chefzadi

I'm not so much concerned with the "free gifts" being taken. I'm more concerned with the "gift givers." As a chef and an LA resident I can imagine what the "invitations to contribute to the potluck reception" stated directly and implied. Some shit about "great press!!!!" I'd give them the finger and bare my ass if I had time during my smoking breaks. They were a$$holes for asking for sure. But the chefs gave it to them knowing it was a cheap ass attempt at getting free food with promises of pretty PR later.

I'm a cooking instructor. (after 16 years of sweating it on the kitchen line). Anyway I also teach recreational cooking classes to home cooks. In France, North African cuisine is usually equated with Algerian cooking. We are the largest minority group over there. Here in the States North African cuisine is equated with Moroccan cooking. I'll be teaching a few classes on Moroccan tajines (and some classes on French cooking) at Sur La Table. When I submitted my class ideas to the cooking school director I submitted them as "Algerian tajines," she promptly changed the classes titles to "Moroccan tajines." Just a bit o trivia....

Zeitoun- I keep thinking about your questions regarding the different types of couscous dishes in the various Maghreb countries. You see Algeria borders both Tunisia and Morocco, so depending on the region of Algeria you are in there is culinary overlap with the two other countries. Ms Wolfert mentioned that the Moroccans cook their semolina couscous uncovered and the Tunisians cover the pot. In Algeria both techniques are used, again depending on the region. The Tunisians also serve their couscous more like a pilaf, they lay the meat and vegetables from a tajine on top of the semolina couscous and pour some of the cooking broth on top. In Algeria the presentation is different. The Semolina couscous is served seperately, the meat and vegetables are served on a platter and the broth is served in a tureen. I understand the Moroccans serve it the same way. I also add butter and olive oil to my semolina couscous. My mother in France has always done so and so do my relatives in Algeria. They churn fresh butter almost daily on their farm. They preserve the leftovers for Smen. (btw, I hate Smen. My mother used to add it to my least favorite dish. Chicken with these torn pancakes. I couldn't stand the mushy broth soaked pancakes and the smen made it even worse. I would wonder, "why, why, why do I have to eat this?).

Man, I knew you would fire back with a great answer!! I know the basics, it is that dissertation of yours that intrigues me!! Please share more with us! How about the use of meats (merguez, chicken, lamb), chickpeas or not, dried raisins? ← The beauty of Tajines is that they are so flexible, there are "no rules" to what can be added to them. Some are extremely simple with just a few ingredients and spices. Others seem to have every thing but the kitchen sink in them. Old Arab recipes simply call for "meat" and "meat" meant lamb. But when chicken and beef became more widely available throughout North Africa, they were quickly incorporated into Tajines and other dishes. As for Merguez it's grilled and served seperatley with the other meats from the tajine. Merguez isn't directly added to a tajine, at least not in Algeria. Some tajines even combine beef, lamb and chicken. Others use fish. Some versions have chick peas other don't. Dried fruits such as apricots, prunes and raisins can be added. There are tajines made from game birds as well. When I have more time I will begin posting recipes that illustrate different techniques and flavor combinations.

will it work with Kalustyans couscous? If yes, do i need to moist it before? EDIT: Found this thing by Alton Brown - he basically has answers to my questions: Steamed Couscous ← I read Alton Brown's directions for preparing couscous. I don't think 25 minutes total steam is anywhere near adequate for dried, packaged couscous. More like at least twice that amount of time. And it should cool for more than 5 minutes in between steamings.

I would suspect that the whole shebang would be written off as promotion. The investors should be happy, as it gives the JGV a captive audience made up of their target demographic. I don't have an issue with anyone comping their goods or services. *Asking* to be comped for a wedding is just tacky though. ← Can you write it off as a "promotion". Maybe as a business expense. I don't think it can even be written off as an advertising expenditure. But I'm not a CPA. So there you go. My worthless 2 cents.

