Behemoth
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Posts posted by Behemoth
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i've got this one too and it does everything i ask of it. of course, i'm not a baker, so the 1/4 ounce is fine for me.
Yeah, that's what I have too. I am a baker (amatuer, that is) but it is close enough for punk rock, as they say.
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Anzu will probably have more specific local advice, but I daresay you will have an easier time finding non-German food in Berlin than you will finding schnitzel. I've been to good Indonesian, Ethiopian and Indian places there, but I can't remember for the life of me what they were called. There is also (duh) lots of good Turkish food and falafel/shawarma joints.
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It's been around for a while, but it is a good one.
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While accounting for ambiance while there, after my travels to Germany, I've always said that if German food was prepared in the US in the same loving way as it is in Germany, there would be a lot more people dining at German restaurants.
I remember thinking in almost every German restaurant we went to. WHY CAN’T US RESTAURANTS COOK LIKE THIS?!!??
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Willie, could you elaborate on this?
The few times I've eaten at a German restaurant here in the States (I've never been to Germany) I've been sorely disappointed. The only good German food I've had was at a friend's Italian-eclectic restaurant here in Grand Rapids. His sous chef was born and raised in Germany, and when sauerbraten or roladen appeared on the specials menu you could count on it being just like Mutter used to make, maybe better.
Well, for one thing they do eat far more vegetables than American restaurants seem to give them credit for. For another, the ingredients tend to be more seasonal and so of better quality -- eg there is a very limited season for asparagus, when it is absolutely at its best. And there tends to be a lot of stuff that is not found quite as often on American menus, such as chanterelles and game. They eat more seafood than most people realize. Wurst is more of a snack food, not the main focus it seems to be in American German restaurants. The breads are of course amazing, and yes, the beer is quite good too.
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I have to admit the carding thing has started to really irritate me. I comply with it at the supermarket, I realize the store clerks and waiters have no control over the situation and I see why it is important for a bar in a college town. But I find it to be an annoying interruption to the evening and an invasion of privacy at a halfway decent restaurant, to the point where I will actively avoid a restaurant that does this on a regular basis. (I don't blame the restaurant, I just think it is a really dumb law.)
The good thing about it is that it gives me even further incentive to buy my liquor from the small independent wine store with the better selection, whose staff recognize me when I walk in, and to frequent smaller restaurants that don't make their managerial decisions based on the handbook from corporate headquarters.
I recently had a transatlantic flight on an American air carrier for the first time in many years, and was promptly reminded why I had been avoiding them for so long. I didn't think one needed to be carded over international waters, but what do I know? Feh.
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I would rather go to the Fat Duck and just drink heavily at the table to make the person more interesting..
Especially if they are paying.
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It may have been a misunderstanding. The pork BBQ is typically made of pork belly, at least the few times I've had it. As far as the lack of banchan, well, I guess it's just not that good of a place.
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the place in Gibson City is still very popular. I guess by american standards the food is pretty good, but what I really go for is the, er... atmosphere.
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Sarah I think you are quite telegenic! I am glad you are moving to PBS as I recently stopped getting cable. Is it just me or is there something a little creepy about the idea that there is such a large segment of the 15-35 year old male population that apparently wants to spend time on a couch watching "younger" women cook?
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BTW -- my father (who was a kosher butcher, at a kosher meat-packing factory) would never eat frankfurters. "They make them where I work," he'd say. "You know what goes in those things?"
The words "mechanically separated meat" is a big tip-off. Which is not to say I don't eat hot-dogs, just that I try not to think about it too much.
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By the miracle of google:
An english website with a link to the original german article in STERN magazine, and a rough translation. Enjoy!
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It's a very particular sort of hot dog. I think it is supposed to be danish. Long skinny with a snap but rather bland. Chicago just has regular american hot dogs.
Sorry, this really isn't that interesting...just something we were amused by at the time. Oh, BTW, the Philly IKEA (the old one in the burbs) didn't have hot dogs, but always had these incredible cinnamon rolls near the exit. Maybe they added the hot dogs later, haven't been to the new one.
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Oh waitaminute... Could we have gone into an IKEA when we were in Denmark... I just don't remember it being that big, if we did, but I do remember wonderful kitchen stuff wherever it was.
