Culinary Types - 5 new articles

No sooner have I pronounced “twilight” at Restoration Farm when I am reminded by Head Grower Caroline Fanning that there is plenty of activity still to come at the CSA. “With the exception of December and January, when we’re mostly hibernating, there is always something happening at the farm,” says Caroline.

Indeed, for everything there is a season. While the harvest has concluded, planting has quickly begun again, which means that on a crisp and clear autumn morning, some thirty members stream onto the farm to prepare the soil and sow the infamous “stinking rose.”

A few culinary and historical notes about garlic – the bulbous plant is known for its restorative powers, and has been cultivated since ancient times. Garlic likely originated in central Asia, but its fame spread to Europe during the Crusades. It was thought to be so powerful that it could ward off the plague and evil spirits. Raw garlic has a pungent aroma that becomes sweeter when cooked.

The garlic field is tucked between the red Dutch farmhouse and an apple orchard at the northern end of Old Bethpage Village restoration. A table is covered with flats of garlic bulbs, and we sit in a large circle wrapped in coats and wearing wool caps, and learn to divide the bulbs into individual cloves and discard the center. There are children, seniors and singles all pitching in to help, but not a single vampire in sight.

Dan and Caroline are working with a group in the field to rake the soil and they roll a cylindrical device over the soil that creates perfect rows of dimples.

Groups of people follow behind with baskets full of pearly-white cloves. Each clove is tucked into a dimple, about as deep as the knuckle on your hand. The root of the clove goes in first, and the tip of the clove points towards the sky. With so many pitching in, eight beds of garlic are planted in three hours.

Multiple cloves will cluster around that single clove when the bulb matures. Each row is neatly labeled for harvest sometime during the 2010 season.

Somehow, all that garlic leaves one craving more. I roast two Restoration garlic bulbs in the oven for a simple golden roasted garlic spread of rich and buttery consistency.

Roasted Garlic

1. Place two bulbs of garlic in a small crock.
2. Add about ¼ inch of vegetable stock.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
4. Cover tightly and roast at 375 degrees for 20 minutes
5. Uncover, drizzle with additional oil and roast about 7 minutes more.
6. Squeeze the roasted garlic from the bulb and spread on toasted bread rounds.

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

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We duck into the austere building, narrowly escaping a typical Pacific Northwest rain shower. The room is small and simply furnished. The glass display counter is framed with distressed wood and several large barrels are arranged throughout the room. A collection of what appear to be medicinal bottles neatly line one shelf. Other shelves display bottles that are tall, sleek and frosted.

We are standing in “The Apothecary,” the tasting room of House Spirits Distillery at 2025 SE 7th Avenue in Portland, Oregon. Our host is Matt Mount, a distiller at House Spirits. He lines up two shot glasses and pours us each a sample of Medoyeff Vodka. My sister-in-law, Ramiza and I gaze at the strikingly-clear liquid in our glasses as Matt begins to spin a few tales of the craft distillation movement in Portland.

“You swallow spirits,” advises Matt. “Don’t taste and spit as if you were tasting wine.” He gets no arguments from us. The swallowing technique allows you to appreciate the full flavor of craft spirits.

Matt Mount is a distiller at House Spirits Distillery in Portland, Oregon

Matt describes the characteristics of Medoyeff Vodka, made from rye grain, and referred to locally as M Vodka. The taste is subtly-sweet, bright and bracing. Medoyeff is the family name of owner Lee Medoff. M Vodka is a Russian-style vodka filtered through charcoal and limestone, meant to be served ice-cold with food. In Russia, vodka is typically consumed with small bites of meat and cheese.

The founders of House Spirits were brewers, who wanted to make whiskey. In addition to existing lines of gin, vodka and aquavit, House Spirits Whiskey will be released in the spring of 2010. Matt says that once you master brewing, distilling is a logical next step. He says the curiosity and willingness to experiment that inspired House Spirits is all part of the indefatigable Portland entrepreneurial mind-set – We do world-class wine and we have great microbrews, so now let’s make our own spirits.

The movement is growing. Seven spirits companies in the Southeast Portland industrial area have banded together to create a district called Distillery Row, an area that is 16 blocks long and five blocks wide. Together the companies produce over 20 different types of liquors including vodka, gin, rum and whiskey as well as absinthe, aquavit and flavored liqueurs. Matt says the partnership is good for everyone’s business and good for Portland.

