Marché Moderne fetes Bastille Day with an authentic bouillabaisse

Hurry! Florent Marneau at Marché Moderne in Costa Mesa is celebrating Bastille Day with bouillabaisse from now through July 19. That's just one week more.

This is the real deal, not some tricked-up California-style fish stew. Marneau is so obsessed with authenticity he's flying in seafood caught off the coast of Nice, Marseilles and Toulon, France, every day. That's the only way to get the flavors right. Depending on the day's catch, his bouillabaisse might include rouget (red mullet), Saint Pierre, dorade grise (bream), and rascasse (scorpion fish), plus octopus, scallops, mussels, clams and shrimp.

The seafood stew also includes fennel, potato and roasted tomatoes bathed in an aromatic broth. The traditional rouille and croutons are served on the side, along with Marneau's basil-scented tomato tartare, fennel pollen emulsion, lemon-garlic emulsion and tapenade.

The bouillabaisse is priced at $50 and served at dinner only through July 19.

What to drink?  Rosé de Provence, of course, from Château Saint-Martin.

For reservations, call (714) 434.7900.

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-- S. Irene Virbila
twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photos: bouillabaisse. Credit: Marché Moderne and South Coast Plaza

 

Indigo-dyed napkins from a shibori master

Indigo is a strong trend in fashion right now. That’s the dye used in old-fashioned denim and also in traditional Japanese and African textiles. 

I’m a great lover of Japanese textiles and was poking around textile artist Yoshiko Wada’s website for any classes or events she might have scheduled when I noticed she also has an online shop. One of the items on offer are hand-dyed napkins on traditional cotton kimono material. This set of napkins dyed in the sekka or snowflake shibori pattern are just $30 for five, each 16 x 13 inches. She also has placemat settings, a set of two napkins and two lined placemats for $35. 

The table linens are made by Japanese textile artist Harisho, who, according to Wada, is the last remaining itajime shibori master working in the traditional Edo period technique. To dye the fabric, it “is folded several times into very small strips," she explains, "then put between carved wooden boards and dyed." 

Indigo and white looks so very cool on a hot summer day. 

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-- S. Irene Virbila
twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photos: Indigo-dyed napkins. Courtesy of Yoshko Wada.  

 

This week's recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

In our latest Master Class, Thomas Keller explores cold soups, perfect for summer:

I have come back to soup time and time again (and that's in both my cooking and acting career for those of you who are Pixar fans) — always fascinated and challenged by the possibilities it offers.

Soup is an ideal way to begin a meal, and it will always have a place at my table regardless of the time of year. In summer, when we crave fresh flavors and light dishes, chilled soups offer us a perfect venue for showcasing an array of produce from the garden.

The soup recipes here demonstrate the variety of tools we use to extract these flavors in their purest form. Some (gazpacho and vichyssoise) are practically meals unto themselves, while others (corn soup and carrot consommé) are meant more as a palate-awakening amuse bouche.

And restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila profiles London-based chef Yotam Ottolenghi:

Until very recently, I'd never actually eaten Yotam Ottolenghi's food. I'd certainly cooked a lot of it, but I had never been to one of his London restaurants. I knew the Israeli-born chef strictly from his two cookbooks, but that was enough for me to admire how he can take seemingly ordinary ingredients and make them add up to something more vivid than you'd ever imagine from reading through a recipe. His cooking has a clarity and authenticity unusual in a world where chefs work harder and harder to amaze with daring technique and surprising ingredients.

This week's recipes include:

• Gazpacho
• Cucumber vichyssoise
• Chilled corn soup
• Carrot consommé
• Zucchini and manouri fritters
• Shakshuka
• Lawry's baked macaroni and cheese

When you try one of this week's recipes or any L.A. Times recipe, let us know! Upload a photo onto the "Our Recipes, Your Kitchen" gallery to share your take on the recipe and tell us about yourself. Your photo will be posted online and may be selected to run in print with our weekly section.

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— Noelle Carter
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.

Video: Chef Rory Hermann demonstrates how to make chilled corn soup. Credit: Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times.

Packing for vacation? Don't forget your traveling cocktail bitters

Packing your suitcase for a quick weekend or a more leisurely vacation? I know you’ve got your miniature shampoo and lotions. But do you have your traveling cocktail bitters?

