Gul_Dekar

I was trying to say that heat & stress are bad arguments too! And I'm not saying women in the kitchen cant take the language and jokes, but just felt that it was put there (probably by men ) to try to alienate women. The fact that you say you've been ridiculed for your stance and what your Alsatian chef told you is exactly the point of my post. My Anthro prof would probably argue that the 'need' to ridicule women by men in kitchens has been 'naturalized', meaning we've always thought of it as 'proper' kitchen culture. And if by saying it wasn't an easy road gaining respect from you peers as a result of this hegemonic view, then I guess that backs up my point too. (Though I suppose anybody who started from the bottom, regardless of gender, wouldn't gain respect immediately as well.) However, I suppose I agree that a person (man or woman) needs to want to make it to the top before he can actually reach it. I just don't think this issue is strictly a gender thing though because I'm sure a great number of men don't make it to the top of their professions (restaurant trade included) because they don't necessarily do all that it takes to get there.

I'm actually writing a term paper that touches on this issue somewhat. While doing research, I came across a few articles that basically state that professional cooking historcially tried to remove itself from the domestic side of cooking as much as possible because that's how it distinguished itself. Women were thus less welcome to the professional kitchen because they symbolized the domestic (since women do most of the cooking at home). Personally I think there's some truth in it, because why else are professional kitchens so 'masculine'? You could argue that the heat, the stress and everything makes it inevitable that cooks have to be tough but then there are women in the army. Why the language then? I mean, there's no real need to have so much testosterone-charged discourse in the professional kitchen. Why do a lot of men in kitchen seem to wanna pick on women in restaurant kitchens? In most other jobs there'd be a lot of sexual harrassment suits involved but less so in the kitchen. So maybe it's not so much that women can't make it in the kitchen, just that there's (partly) an artificial barrier towards them getting in? Just a theory.

I was making some chinese soup with chicken feet the other day & simmered the soup for about 2 hours+. I stored it in the fridge after that & the next morning it became really gelatinous. I only used about 1 lb (there were 6 or 7 pairs of feet) for I'd say 4 1/2 quarts of water. That mean there's a lot of collagen in chicken feet right? Wouldnt it be good to use for making stocks?

Obviously this program is a win-win situation for Mr. Oliver, isn't it? If he succeeds, he'll be hailed as the TV chef that helped improve Britain's school dinners. If he fails, he'll still be seen as one of the 1st to try. He'll still have good run of publicity, gain the approval of concerned parents and will sell millions of copies of books as a result. But the fact is, he's a celebrity, and celebrities have a certain image they need to uphold in order to remain one. J.O.'s is the 'good boy' image, which is why he's done programs like this and 'Jamie's Kitchen'. I find nothing wrong with this, since it does ultimately help educate a certain portion of the population about the importance of kid's health. Quite on the contrary, I think using one's celebrity status for a good cause is commendable, whatever his real intentions may be. I mean there are celebs out there who use their status for far worse things. I guess i'm just trying to look at this from as unbiased a view as possible, though I suppose it's not really possible.

Nope, dont think so.

When I buy those chickens with head on, they already come gutted. I get a separate packet of gizzards + liver with every bird however.

I went to Sunny Meatmarket yesterday (Baldwin & Spadina) and they were asking people to help them sign petitions because the government was banning the sale of chickens with heads still attached. Does anyone else know more about this? And what would be the reason behind this alleged ban?

I actually tried the one above HSBC. (Are there two up there btw?) I went there really early once (8am) and the dim sum tasted a bit funny. My friends and I didn't feel to comfortable with the place. Maybe it's just a one-time thing... There's also a shop south of LCBO on Dundas (I forgot the name) that serves decent dim sum, and Bright Pearl which isn't too bad. I guess St. Lawrence Market would definitely be a nice place to visit if you haven't already.

I found the episode with Ming Tsai most interesting so far. The judges seemed more sensible in their comments & Jeffrey Steingarten was awfully quiet in this one.

