prasantrin

Bringing this up so I don't clutter the forum with new threads... I tried to find the original article in the Daily Gullet archive, but to no avail (I think my eyes are just not large enough to see the tiny font). So at the risk of looking like a wine neophyte (which I am), I must ask...should tokaji be chilled? I have a bottle of 1983 Tokaji Oremus, 5 puttonyos. Past its prime, I know, but we'd still like to give it a try. But what would be the best way to drink it? Chilled or not? With or without foods?

I don't know if any of these places are still open, but my friend used to buy most of her groceries at Heisei Mart in Markham, and sometimes at Sandown Market in Etobicoke. Heisei Mart, in particular, was popular with the ex-pat Honda workers crowd. I've also read about Sanko on Queen St. West.

I'm thinking of bringing some small quantities of processed meats (bacon, hard salami) back to Japan. I've been doing my reading, and it looks like pork products are fine, beef products (from Canada and the US) are not. I guess that eliminates beef jerky from my list of omiyage... According to the animal quarantine service I should have an Inspection Certificate from my federal goverment before bringing in any meat products. Has anyone ever tried bringing processed pork products into Japan, and did you have to have an Inspection Certificate? Or could you walk right through customs with no problems at all? For those wondering why...bacon is Can$12 for a four pack at my Canadian Costco, but Y900 for one pack at my local Costco in Japan. Also, gypsy salami, genoa salami, all those good salami(s?) are so hard to find in Japan!

I thought it was the part where the mother's milk came out of (very specifically) . Looks like... Dejah, next time you're in Winnipeg, if you haven't already had the bubble tea at Asia City (Sargent and Young), you really should! But only get one of the fresh fruit varieties. The young coconut is almost like a dessert. I used to get either mango or lychee, but now I find them too sweet. They even have avocado, durian, pandan...all those interesting flavours!

Don't know if you're missing anything. People see what they want to see, or what they're willing to see. Maybe you're just one of those people who doesn't appreciate peasant food . I don't think I mentioned in my first post, but I'm here for two months and will be documenting most of the food I eat over that time. Why? For fun. Some of my meals will be mundane, some will be more interesting (to me, perhaps not to you). I won't be posting all my food pictures--just the ones of foods I love (like the Farmer's Burger, which is not a burger but a sausage patty on a bun) or I find interesting. I posted the lobster roll not because it was a good meal, but because its oddness. The idea a lobster roll at Costco is much like the sushi at 7-11 (even though 7-11s in Japan always have sushi)--something strange that should be shared with people if only because of its strangeness. Stick around, and maybe you'll see something that interests you. Or not. As an aside, I would think that someone who has been to the Philippines more than once would at least be able to spell "Filipino."

I didn't notice one when I was out there, but that doesn't mean there isn't one . The only restaurants I remember in that area are India Palace (used to be my favourite Indian restaurant, but haven't been there in ages), La Fiesta (also haven't been there in ages), and a place called Cooktail's (never been there). There might be some Thai but really Laotian places further down on Ellice. I'll have to check next time we drive out that way. Venture forth to St. Vital and try some real Thai food! Some people I've met, who have never known any other kind of Thai food but places like Bangkok Thai, don't really care for Siam, though. It's all about frame of reference. But if you ever go to Siam, be aware that they don't use fillers like all the other Thai places do (broccoli and carrots in Thai curry? That's sacrilege!). Some people think Siam is overpriced because there are more meat and fewer vegetables in their dishes. It is expensive, but I know that everything is made fresh (even the curries are made-to-order, not just ladled out from a big pot that's been sitting out all day) and with better quality ingredients than most places use. And they don't use ketchup in any of their dishes . Well, maybe in the mee krob, but that's expected and I wouldn't recommend it, anyway .

