Juneau Food

It was a beautiful Juneau spring morning. I was looking for a friend, and knew exactly where to go. I glanced in the window.... success! and stepped inside Costa’s Tin Pan Alley Diner, down at the Wharf building in the Chilkat Cone Kitchen. Everyone at the counter looked so pleased. Of course Collette Costa, the Goddess herself, had a laugh.
Collette’s hours are Mondays and Wed.-Fri. 6:30 a.m. (yup, that’s right, 6:30 a.m.) ‘til noonish, weekends she starts at 8 and goes ‘til 3. She basically does up whatever you want as far as breakfast goes, runs some specials listed on the board each day, weekends features assorted crepes (uh, that's supposed to rhyme with 'grapes') and sometimes even has some of the best pie in Juneau to feed your fancy. The system is beautiful. Just go on in, head to the right to write down what you want, hand it over and shout out “Order In!” Find a friend or sit down next to a stranger, there’s always a good conversation to join. Then it’s Order Up! and time to chow down, assisted by an extensive assortment of condiments available self-serve along with mugs for fresh coffee or any kind of tea. Juices... well, you have to ask for the juice.

Sometimes it’s good just to sit and soak up the atmosphere, and the tunes which Collette likes to turn on sing-along style. Who can resist an opportunity to hear this diva’s pipes? Likely favorites are Aretha, Pat Benatar, and especially Kiss ‘Destroyer’ which Collette insists is the greatest album ever created for frying. During my visit, she featured a country compilation from her radio DJ days “but we don’t need to talk about those, do we?” Often enough it’s Tom Jones, or the latest from Collette herself or other local artists’ cd’s. She finds that playing Fred Astaire at the end of a shift really gets people on their feet, so if you hear him, it’s probably time to dance on out to the springtime. Pay the woman first, of course. You’ll be well fed, likely caught up on the tastiest Juneau gossip, and thoroughly juiced. I sure was.

Stay tuned to JuneauMusic.com for Collette’s exciting summer plans, and maybe even words from the mouth of the Goddess herself. Meanwhile, remember, “There is no bad service, only bad hangovers.”

Courtesy JVVE Recipe Weekly, Red Hat wants to let you know that every day is the day to celebrate your food, at least according to someone... for example, did you know that all around this great nation, people have been enjoying Nutrition Month? or Frozen Food Month? That doesn't seem much of a stretch.... How 'bout combining Peanut Month with Sauce Month, for a yummy Peanut Sauce Month? It's also Flour Month, unspecified as to type so even the celiacs can get in on this one, same for Noodle Month. I guess I'll have to find a copy of 'Tampopo', or maybe just pull out the Atlas roller again and get crankin'! Red Hat favors a dough recipe that goes halves on all-purpose and semolina flour, uses plenty of butter instead of a dash of olive oil, and straight marsala wine along with egg yolks. Delicious, for all your noodle needs!

Here are some national food holidays celebrated this week:

March 21 - National French Bread Day
March 22 - National Bavarian Crepes Day
March 23 - National Chip and Dip Day
March 24 - National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
March 25 - National Lobster Newburg Day
March 26 - National Nougat Day
March 27 - National Spanish Paella Day

Not sure where to do a good job today in Juneau for authentic french bread, but if anyone is celebrating on the 27th with paella instead of turkey or ham, invite Red Hat! (Same if you happen to own a copy of 'Tampopo' and want company to watch it, anytime, really, I'll cook....)

"No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain
is entirely fat. Without a brain you might look good, but all
you could do is run for public office."

- Covert Bailey (fitness expert)

Pam Green the Soup Queen currently sells her soup and some splendid panini sandwiches out of the Chilkat Cone Kitchen in the Wharf building. We wanted to find out more about this recent addition to the Juneau culinary scene, so a hungry, soul-searching Red Hat stopped in for an audience, and a bowl.

The Queen hails originally from New York, landed in Juneau after traveling, liked it enough to spend two years here, and then decided to stay on the flip of a coin. A common story? The Soup Queen is definitely Everybody’s Queen, just as soup is everybody’s food. And just so many folks in Juneau have a good story about how their passion began, there’s definitely a great love and a story behind Pam’s soup.

