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Eden

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Everything posted by Eden

  1. lovely! One of my fellow culinary history enthusiasts refers to French/English medieval food as "all brown glop" I think this is an excellent example of just how wrong he is. I think you're using James Prescott's translation of Taillevent, yes? I generally prefer his translation to Scully's although I love all the other data in the Scully book... I do wonder a bit, based on other similar recipes, if it wasn't supposed to mean "Put the almond & livers to boil with some broth and then combine that with the spice & egg"? Not dissing Prescott's translation, but rather wondering if Taillevent drifted from HIS source recipe as so often happens in the transmission of medieval recipes over time.
  2. two quick points 1) unless you're their allergist I don't think you can really know for sure that a person is only imagining an allergy, no matter how much it may seem that way on the surface, especailly because there are levels of allergic response, and (as I said before) because the term gets used to cover a range of real but non allergic reactions... 2) are there really "a lot" of people who deliberately fabricate allergy claims, or is it just that we are so appalled by those who do this that the level of attention makes it seem like there are more of them? I certainly prefer to beleive that this is a rare phenomenon. edited for typo & emphasis
  3. My two cents from the other side of the issue: I think you're being too hard on folks here. One of the problems with this issue is terminology. Loosely, an allergy is a specific histamine response to an irritant, so only when your body responds to an irritant with histamines & inflamation should we call that response an allergy, but we don't have another easy term available for other negative body responses to an irritant. Most people don't actually care to hear the specific details of your bodies responses to different foods, so it's faster and easier to just say "I'm allergic to walnuts" than "I get a weird tickly closing-up feeling in my throat when I eat walnuts, but the allergy test was negative, so I'm not technically allergic, but the doctor said to avoid them anyway, cause your throat closing up is bad" as another example, I'm officially allergic to crustaceans and to some fish. On top of which I have a "negative bodily response" to ALL fish, though I can eat for example dishes made with a little thai fish sauce, as long as I don't have too much, in which case I will be sick as a dog! My throat doesn't swell up in those cases, so it's not an allergy, but isn't it easier if I just tell you "I'm allergic to fish" rather than detailing everything out for you??? I'm not saying there aren't some people who self diagnose too quickly, or are hypochondriacs, but take my word for it, having a "food sensitivity" and working around it, or asking others to work around it, is a big inconvenience, so I think that in most cases folks who do so are responding to a real bodily reaction even if it's not technically an allergy.
  4. I like Pars market in Bellevue. The Souk in pike place market is more convenient if you're in Seattle, but kind of random in what they stock. PFI may also have some of what you're looking for.
  5. Eden

    Carrots

    True, but the purple leaches out into your "sauce" (while the carrots revert towards orange) so you still get lots of color on your plate. We just planted a bunch of "purple haze" carrots & can't wait for them to grow
  6. Eden

    Carrots

    don't forget deviled carrots - glazed carrots with a bit of tobasco added in to balance out the sweet
  7. please do post any replies on this to the list rather than PM, I have friends heading over for their honeymoon who just asked me the same question. (actually they'd probably settle for decent as long as they won't look too out of place dressed for the Opera...)
  8. Coincidentally, my nice husband made Lenticchie alla romana for dinner last night from Fagioli by Judith Barrett. Not bad, but the onions could sure be cooked longer - she says to cook the veggies for about 10 minutes till just browned, but I would have gone for a longer caremlization to soften them more & add more complex flavor.
  9. are you referring to Antonio Latini's 1692 Lo Scalco alla moderna? That is the earliest italian text I found reference to when going back through the Ragu thread. If there's another ealier source I'd love to hear about it! Unfortunately I do not have the full text of Latini, only a few recipes, but for those interested, Ken Abala has a translation of Latini's "Spanish Tomato Sauce" recipe in his "Food in Early Modern Europe" on a side note, I have read what I believe to be the earliest recipes titled as "Pizza" (in Scappi, c. 1570) but they are nothing like what we know as pizza today, and I would be very interested to know when you find the transition to something like the modern Pizza Napolitana.
  10. At a POTLUCK?! Grrr. Don't get me started on potlucks . . . No no, when I go to potlucks it's usually with amazing fellow cooks who have very good palates. (and the comment came from my husband ) Other offerings last night included Armandino's lamb prosciutto , home-made madeleines, and an experimental chicken saltimboca with a picatta like sauce that was quite tasty. I did cook the cardoons for nearly an hour per Mario's instructions, so they were soft, and I liked the flavor (perhaps the nutmeg in the besciamella masks the metalic taste the rest of you have experienced? but the stringyness was unpleasant... I have leftover artichokes so I may have to try cooking them alla romana - great suggestion!
  11. Jumping into the fray tonight (I wish, I wish, I wish I'd taken photos!) I had to go to a potluck this evening, and having some lamb on hand, I poked around on the link to Mario Batali's Food network recipes & found a roman Lamb & Artichoke Tart a very unusual concoction with bits of lamb & artichokes browned w/oil garlic & parsley then deglazed with a bit of white wine, and layered with hard boiled egg and a raw egg/yoghurt mixture topped with pecorino romano. Very nice and interesting flavor combo, but even though I made my pieces smaller than called for in the original, I got a complaint that it wasn't really cohesive as a dish, it was like the lamb & artichoke were both in the pie, but didn't have much to do with one another. Personally, I though the artichoke had taken on a wonderful level of flavor from the lamb, but obviously opinions varied... Of course I don't think you can go wrong with lamb and artichokes I'm guessing that the yoghurt was a substitute for some italian ingredient that's hard to find here? it worked very well, but I'm curious what my theoretical original ingredient would have been. So while I was at the Whole Paycheck picking up fresh parsley for the tart I noticed that, wonder of wonders, they actually had cardoons in stock - a real rarity here - which meant I HAD to buy some Since I had the Food Network website up anyway I poked around a bit & found Mario's Baked Cardoons alla Romana which are just simmered till soft & then gratined under a besciamella sauce. They tasted OK but they were really stringy cardoons, so it didn't work as well as it might. How DOES one judge cardoons?
  12. Does this mean I can jump in with ancient roman recipes? I love cooking from apicius! and I've never quite perfected my must cakes from Cato. Of course I'm looking foward to learning more about modern Roman cooking too. Spaghetti alla carbonara = pure unadulterated comfort food! and I really need to perfect my saltimboca, the last round was OK but not stellar.
  13. And the price has dropped again. it's down to $59.95, and Bill said I could buy it!!! The little red voodoo man will be on my counter soon And if the knives are junky, as we all assume, I have someplace to donate them...
  14. Eden

