Tangerine

http://www.tangerinesf.com/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kj3tCowdNk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07kOBbqYyio


I headed over to the Castro this morning (Ha! I actually found a good parking spot on Beaver Street just off Noe. I love the irony of parking on this street whenever I am in this neighborhood.) and was planning on having breakfast again at Café Floré (see 'blog-entry from November 14th, 2010) with a fellow Boston Red Sox fan; however, something must have come up as he never met me there. I had arrived about a half hour before 10:00am (the decided upon time we were supposed to meet there), and walked around the neighborhood checking out other places that looked good for breakfast/"Brunch", just in case Café Floré was packed (it really wasn't at that early an hour on Sunday morning) and we needed a fall-back plan. I happened across Tangerine[1] just a block away and perused their menu; they had a few very interesting items on the menu and I made a mental note (okay, I know the more Politically Correct term is "psychotic reminder") to check it out on another weekend. After waiting at Café Floré for about a half hour and my breakfast partner never showed, I decided I would just check out a new place, so, Tangerine it was.

This is an interesting enough place; it is a semi-large space with seating for about 50-60 (plus four seats at the bar/counter, where I sat this morning). If you are wondering what I was wondering, "Why Tangerine?", per Richard (who I think is the owner), tangerines are considered a symbol of good fortune/luck in China. And unlike Pomelo (see 'blog-entry from May 7th, 2011), they do actually incorporate tangerines into some of their dishes.

As I stated before, there were several really interesting things on their "Brunch" menu: e.g. Zucchini Latke, Potato Latke, Hawaiian Omelet, among others (check out their menu for the details, I am sure to go back to try one of their latke dishes). But I just had to try the Macaroni & Corn Pancakes ~ topped with sharp Cheddar cheese, (2) fried eggs, sautéed leek, and oyster mushroom; served with organic greens; and I ordered a side of roasted potatoes (just because I am not that big of a fan of salad stuff for breakfast).




I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this dish, but it sounded just strange enough that I knew I would love it. It was exactly what you might think it to be: macaroni and cheese with lots of fresh corn kernels in it, made into flattened "pancakes" and grilled on both sides, and then topped with the eggs, leeks, and mushrooms. This was all surrounded with a little puréed[2] spinach sauce; which was a pretty simple idea in itself, but went perfectly with the whole megillah[3], Mr. Peebles. If I cooked, I would so steal this idea; it was so simple in its sublimity that it was simply sublime (or subtangerine, even).

This was an instant favourite of mine, and I will be sure to go back to Tangerine in the future to try it and other of their cool-sounding breakfast stuff. Much like my "discoveries" of the Chayote Benedict at Q and the Excellent! Roasted Home Potatoes at Eats, I will be sure to rave-on about this dish, Mr. Holley.

Tangerine has both Tabasco® (the standard red) and Sriracha hot sauce as their condimentary supplemented. I used some Palo Alto Fire Fighters Pepper Sauce on top of the eggs (Thanks agains, Amys!) and Sylvia's Restaurant®[4] Kickin' Hot Hot Sauce on the potatoes (Thanks again, Sean!).

Wild Parrots of San Francisco update:
Sightings in this part of the City aren't really that unusual as I think there is a flock of them that roosts in Dolores Park in the Mission. I happened to see one pair flying overhead on Market Street when I was walking around.

Moral of the day:
When life hands you tangerines, make tangerine-ade… and Macaroni & Corn Pancakes!


Glen Bacon Scale Rating: Macaroni & Corn Pancakes ~ 7.5


[1] Stupid, useless cunning linguist/pseudo-etymological/culinary pointer of the day, number one:

Tangerines are closely related to mandarin oranges and have been cultivated in China for over 3,000 years. The word "tangerine" was originally an adjective meaning "of or pertaining to, or native of Tangier (a seaport in Morocco)"; Tangier was the seaport where tangerines were imported to Britain.

Clementines, like tangerines, are also related to mandarin oranges, and are almost always seedless. And the truly interesting thing is that they get their nomenclature from the American author, Mark Twain, as he was said to be a very big fan of this sweet, miniature, orange.

[2] Stupid, useless cunning linguist/culinary pointer of the day, numero deux:

"Purée" comes from French; it is the noun use of the feminine past participle of "purer", meaning "to strain, (literally) to make pure".

[3] Stupid, useless cunning linguist pointer of the day, number three:

(I may have pointed this one out before, but, tough, my 'blog, my rules.)

"Megillah" is simply the Hebrew word for "scroll". It comes into English through Yiddish, and as with any Yinglish word origin, I defer to Mr. Leo Rosten's "The Joys of Yiddish" for an expert explanation:

"megillah
Pronounced meh-GILL-eh, to rhyme with "guerilla". Hebrew: 'scroll'.
1. Megillah usually describes the Book of Esther, which is read in the synagogue during Purim holiday; also the Book of Ruth. (There are five megillahs in all.)
2. Anything very long, prolix; a rigmarole. The Book of Esther wanders through a crushing concatenation of detail, and the devout sit through the long, long reading after a day of fasting.
3. In popular parlance: Anything complicated, boring, overly extended, fouled up. 'He'll put you to sleep with that megillah.' 'Don't give me a megillah' means 'Spare me the full, dull details.'"

[4] I am getting to the bottom of my bottle, and am not sure if I have ever linked this information before about Sylvia's Restaurant in New York City/Harlem:

http://www.sylviasrestaurant.com/