chefzadi

Yes somewhat true. We are also supposed to share what we have, that's supposed to be the Muslim way all the time. Anyone who has traveled/lived in a Muslim country will tell you about the hospitality. The idea for the "feasts" to break the fast is that the dishes be nutritious and invigorating, lots of special ingredients. Some people actually gain weight during Ramadan! But really it's supposed to be a time of self-evaluation, cleansing and sharing. So you make grand dishes and platters piled with sweets. You are supposed to share them with everyone. Another reason to fast to remind yourself of hunger, to remind yourself how even "basic" things like water and bread can be scarce.

I'm posting recipes for Ramadan on my blog from now untill the end of the holy month. Please enjoy I invite muslims from other countries to suggest dishes and I will present a similar or possibly even same Algerian dish.

Very interesting link. I would not have though to look into Usbek preparations. Thank you. I have Algerian preparations that are similar or the same. Variations in spicing and presentation in some cases. I have some Algerian breads on my blog, will present more. Some of the nons look like variations of Khobz be'Sinouj/ Kesra be'Sinouj. Non must be related to Indian naan breads. Possibly introduced to India by the Turks? Algerian samsas are obviously introduced by the Turks during the Ottoman reign there. But depending on the region there are different names that point to earlier variations.

Yes, I'm pretty sure they are related to samosa. We have samsa in Algeria too. But it usually refers to a triangular pastry filled with sweetened nuts, but it also refers to triangular pastries filled with savory meat and/or vegetable stuffings. What a first post!

I'm starting to post recipes for Ramadan! The Ramadan recipes are being linked to by Muslims allover.

Good cookbooks can cost alot of time and money, sometimes years of research like Clifford Wright's A Mediterranean Feast. If google makes the entire contents of that book available for free without compensating him it's just not right! And in the future the publication of such books would be damaged. The only reason I can do my Algerian cookbook online and make it available for free is because I've already done most of the research by simply being Algerian myself and having lived there and working on a farm with very traditional foods and cooking techniques. So traditional in fact that even Algerians are telling me that they did not know people still lived this way. Even so the cost of food and web fees are things that are not easy for me to absorb. It's a bit of a struggle. I'm pretty confident about getting sponsorship in the very near future.

The 60's were volatile in France. You can't look at the changing role/identity of a chef in relation to old institutions in a historical vacuum of just food history and not relate it to other events that were shaping France and her notions of pluralism and what is it is to be French. Maybe my link is shocking and seems out of place. France lost it's colonies, there was a huge wave of post colonial immigration and a cultural identity crisis.... The institutionalized meanings of being French was being questioned and challenged on all levels.

How sad - that means that no one can ever read it. Strictly speaking, if I view that web page, I'm reproducing it. If I were to dare to print a page for later reference, I risk being hauled off in irons. Evidence of my criminality would be readily preserved, as a copy of the forbidden material would be 'reproduced' and preserved for an indefinite time on my hard drive in the web cache. View a web page, go to jail. You may think I'm exaggerating, but that's what your words above mean, in a paranoid legal sense. And when dealing with lawyers, the only way to be is paranoid. ← Nevermind, not worth it. ← chefzadi, I will visit you again and even cook something from your website in defiance of the legalities. ← Please do.

How sad - that means that no one can ever read it. Strictly speaking, if I view that web page, I'm reproducing it. If I were to dare to print a page for later reference, I risk being hauled off in irons. Evidence of my criminality would be readily preserved, as a copy of the forbidden material would be 'reproduced' and preserved for an indefinite time on my hard drive in the web cache. View a web page, go to jail. You may think I'm exaggerating, but that's what your words above mean, in a paranoid legal sense. And when dealing with lawyers, the only way to be is paranoid. ← Nevermind, not worth it.

excellent points TPO I have this on my Algerian cuisine site unless of course I okay it in writing.On Ya Rayi Our Rai nothing can be reproduced in any manner without the permission of the respective contributor.

A little late in the season around here. But try it wit fresh chick peas, no tahini.

I'm curious about which Moroccan/North African ingredients you can't get in Mexico City.

I work with computers all day. The very last thing that I want to do when I get home is turn on another computer. I sincerely hope that we never go to electronics books in my lifetime or, god forbid, online cookbooks. I wouldn't be able to do it. Physically. But I love my paper cookbooks and scanning their pages for recipes is restful after a long work day. ← God forbid there already is an online cookbook. My Algerian cuisine blog is just that. I try to add recipes with photos at least every other day, sometimes everyday. I discussed it a bit with some of my food writing mentors. So far it's an "experiment" that I am not regretting at all. I'm having a fantastic time doing it and there are benefits to it.

What a short list. How about chefs of Mexican descent cooking high end/nouvelle regardless of type of cuisine?

Well, when I lived in Algeria i drank the tap and all sorts of water without gettiing sick. I drank the tap in London and had the shits for weeks on end. get my drift? depends on what you're used to. It seems to be what you are saying as well.

Just be sure that what you eat is cooked through, if possible, and be aware that things like lettuces and raw fruits which are cut, may not be washed too well by your own health standards ... the water is the issue here ... more Moroccan food advice ← Where is the water NOT an issue? You really think that that the lettuces and fruits in Western restos are well washed? You're just used to the bacteria or whatever those little things are called.