    April Fools

    yesterday my historical cooking group did a big april fools dinner. Castle-shaped pastries had salad hidden inside them the bread was shaped like a fish, as were some cookies. the butter was hidden inside hollowed out lemons. we had shell shaped cookies i.e. mini madeleines honey-candy shaped like little hedghogs with slivered almonds for the spines & currant eyes. (a double folly as we often serve little meatballs shaped this way) based on a thread here on eG we shaped hard boiled eggs like apples & colored them appropriately - just georgeous! there were also boiled turnips slices shaped & dressed like fish the meatballs looked like little baked pears. we shaped and painted marzipan to look like almonds what looked like stuffed eggs were actually rose flavored milk jell-O eggs stuffed with a dollop of pastry cream we hollowed out walnuts & refilled them with coins, beads and dried fruits there were a couple dishes that were merely decorated: the lamb stew had pastry fleur-de-lis sitting on it, the carrots & asparagus were layed out on a bed of rice in the shape of a tree etc and the hollandaise-like sauce for the veggies was hidden in a pie crust looking like a lattice topped custard pie Oh and the menu introducing the dinner was written with a food coloring pen on rice paper! someone else took the pics, but if I can get them I will post a few later...
  15. a possible solution to up the magnetic oomph of your grandfather's strip might be to get a couple of the small square magnets with holes predrilled in them that they sell at hardware stores & screw them in a row onto your existing strip. In my experience these little magnets are pretty strong, but of course the ones at your local hardware store may be different, so try this at your own risk. oh and of course make sure those screw heads are sunk low enouvh to not damage your knives! Otherwsie why not just get a second modern strip to put next to the old one & store new knives on that & the sabatier's on the old strip... that way you have room for even more knives & that can't be a bad thing, right?
  16. Just to be clear - you subbed 1 for 1 the coconut milk for the heavy cream? I would love to use these recipes for some dairy intolerant friends...
  17. A good friend is off to Estonia on business next week, and I have two questions on his behalf: 1) what (non-fish) food treats can he bring back that are legal to import into the US? and 2) I've already done a search for him on eG and found several useful threads, especially this one, but nothing since October '05, so are there any updated suggestions of where he should dine assuming he gets any free time? Thanks!
  18. What I find frustrating, as an american who LOVES gamey lamb, is that lately (last 2 years or so?) even the Australian lamb I've been able to buy here has been less flavorful. It's like the exporters are dumbing their lamb down for the US palate or something or are y'all just selling us your rejects? Next week I'll be playing with some lamb that a friend's family raised "grass only" I'll be interested to see how it tastes comparatively. Here's hoping for some serious lambiness!
  19. I have just, in honor of The Cooks Graveyard, officially designated the box at the top of my pantry "the coffin" It's the place where all those little useless items end up: the cheapo garnishing kit I've ignored for 20 years, the metric measuring spoons I bought by mistake, the fancier shaped pastry tips, the egg lifter*, the cookie press, the I don't even know what all else is in there... *Tupperware made a specialized tool just for lifting hard boiled eggs out of the pot, and I can't throw it away because it's just SO ridiculous.
  20. While I think blaming PETA is going too far, I really agree with JGM it would be great if there was an organization that those of us who want to eat our veal but treat it well too could support. "Carnivores Against Cruelty"? As it is I do pay a premium to vendors who can assure me my meat has been rasied humanely, but there's no standardization right now. We have cruelty free labeling for other products, I'd like to see it for my dinner as well...
  21. My impression is that the website has a basic description of the plan, but the books are far more detailed. I would not feel as certain of where to start just from reading the website as I did after reading the book. Also I don't see the exampe menus & recipes that the book provides. However I do like the upgrade to the site. And they seem to have a much more comprehensive list of low GI foods which is useful.
  22. I've been wanting a set of odd size measuring cups (like these) for ages now, but couldn't justify the $17+ price. Last week I found a 3/4 cup and a 1-1/2 cup measure in perfect condition for a whopping 69cents each! total score! though I still long for a 2/3 cup measure... My husband laughed at me when I first told him I wanted these, but he now uses the 3/4 cup measure ALL the time.
  23. actually the fact that this recipe has NO peppers was the reason I even asked. Had it been sprinked with chili peppers & cheese I would automatically have labeled it faux. The only sites I found it on were generic, so it seemed unlikely to be "authentic", but the use of horseradish intrigued me...
  24. Sorry to hear Bourbon & BBQ isn't improving what I hoped were early day jitters! I'm still going back for those artichokes but I'll avoid the fries! I noticed the other day that Coffee messiah seems to be dead. (unless it's planning a resurrection in another location )
  25. I was surfing for a recipe to use up some spinach, and came across several versions of this recipe for "Mexican Spinach". It's a quick side dish of steamed spinach with a little cream & horseradish, which I quite liked, but I have to wonder: Is this in any way shape or form related to Mexican cuisine?
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