prasantrin

I don't want anyone to think I'm obsessed with this book (I am, but only because I've been searching for a copy for several years ), but amazon.com now has it available for pre-order for just $10.50! Not bad considering the cheapest used copy on amazon is $71.95! The date of publication listed is May 2004--just a few more months to wait! So, support e-Gullet and order from Amazon! (anyone know if amazon.ca works the same way as amazon.com in terms of the e-Gullet commission thing?)

Just a follow-up on Rolf Hagen... We drove out to Garson, MB to eat at the Harvest Moon Cafe. It's roughly an hour from my end of the city (we're south, Garson is north-east). A friend was convinced it was the place Rolf was now at. HMC is a tiny little restaurant attached to a convenience store. It looks very pedestrian--not really even like a quaint country cafe. Basic chairs, basic tables, no real decor to speak of though there was an intereseting mural painted on one wall. I peeked into the kitchen and saw the chef who looked nothing like Rolf Hagen. Turns out the owner/chef used to be the chef at Cafe Carlos and La Scala, and is not Rolf Hagen at all. So, still no clues as to what happened to him. About our meal...I had the eggs benedict, hoping for something similar to the EB served at Al's in Minneapolis. The english muffin was a bit tough (or maybe my knife was quite dull), the back bacon was quite small, and I like my poached eggs to be a little less cooked--I like the yolks to be a bit runny, but these were quite solid. The hollandaise sauce could have had more flavour, and the hash browns were sparse and chunky (I prefer shredded). I'm not saying the eggs benedict was bad, but it was average. I should say, however, that I think Al's has spoiled me and I will never ever be satisfied with any other eggs benedict. Or any other breakfast, for that matter . Our friend had the spinach and feta omelet. She liked it, but the eggs were not light or fluffy, as I expect them to be in an omelet. My mother had the garlic sausage, which came with hash browns, eggs, and toast. The garlic sausage was the highlight of the meal, I think. It was not hard as garlic sausage can sometimes be, and there was a perfect amount of garlic in it. The seven-grain (whole grain?) toast was also very good, but it turns out the bread was from Gunn's, not homemade as we had thought. We had Belgian chocolate mousse pie for dessert. It was really just a French Silk pie, but I liked it. Despite the mix-up about the chef, we enjoyed our breakfast but don't think we'll be driving out there again. While the food was fine, it wasn't spectacular enough for an almost 1 hour drive (one way). The prices were very reasonable, however. My eggs benedict was only 6.95, as was the omelet and the garlic sausage was only 5.95. If I happened to be in the area (not likely) I would eat there again, but I would not make a special trip out there--not for breakfast, anyway. I don't know what their dinners are like (saw someone else's sandwich, though, and it looked quite good).

I wonder about that, as well. I remember reading an article in the Japan Times (or was is Asahi?) about hot dogs in Japan. Apparently they are marketed more towards children and are sweeter than US hot dogs. American-style hot dogs may not be suitable for Japanese tastes. A related anecdote--one of the schools I worked at in Japan had an exchange program with a junior high in Winnipeg, which is my hometown (a coincidence). Every year, 20 Japanese students would arrive at the end of August and every year, they would be brought to eat at a popular hot dog place (the Winnipeg school's idea of a fun Canadian meal). Every year, I would ask students what their most favourite and least favourite experiences were. Every year, they would answer that the lunch at the hot dog place was their least favourite and they would often add sick-looking expressions and make "Ge!" sounds. If a bunch of 14 and 15 year olds didn't like hot dogs, what are the chances the rest of Japan will?

Merry Serbian Christmas! I love Serbian food--the Serbian Pavilion is one of my favourite places to eat during Folklorama . Any chance someone might know what this delicious thing is? It's sort of madeleine-like in that it's cakey yet cookie-y but it seemed to have been soaked in syrup. It was absolutely delicious and I am longing to find a recipe. The Serbian cookbook I bought doesn't seem to have it (but it does have my favourite stuffed peppers recipe!)

I'm a little more lenient about the prik ki nuu, since I'm in the Canadian prairies and there's only so much we can do with Thai food here . However, the one Thai restaurant I do frequent uses prik ki nuu so I've not had to deal with substitutions in that department. I don't mind the use of zucchini when makhuea is not available, but I do mind it in my Pad Gkaprow Gai, which is where I found the zucchini. Pad Gkaprow Gai is such a simple dish and calls for no bell pepper or zucchini or even makhuea. While I understand why some "Thai" restaurants add vegetables to it, I wish they wouldn't. To me it's like taking a grilled cheese sandwich and adding tomatoes, bacon, and lettuce--it's no longer grilled cheese but becomes something else. My friend who owns the Thai restaurant I go to said she originally served Pad Gkaprow Gai with just the chicken, basil, and chile but customers complained because other "Thai" restaurants had a lot of vegetables in theirs. She eventually began adding vegetables to hers, too, because people wouldn't eat it otherwise. If I ask, she'll make it for me the usual way though. Another subsitution/addition that irks me is carrots. That one is far worse than bell peppers, in my opinion, and should I find them (or broccoli, for that matter) in my curry I know I'm in the wrong place.

