Nitro pump for Boddington's

Went to Ben 'n Nick's on College Ave last night with some old co-workers.

As luck would have it, they had Boddington's on tap, AND poured from the nitro tap, which means the head was extra creamy, so of course, I got a stein.

And to add to the Citysearch comments, they do have free wifi, but the signal was weak, so disconnected the iPhone from the network and ran it on 3G instead. All better.

The menu at the back of the book

I finished Lamb, and what did I find at the end of the book? A mystery recipe? A menu for the week? The last item on the list made me think of how I might feel at the end of the week after preparing more laborious meals...I just want something that requires the same level of preparation as cereal. The punctuation, spacing, and formatting I've tried to retain from the source. I've fixed some spelling...I think.

Given the subject matter of the text, I found the references to matzo made in honor of the characters, but then the Mediterranean cuisine also made me think that the person was of Roman descent, and felt guilty and had to throw in the matzo as a peace offering. However, I keep coming back to the last item, which totally throws me for a loop.

- 1 chix breast
+ cream in processor,
mayo, some mustard or curry

- spread on matzo w/tomato + cube.
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pasta + prosciutto w/ tomato + fresh herbs
4 oz wine
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gnocci w/ marinara or pesto
+ shaved parmesan
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italian sausage w/ peppers + onions
black pepper too
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grits + scrambled eggs

By the way, the book wrapped up just as well as it could. I recommended it to everyone, so sorry if I got all pedantic on the topic, but faith and humor go so well together that I couldn't stop myself.

The Dolphinfish and Marlin Run Away From Each Other

I heart food. I especially heart Japanese cuisine. I think if I had to pick two cuisines that I could only eat for the rest of my life I'd have to go with Japanese and Indian...or maybe Thai...or maybe Italian (there's more to Italian than just spaghetti and raviolis), but for the sake of this tirade I'll stick with Indian, but won't actually be raving about it, I just wanted to put it out there that Indian will be my number 2 at this point in time.

Let's talk about Japanese food. It's varied, balanced, complex, elegant, succulent, striking, rejuvenating, and a tasty bowl of udon cures all wounds. More than once I have considered that my experiences involving Japanese food appeal to all five senses, and I liken it to a spiritual event. As I said, I heart Japanese food.

I have been blessed by living in the Bay Area, so have been able to sample some pretty decent manifestations of the cuisine. We're on the Pacific Rim, and we have a good amount of Japanese people straight representing, and so the non-Japanese people get to benefit from some of the more authentic flavors that have been established in restaurants throughout this region. One such place was near my home: Jo's Sushi Bar.

Don't let the name or wall marlin fool you. This place has outstanding sushi. I haven't been to every Japanese restaurant in the Bay Area, but I've been to a few (Kirala, Uzen, Tachibana, Ta-Ke Sushi, Mifune, Ebisu...), and I was pleasantly suprised to find this gem nestled in suburbia. The appetizer was Albacore Tataki, which is seared tuna sashimi served with a ponzu dipping sauce and red garlic chili sauce. Delicious. Fine. Glorious. The next round consisted of Oshinko Maki, and Ichir-oll (spicy tuna with avocado and tobiko), and a Holiday Roll (tuna with frikake, so it's red and green - very festive, eh?) There was no mayonnaise in the rolls, and they used actual cuts of the tuna, not that particle trim that you find so often in sub-par rolls. The fish was tender and flavorful, and the oshinko tasted fresh and juicy.

Oh it was heavenly. What made it even nicer was that we got to sit next to the giant fish tank and watched what happens in "Finding Nemo 2: Jacques Gets Tanked." I think I'll need to get one of Jo's t-shirts just so I can represent. I recommend sitting next to the tank in the 2 seater if you get a chance to go.

THE FUTURE IS NOW!

We've been cloning animals for a few years now, but there's been a recent development that might affect the way you look at your ribeye in the near future.

Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, concluded that "...meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones is as safe to eat as the food we eat every day." While the conclusion doesn't mean approval, we're one step closer to being able to sample "future-steaks" and "space-chops." Those in favor of the technology say it would be used primarily for breeding and not for steak or pork tenderloin. This means that if Harry the bull is a virile horny beast, and is a prolific breeder, farmers can clone him to sire more cattle forcing Harry's genes into the herd thereby directing the bloodline. It's kinda like what the English, French, and Russian aristocracy did, but not really.

Interestingly enough, Barb Glenn of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, mentioned that she doesn't think labels on the food are necessary since people won't actually be eating cloned animals, just the children from the parents. That makes senses. She must write those wonderful screenplays in Hollywood, where you can drive your Calvin-pissing sticker adorned SUV through the plot holes.

Aren't you thinking of the Mendel genetic inheritance model from high school biology? You know the one where you mix and match dominant and recessive genes? Good, you remember. OK, so if you remove all the random genes donors, and replace one of the parents with Harry's genes in each test sequence, and let Harry do what Harry is best at, there will be a lot of calves that have Harry's horns or large flanks. Then we eat those flanks. Those flanks have Harry's genes. We just ate Harry.

My main concern is that if you breed generations of clones, you can eventually help introduce genetic imperfections in the herd, which threatens the long-term viability of the food source. Of course in an ideal world, the farmers would rotate the genetic material introduced in the generational breeding so as to reduce the chance of introducing anomalies like a third butt or a horn that grows in place of an eye. Of course, the third butt might be a plus in the industry. One cow = three rump roasts! YES! The consumer wins again!!

You can read the FDA Draft Risk Assessment for more information. I recommend looking at Ch. 6, Table VI-1: Summary of Causes of Death of Calf Clones. "SCNT" (somatic cell nuclear transfer) refers to the process most commonly used to generate animal clones. The section detailing chronic diarrhea, intussusception of small intestine with obstruction sounds tasty. Bloody poop-burger anyone? I'll have one with extra cloned placenta juice please! OK, only two clones died from it, but come on - that's only 8.3% from the test population!! Lighten up! Beef herky anyone? I have to call it herky because it's not quite jerky.

Which leads me to recommend this book: Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood. Her name may be familiar from her other book which was made into a movie with the eponymous name, "The Handmaiden's Tale." There's some exploration about the slippery slope of genetic manipulation perfectly manifested in pigoons, creatures that are part pig and part human and are bred for solely for organ transplants.

So this is a multi-faceted medical, moral, and social issue. Chew on that. Hold your breath people; we still have the sustaining drum roll for the FDA's ruling on xenotransplantation.