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Alaska Airlines, Shame on You

I'm just back from Food & Wine magazine's first Mexican food festival, held in Ixtapa Zihuatanejo.

The festival was great. I have loads to write about--restaurant reviews, recipes and more. That is, as soon as I recover from a nasty experience on the flight home.

My round trip on Alaska Airlines was routed from Ixtapa Zihuatanejo back to Los Angeles on Aeromexico.

And what a sad arrival at LAX. I didn't recognize my suitcase because it no longer looked the same. The brand new blue luggage strap meant to distinguish it from other black bags was gone. The TSA lock was gone too.

Alaska's rep at LAX was macho, mean, rude and a bully.  Are we passengers now just annoyances, to be shouted down if we're nervy enough to protest?

Of course the airline wouldn't do anything about the loss. Didn't I know they had to move mountains of luggage around? Why was I surprised that mine was damaged? (What are they doing, playing soccer and catch with our stuff in some fun free for all?) I guess it's lucky I even got the bag.

Of course, he wouldn't register a complaint. Nor did he apologize.

I didn't look at the contents of the suitcase until I got home. That's when I found that strange hands had pawed through my things.

My two cosmetic bags were packed in clear plastic bags to guard against spills in flight.  The plastic bags had not been opened the normal way but torn apart. The cosmetic bags inside were unzipped and left that way as was a small bag of eye makeup (at least they didn't take my mascara).

In a legitimate inspection, things are left as they were packed, and a slip verifying the inspection is placed in the suitcase. I know this, because it happened to me once, when I was transporting bottles of wine. My old lock was cut off that time. This is why I bought the TSA lock, to comply with regulations.

A real inspector would not have missed the little bottle of clear liquid that was also wrapped in plastic. More suspect than a cosmetic bag, it went through untouched. Was it the makings of an explosive? Only if that's the way your system reacts to mezcal.

And what about the suspcious bag of white powder, double-wrapped in another plastic bag? It also was not discovered. (The powder was dangerous too, but only to the unclean. It was detergent.)

No wonder people are carrying their luggage on board, huge bags too. This used to annoy me, but now I understand.

So shame on you, Alaska Airlines, for bad attitude, irresponsibility and welcoming this traveler home with an ugly slap in the face.  

Noodles and Strudels at Mishi's

Want to escape from hardcore trendiness? Then go to Mishi's in San Pedro, where you eat from flower-sprigged china at tables set with lace cloths, where comfortable sofas inspire lounging, where the coffee (fair trade and organic) is so delicious you wish you could spend all your coffee breaks there.

Mishi's is Hungarian, which explains the cozy Old World feel. The coffee may be good, but the food is even better.

Mishi's specialty is strudel, baked there, with sweet or savory fillings. The best choice is one of each, like cabbage strudel sprinkled with paprika and parsley for a main dish (above) followed by apple strudel with walnuts, raisins and a tantalizing hint of lemon (below).

Other savory strudels include spinach with feta, mushrooms and sour cream, or beef with vegetables.

The list of strudels on the menu is long, but not all are available every day. A sign tells what is on hand.

I wanted poppy seed strudel with vanilla cheese, because it sounded so Hungarian. Unfortunately, it was only available frozen. The solution: Mishi's packs frozen strudel to go.

The flaky, very thin strudel dough used to be made in-house, but American flour has been reconstituted so that it no longer works well for such delicate pastry, they told me. Therefore, Mishi's now uses imported dough. 

Symbols on the menu indicate which dishes are traditonal Hungarian specialties and which are "secret family recipes" from owners Aniko and Michael "Mishi" Schueller.

Among these are the poppyseed and cabbage strudels, cabbage pasta, pasta with cottage cheese and bacon or with beef (all made with imported Hungarian pasta) and goulash (at right) with beef, bacon and green peppers.

Like the strudels, crepes (palacsinta) come with either sweet or savory fillings. Those with the traditional Hungarian symbol are filled with fruit jam or chestnut puree.

Mishi's opens at 9 a.m. and so serves breakfast. If you go for lunch, you can explore the shops on the same block. Nautica has seafaring mementoes, and The Grand Emporium's frilly decorative accessories include cakes that look so real you may try to sneak a taste only to find, sadly, that they are imitation.

Mishi's Strudel Bakery and Cafe, 309 W. 7th St., San Pedro, CA 90731. Tel: (310) 832-6474. Open Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Greet Spring with India's Firni

Spring arrived in Los Angeles with heavy, cold rain. In India it rained too, but in full color, as revelers doused each other with colored waters and bright powders. This is the way the spring festival Holi is celebrated.

