FOOD: Pizza Wars

By ANNETTE HENNESSEY
Falls Church Times Staff

September 3, 2010

After a hectic week in our house, nothing welcomes the weekend better than ordering out for pizza.  (Add a glass of wine and a good comedy from Netflix and I’m in heaven!)

Even though we’ve been ordering pizza for years, our family hasn’t formed a firm allegiance to a local pizza joint.  So this summer, when faced with a lazy day, we decided to blind taste-test eight cheese pizzas in preparation for the coming school year.

My two kids called four friends to help with the judging.  We created score sheets and a tracking grid to note comments about delivery times, pick-up process, price, and size.  We identified eight different restaurants in Falls Church City or just over the line – ranging from national chains to one-of-a-kind pizza parlors.  We ordered medium pizzas (when available) with just cheese.

The contenders were:

Anthony’s Restaurant & Pizzas 309 West Broad St Falls Church, VA 703-532-0100	12-inch	$9.54
Domino’s Store #4347 6138 Arlington Blvd # C Falls Church, VA 703-533-9000	12-inch	$12.49
Flippin’ Pizza 800 W. Broad St Suite 103 Falls Church, VA 703-752-8672	18-inch (only size available)	$15.26
Papa John’s #831 500 W Broad St Falls Church, VA 703-237-7272	12-inch	$14.42
Pie-Tanza Falls Church 1216 West Broad Street Falls Church, VA 703-237-0977	12-inch	$10.45
Pizzeria Orso 400 South Maple Ave Falls Church, VA 703-226-3460	12-inch	$13.08
Vocelli’s 7393-C Lee Hwy Falls Church, VA 703-208-3500	12-inch	$13.53
Z-Pizza 1051 West Broad St Falls Church, VA 703-536-6969	10-inch (There is a 12-inch pie but I misordered)	$7.90

Every restaurant either delivered piping hot pizzas in a timely manner or had them ready for our arrival.  And while prices ranged, you could easily grab a pizza for under $20.

Once the pies had been sliced into tasting portions, they were placed on one plate.  Using rating sheets, the six-student panel of judges was asked to rank the pizza’s crust, sauce, and cheese, and then vote for their overall favorite.  They chewed and sipped lemonade to cleanse between bites. Silently, they wrote comments in the margin.  Some needed a second slice to make a decision.

But when the votes were tallied, there was a clear winner.  And I think you might be surprised at the results.

The winner? Domino’s.

That’s right.  Four out of six judges picked Domino’s as their favorite.  The crust was described as flavorful, fluffy, nice flavor of garlic, spicy, chewy (good), and crispy.  They also liked the sauce, but thought there was not enough on the pie.  The only aspect of the pie that got mixed reviews was the cheese – with some judges thinking it was gloppy.

If you looked at the numerical scores awarded the three components of the pizzas, Anthony’s came in second.  The panel of judges particularly liked their crust (which tasted homemade) and their sauce with chunky tomatoes.

To be fair, Pie-tanza and Pizzeria Orso pies would have been better devoured in the restaurant.  Their wood-fired crusts and gourmet cheeses didn’t appeal to the student taste buds like a more traditional pizza.  But if you want to eat pizza in your jammies on your couch, our panel said these are not the pies for you.

And even though I couldn’t participate in the “blind-taste” test (since someone had to dish up the plates), to appease my own curiosity, I filled out my own scorecard.  And I didn’t disagree with the kids.

Domino’s was a decent pizza.  And Anthony’s came in second on my scorecard.

Domino’s launched a new pizza recipe in early 2010, to celebrate its 50^th anniversary.  In its product launch, ads talked about how they had improved their cardboard crust and sauce that tasted like ketchup.  I guess I can say they succeeded in convincing six ‘tweens and a mom that it’s not a bad choice…

…when on a Friday night, your fingers need to do the walkin’ for dinner.

My thanks to Thomas Beddow, Claire Schmidt, Tallulah Lewis, Jack Hennessey, Anna Hennessey, and Alicia Devereaux for their discerning palates and attention to detail (see cover photo).

