2018 Portland Kitchen Notebook
An in-depth look at some of our favorite dishes and beverages from our time on the ground in Portland, OR.
CrazySexyCool Churros
A churro emerges from Bar Casa Vale like a vixen from the ocean, draped in seaweed and uni in all the right places. “I wanted to do something edgy and cool,” says Chef Jacob Harth. Fried dough has never looked (or tasted) so good. Harth gets clean, buttery uni from the Oregon coast, as well as bull kelp that he hearth-dries and pulverizes into a powder that permeates his churro. Harth uses a modified choux dough, swapping milk for whey to achieve tang and lightness. He pipes it through a flat tip and fries it until crisp and golden brown. Cultured butter is slathered on like suntan oil. Tongues of uni are ensconced on top, heavy with languor and sheathed in house-cured lardo, finished with a tickle of salt, oil, and more kelp.
Whidbey Island-Style
“With mussels it can go either way, a wine broth on the sweeter side, or mussels like where I grew up, with hot sauce,” says Chef Marcelle Crooks. Crooks is a third generation cook from Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound, where the air is vitalizing, the vibe is easy, and seafood is always on the stove. “I’ll throw a pear in with the steaming mussels, they eat well with mussels, adding acid and brightness.” At Little Bird, Crooks balances sweet and spicy, cooking mussels in white wine and pear butter and serving them atop rosemary panisse with harissa-spiked tomato sauce. She finishes the dish with smoked pickled jalapeño, pickled pear, and berbère aïoli. You may not have eaten mussels like this before, but you’ll want to from here on out.
Don't Forget to Eat Your Ovaltine
“I grew up drinking both as a special treat,” says Chef Nong Poonsukwattana of Nong’s Khao Man Gai, where she serves Coca-Cola and Ovaltine-braised pork hocks. She was raised in Bangkok, Thailand, where these Western ingredients found their way into everyday food—in ways their inventors may have never imagined. Now serving 500-plus Portlanders a day, Poonsukwattana has brought these ingredients full-circle on their global journey. The cola and Ovaltine give the braise a complex sweetness, a deep caramel color, and a melt-away texture. The hock meat is shredded over jasmine rice aside garlic-y, schmaltz-fried Chinese broccoli, pickled mustard greens, a boiled egg, and chile vinegar. Enjoy!
Poke it with A Horse Bone
Did you know horse bones don’t retain scent? Of course not! Why would you? But for the artisans working in the prosciutterias of Parma, Italy, it’s a commonly known fact, as Chef Karl Holl discovered on a trip to the region. The workers wield a tool called ago d’osso di cavallo or “horse bone needle.” One end of the bone (usually taken from the pelvis) is sharpened for easy insertion into hanging charcuterie. When checked daily for quality, the tool is poked into hams at a few different points and brought to the nose. “You want nutty, bleu cheese nuance,” says Holl, for whom charcuterie is an important part of the program at Spatzle & Speck. The bone only requires a quick wipe on the apron in-between uses, so every leg can be checked accurately. The scent, whether nutty and wonderful or rancid, is erased in one firm wipe.
