Chicago

I was in Chicago last week, doing some research for my upcoming Pizza Class at Sur La Table. After visiting my favorite pizzeria, I was reminded how much I love giardiniera on pizza. In Chicago giardiniera is popular on Chicago beef sandwiches. If you do not know about Chicago beef sandwiches get familiar Ever since I was a kid I have been putting giardiniera on pizza. So I have decided to make a big batch of giardiniera using California produce. Soul Cocina California Giardiniera? Fusion with reason. I might bring some of my giardiniera to the pizza class at Sur la Table on June 10th. As of now there are only six spots left so sign up today if you plan to attend. For the hands on class we will prepare pizza margherita, Chicago deep dish pizza, stromboli, calzone and pide. We will make the dough, sauces, and toppings from scratch. We will not be making the calzones like this. Here are some pictures from a recent pizza party we put on at Hands On Gourmet




With my busy pizza schedule in Chicago, I did not have a lot of time to hit up all my favorite record shops. I did stop in at an old favorite, Remember When Records in Muddy Water's town of Westmont.

I found some records by The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band

Tune: A Dance, a Kiss and a Song by The Watts 103rd st Rhythm Band

Tune: Do Your Thing by The Watts 103rd st Rhythm Band

I have posted some tunes from these guys before here at Soul Cocina.
You will find some real gems from The Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band over at Soul Sides.
I heard about the group Rabbits and Carrots when reading the "Hop to This" post at Soul Sides. When I heard that they did a cover of The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band tune Express Yourself, I planned to track down the record at Dusty Groove in Chitown. But my pizza took priority over carrots and rabbits. Luckily, I found a copy at Amoeba in SF when I got home.

Tune: Expresate by Rabbits and Carrots

In my search for merengue and cumbia 45's the guy at the shop directed me to the "ethnic" section, where there were records from the 80's spanning the globe from Brasil to Turkey with a huge selections of Polkas. I heard that there are more Polish people in Chicago than there are in Warsaw. Here's what I pulled from the "ethnic" bin.

Tune: Los Afortunados by Rubby Haddock

Tune: La Negra by Jossie Esteban y la Patrulla 15

From "El gangster de Nueva York" we move on to The Gangster of Love, Johnny "Guitar" Watson. Many record diggers know Johnny Watson from his crazy album covers from the 70's. The funky gangster with big Cadillacs, big bling jewelry, lots of girls, pimp fur coats and a gold grill who looks like the persona that Snoop trys to capture. I find his records from this period to be a little silly with a serving of cheese. Bu it is still funky stinky cheese, like teleggio, perhaps. My favorite JGW stuff comes before all this. In the 60's and part of the late 50's JGWs music still had the playful tom foolery and his stage performance was full of shinanigans. He has always been a showman. He used to play the guitar behind his back a decade before Jimi Hendrix hit the scene. He had that blues soul r&b stuff down. And they didn't give him that middle name for nothin'. Dude can play the guitar. He played on Frank Zappa's One Size Fits All in the wonderful year of 1975. In 1973 he released the LP "Listen"!
WOW! smooth, soulful, raw. One of my cherished LPs. The first record I ever bought at Groove Merchant in San Francisco. The records after "Listen" are good, but nothing to write home about. They are sure 'nuff funky with over the top bass, lyrics, and bling, but it's the 1973 and before stuff that gets play on my turntables at home. I am still on the look out for the three preceding LPs that were released in 1967:
"Bad" (Okeh 1967)
Johnny Watson Trio "In The Fats Bag" (Okeh 1967)
Larry Williams & Johnny Guitar Watson "Two For The Price Of One" (Okeh 1967)

Here's a 7" that I picked up at Remember When records:
Tune: Some one Cares for Me by Johnny Guitar Watson
glorious!
Tune: Those Loney, Lonely Nights by Johnny "Guitar" Watson
sweet!

