Mia Scharpie and Gabe Fine are passionate about community. In their day jobs, Mia’s position as a landscape designer involves researching colleagues who work for social impact, and Gabe works on community-based health care in addition to managing a Boston food truck. Their love for the community carries over to their new project: Black Trumpet, Boston’s latest pop-up dinner club.
In May, Black Trumpet launched its first meal: a six-course kosher menu featuring Mia and Gabe’s interpretations of Sichuan specialties, which they talked to JewishBoston.com about here. Mia said their launch meal went as well as they’d hoped, with guests sitting at one large table, rubbing elbows and sharing food with people they may have just met that night.
Black Trumpet focuses on cuisines from regions around the world. Their recipe development process starts with immersing themselves in the “food way” of the culture: the key ingredients, cooking methods, serving traditions. Then they move on to the making, where they experiment with different ingredients until their broad ideas are distilled into well-rounded dishes. Gabe is the chef, while Mia helps with pairings and plating—and, of course, tasting.
Keeping their menus kosher may seem restrictive, but Mia, who keeps kosher, as does Gabe, says it’s actually more inclusive. Every meal is based on the same cornerstones—good food, beautiful settings and experiencing both with new people—whether or not you keep kosher.
“Gabe and I are influenced by meals that come from our Jewish backgrounds,” Mia says. “But we think that slowing down, appreciating good food and getting into deeper conversations with someone you might not have met before is a universal human pleasure.”
Black Trumpet is gearing up for its second dinner, which will continue the Sichuan theme. Keep your eyes on their website for the big announcement—and for a taste of their food, check out this simple fried rice recipe. It should hold you over until tickets to their next dinner go on sale.
Pastrami Fried Rice
Serves 4
Mia and Gabe say: “Pickled garlic scapes can be difficult to find in stores (we make our own), but they do elevate this dish substantially. If you can’t find them, you can replace them with any spicy pickled green, or, in a pinch, stir fry chopped pickled green beans for a few minutes with garlic chili oil or sambal for spice, and garlic.”
I used a jar of pickled greens I found at Super 88. I also found that if you don’t have a wok, a nonstick pan works best, especially when cooking the eggs.
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
⅓ pound pastrami, chopped
½ large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ thumb ginger, minced
1 tablespoon pickled garlic scapes (see note above), chopped
2 large eggs, beaten
3 cups cooked long-grained white rice (preferably one day old)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1. Heat wok or 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not yet smoking. Add teaspoon of oil and pastrami. Cook pastrami, stirring occasionally, until crisp. Transfer to medium bowl.
2. Reduce heat to medium. Add 2 teaspoons oil to pan and heat until shimmering. Add onion, garlic, ginger and garlic scapes to pan. Cook, stirring often, until onion has softened, taking care not to let garlic brown. Transfer to bowl with pastrami.
3. Add eggs to pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until eggs are no longer runny. Transfer to bowl with pastrami and onion.
4. Add 2 tablespoons oil to pan and heat until shimmering. Add rice and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes. Return pastrami, onion and egg mixture to pan and stir until combined. Add soy sauce and rice vinegar. Cook for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with additional soy sauce and rice vinegar, as needed, and serve.
This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content are presented solely by the author, and JewishBoston assumes no responsibility for them. Want to add your voice to the conversation? Publish your own post here. MORE
