where is the debt coming from?

I just heard obama's speech, and some responses to it on NPR.

people from the republican party seem to have a really big problem with the stimulus. the argument I heard is that it will put the country into further debt etc. But wtf, has any of these fuck thought that the war, as well as the tax cut for rich people that bush is responsible for, are a big part of why we are in debt as a country?

is there such thing as a good restaurant review?

for mostly entertainment, I have been reading the restaurant reviews in SF Chronicle regularly for years. In my opinion (remember, I don't really know shit), the main restaurant critic at this soon to be bankrupt paper is fucking terrible. not only all the reviews, good or bad, read exactly the same, he is known to do favors for people he knows and slam people/joints that may not have kissed his ass as he wanted. I have been to many of the restaurants that he has reviewed over the years, and I know quite a few people who worked in those places, I have not agreed with the shit he said nor have I heard a good word about the person and his work.

I have also been reading the Times for a few years now. And this frank bruni guy who review restaurants for that paper at least writes much better than bauer. But not having visited most of these places in new york or knowing many people who have, it is hard for me to tell if he is just another bauer with better command of english.

just because 'critic' is in someone's title or job description, it doesn't mean they have to stop being objective, and just solely focus on what they like or don't like, as a certain Mr bauer does. I wish Mr bruni is nothing like jackass bauer, no city and its industry responsible for feeding people should be as unlucky as san francisco.

cheaper is better

a while ago, I wrote about these sausages I bought from the st. Lawrence market on saturday. they were good, but expensive, I ate them a few times, but just really felt they weren't worth the money; and they don't have enough fat, so it often gets too dry. and the sausages were so uniform, not just in size and also in firmness that they had to be machine made, not that there is anything wrong with that.

I have been buying pork from this other dude at the market, he sells whole small pigs pre-ordered, he usually also have miscellaneous pig parts, a shoulder, a loin, some trotters, ears, etc. He also sell goat meat. Anyway, I usually buy a rib chop or two from him when he has them, not only they are great, his prices are more than fair (pretty much chinatown price).

today he got two bins with sausages in them. his labels were a little sexist (gentleman hot and lady mild), but they were clearly hand stuffed and twisted. I bought a couple of hot ones, again, he is really fair, if not cheap. I cooked one tonight and ate it with some caramelized apples and sauteed brussel sprouts (I am not creative). it was simple, but salty, fatty, a little spicy and the price is certainly right, I am very happy with it. I will be buying them every time he makes them. but again, I should be making my own.

it can not last

when I first heard the term 'barchef' a few years ago in san francisco, I thought it was the stupidest thing ever (sorry camber). I don't really drink cocktails because I think the only reason you have to mix booze with shit would be because the booze suck, like back in the days of moonshine. but I do appreciate it if some care is taken when someone mixes or serves a drink (unlike me). that said, 'bar chef' and $18 cocktails is bullshit, why don't they just point a shot gun to my head and I will hand over my money.

well, someone just open a place right here in toronto called Barchef, and they do serve $18 cocktails (I read about it in the paper, I can never go there, for everyone's sake). that is more expensive than the small charcuterie plate I had a black hoof, and there is just no fucking way that anyone can come up with a cocktail that will be more satisfying or delicious than what I had at the hoof, unless they put illegal stuff in there.

I will give it a year, tops, if it last more than a year, I need to move out of this fucking place, maybe to alaska, I bet people there drink their booze straight.

John Updike

I just read what he wrote for new yorker years ago on the last game that ted williams played. I like sports, and I read about it often, but I can't think of anything I have read about sports that was as good as this.

one of my favorite player is going to retire probably very soon, I wish he is still around to write something about that.

the hoof II (I don't know shit, really)

this really nice woman, jen, I think is a partner at the black hoof, the place I rant about last week, somehow read my post about my meal there. I think maybe because I commented on grant van gameran's blog (http://charcuteriesundays.blogspot.com/). He is the dude who made the delicious food I ate there.

two things happened here that really surprised me. One, I can't believe anyone read the bullshit I post. Two, she seem so nice (see her comment on that post) and sincere that I actually feel bad. I don't think I was wrong about what I said, but I was definitely unnecessarily harsh. and if anyone cares, she (the server) did appeared to be trying a little.

the real moral of the story is, I really don't know shit about shit, so people should stop reading my blog for anything other than laughing at the stupid and useless crap I come up with.

