They are nothing like the old cotton handkerchiefs lying in your mom's wardrobe. Not your regular tissue papers, toilet rolls or Windex-infused cotton balls. I use top-of-the-line alcohol free screen wipes, one wet and one dry, every time I explode with laughter and spit all over the LCD screen of my laptop after reading a new blog post on AmuseBiatch. At times, I also spill the coffee mug that I bought in Nantucket this summer from The Bean. It replaced the one I broke from my favorite Seattle’s Zeitgeist.

If I were a gay Top Chef contestant turned judge wearing pink fancy pants rather than an average Internet mogul, would they be all over my case? Is Top Chef really coming to New York? Please welcome my favorite AmuseBiatche-s Charlus Baron and Miss XaXa.

***

DB: I heard via the grapevine that Amuse-Biatch was born on Lake Geneva over a filet de perche and hours of staring at the famous fountain. True? What were you really eating?

CHARLUS: No, no, no. You're thinking of the other monster born on the shores of Lake Geneva. I really have very little in common with Frankenstein. Although, now that I think about it, there was a formative incident in Geneva that did scar me and that likely turned me into the monster I am today. I was in my late teens, at a nearby boarding school, and had gone to my first Geneva gay bar, a little rat cellar cum cabaret called La Garçonnière. I was in the audience, probably radiating fresh-scrubbed virtue. And then, from the shallow depths of the miniscule stage, a drag queen made fun of me. Over the microphone. I've yet to recover. Mind you, it was completely unprovoked; I hadn't so much as heckled her. I suspect it's because I looked — fresh-faced, innocent youth that I was — as though butter wouldn't melt in mouth. Perhaps she was just trying to prepare me for the harsh realities of life, I don't know. At any rate, that night we both learnt—she to her peril, and I to my delight — that not only did butter melt in my mouth, it also turned into vinegar. Suffice it to say, I have never again been insulted by a drag queen (not to my face, anyway).

DB: So Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and became Spider-Man, and you were insulted by a drag queen and became Amuse-Biatch?

CHARLUS: Well, that's one way of looking at it. But you musn't forget that Amuse-Biatch is a two-headed monster.

DB: XaXa, I think he means you.

MISS XAXA: Oh honey, he's called me worse things. As we're fond of saying, I'm the muse and he's the biatch.

DB: So why blogging?

MISS XAXA: Well, nobody would give us a radio show. Besides, it's cheaper than therapy, and it keeps Charlus off the streets, which means it's a benefit to society.

DB: So you think blogging is a kind of societal safety valve?

MISS XAXA: Absolutely. Besides, if we talked at our day jobs the way we write on our blogs, we would probably soon be unemployed.

DB: So why food blogging in particular?

MISS XAXA: Well, Charlus and I are creatures of appetite.

CHARLUS: I always think of that scene in Big Night where one of the guests starts crying in the middle of the banquet because her mother was a terrible cook. It may well be the most tragic, heart-wrenching scene in the history of film.

MISS XAXA: And that means something coming from someone who cheered in the theater when Leonardo DiCaprio went down with the Titanic.

CHARLUS: It was at that moment in Big Night that I realized the limits of sympathy and empathy, because both XaXa and I have mothers who are superb cooks, so it's impossible for us to imagine what the alternative might be. And in the old country, one grandfather ran a noodle factory and, later, an ice cream parlor where he made his own ice cream. The other grandfather was a renowned distributor of the cheese produced on the family ranch.

MISS XAXA: My Sicilian great-grandfather —

CHARLUS: No doubt a distant relative of Golden Girl Sophia Petrillo.

MISS XAXA: — made his own grappa, and my grandfather was a winemaker. So an interest in good food is a family legacy for both of us.

CHARLUS: I think that David Kamp is quite right that we have become the United States of Arugula, and for the most part that's a good thing, but what amazes XaXa and me is the humorlessness that so often accompanies that mindset. That very humorlessness suggests that people don't really enjoy food, which negates the whole point. Instead, food becomes a cultural bludgeon or a competitive event, or an arena for displaced anxiety about class.

MISS XAXA: Not us, though.

CHARLUS: No, not us. For example, I'll not soon forget the truffled mashed potatoes, lamb three ways, and Chartreuse soufflé at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, but that doesn't mean I'm immune to the charms of grape jelly on saltine crackers while watching the collector's edition of the Kirsten Dunst cheerleading masterpiece Bring It On.

MISS XAXA: I'm guessing Smucker's? Anyway, didn't Tom Colicchio say somewhere that people started becoming foodies when they gave up their cocaine habits? I wonder what Padma would say.

CHARLUS: I believe her exact words were, "I never toke and tell." Well, as you can see, the world of food and chefs is ripe for a little humorous skewering, and Top Chef makes for an excellent scratching post.

DB: Charlus, I have to applaud your literacy. But forgive my gay bashing attitude — could you have picked a more homosexual, vain or snobbish character?

CHARLUS: Well, that was rather the idea. Besides, if you follow the literary template, I'm certain to get my comeuppance. Marcel Proust being the out-and-proud, gay-positive Jewish homosexual we know and love, his Charlus has a stroke and ends up demented, abandoned, and having a relationship with a gold-digging violinist who cheats on him with his nephew. Having recently had a bad date with a violinist, I'm beginning to think dementia and solitude can't be far behind.

DB: Are there myths or misconceptions that you guys would like to clear up?

MISS XAXA: Oh boy, you shouldn't have asked that. It's a bit of a sore spot. But yeah, there's a couple.

CHARLUS: Oddly enough, they're both ontological and about pussies. Someone once wrote in, thinking that Miss XaXa was my cat, and that I was having imaginary dialogues with a furry, feline friend. Miss XaXa, let me tell you, is very real. For heaven's sake, there's photographic evidence. And if you have any doubts, just ask Mario Batali.

MISS XAXA: As for Charlus, a number of people seem to think he's a girl, I don't know why. Trust me, he's all man.

CHARLUS: Just ask the violinist.

***

You can find Charlus and Miss XaXa on FoodCandy or on the AmuseBiatch blog.

From the Editor's Couch

FoodCandy traffic is like a good omelet. Take some brisket, cut it in tiny little pieces, season well and fry for a few minutes. Add four eggs and some Italian herbs. Throw in some Cheddar cheese and wrap the whole thing up, cover and let it sweat for another five minutes. Next thing you know people are asking when you’re going to open a restaurant and feed millions of New Yorkers with this magical creation.

In April FoodCandy got 348’166 unique visitors. So, no, I am not going to try to make a business out of it for any short or medium term future. I’ll keep taking money out of my pocket and making the site grow without any commercial content. So help me convert those visitors into subscribed accounts, invite a friend.

