godito

Yup, that's exactly the point. Not to make this personal, but I'm a non-smoker in Santiago, Chile. Here, you can't walk into a bar or a restaurant without running into smokers. But I can always avoid those places. Restaurants do have non-smoking areas and even though the bar-smoke in unavoidable, there are some with better ventilation. However, the servers and barkeeps can't really decide whether they want to go to work. I mean, is it so hard to go outside for a smoke? are we that selfish? Don't we want to stop to think about the people working there every day, six days a week? Even if they smoke themselves, it's not right to make them work in such am unhealthy workplace. As for the speakeasies... there are legal smoking rooms, where people go to somke cigars. I agree that this is only an attempt to avoid paying taxes. We have many such places here in Santiago, and yet we don't have any kind of drinking or smoking ban.

No, not every eatery in France is great or at least good. Some are pretty bad. But I agree with the original point in the thread. Food in many rural places of the world is better than food in rural America. It has to do with culinary culture. How much do you respect the food you eat and cook? How do you use seasonality? How trained is your staff (that includes back and front of the house). The french have a reputation of being rude. And in a way I think they are more... I guess the word is pedant. But my experience (and this is only MY experience) the waitstaff has regularly been friendly and/or efficient. Yes, they do think they are better than you, but they are honest workers and they've shown me respect whenever I had a chance to eat there. About Micky D's... you say that it's the biggest chain in France. It is, sure, but that's because chains are not really a french concept. How many french chains do you know? McDonalds might very well be the largest chain restaurant in the world. Also, I would be surprised to find them in rural france. They rely heavily on bistros and such. I also have to agree about food in rural areas being better than in Paris. Paris is a metroplis, much like (I don't want to say NY) ok, new york. I have never had good fried chicken in new york. But I've had terrific Indian, Chinese, Italian, etc. In Paris, the best meal I remember was Moroccan Cous Cous. The rest I can't even remember. However, in Europe, I find that when you are traveling, if you find a restaurant with a lot of people in it, it's usually pretty good. However, in America... well, that has not been the case in my experience.

I'm scared of the mandoline, although I use it a lot. Always with respect though. I also have a few scars. As for the garlic chips, there are some garlic slicers in the market. You can check one of them out here. I worked with one of them and it was wonderful. Keller has a recipe for garlic chips. He slices the garlic and then cooks it in milk three times, starting with cold milk, bringing to a boil, draining and rinsing with cold water every time. He then drins well with paper towels. He deep fries them and drains the excess oil in paper towels. My experience, your oil shouldn't be too hot. Let them brown slowly. Take them off the oil befere they achieve the desired browness as they will keep cooking (browning). We didn't do chips, but we did sauces with browed garlic slices: a little oil in the pan, cherry tomatoes and some garlic. When the slices began to brown on the edges, we added tomato sauce and basil. It was the sauce for gnocci. For the chips, I would also take the garlic out when the edges start to brown. EDITED to correct the link provided... by mistake I was adding the same one as Origamicrane... not very smart....

Arepas can be found in either Colombia or Venezuela. I will say that I'm not sure what the difference is between them as I've only had venezuelan arepas once. I'm nore familiar with the ones from Colombia. The recipe you have sounds good, except that the ones I had didn't use corn kernels. Regardless, it´s a good idea. Milk is added mainly for flavor. I've eaten arepas without milk and I even made arepa-tortillas (no milk) I know in Colombia they ear arepas like bread, for breakfast with butter and/or cheese. In Venezuela they stuff it or add toppings. I like both versions. As for any tips... let's see (runs to grab a couple of books) Norman Van Aken has a good arepas recipe. He doesn't freeze his, he just molds them with his fingers (he moistens them in water as he works) He also covers the dough (and the uncooked disks) with a moist towel. He uses this recipe: for 16 3-inch arepas: 1.5 cups milk 0.5 cups unsalted butter (melted) 1.5 cups arepa flour 1.5 teaspoons salt He also uses queso blanco to top the arepas when done. Hope this helps

I actually miss going to a fast food joint and not leaving with the feeling I've just been robbed of any flavor the food might have actually had... I miss good burgers...

