You’re ecologically sensitive when it comes to coagulated animal protein. You purchase only free-range organic beef and Kosher chicken. You chew on venison jerky, and wax ecstatic over ostrich whenever Whole Foods has it in stock.
And yet, even the head of Sierra Club isn’t as ecologically minded as an average Australian. There are recycling boxes next to each and every public garbage can and Tasmania is all set to become the first plastic bag-free state in the world. Add to this the perfect meat source: almost no fat, low in environmental impact, sustainable, organic, free range, and tasty. I am in fact talking about Kangaroo.
Oh don’t look at me like that. You’ve defied your Disney conditioning enough to eat venison, and these tasty marsupials don’t even have their own cutesy movie.
Culling of natural predators has resulted in a huge overpopulation. They have few of the parasites and diseases present in domestic animals like cows and sheep, and, while animals with hooves kill off vegetation and cause erosion, the famous kangaroo bounce keeps soil healthy. It’s practically our duty to barbeque, roast, and sauté these furry meat-bags.
Five species of kangaroo are currently harvested in Australia by small, local suppliers. It’s the type of cottage industry that would make any hippie proud. Even conservation groups agree that upping kangaroo farming would help out with environmental revitalization efforts.
And anyway, it’s juicy and tender and tasty, and really good. The American Heart Association agrees, but more for the low fat content and high vitamins. And it’s coming soon. Oh yes. It’s helping out with the “Russian Meat shortage”. It’s surging in Europe thanks to the Foot and Mouth epidemic a few years ago. And now, the US.
Finally, an Australian export that doesn’t wear a silly hat. Try some, extra rare
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12Nov
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11Nov
Just in time for the influx of cold-weather tourists to our fair city, CNN has compiled and posted a list of “cheap” places to eat well in DC. These sorts of lists seem designed to generate controversy, but hey – we don’t shy from controversy around here. My take on the entries on CNN’s list about which I know anything:
2. Ben’s Chili Bowl. I love it, and I fully support sending tourists there very late at night: we need to thin the herd!
3. Lauriol Plaza. Why does this place consistently make every single “cheap eats” list in DC?? It’s in no way cheap, the lines are awful, and the food is just so-so. You can so infinitely better at Dos Gringos, Mixtec, or any of the tiny Salvadorian and Ecuadorian places on the Hill. Ugh!
7. Leftbank. Whuuuh? It’s expensive. I’ve never had good service (OK, I’ve only been twice, but still…). The food is so-so. It’s expensive. We also don’t need any more tourists on 18th street.
8. The Diner. See 7, above, except I love a few of the servers.
10. Moby Dick House of Kabob. Now we’re talking. Except, uhm, it’s really a carry-out place.
Where would you send visitors on a budget? Please distinguish where you’d send people you like (Oohhs and Aahhs for mac+cheese) versus people you don’t like (Anacostia Park for sunset). -
07Nov
The theft of food has a long and glorious history: Jean ValJean did it. Huckleberry Finn did it. And who could forget the classic knee-slapper, ”What are the first three words in a Hungarian cookbook? ‘Steal a chicken’”.
So it is unsurprising to that those of us who have spent the last two years sleeping at camp sites, hostel dorm rooms, and on one occasion, a beach, a very specialized form of cooking has evolved. This is hostel cooking, and it’s the most regional form of cuisine because each region has different foods to steal. And by steal, I mean ‘take without paying for’.
Let’s be fair. Lots of countries won’t allow fruits and vegetables over the state borders, and it can be better to carry only light, non-perishables like powdered soup and rice anyway. Hostel cooking is a cuisine that relies on having spent your last dollar on weird foreign beer the night before.
Basically, every hostel worth its pool table has a ‘Free Food shelf’. Some hostel stoves are coin-fed, and many places make you rent the cutlery. At some you even have to battle a giant German rugby player to be allowed at the sink. It’s in this classic tradition that we proudly give you the following recipes. They take 7 minutes, can be eaten out of the pot they were cooked in, and, most importantly, cost less than 2$ if you do it right. You’re on your own for the Rugby player tho.
Buy: 1 small white onion, and one 6-pack of eggs
Stolen spaghetti stew
This is the most basic of hostel dishes and it relies on one thing: carrying a large supply of powdered Chinese egg soup with you at all times. You can get the stuff for 50 cents at any Asian grocery store (I prefer the one in Rockville, but there’s one in Chinatown, and plenty of others all over the place). It’s really just beef or chicken bullion thickened with a little corn starch.
