Fleeting Glory

In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes - Andy Warhol

Let’s start with a bit of synchronicity. Yesterday, I was walking to our mailbox with our neighbor Bruce when he mentioned that he had seen the recent article about me in Buffalo Spree magazine. Further, he said that he had read it at his son-in-law Ted’s house.

What is somewhat remarkable about this is that Bruce is more than just a neighbor. He practiced law from the same offices that Trish and I did. It was a bit of a hoot when we discovered that he had moved into a house just up the street. Ted is more than just his son-in-law. Ted and I spent the better part of three years working side-by-side on the hotline at DACC’s. During that time we became pretty good friends, and though we hadn’t seen each other in a while it’s nice to be in touch again. The fact that both of them became aware of my food blogging because of a magazine article is just the benefit of “fame”.

If Andy Warhol is right, I have already had mine. In fact, I’ve had a whole half hour. It isn’t as if I have been toiling in obscurity, but any time I can attract attention to the work I do in this blog it is a worthwhile effort. I am not in this for money, nor fame – I am really in it because I enjoy it. This blog allows me to express thoughts in a way that I might not otherwise have.

My brush with fame, such as it is began in August when I received an email from Rachel Fix Dominguez of Buffalo Spree magazine. It was an invitation to participate along with other Buffalo food bloggers in their annual Cheap Eats issue. I of course accepted the invitation and submitted to the magazine a list of my top five inexpensive restaurants. In September I met with photographer K. C. Kratt at Suzy - Q’s BBQ for a photo shoot. I was told I have a symmetrical head.

I was glad when I finally got to eat my pulled pork sandwich, inhaling the aroma while posing for half an hour had me drooling.

So let me take a moment to flog the other local blogs represented in Buffalo Spree. Some I know,some have become friends. All are worth reading. In mostly no particular order:

Buffalo Beer and Food:  With four main contributors, this blog displays what one might call a "manly" look at the food scene in Western New York. It's the kind of site I'd be looking at if I'd just moved to the area - something that would have been helpful when I relocated to Toledo for law school. It's a broad-based blog on a variety of subjects. Restaurants, recipes and refreshments delivered with a dose of humor.

Buffalo Foodie:  Nina Barone is a writer for Spree, our host, and her blog writing often seems to complement her work for the magazine. While she does review restaurants and write recipes, my favorite bits are her commentaries on the local food scene and events. I must remember that I promised to let her know when Wild Bill BBQ reopens in the spring.

Little Kitchen, Big Flavors: The name pretty much sums it up. A recipe driven site, featuring a husband and wife combo, one a restaurant cook and the other mostly self-taught. It's a recipe driven site filled with ideas for any home cook. (Also great ideas for your next tailgate party).

Lovin' on Buffalo: You have to admire a blog that combines food, support for local businesses and charitable endeavors. There are restaurant reviews, notes on current events and local attractions and a lot of stuff that reminds you to be happy to be in Western New York. If you need a cheerleader Buffalo, you've found her.

Pea Pod Riot: Annie Levay-Krause has an eclectic site, reflecting her multifaceted persona. In addition to writing a blog on food and dining, she is the founder of SOLE (Seasonal, Organic, Local and Ethical) which pretty much says it all. It's about food and gardening, and puts on dinners with an international flavor. In the Land of Peapodriot you can find a bounty of food based on the freshest, most natural ingredients.

Tasty Yummies: This blog is the brainchild of Beth Manos Brickey. Her work is notable for the way she has taken dietary restrictions not as an impediment, but as a challenge to be conquered. Her recipes are gluten-free and mostly vegetarian. They are yummy as is, but can easily be “retrofitted” for the most dedicated of carnivores. I first met Beth – if met is the correct word – at a presentation for bloggers where she was a panelist. I had hoped that it would be a chance to network with other food bloggers, but that was not to be the case. Sadly, Beth and her husband are relocating to the West Coast so I won’t get a chance to know her better, but I will be following her blog.

Buffalo Eats: I saved this for last for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that Donnie Burtless a and his wife Alli have become friends. I always look for opinions in addition to a local newspaper. For the longest time, the major contender was a blog that, while thorough, felt off-putting. Enter BE.

