September 10, 2015
Days Until. . .
Summer ends 13
Food Calendar
Today is Barbecue Shrimp Day. It won't be a national celebration, because a) no other part of the country has shrimp as fine as the white shrimp we have right now and 2) no other place understands that "barbecue shrimp" is a misnomer. There's no smoke, grill, or thick sauce. Instead, they're cooked with a sauce Richard Collin once described as "all the butter in the world, and half the pepper." A little garlic, Worcestershire, and paprika are in there, too.
The dish was invented at Pascal's Manale in 1954, when a customer asked Pascal Radosta to duplicate a shrimp dish he had in Chicago. The resulting dish wasn't like the one this guy had found, but he liked it even better. Barbecue shrimp soon became the signature dish at Manale's, where most tables include at least one order of the things.
It's essential for barbecue shrimp to be made with large, intact, unpeeled shrimp (about 10-20 to the pound), with heads, shells, tails, and everything else still there. Much flavor comes from the juices and fats in the head. Whole shrimp this size, drenched in sauce, are a mess to eat. Especially if you insist on peeling the shrimp. (I just pull the heads off and eat the rest, shells and all--although I do not recommend this to you.)
Chef Gerard Maras made a major improvement in barbecue shrimp in the 1980s, during his tenure at Mr. B's. His trick: whisking in the butter at the end of the cooking process. Emeril Lagasse developed the only good peeled version of barbecue shrimp, making a very intense stock out of the heads and shells, and incorporating it back into the butter sauce. It's a great idea, but a lot of work.
Every restaurant has its own version of barbecue shrimp, but to my tastes, the simpler the recipe, the better they are.
Tenuous Food-Sports Connection
Today is the birthday, in 1934, of Yankee home run slugger Roger Maris, my boyhood baseball hero. He batted left and threw right, as I do. Hit sixty-one homers in 1961, topping Babe Ruth's best single season. His name originally was spelled "Maras," same as New Orleans chef Gerard Maras. The chef renovated barbecue shrimp during his tenure at Mr. B's, where it's still the best version in town. (See above.)
Gourmet Gazetteer
Juice Creek runs in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, a wilderness area in south central Washington State. The creek drops from some bogs at the 2500-foot level down to the Panther River, where there's a campground. From the campground, the Panther and Wind Rivers afford some thrilling whitewater rafting. Mount St. Helens is visible to the northeast from stretches of Juice Creek. All this is sixty-nine miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. You won't have to go that far for a bite to eat--at least not if you don't mind the twenty-mile hike through the woods and hills to Trout Lake, where you'll find KJ's Bear Creek Cafe.
Deft Dining Rule #614
Shrimp always taste better with the shells and heads still in place.
Edible Dictionary
poké, [POE-kay], Hawaiian, n.--Also spelled "poki." A chilled salad made from diced fish--usually raw--mixed with seaweed, onions, and (to be really authentic) the meats of the kukui nuts. Poké has a long history in Hawaii, but its fame exploded when Chef Sam Choy started an annual poké festival. Now it's found here and there on the mainland, especially on the West Coast. The fish most often used to make it outside Hawaii is tuna. It's in many ways like tuna tartare and the spicy tuna found in sushi bars.
The Old Kitchen Sage Sez
If you have even a suspicion that the shrimp are completely cooked, they are.
Creole Icons
Today is the birthday, in 1801, of Marie Laveau, the most celebrated historical name in New Orleans voodoo circles. Her name has been used in connection with many dishes, a beer, and a restaurant. Her supposed tomb in St. Louis Cemetery (its authenticity is disputed) is among the most visited in the city.
Food Namesakes
Yma Sumac, a Peruvian singer who was famous for her alleged four-octave vocal range, was born today in 1922. (Sumac is a spice widely used in Middle Eastern cooking.) . . . Actor Philip Baker Hall was born today in 1932. . . Siobhan Fahey, who was a singer in the Irish band Bananarama, turned on his mike today in 1958. . . Professional snowboarder Travis Rice hit the Big Snowbank today in 1982. Golfer Arnold Palmer was born today in 1929. He played in the Masters tournament fifty times in his career. He has a good, non-alcoholic beverage named for him. An Arnold Palmer is half lemonade, half iced tea. Very refreshing.
Words To Eat By
"I think somebody should come up with a way to breed a very large shrimp. That way, you could ride him, then, after you camped at night, you could eat him. How about it, science?"--Jack Handey.
That would be the perfect size for barbecue shrimp.
Words To Drink By
"I love drinking now and then. It defecates the standing pool of thought. A man perpetually in the paroxysm and fears of inebriety is like a half-drowned stupid wretch condemned to labor unceasingly in water; but a now-and-then tribute to Bacchus is like the cold bath, bracing and invigorating."--Robert Burns.