Hi Louisa, I know people in Morocco who would treat you well. But dropping names is not the best way to get traditional foods. Name dropping is a way to get tourist dishes. You know, I hear North Africans are pretty funny folks with a deep sense of irony.

When I was in France or I go back to visit I eat cheese everyday. I am from Lyon. In America I do not eat cheese everyday. The cheeses I care to eat daily are out of my budget. When guests come over I put out at least three cheeses. Isn't there a book written by an American living in France about French home cooking? Presumeably it's for a non-French audience since, well for one thing it's written in English. Anyway, if you want an idea of what some French people eat at home check out Blog appetit and any number of french food forums will give you a glimpse into what home cooks are making. This sort of reminds me of the time a woman asked me to teach her French, but wait not French the language itself, she wanted to have a French accent when she spoke English. She wanted me teach her the accent. I can't remember the last time I cooked with cream at home. Probably last winter when I made a potato gratin. As for butter, hmmm... yes, I add a pat here and there. I don't snack, I don't eat processed foods, occassional in n out. There are no hidden fats in my diet. Yeah, I'll stick to the French diet and stay thin for the rest of my life.

Sorry, I think there was a question addressed to me earlier as well. I'm very busy with work these days and lots of other projects. I have noticed some cuts of meat depending on where I buy it tend to release alot of moisture. Higher heat, fewer pieces of meat in the pan, along with the other things you did. Have to go.

but a slap (no matter where) is assault and battery. ramsay's temper tantrums on television are TV..entertainment, and yes, acting, in my view, even though they may be presented as "reality tv"...hitting (of what ever body part, at whatever velocity) can't be condoned in the real world workplace...imho. ← Um... I made that point on the other thread as well. And I made similar points in the France forum. So now we all agree not to glorify this stuff as some Frenchh old guard thing? And when I say it's not acceptable I won't get arguments from an American telling me that it's very old school French? Merci. We're getting off topic. EDIT: there was a physical scuffle that resulted in injury of one of the contestants and a settlement. Maybe this was not shown on the series. I do not watch the whole show. And to me shoving a plate of food into someone's stomach is aggressive.

Didn't I say on the Hell's Kitchen thread that all the pushing and shoving was not common, really unthinkable. And that I had only work under one chef who was like that? Yet Ramsay's temper tantrums were glorified as some old school, old guard French thing much to amazement of this old school French chef. Now a "slap of hand" is turning into "assault and battery" I'm not saying I condone it at all. I'm pointing out the scale of it and a little bit of hypocrisy. When Ramsay pushes and shoves people on his TV shows people howl, please refer back to the other thread of all the posts that glorified this. So there was a slap on the hand. It was a slap, how gentle or how hard? We do not know. But let's try to keep in on scale.

That's cause they're German, dude. (Running away before Farid, Ptipois and a few assorted Germans give me a well-deserved ass-kicking... ) ← Sauerkraut doesn't qualify as a green vegetable?

No - I meant it entirely in a joking manner, and in a spirit of fun. I'm Jewish, and grew up with that cuisine - and loving it!... But the standard jokes are about how 'heavy' and 'indigestible' that cuisine is, and I agree, and laugh all the way to the kitchen until I give myself indigestion. I know that you're French, Chef Zadi, and I promise you that I travel frequently to France for the sole pleaure and privilege of eating French food for a few weeks at a time. Sure, I don't have to order foie gras every night, but I do, because I primarily can't get it as good, or as deliciously prepared here as I can in France. And I order lots of rich, fatty foods in restaurants because I specifically don't go on vacation tø diet! I also dont' actually go on vacation to visit museums, or see sights, as many people do. I go on vacation to eat, and France is my destination of choice. While many people plan their trips using guidebooks that tell them every museum and 'sight' to see, I research my trips based on restaurants - those which will have 'local' cuisine, those which will have 'haute' cuisine, those whose descriptions interest me. And I spend my days in France wandering whatever city or town I'm in, visiting food stores, cheese stores, wine stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets, and when I see intersting sights along the way, I do stop and enjoy them. So when I talked about the tradition of French food being fatty, I meant no disrespect whatsoever, only love and admiration. Well, I can't explain it better than that. I hope that rings true to you, because indeed it was meant that way. And yes, of course you should post your humorous stories. I could tell you a lot of funny stories in return, and in fact, if you post yours, I'll post mine. ← Mark, My comment wasn't directed at you. I've always enjoyed your posts and I think you have an easy going sense of humour like me. email me chefzadi AT gmail DOT com and I will let you in on the inner secrets. EDIT: For the public record, one more time. I was born in France. My parents are from Algeria. I am Algerian. I am also French. I am culturally very confused.

Another one of these threads? Shall I share some observations about what "American people" eat based on eating out in America? I can do it with humour, it will have the French certainly rolling in the aisles. I'm really tempted to write a parody of Anglophone articles on French dining habits. All in fun.

Jacques Derrida would be one of the more famous Algerian Jews who moved to France. He was pretty vocal about Algerian immigrant rights. Whether we were muslim, pied noirs or jews when we immigrated/exiled to France we simply became Algerian. Equal.