Grasshopper, tongue - and why it's not about being a thrill seeker

Below is a shot from a recent visit to Oyamel, a tasty small bites style restaurant in D.C. where you can order up some really amazing food.

Like these grasshopper tacos. Spicy, crunchy, and just a great bit of food I classify this outing alongside last year's lengua guisada tasting - a food adventure. Why? Because we just don't always get to go around trying out not just grasshopper and beef tongue, but beautifully prepared grasshopper and beef tongue!

I am not a "thrill seeker", the excitement of eating these foods doesn't arise out of their being strange or foreign to the average American - the excitement follows when it tastes delicious. Which is just another reason you shouldn't be afraid to try this stuff. If things like bugs or unfamiliar cuts of meat are devoured the world over in a variety of preparations, odds are it's not out of desperation, it's because it tastes good.

When people say something "tastes like chicken", I've come to realize that they aren't referring to the flavor. Sometimes chicken doesn't even taste like chicken [should]. They're speaking to the comfort level of a particular food, to the texture (typically a greater barrier than flavor), to its overall familiarity. For a country of immigrants, there's a lot of food we haven't tried.

So you don't have to try something out of the norm for a culinary rush, try it because if there's a long line of people ahead of you to get at it, there's probably a good reason for that.

Urban Spoon

I don't get to use the Urban Spoon app much in Moscow. With a handful of restaurants in a given category, most of them Mexican, there just isn't a whole lot of culinary depth to be plumbed. On our recent trip to Annapolis, D.C. and Baltimore, respectively, I got to try some practical applications.

Thing is, I think I am Urban Spoon incompatible. Yes, it pulls up a bevy of nearby restaurants; yes, you can sort by neighborhood, cuisine, and price; and yes, you can read reviews. In a metropolitan area there are too many restaurants to easily sort through, too many dated reviews, and it is too hard to find a restaurant when you don't have specific neighborhood or cuisine hankerings - you know, when you just want something good.

We were booking for parties of six, typically, and each meal needed to be something special. If I were a local and just looking for a random eatery decision in a pinch, Urban Spoon might be a fun magic eight ball approach to the matter, even if I had been on slightly more familiar ground, like Seattle; but the reality is that when traveling in an unfamiliar city and booking meals for myself, family and friends I am way too particular for the level of variables Urban Spoon dishes up.

On the upside, Urban Spoon made it dead easy for me to make multiple reservations - and then cancel them.

Baltimore: Chameleon Cafe

On what we thought was the last night of our stay (that story is for a blog on travel disasters!), we went out with Rob, Bonnie, and the Kadan elders to Baltimore's Chameleon Cafe. After a few culinary near misses trying to find a dinner spot with Urban Spoon (a generally great app, it served up a dose of fail this time around) I finally got my MacBook on some WiFi and searched for Baltimore+best+chef. The name that came up most often was Jeff Smith, which settled things for us, off to Chameleon.

The specials were actually, well, special. I started with their pork rillettes, artfully prepared in the French tradition and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Think creamy pâté, the process purportedly takes weeks when done just right. I definitely appreciated the effort, it was fantastic.

Chameleon Cafe knows how to do a menu right - brief and focused. Their regular menu changes seasonally, and if the online version is to be trusted the handful of appetizers and seven or so entrees have already changed since our visit two weeks ago. We took a cue from the rillettes and Adam ordered the house made charcuterie for his starter. The staff were incredibly enthusiastic about the food, and rightly so. The sausage, pâté and terrine were all delicious. I had the leek wrapped confit of halibut for my main, which was wonderful (and yes, I have a halibut problem).

We have a bit of a travel policy for food that stipulates we only get one "repeat restaurant" each trip. There will be a lot of votes going to the Chameleon Cafe!

(photo courtesy of Rob Sentz, 2009)

Washington D.C.: Oyamel

Early on in our trip we went with the family to D.C. for a day of museums. Of course, we couldn't help but make the focus of our day a trip to Oyamel, which we had seen on No Reservations. Touting "small plates" and traditional Mexican food, my mouth was watering before we were through the National Gallery.

Our experience there was outstanding. Alex, our waiter, was helpful and the rest of the staff were like culinary ninja deftly clearly plates and making new delights appear in a marvelous dance. One of the highlights was lengua guisada, or beef tongue taco. Delicious - it was like creamy beef. Ok, it is hard to describe, I just encourage you to not be annoyingly stodgy and go all "eek, tongue!". You should not avoid something that is outright delicious!

