The Blog

“Huh? $220 roundtrip to Barcelona from JFK! Say what, now?”

That was my reaction when my friend Marcus informed me he’d just booked airfare to Spain in November for next to nothing. So it’s official. As of November 4, I will no longer be embarrassed for having never left this country. I have a passport. It’s time I put that sucker to use.

I’m going with a group, there’s about eight of us. So we’ve booked an apartment instead of pricey hotel. Looks pretty nice—four bedrooms, plenty of living space. Check it out.

Plane ticket: check. Lodging: check. Rosetta Stone’s Spanish for Spain language pack: check. What else do I need?

I guess I’m coming to you (friends, family and readers) for tips. Have you been to Spain, specifically Barcelona? Anything you think I shouldn’t miss out on while I’m there. Let me know. Leave your tips in a comment.

Mucho gracias.

He's my hero, by the way.

For foodies, Anthony Bourdain is like your best friend who would tell you if you had toothpaste in the corner of your mouth. He keeps it real. (I just finished reading his best-seller Kitchen Confidential. Great book.) He calls things like he sees them. Sure, all of his commentary is just opinion. But his credibility comes from the years he spent in New York’s ‘culinary underbelly,’ as he calls it in his book. He’s pretty funny, too.

Anyway…he’s talking major trash about culinary TV divas (male and female). See it here.

Here’s an excerpt, talking about Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee, whom I wish would go away forever:

“All you have to do is waddle into the kitchen, open a can of crap and spread it on some other crap that you bought at the supermarket. And then you’ve done something really special. The most terrifying thing I’ve seen is her making a Kwanzaa cake. Watch that clip and tell me your eyeballs don’t burst into flames. It’s a war crime on television. You’ll scream.”

I love this guy.

I don’t think I’ve ever sat through a movie and felt like it was a documentary of the last five years of my life. “Medicine for Melancholy” was…well, medicine for me. (Sounds cheesy, I know.) It reminded me of why I love the city of San Francisco and why the City often disappoints me.

The movie was filmed completely in San Francisco, where I’ve attended college for the last five years (lived in, worked in, got drunk socialized in). The film addresses gentrification, a topic that I’ve discussed many times with a close friend/college buddy, who has since retreated to the east coast where a 7 percent black population in any of its major cities is an absurdity oddity.

Indeed, San Francisco is a beautiful place. There’s great diversity here. And at the same time there’s not. As more and more of the city’s black and/or poorer population is displaced, the City has become a place where running into a black man or woman in their 20s and with a college education is like finding a unicorn. You see “one” and then its suddenly gone. I’m often too ashamed to approach that person and tell them how nice it is to see them living, working, and socializing in the city. (And most of “them” don’t care, anyway…which is my next point.)

Many of the blacks that are here—the ones in their twenties and in or out of (or never finished) college—seem to consciously ignore the absence of a black middle class—as if being the only one in the room (the bar, the diner, the store) isn’t just a little bit odd. It’s their way of blending in with the overwhelmingly white and Asian crowds in the City’s interior neighborhoods. “If I ignore the fact that I’m the only black person here, maybe others will too.” There’s nothing wrong with choosing to not to care about the ethnic diversity of your environment. Honestly, there are some of “us” who care a little bit too much. But sometimes you (I) actually do long for an ethnic connection to someone in the bar, where the DJ is blasting The Fray, Incubus or random House tracks. (Anyone else feel weird for being one of the few in the bar/gallery who can actually catch and stay on the beat? I digress.)

One of film’s two main characters, Micah, described the remaining young blacks in the City as those who are into “punk (music), folk or whatever you don’t see on BET.” In some ways, I could say that I’m one of them. I’ll admit, I’m clinging to 1990s Philadelphia neo-soul, you know, the stuff with a conscious message. (Soulquarians.) I enjoy some folk music. But I’m holding on to my D’angelo, Erykah, Bilal and The Roots. I can’t tell you the last time I watched BET. I think I stopped watching after one or two semesters of black studies classes in college. Good riddance.