(my emphasis) In addition to providing the food gratis, he also has to provide the chefs -- will they get paid? And what about JGV's investors? How do they feel about this freebie? How does it expensed? The entire article is here: At Celebrity Nuptials to Die for, Vendors Give Themselves Away ← J.V. can't expect or ask his chefs/cooks to work for free. With these publicity games what you see is not always what's happening. J.V. is a tenant in one of Trump's buildings. It behooves the Donald to get extra publicityfor J.V. and it behooves the Donald to make himself look "special" to have all these top notch vendors competing to see what big ticket item they offer him. (Am I the only one that has noticed that the Donald is an attention-seeker?) A little paperwork shuffled here and there and maybe someone gets a month or so of free rent to offset the cost of the "donation", then someone it off as a loss and so on...

My wife makes a broth with the larger anchovies and dashi-ma. I understand it to be one of the most basic stocks in Korean cookery. My kids can't get enough of it myulchi goonmeul and gooksoo. Maybe I've had only poor quality dashi stock, but it has always seemed to sweet for my palate. Whereas myulchi goong meul is very clean and refreshing.

Especially the "potluck" part. It's too funny. I just can't picture some of old French Chefs I worked under when I was younger bringing a potluck dish anywhere.

One hand washing the other. Yes and one ass kissing the other in expectation of something similar down the road, preferably in the form of a favorable review or mention.

This is the most bizarre scheme I've heard of to get free food for a Wedding reception.

Hey Marco Polo- Just noticed the stuff about your background. So get this. I was born in France to Algerian parents (Arab and Beber), my wife was born in Korea (moved to LA when she was 5), we have two kids (Arab/Berber and Mongol mix), they are both models with Ford kids division (but we never send them on auditions). Where are you in England. I worked over there and in Scotland too.

Korean restaurants in the States seem to use quite a bit of sugar and MSG. My mother i law frowns upon this deeply. Really good Korean cooking contains some sugar too offset sourness, spiciness and saltiness. But sugar shouldn't be the top note you taste when you eat bulgogi or hwe neng myun.

My mother in law prefers the super tiny ones. She sautes them in oil, sugar and soy sauce. She prefers a crispy finish to them. There is another version with kochujang, sugar and if I recall correctly sesame seeds. I've never seen the ketchup version. ← If you use the tiny ones, do you leave the heads and guts in? ← Yes you leave the head and guts in. They are so tiny it would be impossible to remove them. They have more delicate flavor then the bigger ones.

I know this is an old post. My mother in law has two methods. The old, fashioned long version that results in the three mother sauces of Korean cooking. Dwen Jang, Kochu Jang, and traditional Korean Kan Chang (very different from Kikkoman). But it's so labor intensive and time consuming that I can't imagine you would want to attempt it at home. She has a short version. She combines light Japanese Miso, with malt syrup and Koread dried red pepper flakes that have been reconstituted in ice cold water for a deep red color. She can't give me quantities, because she never measures). But it's pretty easy to play around with it. I've seen Japanese Miso at many major Supermarket chains, at least in LA.

My mother in law prefers the super tiny ones. She sautes them in oil, sugar and soy sauce. She prefers a crispy finish to them. There is another version with kochujang, sugar and if I recall correctly sesame seeds. I've never seen the ketchup version.

Ah, thanks for that suggestion. All I need now is to find a couscousiere in the UK. I use my french friends one at the moment. Infact, I used her couscousiere on monday, along with the tagine I got in Meknes. I have also been using barley couscous recently, tastes good and looks good as well. Well I gues the Almoravids and the Almohads were Berbers, so no wonder it turns up in Andalus. I wonder if it comes down to a preference for steaming verses boiling. Would be interesting to know what influenced this preference (if there was one), kitchen layout maybe. ← My relatives in Algeria still make handmade semolina cousous. As for kitchen layout, the old Berbers were nomads. So one heat source cooking was ideal. As for "contemporary" Algerian kitchens, my relatives have one heat source in their kitchen. My family is from an area that neighbors the Kabyle, we are actually a mix of Arab and Beber.

