What’s better than lying on a beach in And they are perfect for this moment. They are deliciously crunchy outside and soft and warm inside—bare except for oil and salt that mixes with the taste of sea salt on my lips from swimming in the glorious
The perfect meal can depend so much on context and memory, but right now, these fries seem perfect. It's not so much that the taste of the fries is extraordinary, but that every crisp bite and burst of salt is a reminder that I’m in
—Dorothy Allison
It turned out that it was short ribs, just in a form I hadn’t been exposed to before, and it was amazing! The succulent and hefty portion of meat came with the choice of four sides. I chose kim chi, pickled cucumbers, bean sprouts, and macaroni salad, which is staple of any Hawaiian plate lunch. The flavorful sauce coating the meat was slightly sweet and yet also savory, and it penetrated each little bite. Some sections were a little bit tougher than others and the very nature of eating ribs requires some gnawing, something I’m not afraid of doing in public. The meal also came with two heaping mounds of steamed white rice on which the meat sat. The rice became deliciously coated in the sauce from the short ribs, which was very light, not thick and coating like many American BBQ sauces.
The sides were decent—nothing extraordinary, in my opinion, but definitely good accompaniments to the meat, which was clearly the star of the show. The most interesting was probably the cucumbers. They were pickled, but they hadn’t quite reached the point in the pickling process to be on the same par as a deli pickle. The skin was still smooth, and they were flexible yet with a bit of crunch. The cucumbers were lightly coated in a spicy sauce that may have been the same sauce used in the kim chi. I’m no kim chi aficionado, so I don’t know exactly how Me BBQ’s kim chi compares to others. It tasted basically like all the other kim chi I’ve had—like spicy, pickled cabbage. Sorry to all you out there who love it, but kim chi doesn’t thrill me. The bean sprouts seemed to have been steamed or marinated in a light sauce, like rice vinegar and salt. The flavor was very light, but they did add a nice crunch to the meal.
The macaroni salad was good and almost worked as a palate cleanser for all the strong Korean flavors. If the heat of the kim chi got to be too much or the Ka Li short ribs were too intense, then all it took as a bit of cold mac salad to get me ready for another bite of deliciousness. It was definitely my favorite of all the sides.
Me BBQ is a very small joint where you can order take out. There are a few picnic tables outside where you can sit down with what is sure to be a huge meal and enjoy watching people as they walk down
I’m back from
Over the next few weeks I’ll share some of my discoveries and dining experiences with all of you. Some topics will include enjoying Ahi Poke at the Sansei Seafood Restaurant, trying a Puka Dog with Hawaiian mustard and pineapple relish, enjoying a plate lunch at Me BBQ, indulging in fried rice with two over-easy eggs for breakfast at the Rainbow Drive In, watching kalua pork being unearthed from an underground oven and sampling poi at a luau, and sipping endless Mai Tais and Blue Hawaiians. The peak of my culinary enjoyment in
I hope you all enjoy the stories to come as I bring you along through my week-long trip to
—Makana
—Anthony Bourdain
“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
“As I bit into the nectarine, it had a crisp juiciness about it that was very pleasurable - until I realized it wasn't a nectarine at all, but A HUMAN HEAD!”
“The next time I have meat and mashed potatoes, I think I'll put a very large blob of potatoes on my plate with just a little piece of meat. And if someone asks me why I didn't get more meat, I'll just say, ‘Oh, you mean this?’ and pull out a big piece of meat from inside the blob of potatoes, where I've hidden it. Good magic trick, huh?”
“What is it about a beautiful sunny afternoon, with the birds singing and the wind rustling through the leaves, that makes you want to get drunk?”
“If you're in a war, instead of throwing a hand grenade at the enemy, throw one of those small pumpkins. Maybe it'll make everyone think how stupid war is, and while they are thinking, you can throw a real grenade at them.”
“Laurie got offended that I used the word puke. But to me, that's what her dinner tasted like.”
“When you die, if you get a choice between going to regular heaven or pie heaven, choose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if it's not, mmm boy.”
“If you're at a Thanksgiving dinner, but you don't like the stuffing or the cranberry sauce or anything else, just pretend like you're eating it, but instead, put it all in your lap and form it into a big mushy ball. Then, later, when you're out back having cigars with the boys, let out a big fake cough and throw the ball to the ground. Then say, ‘Boy, these are good cigars!’”
”If you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking beer, I bet you could shoot beer out of you nose.”
“I think a good gift for the President would be a chocolate revolver. And since he is so busy, you'd probably have to run up to him real quick and give it to him.”
“The memories of my family outings are still a source of strength to me. I remember we'd all pile into the car—I forget what kind it was—and drive and drive. I'm not sure where we'd go, but I think there were some trees there. The smell of something was strong in the air as we played whatever sport we played. I remember a bigger, older guy we called ‘Dad.’ We'd eat some stuff, or not, and then I think we went home. I guess some things never leave you.”
