"losangelestimes" news and stories

• A Los Angeles food club has been meeting monthly for a whopping 45 years.
• An ode to the breaded goodness of pork schnitzel, plus tons of good cooking tips.
• Lost Coast Brewing adds to its proliferation of fruity brews with a Tangerine Wheat Beer, a beverage primed to be "a charming outdoor sipper."
• The delicious aspects of Chinese Hunan cooking and a positive review of Xiang Wei Lou, a "plain but spiffy café" in San Gabriel, Calif.
• This year's Anatolian Cultures & Food Festival boasted amazing, sticky dondurma ice cream, full-scale structural reproductions and even a Turkish quesadilla.
• Writer Dan Neil weighs in on Carl's Jr.'s sexy Padma Lakshmi commercial and the politics of mixing sex and fast food.
• 2006 Terra de Verema Triumvirat -- a "beautifully balanced" $30 wine that the critic says could sell for twice as much.
  
• A brief review for Costa Mesa's Pizzeria Ortica, which offers unusual fare like house-cured yellowtail and milk-braised Kurobuta pork short ribs ... plus a more detailed review by critic Irene Virbila.
• Recipes: Pork Schnitzel, German Potato Salad, Julienne's Graham Cracker Chewy Bars

Here's what's cooking in the Los Angeles Times Food Section today:

What's hot, what's not: Russ Parsons and Amy Scattergood weigh in on what a kitchen essential really is.

Celebrity chefs will cut some costs to keep their restaurants afloat in this economy. But cutting quality remains verboten.

Spice your own: Combine spices to create something special...and uniquely you.

Recipe: Columbo pork loin curry. Spicy delish!

Recipe: Grilled shrimp skewers with charmoula.

Restaurant Review: S. Irene Virbila writes an open letter to Charlie Palmer regarding his restaurant at the South Coast Plaza.

Culinary SOS: Wither Hans' ginger scones?

Datebook: Culinary doings this week in L.A.

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• If you're in LA, you can watch the Super Bowl at a number of sports bars around town, and they aren't just doing your standard bar fare. Whiskey-marinated wings, anyone?

• In the kitchen, Amy Scattergood shows that sourdough isn't as hard as it sounds. All you need is a good starter. Russ Parsons celebrates oysters (Oysters roasted with fennel and cream, Oyster stew with leeks and prosciutto, Roasted oysters with chipotle butter) and picks kumquats and broccolini at the farmers' markets. Joan's on Third shares the recipe for its lemon bars.
• In the wine world, Slovenia is wild, and S. Irene Virbila picks 2004 San Vicente Rioja.

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Yesterday the Los Angeles Times announced the results of a recent taste test of imported Italian spaghetti. The paper's five-person panel sampled 16 brands. I didn't even know there were 16 brands of imported Italian pasta to begin with. I should start paying more attention when I'm browsing the aisles of the grosseria.

The panel chose spaghetti because it was the one shape available from every pasta maker. During the blind taste test, they evaluated the spaghetti for texture, mouth-feel, intrinsic flavor and ability to deliver flavor. The flavor delivered, in this case, was a fruity olive oil, which the panel's leader felt was a good gauge as to how the spaghetti would also carry the flavor of a sauce.

The winner, as you know by now, was Latini spaghetti, an artisanal pasta from Marche. What's interesting to me about the results is that the less expensive Latini in the red box beat out the company's top-shelf variety, Latini Senatore Cappelli spaghetti, which came in sixth.

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SIV gives newcomer Hatfield's two-and-a-half stars (**½), calling it a restaurant "just like those little places in France that win everyone's heart."

Russ Parsons dishes out the ABCs of salumi: what they are, where to get it in LA, and how to serve it. End of summer is the season for preserving, pickling and canning: plum preserves, achar, and hot pickles. It's also a time to take advantage of end-of-summer vegetables: Heirloom Tomatoes Stuffed with Salt Cod and Potato Puree, Peppers Stuffed with Bulgur and Feta Salad, and Eggplant Stuffed with Kale and Walnuts.

In wine, the Tasting Panel does a selection that pairs well with salumi. The Wine of the Week is 2005 Curran Grenache Blanc that "tastes startlingly alive, with a distinct minerally finish."