at the sign of The Pink Pig

Happy Birthday Hellman's

[Free stuff by Wilfrid: May 20, 2013]

You may have seen me klutzing around in a cooking demonstration for Hellmann's with chef Tim Love.  This time around, I am out of the kitchen, and Mario Batali is concocting a pasta salad.

The occasion?  The 100th anniversary of Mr Hellmann (that's Richard to you) launching a mass market version of his Hellmann's Blue Ribbon mayonnaise--the home-made version of which he'd been selling in his Columbus Avenue deli since 1905.

Duckling And La Caravelle: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  May 20, 2013]

The week began with me showing off a fictional duckling recipe.  Fictional in the sense that it's made by a character in a novel, the private detective Pepe Carvalho in Manuel Vázquez Montalbán's 1977 novel The Angst-Ridden Executive.

But real enough in the sense that Montalbán gives you enough information to reproduce the recipe.

Rinds & Vines: Whole Foods Put On A Show

[Free stuff by Wilfrid:  May 16, 2013]

Whole Foods can put on quite a show.   This particular occasion was an opportunity to taste domestic cheeses, and domestic and imported wines, from its extensive portfolios at the Columbus Circle Whole Foods' tap room.

Cypress Grove's idea of a wedding cake

It was also an opportunity to chat with the stores' global wine buyer, Doug Bell, and global cheese buyer, Cathy Strange. Much as I love wine, I had to tell Cathy that being a global cheese buyer sounded like a dream job.

High And Low End: Ten Years Ago

[Pink Pig Time Machine by Wilfrid:  May 15, 2013]

I don't know if it's fair to call Café Edison, also known as the "Polish tearoom" low end, but it's an eccentric little place, hidden inside the Hotel Edison off Times Square (it still exists).

I was taken there by a friend, I think with the purpose of illustrating to me just how solid New York Jewish cooking can be.  Suffice to say that, after the matzoh brei, I could only toy with the chopped liver sandwich.

Quick Bites: Tiny Fork--The First Lobster Roll Of The Season

[Pigging by Wilfrid:  May 14, 2013]

Tiny Fork is a new and cavernous raw bar and restaurant on the corner of Orchard and Stanton.  The forks may be tiny: the bar and dining room are not.

It's new, and I should pay proper attention, but it's hard to eat there without thinking of a different, longer-established, venue--a chain, in fact--Luke's Lobster.

Nios And The Penguin (Another Contest)

[Free stuff by Wilfrid: May 10, 2013]

We seem to be all about contests all the time at the Pink Pig these days, but of course it's symptomatic of the extent to which the hospitality industry is becoming invested in social marketing rather than traditional advertising.

But never mind the commentary, onto the fun.  Wait, was that...?  No, couldn't be.