“I think someone should have had the decency to tell me the luncheon was free. To make someone run out with potato salad in his hand, pretending he's throwing up, is not what I call hospitality.”
“Is there anything more beautiful than a beautiful, beautiful flamingo flying across in front of a beautiful sunset? And he has a beautiful rose in his beak. And also he is carrying a very beautiful painting in his feet. And also, you're drunk.”
“If I lived back in the wild west days, instead of carrying a six-gun in my holster, I'd carry a soldering iron. That way, if some smart-aleck cowboy said something like ‘Hey, look. He's carrying a soldering iron!’ and started laughing, and everybody else started laughing, I could just say, ‘That's right, it's a soldering iron. The soldering iron of justice.’ Then everybody would get real quiet and ashamed, because they had made fun of the soldering iron of justice, and I could probably hit them up for a free drink.”
”Even though I was their captive, the Indians allowed me quite a bit of freedom. I could walk freely, make my own meals, and even hurl large rocks at their heads. It was only later that I discovered that they were not Indians at all but only dirty-clothes hampers.”
“My favorite uncle was Uncle Caveman, we called him that because he lived in a cave and every once in a while he’d eat one of us. Later on we found out he was a bear.”
“I'll never forget the time I got caught stealing watermelons from old Mr. Barnslow's watermelon patch. I was with my friend Bobby. We were giggling so hard I thought I'd wet my pants! At first we tried to steal two watermelons each, but they were too heavy and we dropped them, and that made us laugh even harder. Finally, we each picked out a good one, and we were just about to sneak back through the fence when we heard a low, deep voice behind us. ‘Just where do you think you're going with those watermelons?’ I gulped and turned around. It was old Mr. Barnslow, pointing his shotgun at us. Bobby dropped his watermelon, then pulled out the .38 revolver he kept in his waist, turned, and fired. But the turning must have thrown off his aim, because the shot only hit Mr. Barnslow in the thigh. Mr. Barnslow immediately fired both barrels at Bobby. One blast of buckshot missed entirely, but the other tore into Bobby's shoulder. He tried to fire back, but his shoulder was so torn up he couldn't raise his arm. Just as he was trying to switch to his left hand, Mr. Barnslow ran up and cracked him across the face with the butt of his shotgun. Bobby fell to the ground in a heap. Mr. Barnslow raised the butt of his gun to finish him off, but just then Bobby pulled out his hunting knife and plunged it into the farmer's big white belly. After that, I don't think I stole watermelons for at least a year.”
“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, ‘It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than to be selfish and worry about my liver.’”
"Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think they will song to me."
—T. S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"
In part one of five, Bourdain arrives, purchases a Hawaiian shirt, and shares his thoughts on Jimmy Buffet, remarking “Anywhere I go, anywhere there’s a palm tree or a ski slope, Jimmy Buffet’s been there first…I hear that damn Lost in Margaritaville song in every good bar in the world. He’s personally ruined my life.” Then he tries a puka dog, which I will definitely be checking out as there is a puka dog shop about ten minutes walking distance from my hotel. Bourdain then sits down to a meal at Ono’s Hawaiian Food with a friend.
Part two features the end of the meal at Ono’s, where his friend discusses how Hawaiian food came to be. Then Bourdain meets with some of the greatest chefs in
In part three they finish up lunch and then Bourdain is off to try some Spam at the Uptown Fountain. In Hawaii Spam is still very popular, and the islands consume up to four million cans of Spam a year. Among the many Spam delicacies are items like Spam sushi, which features Spam and fried rice wrapped in seaweed. According to Bourdain, it’s delicious. Tiki drinks with Don the Beach Comber at La Mariana come next as Bourdain indulges in Mai Tais and Zombies. Then Bourdain is invited to a backyard luau in a working-class neighborhood in
Part four brings Bourdain to the eastern edge of the Big Island of Hawaii, where the most active volcano in the world,
The final part of the show features Bourdain embracing Hawaiian tourism at its best—the pre-packaged luau. I was glad to see that Bourdain seemed to truly enjoy the whole spectacle as I’m planning to visit one such luau on my final night in
As I wrote my hopes and dreams for 2010 at about two o’clock this morning I realized that none of my goals involve food. Perhaps this is because I know that no matter what I resolve there will always be good eating experiences in the future. So what does the next year hold in regards to food? Last year I was determined to try raw oysters—any reader of this blog should know that I had many adventures with oysters in 2009! This year I don’t have any particular food that I want to try, though I’m open to suggestions. Instead, I’d just like to keep my mind and stomach open and see what deliciousness is out there in the world.
In the next few months I have a few trips planned that should offer some excellent culinary experiences. First up is
As for cooking I’d like to continue to try new recipes in the kitchen. I want to broaden my culinary skills, perhaps by trying to make items I’ve never attempted before. Duck is definitely on the list—I’ve never cooked it and yet it’s one of my favorite foods. I also don’t bake very much, so it could be fun to try my hand at some interesting desserts this year.
I hope you’ll all continue to join me in whatever food adventures this new year will bring. Happy New Year!