House Spirits Apothecary Line is small-batch, limited edition spirits.

House Spirits also collaborates with local restaurants to explore the sensory pleasures of food and spirits pairings. Matt, a former bartender, says the focus at House Spirits is on appreciating the extraordinary flavors, the culinary experience, and the communal effect of food and spirits. “It’s all about family, community and socializing,” he says.

We watch as Matt pours a sampling of Aviation Gin and inhale a delicious potpourri of floral and spice aromas. Aviation Gin is a Dutch-inspired 100 percent rye grain spirit made with juniper, cardamom, coriander, lavender, anise seed, sarsaparilla and dried sweet orange peel. “We’re bringing the juniper down and the botanicals up,” explains Matt. The taste is exhilarating. Ramiza takes a sip and has an idea. “This would be an amazing match with Indian food,” she says.

We purchase a bottle and the following night she prepares a feast for the family – Split Pea Vada, Tomato Chutney, Mango Chutney, Cucumber Riata and Chicken Curry. We sip Aviation Gin from colorful tea glasses and the floral and citrus flavors do an exotic dance with the aromatic curry and spice. The inspired pairing is just the kind of creativity and ingenuity that Portland is famous for.

I sampled the food, wine and spirits of the Portland, Oregon region September 27 through October 2, 2009.

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

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Blogger Brett Burmeister chronicles the Porland food cart culture.

This is how far my truck food obsession has gone. I’m standing on the edge of Pioneer Square in Portland, Oregon – some 2,500 miles from home – about to meet up with one of the city’s leading experts on food carts for a bite of lunch.

I’ve been advised to watch for a guy who is 6’ 2” tall – with mutton chops – who goes by the moniker Dieselboi. This might make my parents slightly nervous, but I, however have plunged head first into the fast moving world of mobile food where eating a square meal, dining with strangers and scavenger hunts are all part of the adventure.

My truck food junkie friends are going to be very jealous.

Within moments, a guy fitting the description approaches me. In “real life” he is known as Brett Burmeister, he’s a native of Portland and for the past year he’s been chronicling the city’s burgeoning food cart culture at the blog Food Carts Portland. Brett knows the carts, he knows the chefs and he also knows the prime public spaces to eat if it happens to be raining, which sometimes happens in Portland. He seems to relish his role as ambassador for one of the city’s hottest culinary trends.

“I was born and raised here, so I’ve always loved Portland,” says Brett. “Whenever relatives came to visit, we would always go 24-hours-a-day showing them stuff – the mountains, the ocean, this and that. It’s in my blood. I have to show people and tell people about my city.”

After brief introductions we walk a few blocks to a “pod” on SW 9th Avenue and SW Alder, where a number of Portland food carts are clustered. Compact vehicles resembling tidy recreational trailers - with vivid signs and awnings - line the street. Business people are strolling the sidewalk and scrutinizing menus. “These didn’t exist five or six years ago, this whole block of food carts,” Brett explains.

I ask about the proper terminology. What’s the difference between a food truck and a food cart?

“Unlike the trucks, our food carts don’t have to move,” says Brett. “Most of the food carts that are downtown – they’re parked. They’re on wheels and they can go somewhere, because that’s the code. The county said if it has an axel, it’s a food cart versus a restaurant.”

More than 400 food carts are clustered throughout Portland in “pods.”

So what sparked his passion for food carts? Does he remember the first time?

“It was in Pioneer Square and it was Honkin’ Huge Burritos,” Brett recalls. “It was eighteen years ago. It was college. We were downtown protesting as you do in college. There was this line, so we stood in line, because we didn’t want to go to McDonalds or anything. It was a vegetarian burrito. The “small” could feed two people. So the Honkin' Huge, was just … huge.”

Brett gives me a quick overview of the menu options available at the pod. The choices include Bosnian, Japanese, vegetarian rice bowl, German bratwurst, Korean, Vietnamese and Polish. It’s kind of an enormous outdoor international buffet. At the risk of dusting off a tired cliché, my eyes are already bigger than my stomach.

“The first ones started out as ethnic carts, mostly,” Brett explains. “That’s America. That’s how most small businesses start. It’s a family. It’s like, I know how to do this. And, they create something. It’s only been in the past couple of years that it has branched out into what I call artisanship.”

He says food carts are a great option for entrepreneurs. “I think it’s a good foray into a restaurant – if somebody has that aspiration. It’s inexpensive, and you can try new things.”

