prasantrin

I think 6 lbs is the very top range, and it may even be pushing it. I've done 5lbs, though, and it was OK (barely).

Bill Klapp

Exactly! Part of "negotiation of knowledge" is doing your own research so you can make an informed decision regarding what you accept as truth. And so that you can be prepared to back up your truth if you should be questioned. This should be applied to everything--not just controversial topics. I have an anecdote about that, but it's directly related to a topic forbidden on these boards (and to some degree, rightfully so), but if anyone wants to hear it, feel free to pm me while I'm still able to be pm-ed! Tangentially related, I think it was Alan Richman who commented on people like Yelpers who write about such-and-such food being the best ever. He said in order to make that claim, you really need to do your research. Try a lot of different such-and-such foods, and think carefully about what it is that you think makes it good. I think the exampe he used was croissants--flavour, flakiness, shape, etc. Research and come to your own conclusions. One of comments on Yelpers is that they don't do that. They all jump on the same bandwagon to tout the newest and "best" version of whatever without really understanding what makes something the "best" or why they think it's the "best".

I knew of the Nestle boycott very vaguely, so I researched it to refresh my memory. It reminds me of the claims that canola oil is evil--people pick little bits of information which suit their purposes and blow them up, obscuring any truth or rational argument. People need to learn to negotiate knowledge rather than believe every little bit of "truth" they hear.

Do you have your recipes up anywhere? While I know whatever I made wouldn't look nearly as delicious, I can hope that it would taste as delicious as that looks!

For whatever reason, I can still post, so I may as well comment on yet another controversial topic. The president of Barilla guy is, at the very least, honest. I appreciate that. I don't agree with his beliefs, but at least he's not afraid to voice them. And now, because I know what his beliefs are, I can make an informed decision about whether or not those beliefs will influence my decision to buy the products his company produces. I appreciate that I have been given that choice. I would bet that there are execs at De Cecco (another Italian pasta company) that probably feel the same way the Barilla guy does. Probably a bunch of Italian olive oil company execs feel the same way. Actually, a whole lot of American company execs probably do, too. So does it make me a better person to boycott a company where the exec is forthright about his beliefs that I don't agree with, than to support companies where I have no idea what the execs believe? If you're going to be self-righteous enough to say, "I don't agree with you so I can't support your company," you should also be willing to say, "I don't know what you believe, so I can't support your company." You should only be purchasing products from companies you know fall in line with your way of thinking. Reminds me of the documentary Chocolate: The Bitter Truth. The guy making the documentary makes a bunch of chocolate bars and prints on the wrapper "made with child labour" and asks people on the street if they would be willing to buy it. Everyone replies with a resounding, "No," and when he points out that most chocolate is made with child labour but they eat it, anyway, one woman replies with something like, "Yes, but we don't know it," implying, "As long as I don't know, I don't care, and I'd rather not know so I won't have to care." (FWIW, the only company I have boycotted is The Body Shop.)

I suspect part of the problem is lighting or camera settings. With a little tweak of the colours, the food would look a lot better. As it is, while I appreciate the effort that went into making those dishes, I don't really care to look at the pics because the colours are so off (and the dishes sometimes look like "a plate of poo" or however you put it). It helps no one to criticize photographs, whether poorly lit, colored, or whatever. Nor does it help to contribute snark and snide remarks while contributing nothing of actual worth. I suspect this is born out of both boredom and a bitter disposition. It is the simple act of sharing with others, whether plates of food that are thrown together in a hurry, or ones carefully executed over the course of a day, that matters, and should be encouraged. Everything else is irrelevant. "It helps no one to criticize photographs, whether poorly lit, colored, or whatever." Really? How does it not help? There's a difference between "snark and snide remarks" and consructive criticism. I remarked on the faulty lighting. Improving the colours of the photos would do wonders in making the food appear more palatable. I also remarked on the effort that went into creating the dish. I suppose you missed that part since it was embedded in all the snark and snide remarks I made?? Regardless, if you think this particular thread is simply one to "share" one's food with others, you are mistaken. People share without any expectation of anything in return. I've read this thread for years, and there are few if any who post in this thread who have absolutely no expectations from others.