Member Interviews

	Interview with Jason Gibb, Nudo - Adopt an Olive Tree in Italy My dinner at the delicious Ribot in Midtown Manhattan started well. I was looking at plate of olives of two distinct shapes and colors. Some tasted sweet and others a little sour. I wanted to know whether the big black ones were Manzanillo or Sevillano, something the staff of a good Italian restaurant can always tell you.
	Interview with Top Chef, Executive Chef of Crave on 42nd, Dave Martin Take a pound of rigatoni, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, a shallot and some garlic. Add oregano, thyme, heavy cream and Fontina. Throw in salt and fresh black pepper. Shave a soupson of truffle and Parmiggiano reggiano. With your mad skills, you might make a pretty decent mac-n-cheese. But it will taste nothing like Top Chef contestant Dave Martin’s.
	Interview with Carter Dillard, Foie-Gras and Animal Protection There're many human species, including doctors, lawyers, diners, reporters and chefs. These animals live in a vast herd, called "society". In the recent years they all met on an arena that stirred utmost controversy – foie-gras. Parties involved had taken action, citing freedom versus human treatment of animals in lengths.

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My dinner at the delicious Ribot in Midtown Manhattan started well. I was looking at plate of olives of two distinct shapes and colors. Some tasted sweet and others a little sour. I wanted to know whether the big black ones were Manzanillo or Sevillano, something the staff of a good Italian restaurant can always tell you. They were actually Barouni, a variety that originated in Tunisia and was grown, naturally, in Italy.

Lately, I have begun paying much closer attention to the olive oil. A good bottle will cost twice as much as the cheap stuff, but will yield unmatched taste in just about every meal where it’s used. This prompted me to learn a lot more about the fruit itself and the process of growing olive trees.

Then, I heard about Nudo’s "adopt an olive tree" program. The prospect of sending money directly to the source, to the people growing the olives and pressing my oil with their own hands somewhere in Italy convinced me to give it a try. While I wait for my fruit to mature I sat down to chat with Nudo’s co-founder, Jason Gibb.

***

DB: When I first heard about Nudo, I thought it was a brilliant idea that didn’t really require any trees or being in Italy :) How did you come up with this?

Several years ago we bought an abandoned olive grove in Marche on the east coast of Italy. It was in a terrible state. There were a thousand overgrown olive trees. The heaviest snow falls in a century caused some of the trees to split in two (with the weight of the snow settled on top). We spent a few years restoring the grove, giving each tree its own special haircut. We then wondered how the hell we could make money out of olive oil in a market awash with olive oil made by farmers with generations of olive oil making in the blood, while we had three years experience. I heard about an old farmer in Abruzzo who was trying to save his rare breed of mountain sheep. He came up with an "adopt a sheep" idea: you get the pecorino cheese, something made from wool and finally a nice piece of meat. From cradle to grave! We thought we could do a similar thing with our olive trees (but maybe without killing them in the end) – especially in view of the movement towards knowing the province of one’s food, of more transparency and of co-owner ship companies. We didn’t know if anyone would go for it, like you say who is to know that these trees really exists, or that there aren’t 5 trees with 100 adoptive parent each (an idea often suggested by our Italian neighbors). Cathy and I are both very honest people and wouldn’t want to be involved in something dishonest, but to convince the more cynical amongst us we decided to let people come and visit their trees, and see for themselves how well we look after them.

DB: Misha and I adopted an olive tree. When will it be shipped to us?

We are not shipping trees :) But we want you to come visit yours!

When you adopt a tree we first send you an adoption certificate and a booklet. The latter has some information about the "adopt a tree" program, the area of Italy, some statistics of your adopted tree (age, olive variety, etc.), and what you should expect over the following twelve months. In the spring we send you the first package which has the olive oil from your tree. We can’t press the olive trees individually, as the olive press takes a minimum of 300kg of olives, so we press about 20-50 trees together and split the oil between the adoptive owners. Then in the fall we send you another package containing the highly acclaimed Nudo flavored oils. You will get your olive oil consignment in a few weeks time, and you have surely gotten your adoption certificate already.

DB: What time of year do you recommend we come visit our tree?

The winter is killer cold in Marche (we are in the foothills of the Sibillini Mountains) and the summer is really hot. So my favorite time of year is April, May and June. Around this time the olive trees get their spring haircuts, and so are looking in their prime. Pruning is extremely important with olive trees – when you make wines for example it’s all about blending and aging after the vine has done its job. Olive oil is the crushed fruit, nothing more and nothing less. So to make top quality oil you have to make the tree as healthy and happy as possible.

DB: Pruning and pressing sounds easy, but I heard that the olive harvest is a back-breaking task. What is it really like?

Pruning is no walk in the park. It’s one of the aspects of making fine olive oil that requires most skill. We do most of the pruning ourselves and only trust Antonio to do the rest. He tells us that when a sparrow can fly through the middle of the tree without battering its wings the tree is pruned. As for the olive harvest, at that time of year (October - November) the local hospitals are full of old guys who have fallen out of their olive trees, sometimes for the last time. But at the same time it’s got to be one of the most satisfying things in the world because you pick the olives, scooping them into a big net laid out under the tree, take them to the press and an hour later you are drunk with the overpowering smell of fresh, peppery oil pouring out of the press.

DB: You mentioned in our previous conversation that you would love the East Coast of Italy to go completely organic. What motivates this agricultural philosophy?

Italian food is all about freshness and seasonality. Organic produce doesn’t get any attention mainly because there is a stronger connection between the producer and consumer already. For example, if you live in Rome, you will be eating artichokes all winter, for days on end, because the fields of Lazio, outside the city, are carpeted with artichoke. In New York, you go into the supermarket at any time of the year and you can buy artichoke, strawberries or cherries. And God knows where they’ve come from – Africa or South America. So the North American consumer or the British have chosen organic as their benchmark of quality, whilst for the Italians it is seasonality and freshness (measured by how close the produce is grown). It personally drives me nuts going to the supermarket and being able to buy the same food all year round, flown in from across the world. Worst of all, I end up cooking the same dishes.

So we are trying to put organic farming higher up the agenda here, and have started up a collaboration with local organic olive groves. Organic farming means your trees probably make half as much oil than a tree treated with chemical stimulant, fertilizers and pesticides. We are helping the organic farmers find a market for their superior oil in Italy and the rest of the world. At risk of drawing stereotypes Italian farmers can be very crafty and will tend to go organic to get subsidies off the government, but then spray pesticides, because organic certification is granted on a trust basis with few occasional inspections.

DB: Take us on a culinary tour of Le Marche and make us something delicious!

Marchigiani food is all about wild boar and seafood. But I am a vegetarian, and I get a lot of stick from my local buddies, especially the local soccer team who I play with.

Culinary highlights of Marche include Cino Cotto, literally "cooked wine", a delicious kind of fortified wine. But be warned, "Vino Cotto… makes you blotto" as the Romans used to say.  Then there’s Olive All’ascolane. Olives stuffed with meat and fried in breadcrumbs. Have to be tasted to be believed! Vincisgrassi is a local famousissimo lasagne dating from the ancient Romans, chock full of innards and goodies. Cantina povera at its richest and most delicious. Another pasta is strozzapretti (lit, "priest strangler") – it’s a pasta with a sort of twizzle and, judging by the name, an interesting past. As for cheeses there is Pecorino Alla Fossa, an aged cheese with a deep dark flavor. There are about a million other versions of pecorino too if this one is a bit much for you. Rosso Piceno is the local red wine and Verdicchio is the local white. It’s a world class wine which has already taken the UK by storm.

