Summer Grub - a salad plus some East Bay notes

This is a tasty summer salad, which I lucked into when trying to make dinner quickly from stuff on hand. Cut some fresh corn from a few cobs and parboil it in salted water, then drain. Chop some some high quality tomatoes and about half a handful of Lovage leaves. Mix it all together and lightly dress in olive oil and red wine or sherry vinegar, plus salt and pepper to taste. Yum!

Zatar restaurant, Shattuck and University in Berkeley. We'd been meaning to make it here for years, and finally dropped by on a whim. It was terrific! Mediterranean cooking leaning eastward - Greece/Turkey/Lebanon/Egypt. What made it so delicious was the impeccable quality of the ingredients and the chef's timing and balance. Eggplant was grilled with a slight smoky char on the outside yet neither mushy nor undercooked inside. Topped with a yoghurt sauce with minced mint and dill in just the right proportions to give their flavor but not dominate, plus a whisper of garlic. The sea bass was poached until it just lost tranlucence, then topped with a light barely creamy sauce with distinct parsley and lemon and tasty grilled or steamed veggies on the side. Excellent whole grain pita with Zatar dip on the side. Dessert featured some poached apricots with toasted almonds and honey ice cream. The wine list is eclectic, borderline eccentric but mostly well-chosen IMO, fairly priced by bottle but expensive by-the-glass. However, you may wish to go with the stellar Sangria.

A recent trip to Maine reaquainted us with how amazing really fresh local lobster is. What we get on the west coast - no matter how it was flown, no matter how prestigious and picky the restaurant, no matter how good the connections - pales in comparison.

Multiple tastings at a variety of east bay tacquerias, restaurants and taco trucks has confirmed: for fans of tongue, the tacos de lengua at Tacubaya on 4th street reign supreme.

For those on the lookout for unusual regional Mexican fare, Cucina Poblano in Emeryville serves dishes like stuffed peppers in almond sauce and Huaracha corn cakes.

That's all for now.

[Jenise]

Love corn and tomato salads. Do you grow your own lovage? In my experience, that's only been available in Asian markets, usually with some name like "Vietnamese Celery" or some such. Never see it in more mainstream markets.

Re the lobster, indeed you're right. But man, doesn't that really go for all seafood? Unless you've had halibut in Alaska, you've never really had halibut. There's a night and day difference in texture between fresh-today and fresh several days later.

Yes, we grow our own lovage. You really only need one plant at a time. Fun herb, although it can be a bit strong and bitter. Very good in potato salads too.

Another wrinkle on the lobster issue, from a different posting: apparently only the harder shelled lobsters are shipped, while less hard (newer?) shelled lobsters are preferred by local restaurants and road houses when available.

[Jenise]

Softer shells? Didn't know that. Do they go through a molting stage like crab do?

A difference between west coast lobster impressions and east coast--the typical eastern seaboarder will apparently order not just a lobster, but specifically order the size AND gender. I forget what the differences are supposed to be, but I think the males have larger claws where the females are thought to have sweeter tails. (Go ahead, Robert J., make something out of that!)