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review by Biscuit Wakefield The Udder Place Two years ago I joined my husband on a trip to New York City, where he was attending a boat sales show, and there I encountered a chocolate chip cookie unlike any I’d ever eaten. It was at the Levain Bakery, which my daughter Kathy tells me is “famous” from mentions on the Food TV Network. The place was recommended to me by someone at the conference, who said I “absolutely had to try” the Levain cookie, even though it meant riding the subway alone and getting lost. As I wandered around in circles I found myself envying the pigeons, what with their homing brains. Finally I homed in on the bakery and a “famous” “must-try” chocolate chip cookie was mine – and just as everything in New York seemed overly large and hard to digest, this cookie was a whopper. I could only eat half, but oh, what a half it was: massively thick, underbaked in the center, with sturdy outsides and a heady rush of sugar. I have since dreamt of this cookie, which Mr. Wakefield liked also when I shared a piece back at the hotel. The reason for this preface is that The Udder Place’s chocolate chip cookie was reminiscent of Levain’s, if a lot smaller and less intense. When I broke it in half the thick bottom crust bent, it didn’t snap;the insides were soft and doughy. This is my preferred CCC texture but I realize it may not be yours. As at Levain, there was no pronounced vanilla flavor – cheap extracts have ruined many a fine cookie. Instead, the experience was one of light caramel, almost like eating a blondie. The chocolate involved was quality semi-sweet, but in my opinion the chip-to-dough ratio was a mite low. The cookie itself was also greasier than it should have been, leaving visible oily stains on the napkin. A little less fat and a little more chocolate and this would have been a contender for the top chocolate chip cookie in Portland. Best of all I did not have to ride a bus or the subway in order to get it, although it does require a short drive from the peninsula, which I did not mind because I had some spare time that morning. review by Biscuit Wakefield Hilltop Coffee Shop Fellow gardeners know, all too well, the expression “The bloom is off the rose.” Comes a day when the air chills, the sky darkens, and your hard-tended beds let faded petals fall to the ground. Is it sad? Yes, a little. But we know this is Mother Nature taking her course. Beauty will spring again in the spring, which is why we call it spring. Chocolate-chip cookies are another matter. Their life cycle is short and pronounced: one day past their prime and they may be downright inedible, which is nothing but a tragedy of poor planning. You should have gotten to them sooner. I thought about this rule when the young man at Hilltop informed me that the cookie I was about to consume was “day old,” even though he assured me it was “still pretty great.” He seemed trustworthy and I wanted to believe him. This specimen was small, about two inches across, and closely resembled the cookies I make in my own kitchen. It was, I realized upon first bite, a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. My assignment with this project was to review chocolate chip cookies, but purists – like chocolate chip cookies – are best dunked in a cold glass of milk. It was a good cookie. It was a good peanut butter cookie. Sadly, the chocolate chips were overwhelmed by the PB flavor. I found myself thinking about all that awful business with the salmonella in Georgia, not that Hilltop’s cookies have anything to do with that, but clearly the thing foremost in my mind was peanut butter… not chocolate review by Biscuit Wakefield North Star Music Cafe This hefty cookie is no lightweight snack: measuring just over four inches across, it stands up to dunking in cold milk, hot coffee, or both. The thick, chewy interior is pleasant, though the edges wobble on the line between crisp and dry. Flavorwise it falls flat, with one-dimensional sweetness that cries out for salt or brown sugar or both. The chip-to-dough ratio is perfect, but the chocolate itself is unremarkable and has a vaguely chalky finish. Nut haters take note: the walnut pieces are assertive (and a bit bitter), but they’re large and easily pried out, if you feel like doing a little cookie surgery. (For the record, several of North Star’s other cookie offerings – particularly the apple crisp, vegan thumbprint, and molasses-ginger variations – get higher marks in all departments. But for our purposes, we’re focusing on the CCC.) The North Star is located at 225 Congress Street in Portland. Look for the next cookie review here next week! |
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