Falls Church Farmers Market Voted No. 1

By FALLS CHURCH CITY OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

September 2, 2010

The Falls Church Farmers Market was voted “America’s Favorite Farmers Market” in a contest sponsored by the American Farmland Trust.  In an effort to promote local farmers markets, Farmland Trust sponsors an annual contest to choose America’s favorite farmers markets in four size categories: boutique markets with 15 or fewer vendors; small markets, 16 to 30 vendors; medium markets, 31 to 55 vendors; and large markets with 56 or more vendors.  Falls Church City, with its 45 vendors, competed in the medium market category and beat out hundreds of similarly-sized markets throughout the country.  Falls Church also finished first in voting among all Virginia farmers markets regardless of market size in the contest which ended Aug. 31.

The Falls Church Farmers Market is open every Saturday, and during peak seasons more than 40 vendors offer fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables, cheeses, meats, baked goods, plants, and wine.   Master Gardeners also staff a booth at the Market to answer gardening questions.  The Falls Church Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. until noon (9 a.m. in the winter months) in the parking lot of City Hall, 300 Park Ave. and is sponsored by the Recreation and Parks Department.

For a complete list of winners and more information about the contest visit the Contest Website.

FOOD: Falls Church Farmers Market Battles for First Place

By KATHLEEN NIXON
Falls Church Times Staff

August 27, 2010

Have you heard the buzz? Falls Church Farmers Market is currently battling for the number 1 ranking in the country for the best medium size farmers market. The battle for first place is with another local farmers market – Historic Lewes Delaware farmers market. How did this come about?

The American Farmland Trust in its efforts to bring awareness to local farms began the contest as part of the No Farms No Food program.  The America’s Favorite Farmers Markets™ contest is designed to raise national awareness about the importance of supporting fresh food from local farms and farmers.

Not only do I see our local farmers market as a nationally ranking farmers market, I see it as a vital part of our community and health. While at the Falls Church Farmers Market last Saturday, a neighbor asked me “why would I pay $3 a pound for local tomatoes?” For some reason, the cost of tomatoes seems to be the major bellwether in consumers’ minds. This neighbor knew my answer would be in favor of the local seemingly higher cost farmers’ market tomatoes. I say seemingly as comparing the cost of produce in the local farmers market is not necessarily apples to apples or I should say tomato to tomato.   

The tomato in the grocery store is either organically or conventionally raised on a large industrialized farm probably utilizing immigrant labor. If it was raised conventionally there were pesticides and fertilizers involved. The tomato itself was modified to be picked early so it would stay firm in transport. It was also modified so that it would have the “look” of a tomato – the red globe that it typically associated with a tomato.  For the tomato to be grown a large water project was probably developed which involved federal funds or it was raised internationally.  The cost of the tomato from the grocery stores also includes the cost of federal subsidized water, subsidizing of services for an immigrant population, international or national transport, and the detrimental affects on the environment. Included in this is also that you are not getting all of the nutrients from the tomato that you would normally so you have to supplement your diet with vitamins.  So while it may seem that your grocery store tomato is “cheaper” you have to weigh all the costs into the equation.

This is compared to your farmers’ market tomato. It may be red, green, yellow, purple or zebra as it is an heirloom tomato rather than a modified standard tomato. This adds to the variety of tastes and textures to the tomatoes and allows for the diversity of tomatoes to be saved. You will have to ask the farmer if it was raised with pesticides and fertilizers or not. And this is one of the advantages of a farmers market – you can talk to the person or family that raises your food – not something you can do at the grocery store. The produce was raised and transported within 150 miles of where you are purchasing it and you are supporting the local economy.  The positive affects on my taste buds, my health, my community and the environment are worth the cost differential between the local and grocery store tomato.

