Giving Thanks for Many Things

Post-Turkey Day Reflections
I often write late at night, glass of wine nearby, listening to NPR through a headset while the other residents of the loft sleep nearby. Usually, it's Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz I listen to, sometimes other podcasts make the playlist. The other night one of these blurbs caught my eye: Umami was once again in the news. I'd recently tried the quick marinara sauce offered by Chef Silvia Bianco which incorporates one umami-rich anchovy for simmered-all-day flavor. So, I guess I had umami on the brain.

Then, on Robert Krulwich's Science segment, I learned about Jonah Lehrer's book: Proust was a Neuroscientist on NPR on just one of these nights. Lehrer is an anomaly in today's world of specialization. Not "just" a scientist, he read Proust in the lab awaiting his experiments' transition from one stage to another. In his (unnaturally bifurcated) world of science and literature he had an epiphany: the world of literature and science is one world. It is not an "either-or" proposition. This got him thinking and we are the lucky recipients of this book, the results of a thinker (both a scientist and a lover of literature) who refused to submit to conventional thinking.

Lehrer uses Proust, Walt Whitman, George Eliot, Paul Cezanne, Igor Stravinsky, Gertrude Stein, Virginia Wolf and August Escoffier to illustrate thinkers from various artistic disciplines who learned a truth that the science of their time denied.

Over my annual Orphans' Thanksgiving I was sharing with friends I've known for un f* -believable numbers of years some of my new writing projects including one in sports and one in film. Joe looked at me and said "You know, that's an incredibly unusual combination of things you write about." To which I replied, "Yes, I'm just an incredibly unusual kinda girl." We all laughed, as you can with friends who know you that well, that long.

And I am. Incredibly unusual, that is. It's just taken me all these years to figure out it's not me that's off. Too many times I've been the "square peg" gamely playing at "round hole." It's never been fun trying to convince others I was okay. If they lacked the capacity to comprehend a feminist might also wears eyeliner, or that a girl who cooks also likes football, why was it my fault? I was a lawyer comparing myself to Proust or Whitman in terms of any talent, just in terms of the certainty that I do not fit conventional molds. Another friend who joined us is my "little sister" whom I began mentoring when she was 10. Now she's an amazing, level-headed, fun and caring young woman of 27 years.

Back to Jazz
I heard a piece on Billie Holiday, one on Johnny Hartman, another with Diana Krall and Marian McPartland. All of these but McPartland are musicians I've loved for years, I'm glad I've 'discovered' Marian now. I was struck by the fact that Holiday, Hartman and Krall all said they were unable to sing songs that they didn't feel were reflective of them and how they feel. Constitutionally unable and unwilling. This was a another brilliant reminder of the importance of being your authentic self. In just a few segments I've heard, it's an aspect McPartland appreciates in those she interviews and plays with, too.

Now, at this wonderful holiday, my favorite, I realize how lucky I am to have friends who are really great, smart, funny and steadfast friends. They don't care if I don't fit some conventional standard. They don't care if I don't fit my clothes from last year. They celebrate all of who I am - right here and now. I am a very lucky (if slightly rounder, slightly older) girl. Authentically me, and at last unapologetic about it.

Thanksgiving Menus and Traditions
Speaking of celebrating, how about the menu this year? What worked well for you this year? Did you start or continue any traditions? Try any new recipes?

One thing new I did this year was to make dinner rolls with pumpkin. They were not like sweet muffins, just beautiful pumpkin-colored dinner rolls. And they made a delicious bread pudding today. I also used this new thing I found called a roasting wand. It heats the stuffing inside the turkey so you eliminate the problem of overcooked bird for well-cooked stuffing.

I made some stock from turkey wings the day before. Simple to do and well worth the extra flavor dimension. The new touches will make a reappearance at next year's Procrastinators', Refugees, and Orphans' Thanksgiving.

Note to self: get some more good jazz too.