I'm here for the whole summer! Except a short weekend trip to MSP for a wedding, that is. I'm going to eat my tummy out! You used to be able to ask for Rona's favourites , but I don't think it would work now. I haven't been a regular there for a couple of years, and they have new staff who don't know me. They also took some of my favourites off the menu (like yum pla dook foo--puffy catfish salad), so they only make them for me now , except I have to bring some of the ingredients in myself . But if you can handle spicy food, my favourite non-appetizer is the choochee pla. It's fried fish in a dry red curry (dry doesn't mean dry with Thai curries, it means it's not too liquidy/soupy). I also like their phad phet and their soup with mung bean noodles. I love their sticky rice with coconut custard, because I love the layers of coconut flavour--in the rice, then the custard, then the little bit of coconut milk poured over top. For appetizers, I usually skip the satay, the most well-known one. I go for the prawn lettuce wrap (miang kam) and/or the golden cups. The miang kam is served with shrimp, Thai chile, toasted coconut, chopped lime (with the rind), and toasted peanuts. You put a little of each on a piece of lettuce and eat. It's great for summer! Traditionally, the cups are made from a batter (a mould is dipped in hot oil, then the batter, then fried in the oil until they pop off the mould), but it's too labour-intensive for a busy restaurant. I think Samloy uses spring roll wrappers, not egg roll wrappers, but thinking about it more, it might be filo. I think she puts them in mini-muffin tins to mould them, and then bakes them. They can keep a lot longer that way, too--keep in an air-tight container, then pop them in the oven to recrisp when needed. As for the filling, no mushrooms. I think it's very finely diced celery, cucumber (?), red peppers, and maybe shallots. The filling isn't fried or cooked at all. It has a lot of crunch and is very fresh-tasting, which is one of the reasons I love it during the summer. I like the dressing used, too. It's a little sweet, and a little tart. They're open for lunch as well as dinner, but I think they're closed one day a week. If you ever go for dinner, make sure you make reservations--especially if it's a weekend. It's a small place, so it often gets very crowded!

Well, it would be a long walk from Goodies--about an hours walk . It's in St. Vital, south of Bishop Grandin. The ones near Goodies (I'm guessing the Goodies you mention is now Vivere, in Osborne Village) aren't very good. Really bad, actually (in my opinion only--I know a lot of non-Thai people who like those places).

I wish you had one, too! It would have made this cake-thing so much easier! It would also be nice if Provence Bistro allowed homemade cakes, but they only allow commercially-made cakes (or something like that). I was thinking that the Dobos Torte from the ladies at the Hungarian Pavilion would have been nice, too. It's the only Dobos Torte I've had where the cake is actually moist and tender. Don't know if I'll be back next summer. I'm thinking not, but who knows! I'm hoping you manage to open by or on August 25th. You could make my last meal in Winnipeg!

I hope you enjoy it, if you try it! I make it a lot--it's very forgiving and easy! You can add or substitute so many different things in it. My mother has used yoghurt for some of the cream, and she said it was good. The one thing I would avoid adding is cream cheese. She did, once, and she couldn't even eat it because the clumps of cream cheese made the pudding look diseased .

Are you still planning on coming back this summer? There are so many more places you need to try!

But the pictures show that the pleasure of the food clearly outweighs the unpleasantness of a few mosquito bites. West Nile Virus? Who cares about that when you can have good food? They were good, but not spectacular. I'm not a big fan of Italian-style cakes. I find them to be coarse and dry (ditto for Austrian, German, Hungarian, etc. cakes). The three cakes pictured had less cake in them and more other stuff (buttercream, for example), which made them better than the average Italian cake. The white chocolate pistachio terrine was my favourite of the three and generally, I dislike white chocolate. It wasn't too sweet, and it didn't have that nasty mouthfeel that white chocolate things often have. The dark chocolate thing at the bottom of the terrine, though, was not very good, and both my mother and I peeled it off our halves. I think we may end up with a cake or two from Goodies for my mother's party. I brought her my left-over sacripatina and she quite liked it. If I have to go Italian, i would prefer a cake from Piazza di Nardi (their cakes are less coarse, and less dry) but the party isn't for me!

The last of my pictures from the first week. Siam Thai Cuisine's beef massaman, savoury beef salad (the kind with ground roasted rice) and an empty bowl of tom kha gai. Siam has the best, most "authentic" Thai food in Winnipeg. I should disclose, however, that the owners are family friends. One thing I love about the place is that they'll do special orders for us (and for anyone, I think) if there's a dish we want that's not on the menu! I forgot to take a picture of our dessert--we shared sticky rice with mango, which had a side of baked mung bean and coconut custard/cake. The latter might sound strange, but it was really quite good. Even my friend, who is not the most adventurous food-wise, loved it! Our appetizers--a pork spring roll, a fried crab thing, and my all-time favourite, krathong thong (Golden Cups). The fried crab thing was new--it has crab, a little bit of cream cheese, and curry. I hate crab rangoon, and though I'd hate this thing, but it was actually quite good. But the golden cup...it was just as good as I remembered! Siam is one of the few restaurants I've been to that has Golden Cups. They don't use the traditional filling (which has chicken) but what they do with it is so much better! Sweet Stuff--White Chocolate Pistachio terrine from Goodies Zucotta (not my boobs in the picture, by the way) and Sacripantina from Vivere (which is owned by the same people who own Goodies). And finally, Sunday brunch at Vivere. I had the Salmone Affumicato and my friend had the frittata special. The eggs were overcooked in both our dishes. I liked the potatoes (which they call hash-browns), even though they were a bit salty. That's it for the first week. This week we're hoping to get to Bernard Mirlycourtois for lunch. I'm hoping for the best!

