B.A. Boppers

Coming from Chicago, I have had a lot of hot dogs. A few hot dogs usually sit on the summer bbq grill alongside the burgers topped with a slice of American cheese. During the after school hours of 3:30 - 4:30, microwaves across the Tri State area simultaneously heat up wieners for snacks. Cheese dogs too, filled with processed yellow cheesy stuff that melts inside the nuked dog or just stays solid for the impatient kids who just eat the dogs cold. Thoughts of grilled, slightly blackened dogs from the forest preserve bbq bring back memories. But whenever I return to Chicago I always have a famous Chicago style hot dog made with Vienna Beef franks, sport peppers, mustard, celery salt, florescent green relish, tomato, dill pickle spear, chopped onions and NO KETCHUP.
There are a few places in San Francisco that serve "Chicago style hot dogs", some are horrible, some are just below average, none worth mentioning. But who cares really. There are a lot of other great alternatives here.
Here in SF we have foo foo dogs that are probably pretty good. And we have all sorts of artesian and homemade sausages. I enjoy Rosamunde, where you can get wild boar sausage, merguez, duck sausage, andouille, among other selections grilled to order on a wonderful bun with mustard, sauerkraut and Chicago style giardinare.
If you don't know about hot dogs in San Francisco, here is a San Francisco hot dog list with info on "the city's best dressed dogs". The list includes a house made dog from Absinthe made of Kobe beef, pork shoulder and bacon and a few off the beaten track spots to find hot dogs from 4505 Meats. It's fun to follow the zilladog around the city to find the clandestine grill set up. Or you can just go official and wait in line at the Thursday Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.
I found this zilladog on the corner of Guerrero and 16th Street.
Tune: Quiet Dog by Mos Def

Tune: Dog Eat dog by De La Soul

Tune: Black Dog by BJ Nevenko

Tune: Dog Style by Ziqo

Tune: Dejen Esos Perros by La Banda Gorda

Tune: Perro Gaucho by Negromoreno

Tune: La Vecinita by El Perro

Tune: Boogaloo Del Perro by Los Destellos

Tune: 488 Kilometros by Cuarteto Imperial

New Cumbias Sonideras

Tune: Cumbia Washa by Los Tepoz "Hey hey, whassup bro?" - basically just a steady instrumental with a few saludos and some nice rolling percussion.
This sonidero Poblano group, Los Tepoz are different from the banda Group, also from Mexico called Los Tepoz. *almost positive
I love this video for El Tamalero from los otros Tepoz.


"de chocolate traigo Ferrero Rocher MnMs Milkyway Snikers....halls cloretes pepitoria cacahuates trident....nueces pistachios cocadas de coco y platano pasado..." in other words El Tamalero's got it all.
Tune: Danza Sonidera by Grupo Kachimba A great cumbia for dos mil nueve complete with tropical bird yells and shout outs to drinking beer and dancing. Great beat and instrument interplay. "Danza Sonidera para cortoriar"

And some Chicago Blues

Tune: Puppy Howl Blues by Chicago's Big Moose from the Bad Ass Boppers Vol 2 LP. Listen as he shouts out San Francisco in the begining. Interesting that all the places he shouts out are "down south" except for SF, California. The "puppy howl" guitar is insane on this track and Jhonny "Big Moose" Walker keeps the piano rockin as always. Not to be confused with the other Chicago celebrity The Blue Moose

Tune: Mean Ole Frisco by Little Walter also from the Bad Ass Boppers Vol 2 LP


*although this clip says it is "Little Walter singing" it is actually Little Walter on the harmonica and Muddy Waters singing. Well actually they are both just actors playing Muddy and Lil Walter. I think Little Walter sings "My Babe"in the film, a tune Jimmy Schanz had me sing in the Cartoon Gypsies.

