thecuriousone

There are a fair amount of food magazines in South America. I have picked up quite a few from Brazil.Interesting recipes that reflect culture. Maybe spending money on food mags is one of the benchmarks of a strong economy.

I have been looking for old copies of food mags. With gourmet gone, it just seems the right thing to do. What is funny to me is that I usually shop where I have access to food magazines from spain, poland and mexico. While they are interesting to look through, they are all cooking the same thing!!! How can such different parts of the world all be cooking light salads and 30 mimute entrees?

thanks so much for the info. I will just read my way through the list!!

Hello all- I was reading this weeks NYTimes food section for Wednesday and there was an article about the recipes in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The article seemed to infer that those recipes did not reflect how the french eat today. It leads me to the question of where to find receipes for contemporary french food that the french make and eat every day. Does the magazine cuisine et Vin de France reflect this??? I always snatch up any copies I can when on vacation. But do the french see it as relecting modern french cooking? If not, what magazine do the french think best reflects their food as it is today? Thanks

Thanks so much! I first tasted them in Brazil and simply thought they were the best rolls I had ever tasted. They are like hot cross bun dough without the frosting. When I happened on this panaderia looking for something to munch on, I found them again. They are the best.

HI Everbody- There are these fantastic rolls call colchones. I find them in latin american and hispanic panaderias. They are the to me the perfect breakfast bread, all yeasty and milky and soft. They are sprinkled with sugar on the top and with a cup of strong coffee and a beach, life is pretty close to perfect. My question is this: Are they a dinner roll or a sweetbread? Not that it matters to me but I cant seem to find a recipe anywhere. I ate them for many years on vacation and recently found them locally. Any information on where I could find a recipe would be appreciated. thank you.

Hello everyone- A friend of mine has been put on a really restrictive diet by their physician. I'm not surprised by the restriction of grains, carbs, starch. I am kind of surprised by the vegetable restrictions. No artichokes, avocado, beets, carrots, chickpeas, corn , parsnips, peas, potatoes, pumpkin. Does anyone have a flavorful stock recipe that does not include carrots? I originally though I could substitute or parsnips for the carrots, but they are on the forbidden list also. Also, can anyone explain to me why beans are OK, but chickpeas (and I'm assuming lentils) arent? Thanks

Hi Everybody- I reviewed the merged topic on sangria and didnt find any info on how to plan quantity. How much Sangria should I have on hand for a party of 20 people, where it will be the principal beverage as part of a sit down dinner?? I have a recipe I like that will double and triple easily. The question is how much to make? I called a restaurant supply house and they did some calculations and came up with 260 oz. The person told me that if I made this much, they would all be drunk. this for a birthday party and many of the attendees are hard liqour drinkers not wine drinkers. Any help would be appreciated. I Just dont want to run short...................... Thanks

Hi Everybody- I am making some deviled eggs and want them to be as pretty as possilbe. If I cook them until the yolks are just done (with no green) the whites are too fragile and deform when I put them on a plate. Can anyone pass along some suggestions on how to have firm whites and yolks that arent green? I have the fillings perfected, I just need to make sure that the egg whites do their part. Thanks!

Hello all- Can someone direct me to a recipe for croquettes that are designed to be really thin? Last evening I had what was referred to as "Chicken croquettes". These were wonderful fried items the size and depth of gambling tokens. They were fried and were crispy on the outside. When you bit into them, there was no hint of the binder that was used. I'm assuming that it was egg white. I tasted no flour in the recipe. This was the perfect finger food, and really different of what I think of when I think of croquette, I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks

Hi All- I have a recipe which calls for cooked lobster and lobster stock. My plan was to steam the lobster in 2 inches of water, remove the meat, return the shells and body to the water, and a celery stick, lemon slice, sufficient water to make the amoutn of stock required and continue on. when its done, I will strain and use as directed. Is there a problem with this plan?

At least I know I'm on the right track. One more question, if you dont mind. The recipe I'm using calls for 1.5 inch squares of pasta. This makes a reall small tortellini. Is it not keeping with tradition to make them larger or use the stuffing in a recipe for ravioli? Seeing as there is an "official" recipe, is there also an official Size? Also, I have leftover stuffing, will it develop an "off" taste I just pop the excess in the freezer or is it better to use all the stuffing and pop the completed tortellini in the freezer?

Its interesting that you say that. I am following the recipe in the 12/08 Cucina Itialiano and the broth calls for chicken, been shank and chuck...........Hmmmmm ← Oh please do, also what does your family stuff them with? the recipe I am working with includes mortadella, proscuitto, pork shoulder, nutmet parmesean, rosemary and sage. If this pretty typical?

