Since I didn’t want to get too food-y:
(1658) Steve (Tufts)
Hi Keith… been to Mistral, Strip Ts, and Something Savory all on your recommendation. You’ve earned my trust… now I’m going to Baltimore in late may for a weekend Sox series. Where in the Harbor area can/should I get some real crab cakes?
I’ve never had great crab cakes in the Harbor area. I love the crab cakes at the Clyde’s restaurants around DC, and I know they’re expanding towards Baltimore. I tried Angelina’s in Baltimore, allegedly the best in the city, but it was mediocre.
(342) Stoeten, Toronto
Keef, What the hell is on your head in the picture for this Lion in Oil interview?
It’s a bath towel for my daughter. She outgrew it a year ago.
(254) Grant (Atl GA)
Most important question of the day: what is on the menu for V-Day?
Lunch today was the last of the pork with mushroom sauce from the other day. Tonight is homemade tacos, everything from scratch but the shells. I toast and grind my own cumin seeds – night and day difference.
(2255) JP (Columbus, OH)
“Gourmet” Eddie sounds like a real food critic, I might give his advice a listen. Did he really type “sux”?
Indeed he did.
(78) Jeff (Madison)
KLAW – have you read In Defense of Food
I haven’t, because it doesn’t sound like a defense of food, but like a defense of the food the author wants us to eat. Sure, we should eat more fruits and vegetables, but refined grains are not evil, just something we should enjoy in moderation. And desserts without refined white flour? Come on. I don’t want whole wheat in my chocolate cake.
(387) J: (Ny, NY)
I don’t want to get into politics, but have you read either of Barack Obama’s books? Are they well written or fluff?
I have not. I assume any book written by a politician is designed to further his political career. Sure seems like it works that way.
(1299) Todd, San Diego
Keith, Have you read any of the more famous graphic novels? Stuff like Watchmen or The Dark Knight Returns?
Uh, yeah, I might have read one.
(196) Andrew (Burbank, CA)
Keith, You love to talk about novels on your chats and “The Dish”, but I was wondering if you enjoyed plays as well and if you had a favorite play/playwright. For me, “Waiting for Godot” is the finest play ever written with Samuel Beckett being the best playwright who ever lived and “Far Away” by Caryl Churchill is the best play of this young century.
Can’t read a play. Just not the same. The text was meant to be performed, and it’s best consumed that way.
The Lion in Oil link is broken (I think you’re missing an “http://”). I read “The Audacity of Hope,” and your assumption is spot on. I’m told his older one is much better.
Fixed, thanks.
Yup, something’s fooky with the link to the Lion in Oil interview… but I’m sure somebody else will find a reason to put that pic to use sooner or later (dun dun dun)…
I am a transplant in Baltimore, but there are a number of places to get a good crab cake, it’s all really what you are looking for. Some have more filler than crab, others are fried as opposed to broiled. I would almost recommend the Maryland Crab or cream of crab soup as opposed to the crab cake. To me, that is one of the best Baltimore has to offer. Also, if you are interested in a good Italian restuarant, try Bocaccio. My recommendation.
Agree with you on the Pollan book. All of his books contain some good information, but are overall too slanted for my liking. Although I do use organic whole wheat pastry flour (only because it’s actually cheaper than the same quantity of bleached cake flour).
Obama’s first book, Dreams of My Father, is actually worth a read (or a listen, as his reading on the audio book is great). It was written years ago before he got into politics so he wasn’t writing your typical campaign-driven mush. Can you imagine a serious politician writing a memoir and admitting that he did “a little blow?”
Critics have said that it is truly an interesting memoir, both to get insight into his psyche and for its literary value. I agree.
I haven’t read The Audacity of Hope, but word is that it is exactly your aforementioned typical candidate book and can be skipped.
Keith –
Pollan never comes out and says “never eat anything with refined flour,” etc. in the book…but he never directly says not to eat it (or really eat it in moderation) either. Most of the food-to-eat advice was stuff that I pretty much knew already.
What I found really interesting was his discussion of the history of nutritionism and how our diets have changed in the past 100 years or so. What was most shocking was how irresponsible the food/agribusiness industry really is.
