chefzadi

No menu has a complete list of ingredients. How could they? There's just no way to tell all on a menu. The thing to do is train the FOH to know the ingredients in each dish. Chances are customers who have allergies won't order blind off the menu without consulting the server. After reading the article alot of the chefs who are withholding information seem to be doing it in rather benign circumstances. I don't know any restaurants that are careless about allergies. They can't afford to be.

And yes, i forgot to mention that part, I must have heard this a hundred times!!!! ← The thing is it's not the French, Italians or the Spanish that make the best coffee. Arabica beans, everyone knows who makes the best coffee in the world. Sounds like a French thing to do. Actually you could have complained to the manager and by unwritten French "law" they would have had to make it "correctly." That is if you can convince them that they did it wrong...

Their sriracha hot sauce, aside from harissa, is the only other hot sauce I like. Most other hot sauces make me gag. I can't stand it. But sriracha! I see it everywhere, it's in every kind of Asian grocery store in LA, most major supermarkets. There is something about the flavor that translates across cultures. I mix it with mayonaisse for a quick spicy aioli. I think that it's become a staple item in Asian pantries around here, it's almost as common as soy sauce. In downtown LA I've seen hispanic workers buy a bowl of Korean instant noodles, squeeze some lime juice and sriracha into it. Are you thinking of getting into the hot sauce business?

Shrimp kebobs marinaded in charmoula sauce. There is a thread in the Middle East/Afric forum with recipes for charmoula sauce. It's delicious with seafood.

Well, we have set a pretty efficient defence system against "single true authentic traditional recipe" thread attempts, maybe you'd like to come over and test it? ← Answer below. Quoting myself Just to mention in Auch only duck or goose are used. No lamb or pork. Chef Christian Delouvier I think says pork, lamb, tomatoes and breadcrumbs are musts.

No need! My orders vary thoughout the day. At breakfast in my hotel, I will call for a cafe au lait. Later at a street stand, and before 8am, I will ask for a cafe creme. At a cafe or after lunch I will order a cafe. After dinner, I make sure they will bring me a deca, or decaffeine exprès. Different orders for different times of day. ← This reminds me of the time my wife orderd coffee in Paris (as she has hundreds of times) . The waiter was trying to be exceedingly polite and he asked her if she wanted American coffee. We both looked at him with confusion. He of course apologized. We of course said no offense was taken.

I only order cafe. I think most of the other stuff is for tourists. This is where I will duck and run...

I taught another class today. This time in South Central Los Angeles. There was a shooting near the school the other day. Sorry to be dull, but I taught them how to make vegetable quesadillas. It's a different school, fresh faces, so it's not a repeat to them. It's also the easiest thing to demo with the limited cooking equipment I have to work with. It's also a sure hit with kids, healthy but tasty. The reactions were similar. The kids and I both had a great time. On another note, a student of mine from one of the recreational classes I teach volunteers to help disabled children. We are looking for a local venue to conduct classes for people with disabilities. I think that egullets class on cooking with disabilities will be very useful for me.

I see what you mean. But I think the Italian espresso is a bit stronger than a French café serré. My wife and I had our wedding dinner at an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. Very nice place. When we were discussing the menu, the manager was very gracious and kind. He very politely and poetically in that round about way that people who's native tongue is a romance langauge told me that Italian presentation wouldn't be as fussy as French and he praised French food liberally. But the French just don't know how to make espresso.

Although I appreciate Mr Busboy's sense of humour. I have to add that most French people really like Italian food. It's one the most popular "ethnic" foods is France and of course there is the part of France that borders Italy. In fact I think that Italian food is second only to couscous in popularity. But then again Algerian couscous is so common in France that in a poll a few years backs when French citizens what there favorite dish is they replied, "couscous." So it's not even a foreign food anymore. Neither is Italian, we enjoy it immensely. I ate my way through Milan years ago.

This is a tough one. So far, we've been spared a cassoulet war

I'm watching this thread with interest. But I don't know if it's appropriate to open my Algerian mouth here.

I would never lie about what's in a dish. Menu writing in America is a little tricky at times, especially at the fine dining level. Some of them look like shopping lists, naming each boutique supplier (get's on my nerves a lot), others read more like a recipe of sorts, misuse of French culinary terms is common, naming the cooking vessel (wok cooked vegetables at a high end French restaurant ), etc... But then I also have to make my dishes clear to the dining public. In America we have so much variety, choices, new dishes, etc... that a little "spoon feeding" when it comes to menu descriptions is neccessary. I try to limit it to the main ingredient (obviously), how it's cooked (grilled, roasted, etc), primary flavorings (if using something not typically French) and primary garnishes...

This is why I pit too! Almond flour, ground almonds in a cherry clafoutis is wonderful.

Be our guest. (The forum is run by two persons, a Swiss chef and I.) Anybody else is welcome too, but French is the lingua franca there... Beware though — as I wrote above, I kid you not, the two evil words are booby-trapped ← No arguments about cassoulet?

I have quite a few Black African friends (this is the term used in France to distinguish from North Africans). It's mostly a case of cream rising to the top. The terroir is not fertile in sub-saharan Africa. Even in North Africa, availability of produce can be feast or famine. Hence meals represent Mediterranean abundance or desert sparcity. Of course over thousands of years we've learned how to make the best of it all. A Senagalese friend of mine made the famous peanut stew for me. I will try to get a recipe to post. It is intensely peanut buttery. I suppose folks who really love Thai peanut sauce might like it. He also served it with a scotch bonnet pepper oil.

I recall seeing tartiflettes on my ski trips in that area. Most of them, if not all had some pork product in them. I don't recall seeing it anywhere else.

Groups save horse from slaughter.

So it was YOU! You never know who's reading the boards. What year was this?

French restaurants in America have been known to use this. Although I do agree with you that the swill in France is better than New World swill. Will I get flamed for saying that?

I'm tempted to write (with a lot of ghost writing help from my wife) a Lyon regional one. But my maman would kill me if I published pork recipes. But then again she never watches TV or goes to bookstores nor does she read French or English. Highly doubtful that she would ever even find out. Another option would be Rhone/Burgundy, Country French Beaujolais. So another question what are the cookbooks published on Lyon, Rhone/Burgundy, Beaujolais, Country French...?

I'd have to taste your version to give a real answer. But theoretically the flavor combinations sound ok. But in French cooking the sauces are not strong. I don't know about the grated daikon for a British audience. Miso and mayo sounds too casual too me. I have no idea what "negi" is.

The original question was what French cooks do. I think that it would have gotten lost in the cooking forum. But now it's taking a different turn, although Ms Wolfert is quite a "purist" when it comes to her cooking. So her clafoutis recipe is probably something "authentically" French. I don't think that she'll be adding Mangoes anytime soon. Of course French home cooks these days are doing all sorts of things. But there once was a time not so long when they were mostly made with cherries. I like all the new visitors to the France forum.

Try it before you jump to conclusions. I tried Socca at the most famous Socca place in Vieux Nice and found it totally underwhelming. I also didn't think much of pissaladiere, and I otherwise thought Nicois cuisine was terrific! ← They make a mean salade, from what I hear.