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Let's hope not!

I've seen it at Berkeley Bowl. You're right, it's lovely.

You can't casually leave an interest bomb like "homemade sausage" without a bit more info, can you?

贵州菜 (guì zhōu cài) 黔菜 (qián cài) I spent the years two years of March 1997 to January 1999 living in Western Hunan aka 湘西 (xiāng xī). This was and to an extent still is wild but beautiful mountainous territory and home to several ethnic minorities. Today the area is best know for 张家界 (zhāng jiā jiè), Zhangjiajie, home to China’s first national park and site of the famous mountains seen in the movie Avatar. To the west is 贵州 (guì zhōu) Guizhou Province. In fact, I was much nearer to Guizhou’s capital, Guiyang than to Hunan’s capital, Changsha. So I spent a lot of time crossing and re-crossing the border. Both areas are hugely influenced by the local ethnic minorities, particularly the Miao, Dong and Tujia. These groups make up 37% of the population. Guizhou also borders the Guangxi to the south, Yunnan to the west, Sichuan to the north-west, Chongqing to the north. The cuisine reflects it’s location, being influenced by and in turn influencing its neighbours, but also incorporating the ethnic minority cuisine. This means that it is often to tell what is Guizhou cuisine and what is those of its neighbours. For most Chinese, Guizhou’s major claim to fame is two-fold. First up is a type of 白酒 (bái jiǔ) baijiu, a colourless Chinese liquor, usually made from sorghum and typically measuring between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). Despite being relatively unknown in many countries, Baijiu is the most sold liquor in the world, in 2019 outselling whisky, vodka, gin , rum and tequila combined. There are various types of bai jiu, but by far the best known is 茅台 (máo tái), labelled ‘moutai’ as it is one of only a handful of products allowed to keep its pre-revolutionary romanisation. This was allowed because it was so well-known outside China and they didn’t want to lose the export market. Maotai is only made in the Guizhou city of the same name. The most famous brand, officially dubbed China’s official beverage, is that of Kweichow Moutai (again the old romanisation), to the extent that many people incorrectly think it’s the only one. In fact, several companies make it. The only stipulation is that it’s made in Maotai city to strict standards and by strictly controlled methods. Kweichow Moutai is the world’s highest valued spirits brand. Their product can be very expensive- even the cheapest is over ¥220 /$31 USD and prices can go up to an incredible $35,000 a bottle. Maotai is served to world leaders at all official banquets. Whether such leaders like it is another story. Personally, I can’t even stand to smell it. The second most famous Guizhou product is Laoganma, made by the eponymous chilli sauce and chilli crisp company founded by Tao Huabi in the 1980s in her noodle shack in Guiyang. Her product (in various permutations) is now sold around the world. Contrary to popular belief laoganma doesn’t mean ‘angry lady’. It means ‘old godmother’ (or less often, ‘old adoptive mother’). I have met her though and she comes across as cross and miserable as she looks, despite her immense success and wealth. Moving on, I feel I must talk about the minority influence on Guizhou. The province has a reputation for sour favours, the sourness being derived not from vinegars as elsewhere in China, but from fermented foods. This reputation stems entirely from the ethnic minorities, in the case of Guizhou, particularly the Miao people. (It is important to remember it also applies to other minorities and to other provinces including here in northern Guangxi and in Hunan.) Pickled vegetable, known as (醃菜; yān cài) is lacto-fermented using ambient yeasts. The vegetable, often mustard leaf but many others, is salted then pressed under stones for weeks to months, then used in multiple dishes. Meat and fish are also pickled. 凯里 酸汤鱼 (kǎilǐ suān tāng yú), ‘Kaili sour soup fish’ is a hugely popular dish. Kaili is a city in eastern Guizhou which is considered to be the ‘capital’ of the Miao people. The name Kaili comes from their language Hmu and means ‘newly cultivated land’ The city has a large Miao population, but also the Dong and Tujia people. Sour Soup Fish - image pic2.zhimg.com The soup contains the pickled vegetable mentioned but also various herbs and spices, including 山胡椒 (shān hú jiāo), literally mountain pepper, but in English, ‘litsea’. Litsea Seeds These seeds grow on small trees in Guizhou and Hunan provinces, as well as in Taiwan. They are distinctly lemon scented - like lemongrass - with notes of ginger and a mild pepperiness.. Locally sourced freshwater fish is simmered in this soup and makes a delicious and surprisingly filling meal. Guizhou has one of the spiciest cuisines, rivalling Hunan and outstripping Sichuan. They grow and use 贵州子弹头 (guì zhōu zǐ dàn tóu) - Bullet Head Chillies which can be hard to source outside southern China. ‘Facing Heaven Chillies’ from Sichuan can be acceptably subbed. Bullet Head Chillies These chillies are processed in four ways. 1. 糊辣椒 (hú là jiāo) is heat dried chillies crushed to form a paste 2. 糍粑辣椒 (cí bā là jiāo), is made by mashing the chillies to a paste. 3. 糟辣椒 (zāo là jiāo) made by preserving minced chilli pepper ginger and garlic. 4. 烙锅辣椒 (lào guō là jiāo) is spice-flavoured chilli flakes. You may be surprised to see 辣子鸡 (là zi jī), Chicken with Chillies on a Guizhou menu. It is, after best, known as a Chongqing / Sichuan dish. However Guizhou does its own, slightly different version, using the 糍粑辣椒 (cí bā là jiāo) above. Carolyn Phillips, now inactive eG member, has a recipe here. She prefers the Guizhou version, I like both but lean more to the Sichuan. Guizhou Laziji - Image: materials.cdn.bcebos Another Guizhou dish is 腊肉炒折耳根 (là ròu chǎo shé ěr gēn). This is cured pork fried with the root of 鱼腥草 (yú xīng cǎo), ‘fish mint’, Houttuynia cordata. Fish Mint Root Wikipedia’s car crash of an article on Guizhou cuisine claims this ingredient is unique to Guizhou and not liked elsewhere, which comes as a great surprise to the many people of Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Japan, Vietnam and more. In fact there is strong evidence the dish was actually invented in Sichuan where it is is still made. This short video shows how to make the dish. It is subtitled but the chef is describing it in a strong Sichuan accent! Not a Guizhou accent! 遵义 (zūn yì) Zunyi is a city in the north of the province and is well known in China as being the location of the Zunyi Conference in 1935, where Mao became leader of the Chinese Communist Party during the Long March. It is also known for 羊肉粉 (zūn yì yáng ròu fěn), Zunyi Mutton Noodles made using rice noodles, Zunyi Mutton Noodles - Image: pic3.zhimg.com 状元 (zhuàng yuán) meant the top scorer in the highest rank of the Imperial examination system). Today it refers the highest in the Gaokao, China’s infamous college entrance exam. By extension, it also means top grade’. So, I’m going to translate 状元蹄 (zhuàng yuán tí) as ‘top grade pig’s trotter, another renowned Guizhou dish. The trotters are simmered with 卤水 (lǔ shuǐ),an aged brine soup that includes chicken bones, pork belly and various spices, enhancing the aroma of the trotters. Some lu shui have been used for decades. Zhuangyuan Trotters - Image: news.2500sz.com Now that we’ve seen of any lingering vegetarians with that image, I will reveal that Guizhou does cater to them in the form of 丝娃娃 (sī wá wa), vegetarian spring rolls. The name does carry very childish connotations in Chinese!

