shelora

Hi Brenda, Welcome back. The Persian/ Mediterranean food stores in Victoria carry preserved/dried limes and sometimes call them lemons. I'm confused about what they are really. The ones I've seen at Seven Valleys and Blair Mart, are small and dry and brown. I've used them in Persian dishes, damn good. I've had other versions though, in restaurants, where they are still lemon yellow after being preserved in salt. After rinsing numerous times, only the peel - removed of the pith - finely chopped was used. Sometimes McLean's in Nanaimo will surprise with unusual ingredients. If he doesn't have them, he may know somebody who does. Best of luck S

The air is still perfumed by last night's sudden urge to fry 10 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced in EVVO. I've just made a vegetable soup from a roasted chicken stock. Its a nice triplet.

Don Genova is interviewing the owners in the next half hour on CBC radio. They will speak about how they are keeping the tradition of charcuterie alive. s

Yes indeed. It is definitely a smokey burnt smell and taste. The ice cream is white never a caramelized-colour like cajeta or dulce de leche. There is nothing subtle about it.

Really truly amazing! I'm hallucinating just looking at them!

Thankyou Jackal10. I have sleuthed and turned up no one bringing in this product in Canada - so far. Alas, the Ashbourne biscuit site does not have email only a phone number. Oh, Episure What a beautiful photo. Thanks for clarifying.

I'm gob-smacked at the list. Its amazing that a restaurant would be so generous to say drink as much as you want. I think a few rules need to be applied for you to glean some sort of knowledge from the experience. Keep in mind that good tequila deserves to be enjoyed, sipped, enjoy the aroma - DO NOT SHOOT IT BACK. Don't ask for a full shot. I might go from silvers to resposados to anejos or settle with one style, silvers for example. If the restaurant has any concern for liquor costs, they won't be serving full shots in the first place. This sort of offer -open bar - could turn ugly real fast. I'd go early and leave early. I also don't think that the most expensive tequilas are necessarily the best.

Any chance of a wee photo. I wish I was there right now, buying wild mushrooms. I'm always in Mexico after mushroom season.

Thankyou for that but it is not the same thing. The leche quemada I speak about has the distinct smell of burnt milk. There is just no mistaking it for caramel custard or flan.

Thank you Ludja. Indeed Mexico does have that tradition, corn on the cob cooked directly on the coals. Its one of my favourite street foods - with chile, lime and salt, it is sublime. Had no idea that Austria had the same.

Calling all you Mexican food historians out there. Okay, leche quemada. Its one of the most popular ice cream flavours in Mexico right? Does anyone have any information on how this very unusual flavour sensation came about. Has it existed for a long time or is it a fairly recent thing? s

Many thanks, jackal10. I'm very intrigued with the Millers Damsel charcoal biscuits and am trying to track them down. Anyone know of a source in North America - preferably Canada - that sells them? And yes Pan, I do think that blackened fish qualifies. I never thought about its provenance until now, but it is an old dish right, not something that was created in the 1980's?

My interest is in, not anythng new and trendy, but classic dishes created either out of a mistake or necessity. For example, the most popular ice cream in Mexico is leche quemada - burnt milk ice cream. Another example, is a Oaxacan mole, chichilo negro, a very earthy beef stew made from numerous ingredients burnt to black - including tortillas and chile seeds. This afternoon I found out about a regional Puglia dish made from burnt wheat. The flour is literally black. The wheat fields are burned after harvest and the kernels collected. Does anyone out there know of other world cuisines that use burnt ingredients to create amazing dishes. And toast doesn't cut it. S

Thanks Esperanza, I couldn't connect with the url you sent - I'm curious about the photo - but the information on how much is grown in Mexico is excellent. The potatoes do taste different than the Kennebecs we get up here in Canada. Not that I am addicted to fries here - maybe five times a year - but I'm curious to find out the potato variety - maybe I can even smuggle some back next time I'm in Mexico. You know I hate to disappoint so I'll say it tasted like rattle snake!

