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chefzadi

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  1. Then we get to unpacking.  I bought some beans in the San Angel market for Rancho Gordo who will be arriving in a week's time to spend two or three days with me.  He probably has them already but here they are.
    I can't wait until we're breaking bread, er tortillas, together.

    Ahem. :cool:

    With jaymes, of course, who is integral to so many of my Mexican food adventures!

    Do you think you will have time to take a class at María Ricaud Solórzano's cooking school? http://www.traditionalmexicancooking.com.mx/index.html

    Thanks for introducing María, Farid. I've learned more about Mexican cooking from her than from anyone. Right now instead of nattering happily with all my eGullet friends I should really be getting on with translating her book on salsas. I think it could be foundational. The sauces are the basis of any great cuisine and they have a structure. Most books on Mexican cooking just give separate recipes and don't even take a lick at the structure,

    Rachel

    I would love to take her salsa classes and maybe have a comparative discussion about the use of spices, nuts, chiles, etc...

    It would help with the Mexican conference I am planning here in Los Angeles.

  2. Since it keeps coming up...

    Here on Earth podcast with Rachel Laudan and the Mexican Kitchen's Islamic Connection

    Rachel's blog page on related articles

    ______________________________________________________________________

    For me one of their great joys is that you are free of all that awful stock mess, expensive, time consuming and not really good for home cooking in my opinionated view. Here you've got great-tasting, fat free, easy to prepare sauces that anyone can afford.

    Agreed, and I've written about this as well and it comes up again and again in my recreational cooking classes. Stock is not necessary for many recipes I see calling for it.

  3. Then we get to unpacking.  I bought some beans in the San Angel market for Rancho Gordo who will be arriving in a week's time to spend two or three days with me.  He probably has them already but here they are.
    I can't wait until we're breaking bread, er tortillas, together.

    Ahem. :cool:

    With jaymes, of course, who is integral to so many of my Mexican food adventures!

    Do you think you will have time to take a class at María Ricaud Solórzano's cooking school? http://www.traditionalmexicancooking.com.mx/index.html

  4. Russ, I'm sorry I missed your book signing at the Hollywood Farmers Market.  I was expecting some kind of notice in the LA Times so that I would know when and where you were signing the book.  Are you doing any other book signings in the LA Area?

    august 1st, wednesday at noon.

    531 east colorado blvd

    pasadena, ca 91011

    the california school of culinary arts, lcb program retail and bookstore.

    mapquest

    it's very close to vroman's, but in the other side of the street. plenty to do before or after the book signing, it's a nice part of pasadena with lots of things to do, worth the drive if you aren't close to it.

  5. hiya music,

    don't have any signings planned right now (well, there's one at my neighborhood library in Long Beach!), but i'm sure there will be more things as the summer moves along. signings are funny things and generally i try to keep them to a minimum and only at places i really feel good about--there's nothing like hanging out at a book store for 2 hours only to sell 5 copies. on the other hand, sometimes they turn out really well ... i signed at Politics and Prose in DC (hiya mr. and ms. busboy), and had a really great event in Santa Cruz, thanks to tana b.

    I don't mean to put you on the spot :biggrin: but are you coming to Pasadena for a book signing?

  6. Hey Russ! It was a lot of fun seeing you at your book signing at the Hollywood farmer's market the other day. You have yet another new fan, my daughter. She loves your book. She's 8 and in 3rd grade (her reading level is very advanced though) and she's telling all her friends about how to pick a peach.

  7. exotic cheese

    fresh fish

    farmers' markets

    Cheese Store in Beverly Hills

    Asian Markets, especially Korean, Japanese, Filipino, and Thai. Lots of places in Koreatown and downtown.

    Russ Parson wrote about local markets in a recent LA Times article. Google it and I think you can still read it without signing up.

  8. (In fairness, I had a $50 [restaurant price] Gigondas Friday night that utterly sucked, so I am under no illusion that the French are perfect).

    In fairness between all the middle men mark-ups that wasn't such an expensive wine at the beginning. :raz:

    Still cheaper than a trip to France to avoid the middle men markups.

    Brilliant piece Craig! :smile:

  9. I met my Tuareg brothers the other night. We were so happy to meet. I don't even know how to express here what it was like for me and how much it means to me.

    p1010048wp7.jpg

    p1010050fp1.jpg

    Amar and Mohamed are activists and educators. Mohamed has written an essay for the book The Art of Being Tuareg that dispells quite a few myths about Africa and categories for Africans that are not really accurate. We are not a continent, a country. We are not divided by the sahel, the sahara, north and west Africa. Nor do we speak of ourselves as black African and not black African. To understand the diversity of Africa, first the old categories must be dispelled.

    My brother Mohamed's essay The Inadan, Makers of Amazigh Identity: The Case of the Air Region is a must read for those interested in African identities.

  10. What do the posters here mean by "black"? Since this discussion has included African-Americans, Africans from the continent, Africans in the diaspora, etc...

    I think at times the thread has meant all of these groups. Some of the discussion described some of the differences that immigrants from Africa versus native born Black Americans might encounter or feel themselves in working and aspiring to careers in the food industry.

