First things first: this is not Hawaiian poke. Poke, pronounced ‘po-kay,’ means to cut into small pieces, and the eponymous dish descends from the island tradition of preparing freshly caught reef fish with sea salt, seaweed, and crushed, roasted nuts of the kukui or candlenut tree. Japanese immigration introduced sesame oil and soy sauce to…
Real Good Food
Our favorite spuds
Folks in Syracuse claim salt-boiled potatoes originated at the salt works in upstate New York. But papas arrugadas, the wrinkly spuds cooked in seawater, have been eaten in the Canary Islands for hundreds of years. Given the millennia of potato history in South America, the original version is probably the papas saladas made with rock…
Chickpea and Green Bean Salad
Before working to open the ground-breaking Tusk, Sam Smith worked at Philadelphia’s Zahav and, after moving to Portland, Ava Gene’s. But it was a trip to Israel with Zahav chef Michael Solomonov that inspired Smith to cook “the way we want to eat,” which to Smith means good, simple food served without any pretense or formality. The…
It might be an unorthodox addition
It’s not French, and there’s no cabbage (choux) involved, but culinary historians think this Louisiana classic that combines New World vegetables with Old World technique comes from the native American influence on the French Acadians expelled from Nova Scotia. Even without the interesting backstory, maque choux (pronounced “mock shoe”) is delicious. While this version includes bacon, smoky andouille…
Wallow & Root Farms need our help!
HELPING OREGON FARMERS It’s been a tough year for our friends at Piccone’s Corner. The long-delayed construction at their butcher shop and restaurant on NE Sandy was just getting on track when the pandemic hit. Then last week’s fires put Wallow & Root, their farm near Sandy, under a level 2 evacuation order and disrupted…
Baird Family Orchards needs our help.
HELPING OREGON FARMERS The heavy blanket of smoke from Oregon’s wildfires closed most of the farmers markets in the area, leaving growers with a lot of unsold produce at the peak of the harvest. On top of the reduced sales caused by the pandemic and the added risks of working outside in the smoke, missing…
Farming for flavor, we love Ayers Creek
Photo courtesy of Shawn Linehan Photography FARMING FOR FLAVOR Anthony & Carol Boutard came to Oregon nearly 30 years ago when Anthony took a job with 1000 Friends of Oregon, an organization established in the 1970s to champion the Beaver State’s revolutionary new land-use laws. After a few years they bought a 144-acre working farm in…
Dinner with Jim
Most of the world eats some form of tomato and cucumber salad. Italians like theirs with red wine vinegar and oregano, while in Greece they add olives. Spanish pipirrana combines the tomatoes and cukes with garlic and a mildly spicy green pepper. Egyptian salata baladi includes onion, parsley, and lemon, (the juice that collects in…
Musaka’a
Yasmin Khan became a lawyer, then worked as a grassroots organizer for a British anti-poverty organization. Her activism took her to Palestine, where she found that the food and hospitality helped relieve the stress of trying to help people traumatized by years of war and oppression. Khan always loved to cook, and she now calls…
The Italian olive oils are here!
We’re having a party! Or at least what passes for a party these days, what you might call a socially distanced celebration. Our favorite Italian oils are back! Plus a newly discovered favorite and the oil that started it all for Jim: Don Alfonso. Please join us this Sunday, August 30 for Real Good Food’s annual Sagra…