eggbeater

Royal Blenheim Apricots. buy & eat me now. Northern California & beyond.

Now is the time.
The time is Right Now.
If you live in California, USA or anywhere close by, and you love apricots

{photo by Anita Crotty of Married ...with Dinner}

The Royal Blenheim Apricot is in season right this minute.

AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE THEM GO EXTINCT IN YOUR LIFE TIME

support the few farmers left growing them.

All this information just in from my favorite group, Bakers Dozen.

Dear Bakers Dozen Members:
The Blenheims are Here!  If you’d like to organize a carpool to pick some up, here are some sources:

 ♦Apricot King—Patty Gonzales’ orchard
Email:  info@apricotking.com
Phone:  831/637-1938

Visit their farm in Hollister, or check them out at these local farmer's markets:

Santa Cruz
2:30 to 6:30 Wednesdays – Lincoln & Cedar, one block off Pacific in downtown Santa Cruz
Los Altos
4 to 8 p.m. – Thursdays, downtown Los Altos
Palo Alto
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Sundays (California & El Camino)
Mountain View
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Sundays (Hope & Evelyn Streets)

 
♦Andy's Orchard
1615 Half Road
Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Store Hours:
10:00am - 5:00pm Weekdays
10:00am - 4:00pm Weekends
(408) 782-7600 and ask for Lorene

or
•    Sigonona's Market (Palo Alto)
•    Cosentino's (San Jose) carries Andy's fruit
•    Local Farmers Market @ Garden Accent
•    11155 Lena Ave, Gilroy, CA 408/846-4555 Thur  2-7 pm
or look on the local harvest website.

More lovely photos can be found on Flickr of Royal Blenheim Apricots on the branch, taken by Spidra Webster.

summer in the city. /july.

this is summer in the city.
wanton.
fetid fruit.
salt sweat lick lips
forehead wipe
going commando
sand between toes
watermelon
watermelon
ices, ice melting, sweaty glasses,
one long nap
sheetless sleep
clothesless sleep
mice in the oven
salad for dinner
gazpacho
tomato sandwiches
unbuttoned shirts
ties, despised.

this is summer in the city
teenage sex
drinking on the corner
nights as long as days
days that never end
months that never change.

this is summer in the city
coney island
the boardwalk
raw clams
little paper umbrellas
blow up pools on the sidewalk
unforgiving bodies
every age in every bathing suit
white skin aflame red
black barber shops packed every night
white t shirts
stoop conversations
walking the dog at 3 am.

this is july.

base. bottom. flat.
surely summer even if june didn't put out.
sticky, humid, smoggy, still air, dirty hair,
peeling skin.

JULY.

unapologetic.
no reprieve.
get on the train, get in the car, roll the windows down, flirtatious feet on the dash
show a little skin
let go your inhibitions
steal kisses
rest in the walk in
wrap a towel in ice and feel it drip down your back, breasts
short skirt
stare
catcall
chew gum
play dominoes
salsa music
white sneakers
hidden agendas
take chances
gamble on the unforgiveable
a pinch of this and a slap of that.

summer.

hot as fuck.
hot kitchens.
hot machines.
hot subways.

dogs panting
children passed out in arms, prams, mussed beds.

this is summer in the city
go to the movies
see a film
wear a sweater on the hottest day
in the coldest air conditioning
swim in the ocean
chew ice
fool
you ain't no fool
gooseberry fool
monkey in the middle  tomfoolery.

this is
summer
j u l y
in the city.

sticky pavement
tattoos
reckless
headlights out
bareback
broken glass
hidden in beach sand
dancing in the street
coming out
packing
confident
high heels
sleeveless dress
tank tops
peaches nectarines cherries apricots green herbs
coco helado.

this is summer in the city.
tropical concrete
city pools
city parks
cruising
urban beaches
the ice cream truck
stickball
rollerskates
first love
sleepaway camp
mosquitoes, canoeing, whisper me your friendship
melt me like marshmallows on chocolate
look up at a canopy of trees
focus on the horizon
sleep outside
picnic at the edge of the sea.
fuck me hard
forget me in the morning
leave laces untied
peel a mango back
teeth
face covered in yellow pulp.

july.
gratuitous heat, pie, watermelon seeds, bbq, sea swimming, shave head, ink a needle and push it into skin.

summer.
i hope you get all you can

summer fruit desserts, in London.

