prasantrin

Sorry, but I disagree on the implication of the phrase. It's like calling the Adirondacks "the American mountains," as if the Rockies etc. don't exist. It's an inclusive phrase. I suppose one can use that and not be totally wrong but my immediate thought, in both cases, is that the writer doesn't know very much about where he or she is. If an editor was responsible for the phrase, then he or she is putting the writer in a bad light. Either way, it makes me question why I'm spending my time with her. ← Were I to explain this to my students, I would tell them that "I had driven through Italian mountains..." implies one of any possible mountain ranges in Italy. "...the Italian mountains..." implies there is only one Italian mountain range. Articles are difficult things. I read the article, and wasn't offended much. I think however, that if she had written about the food history of a Thai family, and then published their recipe for pad thai which included ketchup, I'd have been offended. It's all about frame of reference...

At my Coop, I think the package just says something like "salmon scraps". It's all in kanji, no kana, and it's almost exactly the same as on all the other fish scrap packages. Look for images of "salmon belly flaps" on google, and you can probably find it.

Thanks, all, for the ideas! Grilling it will be better than what I've been doing, I think, because it's quite greasy when I pan fry it. I'm going to get some sudachi, too, the next time I buy some. Gravlax...maybe that will be my next project!

Two more questions... I made the rum-drenched vanilla pound cake (I only made 1/2 the recipe) and froze it. I still want to do the rum syrup. After I defrost it, should I heat the cake a bit before I start drenching it in the rum syrup? The lemon curd calls for the juice of 4 lemons. My research has turned up anywhere from 2-3 tablespoons juice/lemon. Is there a recommended amount? I ask because I once made a lemon curd recipe asking for the juice of (how ever many) lemons, and I guess my lemons were too juicy, because the curd was very very tart. I didn't like it at all! I'm leaning towards 2 T/lemon, but I'm worried the sweet/tart balance might be off.

Once purchased, for how long does the cheese stay good? Is it a raw milk cheese?

I would guess she ate them....

Thanks, Dorie! Most of the recipes I'm using for the sweet side of my tea party are from your book, by the way. It's supposed to be a going away party, but I made it a tea party, so I could try more of your recipes!

Yes, you can use this substitution for 1 cup of buttermilk: 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar plus enough milk to make 1 cup ← Is that the best substitute of the four for this particular recipe? For some recipes, when I've used the vinegar and milk combo, I could taste it in the final product (and I didn't like it). Those were for sweet baked goods, though. Since this is a savoury baked good, I thought it might be OK, but since it's for a special party, I want to make it the best I can. So I'd like the find the best substitute--one which won't alter the flavour of the muffins in any noticeable way, or change the final texture of the product too much.

If you haven't already, just call the Germany office and see if you get a price out of them. Or the France office, or any of the other offices closer to you.

This isn't for Muscat, but I didn't want to start a new topic for it. Does anyone have any food suggestions for Musandam, specifically Khasab? We're driving up to Khasab from Dubai Friday morning, then driving back down Saturday night. We're doing an overnight dhow cruise, but we'll still be looking for food before and after the cruise. And maybe we'll be looking for some extra snacks to bring with us on the boat, just in case the stuff on the boat isn't so great. Any suggestions for where to buy/eat good food? I know Oman isn't a frequent destination for most people, but any information would be appreciated!

I don't think feeding children refined sugars is a horrible thing. That the children will become addicted to sugar, or that they'll develop some horrible syndrome or disease from eating too much sugar is far from fact. As for the child who sneaks off with bags of candy--who says it's because of an addiction to sugar? Is that a medical diagnosis? Is it impossible that it (his sneaking off to eat bags of candy) merely a symptom of some other problem? When I was a child, I used to eat refined sugar. I don't mean candy or foods made with refined sugar, but I mean plain old sugar. We'd be at a restaurant or somewhere that had sugar packets, or even better, sugar cubes, and I'd eat them. Quite a few of them, in fact, and my parents would let me (this was well before the "refined sugars are evil" bandwagon). I liked them...a lot. Sometimes at home, I'd even eat spoonfuls of sugar. I didn't eat a lot of other candy (I prefered salty snacks), but I loved white sugar. I'm no longer a child, and I don't have any cavities (or fillings, for that matter), nor am I diabetic. I don't have ADD or ADHD, or any other syndrome or "disease" often attributed to the ingestion of refined sugars. I still don't eat a lot of sweets, but I still like white sugar. I'm more "addicted" to good food, in general, than I am to sugar, and that is also something in which my parents allowed me to indulge. I love good food. Should my parents have been scolded for exposing me to something I have become addicted to? From what we've been told, though, I think there is something strange about that family. What we know is only one person's viewpoint, however, so it's best not to make judgments.

So that's where she is! Wow! I wish I could watch that...too bad I'm in Japan, and my source of videos (aka "Mom") back home cancelled all but the basic channels. Oh well, my mother never figured out how to use the VCR, anyway! Thanks for the recipe info Abra! I started at the beginning of this topic, and never made it past the 1st or 2nd page so I was going off the recipe with 4 cups of eggs. I found the thread of the Pichet Ong recipe, so I will try that. I'm using it for gougere, so it's good to know the scm won't make it too sweet! I think I'll make the dough this weekend and stick them in the freezer (they're for my pseudo-afternoon tea party next weekend!). If you see Chefpeon, please tell her good luck from me! She'll be great, I'm sure!

