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As usual, I took some time while we were in Barcelona to pick up a couple bottles of wine to take home. After reading about the selection available there, we sought out Vila Viniteca in the warrens of El Born, a neighborhood we ended up wandering around quite a bit. When we got there we discovered that it was much more than a wine shop.

Turns out there are three or four different storefronts, this one, above with stacks and stacks of wine, another for private events a third that we didn't get a good look at and a food market that captured my attention for a full half hour. Check it out after the jump.

Continue reading "Barcelona: The Vila Viniteca Food Market" »

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Grand Street, Chinatown, NYC. 2010.

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Found in a Hong Kong supermarket. I'm pretty sure there's nothing I can say that will make this more ridiculous.

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We landed in Hong Kong just before midnight. There wasn't much exploring to be done by the time we got to the apartment and our friend whose house we were staying in was out of town, so couldn't direct us anywhere. But we were both ravenous. We made our way to the nearby 7 Eleven in the hopes of anything to eat.

That's when I an across this particularly interesting Food Find: Maxim's Beef Brisket & Tendon with curry and rice. Adventures in TV Dinner after the jump.

Continue reading "Hong Kong Food Finds: Curry Beef Brisket & Tendon with Rice" »

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If you've been following Analog UltraClay, you may have already seen some of the recent photos I posted from Charcuterie Hongroise. While walking up St Laurent toward Schwartz's on my last day in Montreal, I passed a few old school butcher shops that caught my attention.

It was the sausages hanging in the window that drew me in to boucherie hongroise. Montreal still has some of the old European style butcher shops that are quickly disappearing in New York.

See inside after the jump.

Continue reading "Analog Montreal: Charcuterie Hongroise" »

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While hunting through the markets of Chapel Hill for Chinese rice wine, my aunt took me to an Asian market that had moved into a room in a local Chinese restaurant after being kicked out of its old location by the landlord in another familiar real estate situation.

The friendly owner must have offered me half the items in the store after finding the shaoxing wine for me, but it was my aunt who showed me this packet of Mama Sita's tocino marinade.

My knowledge of Filipino foods are limited to an adobo recipe I've been cooking for years and a breakfast I had at a hole in the wall this summer in San Francisco.

With the Asia trip coming up, I'm pretty curious to try out some semblance of Filipino food ahead of time, so I hope to try this out sooner rather than later.

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Probably the most bizarre moment of my recent trip to North Carolina was when we drove up to this pick-up truck, I got out, reached in the back and took something like 15-20 pounds of fresh pork fatback. True story.

So, here's the thing, while you might be able Liver Mush at the supermarkets in Chapel Hill, you can't find pork belly anywhere. I even hit the farmers market looking for it, but was told that that there's no demand, so they just use it all for bacon. (I think this all very odd in the land of biscuits, barbecue and Paula Deen)

Last time I was in Chapel Hill, I benefited from the different demands by finding a farmer who gave me 7lbs of fatback for $3. This time, I ran into him again and he had more he wanted to get rid of.

Continue reading "NC: Fatback by the pound" »

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Food Finds: Liver Mush, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

I'm in North Carolina this weekend visiting my aunt. In the past, I've pined for the wide open aisles and the extensive selections of the suburban supermarket, but here's one thing I'm not particularly jealous of: Liver Mush.

I suppose it's aptly named,but I feel like they probably could have worked a little harder on the branding...

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Curry Cart, Midtown, NYC. 2010.

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Chinatown, NYC. 2010.

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Chinatown, NYC. 2010.

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Foodtown, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. 2010.

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Chinatown, NYC. 2010.

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Foodtown, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. 2010.

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Foodtown, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. 2010.

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Honolulu, HI. 2009.

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Mitsuwa, Torrance, Los Angeles. 2009.

Who knew they still made this? It seems decidedly unwise to sell gum designed to look and chew like chewing tobacco. But there it is, still on the shelves somewhere.