Farmers markets have grown in popularity over the last decade and have become a vital retail channel for many of the local farms in addition to farm stands and CSAs ( community supported agriculture). But farmers markets also provide a vital component to our community. It doesn’t matter your political afflation, economic standing or family size, we all need food. The farmers’ market provides a way to gather our food, commune with the farmers and participate in our community in a way that not only sustains us physically but fiscally, environmentally and spiritually. I feel truly privileged to have our Falls Church Farmers Market.

So back to the national competition – be it that you enjoy the farmers market for its community feel, a chance to slow down, catch up with neighbors, listen to music, watch a chef demonstration, eat a tasty treat  or you use the farmers market for your weekly groceries, please take the time to show your community pride in our local community of farmers and our farmers market by voting for Falls Church Farmers Market to be the best Farmers Market ( in the medium category) in the country! Voting ends midnight August 31^st!

http://action.farmland.org/site/PageNavigator/Americas-Favorite-Farmers-Markets/best_local_farmers_market_vote

FOOD: Saturday’s Market Chef Demonstration Promises to be A+

 

By KATHLEEN NIXON
Falls Church Times Staff  

August 20, 2010 

 Local chef and co-owner Aimee Suyehiro of Argia’s restaurant returns to the Falls Church Farmers Market for another Farmers Market Chef Demonstration.  Her presentation on Saturday will mark one full year of the farmers’ market chef demonstrations. 

For Saturday’s demonstration, Aimee will be drawing from the bounty of tomatoes in the market. She will be preparing yellow tomato gazpacho served with a parmesan-black pepper biscotti as well as a tomato jam bruschetta. As in other demonstrations, produce from the market will be used for the demonstration. This time the produce will be from Potomac Vegetable Farms, a local farm and farmers market vendor.  Read more

FOOD: Too Many Tomatoes? Never!

By KATHLEEN NIXON
Falls Church Times Staff

August 13, 2010

Wasn’t just a few months ago that we were all pining away for a wonderful ripe tomato? And now here we are in the abundanza of tomato season! While many are preparing children for school or squeezing in that last bit of vacation, I am looking to how to fill my pantry and freezer with the season abundance to stretch my fresh food throughout the winter.

With the current economy and concern about food supply, many people have been looking at ways to economize as well as provide good local healthy food. Each year in August the question is “do you can or do you freeze?” Now very much like Ruth Reichl, the former editor of Gourmet magazine, my mother’s kitchen escapades had me running for the hills at an early age. My frugal mother made several attempts at canning only to end up having our kitchen look like a scene from the Chainsaw Massacre. I cannot attempt canning without immediate flashback of exploding jars even though many tell me it is much easier these days and the technology is much more advanced. With this knowledge, I am firmly entrenched in the “freezing” category, but I will be acquiescing this year and will be trying my hand at canning some other bounties from this season like onions, cucumbers and figs.

The mainstay of my preserving activity will be tomatoes because they brighten up any dish especially one prepared in the middle of the winter. My two main products are tomato sauce and roasted tomatoes. My tomato sauce is very similar to a farmers market kitchen sink. Anything and everything I can find at the farmers market in late summer goes into my tomato sauce – carrots, onion, squash, basil and any or every type of tomato. All cut up, roasted and simmered for a few hours and then put through the food processor. This is hard work compared to the roasted tomatoes. The tomatoes are cut in half, laid in a shallow cooking pan, salt, pepper, drizzle of olive oil and roasted at 200 degrees for several hours. Once done and cooled they are placed in plastic containers and frozen.

The tomato sauce has come out into pasta sauce mixed with sausage or ground beef. Or the sauce has been the base of many great soups during the winter. The sauce combined with the roasted tomatoes have been added to kidney beans and ground beef to make chili. At last year’s Super Bowl party, I brought out the roasted tomatoes; put them through the food processor with some onions and chilies for salsa.

So when you look at the Farmers Market this year, remember you can put a little away each month to stretch out your local food throughout the winter.

SATURDAY 8/21: Argia’s Chef Demonstration at the Farmers Market

Falls Church Farmers Market Chef Demonstrations
9 – 11 a.m.

