I love raw oysters, but beware these

by Larry Geller

Just a word to oyster lovers.

I suggest not buying oysters at Costco unless the box is sealed shut.

We were over there today and observed three teenage boys going through the boxes of oysters in the refrigerator cabinet. They were opening each box and handling and inspecting each oyster!

Of course, we called this to the attention of nearby staff, but they took a long time getting over to the oyster fridge, and so the boys were gone. We suggested that they now need to throw out all the oysters in the fridge because they don’t know which ones were handled.

At the customer service desk we suggested that the boxes be taped shut before being put out. Nearly everything has a safety seal, you’d think oysters would also.

Many people eat oysters raw, so we thought you ought to know about this.

Update: An anonymous comment over at Disappeared News where I cross-posted this article warns against the dangers of eating raw oysters that have not been properly processed. Since many people don’t look at comments, I thought I would copy it into the main article here. Anonymous writes:

Check out the website www.rawoysteralert.com. I was shocked to learn that several individuals die each year from the consumption of raw oysters that are contaminated with naturally occurring Vibrio bacteria. Some gulf states have chosen to not take action in order to make raw oysters safe for ALL consumers.

Several years ago, the state of California made a requirement that all imported raw oysters must be pasteurized and since that requirement was put into place there have been NO FURTHER DEATHS in that state.

In order to affect change, consumers need to only accept oysters that are SAFE through post harvest processing or through being cooked. Consumer demand drives the market and the industry would be forced to provide oysters that did not lead to unnecessary deaths.

The website www.rawoysteralert.com has a wealth of information available and also explains how you can help in making the consumption of oysters safe for everyone. Please help us to spread the word and sign the petition.

Reading through the website, it seems to me that the number of individuals who get sick seems low, but on the other hand, one doesn’t want to become one of them. The consequences seem rather horrible!

Knowledge is good, so make your own choice about when/if to eat raw oysters.

Eel alert #2

This is the second and (I believe) last eel alert for this year. Please see Eel Alert #1 for details.

According to the Japanese calendar, Tuesday, August 5, 2008 is the second Doyo No Ushi No Hi for this year.

When I visited Don Quijote, they were amply supplied with frozen 9.5 ounce imported eels. So no excuses. You’ll also need a little bottle of unagi no tare (eel sauce) if you’re out.

Or, of course, you could grab your eels at any fine Japanese eatery in town. Since only a few of us know about Doyo No Ushi No Hi, there won’t be a mad rush for reservations, as there is in Japan.

Back at the market feels good

We skipped the Bishop Museum shindig last weekend, but that meant no farmers’ market shopping. Instead, we took a step back and shopped a little at Kokua Market (which has some of the same local produce that’s at the KCC Saturday Market) and at Costco.

This weekend the market is back at KCC, and so were we. And it feels good. Here’s why.

Costco has a bag of mixed color bell peppers that we used to buy back in the old days, as soon as Costco arrived on Oahu. The price break felt good. Times Supermarket wanted both an arm and a leg for a few limp peppers, and although Safeway produce was more affordable, it was no better quality. We did better in price and in quality at Costco.

But munching on Costco peppers last week was a disappointment. They were not as crisp as the ones we’ve become used to from the Saturday market, and they had little flavor. Less snap, less taste.

At Kokua we bought a bag of greens. A big difference was that the bag was not as fresh as the same greens bought at the market, and that really matters. Some leaves were already soft and almost done for. The next day, they had that slightly slimy feel that lets you know it’s time to cook them or lose them.

The mangos looked good in the display at Kokua. I reached for one, and my thumb sank in. Oops. All of them were ‘way overripe. Those would not sell at the Saturday market, and it wouldn’t be worth it for farmers to lug unsalable produce there and just throw it away later.

So we bought greens, mangos, papayas, radishes, lychees, and all kinds of other stuff at the market. Some prepared Thai bentos also, to eat for lunch. We tried duck confit crêpes made by Le Guignol (excellent!). Scored the best garlic boiled peanuts at Blue Lotus Farms. Chose an olive whole wheat bread at Ba-Le Bakery.

