Sleepy_Dragon

They're under new ownership. Three of their ex-cooks are acquaintances of mine, and... well, I am hearing things like "monthly food budget reduced by 20k" as well as other gossip of the poor management variety. The consensus wasn't optimistic, but I guess time will tell. Pat

Best PMS meal ever for me: last time around, going to a Vietnamese place, ordering a bowl of hot and spicy beef noodle soup, and finding that it came with not only beef but pig's feet and cubes of pig's blood. Soooooo perfect, the iron hit was just what the doctor called for. Also, I want to thank whoever it was in this thread who suggested taking more calcium for cramps. It really works! I got chewable calcium tablets and have one or two of those a day, perhaps three during High Tide, and my cramps have almost disappeared. Yay! Pat

Thanks for this great summary, Vikram. Well, my budget does not thank you... Interesting, I had no idea the Achaya book I've got is the briefer (!) one. But yes, overall I agree about what a treasure trove of information it is. Also interesting was finding the familiar bits I had read elsewhere. Seems like other cookbook authors like to quote him a lot! Can't blame them. I'd actually been hesitating about this book even though I'd like to learn more about Goan cuisine. Just the cover alone was a turn-off, spoke to that prejudiced part of my brain that said this is probably form over substance. Is it just her style or are the recipes not that great as well? Pat

What do people typically do nowadays if they aren't? Surely not storebought? That kind of advance strikes me as the sort of thing that would cause grandmothers and ancestors to roll over in their graves. Pat

I am currently on call via an agency that places folks for temporary events, so no regular staff meal for me. But the last one was pretty sumptuous, thanks to the fact that we got sent to a lavish estate to do a private catered event where no expense was spared. First day's staff lunch: grilled salmon cakes sauteed white asparagus sauteed green beans homemade cake of some kind Second day: some kind of veal stew with veggies green salad mixed nuts pasta salad tiramisu ...and all the soda and Perugina sparkling water we could throw down our gullets. Pat

On especially lazy days, my dinner = fruit + cheese + bread + nuts + olive oil for dipping the bread. That's it. If feeling a little more ambitious, maki rolls and cold tofu cubes in ponzu sauce topped with minced ginger, scallion and daikon, and maybe a salad. Pat

I just got done sucking down a javakula from SBC. I'm not a coffee drinker but I enjoy these, green whipped cream, oreos and everything. It makes my inner greedy child very happy! Pat

Glad you enjoyed yourselves, kayswv. Thanks for visiting! We'll be running most of this menu again in four weeks, so anybody who missed out this time around can catch it again in mid August. Pat

5:30pm for me. Thanks laurel. Pat

The word that keeps coming to mind is "sumptuous". It's a little book, but is jam-packed with carefully prepared recipes and nice photographs. It's also very heavy on the meat, which I guess is a given for Muslim feasting. I haven't tried to make anything out of this yet because I've been putting off making my own ver. I did try to make a Kashmiri kahdi recipe from the other Kashmiri cookbook in that stack, and didn't care for it, the combination of mint, yogurt and mustard oil just didn't interest me, and the fritters were bland. But, the peanut gallery would probably say that served me right given that publisher also came out with that Balti cookbook! Pat

The third one is The Essential Kodava Cookbook, by C. B. Muthamma and P. Gangamma Bopanna. It's part of the Penguin Books India regional series, recommended by mongo_jones here awhile back. Looks excellent, but I haven't tried to cook out of it yet. As for Smita Chandra's books, I've only leafed through "Cuisines of India" so far. Seems good, even has a section with a few Indo-Chinese recipes too. The only thing that annoys me about it is she seems to go out of her way to try and tell some kind of story to preface every single recipe, and some of them are a real stretch in terms of relevancy. "From Bengal to Punjab" I've cooked about 1/4 of the recipes. It was hit or miss, but mostly I attribute that to my lack of skill back then. I've been thinking about picking it up again just to see how age and experience has improved things. I hope! I learned to make paneer from her book, and the kheer recipe was one I got lots of requests for. Mind, this was 11 or so years ago when people knew even less about Indian food, and so the combination of rice pudding with cardamom and rose water was wildly exciting. Straightforward stuff of the broad overview variety. I don't think this book is in print anymore, but by today's standards, it doesn't strike me as a must-have given the number of broad overview types of books out there nowadays. It will always have a special place in my library though. There are notes I scrawled in the margins ages ago that are rather amusing to read now, stuff like "Use 1/2 amount of chili called for", or in one case, a line calling for "1/4 tsp cayenne pepper" scratched out and replaced with "Just a pinch!". Christ, I used to be such a wimp... Pat