August 21 – Aimee Suyehiro – Argia’s

September 11 – Brian Long – The Westins Tysons Corner

October 2 – Debra Rubin, Kate Jensen and Tracey O’Grady – Willow

October 30 – Liam LaCivita and David King – The Liberty Tavern

November 20 – Chef Bertrand Chemel – 2941

City Hall Parking Lot
300 Park Avenue., Falls Church
8 a.m.-noon

Falls Church City’s Farmers Market has something for all. Buying locally not only supports local farmers, but also helps protect the environment by reducing packaging and transportation demands.

Vendors offer fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables, cheeses, meats, baked goods, plants, and wine. The Fairfax County Master Gardeners also staff a booth at the Market to answer gardening questions.

FOOD: Beat the Heat by Dining at La Caraqueña

Raul Claros provides the evening's entertainment on the congas.

By ILENE SMITH
Falls Church Times Staff

July 30, 2010

Ok, so the heat is on…..summer is in full swing.  If you find yourself reading this, and you haven’t been to the hottest South American restaurant this side of Caracas, make your reservation soon to experience the hoopla for yourself.  The Washingtonian, Washington Post, Examiner and Guy Fieri from the Food Network channel can’t all be wrong.  And don’t let  its location in the Stratford Motor Lodge scare you away……remember the  old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover”…..rest assured, La  Caraqueña is not your standard motel diner experience !

Just three years in business, La Caraqueña’s chef and owner, Raul Claros, has been cooking up the most sumptuous Pan Latin food without big city prices. Born in Venezuela, Claros moved to Bolivia and began his passion for cooking at a very young age helping mom in the kitchen.  When he turned 17, Claros made “the big move to the USA to check it out.”  While working in restaurants perfecting his skills, he saw a “for lease” sign in front of the Stratford Inn. Taking a leap of faith, Claros made Falls Church City home to La Caraqueña, simultaneously fulfilling a life-long dream: owning a restaurant where he can serve patrons as if they were guests in his home.  Many of his recipes, especially the sauces, are old family recipes from his mother and “abuelita” – grandmother.

Hand-held meat pies are common in almost every culture, but the nuances of this mainstay snack can make all the difference.  Salteñas are Latin America’s entry in the hand held meat pie derby.  I didn’t realize how much I had been craving La Caraqueña’s salteñas until I recently traveled to Lithuania.   Looking to satisfy my craving in Vilnius, I ordered the closest thing I could find, a cepelini – a hand-held meat pie that is the staple dish of Lithuania. Although the cepelini was delicious, upon returning home, I scurried back to La Caraqueña to see if all the fame had changed this highly touted Falls Church City restaurant. I also wanted to conduct an admittedly unscientific and biased meat pie taste test separated by weeks of travel and thousands of miles of ocean. And the winner is…well, I’ll reveal that at the end of this review.

To my delight, La Caraqueña was even better than I remembered, with faster, more attentive service.  I began my meal with the yuca frita with homemade salsa amarilla and pico de gallo.  This dish is heavy on flavor, but light on the appetite, and great way to begin your dining experience.  The yuca is sliced fresh before frying and thus crispy on the outside but tender on the inside.  Salsa amarilla literally means “yellow sauce” and is one of those secret recipes from Claros’ “abuelita”, made in some variant with hard‐boiled eggs blended with madeira wine, oil, and mustard.  My friend ordered the plátanos fritos and raved about them almost as much as I did the yuca frita.  The plátanos fritos are fried sweet plantains served with Latin white cheese and pico de gallo. The salteña was up next and it couldn’t have been more succulent.  I now understand why these tasty meat turnovers are eaten as a mid day snacks in South America on a daily basis.  My husband lived in South America for three years and agrees that he is hard pressed to find a better salteña than right here in the center of Falls Church City. For an extra kick, you can always add the green condiment sauce- jalapeños, cilantro and onions-to any item on the menu.  Even though it’s counterintuitive, a great way to stay cool is to eat hot chili peppers.  Most chili peppers have a natural substance called Capsaicin, which can actually lower your body temperature.  So bring on the heat, to add a chill.

