Tuesday, April 17, 2007

this is all i got

I've got nothing good to post but I am tired of looking at that Yakov Smirnoff picture so I will try to drive it down the page. I did my very first cooking with fish sauce and lemongrass last night, which was very exciting. I got a whole chicken at SF market and unbeknownst to me I believe I bought an old-ass stewing hen. It had the head and feet attached, with the feet nicely tucked up in side the cavity. I don't have a sharp cleaver so some mayhem ensued.

Do you roasted duck lovers out there have an opinion (I know you're an opinionated lot) about where the best duck can be found? How do you feel about Gentry BBQ duck?

There is an entertaining discussion of the term "hipster" going on on yelp.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has anyone in the history of everything ever actually considered themselves a hipster? "Well, I'm a bit of a hipster you know". Granted it can be a useful term but it generally says way more about the person saying it than it does about some dude in brown pants & a beard driniking coffee.

-miller

beckler said...

spoken like a true hipster. look, it's just us here! and i just post about stuff we did together that you already know about. p.s.-you left the toilet seat up.

Anonymous said...

From Lord Buckley (1906-1960), who was born in Sonora of Sikh parents and grew up in Stockton, a bit of altered Shakespeare:

"Hipsters, flipsters, and finger-poppin' daddies,
Knock me your lobes,
I came to lay Caesar out,
Not to hip you to him.
The bad jazz that a cat blows,
Wails long after he's cut out.
The groovy is often stashed with their frames,
So don't put Caesar down.
The swinging Brutus hath laid a story on you
That Caesar was hungry for power.
If it were so, it was a sad drag,
And sadly hath the Caesar cat answered it.
Here with a pass from Brutus and the other brass,
For Brutus is a worthy stud,
Yea, so are they all worthy studs,
Though their stallions never sleep.
I came to wail at Caesar's wake.
He was my buddy, and he leveled with me.
Yet Brutus digs that he has eyes for power,
And Brutus is a solid cat.
It is true he hath returned with many freaks in chains
And brought them home to Rome.
Yea, the looty was booty
And hip the trays we wield
Dost thou dig that this was Caesar's groove
For the putsch?
When the cats with the empty kicks hath copped out,
Yea, Caesar hath copped out, too,
And cried up a storm.
To be a world grabber a stiffer riff must be blown.
Without bread a stud can't even rule an anthill.
Yet Brutus was swinging for the moon.
And, yea, Brutus is a worthy stud.
And all you cats were gassed on the Lupercal
When he came on like a king freak.
Three times I lay the kingly wig on him,
And thrice did he put it down.
Was this the move of a greedy hipster?
Yet, Brutus said he dug the lick,
And, yes, a hipper cat has never blown.
Some claim that Brutus' story was a gag.
But I dug the story was solid.
I came here to blow.
Now, stay cool while I blow.
You all dug him once
Because you were hipped that he was solid
How can you now come on so square
Now that he's tapped out of this world.
City Hall is flipped
And swung to a drunken zoo
And all of you cats are goofed to wig city.
Dig me hard.
My ticker is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And, yea, I must stay cool til it flippeth back to me."

Dig it.

If it wasn't for Stockton's coolest former resident (well, a tossup with Stockton-born Gil Evans), I'da retired that word from usage a while back. Still, the commodified "hipness" of the past few decades renders any derivation of the word to ironic status, eh?

-grwffydd

Anonymous said...

Wow, does Gentry BBQ Duck have a bunch of bbq ducks hanging in the window like a Chinee deli? I gotta try that place!!!

Pres,
SASSF

Anonymous said...

Kate Washington says Gentry is awesome but the three times I went there I got jerked around - called all three times, was told they had duck, got there 20 mins later (it's a long drive!) to find no ducks left. The last time - and it will be the last time - they has 2 ducks but said they were reserved (this was 10 mins before closing time).

I think that Capital Tea Garden serves amazing duck ... it's made at the little market around the corner from them with whom they share a kitchen.

beckler said...

oh yeah, i remember now that kw reviewed it. the market is named cheung hing and their duck is the bomb it's true.

Anonymous said...

Cheung Hing is another place whose bbq duck I've been meaning to try. You should compile a Sacramento bbq duck rating list!

President,
Sacramento Appreciation Society of San Francisco

Anonymous said...

Apparently a lot of Vietnamese have a preference for that tough, stringy type of chicken, so it's not hard to unknowingly end up with one if you buy a chicken at a Viet market. I think they're usually the ones in those plastic bags with really yellow skin and they're kinda skinny. I forgot the name for it. It's ga (chicken) and then a word I don't know how to spell that sounds kinda like 'yigh' or 'y-eye' The head and feet are really good for broth. The feet have a ton of gelatin that makes it really rich and flavorful.

JD

Anonymous said...

Con-Ga??

-miller

beckler said...

I tried to make myself gnaw on the feet but I kept looking at the nails and I couldn't do it. Strange when you consider that I chew my own nails. fingernails!

Anonymous said...

i think the duck at simon's is pretty good but sometimes a bit fatty. i think you can bring your own duck in there and they will prepare it for you.
-greg

Anonymous said...

Cruz Bustamante and I shared a greasy duck sandwich at Simons. It was delicious....

Love,
Fireballs