"lox" news and stories

I come from a long line of people who deeply appreciate smoked fish. My mom's family tree is made up entirely of Eastern European Jews and while no one has ever been particularly religious, everyone embraces the culinary tradition that includes things like noodle kugel, gefilte fish and a perfectly toasted bagel topped with lox and cream cheese. There has never been a memorial luncheon in the history of my Philadelphia family that did not in some way feature lox or whitefish salad.

Russ and Daughters, the famous purveyor of smoked fish, cavier and other fine, fancy foods has launched a blog called Lox Populi and is looking for their readers to send in "bits of history, tastes of new treats, recipes, customer stories, traditions, anecdotes, kvetching, and kvelling." I'm planning on pulling together a few of my own stories to submit, head over to the blog an send in one of your own!

[via Eat Me Daily]

Source

• Lox, no bagels.
• How to cook bluefish (check out the video too).
• Health food of the day: Poutine, which are french fries covered in cheese curd and gravy.
• An appreciation of the film Ratatouille, complete with several recipes.
• Check out the Globe's most recent Plonk of the Month.
• Some great foods to buy from local businesses, including scones and soda breads from The Keltic Krust, sweet breads and pastries from LollipopTree, and tapioca pudding from the Spice & Rice restaurant.
• This week's recipes: Huevos Rancheros, Sea Scallops with Asparagus and Sugar Snaps, and Trout Almost-Amandine.

There is not a decent bagel to be had in all of Portland, Ore. Yeah, that's right, I said it. I lived two blocks from a bagel shop and in the year and a half that I lived there, I went there once, and once only. They were ter.ri.ble. If it's not boiled, it's not a bagel. (Sorry Noah's.) I like dense, chewy bagels, not fluffy, cakey bagels. I know there are those that will say that there are no decent bagels to be had outside of  New York. If you live there, and eat bagels there, lucky you! (Try not to rub it in too much.)

Now that we are back in San Francisco, I woke up early this morning and headed to one of my favorite bagel places, House of Bagels on Geary. I bought a baker's dozen of assorted bagels for $6.75 and loaded up on whitefish salad (my fave), chopped liver with hard-boiled eggs, locally-made cream cheese, and lox. Then, I came home, made a pot of dark-roasted, Caffé Trieste coffee (San Francisco's own), and invited some friends over. One particularly great friend had the forethought to stop for champagne and O.J. along the way. A bagel and a mimosa later, we headed out for a walk.  Finally, a decent bagel. What a perfect way to start a sunny Sunday.