pennylane

Okay, now it's time for my contribution. Funnily enough, all my worst meals have been here in France. But to be fair, that probably has something to do with me being vegetarian. French people for the most part are just uninterested in vegetables. My husband had to travel a lot for his basketball career and his coach and the rest of his team were all big gourmet eaters. I've sampled some great regional cuisine with them... some not so great. Like one time we were at a huge banquet catered by the famous Lenotre... supposedly the "best" caterers in France. Everyone was eagerly anticipating the fancy meal to follow. The coach proudly announced that he had specifically ordered a vegetarian meal for me. Well, the meal arrived and it included some sort of fish, a slice of quiche and a small, shriveled up omelette. An odd combination, don't you think? I gave the fish to my husband and ate the omelette, saving the quiche for last as I love quiche. But I almost spat out the first bite. It tasted like poison. It had been poisoned with a massive dose of salt! And another thing. It was a chickpea quiche. Basically a plain quiche with a few whole chickpeas thrown in (and about a tablespoon of salt). A bizarre idea. And there was the coach beaming at me asking me if I liked the meal! I tried to choke down the rest of that quiche, but I just couldn't. Another time we ate at a hotel after driving for five hours to get there. I was starving, but this time there was no vegetarian meal for me. The coach had already arranged steaks for everyone else so I said I'd just make do with the sides. Well, the sides were plain overcooked spaghetti mush, and mashed potatoes. I had copious amounts of both. The potatoes were good, of course, but pasta is another thing which is rarely done well here. Like the time I had to go to a picnic at work. Everyone had to bring something and I was particularly looking forward to one guy's famous pasta salad. I love pasta so I thought there was no way I wouldn't like it. Well, it consisted of the usual overcooked mushy pasta, mixed with a few sliced pickles and some walnuts!! No dressing, but he brought a bottle of olive oil along for anyone who wanted it. Not that this was anywhere near as horrendous as some of the creations described in this thread... but how could anyone brag about something like this?

I really wanted to, because it actually looked really pretty, and also because as far as I knew I was the first person to ever attempt such a thing, so I wanted to document it, but I had to rush back to work (long story - the double pie started off as a single pie which didn't turn out right, I couldn't stop thinking about it the next morning and rushed home on my lunch break to "fix" it). I think I might try the 8-pies-in-1 thing some day - maybe on Thanksgiving! Or at least 4-in-1. I'll definitely take a picture of that!!

Eat your heart out, Martha Stewart! ← I've done this, hehe, just a couple of days ago. I actually trolled through the Internet looking for some reference to someone having done it before just to see if it could be done and found nothing... but went ahead anyway. Turned out pretty well, too!

Oh my God! Thank you, guys, for so much great advice! Funny you should mention this, because I did come across Chufi's attempt (having naturally analysed the aforementioned thread in great detail several weeks ago!!) and was intrigued by the big holes in her pictures, only in her case these holes are evidently the result of the beer she used in the recipe. Wait, isn't it called a rozell, or something like that? Anyway, yeah, I've tried both with and without this implement (swirling the batter around by tilting the pan instead). Believe me, I have tried this! One time I even let the batter rest for 3 days! I did get my holes that time. In fact, the texture was the closest to what I would consider ideal, but the batter tasted sour because it had fermented so much (it looked almost moussy, like Indian dosa batter). Perhaps I should aim for something in between? However, my earlier 24 hour periods of fermentation didn't seem to make any difference at all (hence the marathon 3-day experiment). Okay, if you insist! I was afraid this would mute the buckwheat flavour. But I will give it a try! Come to think of it, I have noticed that same problem myself! The holes do seem to appear at the moment that the batter hits the pan, but as I start to spread it around with the stick, the excess batter fills them up. You may be on to something here, especially as most recipes do seem to stress the thinness. Yeah! Only I never thought I'd say this, but I think I'm actually beginning to get sick of pancakes...!Okay, so on my next attempt (tonight?), I'm going to add white flour and maybe a little beer to aid in fermentation, let the batter rest, pour it onto a really, really hot pan and spread it as thinly as possible with the wooden stick thingy. Can't wait to see how it goes!

