touaregsand
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Posts posted by touaregsand
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I went to local Indian place for the $3.99 lunch special last week. I end up ordering the $5.99 lunch special instead that includes 3 more things, 2 of which I don't especially care for. The $5.99 special has enough food for me to enjoy in two parts as a meal with some leftover to snack on later. I see a delicious plate of dhosa going out. So I order the biggest one on the menu, plus aloo paratha, a chili pakora and a medium sized order of chole, plus a few other dishes the names of which I cannot remember at the moment. Basically it's enough starch for a month.
The tab comes out to $26.85
It takes me about 4 days to finish it off. I ate leftovers when I could have had it fresh every day. The place is on the way to my daughter's school so it's not even like I would have to make a special drive. Perhaps I need help, maybe some friends of mine will stage an intervention.BUT, but, but... I cannot stand to run out of food or not have enough to eat. What's worse than finishing all the food on your plate and thinking that just a few more bites of something would really make it satisfying? But it's too late to order another dish and you know by the time it comes out the momentum of the meal is lost and you are in fact full enough but not satisfied.
My husband on the other cannot stand to waste food...
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I'm a pathological over orderer. For many of the reasons mentioened upthread so I won't repeat. I always cook too much food when we have guests. We invited three friends over for couscous. They each ate 3-5 huge plates of the stuff (they're my husband soccer friends and at the semi-pro athlete level). We still had about half leftover. So basically I made enough food for about 25-30 normal appetites.
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Passionate Chef-
You're bringing up alot of ideas of what a great chef is.
Is Escoffier not just taking on Careme's work any way? the structure of the kitchen was there Careme had been trying to get better conditions for Chefs, surely the Gourmet writer has a lot to do with the reputation of a great chef, you could argue that Escoffier took Soyer's statement "Publicity is like the air we breath, if we have it not, we die" and applied it to the Savoy like no other Chef had before! Surely Soyer did more for the kitchen or even Rumford, how much influence did the gourmet writers of the time have was it not them that lifted Escoffier to a world status?Yes Escoffier is a continuation of Careme. True the food writer has alot to do with how well known a chef's reputation is.
One of the greatest if not the greatest chef my husband has ever worked for or seen will most likely be never known. He did not have a PR machine and like most chefs he isn't a very good writer (I don't mean to disparage chefs, because the statement is like saying most painters aren't good writers) so this great chef won't be putting out his memoirs or a cookbook, given the chef's temperment ghostwriters would flee.
If we talk about greatness in terms of legacy Escoffier is pretty hard to beat. Safe to say that every single student in a Western style culinary school will learn about him and every single line cook is following the kitchen brigade system he developed. Escoffier's ideas will be refined but not replaced. Surely at the Bocuse culinary school they are using Escoffier's systems as well.
Which brings me to your question regarding Bocuse's influence outliving Point's. Bocuse has that big school with his name on it. Teaching is another way to 'feed' one's legacy. Not just at school but through mentoring which Point did. His legacy was continued chefs who worked under him and later became famous great chefs.
Simply put Escoffier wrote the book. How many chefs do you know that don't have a copy of it? Few probably cook anything from it, but that's a topic for another thread.
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How 'bout Coke & peanuts?
I guess it goes into the "If they jump off a cliff, would you do it too?"-category, but as a kid, we saw some older kids open a bottle of Coke, take a drink from it, and then proceed to pour lots of peanuts into the bottle... To this day, I still occasionally do it, except in a glass (and with the diet, caffeine-free stuff). Makes the glass look extremely narly, mind you.
(Edit: Me niet spel gud).
I was reading Naked by David Sedaris the other day, and he recounts how as a child volunteering in a mental hospital he saw an attendant take a bottle of RC Cola, stuff it with peanuts (whole in shell I think) and then let it sit for a while before drinking.
Now I have heard two references to this habit inside of a week, I might just have to try sometime.
Add a third reference. I knew some kids who did this. I tried it once. Go for it Nullo if you have the peanuts and coke on hand.
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I like kumquats and plums.