Start with whatever the required amount of water, cold in a pot. Add in the powder, and place it on low heat. Dice up the onion and toss it in. Add some of the ubiquitous spaghetti found on every free food shelf. If there isn’t any for free, find someone else’s groceries and either 1) steal a couple of strands, or if you think that will be too obvious 2) carefully break all the ends off of the entire pack, about half an inch down. That way, they all end up the same length, albeit shorter. Bring to a boil. Crack an egg into a rented cup and beat it a bit, then whisk it into the stew with a fork. Instant paradise in a bowl.
Really Deviled eggs
Take the eggs and hard-boil them. When you’re sure they’re ready, boil them for another few minutes, and then plunge them into cold water for a bit. Peel and slice each egg carefully in half and remove the yolks with a spoon. Locate some mayonnaise and some mustard. Grey Pupon is the best, but really anything on the free shelf will do.
Now just start adding whatever you can find to the yolks: a scoop of mayo, a scoop of mustard, whatever salt and pepper’s around, hot sauce, chili’s if it’s an Asian country, curry if it’s India (or England). Squish it all together with a fork to make a smooth yellow paste, and then scoop it back into the egg white cups using a spoon. Eat until you feel sick. Trade the onion to the Rugby player for a beer. -
04Nov
Several weeks ago, our own CZ posted a review of Capital Q BBQ, the lastest in a series of BBQ-related reviews we’ve done here on DCFUD and elsewhere. We’re always in search of the latest and best BBQ. Given that some of us haven’t eaten decent BBQ in at least six months, we thought we’d do what all good food lovers to do, and lust for BBQ experiences through our past writings and the writings of others. So, listed below for your pleasure, is our own BBQ link edition, including our reviews of local-ish BBQ and reviews from other great local sites.
Since BBQ always inspires such great feedback, we’d like to encourage our readers to provide their own views on the “best BBQ” in the greater DC area. And provide us with the links we missed, as we desperately need to read about more local BBQ.- Capital Q BBQ (DCFUD, September 2005) – “Portions were fairly large, overall the BBQ was good, but not the best. I think Rocklands’ ribs are better, but I want to go back already. Especially for their hot links.”
- Old Glory (The Kitchenette, September 2005) – “Old Glory has the friendly Fourth of July ambiance a bewildered student needs to gradually get oriented back to campus life. forget delicate tablecloths or fancy hor d’oeuvres– eating here is messy and fun. it’s only a matter of time before i find remnants of the meal underneath fingernails while daydreaming in class tomorrow.”
- Riedel’s Restaurant (Metrocurean, September 2005) – “Memphis, South Carolina, Kansas City and Texas-style homemade sauces are available to dress your ‘cue. (Metrocurean notes the absence of her native North Carolina sauces—both vinegar-based and tomato-based—but I won’t hold it against them.)”
- Rocklands BBQ (Ceno Ergo Sum, September 2005) – “At Rocklands, they slow cook the meat over hickory and then bring it up to temperature later, after you place your order. This ensures that your order is hot, but also still tender and juicy. They also go to the trouble of splitting the ribs and breaking the whole chickens into individual serving sizes before wrapping them up for you.”
- Lefty’s BBQ (DCFUD, November, 2004) – “The consensus is that out of all the BBQ places our crack team has tried, including Rocklands; Old Glory; Dixie Bones; Urban BBQ; Red, Hot, and Blue; and Johnny’s, Lefty’s Barbecue holds the current title of best BBQ in the metro D.C. area. At least, that is, until the next trip.”
- All the BBQ in Town (The Washington Post, July 22, 2004) – The Washington Post reviews local BBQ, and ends up dubbing The Rib Pit as the best in D.C. “The Rib Pit is the real thing. A wood-fired smoker built of white glazed brick dominates this tiny carryout on 14th Street NW, in Petworth. The immediate neighborhood looks a bit rough, and a bulletproof partition separates employees from customers. But these are perhaps the best ribs ($16.90 a slab) to be found in the District.”
- Johnny Boy’s (DCSOB/DCFUD Team, November 2003) – “The pulled pork was certainly up there on the list, but not the most amazing I’ve ever had. RJ3’s ribs were scrumptious, but did not live up to the hype that had been promised. Either way, it was worth the drive, although possibly not for a second time.”
We now open the comments section to you, our loyal readers, for your own thoughts on BBQ in the DC metro area.
UPDATE: Reader JM points to a place we seem to have missed: Levi’s Port Café (1102 8th St. SE). The City Paper gives this relative newbie high marks; what do you think?
