Wholemeal Crank

Had some barely green tea at a Chinese restaurant last night. It was surprising to see a teapot with teabags with some bright green tea in them being used to pour my refill. Mist have been too dilute to get bitter. Big red robe oolong today.

Yes. It was so good that I ordered a lot of it. I've for several months left at present rates of consumption, depending o m how much I can bear to part with as holiday gifts...

Starting the day with more diamond tie Guan yon from norbutea. So nice to wake up to this one.

2007 White bud sheng puerh from norbutea.com. I drink this tea only perhaps once a week, and every time I fall in love with it again-- sweet, smoky, fruity, exceptional.

I'm not going to be near my cookbook shelf agAin for about a week, so this is an estimate..... I have culled my books regularly, so of those I've had more than about 5 years, the two or more recipes should be about 90% of the cookbooks. Of those I've had less than 5 years, it drops to probably 20 or 30%, because I tend to cook less from recipes these days, and cook less often overall; and I still count a book a succrss if opening it reliably leads to something yummy being made, even if it's because I have invented something inspired by a recipe or discussion in that book. Since I've slowed the get-cook-cull cycle a lot, then, I'm probably down to 50 or 60 percent of those on the shelves now. But will verify when I get home.

Yes, especially with tomatoes, lemon, and garlic, served over quinoa.

Today, for the first time in a month or so, a mix of rishi 'snow bud' with 'peach blossom' white teas. The plain 'snow bud' cuts the too-strongly-floral peach blossom beautifully. After so much aromatic and floral new style oolongs and pouchong, it was a nice change of pace.

Cookbooks that lead to happy cooking experiences--whether directly from their recipes, or consistently lead me to riffs that are productive--get to stay on my permanent shelf for browsing and use. I get to know and trust the authors. I use the library to 'test drive' books, check out used book stores, and lately just buy some based on reviews by people I trust. I don't expect all of them to be permanent acquisitions. Those that don't get opened often enough, or lead to interesting ideas, get recycled to the library donation bins or used bookstores for trade. I grew up with someone who reads and collects cookbooks, and I saw the gradual encroachment of hundreds, now thousands, of books on tables, floors, and hallways. I vowed that my cookbook collection would have to earn its keep. I would get rid of books that weren't being used regularly, that might be full of nice recipes but just not quite what I prefer to make, and I would not feel guilty about getting rid of them. My current collection has expanded a bit of late to three shelves at 48 inches plus another foot encroaching on a 4th shelf, in part because I have been buying more than cooking lately, and not culling as often as I should. Still, over the years, I have traded in at least as many as I have kept, and some good ones have gone back, because they're just not the right fit for me. The internet is a good starting point for recipe ideas, but the signal to noise ratio is very very low for the kind of cooking I like to do.

I'm really more a baker than a cook, going back to the very first book on the list here. Started out baking cookies from the family index card file--most from cookbooks mom got before her wedding. I used those, but just for recipes I already knew. The first cookbook I went adventuring in was Farm Journal's Cookie book--those browsings led to some great discoveries, and some not so great; but the abundance of different people's takes on the same basic recipe got me started on the idea of reading recipes with an eye to comparing them, and learning to anticipate flavors/textures from particular ratios or ingredients, key lessons that I use now to create new recipes of my own. The Laurel's Kitchen Breadbook--opened up the idea of whole grain without compromise of texture or flavor, with a goal of good taste, not just 'healthfulness' that so many other whole-grain cookbooks made the main focus. I was already milling my wheat, and this book helped keep me on track. The Breads of France by Bernard Clayton--I treasure it not so much for recipes I use over and over (though there are a few) as for the idea that limited ingredients used with diverse techniques can yield an infinite variety of results. The Greens Cookbook--the introductory chapter about stocks is tremendous, giving principles for the use of different vegetables in stocks that are as useful to meat stocks as vegetable stocks. These are base recipes I still use today for my vegetable stocks, and they make my soups, meat based or otherwise, stand out from the ordinary; and other recipes introduce the idea of separately cooking ingredients to be combined later, which has vastly improved some of my cooking. Flatbreads and Flavors--has an amazing diversity of recipes and ingredients: searching out exotic spices (e.g., mahleb) and learning to use them has really added interest to my cooking; it also gave me confidence while working with breads that aren't all about oven spring; and I still have more favorite recipes per page than any other of my cookbooks. It's the only one whose spine is really broken from heavy use. The Complete Book of Spices by Jill Norman--is a well illustrated and remarkably comprehensive little book. I got it because it talked about spices I could find no information on in many another similar book, the mahleb I mentioned above, and it in turn led me to using whole mace and cassia buds and szechuan peppers and especially long peppers, going well beyond the basic supermarket spices. I have a longer version of cookbooks and why I keep them on my web site here (no adds, just me rambling on)

More earthy oolong today--traditional style Anxi Ti Kuan Yin. Feels just right for gray weather and persistent bit of cold.

