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Friday, December 23, 2011

another holiday finger foods menu

a last minute call for another holiday party and these are the finger foods we will present.

Root vegetable knishes
socca with julienned vegetables
homemade pita with red lentil spread and olive tapenade
potatoes stuffed with spinach spices and tamarind sauce
black bean tart with green salsa
mushrooms stuffed with lentil pilaf
smoked tofu wrapped with yuba and homemade mustard

Friday, December 16, 2011

tonight's menu

Small holiday party we are catering this evening in San francisco

appetizer finger foods
-knishes (pumpkin dough filled with roasted/mashed potato, celery root, parsnip and leek)
-socca (chickpea flat bread) with julienned vegetables and herbs

soup
buckwheat, sauerkraut soup with red beans and purple cabbage

entree
pumpkins stuffed with wild rice pilaf, heirloom beans and greens
cranberry sauce
brussel sprouts roasted with capers and hickory smoked tofu

dessert
pecan pie
vanilla ice “cream” (i make ice cream out of cashews)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Yang Jing dinner/concert March 12

We are absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to host yet another one of the world's greatest musicians. This time our special guest is Yang Jing, visiting from Beiing/Lucerne, arguably the greatest pipa player of our time. Known for her adventurous approach, collaborating with musicians and composers from many genres, here she will play a rare solo concert in the United States and in a very smll, intimate space.

5 course menu will be accompanying the concert and the menu will be published soon.

Monday, March 12
7 pm
limited seats for 18
$60/person
for more information or to make reservations, 510 393 6096 or vegshaku8 at gmail

soup
rice noodles in tamarind - lemongrass broth with asparagus, purple carrots and thai basil

salad
cara cara oranges, roasted fennel and watercress with orange hazelnut dressing

small plate
fried dumplings (homemade dough stuffed with taro, tofu
sea weed salad
homemade spicy mustard

entree
flat tofu noodles with spicy sesame sauce
tofu marinated in shaoshing, shoyu, star anise and oolong tea, smoked with plum wood
asparagus with black bean sauce
sichuan lotus root pickle
burdock pickled in white miso
jade pearl rice
black forbidden rice

dessert
buckwheat waffles
chocolate pecan raisin ice "cream" (cashew based)
maple glazed apples

Tofu and flat tofu from our friends at Tofu Yu in Berkeley. http://tofuyu.com/

Daniel Hoffman/Jeanette Lewicki dinner/concert February 11

Saturday, February 11

8 pm

$55/person

byob

a celebration of Jewish food and music featuring, Visiting from Tel Aviv, violin player Daniel Hoffman and from Berkeley, accordion player, Jeanette Lewick

5 course menu details, coming soon

menu

soup
lentil patties in horseradish stock

salad
roasted beets with cara cara orange salad with walnut dressing

small plate
buckwheat knishes with mustard
homemade tempeh roasted with pears
homemade sauerkraut

entree
collard rolls stuffed with chickpeas and wild rice baked in tomato-pomegranate sauce (from our own dried tomatos)
cauliflour kugel


dessert
apples stuffed with dried fruit and nuts, baked in chardonnay and spices
rosewater-saffron ice "cream" (coconut based)

Violinist Daniel Hoffman and vocalist/accordionist Jeanette Lewicki have been playing and recording klezmer and Yiddish music together for 15 years with the acclaimed Bay-Area group The Klez-X. Since Daniel moved to Israel in 2005, their performances together are a rare event not to be missed.

Jeanette Lewicki, vocals and accordion

Orphaned at an early age, without a dowry or family background, Jeanette Lewicki did whatever she had to do to learn to sing Yiddish & play accordion. Her first steady gig was at a vegan commune in San Francisco, where she played weekly in the soup kitchen band. Having apprenticed briefly with performance artist Jack Smith, she studied at Columbia University (through a YIVO scholarship) and in Oxford, England (with the New Jewish Music ensemble Brave Old World).  Madam Lewicki now performs with various klezmer groups and has led numerous Yiddish song workshops in New York, in San Francisco, and at Yiddish Summer Weimar, directed by the innovative music educator Dr. Alan Bern.

