Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Wednesday is food news day

Jonathan Gold answers the burning question "What is pig candy?" in the L.A. Weekly...I was going to get to Lou soon anyway, but that certainly seals the deal.

Why we love Chowhound: First of all, because former Chowhound editor Thi has resurfaced in a posting frenzy, paying homage to all things fried in many guises. But also for debates like the one about Peruvian aji sauce that Petradish got into with Thi: "A while back, I suggested the greatness of PALB's aji and you said Mario's Peruvian seafood's aji was the magic one. Well yeah, but no. Different ajis, different needs. Mario's has a lovely sweet radish + vegetal greeness going on- which works beautifully against the sweet onion and marinated meat of their lomo saltado or lemony zip of saltado de mariscos-but doesn't perform well with the smoky presence of PALB's chicken. PALB's aji has just enough raw power, lingering heat, and guts to take on the bittersweet smoke of that chicken. Mario's aji runs home crying to mama." These people take their aji seriously!

Yes, we suppose Eagle Rock is the new Silver Lake, as the L.A. Times explains again...and there are indeed lots of new restaurants cropping up there. But the Chowhounds say that Dante's BBQ seems to be closed, which is too bad if it's true, as I found it a friendly place.

My son says he wants to work at Google, and with an employee restaurant like Cafe 150, I can see why. Not only that, it's one of five cafeterias on the Google campus. Can you imagine a company canteen in L.A. with organic/sustainable/local menu?

2 comments:

::Alejandro:: said...

Interesting, interesting.

I live near PALB and prefer them to Mario's but shhhhh! I'm getting ready to tell you a big secret:

While that green sauce can be quite tasty, when you try the real stuff (like a crema de rocoto, or a crema de ají amarillo) i.e. the real spicy sauces people in Peru eat, there is no comparison.

None, zip, nada.

The sauces in Peru are much more subtle, and the types of ají available there are much more complex in flavor than what is usually found in Peruvian restaurants in LA.

It's mostly a factor of product availability.

Somewhere on my blog I have a recipe for that green sauce, since so many people asked me for it. But, my advise? Save your pennies and go on a gastronomic tour to Lima. There's no comparision.

Saludos!


Gato
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Peru Food

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