Text 5577, 86 rader
Skriven 2010-12-31 08:09:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: days after xmas din 931
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Dec. 26 I went off with my friend Yaffe to Clyde's
(accessible for both of us by public trans), and
as he, along with many of my friends, is culinarily
unadventurous, he had a cheeseburger medium well.
I had two special appetizers - Berkshire (Kurobuta)
pig belly stewed in maple syrup and served with
jicama-red cabbage slaw and Southern-style chicken
livers over black-eyed pea stew. The first totally
missed the point of pig belly (and of sauce) - it
was four 2" blocks of meat cooked enough that the
meat was dry and stringy and the fat was largely
rendered out, in a puddle of unsalted unseasoned
somewhat diluted maple syrup. I never thought I'd
see the day when cabbage slaw was the high point
of a pork dish. On the other hand, the livers were
crispy outside and tender inside (though a bit
overdone to my taste), and the black-eyed peas were
stewed with green pepper, chorizo, and bacon and
were a nice complement. It made me almost want to
go out and buy chicken livers and pork belly and
fix my own interpretations of these things, but I
am now parked at a household where the other guest
is an attractive Jewish vegan girl of some twenty-few
summers. The host and hostess used to live on a
kibbutz whose product was pigs, so they'd have had
no big problem.

Then next day to my friends' the Fishers, who served
shrimp in garlic-oil over pasta, with me providing, in
a crossed-up-communications moment, a bottle of Chateau
Desmirail 2003 for accompaniment. This proved to be an
interesting pairing, the medium-bodied and mature red
wine actually being almost smooth enough and low-tannin
enough to go with the shellfish (there was a certain
battle as the alcohol brought up the oil and the rather
mild tannins beat it up just a bit); and also it was good
with garlic and oil. For Fisherette, the Ruffino Lumina
Pinot Grigio (the company's first attempt at making
this sort of wine) was a concession to conventional
wisdom - it was melony and lemony and I thought a bit
cloying, but it was more of a standard combination.
We had apple pie for dessert.

Other meal, the next morning. I had this flight out of
Dulles, but it was cancelled. So I went on the Web and
glommed a US Air ticket from National, leaving at 1030
and arriving Boston at 1142. Perfect. So Fisher gave me
a ride downtown, and I picked up my boarding pass, and
security took a few seconds, and I got boarded ... and
US Air had managed to lose a flight attendant, and our
flight was first delayed an hour and then cancelled. So.
Everything was sold out, but I got DCA to Albany to
Boston, but as I watched, the Albany flight was delayed
an hour, so I'd misconnect, so they put me on the 1530
Philly connecting to Manchester. Plenty of time to
check out the offerings at Five Guys.

A burger was the usual - I got it with onions and
jalapenos as always, and it was fine. I can't figure the
big deal about these burgers, or those of In'n'Out. Aside
from the bun being a little less disgusting, they could
just as well be Burger King but for twice as much money.
The "Kosher-style hot dog," which I got with onions and
jalapenos, was the blandest tube of bologna-flavored crap
I've ever had. Thorough nastiness, next to which a Fenway
Frank would look like sirloin, or at least chorizo. To
wash the taste out of my mouth, I had a Budweiser at the
US Airways Club (it's free).

I got to Philly actually on time, in seat 2A, and had
time to hustle to stand by for the 1515 Boston, which was
delayed until 1700. They gave me seat 22A, in the very
back row by the lav, and proceeded to fill up the plane.
Presently, a gate agent came by and informed me that I
really belonged in seat 1A. The flight attendants were
polite enough but were working to rule, so we sat from
1700 to 1830 with no beverage service; after we took off,
though, I was kept in alcohol, of which I had three on an
hour flight. All's well that ended well. Showed up at
my friend Helen's house in time to play first violin on
the Mozart C major quintet and then the Beethoven
arrangement of Op. 1 #3 and then a Mendelssohn. Yay.

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