Photo by Andria Lo. Pickled vegetables by RicePaperScissors

Maybe you’ve had your fill of friends posting pics of their latest meal on social media. If you are hungry for something more satisfying than pin-ups of perfectly plated pancakes, sundaes dripping rivulets of caramel or lurid lasagna, feast your eyes on the images in Sip. Savor. Share!, a photographic love letter to San Francisco’s food and drink, markets and mixologists, sponsored by the urban art collective Femme Cartel. The show opens May 9 and runs through May 26 at the Mission’s Roll Up Gallery.

The show features the work of local artists:
• Molly DeCoudreaux (head photographer at SF.Eater.com, frequent contributor to Refinery29, The Bold Italic)
• Aleksey Bochkovsky (contemporary art photographer)
• Andria Lo (documentary and editorial photographer, including at 7×7)
• Anna Vignet (SF Chronicle contributing photographer and cookbook artist)
• Sarah Deragon (owner/head photographer of Portraits to the People)
• Flee Kieselhorst (portrait and fine art photographer)
• Gennesis Gastilo (photoblogger at Mother Cerveza)

Femme Cartel food photography show

Femme Cartel is known for showcasing cutting-edge, urban art, from tough to girly. Its founder, Emily Howe, calls herself  “a community organizer at heart.”  ”We started with shows that focused on women artists because they seemed to have second-class citizenship in art world. Now we often include a male artist (who supports feminist ideals),” says Howe. Bay Area Bites interviewed the co-curators of this food photography show and two of the featured artists.

Bay Area Bites: You’ve done graffiti inspired art and a hip take on fashion illustrations.  Why food now? 

Emily Howe: We love San Francisco and Oakland and the food world encompasses social justice, community gardens and feminist foodies. For many years, women were relegated to the kitchen, then they joined the workforce but were  STILL expected in the kitchen as supermoms. Now, there is a return to the domestic arts, but we are reclaiming those domestic arts in new ways: it’s a choice to bottle your own beer or pickle your own vegetables.

BAB: Why a focus on female photographers?

EH: In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to think about gender, but if you look at who gets in art shows, who wins grants, who are the curators, jurors, art professors, deans of art schools — across the board it’s proportionately more men. The breakdown should be 50/50, but the big names are dudes. One of our goals is to showcase emerging artists and help people get their first show with an exciting launch. Christina Bohn, my co-curator and I  picked images that we loved and would buy ourselves. We also wanted to represent certain themes: coffee culture, cocktail culture, food trucks, Asian food, Mexican food, nightlife.

Christina Bohn: It’s timely now since the Bay Area is so into food and hand-crafted cocktails. And we include a range of images from instagram photos to fine art.

BAB: How did you find the artists for this show?

CB: We have a roster of artists who we’ve worked with in the past, but they represent more fine art, mixed media and collage. Not so much photography. We like to tap into the well of emerging artists. So we hit the Internet hard, Google, Craig’s list. San Francisco is such a beautiful melting pot of people from all walks of life. We wanted to include different threads that make up the whole scene. We pride ourselves on being a launching platform, finding artists who have never had shows and giving them opportunity to get their work out there. We love to connect people. Sometimes we know of a hair salon or pizza place that needs art on their walls and we can match them up with someone from the community.

photo by Molly DeCoudreaux – Bar Tartine

Professional photographer Molly DeCoudreaux grew up in Oakland. “What got me into loving food was the ten years I worked at Baywolf, moving from busser to waitress.” DeCoudreaux enjoys showing food communities, cheese-makers and chefs at work in the kitchen as well as bringing focus to small upstart companies.  ”I can relate to them because I’m scrappy too, I work hard, in a physically strenuous business.”

As for being part of Femme Cartel’s female-focused art show, she says, “Most photographers are men, it’s a gendered profession. There’s a lot of gear and electronics. Sometimes I go into a restaurant with all my bags of gear and some guy still says, ‘Oh, are you here for the waitress position?’ (And I’m 33!)”

DeCoudreaux shoots striking, non-traditional portraits of drag queens, porn people as well as weddings. “Weddings have a certain stress because they only do the ceremony once,” she says. “Food sits still – unless it’s a hollandaise sauce that breaks after 15 seconds.”

She admits the hardest food to photograph is BBQ. “It’s just meat covered in sauce, it can look like a brown mush. You have to light it and garnish it so it isn’t just a plate of brown.” She doesn’t usually work with a food stylist, relying instead on chefs who plate their food artistically. “I like collaborating, being in the kitchen, trying to stay unobtrusive. I like to show real people doing their work.” Instead of a perfect peach tart, for example, DeCoudreaux would prefer something a little lopsided. “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful,” she says.

photo by Andria Lo – condiments at Chinese restaurant

Andria Lo, documentary and editorial photographer and photo director for Hyphen Magazine, grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, where, she says,  ”There weren’t a lot of Chinese people. We ate Mom’s Chinese cooking at home and didn’t go out to eat at Anchorage’s Chinese restaurants.” When Lo and her family moved to Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley, she experienced culture shock at the plethora of Chinese restaurants.

Lo caught the photography bug as an art student at UC Berkeley. “It was the magic and camaraderie of the darkroom,” she says, “where people are working individually and collectively at same time.”

Although professionally, she photographs products, portraits, weddings and other subjects, Lo says, ”food photography is one of my passions. You get a finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the city. I especially like shooting the great energy at food events — like ForageSF dinners — it’s a challenge to capture the excitement in the air.”

One of the hardest places to shoot, Lo explains, is in professional kitchens. “While the dining room may be gorgeous, the fluorescent lighting, stainless steel counters and dirty dish racks present a challenge. I have so much respect for chefs. I’m visually stunned by the plating they come up with. My favorite perk is getting to eat their dishes. It’s an impetus to work fast, so that the food is still hot.”

photo by Anna Vignet

Anna Vignet: “There’s a huge variety of world flavors in only a handful of miles in the city. I love trying food from different countries with friends and learning about a country’s food and culture.”

photo by Gennesis Gastilo

Gennesis Gastilo: “Mother Cerveza is a love for the art of mixology and as in imbibing, a love for the people with whom you share your drinks. In the spirit of an intensely diverse and welcoming community, Femme Cartel’s show in San Francisco has at the heart of it: Love is indeed a miscible thing. (Peace begins with a beer).”

photo by Aleksey Bochkovsky

Aleksey Bochkovsky: “I’ve always fed off the energy from streets in big cultural cities. I need to be around people to steal moments of interaction and real feelings, however subtle. Food is a social experience and street food, in particular, interests me for its bouquet of demographic gatherings.”

photo by Sarah Deragon

Sarah Deragon: “One of the reasons I adore San Francisco is because of the dynamic foodie/bar culture. Femme Cartel continues to make history with their unique curatorial projects. I’m elated to be part of this show.”

photo by Flee Kieselhorst

Flee Kieselhorst: “I am a professional freelance portrait and event photographer and the key to my heart is food. When Femme Cartel (my favorite lady positive art organization) announced the call for entries for “Sip.Savor.Share!” I thought “Yes! An excuse to EAT!” My work in this show represents a few consecutive Fridays walking around San Francisco, meeting and shooting new folks, and of course…eating too much!”

Information:
Foodie Photography Show runs May 9-26
Opening reception May 9, 6-9 pm, food provided by Pachamama Cookery
Address:
Roll-Up Gallery
161 Erie Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Twitter: @FemmeCartel
Facebook: Femme Cartel

honey bee

Do you dream of harvesting your own super-local honey to drizzle on your breakfast bread? Wonder how hard it is to keep bees and how to start? Bay Area Bites interviewed some East Bay beekeepers and collected a swarm of resources listed at the end of this post. Considering the seasonal cycle of bees, spring is the perfect time to take off on this new adventure.

Nina, Mark and Langstroth hive

Before they got their bees, Nina Carter’s and Mark Hogenson’s apple tree produced a measly five apples, the next year, after they set up a Langstroth hive in their Oakland garden, their tree showered them with hundreds of apples. (And their neighbor’s plum tree had so many plums they had to help her pick them and make jam).
(This brings up a good point in beekeeping etiquette: ask–or at least alert–your neighbors about the new brood that will be moving in.)

