I love food. I think the fact that I maintain a food blog might hint at that. I also happen to love film. If we suspend our disbelief for a moment and pretend that food and film were women and that I were somehow straight, my relationship with the two of them would go something like this...

Film was my first love. She was wild, emotional, larger-than-life. We dated through high school and most of our university years, but we'd grown apart by our senior year. We loved each other but just couldn't commit ourselves to a serious, exclusive relationship.

Along comes Food, who'd been there all along, to console me. Stable and nurturing with both feet planted firmly in the earth, I thought "Oh, how blind have I been not to have seen her all my life?" She moved in with me and we started planning our future meals together.

Several years later, Food and I are still together, but part of me misses Film and always will. I confess sneaking off to see her every once in a while. Food pretends not to mind too much when she finds the theater stubs in my coat pocket. We've talked about my problem in couples therapy and, to my surprise, she confessed that she's always wondered what it felt like to be on Film.

Food, Film and Me. That's my idea of a three-way.

Are you nauseated? No? Then continue...

Food on Film. That's the topic for today. Yes, we've all seen Babette's Feast (30 times), Like Water for Chocolate, and Eat Drink Man Woman. All of these films appeal to us (or, at least me) for one reason or another. Food is center stage. Appetite as metaphor for human desire, etc. Another thing these films have in common is a central character for whom food is his or her primary outlet of expression. Cooking is action. They are, all of them, cuisine-driven cinematic heroes.

What has interested me lately are films in which cooking is not the central theme. I like to watch people who are not supposed to be food professionals preparing meals. For me, watching characters not known for their cooking abilities attempt to bake or boil is far more fascinating and often more telling. Think of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. If you own it, watch the scene in which Holly Golightly attempts to make dinner for Paul Varjak. Perhaps I read too much into things, but notice the way she tosses the salad. She doesn't know what she's doing. She's in over her head, which is entirely appropriate, considering the character. It's actually rather heart-breaking. The tension of the scene finds release when the contents of her pressure cooker ("Chicken and saffron rice with chocolate sauce, an East Indian favorite.") explode all over her kitchen. So the foreshadowing and symbolism are a little heavy-handed. Food-focused people get the sense of what's about to happen.

This week's pick comes from the rather odd little 1970 Jacques Demy musical, Donkey Skin. Based on the the fairly tale of the same name (well, the french Peau d'âne) by Charles Perrault. I saw this film with my friend Dan a couple of years ago. Sadly for him, I associated the name of the film with his own. Po' Dan. I don't' remember who dragged who to see it, but I'm grateful to either one of us. It is marvelously bizarre and wildly anachronistic (the resident Fairy Godmother descends in a helicopter, naturally). And then of course there's not one, but two Catherine Deneuves in a musical baking number.

A film could not be more up my particular alley.

In the scene below, Deneuve (the Princess/Donkey Skin) prepares a "love cake" for the object of her affection, a lovesick prince. The importance of this cake is illustrated by the fact that she feels the need to don her dress "the color of the sun" to prepare it. It matters little if you understand French. I just want you to take note of her baking skills. And, possibly, the movement of her full, lace-trimmed sleeves as she works. Whether Demy intended it or not, Deneuve's unconvincing technique speaks volumes. Remember, this is a fairly tale and a French fairy tale musical at that. The suspension of one's belief is critical. How else can Catherine Deneuve baking in that gown be explained? Of course, my belief has been suspended for so long that I am convinced that she can do just about anything, like turn Susan Sarandon into a vampire by merely rolling around half naked with her and exchanging fluids.

Enjoy the clip.

Check, Please! Bay Area is KQED's local series featuring regular people reviewing Bay Area restaurants.

Check, Please Bay Area was nominated for two 2007 James Beard Awards (pdf) in the Television Food Show Category!

