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Is Trader Joe's Ripping Off My Favorite Salad?
Pasadena, CA is home to many things, including me, the original Trader Joe’s, and the house they used in the first Batman with Michael Keaton.
As a regular TJ’s shopper (now in San Francisco), I’ve walked past the Pasadena Salad without nostalgic interest many times before, but last night I stopped and picked it up. After scanning the ingredients, memories of my childhood began flooding in. Sesame seeds, dry rice noodles, chopped almonds, slices of chicken, reminded me of a special salad I would get at a restaurant my mom would take me to, which also happened to be in Pasadena, California.
The restaurant, called Green Street, has been serving their signature Dianne Salad for over 20 years. It consists of all the same ingredients as above, (though their lettuce is shredded), is awesomely huge, and always comes with their trademark zucchini bread.
I couldn’t confirm my gut feeling, until the salad ended up in it. The TJs salad was a copycat!
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
Upon contacting TJ’s corporate, a nervous-sounding spokesperson declined to comment on the salad, other than to say the company named it “Pasadena Salad”, because that’s where the original TJ’s hails from. The manager of Green Street also seemed tense about the situation, confirming that they were aware of the issue, and had been notified by suspicious customers. (However, the manager said, most say they prefer the Dianne Salad.)
Lump me in with them. The Pasadena Salad’s dressing was way too sweet, and the leaves got soggy too quickly.
You should know that I still love you Trader Joe’s, and that I often think of our relationship as being like the infamous scene in When Harry met Sally: We’re sitting in a deli and you’re screaming in orgasmic delight about your salad (with the dressing served on the side) and I don’t even care what the other people in the room think —it’s just you in me. But you’re obviously not screaming about the Pasadena Salad because its honestly not that good…and c’mon baby, just give credit where it’s due.
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Tagged with: trader joe's, pasadena, green street, products
Solo Dinners Reveal Horrible Secrets, Sexy Creations
When your boyfriend/kids/housemates/wife is gone, what do you make for dinner and where do you eat it? A can of anchovies scarfed while logging onto Second Life? Strawberry jam on a tortilla? Or spaghetti carbonara while watching old Deadwoods?
Cookbook writer Deborah Madison and her husband, artist Patrick McFarlin, investigated the issue in their new book, What We Eat When We Eat Alone: Stories and 100 Recipes. Based on interviews with strangers of all ages and walks of life, the book is an interesting and voyeuristic peek into one of people’s most private moments. Turns out folks make stuff their spouses don’t like (okra!), because they can. Or they eat weird food combinations because nobody’s watching (Wonder bread flattened, covered with butter and sugar, then frozen briefly so it becomes a kind of sugar cookie!). Most everybody drinks more wine than he typically would, and men swig whiskey. A surprising number of people in all parts of the country “turn to some combination of chiles, tortillas, salsa, and cheese,” write Madison and McFarlin.
The book includes plenty of simple, homey recipes that are adapted from what the interviewees said they ate. My “to-trys” include: Soft Avocado Tacos, and Polenta Smothered in Braised Greens.
CHOW.com sat down with the couple at the Nob Hill Grille in San Francisco.
CHOW: What inspired the book?
Patrick: We took these trips in the Mediterranean in the 1990s, through the Oldways Preservation and Food Trust. I got in the habit of asking the other people on the tour, many of whom were professional chefs, what they ate when they ate alone, then sketching them. It was a good ice breaker
Deborah: I found the drawings when we were moving, and thought: “This would make a good book.” We did new interviews and collaborated on the writing.
CHOW: Did peoples’ answers surprise you?
Deborah: I expected to get a lot of answers like “peanut butter sandwich”, but it was all over the map. I’m happy to say there was not one “boneless skinless chicken breast.”
CHOW: What was the most disgusting thing you heard that somebody ate?
Deborah: Margarita mix poured over bread.
CHOW: Where there any themes that emerged?
Deborah: Crisp things in liquid, like oyster crackers in coffee or saltines in milk. This sounds kind of disgusting, but it might just be that people don’t have the language to talk about why they like something. When I was in Rome 25 years ago, I read “Cherie” by Collette, and made a note of this dish she made, where she put milky coffee in a bowl, covered with chunks of bread, with butter and sugar, then put it in the oven so it became kind of caramelized. That sounds good. Maybe if people were writing more about what they were eating, like Collette, they would be magic there in [the question of] “Why do you like it?”