BAB: Did you have a learning curve?

Nina: Actually, our first hive failed because we weren’t controlling for Varroa mites. We were following a holistic approach and thought the bees would adapt. They were thriving for six months and then became sickly and after two weeks just disappeared. Bees have this altruistic behavior, when they get infected they fly away to protect the hive.

Mark: It was disappointing, but we got advice from experienced beekeepers on several options to deal with mites. One way is to cover the bees with powdered sugar. Since they are very hygienic, that makes them completely clean themselves and they get rid of the tiny mites they might not have realized were eating a hole in their sides.

“There’s a saying in the bee community,” Mark adds with a rueful smile, “If you want to know anything about beekeeping, ask a second year beekeeper.”

So where did you get your next round of bees?

Mark: We got one swarm and one “cut–out,” which means that the bees had invaded an interior wall belonging to–we were told–Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Actually, those bees weren’t too productive, perhaps due to the change in the environment between Marin and Oakland.

What is it like to keep bees?

Nina: Fascinating and therapeutic. We’re in love with them. It’s kind of like having a new baby. We work at home as computer consultants and can just watch the bees and appreciate the scents of honey and beeswax.

Langstroth frame

How much honey do you get?

Mark: Last year, we got 150 pounds of honey from one hive and now we’re thinking about selling some. (We’re talking with local storeowners about carrying this super local product. We call it Rockridge Honey. We also make a salve and lip balm from the beeswax.)

Any advice for beginning beekeepers?

Nina: When you’re just starting, you hear a lot of rumors and contradictory stories about what you should do and it’s hard to know who to believe. We did research for a year before we got our hives and read a lot.

Mark: I would start with two hives so if any problems arise, you can compare them. The Alameda County Beekeepers Association has a lot of resources and taking a hands-on class helped; in it we also learned about the lifecycle and timing of beehive management. Every few weeks, you have to check and see if the bees have enough room, if not you need to get more boxes (called supers). You use a smoker so you can calm the bees before you approach. You want to get them out of the way before you lift a frame so that you don’t crush any of them.

Nina: If we can, we are always going to have hives. They help us to be more in harmony with the environment.

Ruby Blume designed and made these stairs

Ruby Blume has kept bees since 1997. It wasn’t a conscious decision on her part; someone dropped off a Top Bar style beehive in her garden, showed her how to manage it and then just disappeared. Now Blume, whose license plate reads BEE GRRL, teaches beginning and advanced beekeeping classes at The Institute of Urban Homesteading. The classes focus on “how to keep bees naturally” without the use of chemicals or sugar-water and promote the Top Bar system (an alternative to the Langstroth hive) for the small-scale backyard beekeeper. Even Blume’s allergy to bee stings has not prevented her from keeping bees.

Ruby Blume and Top bar hive

Why do you raise bees?

I love bees. I get an incredible sense of joy hanging out with them and feeling their exuberant energy. It’s a privilege to learn from them and through them I am more connected to nature’s cycles and seasons. Bees have such an elegant way of working together and being in concert with nature. They are amazing, highly evolved and, next to humans, the most studied species on earth. It’s easy to get started in beekeeping, yet after 16 years I am still learning!

How did you decide to use the Top Bar system?

Partly because it is what I learned on and what I am comfortable with. But also because it allows the bees to build their comb naturally, instead of on pre-imprinted frames, which manipulates the way they build. I trust that bees know what they are doing—after all they have been doing it for millions of years perfectly well without us.

What are some advantages of the Top Bar System?

If you let bees build natural combs, with smaller cells, it inhibits mites and then there is no need to treat them with pharmaceuticals. I also find the system to be much easier on my body as a beekeeper [full Langstroth boxes often weigh 50 pounds] and to require much less maintenance. Plus you can build a top bar hive yourself at a fraction of the cost of pre-fabricated boxes.

top bar comb

What else do you do to keep bees naturally?

I don’t feed my bees sugar water in the winter. Instead I leave them enough of their own honey to survive. Honey is a much healthier food for the bees. It takes one bee her whole life to make 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey. Bees need one pound a day of honey to maintain themselves in the summer, plus in the Bay Area they need to put away about 30 pounds to last them through the winter.

A bee colony basically acts as a single organism. The inside of the hive is like a womb with its own flora and fauna—sugar, and chemical treatments like antibiotics upset this harmony. I know this might not be a popular perspective, but I believe that animals need to die off sometimes in order to build resistance in the entire colony. So if you treat for mites with pharmaceuticals, then the mites will become more resistant to them. You need to let those bees with weaker genetics cull themselves. Last winter was especially hard and I lost several colonies but with spring, there was a big boom in population. It was an uplifting spiritual feeling to see their resistance and the upwelling of life.

There has been a lot in the news about colony collapse disorder. Do beekeepers know what is causing that?

Colony collapse has been shown to be caused by specific pesticides that interrupt the bees’ ability to navigate. Bees use the sun and landmarks to navigate and then do a “bee dance” to tell other bees where flowers are. When exposed to these pesticides, they can’t find their way home. Of course there are many other factors within industrial apiculture that are impacting the health of our honeybees.

Are there any myths about bees that you would like to clear up?

Yes, a swarm of bees is never an “angry” swarm; it’s a reproductive behavior that happens in the spring when the bees sense it will be a good year with plenty of food. The queen leaves the hive with some of the bees to find a new home. The old colony stays and raises a new queen—in this way the bees “reproduce” and make more of themselves. And the male bees neither sting nor collect pollen, only females. Male bees’ main job is to mate with a virgin queen, a task he gives his life to, as he dies in the process of mating.

Anything else you’d like to share?

For urban beekeepers, two colonies are plenty for one yard; more than that and the bees will be competing for the limited supply of pollen and nectar. If we are to increase the number of urban beekeepers, we need more forage for the bees. If you want to be a friend to bees you don’t have to be a beekeeper, just plant more flowers! They especially like purple, white and yellow flowers; like lavender, poppies and sunflowers.
Here’s a list of bee friendly flowers.

Ruby’s advice for Becoming a Beginning Beekeeper
1. Educate yourself by reading and taking classes and talking with other beekeepers.
2. Pick a system (Langstroth or Top Bar)
3. Procure bees (Pick one of the two options)
• Buy a package with a one queen and few thousand worker bees (may be hard to find right now as most packaged bees are bought up in January)
• Catch a swarm or take a split from an established beekeeper.
4. Get some protective gear so you feel comfortable and not afraid of getting stung: hat with veil, suit and gloves.
5. You’ll need a little equipment: a hive tool, a bee brush and a smoker.
   Then plunge in!

Resources:
• City Bees
• San Francisco Beekeepers Association
• San Francisco Bee-Cause
• Alameda County Beekeepers Association
• The Institute of Urban Homesteading (Oakland)
• BioFuel Oasis (Berkeley)
• Bee Kind (Sebastopol and San Francisco)
• Ruby Blume’s website with many more resources

Lisa Murphy just started her own business making a spicy sriracha ketchup

Last Saturday, 150 Asian food fans attended KQED’s kick-off party and brainstorming session for the co-production of the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and KQED. After enjoying the crowd-pleasing array of Chinese, Vietnamese, Balinese and Filipino dishes prepared by panelist Tim Lyum of Attic Restaurant, the gathering heard brief remarks from Grace Lee about her new project which has not yet begun filming and is scheduled to air on PBS Prime Time in June 2014.

Chef Lyum’s Five Spice Chicken Bun and Balinese Lemongrass Satay

In an interview before Saturday’s event, Lee told Bay Area Bites that her films often use an unconventional storytelling approach.

“Exploring Asian America through the conduit of food will allow us to examine bigger themes.” Lee hopes to dig deep into communities across the country to find unexpected stories, characters and juxtapositions. She is actively soliciting ideas for people and subjects to include. “We want this to be interactive, because we are trying to do something new. There’s no recipe for this. It’s kind of like Asian America. How do you define that anyway? Part of excitement of the project is using the process to really explore the topic itself.”