I have been obsessed with galettes lately (in fact, this is the main reason I joined eGullet - because every now and then I get totally obsessed with a certain recipe and can't stop thinking about it and trying it until I get it right, and I figured that this is the only place anyone might have the expertise to help me get it right, or failing that, the patience to put up with the obsessive quest to get it right). The problem began with me scouring the Internet for recipes and information, and witnessing the scorn heaped on anyone straying from the traditional recipe which contains just three ingredients: buckwheat flour, water and salt. For some reason, this traditional recipe is also supposed to be notoriously unforgiving, but for me there was no going back. It became my mission in life to produce authentic galettes using the traditional recipe. The next hitch was that I did not really have anything with which to compare my galettes. I suspect that most restaurants add eggs, milk and/or white flour to their galettes to make them easier to spread and give them a better colour. But then I discovered that the pre-packaged galettes sold at Monoprix have only three listed ingredients: buckwheat flour, water and salt. So why don't my galettes look anything like those? Basically, the supermarket galettes have a kind of textured surface, pitted with many small holes and covered with a lacy pattern of darkened raised ridges. They look like this. There are some similar-looking ones here and here. Then there's this one, which is kind of taking the holiness to an extreme, but you get the picture. How do those holes appear without the use of any leavening agent? I've tried whipping the batter, both by hand and with an electric whisk, to no avail. My galettes invariably turn out looking like this: pale, and with a smooth, unappetising surface. The only theory I can come up with is that the difference is due to my equipment. I am using a crepe pan on an electric induction hob. A Breton told me once that he refuses to make galettes or crepes on anything but gas, because otherwise the pan just doesn't get hot enough. I did notice that the closest I came to success was on an extremely hot, smoking pan, with a very liquid batter. The splatter of the batter on the pan produced some holes and the characteristic ridged pattern I am looking for. But that can't be the usual way to do it. Also, the highly liquid batter led to a rather mushy galette. The holes are really the biggest mystery to me. How can I get those holes? Please, eGulleters, save me from a lifetime of making galettes for dinner every night!

I was just going to make this point. I actually see grocery workers doing that all the time here. I've also seen them pick up pastries that had been dropped out of the box onto the floor, dust them off and put them back in the box and on the shelf to sell.

I gave this question a lot of thought when buying my new apartment, and discussed it with a lot of people. The consensus was the same - there are some things you just can't do without a gas cook-top. So I specifically asked my rental agency to ensure that the apartment I bought had a gas line. They reassured me that it did, and only after signing the papers did I find out that it didn't and that it would cost a fortune to get a gas connection. I fell into a deep depression, my co-workers rallied around me and found me an illegal immigrant who would do it for less, and my husband graciously agreed to it. But in the end I decided that it just wasn't worth it and we went with the induction. A decision which I kind of regret.

In my experience, samosas are not usually made with a lot of fat in the dough. That could be why your crusts were too delicate? My recipe uses just a small amount of vegetable oil in the dough.

Yes, but I guess many parents don't know how to instill healthy habits in their kids, especially since many of them may struggle with bad eating habits themselves. I suppose the idea behind government regulation is that these kids shouldn't suffer because of their parents' short-comings. I mean, I don't know if I'm really in favour of it, but I guess I can see where they're coming from.

I don't know - it's hard to say, isn't it? I suppose moderation is a good thing, but then I look at parents who ration out treats on special occasions and wonder if that doesn't encourage kids to view sweets and junk food as a "reward" or a guilty pleasure, and if that doesn't help promote eating disorders too. My husband credits his balanced habits to his upbringing, which included some but not unlimited pop, treats, etc. along with plenty of physical activity. It does sound perfect, but what about those people, like me and Malkavian, who just happen to be geeks instead of natural born athletes? I also agree that kids tend to follow the example their parents set. Even today, when I binge or overeat, it's generally on relatively healthy food!

