in The Guardian on Saturdays. You can pre-order with a 30% discount and get signed copies in their shops. I want one now!

Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi - info



I'm drooling already.

If you live in the UK and haven't been to one of their restaurants, you MUST make the pilgrimage. Their sort of Mediterranean fusion cooking defies all stereotypes and will titillate your taste buds in ways you didn't know were possible. Culinary creativity to the max. These guys LOVE taste.