They're supposed to be tea flavoured, but they usually have such a mild flavour that they don't taste like anything at all. One place in Winnipeg makes bubble tea smoothies. They use a bit of half-and-half along with the powdered flavourings and blend it with ice so it's thick and rich. I always get the ones made with real fruit--mango, young coconut, or avocado. Those are the best. The ones made with just the powdered flavourings are pretty horrid (in my opinion).

Just out of curiousity, are you quite sure it was Thai they were speaking and not Laotian? In my city (Winnipeg) almost all the Thai restaurants are owned and run by Laotians but some of them pass themselves off as Thai (say they are Thai though they are not). Since Thai and Laotian languages are similar, it would be easy to assume someone was speaking Thai when, in fact, he/she was speaking Laotian. Then again, in Winnipeg, most people don't know the difference (in terms of the language or otherwise) so pretty much any South-east Asian could pass him/herself off as Thai and the farangs wouldn't know any better. I've been to one of the Typhoons in Portland and I was not impressed. When I eat at Thai restaurants, I use Pad Gkaprow Gai as a sort of yardstick. It's a fairly simple dish and can easily be replicated outside of Thailand. Typhoon's was very weak in flavour and they put green bell peppers in it. That's a big no-no in my book. They may have even put zucchini in it (or maybe that was another place) and that's a very very big no-no. Of course, that was several years ago (in 1999, I think) and things may have changed since then. We always ask the staff if they (staff, owners, cooks) are Thai. That's the only way to know for sure (assuming they tell the truth). (edited to add the "bell" in "bell peppers")

Children tend to behave better when confronted by strangers than by their parents. When in the same vicinity as crying, badly-behaved children, I will more often than not talk to them. It tends to shup them up quite quickly, since they are usually quite surprised to hava a stranger speak to them. When I say "talk to them" I do not mean (necessarily) in an angry or scolding manner. If a child is throwing food around, for example, I might say, "Are you throwing food? [child stops and stares] Do you like throwing food? [child might nod] Other people here don't like it so much. Maybe you should stop." All said with a calm and light-sounding voice. It works more often than not with most children, but there will always be those who will burst out crying, instead . It also help to distract the children. However fine an establishment, having some crayons or pencil crayons and paper around for emergencies would not be too much of a hardship. If that fails, I don't think there's anything wrong with asking one of the adults in the group if they wouldn't mind taking the offending child(ren) out until they've calmed down. It must be done in an apologetic manner, of course, for fear of offending the adults (whom I think are offensive if they allow that type of behaviour from their children--doubly offensive for allowing it in a public place).

Too bad that won't happen--it certainly didn't in Canada!

Being relatively poor this year, I gave baskets of: florentine cookies (the bar kind) ginger cookies chocolate chip cookies biscotti hazelnut linzer thumbprint cookies vinaterta So far, I've received: cookies popcorn maker--the stove-top kind which I was wary of, but it actually works very well! a restaurant journal from a friend who thinks I'm obsessed with eating I'm hoping for a Tilia FoodSaver...

While this thread is pretty much done, I just wanted to post this link for more freezable finger foods for future reference. It just showed up on msn.ca today--better late than never! Hope the party went well!

What do you think the flavours of Marco Polo are? The first time I had it, I thought it tasted like raisins. Others have said strawberries. And have you ever tried Bolero? I actually prefer it to Marco Polo--it's much lighter and has a very nice floral fragrance. I think it makes a far better iced tea than Marco Polo, too.

I love Mariage Freres' Bolero. It's perfect anytime of the year, but makes excellent iced tea. Most people rave about their Marco Polo, but I think Bolero is much lovelier .

We have a bottle of TaB from the 60's . My dad went on a diet in the 60's so he started drinking TaB, but then my parents moved back to Thailand (they had been living in the US) for a few years so everything--including the TaB--went into storage. It was then shipped to Canada when they moved here from Thailand. I think we might still have a bottle of poppy seeds, and some bottles of spices, from around 1970, too! It's my mother--she's a pack rat and insists she'll use these things one day...

Mangosteen are incredibly delicious and once you're addicted, you need your fix . To illustrate this...my father is Thai and he left Thailand when he was about 16 to attend school abroad. He moved back roughly 16 years later and my mother followed a few months later. When she finally arrived at their house, he excitedly lead her to the refrigerator, opened it and said, "Look!" just as a little kid might do. The refrigerator was filled from top to bottom with mangosteen (and this was a regular-sized fridge). He had been deprived of mangosteen for so long that he went a bit overboard when he finally had access to them again. Talk about going on a binge...