I'm back working in a restaurant after what feels like many years. Moving thousands of miles can do that-- separate you from what you know, and remove the ground from beneath your feet. What was a recent experience can feel far away in lieu of disorientation.

For the last 11 years, the ground beneath my chef feet has been seasonal, local, mostly organic fruit; and my moniker, 'fruit-inspired pastry chef,' has been my guiding force. I have picked fruit, worked for farmers at favorite farmer's markets and eaten my weight in citrus and stone fruit many times over. I said for years anad years that I stayed in California for its gratuitous fruit array.

But here in London, fruit is an afterthought. Besides apples and pears in autumn, and gooseberries, elderflowers and strawberries in summer, which few do better than Britain, fruit comes from very far away and few people know when to buy it at its peak. Most fruit and vegetables are here year round, but flown in from various countries and continents catchers-catch can style, making fruit buying confusing at best.

And because few fruits are grown in British soil, they arrive with a high price tag. Using fruit as a primary focus for a plated dessert, here in London, is a bad idea, cost-wise. But also flavour-wise, because seasonal fruit in South Africa or Spain, or even a country as close as France, is probably not picked and shipped as ripe as one would hope.

All this said, I have found trusted places to buy UK seasonal fruit. And the restaurant I work for is produce-centric and we use an amazing produce purveyor, so I feel infinitely grateful/lucky to have well-chosen product close by.

That said, what desserts are on the horizon?

I'm thinking about tahini, white chocolate, bananas, tamarind, black sesame seeds, grapefruit; Thai coconut soup sorbet; manouri, strawberries & pink peppercorns; gooseberries, mint, rosemary, elderflowers & corn; mango inspired gazpacho; buckwheat & chocolate; brown butter, raw sugar, frangipane & nectarines; young coconut, black rice, caramel. For our retail shop I'm contemplating sandwich cookies, chocolate bouchons, Lamingtons, real graham crackers, verbena profiteroles, tart lemon drizzle cakes, peanut financiers, and rich bread & butter puddings.

Moving to a new place means thinking different. Cooking and baking professionally for a new public means learning about their collective palates and historical connections to food, fruit, baked goods, salt. I can still bring me to the table, but I have to compromise too. I can't move forward: careerwise, dessertwise, bakingwise; if I do not take into consideration new soil, new people, new fruit, new seasons, new pace, new price-point, new retail environment, new attitudes about communication/confrontation, new communication styles, new everything, really.

I look forward to changing styles a bit. While I will always be a fruit-inspired pastry chef, I look forward to thinking differently, in a new way, to meet my new surroundings and continue to grow. One can get too comfortable/ too ghetto-ized/ too smug in one's niche/ geographical area/ style. Stuck.

If nothing else, it should be interesting.

Underground Restaurant by @MsMarmitelover. Kilburn, London 13.06.09

you have been on twitter for a while
but when you move 8000 miles away twitter becomes something else, explodes
suddenly it's like when you first met the internet
everything new, you are innocent and trusting
and go to people's houses
you've never met, in Real Life, before.
Oneday
in the land of
nothingness that is neither working nor vacationing
you get a DM
'hey-- you wanna be a guest chef at my Underground Restaurant?' the person's name is @MsMarmitelover.
you say yes and head to her house
even though you have no idea what train you're on and how to get there.

you both talk about a lot of things.
but what catches your breath is that you speak of one of your most favoritest dishes to make and eat
EGGPLANT PARMESAN
you both agree:
when it's Done Right
it takes all day.
and an idea is born.


you know British strawberries will arrive just before June 13
and you don't know what you'll make for pudding/dessert
but you know it will be All About Those Amazing Strawberries.

while you've never been to or cheffed at an Underground Restaurant, you've done a fair amount of onsite catering and know you can handle it. you don't sweat the small stuff and you can pass on a few restaurant tricks. but it's not about any of that. it's about
COLLABORATION
COMRADERIE
COMMUNITY
ACCESS
REVOLUTION
HOME
HEART
GENEROSITY
delicious food.



to see the menu in it's entirety, photographed by the fabulous @MsMarmitelover, go to her blog The English Can Cook. The craziest thing you'll see is me in a dress in the kitchen !

