godito

I've been craving good fried chicken for a while, but not only that, I was thinking about buttermilk pankakes, biscuits and ranch dressing. Plus, I'd really like to experiment. See, here in Chile we don't get buttermilk in the supermarkets. So, I was wondering if anybody has any experience in making your own, or at least a suitable substitute. Oh, btw, finding raw milk is also very hard (somebody told me to beguin with raw milk, that's why I mention this) I'm guessing adding something sour, like tartaric acid, to milk (or cream) will result in a good enough product, but I thought it would be better if I checked with you all before trying. Thanks

How about: Skill needs no luck (that was his answer to the lucky charm question) If I was still in the US, we would've totally had some T-shirts made to watch the show. I wonder if my friends there will anyway... I will ask them. Too bad after graduation we all went our different ways. It would be fun to get together to watch Marcel doing his thing.

I know this kid, we were friends back at the CIA. Great cook. Always thinking of new stuff to try out, but more importatly, the guy we used to throw the frisbee with, a normal atendee to our all-day drinking and cooking fests we had on sundays, and a really cool guy. You start the fan club, then I'll buy the t-shirts Yeah, he is intense, and yeah, he HAD the hair, he cut it, I think, when he was in the fellowship (but not for long)

I've never actually seen them in a can... if they are in a brine, then I assume you needn't reconstitute them. That's usually the first step (just like any other dry food, such as funghi, or tomatos) After this process (which takes a couple of days) you add them to soups and stews, or just cook them in water like you would any potato. btw, how did you get your hands on canned chuño?

yeah, that's how I ususally do it. I don't let it simmer for more than a couple of hours, as I don't like it so thick. Right on! However I did have some trouble finding it in many places while living in the states. Latin American markets should carry it. Of course, they are not made starting with condensed milk. They are done the traditional way: reduce milk with sugar whisking constantly until it turns dark and rich. They they add some flavorings (like vanilla... I add a little rum to mine ) I like this method better. Of course, here in South America, there's no need to do it, as you can find tasty store bought alternatives.

I had a great time reading this. It got me thinking about the many things I've seen in the industry. Many of the weird requests I've seen have already been mentioned here. However, I do remember at least one that made me laugh. I didn't hear the whole story until later. The server comes into the kithcen with a piece of tuna that a customer sent back. The serves was quite upset: "he want's you to cook it some more" he says. Nothing unusual there. Some people just don't like their tuna rare (then again I think that they could just spend a lot less money and buy canned tuna for the same flavour ). But then, when the night got slower, the server comes back and talks about how that specific customer had asked for the tuna rare. Much later (at least a couple of months) he finally tells the whole story. This guy, in his mid forties, comes with a pretty young lady and is obviously trying to woo her with his knowledge of food and wine. He orders an expensive bottle of wine and notices the tuna on the menu. "I´d like the tuna" he says. And then he starts talking about how that fish has to be cooked on a very hot iron skillet. The skillet must be at so many degrees celsius and the fish has to be there for so much time on each side. Bearing in mind, of course, that the skillet looses temperatura when the fish is placed upon it. For tuna to be cooked properly, it's internal temperature must be such and such. Is that how you do it? Well, that's pretty much what was done, except nobody takes temperatures. Funny, how he, then, sends it back to eat it "medium". As for the whole cooking-temperature-debate, I think that the customer is the one that's eating it and he knows better. However, some dishes must come with a warning. Well done tuna is dryer and doesn't taste like fresh fish. Medium duck is tougher and a bit rubbery. Mushy vegetables taste like the frozen viriety. Nothing wrong with you liking food that way... just keep in mind that we're still charging you money for food that tastes like anything you can eat at a mediocre buffet.

What a great topic. How I wish I had gone to any of those demos. It's almos two years that I left NY, and more than ever I lnog to be back! Thaks Doc for the report. I'm gonna try to make my way to Madrid Fusion this comming January... if I do, I will try to make my postings as entertaining as yours

An interesting statement, says alot about the American concept of waiting tables. In Europe, it is a career, a dignified profession. It the US, it is mostly a way station for unemployed actors and students needing some income. No wonder we need so much additional bus staff. I've rarely seen bus staff in Europe... ← agreed. I have that same problem in Chile. Although we do have a lot of servers that make a living with it, they're hardly professionals. Most of the money spent in training is wasted, since employee turnover is so high. As for tableside dressing (or any kind of service), I see it less and less this days, but it's always nice to encounter.

what lperry said is right. Manzano and rocoto are similar peppers, but rocoto is the more comon one in the Andes. You can find it from Colombia to Chile, but they are crucial ingredients in Peruvian and Bolivian (they call it Locoto over there) cuisine. They ARE hot as hell, however, I've purchased some in Chile that were more aromatic than anything. They are the hot pepper of choice when making ceviche.