Nobody makes meatballs enough.

In all this talk about feta, no one has mentioned French feta. Take a little trip to Oakland to the Pasta Shop. I've been addicted to their French feta for a million years. It's very creamy and delicious. I have never found it any where else.

Damn, I wish I knew about this before I bid on another A4 off ebay to get the accessory pans. Would have saved a chunk of change.

You don't know how reassuring it is to know you don't treat your rice to a dry sauna. You think I'm being sarcastic, but I'm not, really! Life is short and getting shorter.

It's been a steamer on the Florida Gulf Coast so I was looking for a minimal effort dinner. Grilled vegetables and homemade sausage fit the bill.

@TdeV I have been wondering myself about the eggplant sauce and am quite at a loss to replicate. I guess I would try to sauté onion, garlic and eggplant but there was definitely more to it than that. It had something which my taste buds can’t quite identify. Perhaps I’ll try putting in some tarragon, maybe a splash of brandy… it certainly was an exceptional taste. As for the duck leg, I would suspect fried first then cooked in the sauce. I thought it interesting that the chef/owner mentioned about it being a female duck. He sort of scoffed at the thought of a male leg. He spoke very good English having lived and cooked in the UK for sometime. I will have to wait till later in the year to try to cook the garlic green shoots risotto when the shoots are available… and… then they are hard to find. I only know of one market that sells them in my city.

Finally got around to making the Soft Peanut Brittle from the workshop Lots of planning ahead to make it easier - I put a sheet pan in the oven and when it was finished cooking poured it out onto a piece of parchment on the back of the sheet pan so everything stayed warm much longer than usual. Got out the caramel marker that I've had for years and used only a couple of times and marked it while still warm - probably didn't need to be quite that warm as I had to go back over it a second time as the lines collapsed. After dinner tonight I headed down the the chocolate room and drizzled the decent pieces with dark milk chocolate and made a bark from the not so decent pieces.

Sweet! I don't have one, but I've had my eye on it for a while. I'm really interested in your experiences with it.

Neely, those dishes look scrumptious! Do you have ideas about how the eggplant sauce was made? Was the duck leg roasted separately?