The merrymaking can sometimes get too rowdy, and when I was in India during Holi, I was told to stay in my hotel.

A better part of the holiday is eating sweets. In Calcutta, my base one Holi, these would be the famous Bengali milk sweets. Daily, I would ransack the sweet shops, starting at breakfast. And one time I ate delicious firni, a milky rice pudding, in an Islamic restaurant there.

Firni is softer than other rice puddings, because the rice is broken into bits before it is cooked. I found a recipe that tells how to do this in “The N.I.A.W. Cookbook,” put out  by the National Indian Association of Women in Calcutta.

Ira Chakravarti, who edited the cookbook, provided the recipe. She calls for pulao rice, for which you can use either basmati or jasmine rice. Firni is easy to make but does require patience, as you have to stir the mixture constantly until thickened, which can take quite some time.

Mrs. Chakravarti's firni is strongly flavored with rose water, but you can reduce the amount for a more subtle taste.  I've decreased the sugar too, because her pudding is intensely sweet. She suggests topping it with pistachios and raisins. You could just as well use slivered almonds and dried cranberries or cherries.

I like firni at room temperature. It's also delicious cold, which means you're safe making it ahead of time for a party.

FIRNI
Adapted from "The N.I.A.W. Cookbook"

1/4 cup basmati or jasmine rice
½ cup water
1 quart whole milk
½ cup sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons rose water
2 tablespoons pistachios, crushed
2 tablespoons raisins

Rinse the rice, then soak it in the water for at least 1 hour.  Drain the soaked rice, reserving the water. Place it on a work surface or in a heavy mortar and crush it with a rolling pin or pestle until broken into crumbs.

Place the soaking liquid and milk in a 2-quart saucepan and add the rice. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat slightly and boil gently, stirring, until the rice is cooked and the mixture starts to thicken. Add the sugar a third at a time, and stir until dissolved.

Continue to boil gently, stirring, until the mixture is thickened but still fluid enough to pour. The total cooking time can be 40 minutes or longer, and you must stir constantly so that the mixture doesn't stick to the pan. Remove from the heat and stir in as much rose water as desired. 

Pour the firni into 6 individual serving dishes or one large bowl. Sprinkle the surface with the pistachios and raisins. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

Swirl, but Don't Sip--It's Dirt

There was dirt in the wine glasses handed to guests arriving at a Robert Mondavi Winery presentation at Akasha in Culver City. No, it wasn't an issue of poor housekeeping. The glasses had been washed. The dirt was in them for a reason. 

The theme of the event was "A Taste of Place," and the idea was to relate soils (a more appropriate word than dirt)  to the foods and wines they produce. 

Guests swirled and sniffed Sorrento clay loam from Windrose Farm in Paso Robles and Milpitas-Positas fine sandy loam from Coleman Farms in Carpenteria, mixed with water to release the aromas. 

These were paired with Windrose's crisp Siberian kale and Coleman's thinly-shaved celery root, and guests were encouraged to relate the flavors to the soils, not easy for non-farmers.

Northern California artist Laura Parker, who came up with the idea of soil and food pairings, has taken it on the road for Mondavi. She's in the photo above, leading the "tasting" at the start of the party. 

The real point was to learn about Mondavi's To Kalon Vineyard at Oakville in the Napa Valley. And to see how its soils are reflected in Mondavi wines. 

To Kalon's I Block, which may be the oldest Sauvignon Blanc vineyard in North America, provided the grapes for a 2007 Fume Blanc. The wine tasted dry and lightly herbal, with the minerality characteristic of  To Kalon. Only 208 cases were produced. The price for a bottle is $75. 

Going up the scale, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is $135. If you're flush, there's plenty of it, 9,590 cases. Most of the grapes came from To Kalon. Just 7 % were grown elsewhere in Oakville. The blend is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot.

Mondavi's director of winemaking,  Genevieve Janssens (above), who poured the Cab blend, calls To Kalon "the First Growth of the Napa Valley," referring to the way top Bordeaux wines are ranked. Raised in the south of France, she studied winemaking in Bordeaux. Her first vintage for Mondavi was 1979.  

"Wines are an expression of their origin, " Janssens said, pointing out the various sections of To Kalon on a map. For the Cab Reserve, grapes were hand-harvested in small containers from carefully selected blocks and then hand-sorted in the To Kalon Fermentation Center. 

At dinner, the Cab Reserve was paired with American Imperial Kobe ribeye cap with black pepper butter (above), accompanied by twice-baked Weiser Farms fingerling potatoes, braised cipollini onions and grilled asparagus. 