After giving my tongue a few minutes to recuperate, I moved on to the arepas, which come in a dozen assorted varieties.  The carne mechada, one of the most popular, is a slow cooked, savory beef recipe that is unique and brings out the flavor of authentic Venezuelan cuisine.  No wonder it’s the most popular on the menu!  I had the Dominó – black beans smothered with shredded white cheese. You have your choice of either grilling or frying these delectable corn cakes. 

If soup floats your boat, then the sopa de frijoles is a wonderful thick Latin style bean soup that is accentuated by Spanish sausage and complemented with chunks of white Latin cheese and a heaping handful of fresh cilantro on top.  Pureed until smooth, the distinct flavor is drawn from the Spanish sausage.  For our dinner entrees we ordered both the Pollo La Caraqueña and Pollo a la Plancha, which were attractively presented on the plate and tasted even better than they looked. Pollo La Caraqueña is chicken baked Latin style- with beans and rice.  It tasted just as a classic dish should taste, oven-fresh and flavorful.  The Pollo La Caraqueña is a seasoned grilled chicken breast with another one of Raul’s secret sauces- homemade lemon caper – drizzled on top. We also tried the Lemon fish and Ocean mix and the general consensus was to steer towards the chicken and beef since they are cooked to as close as perfection as you can get. 

During a previous Friday night visit with friends, Raul was quite the host with a versatile repertoire of dining and entertainment.  After finishing our meal, while considering our entertainment options for the evening, it literally unfolded right before us. Before my plate was cleared from the table, I realized I had a pair of maracas in my hand and my husband was pounding away on the bongos.   Raul had positioned himself at the helm of the congas and the three of us suddenly had quite a little impromptu “concert” brewing.   Bongos and congas are very popular in Latin and Salsa music, which brings me to the last segment of the evening – Salsa dancing!!!  With the music grooving, soon the entire room was up and Salsa dancing like we were all good friends.  Raul’s on-the-spot Salsa lessons were a welcome added bonus.

If you have any room left for dessert, do not miss the cuatro leches or otherwise known as “four milks” cake.  If you thought the traditional Latin American tres leches cake was fabulous, the Cuatro leches take your taste buds to the next level. I am not a dessert aficionada but Wow!  This extremely moist, but not soggy, vanilla sponge cake, made with four milks, and slathered with sweet caramel sauce is…..well…. ¿Cómo se dice – “Perfeccion”?

Yes, La Caraqueña offers the 5 star experience – reasonably priced authentic Latin American food in a homey environment, with music, Latin culture and dancing perhaps included- how can you top that for an evening out in Falls Church City?

And by the way, the winner is…well let’s just say…! Viva la salteña!

Summing it up:   A-

Recommend:  salteñas – a must have, arepas- carne mechada, yuca frita, sopa de mani or sopa de frijoles and cuatro leches cake

Vegetarian:  a few items

Sound level: 68 decibels/ conversation is easy

Beverages:  full bar

Price Range:  Appetizers $4-$9, entrees $14-$20

Extras:  reservations accepted, although not necessary, credit cards, large parking lot, kid-friendly, disabled access, Zagat rated, outdoor seating

Serving:  Lunch and dinner (M, W, Th, F) 12pm -10 pm; Sat- 11am -10pm; Sun- 11am -9pm; closed on Tuesday

Located at 300 West Broad Street, Falls Church City

 http://www.lacaraquena.com/

REPRISE: Farmers Market Corn — Who Reigns Supreme?

(EDITORS’ NOTE: Some stories just can’t be written any better.  In case you missed this sweet-corn-taste-test story the first time, we reprint it here in time for you to visit the Farmers Market on Saturday to conduct your own.)

By JIMMY SCARANO
Falls Church Times Staff

July 17, 2009

Sweet corn season is just getting underway, and there is no better way to take advantage of it than a trip to the City’s awesome farmers market.

