Hungrychef.com Journal

The worst of 2008. Lets move forward!

Erio G. Cavalieri — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:53:57 +0000

Hello everyone and Happy New Year (a month late)!

Yes,

I am new dad.
it's been five months since I've last posted anything on Hungrychef.com
2008 list should have been posted in Dec of 2008.
you are supposed to post frequently when blogging (if you are to be taken seriously).
It was a busy 2008!
I left one job and moved on to a new one (more on that later).
this is a short post just to get the ball rolling again.

So let me share with you some things that annoyed/disturbed/pissed me off me in 2008.

1) Cheeseburger in a Can This stuff looks so nasty. It's like the four star version to spam.

Come on guys this just confuses me. Who is their target audience for this, the military? Can you picture a Navy seal unit deep under cover reconstituting some powdered red wine after a successful clandestine mission. Cheers! Below is a video that I found presenting both items

3) Cooking with Coolio. "The Ghetto Gourmet" Are you flipping kidding me? FYI, it's a little raunchy.

4)Tropicana Valencia Orange Juice - I loooovvvveee orange juice! I love citrus anything! This stuff, really disappointed me. Part of their Tropicana Pure selection; It's double the price and the regular Tropicana Orange Juice is far more superior in taste.

5) T.V. Cooking shows and the glamorous people that host them.

First of all, they are not called chefs, they are called talent. Where is the talent? Just because you are called that, doesn't mean that you have it.

I always hear; "Middle America loves these shows", "We have to appeal to the lowest common denominator". What an insult! Every thing looks the same, feels the same. The majority of these people have no real cooking experience. They just look good? We are living in the culinary media matrix!!!

Put on some real chefs!. They don't all have to have their hair styled with the faux hawks and hair product (no, I'm not jealous because I'm bald hahaha!).

Earth and food media, Let us move forward in 2009.

Le Dishwasher

Erio G. Cavalieri — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:18:22 +0000

In the wild animal kingdom of the kitchen, an outsider might view the dishwasher as the lowest person on the totem pole. In reality it's the dishwasher that runs the show.

I quickly learned as a line cook the people that hold the real power, the now it all, the gumption, the powerful ability to truly screw up the kitchen (if they truly so desired) where the dishwashers. Respect and admiration must be given and shown to this most important colleague of the kitchen brigade. They will get you out of trouble and share with you the Chef and kitchen's deepest secrets. Depending on how nice you are to them they might even peel 3 quarts of fava beans that you forgot to cook and clean 5 minutes before service.

My most important bit of advice to culinary students and to new line cooks has always been to meet and greet with the dishwashers. Do you know a few words in their language, are you familiar with their music, maybe you are conversant in their cuisine, perhaps you dated a person from their country. Make that connection, they are your lifeline!

Then secondly, comes your cooking technique. Of course, I'm kidding

I have seen dishwashers:

jump behind the line to help out when the whole kitchen has come crashing down,
wash your favorite sauté pan in under 10 seconds so you can prepare the VIP dish with the only level surfaced pan in the kitchen
Bring Properly iced shift drinks ( a most welcomed sight at the end of a hard night)
display some serious loyalty, like the time I lost my wallet and the next day I found it safely placed inside my locker, I'm still not sure how he got my combination.

Some might call these moments heroic, but, there is also the flip side

I have seen dishwashers:

hide your very important stash of side towels right before the long list of tickets start pilling up
not show up for work three days in a row
stand there and watch your sauce burn while you are downstairs grabbing something out of the walk in refrigerator
shut off your timer while baking a most important item in the oven (we all laughed about that one).

Did I mention the one where the dishwasher does not show up for work three days in a row. What the hell do you do in this situation? Sure you can fire them, but it is very very very hard to find a legal, English speaking person that is willing to clean out grease traps, scrape sheet pans clean, wash bloody knives and cutting boards and listen to my repetitive jokes.

You get the picture.

By the way,

Wanted:

Dishwasher with rosy cheeks and everything

Must be legal, with a basic understanding of English.

