Wasabi Ice Cream, Spider Rolls and Potato Pizza

It’s impossible to talk about Los Angeles without mentioning sushi. From Tiki bars to sushi bars Los Angeles has always experimented with alternative cuisines. There are 210 sushi restaurants listed within 14 miles of the center of Los Angeles which works out to be a sushi restaurant approximately every 100 yards. There is even a Sushi Academy that offers a California Rice Scholarship to those who wish to attend the courses which range in intensity from one day to twelve weeks.

At one time there was talk of the Japanese government sending inspectors to rate the authenticity of sushi restaurants here in the United States. The Japanese fear that with Americanized fusion cuisine such as California roll, caterpillar roll, dynamite roll, rainbow roll, spider roll, Philadelphia roll and Seattle roll becoming synonymous with sushi in the United States the authenticity of the experience would be lost. However, wherever there are cross cultural connections the sharing of edible delicacies becomes inevitable.

The key to globally accepted cuisine seems to be simplicity. While the basics of a dish are retained, regional ingredients and tastes are added in an explosive evolution of gastronomic delight. To those who wish to be Kill Roy’s and complain about the bastardizing of culture specific cuisines all one has to do is take a look at food throughout the centuries. The origin of any type of cuisine is questionable if one goes back far enough.

Some foods such as ice cream, pasta, pizza, and sushi have gone around the world and back again. While Americans have adopted Japanese sushi and made it their own, the Japanese in an unintentional cultural exchange have adopted American pizza and done the same. Examples of this can also be found in Los Angeles. While the Japanese may frown on our interpretation of sushi we would find their idea of pizza quiet odd. Here in Los Angeles some alternative items listed in an Asian pizza place as toppings are: Alfredo Sauce, asparagus, bamboo shoots, BBQ chicken, blue cheese dressing, boiled eggs, calamari, clams, crab, cream cheese mousse, cubed beef and steak sauce, lettuce, mayonnaise, nacho chips, octopus, orange marmalade, potatoes, seaweed, sour cream, strawberry dipping sauce, sweet potato mousse, tuna, shrimp, squid ink and sweet corn. Although not all these items are offered on one pizza even one or two of them mixed together on a pizza crust probably would not appeal to the average American.

Cinematic efforts have portrayed this mixing of culinary culture in a humorous vein. It has become popular in cartoons such as Samurai Pizza Cats who fight crime in Little Tokyo while running a pizza place, animated wasabi as both the bad guy in Chop Socky Chooks and the good guy in Sushi Pack and real wasabi used to humorous effect in the movie of the same name.

From preservative method to fast food to culinary art, where presentation is as important as taste and combinations of ingredients are chosen for their color and texture and taste enhancing combinations, such foods as sushi, pizza, pasta and ice cream have captured the palate and imagination of the world. Globalization of culture is reflected in the evolution of culturally specific cuisines worldwide being adopted, reinvented and perhaps even rejuvenated by cross culture adaptations.

Who knew a Charity Auction could be so much Fun?

Fun at Old Trader Vic’s Tiki Room

Nineteen hours of full throttle excitement, cut throat competition and celebrity sightings. The Superbowl? The World Series? The Oscars? Wrong, wrong and wrong again. Only in Los Angeles could something as esoteric as an auction be so exciting. From the kickoff party through the four auction sessions the entertainment was fast paced and practically nonstop.

Held in the Beverly Hilton at the old Trader Vic’s by Julien’s Auctions the Friday night VIP party was everything you could want a Beverly Hills party to be. The mix was perfect, from the beautiful ingénue complete with body guard to Peggy Thomas a grand dame with beautiful silver hair in pearl clips and a wit as sharp as glass. Loni Anderson graciously posed for pictures as the ladies who lunch snapped avidly away. Estelle Harris, whose name you may not recognize but whose face you will immediately as the mother of George Costanza on Seinfeld was happily enjoying the fun.