Tune: Get Out of Here by Billy Boy Arnold
Tune: Man Of Many Words by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells
I can remember seeing Buddy Guy jam out full force a decade ago, the year Junior Wells died, as I worked the expo line at his club in Chicago with the cooks from Mexico. Wish I had a digital camera back then. Memories will do.

Ceviche Peruano

Well I missed the Peruvian Food Festival at Roccapulco last weekend. I waited in line for over an hour and the line barely moved. I walked home, a short walk up the hill, and returned a few hours later and the line was even longer! I was looking forward to the fest for a while, but all the people who drove from far away had more patience than I did on that sunny Sunday.

Tune: Toro Mata by Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco
Born forty years and twenty days before me, Johnny Pacheco was one of the first artists I used to listen to who played Charanga music. He was a champion of Charanga music with his group "Pacheco y su Charanga" and he introduced the Pachanga dance to the world. His Charanga had plenty of flute and violin along with piano, bass and horns with influences from Africa, Jazz, Cuba and his native Dominican Republic. JP played with the Alegre All Stars and he was the leader of the OG Fania All Stars. ODub recently featured some great Charanga tunes over at Musica Del Alma. I'll post some of my favorite Alegre All Star and Pacheco tracks in the future, today is about Peru. So why a tune by a Dominican and a Cubana, JP and Celia? Because they are playing a classic AfroPeruvian tune Toro Mata.

Tune: Woop! La Policia by Oro Solido

Tune: El Labio Hinchao by Oro Solido

Tune: La Soga also by Oro Solido
OK what's up with these modern day merengues from Oro Solido's Fantasia Urbana album on this Peru post? Well, JP was from DR and Oro Solido is playing next week at Roccapulco.

A friend of mine from Peru once told me that ceviche in Lima never has tomatoes, unlike the ceviche we used to eat at La Altena, the Mexican taqueria near our work. In Lima, you eat ceviche in proper cevicherias, cultural institutions in themselves. More on how to eat ceviche in Lima. My pal Habib shared a simple Ceviche Peruano recipe with my. He suggests using aji, a Peruvian chile pepper for the ceviche. Ironically, there is a produce store in the same building as La Altena that sells a pepper very similar to aji from time to time [same building is also home to a Peruvian restaurant called El Perol... great papas rellenas]. Unfortunately they were out when I went to shop last week. I used the seranos I had at home. Habib also suggests boiling some corn and sweet potatoes to go with the ceviche for an authentic touch. So I did! I just missed the lettuce from the recipe. I also fried a few strips of the sweet potato for a little crunch. One of my favorite ceviches ever was at the now defunct Platanos with fried plantains. Or at Nopalito with homemade corn tortilla chips. I like the crunch with my ceviche. Next time I make this ceviche, I'll serve it with cancha.
Habib says:
Nothings better on a hot summer day than a chilled, spicy Peruvian ceviche. Any firm white fish will do. I like halibut, but on a budget cod or sole will do. Make sure the fish is fresh and not previously frozen. Cut fish into 1/2 inch size cubes and put in a shallow bowl. Add enough lime and lemon juice to barely coverl the fish. If you can get it use Aji amarillo ( a spicy peruvian chile with lots of flavor ) or Roccoto ( also a peruvian chile that is similar to a habanero) you can get these chiles in either paste form or whole frozen at most latino markets. If you cannot find these simply use habanero (sparingly!) or serrano chiles. Dice the chiles fairly small, add minced fresh garlic, thinly sliced red onions and a good amount of salt. Let marinate for at least 2 hours or until the fish becomes opaque and fully "cooked". Traditionally it is served on lettuce, boiled potatoes or sweet potatoes and some sort of corn either toasted or thin wheels of corn on the cob.