One of our favorite things is to go down to the coast on a Sunday and have a big feast, overlooking the Adriatic Sea, imbibing several glasses of ice cold Verdicchio. My oldest daughter Rosie is only 3 but will work her way through a huge plate of spaghetti and clams, ending up smeared in garlicky oil and with bits of parsley and pasta stuck on her smiling face.

Here is my recipe for Spaghetti Vongole which is also in our forthcoming book "The Dolce Vita Diaries: stories and recipes from the olive grove". It’ll be published later this year but is available for preordering.

Spaghetti con le vongole
ingredients for four

Spaghetti - 400g
Clams – 1kg (or a 200g jar of clams in brine)
Dry white wine – 1 glass
Olive oil – 4 tablespoons
Garlic – 3 cloves chopped
Chili – 1 red chopped
Parsley – 1 bunch (1/4 cup chopped up)
Salt – to taste but not much

Put the clams in a bowl of cold, salted water for half an hour. Then rinse them under some running water and throw away any that are open (i.e. dead). Heat the wine in a pan and add the clams. Cover and cook at a high heat for five minutes until they have opened. Take the pan off the heat and scoop out the clams. Filter the liquid the clams were cooked in incase there is any sand still in it and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the chili and the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the liquid from the calms and simmer uncovered. Add salt to taste if necessary. Meanwhile prepare the spaghetti as directed. When the sauce has thickened up add the clams and the parsley to the sauce and simmer for another two minutes. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Mix and serve with a garnish of parsley.

***

You can find Jason on FoodCandy, adopt an olive tree at Nudo and pre-order his book "The Dolce Vita Diaries: stories and recipes from the olive grove".

Take a pound of rigatoni, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, a shallot and some garlic. Add oregano, thyme, heavy cream and Fontina. Throw in salt and fresh black pepper. Shave a soupson of truffle and Parmiggiano reggiano. With your mad skills, you might make a pretty decent mac-n-cheese. But it will taste nothing like Top Chef contestant Dave Martin’s.

Dave adds not only his experience, but also love and an inimitable TV personality in this one single dish.

It’s with great excitement that I caught Executive Chef Dave Martin for a chat in his new location, a few blocks from Times Square, right here in New York City.

***

DB: Dave, you're one of our favorite Top Chef contestants ever! What were you thinking when you signed up for this butchery?

Well, thank you and I appreciate the compliment, especially now that there are hundreds of them about to be running around. I was really excited about the idea when I sent my resume in via craigslist, even more so because it was the first season and I was hopeful it would be the most memorable, like Real World and Survivor were in the first go-round because no one on either side of the tube knew what to expect. I did not expect the tension and stress that ensued, but when you lock up a bunch of motivated and talented people together with no external contact you're bound to get some interesting results, especially as it gets closer to winning and you have had no sleep or decent food. The judges are interesting too; we all need to realize that food is subjective and some people on the panel only like their style and may not see a place for all chefs, just the ones that cook like they do.

DB: I keep running into groups of Top Chef contestants. I am amazed how close you guys have become to each-other. What are the strongest relationships from the show?

I am really close with Andrea because we seem to have schedules that work together. I am still in touch with Miguel, Lee Anne, Cynthia, Lisa, Harold, Josie (Season Two) and even Tiff on occasion. We all share a unique bond.

DB: Enough about Top Chef. You've recently opened Crave on 42nd street in Manhattan. What led you to settle down on this particular location and concept?

Well, the location was not my choice because it is definitely out there, but I chose to work with the partners because they are the best group of professionals that I have had the chance to work with in the restaurant world. I came on board to the location that was a struggling sports bar with food to match. I moved in under the radar and asked them to trust me and my food, and I would do my best to make it work. The concept, name, food and everything that comes with it is all me, so if it is not a success, I definitely will take responsibility.

My goal is to have a fun little bistro with lots of great wines to match the fun flavors of the food. By being a bistro, I can make foods from all different regions and not be tied to one type or style of cuisine. I am just trying to make good food for all walks of life; food that is fun and approachable. So far, people are letting me know that they are truly enjoying what I am doing. I really appreciate all of the positive feedback; it's the reason I started cooking in the first place. Plus, I am so excited that I am able to make this happen in the biggest food city of them all, NYC.

DB: The restaurant isn't your first endeavor – you have been both an executive chef and had a catering company. Is it harder to make it here in New York than in Long Beach?

Back home in LA and OC, it is definitely a different market and I was not under the scrutiny that I am here, mostly from the exposure from "Top Chef". I am still doing what I want to do in the kitchen, but now I have a small percentage of people that want to be all critical about the decor of the space and other unimportant things, not realizing that we had no budget to decorate and have done it all on a shoestring. They have expectations and think that since I was on television that I have a safe full of cash and aren't really aware of what it takes to open a restaurant and to make it work. Again, this is a very small percentage, but it is always easier to be critical than to dig deeper and get the whole story behind the scenes. I love New York and overall the people here have been more than welcoming and supportive which keeps me motivated and wanting to do the best job that I can in and out of the kitchen.

DB: What is the one dish that you think is the tastiest at Crave? Do your diners agree?

Well, I must admit the Black Truffle Mac'n'Cheese is a huge seller and people seem to really love it. Some other signature dishes are my Smokey Rubbed Filet Mignon and Sassy Sea Bass which rank high in sales and customer satisfaction. I would say if you ordered one of those three, you would be happy as long as you like the ingredients that are in them.

DB: Are you making a fortune off your trademarked "I am not your bitch, BITCH!" t-shirt sales?

Me, fortune, no, that would be the folks at Bravo that have the rights to the saying, but I have my own t-shirts and aprons with the phrase that I sell when I am on the road or at other events. That phrase has gotten a lot of mileage, and the funniest thing is it just rolled off my tongue, just like most of the dorky stuff that comes out of my mouth when in the mode.

DB: I loved your "Kissing Over the Rainbow" blog post about your first kiss. Who would you invite to dinner and a kiss from Season 4, Chicago?

That's funny, thanks. I don't know anyone from Season 4 and I still haven't seen the third season of Top Chef. Call it busy or maybe just hard to watch a show that you were actually on. I watched Season 2 since I was doing a blog for Bravo at the time, but I haven't been a viewer since. My TiVo is full of plenty of other trash reality shows like, "Girls Next Door", "Celeb Rehab", "Janice Dickenson" and "The Kardashian's" to name a few. I still really enjoy "Project Runway", I really respect their entire panel and Tim Gunn is a great mentor and motivator.

DB: I've never heard Tim Gunn talk about food – I bet it is one of his personal secret pleasures. What would be a Dave Martin dish tailored just for him?

I don't know if he has any food allergies or issues but that said, I would really want to make a dish for him all about style and balance and for some reason I am thinking on the lighter side of things. So here goes. My Miso and Honey Poached Black Cod served atop a saute of roasted shitakes, caramelized leeks, carrot, ginger, straw mushrooms and bamboo shoots that get drizzled with a red chili & shoyu glaze that has some heat but is not spicy.