Jeanette Lewicki's many recordings include "Mayn Shtetele Soroke" (which she produced for 77-year-old Bessarabian singer Arkady Gendler), "Fli Mayn Flishlang" (for which she arranged childrens' songs by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman), "Harbst" (with the Klez-X), & "the gonifs break out," a new release on Porto Franco Records. Ms. Lewicki is the editrix of the zine "Yiddish Tango Illustrated" and a founding member of Accordionists Against the Death Penalty. She strives to combine folk tradition with Yiddish modernist style, & to make announcers and paramours pronounce her last name right: "Levitsky.”

Daniel Hoffman, violin

A descendant of a long line of Bessarabian furriers, Daniel was born and raised near Los Angeles. After graduating from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, he quickly began un-learning most of what he'd been taught and turned his attentions to Eastern European Jewish music and formed several klezmer bands in San Francisco. In 1992, he co-founded Davka, combining Ashkenazi music with jazz and Middle-Eastern rhythms. Davka has released five CDs of original music, including four on the Tzadik label. He also founded the Klez-X in 1996 and has developed a reputation as one of the foremost experts of the Yiddish violin style, recording and performing with the top players in the field.

Daniel has received numerous composition grants, including from Meet The Composer and the NEA and has written new scores for the 1920s silent films “The Golem” and “Jewish Luck”. He composed music for “David in Shadow and Light,” a new musical (with librettist Yehuda Hyman) based on the King David story which premiered at Theatre J in Washington DC in 2008. In Israel he performs with Trio Carpion, Andralamoussia, Echo 3, Yehuda Katz, Keren Friedman and the Jazzraelites, and in the new Jerusalem Theater Company comedy “Are You Happy Yet?” He currently teaches at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and recently began producing the pilot episode of Violin Around the World, a 36-part documentary film series which explores the role of the violin in diverse cultures worldwide.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Real Madrid 1 FC Barcelona 3 while menu planning

I decided to invite 10 of the biggest supporters of the dinner/concert series over for a meal.  And i promised to blog every time Real Madrid lost this season. Well, they won their last 15 games; all 6 European champions league games and all 9 la liga games since they got beaten by poor boys, Levante.   I am not sure i believe in the idea of Satan and evil incarnate but if such a thing exists, Satan's minions are quite obvious; the republican party, Monsanto, Burger King, Microsoft and of course, Real Madrid. But yesterday, they lost and lost bad in front of their home crowd to a team that represents a very different world than the fascist agenda of what was once General Franco's team. Yeah, the Madristas, once again were embarrased by FC Barcelona!

Sunday's dinner is a  small token of a way of saying thanks to those people who have been incredibly supportive of a small aspect of my business, the 6 year running dinner/concert series. In this absurd economy, not many people can afford or are willing to splurge on excellent food and music, so on Sunday, we are offering a small token of appreciation to those who continue to come back to many many of the dinner/concerts that In the Mood for Food present. Although the quality of food and internationally renowned musicians are an amazing deal for the prices we offer, we still exist in the Bush-Obama economy, where most of the people are downwardly sliding and thus have to watch their spending.

 A fairly simple, mostly family style meal so that Cori and i can also sit and join the rest of the guests.

Meanwhile, The biggest club rivalry in professional sports is between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.  Besides being the 2 finest futbol teams in Spain for many decades, they represent far opposing political and social viewpoints and when it comes down to it, this rivalry has little to do with futbol. Real Madrid represents Spanish fascim and nowhere is this more apparent than in Catalonia. During General Franco's dictatorship, this rivalry grew rather brutal and intense with smoke filled stadiums becoming the norm. And the Catalans are still pissed, rightfully so. The collectivization of workers in Barcelona and throughout Catalonia was a success till Franco's military from Madrid came in and well, Real Madrid represent this dictatorship....STILL. Any good hearted anarchist knows this team represents the worst in humanity, making Manchester United seem like friendly ol' chaps.