It would be pretty obvious to you if you were there. They are almost always giant blue and yellow (swedish flag) warehouses just outside of city limits. You walk through a bunch of showrooms and all the furniture has funny names. It is kind of a day trip as it takes ages to get through the thing, plus I always seem to get stuck in the kitchen area...
Actually there was a german website I saw once where they discussed the IKEA naming system. eg, the lamps always have boy names, bookshelves have girl names or whatever.
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The thing I find curious, and therefore wonder if it is symbolic of a deeper societal value, is how much US food is fast to eat, and eaten from the hand, often on the move; not just hot dogs, but also hamburgers, Po-boys, heros, submarines, bagels and other deli sandwiches, pizza and much BBQ even.
This seems unique to the US. Does this reflect a hurried, grab it and go society, or one that treats food as fuel, rather than something to linger over in comfortable surroundings and company?
No, I think Americans just like to eat during every waking moment. Unfortunately during some of those moments they are required to do something besides eating, so they efficiently combine the two activities.
Actually, busboy, every culture has its "portable" fast food but you will find that people in other countries will typically eat their purchases right at the cart, not carry it with them. In most other places I've lived it is seen as kind of rude to eat while walking around...this is what sets Americans apart, I think.
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...where I indulged in that iconic IKEA meal, the Swedish Meatball Manager's Special:
Heh. Methinks the chef needs a little brush-up course on his presentation skills.
I love how that picture makes you believe that that dinner cost you 999,- dollars
Thanks for taking me to Ikea. I love their kitchenware department.. I can never leave it without buying something.
You know, interestingly enough the meatballs are not the traditional IKEA meal in the rest of the world.
So, Klary, I assume they do the weird hot dogs in Netherlands too? My German was absolutely CRUSHED when we got past the checkout at IKEA chicago and there weren't any hot dog stands with the fried onion toppings. I think the US IKEA is going after more of a yuppie market than in Europe.
Having just googled it, this may well just be a German thing. It is a very specific sort of hot dog. Here is a link to a photo, for Ms Ducky:
We spent a lot of time in IKEA Munich last month. All I can say is thank god we had a good carpenter. Turns out our kitchen corners were 93 degrees...
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Or if you're running short on time and want a quick bite from a truck, I'm not sure this is totally up-to-date, and it's totally subjective, but interesting:
Food Truck Guide from some folks at the Penn Linguistics dept.
I love that linguistics department touch:
And Sammy is the only (semi-)native speaker of a modern Aramaic language around Penn, so stop by and greet him in his parents' native tongue with a "shlomo a`layxu!" (` = `ayn).That would be confusing to most Arab speakers, but Sammy makes one hell of a great shawarma. Actually, everything I've had from that truck has been great.
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However, I haven't had much luck with my food mill. At first I thought it was broken, but since discovered that I didn't have the handle lodged in properly. So when I used it the next time, I was feeling confident of a good result. But I found that the chickpeas didn't really go through properly and the skins clogged up the blade. (The manufacturer is ACEA Passavedura, made in Italy).
So, last night when I made it, I took the skins off by hand, which was a bit labourious as they didin't all float to the top for me. I had soaked the chickpeas overnight, they were well cooked, and they had been bought recently, so would not have been dried out.
Any advice on improving my mouli technique would be very welcome.
Corinna, sorry I saw this so late. With the food mill, you have to keep adding liquid during the process so that the peas that have been mashed pass through more easily, otherwise everything just sits there and clogs up. When using a food mill, I add the liquid ingredients (tahini, lemon juice & water mixture as well as olive oil) bit by bit into the food mill along with the chickpeas. It is a pain in the ass though, still. The bowl of water method works pretty well for me with some vigurous rubbing especially since, unless I'm feeling very kitchen fundamentalist, I just try to take a bunch of skins off even if I don't get every last one of them. In that case I just dump everything into the blender afterwards, so at least that part is easier. It's just a question of which type of work you find more tedious.
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Had Vitello Tonnato in y'all's honor tonight. Also drank a lot in your honor so I hope you appreciate my sacrifice. Northern-most city in Italy, kids.
edit: editing grammar after a half bottle wine and several grappas is not easy, so please appreciate that too.
