Jaymes

Well, I know this is all subjective, but Chiles en Nogada is, in my opinion anyway, the best dish of Puebla, any time. And I'm lucky in that I have access to pomegranate seeds year 'round. Of course, the dish is still pretty darn fabulous, if not quite so pretty, without them. Although, since we're chatting about it, I'm going to be in Puebla for a couple of weeks this summer. Which restaurants do you recommend for mole and tacos arabe?

Chiles en Nogada. Which, in my personal opinion, is the best dish of Puebla. And which, also just in my personal opinion, is the best dish to celebrate the victory, since Chiles en Nogada has the same colors as the Mexican flag. http://www.coolchile.co.uk/chile-en-nogada Ain't that pretty? Olé

Here was my "starter's manual" http://www.amazon.com/Quick-Easy-Thai-Everyday-Recipes/dp/0811837319 I have also gifted this terrific little book to my kids and other friends eager to dip their fingers into the cuisine.

My papa, now 94 and living in the retirement home (which he calls "Mortuary Manor") has been a big fan of what we traditionally think as "curry" ever since his many years of living in SE Asia. He is never without his little can of S&B curry powder. He sprinkles it on many things, certainly including soup. I actually remember my first taste of somebody else's oyster stew. Seemed so bland. Took me quite a while to realize that I was accustomed to my father's oyster stew dusted with the ubiquitous curry powder. Ditto potato soup. Cream of Asparagus or cauliflower or cream of anything. Crab chowder. And every single egg dish he ever made. Even today, in Mortuary Manor, when Dad goes into the dining room and sits down to eat whatever institutional food the cooks decide to sling his way, he's got his trusty can of curry powder in his pocket. So that's my advice. Obviously it's always good to look for "recipes." But you can also keep some curry powder (homemade or storebought) or garam masala right by your kitchen stove. And sprinkle some into anything that seems likely.

This is exactly how I feel. Funny how many people confuse the two concepts. I also love sharing. But give me a bite of yours BEFORE you've started eating it. Had a dear friend that absolutely could not comprehend the difference. Every time we ate out with other friends, she'd start by loudly announcing that Jaymes "hates sharing." I'd have to go through the difference. And say that I'm happy to share, but let's do it before we get our spit in our food. It just so happens that I am very susceptible to several communicable diseases - the common cold comes immediately to mind. Everybody else gets a cold, sniffles and sneezes and is uncomfortable for about a week, and then is fine. Whereas I, a good month later, am dealing with bronchitis, ear and sinus infections, and a host of other complications, all of which take me about three months to completely rid myself of. I don't think there's anything "phobic" about my dislike of germs. And I insist on doing what I can to see to it that you keep yours to yourself.

So, dashed over there first thing today. Looks like I indeed am going to have to wait until next pasqua. All sold out. But I did stand around the "sampling kiosk" chatting with assorted passersby about such things as the macarons, preserved lemon slices and pickled beets that were on the shelves immediately adjacent. The woman offering the samples is also a big fan of the beets and I bought some. I agree that they are tasty but, frankly (and listen up pickled-beet aficionados) I think the pickled baby beets from Lovera's Italian market are considerably better:http://www.loverasmarket.com/Loveras-Original/Lovera-Marinated-Vegetables/Loveras-Pickled-Beets Another lady happened by, saw the Organic Red Palm Oil and immediately lapsed into rhapsodic swoons. Said she'd been looking all over town for the stuff. Said she takes two spoonsful a day for her health, and to lose weight. Sounded pretty silly. But she was thin. I ain't. So of course I had to buy some. I'll let you know.

You didn't tell us how you liked it How did you like it?

I'll bet they freeze well. If they have some, I'm going to lay in a supply. Looks like just the thing to have on hand for impromptu houseguests.

Gosh, that looks wonderful. I'm going to get over there first thing in the morning and hope they still have some. I'd hate to have to wait until next pasqua.

And do you do this with your fork before you've stuck it into your mouth?

I put it in the freezer. Doesn't freeze solid so it will pour after it sits out for a few minutes, but it keeps for a very long time.