Has anyone here ever organized a cookie exchange amongst e-Gullet members? I've participated in one or two organized through a Usenet group. It was more like a secret santa exchange with cookies as the gift, rather than an exchange where everyone ends up with some of everyone else's cookies. It was a lot of fun, though.

I made vinaterta, which some may feel isn't really a "dessert." I made it last week since, like fruitcake, it gets better with age (plus I sent some to my sister for Christmas).

When I made my monthy trip to Tokyo, I always went to Kua'aina for lunch, even though there was little else I wanted to do in the area (there was only one at the time--near Kinokuniya food store). They have excellent burgers--big, juicy, messy, and tasty too! I would say it is the best burger I've ever had. I always tried to have an early lunch, though, since it would get very busy around noon and it would be almost impossible to find a seat. The seating was over three levels, with each level being relatively small. They used a dumb-waiter to send your food up to you when it was ready. For anyone in Japan who's dying for a good burger, that's the place to go!

Rice, butter, black pepper, eggs, and Chinese sausage.

They're definitely bad. I don't even think their pastries are lard-like (I love pastry made from lard!) but more like edible-oil-product-like. I used to like their roll cakes even though the buttercream was clearly not made with butter. (I've seen the margarine in their front cooler, as well.) But then I discovered a very good roll cake, and now I know Maxim's stuff is bad all around. For a hostess gift, I would suggest getting one of the Boss Bakery cakes from Sun Wah. They are in the section where they keep the soy milk and fresh rice noodles. They bring them in from Vancouver every week. The mango one is a bit funky (medicinal tasting, maybe), but the coffee and chocolate ones are good. They could use a bit more flavour, but the cakes themselves are tender and moist, and they use real butter for their buttercream. Warning: The cakes arrive on Wednesday (Thursday if there's a long week-end or some other holiday that week) and they've become so popular that 3/4 of them are gone by Thursday. The ones that are left are usually mango and honeydew (which I've not tried). That's quite a feat given that Winnipegers are notoriously cheap and the cakes are comparatively expensive ($5 for a 6 or 8?" roll, $6 for the lemon one that is iced and has almonds).

I forgot to ask... Do you make your own puff pastry for the curry puffs? If you do, would you mind sharing your recipe? We used to buy curry puffs from Maxim's (in Winnipeg) but their pastry is terribly greasy. None of the dim sum places here have curry puffs so I've not eaten any since I was in Thailand (or maybe even Singapore!). I teach ESL, too . I was at the U of M but I got out of that program fast, and am headed abroad again. I've discovered that it is very, very difficult to teach ESL in Winnipeg if you actually care about what you're doing. But that's getting way off-topic .

Like a butter bell (link is just an example, there are other shapes and makes, of course)? I keep whole wheat flour in the fridge because it goes stale more quickly than I can use it.

With the Superstore comment, I would have guessed you were from Winnipeg but since you lack dim sum in your area, I thought maybe somewhere in Saskatchewan . I forgot to mention my favourite dim sum offering, which is hum sui gok. The dough is made from glutinous rice flour (I think) and is every so slightly sweet. It is filled with a ground pork mixture, then deep fried. I can't find a recipe by Googling, but there's a description of it here. In Winnipeg restaurants often refer to them as "deep fried Chinese perogy", which in my opinion, they are nothing like.

I vote for congee, as well. If you're using the types of bowls usually used at dim sum, the servings will be relatively small so your guests won't get too full from it. There is no "proper" order as far as I know. Just serve everything at once and allow your guests to help themselves. I've seen tables at dim sum where people order and eat both sweet and savoury items at the same time, so you wouldn't even have to serve dessert last. For sweet dim sum, my favourites are coconut buns and sesame balls (the ones filled with bean paste). I also like mango pudding but I've never liked any of the ones served at dim sum. Not very mango-y.

I read them, even though I'm in Winnipeg. I'm always on the look-out for restaurants to add to my "must eat at" list. Mediterranean Cruise Cafe was already on my list because I wanted to belly-dance there, and I wanted to compare it with Da Afghan (although a waitress at a Persian restaurant told us MCC was Lebanese not Afghanistani, I thought I could still do a comparison) so I read that one with interest. Other restaurants on my list, which may not be in your review-able area, are Al's (even though I already ate their twice on my last trip--their eggs benedict rock!), El Burrito Mercado and a whole slew of Lebanese restaurants that I can't remember. There's also a French bakery I wanted to go to--it might have been called Patrick's. Are any of these possibilities for reviews?