My favourite lines from her inital post on our dinner:
"Shuna Fish Lydon is a specialist in patisserie and custards. What she doesn't know about eggs is not worth knowing."

*

For the photos I managed to catch between prep, plate-up, keeping tidy and generally taking in the whole scene with my heart and mind, check out my set on Flickr.

~

Underground Restaurants -
putting the u back in Guerilla.

underground restaurant above ground menu {ideas}

On Saturday June 13, Shuna fish Lydon is a guest chef at @MsMarmitelover's Underground Restaurant Extra Ordinaire!

Here are our ideas for what it will look like, although everything is subject to change because of availability

or whim.

bread
seeded crackers

starter
chunky gazpacho
goat yogurt granite + basil jelly
chilled fresh tomato soup, croutons

main
eggplant parmesan

salad
rocket + chicory + lemon + pinenuts

dessert
strawberry bavarois + strawberry & herb salad
rosemary shortbread, strawberry relish, ricotta mousse
strawberry granita, sheeps yogurt lebne, pistachio salad
carneroli-bay laurel pudding, strawberry salad, pistachio & rose petal shortbread

Menus are ideas, thoughts, musings, concepts, theory, themes, tradition, revolution, albums, one-offs, off the cuff, pre-meditated, conjecture, psychotic breaks, dreams, stolen kisses, drunk black outs, cock walks, demure courtship, powerplay, negotiation, vanilla lovely dovey rool arounds, theater, dance, Be Ins, walkouts, strikes, community efforts, and...

They grow in the ground, near the sea's edge, in our hearts.

I'll let you know via photos and musings how the day and night went once all is told, fed, washed, minced, chilled, forked, spooned, quenelled, poached, whisked, baked, tasted, nibbled, imbibed,

satiated.

Until next time.

Tamarillo! my new favorite fruit.

TAMARILLO !

The Mystery Fruit is Solved.
Thank you to all who participated! Many of you were spot on. The rest of you were close or had great guesses.

The lovely Tamarillo is sweet & savoury
tomatoey & melony
elusive like a papaya,
enigmatic fruit like cucumber,
gorgeous to look at
deeply scented like a handsome farmer,
"rich in vitamin E but low in carbohydrates,"
photogenic
sexy



Tamarillo. Tamarillo. O Tamarillo!



Tamarillos are
edible
raw
or cooked



seedy, crunchy, jelly-like
voluptuous
strong
quirky
strange

Tamarillos straddle many fences.
Not everyone will like them.

Tamarillos will keep you on your toes.
And tease you
taunt
with their
je ne sais quoi
flavour.

What is the Tamarillo flavour?
Sun ripened tomato  melon  papaya  guava  red beet.



Tamarillos are the pride of New Zealand.
Yet another reason to go there.

*


This post is dedicated to Keith, who first introduced me to the Tamarillo with his poetic words about Tamarillo Jelly (jelly is something very different outside of the States) and then brought me to The Modern Pantry where I experienced poached tamarillo in Greek yogurt, garnished with New Zealand's famous Manuka honey. After that I was never the same. Obsessed.

So, thank you Anna Hansen for introducing London, and me, to this magnificent fruit!

This post is also dedicated to Bea Vo of her eponymous bakery, Bea's of Bloomsbury. Last week I had the honour of playing in her illustrious kitchen and she sent me home with a flat of raw tamarillos!

And you? Do you have a fondness for this fruit? What do you love about it? What do you do with it?

Mystery Fruit: What am I & What do I Taste Like?

MONTEREY MARKET NEEDS YOUR HELP!! PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD

PLEASE MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.
PLEASE go to Friends of Monterey Market and show your support/read about what you can do.
PLEASE WRITE A LETTER.
PLEASE DO NOT SHOP AT MONTEREY MARKET AFTER JUNE 3rd UNLESS BILL FUJIMOTO takes back his resignation.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD THAT MONTEREY MARKET NEEDS EVERY ONE'S HELP to make it clear that Bill Fujimoto IS Monterey Market and his resignation is not an option.
PLEASE MAKE IT CLEAR TO THE ENTIRE FUJIMOTO FAMILY that you will not support a market that places its bottom line before family.
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.

