Monday, August 12, 2013

Food History: Al Pastor

The first time I saw al pastor turning on a spit, I flashed back to when I was in Sydney Australia and frequented Turkish shops for their delicious Doner kebabs. The meat cooked on a vertical spit and they trimmed the meat off as it turned. While al pastor can be cooked in a pan, it is traditionally cooked on a vertical spit, in much the same way as Doner meat.

The breaking up of the Ottoman Empire took place over a large span of time, between 1792 to 1923. Today, what is left, is known as modern day Turkey. After the Ottoman Empire broke up, a large number of Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians immigrated to Mexico. The Lebanese immigrants brought with them their rotisserie method of grilling meat on a vertical spit. In Lebanon, these spits had been used primarily to grill lamb, in Mexico they used them to grill pork. This is how al pastor came to be grilled on a vertical spit.



What I have written above is merely a representation of what I have read on Wikipedia and understood from what has been collected there. I do not claim to be a historian. Below are links to some of the pages I read from for those that are curious about where I got my information or would like to learn more.

Wiki References:
Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire
Arab immigration to Mexico
Al pastor derived from shwarma
The pictures below were also taken from Wikipedia
Doner kebab: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner_kebab
Al pastor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_pastor




Sunday, August 11, 2013

Salvador's Bakery - On Silverton Rd NE between I-5 and Lancaster in Salem, OR

This is a fantastic place! Everything I have had here has been delicious. Everyone I have recommended it to has enjoyed it. They have a menu you can order off, baked goods (professional celebration cakes, breads, and desserts), groceries, and a carniceria (butcher). Everyone that works here is super nice and very helpful, and the prices are very reasonable.

- The cevice was fresh and packed with flavor
- The tamales were good but you should definitely use salsa on them or they will seem kind of dry
- The tacos were great, especially with the cabbage salsa from the salsa bar
- The tortas came on telera bread and were fantastic. I liked the carnitas more than the barbacoa though
- The Caldo de Res (stew - potato, corn, carrots, corned beef, etc.) comes with rice and tortillas. Break up the tortillas into small pieces and stir them in with the rice, or roll up the tortillas, dip, take a bite, and then a spoonful of caldo. Salvadore's make a delicious bowl of Caldo de Res!!

I definitely recommend this place!!

Yelp

Salvador's Bakery Website

Salvador's Bakery on Urbanspoon






Rating List: Mexican Food in NE Salem, OR

First Choices:
El Padrino (Food Cart)
Los Pinos (Food Cart)
Los Panditas
Azteca Bakery

Second Choices:
El Palacio (Food Cart)
Carniceria El Rodeo
La Carreta de Mi Tierra (Food Cart)

Third Choices:
Jr's Taqueria
La Michoacana (Food Cart)
El Ranchito (Food Cart)


Taqueria La Guadalupana (Food Cart) - On Portland Rd in NE Salem, OR

There are several Mexican food carts in NE Salem. This one wasn't bad, but there is definitely a lot better. It's located in the parking lot of Stuart's Discount Auto Parts. It's pretty far north on Portland Rd, near the intersection with Hyacinth St, on the east side.

I had a Taco de Pastor and a Torta de Milaneza, neither of which were all that great. The thing I tasted most on the Torta was the refried beans. It should have been the meat.

As far as service goes, the guy wasn't rude, but he wasn't exactly friendly either. Overall, the experience was mediocre, at best.



Monday, August 5, 2013

Your Taco Express - Near the corner of Market St. and Park Ave. in Salem, OR

I found this place by accident when I was looking for the place that was there before it and closed. It's at the back of a little strip mall running north and south off of Market St.

This is one of those places where Mexicans go to get real Mexican food, and it's a pretty good place. It takes a little longer to get your food, but it's because they don't pre-cook and re-heat, they cook your food when you order it. I got four tacos: pollo, asada, lengua, and al pastor. I noticed that the al pastor had pineapple chunks in it, and that it was cooked in a pan instead of on a spit. The tacos were all very good. The lengua was $1.50, but the others were $1 each.