a chicken that keeps on giving

for those who know me, I am definitely not cheap. but I think I am resourceful and sensible with my spending most of the time, and maybe because I have quite a few good jew friends, they rub off on me.

where am I going with this? I roasted another chicken a few days ago, this time a quite big one, 6 lbs. needless to say, I got plenty of left over that can not go to waste. I made a soup with the bones and the onion and carrots I roasted with the chicken. but I still got quite a lot of meat as well as the dripping left.

one dish my grandmother use to make was this thing called: 菜飯. it is essentially rice cooked with bokchoy and chinese cured pork that is pretty fatty (unsmoked). it is best if it is cooked in a heavy pot over low heat, and a nice crust would form on the sides and the bottom of the pot, not unlike what you should get with paella when it is done right.


I got some bokchoy in my fridge, so instead of fatty pork, I used left over chicken meat plus the fat from the roast to make this dish. in my first try, it turned out a little soggy (the tricky part is that the vegetable and meat will give out moisture, so the amount of water in the pot will depend not only on how much rice you got, but also how much vegetable you have as well). but it turned out that I have enough left over chicken for another try (both small batches though). and this time it was pretty good. look at the lovely brown bits on the bottom, I tore through the thing in like 2 minutes. I miss grandma.

go away

this posting is sort of a contradiction, but I am getting really sick about anything related to michael phelps. I watched some of the olympics, he was unbelievable, but that happened six months ago. what he does or he doesn't do right now have no impact on our lives (for example, he is not an elected official, nor does he defend our country or our community), so why the fuck do I care if he smoked pot? role model should be someone who can make a positive impact on others, not just someone who can swim fast or hit homeruns.

staying in canada, for now

chuck drove me down the niagara falls yesterday so I can get a new work permit at the border. without telling you the stupid details (trust me, you don't care enough to know), this whole thing has been a fucking major pain in the ass.

we did catch a glimpse of the fall, while the water seem to be flowing, part of it also looked to be frozen, it didn't help that it was -20 celsius.

I didn't have my original diploma (nothing on the fucking website indicated I needed the original), but the lady was really chill and understanding. but as in any other immigration in any other country, they had to have a different person telling you where to park, a different person telling you where to sit, a different person looking at your paper, and a different person taking your money. I guess fewer mistakes might be made that way, but this is also not a fucking Ford plant.

I am glad it is out of the way, for another year at least.

the hoof

it is difficult to go to any self respecting non ethnic restaurant (that category includes american, italian, french ...... pretty much any sort of food not from asia or africa) and not encounter some sort of charcuterie item on the menu. every cook and his/her mom and their neighbor are now curing their own meat and making some sort of pate, rillette. but it is not yet common to see someone opening a restaurant (not a deli) with charcuterie being the focus.

black hoof is located in a former bar in toronto (I have actually been to the bar on a number of occasions, even though I have been here less than a year). and this restaurant is not much more than a bar. the stove looks identical to the one I have in my apartment, when they sear the foie gras, the entire space (30 seats at most) smells like it. The menu is pretty much charcuterie, prosciutto, and a couple of cold and hot dishes.


for those who enjoy eating animal flesh, and offal, the food was fantastic, the charcuterie plate was easily the best I have had in any restaurant, everything tasted as they should, nothing was out of balance or seasoned incorrectly. the cassoulet inspired dish of kidney beans, duck leg meat, sausage and pork belly was wonderfully rich, each item cooked on its own (expertly done) and no breadcrumbs, but the flavor meld together like a real cassoulet should. pickled octopus with chorizo served in a jar was great as well, tender, tangy and yet again rich with flavor, oil and fat.

the service was unapologetically atrocious, just plain bad, no other way to describe it. the place was slow when we arrived, for a small place, it was well staffed, but they seem to be content to just hangout in the bar, instead of doing shit. when they do come to your table, you feel like you walked into the wrong place in china town if you are white, you can do no right. and for as much attention was paid to each dish, why didn't she coursed out the octopus and the cassoulet? I could have asked, but figured it should be a given, something so simple, but yet makes a difference. no help with the wine list, she didn't know the list (she suggested Bogel merlot from CA when I asked for a light red), but didn't bother to ask someone who did either. I think I could have had a better time if I ordered myself from the open kitchen and served ourselves.

I think this place will be (or maybe already is) successful, it was filled with hipsters by the time we left at 9:30, on a monday night. and base on what I ate, it should be packed, the dude knows what he is fucking doing in the kitchen. but my god, the word hospitality was definitely not on anyone's mind, at least not during my visit.