I like to think I know my way around a restaurant menu pretty well -- after all, I read restaurant reviews the way horseracing fans devour the Racing Form. It was the alfajores on the dessert menu at Grace that got me thinking, though -- what does the average diner do when confronted with a trendy, inventive modern menu? I worry about my poor boyfriend, the Rhode Island diner, who will eat anything but has never been to France or Italy, and doesn't know his speck from his lomo. Fortunately the likes of salsify, Prosecco sabayon, tian of farro and sumac are no problem for me. But here's a few items from local menus that have me stumped. I know, I could eventually find the definitions on Google, but Eating L.A. will award the prize of a Zagat 2005 Los Angeles restaurant guide or a sandwich from La Brea Bakery, if you come meet me there, to anyone who wants to come up with explanations for these items. I'll throw in a cookie if you swear you didn't Google.
From Sona:
Jivara beignets (I know a beignet is a fried fritter, but Jivara?)
Snapper with sepia (I thought sepia was a color...do snappers give ink?)
Yuzu-kosha (this turns up three times, with watermelon, macaroons and chicken)
From La Terza:
Battilarda di salumi (ok, got the salami part, but still...)
Costata di bue with risina di spello (completely lost on this one)
From Lucques:
Saba
Arzua-ulloa ("I'll have some arzua, please, but hold the ulloa.")
From AOC:
Chickpea sofrito (yes, I know chickpeas are garbanzo beans)
Charmoula
Eggplant in saor
Leave responses in the comments section.
16 comments:
Jivara is a type of milk chocolate, made by Valrhona.
Sepia is cuttlefish, most prob. the ink.
Yuzu-kosha is misspelled. Should be Yuzu-kosho, and it's Japanese citrus flavored pepper.
Arzua-ulloa is a cheese.
Charmoula is a sort of spicy dip with paprika, yogurt, garlic and oh, I forget.
"In saor" is a bastardization of "il saor" which is something cooked in a sweet-sour marinade.
I'm not in the contest, as my husband is a chef (310 Bistro--you should go). And I own about 700 cookbooks. And I eat with Charlie Perry twice a month.
Best,
kateCoe
battilarda is a wooden paddle like bread board upon which the salumeria are placed and served.
Risina di spello are tiny rice kernel shaped pasta made from spelt flour
Chickpea sofrito is a fritter made from chickpea flour, mediterranean style
wonderful site, i come to LA every couple of months or so.
Saba is Japanese for mackerel.
``In saor'' is a Venetian thing: it means, basically, sweet and sour, or vinegared.
Sepia is undoubtedly a misspelling of seppie, cuttlefish.
Costata di bue is a rib steak or beef chop; risina di Spello are tiny, rice-size beans from Umbria, very delicious.
Batillarda di salumi is a board laden (or in the case of La Terza, not quite laden enough) with cold cuts.
Sofrito is the minced, sauteed basis for a sauce, like a cooked brunoise, that gives depth. My soffrito has onion, pancetta, carrot and a little thyme, sweated until they almost disappear. I have no idea what a chick pea would be doing in there.
Saba is sweet, boiled grape must, like unaged balsamic vinegar; an ingredient introduced to the U.S. by Mario Batali.
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Arzúa-Ulloa (no "Arzua-ulloa") is a cheese from Galicia, region of the North-West of Spain. Galicia was the first independent kingdom in Europe when the Roman Empire fell.
"Sepia" is not exactly a misspelling of seppie. "Sepia officinalis" is the scientific name of that animal, and "sepia" is its common name in several idioms.
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