We recently found a news story about a firm in the United Arab Emirates that makes Camel’s milk chocolates, and they are hoping to expand worldwide- the possible venues being Harrod’s department stores and a San Francisco-chain of chocolate shops. Apparently camel’s milk has more Vitamin C and less fat than cow’s milk, but we can only speculate as to how it tastes… though we’re guessing it’s probably not bad.
Friday Foodie Link: Food Architecture
[Via Inside Out Blog] There’s an awesome exhibit in Melbourne that bears mentioning – Edible Architecture – building models made out of food. It’s taking place as part of the State of Design festival in Australia. More photos are available at Mel Hot or Not.
Filed under Design and Photography, Reviews
BBQ Tour: Hudson’s in Hilton Head
Hudson’s
1 Hudson Rd
Hilton Head Isle, SC
Rolling along on our roadtrip, we finally reached our destination – Hilton Head, South Carolina a resort town by the sea. And since Hilton Head is by the sea, there are no shortage of seafood joints of various stripes. Hudson’s is one such seafood joint, and it fits somewhere between a seaside clam shack and a Chili’s, if you can picture such a place. We arrived at Hudson’s with a group of 14 – and before being seated we hung around on the seaside patio, where a man with an acoustic guitar was playing Jimmy Buffet cover songs. Next to the outdoor patio, and flanking an outdoor bar, was a gigantic pile of clamshells (below). So I guess you could say the place was a bit touristy. But as tourists, who are we to complain, especially as we were treated to a lovely sea-side sunset.
The interior of the restaurant continued the nautical theme, as did the menu, which was printed to look like a newspaper. We figured this place, if anywhere, was going to have some good seafood, so we decided to go all out and order nothing that could be found on land (a rule disobeyed by other members of the party – who were treated to some lackluster steaks). Before we ordered, several free baskets of hush puppies were placed on the table, which we quickly devoured. We started off with Seafood Gumbo ($4.25) and a Crab Cake (below, $10.99). Both appetizers were good, with the gumbo being pleasantly richer and spicier than expected. However, for 10.99 we expected the crab-cake to have less veggie filler and more crab. For our mains we ordered Broiled Shrimp ($17.50) and Stuffed Flounder ($20.99). both the shrimp and fish were obviously fresh, and were well cooked, but we found both to be too lightly seasoned. The little plastic cups of condiments were also a bit out of line with the price point.
Of our meal, the gumbo was a standout, as was the house-made Key Lime Pie ($6.50), which was a great way to finish the night. Service was actually very good, and it seemed that they had experienced their share of 10+ crowds before. The food was decent, but we found it all to be a bit overpriced. But in the end, the real reason you come to place like Hudson’s is not the haute cuisine. As they say in real estate, location is key, and that is probably where Hudson’s shines the most. You’re paying a premium for the ocean views and the inimitable mountain of clamshells!
Filed under Reviews
Palestinian falafel in Chicago: Chickpea [closed]
Chickpea
2018 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL
It’s not often that you enter a restaurant to find a wall entirely covered with Arabic versions of 1980s film posters. But, as you can see below, that’s exactly what you see when you walk into Chickpea, a cool Lebanese eatery in Ukrainian Village. Tucked into the corner is a pinball machine and colorful glass lanterns hang from the ornate tin ceiling. It’s a pretty cool space, and somehow manages to retain a vintage feel – even with airbrushed posters of Bruce Willis looming large.
At Chickpea, you place your order at the counter, and grab a number. A cooler of international sodas like Vimta are available in a fridge next to the counter. The wait time was very quick, perhaps sped along by a few games of pinball. We started out with an order of Koosa ma Laban ($4), a dip made of yogurt, zucchini and mint. It came to the table with a basket of pita, which we utilized for dipping into the rest of our main courses. The Koosa ma Laban reminded us of the more familiar Indian dish raita, but with a chunkier texture. We gobbled up the dip, and it bears noting that we were particularly smitten with the plate it came on – an orange Moroccan-inspired plate from CB2.
