Passover Greetings

The week-long lead up to the Passover Seder has ended. I love to show you some photos of the beautiful Seder table spread, but, as usual, in all the confusion I spaced that. Now that I can catch up on my blogging, I will catch you up on the joy of preparing for such a joyous event.

So, a Happy Passover to those of you who join me in celebrating this holiday, and best wishes to all the rest.

Scotty

Local Gems III - Where's The Beef

Here's the Beef!

I have, like many, regretted the loss of the local butcher. Not just the intimacy of the relationship (and I grew up in a Kosher home so there was only one local choice and the butchers knew you by name) but the lack of choice.

The rise of of the Supermarket meat case, in part influenced by the centralized processing of meats, in part by the ever growing ostiophobia (my team for fear of bones) have so limited choice that being able to distinguish which is a 7-bone chuck and a pinbone sirloin is a lost art. The fact that the people behind those counters generally don't know the architecture of a beast is why they can sell a pork sirloin roast as a pork loin roast. Now, add to that the fact that feedlot beef has no taste . . .

But, this isn't supposed to be a rant, but an appreciation of a local gem. So, there are a lot of people that know that I have lusted for such a place. One of my wife's co-workers heard of this and recommended a place in Ransomville called D. H. Cloy and Son.

I was excited, but with reservations, I'd been burned before. Because of its location, we decided to combine a trip there with some winery visits, and a picnic/geocaching event. I had not really gotten started with blogging then, so I wasn't thinking of photos - but here's one of the picnic later.

As for Cloy's - it wasn't was I expected when we pulled up. I was impressed by the array of smokers out front, but the inside wasn't what I expected either. I had the momentary urge to just leave before being disappointed once again. BOY am I glad we didn't!!!!

We were welcomed as soon as we walked in, and when they discovered that I was really interested, Dave Cloy himself gave us a tour of the place (it was his wife who welcomed us). I was a bit worried about how the girls - then 6 and 7 - would react to the walk-in filled with beef, lamb and pig carcasses, but they were fascinated. I was fascinated watching the skill of the butchers breaking meat down.

We knew we were going to buy something for dinner, and not just because of our "winery" rule - if we are shown a good time we will buy something, even if it goes straight in the vinegar cask. If we are bored, or worse condescended to, we walk out no matter what the reputation of the winery is (take that Warm Lake). We ended up buying a whole strip loin of marvelous tasty beef. You can see it below.

When Spring finally arrived, our first thought was of grilling one of those babies up - delicious!

I only wish it was closer . . .

Food Comic For Today

Farming and Food

Bob delGrosso did a great rant last week on whether it makes sense to use a food (corn) to create biofuels. I am not going to link to all his follow-ups (primarily links to news stories on the topic) because you can read his blog and find them yourselves. His blog is always a good read. Shortly thereafter the New York Times confirmed him as a prophet. If that weren't enough the venerable Buffalo News chimed in with the similar thoughts.

Now it is easy to accept that there is a problem with corn to biofuels without connecting it to grain shortages overseas. After all, they are not rioting over corn or soybeans, or even wheat, but staples not used for biofuels.

But, this is all interconnected, and our domestic agricultural policy has been bankrupt since Earl Butz in the Seventies. It is bloated with Pork, Corporate Welfare, and Self-Interest. Doubt me? Watch the last season of the West Wing - see how Alan Alda's character tries to oppose the Corn Lobby.

Still have doubts? Watch Bill Moyers' Expose from last week, or read the transcript. Read the complete Washington Post investigation. Guess what the Government is paying farmers in Texas not to grow. Rice. Guess what some of those farmers are doing - they are subdividing their properties and selling them for "starter mansions" and still collecting from the government. There is more, widespread stuff going on, but in these particular cases you are dealing with the growing of rice. That's what the food riots are about!

It's That Time Of Year

Passover arrives at sundown this coming Saturday, but the Holiday really seems to be arriving each year with the annual appearance of that two liter bottle of Coke with the distinctive yellow cap emblazoned with Hebrew letters indicating that the beverage is Kosher for Passover. That means real sugar as the sweetener instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).

Now I have plenty of gripes about HFCS , but this is based on religious restrictions for this particular Holiday - the details are here, but it boils down to a celebration of the escape of the Jews from Egypt, and the fact that in their hurry they could not allow their bread to rise. Any thing that is or mimics risen bread is out for the eight days of Passover.

The details of this are best left to Talmudic Scholars
(or perhaps Jesuits, they are pretty close on the hair splitting thing). For the rest of us mere mortals it makes our heads explode. Really. I have witnessed it first hand.

The bottom line is that many Orthodox Jews from Europe have decided that corn is included in the Passover prohibition, and thus HFCS is a no-no. The Coca-Cola company responds to this need by providing, once a year, Coke made with real sugar. And once a year I get that that taste I used to get out of an 8 oz. glass bottle after a little league game!

PS The tile it is on displays the Chinese pictograph for "happiness".

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.

Spring Cleaning

Speaking of Passover, there is a whole series of details as to how to ritually clean your house before the holiday arrives. It is also a signal for basic Spring Cleaning, especially before my parents get here this weekend.

This is Ellie helping me out on my cookbook shelves. No. I do not have too many. Really. They are not like Gollum and the Ring (that's in the front hall on Marvin the Martian's finger).

So thanks for the assist Bug, AND DON"T KNOCK REMY OFF WITH THE DUSTER!