liuzhou

One thing I like about food shopping in China is the freshness and nothing gets fresher than fish and other seafood. Almost always sold live even for home delivery. This just turned up my door half an hour ago. It's a river bass and there was water in that box but the fish was flapping about so much, 99% of it has been sprayed around my kitchen It has now been refilled and he or she has calmed down a bit. Will cook tomorrow. Been invited out tonight. P.S. I do have a video of the fish flapping, in case anyone doubts my tale. I can't seem to upload it at the moment - China's embarrasingly disfunctional internet again.

I have written more about them on the Mushrooms and Fungi in China topic here.

They are probably made here and taste better than Chinese truffles!

I am house bound, but right out of spike heels! I have to say that Chinese truffles are useless. I had to buy a couple to photograph for something I was working on and thought to not waste them. I wasted time instead. Totally tasteless but decorative, I suppose - like the gold leaf those idiot chefs put on steaks for their idiot customers!

Tagliatelle with prawns, matsutake and truffles - garlic, chili, Chinese chives.

McVities are quite international. Their products are easy to find here in China. But not Garibaldis (not a McVities product), although there is a local version which isn't at all bad. No doubt, you have been wondering all your life what McVities is in Chinese - 麦维他 (mài wéi tā). http://www.mcvities.com/

I don't know how widely available these are but seafood mushrooms.

Thanks for the post. I'm less interested in Mexico, but you reminded me of the Italy series, a few of which I watched. Now watching them all. He and his wife were sitting on the next table to me in a London restaurant a few year ago. Of all things, a Chinese restaurant!

I'll have to fire up my time machine and head back to 1938 and make for NewYork!

I'm wondering what a "Western" sandwich is and worrying about the 'Cannibal' sandwich!

The Cotton Club menu, 1938.

So? What's the question about that?

They have Tupperware licenced stores here in China where they sell plastic boxes conveniently priced at 10 times the plastic boxes on sale in supermarkets.

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I'm not sure about vegetables, but dried pork or fish or shrimp are routinely used like spices in China. Known as 肉松 (ròu sōng) pork floss in the porcine version, 鱼松 (yú sōng) if fish and 虾皮 (xiā pí) if shrimp. Available everywhere round here.

Found in: Smiley's cook book and universal household guide, a comprehensive collection of recipes and useful information pertaining to every department of housekeeping...1896.

When I have difficulty opening pockets in pitas, I usually find that 20 seconds in the microwave on medium puffs them up allowing them to be split more easily. I know it works with the ones I have access to but no guarantees it will work with yours.

Tagliatelle with Prawns and Matsutake in White WIne.

No, not at all in China that I've ever seen. I can get them but they are imported from Thailand usually dried, but very occasionally fresh. I did see them fresh once in a market in HCMC, Vietnam but don't recall ever eating them there.

Trúc or chanh sác in Vietnam. 箭叶橙 (jiàn yè chéng) in Mandarin Chinese, if you can find them.

Kaffir is a racist slur in South Africa referring to black people. It means non-believer or infidel and is/was also used by muslims to refer derogatorily to non-muslims. So, the word can be very offensive, although there is no clear connection between the slur and the fruit. In South Africa, the fruit is called 'Thai lime'. Makrut is the more common name in Thailand and so has become a more neutral descriptor.

The best sardines I've ever eaten, maybe the best meal, were near my then second home near Perpignan in southwest France, near the border with Spain. They were freshly landed from the Mediterranean and grilled / BBQd on a wharf by fishermen for some religious festival - Assumption Day, I think. Much larger than anything I've ever encountered in a can. I doubt you could get one in a standard sardine can. That was almost 40 years ago and I still think of it every time I eat sardines.

These 'gifts' often are. They just send whatever they haven't otherwise managed to sell. It comes from a large, very general store which sells everything from beer to fresh fruit and back again.

I'm not sure it's that. The term 'sardine' is ill defined and can cover many species and legal definitions vary from country to country. In the UK. the official definition is a young pilchard less than 6" long. Many fish sold as sardines are actually youmg herring. Or sprats. Sardines here in China are very different to what you might get in the UK or the rest of Europe. Chinese sardines - 沙丁鱼 (shā dīng yú)