Milagai

what do people think of tallulah in chapel hill? we haven't been there yet... milagai

gosh! where DO these speci"men"s come from? the worst i encountered were neanderthals who didnt lift a finger to help and goggled in amazement when i flat out asked them to do something. obviously disappeared rapidly from my horizon... but the rest of you have some astonishing war stories. my family consists of saints and angels apparently ... milagai

my family story is very similar to anzu's. hvae you seen gurindar chadha (bhaji on the beach)'s movie on all the different thanskgivings? got great reviews..... also, my family being veg, and hating bland food, can't do most of the "traditional" (great point whoever made about it being so dependent on20th c food industry mass products) stuff. so we take the ur-american ingredients - beans, corn, squash, pumpkin, (no tobacco, sorry), tomatoes, peppers, etc. and make whatever with them. one year it was veg chili, corn bread, and and the other veg into sides another time it was sri lankan wattakka curry (pumpkin stew) served in a hollowed out pumpkin, with the other stuff as different sides, etc along the same lines. general curiosity: sweet potatoes are so great made in different ways, WHY did they ever get turned into that abomination called candied yams, and WHY (squared) is that so popular? milagai

that's indeed too bad..... ethnocentric editors.... milagai

Honestly not trying to be argumentative, or to try influence anyone else's food habits BUT: 1. did you see the PBS episode of frontier family where the family guy grew (in his opinion) so thin and gaunt and weak when the family ran out of meat and he had to eat beans, that he insisted on calling in a modern doctor... The doctor came onto the set and pronounced him to be extremely healthy, at a healthy weight and muscle tone. Doc said that people were so accustomed nowadays to the overfed look that they often "saw" emaciation where there was none.... (I am not saying real starvation does not exist; it did, and still does AND can be relieved by veg as by animal diet) 2. Most of your examples derive from cultures where the notion of a vegetarian diet perhaps never existed. (Though was it not Pythagoras who advocated being vegetarian?) On the contrary there are examples of cultures where vegetarian diets have been around for literally thousands of years. It's not a recent development. And your level of starvation or health did not depend on whether or not you were vegetarian, but whether or not you had enough resources to get sufficient food..... And people HAVE developed a discourse of compassion towards other animals for thousands of years in Asia...... 3. People ALWAYS have chosen what is acceptable or not to eat.... Historically in Europe, dogs weren't eaten - except maybe in times of extreme famine. Why do you eat the family chicken on Sunday and not the family pooch? So, what's your point really? enjoy your food choices, and let the OP ask their question .... Milagai

i don't think this is really poetry, but certainly is speaks to the emotions and draws the most beautiful word-pictures. from the pillow book of sei shonagon: 29. Elegant Things: A white coat worn over a violet waistcoat. Duck eggs. Shaved ice mixed with liana syrup and put in a new silver bowl. A rosary of rock crystal. Wisteria blossoms. Plum blossoms covered with snow. A pretty child eating strawberries. hmmm. does she mean only to look at, or is there any eating involved? milagai

does it have to be ground mustard from a bottle? i use black mustard seeds nearly every day in the south indian home cooking i do.... and sometimes grind some in a small food processor for specific dishes... the bottle stuff i use mostly for sandwiches... milagai

to the op: woo! how can I entice you and your spouse to my place to wash my after-party dishes? i'll feed you great grub of course! milagai

no, I said I don't see why it is a substitute for garam masala, it is a poor substitute for cloves, IMHO. With all that eugenol (65 - 90%) I can't see how anything else would be detected, flavourwise. see Spices, Gernot Katzer Garam masala would have to have substantial amounts of cardamom and cassia, and a dash of mace as well. If you just added allspice, you would get a hint of clove flavour, that is all. The name allspice was given way back in history, and the name has stuck, it is not a modern suggestion that it is a substitute for 'mixed spice', garam masala, or whatever. cheers Waaza Waaza: i am very aware that the name allspice is misleading and it's not really a sub for garam masala! and allspice is not just clove tasting, it is definitely clove plus. like i said, in a pinch, blah blah milagai Suresh, how do you add your star anise to your desserts? do you extract it? ←

and what's wrong with kitschy decor if the food is good? and re "greater audience" not being adventurous with food, in this day and age, in an "educated" place like the triangle, such attitudes are beyond pathetic. .... i have food likes and dislikes too, but i see them as being my own shortcoming than dismissing an entire (yummy) cuisine..... the triangle has such a diverse population that what is considered "the common palate" might be much wider than assumed, and your audience will likely reflect that.... have you actually received feedback as a writer that you need to narow your spectrum? milagai