Enjoy!

***

You can find Dave Martin on FoodCandy or on his website chefdavemartin.com and at Crave on 42nd. 

There're many human species, including doctors, lawyers, diners, reporters and chefs. These animals live in a vast herd, called "society". In the recent years they all met on an arena that stirred utmost controversy – foie-gras. Parties involved had taken action, citing freedom versus human treatment of animals in lengths. Doctors blamed the liver fat for our fat. Chefs gave away the delicacy for free. Consumers elevated the dish to unprecedented heights fueled by the media controversy. Lawyers stepped in and Chicago saw foie-gras banned, giving an unprecedented rise in civil eating disobedience.

I want to take this opportunity and introduce my friend Carter Dillard. Carter is an attorney, practicing animal protection law and is of Counsel to the Humane Society of the United States.

I want to thank Carter for agreeing to talk to me about his personal choices in this heated controversy, especially in front of this unforgiving audience of foie-gras indulging foodies.

***

DB: Have you always been a vegetarian? What is your dieting lifestyle and how do you choose what to eat and not to eat?

I started being a vegetarian in college and then vegan after law school. I try to avoid animal products, but that's about it.

DB: The technique of gavage dates as far back as to the Ancient Egyptians, 2500 BCE. Do you believe that modern society should put an end to this millenary tradition?

The belief that foie-gras production is an ancient practice is often offered as a basis for allowing it today. However, that argument seems shaky. We wouldn't allow a lot of what the ancient Egyptians did. Their society was not exactly a model of compassion.

Moreover, it's hard to characterize foie-gras production as a monolithic and historic practice. Producers want to use that image to sell their product, but it's false. Most foie-gras is produced using pneumatic machine pumps in an industrial assembly line process that is designed to maximize output - sort of a Walmart version involving hundreds of thousands of animals a year. That wasn't happening in 2500 BC. And yet, some foie-gras (which recently won a top award in France) is produced without gavage, letting the birds gorge themselves.

So foie-gras can be produced in many ways. Foie-gras production really runs along a spectrum from less inhumane practices, like those companies not using force feeding, to the very cruel, like Hudson Valley Foie-gras in New York which follows the paradigm of modern factory farming, focuses on volume, and maximizes profits by ignoring the costs ensuring the welfare of each animal would impose.

To the extent the method used is cruel, and most of the production today is cruel, I do think we should put an end to it.

DB: For generations we used animals as we seemed fit for both companionship and food. When and why did ethics start playing such a significant role?

In the Unites States, precursors to modern anti-cruelty laws date back to the nineteenth century. With regard to food, I think the growth of concern over mistreatment tracks the growth of modern factory-farming post-WWII. That is the time when food production kicked into high industrial gear, and as animals came to be seen as units of production, they were subject to more and more cruel processes.

DB: I personally think that animal abuse in various farms, including minuscule living areas or antibiotics are far worse than force-feeding ducks. Why is this subject causing such a disproportionate uproar and legal action while millions of people are still buying mass produced corn-fed beef grown in terrible conditions?

It's a good point. Many people think that focusing on foie-gras production is not the best use of resources because we are only talking about hundreds of thousands animals a year, as opposed to beef production, or poultry production which involves about 9 billion animals a year. Not because the life of a given foie-gras duck is better than that of an average beef cow - it's actually much worse - but simply because of the number of animals involved. However, the foie-gras production I've described is uniquely bad and deserving of attention because, numbers aside, the actual process is more cruel than say beef production. 

Unlike raising a relatively healthy animal for food and killing it, foie-gras production involves inducing disease and illness in the ducks. Nobody disputes that. The videos taken at Sonoma Foie-gras in 2003 shows rats eating ducks alive that were too sick to move. I've taken testimony from vets that examined ducks with almost total loss of motor control because their livers were failing.  And this is why foie-gras production, as opposed to beef production, is banned in over a dozen countries (the U.S. being behind the times).

In foie-gras production, duck liver isn't good enough. You have to deform the animal, to its detriment, to get the product.

DB: As a lawyer you help litigate cases to improve the welfare of animals. I congratulate you on a choice of a democratic and constitutional way of fighting for your cause. Would you criticize the extremism of organizations such as PETA?

Thanks! PETA gets a lot of flak but as I understand it their campaigns are legal and have opened up some important debates. I've had a request in to meet Pam Anderson for a few years now - if anyone at PETA is listening.

DB: In his story, Pâté de Foie-Gras, Asimov seeks a solution to reproduce a goose that lays golden eggs. Would you consider cloning?

Hmm... I'd turn to the folks at New Harvest for that one. They might be well on their way to producing some great foie-gras sans the suffering right now.

On cloning, and I am by no means an expert, the literature I've read shows a huge failure rate. Most of the animals, really the vast majority, die early, or have genetic defects. Dolly the sheep died at 6 with a lung disorder rare for sheep that age. The upshot is that cloning has resulted in a lot of animals suffering. What is the benefit that might outweigh this cost? I don't think I've ever heard a good argument for why these species have to be "improved." I've heard it argued that farmers could breed animals that would do better in factory farms. These people have such a paucity of imagination that they cannot envision a world without factory farming in the first place. To me, the FDA approval is unimpressive - cloning could involve prolonged animal torture and that would not weight against it one bit in the FDA or USDA's approval process. I'm also skeptical about safety claims. Isn't the FDA the same group that approved a swine-flu vaccine in the 1970's, that resulted in patients being paralyzed?

DB: Did Antony Bourdain simply misunderstand you in his famous "naked contempt for vegetarians"?

No, I think he hit it right on the head. For some people, for whatever reason, a life of personal pleasure is the supreme end. It is paramount and justifies things like animal suffering, even extreme animal suffering. These people get defensive (feeling guilty?) when you start bringing up alternatives.

If the first thing Bourdain thinks of when seeing another species is what it might taste like, it seems to me he has a rather primitive focus.  I'd rather see an animal doing interesting things on Discovery channel than have it staring back at me on a plate.

DB: While I don't think vegetarians are all evil, I am probably a lot more in agreement with Bourdain than with you. What could I do in my daily eating habits in order to make a step towards your eating positions?

I would always try to replace food choices with relatively humane alternatives, ones you have done something to confirm are being produced as advertised. From what I'm told these products taste better anyway - I'm thinking of places like Niman Ranch. That would reduce, though certainly not eliminate, animal suffering. It would be a beginning for someone who doesn't want to knowingly patronize animal cruelty, and pay someone else to do what they might find repugnant.

DB: Thanks Carter!

You can find Carter here on FoodCandy.

From the Editor's Couch

I faced a difficult dilemma this morning: a deliciously chunky four bean soup or the juicy and spicy turkey meatballs. I had to pick. One of the leftovers was being carried away, while the other would likely get bad by tomorrow and go to waste. Logistically, there was no way I could have both and so I had to make a tough decision.

