Soft Foods
In case you were worried about a lack of update last week, there is no reason to be concerned. There wasn’t anything wrong with me; it just was a rather uneventful week. The recovery is mostly as expected, though slightly slower than I had hoped. This cycle hit me slightly harder than before, particularly with respect to the dryness in my mouth and a loss of appetite / mouth sores. In addition to that, I caught a bit of a cough and cold, which also slowed down the recovery a little bit. Right now, my hearing is more variable than before (more pressure in my left ear) and my mouth gets dry even when walking just a few blocks. Hopefully these will go away when I get rid of the illnesses.
With respect to food and eating, it was a mixed bag. While I didn’t have to “eat” as many Boost / Benecalorie shakes as before, I did have to eat a lot of soft and liquid-based foods, like the rice porridge and soups. In particular, I got to enjoy making and eating mashed potatoes. While my version wasn't quite as rich as the famous Joel Robuchon pomme puree, they were pretty rich and tasty. I used 2 lbs potatoes, 1/2 cup heavy cream and a 1/2 stick of butter, which works out to a potato:butter ratio of roughly 18:1. I just looked up the Robuchon recipe, and found that his potato to butter ratio is 2:1. It looks like I need to head out to the store to pick up some more butter for my next batch! As I’m still in a weight gain mode, it’s a good time to enjoy such rich foods!
Aiday and I did enjoy one really nice meal before the side effects really hit me. We went to Monteverde, another Italian restaurant in Chicago. The chef won James Beard Award and was formerly the chef at Spiaggia. The meal was fantastic, as they had plenty of options that I could eat, even if I couldn’t order some of the spicier items I’d normally seek out. Some highlights included the hamachi collar and the pastas. The hamachi collar was grilled, which gave it a caramelized crust that was really tasty. Aiday and I ate like the immigrants we are, so there were only bones, no meat, by the time we were finished. For the pastas, we could not resist the agnolotti with Burgundy truffles (you can see from my “About” photo how much I love truffles). In addition, we got the Tortelli di Zucca, which is their pumpkin stuffed pasta. It was the perfect taste for fall. It took me a while to eat, but I couldn’t let the deliciousness go to waste or be taken as leftovers.
As you may have noticed, Japanese beef curry made its way back on the table. I was able to eat some, though I had a lot of creamy mashed potatoes to go with it (easier to eat than rice). Given my success, I was hoping that my tolerance for spice was coming back. I was disabused of that notion earlier this week. At a restaurant, I am careful not to order anything that appears spicy or has listed ingredients that I know will likely cause irritation. So, when we ordered the Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl at McCormick & Schmick’s happy hour (a great deal with lots of options), I figured it’d be fine. The menu just lists sushi rice, green onions and avocado. Aiday took a bite and didn’t get any spice, so I went to eat it (sushi and undercooked foods are no longer on my restricted list). It turns out that the ingredients are not uniformly distributed, as the small green bits are not just scallions but also diced jalapeño! I didn’t see them, but that caused me to drink about 40oz of water (that’s a Big Gulp plus a cup!) to cool myself down. So, sneaky spice is still an issue for me.
With that in mind, I still went out for a taco night with Aiday and Gisela, my sister-in-law. She was visiting Chicago to curate an exhibition, so we got to hang out a bit. The show is called “From Here to There: A Constellation of Gestures” and it’s at an alternative space in Portage Park. Check it out if you’re in the area. She enjoys tacos out in the East Bay, so I wanted to have her try some of my favorite tacos in the city. We went for goat tacos at Birrieria Zaragoza, then sampled some tacos and tepache at La Chaparrita, before finishing the night with ice cream from La Michoacana. The goat tacos at Zaragoza were as tasty as always. The consommé is really good as well. The revelation was adding the goat meat to the cheese quesadilla. I’ll be getting that from now on. However, it’s still a little weird for me to eat tacos without any salsa. Also, I’m still having trouble breaking down the tortillas, so I had to drink a lot of fluids or eat them either as a single tortilla or the meat only. At La Chaparrita, in addition to the tacos, we got their juices and tepache, which is a fermented pineapple drink. It is both tasty and should be good for digestion. We took home a half gallon, but are looking at recipes to try to make it ourselves. Despite being full (they more than me, as I couldn’t eat as much), I made sure to stop by the ice cream store, which was recommended to me. La Michoacana has a good variety of ice creams and paletas. I tried three flavors: Maria’s cookies, Mexican Twinkie and Pistachio. They were good and I’ll have to go back to try the paletas later.
On a non-food related note, my guitar class session finished this past week. After playing two songs at the student showcase (where all classes played), many of us headed over to The Store, a dive bar near the school. It’s a place we frequent after class. For whatever reason (it was game 1 of the World Series), Theo Epstein (Cubs President) and his buddies showed up to that bar. That was not where I’d expect to see him.
Also, some of you may have seen that the Old Town School of Folk Music made an unexpected announcement that they are planning to sell their building at 909 W Armitage. That is where I’ve been taking classes and have become part of the community. The planned sale caught all of us by surprise. There is a petition started to try to get the school to reconsider its decision. Please share if you feel similarly. https://bit.ly/SOTSpetition
That’s it for now. Hopefully I’ll be back on the weekly update schedule with news of better health and more tasty eating.