EdS

You probably wouldn't think to look in the Japan forum for wild pizza ideas so here is a link.

Trader Joe's has Oxo Brite which I think is basically the same thing as Oxyclean. It's saved me more than once. I've gotten back into the habit of wearing an apron. It always seemed like a pain until one day I clicked on a link at Jacques Pepin's web site on How to Tie an Apron and Kitchen Towel and realized I was an idiot. I had been tying the thing in back and didn't realize that if you bring both ends around and tie in front, you can hang your kitchen towel there. Finally, a place to put it other than the oven handle where it kept falling off.

One example is early in the book where she describes how to use a chef's knife. She describes how to hold a knife only by the handle and never mentions that a knife may also be held in a pinch grip. "Resist the impulse to extend your index finger onto the blade; it may look chic, but it is unsafe." The adjacent illustration shows only the one method of holding the knife completely by the handle, labeled "Right way to hold a knife...," and not the pinch grip. Another illustration, labeled, "Wrong way to hold a knife" shows an index finger on top of the spine. Meanwhile, four of the first six photos in the "Holding the Knife" section of Complete Techniques show Jacques Pepin holding the knife precisely in this "wrong way." There are plenty of photos in the Pepin book where you can see the grip changing depending on the situation. The same goes with the CIA book. The Kamman book only has a limited number of illustrations and you never get the idea that it's ok to change your grip. One is left with the impression that there is only one way. This kind of thing repeats itself throughout the Kamman book. I'd like to give more examples but frankly this isn't one of my go-to books so it's not so fresh in my memory. I have read it cover-to-cover and found lots of valuable information and wisdom. There's no question in my mind that she's brilliant. But I think her book leaves something to be desired in making sure that the various alternative ways of doing things are covered.

It doesn't look very ripe to me but maybe it's heirloom and supposed to be like that.

I briefly flipped through Rick Bayless's new book this evening at the bookstore. I noticed he had a recipe for Peruvian ceviche. His advice is to use red jalapenos.

Thank you very much, Hiroyuki! I'm going to visit Chinatown this week and try to locate a few of these ingredients that my local Japanese market doesn't carry. I want to try several variations of shichimi like you described. I would never have learned about them from the books I have. I wish I could read Japanese as then I could have access to so much more information. I do think I need to visit Japan someday. I would go crazy at those shichimi booths, I am sure.

I remember them being rather hot with a flavor somewhat like habaneros but with less heat. That's the most common supermarket pepper that I can think of that's something like an aji limo. I'd slice those fine and get rid of the seeds. I haven't done any legwork to see if we can get aji limos here in the U.S. Perhaps online or at a latin market. Edited to say: I haven't seen them in the Mexican markets here.

Here is my list of benefits of a buffet:

who the hell puts lettuce in guacamole??!! ← Probably someone who wanted an "inoffensive" cilantro.

I have a bottle of House brand shichimi togarashi that I like to sprinkle on my broiled fish and chicken and on my udon. I'm thinking that it might be interesting to blend my own mixture to suit my taste. I also think my own would taste fresher. I'm having some trouble understanding how I would go about making my own so perhaps I could get some advice here. The ingredients are listed as follows: 1) Red pepper I can grind my whole dried togarashi to get this. 2) Roasted orange peel I think this is mandarin orange. I've seen fresh mandarins at my market. Should I dry peelings in an oven and use them? 3) Yellow sesame seeds I bet this is plain white sesame seed. 4) Black sesame seeds I have this. 5) Japanese pepper This sounds like sansho. Isn't this the same thing or related to Szechwan pepper? I know it's banned from being imported into the U.S. but I am sure I can get this in San Francisco's Chinatown. 6) Seaweed Toasted nori? 7) Ginger Dried ginger flakes? I'm thinking that I would gather everything, toast in a cast-iron pan, and grind in a mortar.

I'm not much of a bread lover but I picked up an Acme sourdough levain at the local Draeger's market here and it put a smile on my face.

