Seamore Seaweed Pasta

Last weeks Fancy Food Show takeover was a lot to eat through. We’re still full from tasting. From the best Regalis stood out. Their display table at the Brooklyn Good Food Show consisted of two small black garbage bags growing rare mushrooms and a live whole king crab. Needless to say it drew a crowd. Speckled between the spectacle was their consumer product line. Caviar, to dried mushrooms to truffles. I opted for the oil tasting as Massimo had sufficiently schooled me on the chemical truffle oil gag. The Regalis guys told me the put the truffle near the oil not in it and let the oil absorb the scent. Skeptical I pressed them about the types of truffles and the process. They said the taste was much less bold than the typical truffle oil because of their process. It resulted in a pungent smelling oil with a very light truffle taste. Impressed, I decided to give them some props for their method and take some home for food combo tasting. Regalis makes an Organic White Truffle Oil as well as a black. You can this and the rest of their line direct from their website.

The first thing they placed on our cloud white, spotless, linen clade table at Per Se in NYC was a lidded porcelain bowl shaped like a flower. With dramatic flare, the cover was lifted to reveal six different salts. A second waiter began explaining the different flavors, regions and usages for the white gold as I fell into reverie about the efficiency of the container. My spice closet is incredibly organized and uniform but I often am hunting for all my finishing salts in order to decide which to use. The World Salt Tower both remedies this problem and reloads my stash of salts for all culinary occasions. Now I can decide between my volcanic black, Himalayan pink, Malden or French coast grey sea without freaking out that my halibut is getting cold and my guests are getting restless.

Today’s the day of atonement. I only know this as an honorary member of “the tribe” having sat through my fair share of Yom Kippur dinners. This is the meal that breaks the fast of the past 24 hours. This was the day that sent all my Jewish friends home from soccer practice early to beat sundown in high school. The thing is, my jew crew didn’t really do the fasting part very well BUT they definitely did the breaking part excellently. The typical Jewish cuisine gets a poor rep. This, under the trained taste buds, is a falsely perpetuated opinion perhaps the same way Portlanders say it’s always grey in Stumptown. For context and as a case in point, I’ve sampled some incredible homemade gefilte fish that can go toe to toe with any cultural cuisine. To this end, Jewish food needs better press and a little more marketing oomph to jump the hurdle into main stream. Ashley Albert is spearheading the effort with her artisanal matzo company from Brooklyn, The Matzo Project. Salted, cinnamon or everything (as in bagel) are your delicious choices. You can’t pick wrong. We’ve tasted them all. You might be asking why I didn’t post this last week. That’s the point you should be stocking this year round. Eating it instead of chips or Triscuits. Plus, those of you who partake in the festivities, you’ve got Sukkot in five days. Stock up.

Our want for coffee is currently insatiable. What we need, that’s another story. Since we’re staggering around these days in seemingly one of two states, red-eye wired workaholics or free trade, caffeine deprived zombies, a chewable cup of coffee seemed like the next logical step to get you from your bed to your barista. Think of all the moments Go Cubes Chewable Coffee will come in handy. After that chewable cigarette for example. The 68th slide in a 112 page powerpoint slide during your weekly status meeting. Running down the jetway as you just make your 6am flight to Chicago. We could find moments like these all day. As younger and cheeky as we just were, the idea of a chewable coffee with all the flavor and all the benefits is just what the nation ordered.