2013 was an interesting year, full of ups and downs. I'm grateful that, even in a tougher year, we can still say that we've had some great adventures. So here are my 10 favorite food memories from the year (in no particular order).
1. Pescado zarandeado from Coni'Seafood (Los Angeles, CA).
While sitting at Coni'Seafood in the Inglewood area of Los Angeles, I posted this photo to Instagram with the caption that this might be one of the best things I've ever eaten. It was one of the obvious choices for this year's favorites list. Pescado zarandeado is a butterflied snook which is grilled perfectly, so fresh and tender and full of amazing flavor. It's topped with raw onions and cucumbers, and also has a side of cooked onions that it frankly doesn't even need. Whatever Sergio (and you have to call in advance to make sure Sergio is there or it's not worth going and getting it) does to this fish is magic. We don't (to my knowledge) have Sinaloan food in the NYC area, but even if we did, I'm not sure it would match the magic of Sergio. I could eat this every week and not get sick of it.
2. Birthday cake ice cream cone from Dave and Andy's (Pittsburgh, PA).
I'm not as much of an ice cream lover as A is, but I do love cookies and cream and birthday cake ice cream. Both made the short list (the cookies and cream was from Brooklyn's Ample Hills during our Game of Cones adventure), but only Dave and Andy's made the top 10. Their birthday cake ice cream mixed in actual yellow cake and sprinkles. I loved it and raved about it for some time after eating it, which for me is rare with ice cream. I also am not a huge cone fan but I loved their crispy but sturdy waffle cone which of course had their traditional m&m on the bottom. And I guessed the color right for my first cone!
3. Bone marrow special from Empellón Cocina (New York, NY).
We had a lot of bone marrow this year (bone marrow with uni from The Marrow, a massive plate of bone marrow at Meat and Potatoes in Pittsburgh, etc) but the one that really made an impression on me was the bone marrow special when we visited Empellón Cocina. We had a lot of good stuff at Empellón (which explains why it was our meal of the year), but the bone marrow was our favorite dish of the night. It was roasted bone marrow with charred spring onions and pickled Fresno chiles with tortillas on the side, so we could make our own bone marrow tacos. I love when I eat things that make me feel in sync with the season, and this was perfect for June.
4. Jerk chicken from Freda's (New York, NY).
We made it through Jamaica in our WorldEats challenge (even if we're still writing about Cuba). But this jerk chicken from Freda's made me want to skip over everything inbetween and just write about Freda's (but I didn't, sadly). I got the jerk chicken with sides of collard greens and curry potatoes with chickpeas. Both sides were delicious but the jerk chicken was one of the best chicken dishes I've ever had, and certainly the best Jamaican food I've ever eaten. It was spicy but it wasn't the type of spicy that was hot without flavor. The spices were so complex and nuanced that I don't even know how to describe the flavors, but it was incredible. Perhaps we need to go again before we write our WorldEats post.
5. Ceviche tostada from La Isla Bonita (Venice, CA).
I wrote our post on La Isla Bonita back in May, but it hasn't been posted yet since we're still back at the beginning of our trip in the recaps. I still dream about this ceviche tostada. It was that good. The tostada was thin and crispy and topped with a layer of ceviche and some fresh avocado slices. The ceviche had mashed up fish and seafood with tomatoes, onions, cilantro and lime. It was a perfect refreshing snack.
6. Pretzel from Miller's Twist (Philadelphia, PA).
I love pretzels. Warm, fresh out of the oven, so buttery, soft and chewy, lightly salted. The pretzel we got from Miller's Twist at the Reading Terminal Market was so good that we immediately wanted to go back to get another one. We also had tasty buttery soft pretzels this fall at Immergut in Intercourse, PA but we only made it there at the end of the day each time, so the pretzels were not as fresh (although still good). For that reason, Miller's Twist makes it to the top 10 but Immergut gets an honorable mention.
7. Vatana bean fried rice from Rangoon (Philadelphia, PA).
I love Burmese food. I wish we had restaurants here like the ones in LA or Rangoon in Philadelphia. We had amazing food at Rangoon and what was really a revelation was this vatana bean fried rice. We had no idea what vatana beans were before that dinner, but they tasted a lot like baby chickpeas. The rice also had this smokiness (in a good way) which made it really unique. I've never had anything like this and want to return to Rangoon sooner rather than later.
8. Fish taco from Ricky's Fish Tacos (Los Angeles, CA).
Ricky's is a legend. We got both shrimp and fish tacos but the fish was really special. Although fried, it was so flaky and juicy. We didn't even add any extra salsas to the tacos, and just ate them with the lettuce and pico de gallo that it came with. Whatever was in the batter was a perfect match for the fish, and the taco was easily the best fish taco I've ever had. We raced back from the desert to get to Ricky's before he closed up for the day and it was so worth it.
9. Lamb burger from Xi'an Famous Foods (New York, NY).
The midtown branch of Xi'an Famous Foods opened this spring with free lamb burgers (which I wrote about here). I've had quite a few since then. They're inexpensive and packed full of spices, especially my beloved cumin, and lots of onions. It may be the best burger I've had all year.
10. Homecooked favorites.
This is cheating a little bit, since it's not one dish but four. But I wanted to save one spot on this list for home cooking because of how much it was a part of my life this year. I went from trying a new recipe once every other month or so to trying new recipes multiple days a week and loving it. These were four of my favorites.
- Black bean chicken - The first cookbook I spent a lot of time with was Every Grain of Rice, and for the first time, I was making Chinese food that went beyond simple stir-fries and hot plates. I love this black bean chicken recipe with my modifications.
- Kimchi grilled cheese - I love grilled cheese but I don't think I had made a grilled cheese sandwich since I was 10. And certainly not one with kimchi. This rekindled my love for grilled cheese and began a phase of many grilled cheese sandwiches.
- Baked langostino tails with tomatoes and feta - Blogged about here, but it's on this list because it's one of the few things I've made that I really feel like I could have ordered at a restaurant. It felt really authentic.
- Cigrons - I craved these Catalan style chickpeas for over a year after our visit to Pinotxo (still haven't written about Pinotxo but it's on last year's top 10 list) before I started looking all over the internet for tips on making cigrons. This wasn't exactly like Pinotxo but it was close. It was satisfying as a fix for one of my favorite dishes ever.
So that's 2013. I don't know what 2014 will bring, but I hope it's full of great food, good health and happy adventures!
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