When I spotted Brian D'Amato's book in the Science Fiction section at Borders, and I didn't recognise the name I should have realised something was wrong. Or maybe I did, subconsciously, because I skipped over it a few times before I bought it. Perhaps the cover art was a little too Dan Brown, The font a little too Grisham. But I read the first few pages and it seemed legit. Time travel of a sort, something went wrong, hero in danger. You've seen the plot before, right? Hero uses knowledge to overcome adversity. Maybe the characters are undeveloped etc... but we know that's because the real protagonist isn't the hero, it is the world, science, knowledge, the scientific method, reason. Maybe that's just a throwback to Campbell and the 'Golden Era', but most real Science Fiction has this secret protagonist. Everyone can die, but technological optimism survives. See 'Wreck of the River of Stars' by Flynn. 'Signal to Noise' by Nylund. 'Saturn's Children' by Stross. This book is missing that. Completely.
What it does have is a snarky modern leftist's cycnicism. I find that pretty tedious, and I live in Boston and lean a little left. I mean, Gay marriage, rah, rah rah. Keep abortion legal. This is someting else entirely. Haliburton causing megadeaths in Florida, for fuck's sake. General contempt for the military. People too hip to mix emotion with sex.
Then there's the cultural relitivism. In spite of, or more accurately, in direct opposition to the title of this blog, I'm conflicted about it. Sometimes. And there's this idea floating through this book that the Mayans were something really special. Like the Greeks. Something about that makes me want to vomit. How D'Amato can equate the two.... The Mayan death culture makes the Spartan's death culture ('Carrying your shield or on it') seem like pikers. Or Hoplites. Pun intended. It is enough to make me a cultural absolutist for a day. The Mayans sucked, and it was a happy, happy day that culture was wiped from the earth. Maybe that's the point of the book, except the book seems to ask, 'Why stop with the Mayans?' I'll tell you why. Because for all our flaws, we don't suck that much. And we're getting better all the time. But a cultural relativist and a cynic wouldn't see it that way. Maybe the Right is on to something when they accuse the Left of being into death culture.
Obscurish Pop culture references sprinkled throughout add a kind of fake hipster feel, like you're reading the Boston Phoenix checking the showtimes at TT the Bear's while sipping a Bacon martini. Whatever. Stephenson does it better. I mean, how many people are really going to know what Kenny Tran's face is going to look like at a final table at the Commerce in 2010? Look, I have a good idea, but I'm a poker geek who posts on 2+2 and plays Badugi. It just doesn't add much. Seems like a very forced way to make yourself look smart.
OK, bottom line. If you think the CIA took down the WTC and that it would be a good thing for the planet if all the people on it died and that things are going downhill and Peak Oil and Malthus and really enjoy Kim Stanley Robinson's books.... This is one for you. Otherwise, go find a copy of Flynn's 'The January Dancer' instead.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Crab Scrapple
So I had this idea to take two Maryland classics- crab and scrapple- and combine them.
Scrapple is delicious pork offal+cornmeal+spices, potted, chilled, sliced and refried for breakfast.
Crabs are nasty aggressive bottom feeders happy feeding off raccoon corpses.
Normally I'm elitist enough to avoid anything but jumbo lump, but for this recipe using whatever comes to hand kind of matches the spirit of scrapple. So I'd use anything short of ... and possibly including ... crab baader meat.
Take 1.5 cups water, 0.5 cups cornmeal, 1 tsp sea salt. Boil water and salt. Gradually add cornmeal, whisking until thick and smooth. add spices and 1 lb. crab. I used white pepper, cayenne pepper, coriander seeds and fennel seeds. I'm a bit of a spice geek, so I prefer whole spices ground in a mortar, but whatever. You can use Old Bay if you want, just don't talk to me about it afterwards. I also added some chopped fresh parsley and shredded parsley root. Both of those are very optional. Mix the cornmeal mush and crab and spices together until uniform and pack into a mould. I used a rectangular plastic ziplock container. worked great. If you use something like a loaf pan, line it with plastic wrap. Work it into the mould carefully to avoid air bubbles. Refrigerate overnight. Slice into 3/8" portions and fry in butter in a medium-low heat cast iron pan until you have a nice brown crust. It really helps if you don't poke at it. Serve two pieces with two fried or poached eggs and some dill baking soda biscuits. Hit the eggs with a shot of Tabasco or a hollandaise heavy on the Tabasco for maximum awesomeness. Mustard based cream sauce- maybe with mushrooms- would be good too.
Worked out great, absolutely nails the texture of Scrapple while adding enough delicacy that I think this could be used on an upscale brunch menu. Oufs a'la Menken perhaps?
Scrapple is delicious pork offal+cornmeal+spices, potted, chilled, sliced and refried for breakfast.
Crabs are nasty aggressive bottom feeders happy feeding off raccoon corpses.
Normally I'm elitist enough to avoid anything but jumbo lump, but for this recipe using whatever comes to hand kind of matches the spirit of scrapple. So I'd use anything short of ... and possibly including ... crab baader meat.
Take 1.5 cups water, 0.5 cups cornmeal, 1 tsp sea salt. Boil water and salt. Gradually add cornmeal, whisking until thick and smooth. add spices and 1 lb. crab. I used white pepper, cayenne pepper, coriander seeds and fennel seeds. I'm a bit of a spice geek, so I prefer whole spices ground in a mortar, but whatever. You can use Old Bay if you want, just don't talk to me about it afterwards. I also added some chopped fresh parsley and shredded parsley root. Both of those are very optional. Mix the cornmeal mush and crab and spices together until uniform and pack into a mould. I used a rectangular plastic ziplock container. worked great. If you use something like a loaf pan, line it with plastic wrap. Work it into the mould carefully to avoid air bubbles. Refrigerate overnight. Slice into 3/8" portions and fry in butter in a medium-low heat cast iron pan until you have a nice brown crust. It really helps if you don't poke at it. Serve two pieces with two fried or poached eggs and some dill baking soda biscuits. Hit the eggs with a shot of Tabasco or a hollandaise heavy on the Tabasco for maximum awesomeness. Mustard based cream sauce- maybe with mushrooms- would be good too.
Worked out great, absolutely nails the texture of Scrapple while adding enough delicacy that I think this could be used on an upscale brunch menu. Oufs a'la Menken perhaps?
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