Two months ago, I received some Buzz Bites (a new highly caffeinated chocolate candy) to try out. I tried them with my friend Harold, wrote down some notes, and then prepared a brief entry on this blog for it and forgot to publish! Here’s what I thought about Buzz Bites:
I received two flavors Mint Chocolate and Chocolate. Each tin contained 6 candies or chews - each of which have the caffeine content equivalent of a cup of coffee. The texture of each of the chews is halfway between butterscotch and crumbly fudge. The taste however is something else - the flavor is really weird and a bit off putting to me (I do like the texture however). It started off fine - like an interesting chocolate confection. Interesting because there’s a different flavor - some extra bitterness that isn’t quite the same as chocolate bitterness - then the flavor deepens and some more flavors came out which made me feel like the Buzz Bite stopped being a sweet treat but something oddly savory. Then that sensation passed and I’m was left with an odd artificial sweetener + bitterness lingering in the mouth.

It’s half candy and half no-doze… I don’t think this is a food product that I’ll be having in the future - but for those of you looking for the next buzz, Buzz Bites might be something you’ll want to look out for. (  Click here to read the rest of Buzz Bites  )

A couple weeks ago I had to head back up to San Francisco to do some work in our data center. After I was done, I took my wife to a Thai restaurant that Dave Lu introduced me to: Manora’s Thai Cuisine. The food there is excellent AND reasonably priced (around $10 a dish).

Manora’s Thai Cuisine (Google Maps)
1600 Folsom St
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 861-6224

Por-Pia-Sod (rice paper rolls stuffed with crab, shrimp, pork sausage, pork, cucumber and mushroom, topped with sweet and sour tamarind sauce). Highly Recommended.

(  Click here to read the rest of Dining: Manora’s Thai Cuisine  )

A while back I mentioned the existence of a product called Batter Blaster. I finally got around to trying it out. Using the product was a breeze, just invert, press on the tip until enough batter comes out, and stop. The rest is just like cooking pancakes (or waffles if you’re using a waffle iron) like normal.

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It was just a few years ago that celebrity chefs were rare and usually only popular in the small community of food enthusiasts. These days, for better or worse, Food Network has really expanded the food lexicon and awareness of the general public. I might not always agree with the direction their shows take and what aspects of food and cooking they promote, but I have to say they’ve really made food and food celebrities main stream. Here’s Mario Batali making a celebrity cameo in a music video (!) by the Blood Sugars. Do you guys think this is a positive trend or is the popularization of food culture negatively affecting the food community?

This sounds like fun. Carrabba’s Italian Grill, a nationwide chain of Italian restaurants (that seem to be everywhere except for California… I wonder if they’re any good), has a promotion where they’ve partnered with a Tuscan winery (Ruffino) to produce a wine (they describe it as a baby super tuscan blend) for sale at the restaurant. They’re asking for submissions for a unique name for the new wine. What does the winner get? A case of the exclusive wine, a special dinner for twelve, and a years worth of dinner at Carrabba’s. I’m not too good with names… the best I’ve come up with is Savory Oak which is kind of lame. I’d be interested in hearing some of your ideas (whether or not you actually participate in the contest). I never gave wine names much thought before.

It’s funny how sometimes the best things to eat are the simple things. I haven’t been to this restaurant in a couple years, so I thought I’d stop in. B44 is a restaurant specializing in Spanish (Catalan) cuisine and is situated on Belden Place among several other western European places to eat. After my last visit, I’d recommend the Catalan toast and ox tails appetizer. From memory their paellas are quite good, but for us last night it was the basic appetizers that hit the spot. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera on me, so no pictures - just descriptions.

B44 (Google Maps)
44 Belden Place
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 986-6287
b44sf.com

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Tina set up the vanilla ice cream test right after I set up the Choctal test. We tried the three vanillas in our freezer - Strauss Family Creamery Vanilla, Choctal Madagascar Vanilla, and Trader Joe’s Vanilla Ice Cream. I also tried to guess which was which and was COMPLETELY wrong. I guessed that the flavors were Choctal, Strauss, and mystery brand (I forgot the third brand in the freezer). It turned out they were Strauss, Trader Joe’s, and Choctal.

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While prepping the photos for a Guacamole recipe, I removed the pits from four avocados. It was at this time that I began to wonder what was inside the pit. Was there a nut inside this over sized seed like the pit of a peach, almond, or cashew?

(  Click here to read the rest of What’s Inside An Avocado Pit?  )

Sometimes Tina and I do blind tastings. This time I had my friend Trevor over so we had an extra mouth to taste test. I picked up the lineup of Choctal ice creams available in my local markets - four single origin chocolate ice creams (Kalimantan, Dominican, Ghana, and Costa Rican) and vanilla ice cream (Madagascar vanilla). I had previously tasted the same five Choctal products at the 2007 Fancy Food Show, but neither Trevor nor Tina had. I set up the test (mainly to see which of the four chocolates we would prefer).

(  Click here to read the rest of Choctal Test  )

The other day, I ate dinner at Truya Sushi where I had my usual assortment of sushi. At the end of dinner, we were chatting with the proprietor, Scott, and somehow the subject of edible bugs came up. Scott presented me with a small bowl of boiled silkworms seasoned with sauce chili oil - a Korean dish called beondegi or bun dae gi.

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