Let me reinforce this. Huitlacoche is very popular in Mexican food and most of the upscale Mexican restaurants have assorted dishes that feature it. Because I eat frequently at Mexican restaurants, I have huitlacoche often. Obviously don't know how GlorifiedRice's soup turned out and whether or not I would have liked that particular dish but I'd definitely advise anyone that was unhappy with the first experience to try again.

Ah yes... eating ortolan with one's napkin atop one's head to shield the act from the gaze of God.Shades of the eGullet of old: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/6078-the-power-of-michelin-merged-topics/ How is it possible that it's been 13 years (!) since we first broached the subject of ortolans on these boards? Incredible. .

I ate balut once, on a bus, right after we moved to the Philippines. At each rest stop local kids would swarm onto the bus selling drinks and snacks. I thought it was a hard-boiled egg, although I was somewhat perplexed by the fact that it was warm. I was stunned when I bit into it. I still feel a little nauseous when I recall the feeling of holding that warm egg in my hand and then discovering what it was - and the sound and feel of the small bones crunching. But the most exotic dish that comes to mind was at a very fancy dinner party in Hong Kong. I was the only Western woman there, and the only woman at all at the large round ten-top table. The other guests were wealthy Chinese businessmen in suits. I had taken an extra-large portion of what I thought were creamed (particularly-small) pearl onions but, as I ate, although I could easily discern from both the flavor and texture that they were not onions, I couldn't figure out what they were. So I asked. My immediately-adjacent dining companion laughed, and said he didn't know how to tell me in English. Then he asked the fellow immediately adjacent to him, with the same result. Hearty laughter, followed by a shake of the head, "No." And so it went, around the table, with each new man seemingly offering suggestions that must have gotten more and more hilarious (and ribald) with each new participant until the whole table was roaring, many with tears in their eyes. Finally, one brave soul must have said something like, "I know the proper English words. I'll tell her," because everybody got quiet and turned to look at me with eager, even gleeful, anticipation on their faces. "Creamed rooster testicles." And I looked over at that serving bowl, with what must have been at least a hundred or more tiny ball-things floating around in that cream sauce - almost like a tapioca. And decided that eating the dish was surely better than having to prepare it. .

Well, since I don't know your "anyone," impossible for me to say. But I can tell you that, in my world anyway, a great many people still like it, and eat it. In fact, Luby's cafeteria sells tons of it. And my sweet mama, who died of Alzheimer's about six years ago at the age of 92, got to where, at the end, she wouldn't really eat much else. She loved it to the end. I was making it at least twice a week. We thought it was really pretty good for her, with cottage cheese and pineapple and nuts. And, for you ElsieD, it is a green - a pretty foamy light lime green, thanks to the lime Jello, mayo, and cottage cheese. Here's the recipe I've used for, um, well, about fifty years: Seafoam Salad 1 large box lime gelatin ½ C mayo or Miracle Whip 1 C crushed pineapple with juice (canned - it won't congeal with fresh pineapple) 1 C cottage cheese ½ C chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans; optional) Dissolve gelatin in 2 cups boiling water. Stir in 1 C ice cubes. Add mayo or Miracle Whip and blend thoroughly. Add pineapple and stir. Add cottage cheese and nuts and stir to combine. Pour into greased mold and chill.

Also lamb with mint jelly. And ham. And sweet potatoes. And a relish tray with deviled eggs. The eggs always had a rather unappetizing tinge of this color or that because some of the dye had seeped through the shell. Green vegetables were spring peas with mint, and asparagus. And seafoam salad. My mother loved it, and she said it looked so pretty and "springy." The children always made a centerpiece for the table. It consisted of an Easter basket, that fake green "grass," a chocolate bunny or two, some hand-painted Easter eggs that my parents had collected during travels through Europe (I think these particular ones came from Poland), and little German hand-painted mushrooms, red with white spots. Included in this centerpiece was always some "ducklings" that the kids made from yellow squash. Next day, we, too, had creamed eggs on toast. My dad made it, and it was wonderful. He added just the mere dusting of curry powder. I still love it to this day. And, we removed the clove "eyes" from our yellow squash ducklings, and Dad cooked them up as per my grandmother's recipe, which I've posted somewhere on eG. I have very fond memories of Easter when I was a child. Particularly loved that decadent and evil feeling I got when I bit right into the chocolate bunny's ears. Oooooh.....