Work 40 hours a week. 5 day work week.

30 minute lunch, 15 minute break, benefits after 3 months, two weeks vacation after one year.

Pay rate commensurate with experience.

-Erio

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Underground Mexican Street Food

Erio G. Cavalieri — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:30:30 +0000

What do you get when you add a touch of capitalism, a proper market analysis, human smarts, clandestine cooking and salsa verde... You get the best flipping tamales in New York City.

Just as we start getting into the rhythm of pumping food out of the kitchen the intercoms awaken and the store herald broadcasts Tortas, Tamales! A most welcomed announcement.

I don't know about you but I'm not that hungry when I wake up at around a quarter to five in the morning.
My breakfast cravings do not kick in until eight or nine o'clock. By then I don't have the luxury of running out to get a bite nor can I prepare eggs on the hot real estate market; that which is called the stove top. With soups, sauces, beans, pasta and other foodstuffs cooking I cannot justify giving up a burner to prepare a meal (what a martyr). To note, I really don't feel like having eggs or anything breakfasty like that.

With that said, so enters this story's heroine

Let us call her Señora (to maintain her secret identity). Señora is the Mexican Tortas and Tamales lady, she arrives three to four times a week to sell her delicious homemade creations. The standard meals are tortas and tamales, hence the name.

Señora's days begin very early Monday through Friday. She is off on Saturdays and Sundays. Her kitchen becomes alive at 4 AM when she starts to steam her tamales. There is final cooking and packaging to be done. In addition to visiting my place of employ she also stops at several other locations within the West Village area. Her day is usually done around 2 or 3PM. After that Señora restocks at her supermarket and goes home to prepare her comfort food delights for the next days run.

Through out the week she does throw in a few specials, sometimes you will find sopes, tacos and quesadillas. Everything that she sells is lovingly packaged.

Tamales are found in many Latin American countries. The basic set up is as follows

1-Dough

2-Filling (vegetables, protein, cheese) basically anything you want it to be

3-Wrapper (plantain leaves, or corn husks)

4-Cooking method can be steamed or boiled in water

The dough or masa in Mexican Tamales is corn based. The corn used to make masa is first treated in lime water (slaked lime) which makes the outer shell or hull fall off and leaves you with the softened kernel. The kernel gets washed and what is left is ground and then dried. That is your masa harina or dough flour

You cannot substitute cornmeal for masa harina as it comes from a different type of corn!

Señoras tamales come in red or green. The green has salsa verde and chicken, the red has beef and is spicier.

Tortas are Mexican sandwiches that can be served hot or cold. Señora's tortas always have the following:

Shredded lettuce, avocado, pickled jalapeño and a protein. The protein sometimes is a braised beef or a fried chicken cutlet. I always like to add a little lime juice or hot sauce to mine.

If you are wondering if she has proper documentation to sell these things I will have to answer with I don't ask. Then why Erio would you eat this food? Does she have the proper facilities to prepare food and then sell it? What about food handling, sanitation and food safety?

Well let me give you this one for thought. I was in the city waiting online to go to the taping of a show with some family members. I was really craving a hotdog. I walked over to the Street Meet Vendor and ordered a hotdog. He then opened up his supposedly hot water bath where you would find said hot dogs. Mr. vendor told me that it would take about 10 minutes for the next batch to be ready. He then reached in with his bare and very very filthy blackened hands grabbed a bunch of unheated wieners and put them (along with his hands) into the lukewarm water bath. Mmmm just what I want to eat.

Señora I hope to see you tomorrow.

Gracias!

-Erio

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Erio where have you been???

Erio G. Cavalieri — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:58:15 +0000

Hello everyone, sorry for the long break. I've recently been hired at Murray's Cheese as one of the new chefs. I've been a free agent for several years and now I am part of a large collective; A collective of serious food, drink and of course cheese intellectuals (scholars of the culinary arts and culinary pleasures, if you will). I am on my third week at the store and have been enjoying my employ by collaborating on the new menu for the prepared foods section, recipe testing and developing new products and ideas for the store. What really amazes me is the hard core, loyal, knows what he or she wants customer that visit Murray's.

