chefzadi

My wife has heard of the no chopsticks in rice rule as well. But it's not "enforced" at all anymore. My wife's source is an old relative who still misses the "yangban" ways, including having peasants. LOL!

Also how does it if at relate to Mongolian and Korean cookery if at all? Of course I'm also curious about how it relates to Chinese cuisine. I've often read that the Northern cuisine isn't considered as refined or notable as some of the other regions. It's bolder and more rustic? By the way, my knowledge of Chinese cuisine is very limited, almost ZERO. But it seems to be the "motherlode" that informed so much of Korean and Japanese cuisines. Also, maybe this is a question for an entirely different thread. Is there a Chinese culinary figure that is the equivalent of France's Escoffier? Has someone tried to systemize and document it in this way?

Carrots also benefit greatly from big pot blanching. Even the really big, old ones. Turned or julienned. I actually prefer the flavor of bigger carrots cooked this way to the "baby" ones.

Big pot blanching is a very common French cooking technique, especially in commercial kitchens for the the reasons mentioend above, brighter color and more tender finished product. Green beans benefit the most from this, you can actually see a rather dullish looking one transform into a brilliant green right before your eyes. Basic technique, lots of waters, lots of salt, bring to a boil, add vegetables (one type at a time, the cuts should be more or less uniform in size) cook untill just tender, drain, shock in ice cold water untill cool, drain, saute immediately or reserve for later use. The fact that the vegetables can be reserved for sauteeing later makes it an ideal restaurant technique and at home for "make in advance" dishes.

I guess you figured it out first Fifi. Indeed something was "off".

Thank you for the report. Now we all know that shawerma or Turkish kebab can be made on a rottisserie at home. I've had Armenian shawerama with garlic sauce, moutabal and buttery rice. That seems to be the most common service around my part of town. Your presentation looks delicious. I ski too, the best ski food for me is for me almost anything hot.

Regarding the use of metal bowls. A bit of trivia. Traditional Korean homes typically had one heat soure in the kitchen. A charcoal heated hole in the ground (there's a better way to describe it I'm sure but it escapes me at the moment) basically, behind the hole was a tunnel that led to the sleeping quarters. During the winters the opening to the whole was left open to heat the room. Of course during the summer the opening of the tunnel was left closed. Anyway, during the cold months (long long ago) my MIL would cook the rice first, portion them into the metal bowls with lids, and tuck them between warm blankets in the heated room to keep the rice warm while she finished preparing everything else.

My personal experience with Asians is that they want you to enjoy eating the food, first and foremost. If food is love, I've never felt so loved as in an Asian household. Very little of this nitpicking with the proper use of cutlery. Just warme, friendly lessons in differences.

?????????? Drawing attention to the poor quality of dining equipment is quite the thing in which cultures?

Which chopstick using culture do you come from? ← Yes?????????

Which chopstick using culture do you come from?

How do these discussions turn from "what are your experiences, observations, knowledge about ________?" into entirely different ones... Boggles the mind. Did something bad happen at work? Let's stick to chopsticks instead of treading into snide remarks. But then hey, if you need to make dismissive remarks to feel better, more power to you! Chopsticks please!

I take these things with a grain of salt. Just fun stuff. It's pointless to argue about tastes or manners for that matter. I gave a short answer, France. I could have given a lenghthier answer but it would have involved repetitive information from some of my previous posts. I was born in Lyon, raised in the Beaujolais with some of the best.... I'm a French Chef.... blah, blah, blah... Not surprisingly I prefer French cheeses generally. Now discussions like this get silly or uninteresting to me when they get too heavy or deliberately disparaging of other culinary traditions. Just my tuppence.

That is because French universities are heavily subsidized as much as the fact that some American waiters are heavily compensated. Of course, don't you have to spend two years studying full time (with no time to work) just to pass the entrance exam? Or is that just X. ← taking jackal's model into consideration > 52 weeks = 50k usd 1 week = approx less than 1000 usd it must be swell studying in france. ← You got it. It's actually less than that in most cases. Or even just plain FREE. The Grande Ecoles are more expensive, but they are a very special category of schools (these types of schools require two years of study just to pass the entrance exams) Anyway, I gave the example to support Jaymes argument that economic needs are different in different countries. The college student/waiter in the States has higher tuition costs than the French college student/waiter in France. What works in one country is not necessarily going to work in another.

Is it considered rude? Like your telling the owner of the eatery you were given cheap chopsticks? The rubbing is smooth out ragged edges.

Looking good. The onions (?) at the end helps to keep it together?

You have a fantastic sense of humour! If you aren't joking my apologies in advance.

I don't know about the specific angle degree that's concerned proper, but rubbing the chopsticks together to smooth the wood is pretty common practice.

Waribashi- I've seen some pretty decent quality ones. A single snap, clean break in two, smooth wood, sturdy enough to finish a meal. The really cheap ones I cannot stand. It's like eating with splintered toothpicks.

France! Roquefort tops my lengthy list. Actually I could eat unpateurized butter from Normandy like cheese too. The stinky cheeses... There are people who prefer the rind to the interior even on the really morbid looking stuff. Some cheese mongers actually save the rinds for them.

Are noodles or dumplings ubiquitious throughout Asian cultures that celebrate Chinese New Years? What do they mean? Noodles I'm guessing long life, longevity. We'll be having Galbi as well, I'm sure.

Tuition fees at the University of Paris in Paris. EDIT:Busboy got to it. Also, the French Government subsidizes education on most levels. I attended culinary school for free. Merci, La France.

Actually this was something they seemed to do better in the old days, and Aux Lyonais was an old established bistrot. Ducasse and the owner of l'Ami Louis bought it jointly with the intent of preserving it as best they could. It opened to great reviews, but the original chef went to les Ambassadeurs with Piege who had trained him and some people have reported a decline since then. I'm inclined to believe it's come back, if our meal was any indication. The food is not necessarily authenticly Lyonnaisse in style. I'd say the fare is a cross between Paris and Lyon and a cross between 1965 and 2005. It reminds me very much of why I was so struck by French food even on my early budgets. The 28€ prix fixe meal from 2004 was: Planche de charcuterie lyonnaise - ou - Emincé de chou blanc et oeuf mollet, canard confit Quenelle et écrevisses - ou - Foie de veau persillé, copeaux de pomme de terre Fromage frais - ou - Chcoclat Viennois, glace vanille In addition to a wine list strong in beaujolais and inexpensive wines, they had on offer a Mazy-Chambertine Grand cru in 46 cl. carafes at 42€. I remember someone complaining that the carafe wines were expensive. That's not what I'd call a carafe wine and bottles of good beaujolais were considerably less expensive. ← I don't think you could find this in London for the equivilant of 28 Euros. Even with the todays exchange rate for the dollar I would consider it a good value.

LOL, Ben! Yep, I'm always amused by that scenario. I like Chinese chopsticks. Bamboo, non-lacquered. I guess I'm a natural klutz, so anything slippery takes more effort than I'd like. I also must apologize to my Korean friends, but I can't stand those metal Korean chopsticks. They're much too heavy for me. I tend to use chopsticks for many Western foods when I eat at home. I find it so much easier using chopsticks for salad, for instance, because I have more control over what I'm picking up and how it's going into my mouth. ← The Koreans won't be offended. My in laws always have the Japanese kind available for me.

An American server, say working in a high volume, fine dining restaurant in Los Angeles could earn a year's tuition for the University of Paris in a week just from tips.