Tim Lyum, Loiuse Lo, Mark Matsumoto, Grace Lee

After remarks from Lee, KQED producer Louise Lo, PBS food blogger Mark Matsumoto and Chef Lyum, moderator Leslie Sbrocco (of KQED’s Check, Please! Bay Area), invited members of the audience to come to the microphone and share their stories. Some people honored departed members of the Asian American community who had given generously of their time, food and wisdom. Many younger speakers typified a new energy and dedication.

Lisa Murphy, 27, owner of Sosu Sauces and the person wearing the ketchup/sriracha T-shirt, has started her own business making spicy sauces. She told the crowd how she immigrated from Shanghai to the U.S. when she was nine, speaking only Mandarin.

“Learning English in fifth grade was the hardest thing, but everyday after school, when my aunt cooked traditional Chinese food for dinner, I watched and learned. It was a way for me to build confidence. Food was also a way to communicate with my Irish-American step-father who only spoke English.”

Murphy says she did “typical Asian American things,” like attend UC Berkeley and work in banking and finance, but realized that she usually spent her days talking about food with friends. When she told her “very traditional mother” she planned to quit her well-paying high-tech job and do something she loved, her mother was shocked, “A food business?” her mother demanded, “Why are you are going backward?” Murphy explains that as Asians immigrate to the U.S., their first jobs are commonly cooking or doing deliveries for a restaurant. Now that her expanded line of spicy sauces is carried in stores like Bi-Rite Market and Rainbow Grocery, however, she reports that her mother is more accepting.

Murphy’s story of re-invention might be the perfect narrative for Lee’s film. One thing Lee is quick to admit is not perfect, however, is the film’s working title, “Asian Chops.” She hopes someone will suggest a better one. “PBS held a focus group and ‘Asian Chops’ was the best they came up with. It beat out other titles like ‘Wok Across America’ and ‘Chop Suey Nation.’”

Eric Ehler of Seoul Patch and Gung Ho Restaurant rediscovered his cultural roots in Korea

Grace Lee definitely wants her film to explore boundaries beyond the big cities of the East and West Coasts. Lee was born and raised in Columbia, Missouri, where she was afraid people thought her Korean American family was “weird and exotic.” “We had two refrigerators (one was for kimchi) and always worried about offending our neighbors.” She plans to include film shoots in the South and Midwest. “I’m excited to embark on this journey,” says Lee, “but I realize the topic is almost limitless. It’s not specifically about cooking, travel or famous chefs, but more about people we’ve never heard of: farmers, suppliers, the guy who introduced sushi to Texas.”
Producer Louise Lo told the crowd, “This unique point of view will hopefully come from people like you, who want to submit ideas. This is the first event to find out what you think should be included in the film. For the ideas that don’t make it into the film, we’ll also have web videos, blogs, recipes, photo essays on PBS.org/Food.”

Indigo Som has strong opinions about Asian-American food

“One of my pet peeves is the perception that Asian food should be cheap. And it’s supposed to be grungy and dive-y. Then I think, ‘Oh, is that because Chinese people are cheap and dirty?’ And as a foodie,” Som said, “it’s very frustrating to me because I want really good ingredients in my Chinese food and it’s hard to find a restaurant that does that because I guess most people won’t support it. For example, at the Ramen Shop in Oakland, most people are like ‘Oh my God, $14 for a bowl of ramen! It’s a crime.’ No it’s not, it’s because the ingredients are so much better.”

Hyunjoo Albrecht makes and sells kimchi from her Grandmother’s recipes

With one story easily leading to the next, time was for the launch was soon over.  “I know this is a huge project for one-hour documentary,” said Grace Lee, “But maybe it can be a jumping off point for more. It’s important to go to places that we haven’t been before, even if it’s just down the street.”

You can listen to the audio of Saturday’s brain-storming launch party below and participate directly in shaping this exciting project by answering the following questions, which were on a survey distributed at Saturday’s event. Or share YOUR story; you might end up in Grace Lee’s new  film.

1. What’s a great title for this project?
2. What topics or stories or communities are you interested in seeing in this film?
3. If you could only eat one Asian dish for the rest of your life, what would it be?
4. Suggestions for the best/worst named Asian Restaurant. Where is it?

You can leave comments below or share your own story by sending an email to: asianchops@gmail.com

Nico Vera demonstrating how to make ceviche. Photo courtesy: Cathedral Creative Studios

What do quinoa, potatoes, tomatoes and hot peppers have in common? They were all indigenous crops cultivated by the Incas in Peru hundreds of years ago, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in 1535. Peruvian cuisine, according to Peruvian-born, personal chef, Nico Vera, is unique in its incorporation of food traditions from the five vibrant cultures that have shaped Peru: the Inca, Spanish, African, Chinese and Japanese. Vera, who blogs at Pisco Trail will be one of the featured chefs at the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show (along with Annie Somerville of Greens, Thy Tran and KQED’s own Leslie Sbrocco). The Garden show runs March 20-24. Vera’s cooking demo will be March 21, at 3:00 pm, on the Sequoia Stage.

In an interview with Bay Area Bites, Vera shared that he has been cooking since he became his mother’s “sous chef” at the age of 10. Since Vera moved to San Francisco in 2000, his mission has been to promote appreciation of Peruvian food and drink through pop-ups, dinners, classes and recipes on his blog. He’s been a regular at 18 Reasons, plus guest blogger on Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s blog with a five-part series that examined Peruvian cooking through “Five Courses, Five Cultures, and 500 Years of Fusion.”

INTERVIEW (edited for length and clarity)

How have the several cultures you mentioned impacted the culinary history of Peru?

The Spaniards introduced onions, limes, grapes and spices like cumin and oregano. They also brought over African slaves who worked on sugar plantations or for wealthy families in Lima. And the Africans brought their own cooking styles. For example, the dish anticucho, (a kind of shish kebab) is a popular street food of barbequed beef hearts marinated with vinegar, hot pepper and lime and cooked on a wooden skewers. Long ago, when the upper classes discarded the tough cuts of beef, the poorer people, (the African slaves) would cook them because nothing should go to waste. Now people line up for anticuchos every night at street carts and food stalls.

What dish will you be preparing for the San Francisco Garden Show?

Aji de Gallina, a famous creamy, Peruvian chicken stew with hot peppers, that is always prepared for special events, even though it’s slow cooked and pretty laborious. It’s a distant relative of blancmange, a nourishing European dish dating from the Middle Ages made with chicken, sugar, rice and milk. When that dish made its way to Peru, hot peppers were added which changed its color and flavor completely. This chicken stew brings up a very special memory for me.

Aji de gallina – Peruvian chicken stew. Photo courtesy: Nico Vera

Can you share that special memory?

When I was about 10 years old, on my Dad’s birthday, my Mom made her chicken stew for dinner. And as often happened in the small third world town where we lived, during the meal, the electricity went out, so we ate the chicken stew in the dark. Eating that chicken without seeing it heightened the senses. The flavors were so intense and beautiful that I fell in love with Peruvian food in that moment and decided I had to learn to cook it.

Pisco Punch, photo courtesy Nico Vera

As a Peruvian mixologist, you are always creating variations on pisco cocktails. Can you explain its history?

Pisco is a grape brandy popular since the late 1500’s. Grapes were not native to Peru. They were brought by the Spaniards who established some of the first vineyards in the Americas. The wine they produced there was so good that the King of Spain banned its production – he was worried that it would compete with Spanish wine. So instead, the grapes were made into the first distilled spirit in the Americas.

When this new spirit was created, it became very popular all over Peru. It was considered medicinal, like brandy. In 1920, the National Drink of Peru, the Pisco Sour, was created in Lima (by an American bartender who lived there) mixing two parts Pisco, one part simple syrup, one part lime juice, and egg whites, shaken with ice, and served strained with drops of Angostura bitters

How do you play with creating new pisco cocktails?