Last Saturday I scurried around to every corn-toting vendor I could find so that I could gather up samples for a taste test.  I ended up with gorgeous ears from eight different stands:

Threeway Farm
Lois’s Produce
Penn Farms
Westmoreland Farm
Laurel Grove Farms
Thank God It’s Fresh (aka TGIF)
Toigo Orchards
Musachio Produce Farm

I got some pretty weird looks as I rushed back to my car with the ears of corn kept separate between my fingers and in several plastic bags on my arms so that I knew which one was from which farm.

When I got to the car I quickly lined them up and wrote down the name of the farm and a number corresponding to the order that I arranged the corn.  A perfect system!  I was able to keep track of the number of each corn after shucking and cooking them all, but by that time I had also forgotten which farm was which number on my notepad, making for a blind taste test.

Unfortunately, two of the ears were so unmistakably from two particular farms, so I knew what those were during the testing.  The first corn that I knew the identity of was from Toigo Orchards, because they sell the Mirai variety that has a distinct kernel and was the only yellow one of the bunch.  The second corn that I knew the origin of was from Musachio Produce Farm, and that’s because Musachio’s corn was cold to the touch and the only one that was noticeably wet and sticky.  This is due to the fact that owner Mike Musachio chills his corn on ice the night before to keep the sugars from turning to starches.

Other than that, it was a completely blind taste test for me.

Eager to have at least a few totally oblivious tasters, I decided to include my mom, sister, brother, and cousin in the tasting.  That way we could arrive at a truly unbiased verdict for the best sweet corn available in Falls Church.

When I told them they would be participating in a corn-tasting test (yes, I told them, they didn’t really have a choice), there were some moans and groans, but once the aroma of corn hit the air, everyone was all smiles.  Honestly, who doesn’t love sweet corn?

Here are some of the precautions we took to make sure the testing went as fair as possible:

Scarano family does the taste test

1. All the corn was cooked in the same manner- lightly steamed in less than an inch of water for just a few minutes, until it was just cooked through.

2.  While we tasted, no one was allowed to say anything positive or negative about a particular ear of corn because we didn’t want anyone being influenced by other people’s reactions.

3. Everyone wrote down their comments about each corn according to its number so that no one could go back and change their mind based on what other people said.  There was written proof of everyone’s true feelings about the corn.

Aside from those parameters, the taste test was pretty much just me and my family sitting around and gorging on corn.

When the test was complete and all the corn was sufficiently destroyed, I proclaimed that I had three clear favorites: #1, #7, and #8.  To my shock, everyone else agreed convincingly.  Though all the corn was pretty tasty, these three trumped the competition in flavor, texture, and aroma.

I quickly retrieved my notepad to reveal which farms had won the contest.  But there really wasn’t much drama for me personally.  Two of the winners were the two ears of corn that I already knew the identity of- Toigo Orchards (Corn #7) and Musachio Produce Farm (Corn #8).  But let me assure you there was no foul play involved.  Remember, my family whole heartedly agreed that these were two of the best ears on the table and they had no idea where they were from.

Corn #1, it turned out, was from Threeway Farm.

The best part about the taste test was reading some of the descriptions of the corn on everyone’s little comment card.  Tasters noted “earthy and sour notes” in some ears as well as “corny” flavor in others.  Texture seemed to be almost as important as flavor.  Some praised “crisp, juicy” kernels while others enjoyed “mealy, soft” ones. I didn’t know my family members had such refined palettes.

The three winners separated themselves from the pack by hitting a good combo of sweetness, texture and corniness.  Threeway Farm’s corn was sweet and delicate, with a light corn flavor that everyone liked.  Toigo Orchards’ was by far the sweetest of the bunch, but so sweet that some of the corn flavor was lost.  But it was also pleasantly crisp and if you like really, really sweet stuff (and many people do) then you’ll love it.

Musachio’s pearly white corn was utterly delicious- not too sugary, corny, buttery, and bursting with juicy corn milk.  It was probably my overall favorite.  And I have little doubt that part of the reason it’s so good is that Musachio takes that extra step to ice it down.

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