Visit the Check, Please! Bay Area blog to experience the restaurants from Season 2 Episode 10:

1) Pear Street Bistro: | restaurant information | reviews

2) Sociale: | restaurant information | reviews | recipe

3) Presidio Bowling Center Grill: | restaurant information | reviews

Please feel free to join the discussion by posting comments about the show and your reviews of the featured restaurants!

You can watch all episodes online as well as subscribe to the Check, Please! video podcast in iTunes.

This season, Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic will be blogging about what happens behind-the-scenes during the making of Check, Please! Bay Area.

You can also view the Check, Please! Bay Area photo gallery to view behind-the-scenes shots at many of the featured restaurants.

I'm a gin girl. Gin and Ginger, Gin and Sin, Pink Gin, Greyhound, Gin and Tonic -- I love them all. Yet despite that, up until a year ago I was unknowingly depriving myself of an entire world of gins. Sticking primarily with Tanqueray, I treated myself every once in awhile to cold, elegantly aquamarine bottles of Bombay Sapphire. It was my gin of indulgence. However, everything changed when I discovered a whole nother country of gin. Forget the Brit brands, I suddenly found myself swimming in premium gins in my own Californian backyard. First there was Gin 209, then Junipero, and now, a new gin.

New to me, Sarticious Gin is locally made in Santa Cruz by Jeff Alexander.

Two years ago, Peggy Townsend wrote a piece on the Sarticious guys for the Santa Cruz Sentinel and she explains where the crazy name came from:

It comes from this time Alexander is up in Alaska drinking, watching the Northern Lights and listening to this song by some guys called Dead Can Dance. And even though these dancing dead guys are singing about "her surreptitious smile," he hears them say "sarticious smile."

Then, when this Alexander guy can't figure out what in the heck "sarticious" means, he decides it's like if the word "sartorial" and "luscious" got together and had a baby and it would be "sarticious," which sounds like something you'd like.

How completely out-of-control awesome is that? Naming a gin because of a "Wrapped up like a douche" moment? I love these guys already!

I took one sip of Mathra's lovingly made Sarticious gin and tonic and breathed, "Citrus!" Kim -- the one responsible for taking our Sarticious virginity -- thinks it tastes like pine. Mathra thinks it tastes like Granny Smith apples. All reactions are true and valid ones, and now, after a brief scurry to BevMo and a slap-down of $30.00, I am a proud pourer of this amazingly fresh and complex gin.

Gin makers are notoriously secretive about what all goes into their gin. Other than the usual juniper berries, there is a dizzying swirl of botanticals that all conspire, flirt, and whisper behind painted fans to perfume the gin with their ethereal souls. Bombay Sapphire has tactile white etchings down one smooth side of the gem-like bottle. Run the tip of your finger over each rough botantical representation -- both in words and sketch -- and you will learn that Bombay Sapphire gin contains angelica, grains of paradise, lemon, licorice, almonds, orris root, coriander, cassia bark, and cubeb berries. The secret is how they are all balanced.

Sarticious, on the other hand, will only reveal that their gin contains "the artful blend of the best juniper berries, organic orange and cilantro, and other fresh botanicals." Very well, you can keep your cool shadowy shroud, Sarticious, for all I require is a moonstone of your gin in my glass. That is my satisfaction.

And just in case a single sip of this taste bud-smacking gin isn't recommendation enough, Alexander has liquor chops that run very deep -- he has made wine, beer, and even made Hanger 1 vodka at St. George Spirits back in the day.

The spare Sarticious site has a list of recipes, but quite frankly, the only accompaniment Sarticious needs is a few ice cubes and a splash of really good tonic water. More on that next week.

Sarticious Gin Distillery
427A Swift Street
Santa Cruz, CA

Sarticious Spirits is open for wine and gin tasting from noon-5pm, Friday-Sunday.

Call it the triple whammy. Restauranteurs in San Francisco have to pay their workers a higher minimum wage than the state minimum. If their restaurant has over 20 employees they have to pay for health care expenditures. And now, they have to pay for sick leave for all workers. Needless to say this is all costing them money, making many of them mad as hell and seeking relief.