Really seeing a difference between the grades now?

Does that look like a tea shop, or like an antiques shop? This was more furniture and art, and I only noticed the teapots after I crossed the street to look into their window.

The tea shop was Palais des Thes Le Palais des Thés, Paris 6th 61, rue du Cherche Midi 75006 Paris I think the chinese shop was along the same route, but have no particular recollection of the name, and whether it was on Cherche-Midi, Vaugirard, or a street between those and my hotel.

I stayed at the Le Meridien Montparnasse, across from the Gare Montparnasse, and mostly walked between that and the river, with side trips to explore the local area a litte more, mostly heading west and north. I do not remember where that shop with chinese things including a couple of teapots was; I do not remember tea being in the name of the shop, but just that I saw two small, simple unglazed teapots with chinese characters on them in the window. I did not step into that store. The other shop iu remember as something like Palais de Thes, as I passed it several times going between Hermes shop on rue Vaugirard and Poilane's boulangerie on Cherche-Midi, so it was on one of those streets. It was all tea and tea stuff, no sign of antiques. I may have gotten the name wrong.

Could do that, but wanted to see if there was already one someplace that I hadn't recognized, since these forums are rather particular about keeping threads in certain places.

I am still getting over a cold, it is overcast and a bit chilly today, and I've been drinking that very sweet and aromatic Tie Guan Yin all week, so this morning I'm having some Big Red Robe for a refreshing contrast. Nothing more perfect for a gray morning.

I would like to report back on my food experiences in Paris, but don't want to 'hijack' the topic with more unwelcome drift. Is there a better place to put a general report, not just restaurants, but impressions of everything food-related?

I did step into a couple of tea stores, including Le Palais de Thes (may have gotten the spelling wrong), and one shop with a very beautiful selection of japanese teawares in another neighborhood, mostly to browse the tea wares rather than to buy tea. There were some beautiful things, euro-style and japanese, but didn't see anything obviously chinese except two probable yixing in what I think was a shop for chinese antiques--and those were 40-60 euros apiece. The teas themselves appeared to be quite expensive, so I decided to invest my limited time and capital on buying chocolates instead. I did have a cup of tea on board my Air France flight, and it was a rather dilute european style tea that actually was quite nice, not bitter or astringent really at all. And I bought an electric kettle at Monoprix to brew my Tie Guan Yin in the mornings at my hotel.

Enjoying a 2nd pot of the Tie Guan Yin today, and feeling sad that I did not bring a lesser tea with me, because right now I have a cold and am not nearly appreciating this one as it deserves. Sigh.

Brought a package of the 2009 Spring Diamond Tie Guan Yin with me on my trip, drinking it daily. Will be ready for a change of pace when I get back home.

Only one more time so far, still haven't found the chocolate in the flavor of the liquor yet.....I really love chocolate so would love to find a tea that combines two favorite interests.

There really is no one perfect bread book. The best thing for a new baker is to get at least one that feels friendly to you, and gain some confidence, then read a bunch of books and realize just how flexible and adaptable bread is. For a serious kitchen novice, I like to recommend Brother Juniper's Bread Book, because it celebrates the bread in such a welcoming way. And Beard on Bread made kneading seem fun rather than intimidating. For someone who has made some bread, but may have had some disappointments when their loaves came out a bit mishapen, Flatbreads and Flavors demonstrates the wide variety of breads that can be delicious even if they don't rise to perfect domes--and it's still probably my one bread book for that apocryphal desert island, because it includes stuff no one else does, and a lot of what i bake and eat regularly--biased towards single-serving breads that freeze well--still comes out of it. I discuss bread books I have known at more length here on my food pages (no ads, just opinions).

Is the banko glazed? Just wondering how it might be affecting the flavor--different adsorption to the surface? Surface to volume ratios? And on a related note, is there any reason not to use a gaiwan for brewing the Japanese green teas?

I went shopping this evening, and discovered a new teavana store in my local mall. Would have just walked by if not for this discussion. Lots of different teas, but not clear what grade of which ones. Are the teas you're discussing here herbal or flavored black or green teas?

A little, yes! Seriously, I'm pretty much done with the buying spree for teawares and teas for a while. I have I have a nice selection of puerh that will keep a while, have found several oolongs I'm really enjoying, but most others (the black, green, and white/yellow) are being purchased in smaller quantities, including a raft of 1 oz or less samplers that have been very helpful. So the tea collection *is* a bit over the top at the moment. But, the tea group at work is expanding a bit (I am sharing the daily brews with 2-4 people at work), so I'm often filling the 1-quart thermos twice a day. Also, I'm using a bit more leaf as my comfort with brewing the different teas increases. I'll be more selective about the ones I replace after they run out, having used this 'spree' to better explore the available spectrum. But I won't be bulk brewing gyokuro or dan cong oolong for the thermos! And some people are getting tea for christmas. And hey, no calories!