Whole and Kosher Food

Part I

We were thinking about fish for dinner and, as usual, our local Giant Foods seafood counter was bereft of anything remotely appetizing.  In fact, at 8:30 a.m., there wasn’t even a fishmonger at his station to receive our complaint.  So we crossed River Road to Whole Foods, where the fish is formally presented as if it were a real fish store.  Of course we know now that the fish presenters at Whole Foods have “lite” fishmonger skills because all the scaling and filleting is done at some central location.  You have to special order fish bones from Whole Foods if you want to make your own fish stock.

In any event, I was delighted to see that my favorite fish, Patagonian Toothfish -- I mean Chilean Sea Bass -- is not on the new Whole Foods list of politically incorrect fish to eat.  At $26/lb. I intend to take very small mouthfuls of this meaty flavorful fish, which will be pan seared for two minutes on the skin side and then baked for twelve minutes in a 450 degree oven.  I spied my favorite Vidalia onions, which with some sliced mango, diced yellow grape tomatoes, Thai basil, three small Thai hot peppers, lime juice, and 1/2 Tbs. of Thai fish sauce will make a delicious salsa to spread over the fish.

Part II

Having  planned dinner, I thought it would be fun to take a destination bike ride through Rock Creek Park to the Kosher Mart in Silver Spring.   At twelve miles from home, this would be the perfect distance to whip up an appetite for a pastrami sandwich on rye and a big kosher pickle.  Memories of great pastrami sandwiches flew through my mind as I pedaled from DC into Montgomery County on my way to lunch.

But the Kosher Mart turned my dream into a nightmare with its chewy tasteless meat,  Heinz yellow mustard poured into a Saval plastic bottle, pickles that must have been made from a Mormon recipe and cole slaw without any taste whatsoever.   Perhaps this could be redeemed by something chocolate, and I wandered over to Goldberg’s Bagels seeking to overcome the mistake I had made.  Their choices were limited, and I certainly was not going to opt for the recommended chocolate chip bagel, which seems almost Frankenstinian in concept.  We finally found a chocolate covered biscuit-like pastry with brownie filling and, after one bite, I realized that I had compounded my eating errors at the Kosher Mart.  It wasn’t calorie neutral, but the exercise was fun.