Its interesting that you say that. I am following the recipe in the 12/08 Cucina Itialiano and the broth calls for chicken, been shank and chuck...........Hmmmmm

Thanks so much for all of the comments. The last comment appears to be more of what I had in mind. A VERY stiffly whipped cream that was flavored with sugar. Which brings me to my second question. Once I whip it and flavor it, what is the best way to maintain the volume for later use? I would like to whip it in the morning, load it into a pastry bag for piping onto coffee drinks about 4-5 p.m. Thanks again for the help.

HI All- I am making tortellini in brodo for New Years and all of the recipes call for "Fowl". My question is whether or not there are tricks I could use to approximate the taste with a fryer. Can I use chicken thighs?, use a roaster? Cut the fryer up and partially roast it? Thanks for any suggestons.

Hi all- I am making beef wellington for christmas and would like to serve a classic reduced wine sauce. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hi everybody- Where can I find a recipe for mit schlage? I would like to make some coffee drinks for the holidays and top them with it. I havent been able to find anything other than a basic whipped cream recipe. Thanks for all of your help.

Dave- Thanks so much for the detailed response. Yes, Iwould like any suggestions for specific locations from where ever you are. I plan to visit Villefranche-sur-Mer and would be thrilled if you had some references there. But this will not be the last trip to France and I will keep your suggestions for my return. there are two reasons I'm looking to go as high up the quality ladder as I can from a box. one is post 911 carrying bottles back is just a fond memory and two, boxes can be packed with little concern that they will break leaking shards of glass and wine in my luggage. Do you find may AOC wines in boxes? Thanks for all of your info, I appreciate it.

Hi All- I've heard a lot about how the line of wine offered in boxes is approving. I understand that there are several french brands that offer high quality wine in a bag in box format. I found one that looked rinteresting at: http://www.provenancewines.com I will be travelling to France in November and have no desire to see another cathedral but am really interested in chasing the best wine in a box I can find. My questions are this: 1. Where can I expect to find the largest selection of bag in box wines? People I have talked to have said supermarkets and/or Caviste? I would appreciate any suggestions. 2. Can anyone offer any suggestions of labels to look for? I would appreciate suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Hi All- Does anyone have a cuisinart DLP3 pasta maker? I purchased one used but there was no owners manual. I am so excited about using this machine but evidently this model has been discontinued. I'm hoping the reason is that cuisinart found a way to make pasta attachments for its core machine and not because the machine made bad pasta. Can anyone share with me a pasta recipe I can use with this machine? I have several cookbooks with recipes for hand made pasta or pasta made with a hand crank, nothing for this. I am famiiar with the hand crank and feeding the pasta through ever narrower rollers. This machine looks like a food processor and has disks for feeding the pasta through, there are no rollers. Thanks for any help or observations.

Hi All-- I was approached by a group that I work with to submit a monthly cooking and recipe column. I would love to do it, and they inferred that if the column was well received, it might morph into a blog. My question is this: They are asking for 1-2 of my favorite recipes per month. Well, that is no problem, but the issue is that my favorite recipes usually come out of my favorite cookbooks. I'm talking about very general things, hummus for example, I've seen several recipes that I have take an ingredient from to come up with my own favorite, do I have to be concerned that my recipie looks too much like someone' existing published one? Can I use a disclaimer, "This is what I use.." Is there a book that goes over these issues and gives some guidelines to what is considered, "Stepping over the line"?? I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. I think I would really enjoy this, but want to make sure I understand all the implications before I get into it.

