Squid

Yo, Chefs! I have prepared squid in many different ways. However, Lee How Fook, at 219 N. 11th St. in Chinatown, has salt-baked squid that is out of this world. I would love to have the recipe - although I would go back there again and again because I think they are the best in Chinese cuisine. Ceferina S. DeHaven, Selinsgrove, Pa. Dear Ceferina, Doris and Shing Chung have owned Lee How Fook since they came to this country from Hong Kong. Chef Shing Chung is trained in the high style of Hong Kong cooking.

Q: Is there a difference between calamari and squid? My whole family enjoys fried calamari and I was told that they are interchangeable. I use a mixture of egg and bread crumbs, dipping the calamari in egg first, then bread crumbs. Is there another method for crispy calamari? - Julie V. A: The word calamari is the plural for calamaro , which is the Italian word for squid. So anyone who hasn't had too many alcoholic beverages along with their calamari would obviously think that since calamari is the Italian word for squid, they must be one in the same.

This ain't no fish story. A 13-year-old boy nearly drowned after spending almost 20 minutes under water. He had fallen into a vat of squid. Twelve tons of 'em. But Jimmy Harris was lucky: It was a good thing he fell into freezing water. The extreme cold puts the body in suspended animation. Otherwise, Jimmy's heart would have stopped and his brain would have died. Fellow crew members aboard his dad's commercial fishing boat knew CPR. And the staff at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children worked round- the-clock for nearly three weeks to get Jimmy's lungs to work on their own again.

Teenage brothers entangled in the tentacles and maw of joint custody - that's The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach's insightful, funny-sad memoir of divorce, intellectual style and emotional rebirth. As one who survived the epic clash of estranged parents, Baumbach has not only lived to tell the tale but has grown up with sufficient empathy to retell it with great flourish, and from the perspectives of the warriors and their collateral damage. The film title refers to a diorama at New York's Museum of Natural History where a giant squid and sperm whale are in an epic power struggle much like that of the parents here.

It's remarkable how many diners who wouldn't touch a squid just love calamari. From upscale kitchens to beer-on-tap watering holes, calamari is appearing on menus with increased frequency. Usually served as a munchie - floured and fried with tomato-sauce dip - it is also finding its way into pasta dishes, seafood stews and salads. Squid's new-found fashionableness is due partly to its Italian calamari moniker and current emphasis on the Mediterranean diet as a healthful one. But it's also because it comes to the table incognito.

Jimmy Harris appeared pale and unsteady yesterday as he was preparing to leave St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. But for his father, James Harris, yesterday was a miracle. Just 28 days ago, the elder Harris, a commercial squid fisherman, had pulled his son out of the icy water of a squid holding tank on his boat to find him blue and without a pulse. The 13-year-old Cape May boy had accompanied his father on the vessel since he was 4. Two summers ago, he started working on the boat.

"Hey, dude, let's get naked. " "Can't. The rents got mundo-agro. It's been a real slice. " "Zup? Thought everything was fresh at the crib. " "This wasted dweeb in a Pontiac totaled my load. The rents are flamin' over the duckets - they won't mellow up. Really munched on me. " "Hard way to go. How about getting the posse and grabbing some za?" "Let's fan on that. Chill with you later. " It's 9 o'clock, parents. Do you know what your teenagers are talking about?

DOWN UNDER, UNDER THE SEA GIANT SQUID LURKS NO LONGER It's one of the world's most elusive creatures. But marine scientists trolling 1,400 feet deep have caught a rare giant squid - 26 feet long and weighing nearly a ton - east of New Zealand. It has tentacles that stretch 13 feet, a 7-foot-long body and a head nearly 6 feet long. A research ship netted the squid in waters 600 miles east of New Zealand on Dec. 31. Scientists put the squid in the ship's freezer where it remained until the vessel returned to Wellington this week.

This story is about squid ink and about how its time has come. But to put the thing in perspective, we first have to talk about blue M&Ms. M&Ms were invented during World War II for American bomber pilots. These guys had long flights and needed something to snack on - something that would melt in their mouths and not in their hands, if you'll excuse the commercial. The Army reasoned that bomber pilots with chocolate mess on their hands didn't win wars. In the beginning, blue M&Ms did indeed exist, bomber pilots' not being able to examine the little candies because it was hard to hit a china factory with a bomb if you were examining what was going into your mouth.

Consider a slice of cold lamb, an herb-sprinkled salad or ripe peach eaten at desk, home or restaurant table. Now imagine the same food served outdoors after it has been seasoned with sparkling sunshine, fresh air and a pretty view. Which do you think will taste better? The answer is obvious. So is the reason so many of us choose to do most of our entertaining at a time of year when guests can dine outdoors. On our travels to other lands, we get ravenous watching ordinary folks who routinely take their meals under sun or stars.