If you have eaten ANYWHERE IN THE BAY AREA, you have supported Monterey Market.
If you have ever shopped at ANY FARMERS MARKET, you have supported Monterey Market.
If you have ever blogged about new fruit in season, new fruit available in the USA, climbed upon the great pumpkin interactive sculpture in North Berkeley, or made anything in any home kitchen or restaurant or catering kitchen with any fruit or vegetables, you have supported Monterey Market.
If you believe in farmers, chefs with integrity, great produce, eating seasonally, eating locally, supporting local business YOU BELIEVE IN SUPPORTING MONTEREY MARKET.
AND YOU WOULD CONSIDER SHOWING YOUR SUPPORT TO A MARKET, A TEMPLE, A STORE, AN INSTITUTION that was in need of help.

MONTEREY MARKET NEEDS YOUR HELP.
PLEASE BLOG ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW AND LET GOOGLE AND THE FUJIMOTOS KNOW WE WILL BE HEARD.
WE DO NOT ACCEPT BILL FUJIMOTO'S RESIGNATION.
WE WILL NOT SHOP AT THE STORE IF THE FAMILY ACCEPTS HIS RESIGNATION.
PLEASE TWEET ABOUT MONTEREY MARKET and the petition.
PLEASE TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING.

I love Monterey Market.
I always have.
I always will.
I support Monterey Market from accross the USA and into the United Kingdom.
BUY EAT AT BILLS AND WATCH IT WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW PILED INTO THE LIVINGROOM if you don't believe me when I say this is a place that must be saved!!!!!!

**If you have time to leave a comment here, you have time to write a letter to the Fujimoto's.

What's in Season, fruits & vegetables. Britain, UK

When you're like me, and you love love loves you some fruit & veggies, and you move to a new place, approximately eight thousand miles from where you lived last, and you find yourself on new geography, and the climate is not at all like the one you left, and maybe the people speak your language but they have different names for the vegetables and do not grow the fruits you're used to picking off trees back home, and your local markets are wonderful but not farm-centric,

you can wonder what fruits & veggies are in season month to month.

If you live in London, or anywhere considered Britain, you have a few resources for getting seasonal fruit & veg. And now you have another, What's in Season. A straightforward website with nice portraits of food that grows in the ground, you can be sure I'm posting this on eggbeater so I can refer to it myself.

Thank you What's in Season for letting me know about yourself. I get way too many, "I think you're readers would love to know about--" spam-mails, but this one did seem of interest.

Anyone have any other websites that help you to find local markets & fruit-veg in season?

The Modern Pantry, my new favourite restaurant & place

some of you know about my obsession with The Modern Pantry in Clerkenwell. I met this poached tamarillo and i have never been the same. I've talked about it just a little bit here.
well if you need more more more, like i do, check out my photos so far.
but if you really want to seal the deal,
go
there
now
and then tell me what you had.

dessert poems. IV

black sesame dacquoise
roasted banana mousse
macadamia praline
peach & apricot matchsticks; quick saute
tahina foam

lemon gelee
lemon sherbet
lemon confit slice
water caramel
grapefruit supremes
dots of lemon cream
black pepper-vanilla-rosemary shortbread halfcircles; baked until deep golden

very thin layer chocolate souffle-cake
peanut-feuillitine-milk chocolate-vanilla salt crunch
cocoa nib dentelle
milk chocolate-butter caramel cremeaux
another very thin layer chocolate souffle-cake
cocoa powder
slow roasted peanuts

dessert poems. III

buckwheat sable grissini
kasha pot de creme
toasted pumpkin seed-comice pear salad

raw almond milk gelee
toasted israeli cous cous
vanilla salt, long pepper, one caraway seed toasted & crushed
green almonds & cucumber seeds
peeled, sliced and halved green seedless grapes

pink grapefruit
yuzu marmalade
citrus blossom souffle
goat butter shortbread

dessert poems

sucre
genoise
peach leaf syrup
sesame seed mousse
peach slivers layered like peonie petals
peach poach miroir

brioche
goat curd, minced rosemary, sel gris, orange blossom honey
caramelized blood oranges, raspberries
brunoise of raw rhubarb, nicoise olive oil
demerrera sugar

alphonso mango slivers
coconut toasted jasmine rice
vanilla bean sugar
coconut water caramel
fried taro
stolen kiss of fresh lime