Back to the food…for an entree, L ordered the Falafel platter ($6). It came out on a bed of hummus, spiced with green chili sauce and cumin. They were not kidding by calling that green sauce ‘spicy’ – it was hot (hot enough for fire-breather M, even). For his entree, M ordered the Saturday special of the Palestinian national dish, Mussakhkhan ($12). Mussakhkhan is chicken roasted with sumac and pine nuts, served on a round of flatbread. We haven’t seen Mussakhkhan at any other middle eastern restaurants in town so it was a treat to try. It came loaded with perfectly caramelized onions that M especially liked. Chickpea really impressed us. It was quick cheap and tasty, and with free pinball. Whenever were in Ukrainian Village we will certainly be hitting this place up for some Nosh.
Filed under Reviews
A Quick Bite: Pete’s Hamburger’s
Pete’s Hamburgers
118 W. Blackhawk
Prairie du Chien, WI
(Open Summer Weekends only)
Left woefully without camera, over the weekend we had lunch at one of the type of hole-in-the-wall tasty gems that we at ETW love. Pete’s Hamburgers has been going strong for over 100 years, at roughly the same spot on the main thoroughfare in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Pete’s keeps the menu simple – the only thing you can order is a hamburger (no cheese available) by each burger will only set you back 3 bucks even. The main option present is ordering the burgers ‘with’ or ‘without’ grilled onions.
Much like cheesesteak joints in Philly locals in the know simply order “with” or “without” (for Pete’s 100th they sold T-shirts saying “I’ll have mine with” or “I’ll have mine without”). A rapid turnover pace means, no matter the time of day, you are definitely getting a cooked-to-order burger, hot off the griddle. On a Saturday at 4PM we still had about a 10-minute wait. One burger was enough for L, but M went for two, which we enjoyed on a bench nearby. Pete’s minimalist burger-centric approach paid off – the burgers were great. We could understand what the line was for – and why Pete’s has been in business for so long.
Filed under Reviews
Friday Foodie Link: What do you eat alone?
Apparently, eating alone and in crowds means very different things – even to famous chefs. NPR had an interesting interview from author Deborah Madison and illustrator Patrick McFarlin of the new book, What We Eat When We Eat Alone. Madison found, through a variety of interviews, that when eating alone, culinary rules go out the window and comfort rules. Unsurprisingly, pasta and eggs are a popular choice. The NPR story page includes a tasy sounding recipe for Johnny-cakes. But there’s some pretty weird stuff too, including an entire chapter devoted to sardines. I guess when you’re eating by yourself you have no one to impress. Nothing wrong with that! You can listen to the interview here.
Filed under Links
Friday Link: Ulterior Epicure’s Food Photography
We were recently alerted to Ulterior Epicure’s fabulous food photography, which is found on their extensive Flickr account. The amazing photos come from American fine-dining restaurants like NYC’s Le Bernadin, Chicago’s Alinea and SF’s Chez Panisse along with more local spots like Philly’s Reading Terminal Market and Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor. There are also a slew of gorgeous photos from food trips around the world, including Turkey, Spain and Luxembourg. There is definitely an art to taking food photos, and AE has certainly mastered it. They even went to Carniceria Guanajuato, as we have, and made the simple tacos look like fine art. We’re jealous (and hungry)!
Filed under Design and Photography, Links
Friday Foodie Link: Paper Food Trucks
We here at ETW are huge fans of mobile food. Whether it’s a taco stands or ice cream trucks. So we were excited to see this new Flickr set of printable models that you fold into food trucks of all varieties. Seems like a fun Summer project.
Filed under Design and Photography, Links
Drive-in Pizza at Pizza Palace in Knoxville
Pizza Palace
3132 E. Magnolia Avenue
Knoxville, TN
Our first day on the road we drove from Chicago to Knoxville. Even with an early start – that’s quite a trip, and we rolled into Knoxville at about 8PM on a Sunday night. Which meant that most places were dead closed! However, we remembered our recommendation to stop at the Pizza Palace, on the east side of Knoxville, so we gave it a try. Driving up to the restaurant feels like a time-warp. When you pull up to Pizza Palace you are immediately greeted by the frozen-in-time 1961 neon sign that has been there ever since the place opened.