I was raised non-vegetarian, by scientist parents who overturned generations of vegetarian tradition in favor of what was deemed healthy at the time. and I have changed right back to being veggie, for similar reasons. my family is now veg (DH, self, 2 kids) because mainly i cannot see any good reason to return to eating meat, other than my own greed. and contrary to my parents' day, most of our health issues these days are due to over nutrition than under nutrition... and thankfully for my greed, the indian vegetarian cooking tradition, more than amply supplemented by those from other cultures, ensures that i will never be bored in many lifetimes. occasionally i even enjoy "fake meats" but there's more than enough options without those.... i have honestly yet to get bored ...... plus, the main thing to me is that the world population is now 6+ billion, and cannot be sustained on a meat-centered diet. estimates say how many litres of water and kilos of grain are needed to produce 1 kg of meat? and 1 kg of meat is one meager meal for 4 people whereas 1 kg of dal (or 1/2 kg dal and 1/2 kg rice if you are being picky) will feed family of 4 for about 3 meals). The rate at which we are overconsuming our resources, and daily hearing stories about overfishing of species, destroyng wetlands to construct shrimp farms, razing amazon forest to grow soy to feed cattle (not humans) etc. makes me sure that future generations are going to look back and say "what the %%^& were you all doing?!" (these criticisms can be applied to commercial large scale agriculture too, but it takes less plantbased food to sustain populations compared to animal based food) re value of life etc. the jain religion really has this worked out very well and very consistently: live according to ahimsa (non violence) and don't subsist by taking the life of sentient beings - they are not "placed on earth to be eaten"... so that rules out not only animals as food, but also take mice in humane traps, rule out widespread pesticides, etc etc. in jainism, the most spiritually advanced persons are encouraged and venerated for choosing the most consistent way to die: fast unto death (recognising that non-sentient life, plant life, is also equally valuable). but clearly this is not for everyone and even among jains this is hardly a common thing..... beyond extremely rare. a related query: why do veggies invariably get cautioned "oh, you must be careful to balance your diet" while meater c ounterparts who get almost no fruits, veges, or grain, don't get parallel cautions? and what was with anthony bourdain in the eg thread criticizing vegetarians for being self righteous and afraid to eat new "wierd" foods? i find that MUCH more among meaters, and i think veggies are much more open to international cuisines, different ingredients, etc... milagai

it's only me who does this. i don't think it's a widely accepted use.... and like i said, since garam masala recipes vary a lot and since allspice has a more complex flavor (not just one note), it sort of kind of maybe can substitute in a very great pinch.... like episure, i'll have to wait until the rest of the world catches on to this before suggesting it widely.... milagai

no idea if this helps, but occasionally when i've run out of garam masala, i sub allspice..... since there is a fair variation in recipes and flavors of garam masala, i can sort of get away with it... milagai

eh? does that mean you don't like ethiopian food at all, or that blue nile you think is not good? i can't claim to be very knowledgeable or a great conoisseur of ethiopian food, but the few times i've had it (e.g. in dc etc.) it's been fabulous! blue nile is one of the only places in the durham area to get any and it's not at all bad! they have a counterpart in chapel hill that's so-so in comparison.... why did the "companions" of the OP who didn't like blue nile dislike it? ethiopian food phobia, or a genuine critique of the specific restaurant? if the former, well, really...... that's no reason to leave it off your list! if the latter, do enlighten me? (i mean that sincerely) milagai ps: to fix your ethiopian food phobia, unless there is a raleigh area restaurant that i don't know about, try a trip to wash dc.....