Patrick: There’s a whole chapter called “Men and Their Meat…”
Deborah: Patrick interviewed this bartender at a Cuban bar, who liked to take a flank steak, wrap it up with bacon, cheese, and mushrooms, and grill it. We include a recipe for that, but we added spinach.
CHOW: What other gender stuff came out?
Deborah: Women are more into comfort. Men would never admit that they curl up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate.
CHOW: What do you two eat, when you eat alone?
Deborah: I make a fried egg sandwich when I come back from yoga.
Patrick: I make panini in my [art] studio with spinach and tofu.
What do you eat when you eat alone?
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Tagged with: deborah madison, solo dining, eating alone, media
Around the World in 20 Lunches
Here’s some fascinating visual food for thought: An extensive collection of straightforward photos of school lunches from around the world. My vote is probably for the Japanese bento box, but there are a couple choices from the USA that don’t entirely disgrace the country. And then, of course, there’s “Tater tots, chicken nuggets, fruit, chocolate milk and ketchup.”
All in all, neat stuff, even if a lot of the planet is under-represented. What’s for lunch, for example, in the countries that make up the rather large and wildly diverse continent of Africa or the Middle East…?
Image source: flickr member firepile under Creative Commons
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Tagged with: school lunches, media, photographs, images, comparison
Trend-O-Meter Says: Upscale Congee Is In (6/5/09)
Congee, a.k.a. jook, the Asian rice porridge much loved as a cheap comfort food (and hangovers cure) is making the move from Styrofoam bowls to upscale restaurants.
Spotted: in Philadelphia at Chef Jose Garces’ Cantonese/Peruvian hybrid restaurant Chifa with glazed veal cheeks, Chinese broccoli, and red chile; on the brunch menu at Seattle’s Dahlia Lounge with grilled prawns, poached egg, and scallion; at San Francisco tea lounge Samovar with scallions, toasted garlic, peanuts, nori, cilantro, sriracha, and tamari soy sauce, and topped with grilled duck, braised tofu, or smoked salmon; and if you want to make it at home, Chowhounds have many great tips.
See more food trends, or tell us what trends you’re spotting.
Image source: flickr member Puck777 under Creative Commons
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Tagged with: trendometer, food trends, congee, jose garces, chifa, dahlia lounge, restaurants and bars
Belly Up to the Falafel Bar
Got garbanzos? They do at Chick-O-Pea’s, which offers organic falafels in freshly made pitas, and a bar of 25 toppings and salads to go with them. One of the bar’s greatest hits is the salsa fresca, reports rworange. It has fresh ginger, “a swell addition” to the usual tomato-onion-cilantro-chile blend. Even better than that is the simple but delicious zchug, made with cilantro, parsley, tomatoes, hot peppers, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, spices, and salt. “I wanted to ‘zchug’ it, LOL,” quips Agent 510.
The bar’s range includes hummus, baba ghanoush, Lebanese slaw, cauliflower salad, harissa, aioli, and daikon salad.
The chickpea soup is surprisingly rich for a vegan broth, says rworange, chock full of greens with some kidney beans and noodles, plus plenty of olive oil. Lab kusa is also pleasant, a light, hummus-like spread made with zucchini. The fries are great, but the dips that accompany them are less exciting than they sound (Mediterranean pesto, saffron aioli, jerk seasoning, and Sahara dust). Another option, pita fries, are pre-fried.
For dessert, there’s regular and apple baklava, plus “choclava.”
Chick-O-Pea’s [East Bay]
1926 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley
510-540-8880
Board Link: Berkeley: Chick-O-Pea’s - The falafel place with a falafel bar
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Tagged with: san francisco bay area, restaurants and bars, falafel, falafel bar, toppings, middle eastern, middle east
New Finds: Thomas Keller Pimps Out His Fried Chicken Secrets
A special dash of Thomas Keller’s mojo went into every one of these fried chicken kits being sold through Williams-Sonoma. Each linen bag contains lemon-herb brine mix, so you can make your fried chicken really extra moist, and dredging mix for crunchy double coating. If you’re confused about why Mr. Fancy French Laundry dude is selling ingredients for fried chicken, note that Keller also has a casual, family style restaurant called Ad Hoc that is famous for its chicken (read the Chowhound reports here). How cool would this be for a hostess gift?
Ad Hoc Fried Chicken Kit, $14.95
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Tagged with: new finds, products, fried chicken, ad hoc, thomas keller, williams sonoma