Long ago and far away, in aforementioned New York, there lived twin Green Princesses, and one was named Pam. They came from a long lineage of excellent soup makers, so it was no wonder that these little girls found unusual motivation and pleasure to make homemade soup, from scratch, upon coming home from school many days. Especially chicken soup. And everyone knows, soup is good for the soul and chicken soup is the very best, so it’s no wonder Pam’s soups are so special. The Princesses grew up, Pam also took up competitive figure skating, entered the corporate world, traveled the whole one over sampling soup, and became Queen.

The inspiration for some of the Queen’s favorite menu offerings comes directly from her travels. For example, Red Hat enjoyed a bowl of Tom Kha Gai, or Thai chicken soup, on this visit. It was delicious, and anyone looking for an especially good write-up from Red Hat can certainly get one if they can actually beat the Soup Queen and provide a better bowl of this elixir! The basis of Pam’s Alaskan halibut chowder is a South American coconut lime soup, yummy! She offers a fish soup every Friday, as well as split pea most Thursdays as per the finest American diner tradition fog or no fog. African Peanut soup is another favorite, although this is Pam’s own recipe adapted to provide for the vegetarian palate rather than the result of travels in Africa. She also likes Vietnamese Pho (noodle) soup, not to be confused with faux soup aka ‘sauce’ or ‘gravy’ to you and me.

Whatever kind of soup you’re in the mood for, you can check the Soup Queen’s dailly menu as well as place orders, find out about catering information, and generally enjoy alot of soupy spirituality at her website, www.thesoupqueen.net, with the emphasis on '.net'. Apparently, there is a www.thesoupqueen.com out of Sydney, Australia. Another twin? This one’s name is Antoinette, but appears to have similar passion for soup.

Pam finds that just as when she was merely Princess, soup is still good for the soul, in any weather. Of course, Juneau’s cool rainy climate is especially good soup weather all the time. Right now and at least through Folk Festival, it’s fine fine thing to cozy up to a bowl at the Chilkat Cone Kitchen, in the Wharf building downtown, from noon to 3:30 p.m. The Queen will be back outside among her people likely in May with a cart behind the library, near the new public restrooms. She’ll offer her soup, veggie wraps, and other assorted items. We know it’s good... Even after hours, one hungry customer walked into the Cone Kitchen asking hopefully, “Is there any chance I can get some soup?” Although he was wearing a red shirt which should have earned him a cup if not a whole bowl, there was no soup left to offer. It’s that tasty! (Sorry no more soup, Gareth.)

So check out the Soup Queen’s website, and then get yourself to the Cone Kitchen for some excellent soup, while you can!

OH yes, wardrobe for the photo: “I love red hats, but that’s not a hint. Someone I know likes red hats, so I chose that one,” said Pam Green the Soup Queen.

A long time ago, I mean years, I mean it must have been the summer of '00, maybe even the very same week Red Hat got the first red hat, there showed at Silverbow in a month of food movies one called 'Eating'. Have you seen this film? If recollection is correct, it is set in LA and is about a birthday party shared by four women, each one reaching a different decade in age. The most dramatic device in the movie is a series of filmed interviews conducted by one of the characters, who was making a documentary about womens' relationships with food. She went from celebrant to celebrant, asking for candid answers about eating habits.

Red Hat is no film critic, granted, but that had to be one of the saddest movies in the world. Or maybe just most disturbing. For these unfortunate mothers and daughters, wives girlfriends ex's and individuals, the relationship with food was unidimensional. Eat, or not to eat, that was the question. When, what, how much, how little, why and why not had formed the parameters of their relationship in keeping with the dynamics of their lives, were merely a modus of control. Have it, be out of it. Or be under it. It was an adversarial relationship, not a friendly one. Where was the play? Where was the humor, the joy, the thousand-fold pleasures in anticipation, procuration, preparation, the sensory wonder, the mystery of experimentation, the alchemy of heat and time, the faith? It was no wonder that many of these women felt a fundamental lack in their lives. Where was their love?

Readers, Red Hat invites you to love your food as though it were a physical manifestation of the spiritual sustenance that forms the fabric of life worth living. In every aspect, at every possible point in the process, participate, create, and share. Who knows what will come from it?

