Andres Max Salmeron

Author: amsal

  • Yiddish

    • schtup – have sex with (someone).
    • tuchus – buttocks.
    • chazir – greedy person.
    • hakn a tshaynik – rattle on loudly and insistently.
    • kinahora – don’t tempt the evil eye.
    • kvetch – complain.
    • chutzpah – extreme self-confidence or audacity.
    • mazel tov – congratulations.
    • mentsh – good guy.
    • mishegas – nonsense.
    • oy vey – dismay.
    • schlep – haul.
    • schmuck – a foolish or contemptible person.
    • spiel – speech.
    • tsuris – aggravation.
    • shtick – comic routine.
    • shmooze – rub elbows.
    • schmutz – dirt.
    • kishkas – guts.
    • bubala – darling.
    • tchatchke – a knickknack.
    • zei gezunt – be healthy.
    • mechaye – enjoyment.
    • dreykop – be slow.
    • rachmones – compassion.
    • shvitzing – sweating.
    • schissel – a lot of.
    • koyekh – strength.
    • putz – a stupid or worthless person.
    • gufreilach – bad. (not so bad, not so gufreilach)

  • Lisbon

    All Day

    • Manteigaria – the best dessert in the world – Pasteis de Nata
    • GROM – pretty good gelato
    • Castro – next door to grom, Pasteis
    • Beher Lisboa – solid jamon sandwiches, all day (top five)
    • Bettina & Niccolo Corallo – solid hot chocolate
    • La Boulangerie – solid pastries
    • Bike Bakery – very good tomato brioche

    Lunch (usually dinner too)

    • Cova Funda – very good octopus, skip tuna, almost all day
    • Sinal Vermelho – solid, skip octopus, basically all day
    • Taberna da Rua das Flores – sometimes excellent
    • Lupita – pretty good pizza (better than the other place) (top five)
    • Tasca da Esquina – very good lunch/dinner, ask for a lemon wedge
    • Solar dos Presuntos – solid but pretentious spot, get the octopus
    • O Magano – classic lunch/dinner, get the tuna belly for takeout
    • Cantinho do Avillez – solid lunch/dinner – skip scallops, get tuna
    • M’arrecreo Pizzeria – solid pizza, get the panna cotta
    • Forno d’Oro – solid pizza
    • O piteu da graca – solid fish, skip veggies
    • Bistro 100 Manerias – solid food

    Dinner Only

    • Tricky’s – surprisingly excellent spot (top five)
    • Omakase Ri – $100 per person but very good (top five)
    • Senhor Uva – popular wine bar with very good food (top five)
    • Essencial – solid
    • A Nossa Casa – solid spot
    • Come Prima – solid truffle pasta (to go options!)
    • Da Noi – solid but skip tuna

    Skip

    • O Velho Eurico – solid lunch/dinner, email in advance (food poisoning)

    Recs I Haven’t Tried Yet

    • Sakemico
    • Âmago
    • Nunes Real Marisqueira

    Outside the City

    • Vila Joya
    • Sublime Beach Club
    • Rei das praias (lunch on beach)

  • sheet

  • Best Desserts 2021

    Europe & US

    Dark Chocolate Lovers

    • Boston – Giulia – Chocolate Panna Cotta
    • Boston – Blackbird – Chocolate Donut
    • Boston – Clear Flour Bakery – Bouchon
    • Boston – LA Burdick – Hot Chocolate
    • NYC – Sant Ambroeus – Hot Chocolate
    • NYC – Mel – Sourdough Chocolate Croissant
    • NYC – Boucherie – Chocolate Mousse
    • Chicago – Jeni’s – Chocolate Ice Cream
    • Bologna – Cremeria Cavour – Chocolate Gelato
    • Global – Laderach – 80% Chocolate Bar
    • Global – Endangered Species – 88% Chocolate Bar

    General

    • Lisbon – Manteigaria – Pasteis de Nata
    • Genoa – Fruit & Ice Cream Factory – Mango & Pistachio Gelato
    • Zurich – Grand’in Osteria – Panna Cotta
    • NYC – Sweet Rehab – Honey Pastry
    • NYC – Sadelles – French Toast
    • Boston – Modern Pastry – Cannoli
    • Providence – Pastiche – Fruit Tart
    • Providence – Pot au Feu – Creme Brûlée
    • Austin – Waltons Fancy and Staple – Golden Egg

  • Roasted Tomato Pasta

    1. Julienne half an eggplant, skin on. Sauté in a pan with olive oil and salt until soft, perhaps 6 minutes.
    2. Take some plum tomatoes, mark an X on the bottom, and drop into boiling water for 20 seconds until the skin splits. Remove from water and put into ice bath to stop the cooking.
    3. Remove the tomato skin, and then slice the tomatoes in half. Remove the seeds and juices on the inside.
    4. Cover the tomatoes in salt, sugar and olive oil and then roast in oven for 20 minutes at 260 degrees.
    5. Combine 50 grams of goat cheese (not aged) with 70 grams of heavy cream and a bit of salt in a sauce pan and cook until thick and combined.
    6. Boil water for pasta, cook pasta, saving a bit of water to add to the cooked eggplant. Add the pasta to the cooked eggplant, along with the tomatoes. Put your cream sauce in the bottom of the plate, and then on the top of the pasta.