A bit beside the point, but I'm used to the term pied noir referring to French whose families had previously lived in North Africa and now live in France. I once lived with a pied noir family from Algeria who'd ended up in Normandy---great couscous and merguez. Is the term used for both? ← It's used for both and more. Pied Noir also refers to other European settlers.

I will answer parts of your question for now and the rest later when I have more time. It's thought that the Berber's invented the couscousier, the double tiered cooking vessel. You are correct historically non-wheat couscous was more common. As Ms Wolfert mentioned it was Barley. Wheat was introduced later, some say by Arabs others say by the Romans. It was certainly the Romans who turned Tunisia into the breadbasket for Europe. So why this shape of "pasta"? I'm not a food historian or a scholar. But I will share some observations. The shape of semolina couscous bears resemblance to grains (millet for instance) that were originally cooked in a couscousier. Semolina couscous is pretty much indestructable so it's easier to store and travel with than most other shapes of "pasta". Traditionally couscous is eaten with one's fingers, it's hard to eat Angel hair pasta with one's fingers (I know I've seen my 20 month son try this). Semolina couscous is more versatile than other types of "pasta". It can be eaten plain, with fermented yoghurt, sweetened with sugar and raisins, paired with savory tajines. Semolina couscous is probably so prevalent because it deliciously addresses the diverse needs of the Magrheb .... More from me later.....

Ms Wolfert- I stand corrected on the sundried tomatoes. I should have prefaced my recipe by saying "this is a very common version of Harissa" By the way, what do you include in your Tabil spice blend? Tabil is also the name of another hot pepper paste that includes roasted peppers. I sometimes add roasted red peppers to my Harissa.

Man, I knew you would fire back with a great answer!! I know the basics, it is that dissertation of yours that intrigues me!! Please share more with us! How about the use of meats (merguez, chicken, lamb), chickpeas or not, dried raisins? ← The dissertation is part of the cookbook I wrote, But I believe in the free sharing of information and knowledge. So I will more than gladly post everything I know (which doesn't amount to much) here! Give me some time and it will come to you.

Ms Wolfert, I really do want to discuss the ancient (Berbers and beyond) and more modern Jewish (Pied Noir) versions of couscous. We're getting into Culinary evolution now, which is always a fun discussion. I will post more on this tomorrow and I look forward to having a stimulating dialogue with you.

Yes, Ms Wolfert. I wanted to keep it concise. I am very open to a discussion about all the different types of grains or processed grains are steamed in a couscousier. And of course the origins of the couscousier itself. Let's keep the dialogue open! We can go allover Africa and then some!

Arabs come in all religious guises. I was born into a Muslim family. But there have been Arab jews as long as there has been Judaism and Arab Christians as long as there has been Christianity. The Jews have a long history in North Africa, if not longer than the Muslims. So the only difference I can think of in the recipes are related to religious requirements.

Couscous, you say? I can and have written a dissertation this. But I'll provide just the basics here. Couscous is made from semolina flour, water and salt. It comes in various sizes from tiny granules to buck shot sized ones (at which point they are calle berkoukes and no longer couscous). The most common type of couscous in the Maghreb (Algeria, Morroco and Tunisia) are the fine to medium sized ones. In all the countries the traditional preparation involves 2-3 steamings. W The variations occur with how the tajines are spiced. Tajines are thin stews or thick soups. Lamb is the most authentic protein, but nowadays chicken and beef are pretty common. In the coastal cities seafood tajines are obviously common. Broadly speaking the Tunisians like their red hot peppers, Caraway and Tumeric, the Morroccans use a wider array of spices (lots of cinnamon and nutmeg) and more of it (they also emphasize sweet and sour combinations more) and the Algerians are more simple (we prefer cumin the most and compared to the Morrocans we tend to use a fewer range of spices in our dishes. We also don't use as much red pepper as the Tunisians do). But the differences in the Magrheb countries is not that important. We are more or less one people. We speak the same Arabic dialect. You can talk about differences from country to country, but you are more likely to find greater variations from region to region or neighbor to neighbor. If you want to get into semantics/linguistics we can do that later. Basically couscous is the staff of life to us North Africans. The word means so many things to us.