Perhaps you saw the news yesterday, Burger King is being applauded by animal rights groups and customers. The company announced that it will start buying eggs and pork from suppliers that do not confine their animals in cages and crates. It will also favor suppliers of chickens that use more humane methods of stunning birds before slaughter, in particular a "controlled atmosphere stunning" rather than the standard electric shock currently used. Of course this will all cost money, but somehow the value seems to outweigh the costs.

You don't have to live on a farm to care about animal welfare. But surely anyone who eats in a restaurant should care about the welfare of its workers. I am not a restauranteur nor have I ever worked in a restaurant, but I really do care about the welfare of the people who work in them, both for their own well-being and mine. Can you imagine if we didn't give sick leave and health benefits to nurses? It would be an outrage, yet it's standard practice for restaurants, for people who make and serve us food.

Just as Burger King has chosen to lead the way in farm animal standards, San Francisco has the opportunity to be a leader in making life more sustainable for its workers. Restauranteurs can complain all they want, but owning and running a restaurant has always been an expensive proposition and they knew that when they got into it.

Bottom line? San Francisco is an expensive town. It costs more to live here and to do business here, but that's true for everyone. I used to pay $13 for a residential parking permit now I pay $60. That's the price I pay for being able to live in a city I love. And you know what? I would pay even more if I had to. I'm not moving due to the increasing costs of living here and I doubt most restaurants will either. While I appreciate reasonably priced food as much if not more than the next person, I appreciate workers being treated reasonably even more. My guess is that people will be willing to pay more when it comes to dining out, especially if they understand why.

We want to hear from you! Are you a diner? A restauranteur? A restaurant worker? Are you willing to pay more? Do you think it's an unfair burden for restaurants? If so, who should pay for these costs?

Interested in this topic?
Read another BAB post addressing issues regarding the restaurant industry:
Is The Public Ready For A Transparent Restaurant Industry?

This month on KQED Public TV 9, there are several television shows which will be of interest to those who love food. In addition to regular food programming like America's Test Kitchen, Mexico: One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless, and Weir Cooking in the City, April brings us some special programming.

American Masters: Julia! America's Favorite Chef first debuted last summer and is a very good, comprehensive look at the life of Julia Child and her impact on the modern food culture. It re-airs Sunday, April 1 at 1:00 a.m.

Black Gold is a movie that looks at the disparity between the price Americans pay at coffee houses for our venti lattes and pricey drinks and the price that coffee farmers in third world countries are paid. The movie covers Fair Trade issues and the enormous coffee industry in this country. Originally shown in some movie theaters, this movie is being shown as a part of PBS' Independent Lens series. It airs Tuesday, April 10 at 10:00 p.m.

I first talked about The Real Dirt on Farmer John in 2005 when I saw it as a part of the San Francisco Film Festival. If you have any interest in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement in America or the life of a really interesting farmer in Illinois, then this is a movie for you. The Real Dirt on Farmer John tells us about the life of John Peterson who is the farmer of Angelic Organics, a farm outside of Chicago. The Real Dirt on Farmer John airs as on Tuesday, April 17 at 11:00 p.m.

While perusing the KQED TV site, I noticed a show called Chefs A' Field, which I am hesitant to admit is new to me. In April, Chefs A Field will profile chefs such as Cory Schreiber of Wildwood in Portland and chef Tom Douglas of Seattle's Palace Kitchen. This show follows the chefs from farm to kitchen, tracing food sources and showing recipes. You can be sure I'll be tuning in. For a full schedule, view the Chefs A' Field section of the KQED website.

"Sweet & Salt Relish" is a recipe entry dated March/April 2003 in one of my little recipe books. Each book corresponds to a time period, the restaurant I was working in at the time. The pages in this one reflect recipes I used in my first months at Aziza, a Moroccan restaurant with a particularly modern Californian slant.