I try to tweak it using different herbs like thyme. Or I infuse the sugar syrup with hot peppers, habanero or chicory or infuse the pisco with coffee beans. It’s alchemy. At the Garden Show, I’ll demonstrate Pisco Punch, (which has a long historical connection to San Francisco).

Peruvian flan with quinoa. Photo courtesy: Nico Vera

We’ve discussed a main dish and cocktail, can you describe a special Peruvian dessert?

There are so many, but one of my favorites is flan with quinoa. It has a different texture. Historically, when the Spaniards brought over sugar cane in the eighteenth century, everything changed . In Lima at that time, there were lots of convents and it was the nuns who specialized in making extravagant desserts for holidays and celebrations. And what’s great is that they were good record keepers and wrote everything down. But they used some odd measurements. Like a recipe might say: take 2 soles (the Peruvian currency) worth of eggs. So we have to do some detective work to figure out how many eggs 2 soles would have bought back then.

We often don’t hear about what people eat for the first meal of the day. I’m curious about a typical Peruvian breakfast.

My favorite breakfast is pan con chicharron, a fried pork sandwich with sweet potatoes, and cafe con leche.

Are you planning to open a restaurant some day?

Right now, I’m not sure, because I’d miss interacting with diners, which means a lot to me. When I do pop-ups at 18 Reasons I’m not just back in the kitchen. I’m up front with the guests, plating, serving. I tell them the stories behind what they’re eating.

Can you recommend any Peruvian restaurants for people who want to sample this cuisine?

San Francisco has many Peruvian restaurants. Two of my favorites are very different from each other:

Mi Lindo Peru is a hole-in-the-wall on Mission, where you feel like you are eating in someone’s home.

And for a more high-end experience, La Mar Cebicheria in the Embarcadero.

What’s your latest project?

I’m writing a book now. I’ve been passionately collecting stories and recipes from my Mom; finding out what Peru was like back when she was a child; it’s a memoir that takes a girl’s perspective.

You picked a recipe for Loma Saltado to share with Bay Area Bites readers, because of its Chinese influence?

Chifa is what they call Chinese food in Peru. It’s been around for 150 years. After the Afro-Peruvians won their freedom, immigrants from China came to work on the farms and plantations, bringing ingredients such as ginger and soy sauce and woks. When my family would go out to eat we would always go to eat Chifa and sit at big round tables. In Peru, there are thousands of Chinese restaurants. Now when I travel to cities like New York and Vancouver, I make a point to visit their Chinatowns, because they make me feel at home.

Chinese-Peruvian Beef Stir Fry. Photo courtesy: Nico Vera

RECIPE
Nico Vera’s Lomo Saltado – Chinese-Peruvian Beef Stir Fry

Lomo Saltado is one of the most important dishes in the history of Peruvian cuisine — it’s the first time that ingredients from China like ginger and soy sauce were mixed with Peruvian aji amarillo hot peppers, and the fusion is a truly savory and spicy Chifa dish.

Though there are many variations of Lomo Saltado, the main ingredients are beef, red onions, tomatoes, and French fries. The real key to this dish, however, is the seasoning — in addition to salt, garlic, and ginger, I prepare a sauce with soy sauce, white wine vinegar, oyster sauce, and aji amarillo. The recipe here is from my mom, but the addition of the oyster sauce was inspired by Gaston Acurio’s version of Lomo Saltado at La Mar.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE STIR-FRY
• 1/2 lb. beef (see notes below)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 red onion
• 1 tomato
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 small piece of ginger
• 1 bag of frozen French fries
• salt to taste
• green onion and cilantro for garnish
• 1 lime

INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon aji amarillo paste
• 4 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce

PREPARATION
In addition to the ingredients above, you’ll need a skillet for stir-frying and a bowl to mix the sauce.
1. Preheat the oven and follow the instruction to bake the French fries, usually at 450°F for 30 minutes or so. You can continue with the preparation that follows while the fries are baking, but wait until they are done before stir-frying the beef.
2. Mince the garlic and ginger. Chop the cilantro and cut the green onion into rings. Slice the tomato into six wedges. Peel the red onion, cut in half, and cut each half in quarters and separate onion layers into leaf-like slices. Cut the lime in half.
3. In a small bowl, prepare the sauce by mixing together the soy sauce, vinegar, aji amarillo, and oyster sauce.
4. Cut the beef into medium size strips.
5. When the fries are done, remove from oven.
6. Heat canola oil in skillet over medium to high heat.
7. Season the beef strips with salt and stir-fry the beef in skillet, about 30 seconds.
8. Add the garlic and ginger, stir-fry about 30 seconds.
9. Add the onions and tomatoes, stir-fry about 30 seconds.
10. Add the fries and prepared sauce, stir-fry about 30 seconds.
11. Turn off heat and mix in the green onion and cilantro, stir-fry about 30 seconds.
12. Serve immediately and squeeze juice of half a lime over dish.

SERVINGS
2 servings.

NOTES
Lomo means tenderloin en español, but other cuts of beef will work well as long as you don’t overcook them. For example, I like using a New York strip and sometimes a top sirloin. The beef strips should be of even thickness and not too long, that way they will cook uniformly. Once the sauce is prepared, the fries are baked, and all the ingredients are chopped or sliced, the cooking happens very fast. The timing in the steps above is only an estimate, what is most important is not to overcook the beef or tomatoes. Also, you should only add the amount of sauce and fries to balance all the ingredients. The end result should be tender beef, crispy onions, moist tomatoes, and warm fries — nothing should be too soft or soggy.

Related Information
Blog: Pisco Trail
Facebook: Pisco Trail
Twitter: @piscotrail
Pinterest: Piscotrail.com

But there are plenty of Deaf Bay Area food lovers who aren’t chefs, and I recently took a dozen of them–software developers, college professors, actors and retired folk–on an only-in-sign-language tasting tour of Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto through Edible Excursions.

I’ve been leading Edible Excursions tours of San Francisco Japantown for the general public since last summer, and recently added ASL–only tours for members of the local Deaf community. (Because ASL is a separate language, with its own grammar, one can’t speak English and simultaneously sign ASL.) Since the Berkeley culinary romp was my third ASL tour, I knew from experience that I would be breaking a rule of politeness in Deaf culture and added the following warning during my intro speech in front of Shattuck Avenue’s Cheese Board.

Due to our tightly planned schedule tasting tidbits at nine places in three hours, I explained that I was going to have to rush the group from one spot to another. In Deaf Culture, despite the advances of email, video phones and texting, face-to-face communication in expressive ASL often has top priority and thus it is considered rude to interrupt signed conversations. In the interest of maximal food appreciation, however, the Deaf foodies replied to my rudeness tip-off with amenable nods.

Saul’s deli delights, photo courtesy Alyce Reynolds

With that, we headed to Saul’s Deli, where a table was already set with glasses for what proved to be our first guessing game of the day. I told the group that this straw-colored soda was house-made, as was common in the heyday of New York delis in the early 20th century, when this flavor was touted for its health benefits. What is it? Ginger and vanilla were the first guesses. I shook my head no. Finally, a member of the group with a sensitive palate guessed correctly: celery seed soda.

Then, we were joined by Saul’s owner Peter Levitt and over succulent house-smoked pastrami sandwiches, he explained Saul’s mission to serve  locally made deli fare, as opposed to the former practice of flying in deli foods from New York.

Imperial Tea Court, photo courtesy Alyce Reynolds

Next, we ambled over to the Epicurious Garden complex and entered the regal Imperial Tea Court for a lecture on the history of tea with seven kinds to sniff and one to taste.

Chocolate heaven at Alegio, photo courtesy Ken Arcia

The most popular stop on the tour–not surprisingly–introduced the group to “the best chocolate in the world,” accordingly to Alegio’s co-owner Robbin Everson, which grows only on Sao Tome, a tiny island off the coast of West Africa. The series of nibbles of bars from 100% to 73 1/2% cacao was revelatory and sublime. Thanks to Everson’s expertise, the guests delighted in having all their questions answered. Two of the most surprising discoveries: Hershey’s bars contain only 10% cacao and there is no caffeine in chocolate–instead a stimulating compound called theobromine produces a different set of effects on the body.

