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Very true. Follow your passion is what lazy guidance counselors say...leftover advice from 1960s hippies. I see plenty of college students paying 100k/yr in loans for what will be a 30K/job. Don't they teach math in high school?

I have exactly zero paid food biz experience, but I did get to help in the "kitchen" at a wedding I attended. I say "kitchen" because the food was cooked on a grill in the alley. Southeast Asian, maybe Burmese, and quite delicious. I started out walking around with trays of sate and whatnot, and ended up prepping some sort of wrapped rolls. The funniest part was the reaction of the guests. There were some very high rollers at this wedding - people everyone here has heard of - and they were very confused about a guest helping out with the food. 😆

steelhead are genetically identical to rainbow trout . . . in nature, they spawn in fresh water rivers, but "go to sea" for their adult life. lots of details here https://fishermansauthority.com/how-to-catch-steelhead/

Yup. That whole "follow your passion" thing is shitty career advice. I now tell younger people that "Your schooling will cost pretty much the same, no matter what. Find something that pays enough money to recoup your investment/pay off your student debt."

@weinoo, Now I'm craving twice-baked pots! Yum!

Baked twice potatoes...these were some of the largest Russets I've ever seen. Roast chicken half. Making the potato the centerpiece, with sautéed Brussels sprouts, and a bit of the roast chicken.

If I'm not "misremembering," you're from an upstate (NY) town, which might've had a Carrol's or two? In all my food related jobs, I never waited tables, and I think from all the stories I've heard, never wanted to. However, I really enjoyed interacting with the public while working various counter jobs in delis, meat departments, etc. etc. Was this in the central valley of California? Thanks for reminding me - I did work in a restaurant in Miami and was a dishwasher (and almost cut a finger off on that horrendous machine) - that job lasted about 2 days before I moved on! Exactly the age I was when I graduated from Culinary school. And I gotta say - everyone who thought it was a great idea that I should go to culinary school, work in restaurants, etc. etc. - they should all mind their own business!

Yes, I'm in the US. My understanding is that they can be sold/purchased but in 1954 they were prohibited as a food additive. However they show up on menus and I purchased some truffle from a high end chocolatier, so nobody seems to be enforcing the ban. They contain coumarin, a blood thinner. It's also found in strawberries, cherries and apricots. And I read that you'd have to eat 30 beans to cause liver damage. @AAQuesada Yes, I'll just play with them and see what happens

I haven't posted in this thread for a while... don't worry, we've stil been eating! I was all set to make our beloved Singapore Old Lai Huat style sambal grouper. The fish was completely defrosted when I found that I couldn't find any more sambal in the freezer! A freezer without that sambal is like a freezer without love... Anyway, I started panicking since I had no idea what to do with this fish that's now defrosted, and then I thought about an internet acquaintance of mine who was in Bali for the last few days. I realized that my pantry had everything I needed to make a Balinese style grilled fish (like we had on Jimbaran beach HERE)... so, without further ado... Jimbaran beach style grilled (air fryer) grouper Typical Balinese sambal matah made with home grown lemongrass, lime leaves and chillies.

I thumbed from northern Newfoundland to Regina, SK in November of '81, with a duffle bag on my shoulder and $20 in my pocket, having by then flunked out of university after 3 semesters (technically they didn't give me the heave-ho, but I was cordially invited to find somewhere else to grow up) and been discharged from the military at the end of basic training (long story, but the TL;DR is family medical history rather than any misbehavior on my part). At that time unemployment in my part of NL was around 50% for sturdy grown-up men with, you know... actual skills and work experience. Saskatchewan then had both the lowest unemployment rate and highest minimum wage in the country, and that seemed like a good combination for a 17-yo with a very thin resume (one summer in a make-work job after high school, and then another in the small-boat fishery with my father and uncle). So, I hit the road. I spent my first night in Regina in a heated bus shelter on the city's little park/green space that took up a block or so in front of City Hall (did I mention it was November?), then the next morning went down to the federally-run employment office (then called Canada Manpower) and looked at the job listings. One of the ones that looked promising was for a pizza place in the south end of town that was looking for a cook's assistant, "no experience required." So I went down and interviewed with the manager, who basically just needed a warm body. I told him I'd worked for Ches' Fish & Chips for a couple of months in St. John's when I was at school, reckoning (correctly) that in those days of expensive long distance, he wasn't going to check. He hired me on the spot, and started taking my information for payroll. When we asked my address, I told him I didn't have one yet because I'd just arrived in town the night before. So he asked where I was staying, and what was a phone number where he could reach me. When I told him about the bus shelter he put down his pen and looked at me for a moment, then rubbed the bridge of his nose, and said "So you hitched 3000km with no money and no place to stay?" Yup, that was about the size of it. He sighed, and said "My kid joined the navy a little while ago. You can use his room for a few days until you find a place." (My mom sent him a Christmas card that year) That job was mostly prep: mixing the pizza sauce, slicing meats and veg, and also answering the phone if I happened to be closest when it rang. That was the first time I'd ever heard of this thing called "Hawaiian" pizza. A caller asked for it, and there it was on the order form, so I circled it and took the order in to the cook. I asked him what it was, and he thought I was kidding. So then he told me, and I thought he was kidding. Good times. I left amicably after several months, and parlayed that local reference plus my mythical time at Ches' into a job as third cook at a Fuller's restaurant (a Denny's-ish chain, the same family that owned/owns the higher-profile Earl's chain) that was closer to where I was living at the time, just across the downtown. I was in the Cathedral district, if any of you know Regina at all. I did that for several months as well, then went off to do other things for... oh, 20-ish years, I guess, before career-shifting and graduating from culinary school at 40.