For comparison, the 1996 Cab Reserve was poured alongside its younger colleague. The older wine was based 66% on To Kalon grapes and composed of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Merlot. "Very artistic," Janssens observed.

The other dinner wines included the 2009 Fume Blanc Reserve (1,867 cases--$40). This was poured with the first course, diver scallops on a plate with spinach puree, romanesco cauliflower and a watermelon radish and herb salad.

What stood out in this course was Meyer lemon frites--thin lemon slices fried until lightly browned (on the right in the photo above). Try that the next time you get ahold of some Meyers.

The 2009 Pinot Noir Reserve (2,177 cases--$65) came with the richest dish--wild mushroom agnolotti with black truffles, Parmigiano Reggiano and crème fraîche.

Dinner ended with cheeses and a flourless hazelnut torte with vanilla mascarpone and a side of roasted Pink Lady apples.

The 2001 botrytis Sauvignon Blanc poured with this course costs $40 for a 375 milliliter bottle, which reflects its scarcity. 

This wine cannot be made every year. The grapes, sprayed with water to encourage the noble rot botrytis, are so touchy that two-thirds of the crop is lost, Janssens said.

Dinner didn't end the soil studies, however.  At each place setting was a tube of Coombs gravelly loam from To Kalon to take home.

Dry, softly clumped and a light, pinkish brown,  it's nothing like the dank, heavy clay soil in my Southern California yard, where food crops languish, and fine wine grapes would be horrified at the prospect of being planted there. 

Korean Ribs, Tijuana Style

A Tijuana touch turned Korean galbi jjim (braised short ribs) into an extraordinary dish.

This happened at the Top Chef Korean Food Challenge held recently in San Diego. The contest was sponsored by the Korea Tourism Organization, which is promoting Korean culture through its new website, buzz KOREA, and produced with the cooperation of the Korea Herald newspaper in Los Angeles. The host was Cathlyn Choi of the TV cooking show "Cathlyn's Korean Kitchen."

Three teams of two chefs each drew rolled slips of paper that revealed what they had to prepare. Cooking time was 30 minutes, not much for anyone unfamiliar with Korean food. And not one of the competitors was Korean.

The teams were executive chef Bernard Guillas and chef Ron Oliver of the Marine Room in the La Jolla Shores Hotel; executive chefs Brian Hirsty and Graham Norton of the Bluewater Grill in Tustin, and Tijuana celebrity chef Javier Plascencia and sous chef Adria Montano, representing Mision 19, which is the newest restaurant in the Plascencia group.

It was Plascencia (with Montano, above), who drew galbi jjim, which normally takes hours to prepare. 

"It sure was a challenge to make it in 30 minutes," he said. His solution was to slice the meat very thin, marinate it briefly with sugar and sesame oil, saute it with chopped onion and garlic and then grill it to get a slight char and smoky taste.

Then he added the meat to a pot of vegetables along with soy sauce, mirin, ginger, green onions and garlic and cooked this over high heat until syrupy.

From the basket of ingredients provided, Plascencia had picked out sweet peppers, carrots, jujubes (Asian red dates), pine nuts and daikon. For spicy heat, he stirred in a dash of Korean red pepper paste.

Inspired by Tijuana street food, he spooned the mixture into bowls lined with banana leaves, topped it with shredded daikon, shot it with a gun loaded with wood smoke and covered the bowls to seal in the aromas.  

The effect was intricate and colorful, with a great balance of flavors. You'd never find anything like it in a Korean restaurant, but with luck, Plascencia might adapt it for Mision 19 in Tijuana.

"I was very pleased with my result," he said after the contest. "I had a lot of fun, and it got me really interested in Korean cuisine."

 
You can watch Plascencia and the other chefs (above) cook their Korean dishes and see which team won April 7 at 9 p.m. on the SoCal PBS station KOCE.

 

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Where to Eat Thai in Taipei

Sukothai's food is gorgeous, like palace cuisine, and so delicious that I ate there as often as I could.  

The restaurant is gorgeous too, constructed of polished woods that give the impression of an aristocratic Thai house.

But Sukothai is in Taipei, not Thailand. This is not unusual. Thai food is everywhere, from Bangalore to Great Britain and all over the United States. It's not always well done, but Sukothai could handle the competition if it were in Bangkok.

Chef Phonlaphat Sudsaidee, from Surin province in northeastern Thailand, has put together a menu that samples all regions and ranges from imperial cuisine to street food.