@Smithy, I’ve been thinking about your question for a while. I think it’s complex and I have no easy answers but am sharing this stream of consciousness anyway 🙃 @liuzhou wrote that there are two types of culinary ennui: cooking ennui and eating ennui. I suspect there are even more subtypes. For example, eating ennui can be appetite ennui (nothing appeals, no appetite) or dining/social ennui (something might appeal but it’s not worth making just for myself, I'd like a dish from a particular restaurant but I don’t want to go there alone, or I'd like something that I’ve always shared with a person or group who aren’t around) @liuzhou also said eating ennui was the most concerning and I agree, especially appetite ennui. A number of years ago, I lost my sense of smell. I could still taste (sweet, sour, salt, bitter, umami) but had zero appetite, absolutely nothing appealed to me. I was sick, had other symptoms and many tests but no diagnosis. After a while I realized that I needed better nutrition or I was never going to get better. I found a smoothie recipe that included 2-3 servings of both fruit, veg and protein, plus fiber, etc. I made one every day, drank half in the AM and half for lunch. Not culinarily interesting but it did the job. I doubt you’re in that situation but looking out for nutrition in some way is important. Even when I started feeling better, and wanted to get back to cooking, I’d lost interest in trying new recipes because so much of their flavor was lost to me. I learned to focus on old favorites and rely on flavor memory to fill in the blanks. Luckily, texture has always been key for me so I focused on that. Again, I don’t think you’re in that situation but focusing on old favorites isn’t a bad idea from a comfort POV. You mentioned both planning ahead and cooking earlier in the day and I think both are good strategies for dealing with cooking ennui. Sometimes the restrictions of a job, caretaking for kids, spouse, parents or the need to conform to the preferences of those folks restrict the time available or the recipe options but they can also provide a helpful structure. When I was working a demanding job, I could only devote time to cooking on the weekends. If I didn’t get my act together, I’d be stuck with restaurant or cafeteria food that was expensive and not particularly healthy so I shopped, prepped and cooked. When my mom lived with me, I planned meals to accommodate her preferences. I no longer have any of those restrictions but if I don’t do a little planning, I’ll just wait until I’m hangry, which is no time to do any enjoyable cooking. I’m a morning person. That doesn’t mean I need to eat right away so I’ve got plenty of time but if I don’t have at least a bit of a plan, I’ll waste the part of the day that I could be most productive. That pertains to cooking and anything else I want to accomplish. I suspect the same is true for anyone with the flexibility to schedule our own time whether they’re early birds or night owls so I think you’re on to something with those thoughts. From what I’m reading in your posts, you’re doing fine!

New Blackstone 36” Griddle for Father’s Day. Seasoning it now. Anybody have one? What are you doing on it?

Mac and Cheese. To stem an cheese drawer overflowing with odds and ends. And zucchini and onions made by my youngest

Perhaps my favourite dinner when I was in France, was this duck leg covered with an eggplant sauce. The restaurant owner said it was from a female duck as they are less fatty ?? It was served with gratin potatoes served in a bowl and with a salad that had a thick vinaigrette. All delicious. I seem to have had lots of risotto one way or another and to me the most tasty was the one I had below which was served as a side to the grilled octopus. I asked the waiter why the risotto was so nice and he replied that the main ingredient was fresh garlic shoots or garlic scapes as we call them. Restaurant with the risotto was called Le Bistro in the town of Cotignac

I tried this today, straight from the container and crumbled into a salad: I was very pleased with the choice. It's a good, everyday feta, not overly sharp and nice for its neutrality. It's got some character, and is fine for an everyday feta. Great in the salad and nice for eating straight. Saves me a trip across town where there is a greater selection of more interesting, and expensive, cheeses. Glad you mentioned it, @blue_dolphin It'll be in my fridge frequently.

Yeah, this has never happened in my kitchen. But it's def a technique restaurants use for any number of different rice dishes. In school, we learned the "French" way of cooking rice, which is sorta like cooking pasta. What do the French know about rice anyway?

Improvised catfish curry with zucchini, shiitake mushrooms, red and yellow bell peppers, and leftover sweet potato. Curry paste was shallots, garlic, long red chiles, frozen lemongrass, ginger, shrimp paste, and lime zest, with ground coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Sauce was coconut milk seasoned with tamarind, fish sauce, brown sugar, and Thai basil. Outcome seemed shaky but it turned out well in the end.

Another good treat that travels very well is Panforte. Alice Medrich has a relatively simple recipe for Panforte Nero. It lasted almost a week kept in a tin. Cocoa, nuts, dried fruit; a little spicy, not overly sweet.

Okay, I'm going to assume from now on tnat Charleston Gold means aromatic. I don't think I've had it. When it comes to cooking, it appears that tradition dictates rinsing well, then pre-boiling and draining, then giving the grains a turn in the oven on a sheet pan. I admit I am getting more lazy with every passing day. I rinse my Carolina Gold several times, gently, until the water runs clear. Then I cook it like I do basmati, on top of the stove. Rinsed well, I don't find it to be very sticky. I'm stickin' to Italian Carnaroli rice for risotto. In concert with laziness i'm not prone to a lot of experimenting, If it works, and I'm happy with it I keep doing it.Well, with exceptions.

Really cool thread. Thank you for writing it.

You did indeed say that. Thanks for the polite reiteration. And thanks also to @rotuts and @liuzhou for their insights. I've learned something today!

A P.S. I have no idea where the seaweed is purchased from as the green is fresh vs the darker colored dried stuff.