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Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica.
The flesh of the fruit is thick and reminds me of a firmer scrambled egg. It's typically served sauteed with cod, called saltfish in the 'old country,' along with onions and peppers.

I never had a lot of it when I was growing up, but these days I associate it with visits to see the family over the holidays.

One of these days, I'll spend some time cooking my ancestral foods and maybe I'll give this a try.

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Paris. 2008.

I thought our cereals are bad. This one was based on a popular candy bar. It's got caramel and chocolate in it.

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Paris, France. 2008.

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IMG_6439, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

The local Daily Monop, the Parisian equivalent of a bodega or 7-11 has a fascinating selection of TV Dinners, including this Lamb Tagine.

I'm totally against lean cuisines and other such nasty microwave meals, but if there was a selection of meals like this, I might reconsider it as a quick meal in a pinch.

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IMG_8044 - Version 2, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2008.

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IMG00284.jpg, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Condesa, Mexico City. 2007.

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IMG_8035, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Frozen Octopus San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2008.

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IMG_0572 - Version 2, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Chinatown, NYC. 2008.

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IMG_8045, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Tres Monjitas Lite Orange Juice. San Juan, PR. 2008.

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IMG_1561, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Found at Buon Italia, an Italian import shop at Chelsea Market, NYC. 2008

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IMG_7382, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

So we are clear, the 'Supermarket Finds' feature is not entirely literal. Food products of all kinds, particularly interestingly packaged food products all fall under this category.

MayoKetchip, seen here, was found on the table at a god-awful food shack outside of the Yunque National Park in Puerto Rico. I definitely didn't try any of it, but I suspect it couldn't have made the food much worse.

The funny part is that this 'authentically puerto rican'

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IMG_2190, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Naka-Meguro, Tokyo. 2007.

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IMG00431.jpg, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Western Beef, Meat Packing District, NYC. 2007.

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IMG_1757, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Since I've been finding more interesting food-related artifacts out of the supermarket, I'm changing the name of this feature to "Food Finds." That way, I don't have to preface half of the posts with "Well, this isn't really from a supermarket but..." because that was annoying... Now on to something I found in Atlanta... Pepper Sauce!

At nearly every table in Atlanta I encountered these bottles. Called Pepper Sauce as opposed to Hot Sauce, all there is to it is vinegar and hot peppers. The waiter at Pashcal's recommended using it on Collard Greens. I've made something like this before and had no idea it was a regional delicacy. I'll have to remember that next time I'm making greens.

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IMG_2184, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Naka-Meguro, Tokyo. 2007.

I'm not sure what the big deal is about watermelons in Japan, but last week all the blogs were atwitter about the sale of a black watermelon for $6000. I'm pretty sure these weren't quite so expensive...

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IMG_0519, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Last weekend Tammi and I went to Chinatown for Dim Sum with friends. I usually avoid the Canal Street area like the plague, especially on the weekends, but I may have to reconsider that.

While wading through the crowds, I was reminded that Chinatown is the best place to find tons of seasonal ingredients on the cheap. After seeing these mounds of cherries at 3lbs for $5, this recipe for cherry jam suddenly seemed like a great idea. I may have to suck up my distaste for the crowds when next I have some time to spend in the kitchen.

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IMG00082.jpg, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

FoodTown, Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. 2007.

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IMG_9370, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Brooklyn, 2008.

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IMG_2185, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Naka-Meguro, Tokyo. 2007.

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IMG_8037, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2008.

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IMG00286.jpg, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Condesa, Mexico City. 2007.

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IMG00283.jpg, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

I'm starting a new feature with shots of various odd or otherwise interesting items I've found on the shelves and often the meat departments of supermarkets in my travels.

I'm pretty sure this is Blood Sausage and Eric agrees, but I've never seen it presented like this.

Condesa, Mexico City. 2007.

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IMG_4026, originally uploaded by ultraclay!.

Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico. 2007.
::c::

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