Next week's themes are American on Tuesday July 27 (majority Cajun and BBQ) and Mexican on Thursday July 29 along with classical garde manger platters. Sandwich buffets Monday and Wednesday along with American and Mexican cold items. And if you're in our neck of the woods tomorrow, swing by for Indian and Pakistani lunch, one of the two teams making the entrees is mine. Pat

19 currently. Still lacking Monica's books as well as Suvir's. My first one was From Bengal to Punjab by Smita Chandra. Also note copious number of sticky notes hanging off the side of Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking. Pat

Pan Africa down on 1st Ave in the Pike Place Market area. My favorite place used to be Zobel for awhile, but the last couple of meals I got there haven't been up to their usual standard. Went to Meskel for the first time recently too. Luuuuuuved the beef tibs and injera, but thought the lentil wots were kind of bland. But this place also has a lot of stuff I haven't seen served anywhere else, so I'll be going back to try the unfamiliar things. Other favorite places: Addis, across the street from Zobel at 12th and Jefferson, and Mesob on 13th and Jefferson. Fasica down in the Columbia City area. And Tagla on Rainier Ave. S. and S. Genessee for Ethiopian breakfast on weekends. I'm anxiously awaiting their full restaurant completion. Pat

Thanks a lot, laurel, and yes I'm interested in both days! Pat

It closed quite a while ago. It didn't seem like it was open long. Azuma, and yes, long gone. And seconded on Maneki from me, I love that place, especially the takoyaki and the avocado ponzu ae along with the nigirizushi. Plus when it's in season, they serve live sea urchin on the half spiked shell. I also love going there because I'm a sucker for cats. Per their namesake, there are loads of maneki neko (lucky cat statues) all over the place, in particular a wooden shelf suspended outside the tatami room closest to the door with around 20 of them, paws beckoning. It's outrageous. Maneki Neko Pat

Thanks for the suggestions and leads, everyone. I'll try and hit some of these places very soon, before it's my turn to actually make these things in school! Pat

Correction on the Middle Eastern theme for next Thursday July 22, it's actually Indian and Pakistani. The Asian menu for Tuesday July 20 will include items of Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Philipino cuisine, and both days will also include classical garde manger preparations. Pat

The way the summer service menu works is: Mondays and Wednesdays are our hot and cold sandwich buffets plus soups, fruit platters and a variety of salads, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are international themed hot buffets, plus many salads, canapes, assorted hors doeuvres, classical show platters and pastries. Prices are $5.95 and $7.50, respectively. Tomorrow, the theme is Mediterranean. The two international themes for next week are Asian and Middle Eastern. If anyone wants to know about the theme ahead of time for a particular week this summer, feel free to ask. I will also try to post here once a week. Pat

Hm, that's true, a market would be more affordable. Got any places you like that really get it right? I really have no reference point for how a good version of these items should taste. I can deal with just not liking them though intend to do my best to eventually enjoy them, but I still need to know what a good one is. Also agree about practicing the skinning part, nekkid chickens here I come! Pat

Count me in as well. Pat

Soon I'll be attempting to make my first pate, terrine, and galantine or balontine in the days to come in school. This kind of stuff is almost all beyond my taste experience (read: eaten very little, what little I had I didn't like), and it seems like a good idea to try and find good local places to try them first in order to have a starting taste memory to shoot for. Any suggestions? Pat

Christine Manfield, formerly of Paramount in Sydney, Australia, now East@West in the UK. http://www.christinemanfield.com/ Can't think of any on the boyz side at the moment... hmm. Pat

Ah, I forgot about the peanut butter! And in particular, trying to eat it before it dissolved too much into the poh veh. A chunk of peanut butter picked up with chopsticks, then dunked into some pork sung, then shoveled into my mouth with a bunch of poh veh was my idea of heaven as a kid. And yes, my parents are from Shanghai, though I'm US born. We were only allowed to speak Shanghainese at home, though nowadays mine is very rusty from lack of practice. Pat

The Takoyaki Dome?! Damn, how cool is that! My conversation partners have promised to host a takoyaki party next time they are both in town, can't wait, I love them. What about food served at プロレス (puroresu/pro-wrestling) or K-1 fighting arenas? The stadium where the Seattle Mariners play does have a stand that serves sushi rolls, thanks to the influx of Japanese fans following Sasaki, Ichiro, et al. Vietnamese bahn mi sandwiches too. But otherwise, it's the same hot dogs, peanuts, beer, etc. Pat