But Micah’s character makes a good point when he says adopting a more “indie” social lifestyle often means letting go of “blackness,” no matter which way you might define it.

Director Barry Jenkins, who I saw (and was too scared to approach) after the first screening on Friday at the SF Embarcadero theater, did an excellent job of presenting the race and gentrification discussion in a way that it’s usually occurred for me: spontaneously, while slightly inebriated and with heightened aggression.

My verdict: go see this film if you want to have any idea what my college social life has been like (minus the lover story). And Tracey Heggins: that’s one fine woman!

Director Barry Jenkins and actress Tracy Heggins (‘Jo)

This must have been a decent movie, because I sat through the entire three hours of it with a pounding headache. I have to admit, I felt like I’d been sitting in the theater for five hours instead of three.

On the movie’s contents: Great special effects. The acting was poor, as per usual in superhero movies. But the entire thing was carried by a plot that seemed to get weirder and weirder with each hour. Some of it was pretty gruesome. At times, I thought I was watching a Quentin Tarantino film. (And I’m no prude.)

There was a lot of political themes in the film—communism, nuclear disarmament, World War III mongering. Having never read the graphic novel, I was surprised how much of the plot was centered around political issues from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

And lastly, I think Dr. Manhattan needed to wear pants more often. (I’ll leave it at that.)

My verdict: go see it. But pee before you take your seat, and order a small drink.

Trailer: (watch in HD, by hitting “HQ”)

While in New York a few weeks ago, my cousins and I stumbled into a seafood market in Chinatown. I saw the live blue crabs and couldn’t resist. Within seconds, we had all agreed to having a major crab feast for dinner that night. I was in charge of the blue crabs.

Here’s the recipe and instructions:

Ingredients: one egg, all-purpose flour, Kosher salt, pepper, five-spice seasoning, Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder, jalapenos, green onions, vegetable oil (for deep frying), and six to eight live (or dead, if you must) soft shell (blue) crabs.

Step 1: Put live crab in egg-wash

Step 2: Put crab in flour batter (after combining all dry [powdered] ingredients)

Step 3: Deep fry those bastards in hot oil (until golden brown and crispy)

Step 4: Drain finished crab in bowl, make garnish: deep fry (in fresh oil) chopped jalapenos and green onions.

Step 5: Top crabs with garnish and extra seasoning (all dry ingredients except the flour)

Eating them:

You can eat the crabs shell and all. The claws have meat that you should break open and eat. The body has a little meat, but be careful not to eat all the body. Most of it is crab organs, etc.

Photos courtesy of Racquel Payton (my cousin)

Here’s a few photos from a dinner I cooked for my parents and sister a few months back. I’ve posted links to the recipes and ingredient lists for each. I must emphasize cooking the scallop dish last, as it doesn’t take very long at all. And…all of it turned out good.

Chile-Lime Crab Salad with Tomato and Avocado

(Recipe)
Ingedient list: Fresh lime juice, extra-virgin olive oil, vegetable oil, jalapeño, cilantro, honey, garlic, black pepper, lump crabmeat, Hass avocados, red onion, and heirloom tomatoes.

Scallops Provencal

(Recipe)
Ingedient list: bay or sea scallops, Kosher salt, black pepper, all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, shallots, garlic, flat-leaf parsley leaves, dry white wine, and lemon.

Onion Soup

(recipe from Bistro and Brasseries cookbook) (Closest online recipe)
Ingredient list: unsalted butter, sweet onions, garlic, curry powder, Chablis (white wine), all-purpose flour, beef stock, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, baguette, Gruyere cheese, parsley (or chives)

Rice

Simply cook white jasmine rice, but drop in chopped parsley just before reducing heat to steam.

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Got any versions of these recipes I should try? Let me know.