In some ways, the place is kind of budget, like the doorbell that you have to push at the drive thru. In other ways, the place is really nice, like the murals painted on the walls. All in all, the place seemed clean to me, and the staff was very friendly. It isn't a big place, and there isn't a lot of seating, so don't take a large group here.

Yelp


Monday, July 29, 2013

Movie - Modern Times (1936)

Charlie Chaplain wrote, directed, and starred in this movie, which may be his magnum opus. It is not only about the struggle of people trying to survive the Great Depression but also about the relationship between mankind and technology, about women in society, and so on. Today (2013, 77 years later) I see small children using iPhones and navigating the internet before they can read a book, and using a mouse and keyboard more intuitively than a bike. I can only imagine what the next generation will see. However, we sometimes forget that it wasn't always this way. Mankind has had to grow into technology and integrate it into our lives, or our lives into it, defining and redefining, constantly, the role it plays in our everyday lives. There are some poignant moments in the film where Charlie Chaplan's character encounters new technologies, and we see how he is at odds with the invasion of his natural, physical behavior. Man's oldest defining qualities come into question in modern times when machine's threaten to perform his labor and replace him in the work force, and even feed him.

It is also worth noticing the character played by Paulette Goddard. In modern times, the role of women has changed, something else that we sometimes forget. In the beginning, her father is unable to support the family, so she takes matters into her own hands and behaves unlady-like in order to feed them. Later, Charlie Chaplan is unable to find work, but she gets a job. Joining the workforce, she achieves what was hitherto thought of as a man's role in society.

The plain truth is that this movie has so much to offer that I could go on and on, seemingly without end. Instead, you should watch it for yourself and enjoy. The way that he treats severe and deep subject matter with respect, while immersing them in comic relief, is something that very few comedians/entertainers have the skill to do. It reminds me of Cervantes' Don Quixote. 

Summary from IMDb:
The Tramp struggles to live in modern industrial society with the help of a young homeless woman.

IMDb

Movie - Taxi Driver (1976)

This movie is so amazing that I don't feel like I should even attempt to write any kind of review about it... Someone else did, however, and you can read about it below or on IMDb.

I would, however, like to draw attention to the disclaimer at the end of the credits.
     TO OUR TELEVISION AUDIENCE: In the aftermath of violence, the distinction between hero and villain is sometimes a matter of interpretation or misinterpretation of facts. TAXI DRIVER suggests that tragic errors can be made. The Filmmakers.

I was as impressed with this statement as I was by the movie itself. However, I would like to add that it's not only in the aftermath that the distinction is vulnerable and subject to interpretation. Often times the people that commit terrible acts, such as this, believe, whether they are justified or not, that what they are doing is the ethical, moral, and/or responsible thing to do. Like other works, such as Se7en, Taxi Driver places the audience between the possibility that the main character is the good guy and the possibility that they are the bad guy. One asks whether Travis Bickle is the antagonist or the protagonist. When the moral fabric of society has degraded to the point that almost everyone is the bad guy, they seem like the good guy because they are living the status quo, and Bickle seems to be the bad guy because he refuses to conform, to not submit to the status quo. His character reminds me of Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye. Because he recently returned from the war in Vietnam, he fights that battle at home in the only way he knows how to fight battles. Or perhaps he is simply suffering from post war mental instability, unable to separate who he was in Vietnam from who he is at home. Perhaps he is nothing more than a psychopath, disconnected from society as a result of the things he saw people do to each other in war.

IMDb Summary:
A mentally unstable Viet Nam war veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where the perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge for violent action, attempting to save a preadolescent prostitute in the process.

IMDb

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Movie - Silent Running (1972)

There is a lot of that fantastic 1970s hippie propaganda in this movie - the gloom and doom about how mankind is destroying the world and the Joan Baez songs about how we can be one with nature. That aside, because it really can be as amusing as it is obnoxious, I thought it was a pretty enjoyable film.