I wish I had a guide to soaking times... I can only help you with shiitakes, even though you have those covered. However we used to soak them in cold water overnight. The "shroom-water" was potent and tasty. We used it as stock. As for almost every other mushroom I've run across, I soak them in lukewarm water for 1-3 hours and always keep the water (even though I sometimes don't use it)

I think that ICJ had great chefs that knew how to feature a particular ingredient in their preparations. I never saw the milk episode, but the shows I remember all had ingredients that shined after the chef delivered the plates to the judges. Pizza Dough? For Real? I mean you can stuff it or you can make pizza. What will be the challenge, then. Better toppings? Better garnishes? I mean, maybe the cooks will prove me wrong and be really creative, but they have little room to work with. Thumbs down to the idea. I mean, c'mon, they're trying to americanize the show with "traditional" american food (pizza and burgers)..., but isn't the americas the home of corn, tomatoes, chiles and potatoes? Who's producing the show? Will people really rather whatch what they're offering?

I guess they were setting the tone when Bobby Flay beat Chef Sakai with... fish tacos. I don't think I will be watching this one. Shame on food network, corrupting the Iron Chef franchize.

I was just a little kid, so I can't remember which of these came first, but it was either: 1. marble cake, which I still make... I'm sure the one I make today is a lot better 2. some form of bread, mixing water, salt and flour, which, according to one of my friends, was how you made home-made plastiline. I do remember the bread being hard as a rock.

Just today I made Lychee-mint mousse. I find that lychees and mint are the perfect combination. This time, though, I used canned lychees because I wanted to use the syrup. As for fresh lychees, I like to eat them by themselves. I once had a coconut-cilantro-lychee ice sorbet that was scooped over a salad to serve as the dressing. It was quite good, but I don't really know how they made it.

I agree... the best way is to blanche your basil first. Also, if you do not wish to blend it (if you do, blend at high speed for at least two minutes) remember that it will take longer for the flavors to combine with each other. Even for "blended" infused oil, it's good to let it rest a whole day before you use it. If you do not blend it, only after a week you will notice a difference between pure oil and basil-infused-oil Also, remember that if you want a deeper basil flavor, avoid using a highly aromatic oil (like really good olive oil) and stick to canola. You might not want flavors competing.

If my response could have a title, it would be somethig like, "silly things to add to your beer" When I was in college, I tried: 1. Fruit Loops and beer (yup, not so good, but edible 2. Oatmeal made with beer (quite good, actually) 3. Fanta (the soda) and beer (some of my friends loved this one... also, it's quite popular in chile) But I guess my "foodie" option would be blue cheese and bitter chocolate. Surprisingly good flavor combination

I've made Aïoli with the mortar and pestle only once, and it turned thinner than I would've wanted it to be. Later on, I while learning about making mayo, I realized that the reason had to be that I didn't whisk the egg yolks enough before adding the oil. From that point on, I've never had problems making mayo or any of its variations. However, I still don't fully understand why the yolks need to be whisked "to a cream". I know that the yolks are used to make the emulsion estable. They keep the fat particles, which we break while whisking in the stream of oil (incidently this is exactly why we add a stream of oil as opposed to adding it all at once), from coming back together, therefore not mixing itself with the liquid that's gonna flavor the mayo (lemon jucie). So, could you go a little into the chemistry of mayo? Is it that the yolk estabilize the emulion more when you whisk them? And if so, why does this happen? Thanks or the great class!

I guess we are all big fans of the microplane. It's just way to versatile not to use it. I've never seen a ginger grater, but if I can't find another use for it, I wouldn't buy it.... I've got enough tools as it is.