I also grew up eating walnuts (pecans were unavailable or too expensive in Asia) so I tend to prize pecans more. But I still think walnuts go better with chocolate or chocolatey things, like brownies. Also I think walnuts are better (or just more traditional?) in oriental dishes and desserts. Like those pastries with walnuts and dates and stuff in them.

I guess it is hard to identify the fine line between raising kids to be obese and giving kids a food/weight complex. I was brought up in a similar home to Torrelin, where things like pop and chips just weren't allowed - forget about candy. We didn't even get fruit juice or breakfast cereal other than oatmeal or cornflakes. All this was more because of my mother's love for natural, healthy foods than any desire to keep us from getting fat. Well, we have all remained relatively thin to this day, but we have also all got eating disorders, as do the other kids I know who were raised this way. It's like ten years down the line we're still trying to make up for lost time...

I shop at Tang Freres all the time. It never occurred to me to make the connection with the negative press coming from America. But it's true that Chinese products don't seem to be very strictly controlled. For instance the ingredients listed and nutritional information are often plainly inaccurate. Maybe it's just the English/French translation but that's all I have to go on. I think I shall have to check out that FDA website. Thanks for the info.

This is going to sound a little crazy, but I know a lot of people who have done this: apparently if you can find an Irish great-grandparent somewhere in your lineage you can get an EU passport really quickly and easily. After that it should be no problem working here. I know this sounds crazy but it's more common than one might think.

Just thought you might like to know, Chufi, that this thread is what inspired me to finally become a member after years of lurking! Haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but believe it or not that buttermilk pap thing is actually quite high on my list... along with the magnificent apple pie of course!

That's a good idea. I thought of doing something like that (after the fact) but didn't know if it would work. Another thing I read about is adding instant pudding mix to the cream. I think someone else here also suggested gelatin.

I also have this problem where I can't whip cream. I was trying to make a raspberry charlotte a few weeks ago and whipped the chilled cream in a chilled metal bowl with chilled beaters on high for THREE HOURS. Yes, I spent three hours whipping cream. And it never whipped. Later when I happened to mention this to the guy at work who had given me the recipe, he asked what type of cream I had used. It was that UHT kind. The instructions on the package indicated that it could be whipped, but my co-worker said that the fat content is too low. I'm not used to the different brands available here and didn't know. So I think that's key. Next time I'm going to look at the fat content and make sure it's high enough.

Well, I am back from my trip to Denmark and Sweden. I did not end up eating at the Vinyl Bar - it has closed down! I did sample the following delicacies on my trip: rugbrød (unleavened rye bread) - seemed no different from the kind available everywhere kanelbulle (cinnamon rolls) - saw these everywhere in both countries and have become completely addicted to them lingonberry jam - nice, but didn't seem all that different from any other red fruit jam chokladboll - surprisingly different from the version I made for the Eurovision song contest last year, this was smooth and chocolatey, almost like a truffle, which is good to know because mine were more like unbaked oat cookies filmjölk (fermented milk) - forced myself to try this on my last day there, expecting it to taste like yoghurt, but in fact it tasted more like cheese, which was a little strange with muesli I also had a huge variety of knäckebröd (crispbread) and tunnbröd (flatbread), some of which I had seen before but I never knew there were so many different kinds. And I had my share of junk food - a packet of rye cookies with caraway seeds, a packet of cinnamon swirl crispbreads, and a bottle of some delicious apple and pear sugar-free Fanta. I wish I could find that here! I noticed a lot of pear-flavoured drinks on my trip, and have never seen anything like that anywhere else. My husband did try some local Danish beer, called "Ol" or something like that. The innkeeper told him he could have Carlsberg or try the local beer, and when we asked what the local beer was like, he said, "like Carlsberg". I think my husband liked it. I tried to get him to stop at a pølsevogn for some traditional Danish fast food but he said, "What - you want me to eat those crappy sausages?" and went to Burger King instead. We were surprised to see no Havarti cheese anywhere, but perhaps it has a different name in Denmark? There definitely seemed to be less of a food/restaurant culture compared to what I'm used to in Paris and London, and even elsewhere in Europe. But maybe that's just the impression I had. There seemed to be a dearth of good restaurants and even the snacks tended to be more of the microwave pizza variety than anything particularly local or traditional (or appetising). We did stumble across what appeared to be the ethnic neighborhood of Malmo, with lots of Asian and Middle Eastern restaurants, and enticing smells wafting from every corner. There was also a large open-air market with a wide variety of very appealing fresh produce and several oriental food stores. Unfortunately I discovered this area just a couple of hours before my flight home but it's nice to know it exists.