You learn later that, in their attempt to create a comfortable utopia, humanity has, once again, created a distopia when mediocrity is the result. The main character, however, has a dream - he sees a great value in preserving and restoring the Earth's flora to the Earth. He tries to get the others on his ship to understand, but they just mock him and his vision. When the guys in charge on Earth send orders to blow up the flora pods attached to the spaceship, he does what he has to in order to preserve them.

I think that what made this movie enjoyable for me, other than the robots and Bruce Dern's robe, were three very important themes:
1. Even if all of humanity says that something is right or wrong, valuable or worthless, that doesn't mean that they are correct.
2. Both technology and nature have value for us. We shouldn't live in caves, but, a. there are great lessons to learn from interacting with nature, b. a lot of health and enjoyment comes from being outside, and c. without a healthy ecosystem, we cannot be healthy.
3. There is a scene where Bruce Dern's character is arguing with his shipmates about the food that they are eating. He asks them how they can eat it, it's not real, it's synthetic, it doesn't come out of the ground like what he eats. They mock him, of course, and say that they like their synthetic food. As a foodie, I appreciate this scene because the food that too many people eat is garbage, tasteless, and boring. I make a conscious effort to find and eat, what I believe is, real food, packed with flavor instead of preservatives, and from all over the world, the more authentic, the better. So many people mistake familiarity with quality. They enjoy it because it's familiar to them - the same options and the same ingredients. I suppose that there is a little bit of Heidegger's philosophy of authenticity in this perspective of mine... The best part is that at the end of the movie, he catches himself eating the synthetic food. Authenticity is an ongoing battle, one that the weary, ill, and complacent lose.

Summary from IMDb:
In a future where all flora is extinct on Earth, an astronaut is given orders to destroy the last of Earth's plant life being kept in a greenhouse on board a spacecraft.

IMDb

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Phở Hùng - On SE Powell Blvd in Portland, OR

A lot of Vietnamese places do either Phở good and Bún not so great or vice versa. This place does everything fantastic. Phở Hùng is one of my two favorite Phở places in Portland. The food is authentic and fresh, has lots of flavor, and the portions are just right. The service here is good, and the prices are very reasonable. Another bonus is that they have their own parking lot, which is a major bonus in a big city like Portland.


Pho Hung on Urbanspoon


Monday, May 20, 2013

Nuvrei Patisserie & Café - Near the corner of NW 10th and Flanders in Portland, OR

Everything I have had here is super delicious. This is one of my very favorite sandwich places in Portland. I highly recommend the Roasted Turkey Breast. The mauricette bread it comes on is like the most amazing warm, fresh pretzel you have ever had, in a sandwich roll form. The meat and other ingredients are equally as fresh and tasty. The cookies and pastries are also fresh and delicious. I highly recommend this place.

Yelp

Nuvrei Patisserie & Café on Urbanspoon






Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant and Grill - Downtown, near the corner of Court St and High St in Salem, OR

I heard that they have a really good Binh Minh sandwich here so I decided to try it out. It was only $4.50 and it was delicious. The size was perfect too - enough to satisfy my appetite but not so much that it made me full to the point of being sick. The Vietnamese couple that runs this place are very nice, but they are even more quiet. They have a small buffet that I will go back and try someday soon.

Yelp

Saigon Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Momiji - On Commercial (across from Fred Meyer) in Salem, OR

The only thing I've had here is lunch-special bento boxes. They are very reasonably priced and the great thing about bento boxes is the variety - you get a little of a few things instead of a lot of one thing. The food is pretty good and the service is great. The last time we went, the server came within a minute or two, brought us our drinks and soup a few minutes later, and by the time we finished our soup, we had our food. Granted, the place wasn't very busy, so if you go when they are busy, you may or may not get your food as quickly.