Hey Mr. Law,
I need to pick out a work from the annals of classic English literature (“Modern English”, not Old or Middle English) to analyze for my junior level Nature/Structure of the English Language class. I was thinking about John Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Any recommendations?
I was wondering if you good explain this answer a little bit:
“SportsNation Keith Law: People love to try to explain away divergences between Pyth records and actual W-L records. It doesn’t work. “
Its not that I don’t believe you but I was wondering if you could explain why it doesn’t work?
I have to agree with Glen. “Dreams of my Father” is a good read. It is the kind of book that helps you see a persons temperament and character, rather than stories of you how a politician met some real life family that taught him about the real life problems of Americans (if they have to meet people o learn of the problems, they really don’t understand them.)
Hey Keith,
Thanks for answering my question on here. I noticed that your chat was unusually baseball-heavy today (imagine that) and I didn’t think my question had much of a shot to get answered the way the questions were swaying.
I must disagree with your answer though. Seeing plays is not always better. Sometimes you can catch a really awful professional production of a great play that makes the work look bad. Also, when you see a play live you are at the mercy of the director’s interpretation – reading a play allows you to experience it for yourself and develop your own idea about its meaning.
It also isn’t entirely true that plays are written to be performed. A large portion of “Ulysses” is written as a play and the stand-alone play “Information for Foreigners” by Argentine Griselda Gambaro has never been performed, nor can it: It is far too complicated to stage. It is staggeringly brilliant nonetheless.
Aside from that, not being an avid reader of play precludes you from having a favorite? Boston has great theater anyway. You should get your nose out of a book some time and experience the oldest form of literature every so often.
On the food front, I finally went to Toraya per your suggestion and it was truly excellent. A great find for when I visit my girlfriend’s parents in ATown. Speaking of Arlington, do you have a favorite middle eastern place in the surrounding area? My fallback is cafe Barada in Cambridge but I am always looking for another place with some great Tabouli.
I would like to know how to preapre the taco’s you wrote of for Valentine’s Day. I am intrigued by grinding my own cumin seeds. If you have the time, please post your preparation. Thank-you.
On an unrelated-to-food note, I’m wondering why you favor the Cubs in the NL central? I’m a Cubs fan myself but I feel like the Brewers are at least as good, if not better than the Cubs. The Brewers have a much better offense, and that Cameron signing was a real home run because it realigned their previously crummy defense. The only place I see the Cubs as being significantly better is in the bullpen, but bullpens are so volatile that it’s tough to project them.
Ed – buy cumin seeds, toss them in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant. Do not leave the stove at this point because they will burn very quickly if you do not pay attention. Put them in a spice mill or coffee grinder and grind away. If you don’t have a grinder/mill, a mortar and pestle will do the trick. This also works for coriander, fennel and many more.
I’m going to second Andrew on the plays front; in particular, I find it much easier to sit back and reflect on the intellectual scope of a complex play (Tom Stoppard springs to mind for me, but there are certainly many others) when I have read it and can flip back through it, rather than simply having a single viewing. In addition, it’s going to be anywhere from 2 to 10 times cheaper in book form and is actually readily available to all, not just those close to major cities.
Man, I asked about 6-7 q’s during the chat (plus a few to your q&a espn mailbox) and I didn’t even make round 2. I guess I’m just not living right or something…
I live in Baltimore, and there are as many “best crabcakes” as there are restaurant reviewers. G&H is outside the city, but wins a lot of votes. I believe if you check out the Baltimore Sun dining blog (Dining @ Large or something along those lines) there was an excellent post that dealt with this topic.
Personally, as good as the crabcakes are, I would head to either The Bicycle (on Light Street in Federal Hill south of downtown) or Salt (on Pratt Street in Butcher’s Hill east of downtown). Both are tremendous neighborhood finds where you’ll be treated to outstanding food off the tourist track. Neither screams “one of Baltimore’s best restaurants is in this building”, but they both are. Also, any of Cindy Wolf’s restaurants (Charleston, Pazo, Cianghiale, etc) are well worth the expense.