I enjoyed it from the start, becoming one of their first regular commenters. The blog has an every-man feel to it that I found inviting. Donnie and his brother Tom host a weekly podcast featuring interviews with denizens of our local food world. That is the other reason I saved this for last. In November I was asked to participate in a podcast, which went live last week. My second 15 minutes. I oddly did not come off sounding like a dork.

Feel free to tune in here, you may find it interesting.

A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting. - Patton

All photographs by KC Kratt - Buffalo Spree Magazine

Local Gems

Have I  mentioned before that I do not do restaurant reviews? - Scotty Harris

I don't. But I do talk about restaurants I go to. Especially something interesting.

Just south of here is the intersection of Dodge and North French Roads, the very location of the girl's alma mater Dodge Elementary. Take the left on North French and head out. Past Transit it becomes County Road, and then Hunts-Corners-Akron (what kind of street name is that?) until it ends at Rte. 93 in Akron. This is our standard route when traveling East. Take a right and cut over to the Thruway. A left gets you there too, via the Res for gas.

We go this way often. We know the landmarks along the way: the bus barn; the tree farm; the giant mosquito sculpture; the horse farm located right by the graveyard (turning the game of "bury your horses" into a giggle-fest). Reliable Propane always makes me muse about an "Unreliable Propane". Sounds like a Simpsons gag.

Earlier this year we were returning from my homeland of Pittsford when we discovered something new along the way - what appeared to be a trailer and some tables in a small clearing beside the road. We were traveling at nice clip, but Trish and the girls were pretty sure the sign saying one of my favorite things: BBQ.

No Bourdain - No Surprise

If you hadn't heard, we here were one of the finalists to host Tony Bourdain and "No Reservations" along with Thailand, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia. The Buffalo News article is here and the follow up is here. I was not surprised at Buffalo being passed up. Look, I can rant as well as anyone on our Rodney Dangerfield syndrome, or the fact that there is great food here, that wasn't the problem.

The problem was on The Travel Channel a few minutes ago. Bourdain has already done Cleveland, just down the Lake Erie shoreline. In many ways we are twin sons/daughters of different mothers. For most of the episode, I could substitute a local venue place for place. Now we don't have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the largest used Book Store or Michael Symon. I think the biggest problem is that we don't have Bourdain's buddy (and my hero) Michael Ruhlman here.

So, as I posted at Andrew Galarneau's blog (and he authored the News articles) I didn't think we had much of a chance, but I do have a local question: We may have local cooks who can go head to head with Symon, but are any of them so involved in creating food that reflects local as he seems to be?

Just wondering.

Teach A Man To Fish

And he might catch something you don't want to eat.

I love fish and seafood. I love my adopted home of Buffalo. Apparently, not all of Buffalo shares my love of fish and seafood - if judged by the usual assortment available. The same few species appear over and over, usually once frozen (I don't have a problem with frozen if done well) and farm-raised (ditto). Boneless fillets are the norm. Even those outlets who go out of the way to bring in line caught wild fish bring in the same species, or so it seems. Then there is the issue of "The Smell".

It's gotten much better, but it's still there - "The Smell" that generations have been told is what fish smells like. Don't get it? Join me for breakfast at the Reading Terminal Market (yes the one from the chase scene in National Treasure) in Philadelphia an grab a seat in the Center Court as close to John Yi's Fish market as you like. What you will smell is your coffee, eggs, bacon or scrapple, and not that beautiful array of fish (hey, if a then 5 and 4 year old don't smell anything you know that the fish is fresh).

Of course, that is is part of our problem here - we are geographically challenged. Despite the fact that my wife once had a secretary convinced that Lockport is the Tuna Capitol of North America, we aren't a seaport near an ocean. So with the exception of a few species that survived the pollution in Lakes Erie and Ontario, we depend on seafood that is shipped here. That means to get the freshest of fish it has to be flown or trucked in at great expense. Some places do that on occasion, but more would - if the demand were there. That brings up the obvious second problem, supply follows demand.

