Eat
Me!
BY
CARYN B. BROOKS
LADIES AND GENTLEMAN...
THE WORLD'S THINNEST COOKIES
Straight out of no-longer-existing Moravia comes the
tradition of these slowly baked, paper-thin cookies. Five
different flavors of
The
World's Thinnest Cookies ($3.25-$8.10, Elephants
Deli-catessen, 13 NW 23rd Place, 224-3955) are available
in towering tins from the Salem Baking Co. Each tube holds
40 skinny sweets and is perfectly shaped for stuffing stockings
or, after the cookies are gone, reinvention as telescopes.
The standout spice variety is the best-seller; each batch
is made with finely ground flour, brown sugar dissolved
in warm molasses and spices such as ginger, cinnamon and
nutmeg. Also available in black walnut, sugar, key lime
and lemon.
SOMETHING FISHY
We might not have access to treasured Chesapeake Bay
blue crabs, but here in the PNW we enjoy pleasing proximity
to delicious salmon. For the salmon-lover in your life
(and bets are on that you know at least a few dozen),
Northwest Gourmet offers 6-ounce packages of Alderwood-smoked
salmon (Your
Northwest Stores, three locations, 888-252-0699).
You can choose from three types of the big red fish: sockeye
($15.50), Coho ($13.95) and king ($14.50). All are high-fat
varieties of the fish, which makes for great eating and
even better gift-giving. (Hey, fat fanatics, ease up--it's
the holidays.)
PLEASE SIR, MAY I HAVE SOME MORE?
Ah, Christmas Olde English-style is not complete without
a pinch of plum pudding. Chock full of nuts, dried fruit
and citrus peels (but not plums), all Cole's
Christmas Pudding ($28, Willams-Sonoma, 800-541-2233)
needs is a little steaming to take you back to the land
of Dickens. There are two kinds to choose from: The spherical
pudding comes wrapped in muslin and is spiked with brandy
and port, while the traditional is more flat and flavored
with Suffolk ale. And it goes great with stuffed goose.
COMFORT FOOD
Tradition tells us that some foodstuffs
ought to bypass the froufrou and be served virginal and
pure, like oatmeal with brown sugar or mashed potatoes
and gravy--stuff that says, "Don't mess with me." But
why fight it? Even mashed potatoes have gone garlic. Submit
to the baroque breakfast; stir up a batch of Napa Valley
Pantry San Francisco Bay Sourdough Pancakes ($5.95
for the 16-ounce mix) and violate them with a bit of NVP
Brandy Maple Syrup ($5.95 for a 5-ounce bottle; both
available at Kitchen Kaboodle, various locations). Warning:
It may be impossible to revert to buttermilk and Log Cabin
after you lock your lips on these. (Deborah Rossiter)
FRONTIER WINE
I never dreamed when I stumbled into
the corner deli to buy a pound of bologna for my kids'
school lunches that I would come across one of the largest
assortments of wines in the city. John's Market Place
stocks Aussie reds, California cabs and French chablis,
plus imports from Spain, Chile and Portugal. Wine steward
James Harp indulges your oenophilic predilections the
first Tuesday of every month with free wine tastings.
While you're there sampling the chard and chablis, pick
up a bottle of 1995 Fess Parker American Reserve Syrah
(13.99, John's Market Place, 3535 SW Multnomah Blvd.,
244-2617) for the wine bibber on your list who remembers
the coon-capped actor from his Davy Crockett days. Appears
that after Fess left the Wild West sound stages of Hollywood,
he went into the grape squishing business to come up with
the hearty, all-American purple syrah, perfect for slugging
down with that slab of USDA choice prime beef. (Deborah
Rossiter)
FOLLOW YOUR NOSE
Ah, the elusive truffle. Hard
to harvest, deliciously delicate and quick to perish,
these mushrooms are the culinary equivalent of gold. White
truffle honey ($8.99, Nature's Fresh Northwest, various
locations) makes this most expensive of foods (and certainly
the most costly of fungi) a bit more accessible. The white
truffle is usually imported from Italy's Piedmont region,
where many, many tasty things are born, and is known for
its earthy, garlicky aroma. This unusually flavored honey
transforms a simple pantry staple into a dip of delicacy.
ESPRESSO BREAK
The Italians know how to do simple
dessert like few other cultures. Witness, for example,
the lovely panettone. This sweet, yeasty bread, studded
with raisins, is a Christmas favorite in Italy, but why
not make it a Portland tradition as well? Pastaworks,
home off all things Italian, offers a panettone made
by Famigni for $12.99 (3735 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 232-1010).
Molto bene!
FORM AND FUNCTION
When Andy Warhol first replicated
a Campbell's soup can and called it art, many named the
Factory chief a visionary. Others cursed the day he was
born. What reaction will the gift of a whopping 50-ounce
can of Campbell's soup ($3.49, Sheridan Market, 408
SE 3rd Ave., 236-2113) beget? The foot-high hulking cans,
available in Chicken Noodle, Split-Pea and Tomato, make
an original and inexpensive post-mod stab at kitchen decor.
And, best of all, should the Y2K demons actually arrive
on earth, the art transforms itself into a precious life-saving
commodity.
CHOCOLATE CITY
If you haven't been lucky enough
to attend a birthday party where a JaCiva's cake
is the central attraction, well, then, you'd better consider
throwing yourself a non-birthday party real soon. JaCiva's
European-style baked items are lush and florid, many topped
with rich buttercream frosting and dense dark-chocolate
icings. But JaCiva's isn't just for cakes. Chocolate,
chocolate, chocolate. C'mon, say it with me. 'Tis the
season to pick and choose cocoa figurines to flatter the
lifestyle of your colleagues, children and cher
chums. Molded ski boots, poles and skis go for
$9.95, a big choco hammer is $14.95 (JaCiva's,
4733 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 234-8115). They have many more
moldings to choose from, although I don't think you'll
find whips and chains. But maybe if you ask nicely...
T.S. ELIOT DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE...
Measuring out
your life in spoons loses its parsimonious implications
when the spoon is dipped in chocolate. Perfect for coffee
addicts (that should take care of 90 percent of your list),
these plastic utensils are slathered with amaretto, Irish
cream, Kahlua, raspberry, Grand Marnier, mint or hazelnut-flavored
chocolate. Golden Chocolate Coffee Spoons ($1.95)
are made by the Confectionery Cottage out of Salem, but
I found them at Chocolate Etc. (5331 SW Macadam Ave.,
222-2068). The store imports quality chocolates from all
around the world; collect an assortment of novelties,
and the clerks will put the whole thing together in a
gleaming package. (Deborah Rossiter)