My mom is from Hawaii (note my tiki avatar) and we have ancestors from the Azores. Just like the Chronicle article says, a lot of people moved from the Azores to Hawaii many years ago. I grew up in Sunnyvale and we'd get malasadas at that bakery in Santa Clara every few weeks or so. It brings back memories. I haven't been there in over a decade.

I can't believe this is online. Here are some recipes from a great book I bought in Peru that covers Peruvian cuisine. I think you can get this book here too. There are ceviche and tiradito recipes among others. The Art of Peruvian Cuisine

I know Mexico has its own ceviche too but I haven't tried it. I think anything with fish and a citrus juice to "cook" it can be called a ceviche. I'd feel most comfortable sticking with sushi grade fish. There's plenty of room to experiment. Peruvian cuisine is a melting pot of native American, Spanish, African, Japanese and Chinese, among major influences. I pronounce the "v" in ceviche like a soft "b". Here is a good link with a bunch of information about ceviche.

Peruvian cuisine is only 'underrated' in the US. It is legendary throughout the rest of the Americas. Most other American countries have Peruvian restaurants, along with the usual suspects of Italian, French, Chinese, etc. When I lived in Panama, there were several Peruvian restaurants in Panama City alone, all doing a bustling business. In the US, it's not so much that Peruvian cuisine is underrated as it is that it's completely unknown. Most US residents have no clue what lies below Mexico. They think that everyone south of us eats tortillas and enchiladas. When we lived in Panama, many of our houseguests would refer to the Panamians as Mexicans, and ask when we were going out for some good "Mexican food." There was one pretty mediocre Mexican restaurant there (as opposed to the several Peruvian ones) but, in Panama, Mexican food is a foreign cuisine requiring the use of imported foodstuffs. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to think that Panama would have any better Mexican cuisine than any other country not even adjacent to it. Like England, say, or Canada, or whatever. I'm just using this example as an indicator of how little most norteamericanos know about the food south of us. Peruvian cuisine is sadly not even a blip on our culinary radar screen. It's a damn shame to be so ignorant of our own hemisphere, but throughout the rest of it, Peru is known as the "France of the Americas" because of its sophisticated, complex, elegant, wonderful cuisine. As you have apparently discovered. ← I agree 100-percent with you, Jaymes. I've been lucky enough to have made several extended trips to South America, including to Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. I am not sure that I even saw any Mexican restaurants even in a city like Buenos Aires which is larger than New York City. Well, I do remember seeing one in Santiago in the Providencia district where many U.S. workers live. Yet when I'm back in the States everyone will ask me about tacos, tortillas, and what the nachos are like! Peruvian restaurants and Peruvian dishes in other restaurants are quite common. Maybe a little less in Argentina and Uruguay because they are more euro-centric. Lots of pasta there due to the Italian immigration. It's really a shame Peruvian is not known at all here, like you said.

The only way I'd use sponges in the kitchen is if I could toss them out after cooking each meal or at least at the end of the day. I'd want to be like P. Diddy or whatever his name is this week who throws away his Nikes in favor of a fresh white pair each morning.

i just had a thought. maybe if seasonal produce wasnt so cheap, americans will travel more? travel can be mind expanding, you know. i have no problem with non seasonal produce costing an arm and a leg out of season. it is quite simply perverse that they are available so cheap. ← That's not a bad idea. You can buy produce from evil agribusiness co-conspirators at a market in the Peruvian Andes... Delight in some numbing but energizing coca tea (I didn't swallow ) with a little sugar at the Los Perros Couch Bar in Cuzco... Munch on huge "popcorn" in downtown La Paz, Bolivia... And drop down to Santiago, Chile, to snack on cherries and to pick up a a lovely Pinochet mug you can take to Starbucks to fill with your morning java...