With the research I've done this past couple of days I've found that the Umami leaves the sensation of "open-ness" in your mouth. It fills it, like there was some heavy, flavorful air in there. And I found that what makes it a teste is: a. It's not a sensation that can be neutralized (like chilli peppers) b. It's not an aroma...., you can't "taste" it through your nose (that's the difference between a taste and a flavor) c. Once you know what it is, you can pick it up from other flavors (like you would with something salty or sweet) But as for the best way to describe it:

I agree. And the same is true of any cuisine. However, if you are served a plate of tomatoes and basil with a little salt and they want to call it chinese because "that's what we found in the market", then I would say that the dish isn't very chinese. I think there are some principles in the philosophy of the cuisine that have to be respected. Chinese gastronomy is the oldest in the world, and it has evolved to what we eat today. It's very complex in the flavors and textures. Just as an example, in the same dish you are likelly to find salty and umami (with the soy sauce and hoisin) sweet (molasses, sugar, honey), sour (limes) and bitter (in some of the fruits, sauces and even the tea they drink) But you're right, chinese cooking is the escence of the food, not the ingredients.

I know that Umami is found in, say, mushrooms (shiitakes have high Umami). I also know that it "opens" your mouth.... that roundness that was already mentioned. And I've been reading the posts and the links. I'm learning a lot and enjoying it. But I still don't understand what makes it a taste and not just a sensation (like the one you get from chilli peppers). I guess, in my article, I can just mention it and don't describe it with much detail. Just talk about what I know.....

I once lightly cold-smoked some scallops, sliced them thin and made a kick ass ceviche with them. But mine weren't that big. I wish I could find some like that here in Chile. Good job! That ceviche looks delicious. btw, what do you (or your friend) do with the coral? I like it seared. I fact, chileans never take it off. But I've also done a few sauces with them. Good stuff

I would be really interested in reading this article when it's published. Could you possibly post a link to it when your mission is accomplished? ← I'd be glad to post a linkto it, but i?m writing it in spanish.... Thank's Really Nice. I will now start reading and see what I find

I know where to find it and I was once explained why it is the fifth taste... but I can't explain it. I read the interview with Ferran Adrià and he pretty much said the same thing (which made me feel better) He actually asked if somebody could explain it to him. That's exactly what I want. I've been working on an article that describes the differences between tastes and flavors (or just plain sensations like spicy hot), but I jusst can't find the words to describe umami. Can any of my fellow egulleters help me out?

String Cheese Incident Meatloaf Fish (ok, that's pushing it) And now that you mentioned Sugar Cubes, About a year ago I was cooking with Bjork a whole lot.

I usually go with something like Thievery Corporation or Gotan Project. But in the professional kitchen it's usually Salsa or romantic tunes. Except in this one place which doesn't exist any more, but the cooks were mostly born again christians and they had a few christian hip hop CDs

I used to eat dirt... which proves my love for truffles I wasn't that young, I was 12 or 13. There was a couple of restaurants that we visited frequently. One of them was an italian trattoria that serves, as an appetizer, some wine-and-garlic steamed mussels. I loved them. Also, for my mother's birthday we would go to the Oro Verde hotel, and I would always ask for the house-smoked salmon with caviar. I didn't even know what it was back them, I just liked the flavor. I can think of thousands of little stories like this one, but I guess I realized my path as a cook and my gourmand lifestyle only when I was older

LOL I agree! It's not that I don't like ketchup. Like I said in another post, I just don't get it. It's a way to hide flavors. If you don't like the way they fried your frites, then you add ketchup. But as a cook, I want to find a way to serve fried potatoes so that no ketchup would be needed. I also want the burger to be juicy and tasty enough. I rarelly eat ketchup. I had some two or three months ago with my fries in a bar because the fries were, well, crappy (there's no better word for it). But to be honest, the sauce didn't make the snack taste better. BTW, if you've read Kurlansky's "Salt", you should know that ketchup is a derivate from fish sauce. Salt fermented fish with ingredients added to achieve different flavors. Eventually, the fermented fish was not added any more (vinegar was added instead to preserve it) and ketchup was born. Later, it got to America where sugar was added to please the local palate. Interesting, huh?

roast the chiles in a dry pan (no oil) first, then soak them and reserve the liquid. After that, you can put them in a food processor with cilantro, vinegar (or lime juice), jalapeños (or any hot pepper you have handy), any othen ingredient you feel like (pineapple being one of my favorites to make some al pastor pork) and thin with the reserved liquid. If you like it chunky, keep some of the ingredients and add them after you process the adobo.