Then habib continues:
A great way to upscale the presentation of this dish is to serve it in martini glasses and garnish with a slice of avocado a couple of cherry tomatoes and cilantro.
MUSICA PERUANA
Tune: Kintos Jala Jala by Los Kintos from Tin Marin

Tune: Duelo by Sonora Nelson Ferreyra from Oye Mi Sonora

Tune: Goza Mi Guaguanco by Los Kintos from Tin Marin

Tune: El Milagro Verde by Los Mirlos

Tune: Sonido Amazonico also by Los Mirlos

Tune: Sacalo by Los Diablos Rojos

Tune: Tu no estás en nada by Lita Branda from Con Sabor
Lita Branda is Melcochita's sister. Melcochita is a Salsa don in Peru and a real character who still creates a lot of gossip and comotion at age 73. Although he's a TV personality and comedian, he is still a great singer.

Tune: Moreno Pintan a Cristo by Lita Branda y Melcochita

Tune: Pegaso by Melcochita



Tune: A Guarachar by Melcochita

Tune: Cuereando by Melcochita Y Karamanduka from Acabo Con Lima Huyo Pa' New York

Tune: Elvira Se Vira also by Melcochita Y Karamanduka from Acabo Con Lima Huyo Pa' New York

Tune: Candela by Melcochita Y Karamanduka from Acabo Con Lima Huyo Pa' New York

*LPs from my collection exzcept the Melcochita-Karamanduka [I wish]

Tune: El Chacombo by Oscar Aviles y Arturo "Zambo" Cavero

Tune: Mis Cantares by Pancho Jimenez y Ariles from Fiesta Criolla

Tune: Muneca by Freddy Roland y su Orquesta Show Internacional on Discos Trebol

Gaga baby gaga

And let's take it to the kitchen.

Y los locos en el estudio.

Mumbai to SF

Tune: Land of Five Rivers by Vijay Raghav Rao's LP Festival Time

Soul Cocina Bhel Puri tonight after Non Stop Bhangra

Local ingredients of Oaxaca

From the opening tune of this LP, I think this group may be from Veracruz, which is Oaxaca's neighbor. They are kind of like Los Gatos Negros [another band from Southern Mexico]. They have lots of simple but hard hitting cumbias and they wear similar outfits as Los Gatos Negros [matching baby blue or pink suits with big bowties] But Tropicana Mocombo also play other tropical styles, like this straight ahead, short and sweet salsa.

Tune: Llegando A Veracruz by Tropicana Mocambo from their self titled 1979 album on Okeh Records.

A few of the cooks and one of the chefs at Nopalito are from Veracruz. The famous gorditas have just been put back on the menu, now filled with house chorizo. Get it while you can.

Tune: La Cosquillita also by Tropicana Mocambo with Little Gatito Felix Rodriguez on vocals

Tune: Anibal El Canibal also by Tropicana Mocambo again with Gatito Rodriguez on vocals.
This song is a crack up!

And get a sneak peak here of DJ Juan Data's new mix Mersaholic

Jharnas Kitchen

I will be teaching an Indian cooking class next weekend on Saturday with a great Indian cook, Auntie Jharna. We will make a few vegetarian dishes like Bengali eggplant curry and hamemade samosas with a few different chutnies. We will also steam fish in banana leaves, Bengali style with mustard and tamarind. Jharna's Kitchen Indian Cooking Class will be held at Chez Mook in San Francisco. Participants will get a chance to cook all these dishes with us and also take home the recipes. We are planning on a festive class.

More info here

Sign up and buy tickets here




Tune: Professor Pyarelal from Professor Pyarelal [scratchy vinyl rip, couldn't find clean mp3 version] check the break at 1:55. Music by Kalyanji & Anandji

Tune: Na Na Na Yeh Kya Karne Lage Ho from Bombay 405 Miles also from the Kalyanji Anandji duo.

Tune: Chand Mera Dil_Ah Dil from Hum Kisise Kum Naheen, one of the funkiest soundtracks of all time

Tune: Bachna Ae Haseeno also from Hum Kisise Kum Naheen [top of the Soul Cocina charts]
just listen to the funk, the drama, the theatrics, all the instruments and back up singers and that beat. Wha wha flange funk guitar, the mariachi sounding horns, psychadelic guitars and Kishore Kumar with a glorious performance.