I did not find any Desi music in the "ethnic" bin at Remember When Records, and I did not have time get up to the north side to visit Devon Street, so I was unable to bring back any Chicago Bhangra for the Mission Bombay Crew. I was hoping to find some new remixes like this one:
Tune: Jadoo (Spell on Me Remix) by Blitzkreig



On my next trip to Chicago in the summer, I will track down some juke mixtapes.

Kid Sister is pretty big in Chicago.
Tune: Beeper by The Count and Sinden feat Kid Sister

Some tunes from a Soul Cocina Favorite, Chicago's own Curtis Mayfield:
Tune: Let's Do it Again by The Staple Singers with Music by Curtis Mayfield from the OST Let's Do it Again recorded in Chicago at Curtdom Studios.
This film features some spectacular actors (Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, JJ Walker) and it was released in the glorious year of 1975. It's on my list of movies to see.

Tune: Number One by John Legend uses the Let's Do it Again sound

Tune: This Love is Sweet by Curtis Mayfield from the 1976 LP Give, Get, Take and Have

Tune: Do Do Wap is Strong in Here by Curtis Mayfield from the 1977 OST Short Eyes
This record was priced at 60 dollars on display on the wall at Open Mind Music in SF when it used to be on Divisidero. I listened to it a few times and each time I went in there, I tried to haggle the price down, but the staff wouldn't budge. The record stayed on the wall for months. One day my wife and one of her girlfriends walked into the store and got the record for 20 bucks!?

Tune: Tripping Out by Curtis Mayfield from the 1980 LP Something to Believe In

Chitown's favorite neighbor, Baby Huey from Indiana, recorded with Curtdom Records.

Tune: Monkey man by Baby Huey and the Babysitters
Tune: One Dragon, Two Dragon by Baby Huey and the Babysitters
and i am posting pt II of a Curtis Mayfield song done by Huey and the Boys (Some of you have part I from the old Rani and Raja site)
Tune: Mighty Mighty Pt II by Baby Huey and the Babysitters

Tune: Hello San francisco by Buddy Guy
when I worked at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago in the 90's I got to see Buddy play up close and live. He is a great character. His Brother Phil, not only a blues player but also a chef, used to join the kitchen team on occasion and cook up a batch of gumbo or red beans in the kitchen. He had a lot of great stories about growing up in Louisiana.

Tune: Many of Many Words by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells from the 1972 LP Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Sing the Blues

Tune: Messin with the Kid by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells from the 1972 LP Buddy Guy and Junior Wells Sing the Blues features the harp man Junior Wells on vocals. Jr and Buddy have tons of recordings together. They were good homies for a long time. This 1972 album showcases the raw funky blues that is Chicago.

Tune: Chicago Falcon by The Budos Band

Tune: Springtime in Chicago by Sun Ra

Here is another record I picked up at Remember When Records:
Tune: I Need Your Lovin by Don and Dee Dee Ford
I already had this tune on a full length LP by this soulful duo with a gospel feel. I bought the record at the now defunct Village Music in Mill Valley, CA (R.I.P.) But the sound quality was pretty poor on the LP.
The song gets more and more climatic as it heads toward the grand finale. It bursts into big sounding endings and continues to move on, fooling the listener. It keeps sounding like it is going to end but then trods on and keeps on grooving. The whole song seems like one big grand finale. When I saw Maceo Parker play at House of Blues in Chicago about ten years ago, the band did the same thing. The entire show had the energy of the last two chords of a powerful song.

Takoyaki Dream

The music from the Takoyaki Dream comes from these Japanese artists:
Rumi
Kakushin Nishihara
Yamasuki
Towa Tei

The longest line for food at this year's Cherry Blossom Festival at San Francisco Japan Town was for Takoyaki.

Although takoyaki is supposed to be made with octopus, the stall at the festival was using beef. The line was too long for us anyway, so we ordered some bbq short ribs from the San Francisco Asian Firefighters
The ribs were great.
I bought some supplies at Japan Town to make takoyaki. It is actually very easy to make if you have a takoyaki pan. I just used my Thai kanom krock pan which is basically the same thing. In the second half of the Takoyaki Dream video you will see how I make takoyaki at home.

