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jameswilliam

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Posts posted by jameswilliam

    Recent recommendations for Southern Puglia?

    in Italy: Dining

    Posted

    I'm about to go to Puglia for a couple of weeks, specifically near Ostuni and then near Specchia and I wondered if anyone had any recent food recommendations, I guess either restaurants with an emphasis on more traditional food or good bakeries, things like that. I've had a look through the various Puglia food / restaurant threads, but the restaurant threads in particular are 10 years old and I just thought I'd see if anyone had any recent good experiences.

    Substitution for Aniseed in Alfajores

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    They're very nice actually and nicely presented as well, you get them in boxes individually wrapped like you can see on this page

    http://cadizpedia.wikanda.es/wiki/Reposter%C3%ADa_%28Medina-Sidonia%29

     

    I've been looking for a good recipe for a while. I found one in Frank Camorra's book 'Movida Rustica' which I thought was going to be along the right lines as he seemed to know about the area, etc but it turned out be rather different than what I've had, more of a biscuit

    (it's reproduced here http://www.them-apples.co.uk/2010/07/alfajores-spanish-spiced-fruit-and-nut-biscuits/)

    Substitution for Aniseed in Alfajores

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    Thanks for your help - I've got a couple of other places I can try to get normal anise seeds, otherwise maybe I'll try a mixture of fennel / star anise. I think I'll probably use rather less than specified as well, I don't really recall the ones I've had in Spain having that much of a dominant aniseed flavour.

    Substitution for Aniseed in Alfajores

    in Pastry & Baking

    Posted

    I'm looking to make the Alfajores that you find in Medina Sedonia in Spain. I've found recipes here in English and Spanish (it looks like the English one is a translation of the Spanish one with measures converted to volume)

    http://spanishfood.about.com/od/dessertssweets/r/Alfajores-De-Medina-Sidonia-Recipe-Andalucian-Delicacy.htm

    http://www.asopaipas.com/2010/12/alfajores-de-medina-sidonia.html

     

    I'm having a little bit of trouble finding aniseeds and I'm wondering whether it would be okay to use star anise as a substitute somehow, maybe just the seeds from middle? Any advice would be much appreciated!

     

    London Spirits Run

    in Spirits & Cocktails

    Posted

    If you're going to the Whiskey Exchange shop in Vinopolis it's worth double checking with them if you're after something specific from their website - they don't have everything from the website in the shop. If they haven't got it I've found they can get it ordered into the shop for no charge with a few days notice.

    • Like 1

    A pictorial guide to Chinese cooking ingredients

    in China: Cooking & Baking

    Posted · Edited by jameswilliam (log)

    I have a jar of Laoganma black bean sauce that looks like that (specified in Fuchsia Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice)

    The label design is slightly different but from what I can see the characters are the same and contents look similar...

    http://www.amazon.com/Lao-Black-Bean-Chilli-Sauce/dp/B0051D84GI

    edit (actually that jar on amazon is slightly different - my one has the same characters in white across the top as yours)

    Best Current Price for Thermapen

    in Kitchen Consumer

    Posted

    ETI (the manufacturer) list refurbished thermapens in various colours on ebay uk

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Splash-Proof-Super-Fast-Thermapen-Food-Thermometer-/370753828807?pt=UK_Kitchen_Accessories&var=&hash=item5652a677c7

    Looks like it works out around $47, with shipping on top, the listing only shows shipping to Europe though, so it depends where you are..

    I bought mine this way last year and it's great, seemed like new

    Cookbooks 2012

    in Cookbooks & References

    Posted

    Something I thought was great with Every Grain of Rice compared to Fuchsia Dunlop's previous books was the sections with pictures of all the various ingredients, both in terms of fresh vegetables and packets of things like 'red-in-snow', tofu bamboo, etc. With previous books I had a lot of trouble going around Chinatown asking people about Cao Guo, etc. having the pictures makes things a lot easier, and certainly in London at least I've easily found most of the branded things she's using like the black bean sauce, fermented tofu etc. It definitely feels more accessible in general as well.

    Italian Language Cookery television

    in Food Media & Arts

    Posted

    I'm currently trying to pick up some basic Italian and I wondered if anyone knew of any good Italian language television programmes, whether on air at the moment or older ones that I might be able to find online? I tried searching Google, but I couldn't work out good search terms to use.

    For learning Spanish I found Jose Andres's Vamos a Cocinar and Juan Pozuelo's Que Comemos Hoy really great for listening practice and mainly I'm looking for similar format, ie someone making something and talking you through it, but to be honest anything else food related would be great as well

    Morcilla Iberica

    in United Kingdom & Ireland: Cooking & Baking

    Posted

    It could be, it sounds like you're looking for one that's cured right, with a firm texture for eating sliced / uncooked? I think butifarra is basically just sausage so could be cured or not cured, like if you look about a minute into this video you can see the butifarra kind of crumbling

    http://www.worldsofflavorspain.com/23-garbanzos-con-butifarra-negra-chickpeas-black-sausage

    This says it's cured but also that it needs to be cooked

    http://www.thetapaslunchcompany.co.uk/spanish-food/chorizo-jamon-meats/morcilla_black_pudding_200_g

    I reckon you're best to give Brindisa a call and explain what you're after

    Recommendations in Almeria

    in Spain & Portugal: Dining

    Posted

    Hi

    I'm going to be going to Almeria on holiday soon and I wondered if anybody could recommend any good places to eat or dishes to look out for. I'm going to be around the Cabo de Gata area. I've heard that there are supposed to be good fish restaurants in Garrucha but I'm not sure which ones. Any ideas would be terrific

    Thanks

    James

    Visiting Rota

    in Spain & Portugal: Dining

    Posted

    Hi

    First of all I wanted to thank you all for your advice, it contributed a lot to our holiday, both in terms of the specific places you recommended and also the specialities you mentioned, Manzanilla for example, something I might not have thought of trying otherwise and ended up taking quite an interest in..