Oh, you're in Germany? Well, at least you guys have Burger King!! You know what we really need over here - DENNY'S!! Haha!

Thanks, Behemoth! Yeah, I saw that "smoked bacon" bit, only I translated that as "for safety's sake" instead of "for juiciness" (which sounds even crazier). But now I am so anxious to go to this place that I think I might just have to turn a blind eye to that and pretend I never saw it. I love quorn and it's banned here in France!!

Same here - growing up in Pakistan. School was from 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 (it got too hot after that) so we were home for lunch. I never had time for breakfast so spent the half-starved morning dreaming of what there might be for lunch when I got home. The margins of my notebooks were filled with etchings of hamburgers and slices of pizza dripping with cheese. Sometimes if I really craved something in particular I tried to send my mother telepathic messages to make it for me. Call it selective memory, but more often than not I got home to find that very meal waiting for me on the table.

You don't add rice to the black sesame paste. If you've seen it in the recipes it's probably because they are recipes for black sesame paste dumplings. The rice is used to make the dumpling, which is filled with black sesame paste. If all you want is the paste, that's easy. Just toast black sesame seeds and then grind and mix with butter and sugar over low heat until combined. I cannot remember the exact proportions but I think I used equal volumes of each. Obviously it depends on the sweetness and texture you want. Just remember that it will be more solid at cooler temperatures. Don't know whether your dessert is meant to be warm or cold. I have only made the dumplings and for those I generally refrigerate or even freeze the paste beforehand as that makes it easier to work with. Then when the dumplings are cooked it melts inside them and gushes out at the first bite - yummy!

How about something like this chocolate spelt cake? You could use sweetener instead of the sugar? I also found this recipe for unsweetened cake a while back, which I am planning to try but haven't gotten around to it yet: UNSWEETENED CAKE 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate ½ cup shortening 6 ounces frozen unsweetened apple juice 2 eggs 1 cup all purpose flour ¾ cup whole wheat flour ½ teaspoon soda ½ teaspoon salt 1½ teaspoons baking powder ¾ cup milk Mix together and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. It looks really good to me. But I must say the pumpkin cheesecake is a grand idea. You can even use low-fat cream cheese. I have tried that and it came out very well.

You cannot go wrong with falafel. Stuff it into a pita bread with some hummus and wrap it up in foil. It is awesome after exercise.

Hi guys, Well, what do you know? I'm also going to be in Copenhagen and Malmo at the end of the month. And I was just looking around for places to eat in Malmo, and was wondering if there are any Swedish speakers around here who could help me out with this menu. Am I dreaming, or does it look like all the "famous burgers" on the list are vegetarian?! I know it's crazy, but with my limited (i.e. nonexistant) knowledge of Swedish, "notfarsburgare" seems like it should be some kind of nutburger?! (Okay, before anyone judges me for frequenting American restaurants in Sweden, you should know that I'm not American, that I live in France where American food is as exotic as it gets, and also that I am indeed planning to sample as many Swedish and Danish delicacies as my vegetarianism will permit, and in fact if anyone can give me any tips on how/where to do that I will be most grateful for those as well!) I must say I never thought my first post on this board would be on something as ridiculous as this, but you know how it is... the food obsession... it just takes over sometimes...