If you already feel this way about your food or really anything in your life at all, hey, email Red Hat and let us know how!



Come back for more food soon.... and as a note of interest, this past week was National Eating Disorder Week. Who knew?

Red Hat returned to an old and bountiful stomping ground (that’s another klew, for those of you who thought you knew) to visit with Rainbow Foods’ own Produce Queen, Colena Jones. Wow! Many of us already reckoned that Rainbow is the place, and maybe the only place, to go in Juneau for a great selection of high quality all-organic produce. Colena gave us some inside insight, excitement and inspiration about this vital part of our favorite grocery.

What kinds of fruits and vegetables will you find in the Rainbow Foods Produce section? It’s a huge assortment, the most complete in town for organics too. Colena likes to keep in stock two or three types of lettuce, same for chard and kales, for example. Sometimes there are more than 8 varieties of apples alone, often unusual ones not commonly found in supermarkets. The citrus selection goes beyond standard. And the standards are all there, as long as they are in season (somewhere).

One of Colena’s favorites are the ever-popular brussel sprout trees. Around a foot tall, they are full of tender sweet sprouts that stay fresh longer than the pre-picked kind. Those are a late fall item. Right now, her most favoritest is purple cauliflower. It is not only colorful but Colena says it tastes better. Also, the Savoy cabbage is beautiful and will make you say, ‘I’m gonna get me some!’ It most reminds her of Cabbage Patch Kids. Red Hat likes it shredded and sauteed in the lubricant of the moment along with red onions and apples. Or, if the mood is more daring, brown your favorite bun-filling meat such as sausauge, or even a shaped soy product if you must, and try the cabbage and some onion wilted in the same pan, deglazed with a dash of cider vinegar and your malt beverage of choice or even white wine, steam it all up for a bit, and finish with fresh dill and cracked pepper. Stuff those buns! Do we hear sour cream? A dash of spicy mustard? Was that a joke about the shaped soy product?

During our chat with Colena, Rainbow Foods customer and all-around good guy Louis Flora came by. He really loves kale. “It has a certain sweetness to it when it’s raw, it’s full-bodied, with vivacity and color!” *Vivacity*. What else is there to say? (There are plenty of palateable ways to prepare raw kale, incidentally. Curious?) Don’t forget about blood oranges, that’s what. These tangy, aromatic beauties have scarlet flesh and a good flush on their rind. Red Hat will do almost anything for a nice blood orange, of course. How 'bout blood orange flan, with a thin cross-section slice sugared and browned with a brulee torch on top? It's calling....

But back to business. Most Rainbow Foods produce comes from Charlie’s in Seattle. It is barged up from Tacoma twice weekly, arriving at the store Mondays and Wednesdays at around 8:30 a.m. via AML delivery, out on the floor by around 10, at least now that the weather’s better and the barge is back on a twice-weekly schedule. There’s an air shipment on Alaska Airlines every Friday, which is the way the mushrooms, fresh herbs, and ... Spring is here... FRESH FLOWERS arrive along with some extra lettuces and other frilly things. Right now there are tulips and narcissi, soon there will be lilies and irises. So plan accordingly for the best selection. All of the fruits and vegetables are organic. The flowers are not, but are trimmed on their own surface untouched by produce to eliminate the danger of non-organic contaminants. If you want a case discount of 10% and know in advance by a week or two what your needs are, call Rainbow to place a special order. Colena can tell you approximately how much will come in a case, as well.

No other purveyor in town that we know of gets produce from Charlies, which offers the best selection and highest quality organics. (Once upon a time in Seattle, Red Hat went on a blind date with Clint, the son of the owner of Charlie’s. The highest quality produce? Well, he was very nice and did appreciate good pie, but turned out to be just a little too shy and still recovering from his most recent and apparently unfortunately relationship. Too bad. That would have been some good eating...) In addition to the selection from Charlie’s, Rainbow Foods carries locally grown organics when available. For instance, there are wild salad greens and other fancy stuff flown from the Lesh family at the Gustavus Inn, tomatoes when they grow here from a Juneauite, and some really interesting heirloom tomatoes from Haines, to name a few.