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Sounds fantastic.
I want to make it this week, along with acar kuning pickles. I will post photos.
The spice mixture in the pounded ingredients is exactly what we have home for Algerian cooking. It's my husband's favorite quatres epices blends.
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You eat them, unlike bay leaves.
Good to know because lately I have been frequenting an Indian place that uses quite a bit of curry leaves in the dishes and I have been eating them. Never occured to me to ask whether it was okay.
One of these days I will certainly pay for my cavalier attitude when it comes to trying foods. I just go for it.
Oh
-- did they not tell you about the side effects of eating these???? 
Gotcha
The side effects are that I have been eating Indian food almost daily these past two weeks.
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You eat them, unlike bay leaves.
Good to know because lately I have been frequenting an Indian place that uses quite a bit of curry leaves in the dishes and I have been eating them. Never occured to me to ask whether it was okay.
One of these days I will certainly pay for my cavalier attitude when it comes to trying foods. I just go for it.
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The parathas are the most tempting for me about North Indian. Esepcially the stuffed ones. The Indian place I've been frequenting doesn't make them as rich and flaky as I like. I went three times this week, but I will have to limit myself to once a week. I'm beginning to notice that my clothes are getting a little tight.
I also bought a bread griddle. I wonder if I have to cure it? What is it called? I know I should have asked at the place. There is one person who speaks perfect English, but he says things like "I use it to make tortillas" and the other person doesn't speak much English at all. The cook/chef by the way is a hispanic woman who makes the best dhosa I've ever tasted.
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I'm sure we've gone to the same stores in Santa Monica and Glendale.
I can get a recipe for you.
That guy sounds really weird.
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I'll pick one just for one fun. I prefer South Indian.
My opinions on Indian cuisine though are totally novice. Maybe it's more fruitful to discuss regional cooking or has this been done already?
EDIT: I'm not a novice in eating Indian food. Mostly I don't know the names of dishes I've tried. Lately I've been going to this casual Indian place and parts of the menu are divided into North Indian and South Indian. I will be having a dosa today.
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I did a quick search on the web for Malaysian cuisine and found this. On the home page is an article about bibimbap. I had to laugh a bit given the number of Korean food topics in this forum lately.
Does anyone have a recipe for Soto Ayam (a type of chicken soup?) and rendang (beef or chicken)?
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Thank you geeta and Milagai for the replies.
I'll be sure to purchase the eggplant pickle, sounds delicious.
I have another question about the pickle making process. I'm refering to the salty ones.
Very broadly speaking Korean pickles are made by salting the vegetables or soaking in brine. The salt or salt water is usually rinsed off before seasoning or eating.
In the case of the salty Indian pickles I mentioned I'm wondering how they are made. Is there an initial salting, then rinsing? Or are the salt and seasonings added in a single step?
I know it would help if I actually knew the names of the pickles I've tried.
But I think my question can apply to general pickle making in India. Or is there no general style of pickle making in India? Oy vey, I feel like as if I'm digging myself into a hole. -
I also like them with lemon juice, olive oil, thinly sliced preserved lemons, chopped tomatoes, finely chopped parsley and some cumin.
My sister in law braised them in kimchi once when she ran out of mackeral.
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I don't think anyone's mom looks like that anymore.
I do remember though that I went back to Korea in 77-78 for the first time alot of Korean women as young as 50 were still wearing hanbok and had their hair done in a chignon. These days it's a rare sight unless it's a special occassion/holiday.
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Now that I think about it I'm certain there was baking soda in the batter.
I also ordered the gobhi paratha. My husband said it looked like an Algerian stuffed bread. I also did some shopping and was surprised to see Pilsbury brand Atta flour. It's an interesting store, they have 3-4 locations throughout Los Angeles. But alot of the bulk packages of spices and flours aren't labeled in English at all. I've already mentioned the menu with no English language descriptions. I don't have a problem with it, it's pretty fun testing my knowledge of ingredients by figuring out what things are based on appearance and smell. But I can't help but think that maybe their customer base could expand...