Takoyaki
batter:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 cups dashi*
2 eggs

filling:
1/2 pound octopus diced and poached in dashi
3 spring onions, chopped
3 Tablespoons pickled ginger, chopped
3 Tablespoons dried shrimp, chopped
1 Tablespoon shichimi
3 Tablespoons tenkasu

Procedure:
Dice the octopus and poach in simmering dashi for 3 minutes (this will flavor the dashi and cook the octopus).

Place the flour in a large bowl. Whisk in enough dashi to form a thin batter (like crepe batter). Whisk in the eggs. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the filling.

Combine all of the filling ingredients with the poached octopus.

Heat a takoyaki pan over medium heat. Brush with vegetable oil. Pour the batter to the top of each cup and drop a tablespoon of filling into the batter. The overflow will cook on the sides and eventually roll into the center. When the bottom of each takoyaki forms a light crust, loosen them with a chopstick and roll over. Continue to roll and spin each takoyaki with the chopstick until golden brown all over and cooked in the center.

Serve with soy sauce, Japanese mayo, or hot sauce.

*Dashi Broth
one 4" square of kombu, scored (see video for demo w/ scissors)
1 cup bonito flakes
1 Tablespoon say sauce
4 cups cold water

Heat the kombu in the water over medium low heat. Remove from heat just before it starts to boil. Let sit for 5 minutes and remove kombu. Bring to a simmer, turn of heat and add bonito flakes. Steep the bonito for 2 minutes and strain. Stir in soy sauce.












Tune: East Of El Rio Dolores Mix Vol II
Tracklist
1. Laura Huxley intro
2. Danca do mexe remexe - Dama do Bling
3. Eso Fue To! - Fuego Mambo
4. Que Calor - Fulanito
5. Ni Fu Ni Fa - Tego Calderon
6. Buba - Faytinga
7. Rocococo - Moreno Negron
8. Sacradinha - Sslowi
9. L'euro contre le dollars - Fefe Typical y Tiwony
10. Matofotofo - Pitch Black Afro
11. Japanese Rumba (Senor Coconut remix) - Towa Tei
12. Sanje Loveji from Bumcello album
13. The Audio Recording - Zulu
14. Klezma Tone - DJ Flack
15. Sit Dung Pon Di Wall - Mutabaruka
16. Cumbia Bichera (Tremor Mix) - El Remolon

Two of the tunes from above were found on one of my favorite sites that I just stumbled across this year. Esta Bater

You can still download Vol I of East of El Rio Dolores Mix at the Non Stop Bhangra Blog.
Vol I is a one hour mix of dubbed out beats from Africa Asia and all points East of El Rio Dolores.
Vol III of East of El Rio Dolores Mix now up at the Mission Bombay Blog

Cumbia Clandestina

Soul Cocina's Cumbia Clandestina Mix brings together many types of Cumbia into one mix. There's music from Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador, Venezuela, USA, Cuba and beyond. Two or three cumbia digital tracks, plenty of cumbias clasicas, some cumbia sonideras, villeras, guarachas, porros, chicha.... Some of the sonideras come from mix CDs from Mexican and US sound systems like Grupo Kual and other Sonidos from Puebla, DF, and Monterey, Mexico. A few come from mixes from DJ's like Alex Perez from Chicago. The cumbias clasicas mostly come from records I have picked up over the years in the US, Latin America, and Europe. The cumbias digitales come from internet downloads from sites like Muy Bastard. I did not include too much nueva cumbia digital, but there is a lot available on the world wide web for downloads. Just search blogs for Chico Sonido, Sonido Martines, Villa Diamante, Oro 11, and the Zizek crew from Argentina and the Tormenta Tropical crew from the SF Bay. I like the Nueva Cumbia that stays close to the original music.. but the experimental stuff is fun too. Some of my favorites are La Super Cumbia Futurista, Chico Sonido and Los Wendys

Wayne and Wax has some words about cumbia.

El Hijo de La Cumbia, Fantasma, El Remolon and Chancha Via Circuito are some other interesting artists from the boom in Buenos Aires.