Gareth Edwards, a visual-effects brainiac from Britain, has, in his writing and directing debut, delivered a deft existential road movie, a muted romance, and, above all, a sci-fi allegory with giant squidlike creatures thumping around Mexico, cutting a deadly path to the walled borders of the United States. These tendriled behemoths are the titular Monsters , and the way they yelp and moan (think distressed elephants) and overturn pickup trucks and knock down buildings is a scary thing.

From the moment I left Yale and started working for Goldman Sachs, I've felt uneasy interacting with those who don't. It's not that I think less of outsiders than I did while I remained among you. It's just that I feel your envy and know that nothing I do or say will ever persuade you that I am no more than human. Thus, like many of my colleagues, I have adopted a strategy of never leaving Goldman Sachs, apart from a few brief attempts to make what outsiders call "love. " Goldman people recognize the importance of replicating themselves.

Q: Is there a difference between calamari and squid? My whole family enjoys fried calamari and I was told that they are interchangeable. I use a mixture of egg and bread crumbs, dipping the calamari in egg first, then bread crumbs. Is there another method for crispy calamari? - Julie V. A: The word calamari is the plural for calamaro , which is the Italian word for squid. So anyone who hasn't had too many alcoholic beverages along with their calamari would obviously think that since calamari is the Italian word for squid, they must be one in the same.

Seems like every year, at least one Fringe musical explores - or maybe exploits - the trials of an aspiring singer who looks for fame and love against all odds. Trite? You bet, but when it's good it connects. The Hoppers Hit the Road, about two singing brothers on a quest for the big time, is composed of a cast of Philadelphia improv actors who decided it would be fun to use a script. And it's good. If it can smooth out rough edges during this run, it will be better than that. Hoppers is classic Fringe, done with joy and a sense that everyone, audience included, is a conspirator.

Seems like every year, at least one Fringe musical explores - or maybe exploits - the trials of an aspiring singer who looks for fame and love against all odds. Trite? You bet, but when it's good it connects. The Hoppers Hit the Road, about two singing brothers on a quest for the big time, is composed of a cast of Philadelphia improv actors who decided it would be fun to use a script. And it's good. If it can smooth out rough edges during this run, it will be better than that.

FOOD IS LIKE fashion and the hemline goes up and down. Lately, it seems Contemporary Asian cuisine is on the dining runway a lot. Philadelphia's own Stephen Starr has taken his designer labels, Morimoto and Buddakan, to New York City to much acclaim. I would argue that the term "contemporary" ? which means it belongs to the same time of Asia ? really makes no sense. But I will say, despite the hoopla over Starr's Manhattan collection, Philadelphia's small neighborhood BYOB's remain the comfortable outfit for everyday wear.

There's really only one way to skin a cuttlefish: very carefully. You want to remove the spine and the innards without spilling the ink sac. But oops! Pippo Lamberti, the exciting young chef at Positano Coast, who has gathered us together on this August afternoon so that we may learn to cook with cephalopods such as cuttlefish, squid and octopus, accidentally breaks the sac. Too bad, but not a disaster. Ink from cuttlefish (and squid) is often used to tint risotto or pasta, but that's not what Lamberti, 25, planned for today.

Teenage brothers entangled in the tentacles and maw of joint custody - that's The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach's insightful, funny-sad memoir of divorce, intellectual style and emotional rebirth. As one who survived the epic clash of estranged parents, Baumbach has not only lived to tell the tale but has grown up with sufficient empathy to retell it with great flourish, and from the perspectives of the warriors and their collateral damage. The film title refers to a diorama at New York's Museum of Natural History where a giant squid and sperm whale are in an epic power struggle much like that of the parents here.

Got an ethical dilemma? We'll try to answer it. For this first column, we asked one city official to submit a situation for a ruling. Dear Ms. Demeanor: Naomi and I, along with three other family members, went to a restaurant in the city for lunch. When I asked for the check, the waiter flat out refused to give me one, said the lunch was on the house. I tried to explain the ethics thing to no avail. I kept insisting, and he kept saying "no. " What are the options for a public figure in a situation like this, especially when it would be rude not to accept?

Kimono Sushi Bar is proof that neighborhood eateries come in all forms. The Japanese and Chinese BYO, housed in a nondescript storefront in Lafayette Hill, is jewel-like in its small, clean interior. But it operates much like a diner in its no-frills attempt to please. Instead of hamburgers and fries, you have squid and egg rolls; big, sloppy bowls of chow mein; slightly salty teriyaki; and a seemingly endless selection of entrees served with sticky white rice. Owned by the Liu family, Kimono has limited space but a sizable menu made even larger with daily specials, many of them Chinese or seafood dishes.