I'm grateful for the riches of the table, good friends, good health, a terrific husband. An unconventional life that is wholly mine, and full of thanksgiving.

Ooooh Mommy or Umami

I promised to be better at posting. Keeping the brilliant ideas simmering on the back burner seems to do little to bring decent regular reporting to fruition. So here's me striking out toward that laudable goal: consistent, good posting. It's 3 AM - better late than never...

But first a little snack to fuel the writing.
Toast with Marmite and butter. I suspect this is so tasty due to Umami, but I'll need to investigate that and get back to you. What, you ask is Marmite? What you ask is Umami?

First things first: Marmite is a yeast spread that is a by-product of brewing beer. It's salty and savory and can be used to enhance many dishes. It tends to be one of those things that people love or hate and the producers of it actually based an entire ad campaign on the "love it" or "hate it" theme. More on Marmite later...now back to Umami.

Quick: name the distinct tastes our tongues can discern. If you're like me, you grew up learning we had the following taste sensations:

1. sweet
2. salty
3. sour
4. bitter

Umami is best described as savory. Like salt, it enhances or emphasizes other flavors.

Even though my mother is Japanese and Umami is a Japanese word, I never heard of it until pretty recently. I do remember many interesting meal time debates when Mom would describe a flavor with a Japanese adjective. We'd refuse to believe her that there was not an English equivalent. The more well-traveled I became, the more I discovered other people describing food with adjectives in their native tongue, also insisting that there just wasn't the English equivalent.

So, Mom, listen up: once again, you are correct. (This never gets easier to say, though you'd think I have adequate practice by now!)

Armenian contributions

I'm speaking, of course, of my hairdresser. No, not really. Though he is brilliant. I'm speaking of the Kasabians, the husband and wife authors of the book: The Fifth Taste: Cooking with Umami - is described in the book by that name. (Click on the title to see the book on Powell's.) This "new taste" is one that many cooks and food lovers have just begun to learn about, though many of us have a working knowledge of it acquired through years of cooking and eating.

I've got the Fifth Taste and will report more on it shortly. Let me say it looks well-researched, well-written and comes with a great collection of recipes rich in umami contributed by a stellar array of chefs including: Daniel Boulud,
Jody Adams, Gary Danko, Bradly Ogden, Ming Tsai, Ken "Code Violation" Oringer, and more.

And now, umami-rich dinner tonight...

New Golden Gate Restaurant in Chinatown.

This is one of my new favorites in Chinatown. Right near the Gate, on 66 Beach Street. This used to be a tiny little hole-in-the-wall kind of place, which I love. Then it took over some adjacent space and spruced up. We saw one of our favorite managers (formerly of Hei La Moon and Peach Farm) at New Golden Gate so we knew it would be good. This was probably our sixth trip there. Now, a waitress from Hei La Moon has begun working there, too. Hmm...

The first two dishes we had were Yow Soy Ha - "swimming shrimp." These are a delicate shrimp, live in the tank, then flash steamed. Served whole with dipping sauces, you have to get a little dirty but what's a meal without a head to suck or little shrimpy legs littering your frontside?

The tsu yim yow yu - salt and pepper fried squid - were good as always, though not the star of tonight's meal.

One of their house specialties is a rib-eye steak served on greens. We've had it over bok choy and over gai lan, as it was served tonight. The beef is in huge chunks but so tender. The sauce is a delicate gravy almost like a thickend au jus. This steak at any steak house in Boston would cost you half what our entire four course meal cost.

A specialty available tonight was the razor clams with black bean sauce and dao miu. I think razor clams are primarily found on the West Coast/Alaska, but if they have them when you go, order them. They are sweet and ocean-y at the same time. The black bean sauce served with this dish was much lighter than the typical style you would get with clams. It had nice ginger bits and the pea tendrils were terrific complement to the clams.

By the way, it's always a good sign when you see large families celebrating over a meal. Another good sign, Asian tourists snapping photos of each other holding the menu, and then of each other eating the food.

We saw both tonight.