A lot of sound systems in Latin America are called Sonidos, some sound systems in Colombia are called Picos (Pico Soul Cocina has a nice ring to it)
I made this mix to listen to at work.. then I decided to post it here.. so I did not make a tracklisting. With all the requests... I am revisiting the cds, records, and mp3s to put together a tracklist. Some of the tunes come from unlabeled street CDRs. If anyone can help with the few unknown tunes, please drop some knowledge in the comments. Tracklist for Vol I is complete.. Vol II and III coming soon.

Big shout out to Salvador, Celso, El Chilango and DJ Rolond from 26 Mix for the Guatemala, DF and Puebla Sonidera Mixes that inspired this Cumbia Clandestina Mix.

Tune: Cumbia Clandestina Mix Vol I

Tracklist for Vol I
1. A Adorar Antonio - Group from Guapi, Colombia recorded in Spring of 1968 by David Lewiston from Black Music of South America - In Praise of Oxala and other Gods
2. La Gallenera Cumbia from Cumbia Soledena vol III LP written by Pedro A Beltran
3. Cumbia del Carnaval by Los Caribes from from their self titled 1979 Disco Gas LP
4. Cumbia Sampuesana from the Disco Fuentes LP called Cumbias y Porros, written by Joaquin Betin
5. El Cazador by Rodolfo y Los Idolos from their Lo Maximo LP on Disco fuentes
6. La Mochila Tercia by Lisandro Meza y Su Conjunto from Las 10 Calientes de Colombia LP on Disco fuentes 1978
7. Juanita Bonita by Los Olimpicos 5 from Pachanga Tropical LP on Mex Sound/ Arriba Records 1978
8. Porro Sabaneros by Orquesta Ritmo de Sabanas feat Lucho Perez y Isaac Villanueva from Las 10 Calientes de Colombia LP on Disco fuentes 1978
9. La Subienda by Gabriel "Rumba" Romero from his Grandes Exitos LP on Disco Fuentes
10. Cumbia del Bajo by Lisandro Meza y Su Conjunto from Las 10 Calientes de Colombia LP on Disco fuentes 1978
11. Cumbia Cienaguera by Luis E Martinez from Disco Fuentes LP Cumbias y Porros
12. Cumbia De El Salvador by El Orquesta Hermanos Flores from their El Mentiroso LP on the Dicesa label.
13. La Chica de Los Ojos Cafe by Los Canoneros de Colombia from the Cumbias de Oro '89 LP from Musart records Mexico
14. Gaita Franetica - from Grupo Kual mix CD (btw the intro is the instrumental source for the San Pancho mix of Arana Hindu on my East of El Rio Dolores Mix)
15. Te Pico de Abeja by Alberto Pedrazo
16. unlabelled song from a street cd that I call "Get Back Cumbia"
17. Chambacu by Aurito Castillo y su Conjunto
18. Cumbieton Rutero by Axel K Soundsystem
19. Juana La Cubana by Fito Olivares
20. Traicionera by Celso Pina
21. Cumbia del Amanecer maybe by Los de Bohio?
22. El Crack by Los Canoneros de Colombia from the Cumbias de Oro '89 LP from Musart records Mexico

Tune: Cumbia Clandestina Mix Vol II

Tune: Cumbia Clandestina Mix Vol III

I didn't include Cumbia de Obama, but you can see the video, read the lyrics and download the song here.

In April Soul Cocina will present a Cumbia Brunch in San Francisco. We will feature the cuisine of the cumbia diaspora in a prix fix menu, a cumbia dancefloor, and of course, cumbia music.