On our way out of Epicurious Garden, we made a quick stop at Soop for some warming Thai Red lentil soup and I explained that owner Marc Kelly serves Swedish yellow split pea soup every Thursday to honor his Swedish mom’s national tradition.

Monica Roccino of Local Butcher, photo courtesy Ken Arcia

After a short walk down Shattuck Avenue, the group assembled in a large semi-circle (with sign language, everyone needs to be able to see) in front of The Local Butcher Shop. While they munched on the sandwich of the day, pork with onion, cabbage and BBQ sauce, I interpreted a fascinating lecture about whole animal butchery from co-owner Monica Roccino, after which she entertained questions. “What’s the most exotic meat you carry?” one person asked. Perhaps the questioner was hoping to find ostrich or reindeer on the menu. But Roccino explained that she and husband Adam’s commitment to local ranchers means that they only use animals raised within 150 miles, so the most exotic meat she could come up with was squab (pigeon).

Cheese Board pizza slices quickly disappear, photo courtesy Kim Aronson

In front of the Cheese Board Pizza Collective, I told the group how this worker-owned collective was inspired by an Israeli kibbutz, while they scarfed down the flavor of the day: zucchini, onions, mozzarella, feta cheese, and basil pesto.

After a shot of caffeine and history at the original Peet’s Coffee which started the gourmet coffee movement back in 1966, the group was more than ready to mellow out across the street at Vintage Wine, where owner Peter Eastlake described the three wines the group was about to sample from Healdsburg’s Preston Winery. But as I began interpreting in ASL, I had a momentary brain-freeze as I realized that common terms in the wine world, such as: “full-bodied,” “thick, round texture,” and “floral notes” were not the kind of phrases that usually come up in my daily courtroom interpreting. Thankfully, several Deaf guests were clearly wine connoisseurs and knew exactly what Peter was talking about. Reverence for the grape, it seems, transcends language.

And with a parting sweet scoop of gelato from Lush back in Epicurious Garden, the Deaf tour guests reflected on the satisfying aspects of the day: one enjoyed learning the history of many places she has frequented throughout her years as a foodie, another appreciated “discovering these awesome hidden gems in Berkeley and the stories behind them and learning about them in ASL,” and a third was so overcome with the delights of the day, he admitted, “I’m sign-less!”

Related Information:
Edible Excursions’ Gourmet Ghetto tours Thursdays and Saturdays  (stops may vary).

E&F Market in Oakland Chinatown

I’m surrounded by a dozen huge tanks of handsome swimming fish, including red tilapia, black bass and silver carp at the E&F Market in Oakland Chinatown. My friend, Lisa Li, has graciously agreed to take me on an urban “fishing expedition” to buy a live fish that we will cook for lunch, in the Chinese tradition. Among the many choices of fresh and farmed varieties, she decides on a wild-caught rockfish and points the fishmonger to a tank labeled “gopher” fish. He deftly wields a hand-net and scoops up a lively, mottled brown fellow with spiky fins and bulging blue eyes. We see it wriggling for a moment before a discrete thwack on the other side of the counter dispatches it into a state ready to be cleaned and bagged. Lisa also chooses a farmed sea bass for us to compare the flavors.

Fish Tank at E&F Market in Oakland Chinatown

Lisa, who grew up in Guangzhou, China, is a world-traveler who enjoys the cuisines of many cultures and together we’ve shared Moroccan tagines and Spanish tapas. She is also happy to expand my knowledge of Chinese cooking and take me along on this shopping trip she makes weekly. “In Chinese culture,” she tells me, “we like to get our protein as close to live as possible.” What could be fresher than a fish that was swimming around less than an hour before you eat it? And for the upcoming Chinese New Year’s Eve feast, a whole fish is the traditional last course. The word for fish yu also signifies “abundance,” making simply dressed, steamed fish a symbolic and delicious way to end the meal.

Although Lisa frequents several Oakland Chinatown fish markets, she decides that this newish, spacious one would be best for me, since it has the biggest selection and its owners speak English.

A petite woman in a fish-emblazoned sweatshirt greets us, adding that we are very lucky to live in California since we have so many local fish to choose from. The co-owner of E&F Market has an impossibly perfect name: Finnie Fung. She grew up with fish, helping her parents on weekends in their New Sang Chong Market a half block away. Finnie, age 31, and her husband bought this store, formerly called Hung Wan Market, from her parents and recently changed the name to “E&F” to reflect this new identity (as Eric and Finnie) and also to connect with the younger generation.

“Many Americans [who don’t speak Chinese] are frustrated shopping at the older markets in Chinatown. They often think the shopkeepers are being rude,” explains Finnie. “They aren’t being rude on purpose. It’s just that they don’t speak English well. Here we can answer shoppers’ questions about which fish to buy and how to cook them.”

Meanwhile the orange-gloved fishmongers have quickly scaled, cleaned and bagged our two fish. And as we pay, Lisa picks up some other ingredients we’ll need: fresh scallions, ginger and cilantro.

Oakland Chinatown produce market

We chose the perfect day to stroll through Oakland Chinatown: the annual New Years Bazaar. As we walk back to the car, we thread our way through bustling streets, lined with piles of green-leafed tangerines, huge hanging pomelos, red and gold chrysanthemums and branches of plum blossoms (all symbolic of good fortune in the new year).

As children scamper by, happily holding brightly colored pinwheels, we join the shoppers examining rows of red and gold lanterns with fluttering tassels, sparkly strings of firecrackers, embroidered fish charms and strands of shiny gold money purses.

Back at Lisa’s house, her husband John helps us quickly shred the scallions as Lisa cuts the peeled ginger into large slices. The classic preparation for the fish is to steam it whole — “to represent completeness,” Lisa explains. It is essential that the fish is served with head and tail attached to make sure that the coming year has both a good beginning and ending.

She fills a large pan with water and steamer tray, places the whole fish on a plate atop a pair of chop sticks (“so that the fishy water will run off”), slits the back, so the thicker areas will cook and stuffs the fish with several coins of ginger. The fish will steam for 8 minutes over a high flame. Meanwhile, in another pan she pours some peanut oil and briefly sautés matchstick pieces of ginger and more scallions. When the fish are done, they are ringed with cilantro and topped with the gently sautéed ginger and scallions. Then she pours a generous amount of a special soy sauce for fish. “How much soy sauce are you pouring,” I ask? “Enough to puddle around the bottom of the dish,” she answers.

We move to a round dining table edged with a carved dragon and phoenix motif. As Lisa serves us the tender fish, she explains that at New Years Eve dinner, the head of the fish is always pointed towards the oldest or most honored guest. She scoops up more flesh from the bony skeleton, to refill our plates. John, presents her with the cheek, a prized morsel, and tells me the Chinese cultural belief that you never flip the fish over to get to the other side, because if you do, somewhere, a fisherman’s boat will capsize. With two spoons, he deftly extracts the meat from the underside of the fish. Lisa also likes to eat the fish eyes, which she admits have a “different texture.” She remembers her mom telling her that eating the eyes would improve her sight. “Maybe it’s just that in Chinese culture, nothing should be wasted,” she says. “People who don’t eat the head and tail can boil them with the bones and make a nice broth.” We all agree that the wild caught gopher has a more delicate taste, but the texture of the bass is creamier.

Another important aspect of Chinese New Year tradition is not to finish the fish course on New Year’s Eve, but leave some to be eaten the next day so that the abundance of the yu will continue into the New Year.

Information
E&F Market
333 8th Street, Oakland
(510) 465-1668

If you don’t feel like cooking a whole fish yourself, some restaurants offer Chinese New Year specials.

Illustrations by Lila Volkas

THE SNAKE
I just discovered that I am a Snake. The Chinese Zodiac celebrates the Snake every 12 years and February 10 will kickoff a significant year for all us charmers. I am proud to share my Snake-hood with Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Pablo Picasso, Bob Dylan and Oprah Winfrey.