For the last few years, let us face it, FC Barcelona, under coach Pep Guardiola has beaten the living crap out of Real Madrid on and off the field with victories last year 5-0, and 2-6, the year before. No competition as the current, anarchist collective approach of the Catalans simply devours the selfish, superstar, Ayn Rand inspired Madristas who, on the field appear to be all out for personal glory and riches.  The Barcelona passing game simply overwhelms the egomaniacs.  (Note: workers in collectives work harder than heirarchical structured work environments) The most dispicable person in the sport today, Real's coach,  JosenMaurinho, smugster extraordinaire, sort of reminds one of Dick Cheney or Karl Rove, in a way. The kinda guy who makes a non violent person want to walk up to him and bitch slap him upside his ugly pretentious head. And no matter what tactics this fascist coach comes up with, the Catalans run him through the dirt. And once again, yesterday, well Barcelona ripped Real Madrid apart in front of 90,000 Madrid fans.
Started off rather bizarre with a really awful pass from goalkeeper Valdes that ended up with a Madrid goal only 24 seconds into the game. And that was it for goals for the right wing team, appropriately dressed in all white uniforms. 20 minutes later, Messi did his magic and let through an unreal pass to Alexis, who put it past Casillas to tie it up.  A rather funny goal from Xavi in the second half followed by Fabregas' first goal in his first game againts Madrid back in a Barc uniform (he looks good in red and blue, far better than in his all red arsenal jersey of days gone by). And damn, what a goal it was, coming on a header off a great cross from Dani Alves, who was constantly raising trouble with his runs down the right.
On defense, Puyol and Abidal were unbreakable. El Capitan Puyol, now 33 is slowing down after recent injuries. He no longer turns the way he used to and has lost some of hte balance but the drive and technique are still able to stop any attack from Ronaldo or Kaka or Ozil that came his way.

So what does this mean? Well, Barcelona is back in 1st place which is a good thing since that means Real Madrid is now in second. And symbolically, the team that represents fascism losing is a good thing, especially to a team that once represented anarchists. In a time when a quasi anarchist uprising is taking place in the US and elsewhere with these rather "interesting" so called occupations, well, any good symbol of hope for the destruction of the current global capitalist fiasco is a good thing.
The ports of the west coast will be shut down tomorrow, so any encouraging symbolic gesture from Spanish futbol is appreciated. Besides it was an entertaining game and once again watching coach Pep celebrate while coach Maurinho looked ready to commit seppuku was a joy.  Someone hand Jose a short sword and let him out himself out of his misery, please.

So tonight we celebrate with some good food and drink.

Menu for tonight
appetizers
socca with hummous and olive tapenade
homemade potato chips with sage-rosemary-salt
knishes (pumpkin dough stuffed with potato/celery root/parsnip/leek/sweet potato mash)

soup
lentil pumpkin

entree
chickpea-wildrice loaf with sundried tomato-miso glaze
roasted brussel sprouts with hickory smoked maple marinated tofu
cranberry yuzu sauce
brocolli baked with cashew sauce
maple roasted fennel and carrots
beet salad
homemade mutli grain rolls

dessert
pumpkin pie
apple almond tart
pecan pie
cranberry walnut sorbet
vanilla ice "cream"

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Thai veg class, January 22

Sunday, January 22, 2012
limited space for 8
$50/person
for more information or to make reservations: vegshaku8 at gmail or 510 393 6096

Hands on class. Learn about creating your own thai food. Make your own curry pastes, coconut milk and many dishes including:

lemongrass mushroom soup
laab Lettuce wrap salad made of tofu, herbs and spices
panang curry paste and panang curry
pumpkin fritters with peanut sauce