Some like it hot

On the one hand, I'm increasingly convinced that American cities and towns must adapt new models of food production and delivery in order to save energy. I don't think our current model of shipping in broccoli from China and melons and bananas from Central America and bacon from Canada and then transporting the shit across country in big rigs and on trains is sustainable for more than another decade or so.

On the other hand, I'm excited by the prospect of trying a ghost chili, which of course must be shipped half way across the world. Maybe we can return to sailing ships to feed my appetite for exotic chilis and spices?

BTW--Saigon Remembered, which is of course primarily a Vietnamese restaurant, has great pad thai, but they simply can't make pad thai "Thai hot." Their idea of Thai hot is perhaps the equivalent of one star at Thai Landing, where the "Thai hot" standard approaches the limits of my chili endurance. Thai One On and Thai Restaurant are also exquisitely painful--order the whole rockfish at Thai Restaurant (in Greenmount) and you'll swoon under the crushing weight of Scoville Units. The hottest Indian food I've had locally? Mughal Garden.

Yum

Had dinner with Julio and Yo! Adrienne last eve at Iggy's. She gave me the above book for no particular reason--she just loves giving gifts! It's really great, with lovely 19th century images of gothic cathedrals and landscapes.

Iggy's is awesome too, but eating there is like eating in an airplane hangar during the testing of jet engines. You can't hear over the cacaphony. Great pie, though. The four of us ate three large and one small. I thought I was going to puke but couldn't stop myself--the slices are, after all, only wafer-thin!

Try the Alice, or the funghi with shrooms and goat cheese, or the exquisite anchovie, olive and capers.