Having not paid too much attention to my slithery side, I recently turned for some expert advice to San Francisco professional astrologer and author Susan Levitt, who reassured me that the Snake in the Chinese Zodiac is not the evil temptress of the Garden of Eden, but a wise, intuitive and magical creature who appreciates art and beauty, and is the feminine side of the powerful Dragon.

As the Snake sheds its skin, this should be a year of transformation for everyone, she explained, where rewards will be found from looking inward into the world of spirit, instead of focusing on the outer world of material things.

Enlightening information, but as a food writer, my obvious next question to Levitt was how the year of the Snake and the Chinese Zodiac relate to what I eat. In the spirit of fun, Levitt offered me the following descriptions of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac and their relationship to food.

People born in the Year of the Snake, she said, focus on quality over quantity, and follow the maxim, “less is more.” They are drawn to organic and other fine ingredients, and would rather have one piece of the best dark chocolate than a whole box of cheap chocolate. That characterization totally fits for me and explains the reason I continually have to hide the chocolate in my house from my “Monkey” daughter – read on to find out why.

THE MONKEY
Restless Monkeys tend to eat erratically and like a lot of candy. So they need to slow down and work against their crazy, candy-eating Monkey tendencies and learn to shop and plan meals.

THE OX
Conversely, the hardworking Ox is a solid and steady beast. People born in the Year of the Ox appreciate three square meals a day, dinner on the table at 7pm and a nice, dependable bowl of oatmeal for breakfast.

THE HORSE
The strong Horse is an athlete and is drawn to trail mix and power bars. People born in the Year of the Horse should make sure to have plenty of fruit and other healthy snacks to keep their energy up.

THE RAT AND THE DRAGON
Some animals in the Chinese Zodiac, Levitt tells me, have similar dining preferences and would enjoy sharing a meal. For example, the Rat is a connoisseur who likes to be the first to try new restaurants. The Dragon loves living large and entertaining at big banquets. This pair of gourmands would have a blast going out to fancy restaurants and impressing others by ordering only the best.

THE TIGER AND THE DOG
On the whole, the Tiger and the Dog love meat (but of course, Levitt allowed that that there could be a Dog who is a vegetarian as well). The independent Tiger tends to grab food on the go. Perhaps the reliable Dog can influence the Tiger to slow down enough so that they could share a thick, juicy steak together.

THE SHEEP AND THE RABBIT
Both the Sheep and the Rabbit appreciate the artistic. The social Sheep enjoys selecting fresh fruits and greens from the farmers market. The Rabbit pays attention to the beauty of how food is plated. They could share a salad of fancy greens, especially foraged ones, decorated with edible flowers.

THE ROOSTER
The Rooster is a fussy eater. Levitt advises Roosters that it’s a good time to try out some new tastes. Smart Rooster learns quickly from cookbooks and then can improvise.

THE PIG
And in keeping with its character, Pig loves to feast, especially on comfort foods like ice cream. Those born under the porcine sign tend to overeat, but make good chefs. “They also enjoy their booze,” Levitt tells me. Not surprising to find that Ernest Hemingway, Alfred Hitchcock and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who all seem to savor the pleasures of the table, are all Pigs.

+++++++++++++++

Information
San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Parade, will take place on Saturday, February 23, 2013, at 5:15 p.m. and includes colorful traditional Chinese costumes and floats, fireworks and firecrackers.

Find out your Chinese Astrology Sign!

For astrology readings and more in-depth information:

SUSAN LEVITT
Website: susanlevitt.com
Blog: susanlevitt.wordpress.com
Twitter:@AstrologyTweet
Facebook: Susan Levitt-Tarot-Astrology-Feng-Shui

Special thanks to Lila Volkas, for creating the  illustrations above. Lila is an artist and photographer. We previously collaborated on Lucky Foods for 2013, a collection of Food Idioms in 17 languages and a story about Parisian Tea salons.

Victor, the oyster man

It’s early morning and I’m perched on a plastic stool near Mazatlán’s stunning seashore, squeezing lime juice on a plate of oysters that were awakened–rather rudely, I suppose–from their oyster beds only moments ago. Victor, the proprietor of this makeshift beachside oyster bar, squats on a rock, shucks the freshly caught oysters and serves them on paper plates with cut limes and bottles of hot sauce. He has worked these waters for the past 33 years with his brothers, uncles, nephews and cousins, as his father did for 52 years. I learn this through the interpreting skills of my friend Dianne, an American who has called Mazatlán home for the past five years. As we slurp our oysters, Victor tells us that since the emptied shells have larva on them, they return them to the ocean to regenerate a new harvest.

oyster diver

The divers, some of whom wear wet suits, take floating inner tubes fitted with nets out into the sea and armed with sharp tools, dive down to the oyster reefs to harvest the shellfish, while holding their breath. When their nets are full, they trudge back onto shore with 50 kilos of scratchy shells on their backs and fill large mesh bags with shellfish that will be sold wholesale to restaurants. Also benefiting from their catch are lucky customers like us who walk up to enjoy the freshest oysters in the world for less than 50 cents each.

ceviche with lime

Later, during brunch at the restaurant of my hotel, the gorgeous El Pueblo Bonito, we begin with mimosas and shot glasses of fresh shrimp ceviche. As soon as I place my purse on the floor, however, a pleasant server rushes over with what looks like a very short coat rack and indicates that this is the place my purse should go. Dianne, an intercultural consultant who has lived all over the world and is the founder of a training program called Cultural Detective, knows there’s a cultural reason behind this action. “It’s bad luck, isn’t it?” she gently prompts the server, who confides, “Yes, if you put your purse on the floor, all the money will run out.” From then on, I am on the lookout for more percheros and find most restaurants provide them in styles to match their décor (simple white wood, gleaming aluminum, wrought iron or bright turquoise curlicues).

pelicans wait for lunch

Fortified, we’re off to visit some fish markets. Dianne and her husband Greg take me to the simply named Mercado de Mariscos, a basic strip of concrete stands near the docks that the fishermen share with about a hundred pelicans. While the freshly caught fish are gutted and cleaned, pelicans clamor for the scraps they know are coming. The fish laid out here are mostly bought by local residents (not a tourist in sight).

Mercado de Mariscos

Then we head downtown to the large indoor market called Pino Suárez. On the way, I can’t resist some neon-hued coconut candy from a street vendor’s cart, which we all munch on while perusing the market’s many stands.

coconut candy

Underneath gaily dancing piñatas, shops sell all manner of spices, seeds, nuts, fresh cheeses, kitchen goods and dishes, more coconut candies and cones of piloncillo (Mexican brown sugar). We get tastes of the huge orange slabs of smoked marlin.

smoked marlin

The next day, we take a non-fish related excursion to Las Labradas, a UNESCO world heritage site and clamber over boulders to see the ancient petroglyphs carved on volcanic rocks that line the shore 30 miles north of Maztalan. No one has yet deciphered the meanings of the 600 water-worn, thousand-year old carvings, but like the petroglyph fields I visited in Hawaii, they exude a special energy. Dianne tells me that the spring equinox is celebrated here by traditional dances from a group of Indians who wear deer headdresses (Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word for “place of the deer”).

petroglyphs

A group of us have lunch at Los Arcos — a cheery seafood restaurant where shrimp is queen. The meal starts with appetizer platters heaped with fresh shrimp, octopus, chunky scallops, and ceviche with lime. (I notice that lemons are nowhere to be found in Mazatlán but tiny, tangy limes are a tasty substitute.) We all order variations on the shrimp theme: deep fried “seahorses” stuffed with cream cheese and breaded with coconut, shrimp in mango sauce, tamarind sauce, spicy red or green sauces.

shrimp and more shrimp

After touring some artists’ galleries and a nice siesta, we meet for dinner at La Costa Marinera, a festive spot where Dianne and Greg held their wedding rehearsal dinner many years ago. Their specialty is a mariscada seafood platter served atop a large, pig-shaped clay pot that keeps the food warm. We enjoy grilled shrimp, oysters diabla, lobster, dorado filets, frogs legs, accompanied by a singing waiter and large pink margaritas.

shrimp ladies of Mazatlan

On my last morning in Mazatlán, Dianne and Greg take me to the visit the “Shrimp Ladies” — Changueras — whose colorful umbrellas line a street called Aquiles Serdán. Tubs and tubs of brown shrimp, blue shrimp, white shrimp, fresh water, deep-ocean and farmed shrimp are kept cool with large chunks of floating ice. Maria del la Paz has been working on this street for 30 years and arrives daily at 3am to buy her shrimp from the fishermen; then sells her wares to housewives and restaurant owners until 7 or 8pm. As her experienced fingers peel shrimp at lightning speed, she tells us that her father also sold shrimp and she hopes her daughters will soon get a coveted spot at this shrimp shopping center.