Tune: Jivan Ke Safar Main Raahi sung by Kishore Kumar from Munimji

Here is Kishore Kumar's happy version of this song from the 1955 film Munimji


And Lata Mangeshkar has a sad version in the same film. Music by SD Burman


Tune: Cumbia En La India by Andres Landero

Tune: Kiss Kiss from 1969 film Tumse Achha Kaun Hai sung by Mohammed Rafi
is that a güiro?

Tune: India by John Coaltrain Live at the village Vangaurd 1961

Tune: Cumbia Curry by Sonido Del Principe

Partner in crime to Vince the Prince from Generation Bass is DJ Umb who has continued to share the best global ghettotech tunes daily on their blog. Umb has some deep Indian influences on his new dubstep mixtape. It starts out with a qawwali beat that goes glitch. Very nice.

Tune: DJ Umb's APOCALYPTIC DUBSTEP Mix
"It’s the end of the world as we know it! Featuring Arabic, Indian, Balkan and ZZK inspired DUBSTEP"
complete with Goodfella samples!
"As far back as I remember I always wanted to be a gangster"
Apocolyptic Dubstep tracklist here

And to celebrate the Bachata festival in San Francisco this weekend, here is a fun tune direct from Santo Domingo.
Tune: Bimbola RMX by Pablo Bachata Feat Shino

Ulri Phital [repost from Sep 2006]

Vanktesh is the South Indian Chef that I worked with this week. Vanktesh specializes in the cuisines of Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Pandicherry. While I was working in the South Indian kitchen he showded me how to make dosa, idli, aloo bonda, South Indian mutton stew, pongal, tomato chutney, vadas, sambar and ulri phital. Vanktesh's brother works at the fish market in Panjim, here in Goa.
Ulri Phital:
Dry roast some fennel seeds and sesame seeds and grind them in a mortar and pestel. Fry whole, peeled pearl onions in ghee intil they begin to brown. Remove onions and fry mustard seeds in oil until they start to pop. Add whole curry leaves and ginger garlic and onion paste. Fry for a few minutes over medium heat and add fresh tomato puree, tumeric powder, coriander powder, and chile powder. simmer for a few minutes to reduce and then add tamarind water, finely ground dried coconut, toasted fennel and sesame powder, and salt. Add browned onions and simmer in sauce for about 10 minutes over medium low heat. Garnish with cilantro.

Tune: She Knows Her Onions [1926] by The California Ramblers

Twin Peaks Diaspora Mix

This Wonderful Wednesday brings us a two hour mix by DJ Rajah.

SOUL COCINA TWIN PEAKS DIASPORA MIX

DJ Rajah will join DJ Aebl Dee for Descendents United tomorrow night at Luka's Taproom, Oakland. While organizing records and mp3s, I decided to make a mix. Turned out to last almost 2 hours. So I broke it into 4 parts.

listening instructions:

Part 1 press play on your walkman at the top of Twin Peaks just before sunrise. Walk down to Mission Street... put cassette or 8 track into your low rider hoopty parked on mission street. Drive slow. till sunset.
Part 2 stop at Little Baobab and give tape to dj. Dance till 2am. Dj will add more nice sounds to the mix!
Part 3 plug in ipod to Fossil Fool's bike soundsystem. Move the street party on bike, pogo stick, carnaval float or skateboard down Mission Street to Sub Mission Balazo afterhours. Dance till dawn.
Part 4 listen through the soundsystem at Palacio Latino while dining on platanos and black beans. Wait for Chilangolandia bus for a journey across Latin America and back home to Africa.