I'll stop rambling now.
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A little mayo, dijon mustard and crusty bread. Snack.
or
Doused with lemon juice, salad with dijon mustard vinaigrette and crusty bread. Light meal.
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I had lunch at the same place today. I ordered the special again (what can I say, they rotate the offerings and they looked so good). I also ordered a la carte. But one of the items was out in the open in a chafing dish unlabeled. Maybe I'm way off in describing it as a chili pakora. It was stuffed with a spiced potato mixture, dipped in batter and fried.
My question is about the batter. My guess is chick pea flour. Does anyone recognize this? If so how is the batter made? I couldn't detect a leavening agent. It was very thin and cracker-like.
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I've never done an Indian pickle tasting. I've only had them sporadically over the years. I don't even know which ones I've had. I'm known to try things without asking too many questions. For the past few months I've been going to a vegetarian Indian cafeteria of sorts. They have three levels of lunch/dinner specials. I always get the 'royale' or #3 for $5.99. It includes veg of the day, lentils, raita, basmati rice, chapati or puri, veg samosa, pickles, chopped salad with onions, Mango Lassi and a dessert (I have no idea what it is. I can identify coconut milk, sugar and some nuts. There is also this light, doughy thing shaped like a flattened ball).
Back to the pickles. My experience with Indian pickles is that they are very, very salty. (I'm Korean by the way, so I know salty and pickles). I'm intrigued by the flavors but I'm looking for less salty pickles. What should I look for? Names, brands, varieties...
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Okay chefs are celebrities...
Or celebrities are chefs (or run/manage/own restaurants). Like Gloria Estefan. The line is getting pretty blurry.
Read an interesting article the other day about how celebrities may well replace most clothing designers in the coming years. Who wants to buy Armani when you can buy Jennifer Lopez? The same thing could happen in terms of eating. Robyn
I'd say it's already happening. It's been happening. I would never argue that. My husband walked away from the restaurant business because he got sick of it. He'll go back one of these days, but with his own money. No investors, they're worse than sponsors. It may come as a surprise to some, but from our experience sponsors cut pretty clean deals, they are cut and dry, nothing nefarious. They do not dictate menus or try to mold a chef's persona. Investors on the other hand...
But that's another topic.
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Yakgwa was never good we just didn't know better.
I loved that stuff when I was little. It was considered sort of expensive and a special treat. But then I tried chocolate chip cookies...
I've had Bondaegee. In Korea they sell them in cans as well. I'm not sure if it's available in the States. My brother eats those things like potato chips.
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Okay chefs are celebrities. Let's treat them like celebrities. Celebrities hold a can of coca cola in films with the label in clear view, they recieve expensive couture gowns for free and then tell their fans that so and so designer is the 'best', they also get tons of plastic surgery and then put out exercise videos and beauty products...
A consumer watch group is needed to protect the pubilc from these lies. Oh wait, the tabloids report on the juiciest bits of gossip. Often incorrectly. Celebrity chefs can rely on the WSJ for this.
The chef is not paid to endorse the product ergo it must be good.
The chef is paid to endorse the product ergo it must be bad or I'll do some research on the product itself.
Is that the idea?
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nwyles-
There is a ecgi thread that covers french fries (I think or maybe I just dreamt it
).Follow the temps and methods in that thread. The real difference for restaurant applications is that you keep a few baskets of blanched fries (depending on your volume) than crisp in a second frying as the orders come in. The blanched fries need to completely cool for more than a few minutes. I just let them cool in the basket. I use russets, nice and starchy. The size of the cut doesn't seem to make a difference for me.
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Pan fried Spam, rice and kimchi.
This has got to be a Hawaiian favorite. Yes, no?
The North vs. South debate
in India: Cooking & Baking
Posted
Yes it's a tawa. I did a search on Yahoo images with that name.
Thanks for the curing tip. I'm doing it now and noticing the impurities that are coming out.
The soy flour tip is great. I never thought of it. I'm starting to watch what I eat too. It's age and having two kids.