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Wolfert is correct about Baqli, it is Purslane.
Hindaba ,however to my knowledge, is not dandelion. I know two kinds of Hindaba, the "wild" one, looks like large dandelion leaves (as long as celery) with red "ribs" but is not nearly as bitter as dandelion, they could be members of the same family for all I know. I have never seen this type here. The other kind called "Hindaba" is chicory, or frisee.
Elie: I thank you for correcting me.
And the thing that confused me when I first moved to the states has now been made clear...
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It's sort of interesting to me (and if this gets into unacceptably political territory I'm sure I will soon be made aware of it) when a fairly lefty (anti-big-business, in any case) idea like slow food digs its heels so resolutely that it begins to sound so socially conservative. Yes, my grandmother spent loving hours stirring her pomegranate molasses, harvesting olives, raising ten children and a bunch of chickens on homemade breads but frankly that is a life I and most women are not willing to live anymore. I love to cook, make my own bread etc etc but I also enjoy having a job and getting out of the house once in a while. If that means eating out once in a while, even, god forbid, at a non-slow foods approved location then so be it. Have you considered that you are alienating your core audience with this kind of simplistic attitude? I'm sorry but the idea that someone who eats out occasionally because they don't feel like cooking that night somehow doesn't have the brains to withstand olive garden advertising is complete and utter condescending bullshit. Give this crowd a little more credit and maybe less people will be turned off by the message.
edit: kurt, we cross posted. I do get it, I really do, and my comments aren't directed at you specifically. I like forceful opinions as you can probably tell. It's just that after being in the midwest for a few years, I kind of also got a better sense of how the other half lives, and why. It will catch up, it is already starting but it needs time and patient nurturing.
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Excellent images, I look forward to more installments - especially regarding pressure cookers as I have the same model.
I'm also interested -- currently thinking of getting one. The other reason a lot of people use pressure cookers outside the US, I've been told, is that energy is more expensive here and so anything that cuts down on cooking times makes a lot of economic sense.
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Thankis for saving me the phone call! Yikes!
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Kurt, you were looking for slow food types in the midwest at one point -- I would like to call your attention to the folks at Blue Schoolhouse farm, who serve the Bloomington-Normal farmer's markets. Such beautiful produce and pure dedication. Also, I think the Garlic Press there has done a lot to increase awareness of something beyond the chains, though sadly it still seems to be kind of "alternative" in that market. Still, the opening of slightly more "upscale" chains seems to indicate that there is increasing awareness of good food, and so there may be some hope for the region yet.
edit: having caught your second paragraph, yes of course you can cook at home (I did almost every day) but if you come home late from work and just want something right away, slow food is just not cutting it. Also, sometimes you just want to go out and see new faces, no matter if they are dressed in those godawful christmas sweaters. Finally, when the next town over is 50 miles away, it is not the most environmentally-kind option either. One does what one can (by the end of it I was on a first name basis with most of the people at the farmer's market, not to mention the local indian and mexican groceries) but this type of attitude that anyone who eats in a chain is an ignorant git is really irritating. My family grows their own olive oil, for god's sake. More slow we really couldn't get.
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actually, i had a friend who worked at an olive garden. he took me back into the kitchen, where microwaves were an integral part of their preparation process... (that was quite a few years ago).
I'm not surprised, it tastes like it to me. On the other hand, I spent the last 2.5 years in a small midwestern town and some of the chains are really the best option in category. Chevy's seems to do decent reasonably fresh mexican food so long as you order intelligently from their menu. (aka probably not the chimichanga...) and Noodles is a decent place that serves (oddly enough) all kinds of noodles, with fresh toppings. Chipotle certainly gets points for using Nieman Ranch Pork. And Steak & Shake makes an undeniably good milkshake. Biaggi's is sort of the expensive version of Olive Garden but considering what passed for Italian food in that town it was usually the safer choice. Normally I would be all for the mom & pop places but we really had a few truly awful (and not particularly cheap!) meals before we found the places we liked. Having said that, why do so many chain dining rooms feel like giant feeding barns? I wish they would shrink the rooms downa little, make the service a little less frenzied.
Is Israel becoming a culinary superpower?
in Middle East & Africa: Dining
Posted
Sounds like some people I know in Beirut.