the mehallo blog. beta.

Anchovy Sauce

Posted on December 11th, 2011 by steve

Geo. Watkins’ Anchovy Sauce. Illustration by Hwa Young Jung.

Flickr here, website here.

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Fish Sauce

Posted on December 10th, 2011 by steve

So I love anchovies.

The thought process involves seeing them as a seasoning instead of fish – and using them instead of salt in dishes results in some incredible flavor.

The Romans used to use products called garum and liquamen as condiments – after discovering that rotting, fermented fish have some pretty decent health properties. Garum became as common as ketchup is today; and by law, the smelly factories were located far outside town. Like ancient olive oil (both olive oil and garum were swiped from Greece), modern adaptations can still be found.

Anchovy-based nước mắm (from Vietnam) has become a mainstay in my cooking. There was a huge Vietnamese population near where I went to school (dollar bánh mì for lunch!) and for me, having a bottle in the fridge became common.

And I’ll hunt thru stores till I find a good bottle of Three Crabs Brand® (above). Just like the 8,000 variants of Crest toothpaste in today’s drug store, many Asian groceries also sport Three Fish, One Crab, Four Crabs, Two Shrimp and Crab and Shrimp and Shrimp and Crab and Crab, Shrimp and Crab, Crab Shrimp Shrimp or Shrimp Crab Crab Shrimp Shrimp brand variants to throw one off buying the really good one.

(although this article has a different take on this. Five Crabs may actually be the best.)

As for fresh anchovies (not canned) in a good olive oil . . . Heaven.

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Deviled Eggs

Posted on December 10th, 2011 by steve

I love good deviled eggs.

Which is weird, I’m allergic to eggs and allergic to mayo. But for some reason, I can eat them hard boiled and deviled. Sprinkled with a good cayenne (be sure to order Penzeys’ catalog – great reading!) – or rooster.

Dutch Goose in Menlo Park makes great ones.

And here’s a recipe that incorporates anchovies.

Also love anchovies.

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Turkey Balls

Posted on December 9th, 2011 by steve

‘Ball size may very’

Video for Meiko’s latest, Stuck on You.

Recipe here.

Tags: culinary, music, recipe // 1 comment . . .

French Dip

Posted on December 9th, 2011 by steve

Cole’s – photographed by Heather John. Foodinista post here.

French Dip showdown here. Bunch-o-recipes here.

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Eat

Posted on December 9th, 2011 by steve

Photograph by nathalie et cetera.

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New York: Food & typography

Posted on December 8th, 2011 by steve

The work of Philippe Nicolas.

Typeface: Bang-bang.

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Rethinking food labels

Posted on December 8th, 2011 by steve

‘The rectangles on top of each label represent main ingredients, and bars on the bottom provide a quick thumbs or thumbs down for a breakdown of fat content, carbohydrates, etc. Icons of spoons and scoops are used to supplement serving size since no one knows what 182 grams looks or feels like.’

Above, Renee Walker’s food nutrition label redesign, winner of UC Berkeley School of Journalism’s Rethink the Food Label competition.

Her work was originally part of an interdisciplinary topic studio focused on contemporary health issues; she has her original versions posted here.

Below, a few of my favorites from the competition:

Corinne Pritchard