Eating Anything

I just read this blog post over at a friend's (online) place. This was too good to pass up. I'll eat just about anything; in fact, I've pretty much yet to draw the line. I have a theoretical line - it just hasn't come up. That would be Hong-uh Hwe, which is a Korean dish of raw, rotten skate fish. Anything which produces a smell that makes me feel like vomiting is probably not going down my throat. So I am pretty sure I'd have to say no when presented with that. And possibly soylent green, though that doesn't sound quite as bad. But who knows, a few drinks can change anything.

But on to the list of wierd food and drink. Since I've consumed most of them, I'll note only the ones I have not in bold.

1. Venison I mean, seriously? I have about 10 pounds in my freezer right now.
   
2. Nettle tea Honestly, I am not sure about this one, but I've been to england 3 times so I'm guessing I've had it. However, since I have no idea I'll count it as a no.
   
3. Huevos rancheros Once a year at the Blue Bird Cafe, New Orleans...
   
4. Steak tartare Ummm... as often as possible...
   
5. Crocodile Does gator count? Again, happy times in New orleans. Nothin' like a nice alligator pie...
   
6. Black pudding
   
7. Cheese fondue
   
8. Carp
   
9. Borscht
   
10. Baba ghanoush
    
11. Calamari
    
    Oh come on now you guys... you're not even trying any more!!
    
    
    
12. Pho Yawn...
    
13. PB&J sandwich
    
14. Aloo gobi This one, also have to go with No, although I've had so much Indian food in my life I would imagine I've eaten it before.
    
15. Hot dog from a street cart
    
16. Epoisses I think I ate some last night at Commonwealth
    
17. Black truffle
    
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes Elderberry wine... mmmm...
    
19. Steamed pork buns Now I'm just getting hungry. Does Mark's Duck House have dim sum on Fridays?
    
20. Pistachio ice cream
    
21. Heirloom tomatoes I have one on my desk actually!!
    
22. Fresh wild berries Awww come on. I'm from Maine. Didn't y'all read Blueberries For Sal...
    
23. Foie gras Ohhh, baby...
    
24. Rice and beans I think New Orleans is responsible for at least 20% of this list.
    
25. Brawn, or head cheese This one was an accident. But I ate it, it wasn't good.
    
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper You KNOW I've been down this road... and back from hell on the flip side...
    
27. Dulce de leche
    
28. Oysters
    
29. Baklava
    
30. Bagna cauda What the deuce is this? Gotta say no.
    
31. Wasabi peas
    
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
    
33. Salted lassi
    
34. Sauerkraut
    
35. Root beer float
    
36. Cognac with a fat cigar Y'know I'm not much of a cigar smoker OR cognac drinker but this has definitely come up.
    
37. Clotted cream tea
    
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
    
39. Gumbo
    
40. Oxtail Negril makes a mean one.
    
41. Curried goat Negril, again...
    
42. Whole insects Honestly, I am ashamed but I don't think I've ever eaten a whole bug. Unless you count lobsters. But it's almost cicada season so I plan to correct this
    
43. Phaal Okay, that's it. I'm cooking indian tonight.
    
44. Goat’s milk
    
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more Okay... this seems wrong. I've personally consumed at least a dozen bottles of Pappy Van Winkle's at $95 a bottle. But I think that's the most expensive brown liquor I've had.
    
46. Fugu Do I LOOK like I wanna die?
    
47. Chicken tikka masala
    
48. Eel
    
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
    
50. Sea urchin Yes, I ate it, but it sucks.
    
51. Prickly pear
    
52. Umeboshi Apparently we are in the weird japanese snack section. I've eaten all this crap.
    
53. Abalone
    
54. Paneer
    
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal Oh come on. I'll probably have one for lunch.
    
56. Spaetzle
    
57. Dirty gin martini I prefer mine clean, but gin is so much more earthy than vodka.
    
58. Beer above 8% ABV Do you even know my name?
    
59. Poutine Thank you, Whistler!! My new favorite late night snack. Now if only it were actually available anywhere in DC...
    
60. Carob chips suck ass.
    
61. S’mores
    
62. Sweetbreads
    
63. Kaolin I have no idea what this is. Google says it's a rock of some kind. Err... whatever.
    
64. Currywurst I don't honestly think I've ever had this before, but it sounds damn good!
    
65. Durian Wow. Three misses in a row.. I need to make a shopping list.
    
66. Frogs’ legs
    
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
    
68. Haggis Thank you Edinboro.
    
69. Fried plantain
    
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
    
71. Gazpacho
    
72. Caviar and blini
    
73. Louche absinthe
    
74. Gjetost, or brunost Norwegian brown cheese? Sounds very South Park. I'll give it a shot.
    
75. Roadkill I hate myself for never having eaten roadkill, but I cannot tell a lie. I'm going deer bowling in Rock Creek Park tonight to rectify this.
    