I had a summer job at the local Univ ' Union ' , a cafeteria style eating place . It was in the down stairs dishwasher area : big huge dishwasher , very hot very steamy. It was the dinner time it was an awful job. so I promoted myself to ' bus-boy ' , picking up trays in the large dinning room area . better . then , I dont remember how i did it , but promoted myself again to the ice cream area : ice cream , sundae's etc. then I started making ice cream desserts not on the menu , by making suggestions . Dinner was not that busy I developed a small following . I just told the customers to tell the casher the item ( somewhat unique , and not on the menu ) was a ' ****** ' worked all summer as a ' soda jerk , self promoted.

I recently bought frozen tamales. I want to say the brand is Texas Tamales. They are cryo packed but sold in a cloth bag. Pretty sure I bought them before and liked them. I'm not sure why but this time I could not easily separate the tamales to cook a small amount. I ended up with a mess. At any rate, they tasted fine. I had some vintage Trader Joe's refried beans with them and poured some vintage Trader Joe's enchilada sauce over all. Tasty but was not pretty and I would never have served it to anyone. Plus I ended up sloshing sauce on my sweater! Dang. Now I need to try to find something else warm that I haven't moved yet.

Yeah, that looks like quinoa to me also...

This site will remove most pay walls. Just paste the link at the top https://archive.ph/

When I lived in the Queen Charlotte Islands (now known as Haida Gwaii) we fished steelhead in the freshwater rivers.

Potage Crecy (French carrot soup) was one of the first things we made in culinary school after practicing the various knife cuts on giant horse carrots lol!

Since lunch was on the light side, a welcome early dinner came in a typical German autumn fashion at Augutinerkeller … Seasonal menu (for @rotuts) … We opted for the venison “medailons”, which were too thin, but quite tasty and tender. Served with hazelnut Spätzle, an idea I need to replicate at home. Much better was the classic roast duck, which is always on the menu and never disappoints. All chased by the Willi Wutz, made from pear schnapps (Williams), pear juice and a ball of pickled pear (hiding in the cloudy goodness). No complaints and a pretty good sleep afterwards, too 🤗

That I get. But the curly-ness of tiny sprouts from the grain, sorry for lack of a better word seems like it’s not rice to me. I have had what has been called black rice and it looked very much like white rice, but a dark purple.

Most types of black rice turn purple-ish when cooked.

They are illegal in the US & still I can buy them on Amazon. I've seen them on fine dining menus around town, whatever laws there are don't seem to be strictly enforced. It doesn't seem to be dangerous in the amounts used in pastry/ desserts. @tralfaz I don't have an answer for you but I would be inclined to use enough that you really know it's there and stands up to the chocolate you are using. If you are going to use a special ingredient use enough so it pops. That would be my inclination anyway.

I see thing such as the picture I’m adding below often. I’ve never had black rice that looks like that, only quinoa. Am I mistaken? It’s a common thing, pictures of food for delivery on the various apps that comes delivered looking totally different. I find it frustrating

Orecchiette Pugliese from an older Gourmet Traveller Magazine - you cook broccoli stems and florets until tender and puree them in the food processor. Using a bolillo roll you make fresh breadcrumbs in the oven, sauté them with garlic, fresno chili and lemon zest until brown and once cooled add grated pecorino. You saute gunaciale, garlic and another fresno chili until slightly browned, add the cooked orecchiette, broccoli puree and some pasta water. Finished with the bread crumbs mixture

Yes, I've had it many times but never used it myself. It is tasteless and valued only for its texture, something important to Chinese 'tastes'. There are many such foods.

@Smithy’s wilted spinach was hugely popular here in California in the 80’s, if remember my decade correctly

I was a car hop at A&W in high school, short skirts and white go-go boots. Tips were great. Due to a staffing shortage, I worked the grill and was very good at it. I had years of cooking practice from my Betty Crocker cookbook for Boys and Girls😂. Anyway, loved it but went on to a long career in insurance and only cooked at home since.