Stalking the Monkey Faced Eel - Merry Christmas!

In a truly inspired choice for a Christmas present, Connie, one of our wonderful daughters-in-law, signed me up for a inter-tidal fishing tour with Kirk Lombard of Sea Forager of San Francisco, blogger and holder of the California record for the largest monkey face eel ever caught.  Plus she threw in some snazzy ProLine waders!

So at 2:00 this afternoon, coinciding with a "minus" (i.e. lower than average) tide, my new waders and I showed up at the parking lot at Pillar Point, just north of Half Moon Bay, with about 15 other foraging wannabes, where Kirk, and his trusty sidekick Mike, met us.

From there our first stop was the nearby mud flats to secure some ghost shrimp for bait, and then to dig for horseneck clams.  In the meantime Mike had dropped a couple of crab pots in the bay hoping to catch some rock crab.
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A Trip to Chile - Part 1 - Geography

“Chile, that remote land that few people can locate on the map because it’s as far as you can go without falling off the planet.  No one passes by casually, however lost he may be, although many visitors decide to stay forever, enamored of the land and the people.”

Isabel Allende – “My Invented Country”

“Where exactly is Viña del Mar?” If you had asked me that question about a year ago I would not have been able to answer, notwithstanding that it has been Sausalito’s sister city since 1960 and the plaza in the middle of Sausalito is named after Viña. However, through an unexpected set of circumstances, at the beginning of last year I became involved with an effort to revitalize that relationship. That led first to a visit to Sausalito in July by a delegation from Viña led by their dynamic mayor, Virginia Reginato (which coincided with a visit to San Francisco by the Chilean Navy’s training ship, La Esmeralda), and then, at the beginning of November, to my own trip to Chile together with Sausalito’s mayor, Herb Weiner – the first time for either of us to travel to South America.  

July 2010 - Viña Comes to Sausalito

November 2010 - Sausalito Goes to Viña    

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New Year’s Resolution

Happy New Year. Wow, has really been four months since my last post? I'm afraid I've been distracted with matters related to our Sausalito/ Viña del Mar sister city initiative, including a two-week trip to Chile in November, but hopefully I'll have more time this year to spend here. I will shortly add a couple of posts about my trip, including highlights of of the Chilean cuisine I encountered.  In the meantime, here's a shot of the sunrise taken from the Sausalito shore on New Year's Day.

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Squid and Chorizo – Cross Species Delight

When Nancy is away I can indulge myself with some dishes which she would prefer not to have in the house when she is home. Hence, since she is back in New York awaiting the arrival of our second grandchild, this afternoon I decided to make myself some Sautéed Calamari with Chorizo using a recipe by Rick Stein that I came across here.

I just made half the recipe and it was more than enough for a good sized portion plus some leftovers. I was not able to find chorizo (The Spanish Table was closed when I stopped by) so I ended up using some Portuguese linguica. The chorizo would have probably been just a bit spicier and coarser and would have been a better choice.

I also mashed half of the chickpeas which was a good choice since it added a bit more body to the dish. Finally I was also unable to find arugula so used spinach. Not bad, but greens with a slightly bitter note would have been better.
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Sanuki Udon – A Master Demonstration

Sausalito has for over 20 years been the sister city of Sakaide, a city located on the north coast of the Japanese island of Shikoku on the Inland Sea.  Sakaide is the point on Shikoku where the Seto Ohashi Bridge that connects Shikoku with Honshu comes ashore, and the original motivation for the sister city relationship between Sakaide and Sausalito was influenced by the two cities’ proximity to major bridges.



The most significant element of the relationship has been annual student trips – one year one way and the next year the other way. Last year a group of students from Sakaide visited Sausalito, and just this past month a group headed to Sakaide from Sausaito.

This weekend is the annual Sausalito Art Festival which has grown over its 59 years of operation to become a major event. In addition to the displays of art and live music, a number of Sausalito non-profit organizations operate food booths at the Festival which provides important operating funds for them. The Sausalito/Sakaide Sister City group has done so in the past and is doing so again this weekend.
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Licked by Tina Turner

A couple of weekends ago I was at the San Rafael farmers market. When I stopped by the information booth I noted they were offering free copies of a map entitled “Explore the Sonoma Marin Cheese Trail – A Guide to Sonoma and Marin Cheesemakers.” You can go here to find a story about the map – put out by the Marin Economic Forum – and to download a PDF copy of the map. Thanks to the MEF and the other sponsors for this valuable resource.

When I got home that morning and sat down to look over the map I expected that I would recognize all of the places on the map. There were certainly a number that I knew well, but also a number that I did not. However, one in particular, caught my eye – Ramini Mozzarella – in part because that was the only one on the map that used a “W” in the “Type of Animal Category” – namely, water buffalo.

I have always liked mozzarella cheese, although almost all of that which one finds here in the US is made from cow’s milk. However, if you have ever had the real “mozzarella di bufala” made from water buffalo milk coming from the Italian region of Campania south of Naples, you know there is no comparison. Hence, the suggestion that we may have some locally produced mozzarella di bufala was pretty exciting.
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Empanadas at Chile Lindo

I am afraid I have been very negligent about posting here.  Last year I became interested both in Chile and in Sausalito’s sister city relationship with the Chilean coastal city of Viña del Mar.  One thing lead to another, and now Virginia Reginato, the Mayor of Viña, is coming to Sausalito the week after next with a delegation of “Viñamarinos.”  I have been helping to coordinate that effort and it seems I have little time for anything else.

While I probably should be studying up on issues facing Chilean municipalities, my attention has instead, not unexpectedly, been drawn to matters of Chile's cuisine.  One thing I came across was Anthony Bourdain’s encounter with the famous Chilean “completo” while on a visit to Viña during the filming of a “No Reservations” episode in Chile.  However, I have learned that the true national dish of Chile seems to be ……the empanada!

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