Yelp

Momiji on Urbanspoon

Movie - Notorious (1946)

A passionate love ignites between Devlin (Cary Grant) and Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman) in this spy movie by the directorial master Alfred Hitchcock. But as the spy game of deception plays out between Alicia and the target of espionage, deception also play out between Alicia and Devlin as he endeavors to hide his true feelings for her. Meanwhile, the stakes of the game climb to compromising and dangerous heights.

Summary from IMDb:
A woman is asked to spy on a group of Nazi friends in South America. How far will she have to go to ingratiate herself with them?

IMDb

Movie - Cria Cuervos (1976)

This is a fantastic and strange movie of a child whose perspective of life has been twisted by the death of her mother, which she blames on her womanizing father. Ana Torrent, as in The Spirit of the Beehive, plays the role of the main character like no one else could. Her eyes and her silence are fantastically unique and necessary to the role and the story.

Summary from IMDb, written by Claudio Carvalho:
In Madrid, the orphan sisters Irene, Ana and Maite are raised by their austere aunt Paulina together with their mute and crippled grandmother after the death of their mother and their military father Anselmo. Ana is a melancholic girl, fascinated by death, after seeing her mother having a painful death and her father dead in bed.

IMDb

From Wikipedia:

The title Cria cuervos comes from the Spanish proverb, "Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos". This translates as, "Raise ravens, and they'll take out your eyes" and is generally used for someone who has bad luck in raising children, or raised them badly. It may also imply rebellious behavior or that every bad act will return to haunt you.

The phrase "Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos" is said to originate with Don Álvaro de Luna of Castile during a hunting expedition. In the course of the hunt his party came across a beggar with terrible scarring in the place of eyes. The beggar explained that he had raised a raven for three years with affection and great care, but it attacked him one day, leaving him blind. The bon mot was Don Álvaro's reply.


India Palace - Downtown, near the corner of Court and Liberty in Salem, OR

The buffet food was mediocre and there wasn't much selection. The Palak Paneer, Chicken Tandoori, Gajar Halwa, and the eggs were the best of what the buffet here had to offer. Everything was lacking in flavor though, including the fruit. I was most disappointed in the Pakora. It's one of my favorites of Indian cuisine and it was a let down here. Despite all of that criticism, I "liked" the place on Urbanspoon for two reasons: 1. Because it is very inexpensive, and for what you pay, it's pretty good food, 2. It's in Salem, OR and I'm grateful to get what they are offering when I don't want to drive hours to get something better.

Yelp

India Palace on Urbanspoon

Lanxang Lao-Thai Cuisine - On the corner of Commercial and Kuebler in Salem, OR

The food here is pretty good, but even more impressive is the size of the portions - a lot of food. Sometimes they get very busy and you have to wait a little bit, but it's a pleasant enough place so I don't mind waiting. The staff is nice enough. Not much for small talk though, so if that's important to you, be aware that you won't get it here.

There aren't a lot of Thai places at the south end of town. Tup Tim is very good, but the portions are smaller and a little more expensive. So if you want to really fill up on good Thai food, for the least amount of money, without having to drive downtown, this is your best bet of the two places I know of.

Yelp

Lanxang Lao-Thai Cuisine on Urbanspoon

Big Town Hero - On Commercial St (across from Fred Meyer) in Salem, OR

Concerning the chain as a whole, the bread is typically pretty fresh, made every morning on site, I believe. The meats are not cut when you order, unfortunately, but they are still as fresh and flavorful as is reasonable to expect. Their panini selection is tasty enough, but way overpriced in my mind. No french fries, just chips, soups, cookies, and drinks. If you ask for a pickle, they will give you a spear at no extra cost.


The one in Salem used to be a lot better. It's still OK, but not as good as it used to be with the last owners. The new owner seems to be more "business-minded" and less about customer satisfaction. He seems to be learning though. The size of the sandwiches are starting to get a little bigger again and they are tasting better.