Wow, so its all about cheap food. Canned is a great buy, so is fast food. Farmers in the U.S. vs farmers in Chile, a fair fight? What do you think they make as a wage down there? Family farms? More like sharecroppers for the big agro companies covering their shipping cost by having indentured farmers in their fold. Seasonal food is so quaint isn't it? ← It is a fair fight as far as I'm concerned. I see local farmers, American agribusiness, and foreign producers as all in competition for my dollars. I set requirements for the produce I purchase. Whichever vendor can meet those requirements at the best price wins the competition for my dollars and I pull out my pocketbook. I'm a believer in economies of scale. If those "big agro companies" can deliver top-quality (repeat, top-quality) product in my hands for less than some family farm, I think that's just fine, and even a good thing in the grand scheme of things. I don't care whether the supplier is across the street, in Chile, or on Mars. I have plenty of other things to spend my hard-earned money on than giving preferential treatment to someone. If you want to pay higher prices than necessary to support a cause, feel free to vote with your dollars just as I do.

Wow, so its all about cheap food. Canned is a great buy, so is fast food. Farmers in the U.S. vs farmers in Chile, a fair fight? What do you think they make as a wage down there? Family farms? More like sharecroppers for the big agro companies covering their shipping cost by having indentured farmers in their fold. Seasonal food is so quaint isn't it? ← You need to read more carefully. I said "quality and price" not just price.

Food or dollar bills?

My favorites for technique: 1) The Professional Chef, CIA This was my first cooking book and I've never regretted it. I consider it basic training. 2) Complete Techniques, Jacques Pepin This is the Master applying the above. This is a compilation of two earlier books which may be better to have but I don't know. 3) Sauces, James Peterson I can't imagine not having this one. It does a good job of explaining not only the basic stocks and sauces but how they have evolved. Escoffier is nice but who cooks like that now? Honorable mention goes to The New Making of a Cook by Madeleine Kamman. Her I-know-more-than-you-so-you-listen-to-me tone gets annoying though. Especially when she's wrong. After that, I'd say buy something that fits with what you are trying to cook. The best ones I have: French: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 Japanese: Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji Italian: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazen Chinese: The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking by Barbara Tropp That covers the four Iron Chef, and therefore, important, cuisines.

Ceviche is arguably the national dish of Peru. There are cevicherias all over the place. I brought back a bunch of Peruvian cooking books. I should start making some of these dishes. I think Peruvian cuisine is underrated. My favorite ceviche in Lima may be the most common. It is composed of lenguado (flounder?), sliced red onion, chopped red and yellow aji limo chiles, key lime juice, a round of boiled corn, slices of sweet potato, and some lettuce. There's also ceviche's newer cousin, tiradito. I'd describe it as ceviche with nikkei (local Japanese) influence. If you like the stuff in the Nobu cookbook you'll find lots of it in Peru.

I toss the breasts into the plastic bag in the freezer with the necks and backs for use in stock. I haven't decided if this is worth the trouble.

But the Lodge web site says imported from France. However, the way it is worded, it isn't clear if the pot or the enamel is imported. I am getting a mental image of one huge factory in France takes all of the cast iron and enamels it to the brand specifications. ← I just checked and you're right. Their site indeed does say imported from France. I know that when I first heard that Lodge had released some enameled pieces I did some research and my brain registered "made in China" but now I can only find this comment on another forum. It could be that I am completely mistaken. I know Le Creuset also owns the Cousances product line and also bought out their Belgian competitor Descoware years ago. I had a vintage Descoware shallow casserole a while back that I picked up on eBay along with a vintage Le Creuset saucepan. I think the fit and finish of that Descoware item was higher than the vintage Le Creuset and my current Le Creuset oven. No wonder Descoware was bought out. People don't know about them anymore so the pieces run a lot less on eBay than Le Creuset. I saw a couple items a year ago at TJ Maxx or Marshall's that looked a lot like Staub but weren't and said "made in France".

I think part of the problem with getting consumers to buy in-season produce is that many consumers don't even know what is in season. What's available at the local supermarket, even a hippy organic-only healthfood chain, isn't much of a guide.