Just like my above-mentioned problem, there’s just so much to choose from on FoodCandy! So we’re trying to make it easy for everyone: we now regularly feature the most interesting stuff from the syndicated blogs, the most active groups, the most fun people, the new or notable restaurants and upcoming events. Speaking about events, the FoodCandy Meetup in New York on Tuesday is the one not to miss.

Member Interviews

Interview with Dan Perlman, Saltshaker Spanish - English - Spanish Food & Wine Dictionary I am browsing the breakfast menu of a small Buenos Aires cafe, somewhere in Palermo, trying to figure out the difference between "churros" and "porras". I don't feel adventurous and I would usually settle for a "pincho de tortilla" – I know what that is. Fortunately today is my lucky day - I am holding a freshly autographed copy of Dan Perlman's Saltshaker Spanish – English – Spanish Food & Wine Dictionary.

Interview with Chef DonClark, Ambassador of Plantains I got up at five thirty in order to make it to one hundred eleventh street. Outside of a two story brick house stood a Fox 5 truck with its giant satellite dish and thick cables running across the sidewalk. Inside, it smelled delicious fried plantain and Zon Del Barrio, a live band was singing something about happiness and food in Spanish. Chef DonClark was working the kitchen.

Upcoming Events

	Foodcandy Meetup, February 2008 @ Essex, NYC Tuesday, February 05, 2008 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM An event to meet all the people on FoodCandy who are curious to meet each other - for making new foodie friends, for having cheap cocktails, and finding new foodies to know and love in 2008. All you can eat mussels and half price drinks!
	Pre-Valentine's Day Gourmet Chocolate & Wine Pairing @ Divalicious, NYC Thursday, February 07, 2008 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM On Valentine’s Day two of the most consumed products are chocolate and wine. Whether you are single or with someone, chocolate and wine are two delights that compliment each other perfectly.
	Wine Tasting: A Study of Italy's Thinking Whites @ IWM, NYC Saturday, February 23, 2008 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM A white that drinks like a red? A Trebbiano that has achieved cult status? Winemaking techniques that predate Christ? This is what will be discussed, and tasted.

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theeatenpath Diamond Bar

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Bailey

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Bake & Destroy!

Gluten-Free By The Bay

Kneadful Things

Savoir Flair

LX.TV New York

The Princess and the Recipe

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I got up at five thirty in order to make it to one hundred eleventh street. Outside of a two story brick house stood a Fox 5 truck with its giant satellite dish and thick cables running across the sidewalk. Inside, it smelled delicious fried plantain and Zon Del Barrio, a live band was singing something about happiness and food in Spanish. Chef DonClark was working the kitchen.

***

DB: Hispanic food runs deep in the roots of families from Cuba or Dominican Republic. What is your heritage?

I come to Latin food purely as a culinary curiosity. My heritage is a hodgepodge of ethnicity, primarily African American and Native American, with Irish and English thrown in for good measure. I have been exploring Latin cuisine for the past four years coincidentally as I have perfected the Tostobueno tostonera. And you are correct when you speak to the depth of love Latinos have for their food. As you begin to understand how culantro is different from cilantro and how a basic sofrito is the foundation to build a variety of dishes it is a culinary delight that opens the pathway for creating wonderfully fragrant and tasty entrees that the normal American doesn't regularly experience.

DB: Latin food is like dancing salsa. Hot! How does this passion translate in cooking?

Any good Latin party involves music, food and dancing. And the food when prepared properly requires a commitment and ferocious desire to emulate dishes that remind the Latino of childhood when the sight and smells were first experienced.

DB: Cooking green plantains comes with its own tools. I noticed that amazing Williams Sonoma fryer in your kitchen. What else do you use?

Because the skins of plantains are thicker than a regular banana a good knife is essential. I generally use a Shun vegetable or paring knife, a good bamboo cutting board, a good sized bowl to soak the plantains in garlic water and of course a Tostobueno tostonera that gives me the versatility of cooking tostone chips on one side or cups on the other.

DB: Oh, so that oddly shaped wooden device is a "tostobueno" of your own invention! How does it work?

It's really easy to use. Once you've peeled and sliced the plantain in 2 inch wedges you fry them once in oil heated to 355 to 365 degrees for 6 to seven minutes. When you remove the plantains from the oil let them rest for a minute or so before smashing or molding the toston. Dip them back in the garlic water before frying a second time for 1 to 2 minutes. The dip in the garlic water will ensure a crisp exterior and moist center. Remember if you're making the cups place the plantain wedge horizontally in the hole. This will ensure a perfect cup every time.

DB: Nuevo Latino is right here, right now and it seems that everyone has picked up the fever. Is this modern movement redefining traditional Hispanic foods and preparation?

Nuevo Latino Cuisine is the natural melding of traditional Latin dishes with other cooking styles. It is what I often refer to as making an ethnic food accessible to a mass audience. For instance it's not unusual to see Latino dishes borrow from Mexican cuisine.

I'm especially fond of taking toston cups and instead of filling them with pernil (roast pork) or yellow rice I'll add a layer of refried beans and cheese and shredded lettuce and fresh salsa on top.

DB: You've recently appeared on Fox's Good Day New York with Anne Craig. What did you make for her and the crew?

When I appeared on Fox 5's Morning show it was a celebration of family culture and America. I took another page from Mexico with my take on huevos rancheros. I served a scrambled egg topped with salsa. I also crossed over to what would be considered strictly Middle-American serving caramelized apples and ice cream in a toston cup. Very few of us have never had apple pie. We also had a live band, Zon Del Barrio, to add to the the party atmosphere.

DB: It was definitely not your first time on TV. Are we going to see you in a true Latin cooking show on the Food Network some day?

It was good to be back on the air after having retired from broadcasting several years ago. It would not be too far-fetched to see me cast in a true Latin cooking show. I am frustrated by the bastardization of Latin food all the time on these cooking shows. There is also a very narrow view of Latin food. It is as I say "The Taco Bell Syndrome".

DB: Even some of my New York food snob friends occasionally crave Taco Bell. How far is the fast food chain from the "real" thing?

The food I see at Taco Bell is as far from authentic as McDonald's hamburgers are from filet mignon. But in order for an authentic Latin cooking show to get on television I'm afraid we'll have to give them the familiar so we can also give them the authentic. Remember food has to be accessible in order to cross over into other ethnic communities. In 1939 The New York Times had to tell New Yorkers what pizza was. It wasn't long before Italian food was a mainstream stop on the culinary tour. Perhaps the plantain and the toston is the gateway to a wider understanding and acceptance of authentic Latin food. Who knows? Next stop Mofongo!

DB: Take us to a short culinary tour of Spanish Harlem. What are your favorite authentic spots?

My friends who live in the heart of Spanish Harlem know best. For Mexican, we go to a total hole in the wall on the corner of First and 117th called La Casa de los Tacos. We all love their "tortas", a typical Mexican sandwich made with a baguette-type bread, choice of meat, lettuce, tomato, salsa and the main ingredient: sour cream! We order "Los Guisados", basically meat in a sauce eaten with a tortilla and rice and beans, to be washed down with an  Orchata, an authentic drink made with rice water. There's always a soccer game playing too.