Look, we Buffalonians can be a stubborn and parochial lot. I remember an article in the First Sunday magazine of the Buffalo News (and I miss that monthly "fix"). It was an article about Mike Andrzejewski shortly after he and Tai opened Tsunami, talking about flying in overnight the freshest of fish from Hawaii. Things like Ahi, Mahi-Mahi and Hawaiian Butterfish. Many (like me) were salivating at the idea of something called Hawaiian Butterfish cooked by Mike.

However, for each one of us, there are many, many more in the area who still think that the best prepared fish is a hunk of frozen haddock doused in a batter and deep fried in oil that gets changed about as frequently as I change the batteries in my smoke detectors (twice yearly for me). Their opinion is as valid as anyone's, but that they are a majority does aid in our fish impediment.

So, what is the purpose of my rant? Despite any limitations in the Buffalo market, when anyone offers something new or interesting in the domain of fish and seafood I want to try it. When Dash's, a local market, advertised Tender and Delicious Escolar this past week, I was intrigued.

I try to keep up with such nomenclature, but I was lost on this one - my first guess was that it was the bad guy from "A Clear and Present Danger". After that it was an Internet search. Escolar is a fish known under many aliases, including Walu - a name known to me. More important to this post it is also known as the Ex-Lax fish.

It seems that that in addition to a delightful taste the Escolar flesh contains naturally occurring compounds similar to Olestra, the fat substitute that created great fun for me after only a couple of chips. You don't need the details, but it affects about 40% of those who consume it especially in portions over 5 or 6 ounces.

I found many delightful newspaper articles and blog articles about this particular delicacy from coast to coast, from North to South. My favorite is a 1999 article in The New York Times by Marian Burros. This informative article quotes noted food science expert Harold McGee: ''The wax esters therefore pass intact, their lubricating properties undiminished, from the small intestine into the colon, where a sufficient quantity will defeat our normal control over the ultimate disposition of food residues.''

Yum. Just as a side note, I stopped at the nearest Dash's and they had no Escolar on display - though "That Smell" was in evidence from the produce area. But driving by Hayes Seafood in Kenmore, it was advertised as a special.

So the minor question is do you think those who purchased and offered Escolar as a special had any idea of this lovely lower intestinal side effect? Not.

The more important question is what risk are you willing take for good seafood. Poisoning from Fugu is rare, but if you are poisoned there is about a 60% that you'd die. Would you risk it even if prepared by Masa Takayama? Only 40% of people suffer abdominal cramping and loose stools
from Escolar, is it worth that to enjoy a tasty morsel prepared by someone who really knows their way with seafood - say a Mike Andrzejewski?

That's the reason for the poll (which I posted early because you can't save a draft, apparently). I was just curious as to how much risk you would take for something tasty. Look, there is risk in any food (4-13 ETA - Heck, they are recalling breakfast cereal today!). But, to me there is something inherently different in the risk from a frozen hockey puck of ground beef, and that associated with the succulent tastes of exotic fruits de mer.

So, for me yeah, I'd eat Fugu prepared by Masa - heck, beyond the fact that it is the rule of the house, I'd eat anything prepared prepared by Masa.

As for Escolar prepared by Mike, yeah. I almost did. Remember that Hawaiian Butterfish I was drooling over earlier? Yep, Escolar/Walu/Ex-Lax fish. ;-)


The author of this post (um, that'd be me) would like to recognize the assistance of Andrew Galarneau, Buffalo News Staff Writer for confirming that despite rapidly failing memory skills I had accurately recalled that First Sunday article, which he authored. Andrew also runs a Food Blog called Buffalo Buffet, which is well worth stopping by, and is an occasional commenter here.

An Act Of Worship

And not a pleasant one at that. I have mentioned before that I do not do restaurant reviews. Oh I may have occasion to go on a rant about the chef vs. blogger/reviewer issue, the unfair nature of judging on a single visit or the silliness of arbitrary rating systems in reviews. I might even discuss disguises, but there will be no reviews. I just have no interest.

In large measure it is because I don't think you can do reviews without being able to do a bad review. Look, I have had bad experiences in restaurants and I have even walked out on occasion - but the people in restaurants work HARD, and often for not a lot of cash. I just couldn't do a bad review, even under circumstances like this.