BMV is nothing like the Cookbook store. For one thing, they sell non-cookbooks. SOme of the books look like seconds to me. They sell adult magazines/books and comics too. ← Granted, but you can't beat the prices! And most of the books I've bought look new to me. I check the store from time to time just in case a good deal comes along. It's mostly the really old titles that look like they're used. Also picked up quite a few good books from the discount book shop on Queen & Spadina. Sometimes it's just a slightly torn jacket and they slash prices from 40+ bucks to 10 (have 2 Marcella Hazan books cuz of this)! I don't mind the Cookbook store, but they hardly ever have books on sale that I can afford...so I don't go there very often.

How about Sanko's on Queen West? That place is good too. Actually I do a lot of my Japanese/Korean grocery shopping in Koreantown. The stuff there is cheaper than Little Tokyo and Sanko, although it might be easier to find certain specialty Japanese items at those shops instead of K-Town.

There are actually 4 of those supermarkets in downtown Chinatown. Hua Sheng is the one I usually go to (north of Dundas & Spadina on the east side). Across from it is Tai Kong. South of Dundas & Spadina on the same side as Hua Sheng is Hua Long and Asian Farm. Selection-wise, I personally think Hua Sheng & Hua Long have the greatest variety. However for seafood, I tend to go to Asian Farm (better organized) and Tai Kong (mussels at TK usually seem cleaner than the others). There's also a new poultry shop near the Chinatown LCBO called Sunny Meat Market that I frequent regularly. I like it cuz it's clean & has a lot of stuff (regular & free range chickens, duck, quail, pheasent, even overheard some pple ordering Christmas turkeys and raving about it..etc.). The shop librarian chef mentioned is called Tap Phong I think. It's sorta semi-restaurant supply & houseware + hardware store. Also agree with librarian chef about the supermarkets further up north being better than the downtown ones.

That name would be nice if it was a Chinese fusion place. 'Chow' in Cantonese means stinky/smelly.

I was just curious as to whether it really is disrespectful in the restaurant trade to address a fellow chef as "mister" instead of "chef". As far as I remember, the original show had challengers pointing fingers, slapping assistants so I thought that was worse.

Don't you trust the people in Vietnam to do what's best for them (assuming that's where you're talking about in terms of shrimp)? Perhaps the people in that country should be able to choose for themselves whether a major domestic industry will be farmed fish production or something more pernicious (like the sex trade in young children in certain Asia countries). Is your primary goal to protect the mangroves in Asia - or the good old boy shrimpers in the Gulf Coast of the US? Robyn ← I think the IMF, World Bank and the whole world capitalist system has a hand in all of this. The South American and Asian countries Cynical Chef mentioned don't all just dig up their mangrove swamps to do shrimp farming cuz 'hey, shrimp farming can earn me lotsa dough to buy a new Ferrari'. Part of the reason why these countries got involved in these practices in the first place is under the encouragement of the IMF et al. in order to repay their country's debt. Sure, some people in these countries might earn a bucketload out of the whole thing but the majority of the population ain't getting any richer. So in the end, a small proportion of wealthy businessmen in some third world country profit, the rest have to live with it, and people in the West get shrimp cheap. West enjoys pristine clean waters while rest of world gets to screw themselves. I just find it offensive that one would imply something like "shrimp farming is preventing child sex labour in certain Asian countries" because there is nothing further from the truth. And why does the dangers of salmon farming get so much coverage in the press yet shrimp farming not so much? Me thinks it's mostly because people in the West are directly affected by salmon farming but not as much in the case of shrimp.

