Researchers at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology have discovered a method for creating large quantities of human-derived gelatin, which in theory, could become a substitute for the thousands of tons of animal-based gelatin used in desserts, marshmallows, candies, and other products.
Gross! Why would anyone ever want to make human-based gelatin? The reason, according to researcher Jinchun Chen and his colleagues, is that animal-based gelatin is usually made from collagen in the bones and skins of cows and pigs, which means that there's a risk, however small, that the gelatin carries infectious diseases such as mad cow disease. Animal-based gelatin can also provoke immune system responses in some people. Hence, human-derived gelatin would be healthier and safer.
But -- isn't that some kind of indirect cannibalism? Asks Clay Dillow on Popsci.com. SF Weekly checked out the abstract of Chen's paper to see exactly what "human-derived" gelatin means.
The past 24 hours in gossip, innuendo, and cold hard facts about the San Francisco food scene.
Looking for the hot dog cart near AT&T Park? Come back after July 27. The Department of Public Works is playing its lovely waiting game with Gorilla Pete, the hot dog vendor that had been parking on two corners near Caltrain and AT&T Park. LiveSOMA reports Gorilla Pete met opposition from the neighborhood, because, well, according to a couple of complaints, hot dogs stink and the economy is bad.
But apparently not everyone thinks hot dogs exude a crude odor. In the new San Francisco HuffPo that went live last night, one of the first stories was about fancy hot dogs. Seriously, it was. Also appearing on the new S.F. HuffPo a few times a month is chef Traci Des Jardins, who we mentioned yesterday.
First, Willie Brown was shopping around a food series. Now he's talking about visiting S.F. restaurants. The Inside Scoop reports his recent excursions were to Atelier Crenn, where he states the portions were so small that a diner couldn't gain weight from two visits, and Locanda, where if a diner finishes dinner, there's no room for dessert. Got it. Not hungry? Atelier. Hungry? Locanda.
While researching this week's review of Chinese-American shabu shabu restaurants in the Richmond and Sunset, I called Tadashi Ono, the chef of Matsuri in New York and coauthor of Japanese Hot Pots. I wanted to get a sense of how exactly San Francisco shabu shabu diverges from traditional Japanese preparation.
The Japanese have been eating beef only since Buddhist proscriptions against eating red meat were abolished in the mid-19th century, so shabu shabu doesn't date back to time immemorial.
In fact, says Ono, it dates back to just after World War II, when the Japanese imported it from China.
"I think it was based on Beijing- and Mongolian-style hot pot," Ono says. "The method of cooking was brought by Chinese cooks who came back to Japan with army surgeons who'd stayed in China during the war. The Chinese normally use lamb, but since the Japanese are not familiar with lamb, we adapted it to beef."
Superstar Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi has been working for years to bridge the gap between vegetarians and the rest of us. He makes no secret about his own meat eating, but he made his culinary reputation in Britain by infusing veggie recipes with intense, Mediterranean-influenced flavors, served at his chain of British upscale delis.
Ottolenghi is visiting the Bay Area for a couple of days, promoting his near-universally praised cookbook Plenty, and SFoodie caught up with him for lunch yesterday. Over egg salad sandwiches at Il Cane Rosso and macarons from Miette (which the industrious Ottolenghi already blogged about!), we learned more about his love of the Bay Area, his veggie diplomacy, and his thoughts on Mission Chinese Food.
SFoodie: Have you spent much time in the Bay Area?
Yotam Ottolenghi: It has probably been nine years since I visited, but a lot of people don't know I used to live in Mill Valley in '77 and '78. I was only nine, but some of my strongest memories of food come from that time. Coming from Israel, where we didn't have much of that, I absolutely loved oysters, shrimp, fish ... I distinctly remember the taste of fried oysters at Fisherman's Wharf. Also, I had a teacher who would reward us for remembering our multiplication tables by driving us for big fluffy American ice cream. Never in my dreams did I imagine this could happen back home!
Add Bastille Day to Cinco de Mayo and Kentucky Derby Day in the category of "things we don't remember celebrating 10 years ago."
That said, this Frenchified Independence Day typically boasts a solid dining roster, so we'll hold our tongues. San Francisco has no shortage of bistros, so stop by your favorite on July 14 and you can almost guarantee it will feature a special menu (anyone for duck?) or some kind of deal. Outside these standard tips of the chapeau, we've found a few outside-the-box Bastille Day celebrations around town.
Anti-Bastille Day
Oh, you zany guys. Yet again subverting expectations, the Stag Dining Group is staging an anti-Bastille Day celebration. You heard us right: Those wacky Staggos are pointing the rocket's red glare toward France, with cocktails, wine, and a bunch of American takes on Franco-standards (read: Patriot Snails and Freedom Frog Legs). Tickets are $65; reserve them at Eventbrite.
Every time I drive around the Richmond and Sunset, I pass at least one restaurant advertising shabu shabu, the Japanese hot pot in which you swish-swish (shabu-shabu) pieces of thinly sliced meat through a hot broth so they cook in a second or two. In addition to the full-service restaurants, the specialty shabu shabu houses have grown profligate: Shabu House, Shabu Pub, Shabu Lounge, Prime Rib Shabu, G Cube Cafe.
But when I embarked on a survey of these new restaurants for this week's full-length restaurant review, the first meal I sat down for presented me with a surprise: gingery broths, spicy peanut sauce for dipping, uncommon meats such as pork and lamb. And was that Taiwanese shacha sauce in the condiment jar? Yes it was.
SFoodie was eager to check out Whisk On Wheels, a 2-month-old food truck operated by an Argentine chef.
So far, Argentine food trucks like Tanguito and El Porteno have enjoyed great success in the city, though the East Bay's Primo's Parrilla food truck called it quits earlier this year.
The staff told us that chef-owner Matias Bordaverri has 17 years of cooking experience working in South and Central America, the Caribbean, and the U.S. His focus is organic and sustainable cooking. Customers can expect to find occasional Mediterranean-style specials along with the regular menu items: Angus burger ($8), grilled chicken sandwich ($7), and empanadas ($5.50, 3 choices: beef, chicken, or spinach and ricotta).
1. Mee Mee's sweets. Rice Plate Journal, my block-by-block survey of Chinatown restaurants, is finally hitting the dense restaurant zone of Powell and Stockton streets. En route, I've been stopping in at Mee Mee Bakery (1328 Stockton), one of the neighborhood's fortune cookie factories. The 51-year-old bakery makes sesame and chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, and mooncakes, as well as curly, cocoa-spiraled rounds called cow-ear snackers ($3.75), which taste like a cross between a fried wonton and a fortune cookie.