I was attempting to create a vegan garnish for the sorbet plate. Mourad Lahlou, Aziza's chef/owner, serves food thick with aroma and spice, rich with clarified butter and intense from slow braised meat sauces. My goal was to create sweets clean and bright with seasonal flavors: desserts I would crave after eating his North African sweet-savory food.

Inspired by Haroseth and in lieu of Passover, a Jewish holiday ending in the eating of flour-free (unleavened) desserts, I give you an intriguing garnish for just about anything sweet, savory, or both. Although this recipe could be made very quickly in a food processor, I strongly suggest chopping all the fruits and nuts by hand. Not only will you have more control over the size and shape of each piece, it will give you time to meditate on the traditions of eating representational foods.

SWEET & SALT RELISH

2 C Organic Raw Almonds
3/4 Cup Candied Kumquats*
1 Cup California Dried Apricots
10 each Dried White Figs
1 Cup Cold Press Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Sel Gris
1/4 Cup Cocoa Nibs
Optional: Honey, Lemon Zest or 1/4 Preserved Lemon (peel only)

1. Rough chop almonds, candied kumquats (*get recipe by clicking here), apricots and figs, and place in bowl. Stir to combine.
2. Stir in olive oil, salt and minced preserved lemon peel or optional ingredients.
3. Just before serving, add cocoa nibs. (This step will preserve some of their crunch, but it's not absolutely necessary.)

Sweet & Salt Relish will keep upwards of a month refrigerated in a non-reactive, tightly sealed container.

I used this kooky garnish for sorbet, but it would also be lovely with most any cheese, especially fresh ones like ricotta, chevre or fromage frais. For those of you who like both a savory as well as a sweet breakfast, Sweet & Salt Relish would be delicious with yogurt-- plain, Greek or goat.

Enjoy! And if it pertains to you and yours, Happy Pesach!

Learning the true shape of our food sometimes comes as a surprise. The challenge of carrying ingredients across time and distance plus the reality of everyday cooking has transformed the look, feel and -- most importantly -- taste of many foods.

That dry, yellow powder known here as turmeric is certainly one of them.

Looking at a little bottle of it in the supermarket, it's hard to believe that this cousin of ginger boasts the same family's gracefully arched leaves and large, stunning blossoms. There are many varieties grown in India, from where nearly all the world's supply comes. Turmeric's fragrant bite and intensely golden hue make it a key ingredient in the cuisine and culture of Asia's southern and southeastern regions. It's applied as an effective antibacterial tonic in Ayurvedic medicine, simmered in peppery Burmese soups and infused into golden cones of nasi kuning at Indonesian weddings.

Many foods more familiar to Westerners, say ballpark mustard and certain cheeses, also gain their yellow hue from turmeric. It's often dismissed, unfairly, as a lesser substitute for saffron by those who haven't tried it in its whole, fresh form or who aren't familiar with its native, rather than derivative, uses. The Royal Botanical Kew Gardens maintains an excellent website where you can learn more about the ancient history, botany, medicinal uses and spiritual traditions of turmeric.

Selecting and Storing

Look for the slim, orange rhizomes of fresh turmeric in the produce section of Asian and Indian markets, in small bags near where the herbs are sold. Buy rhizomes with bright, smooth peels, avoiding any with soft spots, dark bruises or dried out tips. They freeze well and grate easily while still frozen. Just immerse what you need in some warm water for a few minutes, than proceed to peel and grate.

For each teaspoon of dry turmeric in a recipe, substitute about 1 inch of fresh turmeric. Peel the thin outer layer by gently scraping with the edge of a spoon's bowl, and then grate the rhizome finely with a microplane or a ginger grater. It's best to bring out the color and flavor of the fresh rhizome with a quick stir in some hot oil.

Some simple ways to enjoy turmeric:

- Use it in any curry recipe that calls for dry, ground turmeric, adding it to the pan after the dry spices have been toasted or stirring with other aromatics that are cooked in oil.