I'm planning on making the savoury corn and pepper muffins for a tea party. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get buttermilk in Japan. Which would be the best substitute for this recipe? 1) sour cream (very thick Japanese sour cream, so it would have to be watered down with some milk or water) 2) yoghurt 3) soured milk (using lemon juice or vinegar) 4) "buttermilk" made with powdered buttermilk I could do any of the above, but I once read somewhere that powdered buttermilk wasn't always the best substitute for buttermilk in recipes. Generally, in this book, is there one substitute for buttermilk that is preferred over the others?

chefpeon, I hope you're still around! Could you tell me approximately how many choux this recipe makes? I'd like to try it, but I think it may produce too many for my needs, so I'm wondering if I should 1/2 it, 1/4 it, or 1/5 it?

For those of you who have made raisin bread using this method, how did you prevent the raisins from burning? The raisins that peeked out from the dough got very hard and burnt-smelling (though they aren't burnt looking). I haven't tried it, so I can't yet report on if it's burnt-tasting, too. They were plumped in a bit of water first, then the exteriors were dried before being added to the dough. Update on the raisins--some of the ones that were really sticking out taste a little burnt, but the rest of them don't. They do, however, taste like dried Chinese plums! I hate dried Chinese plums! (or is it Chinese dried plums?) I might stick it in my freezer and hand it off to my neighbours when they return on Sunday. The husband is HK-Chinese, so he might appreciate the dried plum flavour more than I. Oh, I had forgotten that I added too much salt (about 15g--I usually add about 10g), so it really brings out the dried plum flavour of the raisins....

But then you'd be breaking the law by selling a product containing a banned substance! Sour cherry juice...one could do a lot with that in either a sweet or savoury dish. If, that is, one doesn't mind the very very distant possibility of getting cancer from a one-time use of it...

That is truly shocking. I also would have expected them to be familiar with perogies - aren't they made in every church kitchen across Canada? (or is that only on the Prairies?) ← Shocking is an understatement! How can one live in Canada and not have an perogies? Not even Cheemo??? But I suppose if you consider the location (small town Southern Ontario), it isn't so shocking. I'm a little surprised they voted for lasagne! (My Dutch friend's father thought Italian food was "too foreign"!) When you make the lasagne, CaliPoutine, make sure you use cottage cheese and not bechamel, or you might have a rebellion!

markk started a topic about buying a juice that a contained banned colouring agent. Can't remember what it was, but the juice sounded good!

Costco has cornbread in Japan? I should look for it next time. I wonder if it's supposed to be Jewish-style corn bread--maybe not. I miss that they used to have rye and pumpernickle bread. they were the only places I found those breads in Japan, and I haven't seen them in a long time.

I've eaten the "frites" (should we just call them "fries", now?) at Bouchon in LV, and I didn't think they were good enough for the restaurant. When they were hot, they were fine, but when they cooled just a little, they were pretty bad. I wrote somewhere on eGullet that the fries reminded me of McDonald's fries. Now I know why. I feel even more ripped off that I paid as much as I did for them (not that they were very expensive, but they were about twice as expensive as a large order of McD's fries, for about the same volume and quality). I suppose I should have asked first, so it's my own fault. Buyer beware, and all that.

I'm an earth rooster, too! But your birth year on your bio is different from my year. Hmmmm.... I always have trouble with it, too. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I think I just have to read the directions more carefully.

I think I've almost found my perfect temperature/time. 250C, 20 minutes lid on, 15 minutes lid off, and 15-20 minutes loosely covered with foil so it doesn't overbrown. This gave me the colour and crust that I loved--not too dark, not too thick, but the perfect amount of crispiness. I might try slightly lessened times at 270C to see if I like that even better.

It's very similar to the Thai snack called roti sai mai. In the Thai version, the sugar threads are rolled in thin pancakes (thinner than roti, and not quite as bready) and eaten like that. I've heard that it has the same origins--the Persian version, but I don't know where the roti part comes from. Interestingly, there was another topic on eGullet on this very thing started a yearish ago. Who knew it was so popular!

I read that salmon belly is supposed to be a delicacy in Japan. But at my local Coop, they sell the best part of the salmon belly as scrap! For only Y98/100 grams, I can get what I've seen called "salmon belly flaps"--the very bottom of the salmon belly (sometimes including the lower fins) that is also the fattiest (and tastiest) bit! So what do people do with this part of the fish in Japan? I usually just sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper, and fry it in a non-stick pan (no added fat needed). But there must be something else I can do with it... And what about the fat that renders out? Other than maybe using it in my fried rice, what else can I do with it? Should I go post this to the general cooking forum, too?

I'm not fond of Kewpie mayo, either, but I do like it with okonomiyaki and takoyaki. Those are the only foods I will knowingly eat with kewpie mayonnaise. (Hi shinju! I was wondering how you've been doing!)