I have several very itchy mosquito bites which can definitely be added to the "things not to like about Winnipeg" list! Edited to fix the split infinitive

I just added my family's mango pudding recipe to RecipeGullet. It's quite delicious and refreshing--perfect for hot summer weather!

The very first time I saw Anthony Bourdain on TFN was on the evening version of Cooking Live. I think they were doing French Bistro food, and I thought he seemed....less than comfortable. I can't remember who the other guy was on the show. Of all the female hosts on TFN, Sara Moulton was definitely my favourite. Some slightly annoying habits (I remember she often used the phrase, "turkey lurkey") but no where near as many as the current crop of hosts. Plus she seemed to really know what she was doing.

Mango Pudding Serves 12 as Dessert. I've been told this isn't really a pudding, as it relies on gelatine for body, and it isn't a mousse because the cream isn't whipped. Whatever it is, it's delicious! 30 oz Alphonso mango pulp (1 large can) 2 c whipping cream 1-1/2 c sugar 5-1/2 c water 1 oz gelatine Simmer gelatine, sugar and 3 1/2 cups water until the sugar and gelatine are dissolved. Mix the cream with 2 cups water and the mango puree. Add to the gelatine mixture. Pour into a 13x9x2 inch pan, or in individual ramekins, and refrigerate. You can use any combination of water and cream--I will often use 4 cups of cream and only 3.5 cups water. You can also increase the amount of mango pulp if you prefer a stronger mango flavour, and decrease the sugar if you prefer it less sweet. It's a very flexible recipe! Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Pudding ( RG1351 )

Mango Pudding Serves 12 as Dessert. I've been told this isn't really a pudding, as it relies on gelatine for body, and it isn't a mousse because the cream isn't whipped. Whatever it is, it's delicious! 30 oz Alphonso mango pulp (1 large can) 2 c whipping cream 1-1/2 c sugar 5-1/2 c water 1 oz gelatine Simmer gelatine, sugar and 3 1/2 cups water until the sugar and gelatine are dissolved. Mix the cream with 2 cups water and the mango puree. Add to the gelatine mixture. Pour into a 13x9x2 inch pan, or in individual ramekins, and refrigerate. You can use any combination of water and cream--I will often use 4 cups of cream and only 3.5 cups water. You can also increase the amount of mango pulp if you prefer a stronger mango flavour, and decrease the sugar if you prefer it less sweet. It's a very flexible recipe! Keywords: Dessert, Easy, Pudding ( RG1351 )

I just got back to North America last week, so I only saw the last two episodes. But since you brought up Eric Ripert, I think you, he, and Anthony Bourdain should be the judges if there's a second season. How much fun would that be to watch!

As Pam mentioned, there are roughly 31 320 Filipinos in Winnipeg, according to the 2001 census. That's a pretty large community given that they are relatively new immigrants. They didn't really start coming to Winnipeg until the mid to late 1960s, and didn't start coming in large numbers until the 1980s (maybe late 70s). According to the same 2001 census, almost 28 000 of the Filipino community claim to be 100% ethnically Filipino. It's a pretty tight community (although there are factions within). Luckily, with so many Filipinos, we have a lot of Filipino restaurants, grocery stores, and bakeries. My mother can't cook Filipino food very well (her adobo is very different from real Filipino adobo!), so we need to go out to eat it!

This might sound odd, but maybe if he's mostly alone in the kitchen a backpack might be of use. Whenever my knee has been very bad, I've used a backpack in the kitchen to carry around ingredients, utensils, etc. That way I can stand at the fridge, load everything in the backpack, and get it to the table (or whever I need it) without having to make multiple trips. Very convenient, but make sure he has knife guards if he's going to be putting knives in a backpack!