76. Baijiu A liquor I've never drunk, in fact never even heard of?? Fie!!
    
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
    
78. Snail
    
79. Lapsang souchong
    
80. Bellini
    
81. Tom yum
    
82. Eggs Benedict
    
83. Pocky More weird japanese junk. I haven't had this before. Haven't eaten chicken chips either, I'm okay with it.
    
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. The closest I've come is Morimoto in Philly. Which was damn good but I don't think Michelin gives respect to Philadelphia.
    
85. Kobe beef
    
86. Hare
    
87. Goulash In Budapest, no less!
    
88. Flowers Dandelions count?
    
89. Horse Mmmmmm....
    
90. Criollo chocolate
    
91. Spam
    
92. Soft shell crab
    
93. Rose harissa
    
94. Catfish
    
95. Mole poblano
    
96. Bagel and lox
    
97. Lobster Thermidor
    
98. Polenta
    
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
    
100. Snake
     

The Score: 86/100. I've okay with that, but I can certainly fill some of those holes easily enough. At the same time, this list, while interesting, is lacking a bit in international flair. I mean, come on, I've eaten giraffe! I should get extra credit for that. And damn tasty it was...

So who's up for some soylent green tonight...

Gone Fishin'

My friend Lee invited me to go fishing last Saturday. An old family friend of his in-laws runs a fishing tour boat in the Chesapeake Bay and offered to take them out for a trip, and I was lucky enough to be invited. While waking up at 4:30 in the morning to meet the boat by 6 AM was slightly intimidating, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Sleep be damned.

The weather was fabulous, and it was also my first opportunity to get to know my new camera, a Nikon D60. Our guide, Sean, was a charming fellow and taught all us rookies the ins and outs. We ended up catching 24 bluefish and one rockfish. Technically, I caught the rockfish, though I can hardly take credit for being the one who happened to be standing next to the "china line" at the time something bit. While we mostly were fishing with rods and reels that were thrown out behind the boat at various lengths, some with heavier weights to bring the lures near the floor of the bay. But the rockfish was caught with a simple line that was just dropped behind the boat and tied around a cleat at the back. It was weighted heavily to keep the lure on the bottom below the back of the boat.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip. The rest are here on flickr.

Predawn


Sunrise


Learning to Fish


Lee Gets A Bite


Fighting Fish


Reeling Him In


End of the Trip

Neighborhood Update

I can't even remember when I posted last. I hope there's still someone out there reading this. Ahh, I don't care if there isn't, I don't need your damn validation, I write this for myself! That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Anyway, if you're all still there, here's the run down of life in the 'hood lately.

Crime: One major crime sighting this week, about typical. Walking to the Red Derby one night over the weekend, I saw a a huge brawl around 14th and Otis. There were a half dozen cop cars. As it happened, a friend who is a DC cop had also just showed up and said he'd helped take someone down on his way there. He left when it was under control. But as we were watching the scene, he pointed out a guy on a bike and said, "I bet that guy's got a gun." My obligatory response: how the hell do you know that? "Well, I saw him heading towards the scene, then he turned around and went the other way. Now he's back about 5 minutes later. He went home to get a gun." Damn, Sherlock! That seemed like a pretty big stretch for me, but...

He pulled out his cell phone and called up a friend who was on-duty and working the scene and told him to stop the biker because he probably had a gun. Sho' nuff. Call me impressed.

Punishment: I have not been running consistently AT ALL and am supposed to run the Annapolis 10 miler on Sunday. And, I have a friend's 40th birthday party on Saturday night. I hate bailing on races, but this could be lethal. I'm going to hit the pavement a couple times this week and see how it goes.

Internets: Everyblock DC has opened for business. The site culls all sorts of news, crime reports, and other locally relevant info about your neighborhood. Actually, even as specific as my block. It seems interesting, though I could probably do without the regurgitation of all the service requests people have entered at dc.gov. Kind of a metablog, I'm going to check it out for a while and see if it's worth the time.

House: Ummm.... no comment. That is: I've done jack in two months. Hey, it was a nice summer! There's things to do, places to go...

Entertainment: I already wrote about Commonwealth. Have not been back. I've had a couple-a Pete's Apizza and I remain a Red Rocks fan. It's decent stuff, but Red Rocks... er.. rocks. My only disappointment with Red Rocks is that they've been so damn busy lately, you can never get a seat at the bar any more. So I've not been spending much time there, though I've definitely had a few carryout pizzas. Still the best pizza in town.