In san Francisco we have plenty of Peruvian and Salvadoran restaurants, but there are very few Colombian restaurants. I picked up some sancocho de gallina with arepas and chorizo to go with the Cumbia Clandestina Mix at Majahual Restaurant in my neighborhood. Arepas are South American tortillas. They are different from Mexican and Salvadorean tortillas because of the special type of corn flour. I learned how to make arepas and empanadas in Venezuela. I was taking a nap on a park bench and a street cleaner woke me up and told me it was not safe for tourists to nap in that park. We began to chit chat, and when she found out that I was a chef looking for recipes and records.. she invited me to her home for a lesson in arepas and empanadas. Her daughter was studying tourism, so she was excited to show me her city, Caracas, and help me find vinyl records and cassette tapes. I still remember my Un Solo Pueblo tape that I bought on that trip.. I need to convert it to digital sound. This was in 2000. Hugo Chavez had just taken office, and my hosts were strong supporters. Turns out Marisa (the street cleaner) was working for a program under Chavez's Plan Bolivar besides arepas and empanadas, I also learned how to prepare a glorious condiment used for the late night street hot dogs called Guasacaca (nice name?!)
The guasacaca sauce that I learned to make and that I tasted all over Caracas is made from avacados, parsley, hot peppers, green pepers, oil, vinegar, and garlic.
The recipes I see in books and on the web are all very different from this. They are more like guacamole. The guasacaca I grew to know and love is pureed up to a smooth sauce. I like guasacaca with plain or cheese arepas, but in Caracas, guasacaca seemed to be used as a condiment for hot dogs.

Arepas are made from a dough made from peeled corn kernals (maiz pilado) that are ground and par-cooked, then mixed with water. Today, most people buy arepa flour, which is cornmeal made from a specific part of the corn kernal (cotyledons) that has been partially cooked. There is no Nixtamalization process for arepa corn flour. Once you get the arepa flour, it is just like making fat tortillas or stuffed pupusas. many recipes call for oil or butter and even milk in arepas, but I learned to make arepas with just water and salt. They can be stuffed with cheese or meat.

I am excited to try out the Pica Pica South American restaurant in Napa at the Oxbow Public Market

Quiere mas Colombian cuisine?

What are the kids of Colombia up to today?

While I was making this mix I heard Hellicopters swarming above our house. I looked out to find a 4 alarm fire a few blocks away, down the hill, in a building we used to live in a few years ago. Here is what I saw from our back door.

Tea and roti

Making parathas and chai on the streets of Calcutta




Tea stall on the streets of Calcutta

Making rumali roti

Rumali rotis are very nice to eat. At Bademiya restaurant (a street stall on a small street between Colaba Causway and The Taj in South Bombay) they make Rumali rotis late night on the street to go with all the wonderful kebabs. There are two guys who are constantly pulling, stretching, and tossing dough next to the long grill on the side of the road. They have big trash cans filled with fire topped with upside down woks (kadais). They cook the giant thin flatbread on top of these burners for seconds, and fold them up then toss them into a basket whose supply is constantly being depleted by the waiters serving kebabs to people on the street and to the people in the dining room across the road. I asked the chefs at the Cidade de Goa kitchen to show me how to make the dough. It is just like tossing pizza dough. In the video below, you will see rumali rotis being prepared in the Cidade de Goa kitchen
then out on the streets of Bombay and Calcutta. The kebabs on the grill are from Bademiya. Then you will see the making of other Indian breads like tandoori naan in the kitchen of Cidade de Goa and Malabari parathas (flatbread from Kerala that is stretched super thin and then rolled up with oil before being flattened out and cooked).

Rumali Roti

3 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
warm water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup yogurt

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and add milk and yogurt. Mix together with enough warm water to make a soft dough. Knead for ten minutes. Allow to rest for 30 minutes in a warm place, covered with a damp towel. Cut into small balls and allow to rest for another 10 minutes. Heat a wok upsidown over medium heat. Roll out into thin disks and pull, stretch and toss to form a super thin sheet. Lay the sheet on top of the inverted wok and cook until it begins to bubble. Flip over and cook second side breifly. Fold like a handkerchief.

Tea snacks on the streets of Calcutta

Making kati rolls on the streets of Calcutta

Tune: Uptown Top Rankink by Althea and Donna from Lightning Records 7"

Tune: Calico Suit is the Version on the backside of the Up Town Ranking record.