Dianne mentions that ordering a “shrimp tamale” will get you a masa-encased shrimp with head, legs and shell, which you are expected to eat. She has learned to order a tamale “gringa style” to have it peeled first. Greg points out the establishment across the street where you take your freshly purchased shrimp and have them prepared to order, so we pick out a few dozen shrimp and enter the diner that is still empty this early in the morning. (Greg says at night it’s a guy-hangout filled with boisterous men with beer). After ordering one plate of garlic shrimp and another a la diabla, the welcoming aroma of garlic quickly fills the dining room as we see flames leap around the pan on the range. I toast my friends and thank them for showing me a little of their Mazatlán–a seafood-lover’s paradise, thanks to more than 20 miles of beaches, the ocean’s generous bounty and the labors of all the unsung oystermen and shrimp ladies.

(Full disclosure: The writer was a guest in Mazatlán courtesy of the Sinaloa Tourism Office)

In scary 2013, we'll all need lucky foods - pictures by Lila Volkas

Illustrations by Lila Volkas

The dawning of 2013 will usher in an interminable, nerve-wracking 365 days for sufferers of Triskaidekaphobia, an intense fear of the number 13. What better way to maximize your odds in this edgy-numbered year than to consume as much luck as possible in the waning hours of 2012? Although four-leaf clovers and rabbits’ feet are not likely to be listed on the menu, there is a smorgasbord of dishes eaten around the world on December 31 believed to guarantee a new year of prosperity, health and good fortune.

In Spain, pop 12 grapes at midnight

SPAIN – Perspicacious Spaniards gobble 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, one with each chime of the clock. If you’ve got a touch of OCD, pre-seed and peel your grapes, then line them up for a quick countdown.

ITALY – In many lands, eating any food that resembles money is thought to assure a year of bounty. Lentils, black-eyed peas and other beans may not be the spitting image of coins but they swell when cooked and thereby represent an increase in wealth. Italians double their luck with lentils and cotechino, spicy pork sausages. Pork carries a positive connotation for a bright future, since pigs nuzzle in a forward direction. Following this logic, back-scooting lobsters or backwards-scratching chickens and turkeys would make for an unlucky dinner on December 31.

In Italy and Germany, eating pork is lucky (except for the pig)

GERMANY – In a country that boasts well over a thousand kinds of sausage, it would be surprising if Germans did not partake in pork for New Year’s Eve. The pig comes in many guises: schnitzel, roast pork or sausages, with sauerkraut as a classic accompaniment. As a group of friends dig into sauerkraut, they may wish each other as much goodness and money as the shreds of cabbage in this traditional fermented dish. Soups with little round things (lentils, peas, beans or carrots) are also believed to bring wealth.

Germans’ passion for pigs extends to sweet ones. Cute, chubby, marzipan pigs Glücksschwein are often exchanged on New Year’s Eve. They epitomize good luck, especially with a shiny coin in their mouth.

Kale or other leafy greens on your plate promise greenbacks in your pocket

DENMARK – If you share my conviction that almond paste makes any meal a celebration, Denmark is the place to go for New Year’s Eve, where marzipan is the key ingredient in a dramatically tall, ringed cake called Kransekage. The cone-shaped pastry is constructed of ever smaller concentric circles and is the classic dessert for weddings, birthdays and New Years. In Denmark and other cultures, stewed kale is served for New Years’ wealth, since the leafy greens resemble folded money.

An old Danish custom is to leap into the new year with your partying friends or family. Just before midnight, everyone climbs up on chairs in their fancy duds, and jumps off into the New Year as the clock strikes 12.

JAPAN – Cleaning the house before New Years in Japan and other cultures lets one start anew with a clean sweep. Homes are decorated with a kagami mochi – an assemblage of two mochi balls (made of pounded rice) topped with a small orange or tangerine – in the style of a snowman. For New Years Eve, the dish to eat is soba, long buckwheat noodles that are slurped without chewing to retain their reflection of longevity. More mochi follow on January 1.

Brazilian pomegranate seeds party down at the beach

BRAZIL – For the ultimate party, Brazil is hard to top. Join the huge throngs on Rio de Janiero’s beaches (remember it’s summer there) to see the fireworks show at midnight. For extra luck, make 7 wishes as you jump 7 times into the waves. The lucky dish of the day is lentils and rice. Seven is also the number of pomegranate seeds to put in your mouth. But instead of swallowing them, suck the seeds, then wrap the tiny white pits in paper and stick the packet in your wallet to be assured of a year-round supply of money.

For more Brazilian luck, dress in all white on the last day of the year, wear new underwear and sleep on clean sheets. And while you are holding that necessary glass of champagne, take three short hops without spilling a drop, then throw the champagne back behind you to let all that is bad stay in the past. (Don’t worry. The person your champagne lands on is supposed to get good luck too.)

Despite your feast of lentils, pork, pomegranate, kale and soba, if January gets off to a rocky start, don’t abandon hope. You still have plenty of chances to increase your good fortune for the year ahead. Remember several different calendars are observed around the globe, so not all your friends may be celebrating the New Year on Monday night. Grab every opportunity for good fortune by also chowing down on the lucky foods associated with Chinese New Years in February and Persian New Year in March.

HAPPY NEW YEAR and

Godt nytår – Danish


Prosit Neujahr – German

Buon anno – Italian

Akemashite omedetô – Japanese

Feliz ano novo – Portugese

Feliz año nuevo – Spanish

Special thanks to Lila Volkas, for creating the delightful illustrations above. Lila is an artist and photographer. We previously collaborated on a collection of Food Idioms in 17 languages and a story about Parisian Tea salons.

Tamales at La Cocina's Tamalada

Forty hungry people with sticky hands and tamales on their minds rotated through four tables at La Cocina’s Tamalada event last Wednesday evening, learning how to make beef, veggie, chicken, cheese and sweet mango tamales. No wonder this annual December event always sells out in November. Tamales can be intimidating for the novice, and even for a pro are time-consuming and labor intensive. That’s the reason behind tamaladas (tamale making parties): share the toil and end up with enough to eat plus a pile to take home for later.

Besides demystifying tamale making (this is the first time I dared to try my hand at filling and rolling the corn meal bundles) the event at La Cocina introduced students to three chefs from different regions of Latin America, each demonstrating their own traditional recipes and techniques that produced a variety of stuffed, steamy bundles.

Tamales, a beloved comfort food served for festivals, birthdays and everyday meals, are a staple at Christmastime. They date back thousands of years, even before the Mayans and Aztecs. The portable, filled buns have fed generations of families (and armies) from Mexico to Argentina. Corn meal wrapped in corn husks, plantain or banana leaves can be filled with almost anything, most commonly with shredded pork, beef or chicken, while sweet tamales feature fruit or raisins and coconut.

Alicia's beef and mango tamales

Alicia Villanueva of Tamales Los Mayas grew up in Mazatlan and her masa had the consistency of a light play-doh. She demonstrated how to roll it into a ball between two palms and then flatten it by pressing into a roundish shape onto the corn husk and plopping some of her fall-apart-tender cooked beef roast, studded with vegetables on top. Squeeze together the edges of the filled masa in its corn husk wrapper and simply fold the ends or tie up the tamale with a thin strip of corn husk.

