Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Small bites

By TIMES STAFF
Published May 9, 2007

Try a dash of Eastern Europe

Kielbasa, stroganoff and goulash prove that spices warm kitchens and hearts in frozen winters as much as they liven up Mediterranean cook pots. Yet the spice mixes of Poland and Russia haven't had the hype of France and Italy.

Penzeys, the Wisconsin-based spice merchant, gives its spice mixes a makeover, rechristening its Polish sausage seasoning Krakow Nights, for one. The mix of salt, black and white pepper, sugar, coriander, garlic, mustard, marjoram, mace and savory shows imagination and a sweet touch, good with mushrooms and almost any meat.

Russian sausage seasoning mix is now Tsardust Memories (you're allowed to chuckle) and includes salt, garlic, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg and marjoram, fine for a pork chop rub.

The mixes sell for $2 to $10, depending on size. Go to www.penzeys.com or call toll-free 1-800-741-7787.

Indian mangoes on the way

Floridians have always had plenty of homegrown mangoes, but many Americans hunger for the fabled mangoes of India. The subcontinent is the world's major producer, and its crop is coming back to U.S. groceries after a major trade deal.

The United States opened its doors late last month after India agreed to precautions including irradiation to eliminate pests. The mangoes were once banned for too much pesticide.

First shipments are headed to New York. No telling when they'll get to Florida.

Chris Sherman, Times staff writer

ON THE MENU:

RattleFish to open in St. Petersburg

Julian's at the Heritage closed in April. The space at 234 Third Ave. N in St. Petersburg will be shuttered until June, when it will reopen as RattleFish Reef. It will follow in the same vein as the original RattleFish Raw Bar & Grill, a Bayside Marina waterfront restaurant at 5210 W Tyson Ave. in Tampa. An inventive seafood-heavy menu in a lively, youthful environment. The upstairs will be transformed into a VIP lounge. Call (727) 823-8308.

A new taste of the South

At the site of the long-defunct Hampton House of Jazz at 1113 Central Ave. in St. Petersburg, Savannah's will open in June. The new restaurant, owned by Edyth James (formerly of Saffron's) and her partner John Warren, will celebrate foods of the South, from Louisiana's gumbos and jambalayas to Georgia's peaches and peanuts, Alabama's black-eyed peas and grits, Virginia's hams and Florida's own citrus, some of it with a Caribbean flair. For information, call (727) 374-6168.

Grouper on hold at the Columbia

The Columbia Restaurant has removed grouper from the lunch and dinner menus of its seven restaurants in Florida. "We are taking a proactive response to the difficulty in meeting the demand for authentic Florida grouper by taking all grouper items off of our menu," said Richard Gonzmart, president for the Columbia Restaurant Group. They plan to offer the fish only as a special if they receive whole fish from their suppliers, not merely fillets. This will address growing concerns about inferior fish species being substituted for Gulf of Mexico grouper.

Laura Reiley, Times food critic

[Last modified May 8, 2007, 19:22:34]