Saturday, April 16, 2005
What are you doing reading this?? I KNOW you have work to do.
Yeah, that's why I'm writing it too. I promised a post on this topic, so this'll have to do.
My Easter Dinner. Because I love food.
On Easter, I went out with my uncle and his family to dinner, since I was in Boston for job interviews and the family couldn't let me starve. (Yeah starving student gig. Sometimes it's worth it.) We went to The Federalist--a beautiful, classy place. I should have paid more attention to what other people ate, but I just couldn't. The varied appetizers were difficult to choose from, but I settled on "spiced lobster soup and salad." I'd never had lobster salad before. And I was expecting a bowl of soup...but what arrived was a tiny cup of the most fragrant bisque I'd ever been in contact with. Too small to stick a regular spoon in the itty bitty cup (it came with a teeny spoon), the soup was nevertheless rich and heavenly. Chunks of succulent lobster amid the smooth creaminess. Mmm. The lobster salad was a little bit crunchy, maybe from the celery? Is there celery in lobster salad? I don't know what lobster salad was supposed to taste like. But I liked it! Together, this beensy little portion that I was feeling rather gypped about entirely filled me up with richness.
Luckily, the service was slow and we had plenty of time to digest before our next course. There was champagne served before the food, and a nice white wine served with appetizers (sauvignon blanc?). Uncle is good at wine-picking.
Yes, the main course. Before I go into mine, I should mention Uncle's. Uncle had the beef tenderloin with foie gras, braised onions, and a thyme madeira sauce. He ordered it with the Kobe beef, which knocked it up to $68. I was expecting quite a hunk of steak for that amount, but it was just this tiny little thing. I didn't try it or I'd fully report. The Japanese cows which go into this beef are massaged routinely/daily to prevent muscle stiffness and are "brushed" with sake. I'm having a hard time picturing this, but apparently it's true. Apparently some of the massages also use sake as oil to really relax the beasts. When closer to slaughter, they are fed beer and sake mash.
I never thought I'd say this, but...I WANT TO BE A COW.
I know, I know, my food. But any food that expensive is so much more exciting. The rack of lamb came with fava bean succotash. Was the cook of a literary bent with a sense of humor?
I had the Roasted Alaskan Wild King Salmon, with pumpkin risotto, belgian endive, and chestnut white truffle sauce. The fish sliced apart with the flightest touch of a fork. It was soft but firm, somehow, and when taken with a bite of risotto and smudged with white truffle sauce...WOW. It was rather traumatizing to be next to the beef and wanting to taste it, but I would have stabbed anyone who approached my food so I understand why no one shared. The pumpkin risotto wasn't overpowering at all, with just a slight hint of pumpkin; really, it's purpose was just to be a foil to the very flavorful fish. Uncle ordered a cabernet sauvignon for the main course, and THIS WINE WAS FANTASTIC. I would have licked the glass if I could have. The rest of the family was LEAVING SOME in their glasses. It was just too gauche to chug all of their glasses before we left, but I thought about it. Ok, honestly, if I wasn't driving I *totally* would have. But YOU knew that, didn't you?
I always write about food when I'm hungry!
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Yeah, that's why I'm writing it too. I promised a post on this topic, so this'll have to do.
My Easter Dinner. Because I love food.
On Easter, I went out with my uncle and his family to dinner, since I was in Boston for job interviews and the family couldn't let me starve. (Yeah starving student gig. Sometimes it's worth it.) We went to The Federalist--a beautiful, classy place. I should have paid more attention to what other people ate, but I just couldn't. The varied appetizers were difficult to choose from, but I settled on "spiced lobster soup and salad." I'd never had lobster salad before. And I was expecting a bowl of soup...but what arrived was a tiny cup of the most fragrant bisque I'd ever been in contact with. Too small to stick a regular spoon in the itty bitty cup (it came with a teeny spoon), the soup was nevertheless rich and heavenly. Chunks of succulent lobster amid the smooth creaminess. Mmm. The lobster salad was a little bit crunchy, maybe from the celery? Is there celery in lobster salad? I don't know what lobster salad was supposed to taste like. But I liked it! Together, this beensy little portion that I was feeling rather gypped about entirely filled me up with richness.
Luckily, the service was slow and we had plenty of time to digest before our next course. There was champagne served before the food, and a nice white wine served with appetizers (sauvignon blanc?). Uncle is good at wine-picking.
Yes, the main course. Before I go into mine, I should mention Uncle's. Uncle had the beef tenderloin with foie gras, braised onions, and a thyme madeira sauce. He ordered it with the Kobe beef, which knocked it up to $68. I was expecting quite a hunk of steak for that amount, but it was just this tiny little thing. I didn't try it or I'd fully report. The Japanese cows which go into this beef are massaged routinely/daily to prevent muscle stiffness and are "brushed" with sake. I'm having a hard time picturing this, but apparently it's true. Apparently some of the massages also use sake as oil to really relax the beasts. When closer to slaughter, they are fed beer and sake mash.
I never thought I'd say this, but...I WANT TO BE A COW.
I know, I know, my food. But any food that expensive is so much more exciting. The rack of lamb came with fava bean succotash. Was the cook of a literary bent with a sense of humor?
I had the Roasted Alaskan Wild King Salmon, with pumpkin risotto, belgian endive, and chestnut white truffle sauce. The fish sliced apart with the flightest touch of a fork. It was soft but firm, somehow, and when taken with a bite of risotto and smudged with white truffle sauce...WOW. It was rather traumatizing to be next to the beef and wanting to taste it, but I would have stabbed anyone who approached my food so I understand why no one shared. The pumpkin risotto wasn't overpowering at all, with just a slight hint of pumpkin; really, it's purpose was just to be a foil to the very flavorful fish. Uncle ordered a cabernet sauvignon for the main course, and THIS WINE WAS FANTASTIC. I would have licked the glass if I could have. The rest of the family was LEAVING SOME in their glasses. It was just too gauche to chug all of their glasses before we left, but I thought about it. Ok, honestly, if I wasn't driving I *totally* would have. But YOU knew that, didn't you?
I always write about food when I'm hungry!