There're a couple of places to go for cuchifrito, batidos (tropical shakes) and lechon. One is Sandy's at 116th and 2nd. For mojitos: La Fonda Boricua on 106 between Lex and Third. And, finally there is a Cuban bakery (very rare in the 'hood) between 2nd and 3rd and 118th, where my Cuban partner bribes her friends with their Cuban Sandwiches, pastelitos and "pan de gloria" - sugar bread. However, for the best pastelitos ... Vicky Bakery in Hialeah, Florida. :-)

***

You can find ChefDonClark on FoodCandy, his website TheSimpleChef.tv or on his Ambassador of Plantains Blog.

It's a beautiful December morning. The early sun is announcing a hot day that will undoubtedly hit the high eighties. People are slowly waking. A man raises the metal gate of his butchery. The grocery store across the street has been open for hours.  

I am browsing the breakfast menu of a small Buenos Aires café, somewhere in Palermo, trying to figure out the difference between "churros" and "porras".  I don't feel adventurous and I would usually settle for a "pincho de tortilla" – I know what that is. Fortunately today is my lucky day - I am holding a freshly autographed copy of Dan Perlman's Saltshaker Spanish – English – Spanish Food & Wine Dictionary.

*** 

DB: We really enjoyed our dinner at Casa Saltshaker in Buenos Aires and loved the black diamond sauce marinade. Are themed menus mostly games of words?

Most of the menus tend to be based on historic events or Independence Days or things of that nature, so rather than a play on words they're more likely to just be my takes on traditional ethnic dishes. When we do have an offbeat theme, such as the one you attended, yes, wordplay often comes into it.

In terms of how I pick a theme - I usually start with taking a look at the date(s) in Wikipedia and one or two sites that are of the "Today in History" sort - and just see what catches my fancy. From there, the menu starts with the theme, but also takes into account what's available here - I try to use ingredients that are in season, and in Argentina that's much more necessary than in the States, when things aren't "in season", they're simply not to be found. I add a touch of a personal style that tends to pop up over and over, things that are among my favorites styles of food to cook.

DB: Have you always been interested in culinary etymology?

Yes, culinary etymology, hmm ... and for that matter entymology ... has always been a fascination - I used to make lists of the ways to say certain favorite ingredients in multiple languages, and/or lists of key ingredients in various cuisines in the native languages of their source countries.

DB: How did you come up with the concept of a specialized culinary dictionary?

Mostly, the dictionary came about because one didn't exist, and I personally needed one. I started it off as a simple list on my computer, then when a few friends would ask me about various words, I posted the list up on my blog as a separate page... as it began to grow, the idea of a book came about - I initially put it out as an ebook, but that turned out to be impractical for most people, who wanted it as something they could carry along, and not as a big sheaf of papers. So I decided to publish it in paperback book form.

DB: Aside of thoroughly blogged traveling and eating ethnic foods of Latin and South America, what was the process of assembling the book?

In truth, travel, eating, etc., didn't play the most major part in putting the book together - some, yes, I'd copy down words on menus, or in shops, and then research them - and that was the major part, research. I used multiple existing "regular" dictionaries, spending time in libraries going through food books, various food glossaries and lexicons, online sites that specialized in the cuisines of various countries (don't forget outside of Latin/South America - the Caribbean and Spain also figured into this). Plus I put the word out in the "blogosphere" for anyone who wanted to look through the listing and see if there were local words, colloquial words, expressions, idiomatic stuff, that were unique to wherever they lived, or at least that they found "missing". Then I'd do more research to verify - often finding that something was called by a name in a local native language, as opposed to Spanish, and then deciding if it was common enough use to include anyway.

DB: What is your all-time favorite food word? Is it also one of your favorite foods?

My all time favorite food word is one I learned as a kid in French class... I mean, how can you beat "pamplemousse"... and yes, I like grapefruit, though I wouldn't list it as one of my favorite foods... though possibly my favorite juice...

DB: What are some of the most fascinating Spanish foods that are called the same word, but differ from one Spanish-speaking country to another?

Actually more fascinating is the reverse of your question - the number of different words there are for something that in English we only really have one - popcorn leaps to mind as the major one - I have 15 different words for it that I found for the first edition of the dictionary - and another that I've found since that will go into the next edition. The flip of that might be something like "aguja", which, depending on which country and what context you're using it in can mean: needle, garfish, needlefish, chuck steak, rib roast, bubbles, sprits, fizz...

DB: When I traveled to Buenos Aires I bought a very helpful travel English-Spanish dictionary. Why should I also carry "English-Spanish Food & Wine"?

Why carry this dictionary, or have one? Well, most travel dictionaries or guides include only a very small number of food items - and often only a simple listing of key ingredients that you'll encounter on a menu. The guidebooks might have a few simple phrases for how to ask for things, and that's usually the extent of gastronomic and wine info available. For anyone who wants to really know what the ingredients listed are on a menu or in a magazine or book, to know the verbs that are used for various styles of cooking, and the important dishes from various Spanish speaking countries (where the dish often doesn't relate to the name, which may just be fanciful), this dictionary is a must have. There's simply no other gastronomic/wine dictionary out there that's remotely the depth of this one (over 5,000 definitions). Keep in mind, too, that it's not just Spanish to English, but also the reverse.

DB: You said that the dictionary is constant work in progress. What is your last finding that will be included in the next version?

I'm constantly finding new words for things, or someone sends me info on something I didn't include. The most recent was researching okra - I was trying to find some here, and every word I knew for it in Spanish no one had a clue what I was talking about - turns out that here in Argentina they use the French name, and from there, as I started looking into it, I found another 3-4 words for it used in various parts of the world. I keep an "additions" list on my blog for anyone who buys the book to be able to add words to it - laid out on a monthly basis so that it's easy to figure out what you have and haven't added. I expect the second edition of the book will be ready somewhere around the end of 2008, along with some reformatting - and I'll probably add both some illustrations (done by talented cover artist Frank Rocca), and perhaps some sidebars with a few recipes or notes about one topic or another.

DB: Take us for a short tour of your favorite culinary Buenos Aires, what are the places not to miss?

One has to start off with a steak - even vegetarians need to start off with one - my spot of choice is El Trapiche in Palermo - it's an old family style parrilla, or steakhouse, with huge portions, and it's relatively gentle on the wallet. 

But truly, I like to see what creative chefs are doing with Argentine cuisine - I'm not talking about things like the folks dabbling in foams and gels and such, but modern twists on the classics - the two best spots are undoubtedly Urondo Bar out in Parque Chacabuco, which is a real hike, and even a long taxi ride, but worth the trip, and Almanza, in Palermo, which does some fun stuff with a lot of Patagonian products.

Despite the need for a steak, sometimes you want something else, and my new fave spot for fish is Damblee, in the Once area of town, where in a spot that looks like it ought to be a Chock-ful-o-nuts coffee shop, you get great service, and some truly delightful Mediterranean style seafood. In a similar vein is the not to be missed Jangada, in Palermo, the only spot in town specializing in the river fish of the Parana Delta a bit north of the city. 