The week is off to a great start.

Surfing Goat Dairy is first Hawaii farm to be certified humane

Surfing Goat Dairy on Maui now also has the distinction of becoming the first Hawaii-based producer to receive the Certified Humane Raised and Handled label from Virginia-based nonprofit group Humane Farm Animal Care.

To qualify for the label, farms must meet precise standards for the treatment of farm animals, which include a nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones, adequate shelter, resting areas, and sufficient space to support natural behaviors.

For those of us on Oahu, the article indicates that Whole Foods will carry Surfing Goat products. So just a little more patience please...

Eel Alert

Today is Doyo-no-Ushi-no-hi according to the Japanese calendar. When we lived in Japan, it was the day when we just had to eat some unagi. Everyone did. It was, by custom, the hottest day of the year (and although it’s already mid-afternoon as I write this, it’s getting hotter every moment)!

The day wanders on the Western calendar. It’s calculated by the ecliptic path of the sun, so each year it is different. And there can be more than one of them (good for us eel lovers).

So although unagi (eel) is a popular dish at any time in Japan, on this particular day there was competition for seats at neighborhood eeleries everywhere, and supermarkets were piled high with fresh and frozen eel.

Trouble was, all sorts of eels were served that had been imported from Taiwan or elsewhere and which were, frankly, not at all as good as the local product.

Except at the top-notch eel joints. Since I was an executive in a joint-venture company, I had access to places that most foreigners didn’t even know existed. We did very well in the eel department.

In Hawaii, the holiday is hardly known at all, so there is no mad rush at the supermarket.

For the six of you who already know about Doyo no Ushi no Hi, you’ve either bought your eels at Don Quijote (theirs are imported from Japan; Costco’s are from China), or you’ve made your reservation for a kabayaki lunch at one of the finer restaurants.

To learn more about how this holiday fits into Japanese custom and its seasonal cuisine, I recommend this article. There are handy links there on how to prepare unagi yourself.

Shout-out at the Banana Leaf Pasta Cafe

This happened to us before, at the Grand Cafe in Chinatown. Maybe its a new law of physics. It has something to do with critical mass. And a lot to do with poor restaurant design.

We dined last night at the Banana Leaf Pasta Cafe, in the McCully Shopping Center. It was our second visit. it seems fair to give a place a second try. Maybe last night will be enough for awhile, though.

The pasta was competent, but not special. We felt that for the price charged, one can do better elsewhere. I can't complain about my Spaghettini with Fresh Clams, but neither can I praise it. It was ok. I asked for it al dente and it came al dente, though a bit on the chewy side. Nanette chose the Chicken with Anchovies Spaghettini and reported it to be acceptable and properly al dente.

We were just saying that it would be ok to drop in again if we were nearby and really wanted to have some pasta. Service was very friendly and attentive, and we noted that while the room was very live, we could easily hear each other so it wasn't difficult to hold a conversation. But it was early, and the center table, which could hold ten, was empty. We wondered what would happen if a party or large family were to come in.

We ordered dessert. A large family came in.

Nanette ordered the Panna Cotta and I asked for the day's special ice cream, taro.

At this point a normal conversation was impossible. the family was having a good time, and we were shouting at each other. By the time the desserts arrived, the family was having a very good time, everyone else was shouting too, and we could no longer shout loud enough to hear each other across the table.

That's the new law of physics I think. When the number of diners in an acoustically live space reaches a critical mass, the noise rises to a level where a normal conversation becomes impossible and remains there.

We couldn't talk any more and just wanted to leave. Our dining experience was ruined by the cacophony.

Oh, the Panna Cotta was gritty, not silky smooth (compare to Town's unbelievable buttermilk panna cotta), and the ice cream, though colored deep purple, had no taro character at all. It tasted strongly of coconut.

The last time we were here we tried their Tiramisu, which was unrecognizable as Tiramisu and disappointing.