Yes, that’s right, a special box of bitters in adorable mini-sizes to ensure you can keep up your cocktail mixing skills while away from home. The German bitters company the Bitter Truth has packed up five little bottles, one each of original celery bitters, old time aromatic bitters, orange bitters, Creole bitters and Jerry Thomas bitters, this last named for arguably the most famous bartender of the 19^th century, in its Cocktail Bitters Traveler’s Set.

Think what you could do to upgrade an in-flight martini or gin & tonic with one of these kits!

The wonderful thing: Each bottle is 20 milliliters, therefore — hear, hear! — small enough to be carried in your hand luggage. 

Where did I spy them? On the counter at Silverlake Wine. But they should be widely available at fine wine and liquor stores.

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-- S. Irene Virbila
Twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photos: The Bitter Truth's Cocktail Bitters Traveler’s Set. Credit: S. Irene Virbila / Los Angeles Times.

 

Weekend plan: the new Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail

Santa Barbara doesn’t want to lose out on all the Central Coast wine action. To that end, a group of local wineries has come up with the new Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail, SBUWT for short, with a string of 17 tasting rooms, all in downtown Santa Barbara.

Traipsing from winery to winery not your thing? Or you just don’t have the time? Stay close to city amenities and clock in at Santa Barbara’s “Funk Zone” neighborhood where you can go from tasting room to tasting room by foot or bike. Or if you prefer, you can make the designated driver some poor pedicab driver. To reduce your carbon footprint even further, consider arriving by train from Union Station downtown.

Coming up: Passport Weekend on July 27 to 29 when SBUWT revs up the offerings with winemakers in attendance, reserve vintages, light bites and live music. [UPDATED: The story originally reported the tickets were $75] For a $50 ticket, taste all weekend and enjoy a 10% discount on any wine purchases made then and there. Could be fun.

To get started, check in at Carr Winery, Santa Barbara Winery or Margerum Wine Company. You can also buy tickets online.

Wineries that are part of the Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail include Au Bon Climat, Cottonwood Canyon, Summerland Winery, Grassini Family Vineyards and Pali Wine, and more.

Outside of the Passport Weekend, each winery sets their own tasting fees which can vary from $5 to $15 dollars and typically include tastes of between five and eight wines. 

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-- S. Irene Virbila
Twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photos: Santa Barbara Urban Wine Trail map. Credit: SBUWT

Online warehouse sale at Cube Marketplace

On the Cube Marketplace website, now is the time for their second annual online warehouse sale with most items 40% off. That means a quirky Biv Hisey picnic blanket embroidered with ants (the back has spaces to zip in three cushions). Originally $300, it's now $180. But also aged balsamic vinegars at a steep discount, wood cutting boards, hand-printed tea towels, special salts (applewood-smoked sea salt, pink Peruvian ancient ocean salt, whole spices, ceramics, Pantelleria capers, and more.

I'm partial to the FUZ grey felt egg flat or their "winepocket." Ah, but here's some of that terrificly fragrant dried oregano from Sicily reduced to $8.40 from $14. And if you're in dire need of asparagus vinegar or beer vinegar from Lower Austria, they've got it. Good for stumping pretentious self-described gourmets. Who would guess what went into your vinaigrette?

A line of spices from Le Sanctuaire, which had a posh Santa Monica store before the owners moved the business to San Francisco, are on sale, too, including saffron from Iran. A set of six Maarten Baptist espresso spoons from the Netherlands is now $20.40, marked down from $34.

And get this, Rancho Gordo beans are on sale, too. Never seen that. Borlotti, limas, cattle beans, pebble beans, quinoa, etc. for $3.30 instead of $5.50. Time to stock up.

I could use everything and anything. But what do I really need? Carnaroli rice. They've got that, too. And some of Robert Lambert's white ginger or yuzu syrup. 

Done.

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-- S. Irene Virbila

Twitter.com/sirenevirbila

Photos: picnic blanket and espresso spoons. Courtesy of Cube Marketplace.

The Latin Dish: Free bimonthly magazine for the iPad

I just downloaded a new free bimonthly magazine for the iPad called the Latin Dish from Via Vargas Media. The editor is Joe Vargas Bock, who writes in his letter to the editor, “Our goal for the Latin Dish is to celebrate Latin American food by exploring its distinctiveness and educating each other on its role in current society, its root cultures, and the way it has evolved, all while giving recognition to the ways in which each of us makes it our own.”