Completing the fun: Alex told me I was sitting where Anthony Bourdain sat during the filming for No Reservations, and he didn't seem like the fibbing type. So, Anthony, I sat in the chasm left by your butt in the booth by the ceviche bar.

Mmm, lengua guisada! (and some cochinita pibil con cebolla en escabeche on the left)

Just as memorable as any lengua was the guacamole, and below is our best recapturing of the magic. It was made tableside, and in a rather peculiar portion (1 1/2 avocados?) so I went ahead and doubled the effort.

Oyamel Guacamole

(servings: never enough)

4 tsp red onion, diced fine

4 tsp serranos, diced fine

2 tbs cilantro, chopped

3 avocados, pits removed

1 lime, juiced

4 tbs tomatillos, diced

2 tsp salt

2 tbs queso fresco, or cotjia, grated fine

1) Mash the onions, serranos and cilantro to a rough paste

2) Add the avocados and mash to desired consistency

3) Add the lime juice, tomatillos, salt and fold. Top with the queso fresco.

Gaulart & Maliclet: Fast and French

One of the best restaurants we visited on our May trip to Charleston was the most definitely un-fussy Gaulart & Maliclet. They serve up breakfast, lunch and dinner in what seems to be an always crowded dining room. We were favorably seated near the back of the place in a room off the main dining area at a counter open to the kitchen. The place does have hints of "we're better earth people than you", but that's likely a result of the staff being comprised of perhaps the only boho people I saw while in Charleston.

The food isn't all strictly French but it's definitely French-y, and my cucumber yogurt soup served with three cheeses was a perfect lunch. The menu is very affordable and while varied isn't overwhelming, especially if you just focus on the specials.

Gaulart & Maliclet
98 Broad St.
Charleston, SC
843.577.9797

Cantler's

Before we left for our Maryland trip I did a little crab house research, wanting to make the most of our short visit. Turns out that Cantler's, while heralded as the best cab house in Annapolis, manages to remain a well-kept secret. Maybe it's because just finding the place is cause for celebration (call for directions, there's a closed road and other exciting, map-defying antics).

We were seated on the porch which in fairer weather would have been open air. They had handily enclosed the place with a rather nice tent so we were able to enjoy the view of Mill Creek and the rainstorm. Everything had a very traditional, no fuss sort of feel with long rows of bare picnic tables, and the dark, reassuring interior that everyone is too quick to disdain in this time of modern decorating. It looked like a proper seafood place.

We started in on some hush puppies, which were excellent, and I quickly settled on some Maryland lump crab cakes. Adam opted for the Rockfish with crab imperial. Both were delicious, and there's really nothing like a proper Maryland crabcake - more crab, less cake.

Service was prompt and pleasant, the iced tea was bottomless and Cantler's was more than worth the trek.

Cantler's
458 Forest Beach Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
410.757.1311

Buttermilk Pie à la Hominy Grill

We recently got to take a trip down to Charleston, South Carolina. The main events were my brother, Tim's, graduation from The Citadel which was only topped by his Commissioning into the Marine Corps. as a Second Lieutenant. Somewhere in between we ate a lot of food and drank a lot of wine.

Shortly after deplaning Tim, Dianna, Mom and Dad whisked us away to the Hominy Grill, a very fun local place that illustrated its hearty reputation with a full house in mid afternoon.

While they featured delectables like collard greens, cheesy grits and a fantastic cucumber salad the bulk of the meal was outshone by their buttermilk pie.

Smooth, light and incredibly satisfying it's dead easy to make and a wonderful all-season dessert (though I vote for a summer evening with berries on top!). They make some recipes available online though they also have a small cookbook for sale.

Buttermilk Pie

1 c buttermilk, room temp
6 tbs unsltd btr, room temp
1 c sugar
2 eggs, separated
3 tbs flour
1 tbs lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
1/4 tsp salt
1 pre-baked 9", deep dish pie shell

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1) Cream the butter and sugar then add teh egg yolks and mix til combined.

2) Add the flour, lemon juice, nutmeg and salt.

3) Continue mixing while slowly adding the buttermilk.

4) In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add a small amount of the buttermilk mixture to the whites and fold gently.

5) Gently fold the egg white mixture into the remaining buttermilk mixture.

6) Pour into the pie shell and bake until lightly browned and barely wiggling in the middle (about 50 minutes).

7) Let cool to slightly warm or room temperature, then serve!

Hominy Grill
207 Rutledge Avenue
Charleston, SC 29403
843.937.0930