    Anyway, we spent most of the time in Rota, but we did have one day in Sanlucar. There was still some kind of rubbish strike going on, but it seemed like they were organizing things so that instead of lots of small piles of rubbish everywhere there were a smaller number of enormous piles of rubbish.

    While we there we tried a number of your suggestions Alvaro. The Cigarrera bodega was terrific, very friendly lady showed us round. The smell was incredible. We had lunch in Casa Bigote, which was great, very friendly people and excellent food. We had langoustines, rape al pan frito and huevos a la marinera. Got a selection of sweets / biscuits from Pozo some of which I liked a lot, particularly the biscuit you can see in the picture

    below bottom right which just sort of fell apart when you bit into it.

    Here are some places we found in Rota itself which were all good in different ways, in case anybody else happens to find themselves there...

    Bar Cantina Marinera - In the fisherman's port. Good range of fried fish and a very nice menudo de choco. Frequented by all the local fishermen.

    Bodegon gastronomico - In the centre of town, a lot of grilled fish on the menu here, we had a whole urta which the lady brought out to show us and then explained how it was a local delicacy. They also had a different kind of arranque rotena here which had a rougher texture a lot more bread-y than it usually seemed to be, less blended.

    Cafeteria Angarilla - Good churros / breakfasts

    Bar la Costilla - In the centre of town, a good range of tapas different from most of the other places in town. Had a nice Berza Rotena here, a stew with beans / pork.

    Bodega Something - I'm not sure of the name of this, but right in the middle of town opposite plaza de san roque. Was generally very full and quite intimidating, but we went in one day when it was less busy and it was excellent, with a wide range of sherries and moscatels in barrels along one wall, had a 'moscatel pasa' which was very good. Incidentally does anyone know what a 'solera vieja' is, I tried it expecting it to be some kind of

    sherry, but it seemed quite fierce..? Is it brandy or something like that?

    Incidentally I found a bottle of the Tintilla de Rota in the local off-license, which was apparently from 'Bodegas el Gato'. I wasn't that keen on it, it was really very sweet, but interesting to try nonetheless.

    I also picked up a recipe book 'Cocina rotena' with recipes for local dishes like arranque, urta a la rotena, etc. as well as an essay on generally how to cook something 'a la rotena'. If anyone's interested in any recipes I could scan or type in, etc.

    Thanks again for all your advice, here's some pictures I took, sorry they're kind of dark.

    The courtyard at La Cigarerra:

    cigarrera.jpg

    Cakes / biscuits from Pozo (looking slightly forlorn after a bus ride home):

    pozo.jpg

    Menudo de choco:

    menudo_de_choco.jpg

    Frito variado from Bar Cantina Marinera

    frito.jpg

    Visiting Rota

    in Spain & Portugal: Dining

    Posted

    Thanks for that Bux, I'd seen that thread and that's certainly more food for thought (if you'll excuse the dreadful but unintended pun).

    Annieb I actually tried Urta a la Rotena last time I was there and it was okay, but not spectacular, although I think that was down to the restaurant where I ate it rather than the dish itself. Something else I tried and enjoyed was arranque roteno, a mixture of bread, tomato and green pepper, very tasty.

    Anyway, thank you all very much for your suggestions, I'll post some photos when i get back

    Cheers

    Visiting Rota

    in Spain & Portugal: Dining

    Posted

    Hi

    Thank you very much for your replies, that's all terrific information. Looks like we'll definitely be making a trip to Sanlucar. It'll be good to have specific places in mind rather than just wandering around aimlessly. I'll try and take some pictures and post them when i get back.

    btw I found this article on Casa Bigote, it does sounds great

    http://www.verema.com/en/articles/article.asp?articulo=6

    Thanks again for your help, and if anyone has any recommendations within Rota itself that would be great as well

    Visiting Rota

    in Spain & Portugal: Dining

    Posted

    Hi

    I'm visiting Rota near Cadiz for a couple of weeks and I wondered if anyone might be able to recommend any restaurants to eat at or dishes I should try? I've been before and found a few nice places like one by the harbour where they do great shrimp omelettes and cuttlefish stew, but beyond that I found it a bit hit and miss - my Spanish is pretty limited and I don't know anyone there which makes it tricky to ask for recommendations.

    I saw the other thread about Sanlucar and it looked like a visit there might be worthwhile, what about other towns nearby like El Puerto de Santa Maria or Chipiona?

    Any advice anyone could offer would be very much appreciated

    Thanks

    James

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