Petersham Nurseries. Richmond Surrey, London

you think you have seen some of the most beautiful lands. you think you have traveled and trekked and wandered and adventured. you have seen thousands of photographs and paged through millions of glossy magazine pages and perused countless coffee table books.

your own aesthetic is the envy of all your friends, and enemies. you are a DIYer with a nose for the best deals. you arrange still lifes all over your house and every season you rearrange them like altars to new gods.

But you might never see a more beautiful stretch of acreage until you step foot in Petersham Nurseries. It is a food stylist's dream. And a museum curator's fantasy. Whether you snack and sip at the cafe or sit down for a precious meal at the restaurant, you are in for exquisite beauty like few other interiors, which are also exteriors, can compare to.

Sitting, walking, gaping, oohing and ahhing at Petersham Nurseries is a day well spent. And you can get to it from London's underground! The District Line takes you to Richmond station and then it's a lovely walk down a canal...

Find my photos here.

Heidi's remake of Petersham Nurseries chef Skye Gyngell's Cauliflower Soup with Gorgonzola.

The Passionate Cook writes about an amazing meal in the restaurant.

Keiko at Nordljus, (my partner in crime for our most amazing lunch & day trip), introduced me to this beguiling place in March 2007, by way of her own photographs.

If you find yourself in London, Petersham Nurseries should be at the top of your must see and eat places. Especially in the warmer months...

Square Mile Coffee Roasters, London.

My friends could very well be separated into two categories.

Those who knew me before I knew espresso and its dangerous side-affects, and those who knew me to steal and beg and plot and manoeuver for a sip of their hot smoky beverages, after I was introduced to its gateway powers.

Some of the latter people have heard me apologize many times. I
For I am a crazy person when I have had access to too much delicious caffeine.

It is all the fault of one wonderful person named azo. He's from Seattle. He was weaned on Vivace and after that it's all down hill. His first coffee in the morning must happen before all else, including conversations about anything other than the brewing of such cup.

A byproduct of falling in love with azo was becoming bewitched by exquisite espresso.

I have never been the same since.

But for full transparency I must admit to something at the onset:
I am not a daily user.
I remain a lightweight.
I am an odd sort: when I find ambrosia I take part. I can take it or leave it. Unless it's the pure, uncut stuff. Then I'm doomed. Like a ship's captain out at sea for too many years I fall prey to the sirens and lead my wooden vessel to the rocks like honey to a bear. It's bad. And no one can stop me. I must have it.

Must.
Have.
Liquid.
Trouble.

Someone please pinch me. Hard.

So... When I said that I was on my way to London a little over a month ago, a fellow named Anthony Silverbrow sent me a bunch of recommendations based on what, perhaps, he had seen me going on about at eggbeater and KQED.

And so I, like an innocent Dorothy skipping through a field of illegal poppies, took my wide-eyed self and made my way, stopping at every intersection looking at the A to Zed, to Square Mile Coffee Roasters at 273 Poyser Street, E2.

When I walked through an arched lane below railway tracks, and took a gander down what the street sign was listing as Poyser Street, I turned around and re-traced my steps. All I could see were auto-mechanics and a dead-end.

But because I live in a city full of back alley cult status espresso kiosks, I ventured on.

What I failed to take note of: Square Mile Coffee Roasters is not a retail establishment.

One walks through a blue corrugated steel doorway right into a roasting room. Loosely woven sacks of coffee beans are piled high on your right, massive machines that could very well explore the sea's floor with Jacques Cousteau sit still in their glory and a tiny counter are in front of you.