The city's packed full of "ethnic" restaurants, a relatively new phenomenon - there's the don't miss (and amazingly around for over 40 years) traditional Japanese spot, Yuki, near to the Congreso area, there's the beautiful elegance of the tea garden and dining room at Buddha BA, in Chinatown, for pan-Asian cuisine, there's Moche, in Palermo, for high class Peruvian cooking from the former chef of the Peruvian embassy, and many more that I can't think of at the moment.

And, of course, you owe it to yourself to just hang out at a neighborhood spot that has no pretentions to be anything but that, a regular favorite is Rodi-Bar in Recoleta, which also offers up one of the best steak sandwiches in town. 

For wine, you could go with a classic, a wine bar like Gran Bar Danzon in Recoleta, but much as I like it, I really prefer a spot where I can do a bit of people watching and have some great food - my choice, Primafila, on the upper level of the Buenos Aires Design Center, with a very well put together wine list and great Italian food to go with it. If I'm in the mood to sample, I head to Epicureous in the Las Cañitas area, which is a small, quiet restaurant in the back of a wine shop - and all the great selections that go with being in that sort of locale. And finally, when wine isn't hitting the spot, the "in" spot for cocktails is to head to the not-so-secret-anymore Ocho-Siete-Ocho, or 878, in Palermo, a speakeasy sort of setup with a great bar.

***

You can find Dan on FoodCandy, at Casa Saltshaker or DanPerlman.net. Buy his book here.

From the Editor's Couch

Dear Forbes Magazine,

I am furious with your article entitled "World's Most Fattening Holiday Foods". It's the first link that comes up on Google when I search for the keywords holiday and foods.

"Often the bigger the holiday, the bigger the feast. Not only that, but the food is nearly always especially tasty - and extremely fattening."

How dare you write such a monstrosity while we plow through paperwork in our grey office cubicles all year looking forward to Christmas? Where do you find the strength to ruin the excitement on our faces before Hanukah? How do you gather so many cruel intentions and spew this prose that makes our stomachs shiver before Thanksgiving?

This year I am cooking with butter. And I will post everything to one of the FoodCandy cook clubs, complete with photos and sky high cholesterol levels. They’ll understand. But will you?

Holiday Food Candy '07

In this ninth members only Holiday Food Candy edition we give some love to two of the most popular cook groups on the website.

Member Interviews

Newsletter Info

Did you miss the Fall Food Candy? It's here.

This monthly (or so) newsletter is exclusively reserved to FoodCandy members. If you do not wish to receive it, you may uncheck the Receive the Newsletter box in your Personal Profile settings. You may of course delete your account from the Help menu and as much as we would be sad to see you go, we'll never bother you again.

We want you to write for the Newsletter! Submit your articles. Start here.

Few bloggers have nailed this combination. There's a particular one that I always cite as example to both aspiring food bloggers and food photographers. It's with utter excitement that I introduce you to Robyn Eckhardt, who's travels and eats in the company of her photographer and husband David Hagerman, find a new dimension on their blog, EatingAsia.

***

DB: Was EatingAsia a carefully planned concept or a sudden spark?

It was sort of a "prompted" flash of light followed by a bit of rumination. We were living in Saigon and the writer behind the ultimate Vietnamese food blog, NoodlePie, knowing that I wrote and Dave took photos, said – "You should start a blog with pics".  Sounded like a great idea, but he had pretty much cornered the market in Saigon. Shortly thereafter we decided to move to Kuala Lumpur and then it was like, 'Yes! A food blog out of Malaysia!' We had about four months before the move to think about it what we'd like to do with it.

DB: Between Hong Kong, Shanghai, Saigon and now Kuala Lumpur – what was the most fascinating culinary experience of your life?

You forgot Bangkok. :-) 

That's an easy one - Kuala Lumpur!!! There is so much going on gastronomically here. You want Indian? What kind of Indian - Keralan, Tamil, or Punjabi? You want Chinese? Well, you gotta decide between Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew, Foochow, Sichuanese, Dongbei (northeastern) and Hainanese. And then there's Malay - influenced by various regions in Indonesia, by Indian and Chinese and Arab traders ... and Nyonya, but Nyonya in Penang is not the same as Nyonya in Melaka.

You get the picture. Frankly, if you come to Kuala Lumpur and are not completely gobsmacked by the variety and quality of the food, you're either blind to the obvious or have not received proper guidance.

DB: Southeast Asia is a colorful, picture-perfect world, rich with rich ingredients and beautiful people. It must easily photograph itself! How much credit does the amazing photography of David Hagerman really deserve?

Oh come on - Dave is going to read this, so you know how I have to answer.  ;-)

In one sense you're right – Southeast Asia is incredibly beautiful, colorful, vibrant and photogenic. But in all honesty Dave has put a lot of effort into growing his photo skills (compare photos two years ago to recent ones) and, when it comes to photographing people, which we always like to make a big part of our posts, you have to work it and get into it, get comfortable with it, really. You go to wet markets, which are really huge stage sets, with all kinds of drama and comedy and work and play and just daily life going on, and if you are going to photograph successfully you have to allow yourself to be part of the show and do what you can to make your subjects at ease. Most of the latter doesn't involve talk or words.  Same if you're at a coffee shop and shooting hawkers at work.

Being into food enables you to find beauty almost everywhere. We've been in some frankly ugly towns in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, places that a casual tourist would probably wrinkle their nose at. But then you come across a vendor selling the most amazing rice porridge (yes, rice porridge can be amazing), and she is proud of her product and smiles big when you tell her how delicious it is and all of a sudden you (as a photographer) have a gorgeous subject to work with, you're having a great bit of human interaction. You suddenly like where you are!

So even the parts of Southeast Asia that aren't beautiful become such when you're engaged in some way. Food does that for both Dave and for me.

DB: Do you think that Asia will eventually lose most of its artisanal, authentic nature and transform its cuisine into the western-style supermarket culture?

I think that's already happening in some places. Hong Kong, for one. Even when we were there in 1994 there was a dirth of street food. I'm not saying there is not great food in Hong Kong, but Chinese food fans that have travelled the region always give Taiwan a thumbs-up over Hong Kong, and often even China, because it still has that great mix of street food and restaurant food, mass-produced food and artisan foods made in villages known for one product.

But I think it is eons away that that sort of thing will disappear from Asia altogether, Southeast Asia especially. It amazes me, as we travel around and do research for the blog and other projects, how many wonderful artisan ingredients are being made here (in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand) that haven't even hit the American market yet. If they are discovered and exported then that will sustain these industries.

Hmmm ... I suppose that's an argument for globalization on the food front.

DB: You rarely feature the so-called high-end of the restaurant world and professional cooking. Is this intentional?

No, in one respect: we rarely eat high-end here in Malaysia, so there's just no material for posts. Kuala Lumpur's high-end dining scene leaves much to be desired, and I love to cook, so we save those sorts of meals for home.

But yes, it is intentional, in other respects. For one, there's a gazillion food bloggers already doing it. I mean, what can I say about high-end Restaurant X, Y, or Z that hasn't already been said?

