http://quintessenceofham.org The story of his assiette of popes-eyes, the quintessence of ham for sauce, and the gravy of twenty-two partridges for sauce for a brace, was always beyond the credit of any sensible person. –William Verral, A Complete System of Cookery Fri, 11 May 2012 08:09:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://quintessenceofham.org/2008/11/11/quebec-resto-roundup/ http://quintessenceofham.org/2008/11/11/quebec-resto-roundup/#comments Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:05:57 +0000 Sean http://quintessenceofham.org/?p=72 Sarah and I recently traveled to Québec, where I gave a paper at a French history conference. I’ve included our dining notes below: Thursday. The trip does not begin auspiciously. Le Cochon Dingue: Dessicated luke-warm mussels served in an undesirably farinaceous “cream” sauce. Alarming. Le Café St. Malo: Bourride–like fish soup was a good start. [...]]]> http://quintessenceofham.org/2008/11/11/quebec-resto-roundup/feed/ 0 http://quintessenceofham.org/2008/06/13/oegadgib-korean-restaurant/ http://quintessenceofham.org/2008/06/13/oegadgib-korean-restaurant/#comments Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:27:05 +0000 Sean http://quintessenceofham.org/?p=18 Hands down my current favorite Korean barbecue destination, Oegadgib features first-rate all-you-can-eat action. You’ll get pork belly, shortribs, and ribeye along with a relatively small selection of quality banchan (think 10 options rather than 30). Their only sign is in Hangul, so you’ll want to keep your eyes out for Jerry’s Subs and the Austin [...]]]> http://quintessenceofham.org/2008/06/13/oegadgib-korean-restaurant/feed/ 0 http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/09/14/the-italian-store/ http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/09/14/the-italian-store/#comments Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:51:02 +0000 Sean http://quintessenceofham.com/2007/09/14/the-italian-store/ Long lines, bland sandwiches, mushy pizza. What’s not to like?]]> http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/09/14/the-italian-store/feed/ 2 http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/09/14/blue-ocean/ http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/09/14/blue-ocean/#comments Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:50:06 +0000 Sean http://quintessenceofham.com/2007/09/14/blue-ocean/ My Korean-savvy informant tells me this place is Korean-managed, but they definitely play up the Japanese angle more than most other Japanese restaurants in the area. In addition to the usual suspects, for example, the sushi bar offers “Japanese” mackerel, “Japanese” snapper, etc. They run some mildly exotic specials: spotted sardines were excellent, but wasabi-marinated [...]]]> http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/09/14/blue-ocean/feed/ 0 http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/09/14/super-h-mart/ http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/09/14/super-h-mart/#comments Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:44:30 +0000 Sean http://quintessenceofham.com/2007/09/14/super-h-mart/ There’s an entire aisle of dried seaweed! This Korean supermarket has excellent (and cheap) produce, live blue crabs, and a freezer section whose vastness is exceeded only by its mystery. They also sell the Chinese black vinegar that keeps Sarah happy. There’s a regular H Mart in Merrifield, but I prefer the “Super H” in [...]]]> http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/09/14/super-h-mart/feed/ 0 http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/02/24/blacksalt/ http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/02/24/blacksalt/#comments Sat, 24 Feb 2007 20:18:04 +0000 Sean http://quintessenceofham.com/2007/02/24/blacksalt/ Blacksalt normally carries three kinds of oysters at three different prices. Chesapeakes are the cheapest and not so great, but the annoyingly named “boutique” and “premium” oysters are significantly better. Unfortunately, Blacksalt only offers a happy hour discount on the Chesapeakes. Fish is honest and fresh, though not terribly exciting. Seems to me that the [...]]]> http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/02/24/blacksalt/feed/ 0 http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/02/24/ba-le/ http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/02/24/ba-le/#comments Sat, 24 Feb 2007 20:10:06 +0000 Sean http://quintessenceofham.com/2007/02/24/ba-le/ Calvin Trillin famously derided “continental” cuisine, but I would argue that, for my generation, “fusion” is the single scariest word in the entire culinary lexicon. I think there’s a very good reason that Chinese food rarely involves Cheddar cheese and Spanish reds aren’t served with sushi: the result would – how shall I put it? [...]]]> http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/02/24/ba-le/feed/ 0 http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/02/24/clare-and-dons/ http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/02/24/clare-and-dons/#comments Sat, 24 Feb 2007 20:00:20 +0000 Sean http://quintessenceofham.com/2007/02/24/clare-and-dons/ Wow. This place sucks! Everything was insipid beyond belief. Hello, flavor? The Florida theme should have tipped me off immediately, since it is well-known to be the worst state (even Oklahoma has Meers). A place specializing in fish tacos should at least aspire to California or even Texas. Maybe Baja. But not Florida. Despite the [...]]]> http://quintessenceofham.org/2007/02/24/clare-and-dons/feed/ 0 http://quintessenceofham.org/2006/08/14/elevation-burger/ http://quintessenceofham.org/2006/08/14/elevation-burger/#comments Mon, 14 Aug 2006 20:26:02 +0000 Sean http://quintessenceofham.com/2006/08/29/elevation-burger/ Upscale junk food? Who would believe it?! So read the shocked reviews of this mediocre burger joint. The locally-raised “kobe” beef patties are small, dry, and overcooked. A bizarre combo veggie burger and kobe is equally disappointing, with the veggie patty’s strong crab-cake-without-the-crab’s taste overpowering the meager beef patty. Fries are advertised as cooked in [...]]]> http://quintessenceofham.org/2006/08/14/elevation-burger/feed/ 0 http://quintessenceofham.org/2006/08/08/maneki-neko/ http://quintessenceofham.org/2006/08/08/maneki-neko/#comments Tue, 08 Aug 2006 20:13:10 +0000 Sean http://quintessenceofham.com/2006/08/29/maneki-neko/ Sarah and I first discovered this place one afternoon while looking at real estate. “$1 Sushi,” read the neon sign. Who could resist? After a big day looking at little houses, we returned that night with a very hungry Veronica. Once inside I immediately made a series of interesting discoveries: Dollar sushi is only on [...]]]> http://quintessenceofham.org/2006/08/08/maneki-neko/feed/ 0