Small Bites

Now Eat This!

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Published: Mar 28, 2007

No cocktail has been abused quite like the martini. From the awful "appletini" to the dreaded watermelon, overzealous bartenders have created some seriously heinous concoctions under the martini moniker. One exception: the Pablotini. This fiery cocktail, served at Zocalo (3600 Lancaster Ave., 215-895-0139), would be great if it were just Cuervo Gold tequila, Gran Torres orange liqueur and Rose's lime juice. But it's the red-hot habenero chilies that make it so memorable: The perfect blend of alcohol sting and chili spice that gets hotter with each sip. — Tim Hyland

"Americans don't understand what good chocolate is," says John Doyle, co-owner of John & Kira's, a Philly-based artisan chocolate company that specializes in full-bodied French Valrhona. And just in time for the pretty spring weather, the Doyles, alongside partners Naomi and Neil Fiordimondo, have crafted working molds shaped like our favorite dotted insects. Each Ladybug Gem ($28/dozen) is coated in creamy dark cocoa butter, pumped with raspberry ganache and decoratively hand-painted in glitzy, deep red tones. Available online at www.johnandkiras.com. — Amy Strauss

New York Sun food columnist Adina Steiman's brand-new cookbook, The Good, the Bad and the Yummy: Food That Suits Your Mood (Running Press, $14.95), is a tasty companion for anyone who's ever felt torn between a sweet tooth and wretched dietary restrictions. (So, all of us.) Yummy is broken up by flagship food categories (breakfast, lunch, dinner, mood food, party time, etc.), and offers angelic and devilish suggestions for each. The brunch menu, for example, includes tangerine mimosas, South Indian coconut eggs and raspberry pancakes topped with nutty maple butter. Steiman even suggests a playlist featuring tunes from The Mamas & the Papas, Jelly Roll Morton and Jonathan Richman. — A.S.

It may look like a giant egg sittin' in a terra cotta pot, but the charmingly named Egglings could be tomorrow's dinner. Grab a spoon and gently tap the top; the ceramic shell cracks to reveal a fortified peat mixture and seedlings that grow in-shell for up to six months. Hugely popular in Japan, Egglings come in basil, mint, thyme, Italian parsley, spicy red pepper, lavender and wild strawberry varieties. Available at Kitchen Kapers, East Gate Square, 1341 Nixon Drive, Moorestown, N.J., 856-662-1919, or online at www.eggling.com. — A.S.

McNally's Tavern in Chestnut Hill (8634 Germantown Ave., 215-247-9736) is famous for its signature creation: a bastardized cheesesteak known as the Schmitter. The gut-busting wonder, which features sliced beef, fried salami, cheese, onions, tomato and a "special sauce," has even been served at the Super Bowl. We don't begrudge the Schmitter its popularity, but where's the love for the Tobias? Buried on Page 2 of McNally's menu, it's even more potent than its famous cousin: Anything Schmitter does, Tobias does better. (Like adding fried pepperoni.) — T.H.

A longtime staple in some of our bitterest brews, wild hops has recently made its debut in savory puddings and ice creams. Home Sweet Homebrew's George Hummel supplies DIY drinkers with high-quality malts, yeasts, specialty sugars and the ever-elusive wild hops. While more tender stalks can be munched carrotlike or sprinkled over a salad, they're better sauteed or steamed like asparagus or folded into a risotto or frittata. Careful foraging by the Turnpike, though — some varieties are poisonous. Available at Home Sweet Homebrew, 2008 Sansom St., 215-569-9469, www.homesweethomebrew.com. — A.S.

 

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