whippy

i secured a couple bottles of feni exported to california--somebody (can't remember who, but thanks!) provided a link earlier. it's fragrant for sure, but more lycheewise than sockwise. atypical??

i followed a link from freegan.info to a USDA report published in 1997 here it found that in 1995 approximately 96 BILLION pounds of edible food in the U.S. was lost to human consumption. that represents fully 27% of available edible food! the USDA reports that: "on average, each american consumes about 3 pounds of food each day. if even 5% of the 96 billion pounds were recovered, that quantity would represent the equivalent of a day's food for each of 4 million people." i think this is pretty interesting stuff, and it seems to be at the heart of what the freegans are getting at. whether or not the freegans are simply co-opting such a finding to "justify their laziness" is beside the point (for me at least) in consideration of the bigger picture they're highlighting: hungry people/wasted food.

i don't see the issue as being so black and white. what these folks are doing is creating a humorous-but-serious critique of overconsumption. is it really such a bad thing to criticize wasted food in a world where people go hungry? i think the freegan websites are funny. while they won't entice me anytime soon to sup from a landfill (which is a livelihood for folks all around the world) i can allow that others might choose to do so. i could even maintain a friendly relationship with them.

i don't know, i think the idea is gross but i appreciate lives led differently than my own. if people want to enjoy the liberty of eating garbage, why should my values preclude that?. . . over the years, i've employed a number of young people who have worked very hard to work very little. i employed one guy who limited the number of his showers because he didn't want to pay for water (no, he didn't smell.) i've had to require that all employees have working phone numbers. in most cases, their thinking tries to reject an earn money/spend money cycle. yup, a lot of these folks are vegans (and musicians!). they haunt thrift stores, some dumpster dive, some couch surf. all of them have been registered to vote, though i doubt if many have filed their taxes. it's always been a treat to seduce a vegan into carnivorousness. (use bacon, folks--if you're going to win a vegan over, the best way to do it is with bacon.) i suppose tempting the virtuous in this way isn't very nice of me, but better than calling people names.

i think understanding the laws of your state regarding business entity continuity and employment is the place to start. for both you and your employees. probably, once you've looked over what the legalities of the situation are--you will feel much more comfortable deciding what "personally" to do. all this sort of info, in my state oregon, comes from one agency.

i was waxing rhapsodic on the wonders of jhal muri to a friend the other day. "what's in that?" he asked. i went through the rundown of the recipe i used, puffed rice, jaggery, tamarind, crispy noodles, potatoes, chilis, mustard oil etc. "it's so good," i said. "doesn't sound good," he said. "mixing all that together." guess i'll have to whip up a batch and show him the magic.

i think there are a couple of restaurants in there that really have no place being in the "top 100." first is bombay cricket club, of which this preposterous hyperbole is produced: ". . . everyone knows this is one of the best and most comfortable spaces in the entire Northwest to sample semi-casual Indian fare." huh? there are several joints in the entire Northwest--well, actually, even just in portland--wherein one might "sample" better Indian. probably, though, the reviewer hasn't done his basic homework and surveyed the competition. or maybe he just doesn't know anything about india or indian cooking. . . who knows? light reading.

one of my favorite seasonal combos: sauteed pumpkin with big, fresh pomegranate seeds! a bit of jaggery, garlic, chilis, yum! oh yeah! this one's for you, episure, from "the cocktails of the ritz paris." 5 parts pumpkin juice, 4 parts maker's mark bourbon, 1 part lemon juice, sugar and fresh mint. lovely drink, this.

i wrote a long diatribe about this, then didn't post it at the last minute cuz i thought i was going off! THANK YOU sisters and brothers! i'm glad i'm not alone. it strikes me that most of our food writers are journalists first--and food lovers second. well, maybe third or even fourth. most of the time, we people over here know about and care about food and dining a great deal more. even from the recognized roger porter i get the sense that food for him is a hobby and not much more. when you listen to some of the reviewers from 'big cities' talk about what they do, they often complain about what a pain it is to go out every friggin' night. as though it's serious work. i get the sense that the food reviews in puddletown are rather viewed by our local staffers as perks (free dinner!). can't they just hire a professional? instead of farming it out to whoever's around? (elizabeth dye? why hire a fashion writer to talk about cuisine? i couldn't tell you much about sewing.) etc. p.s. if karen brooks (oregonian) writes another press release for clarklewis i think i'm going to shit myself.