I suspect part of the problem is lighting or camera settings. With a little tweak of the colours, the food would look a lot better. As it is, while I appreciate the effort that went into making those dishes, I don't really care to look at the pics because the colours are so off (and the dishes sometimes look like "a plate of poo" or however you put it).

Ah, calamansi. The one thing I never have trouble getting. Always have at least two or three trees full of fruit. Even when we lived in Alaska. Can't be without that. Want me to send you some? Thank you for the offer! While I'm pretty sure they could be imported to Canada (no citrus industry here, so not much worry about bugs and stuff that might destroy our non-existent citrus industry), it's so hot right now I'm not sure they'd survive the trip! I wonder if I can get a plant here. Our winters are so harsh, though, and I'm not sure it will be warm enough, even indoors.

Anna N--have you used Filipino tomato sauce before? It's likely very sweet. Taste it a little before you use it in something like spaghetti sauce, because you may end up not liking it at all.

What kind of ingredients do you have trouble getting? The only thing we really have trouble with is calamansi. We can get most other stuff, though in varying qualities.

There's also Kulinarya which is more modern, but still offers traditional recipes. It's for the posh Filipino market. (Actually, pretty much all Filipino cookbooks not published for the western market (such as those mentioned by others) are for the more posh Filipino market. Regular Filipino folks can't afford to waste money on cookbooks, nor can they afford to buy most of the ingredients mentioned.) eta: I think my mother gave a copy of this book to Kerry--maybe she'll share it!

Any of the cookbooks by Nora Daza or Violeta Noriega are pretty much standards (the newest of their books is probably about 20 years old, but the Daza ones are really quite old and have gone through many printings). They're not the best written recipes (or the best quality books in terms of paper and binding), but the end results are pretty much what Filipinos eat. IIRC they're written for a Filipino audience, so some of the ingredients they use are called by their Filipino names. But most should still be available in Canada. I think I have all all the books written by both, but I can't seem to find them. Probably in storage.

Being half Thai, I love curry of almost any kind from almost anywhere. But I just realized that I hate what I call "white folk food" when it's been tainted with curry powder. By that I mean stuff like Coronation chicken salad. Or fried chicken that has curry powder added to the flour mixture. It's just all wrong. (I tend to dislike Chinese-style curries. I'm not sure why, but I don't find them as delicious as any other kind of curry)

I hate oatmeal (cooked as porridge, though I love the flavour of oatmeal in things like oatmeal cookies). Technically, that could be considered "ethnic" to me (where in SEAsia do people grow oats?). But I eat it even though it sometimes makes me gag. I think there are two (three?) camps within food haters. In the first camp, there are people who hate certain foods probably because they have sensitivies (ex. undiagnosed allergies, etc.) to those foods or ingredients in them. They associate those foods (and/or ingredients) with those negative reactions and so they make blanket statements like "curry is disgusting" even though it's really "curry makes me feel disgusting" that they're feeling. Or they associate those foods with negative experiences, and for whatever reason, they cannot overcome those associations (oatmeal is like that for me, and chocolate cake used to be.). In the second camp, at least with regards to caucasians eating more "complex" Asian foods, there are two subgroups. Subgroup 1 probably grew up as plain eaters in plain eater families. Experimentation in food was likely not encouraged, or for whatever reason, their predilictions (and dislikes) were indulged and in their adulthood, they remain without rhyme or reason. Subgroup 2 may have had a similiar upbringing, but they developed into the types of people who were "risk takers" with regards to food. They approached the unknown or unfamiliar with open minds, and so developed palates that enjoyed, or at least appreciated, foods they used to despise (or thought they despised). That's what I've observed re: people with strong food preferences, anyway. And re: vinegar and sushi, gari is less "pickled" than western-type pickles--less of a vinegar flavour. But the primary flavouring in sushi rice is vinegar. So a person who claims to dislike vinegar so much it makes him gag, yet loves sushi ....