Tune: Soul Cocina Twin Peaks Diaspora Mix Part ONE - DJ RAJAH

Tune: SCTPDM Part TWO

Tune: SCTPDM Part THREE

Tune: SCTPDM Part FOUR

part 1
Junktion - Beats Antique
Balkan Qoulou [dunkelbunt remix] - Watcha Clan
El Bombo - Choc Quib Town
Feelin Myself (b.cause instro edit) - Mac Dre via Diamonds in the Dust
Nice Green (Acapella) - Jahdan Blakkamoore
So Krispy [Kinky Electric Noise Kumbianativo] - Kia Shine
Bang (Prince of Ballard Remix) - Rye Rye feat. M.I.A. via Mixtape Riot
Send It On - Busy Signal
Bo Be Easy Featuring C.Le - Axum via Mad Decent

part 2
gaga de boca chica - uknown unlabeled cd from DR
Laluda Bellu - Las Chicas Rolands [#1 tune on the soulcocina charts]
Music - Titi - [thanks to Boima on Mudd Up Radio]
Mi Tradicion - Kazzabe
Chan Chan Chan - Unic Mambo
Arremangala Arrempujala - Los Karkis [Car Keys]
Punta Rica - Kazzabe
Punta Rebane - Zambat

part 3
Tumari - Los Silver Star
Mamela - Skeat via Masala
ke byen - Bwa Bandé via Benn Loxo Du Taccu
Jumakoka - Bazuko DIGITAL
Wining Master {La Douma Riddim} - Pamputae
Heavy T {La Douma Riddim Remix}- Fay Ann Lyons
Up in her belly {La Douma riddim Remix} - Busy Signal
Tribalmania (Maghalena) - MC MARIO
Ghana'e - Willie Colon
Cana E - Lizandro Meza y Su Conjunto via Africolombia

part 4
Che Che Cole - Willie Colon
Jeje Kule - Snr Eddie Donkor via Awesome Tapes from Africa
Kyekyekule - Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer
La Murga - Papa Brandao Y Su Conjunto Aires Tablenos via Panama!2
La Murga - Los Melodicos
Enyere Cumbara - Julian y su Combo via Musica Del Alma
Bosa Cubana - Los Zafiros
Ojala Que Llueva Cafe - Cafe Tacuba

"para que nos siguen copiando" - Lisandro Meza

The first song on the mix is from the new Beats Antique release, Contraption



The second song from a [dunkelbunt] remix of a tune from the new Watcha Clan release. Watcha Clan will be performing tonight at Rickshaw Stop, SF. Look for Soul Cocina bhel puri stand outside the show on your way out.

Got dinner plans for tonight in SF?

photo of Soul Cocina bhel puri taken by STG

Come try some Soul Cocina bhel puri this evening at a lil' street fest in San Francisco here from 7:33pm to 8:33pm.


Soul Cocina Bhel puri is a mix of....
puffed rice
chaat masala*
toasted peanuts
heirloom tomato, chopped
pluots, chopped
red onion, chopped
cilantro, chopped
potato, boiled in salted tumeric water and roughly mashed
green chile, minced
tamarind chutney
mint chutney
puri chips, broken up
sev
crispy fried chana daal (soak in water overnight, dry then deep fry til GBD)
crispy fried garlic slices
lime juice

*Chaat masala recipe
1 T black salt
1 t amchoor(dried mango powder)
1 T asafoetida
2 T cumin
2 T coriander
2 T red chili powder

I will mix all ingredients to order and roll up in a newspaper cone.
Soul Cocina bhel puri will be custome made. $3
Get yours spicy or not.... cause some like it hot.

Tune: Some Like it Hot by Dennis Brown

There will also be other street food carts and bikes out for the fiascle. Plus a special visit from outer space to our planet by the toes and feet of MPX.



extraterrestrial music, magic curry, Soul Cocina chaat masala in the air... we will only be missing uncle [dunkelbunt], who will be on tour in Europe.

[dunkelbunt] has just released the album Raindrops and Butterflies. And if you order the album from his website you get a spice mix too. I use mine in my tea.

