Sandra Levine

When I was growing up, the steak place near the station was called Pete Lorenzo's. Marsilio's a power place? Wow! It used to be a family red-sauce place, very homey. Maybe it still is. You're making me homesick.

Yes, the higher temp in the big oven; the lower temp in the toaster oven for smaller quantities. (But, it depends on your oven, too.)

Deconstructed pizza: A quart of heirloom tomatoes, quartered, seeded and tossed in a bowl with prosciutto-mozzarella pinwheels, fresh basil and olive oil and eaten with a baguette.

I break apart the cauliflower into florets and slice each floret lengthwise into pieces about 1/2 inch thick or thinner. I toss the sliced florets with some olive oil and spread them in one layer in a jelly-roll pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast at 350 - 375 degrees F. for about 20 minutes, turning once to allow both sides to brown.

Baguettes are better, bagels are worse.

Jaffrey and Sahni agree, so it must be so. I bought the oil at the Indian spice store, Dowel, on First Avenue just south of East 6th Street.

I bought a bottle of mustard oil yesterday. It is a deep golden color with a pungent, peppery aroma. I poured out a little to taste. It is fairly viscous, with a pronounced, mustardy bite that lasts in the throat for quite a while. Madhur Jaffrey, in World of the East says that the sharpness dissipatesu upon heating and the oil develops a sweeter character. I'm planning to use it this week to make fish and I'll report back.

Reading those threads is what inspired the questions.

Mustard oil keeps showing up all over the India board. Is it a flavored oil, or, as I suspect, oil pressed from mustard seeds? Does it have a mustard flavor? I am intrigued. I like to spread fish with prepared Dijon mustard before broiling it. I remember seeing a post (by Simon?) about frying fish in mustard oil, but I haven't been able to locate it. Can someone fill me in, please? What other uses are there for mustard oil? As Waverly Root pointed out in The Food of France, much of the character of an area's cuisine is determined by the type of cooking oil used. I believe this is true in India, as well. You mentioned that mustard oil is used in the north, for example. Does "ghee" properly ever refer to anything but clarified butter? (I have seen labels, saying "vegetable ghee." What other oils are regularly used? Are certain oils preferred in certain regions? Are certain oils used for certain foods?

From the introduction: "What's not here? Plants that play primary roles as seasonings...sprouts..because of their sheer number...because they are almost all used in salad...Nor will you find some of the most common vegetables or vegetables already well represented in many other books: bell pepper, cabbage, corn, tomatoes, lettuces and other familiar salad greens and spinach. If I could not discover something fresh to say about a vegetable, then it's not here."

I hear you and understand, but don't you think that when the British first developed "curry powder" they thought they were making garam masala?

What brand of curry powder do you use Sandra? I enjoyed the chicken salad thread greatly. I don't happen to have a jar of curry powder on hand at the moment, but I usually buy Spice Islands, or McCormick. I buy, "mild" because that allows me the greatest latitude. I can always add pepper if I want to. I agree with you completely that it is nothing like garam masala, but there can be an overlap in the type of spices in both. Anil and I seem to be thinking of the curry powder "origins," not the actual substance. I'm sure, for example, that the spices are not toasted before they are ground. I don't think of "curry powder" as remotely Indian, but, rather a spice mixture, probably English in origin, made with spices that are also used in India that imparts a certain taste. I thought of one more dish I use it in, a quick soup. Sometimes I'll cook asparagus and a some onion in chicken broth, puree the whole thing, add just a little bit of curry powder and cream and serve it chilled. You don't want to be able to actualy indentify the spice mixture. It's embarrassing to admit using it, but since there are others on eGullet who admit to eating White Castle burgers and worse, I've decided to come clean. I'm sorry this question turned up on the Indian board, because I think it is a big mistake to think of it as Indian. I can see how a naive person might get a completely mistaken notion of Indian food because of the name. You will note that I make only three dishes with it. You have to be careful, because it can make everything taste the same.

I have a jar of curry powder and I use it to make curried chicken salad, (discussed on another thread) which is not by any stretch of the imagination, an Indian dish, but would not be the same without curry powder. I never use commercial curry powder when I cook Indian food, but make my own masala. I use it for another non-Indian dish: I mix it half-and-half with flour and dip slices of fish fillets in it before sauteing in butter. This is actually pretty good. I finish it by de-glazing the pan with lime juice and sprinkling the fish with chopped coriander. Curry powder, as Anil has pointed out, is a simply a pre-mixed garam masala.

This thread is positively poetic Thank you, all, even if I never make almond milk or candied rose petals.

How long do you give it in North America? Food fads have a very short lifespan. There was a time when every other store on Lexington Avenue was a flavored popcorn place; then, it was chocolate chip cookies (or were the cookies first?)

Jersey girl. Mark, you beat me to it.

These are muscat grapes. The best.

It's pretty though.

I regret that I was at work all day and could not participate more in this interesting thread. What I was trying to say is that while I can improvise in French and Italian cooking, read a recipe and know beforehand that something is wrong, correct the seasonings if a dish I'm making does not taste right and make a decent approximation of something I've had in a restaurant, or just decide to cook a dish and wing it. When it comes to Indian cooking, as much as I love it, I cannot do any of these things. All I can do is plan a menu and follow recipes. I suspect that if I had grown up in India or lived there as a child I would be able to really cook Indian food. I follow the recipes very well and can produce (she said modestly) a very acceptable Indian meal. But, I can't be creative. It is like language. Even if I could spend a year in India studying cooking, I suspect I would still cook with an "accent." When do you want to go, Jaymes?

YES! The straw makes you feel like a kid in grade-school with peashooter.

This issue has been on my mind for a while now. I love Indian food. I cook Indian dishes, too, but always using recipes form one source or another. But, I am unable to improvise a dish that I have any confidence in, although I am able to cook respectable Italian or French-style homestyle food out of my head. Perhaps total immersion would help, but that is not practical at my stage of life.

Although it is a pleasant scented American-style long-grain rice, it can't compare with authentic basmati rice from India. True basmati is longer, finer, less starchy and even more fragrant.

Quattros comes to the Union Square Greenmarket (Liza, what days?)

Yes, I've had it. Like a sponge, it absorbs the dips and sauces eagerly. I love that soft crunch.

BTW, lemon verbena tea can very easily be made without recourse to a teabag. You can just put the dried leaves (amount to taste) in the cup and pour boiling water over them. At first the leaves rise to the top. When they eventually sink to the bottom, the infusion is ready to drink. The leaves do not have to be removed, since they stay on the bottom, out of harm's way, while you enjoy your tisane.