The personalities of the employees, the products and of the store are all very unique and I am looking forward to working with everyone and to keep on learning! I am also very proud to be able to say that the products that we work with in the kitchen are of high caliber. Our proteins come from Ottomanelli's Meat Market, and our eggs and dairy comes from Lancaster Farms in Pennsylvania.

So stop by and visit the store. I am most certain that something or someone will pique your interest.

-Erio

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Delicious gets two thumbs down from Andrea Strong

Erio G. Cavalieri — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:11:52 +0000

Here at Hungrychef.com we are always looking for ways to improve one's self, writing skills, and the blog. I signed up for a class at the Institute of Culinary Education called An Insider's Guide To Blogging. The class was taught by Andrea Strong of the Strong Buzz and her internet and website consultant Harvey Kreiswirth.

The group that was present was a mix of food professionals, media, marketing, food noobs and designers. The topics discussed were about blog concept and identity, the importance of fact checking and writing the "truth". Mr. Kreiswirth talked about blog marketing, the different blogger software available and their pros and cons.

Ms. Strong mentioned that there were about 70,000 food related blogs online. She said that to really charge through all the other blogs you really need to be consistent, post regularly (at least once a day) and to make sure that you convey your own voice. Additionally you should be meticulous and thoughtful with your words and be rich in detail.

Expanding on the last suggestion of, being rich in detail. Andrea mentioned "when writing, do not to use the word delicious. "It's over used, it is not really descriptive and does not do much for me".

This comment transported me back to when I worked as a Fromager at the Artisanal Bistro, Wine Bar and Fromagerie in NYC. I got stuck using the word good as power adjective. Someone would ask "Can you tell me about that cheese? or How does it taste?" And sure enough the response would be "Oh, it's really good". Even when I first started selling wines I would do that too. In both situations I quickly put an end to that annoying and very unhelpful response. It just took some focus. I would think about how I would like someone to describe a food product to me (the good and the bad because there are really some weird ones out there) and that really helped out a lot.

Like the cheeses and wines that I have sold, blogs are alive and constantanly evolving (virtually speaking of course). They bring different stories, personalities and experiences to the reader. Some are easier to sell and some you are just not going to understand right away. I hope you enjoy hungrychef.com as much as you do your favorite bottle of wine and hunk of cheese.

Thank you Andrea and Harvey it was an awesome class!!!

-Erio

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Foodie Tour of the Florida City Redlands

Erio G. Cavalieri — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:19:21 +0000

I was recently in Florida visiting some family when my brother in law surprised me with a foodie tour of the Florida City Redlands. On the itinerary was Knaus Berry Farm, Schnebly Winery and my return visit to Robert is here (I love this place and I also got to meet the real Robert).

Knaus Berry Farms

Florida Sun + Redlands + German Baptists = The Best flipping strawberries you will ever taste! It was about 85 degrees and the sun was beating down on our lovely air conditioned van. We were headed towards Knaus Berry Farms. A pick your own strawberry and tomato farm located at 15980 SW 248th Street, Miami, FL.

Knaus Farms has been around for over 50 years and was started by Ray and Barbara Knaus. The farm is run by a sect of German Baptist (sometimes mistaken for Amish) called dunkers.

In addition to the pick your own strawberries and tomatoes there is a produce section, a milkshake stand and a bakery that is buzzing all day with activity, .

The bakery sells dilly, raisin, mountaineer, honey wheat, white and 9 grain breads. You will also find bread sticks and dinner rolls. The sweet section is what I was really interested in. Black bottom, pineapple upside down, angel food and cheese cakes are all available at this delightfully smelling bakery. But the winner of my sweet tooth and what most people were waiting on line for were the cinnamon rolls. Oh what I would do to get that recipe. There is such a fast turnover that everyone was getting warm rolls.