I won't be back in Oaxaca until December. I've seen stunning metates for sale in Teotitlan and at the abastos in Oaxaca. I'm certain I can find out the source. I hope you can wait until then, if not, do let me know, I may be able to obtain info from a more immediate source. Or at least put you in touch with someone there who can help. Shelora

My experience with potatoes is so limited in Mexico, but your findings are fascinating to me. Is there any way of finding out where the potatoes are coming from? U.S.? Chile? Peru? Canada? Mexico? Everytime I'm in Mexico, I insanely crave papas fritas. I simply must have them. I find they taste so different, so much better than what I get up here, which are normally Kennebec potatoes. I find Papas fritas in Mexico the best ever - meaty never mealy and always cooked perfectly. Perhaps the frying potato used there is different from what you are buying? Or for me, it could be a case of absence makes the heart or the palate grow fonder? Case in point - On a jungle trip in Ecuador, it was all I could think about were fried potatoes, something I couldn't possibly obtain. I had to suffice on canned sardines for a week and smoked- on-the-nightly-fire crocodile. s

Unless you have a penchant for smuggling, forget taking back any fruits and vegetables. I'd set my sights on non-drowsy allergy medication. Last time I checked it was unavailable over the counter in the U.S. While you are here just eat as much as inhumanly possible. s

I have a table available in August. Fish tacos, baja-style. Corn tortillas with three different salsas, fresh crema, shredded cabbage and radishes. s

There's always gin.

At home, I roast eggplants either whole or halved, right on the oven rack - its kinda lazy I know. Potatoes, the same thing. If I were to slice them, I would use a well-oiled baking sheet. Using a rack on top of the baking sheet makes total sense, much like grilling them. I'll try it next time. I always roast duck - in a roasting pan - on a rack, to save the skin from sticking to the bottom of the pan. That crispy skin is too precious to waste.

I worked in a restaurant where we froze any ricotta we couldn't use. It didn't seem to make a difference in the recipes we made. Personally I'm not a big proponent of freezing food, but it could offer you a way out of cooking the ricotta right away.

How about the most incredible macaroni and cheese known to man? Cheese fondue?

I take it Jojutla rice is a short grain? Can anyone indulge me in a photo of the dry rice? I've been experimenting with arborio vs Bomba rice for paella and would like to see how the jojutla is different or similar in appearance.

Right on all counts. After you reconstitute them in hot water, - or a warm bath of tequila and orange juice - until pliable, not mushy, carefully slit them on the side and remove the seeds and inner veins. Some people do this the other way around - removing the seeds and inner veins before soaking. I think it depends how dry the chiles are. If they are brittle dry, soaking first is best. With those chile pasilla de Oaxaca, they can be blisteringly hot. If this is the case - your hands will be burning, clue#1 - I was taught to rinse the chilies a few times in cold water. Pat dry the chilie before stuffing. I had a similar experience in D.F. last December. I was treated to an appetizer of chilitos. Three stuffed reconstituted chile chipotles, stuffed with chicken and walnuts with ahint of piloncillo. They were served with a sweetened crema - thin in consistency. The chilies had also been thinly batter fried adding to the dish's richness. It was excellent and rich, but not greasy. I'd never had anything like it before - I love that about Mexico. It reminded me about the dish chiles en nogada. Kind of like a forerunner to the big daddy. As to your walnut question, I have been told that walnuts are indigenous to Mexico. I'm sure other posters here will have something to add to that enquiry.

My favourite chile rellenos are those made from the smoke chile pasilla of Oaxaca. Filled with cheese, like montery jack or muenster, battered and fried. Anchos work well too, teamed up with a cinnamon scented tomato caldo. With no batter, I prefer the fresh poblano, roasted, peeled and then stuffed with a cooked spinach mixture of sauteed onions, raisins and pinenuts. Put a dollop of goat cheese in the middle, more stuffing around that. Then heat in the oven. This is a contemporary recipe taught to me by chef Roberto Santibanez. And those vegetarians love it. Should I bring something to drink?