It was kind of a surreal experience – ordering pizza from a drive-in restaurant on a creaky old phone, as the sun set on an eerily quiet stretch of road. When we arrived at 8, the place was teeming with cars, as you can see above. The restaurant seemed to be doing a brisk business with pizza orders, and it being called ‘pizza palace’ we thought we couldn’t go wrong with some pie. We ordered a medium half-cheese, half-pepperoni pie ($10.85). Despite looking primitive, the old phone system attached to a wooden box worked just fine. Pizza Palace makes Sonic look like something truly out of the space age. But that was all part of the experience. 
We hear Pizza Palace is also famous for onion rings – 1/2 order is $2.75. For those not in the mood for pizza, the menu boasted other Italian favorites like veal parmesan and spaghetti. To our surprise, we only had to wait about 15 minutes for our piping hot pizza to arrive. An efficient carhop brought out the pie along with a bag of plates, napkins and utensils, which was perfect for us travelers. We weren’t equipped to eat a pizza in the car, so we hoofed it back to our hotel and back to the 21st century. The pizza itself was very good, though not that noteworthy, with a toothsome crust and a slightly sweet tomato sauce. Though we were not blown away by the eats, Pizza Palace was definitely worth it for the retro experience.
Filed under Reviews
Tea Tuesday: A bief history of Sweet Tea in the Southern US
Sweet Tea is the most southern of drinks. On the surface it’s just a standard iced tea chock full of sugar. However, south of the Mason Dixon line it’s a cultural institution. Slate’s Jeffrey Klineman’s notes: “For me, personally—and I suspect I’m not alone—sweet tea is a primal link to my own Southern past.” Tea has a long history in the south, and South Carolina was the first place in America that tea was grown.
Sweet tea on the way to Charleston, South Carolina
Recipes for “Sweet Tea” date from the late 1800s, but the recipes called for green tea. A little known fact is that green tea was once more popular than black tea in the US. Black Tea did not become the most consumed variety until after World War II. Luzianne Iced Tea is currently one of the most popular brands and we saw giant carafes of Luzianne in many of the restaurants we ate at on our trip. On the road, our sweet tea of choice came from the prolific southern chain, Bojangles, which you can find throughout the Southern states.
Filed under Tea
BBQTour2K9 Kickoff
On our roadtrip through the south, we made lots of fine foodie stops along the way. It probably shouldn’t properly called a BBQ tour since we ended up sampling lots of other tasty, non-slow-cooked or sauced treats as well, from pizza to seafood. But BBQTour2K9 had such a nice ring to it, we couldn’t resist. So don’t be surprised if some of our BBQ finds…aren’t really BBQ. Reagrdless of cuisine, join us on our trip through Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia!
Here’s a Roadmap of what we have in store
- Sweatman’s, Holly Hill, SC
- Gullah Grub, Saint Helena Island, SC
- Kudu Coffee House, Charleston, SC
- Old Plantation BBQ, Chattanooga, TN
- Zunzi’s, Savannah, GA
- Mark’s Feed Store, Louisville, KY
- Hudson’s, Hilton Head Island, SC
- Pizza Palace, Knoxville, TN
- Nice N Natural, Columbia, SC
Friday Foodie Links: Food at Art Basel
Art Basel is one of the premier contemporary art events in the world, so we were excited to see a show featuring food there. Street food to be exact. Mike Meiré’s Project called “Global street food” features photo, video and most importantly, an amazing range of vendor carts and kitchens. There are pieces from all over: from a lollipop vendor in Argentina to a fruit stand in Namibia. Below is a floating market from Vietnam.
Filed under Design and Photography, Links
ETW Roadtrip
L and M will be off for the next week, roadtripping through Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas, and Georgia to sample some of the finest cuisine the South has to offer. Barbecue will be a central theme, from mustard-based sauces in central South Carolina to Chattanooga’s local fare. There are also restaurants serving up Gullah cuisine in St. Helena Island, SC as well as outside Charleston; plus a South African restaurant (!) in Savannah. We’re already hungry.
Filed under Note
South America: Farewell, Restaurant Magnus
Restaurant Magnus
120 E Wilson
Madison, WI
On May 31, I walked up to the door of Restaurant Magnus in Madison, hoping to sample some of my favorites from its South American-inspired menu before the restaurant’s dramatic shift the next day (signaled by the Norwegian flag fluttering over the canopy). It was locked. An employee eating outside quickly walked up to me, saying – with a wide smile – that the restaurant was closed to the evening to prepare for their exciting new menu the next day. But all the dishes I wanted were on the old menu, and when Magnus got rid of them on June 1, both L and I were disappointed and frankly a little angry.