Other than that, I don't think any new eateries of particular interest have opened. I anxiously await the arrival of the Meridian Pint, and the wine bar at 11th and Lamont!

Mosquitos: They are horrible.

I think that's all the news that's fit to print. Until next time.

Strange Things Are Afoot

I am aware that I've become a infrequent blogger as of late. This is not for lack of things to blog about. Quite the contrary, I've had so much going on that I'm just too busy to be bothered to share it with all you cretins. Okay, that's not exactly true. It's more like, I could tell you what I've been doing, but then I'd have to kill you. But here are a few little pearls of wisdom that I took away from the weekend's events.


1. Always carry point and shoot camera. While trudging arount Petworth at 2:30 AM or so on Friday night, between random party on 7th street and the Red Derby to meet my friend and bring her there, couldn't help but notice the massive fire which was devastating a bodega at the corner of Rock Creek Church and Warder Street. Sadly, it seems it was a total loss. I did get the cell phone picture here which should give you a sense of the scale. This must have happened very quickly because when I walked by around 2:00 AM the first time, there was nothing going on.

2. Close Your Eyes Before Eating Bangers and Mash. Went to Commonwealth, the newest addition to Columbia Heights' ever-growing restaurant scene on Sunday with my friend K. I had been craving the sausage & spud, and she ordered some chips. The sausage looked, remarkably, like a dog poo. I was advised (later in the day) by my British friend A. that this is traditional. Perhaps it was the several glasses of wine we'd had by the time I ordered the food, but it was futile to try to stop laughing hysterically when it was placed in front of me. I couldn't find a good picture online, so just trust me. Anyway, it was good, if a bit overpriced at $15 for a, er, snassage on a little pile of mashed potatoes. I like the picnic tables on the patio. But I'd go broke if I tried to eat here very often. The beer prices seemed reasonable, though. We'll see how this place fits in to the Columbia Heights dining lexicon in time.

3. We shall never speak of Saturday again. But the trespasses of that day shall not soon be forgotten. That is all.

Carry on, then.

No Cigarretts

CVS at 14th & Irving in Columbia Heights.



I wonder why they keep all those "cigarretts" around if they haven't sold them since 1990?

What an awesome school system we have...

Back from Iraq

Yes, that's right. I have set foot on Iraqi soil. Okay, well, that soil happened to be about a half-block from Dupont Circle at the Iraqi embassy, but technically I've been there. And I can tell you, it was hell. The temperatures in the embassy soared as the window-unit air conditioners struggled to cool the majestic, if slightly neglected, building.

But this was not the only trial we would endure. The booze supplies, sorely underestimated by our gracious (if teetotalling) hosts, were decimated in minutes by the hard-drinking Harvard B'school bigwigs and summer interns. It was obvious that this would be our only trip to the bar before it dried up faster than an Ar Rutbah oasis in July. Anticipating this, Kristin and I poured ourselves two glasses each. But it was not enough.

As heatstroke set in, I felt somehow connected to our countrymen who remain abroad, sweltering under the Baghdad sun. The second glass of wine dwindled and the temperatures soared. It was clear that we had to act fast to ensure our very survival. Parched, I turned to Kristin. "We have but one chance. I must find liquor before we die of thirst." She looked at me, the color draining from her face as the truth of our situation slowly settled into her consciousness like a heavy midnight snow. There was nothing left to drink. "You cannot endure this alone. I will come with you," she said. But I could not let her come on such a dangerous mission. True, she was strong. But in addition to her thirst, she was suffering from desert sickness. It could only be treated with with Sudafed, a rare herb from the See'vei-Es province. I would go alone and return with supplies. Somehow, I must not fail.

Struggling against the thirst, I weaved my way through the schmoozers and hobnobbers, desperately looking for a way out. At last I found my salvation: the portal to American soil, where I was sure that directions to a liquor store would be as simple as finding the nearest panhandler. My instincts proved correct - six dollars and five minutes later, I had procured the medical supplies required to survive another hour in Iraq.

I returned to the desert to find Kristen barely conscious. A true martyr, she had given away half of what little liquid remained so that a complete stranger might also survive. I administered the Sudafed and vodka. Yes - it worked! As the color returned to her face, I knew that we would win the day.

Photographs from the field. The extreme conditions we endured are responsible for the poor quality of the pictures. Or maybe my cell phone is crap.





With the exception of the part about the air conditioners, this is a work of fiction. Names have been changed to protect the innocent. Thanks to the DC Harvard Club for organizing this fascinating and entertaining event, and thanks to the ambassador of Iraq and the gracious staff for opening their home to this gang. And of course I would never carry a flask on my person.