This hour long documentary for which Joe has spent years in the eating comes out this Fall.  Folks like me who have enjoyed his great short films about food like Whole Hog have been looking forward to it.

It has a web page, too.

From the start of the story “Blonde Mink”:

Now of course there are many different ways of cooking tripe but personally I prefer it [...]]]> It is well known that Damon Runyon was fascinated with the underworld characters hanging out in saloons on Broadway during prohibition.  I was unaware he was also fascinated with tripe.

From the start of the story “Blonde Mink”:

Now of course there are many different ways of cooking tripe but personally I prefer it stewed with tomatoes and mushrooms and a bit of garlic and in fact I am partaking of a portion in this form in Mindy’s restaurant on Broadway one evening in January when a personality by the name of Julie the Starker sits down at my table and leans over and snifs my dish and says to me like this:

“Tripe,” he says.  ”With garlic,” he says.  ”Why, this is according to the recipe of the late Slats Slavin, who obtains it from his old Aunt Margaret in Troy.  Waiter,” he says, “bring me an order of this delicious concoction only with more garlic.  It is getting colder outside and a guy needs garlic in his system to thicken his blood.  Well,” he says, “this is indeed a coincidence* because I just come from visiting the late Slats and having a small chat with him.”

From somewhere in the middle of the story “Pick the Winner,” there’s even the same tripe dish:

Now what happens one evening, but Hot Horse Herbie and his ever-loving fiancée, Miss Cutie Singleton,** and me are in a little grease joint on Second Street putting on the old hot tripe à la Creole, which is a very pleasant dish, and by no means expensive, when who wanders in but Professor Woodhead.

Naturally Herbie calls him over to our table and introduces Professor Woodhead to Miss Cutie Singleton, and Professor Woodhead sits there with us looking at Miss Cutie Singleton with great interest, although Miss Cutie Singleton is at this time feeling somewhat peevish because it is the fourth evening hand running she has to eat trip à la Creole, and Miss Cutie Singleton does not care for tripe under any circumstances.

___________

*And not the only coincidence.  Last night, writing about Ron Paul’s newsletters, the name of one of Paul’s libertarian mentors for some reason brought to my mind Arnold Rothstein, the guy who probably fixed the 1919 World Series.  Checking my memory on Wikipedia, I learned that Rothstein was probably a partial model for both the late Slats in “Blonde Mink” and Nathan Detroit, possessor of the oldest floating crap game in Manhattan, in “The Idyl of Miss Sarah Brown.”  ”Blonde Mink” is very loosely inspired by Rothstein’s death, although Slats did not die violently, and Runyon doesn’t use Slat’s comments when the police asked who shot him: “You stick to your trade. I’ll stick to mine” and “Me mudder did it.”   I don’t think the fact that I’ve been reading Runyon lately caused Rothstein to come to mind.

**Hot Horse Herbie and Miss Cutie Singleton may be familiar from an earlier appearance on the blog.

In a small study, researchers found that cheese, often avoided due to its saturated fatty acids, did not increase LDL or total cholesterol levels.

And I stole the title outright from the Atlantic because I wanted an [...]]]> In an article that represents some of the best news I’ve heard today, the Atlantic website begins:

In a small study, researchers found that cheese, often avoided due to its saturated fatty acids, did not increase LDL or total cholesterol levels.

And I stole the title outright from the Atlantic because I wanted an innocence-related post that had nothing to do with Tucker Carrington or his colleagues.

There may be a debate about which table, but one of several tables on the balcony and the upstairs room at John Currence’s new location for Bouré, in the old Downtown Grill space on the Square have the best view.  The picture above (click to expand) is from the corner table on the [...]]]>

There may be a debate about which table, but one of several tables on the balcony and the upstairs room at John Currence’s new location for Bouré, in the old Downtown Grill space on the Square have the best view.  The picture above (click to expand) is from the corner table on the balcony; if you want to see the courthouse up close and personal, tables to the East or just inside the east-most room would be your pick.

Bouré reopens in the new space tomorrow (a first full weekend of LSU in town!).  The renovations, particularly downstairs, are really nice.

This would be a smart move for tailgating.  You [...]]]> The folks at Woodson Ridge Farms are still doing their Saturday Morning thing from 8-12 out at the farm.  They are bringing stuff up from their farm in Louisiana too, along with $8 a pound fresh-from-the-boat Gulf shrimp, which you can have boiled or raw.

This would be a smart move for tailgating.  You can call to arrange that if you want through the address at the website noted above, and you can find directions how to get there (it’s simple:  Turn left at Littlejohn’s store on Highway 30, go about 1.5 miles to you see their sign on the right.  You can get more specific directions on the web).

Here’s the kind of stuff they are having lately:

Bok choi, arugula, baby carrots, baby fennel, greens (mustard, turnip, kale, chard, collards), tomatoes (cherries in various colors and varieties, green and red zebras and other heirlooms, San Marzanos), various kinds of eggplants, peppers, and turnips).

From Louisiana:  satsumas, navel oranges, snap beens, cabbage, winter squashes, creole tomatoes, brocoli.

It’s pretty great!

From Woodson Ridge Farms, I got carrot, radish, beet, and turnip tops, along with arugula.  I missed their lettuce.

From the Bost Farms at MidTown shopping center (sadly, the last market of [...]]]> The greens are really at their Fall peak right now, and between the various local farmers I found a lot this morning:

From Woodson Ridge Farms, I got carrot, radish, beet, and turnip tops, along with arugula.  I missed their lettuce.

From the Bost Farms at MidTown shopping center (sadly, the last market of the Fall), I got mustard greens and spinach.

From Flora Farms at Midtown, I got Swiss chard.

From Hollowell, who has taken to parking a pick-up truck just north of the three-way intersection, I got collards and kale.

I’ve got bunching onions in the yard and will buy some cabbage, lettuce, Italian parsley, along with some brisket from the Brown Family Farm, garlic from Flora (how many dishes have thirteen local ingredients?), and sausage Joyce brought back from West Louisiana to make this, something I ordinarily make in the Spring.

I’m not sure you want the details, particularly this close to lunchtime, but just accept my assurance, you don’t want to be eating raw slugs. Seriously.

I tagged this item as “Food”….