We’ve had great experiences at Magnus before – in fact, it is L’s official birthday place. The funky interior always got things rolling: live soft bossa nova or Spanish guitar music playing in the background formed a strange, but ultimately satisfying romance with deer antler chandeliers and brown leather seats. But as always, we come for the food. We start with an order of chimichurri ($3.00) paired with light and fluffy foccacia (the tomato-flavored was our favorite). The chimichurri was unlike any we had seen: parsley, red wine vinegar, coriander, and honey made for a creamy dip that was nothing short of the perfect appetizer.
For main dishes, we tended to migrate toward the ever-changing tapas menu, but there were some old favorites that kept bringing us back (and Magnus knew it, because they kept putting them on. The Peruvian bay scallop ceviche ($12) was an interesting take on an old classic, with diced scallops placed in a makeshift bowl of cucumber slices, garnished with minced mixed sweet peppers, avocado, and drizzled with mango-habanero (M’s favorite combo) vinaigrette. It was smaller than similarly priced ceviches but the inventiveness was worth it.
Same with the Cana de Oveja ($14). Spanish cheese in phyllo dough, garnished with figs (another of M’s favorites), pistachios (OK, so that was a bit confusing), sherry butter sauce, and habanero syrup. This is a dish we didn’t really know how to classify, most because the multitude of flavor options on any given bite always kept us guessing – and that is what made it good.
And then there was the Xinxim. Take a Brazilian staple and create the hell out of it, and you get Magnus’ Xinxim. It sounds simple enough on the menu: chorizo verde, blackened chicken, blackened beef all in a bowl, sitting in a special cream sauce of habanero and coconut milk and cashews. But this seemingly simple dish was, unquestionably, my favorite meal of all time. The coconut milk worked to take down the habanero’s heat enough to let its fruity tropical flavor beam through, and combined with the cashews, the effect was deliriously perfect. The chorizo was always spiced to perfection, and the chicken, beef, and shrimp provided a wide set of texture and flavor options that always worked in tandem with what I am sure will remain the best cream sauce I have ever eaten.
There were others, of course: cheese plates, small desserts, etc. too numerous to name here. But the bottom line is that they are all now gone. Replaced with cod, venison and the other staples of Norwegian cuisine that, to us, make obvious the reasons why no Scandinavian restaurant has ever really succeeded in this most Scandinavian of states. We understand the reason for the change, at least on a cultural level. The restaurant’s sous chef – of Norwegian descent – was promoted to the head spot (and there is a now a triumphant photo of him planting the Norwegian flag on the restaurant’s redesigned website). All the owners are Norwegian. The restaurant is even named for a Norwegian grandfather. But culinary, we can’t say this move makes any sense. 
Scandinavian restaurants have had a tough time of it in this country, and Wisconsin would seem like a logical place to start one if, well, Scandinavian food had ever succeeded here before.
The chimichurri is still on the menu, though hiked in price by a dollar and paired with rye bread instead of foccacia. Will we try the new menu? Probably. We got an email coupon for a free first course. But aquavit mussels and pickled cabbage not only sound less than appealing – they will never replace that xinxim. All we can say is they had better give us the recipe.
Filed under Reviews
Friday Foodie Link: French Milk
So we usually don’t review books around here. Probably because we’re so busy reading books for school that the concept of leisure reading falls to the wayside. In any case, Lucy Knisley’s French Milk seems like a book worth reading this summer. It is a graphic novel about a trip Lucy and her mother took to France several years ago. The attention to detail is amazing, and as with all good books about France, food plays a prominent role. The book is available on Amazon.
Peru: Inka Heritage
Inka Heritage [Closed]
602 S Park Street
Madison, WI
First off, Inka Heritage gets major cultural awareness points for using Juan Velasco’s 1975 Quechua orthography that spells “Inka” with a K instead of a C (which is an Imperial Spanish spelling). Velasco wasn’t the best guy, but his transliterations were top-notch. Well done. Now on to the food.