Dilsa's cheese tamales

Dilsa Lugo of Los Cilantros is from Cuernavaca, Mexico. She told us her secret for achieving fluffy tamales is using fresh lard and explained that each corn husk has a smooth and a scratchy side; you should spread the masa on the smooth side for easier removal after steaming.

The consistency of Dilsa’s masa was totally different than Alicia’s. We used a spoon to smear the sticky masa very thinly on the corn husk, then added two kinds of cheese and topped with tomato, onion and jalapeno. Dilsa, who is sous chef at Copita in Sausalito also does catering. Here is an interview with her by Sarah Henry.

Maria's vegetable tamales

Maria del Carmen Flores, owner of Estrellita’s Snacks is from El Salvador. Her variation on the tamale theme employed cooked–not raw–masa with the vegetables already mixed in. We scooped a big dollop of the masa veggie mixture onto cut rectangles of banana leaves, backed with paper, instead of corn husks, and folded and rolled them up into tight little bundles. She also demonstrated another recipe with chicken and a dozen vegetables, including green beans, zucchini, peas, mushrooms, spinach and green olives.

At the fourth table, demonstrating Alicia’s recipe for sweet mango-filled tamales was Alejandra, another program participant at La Cocina. Alicia adapted her mother’s traditional pineapple and strawberry tamale recipe, which uses a sweet masa made with butter and sugar. Her fluffy mango marvel won Alicia 1st prize at the Alameda County Fair. She shares her recipe with Bay Area Bites readers at the end of this post.

Although enjoyed throughout the year, tamales are an integral part of Mexican Christmas celebrations, most notably the nine day ritual called Las Posadas (meaning “lodgings”), which runs December 16-25, in which a candlelit, costumed procession with musicians, that is said to represent Mary and Joseph’s search for an inn, knocks on the doors of several houses before being welcomed into one home. Songs, piñatas, moles, pozole, hot punch and tamales typically enliven the festivities.

A few days before the Tamalada, BAB spoke with Alicia Villanueava and Maria del Carmen Flores at La Cocina. Their comments have been edited for length and clarity.

Alicia, one of 4 children who grew up in Sinaloa, Mexico, is the only one in her family to move to the US. She came here with her 8-year old son (who is now 20 years old and studying alternative energy at SFSU). Her husband joined them later.

I see your business is centered on tamales. What is your connection to tamales?

Alicia: Tamales bring back beautiful memories from my mom and grandma. Every year, the whole family would get together and cook them. It’s really hard work and takes many hours and dedication because there are so many details. First, you have to prepare the masa and then the fillings. My Grandma would start with the corncobs and a mill to make the masa.

I started cooking and selling tamales just by myself in 2000 but it was more stressful without any permits or anything and I just depended on friends to tell me who was planning a party or else I walked the streets knocking on doors, offering tastes of my tamales.

Then I realized I needed more help so I went to The Women’s Initiative. And my teacher referred me to La Cocina in 2010 and this was the most heavenly place. I am so happy. La Cocina made my dream come true. Now I have five women working for me. They make about 400 tamales a day in La Cocina’s kitchen. The Hobart mixer and the professional steamer are my angels. I can steam 400 tamales in 30 minutes compared to 5 hours it would take on a small stove.

Tell me about the Tamalada tradition in your family. Is it just women who make the tamales?

Alicia: Not just women, men make them too. When you’re making tamales everyone wants to participate. Our Tamaladas would take a whole day. There were 10 of us family and friends, and my grandmother would dole out the tasks. When I was little, I enjoyed all the smells of cooking. It’s not just about cooking, but talking and solving problems together as a family. And everyone goes home with lots of tamales that last for days.

Where can we find your tamales now?

Alicia: I used to sell at Justin Herman Plaza but I found a new place at SOMA Streat Food — every day. And I do catering and festivals. My big goal is to have a restaurant. I’m working on my second business plan with La Cocina. Maybe in the Financial District, but I’m open; God will find the right place.

Ingredients for Maria's chicken tamales

For the interview with Maria del Carmen Flores, La Cocina’s Azalea Perez Olivares kindly acted as interpreter
Maria is from El Salvador and started making tamales with her father when she was six years old. She described some differences:

Maria: In Mexico, they use raw masa, while we use cooked. And our fillings are different, like one with chicken, potato, green olives and chickpeas. The vegetarian I made up because there are so many vegetarians here. Since tamale making is so labor intensive, it’s great for parties. We talk, teach and learn in a group from each other. I started making them here in my kitchen in 2003 and sold them on street corners in San Francisco. It was hard because I had to hide from the police. Then I found La Cocina and now I sell at Alemany Farmers Market, Civic Center Farmers Market and do catering.

I know your business name Estrellita means little stars and I see you have gold inlay stars on your teeth too. Can I ask why all the stars?

Maria: Since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a superstar on TV. Thank God I could accomplish that through my food.

(Then with a little prompting from Azalea, Maria tells me how her other dream came true too. She has a part in the new Woody Allen film that was recently shot in San Francisco. She was “discovered” on the corner of south Van Ness and 14th wearing a typical dress from El Salvador, when apparently she was noticed by film people scouting for extras. They asked her to be in Allen’s movie and she filmed a scene in which Cate Blanchett asks her for a key to an apartment.)

Don’t miss another Tamalada at La Cocina. They have already scheduled next year’s class. Put it on your calendar: December 11, 2013.

Recipe: ALICIA’S MANGO TAMALES

Makes 30-40 tamales, depending on the size you make

INGREDIENTS:

• 40 – 60 dried corn husks* (this includes extra, in case some tear)
• 10 pounds maseca* (corn flour)
• 10 sticks unsalted butter, let soften at room temperature 2-3 hours
• 6 cups white sugar
• 6 pounds frozen mango (Whole Foods brand is best) let thaw at room temperature about 2hrs
• 4 14-oz.cans condensed milk

*Can find in Mexican markets or Mexican food aisle of most large markets

PREPARATION:

For Masa:

1. In a large pan, cover corn husks with water and boil for 30 min.
2. Combine 3 pounds of thawed mango and 2 cans of condensed milk in blender. Blend until smooth.
3. In a large bowl, put the 10 pounds of maseca, 8 sticks softened butter, 4 cups sugar and the blended mango/milk cream from Step 2.
4. For traditional “grandmother method,” mix well with your hands 40-60 minutes until it becomes a smooth paste. OR you can mix it using an electric mixer with a big enough bowl for 15-20 minutes.

For Filling:

1. On the stove in a medium pot, put in remaining 2 sticks of softened butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 pounds of thawed mango and 2 cans condensed milk. Heat on high for 5 minutes, uncovered, then cook slowly at medium-low for another 30 minutes, stirring constantly so filling does not stick to pan.

To Assemble the Tamales:

1. To assemble tamales, take about a 1/4 cup of masa and roll it in a smooth ball between your palms. Then press it onto the softened corn husk leaving about 1/2 inch border along the sides and 2-inch border on top and bottom for folding.
2. Top center of masa with about 2 Tablespoons of mango filling.
3.  Gently fold one long side of the corn husk to the other, making make a tight bundle, then fold up the pointed end of the corn husk,leaving other end open. If you wish, use a thin strip of corn husk to tie it up and look pretty. Lay each tamale folded-side down while you  finish the rest.
4. Once the tamales are folded, fill a large steamer with water just below the fill line and place the steam tray on the rack.
5.  Carefully place each tamale standing up on the steamer, open ends up and cook covered for 90 min. (If you don’t have a steamer, you can use a large pot with a steamer basket, just make sure water is below tamales, so that they don’t get wet and check every 15 minutes so that water does not boil away). Turn the gas to high until water boils then turn it down to medium-low. (After 90 minutes, masa should be firm and pull away easily from corn husk, if it is sticky, carefully re-wrap and steam some more.)
6. Remove each tamale with tongs and let rest for a few minutes before serving as a delicious dessert for lunch or dinner or even breakfast.