World to Table

Some people stuff turkeys. Others stuff peppers. Annie stuffs baby suckling pigs with 8 treasure rice. One of the most passionate people I know when it comes to cooking, Annie Leong is a cookbook author, avid home cook and a close friend to the Lin sisters (three sisters who are practically my aunts). What sets Annie apart is her dedication to create the PERFECT recipe — multiple baby pigs were sacrificed for the perfection of this dish, but trust me, they died for a worthy cause. Behold my encounter with the “Roast Suckling Pig Extraordinaire”!

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A few weeks ago, while I waited for Robyn and LeeAnne to arrive at the Underground Lobster Pound in Brooklyn (more informally known as Ben’s apartment) Ben and I got to talking about food bloggers. More specifically, Ben asked me why an overwhelming majority of food bloggers are: A. Asian and B. Female. Before I could give him an adequate answer, I had to think about it long and hard. Fitting both those categories, I have often thought to myself, why do I love food so much?

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from Asia! I’ll be back in early January, jetlagged and 10 lbs heavier, with vivid details about my travels to Taipei, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Tokyo & Kyoto. See you in 2010!

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According to the Food Section, Italians are expected to eat 40 million panettone this holiday season. What is panettone? A holiday sweet bread originating from Milan dotted with dried fruit, usually rum raisins and bits of citron.

When the supermarket has red boxes of pre-packaged panettone stacked to the ceiling, it’s a strong indicator that the Holiday season is in full swing. Having heard tales of dry, stale and dense panettone, I’ve been hesitant to invest in some for myself. Luckily, my friend Gary, who works at Grandaisy Bakery, gifted me a loaf and I’ve been carving away at it like a turkey on Thanksgiving day.

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Wun•der•kam•mer (noun): 1. “wonder room” in German; 2. encyclopedic collections of types of objects whose categorical boundaries included natural history, geology, ethnography, archeology, religious or historical relics, works of art, and antiquities. Besides the most famous, best documented cabinets of rulers and aristocrats, members of the merchant class and early practitioners of science in Europe, formed collections that were precursors to museums.

Reinterpreting the original concept of the Wunderkammer, this new thread on World to Table is going to feature modern day (kitchen) cabinets of curiosities. It wasn’t until Talisa and I shared what we usually stock up in our respective kitchens, that I realized how different our pantries and cooking habits really were. Asparagus, couscous and ricotta are solid staples in her kitchen, while mine is almost never without an abundance of tomatoes, a loaf of Pullman bread, or a giant chunk of Parmesean. We’ll be exploring a wide range of cooking spaces — from the big to the small, from the sparse to the cluttered.

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Ravioli, pickled beef tongue, and sashimi were just three of the dishes that were served earlier this month for Korean Cuisine Redefined — none of which you will probably find at a traditional Korean restaurant. Held at the Korean Consulate in New York on October 5th, the tasting showcased five Korean American chefs and their interpretations and redefinitions of Korean cuisine, using ingredients or techniques commonly found in classical Korean cuisine. Let’s meet the chefs!

Rachel Yang, Akira Back, Youngsun Lee, Andrew Chang, and Tommy Lee

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When I was growing up in LA, eating Korean food meant one thing: an all-meat dinner cooked over the grill at the restaurant, Woo Lae Oak. Each visit was pretty much the same experience — billowing clouds of meat-scented smoke, sharp, vinegary kimchi, marinade-drenched bulgogi or kalbi and the sizzling sounds from the grill complemented with the loud, sucking vacuums above each grill. Little did I know, I had only skimmed the surface of Korean cuisine.

Earlier this month, I was asked to help in the Korean government’s latest efforts to promote and globalize their cuisine at a celebration of National Day and Armed Forces Day at the Ambassador’s home in D.C. And this time there was no grilled meat involved… Ok, maybe a tub or two of bulgogi.

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Feast your eyes!! A few snapshots from the launch party for World to Table:

Pre-party prep action…

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