February 16, 2012: The War of the Roses

I have been a Titanic buff since I first saw “A Night to Remember” back when I was a kid. With that film, I fell in love with the Edwardian Era, probably reinforced by going through my Grandmother’s photos of when she was young. The elegance of dress and hairstyles, the manners, the innocence (if you will…it was before both world wars) and especially the food stuck a nerve that reverberates throughout my life. My friend Lisa tells me that her young (5 y.o.) son, Harry has suddenly turned into a Titanic buff, so now I know I’m in good company! Being a chef, when I learned that there was a book on menus from the Great Liner existed, I just HAD to get it! I was not disappointed. Rick Archbold and Dana McCauley’s book “Last Dinner on the Titanic” is not only my most favorite cookbook, it is one of my favorite reads of all time! It is rich with not only carefully reconstructed dishes from the last night of the Titanic, but it is also full of history of people and events of the cruise. It has photos from the era, good art and illustrations. It also has recommendations for how to do a Titanic-themed dinner: how to place the table, what music to play, suggestions of dress, mood, conversation and more! I’ve done about six meals using this book as a guide and I hope to have many more to come!

Oh. Every once in a while talking about Titanic Dinners, I get a reaction from someone as if I was somehow celebrating the death of the 1523 souls lost the early morning of April 15, 1912. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is with the utmost respect that I put on these meals. It is the celebration of the life of these people that is the focus of the meal…and boy, did they know how to live!

The Dinner Itself

Want to see a Titanic Dinner? Just drift over to the margin on the right and click on “A Titanic Theme Dinner.” Thanks to my friend Teja, we have clips from a dinner we did a couple of years ago for a group of friends. The dishes are mainly Escoffier, which seems to be French code for “the best food imaginable!” The dishes are quite fancy, requiring much preparation, but if you love to cook (and eat) you will love every minute. You will need help, ‘tho. Not only with prepping, cooking and execution but also with the serving and most important….the planning. My friends Carolyn, Barb and Susan were the “planners” for this meal. Serving for these meals is traditionally “à la Russe” which means that every dish is served separately (usually by servers.) Also, if you are doing First Class Menu (there are also Second Class and Steerage menus) you have a choice between menus from the First Class Dining Salon and the “À La Carte” restaurant and each of those have options at each course! I usually go over options with the people who are planning and the best answer usually is a “mix and match” between the two restaurants. Dressing up is fun, but you have to feel out your group and see what they think. My opinion: this level of food quality deserves for people to dress up! Find what is right for your group, and feel free to mix it up. The Edwardians won’t mind! Planning and execution of the meal is a bit like a wedding: give yourself a load of time, plan well, do everything you can, and on the day…let go and have fun!

The War of the Roses

My family heard about this dinner for my friends and decided they would like one as well! We were able to couple this with a Titanic Exhibition that was going on that week in Rochester, NY. My lovely family was all game and made it one of the best Titanic Dinners ever! I served:

• Lobster Thermidor in a bed of Duchess Potatoes
• Calvados-Glazed Roast Duckling
• Home-made Applesauce
• Quenelle of Carrot
• Minted Green Pea Timbales
• Flowerets of French Cucumber
• Punch Romaine
• Asparagus Salad with Champagne-Saffron Vinaigrette
• Oranges en Surprise (a kind of Baked Alaska of orange sherbet served in an orange skin, topped with almond meringue and baked…yum!)

A little bit about my family: my sisters (all five) are bright, beautiful, talented, and scamps all! Most of them are accomplished chefs, so I had my work cut out for me! Sisters Joanne and Kathy each came dressed as “Rose” from the movie. Each applied their own style of dress and both were stunning, but “Who was the better Rose?” became the topic of conversation, which the family duly dubbed “The War of the Roses!”

Oh…and wise was the man who didn’t enlist in THAT war!!!

Minted Green Pea Timbales...just plain screwy or chromosomes skipping around?

I was doing pretty well with the meal preparations, but cramming too much Punch Romaine into the blender, I managed to spray it all over Joanne’s bar!!! [I cleaned it up and confessed my error. Joanne (always the gracious host) told me it was no problem and she later cleaned up the mess the right way!] So, a little on edge, I deliver the Punch to the table to find everyone a tad too quiet, with subtle smirks (always a bad sign!) Knowing, from experience, that it is pointless to drag these things out I say “OK. What’s UP?!” It is then I notice that there is a huge pile of the Minted Green Pea Timbales on my nephew’s plate! Knowing this tactic from years of abuse (oh, yes my beloved sisters…we will present THOSE stories someday!!!) I ask, “What the HELL is wrong with the timbales?” To which they reply, “We all hate it.” “OMIGOD”, I think, “I did something wrong!” So, I taste one and it was exactly correct!!!

Edwardians Like Mush

OK granted. Minted Green Pea Timbales are a tad on the odd side. Edwardians, true-blue meat-and-potatoes people, tended to over-process their vegetables. The timbales are a mixture of blanched and cooled green peas, mixed with fresh mint, salt and pepper, a tiny bit of sugar, cream, and a bit of egg white. This is put through a food processor, then into cupcake molds and they are all baked/steamed. You finish with a dab of sour cream and a fresh mint leaf. I made the timbales for the Titanic Dinner for my friends and everyone loved it! I mean, I had parents asking for the recipe after, saying they had finally found a dish they thought their kids would eat! Now, most people say kind things after a meal. Me…I would’ve complimented the éclairs and home-made ice cream, for that meal. So, what I’m saying is that with all the great food at the dinner for my friends, the unsolicited vote of “best dish” that night was the timbales!