I wholeheartedly agree. While I do sort of like learning how various spirits are made, there are only so many distillery shots I can take. Though it is mildly entertaining to watch him get plowed and the subsequent behavior (repeatedly jumping into the river in Cognac). Can someone please teach him how to pronounce foreign words? He's constantly butchering them. He was even worse as one of the color commentators on Iron Chef America, playing dumb sidekick to Alton Brown. ← Come on, give the guy a break. I like Kevin Brauch! I think it's partly the way he acts on the show that makes it entertaining for me. What I get from his behaviour on the show says to me,"booze & good times go hand in hand"... As to the not knowing his stuff, giving his own insight and what not, he was never an expert to begin with. He was just someone working in the TV industry. At least the show is fairly well researched and quite informative for the average alcoholic beverage consumer. I quite honestly think he was asked to play dumb a bit for Iron Chef America because he handled foie gras on TT, yet seemed like he had never seen it before on ICA. "middle Canada beer drinking hockey fan persona"? He's from Toronto. Who doesn't drink beer? And what Canadian doesn't like hockey?

Carp, I couldn't agree more. Who cares about watching "oil" (partially hydrogenated oil) and "sugar" (high fructose corn syrup) be dumped in to the same mixer and then onto the same converor belt over and over again. Then his cheesy jokes and pitiful smiles make me just want to never watch TV, let alone FN again. ← The fact that Unwrapped is "unwrapping America's favourite foods" is kinda disturbing, as one has to wonder where North American food culture is heading. I mean, I don't think it'd still be on air if there weren't enough Food Network viewers who watch it.

Yup, I cooked it on high with the lid off for most of the time when I was awake as per the recipe submitted by Marlene, Fifi & woodburner. & had more liquid to start off with than in the recipe anywayz.

Another person jumping on the onion confit bandwagon! Better late than never I guess. Started Fifi & woodburner's confit recipe on recipeGullet sans demi-glace but with about 2 cups of homemade chicken stock last night in my crockpot and achieved confit late afternoon today. Took the picture with my webcam, so pic quality's not too good. Just had it wrapped in lettuce as a snack. Delicious!

I was actually at all 3 signings. Jamie Oliver's not that bad, he seemed nice at the event. And I sorta learned cooking out of his book a year ago when I was still a clueless college student who moved out from residence to my own place. So I'm a little biased. Nigella was pretty hot for a 44-year-old mother of 2(?).......erm, I had no other reason for going. but the best was Mr. Bourdain's thing. I think A.B.'s was the least 'celebrit-ish' event. Not in a bad way, but more in the sense he was more down to earth than J.O. & Nigella. Anywayz, was just wondering if any1 knows about BMV bookshop next to World's Biggest Bookstore? They have cookbooks there real cheap! Saw Les Halles, Spoon Cookbook, Waverman & Chatto's Matter of Taste at REALLY discounted prices. They were all gone the next time I went though.

Another starving student here! Hope to have the chance to go there one day. At the moment will just enjoy it vicariously. Thanks Gordoncooks for the pics & descriptions.

Hmm...as far as I know nasi kuning is just for Malay events. Malaysian Chinese weddings are pretty much similar to how Chinese weddings are held around the world I think. The multi-course dinner format. And they're not referred to as kenduris. Although some Chinese of Fukkien dialect do use the Malay word for marriage, 'kahwin' in their speech when describing it. Perhaps I'm a bit ignorant (since I'm Msian I should know this stuff!), but I was wondering how are baba & nyonya weddings? Do they incorporate the elements of a kenduri?

Yeah, it was a pretty interesting session. Bourdain is a really great crowd pleaser I have to say, and pretty honest at it as well. Too bad I was half sober throughout the thing having to prep for my uni exams next week. Barely remember much of it now.

I used to be able to find fresh curry leaves at my local asian grocer but they stopped selling them for some reason. Was just wondering if the dried version is a good substitute for the fresh stuff? Thnx!

I'm an undergrad student doing life sciences (some Microbiology, Physiology and basic Biochemistry) and will be graduating at the end of the academic year. I've been considering pursuing a career that can combine my interests in both food and science together (considering grad school as well). So I was just wondering what kinds of careers are open to someone who wants to apply scientific knowledge to the food industry? Thank you.