I like your choices, and the menu, with everybody's help should be great. I just have one observation: make food so that you both can share it. Meaning, there's nothing more romantic than eating with your fingers. Unless you're trying to have a more "formal" meal, try making bite-sized food that you can grab with your hands and feed each other (not the same with a fork or a spoon) Now, that's only an idea. I like your menu. The appetizer sounds great. I would, like some other people said, add more variety of seafood to the pasta. The dessert I'm not crazy about, but then again, I'm not a fan of poached pear.

Whadaya think? ← Most of them sound good. I would make some changes, though. Roasting chicken can be changed to just plain roasting and baking, Sauces can be summed up into one skill (instead of veloute and hollandaise). I would also try to add a more modern approach to sauce making. Mayonnaise should be a more general class on emulsions. Rice and pasta cookery I would combine and call Starch Cookery. Also, I would add Charcuterie (which includes smoking). I don't kniow. The items are good, and necessary, but I would regroup them differently. I'll think about it and post again with a new order

It is, of course, best to have a little herb garden going (you can even start one in the balcony of your apt.) However, to keep inside the house, inside the refrigerator, the best success I've had I learned from a chef I worked with. Same process as others described: moist paper towel wrapped around your clean (and rinsed dry) herbs. Then I place them in a plastic container. The difference is that I never put a lid over that container. I guess it makes sense, th fridge causes condensation. If you have a lid, your herbs will accumulate unwanted water, therefore rotting at a higher rate. I've stored herbs like this for a week (maybe a week and a half), but abter a few days I have to change my paper towels. btw, paper towels are not the only option. A piece of cloth might even do a better job.

Then you kick them out It's bad business to have rotation at exclussive tables (i.e. chef's table). So the only issue here is that you want to close up the restaurant and they are still hanging around. Now, in any case, you can just ask them, politely, to leave. You explain the situation (there's people waiting, blah blah). If it's a regular table and people still won't go, you can come againg and remid them, not so politely, that they should get going. Heck, you can even throw them out... they're not the kind of business you want to have in your establishment anyways. Or, if it's the end of the night you can come by and tell them that the staff needs to go and you have to close up. Start cleaning stuff around them, even vaccuming. They'll leave soon enough.

I don't know... if you like the stuff you can buy, it's more convenient and better than what you could produce with the time/money/resources available... well, then, buy them. However, I like traditional preservation methods. I like the idea of making my own jam, and pickling all kinds of stuff. I also like duck confit and drying fruit. Then, there's the curing of meats. Do I need to cure my own meat? Possibly not, as I don't need to do any of the other processes I mentioned above. However, there's always the satisfaction of of eating today a piece of briskett you brined several months ago (corned beef) or making the perfect BLT's with the bacon you cured and smoked yourself. So, is it why bother? Others said it before me: satisfaction. And isn't that what good cooking is all about? If you don't get satisfaction from homemade pastrami, then it's not worth it.

With some friends we decided to smoke a briskett, which took about 11 hours to be done. Of course we started off with out favorite breakefast (duck rillette spread on rye toasts). This was at 10 in the morning, right before we placed the meat in the smoker. We followed with some cheese salads (we had some morbier, a little camembert and cabrales). By noon we started frying the chicken and making the cole slaw. Around two (when there was no more chicken) we made some al pastor tacos (with fresh tortillas and all). Then we had a friend make some greek specialties (I'm not even gonna try to spell them). By 5 we were grilling our homemade burgers, and having our first dessert (ice cream with different toppings). It must have been 6 o´clock that we made the pasta and baked the potatos (the pasta with tossed veggies and olive oil... the potatoes as a snack, to go with butter and truffle butter). Then came the BLT's (no meal is complete without bacon). After that we fried the left over tortillas and made some dips (guacamole, pico de gallo, etc). We also fried some figs, to go with whatever cheese we had leftover. It was dark already and we had our second dessert: smores. The next couple of hours we spent eating whatever meat somebody decided to grill (some sausages, chicken, pork loin) and then, finally the briskett was done. We ate that and finished off the meal with some muffins somebody baked. A grand total of about 13 hours.

if it's good, i'll buy it. i check ingredients rather than ownership when deciding what to buy

Brining is great to add additional flavors. If you're just using salt and water, though, like k43 said, you're just adding water. Use herbs in your brine, or different liquids. The biggest problem is the lack of fat in today's pork. It IS the other white meat, and should be treated like you would chicken breast (so easily overcooked). The methods described above are all really good. Again, listen to k43 about resting the meat for a while before cutting it to let the juices set. Another good way might be poaching. I've had pork loin poached in milk and it was fantastic. I've never done that myself, basically because everytime I buy pork I go for the shoulder (or ribs) instead of the loin. And the bacon, always the bacon...........................

