Our favorite morsel from the blogs.
Food labeling standards in this country approach the scandalous on the 364 days of the year that aren't Thanksgiving, so why should Turkey Day be any different? At Chow.com last week, Lessley Anderson flashed a light on heritage turkeys. Like, what is a heritage turkey in the first place, and is every bird dressed up in antique feathers really a heritage breed? First, definitions. Anderson links to the Heritage Turkey Foundation's breed primer, which IDs birds listed on the American Poultry Association's turkey Standard of Perfection of 1874 as bona fide heritage specimens: the Standard Bronze, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, Jersey Buff, Slate, Black Spanish, and White Holland. Later additions include the Royal Palm, White Midget, and Beltsville Small White.
But "heirloom" isn't exactly "heritage," as in the case of Diestel's American Heirloom Collection turkeys. "American Heritage Collection" sort of sounds like a Home Depot line of Colonial-inspired paints, but no, they're turkeys, what Anderson calls "an organically raised crossbreed that incorporates both heritage genes and nonheritage." A bit of heritage gaminess, we're guessing, fused to the kind of mild-tasting turkey meat most everybody grew up sawing through at the kids' table.
Chances are you went to sleep last night wearing three layers, a hat, and an extra blanket and were still cold ― nothing like 40-something-degree weather to make you think about visiting someplace warm and getting our tropical drink on.
That's exactly what you can do tomorrow at the Island Style Shake Up cocktail competition at the Burritt Room. Five talented S.F. bartenders will battle it out with cocktails containing locally made Sergeant Classick rum, a Hawaiian molasses-based spirit made in Mountain View.
Expect a lei greeting, Hawaiian-style hors d'oeuvres, Island rhythms, and hula dancers. Three cocktail samples are included with admission. Even better, voting for your favoritr gets you a chance for a trip to the real Hawaii. Plus the mix-off benefits Spark, the nonprofit dedicated to changing patterns of inequality that impact women throughout the world. So even if you don't win the Hawaii tickets, you can bask in the event's do-gooder glow. Okole maluna!*
Participating bartenders and bars:
SFoodie's
series asking some of our favorite San Francisco food people about the
dish they just can't celebrate Thanksgiving without.
Every year, A16 closes for Thanksgiving Day, and chef Liza Shaw is as thankful about that as anyone. "If you stay open for Thanksgiving," she says, "you're expected to serve turkey and the whole spread, and that doesn't lend itself well to Southern Italian food." So SFoodie asked Shaw what she cooks on her day off. The answer: not much.
Shaw: Every year everybody expects the chef to do a full spread, but I'm in charge of the following items:
1. Champagne.
2. Oysters.
3. Pumpkin cheesecake.
The run-up to Turkey Day means one thing in San Francisco: local Dungeness. And when crab makes its annual reappearance here, things get frantic at Swan Oyster Depot on Polk, which gets daily deliveries from Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf. Save your crab cakes, your avocado and blood orange salads, and your bisques for later in the season. At the very start, when the Dungeness are at their sweetest and most succulent, aficionados want the crustacean unadorned, boiled and cracked, served with lemon and a glob of mayo, with sourdough and butter. Photographer Gil Riego Jr. scoped out Saturday's Dungeness faithful at space-challenged Swan's, which is both café and seafood market, to witness a local tradition.
Starting next week, bustaurant Le Truc will have a daily weekday SOMA lunch spot at 470 Brannan (at Fourth St.), in the parking lot between a Wells Fargo branch and the post office, practically in truffle-sniffing distance of Alexander's Steakhouse. Le Truc's Hugh Schick calls the space "the greatest spot in the city."
Well, you could certainly do your banking, get stamps, and grab a sandwich, practically simultaneously. That's great, right? Launch date is Mon., Nov. 29.
Follow us on Twitter: @sfoodie. Contact me at John.Birdsall@SFWeekly.com
Newcomer JapaCurry received a wet welcome Friday night at OTG Fort Mason Center's 2010 farewell. Still, dozens of people endured heavy rains to get a first taste.
The inaugural menu included four curry dishes (pork katsu, chicken katsu, Kurobota sausage, and vegetable croquette, $6-$7 each) plus soft drinks ($1-$2). Service was amazingly fast: A few minutes after we ordered, our piping-hot container of pork katsu curry was ready to go at the pickup window, faster than waiting for the Crème Brulée Man at a nearby tent. We loved the impromptu dining table, a fold-down counter on the side of the truck. It allowed refuge from the rain so we could quickly devour our plate.
Want a slice of Yigit Pura, winner of Top Chef: Just Desserts and pastry chef for S.F.'s Taste Catering? After we reported that Yigit's single, with dreams of opening a dessert shop with his Bravo winnings, we found out we can actually get a taste of this cutie pie without waiting for his dessert house to launch. For Thanksgiving, Pura is selling his pumpkin custard tart, with all proceeds benefiting people in need. Order one of Yigit's $35 tarts online through Gilt City, and 70 percent of proceeds go to SkillsUSA, a national charity that supports career and technical education. You can pick up the tart Wed., Nov. 24, at HELLO The Candystore Collective (2226 Bush, at Fillmore), between 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. You get to give back, support a great cause, and get a Yigit pumpkin pie on your Thanksgiving table. As Yigit would say, nothing wrong with that.
You have until tomorrow at noon to order ― unless they run out sooner.
For us, this is the true definition of food porn. The way the meat greases up the protective wrapper makes us want to jump through the computer screen and tear off big hunks with our bare hands. But we digress: Can you name this dish and the San Francisco restaurant where this picture was taken? Register your guess in the comments.
Congratulations to Chubby, who knew that the chili burger pictured in last week's Mystery Spot is served at Red's Java House.
