A Surreal Dinner at Restaurant Hasen

My KIT friends took me to dinner at Hotel Hasen's restaurant. I have written before that the restaurant is decorated with gangster movie posters. The dinner experience turned out to be something out of a Monty Python film. We were handed menus by our waiter. We studied them and made our choices. But Hussam wanted the Caesar salad he had ordered on our previous visit, which wasn't on the menu. Had they changed the menu? Quite possibly, given their emphasis on advanced cuisine. To answer the question, a waitress appeared and handed everyone a different menu. She explained (I think) that everyone at the table had order from the same menu---no menu mixing here. Of course, this discussion transpired in German, so my only clue were the quizzical looks and inflections.

I had ordered the steak from this placard. Our waitress explained that this steak could ordered without disrupting their system. So it was on both menus? Or neither? We naturally speculated on the underlying causes of this surreal situation. The best theory was that the restaurant interior and its patio were operated somehow by two different vendors. Since it was too cold to sit outside, the two operations had been folded into the same room but were still disjoint. I know that makes absolutely no sense, but can you come up with something better?

The steak was meaty, juicy, and tender. The fries, served in a Belgian-style cone, were wonderfully crunchy. But what a trip to get to this plate...

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Eating Around Georgia Tech: Ecco

Our Texas Instruments colleague Cathy Wicks was gracious enough to host several of us at Ecco tonight. This is one of those restaurants that has been on my list for a long time. Even though it is within easy walking distance of Georgia Tech, I hadn't made it there until tonight. The menu is a combination of Italian, Spanish, and French that make use of some local Georgia ingredients. The combination of those three countries is sometimes a little forced, although the georgia ingredients (fruit, cheese) were all great and perfectly appropriate. We started out with a meat and cheese board. This actually reverses the French tradition, where cheese usually follows the main course. Everything was excellent. The Georgia cheese was a big hit, as was the French cow/goat cheese. I thought the sauscisson was very subtle and very good. The waitress said that the roast pork pasta was their signature dish, so I had to try it. It had traditional broad pasta (fresh, of course) ...

DCA: Cava Mezze Grill

Cava is a DC area chain with light Mediterranean food. Saibal encouraged me to try lunch at their airport location and I was very happy with the experience. I ordered falafel on SuperSalad with assorted other toppings. The falafel was tasty. The SuperSalad was light, flavorful, and very easy to eat. Overall, a healthy and enjoyable lunch, something you can't always say about airport eating.

Pressure Cooker Candied Ginger

I made candied ginger a few years ago. It's not something I would do every day but I had a lot of fun doing it. I recently acquired a pressure cooker and it inspired an interesting idea to me: why not make candied ginger in the pressure cooker? It should be very soft and flavorful. Here is the result. I peeled two large ginger roots, cut them into small cubes, and put them in the pressure cooker with heavily sugared water. The traditional method first boils the ginger in plain water to soften it and then again in sugar water to candy it. The resulting candy was very tender but still with the characteristic ginger texture. It was also sweet without being overpowering. The traditional method leaves a lot of sugar crystallized around the ginger. The pressure cooker gives a much more subtle result. The ginger stays moist even after it cools but you can dry it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. That inspired me to dip it in chocolate. While I was in the b...

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