After picking up the cinnamon rolls we headed to the milkshake stand. Get there early because the line can get very long. With a little patience and a couple of dollars you too can enjoy the most ethereal strawberry shake you will ever have. Folks, this is how I started my morning. What a power breakfast. We also bought some delicious strawberry jam.

There is nothing like eating a warm sun kissed strawberry right off the field in the morning. Growing up in Flushing, Queens didn't really give me the opportunity to find a lot of strawberry fields. Well, being on a real farm and surrounded by these intensely flavored Floridian false fruit quickly made up for my farmless childhood. The seeds of the strawberry are technically the fruit and are related to the rose. You can read more about the strawberry here. These little red guys beat any over watered, over grown commercial strawberry that I have ever had before. The smaller berries tend to taste a lot better and have more of a berry punch.

Schnebly Redland's Winery

Hmmm, fruit wine? I was not sure what to expect when I walked into the winery's tasting room. The Schnebly Winery (owned by Peter and Denisse Schnebly) produce tropical fine wines. They make single fruit varietal wines using fruits like Carambola (star fruit), Mango, Lychee, Guava and Passion fruit. Also on their list is a Carambola wine aged in French Oak and a wine made from a blend of exotic tropical fruits called the Category 3 Hurricane. Their selection keeps changing as they are always experimenting with different types of fruit.

The tasting sheet has a list of food pairings to go with each wine. I am most interested in pairing them with cheeses (the really good stuff). They all have a very nice balance of acidity and sweetness. My top two favorites were the Guava and Passion Fruit wines.

The guest area is huge, there is the Tiki area, a courtyard, a tasting room and a waterfall. Check out the pictures on their website www.schneblywinery.com

Below is a report that a local Miami news station did on the Schnebly winery.

Robert is Here

I became an official Robert is Here fan in the summer of 2006 when I went down to Florida for my first Mahi-Mahi fishing trip in the Florida Keys You can read that article here.. Every time that I talk to someone that is heading down to that area I always send them to stop in and pay a visit to my favorite mega fruit stand. Last time I was there I had the Key Lime Milkshake. I really couldn't wait until I got there to have another one. I mean come on, two years have gone by and I needed my fix.

Just as we were parking, two huge tour buses pulled in and unloaded a wave of tourist. The first thing on their minds was not to go to the bathroom, instead they all ran to get on line for a milkshake. AAhhh!

It all worked out in the end, after walking around a bit I became intrigued by all these different tropical fruits. Sapote, Mamey and Canestel.

Canestel is also called Egg Fruit or Yellow Sapote. It has the mouth feel of a banana and the pulp has the color of an egg yolk. It has a rich and slightly sweet taste. It does have a musky odor at first. I had a Canestel milkshake. The color it produced was beautiful and it makes an amazing milkshake as well. I definitely like it more that the key lime milkshake. Shhh don't tell Robert.

What I learned about the Sapote family is that these types of fruits really have to get ripe for you to enjoy them. The flesh has to give way when you lightly squeeze it.

The Black Sapote starts off very green and according to Robert "you put the fruit on your counter and wait a few days. When it turns completely black, you check the bottom of it and look to see if it has left any residue. If nothing is present let it sit another day or two and you keep checking the bottom and look at the counter to see if it leaves anything. Once it does, it's ready to eat". We waited for four days. Unfortunately, we did not have an extra two days to spare. The Sapote was black and sort of soft but it did not leave behind the residue that Robert said to look out for. Still we championed on and sliced it open. It has a seed like an avocado. It tasted mildly like and had the mouth feel of a cooked sweet potato.

In the back of his fruit stand he has trees upon trees of Carambola fruits. They were over ripe but they did have this brilliant orange, gold color. You can see those pictures below.

You can read more information regarding the Florida Redland Region by clicking here

Food Fight: A short film by Stefan Nadelman

Erio G. Cavalieri — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:50:42 +0000

I was catching up on one of my favorite blogs Laughing Squid and I found a super cool stop motion animated movie about the different wars fought in the world. It starts with World War II and goes to the present time. The genius behind it is that food is used to represent the different countries.