Saturday my kids were doing an overnight at Grandma's Saturday, so that my wife and I could attend a Hunter's Hope fundraiser, with Jim in attendance of course. So we did some fun things. We stopped at the Lexington Co-op for some quinoa, among other things, and then to Delish! to see Deb and Stephanie, two old friends in the culinary quarries.

Then we decided to go to lunch at an ethnic restaurant. It had been well recommended by friends who know of our tastes, as well as by the News for a restaurant of this type. The place was packed. We were not impressed, and it was clear that we had made a mistake -- the stuff we ordered off the lunch menu seemed to pale in comparison to what others ordered from the regular menu. Oh well.

The punchline is that we get to the Hyatt, dressed to the nines, and find ourselves a mere two tables from Jim Kelly, local hero (ok, so he led us to four consecutive superbowl losses). As I am walking around looking at the auction I star to feel weird. After my second bite of salad I am about to biff (no it wasn't the Creamy Caesar dressing). I asked Trish to take us home.

Bottom line - I spent much of the next 24 hours worshiping at the porcelain altar. My wife, who doesn't get even those virulent strains of disease emitted from our nations elementary schools succumbed a bit.


Was it a foodborne illness? Who knows. But there is one that follows this pathway - short onset and a relatively short duration. More important, this particular variety is most often stems from something we both ate.

So, could you review it. Nah. More importantly would you go back to try the "real stuff"?

I think I would go for that - as long as I wasn't meeting Jim Kelly later. I still want that autographed picture and bears for the girls!

Local Gems II

This past weekend was the annual Maple Weekend in New York State, always a great family event. While most people think of Vermont (or Quebec) when they think of Maple Syrup, New York is the third largest producer in the US. The focal point of syrup production is Wyoming County, but there are some very good (and friendly) ones here in Erie County.

We started our day at Maple Glen Sugar House. It was our second visit there. The first time we visited, we had screwed up the date for Maple Weekend, but ended up getting a very personal tour. They did a good job with the crowds, but we really liked the personal touch. I think we'd like to take them up on a private tour again, though we did score the last quart of Grade B they had for sale - we prefer it, especially for cooking.

Our next stop was Kist Maple Syrup in Colden. Another warm welcome, and a promise that with a call, we can score some more Grade B in the off season. Good people to know!

The last stop was one of the newer Sugar Shacks - the Smith Maple Farm in Hamburg. Carl and Bridget were great hosts, with great humor, and their farm is on the site of the famous 1824 murder of John Love. They also brew a very light, tasty Grade A syrup. The girls declared it YUM!

Having finished the tour, we treated ourselves to a meal worth repeating at the Coyote Cafe in Hamburg. On our way out of town, we stumbled upon a gem: The Crazy4Bookz store on Main Street. What a great find for lovers of used books - especially used cookbooks. Hey, I scored a first edition of The French Menu Cookbook by Richard Olney.

What a great day.

PS. Maple syrup is great on cornbread, and think a maple-chipotle glaze for ribs . . .

In the photo above: Maple sugar for home-made bacon, Grade A Light Amber, Grade A Medium Amber, Grade B.

Below, My toothless wonders, and some shots of various syrup making processes.

Local Gems I

Like many of my comrades in the food blogosphere, the publication of Ruhlman and Polcyn's Charcuterie inspired me to make a more concerted effort in the curing and preservation of meats. Most books on the subject refer you to one of two mail order sources: Butcher & Packer or The Sausage Maker. We here in the Buffalo area are lucky, because The Sausage Maker is located at the Clinton-Bailey Market, aka the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal ( also the home of Willowbrook Farms and the US Foodservice outlets, to name a few.)

The folks there have always been extremely helpful, and I have never stopped by and not found what I needed. In fact the only sausage-making ingredient they don't have is a meat starter culture such as bactoferm - which I still get from B&P. On this trip I got some Hog Middles for Sopressata and other larger sausages, and Fermento for a batch of landjäger when the smoker gets set up.

Sometimes it's nice to live in Western New York!