ludja

Good topic rancho gordo and one I've pondered myself. When I first moved out here I was very excited in hoping to discover a whole world beyond the east coast version of Tex-Mex that I knew. I've definately learned some--Cal-Mex burritos, carnitas, pork al pastor, some good chile rellenos, agua frescas and horchatas but it's fallen short of what I hoped for. Part of this may be that by reading Bayless and Kennedy (I've not been to Mexico... yet) I have a false impression of the variety that could be out there. Besides that though, I think I can independently tell if is a sauce is complex and interesting--and have had some good ones. Bland chile sauces are such an insult! I have found good small places down in South Bay for burritos and tacos. Even sopas and chile rellenos in some places. (And I do really like 3 Amigos also in Half Moon Bay). It's difficult though to find places with interesting sauces/choices on the menu. A pretty good place down in Silicon Valley (Mountain View) is Fiesta del Mar. I give it points for having some more interesting things on the menu--mexcian chicken soup, seafood soup, shrimp dishes, mole negro (ok), a special guajillo chile sauce. It is relatively expensive though and could be done better. Also agree on your Cafe Marimba assessment; used to enjoy it quite a bit the first few years it was open--both for the choice of items on the menu and the execution. Haven't been there in awhile to compare. Another place that was good but I think is now out of business was Casa Aguila on Noriega in the Sunset--it actually had a few different types of moles. In writing this though, I think I may not have put in enough legwork to find and test the best places in San Jose and in the Mission. I hope there are some recommendations from others for places that are out there-particularly places serving different types of dishes.

panna cotta or a coeur a la creme served with a dark chocolate sauce turkey mole garnished with sesame seeds pureed black bean soup garnished with sour cream or creme fraiche James Beard's Spring Onion Sandwhiches: (crustless white bread squares spread with mayo, thin slices of sweet or spring onion between, dip edges in thinned mayo and roll edges in poppyseeds rather than the usual parsley) If it's possible to have some dishes that are either white or black that would extend the possiblities. 'white' chez panisse-inspired salad: paper thin slices of mushrooms, fennel, season with s&p, evoo, lemon juice and shavings of parmesean.

So many favorites... Something I learned recently out of Jamison and Jamison's "A Real American Breakfast" (egullet-Amazon link) is a great scramble: Brown Butter Avocado Scramble. The basic idea is to blend eggs with some minced roasted garlic, cream, squirt of hot sauce, s & p. Then brown a good amount of butter in pan. Add eggs and softly scramble eggs. After slightly set, fold in bite-sized chunks of avocado and cook a little longer. Important not to overcook... these are decadent and wonderful. The nutty flavor of the butter and avocado is just great. Re: your reference to English breakfasts my Mom used to make us kippered herring cooked in the oven with cream, butter, s&p. (Don't know if this is really English as we aren't, but even as little kids we loved this.) I haven't made it in a long time though. Favorite breakfasts in N. Carolina were Country Ham biscuits and pecan waffles. Hmmm... and one of my other favorite breakfasts I've had at Cafe Pasqual's in Santa Fe a few different times-- Huevos Motolenos, a Yucatan specialty. Their version is two eggs over easy on blue corn tortillas served with black beans, sauteed bananas, feta cheese, peas, roasted jalapeno salsa and green chile sauce. All I can say is---it works!!! I haven't tried to recreate this at home yet. Mentioned this on the anti-Atkins thread re: favorite breads-- but I love fresh kipfel rolls in Austria with sweet butter and wild honey or apricot preserves. (I've never seen this type of roll here but would be overjoyed if I did). Well.... I better move along and let others share their favorites. Breakfast edited to add: That Spider Bread linked from the NY Times looks very good!

Thank you very much for the recipe Boris_A; it sounds very good; I love feta and this sounds like a great way to use it. Interesting to add baking soda (I assume) to this mix.

All the more reason, I say, to serve smaller cocktails. I'd much rather have several small, perfectly cold, frizzy when they need to be/silky when they need to be cocktails than one big one that will lose those important aspects over the 15 minutes it takes to drink it. My sentiments exactly; I really dislike oversized drinks served up. I often order manhattans and martinis (gin only); thanks for the tips here on asking for having them stirred. Amazingly I never thought to ask that and at many places get the frothy mix and ice chip treatment. Neither of these points have much to do with dry vodka martinis persay.... but then I was the one that was shocked a few years ago in SF that when I ordered a martini they assumed it was vodka! (we had a laugh to ourselves though thinking maybe we looked younger than we did. In retrospect it was probably that the barkeep was on the young side!)

Sounds delicious. Kind of like a savory strudel? (Sweet 'topfen' strudel made with farmer's cheese is one of my favorites). Is your recipe a little like this? banitsa recipe Do you agree with the cheese substitues or do you just use feta? Thank you...