there's a great new grocery here in pdx! for the moment, we can get fresh tindora, methi, pooi, turmeric, etc. finally found some dried kachri to experiment with. enjoyed a tasty khus-sicle. and perchance, thalippu vadagams: THANKS for the recipes and ideas Geetha!

never been to baroda, so i can't offer an opinion, but-- --have a great trip! eat well, eat often and let us know about it! a whole month! you lucky dog.

the new cooking school?

to be fair, the recipe in question does suggest that lamb mince makes an acceptable substitute.

the translation of tej patta into english as bay leaf may cause confusion for some cooks. the bay leaf most americans/europeans are familiar with is the mediterranean Laurus nobilis. (i didn't find an indian language name for this herb; my understanding is that it isn't used much??) the bay leaf of india (hindi tej patta) is Cinnamomum tamala. the herbs are related and similar, but different enough (to me at least) to warrant drawing the distinction (in situations where this confusion might arise.) camellia panjabi, for instance, calls for tej patta, and not the mediterranean laurel leaf, in her 50 great curries cookbook. do you think it matters? do you use the mediterranean bay leaf in your indian cooking?

yow! i just went out and got it. the photography and food styling are incredible. absolutely lush colors and lovely compositions. the coorgi vegetable puff! the fava beans! the chicken cooked in fenugreek leaves! ex-citing! thanks for the tip. can't wait to cook from it. the partridge recipe calls to me.

who's the other? seems like i should know this.

i like msg and do not avoid it. it makes food taste and feel good. could a little bit hurt me? from the anti-msg faction, msg can cause: sure sounds scary. all that swelling. and rage. oh! and shuddering!

sleepy dragon and worm@work have discussed this a bit over in the india forum. look in the pinned topics under restaurant suggestions.

i asked duane once and he told me they used hershey's, i think. i must've given him a funny look, cause he said: "it's what i grew up with." (i'm not a hershey's fan. ) they put in two separate syrups? what sorta syrup do you buy at the indian grocery?

there was a time (not so long ago ) when the only curry leaf i could buy was dried. i clearly remember being excited at my luck when my "international grocer" rummaged in the back and produced a baggy of thin brown leaves. they had a trace of fragrance. but it was enough to inspire hopeful, if uninspired sambar. i thank my lucky stars that there are now at least two stores within 5 minutes that usually have curry leaves in stock.

i'll give it a try! i was making goofy tamarind coladas my first go around--the salt rather ruined them. edit to fix bad quoting job

i tried a tamarind concentrate once and found it overly salty. using block tamarind is easy and sometimes better. all you have to do is soak the tamarind in some hot water and then squeeze away, discard the seeds and strings. (maybe twice.) whatever you don't use you can freeze. it's not as much trouble as you might think because you can get a big yield from a single task. if you're still stuck on uses, think lemon.

ranjit rai in his tandoori cookbook suggests using a romertopf as a sort of makeshift tandoor. i haven't tried this, but maybe your recipe would also work this way? if you do try it, i think i'd want to marinate the salmon longer, or try to use fattier pieces, or baste with ghee to keep things moist.

the main reason i mix my own masalas is that is helps me develop my general skill with seasoning. on the other hand, i suppose i wouldn't need any skill with seasoning if i'd just open a box of readymade. actually, that's not totally true. the main reason i mix and grind my own spices is a reaction to the not-so-great convenience foods of my american childhood. i don't think i ate a fresh green bean, for example, until i was seventeen. i regularly use MDH chaat masala; but while my rational side believes in the crinkly silver liner, my superstitious side is still troubled by the ease and convenience. i mean, if i'm already cooking with readymade spices--why not just boil a cube steak in a can of cream of mushroom soup? luckily this isn't a problem in portland anymore, xmsg! you can buy small quantities of cheap spices (and all the readymades you want ) at India 4U, for example, on hawthorne. the turnover's great.