RAINDROPS & ELEPHANTS - Piranha Re:Interpretations (PIRANHA MUSIK)

[dunkelbunt]'s music is like an imaginary river. If looked for on a map, it would start somewhere in India. It would head out west and follow a fairly certain path while constantly changing in size and intensity, through the Orient and into the Balkans. From there, things get a little more confusing. Like a delta it spreads, and none of its offshoots take precedence over the others. It keeps moving - west, north, south, looping around itself, on the way adding dancehall and electro, reggae and house, bossa and breakbeats, jazz and ragga to the mix. With his ever-growing list of featured vocal collaborators like Cloud Tissa, Jimi D, Selecta Bence et.al., [dunkelbunt] continues to expand and recreate his unique musical universe, beyond any borders set between the cultures by the prejudices of the fundamentalists on all sides.

For Rain Drops and Elephants other musical traditions bubble to the surface and enter the stream from the deep, wide wells of Piranha Musik's repertoire: Simentera from the Cape Verde Islands and Fanfare Ciocarlia from the Carpathian Mountains, Boban i Marko Markovic from the banks of the Danube river and Frank London from New York's Lower East Side, Ihsan Al-Mounzer from resurrected Beirut, Ruth Yaakov from ancient Jerusalem and Watcha Clan from Marseilles' hard harbour 'hood. In [dunkelbunt]'s Piranha Re:Interpretations, the influences from both sides are clearly visible and wholly harmonious.

Variety is the spice of life!

Get your personal copy on uncle [dunkelbunt]'s homepage www.dunkelbunt.tk (CD / VINYL) with an extra homemade dunkelbunt spice mixture or of course in all common records stores. Mp3s on Itunes / etc.

Tune: Revedere Message by [dunkelbunt] vs. Grandmaster Flash

Tune: [dunkelbunt] rocks da funky beats]

A modern classic video from [dunkelbunt]:

Cocoa Coffin

Kane Kwei was born in Ghana almost a century ago. He was a carpenter who built custom coffins as well as furniture. He has made coffins in the shape of a Mercedes, Nokia cell phone, airplane, and my favorite, a spring onion. The cocoa pod coffin above is on display at the DeYoung museum in Golden gate park in San Francisco. I would want a phonograph record player coffin, or maybe a jalapeno coffin... oh I know, a phonograph record player with a ristra wrapped around it!

Tune: Coffin For Head of State by Fela Kuti
Fela is not the only one who says Waka waka waka.

Tune: Cocoa Leaf from La Clave's self titled LP
~a wild percussion suite lead by Panamanian born Benny Velarde with exciting piano work by Al Zulaica.
Maestro Velarde ebreaks down the uniqueness of the West Coast Latin scene {via Office Naps}:

“On the East Coast they were playing music that was called “Afro Cuban Jazz”. It was heavily influenced by Chano Pozo who played with Dizzy Gillespie and Mario Bauza. On the West Coast we were playing what was called “Latin Jazz” - which meant jazz standards with Latin percussion …Another difference was that on the East Coast the music was played by Big Bands like those lead by Dizzy Gillespie and Machito. But on the West Coast we did not have Big Bands but the music was played by smaller combos.”

Tune: Move Your Hands also from La Clave's La Clave LP
This is one of many great covers of the Lonnie Smith classic. This version really stands out as a unique take. Lalo Shcifrin steps in on the keys @ 1:01 and Willie Colon keeps the bass sturdy throughout!? ....not THE Willie Colon of La Murga trombone fame, but a great bass player.

Tune: Ritmo Del Corazon from Sapo's from 1974 self titled LP recorded in San Pancho, Aztlan. {AKA SF,CA}
~check the drum break at 3:12 followed by wha wha guitars then horns. Fuego.

Tune: Cocoa by Assagai from Ther self titled 1971 LP via the now defunct Captain's Crate. Check the Captain Crate crew over at Mixtape Riot for some super nice Bang Bang remixes

Tune: Bayeza also by Assagai from the Zimbabwe album
South African musical giants Dudu Pakwana and Luis Moholo, who also played together with The Blue Notes, were part of this band.