The top layer of the cake is covered with a crisp caramel--that one quickly cuts into the apportioned pieces with a buttered knife before it hardens. So, one can then just lay these separated pieces on top of the cake (i.e. reconstructing the orginal shape). The 'fan effect' is to just put a small something (eg. roasted hazelnut, knob of chocolate buttercream) underneath the end of each caramelized piece near the outside of the cake (i.e. at the outside of each caramel slice). You can arrange it so that the hazelnut support is not centered at the end of the wedge, but rather off-centered a bit so that that the slice tilts. If you go around and do this for each slice and tilt each piece the same way you get a 'fan effect' with each of the caramelized wedges. It is just a possible visual flourish. Other potential 'garnishes' are to also pipe a ring of buttercream around the top edge of the cake and as mentioned above, can decorate sides of cakes with chopped, roasted hazelnuts. Can also pipe a small rosette of buttercream at the center junction of the caramel slices. Hope this description is understandable In any case, the cake will still be delicious and beautiful if you just let the cut pieces lay on top of the cake!

Yes, there is lots of overlap between the foods of Austria and Hungary and all the other countries of the old empire-especially in Burgenland and Styria. Most of the names I know are the Austrian ones... Thanks for posting the recipe! I guess the only other thing to mention is to make sure one uses "floury or mealy" potatoes for the mashed potatoes, i.e. russets (in the US) rather than waxy ones. And, as far I know--just potatoes that are mashed--i.e. no cream, butter, salt and pepper.... (Or as my Oma would say, 'mehlig erdapfel'.) Also to mention, these are often eaten as a meal, with perhaps just a soup to start off with. yum, yum. (I guess these types of meals would send shivers though an Atkins enthusiast. )

zaelic and chromedome recently made a good point on this other thread: favorite austrian and hungarian pastries Should point out that zaelic lives in Budapest.... home of the dobos torte. Some of my newer cookbooks like Rodger's "Kaffehaus" and Lang's "Cuisine of Hungary" have only six total layers. My older cookbook, Hess's "Viennese Cooking" has 8-12 thinner layers. In all cases, I believe the idea is to make the filling and layers about the same thickness. edited to add: cool tip middydd

Thanks for checking and correcting that Rachel. Confession; this was kind of a bait to see if I was doing it correctly... I feel dense here, I tried the second recommended method; i.e. the one that does not require knowing the specif url and egullet numbers. When I was writing the reply, I just went down to the bottom of the page and clicked on the amazon ad to get to the proper Amazon page, copied the link, then went back and pasted this in to the reply. What am I doing wrong??? (I should also post this in the egullet question thread...)

yes, yes, yes Also, Classical Southern Cooking by Damon Lee Fowler. (May need to take out of library though, b/c it is no longer in print.). I think Damon Lee Fowler is involved with the Souther Foodways Alliance; if you join maybe you could ask him if this will ever be re-printed!!! (seems like it should be). also, Expat Tarheel (Beat Dook!)

Very good point; thanks for the correction--to describe the cake in the first post I just quoted from Rodger's Kaffehaus--in which the recipe has six layers (one for the caramel). I've been happy to have this book to fill in from the much older cookbooks that I have, but 'authenticity' is still a question. Jogging my memory in eating them in Austria-six is definately way too few layers. My older cookbook (O. and A. Hess, Viennese Cooking) says 8-12 layers! It is nice to be able to buy pastries over there--when in Austria my Grandmother always buys pastry rather than make it (except for strudel/retes which she can whip out blindfolded and with one hand behind her back!). When my mom immigrated to the US, the only way we could still have those pastries was to make them at home. This is pretty cool. I've never seen anything like that in Graz where my relatives live. One baked good they do make 'on the street' are krapfen. (lenten yeast doughnuts). I grew up eating palatschinken and kaiserschmarren (?broken up sweet omelet soufflee? ) for dinners when my father was traveling for work and it was just mom and us kids or else on a meatless Friday. Mom has a sweet tooth and we loved it too. My grandma always make zwetschenknodel (potato dumplings filled with a plum, rolled in fried bread crumbs and sugar)---I know I would like the powidltascherl also. She also makes marillenknodel (more of a cream puff type dough filled with an apricot, rolled in fried bread crumbs and sugar). I've had 'regular' Mohn-Gugelhupf. i.e. where the poppyseeds are distributed all through the traditional gugelhupf yeast dough but this sounds like an extremely elegant version. I guess one would expect no less from Demel's... Thanks both for sharing your memories and expertise at the source; it's a topic I am very interested in but it is a difficult one to pursue in the U.S. (Give thanks to e-gullet!)

Thanks for the tip Malik; must check that out next time.

Welcome zaelic and thanks for your nice first post on pastries in Budapest! I hope you post on other Hungarian dishes as well. Just to add to this thread: One of my other favorite Austro/Hungarian tortes is a Malakoff Torte (vanilla spongecake layers moistenend with rum and filled with an almond buttercream and frosted with whipped cream).

Wow, this definately wins re: the recipe and the name. Absolutely foul!

Thanks for that great sounding recipe Boaziko. I have another middle eastern recipe based on a yogurt marinade that is easy and very good. The kebabs stay nice and juicy and I've made them many times. It is adapted from a recipe by Joyce Goldstein. for marinade combine: 4 garlic cloves 1 chopped small onion 1 Tbs paprika 1 tsp turmeric 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cardamom 1/4 tsp cayenne 4 Tbs fresh lemon juice 1 cup plain yogurt Cut chicken breasts and/or thighs into 1 1/2 inch cubes and marinate (up to 4-6 hrs for breasts and up to twice as long for thighs). Soak wooden skewers, brush chicken with olive oil, s & p and grill. (I've always made on grill; but can broil also). Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with lemon wedges. Make a nice pilaf to go with and some grilled zucchini!