If you walk in there anything like me, this is how it goes:

me: walking comes to a confused standstill as I take it all in.

owner: "Um. Hello? Can I....... help you?"

me: "o."

owner: "What were you looking for? Are you.... lost?"

me: "Hmmmm. Is this... Square Mile?"

owner: "Yes, but we don't sell anything here... well not exactly..."

me: "o."

owner: "Who sent you?"

me: "Um.... An- Anthony...?"

owner: "Silverbrow?"

me: "........yes."

owner: "Do you know him?"

me: "Well.... not exactly."

owner: "O. I see. ?"

It was so much fun. You should try it some time. Especially when your accent stands out among the rest and everyone in other country thinks your people are stupid anyway.

But you know what?

After that incredibly awkward exchange I had a fantastic experience.
Because Square Mile Coffee Roasters is a small company with obsessive passionate attention to detail, a love of all things coffee bean, and friendly. I was invited to stay and sit and chat and someone handsome and cheeky made a complimentary cappucino for me. Owner James Hoffmann educated me about the history of coffee in London and we even spoke briefly about Jeremy Tooker and Slow Food Nation's amazing coffee station staffed with extraordinary baristas.

They even let me take out my intrusive camera and shoot away. Find the photos on my Flickr page.

Beginning to soar, I went on a pilgrimage to find retail establishments for espresso such as this.
Next time I'm in London you might find me wrapped around a small porcelain mug at Milk Bar or Flat White. Hoarding, secreting. Pretending I'm really just a black tea drinker...

And that Square Mile Coffee Roasters cappucino?

Fucking sawed-off shotgun-stylee rocket fuel.
Strong and silky delectable elixir of double edged greatness.

You can be sure I'll be back.

Thank you James & Anthony!

Leif Hedendal's Vegetarian Dinner & Shuna fish Lydon's dessert @ Serpentine, SF

On the first day of September,

we went, we prepped, we tasted, we hoped, we organized, we peeled, we diced, we steeped, we churned, we folded, we baked, we served; all in a few hours, in a kitchen that wasn't ours. Leif Hedendal, underground chef, and shuna fish lydon, pastry chef-at-large, put together a vegetarian multi-course meal featuring fruits, veggies and herbs at their most pungent, ripe moment.

Serpentine restaurant in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood was our host.

For the documentation, take a look at the photos on flickr...

peeling tomatoes. yes, it's worth it.

For every person who has ever peeled a tomato, there are millions who would never dream of such a thing.

I learned how to peel tomatoes at, you guessed it, The French Laundry.

Tiny tomatoes.

Sweet 100's. Sungolds. Tomato-ettes.

Tomato skin is like pantyhose. Sheer, almost transparent, and yet truly in the way of what you really want. You want to run your hand up someone's leg. But now your hand is touching some form of plastic turned mock clothing. As the person wearing pantyhose you feel locked in, constricted. Yet proper, ladylike. Even in the bottom of summer? Really? Can you say, honestly, that wearing pantyhose is worth it?

People tell me all the time that peeling a tomato isn't worth it. "Look at that tiny fucking tomato! You're telling me I have to peel it?! Are you out of your mind?!"

And than I peel one for them. Not as erotically charged as peeling someone a grape, but close.

"Put that in your mouth. Look me in the eye. Now tell me it's not worth it."

Recipe for peeling tiny tomatoes:

With a razor sharp knife, make a teency tiny x at the bottom (not the stem end) of your little orbs.

Bring cold water to boil.

Put together a freezing cold ice water bath. More water than ice.

Using a basket strainer or slotted spoon, lower X'ed tomatoes, a very few at a time, into boiling water and count to 5.

Lift tomato out and place it in ice water.

Be very careful. Think of yourself as a heli-ambulance pilot.

Peel away from the x.

Voila! Tiny tomato, peeled.

If you must store them-- make sure they are not sitting atop one another. Single layer only for these beauties. Mustn't muss them once you've worked so hard.

Peeled tomatoes should be savored right away. Store no longer than 8 hours refrigerated.

Favorite quote from the dinner I did the other night with Leif:

Cook: "You peeled these tomatoes?! You really are a pastry chef."

shuna desserts.

p.s. if you live in the area and are thinking about going to the Slow Dinner with Serpentine & The SF Green Schoolyard Alliance on Monday September 1st, where I will be creating the dessert for Chef Leif Hedendal's menu, it is almost sold out.