One time I watched an employee drop some packaged meat on the floor, pick it up, and put it on the cutting board. True, it was packaged, but now he has transferred what was on the floor to the cutting board, where he proceeded to make a sandwich... I was displeased, to say the least. Ever heard of cross-contamination there kiddo?? But I guess there's a price to be paid for hiring cheap labor/high school kids.

Yelp

Big Town Hero on Urbanspoon

564 Powell St E Monmouth, OR 97361
I used to eat at the Monmouth store regularly while I was attending WOU. The quality is consistently good, the service was very fast, and the employees were all very nice. They went out of their way to remember who I was and make pleasant conversation while I decided what I wanted to eat.

Yelp

Big Town Hero on Urbanspoon

11 E Ash St Lebanon, OR 97355
I've been to the one in Lebanon a few times, usually on the way back from cutting firewood down south. It may be my favorite of the three I've been to. The one in Monmouth, however, is a close second.

Yelp

Big Town Hero on Urbanspoon


White's Restaurant - On Commercial St SE (just south of downtown) in Salem, OR

One of the few good diners still around. Sometimes diners seem like an endangered species in this country. Chains like Denny's and Village Inn have sullied the profession in the same way that McDonald's sullied the art of ma-n-pop burger shops.

There are better places in Salem for breakfast, but this is one of the few old-school places that's any good. If you want a hearty meal done right, and you aren't expecting them to list the calories on the menu, then this is your place. Sometimes you have to wait a bit for a seat, and it's not the cleanest place around, but it's clean enough.

Yelp

White's Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Gold Dust Meridian -  On SE Hawthorne Blvd in Portland, OR

I was surprised at how good the happy hour food was. I liked it a lot and it was reasonably priced. The bartender was pretty cool. He took the time to perform the absinthe ritual for me, which I very much appreciated because I could tell he was busy. The ambiance here is great. The dim lighting and the candles on the tables set a fantastic mood for couples. The fact that it's on Hawthorne really is a bonus for me because you are close to so much other great stuff - shops, food carts, etc. A really great thing to me was that the patrons seemed more chill and not nearly as obnoxious as they are at a lot of the bars on the west side.

Yelp

Gold Dust Meridian on Urbanspoon





Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Phở Jasmine - On N Killingsworth St in Portland, OR

This was my favorite Phở place in Portland for a long time. It's been bumped down a few slots, but it's still toward the top of my list. The Gỏi Cuốn (Rice Paper Rolls: shrimp, bean sprout, cilantro, lettuce, rice noodle, and peanut sauce) the Phở, the Hot Pot, and the Bún are all very good. I personally think that they do Phở better than Bún.

- Parking is a major hassle in the area
- The place is clean enough, I guess
- The staff is very friendly
- I got my food in a reasonable amount of time
- The prices are reasonable

Yelp

Pho Jasmine on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Hanoi Kitchen - On NE Glisan St in Portland, OR

There are two Vietnamese places in Portland that contend for the pedestal of being called the best in my mind. Hanoi Kitchen is one of them, Pho Hung on SE Powell Blvd is the other. The food at Hanoi Kitchen is authentic and delicious. The presentation is fantastic, the ingredients are fresh and cooked very well, and the portions are the perfect size. Additionally, the place is very clean and the staff is extremely friendly. Our waitress even brought us some complimentary Asian apples from a tree that she said is growing behind the restaurant.

Yelp

Hanoi Kitchen on Urbanspoon




Clarklewis - On SE Water Ave in Portland, OR

This was a fantastic eating experience! A friend and I went for a walk one day after work and decided to eat here. As we walked in, we noticed the pleasing ambiance and decor. We sat at the front of the building, which was completely open. The summer air came and went at it pleased. We ordered off the happy hour menu, which was very reasonably priced, especially for what we got. We loaded up the burger with a farm egg, Oregon bleu cheese, and pork belly. The arugula and pickled red onion were a great touch too. It might have been the best burger I've ever had. The staff was friendly and professional, and the place was very clean.

Yelp

Clarklewis on Urbanspoon