I agree that there is something very special about the way the flavors come together--The six thin layers of vanilla sponge cake with the silken buttercream in between some how taste very different than other 'chocolate' cakes. And then the crisp caramel layer adds such a nice bittersweet touch.

Good luck middydd; it would be fun to see a photo! Thanks for the other sources; I also like to compare recipes. I will put this on my list for the next time I have enough people to eat it. Maybe I need to make up a reason!

Well...this discussion of Dobos torte made me want to browse through some of my cookbooks with Austro-Hungarian torte recipes and I found a recipe that also uses coffee in the filling (besides chocolate). Lots of great torte recipes in this book besides the Dobos (Beatrix, Malakoff Cream, Chestnut, etc). It's a pretty authoritarian book and even has a few page discussion on the history of the Dobos torte; so it is likely this is at least 'one' of the authentic ways to make it! George Lang's Cuisine of Hungary (egullet gets a break if you order through this link) Middydd: If you want the chocolate-coffee fillling just pm me. Also, Rodger's Kaffehaus shows a pretty way to decorate this spectacular cake: Put a roasted hazelnut under each cut slice of the top caramel cake layer near the outside of the cake. You get a nice 3-D effect with the caramel slice rippliing across the cake. And decorate the cake sides with finely chopped roasted hazelnuts. I am definately craving this cake now...

Thought of this thread when I read this article that Carolyn Tillie posted about Paul Wolfert and her new cookbook. The article has a recipe and some discussion for the following Catalonian dish: Fall-Apart Lamb Shanks with Almond-Chocolate Picada Paula Wolfert, "The Slow Meditteranean Kitchen" click

Viennese Eiskaffe (ice cold strong coffee in a parfait glass with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream on top; this is an extremely refreshing dessert in the summer). Haven't tried this, but I think a good Italian lemon soda (not too sweet) with vanilla ice cream would be great. edited to add: thanks for the link to the beer floats Susan in FL; sounds interesting!

Lots of great ideas above already for Florence, here are a few others: For Florence; I agree that the Bapistry is very special; even if the lines look forbidding, most people are not in there that long so it moves quickly. A 'smaller' item that is also very nice to visit are the Medici Tombs at San Lorenzo Church. Four beautiful sculptures by Michelangelo; it was not very crowded even in August. (Entrance is separate from chuch, on the opposite side of the church building as the front doors). The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo has a great selection of sculptures, paintings and other artwork including a great pieta also by Michelangelo. If you have time, it is fun to visit the food market (fruit, vegetables, flowers, meats, olive oils, etc) near the Mercato Centrale. If it is at all warm enough for gelato, visit Carabe on Via Ricasolli 60r (a few blocks north of Duomo). They have amazing flavors, apple, fior de latte, almond, etc. *I'm also a fan of the Cadogan guides; their book on Florence also includes Siena, Pisa and Lucca.* (as mentioned above, nice historical background along with the recommendations; walking tours, even if not slavishly followed, give a good idea of some city areas to investigate)

In Austria I've only seen thin spongecake layers used for the cake; likewise for recipes I have.

As far as I know, all the dobos torte I've had have had chocolate fillings. (I have a few recipes also and they are all chocolate). My Mom has always made a great one; in her recipe it is a simple chocolate buttercream enhanced with one egg yolk. It is adapted from Viennese Cooking by O. and A. Hess. Beat 1 1/4 cups buttter until creamy. Melt 4 1/2 oz semi-sweet chocolate (dark chocolate), Let cool slightly, then beat in 1 cup sugar and 1 egg yolk. Add chocolate mix to butter and beat until fluffy. Cool in refridgerator before use. Another recipe I have not yet made but which looks solid is in Rick Rodger's Kaffehaus. (And if you order through this link, egullet gets some $$$). This recipe is quite similar to that above, but with no egg. It has bittersweet chocolate, butter, dutch-process cocoa, confectioner's sugar and vanilla extract. I remember when my Mom made this cake for the first time when I was pretty young. She didn't pre-cut the caramel cake layer before it hardened! It was quite an operation to cut pieces of cake. This is one of my favorite cakes also. Good luck and post of pix of your creation here if you can!

The Banh Mi are very good at Saigon Sandwich; similar to the best at Tully Road in San Jose. Another idea is Thanh Long out in the Sunset (Judah and 47th). Re: public transportation; I think there is a streetcar line on Irving a block away---but the restaurant is is way west of downtown; a few blocks from the ocean. Not cheap but great dungeness crab, roasted or 'drunk'; their garlic noodles are fabulous. Other good stuff on the menu if you don't go for the crab. This may be a slightly fusion restaurant--but is has been owned and run by a Vietnamese familiy since the early 70's. They also own another restaurant downtown, Crustacean. I have not been there; I believe it is more 'upscale' but it may be worth checking out the menu.