A street location also offers a food artisan great visibility. “If you’re a restaurant on the outskirts of town or in a neighborhood, how do you get hundreds, thousands of people walking by your restaurant and literally walking by your kitchen every day?”

Brett says the food carts also mirror Portland’s famous “do-it-yourself” attitude. “We love to find something - beer, coffee, chocolate - and then take it to the nth degree. It’s kind of become, I want to have the coolest, most unique cart.”

He is both street-smart epicurean and community advocate. And, there is no doubt the food cart culture of Portland is piping hot. A casual diner can sample soup, vegetarian rice bowl, barbecue, Mediterranean, crepes, po-boys and even fried pie. The movement is supported by the city of Portland as part of a 25-year plan to develop community oriented sidewalks. At last count, there were more than 400 food carts, clustered in six different pods. There’s even a food cart on Mount Hood.

“My parents had a phrase that when you came to Oregon you were handed a set of galoshes,” says Brett. “Now, we joke that when you come to Portland, they hand you a food cart.”

Playing the field is part of the fun. “We’ll just pick a cuisine, or a pod, and say Yeah, let’s try that today,” Brett says. “I like all kinds of food. I’ll try it all.”

We step up to Ziba’s Pitas to place an order for lunch. Ziba pops her head out of the window and describes our menu options. She has silver hair, bright eyes and a warm smile.

Ziba Ljucevic serves authentic Bosnian fare at the Ziba’s Pitas food cart on SW 9th Avenue and SW Alder in Portland.

We order the Burek, a meat pita filled with lamb, onions, potatoes and spices. The full plate is served with a side of ajar, a spicy red grilled vegetable sauce and a salad of sour cream and cucumbers. We also purchase a Tikvenica, which is a pastry filled with zucchini.

“Wait till you taste it,” says Brett of the Burek. “It’s brilliant.”

We cross the street and enter the atrium of the Western Culinary Institute where there are a number of café tables. “We find places in buildings where we can go eat our food, without having to pay for the restaurant seating.”

The Burek from Ziba’s Pitas is lamb, onions, potatoes and spices, wrapped in golden phyllo dough.

I ask why he’s recommended the Burek. “It’s meat,” he laughs. “The potatoes and the lamb – it’s almost a buttery flavor. And the phyllo - it’s flakey and just makes me feel warm inside.”

Indeed, it is addictively-savory, rib-sticking food. I abandon any measure of restraint and my helping is gone within minutes.

Recently, Brett’s been engaged in a friendly rivalry over which city has the best food carts – Portland or New York? NBC News filmed a segment on the controversy, and the New York-based blog Midtown Lunch and the mayors of Portland and New York City have all joined the debate.

“We’ve been playing that up for the whole media factor,” says Brett. “It’s awesome!”

The topic prompted some intense discussion in the blogosphere and on Twitter. Bloggers commented that – while the diversity of New York food options is impressive – you can’t try it all at lunch, while in Portland, hundreds of choices are within walking distance downtown.

“The hope was that NBC would have their news story up around that time, and we could just kind of feed on the buzz,” say Brett. “I guess there were other important things going on in the world. I don’t know – the G20 Summit?”

We finish our lunch, and walk several blocks to check out another pod. We pass a food cart serving hot dogs. The cart is called Bro-Dogs and they specialize in a jalapeño and cheddar dog. Brett gives a nod to the proprietor, Scott. “Hey Bro-Dogs!” he calls. “What’s going on? I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve been missing you,” says Scott.

“I’ll swing by tomorrow,” replies Brett. “Will it be brolicious?”

“It will be the most brolicious!” promises Scott.

It’s just one of the many connections Brett Burmeister has made in his hometown, while eating lunch on the go.

According to Brett, the people of Portland like to brainstorm new concepts for food carts and pods. “I’m really looking forward to when we have the Happy Hour Pod,” he says. “You’d go down and grab some sliders, and then you’d sit down and get a martini. Maybe a beer.” One night he proposed the idea to a cart owner who promptly said, “No, I’ve already asked.” Apparently, Portland blue laws might stand in the way.

Can Brett imagine a day when he might tire of food cart cuisine? Can he foresee a morning when he wakes up and decides he’s had his last food cart meal?

“Only if the doctor says my cholesterol is too high.”

I sampled the food, wine and spirits of the Portland, Oregon region September 27 through October 2, 2009.

©2009 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved

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