Culinary wuss

I had occasion to be in the East Bay recently, and serendipitously had a bit of time to visit Berkeley Bowl. I love that place, but it's usually quite an effort for me to get out there and this is the first time I attempted it alone - I usually wait until naka_sf, marusja or royal_penguin can accompany me. So one of the things I love about BB is the bargain bin. This time, I initially spotted broccoli but put it back - I recently had a bad experience where I didn't make it fast enough and it went weird, and besides, I have it frozen. Then I got a giant bag of really tiny thin green asparagus and thick white ones - these became delicious soup today, with shallots, garlic, bay leaf and a bit of turkey broth and milk. Then I saw a bag of tiny artichokes. Oh, how I love artichokes. But I've never had experience with anything other than canned and disassembled (at least when I've prepared them). I also recently watched a PBS show called Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie where they showed these Italians deep-frying them, to the point where the leaves are like chips and the soft parts are creamy. Immediately, I fantasized about how I'd take them home and make such deliciousness, but I put them back soon thereafter. For you see, I lack the courage to deep-fry such objects. They held them with their bare hands! Sure I could look up which parts I should take out (there are inedible parts, I hear) and how to fry them in which oil, but I would probably also cover my entire kitchen with splatter, burn myself all over and the results might not be as awesome as those Italians achieve after generations of experience. And so, fried artichokes return to the realm of television and fantasy.

Culinary wuss

I had occasion to be in the East Bay recently, and serendipitously had a bit of time to visit Berkeley Bowl. I love that place, but it's usually quite an effort for me to get out there and this is the first time I attempted it alone - I usually wait until naka_sf, marusja or royal_penguin can accompany me. So one of the things I love about BB is the bargain bin. This time, I initially spotted broccoli but put it back - I recently had a bad experience where I didn't make it fast enough and it went weird, and besides, I have it frozen. Then I got a giant bag of really tiny thin green asparagus and thick white ones - these became delicious soup today, with shallots, garlic, bay leaf and a bit of turkey broth and milk. Then I saw a bag of tiny artichokes. Oh, how I love artichokes. But I've never had experience with anything other than canned and disassembled (at least when I've prepared them). I also recently watched a PBS show called Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie where they showed these Italians deep-frying them, to the point where the leaves are like chips and the soft parts are creamy. Immediately, I fantasized about how I'd take them home and make such deliciousness, but I put them back soon thereafter. For you see, I lack the courage to deep-fry such objects. They held them with their bare hands! Sure I could look up which parts I should take out (there are inedible parts, I hear) and how to fry them in which oil, but I would probably also cover my entire kitchen with splatter, burn myself all over and the results might not be as awesome as those Italians achieve after generations of experience. And so, fried artichokes return to the realm of television and fantasy.