Colena observes that customers assume that Rainbow Foods organic produce automatically will be more expensive then non-organic produce found elsewhere, and is quick to correct this assumption. For example, red peppers are usually cheaper. Broccoli often is cheaper or the same, lettuce tends to be the same. She concedes that zucchini is among one of those which are sometimes more expensive. The majority is comparable in price. Although they might be a bit pricier sometimes, Colena emphasizes that it is especially important to get mushrooms and any root vegetables organic because they tend to gather more toxins from the soil. Those of course will be the kind that swell up under ground, such as carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, onions, and potatoes to name a few. Rutabagas, sure. Generally, there is no doubt but that this beautiful selection of healthy, fresh organic produce is of inestimable value for the benefit it provides Juneau’s physical and mental health.

If we’re lucky next week we’ll be able to get a photo of the elusive Romanesco, with its beautiful baroque fractal florets! And do stay tuned to the Rainbow Foods page for Colena’s weekly recipe ideas for featured produce items, coming soon!

Hey all, sorry I could not invite everyone to my Red Hat Multi-Pisces birthday party... the table can only hold so many. Maybe next time. But as the photo above amply illustrates, the fare was so suck-your-shrimp-toes-clean tasty that I thought I'd share. Before I do, I need to thank one of the birthday boys, Mr. Dave Depew, for composing, shooting, and spiffying up this photo. Thanks Dave!

What was on the table?

Dave brought spot prawns, steamed and served with perfectly drawn butter courtesy a little too long in the nuker to drive away all those pesky solids and any excess water. This technique really does work! Who'dathunkit? He provided amply, yet all was devoured before you could say 'JimminyCricket'. Simply delicious. Thanks again Dave!

Magic Tommy is a Pisces from last week, considers himself to be an Aquarian cusp cross, but all the free-floating just adds up to pure Pisces to me. He brought King he caught and smoked himself, secret recipe. Amazing! Red Hat will try to pry the recipe from him some other time but did not want to speak with a full mouth to do it at the party. That would be rude, no?

With the skilled help of Ganesha Howell, Red Hat made a Juneau version of Portuguese Seafood Stew. What all went in? Seafood, lots of it! The catch? Had to be available at Foodland for this one, with a strong preference for Alaskan. Spot prawns, Alaskan razor clams, and of course halibut were readily available. Also some huge tasty scallops the provenance of which was not disclosed, and these really extremely beautiful mussels from New Zealand in the seafood freezer whose half-shells glowed with irridescent green, even a little after cooking. No, really, they were supposed to!

This was all cooked up in a stew with about a pound of bacon (sine qua non), some decent olive oil, garlic, shallots, anchovies (maybe as good as bacon?), fennel, tomatoes, saffron, grapefruit zest because it was there, orange juice, white wine, clam juice, green peppercorns, hot pepper flakes, and fresh basil, marjoram, cilantro and parsley as a base. Anything else? There wasn’t room in the pot.

This was served over a smooth, rich manchego risotto-style preparation of short grain rice from Valencia courtesy Adrian Perez, a Juneau Chef prodigal now stationed in New Mexico but loved, remembered and missed. The combination was heady, heavenly, colorful, aromatic, and Red Hat had to have seconds.

Email Red Hat if you would like further hints as to methods...

Friends and supporters brought oozy, buttery melty baked brie somehow spiked with cranberries, surrounded by a fresh homemade bread crust that was ideal for broth dipping. Is it polite to dip? It would have been rude not too with this stuff! Thank you once again Sarah Banks! (Sarah lent two hands and a couple hours on the cake you saw on the last posting, as well. Talented, wonderful, both of her...) There was a tasty organic salad of greens, vegetables, apples and walnuts that Red Hat thought made an ideal palate cleanser before the grand finale....

It was all topped off with a truly delicious chocolate raspberry torte done by none other than Colena Jones. Thank you, thank you thank you Colena for the wonderful birthday cake! Topped with four candles, each one blown out by one of the Birthday Babies along with heartfelt wishes for the coming year, it should be a truly wonderful one after a kickoff like this.

Share your own ideas about Alaska seafood preparations, or just invite Red Hat to your next potluck and you too can be famous on JuneauMusic.com.....