“Odd Man Out” or The Skipped Chromosome

So…cooking is nothing without knowledge, so I ask my family “OK, EVERYONE hated the timbales?” Turns out, opinions varied. Some of my brothers in law hate veggies so much, that given the choice between asparagus and a Red Sox win, they would hem and haw. Some liked the timbales. Some deferred comment. Really, it was my sisters who really didn’t like the timbales! “Wow. I thought. At least one of us fell far from the tree, and I guess that someone is ME!” Some tastes are a very particular thing: I myself cannot stand the taste of cilantro. I choose to not eat certain foods, but I like most food. For years I thought my one food hatred to be just one of those odd anomalies. Then I found a group of cilantro-haters on-line. To them, cilantro tastes like soap! “YES!” I thought, “That’s EXACTLY right!” The group explained that there is a fairly rare gene combination that makes cilantro taste like a subtle poison to some people.

So, beloved sisters. We have to agree to disagree. I promise: no more green pea timbales. You: no cilantro for me. Personally, I’m glad I fell on that side of the tree. Mmmm…where’s the sour cream?

October 07, 2010: Bird’s Nest Soup

Today’s original soup from Okonomy is “Bird’s Nest” Soup. The look of the  soup vaguely simulates the look of a bird’s nest, in that it has a green tea soba as a noodle for a grassy-like effect. A cooked quail’s egg completes the illusion. Chef Saito uses a chicken broth as a stock for this soup. As added flavor Chef Saito adds a lemon twist. He also adds mitsuba (Japanese parsley) to this soup for an added depth of taste.

October 05, 2010: Cold Avocado Soup

Ooops! I’m falling behind presenting summer soups from Okonomy, but here’s one that we at least shot in the summer! For this unique and refreshing summertime soup, Chef Saito combines avocado, light cream, chicken stock, salt and pepper. All ingredients blended, the soup is then chilled. For “croutons” Chef Saito uses fried rice crackers!

September 29, 2010: Dobinmushi Soup

Today’s unique soup from Okonomy is Dobinmushi Soup. The break down of the Japanese is such: “do”=earth; “bin”=bottle; “mushi”=steamed. Thus, dobinmushi is a soup “that is steamed in an earthenware container.” The main ingredient of the soup is matsutake mushroom which is a rare mushroom and gives a very distinctive taste to the soup. I asked Chef Saito “How rare?” and he looked up current prices from Japan. Matsutake goes for $1000/Lb! That’s about $420 for three pieces that would fit in a small carton like the ones you get cherry tomatoes in! Chef assures me that the taste is worth the price. Chef Saito also includes his homemade dashi stock and yuzu (Japanese Lime) as the broth. He also adds scallion and mitsuba (otherwise know as “Honeywort” or “Japanese Parsley”) Mitsuba is like parsley and has a “fresh” taste somewhat parsley and celery combined. All these flavors combine for a very unique blend for a soup. Dobinmushi is considered a fall soup as the mushroom are just being made available.

September 07, 2010: Okonomiyaki, Panini-style

Today’s original okonomiyaki dish from Okonomy is Chef Yoshio Saito’s panini-style okonomiyaki. This is the traditional okonomiyaki recipe but made in a modern panini machine. Chef Saito has a variety of sauces and toppings for this style, but he devised this dish to show how okonomiyaki can be made with other, non-traditional cooking tools.

July 23, 2010: Kaisen Zushi

Today’s original sushi dish from Okonomy is “Kaisen Zushi.” Kaisen is “seafood” and Chef Saito makes this as a kind of upside-down seafood dish. He carefully arranges the seafood, usually to a theme (this one being St. Valentine’s Day) in a pan before flipping it over. Another example of artistry, both culinary and visually, from this master chef’s repertoire!

July 05, 2010: Sugata Zushi

Today’s custom sushi dish from Okonomy is Sugata Zushi or “appearance sushi.” Chef Saito takes fresh mackerel and a gourmet sushi rice to fashion this decorative and unique sushi presentation.

June 29, 2010: Soba Zushi

Today’s custom sushi from Okonomy is “Soba Zushi.” This dish hails from the Kyoto region and cleverly uses soba (buckwheat noodles) instead of rice to make a more unique kind of sushi. Shown above Soba Zushi with pickled carrot and radish.

June 15, 2010: Kazari Zushi

Today’s specialized sushi dish from Okonomy is “Kazari Zushi” or decorative sushi. “Decorative” can mean many things. Chef Saito has created this dish, which is really a combination of the culinary and visual arts, in many forms. In the traditional style these are usually done in patterns of leaves or a flowers, but Chef Saito has made Kazari Zushi in the shapes of plums, pandas, people’s names…really,  the sky is the limit. Chef uses natural flavors to color the rice. In this one he used avocado for the green color and “denbu” (dried codfish) for the red. The “eyebrows are nori. It takes a good imagination, a master chef, time, and a good sense of humor!

June 12, 2010: New Photo of Traditional Sushi

Today we have a new photograph of traditional sushi from Okonomy. From left to right: Suzuki (Sea Bass), Maguro (Tuna), Hamachi (Yellowtail from Japan), Otoro (Tuna), back: Tekka Maki (Tuna Roll), Unagi (Broiled Eel), back: Ika (Squid), Ebi (Shrimp), back: Tako (Octopus), Tamago (Egg).