Saturday, May 27, 2006


the batdorf pico del tucan, redux

My BCCY Podcast as if yesterday wasn't enough -- which it wasn't, because this is fine coffee -- i brewed scott's batdorf bolivian c.o.e. pico del tucan in the cafetiére this afternoon. this is the way to go with scott's coffee.

pressing this bean increases the body, moving it from mere(!) plush to ultra-deluxe plush, near velvety. taking the plunge lessens the brightness a tad, which is rather the trade-off here, unfortunately.

i drank this cup black, without cream or sugar, even tho' as a good noo-yawker i do like my so-called "regular." it just doesn't need any additions; it's perfection.

i however needed a cup of coffee after a wacky shopping expedition. living along the water in style-y "moonstruck" bklyn as i do, italian groceries are a no-brainer; jewish and eastern european specialities, ditto; arab and middle-eastern specialities just a hop, skip and handstand away.

but i decided to make a mexican yellow mole from oaxaca, based on a recipe by rick bayless. this, i believed, entailed a trip to a nearby latin nabe at the end of carroll gardens.

so. after much travail, i find masa harina, yuca, sundries, and come all the way back. ok, now to fetch the chicken.

so i walk 1-1/2 blocks away to my local supermarket to get chicken and cilantro. as i wander past the aisles (i'm solely a perimeter shopper usually), i see a new sign hanging over one of the aisles: "latin specialty foods."

ok, i bite. what used to be a perfunctory display of a few dusty goya cans is now a giant aisle of everything i sought: fresh yuca, fresh malanga, fresh ñame, great plantains, fresh tomatillos, piles of jicama, fresh chayote, fresh calabaza, 3 kinds of masa harina, everything but fresh epazote and hoja santos.

the joke was on me. but at the same time i had to ask myself, when did my double-i nabe become a latin hang?

no problem! me all happy, because nothing was more than US$0.69 a pound!

it's gonna be a mexican summer, that's for sure. . .break out the altura. . .and you bet i make my own tortillas, fresh.

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