beer
From sausage-making to truffle-rolling, salted caramels to secret dinners, we’ve got the tastiest list of Valentine’s Day inspirations in town.
I’d driven through Boonville with my Dad and my sisters once, all too briefly en route to Mendocino. We stopped at the Boonville General Store for a sandwich and sat outside admiring the coolness of the little stretch of road and the delightfully slow pace of life. All along Hwy 128 there were orchards, farm stands, hidden hiking trails, and–of course–vineyards. I vowed to come back and do some exploring.
So a few years ago — after being served the soggiest bread-crumby fish I had ever encountered (and paying close to $15 for it) — I decided to make my own fish and chips. I was happily surprised to find that making truly decent battered fish is both incredibly easy and straightforward. And, as is the case with all home cooking, you can control the results: want it really crispy, fry a little longer; interested in smaller pieces, cut them up; in the mood for a hearty batter, use dark beer.
The trick, I realized, was to pick one long line–like the one for Seoul Food’s Korean tacos– and then send your friends out on recon missions to the shorter lines, so you’d have something to eat while you waited in line for something to eat.
Where the recent SF Street Food Festival skipped actual street food for slimmed-down restaurant eats, Eat Real did keep it real, with taco trucks, soul food ribs and the Sexy Soup Lady in a pink apron straddling her three-wheeled soup cart. And the prices were right, too, with nothing over $5.
Yats: this hidden gem tucked inside a bar pays homage to New Orleans style po’ boys and other absurdly delicious comfort food like steak fries and mac-n-cheese.
I love cherries and I’m also quite keen on beer, so you would think that I would have jumped at the chance to try a Belgian cherry beer on tap when offered one; yet I at first refused. Although I adore cherries — they may just be my favorite fruit — I abhor fake cherry flavoring. This is why I am unable to take cough medicine or drink cherry soda. It just tastes fake and wrong to me. So last year, while visiting the lovely city of Haarlem in the Netherlands, I had to be convinced to try the cherry beer that is a staple at most pubs in the fall. I am so glad I relented.
But American canned beer? Bah! Once again, I am so happy to be proven wrong. On every trip home to Minneapolis for the past few years, I have been tempted to tour the Surly Brewing Company in Brooklyn Center, MN. The name of the company alone was enough to intrigue me, but then I got a load of the beer names: Furious, CynicAle, Bitter Brewer, and Bender. Just add Grumpy, Sleepy, and Dopey and they could be the Seven Drunk Dwarfs of beerland.
I think beer is getting a little out of control. It all started with the Bud Light Lime, which is an okay idea, I guess. I mean, I’d much rather jam my own lime slice down the long neck of a Corona, but for the lazier out there who don’t mind the taste of artificial lime mixed in with their frat beer? God bless.
Bay Area Bites (BAB), KQED's public media food blog, feeds you visually compelling food-related stories, news, recipes and reviews from the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Enter your email address to receive updates each time we publish new posts.
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