[ is Blue Nile still around in the Lakewood shopping center? That should get on your list. Also Pao Lim (though people say the quality is erratic....) Sitar India Palace has a great weekend buffet with good South Indian food, though the Cary area restaurants (Tower, Suchi, etc. etc.) are a cut above... Milagai

Recently at a friend's house I ate grapes, with a yogurt + mint dressing. Really good, so simple. She said it was Greek (she isn't, I'm not,) but I want to know more? I could not find this on google at all. Any insights? Thanks in advance Milagai

Thanks Dejah. So many kids subsist (and I do mean subsist) on nothing more than processed food, a fate I didn't want for my son. Our household rule is that Noah must try everything on the table once; by try, I mean chew and swallow one bite. If he doesn't like it after that, then fair enough. But if a food that he doesn't like happens to appear on the table another day, he has to try it then too. That's how Noah developed an appreciation for roasted asparagus and roasted cauliflower: through repeated attempts. And I always remember to thank him for trying. ← I am the same with my children. They eat the same meal that I cook for myself and my SO. Same rules apply in my household that they need to take a few bites and if they do not like it, they do not have to eat it. Both of my children will eat it all the majority of the time. They are both seafood fans and love mussels, clams. lobster and crab and will eat most vegetables that I cook for them. I feel very fortunate to have such good eaters when I hear from other parents that their kids don't eat very well and will want to eat the same things over and over. BTW, great blog! I was fortunate enough to meet Joie and Ian, along with a few other egulleters on my trip down to Vancouver in April. I'm looking forward to getting down there again sometime......so many restaurants that I still want to try. Although I think that HSG will be a regular stop for me when I am in town. ← ITA with what both the above posters said. I've always maintained, and am now seeing with my own 2 kids, that the popular US notion that normal kids won't like veggies or "different" food is a myth. How you raise them makes all the difference in most cases. And the whole processed kid food and kid menu thing is an insult to children... Today's NYT has a related article: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/nyregion/09promise.html Milagai

I LOVE that, and am looking forward so much to it! Milagai (who needs no justification whatsoever to eat 6 times a day but would love to have one handy....)

To answer: no, this belongs anywhere! I just thought of it when on here ... Milagai

BTW, the possibilites with eggplant ARE endless. A few years back I started collecting recipes centered around eggplant. Got several hundred now, I would think, all the way from soup to sweet eggplant jam. ← wow! that sounds amazing! perhaps a cookbook from you one day? (said hopefully) milagai

ooohh 9 out of 10 scotsmen, i am soooo convinced, totally what was i thinking (where's the emoticon for 'slaps self on forehead') tell you what, as a sign of my absolute conversion to the cult of haggis, i will expiate my former heresy by sacrificing my share and that of my descendants unto the 19th generation to those 9 / 10 scotties. in return, send me all the indian desserts you don't like... that will be a very suitable penance, oh the horror.... milagai (not milagi)

surely you jest yes, animal offal stuffed into its paunch must surely be "way better" than milk, cream, sugar, flour, and cardamom milagai

Good point: I also overbuy at this time of year, from farmer's markets, but make tomato thokku, peach chutney, huge quantities of fresh salads that are quickly eaten, and all the rasam etc that I would use canned tomatoes at another time of year, I make now with fresh etc. Chutney, thokku, etc. I refrigerate fairly soon but again I push them till they get eaten... Dals etc. do get refrigerated. It's just the un-processed item that does not get refrigerated.... ps: I also don't refrigerate ghee.... With 2 young kids in the house it gets used up quite fast. Milagai

Actually, there is such an herb called curry leaves. I had no idea it existed either. This weekend on PBS, Indian chef and cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey was on an episode of Julia Child's last cooking series. During the show she cooked with curry leaves. In the U.S., she said they are grown in Florida. Turns out that the leaves are used quite a bit in Indian cooking and sometimes Vietnamese cooking, too. Go figure. ← curry leaves (murraya koenigii) are widely used in south indian cooking, but are never an element of "curry" powder, which most indian cooking rarely uses .... milagai

somewhere buried (p2) in this FDA document: http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/0...00282-vol20.pdf is the quote: ..." research into the effects of refrigeration on the growth of SE in eggs demonstrates that the natural antimicrobial characteristics of shell eggs will inhibit the growth of SE even when eggs are stored for several days or more at ambient temepratures..." (SE = Salmonella Enterides) I've heard informally ~ 7 days. Of course, if the shell gets cracked, all bets are off. OTOH: If the laying hen is infected with salmonella, it can get into the egg prior to shell formation. That way, the only way the consumer is safe is to cook the egg, refrigerated or no.... Milagai