The menu is in English, Chinese and Japanese, but not Thai. Nevertheless, tables are set with forks and big spoons so that one can eat Thai style, pushing food gracefully into the spoon with the fork.

Ordering at random, I chose spicy shrimp with lemongrass--four large, juicy shrimp balanced on a chile-hot, sweet and sour lemon grass mixture (at top). 

It was impressive. And so was stir-fried morning glory vine with shrimp paste (right), an everyday dish in Thailand but not always so well prepared as at Sukothai. 

Grilled beef with lemongrass, shallots and a red chile dip (in the photo below)  stood out because the beef was so good.

About 80 % of Sukothai's ingredients come from Thailand, but this beef came from the United States and was much better than the beef that I've encountered in this dish at home.

And in L.A., I've never had anything like stir-fried slim asparagus stalks with white lily buds, fresh young corn and grape tomatoes, subtly seasoned with the tantalizing flavor of the wok. 

Green papaya salad (som tam) is fine, combining the taste of dried shrimp with fresh shrimp on top (right).

It ought to be good, because it comes from the chef's home region, the northeast (Isaan). 

There are green beans in the green curry, along with round Thai eggplant and peas. Thick and creamy, the curry comes in a heavy black stone bowl that keeps it hot until you finish. You can see it above, with the restaurant in the background.

Desserts are imaginative, like taro cakes (right) topped with coconut cream and presented as if they were petits fours on a plate with Thai marzipan fruits, a fresh strawberry, a tracing of sweet pink sauce and a scattering of coconut chips.

A tall glass of cool, thick coconut milk contains a little of everything that turns up in icy desserts throughout Asia--tiny sago pearls, jackfruit, cantaloupe, translucent palm seeds, pineapple-stuffed lychees, strands of fresh coconut, taro cubes, red and green gelatin strips  and a few large beans.

And then there's the banana cheese roll--yes, bananas combined with mozzarella in a crisp fried spring roll (right).

If you don't like that combination, you would certainly like the bowl of housemade coconut ice cream topped with slightly salted jackfruit shreds that comes with it.

Sukothai Thai restaurant, Sheraton Taipei Hotel, 12 Zhongxiao East Road Section 1, Taipei, Taiwan.  

Ten Paso Robles Wine Picks

Once only sacramental wine was poured at  St. Vibiana Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles.

Now it's an event space, and the other day, liters of wine were poured there, all from Paso Robles as producers showed off their stuff to the trade and media.

In four hours, it wasn't possible to taste it all. Nevertheless, I've culled 10 highlights to encourage you to explore this growing region, where you'll find interesting new varietals along with Rhone blends, Zinfandels and other flagship wines.

1. Clavo Cellars Voluptuous (Vermentino) 2009 ($25). "I like working with different varietals. It's kind of fun to be on the edge," says Clavo's Neil Roberts, explaining why he adopted this Italian white wine grape.

Production is small, somewhere between 150 and 175 cases, and youll have to get it at the winery, which is in Templeton.

Also check out Clavo's 2009 Ole, made from the Spanish white wine grape Albariño. Roberts made less than 100 cases of this one. 

2. Grey Wolf Vineyards & Cellars Chardonnay 2009 ($20). Joe Barton of Grey Wolf made 150 cases of this crisp, floral wine. It was barrel fermented, aged sur lies in 25% new French oak and spent the final three months in concrete, "which really helps the oak integrate a lot better," says Barton. "I like the acidity, and I wanted to get some toasty mouth feel out of it."

3. J & J Cellars Autumn Flight Barbera, non-vintage ($10).  I made a point of looking for the least expensive wine at the tasting and this was it.

J & J, a small, family-owned winery at San Miguel, used its own grapes for this 100% Barbera and aged it in a mix of American, French and Hungarian oak. For this price, it's a startlingly good wine.

4. J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines Tower Road Petite Sirah 2008 ($35). This gorgeous wine won an award as the best Petite Sirah made in California, says Steve Lohr. Think dark color, blackberries, cassis--"like a blackberry pie," Lohr says, adding "we're always looking for a nice tannin balance," so it's not cloying. The good news is, there's plenty of it, 3,000 cases.

5. Kenneth Volk Vineyards Touriga Nacional  2008 ($36). "It's a great varietal, the most violet, concentrated, floral red I've grown," says Ken Volk.  In 2007, he made only one barrel of Touriga, a Portuguese grape used in Port and also in Portuguese table wine.

In 2008 he released 130 cases, available only at the winery. While you're there, check out another red, Anglianico--"incredible aroma and fruit, really, really pretty," Volk says.