Well, I will greet you. Hello! Where are you located, what are you interested in chatting about, and what do you like to cook?

I hope you're going to be a busy fellow posting here. You clearly have a wealth of information, thoughts, experience. I'll definitely be watching the boards for your posts.

Can you tell us what sort of meat/cut you are roasting?

Although I haven't been, have friends that have told me Kansas City has a couple of places with very good dim sum. You might check that out.

Does your electric oven have a broiler? After a bake, you can slip them under the broiler to give them a hint of that BBQ crust. Also, when I lived someplace without an outdoor grill (like Alaska in the wintertime), I'd sometimes soak hickory or oak chips and put them into the oven with the ribs to impart a bit of wood smoke. And, a friend up there made darn fine ribs in their fireplace. I never tried it but his were sure good. He took the grill off of his BBQ and stacked it on two cinderblocks. If I were going to try this, I'd have baked the ribs in the oven with an apple cider baste (2 C apple cider, 1/2 C bottled Teriyaki sauce, 1/4 c brown sugar) and then finish them over the wood fire in the fireplace. Here's a previous thread you might find interesting: Ribs in the Oven - http://forums.egullet.org/topic/142299-ribs-in-the-oven/ (Darienne, you participated in that one, too, so it might be worth revisiting to jog the ol' memory brain cells) Also, although BBQ is the first thing that comes to mind, and Darienne, you clearly are going for that, there are other ways to cook pork ribs, of course, and one of my all-time favorites is to open a couple cans of Bavarian-style sauerkraut (sweeter than regular sauerkraut, with caraway), dump them into a big stewpot or slow cooker, add some ribs and a sliced apple and onion, maybe a splash of brown beer if I'm in the mood, and let them simmer together until the ribs are tender. Serve with mashed potatoes and German brown bread. (Know most of y'all probably already knew this, but, hey, eG's pretty big, and there might be someone that didn't that is reading this thread for rib ideas since the title doesn't specifically say "BBQ.") But now, back to BBQ...

Well, let me add a big vote for watermelon and feta. Certainly one of our favorite summertime salads. I buy good feta at a local Middle Eastern import shop, so it's nice and salty and sharp. I'd love to know how you do yours, Clementine. I do watermelon cubes, a couple generous handsful of crumbled feta, some sliced kalamata olives, a few mint leaves and a sprinkle of black pepper, then dress with olive oil and a few squeezes of lemon. Sometimes I add a little chopped sweet onion. Is that similar to what you do? Funny that you said you don't eat, cook, or like moussaka. As soon as I saw you were from Greece, planned to ask you for your recipe! Guess never mind about that. In addition to watermelon and feta, what are some other Greek favorites that you enjoy cooking? I'm really excited to read about what you love to cook, and to try it. And then I'll close my eyes and pretend I'm sitting in the Plaka again.

I'm sure glad that the Koreans don't feel that way. Korean BBQ is one of my favorite things on the planet. In particular, love the way they do ribs - both on and off of the bone. Was just out in the San Francisco Bay area to visit my son and his family and we went to a favorite restaurant - Han Sung Korean Charcoal BBQ. https://www.facebook.com/HanSungBBQ If you're in the Bay area, I really recommend you try it. And if you're not, I recommend you try to find a real Korean charcoal (real coals, not just a grill) BBQ restaurant in your area. I'm fortunate enough to live in Houston, which has a sizeable Asian population, including Korean, so there are several of these restaurants here (although I have to admit that the ones we've tried here, while very good, are not so good as Han Sung). Although it's true that Korean BBQ ribs are typically made with beef short ribs, you can give pork baby-backs the same delicious treatment at your house. Here's a recipe/method for doing just that: http://steamykitchen.com/27330-korean-kalbi-baby-back-ribs-recipe-video-2.html

Well, as we say in our house, qué lástima.

Haven't been there in a few years but, regarding the chocolate, as I recall, one could order several types, including Spanish-style, which was thick enough to stand a spoon in, and clearly not meant for drinking, as that would be impossible. Is that the one you ordered? Mexicana (ligero, dulce y con un toque de vainilla) Francesa (semiamargo y con un ligero toque de vainilla) Española (dulce y espeso) Suiza (semiamargo y con crema chantilly en la parte de arriba)