    Via della Corte

  • New Coffee Cake

    Cake

    • ½ cup/113 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
    • 1 ¼ cups/260 grams sugar
    • 2 large eggs
    • 1 ½ cups flour/188 grams
    • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 1 ¼ cups/300 grams sour cream
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla

    Streusel

    • ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
    • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
    • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
    • ¾ cup chopped walnuts (which I roast in advance) 

    Directions

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and generously butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
    • In a separate bowl, sift flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with sour cream and vanilla until just combined. Do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.
    • Make the topping: Combine sugar, cinnamon, flour and nuts in a small bowl and mix well.
    • Sprinkle the topping evenly over the cake and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool, cut into pieces and serve.

    Adapted from Robert Farrar Capon

  • Panna Cotti

    Makes 5

    • 16 oz cream
    • 50 g sugar
    • 2.5 sheets of gelatin
    • 1.75 oz 55% Valrhona Equatoriale chocolate
    • 1.75 oz 70% Valrhona Guanaja chocolate

    Directions

    • Bring sugar and heavy cream to simmer
    • Meanwhile bloom the gelatin using ice water
    • Melt chocolate into heavy cream mixture, remove from heat and stir in gelatin
    • Pass entire mixture through a chinois and cool down on ice or in a fridge
    • Once mixture is room temperature, portion into containers and cool

    Via Giulia

  • Pie Dough

    • 112g flour
    • 7.5g sugar
    • 2g salt
    • 1 stick butter
    • 1/4 cup water (cold from tap)

    Directions

    • Whisk dry ingredients. 
    • Add butter. Mush with fingers. 
    • Add water. 
    • Roll out dough; ideally it’s ~65 degrees.
    • Roll, fold in 1/4ths. 
    • In fridge for 2 hours. 
    • Back 350 for 60 minutes. 

  • Apple Crisp

    First Bowl

    • 100 grams sugar + additional for sprinkling on fruit
    • 34 grams flour
    • Lemon juice

    Second Bowl

    • 1 stick melted butter
    • 150 grams of flour
    • 100 grams sugar

    Directions

    1. In a bowl, put 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, juice from two lemons. Mix.
    2. In another bowl put one stick of melted butter, 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar. Mix. 
    3. In a bowl with lots of sliced apples, put juice from a lemon and sprinkle with sugar. (This step can be done in advance.)
    4. Put the apples in the bowl with the flour/sugar/lemon juice combination. Mix. 
    5. Put the butter/sugar/flour a top the apples. 
    6. Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees. 

    Note: the actual recipe calls for less lemon and more butter (1.25 sticks).

    Via The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion

  • Toffee

    • 113 grams almonds roasted and chopped
    • 1 tablespoon water
    • 1/4 cup butter
    • pinch of salt
    • 110 grams white sugar
    • 22 grams brown sugar
    • 70 grams bittersweet chocolate
    • vanilla extract (about a teaspoon)
    • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

    Directions

    • Note: before you start, measure out the baking soda and vanilla, so that you can immediately put it in. Also, break the chocolate up into small pieces before starting to cook.
    1. Line a pan with foil (does not need to be non stick).
    1. Spread a thin layer with about 1/2 of the chopped nuts on the foil.
    1. In a small pot, combined: water, butter, sugars, salt and stir. Remove from heat when it reaches 300 degrees. You can add a pinch of salt.
    1. Immediately add the vanilla and the baking soda. Stir. 
    1. Pour the mixture atop the layer of nuts. Flatten. You can add a pinch of salt (or not).
    1. Put the chocolate atop. This should be done immediately, so that the mixture is hot and melts the chocolate.
    1. Add the remaining nuts evenly.
    1. Let harden. Takes 1-2 hours depending upon temperature in kitchen.

    Via David Lebovitz

    39. Toffee

    • 113 grams almonds roasted and chopped
    • 1 tablespoon water
    • 1/4 cup butter
    • pinch of salt
    • 110 grams white sugar
    • 22 grams brown sugar
    • 70 grams bittersweet chocolate
    • vanilla extract (about a teaspoon)
    • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

    Directions

    • Note: before you start, measure out the baking soda and vanilla, so that you can immediately put it in. Also, break the chocolate up into small pieces before starting to cook.
    1. Line a pan with foil (does not need to be non stick).
    1. Spread a thin layer with about 1/2 of the chopped nuts on the foil.
    1. In a small pot, combined: water, butter, sugars, salt and stir. Remove from heat when it reaches 300 degrees. You can add a pinch of salt.
    1. Immediately add the vanilla and the baking soda. Stir. 
    1. Pour the mixture atop the layer of nuts. Flatten. You can add a pinch of salt (or not).
    1. Put the chocolate atop. This should be done immediately, so that the mixture is hot and melts the chocolate.
    1. Add the remaining nuts evenly.
    1. Let harden. Takes 1-2 hours depending upon temperature in kitchen.

    Via David Lebovitz