Banana Leaf Pasta Cafe
McCully Shopping Center #103
1960 Kapiolani Blvd.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
(808) 946-3338

Sunday night repast—Scallops in saffron crème fraîche sauce

A special dinner. Nanette selected almost everything at KCC on Saturday (click pics for larger):

Clockwise from bottom:

Grape tomatoes (North Shore Farms)
Red bell pepper (Pit Farm)
Celery (Pit Farm)
Tatsoi (Ma`O Organic Farm)
Radishes (SKA Tropicals)
Japanese “kabu” turnips (Ma`O Organic Farm)

Scallops in a saffron crème fraîche sauce with basil chiffonade.

Not pictured: Italian Country Bread (Ba-Le Bakery)

The scallops are sustainably harvested wild scallops from Kokua Market. Crème fraîche is from Foodland Beretania (now kept in the fridge in the R Field Wine section). Everything else is from KCC Saturday Farmers Market (thanks, Ben, for correcting me that the crème fraîche isn’t from the KCC market. I wish… but not yet, anyway).

Yum!

Learn about Slow Food Tuesday 6-7 p.m. on KUMU 1500 AM

Tune in to learn about the Slow Food movement, Slow Food Oahu, and the Little Kitchens event happening this Friday, June 13. John Noland will spend the hour catching up on Slow Food events in Hawaii.

Nordstrom's Marketplace Café:

We figured it would be safe now to do Nordstrom without getting trampled, and of course, we wanted to check out their Café. We've visited Nordstroms in other cities and pretty much knew what to expect (though I don't remember quite as much sticker shock as we found on our inspection trip today!).

After returning home I read Nadine Kam's review in this morning's Star-Bulletin. We have had totally different experiences of the Café. All I can do is tell you our side of the story.

We'll start, as Nadine did, with the line outside. Altogether, line to cash register, we probably stood in the ordering process for about 20 minutes. We didn't score the strips of mozzarella-stuffed crust Margherita pizza that she mentioned. We did get menu pamphlets, which was handy as you'll see.

As the line snaked in, we took our trays and passed a cooler with drinks, including bottled fizzy water for $4.50 a pop. They have regular water inside, no charge, so no need to invest quite yet.

Next, the menus came in handy because at the front of the long cafeteria-style line a man behind the counter took our order, filling out a form. If we had wanted soup, he would have given it to us there (but good thing we didn't, for as you'll read, it would have been cold by the time we got to sit down with it). Having placed our orders, we inched forward, gazing at the sandwiches, paninis and pizzas behind the glass counter. One sandwich could be lunch for two, they appeared to be quite substantial. I suppose, had we not ordered already, that we could have chosen from the counter, but since they asked each person for their order on entering, each of us had an empty tray with only a table-number flag with our order sheet clipped to it. Ahead of us was a woman with one soup on her tray, but that was it.

Oh, I said we were inching along, but that was an exaggeration. Maybe centimetering along would be closer. I got to watch the pizzas go into and come out of the wood-fired oven.

Nanette had chosen the salade Niçoise with the seared ahi, to the left in this picture.

At this point the person behind us called on a staff member to see if she could go directly to the cashier, since she had already ordered everything she wanted to eat. Actually, all of us ahead of her were in the same fix, we were waiting to get to the single cashier that was operating out of the three stations. So she didn't get to cut ahead in line, but darn, neither did we. At least we didn't have to juggle shopping bags along with our trays as some people did behind us.

We did get to watch how the cashier, in addition to ringing up each order, was busy fetching things like desserts and bread. Indeed, as we got closer, the woman in front of us (the one with the soup) asked for her crustini. It seems you get one free crustini slice with soup, but they didn't give it to her, so she had to ask. Off flies the helpful cashier to get it, returning with the small slice in a little white paper bag, while the whole line waits.

I had ordered the ravioli, and I should probably have received a little crustini also, but by the time we got to the cashier, I forgot to ask for it. I had asked for a crème brûlée, with two spoons, as we passed the dessert counter, and received another numbered table flag for that, so the cashier didn't have to fetch anything for us. She gave us the two glasses for water we asked for and pointed to the soda machine which would dispense water for us.

