A look at local food discoveries, whether it’s a particular dish or an ingredient, often with one or more recipes.
It’s been awhile since I played around with a fairly unknown pasta. Now, pasta mista, or mixed pasta, isn’t really all that unusual. Plenty of times when you have just a bit of this pasta and a bit of that pasta, you probably threw them both, or more than two, into the water to boil up. And… Read More Peculiar Pastas #12
Most of us are probably familiar with southeast Asian fish sauce(s) of one sort or another. You might have a bottle of it in your pantry or refrigerator. You might even use it occasionally. There’s a whole world of fish sauces out there, and their origins go back more than two millennia, with fairly parallel… Read More As The Fish Ferments
Let’s jump right into this one – I think this was one of my favorite dinners we’ve done so far this year. And a great group of guests (as always)! Berenjena Asada – violet eggplants, cut in half, then cross-hatched and roasted face down in the oven in a little oil. While still hot, brushed… Read More 2022 Dinner Menu #25
Every time I approach a recipe that involves innards, I can’t help but hear “parts is parts” pipe up somewhere deep in my subconscious. I grew up eating a fair number of parts, be they from cows or sheep, chicken or ducks, or whatever, and over the years, I’ve had many more. Considered by many… Read More When Life Gives You Parts
And, another successful lunch! This time we leaned in a bit on the Peruvian side of things. Solterito con Langostinos – a solterito is a traditional fresh salad sort of appetizer from Arequipa, in southern Peru. Our version is a mix of potatoes, peas (usually fava beans, but the ones in the market that morning looked… Read More 2022 Lunch #2
There was no liver, no Chianti, and no psychopaths. It was just the pasta from the last two Casa SaltShaker meals, and a couple of requests for more details on it. Now, my version of this dish is not 100% traditional, it’s more just solidly based on a classic from Sicily and/or southern Italy, called… Read More Fava Beans for Spring
Brazil and Sweden, represent! Buenos Aires is full of Brazilian visitors right now. The exchange rate is right, there are special flight offers, so it was no surprise that we ended up with two couples and a trio of Brazil. The former knew each other, even though they reserved separately, the latter, just happenstance. And… Read More 2022 Dinner Menu #24
Almost a month ago I first solicited thoughts from regular customers and followers, and then announced that we’d be offering a trial run at once a week lunches, on Mondays. A three-course prix fixe menu, with wine, water, and coffee included. Numerous folk responded with some variant of “I’d be there!” So, we put it… Read More 2022 Lunch #1