Tune: I'm Still In Love with You by Hortense Ellis from the Conflict records 7"


Tune: Still in Love with You by U-Roy alongside Alton Ellis

Tune: Tupac Rockin Steady finds Tupac alongside Mr Ellis on his hit Rock Steady.


Tune: Bam Bam by Sister Nancy

Tune: Original Badman by Gorilla Black and Beenie Man on the Stalag Riddim with Sister Nancy in the background.

Tune: Fed Up is a missive tune by Bounty Killer over Dead Prez's Hip Hop Beat.




Tune: Hip Freak Hop Riddim Beatwalla Mix is a Soul Cocina Sound System Mix from a while back that features Bounty Killer and ends with the Fed Up cut. You'll also find M.I.A. up in the mix. And my favorite crazy Jamaican diva Macka Diamond chats a few lines.




Tune: Killer in Tunisia has Elephant Man singing over a version Dizzie Gilespies classic Night in Tunisia done by La Sonora Poncena Elephant man was born on 9-11 in the wonderful year of 1975.

Tune: Sonaremos El Tambo by Celia Cruz y La Sonora Poncena from the LP La Ceiba from Vaya records

Tune: Night in Tunisia by Dexter Gordon who is Lars Ulrich's Godfather. Lars (along with John Bonham) was of course a huge influence on the drum maestro James "Jimmy" Schanz.

Tune: What Am I to Do by Nigger Butler and Barber Brown from the Record City Label 7" is based on the Staple Singer classic I'll Take You There

Tune: What Am I to Do Version by R Butler

Cashew Harvest in Sindhudurg

SOUL COCINA MOTION PICTURE Cashew Harvest in Mutt

I was lucky to visit Mutt in Sindudurg, Maharashtra (home of Malvani Cuisine) with Sachen, one of the students from ACE during cashew season last year. The cashew fruit is a great treat when it is ripe. You can't eat too much though because they make your mouth tingle and sting a little. There are many theories about cutting one end or the other first, or just adding salt to the fruit to take away the sneaky astringency, but I didn't find it to make much of a difference. A small price to pay for such a treat.

Where the real damage comes is from the shell of the nut. When you break the shell it lets off a bitter juice that can burn your finger... or as I found out the hard way, your mouth and tongue. There are people in the village who specialize in opening the shells of cashews. They grow their fingernails specifically for the annual process, and it leaves the fingers stained for weeks. You can see in the video above how hard it is to open a single nut.
The young greener nuts are soft and vegetablelike, almost like a fresh pea or bean. But if picked too young, the nut is bitter. These young green cashews would make a great salad. But it is the fully matured ripe nut that is highly prized. As soon as the fruit is harvested the nut is seperated from the fruit by hand and the fruit is sold to makers of Feni, while the nut is taken back to the village to be opened by hand. Everyone knows the going rate for cashews and mangoes in Sindhudurg.

Seperating the fruit from the nut is a family affair.

Tune: Family Affair by Doctor L and Antibalas from Mind Records 2006 7"

Sachen cuts the cashew fruit for an afternoon snack in the shade.

Cashew nuts, attached to the fruit at a market in Goa

Next to the cashew orchard, which has hundreds of trees, is a mango orchard just as vast. I was visiting just a month too early for mango season. These are the trees of the mighty Alphonso mango.

Tune: Wylin Out (Kutmaster Kurt Remix) by the Mighty Mos Def and Chitown's Diverse from the BBC 12" EP vol 2 from Bobby Friction and Nihal

Tune: Botallan Sharab Diyan by Bally Sagoo also from the BBC 12" EP vol 2 from Bobby Friction and Nihal

Here is a view of the well behind Sachen's family's home seen through a mango tree.

Talking a break from the heat, a cup of water from the well can't be beat.