A little bit from column A and a little bit from column B. On my father's side, my grandpa and greatgrandfather were both restaurant and hotel managers (the later was also a professional chef), but I get most of my cooking from my mom, an excelent home cook. However, I only startedcooking when I was alone in college and moved to a house with some friends. Never before I had a real interest on cooking. Now, look at me, I'm a chef and all.

It takes a group like PETA to attack PETA. But then we create another monster. I think the banning of foods is something to watch carefully in America. You don't see the french banning foie. Banning anything is wrong in principle. If you don't agree with something, don't consume it. If you get enough people to not consume something, then they'll stop selling it. Why take away my freedom to choose? And the bans are always funny. I remember during World Cup 2002 a few countries ralied to get Korea to stop selling dogs as food in the streets. Koreans replied that to them dogs are food. And they wondered why didn't France stop selling foie gras and veal during the previous World Cup (France 1998). I say less banning, more accepting.

I don't know why leek. Maybe somebody makes it with something else. It might have to do with the final flavor (not too burnt?) or the amount of water in the leeks. I've seen the whole leek being used, so my guess is they actually, in restaurants, only use the scraps.

In Spain they call it "aceite de humo", something like "smoked oil". They cook sliced leeks in a low oven untli burnt. Then they powder it in a food processor (or blender) and mix it with olive oil. Season and serve as a sauce. What it does is it gives the dish some smokiness (without actually smoking anything).

We do have a few fried empanadas in Bolivia, although I's sure what Chris says is likely. It's easier to fry them in a restaurant. As for the empanada that saltshaker describes, that is the famous Salteña. A beef or chicken empanada that is, indeed, soupy and served with a spoon. It's the most popular empanada in Bolivia. However, not the only one we have. In fact, as I stated in a previous post, they can pretty much only be purchased from 10 am to about 1 in the afternoon.

I've never had chicha de mani, but I'm glad you liked it. The peanut soup you ate can be delicious when well made, as it uses raw peanuts that are cooked and then processed with chicken broth. Plus peanuts in Bolivia are different than the ones you find in the states. As for the Italian dishes, your guess is as good as mine. However, for some reason, traditional families do it a lot of pasta dishes in Bolivia. Both my grandmothers were famous for their homemade ravioli and gnocci. Neither had Italian heritage. As for the desserts, I can't recall many that can be considered traditional. We have crepes with dulce de leche, but you can eato those pretty much all over latin america. Maybe some of the fruit that's exotic and regional, but then you wouldn't be able to find them in the states. And I forgot abour dried beef (charqui or charque... or even with a "k"). The Incas (and the Aymaras before them) learned to air dry beef and we've been eating dishes made with it ever since. In Bolivia you can still find carne seca made with horse meat and also llama meat. Both good.

I'm not saying this is where the modern concept comes from, but the western tasting menu is modern. Middle Eastern, Asian and even North African Countries have been serving multiple-course meals for hundreds if not thousands of years. I think that we have to credit Escoffier and some of the old school french chefs for changing the way we view food (and how we serve it). But the concept of the many dishes might have become popular with the difussion of information of the last couple of decades or so. Now, I remember the first "tasting menus" I had were 5, maybe 7 dishes. Just in the past 10 years have I seen 30 small plates. As far as I know, that's fairly recent. btw, my grandma used to tell me stories when she was growing up in Bolivia, they would have lunches (thebig meal of the day was for lunch) that included: Bread with many toppings Salad Appetizer Soup First Main Course Second Main Course Dessert Coffee or tea with pastries.

andiesenji, that's a nice little article. Chifas (peruvian-chinese) restaurants are quite an experience if you ever visit Lima. You will certainly recognize chinese ingredients and techniques, but the cuisine itself has evolved into a delightful fusion (and I know how unpopular that term is this days). I think a good chifa is definetly worth a visit. And it's also true what Chris Cognac says about the japanese-peruvian cuisine. Good stuff. Nobu himself leved in Peru before going to the states and you can see a lot of peruvian influence in the food he serves at his many restaurants (aji amarillo, aji panca, anticucho, tiradito, etc)