Ok, off we go with our numbered table flags, we get our water, and let ourselves be guided to a table by the helpful staff. On the way I counted seven open tables in that section, and it looked like maybe four more were open in the back part. When a restaurant has a long line out front and lots of empty tables, it's a giveaway that things are not working well. But get this. No sooner had we been seated than a guy appears and announces he will be our server today. He took the order slips clipped to our numbered table flags and read them back to us, to check. Yes, that's what we ordered. He said he would bring our orders to us.

Well, why did we wait on line all that time? Wouldn't it have been better to have just taken one of the available tables and placed our order with our server? It took about as long for him to read our order back to us as it would have taken for us to order from a menu. Then we could have been sitting for the few minutes it took for the food to arrive.

The ahi salad was wonderful, as was my ravioli, although the sauce was quite heavy and ordinary. Too bad I didn't read Nadine Kam's review before we went. The ravioli was served on a cool plate, so I was left with the choice of relaxing and chatting over lunch only to have it freeze, or of gobbling it down and chatting while Nanette worked on her salad.

Oh, the crème brûlée came with only one spoon, no one had marked that we wanted two. It was an ok crème brûlée, but my standard is Horatio's version, and this was no challenger.

In the end, we felt that the operation of the restaurant was totally dysfunctional. They can fix it. Just let those who know what they want order from the table. Make sure there are three cashiers working. Relieve the cashiers from having to fetch food. Don't go through giving us glasses to get our own water when someone will be coming by the table with a pitcher later.

Oh, and if it's going to take so long to move through the line, why not deliver the soup to the lady along with the rest of her order? Several staff members hovered nearby, so there could have been some action taken to alleviate the numerous difficulties. Instead, they smiled and heard our complaints, but did nothing.

There are models of a classy cafeteria that work. The la Madeleine chain in the Southeast is a great example. With a much wider and more ambitious menu, things move along quickly and efficiently. Nordstrom can learn lots from them.

Will we be back? I'm not sure. At least not if there is a line outside.

Well, aren't those flowery descriptions of wines you see in the store just designed to sell it?

(Thanks to the Progressive Review News for a pointer to this article)

GRAPE EXPECTATIONS AFFECT WINE TASTING

BOSTON GLOBE - Scientists at Caltech and Stanford recently published the results of a peculiar wine tasting. They provided people with cabernet sauvignons at various price points, with bottles ranging from $5 to $90. Although the tasters were told that all the wines were different, the scientists were in fact presenting the same wines at different prices. The subjects consistently reported that the more expensive wines tasted better, even when they were actually identical to cheaper wines.

The experiment was even more unusual because it was conducted inside a scanner - the drinks were sipped via a network of plastic tubes - that allowed the scientists to see how the subjects' brains responded to each wine. When subjects were told they were getting a more expensive wine, they observed more activity in a part of the brain known to be involved in our experience of pleasure.

What they saw was the power of expectations. People expect expensive wines to taste better, and then their brains literally make it so. Wine lovers shouldn't feel singled out: Antonio Rangel, the Caltech neuroeconomist who led the study, insists that he could have used a variety of items to get similar results, from bottled water to modern art. . .

Expectations can even play havoc with experts. A few years ago, Frederic Brochet, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Bordeaux, conducted a rather mischievous experiment. He invited 54 experienced wine tasters to give their impressions of a red wine and a white wine. Not surprisingly, the experts described the wines with the standard set of adjectives: the red wine was "jammy" and full of "crushed red fruit." The white wine, meanwhile, tasted of lemon, peaches, and honey. The next day, Brochet invited the wine experts back for another tasting. This time, however, he dyed the white wine with red food coloring, so that it looked as if they were tasting two red wines. The trick worked. The experts described the dyed white wine with the language typically used to describe red wines. The peaches and honey tasted like black currants.

According to Brochet, the lesson of his experiment is that our experience is the end result of an elaborate interpretive process, in which the brain parses our sensations based upon our expectations. If we think a wine is red, or that a certain brand is better, then we will interpret our senses to preserve that belief. Such distortions are a fundamental feature of the brain.