Tune: Water No Get Enemy by Fela Kuti from the LP Expensive Shit

Tune: I Thirst by Dillinger from the album Cup of Tea

Exclusive Mix: Estoy Seco After 12:12AM Thirsty MIX in the Soul Cocina

This mix starts off with Estoy Seco by Conjunto Los Bucucos off the Salson LP then moves on to more salsa dura with La Reina Celia Cruz backed by La Sonora Poncena from the Lp La Ceiba released in 1979, the year of Chicago's great blizzard. Then the mix moves on to two modern cuts, the first is Mi Swing es Tropical by Nicodemus and Quantic then onto a song called Julieta by Oreja remixed by Seiji from Bugz in the Attic on a Candela label 12". From here we move on to the big song Magalehna by Sergio Mendes from the Brasileiro LP as the triangle takes us to the opening triangle from Willie Colon's Ghana E from the Gran Fuga LP. Then we drop a fun 7" from the glorious year of 1975. This '75 gem is a cover of Fela's Shakalao by Lizandro Meza y Su Conjunto from Colombia. The African vibe gets stronger and stronger as we cross the Atlantic to Ghana for a song from the Hedzoleh Soundz LP produced by the mighty Hugh Masakela. Then Back to Brasil for some beats from Marcelo D2's instrumental LP of A Procura Da Batida Perfeita. Next up- More beats with flavor.. this time from Spain with a little vibraphone action for all the newborns from Zeta, off of the 1999 LP Guateque. next a tune from Orishas Emigrante LP before we move into Mala Rodriguez chatting on Jota mayuscula's LP Hombre Negro Soltero Busca. Then we step into some heavy duty old school hipi hopi from Brasil by Filosofia de Rua and Duck Jam with nacao Hip Hop. The mix ends nicely with a tune from the Nia LP by Blackalicious

There are also jackfruit trees in Mutt.Jackfruit for sale in Mumbai above, and below in a market in Goa

They got chiku too!
Bells on the road back to Goa

Tune: Road to Goa from Vijay Raghav Rao's LP Festival Time
This song is typically Goan. It has that friendly childlike sound that I associate with a lot of Goan music. Similar to the instrumentation that backs Lorna or the music of Alfred Rose.


But pt Vijay Raghav Rao's music on Festival Time is not all so soft and simple.
Check out this tune from the record:
Tune: Sarod Dhun also from Vijay Raghav Rao's LP Festival Time

Calamandini

With all the great citrus available in the Bay Area in the winter, my kitchen counter fruit bowl always stays pretty full as I restock with new varieties of oranges, lemons, limes, and kumquats. Remember January '06 ?
Last month I bought keffir limes and yuzu from Monterey Market.
Last week Monterey Market had lots of Mandarinquats and Fukushu Kumquats to keep my snack bag full and my mouth puckered up all week long.

This week at the Alameny Farmer's market, I paid a visit to my Italian friends who grow lots of different citrus and always seem to surprise me with something new. There is always a crowd staring at the fruit from their buddah hand tree, but I always look under the table to see if they have brought any fresh keffir limes or keffir lime leaves. This week I found a wonderfull little fruit that the old Italian couple called Calamandini. The name sounded like an Italian version of the South East Asian Kalamansi that I grew to love in its canned juice version sold at Pacific Supermarket. I later got to meet Kalamansi face to face in Singapore in it's pure, fresh, raw version. And sure enough, the Calamandini is the same as the luscious, tangy, sour, sweet Kalamansi. It was like bumping into an old classmate from kindergarden somewhere half way around the world, randomly, decades later. The best way to enjoy kalamansi is to find the little ones that can be eaten in one big bite, skin and all, to enjoy the contrast of flavors and textures of the skin and fruit. At the stand at the Alameny market, they had a whole box of the little Calamandinis. The price was high, but I had to buy a big sack. They were very comfortable on my kitchen counter next to mandarins, honey tangerines (not as good this year, for some reason), cara cara oranges, kumquats, lemons.....
I also bought some sugar cane at the market. I baked a chocolate pot de creme with slices of calamandini baked into the custard with a stick of sugar cane to use as a spoon. Paying homage to the wonderful Italian citrus growers, I used Maglio 75% dark chocolate.
Chocolate Calamandini Pots De Creme
recipe:

2 1/2 cups Heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 pound 75% dark chocolate, chopped
4 each Egg yolks
1/2 Vanilla bean
8 each Calamandinis or kumquats, sliced into 1/4" rings
1/2 teaspoon Orange liquor

