Midweek Meanderings: Is your Itamae (and your bartender) going to start wearing gloves? Chocolate Clams and other "stuffs"....

*** An update:

I guess Take-san from Tadokoro reads the blog! Yikes.....anyway, here's part of an email he sent me:

"This is Takeaki Tadokoro.

Right now we are correcting sign which is to discontinue bear hand law.

Start 1/1 we have to use glove to make sushi now. But I don't want to use it.

So July 1 we have to pay for ticket if we are not using it.

But I don't think my customer want to eat my sushi with glove.

If I have to use glove I'm going to close my restaurant.

This law will kill the traditional sushi in California.

Please help us. Please sign Mr Andy Matsuda's petition"

 

You can find that here.

Yes, really...... Thanks to Toshiko for bringing this to my attention. According to section 113961 of the California Retail Food Code, starting on January 1st, all persons need to wear gloves when in contact with ready to eat foods....this includes your neighborhood Itamae and bartender. I usually don't get involved with stuff like this....hey, I'll just cross state lines to get my foie gras fix. But for some reason, I think this is overkill..... I've seen those folks working for those national "chains" wearing gloves....I've also seen them cross contaminate like crazy, not changing gloves when going from meat to veg, to your table! I mean, really, I think it can give folks a false sense of security..... What happened to good handwashing? Can you regulate carelessness? And man, all those used gloves have got to go somewhere, right?

I actually use these type of gloves at home, mainly for chicken, but it does not replace washing my hands and keeping a clean work area.

I'm kind of interested in what FOY "Liver" thinks about this. This 2007 study states outright "hand washing was less likely to occur with activities in which gloves were worn." I thought this Washington Post article was interesting as well.

For now, it seems that things are in a holding pattern as the the Assembly Health Committee voted unanimously to reverse and "revisit" the rule, so who knows.

Though it would be interesting to see Urasawa using gloves to make nigiri....or would it?

Chocolate Clams:

Last weekend at Catalina, Tommy told me to get some Chocolate Clams. Chocolate Clams? Never heard of them. These clams hail from the Pacific side of Baja. According to this press release, Catalina Offshore is one of the few distributors that can bring them in to the US. I chatted a bit with Tommy and found that these babies were spitting up water like crazy.....they had also been purged and were immaculate. I asked Tommy what the heck was I supposed to do with these.....his response, "figure something out."

And no, these don't taste like chocolate....

They are named because of the chocolate like color of the shells.

Once I opened them, I knew this was going to be easy......

They are quite large, about 5 inches across, and remind me of surf clams....though the flavor is quite amazing. I cleaned one and we tried it. It was quite briney with a good amount of sweetness....a bit too strong solo, but with a touch of soy-wasabi-rice vinegar, combined with some good onion, radish sprouts, and cucumber these were very good.

The Missus wanted to add a nice creamy touch, so we sliced some avocado.

So maybe you should try these out on your next trip down to Catalina Offshore Products.

What next, don't feed the animals?:

Actually, the first thought that went thru my head when I read the "Please Do Not Throw Fruits & Vegetables" was FOOD FIGHT!!! What the heck happened that led to a huge sign like this? I realize that some of the folks here are pretty aggressive, I've gotten dirty looks when I've touched "coveted fruit", but come on, really? Have we sunk so low?

Best line of the week; a little boy asked his mother; "Mommy, did Batman just get off the trolley?"

Comments

[Jinxieats]

Hi Kirk, you may laugh at the "Please do not throw fruits & vegetables" sign, but I have seen little Asian ladies dig into those on-sale fruit containers and tossing out the lesser-quality stuff all over the place, all the while pushing the other little Asian ladies aside AND directing their kids/spouses/other family members to get another cart because "there's a three pound limit and each of you are getting three pounds!!" :P

[kat]

what a great round-up. loved the last part, I see a lot of people here with their own fashion senses ;)

[R]

The sign... wow, unbelievable!

[liver]

We've made great strides in food safety, which is a plus. Seems like wearing gloves for bartending and sushi has gone a little overboard though. But, I like street food, which is living on the edge of the hygiene hypothesis and Infectious Disease.

[nhbilly]

No kidding cross contamination. They finish prepping your food and then proceed to ring you up with the gloves on then proceed to help the next person with the same gloves.

Boy the clams looks great.

[Kirk]

I've seen the same Jinxi, everywhere......but c'mon, have you seen this sign anywhere else? How about "Please do not open packages and containers?" Poor choice of words...makes me think the customer base is a bunch of out of control adolescents and want to shop elsewhere. And do you think those women would actually obey the sign?

Hi Kat - In this case, I believe there's a disconnect between "fashion" and "sense".

Totally R.....couldn't they have chosen their words more appropriately?

Hi Liver - Thanks for chiming in....I like "hygiene hypothesis".....

Hi Billy - Which is why policies like this didn't pass in the EU.

[janfrederick]

I think gloves are less sanitary.

So you never saw Zimmern in Baja diving for chocolate clams with Estrella? :)

[Lynnea]

Love that sign =)

[Hulacook]

Hi Kirk,
I have had those chocolate clams in La Paz, Mx. They were picked fresh chopped then served with hot salsa and a little lime juice. Oh, so delici-oso!!!

[J.S. @ Sun Diego Eats]

Haha Jinxi's comment...sounds ruthless.

Although I have a general idea of what oysters I like (small + "sweet" ones, the really big ones remind me of the "giant bugger" comment Phoebe or Joey said about oysters on Friends) I just started eating raw clams and I think I have liked every one I've tried. Will have to find some chocolate clams. The slaw you made looks gorgeous.

[Kirk]

Hi Jan - I agree. I'm not the biggest fan of AZ....so no, I never saw that episode.

Crazy sign Lynnea.....

Hi Hulacook - These were really delici-yoso indeed!

Hi JS - It was really delicious......you don't have to do much to make these taste great.

[nhbilly]

Signed...

[PedMa]

Ok, this is total BS, surgical gloves, sushi, big brother already has a flashlight where the sun don't shine, can I say "overkill", is this just the beginning? NYC, no big drinks, no trans-fats, etc.

WTF happened to personal responsibility?

Sorry, but the camel's nose and ass is in the tent and it is our responsibility to kick its ass and nose out!

Sorry guys, PedMa is usually not so "PED"; however, this is ridiculous. Example, when a certain Izakaya in my hood, offered me "off the menu" chicken sashimi several years ago and I tried it.I ignored their warnings ("Gaijin stomach may not be able to handle blanched chicken") and it did not turn out well the next couple days, did I call the health dept? No, Did I cry and call Mommy? Nope, considered it a cleanse.

Sushi with gloves is offensive.....punch the camel in the nose! Please!!!!!!!

[Kirk]

Hi Billy - I'm sure Take-san appreciates it!

Geeez PedMa.....all I can say is...that poor camel!

[SteveC]

Ha! I can tell you why they have that big do not throw sign at Zion.

There's a stern-looking lady who polices the produce aisles and she'll slap your wrists if she sees you tossing aside the bad tangerines while you dig through the pile. She doesn't want you to bruise the fruit!

She's tough! I've had her berate me more than once!

[Kirk]

Hi SteveC - So are YOU the reason for the sign? LOL! Isn't it nice when markets treat their customers like a bunch of animals???

[SteveC]

Heh...I probably contributed my part...

She is very particular about how you treat her fruit...

[PedMa]

Sorry for the camel's nose, but man, if this happens, what a travesty..

Could not help myself on this one!