June 2007


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Flightless Fred’s Linguistic Lessons

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Many of you may have already read today’s breaking Mauritius news (it’s about a dodo bird  named Flightless Fred). You may also be aware that I recently escaped the confines of working America for an extended vacation to Mauritius, a one-of-a-kind paradise island.  See above pic.

I will certainly be adding additional culinary details from my travels to make you all (and my present self) jealous. But for now, good ol’ Flightless Fred made me remember a basic food question I had after much dining out in Mauritius, where they happen to speak French.

In the U.S., any restaurant fancier than Applebees refers to main courses as entrees. I always assumed “entree” was a fancy French word for main course. BUT NO! In French, as I learned from Mauritian menus, entree actually means appetizer! So what gives?

Webster says that entree is either French for “entering” or American for “main course,” but offers no reason for the blatant contradiction. Are we doing this just to piss off the French? Was entree the original Freedom Fries? Can anyone offer any insight?

Discuss. 

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Top Chef Recap: Episode 3 – Death by Meatloaf

This week Top Chef went all apple pie ‘n’ mom on us and made the theme of the show “American classics.” The chefs had to work with classic American comfort foods like sloppy joes, fried chicken and tacos (I imagine Tom Tancredo will be staging a protest against TC, insisting that tacos are not all-american). The chefs had to update these classic dishes to make them both upscale and healthy. The result was a smorgasbord of disaster, with many tasteless, disappointed glares from Padma. CJ took the healthy idea way too far and made some sort of flaxseed-wheat grass-hemp oil-left coast abomination. But the challenge proved most difficult for our foreign friends, who seemed both disgusted and confused by our greasy, lard-soaked traditions. Jamaican chef Sara M. just said screw it and instead of updating Chicken a la King, she made Chicken kebabs over couscous. But it was snobby South African chef Micah who was left in tears when the judges did everything but spit her meatloaf and mashed potatoes back in her face. Maybe she should have just made bunny chow.

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Sexiest Vegetarians (NOT)

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Although ES does not have an award system created yet (BS – get on that!), we promise to find better and more deserving recipients than this year’s PETA winners of *sexiest vegetarian* — Carrie Underwood and Kevin Eubanks.

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This Old Hag Climbed Old Rag

80’s work

80 Proof and his coworkers kidnapped me to the Shenandoah Valley out in Virginia and demanded I hike 7 fucking miles for 5 fucking hours, starting at an obscene hour Sunday morning.

This lazy girl was not so psyched about this venture until 80 remembered that we had to pack snacks (clearly I don’t have much hiking experience, therefore, I didn’t come to this conclusion myself.) So as soon as FOOD appeared in the picture, I became ready for my time in the wilderness…here I come Old Rag Mountain.

But, since 80 Proof didn’t tell me about the food aspect until two nights before (and the next day was *MOVING* day, not cooking prep-day) I had 15 minutes in the market, a la Super Market Sweep, because the store was just about to close. I quickly jumped online to figure out some hiking food musts and rolled with that to design my own trailblazing creations.

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Tonic

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Beware: Only enter hipster hangout Tonic if you’re wearing skinny jeans, canvas sneaks, or a tight, pre-owned T-shirt–otherwise, go eat in Cleveland Park. This long and narrow bar caters to locals with more than a wings-and-burgers menu, but don’t be so enticed with non-bar options that you ignore beef patties with such fun toppings as guacamole and mashed potatoes with gravy, served alongside now-trendy–but delicious–tater tots. If you don’t dig on the meat, the roasted portabella mushroom sandwich and veggie burger will fill your carnivorous void. However, if you’re trying to eliminate a weekend hangover, do not patron Tonic–the service can be aggravatingly slow. For: A front-row view of the hipster life, Napoleon’s tots included.
Entrees: $8-$16. 202-986-7661. 3155 Mt. Pleasant St, NW [SG]
Originally in the Onion / DC local edition / June 14, 2007

Tonic Restaurant Bar and Grill in Washington

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Bunny Chow

In my recent trek through South Africa, I was in general not too wowed by the food scene. Every meal from breakfast to dinner is served with french fries (def not complaining, but not exactly exotic) and many meals are anchored by a dry, mealy porridge-like substance called pap (I tried to provide you with a pic of this, but learned that google image searching for the word ‘pap’ is not a good idea.)

There is however, one original South African dish that is a must-eat:  bunny chow. A specialty of street vendors in Durban, a port city with a huge Indian population, bunny chow is a straight-forward but utterly genuis creation. The insides of a loaf of bread are removed and replaced with spicy veggie curries, and less frequently, lamb or chicken curry. When I first heard about this dish I thought they meant something like a bread roll, but no, they are not kidding around; it’s an entire loaf of sandwich bread filled to the brim.  The pic above (not mine) is a half order. The best part is once the curry is gone, the remaining bread crust is soaked full of tasty curry spices.

Bunny chow is so popular in SA that it is even the title of an upcoming movie from the country’s MTV division, which looks pretty amazing so here’s hoping it will be released in the states.

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