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean and add to 1/2 cup cream in a metal mixing bowl and chill. Bring the remaining cream with all the sugar to a simmer in a stainless steel sauce pan. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Whisk to melt and disolve all chocolate. Let rest at room temperature for a minute. Whisk in the eggs and orange liquor. Pour into 6 ramekins and bake in a water bath for 15 minutes until partially set. Add the calamandini pieces and continue to bake until just set (about 35 minutes). The outside should be completely set and the inside a little "wobbley". Chill. Whip the cream and garnish with the vanilla cream and a thin stick of peeled sugar cane.




Tune: Le Radici Ca Tieni by Sud Sound System

Tune: Just to Get a Limb a Cutty Ranks dubplate for DJ Smoke One

Tune: San Antonio by Choc Quib Town from Colombia. This song is on repeat on the Soul Cocina Soundsystem this week. Peek the video too.

Tune: Orange Moon by Erykah Badu
We are patiently waiting for Badu's ne album to drop in February.

Tune: Nice Nice Paloma Cumbia Song by Unknown artist from a mix cd from Puebla, Mexico courtesy of Salvador the Savior

Tune: Shake Sugaree by Elizabeth Cotton sung by her granddaughter. Elizabeth Cotton was born in January 1895. Happy birthday.

Tune: The Chocolate Butterfly by dunkelbunt feat Raf MC & Fanfare Ciocarlia

Beetroot Halwa, Haji Ali, Shantaram, Karate

Beetroot Halwa

4 cups Beets, grated
1/4 cup Ghee
8 cups Milk
2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Almonds, Sliced
1 teaspoon Rose Water (Lebanese)
1 teaspoon Cardamom Powder

Peel and grate beets and cook over low heat with ghee for 5 minutes. Add milk and simmer over very low heat, stirring, until milk has reduced to a thick paste (about one hour) Stir in sugar, cardamom and rose water. Top with sliced almonds and garnish with an organic rose petal.
This bakery delivery man in Calcutta's Chinatown brings sweet treats to shops and homes.

Sweet Treats from the Haji Ali Jiuce Center (notice the use of subja seeds)

Subja seeds are also used in drinks in Thailand and El Salvador as well, where they are called by numerous other names.

A Mumbaiker takes a break from the hustle of life in Mumbai near the entrance to Haji Ali

Haji Ali is a special place. Shantaram describes the scene at the Haji Ali juice center in his Book











You will be able to see Amita Bachan visit the Haji Ali Juice Center with Johnny Depp in the upcomming film Shantaram scheduled to be out in 2009. Can't wait till 2009 for Bollywood action? Check out 1983 Bollywood production "Karate" Or if you are in the San FranciscoBay Area, drop in to Bollyhood Cafe for your Bollywood fixI found this record after visiting Haji Ali one day last year. It was in a heap of records on the street among cows and goats.

Tune: Karate by Bappi Lahiri & Amit Kumar, Son of Soul Cocina Favorite Kishore Kumar.
from Bappi Lahiri's Karate

Tune: baazi pyar ki by Asha Bhosle Also from Karate

Tune: do diwane Pyar Ke by Kishore and Amit Kumar

Tune: The Jewelled Heart by Temple Of Sound & Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali from People's Colony No. 1

Tune: hairan hua hairan hua by Abida Parveen


Tune: On L'oubliera by Sandy Cossett from the CD Au Bonheur


Tune: Ala Balad El Mahboub by Oum Kalthoum born 1904 and passed in the glorious year of 1975

Tune: Camino de la Vida by Sergent Garcia with La Capitana

Tune: Lehna by Melaaz from the 1995 CD Melaaz

Tune: Do It Baby and Back Wey
Do It Baby performed by Susan Cadogan and Back Wey is performed by Dread Locks Faye
Back Wey was produced by Lee Perry in the wonderful year of 1975

My Camera's Shadow at Haji Ali at High Tide
Another Soul Cocina Production

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