6. Kiamie Wine Cellars White Kuvee 2009 ($24).  Aram Deirmenjian of Kiamie (right) released this blend of Viognier and Roussanne only the day before the tasting, so it wasn't on the official list.

Crisp and slightly sweet, the blend is such a hit that Kiamie sells out of it every year. There are 400 cases of the 2009. It's composed of 53% Viognier, which was aged in steel, and 47% Roussanne, aged in wood.

 7. Lone Madrone La Mezcla 2008 ($22). This mezcla (blend) of  80% Grenache Blanc and 20% Albariño was stainless steel fermented to showcase the bright, fresh fruit, says Jackie Meisinger of Lone Madrone. It's acidic and fruity, perfect for the spring days to come. 

8. Minassian-Young Vineyards Black Saint Peter 2008 ($23). This was the only red blend at the tasting to include Tannat, added to "provide more spice," says Amparo Young.

The main varietal in the blend is Zinfandel (45%). Then come Petite Sirah, Tannat, Cinsault, Carignan and Mourvedre.

It's noticeably sweet and so an ideal red to serve with spicy Asian foods. "2008 was so hot. The fruit was picked early. It was a big vintage," is the way Young explains the sweetness

In 2009,  the winery made an easy-to-drink white blend of Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Marsanne. Young is holding it in the photo at the top.

9. Silver Horse Winery Estate Malbec 2008 ($38). "I love Malbec," says Steve Kroener of Silver Horse, in San Miguel. "It's a fun, obscure varietal and grows well on the property."

The wine is dry, not deeply colored as are many Malbecs, and not so heavy that you wouldn't serve it in summer. 

Check out also the Silver Horse Petit Verdot, an aromatic, very attractive wine.

10. Stanger Vineyards Pinot Noir 2006 ($114). This was the most expensive wine at the tasting. You had to hear about it from other tasters, because it wasn't listed in the catalog.

Only 37 cases were made, but J. P. French of Stanger was anxious to share. "I'm in a good mood today. I'll give you the best Pinot you ever had," he promised.

When one taster commented on the light color, French responded, "It's supposed to be light. It's Burgundian."  How did he make it? "Very carefully." The wine was barrel fermented, spent 24 months in new wood and 12 months in the bottle before release.

French poured other high-priced wines, including Stanger's Library Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ($80) and the Library Reserve Syrah 2006 ($66). One of the nicest, though, was his least expensive (but not cheap) wine, the Library Reserve Tempranillo 2007 ($45).

Party Time at Fig & Olive

 
It's a store. It's a restaurant. It's Fig & Olive, which opened its fifth branch this week, right here in West Hollywood. The other four are in New York.

What Fig & Olive sells is, couldn't you guess, olive oil.

A wall of green-gold bottles separates the kitchen from the restaurant, which is an effective way to advertise and decorate at the same time.

The oils are from France, Spain and Italy, the same countries that dominate the menu, which I haven't seen--yet. The opening night parties were limited to appetizers, except for a VIP room at the back, where VIPS (I have no idea who they were) gathered to dine.

Upstairs and down, the restaurant was jammed, except for the serene, well-guarded VIP room (below).

Each of the three parties was dedicated to the foods of one of the key countries. I went on Spain night. To get in, we walked a long red carpet under bright lights--a moment of pseudo fame, except that there was no crowd to watch us. And if we weren't VIPs, we still had plenty to eat and drink.

The non-stop Spain-night appetizers included spoonfuls of tortilla, which is the Spanish potato omelet; little dishes of paella that sent out fumes of saffron, and a multitude of crostini.

Some were topped with Manchego cheese, fig spread and marcona almonds, others with boquerones, or prosciutto and figs, or Ibérico ham. And still more with shrimp, or sweet red peppers, or shaved mushrooms and artichokes scented with truffle-infused olive oil. Presumably everything had a dash of olive oil, because that is what this restaurant is about. 

During the last hour there were tiny cups of chocolate pot de crème, cones filled with cookies and perhaps other desserts, but I didn't linger to see.

Because Moët & Chandon was a sponsor, the lead drink was champagne, each flute topped with a little gold ball that contained a tiny M&C souvenir, a chain of small items to attach to something. 

And the wait staff wore long black M&C aprons, which looked quite smart.

The invitations said cocktail attire "required," which meant black was safe. However, no one at the door reviewed our clothing, so even those of us wearing sensible shoes made it inside.

Fig & Olive, 8490 Melrose Place, West Hollywood, CA 90069.  Tel: (310) 360-9100.