We tend to review a fair amount of Peruvian restaurants, and with good reason – we feel that Peruvian cuisine is well on its way to competing with Thai food as a major player in the US food scene. Which is why we were so excited when Inka Heritage, the first Peruvian restaurant in the Madison city limits, opened in 2007. We have been back multiple times since our first visit shortly after the opening (when they could not make nearly half the items on their own menu) but are happy to report that the restaurant has grown into its own with great interpretations of all the classic Peruvian dishes, as well as the best lúcuma mousse we’ve found outside Peru.
At most Peruvian restaurants, I have my set of usuals: anticuchos, an originally Afro-Peruvian dish of skewered, marinated pieces of beef heart with a side a ají, and ceviche pescado acid cooked in citrus juice and garnished with sweet potatoes and big corn (I still don’t know the proper name for it). L likes to get the aji de pollo, shredded chicken smothered in an aji cream sauce garnished with a hard-boiled egg and served with rice. And for dessert, we split the aforementioned lúcuma mousse; made from an Andean fruit rarely available outside of South America with a taste somewhere between sweet potatoes, maple syrup, and cashews. It is delectable.
Inka Heritage does all these things, and does them well. The anticuchos are true to the original dish, using the best pieces of beef heart muscle (some other restaurants keep the anticuchos marinade but substitute white meat chicken for the beef hearts, which is not only inauthentic but culinary highway robbery) with a slightly spicy, tangy marinade that works well with the ají on the side. The ceviche too is solid, with the right citrus juice mixtures we’ve come to expect – though the very high onions to fish ratio, as well as the smaller serving size, makes us wonder why the price is higher than what we found at Rosa de Lima in Chicago. L’s aji de pollo is a failsafe dish, one we do not always see at other restaurants, and well worth it at Inka Heritage. The dish’s cream sauce is packed with interesting flavor combinations (“yellow pepper, garnished with roasted walnut, fresh parmesan cheese, botija black olive, boiled egg” says the menu) that are probably best suited to the shredded chicken, allowing all the flavors to surround each chicken piece. Mix in with the rice, and it is easily one of Inka Heritage’s best dishes.
The menu does, of course, offer a number of other options outside of our traditional favorites that are well worth sampling, particularly in the seafood department. Overall, Inka Heritage can run a bit on the pricy side (the average entrée is about $13), but the restaurant’s increasingly elegant ambience (considerably moreso now than when it opened) make it a great place for a classy night out with a group or date. Madison has a number of great dining options, but we try to get back as often as we can – especially to introduce friends to Peruvian cuisine who have not tried it before.
Tea Tuesday: Guang Sang Tea / Roland Tea Tins
We’re not going to lie, we are drawn to nice food packaging designs. Of course this extends to one of our passions, tea, as well. If you’re perusing though the aisles of any Chinese grocery story or specialty store you’ll usually be able to find some nicely packaged teas in appealing tins of all shapes and sizes. So when we went to the Chinese gift emporium Pearl River Market in NYC (477 Broadway, between Grand St. and Broom St. in Soho) we thought we must have hit the jackpot. Pearl River is a veritable pantheon of garish, fun and colorful tea tins. Some of the showiest tins, with something of a retro flair, come from a Hong Kong company called Guang Sang Tea (which also goes by the imprint Roland). If you’re not in NYC, you can peruse the selection of tea tins at Pearl River online. The Roland vanilla tea tin at left is one of our favorites.
Filed under Design and Photography, Reviews, Tea
Friday Foodie Links: Links Smorgasbord
There’s no theme this week. Just some interesting links and tidbits:
- Everyone in the Chicago food blogosphere is buzzing about the opening of Nightwood, a new restaurant in Pilsen by the owners of Lula Cafe.
- Cakespy unveils the greatest dessert creation in recent history – the cookie cake pie (with recipe)
- Burnt Lumpia takes us on a comprehensive tour of vinegars from the Philippines (sukas).
- In New York City, the master of the Korean dish bibimbap is… Honduran?
- Since we obviously enjoy food obsessiveness, we have to admire the folks at A Bread a day and Cheese a day for their focus!
Eating The World 