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Parsley:The world's best and most inexpensive salad green

Erio G. Cavalieri — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:13:22 +0000

Ahhh parsley. That, slightly fragrant green herb that waiters use as a breath freshener, and chefs have used as a culinary smoke-screen to cover up mistakes in the food and or as a frugal way of adding a little color to a dish. Now when I say dish, yes, people still to this day (God, why?) still rim plates with this edible confetti.

I remember the day I had my first parsley salad, summer of 2000. I was eating at a very trendy restaurant in NYC on the lower east side. They had on their menu Roasted Bone Marrow with a Parsley Salad. I was one year in the business and remember having this parsley salad and saying to myself, wow this kicks some serious ass. The salad had capers, shallots, olive oil, lemon, sea salt. There were so many different crunch layers of which the parsley added to it with the leaves and the thin stems. So Awesome!

I'm pretty sure that this was inspired by the Roasted Bone Marrow with Parsley Salad dish served across the pond at the St. John in London by super nose to tail Chef Fergus Henderson. I was feeling so nostalgic while typing this story that I got up and checked out my copy of his cookbook The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating by Chef Fergus Henderson.

I can't believe that I overlooked this, but, after all these years I never realized that I owned an autographed copy of his cookbook. Oh man!

So what I did today was not as involved with the roasted bone marrow but rather I had a ton of parsley in the fridge and some wheatberries that I had prepared yesterday. I was real hungry, and this is what I made

Click on the thumbnail below for the massive version of this picture

Parsley and Wheatberry Salad

2 cups of cooked Wheatberries

1 1/2 cups of roughly chopped Italian parsley

1 cup of shredded carrots

2-4 Garlic cloves minced

1/4 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2-3 Tablespoons of Sherry Vinegar

Kosher Salt and Black pepper to taste

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The world has gone to hell!!!!

Erio G. Cavalieri — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:55:30 +0000

Disclosure: I am not, nor have I ever been a Murray's Cheese employee.

Okay yes the title does sound a little extreme but I was in Murray's Cheese (Yes folks The Murray's Cheese and Specialty Food Shop) kitchen today helping out a friend.

I needed to go change into my "kitchen pajamas" so I asked where the employee restroom was. Now I have worked in many a kitchen before where;

1)Bathroom was not available to the staff (this job lasted like 10 minutes)

2)Bathroom was so filthy that I could not even find a clean corner to stand on.

So let me say this, I found it!!! The kitchen world's cleanest and most wonderful "employee lounge"

Guys, the world is pretty cruel and many employee restrooms ring in at a below average score. So it thrills me to find the exception.

I mean check out these picks.

So please allow me to end with this: Rob Kaufelt, You Rock! And yes, I did wash my hands after taking the pictures.

-Erio

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I visit the Caves at Murray's Cheese in NYC

Erio G. Cavalieri — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:30:19 +0000

Now for those of you that don't know (where the heck have you been living?) Murray's is the place to go for your cheese when visiting NYC. If you don't have any plans to visit then you can order cheeses from their website. They supply all the major, high end restaurants in NY and the U.S.

It doesn't stop there, they are also an affineur. Meaning, they get cheeses from around the world at a very young age and what they do is properly age and maintain the cheeses until they hit the right maturity. This is all done in their caves located at the Bleeker street store. The cheeses are stored in refrigerated units that have their temperature and humidity levels controled to bring out the best in the cheeses. Additionally the fromagers also rotate and wash (brine solution or a watered down spirit solution) the cheeses, thusly improving their flavors.

My friend works at Murray's and I was able to get a behind the scenes look at their caves. Each cave holds a different type or style of cheese. Just to note if you are in the are you too can get a tour of the caves. You can purchase a pass on their site.

It smelled so good in those caves.

Thanks everyone!

-Erio

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