Tune: Barazinbar also from Assagai's Zimbabwe LP

Tune: Caution! by Hugh Masakela & the Union of South Africa
A cool breezer to chill the summer heat with Hugh Masekela's instantly recognizable signature trumpet groove!Tune: To Get Ourselves Together also by Hugh Masakela & the Union of South Africa

Tune: Languta from Hugh Masekela Introduces Introducing Hedzoleh Soundz
recorded in Lagos in 1973 this tune was written by Hugh Masekela.Tune: Rekpete also from Hugh Masekela Introduces Introducing Hedzoleh Soundz
This tune is a traditional song Adapted by Hedzoleh Soundz. The rest of the songs on the LP were written by the members of Hedzoleh Soundz who are from Ghana, like the coffin carpenter Kane Kwei. Inside the gatefold LP they thank Fela Kuti "without whom this album would not be realised"

Tune: Nina by Hugh Masekela from I Am Not Afraidgreatest album cover ever.

Just a few minutes late for a Miercoles de Maravilla post.. lets call this a San Jueves post with even more gems from the Soul Cocina Crates and Notebooks.

Now for a recipe from the vaults circa 2005

Warm Chocolate Cake Wrapped in Purple Mochi Crepe over Sauteed Cherries with Noyaux Ice Cream and Fried Almonds

This is one of many variations and reincarnations of the Pokemon's Purse, an old plated dessert standard at Citizen Cake. It was there before me and I am sure it lived on after me in its OG form, but I loved giving this kawaii treat different twists throughout the seasons.

Noyaux Ice Cream

3 cups milk
1 cup cream
1/2 cup egg yolks {about 6 yolks}
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup smashed cherry pits
1/2 t salt

Bring the milk cream and cherry pits to a light simmer. remove from heat and llow to steep for 2 hours. return to heat and return to a simmer. Strain and temper in the yolks, sugar and salt. Chill overnight and spin in an ice cream freezer.

It is very common to make ice cream base from 1/2 cream and 1/2 milk. French ice cream base is made like creme anglaise with more cream. Italian Gelato is made with just milk. I like this ratio of 3 parts milk to one part cream. Unlike the other recipe components in this dessert that come directly from cherry stained notebook, the recipe above is an adaptation of standard recipes off the top of my head. When I searched "Cherry Pit Ice Cream" to present some background on Noyaux ice cream, I was directed to the Eggbeater blog and found an almost identicle recipe! Same thought process went into the creation and yeild modification of this recipe by homegirl Shuna and I.

Chocolate Cake Filling

8 ounces dark chocolate from Ghana cocoa beans
8 ounces butter
6 each eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt the butter and chocolate together. Whip the yolks with half of the sugar until light and fluffy. Whip the whites to soft peak and slowly add the rest of the sugar. Whip to medium peaks. Fold yolks into chocolate. Fold in the whites. Sift the flour and fold in along with the salt.

Purple Mochi Crepe

8 oz sugar
8 oz Mochiko rice flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t fine sea salt
2 ea whole eggs
9 oz fresh cherry juice
4 oz red wine
2 oz melted butter

whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the liquid ingredients. Whisk the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and pour onto a buttered half sheet pan. Bake at 325 degrees for ten minutes. When cooled down to room temperature, cut into 6 squares and remove from pan.

Place a small 2 ounce scoop of cake batter in the center of the mochi square. Fold in the corners. Flip over onto a parchment lined sheet pan so that the seam is down. Bake for ten minutes at 325 degrees.


Sauteed Cherries

Pit and half cherries. Melt a little butter in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the cherries along with half of a vanilla bean and a spoonful of sugar. Saute for a minute then add some red wine away from heat. Return to stove and reduce over medium heat until the cherries are a little soft and the sauce has thickened.

Serve with ground and whole almonds that have been fried in olive oil and salted. Finish with chocolate cigarettes or chocolate dipped poke sticks.