A lady with shorn locks as exotically beautiful as a Siamese cat, a gracious gentleman kissing hands with the timeless elegance of yesteryear, six twins in matching black dresses, vamps in polyester, an eager young camera man from NBC ready to interview the stars about Bob Hope’s exploits, the publicist in cowboy boots and hat, were just a few of the eclectic crowd who attended. The only low point of the party being those men who showed up wearing blue jeans to a party that specified cocktail attire.

The items to be auctioned off were housed like museum pieces in glass cases with mirrored backs or hung from the walls. From huge stuffed fish (ah, what a fish tale could be told about these by the lucky person with the winning bid) to primitive weapons, from clothing to sports equipment, each piece came with a story. All the pieces, from flimsiest autographed document to a chunk of stone from the Berlin Wall were handled equally delicately by white gloved representatives from Julien’s Auctions.

The first day of the auction brought in the serious players and the audience was as entertaining as the exhibits. Bids were taken from the floor, over the internet, by phone and through absentee bids given prior to the auction by those who couldn’t make it. Auction Network and Julien’s were set up to the side of the auctioneer at a table covered by phones and laptops and the hosts of the Auction Network were set up outside on the patio.

As items popped up simultaneously on the internet and on screens set up to each side the auctioneers off the cuff remarks were better than a sitcom script:

“The more you bid the more its worth.”

“Are you bidding or scratching Sir? You’re making me nervous!”

“How about if we start at a million five, one million, a quarter million (at that price we’ll give you your choice of the catalogue!)”

“Should I kiss him now or just give him a tease?”

“You shook your head ‘no’ but said ‘yes’ what does that mean?”

“I stutter so I became an auctioneer.”

“We have nine bidders in sixteen states… is that possible?”

“She says no, you say yes. I don’t know what to do with that…”

And always apropos these days:

“Your money’s not safe in the bank anyway.”

Even the pony tailed, tattooed cameraman was getting into the spirit of the event as he panned the audience and bidders warred for coveted treasures. Only at a auction could you find someone who will pay $225 for a one dollar bill, of course it had Bob Hope’s mug on it which may have had something to do with it, we could sure use more of these in circulation.

There was drama when the bidder who lost Bob Hope’s desk to the competition, ran up the prices on all the desk accessories and even managed to win a few.

There was romance as the young staffer stared all day at the cameraman’s pretty young assistant.

There was action, so much that at times the bidding was so fierce Martin had a phone on each ear, while competing with bids from the gallery, from the internet and from other phones giving the auctioneers quite a challenge keeping up.

There was comedy when the Australian lady’s winning bid got her a Texas Tech basketball and one had to wonder which part of the planet really is the home of all things bigger and better, whose tales are the tallest and is the jack-a-lope secretly imported from overseas or is it a home grown phenomena?

There was suspense as the whole audience held it’s breath then cheered for the veteran who really wanted the oversize golf club (4’ by 2’) and golf ball (7 ½” in diameter) placed the winning bid.

Thank goodness PETA wasn’t there when Bob Hope’s off the shoulder caveman costume made of real and fake fur was auctioned off, they would have been seeing red!

The gallery audience held bidders from rocket scientists to writers, from veterans to housewives, professional autograph hounds to first time bidders. There were those who traveled from places as diverse as Texas and Australia and of course those from Beverly Hills.

Old time Hollywood was out in force in memory of one of their own. Bob Hope, the consummate American who didn’t just pay lip service to patriotism but put himself on the line in support of the troops. Those men and women without whom the rest of us wouldn’t have a prayer (in what ever religion you chose to believe… or not to believe…) of living the diverse lives we value so much. During his lifetime Bob Hope didn’t rest on his laurels but actively showed his support, time and time again. Now, even after his death his legacy lives on through the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation raising money for veterans through charity events like this one. A cruise and European tour showcased the items for auction culminating in this spectacular event in the grand tradition of show business.

From his well worn desk chair, to his comfortably used bedroom slippers that sold for $550, from hats to golf clubs for every occasion, from the mundane to the extravagant and, of course, perhaps most important of all, to the sublimely ridiculous as only Bob Hope could pull it off, masterfully orchestrated by the virtuoso conductor, Darren Julien, the auction was a success from any point of view.