I really don't think it's that simple. With the current pay scales in the Philippines, place, harldy anyone can get ahead working in the food industry. Working your way up in that industry is simply unheard of. Of course there are exceptions to that rule, but for the most part, that's the reality. The only way of making money in food is owning the restaurant/business. So those migrating for financial reasons would not be coming from that subset of society who are in the food profession (as they wouldn't have the finances to migrate). I think perhaps I interpreted Apicio's post differently. I thought what he was saying was that the average Filipino immigrant, because of having greater ability to speak English, was able to get more work outside the food service industry. To me, the average Filipino immigrant is one of the greater 90% of the population which controls a mere 10% of the wealth. In Canada, at least initially, the average Filipino immigrant was an English-speaking skilled worker. At first it was garment factory workers, and later nurses. These people came with job offers in their fields. I think this agrees with what Apicio was saying. Initially, at least, Filipino immigrants were able to avoid working in the food industry because they a) could speak English and b) had skills which allowed them better paying, higher status positions. In my experience, not a lot of Filipinos from that upper class would even bother to emigrate--why would they when they had far more power and more status in the Philippines than they would anywhere else in the world? Ain't that the truth! Many of those "haves" also don't have a lot of experience eating or cooking Filipino food on a regular basis. My mother comes from a family of "haves" (though her immediate line is probably in the bottom of that upper 10%) and she didn't even learn to cook until she was married and living in the US (she was 29...). She also remembers the family cook making more European-style foods than anything else. They were even eating pizza in the 40's or 50's and were drinking Spanish-style hot chocolate made with freshly roasted cacao beans. I also remember her once saying that foods like mongo and pancit were, more or less, peasant foods (though she denies ever saying that). "Haves" would certainly never want to do anything that might associate them with the "have nots." When those who have the power to promote Filipino foods have disdain for, or prejudice against, those very foods, they are not going to do a very good job of promoting them. One of my cousins (second cousin, actually) is hoping to open a high-end Filipino restaurant in the Phil. sometime in the future. In his current position, though he has nothing to do with the kitchen, he has the ability to promote Filipino food to the upper class masses of the world, and he would like to do the same in the Philippines. Plus his immediate branch of the family is probably in the upper 1 or 2% of the upper 10%, so he can afford to do it. He's actually one of the few Filipinos I've met who is really proud to be Filipino--and not in a bravado kind of way.

More food pics. First, a gratuitous pet picture. I've missed my kitty (whose name just happens to be Miss Kitty) even more than the food! She also likes her food, unfortunately, and is currently on a diet because at 15 lbs., she can't even lie down on her tummy (she has to lie on her side). She sheds like crazy (as you can see from my sheets), but she's the cutest kitty in the world! More Filipino food. This was from a Filipino buffet we went to. The restaurant, Pampanga, is relatively new but they've had a grocery store for years. I can't remember the names of everything we ate, but I thought the food was OK, but not great. My mother said they do have some very good dishes, though. The buffet dishes change daily, and on the weekends they have lechon. We went on a weekday, so no lechon for us! Another Farmer's Market picture. Bottom left is a butter tart from my favourite cookie guy (he makes amazing lemon tarts). I also bought a lemon cookie from him, but I ate it before I could get a picture . The strawberries were a bit expensive ($10), I thought, but much cheaper than in Japan! Also had a Belgian waffle with blueberry sauce and whipped cream. It wasn't a true yeast-dough Belgian waffle, but it was still good! Next is a hot dog and lobster roll from...I'm almost ashamed to say...Costco! I just thought the lobster roll was a bit of an odd offering from a place like Costco. Next time I'm going to try their Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich. And finally, for this post, anyway, is my chicken gyros and fries from Junior's. Junior's is a hamburger franchise in Winnipeg, but two of the restaurants are owned by a Palestinian family. They also have very good falafel, and schwarma. Edited to add: Anyone know why those last two pictures are so small? I'm pretty sure I saved them to the same size/resolution as the other pictures. Edited again to fix the pictures and to add: Thanks to Daddy-A for solving the mystery of the small pictures!

As snowangel said, a lot of prep can be done while sitting down--at the table or while sitting on a stool at the counter. Grating cheese for macaroni and cheese can be done at the table, and the white sauce can be stirred while sitting on a stool. If bending to get things in and out of an oven is a problem, he could also consider getting a small convection oven that sits on the kitchen counter. The Delonghi convection/toaster ones are relatively cheap, but I would go for one of the high-end microwave/convection combos, especially if his physical problems are long-lasting. With a small convection oven (either the Delonghi-type or the high-end ones), he can still do things like baking cakes or cookies (almost all the prep of which can be done seated), and roasts. Best of luck!

I think Folklorama should be separate, as well. Maybe between the two of us, we can get all the pavilions in! I get dibs on the Hungarian (the one held at the Burton Cummings Community Centre), Serbian, Greek (the one in Tuxedo), Argentinean, Slovenijan, and Croatian Pavilions, though! We get food from those ones every year! I have pictures from Folklorama 2003. Most of them are just of food, since we usually just do take-out and eat at home or in the car.