In the first issue is a tribute to Jacqueline Vargas Bock’s grandmother Hope Saldaña Vargas along with her traditional tamale recipe, which her daughters make every Christmas. There’s also an article on Austin eats and food trucks, the history of pralines (a Tex-Mex favorite, who knew?), a brief treatise on making tortillas (how about a video, too, so we can see how it’s done?) and an interview with Cuban American chef Fernando Saralegui of the family cooking show Papi’s Kitchen.

Edible landscaping pioneer Rosalind Creasy, author of “Edible Mexican Garden” (Tuttle Publishing, 2000) has a story called “Cooking from the Mexican Garden.” That’s not everything in the table of contents, but enough to give an idea of where the publication is headed.

The first issue has a sweet homemade quality to it, especially the photos. If the staff can keep up the quality of the articles and cover the whole spectrum of Latin cuisine, the magazine could work. Definitely. But it can’t be just a family project. And it could use someone more knowledgeable to write about Latin wines. I’d love to see something on the Baja wine country and the chefs there. How’s that for a second issue theme?

Remember, the Latin Dish is free at the iTunes store. Check it out. And send in any suggestions to the editor at joe@thelatindish.com. 

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Photos: Cover of the Latin Dish iPad magazine, chef Fernando Saralegui. Courtesy of the Latin Dish.

Celebrate Rainier cherry season at Bierbeisl

Don’t let this one get away: Wednesday is National Rainier Cherry Day, marking the Rainier cherry’s short six-week season in the Pacific Northwest. That’s the beautiful yellow cherry blushed with red and blessed with a sweet, delicate flavor.

At Bierbeisl  in Beverly Hills, young Austrian chef/owner Bernhard Mairinger is getting in a cache of Rainier beauties from Northwest Cherries. And starting on Wednesday, he’ll be serving the coveted cherries in several ways: vanilla-infused goat cheese with homemade Rainier cherry compote, toasted pistachios, green peppercorns and frisée salad, or house-made vanilla ice cream with marinated Rainier cherries. This last one sounds really terrific--cherry-chocolate strudel with house-made pistachio ice cream. I'm there. What about you?

Bierbeisl, 9669 Little Santa Monica Blvd. (between Bedford and Roxbury), Beverly Hills; (310) 271-7274; www.bierbeisl-la.com.

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-- S. Irene Virbila
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Photos: Rainier cherries. Credit: Northwest Cherries.

 

The aperitif hour: Fennel-spiced cashews

I tasted these fennel-spiced cashews when journalist, cookbook author and cooking teacher Kaumudi Marathé of un-curry brought them to dinner at a friend’s house. They’re a welcome relief from toasted almonds, and I love their subtle spicing of fennel, coriander and black pepper with a pinch of cayenne or chile powder.

They take only minutes to make, too. Just be sure you allow time for the nuts to cool. Not to panic: When they first come out of the oven, they will be soft, she notes, but they'll firm up after 10 minutes.

I served them last week, in fact, with the bottle of Champagne a friend brought to celebrate her new job. The only change I made was to mix the nuts with olive oil and spices in a bowl before spreading them on a baking sheet.

See the recipe after the jump.

For making quesadillas: a black clay comal

When I ordered my La Chamba black clay bean pot a few weeks ago, I also ordered a comal in the same all-natural clay. That has turned out to be a beauty for heating tortillas.

They come in two sizes, 12- or 13-inch diameter. I went with the larger and I’m glad I did, because I can fit three or four tortillas on its slightly curved surface at a time. Though it’s only made of clay, this comal can take the heat of my gas burner.

I’ve also discovered it makes beautiful quesadillas. I generally give one side of the tortilla a light spritz of olive oil, then lay it on the comal and add the fillings.

For lunch today, it was Monterey Jack cheese with thinly sliced squash blossom, epazote and a roasted tomatillo salsa. The tortilla cooks to a deep, crisp gold. And if you spray on the oil, it’s never greasy.

The comal is also great for roasting chiles or tomatillos too. Because of its concave shape, though, it’s best used on gas stoves.

The comal is available from Toque Blanche in Half Moon Bay at www.MyToque.com; (650) 726-2898. The 12-inch Chamba comal is on sale right now for $29.95, the 13-inch, which I bought, for $39.95.

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-- S. Irene Virbila
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Photos: Comal, top, and squash blossom quesadilla. Credit: S. Irene Virbila / Los Angeles Times