- To dress up leftover rice: Saute grated turmeric, minced garlic, salt and a generous amount of black pepper in hot oil until fragrant and golden. Stir in a few tablespoons of coconut milk. Add cooked rice and stir until evenly coated. Serve hot. For a special meal, transfer the rice to banana leaves and steam for 20 minutes.

- To make a lovely Burmese soup: Stir several crushed garlic cloves, a small amount of paprika and half a teaspoon of grated turmeric into a couple cups of chicken broth. Simmer for 10 to 20 minutes, then add thinly sliced seasonal vegetables such as daikon, chayote, spinach, mustard greens, watercress or even carrots. Season to taste with salt and a generous grinding of black pepper, then sprinkle with chopped cilantro or scallions just before serving.

- For a refreshing cucumber sauce over fried or grilled fish: Halve lengthwise 2 or 3 small, pickling cucumbers or 1/2 of a hothouse cucumber. Scoop out seeds and cut into thick slices. Stir grated turmeric and onions in hot oil until fragrant and bright golden. Add chopped garlic and finely shredded ginger, then stir in the cucumbers, 1/2 cup of stock and, optionally, a spoonful of coconut milk. Simmer just until the cucumbers are warmed through, then transfer to serving bowl or pour over cooked fish.

- The next time you're at an Indian market, look for turmeric pickles tucked in among the other mango, lime and eggplant pickles. One of my favorites!

- To brighten your own favorite salsa, chutney or pickles: Grate turmeric, then heat it in the oil or a small amount of the liquid used in the recipe or even a bit of the pickling brine from purchased pickles. Stir well with other ingredients.

- Experiment with this natural food coloring by slipping a bit into any recipe that calls for ginger. You never know, that bright, new dish might become a classic from your kitchen.

On Friday, March 23, The California Report discussed the Farm Bill.

Go listen to the stories at the CA Report website!

Host: Scott Shafer

Farm Bill Changes To Be a Lesson in Cascading Consequences
Every few years Congress tinkers with the Farm Bill, which determines how much federal money farmers get to subsidize their crops -- and a whole lot more. Host Scott Shafer talks to with author Dan Imhoff about his new book "Food Fight: A Citizen's Guide to the Food and Farm Bill."

Organic Farmers Want a Place at the Farm Bill Table
California farmers grow more fruit and vegetables than growers in any other state, but when it comes to the Farm Bill, they're pretty much left out in the cold. Legislation introduced this week by Central Valley Congressman Dennis Cardoza aims to change that by redirecting federal dollars to marketing and research for fresh produce. But some of the state's organic farmers are saying "what about us?"

Reporter: Sasha Khokha

First of all, it's doughnut not donut. Let's give this pastry the respect it deserves. I suppose Mr. Doughnut is a bit much-- this treat is far too familiar to most of us for such formality. By familiar, I mean taken for granted. We've invited doughnuts into our homes often enough and spent endless hours with them in coffee shops, but what do we know about them? Have you ever bothered to ask one anything about itself? Of course not. They've infiltrated our children's schools, yet I doubt any County Administrator has ever bothered to do a background check on a single one.

Well, I have. Sort of.

You can say dank u to the Dutch. While you're at it, you might also want to thank them for cobbler and the koekje (cookie, if you couldn't figure that out on your own). The Dutch brought their recipe for olykoeks with them to the New World, where the name easily translated to "oily cakes"-- balls of sweet dough fried in pork fat. Sound like heaven on earth. Sweet dough and pork fat. I'm not kidding.

Somewhere in history, the oily cake hired an image consultant and changed its name to doughnut, most likely because they were, quite simply, little nuts of fried dough. Washington Irving mentions them as early as 1809. He seemed to know a lot about Dutch Americans.

There are a few tales, some of them tall, about how the doughnut got its hole. The best and most famous is that of one Captain Hanson Gregory whose mother sent him off to sea with-- what else?-- fried pastry. During a violent storm, Captain Gregory needed both hands free to man the wheel of his ship, so he impaled his doughnut upon the top spoke of the wheel, thereby creating the center hole.