    Who is viewed as 'black' and who considers themselves 'black' does sound like a whole other discussion! In any case, many, but not all, of the issues discussed here would seem to apply in different degrees to all people of color or other groups that are currently less represented in the field. Different sub-groups may have different challenges but they all will share some challenges in common. One basic common challenge is that of the perception of "who" is a chef, as in the example vadouvan and bethala gave. Perhaps that is the point you are raising.

    I get the impression here that it is being used in the American sense. Others can explain what that means better than I can.

    The Tuareg, a semi-nomadic people of Niger, Mali, and Algeria, have fascinated travelers and scholars throughout history. The “art” of being Tuareg—their elegant dress and exquisite ornamentation, their refined song, speech, and dance—has been the subject of rhapsodic descriptions that suggest a Tuareg “mystique.” Who the Tuareg are today and how the Tuareg and their mystique have been invented through time by themselves and by others are considered in the first major U.S. exhibition on Tuareg art and culture, Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World, on display from October 29, 2006 through February 25, 2007 at UCLA’s Fowler Museum.

    I will be giving a lecture and cooking demonstration for this exhibition. Part of what I will be discussing is the West African genesis for the method for steaming couscous.

    Celebrity Chef Marcus Samuelsson's African Adventure

    What was the thing that surprised you most on your travels through Africa?

    The coolest thing about Africa is its huge diversity of people -- it's not one country, one culture, one religion, or one color. And the heart of that diversity, in terms of its expression in food and music, is incredible.

    New York has a sizable African-immigrant population. What are your favorite African restaurants in the city?

    You'll mostly find Ethiopian, Senegalese and Moroccan restaurants in New York.

  11. Does anyone know the percentage, if any, of black students in our professional cooking schools?  That would be a start toward chefdom..for it is chefs rather than cooks that capture the public imgaination unless the cook is also the owner of a restaurant. I think it works from both ends..being able to take professional training and then having an interest in doing the kind of cooking that engenders publicity as Patrick Clark did. Had he lived, he would surely have been on TV and would have been an affable showman but he did creative cooking with an Amrican base and was also a chef at Bice in L.A.

    I think there is something to the point made here that in the 60s and 70s other opportunities opened to African-Americans and they took it. Even for whites, other than French, being a cook-chef was regarded as being a servant. It took Bocuse and the highly educated-turned-chefs in the 70s to make it a celebrity role.

    I know there are black students in NYC public high schools that teach professional cooking.  Anyone trace the results?

    Much higher at LCB Pasadena where I teach than it is at CIA quote in the NYT article.

    I don't have the official numbers right now, but in classes I've taught I estimate 20%-30%.

  12. our fellow gulleteer michael ruhlman recently did a very nice story on the topic in the "other" times. the problem is: after samuelson, who? for whatever reason, there don't seem to be many black chefs cooking these days. (though as for the food network, cooking ability obviously wouldn't count for much.)

    Come by to the school I teach at and you'll meet quite a few future chefs of African-American descent, from the continent and the diaspora. They come from all walks of life. There are instructors from the same backgrounds as well.

    I started a thread here about African and African-American chefs a while back. I haven't had time to follow up with the leads I got. I think I will send chef Samuelsson an email about my experience with this and the Africans (all the diversity of people from this continent) that I know in the food industry. I suspect the scene will be very different in 5 years, in 10 years, in 15 years, etc...

    ETA: same thing with Hispanics, Asians, women, etc...

    Chef Zadi, a few more names of African American executive chefs currently working in NYC, for you:

    Cheryl Smith

    Herb Wilson

    Keith Williams

    Thank you for that azlee.

    I have a good base of African contacts right now, still looking to expand. So far our network includes so many from different parts of the continent and in the diaspora; scientists, writers, artists, educators, chefs, and so on. Always great to be in touch with more.

  13. our fellow gulleteer michael ruhlman recently did a very nice story on the topic in the "other" times. the problem is: after samuelson, who? for whatever reason, there don't seem to be many black chefs cooking these days. (though as for the food network, cooking ability obviously wouldn't count for much.)

    Come by to the school I teach at and you'll meet quite a few future chefs of African-American descent, from the continent and the diaspora. They come from all walks of life. There are instructors from the same backgrounds as well.

    I started a thread here about African and African-American chefs a while back. I haven't had time to follow up with the leads I got. I think I will send chef Samuelsson an email about my experience with this and the Africans (all the diversity of people from this continent) that I know in the food industry. I suspect the scene will be very different in 5 years, in 10 years, in 15 years, etc...

    ETA: same thing with Hispanics, Asians, women, etc...

  14. I met him, read some of the book so far. He's a very good speaker and an engaging writer. I think he brings together different aspects of what turned America into a more food conscious, food loving country in a really interesting way. I like the way he portrays the people he writes about as full characters.

  15. Like what the others said in here, korean hospitality always include sliced fruit for their guest when they visit. I really like this except when I am offered a bunch of concord grapes. I always tell them those grapes are usually made into wine, juice or jam, too sour to eat.

    You should try them, they're not sour, especially if they're a bit more mature grapes. They're usually quite sweet. If you get an underripe concord they'll be sour.

    I totally agree, Ellen.

    What is the point of telling "them" "usually" of something that has no relevance to "their" food culture. You know"your" way with grapes isn't universally "correct". "They" can tell you to just eat them.

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