Simple Harissa

In the digital world, inspiration [and samples] can be found in unlikely places. Dj Quik flips a musical moment from the Bizarre Foods show.

Tune: Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues) by DJ Quik And Kurupt from BlaQKout

Musical break at about 2 minutes, just before they cook tajine.

My favorite street food I tasted in Morocco were sandwiches on toasted French bread with grilled merguez or lamb kefta with harissa and grilled onions and tomatoes.

I have recently updated my harissa recipe that I shared here a few years ago. The old recipe is great, this is just another variation:

Soul Cocina Harissa 2009

1 1/2 cup dried chillies*
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1 Tablespoon brown butter**

Cover chillies with boiling water and soak for one hour. Drain water. Rough chop the chillies. Pound all the ingredients together in a mortar and pestal to a paste.

*I like to use Kashmiri chillies. Not the small thin Kashmiri chillies that look and taste like cayenne aka chile de arbol. Rather the small, round, fat Kashmiri chillies sold at South Asian markets here in SF. They look like Mexican cascabel chillies, but taste a little different.

##brown butter is easily made by slowly melting butter and cooking until it becomes golden brown and the milk solids begin to toast. AKA buerre noisette.

Since I use this addictive combo of brown butter and these wonderful chillies, I don't like to add many other spices besides a little toasted cumin to this harrisa. I borrowed the brown butter idea from LoBue Events Just remember, when butter is cold it hardens and when it is hot it becomes liquid. So the temperature you serve the harissa at will effect the consistancy.

DJ Quik used this Bappi Lahari song as a sample for "Addictive" a while back. Check the history here The singer is the uber diva of Hindi film songs [and Marathi songs too], Lata Mangeshkar.

Tune: Thoda Resham Lagta Hai from the 1981 soundtrack for Jyoti

Wonderful Wednesday

As promised, on Wednesdays, I will continue to share some treasures from the Soul Cocina vaults. Today I continue where we left off last week. More Caribbean sounds. This time from Haiti.

Tune: Cabane Choucoune by Le Super Choucoune 70 from Ca Chauffe a Cabane Choucoune

Tune: Toutt Coucou also from Le Super Choucoune 70's Ca Chauffe a Cabane Choucoune
I really like the hand clap and horn break at 1:24 on this song.

And from the culinary archives, a Soul Cocina signature dish from an old chocolate stained notebook. This is a recipe I get a lot of requests for. I started making chile spiked chocolate cakes at Flying Saucer in 99. It was unusual back then. Then about five years later, I served the Chocolate Aztec at Platanos. The cake was featured on Univision. My first exposure on Spanish TV. [the second time was also dealing with sweetstuff] Since then, chocolate and chile has become a more common combination. The combo dates back to centuries ago when the Aztecs used to drink chocolate with chile and vanilla

Chocolate Aztec Cakes

12 oz Dark Chocolate
12 oz Butter
9 ea Egg Yolks
4 ea Egg Whites
2 C Sugar
½ C Flour, sifted
½ tsp Salt
6 whole Chile de Arbol [dried cayenne peppers], crushed
1 stick Cinnamon

Melt butter with cinnamon and chiles and keep warm for ½ hour to infuse.
Strain melted butter and discard the cinnamon and peppers.
Melt chocolate in a large bowl over a double boiler and combine with the butter.
Whip egg yolks and 1 cup sugar until double in volume.
Whip egg whites to soft peaks then slowly add remaining one cup of sugar. Continue to whip to medium peaks.
Fold Eggyolks into chocolate.
Fold Egg whites into chocolate.
Fold in sifted flour and salt.
Pour into individual buttered ramekins and bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.


BONUS:
plus a special treat from one of my 7" finds at the now defunct Mission St. Musica Latina Store

Tune: Sin Pito by Los Corraleros de Majagual

Tune: El Borracho Converson also by Los Corraleros de Majagual