Believe it. Or not.

A more likely explanation is that the center of the pastries had been notoriously hard to cook thoroughly. They usually ended up a doughy, oily goo. By punching a hole in the center, more surface area is created, therefore allowing for faster, more even cooking. But if you prefer to believe the first explanation, by all means do.

For a really good read about doughnuts, please visit Mr. Breakfast. I think he might be my new hero.

The Dutch, and through them, Americans, are not the only people on earth in love with puffy fried dough. The Argentines have their facturas, the Austrians love a good krapfen (giggle, it's okay), the Chinese go for youtiao (though it is not sweet), and the French, of course, are dating the beignet.

Wherever in the world you may eat them, eat them warm and fresh. A doughnut made yesterday dunked into this morning's coffee might be fine, but it really cannot compare to a doughnut still warm from the fryer. I almost typed friar, which might say a lot about me.

The last time I made doughnuts was in June of 2001. I must have been in love or something. I was going to my boyfriend's cousin's annual oyster party on Limantour Beach. I wanted to make a favorable impression on them and, for some reason, doughnuts seemed the perfect thing to make. Perhaps I had hoped that, had the wind kicked up a bit too much, no one would notice the sand that would stick to the pastries, camouflaged as they would be by their coating of granulated sugar. My boyfriend thought I was crazy to go to so much trouble. Maybe I was, but everybody still remembers the doughnuts.

Try making a batch for yourself. They're really easy. I mean it. You'll need a good thermometer though. The temperature of the oil is key.

Buttermilk Doughnuts

What I like most about this recipe, which has been borrowed from Epicurious.com, but altered slightly, is that the sweetness is rather subtle. I'm just not a super-sweet fan. I tend to regard these doughnuts as, well, cakes, though hopefully not oily ones. I like these served up on a plate with a bit of fruit sauce. Blueberry compote works really, really well. It's sort of like a lazy man's version of a jelly doughnut. Or, looked at in a more positive way, a healthy (or healthier) man's version.

Servings: Makes about 10

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening, room temperature
3/4 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 tablespoon almond extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Vegetable oil (for frying)

Powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Place 1 1/2 cups flour and 1 1/4 cups sugar in large bowl.
2. Add buttermilk and next 7 ingredients.
3. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until just smooth.
4. Beat in remaining 1 cup flour.
5. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours.

6. Turn dough out onto floured work surface; roll to 1/2-inch thickness.
7. Using 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut dough into rounds.
8. Using 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut hole from center of each round, making doughnuts.
9. Gather scraps and reroll dough, cutting additional doughnuts until dough is used up.

10. Pour oil into heavy large pot to depth of 5 inches. Heat oil to 350 degrees Farenheit.
11. Add 3 doughnuts at a time to oil and fry until golden, turning once, about 6 minutes total.
12. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper-towel-lined rack to drain. Repeat with remaining doughnuts. Cool.
13. Sift powdered sugar thickly over doughnuts.

Check, Please! Bay Area is KQED's local series featuring regular people reviewing Bay Area restaurants.

Check, Please Bay Area was nominated for two 2007 James Beard Awards (pdf) in the Television Food Show Category!

Visit the Check, Please! Bay Area blog to experience the restaurants from Season 2 Episode 9:

1) Dõna Tomás: | restaurant information | reviews

2) Amber India: | restaurant information | reviews | recipe

3) Scala's Bistro: | restaurant information | reviews

Please feel free to join the discussion by posting comments about the show and your reviews of the featured restaurants!

You can watch all episodes online as well as subscribe to the Check, Please! video podcast in iTunes.

This season, Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic will be blogging about what happens behind-the-scenes during the making of Check, Please! Bay Area.

You can also view the Check, Please! Bay Area photo gallery to view behind-the-scenes shots at many of the featured restaurants.