Two, writing a straight review is my least favorite thing to do. I prefer to write about places with stories and characters attached to them (and Dave prefers to photograph those kind of places), and I just find the story of a Kuala Lumpur coffee shop owner who inherited the place from his Hainanese immigrant father who had three wives back in the early 1920s to be the more interesting one.

You don't get that sort of story in a high-end restaurant.

DB: We, New Yorkers, claim that we have the entire culinary diversity of Asia represented in Chinatown alone. True? What are we missing?

I don't know dB, seems like you're setting me up to piss off a bunch of New Yorkers!

OK look - I lived in New York for two years in the late 80s and I haven't been back since. So I'm not qualified to answer, but from what I read on blogs and food boards and the New York Times dining section, I'm not sure you have real Malaysian food there. I just read a review of a popular NYC Malaysian restaurant on a food blog that described "classic Malaysian dishes" like mango chicken. Huh? Never heard of it. It sounded like the American Malaysian restaurant version of sweet and sour pork. And yong taufu in curry sauce (yong taufu is okay, but in a curry sauce? - never ever ever). And nasi lemak that was missing essential ingredients: deep-fried peanuts and ikan bilis (dried anchovies), half a hard-boiled egg, and sambal.

But to be more diplomatic - I think that something missing from the Asian restaurants scene in ALL major cities in the US is a focus on regionality. Javanese food is not Sumatran food is not Sulawesi food. Northern Thai is different to Isaan is light years away from southern Thai food. Malaysia has regions too. Not to mention the Philippines, which completely flies under the radar.  

This is bound to change though as knowledgeable, well-travelled diners demand more authentic flavors. I recently read a L.A. Times review of regional Thai restaurants that seemed very, very promising. Restaurant owners cooking the foods of the particular regions they grew up in. That's the best kind of stuff. Made me want to hop a plane to L.A.! (OK, now I'm pissing off New Yorkers again.)

DB: Is the Eating Asia blog your perfect and final media or are you hoping for more print or maybe even television?

Dave and I are freelancing for magazines and newspapers, so we're already 'in print,' so to speak. And doing more of that - for, um, higher-paying venues, hopefully - is certainly a goal.

Like every other food blogger out there, we have a book proposal in the works, but we don't envision 'EatingAsia' in book form, though the focus will be, obviously, southeast Asia and food. To my surprise I really enjoyed doing our palm sugar presentation in Chicago, and I'd love to do more of that sort of thing, introducing, with a words and visuals, an audience to little-known Southeast Asian ingredients and explaining/showing how they are produced.

I'm not a TV personality type, though it would be cool to be involved, on the other side of the camera, in putting together a show about Southeast Asian cuisines. You know, taking viewers to meet vendors and producers, home cooks, fishermen, people the average tourist wouldn't meet and places they wouldn't go, introducing local foods in a fun but authoritative format. It's been done but not very well, I think. I'd really like to see Southeast Asian food get the respect, and in-depth focus, that it deserves.

DB: So I made my measly bonus working 19 hours a day buying and selling money on Wall Street and am embarking on a month-long culinary cleanse through Southeast Asia. Give me an itinerary. What are the things I cannot miss?

If you made a bonus on Wall Street then I know it's far from measly!

That is a really hard question! Do you go for the ultimate travelathon, hopping on and off planes and eating every type of Southeast Asian cuisine, or do you go for total immersion and really get stuck in? I'll offer a bit of both.

Start in Vietnam, in Saigon, and spend a few days eating every noodle possible. People tend to be myopically focused on pho, but there's so much more going on pasta-wise in Vietnam than that, like bun mam, rice noodles is a thick, full-on fish-flavored, slightly sour 'broth' with veggies. Head up to Hanoi for pho, if you must (I never really got into it), and for bun cha - BBQ'd pork or pork patties eaten with rice vermicelli, a heap of shrubbery, and a dipping sauce. This must be done seated 3 inches off the ground on a tiny plastic stool.

Drop into Cambodia - Phnom Penh will do - for amok, a sort of fish 'mousse' steamed in a banana leaf cup. Then onto Bangkok where you can compare hawmawk, the Thai version, which is richer in coconut and much spicier, usually. You'll need to devote a week to Thailand. Go to Khon Kaen, capital of Isaan region, for grilled chicken and somtam (green papaya salad) and nya nam tok (BBQ'd beef tossed with ground toasted rice and lime juice and etc.). Then to Chiang Mai for real northern food: sticky rice (take the time to learn how to shape it in your fingers and use it correctly, as a 'dipper') and coconut-free curries and lots of nam prik, 'dips' that range from tomatoe-y and vaguely ragu bolognese-esque to complex with eggplant, roasted green chilies, and bplaa raa, super-fermented fish sauce with chunky bits that stinks but tastes great. And khao soi. If you like strong flavors you got to do northern Thailand.

Head south, but skip Phuket. Go to Trang, home to a very large Chinese population, for Thailand's best coffee and dim sum, then head east to the coast to investigate southern specialties like kanom jeen (rice vermicelli eaten with curries and fresh vegetables) and khao mok (S Thai-style biryani) and gaeng som (sour orange curry, usually fish, with a kick).

Fly to Padang, on Sumatra's west coast, and head inland to Bukittingi, home of the Minangkabau ethnicity and nasi Padang -- rice with a load of different dishes. Have it local style: sit at a restaurant and let them cover your table with 12 to 15 small plates of rendang, curries, sambal, veggies, etc. and dive in. Spend a full Wed or Sat morning at the amazing multi-level market and eat noodles and banana 'pancakes' (grilled mashed bananas rolled around palm sugar and coconut) and marvel at the palm sugar stalls selling up to 25 different types of sugars, each with their own village and palm variety provenance.

Now, you probably have a week to 10 days left, and you must spend it in Malaysia. Start in Penang, hire a driver, and devote a good 48 hours to sampling the best of the island's hawker food like char koey teow, and assam laksa. Keep your driver and head down the west coast, stopping at small fishing villages for seafood straight off the boat. Stop in Kuala Lumpur for pan mee, wide flat noodles tossed with dark soy and topped with chopped pork and shredded cloud ear mushrooms and ikan bilis, and sang har meen, crispy noodles topped with huge prawns in a heavenly gravy made from the juices in their heads. Divert east, head for Kuantan and then drive up the west coast, stopping at every single night market you find and eating absolutely everything.

Skip Singapore (you've already done it, and done it to the max, in Malaysia). Stop in Manila for at least one night on the way home and allow yourself to be surprised by Philippine food. Have a sublime sinigang (a comforting sour fish or pork soup with tomatoes and green veggies), a sinfully fatty crispy pata (deep-fried pork knuckle), and a perfectly fresh kinilaw (the ceviche of the Philippines - fresh fish quickly marinated in vinegar and lime juice with shallots and, sometimes, a bit of coconut milk).

I left off a lot of place and dishes, but you only gave me a month!

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You can find Robyn Eckhardt and David Hagerman on FoodCandy and on their blog, EatingAsia