Actually, MarketStEl, there are some very interesting ones available. I've been able to find ones published by african american caterer, Bessie M. Gant in the 1940's. Also, Lena Richards, published one in 1939. According to Toni Morrison the editor of Creole Feast, published in 1978, Lena Robert actually had a TV cooking program in the 1950's, in Louisiana. I originally thought that these books were designed document recipes to be used by African American women as they cooked in white households. Now, I'm not so sure. Its possible that they reflect the larger culture in moving away from the concept of cooking just being a "natural outgrowth" of what women do, towards trying to give a respectability to the work. If you look at a comtemporar;y, Jessie Marie DeBooth, she spendt a lot of time stressing the "scientific-ness" of cooking. I assume that it is an attempt to upgrade the work of women, but I dont know that for sure. I often pursue the cookbooks for the history that they offer than the recipes, although the recipe for baking power detailed in Edna Lewis book has transformed my cakes. the curiousone Can you elaborate on this a bit? I just checked my county library system and they don't have access to this book or any other work by the author so I'm flying somewhat blind in this discussion. But my closest friend for the past 25 years happens to be African-American as is my significant other (a coincidence but it has given me an exposure to African-American family life that the typical Caucasian male rarely gets). If I think about his late mom, his sister, his aunts and cousins, my former and current girlfriends and their families etc. all of whom I've gotten to know pretty well... none of them owns or uses cookbooks - at least not a single one that I know of. Am I working from such a statistically insignificant sampling that no conclusion can be drawn from those facts or are cookbooks written by African-American authors purchased mostly by white folks? And do you think such cookbooks were or are written with a conscious or sub-conscious recognition of who the likely reader is and would that possibility affect the sub-text of the writing? ← thecuriousone beat me to this, but I can tell you that my relatives who cooked in the soul food tradition had nary a cookbook to their name. On the other hand, Grandma Smith, whose cooking was more Middle American, did have a few cookbooks, though I can't recall ever seeing her actually consult one before starting work. And I grew up with a copy of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book on hand -- purchased by my father, who was the bigger cook in our family. (There was a copy of the I Hate to Cook Book and its sequel, the I Hate to Housekeep Book, in the headboard of the bed in my parents' bedroom. My guess is that both of these entered our library via Mom.) Most of the soul food cooking I remember from childhood took place on Mom's side of the family. This recollection goes a long way towards explaining phaelon56's confusion over the existence of African-American cookbooks, for my mom's family was one step up from the farm, while my dad's family were solidly (old) black middle class -- Granddad was a servant for one of Kansas City's most prominent families and Grandma was a nurse's aide at a Catholic hospital in the city. Cookbooks were not alien to black middle class households, even if they were few in number and rarely consulted; they could nonetheless provide inspiration -- and the African-American cookbook was a permanent reminder of the tradition that we inherited (whether or not we stayed true to it). The principal African-American cookbook discussed in Secret Ingredients is Freda DeKnight's A Date With a Dish (1948). Ebony readers will immediately recognize the title as that of the magazine's long-running recipe feature--there's been one in every issue since the magazine launched in 1945--and DeKnight issued an updated version, The Ebony Cookbook: A Date With a Dish, in 1977. (DeKnight's successor as Ebony's food editor, Charlotte Lyons, produced The New Ebony Cookbook in 1999.) Since this post was largely inspired by phaelon56's query about whether African-Americans consulted cookbooks, I hope that Amazon.com customer Dean Brassfield of North Hollywood, California, doesn't mind my sharing his review of the 1977 edition with all of you: (emphasis added; I assume I don't need to tell you who the Gates family or Mr. Bryant are) I suspect this might just be a bit more common than we suspect. Which can only mean that even among some African Americans, there was a need for written references, which became "secrets" of their own. BTW and FWIW, among the titles in my own cookbook collection is a mass-market paperback called A Pinch of Soul, published in the late 1970s. The chili recipe in this book is very close to the chili I ate growing up -- which was thicker and meatier than most chili I've eaten since. ←

Carrot top- That sound you hear is my chair screeching back as I stand at attention as you pass. Your path sounds ardous and I'm sure there were times when you were weary. But back to food literature, some of the most interesting food trends have been fusion dont you think? For example the ginger beurre blanc that was the rage in the 80's. or Wolfgang's Salmon Pizza. I dont know if I would call those things mish-mosh, if only because it was so commercially popular. I think that Gourmet is evolving as their base readership is evolving. The people who read Gourmet are beginining to care, REALLY care about what they put on their plates. They may not be able to stop global warming, but they can make the effort to pop the healthiest peice of fruit in their mouth that they can. I think that this is a good thing, even it on some levels it raises selfishness to a new level. Carrot Top, You rock.

Carrot Top, you raise an interesting point with several social ramifications in America. Its not so much americans "throwing over" the hominess, as it is attempting to publicly broaden the perception of one's scope. In america, perception counts for a lot and if the wrong perception is out there, it can silently limit oportunitiy and access You question the meaning of "home" when one chooses to adopt and publicly demonstrate new mannerisms. Your assumption is predicated upon the idea that the concept of "hominess" does not limit the individual in the other areas of their life. I could give several examples of how this is often not true in real life, but I would rather direct you to the movie "Ratatouille". Remy juggles two worlds, trying to manage the expectations of both while finding his own way. In the movie he finds a way to handle both while being true to himself. It is fantasy that everybody invovled allowed him to be who he was without any hurtfull or snide comments coming his way. Once your original affiliation feels threatened by your choices, it can get ugly. The "hominess" you speak of too often is viewed by the individual in question as a pre-conceived set of limitations that you had no imput into but whose prescence definitely limits waht is expected of you. take care