Panosmex

Success at last! We visited the Mercado San Juan, on Calle Pugibet, near the Torre Telmex. Just inside the middle door is a small stand, operated by Manuel Vargas. There, shiny red cans of La Chinata Pimentón de La Vera. at $30 MXP a can. Our brief recon found no other stand within the mercado selling this product. Pimentón, yes, but not Pimentón Ahumado de la Vera. (Oh, but the embutidos or Spanish charcuterie closeby looked fabulous. There were also some of the best looking breads I've seen in México, esp the long, narrow, crisp crusted baguettes.) But there's more! Even more interesting were the both fresh and dried morels (in season of the rainy months) as well as chanterelles and boletus. We moved along the outer perimeter to another stand where even more mushrooms were offered, plus gusanos rojos de maguey. Nearby are seafood stands with gorgeous displays of huge shrimp and a variety of fresh fish. It looked wonderful to me. I was fantasizing how we could move to Mexico City to take advantage of such great looking foodstuffs. The carnicerías didn't visually wow me as did those of Mercado Medellín in Colonia Roma, but I suspect that the meats are of high quality in this locale. The produce stands had among their offerings Asian vegetables, including great looking fresh ginger root at $26 MXP a kilo. What an amazing price for such a quality product! Bean sprouts were in abundance and some not so great looking winter melon. Thanks to Nickarte for writing about this place in his book, Good Food In Mexico City. It took us a while to locate it, as we were decoyed by the Mercado San Juan de Artesanías, on the other side of the Parque Pugibet. They are quite separate. I did take some photos, but I haven't looked them over yet.

Mil gracias, Ruth. It now sounds ideal, especially as we hope to be staying at the Hotel Gillow nearby. Earlier, I was just overwhelmed by the grandeur of the salas. Casual sounds good to me. I dislike wearing a jacket and tie. Saludos cordiales, PanosMex

An exhaustive web search turned up El Meson del Cid. (O.k., it's not exactly in Centro). It looks good, but I have no idea of price range. Any eGulleters eaten there?

We've eaten at Centro Castellano and El Danubio 2 or 3 times, back in the 90s; most of which was very enjoyable. But we are interested in trying a different Spanish/Basque/Galician?Asturian restaurant, preferably in Centro. I just had a look at the Casino Español website, and it seems way "over the top" in grandeur. Any suggestions for something more approachable yet worthy of a visit? Many thanks.

Bacon in the oven is my favored way of cooking it, especially for a large group. I always put down a sheet of parchment paper on a lipped baker's half sheet for easier cleanup. It always comes out great.

I've pickled kosher green tomatoes and cucumbers; kimchi, eggs, and small boiling onions. (Got some of those going now.) Other things, too. I haven't ever done any regular cooking onions, although I'd imagine that the technique is similar to the small boiling onions. I recommend the book, if you can find a copy, "Better Than Store Bought", by Colcie and Witty, published back in the early 80s. It has some very good pickling and preserving recipes, and I've seldom gone wrong using them.

Possibly a chopped macadamia nut and crumb crust. Let us know how it turns out. What's the recipe?

Gracias, Ruth, We were so close to Palacio de Hierro on Durango! I had no idea of their gourmet section. The next time I'm there, I will go there. Yes, we went to La Naval at Av Michoacán and Insurgentes, but they only had a non-smokey, Pimentón picante. Saludos, Panosmex

We were recently in Mexico City's Colonia Roma for 3 days. I was really hoping to find some Pimentón de La Vera in a shop such as Ultramarinos La Naval or in Delirio, but I was unsuccessful. I was able to find a Pimentón Español picante at La Naval; and in the Mercado Medellín, got some nice pimentón dulce, but none of the deeply smokey stuff. I hadn't tried at Ultramarinos "La Villa de Madrid", on República de Uruguay at Calle Bolívar, Colonia Centro, but it just might have it. Does anyone know where this can be purchased in Mexico City; or better, in Morelia, Michoacán? Mil gracias.

We again had lunch at Chendu 1 yesterday. There were only 3 of us this time. It was good, but we made some less than optimal choices. For example, our niece wanted to try loofah, but purely by itself. It was good, but a bit slithery and in juxtaposition with the more exciting Ma Po Tofu, they were just too much soft creamy textures to my taste. The Ox Tongue and Tripes were excellent. Scallion cakes were good, although I'd pefer the outsides to be crisper. The Prawns with Chopped Chiles (There is, of course, more than one varaition on hot and spicy prawns) were beautiful, although nowhere near as spicy as we'd been warned. Of course, we had the wonderful Baby Wontons in Spicy Sauce. They are the greatest. Service was pleasant and helpful as before. I have uploaded some photos of the foods, and additionally, some of the bakery at Kam Man Asian Foods in East Hanover. You can see them here.

We had the "eh" fried wonton strips when we came in, but we set them, and the typical duck sauce aside when our food started to arrive. I think I'm ordering Spicy Lamb next time, and maybe a noodle dish.

Chengdu 1 lunch. April 11, 2008 Thanks to members of this forum, as well as The New York Times, for telling us of this restaurant. Yesterday, four of us went and had a very enjoyable meal. Although it was lunchtime, we took advantage of the moment to make it our main meal of the day. There are wall posters advertising special dishes, which is a wonderful thing, but making a decision can be difficult. The posters near the cashier's desk had a number of intriguing items, particularly the Szechuan style Sausage, served either by itself or in a hot sauce. There were also aparagus (but they were out of that item) and the intriguing Chicken Wings in Fermented Red Rice Juice. Later, I found an item on the printed menu, Spareribs in "Formanted Red Rice Juice" that promised a more satisfying nibbling experience. We began with two soups. One, a Seafood Ginger Clear Soup was light and delicate, with very few shrimp, some crisp pea pods and fine shreds of fresh ginger. This soup might be better as a "clean" and light finish to a large meal. The other soup, Turnip Soup With Bacon, is a heartier and more primal concoction of root, hog and soup. The unsmoked bacon, in long ribbons, is simmered, with cubes of turnips. It's an earthy combination of root, hog and broth, enlivened by the accompanying sauce of manifold spicy flavors. We thoroughly enjoyed the Baby Wontons in Spicy Sauce. The Spareribs in Fermented Red Rice Juice was good, but a bit anticlimactic. Salt-and-Pepper Softshell Crab was flavorsome, yet a little oil. I would get that in the Chillied version next time we're there. (Thursday next week). Broccoli with Hot Red and Green Peppers was clean and crisp; the several types of chiles, ranging from sweet red to hot red and even salty pickled chiles gave the otherwise simple dish several levels of flavor. My Sister-in-Law prefers brown rice, and it was available, at no extra charge. This restaurant is a treasure, and the staff is friendly and accomodating. I have uploaded a few photos to http://tinyurl.com/6m49xn (You'll recognize them as similar to some posted above.) I didn't get a pic of the Seafood Ginger Clear Soup (which is on the "regular" Chinese, not Sichuan menu.)

I'm thinking that mole is not a Mayan specialty. Its origins are in Puebla and Oaxaca, although you can find mole in all parts of Mexico now. A more typical Mayan dish would be Pollo Pibil. ¡Buena suerte!

Or a twist on the raw egg trick: put one or two hard cooked eggs in the egg tray, just before the breakfast rush hits.

I love gumbo too, but as you suspect, reheating chilled gumbo in a slow cooker is a recipe for food poisoning. If it did get hot enough, it might overcook and break down in the reheating. Choose something easier, more practical and safer.

Gee, sorry, I pretty much stopped making sourdough starters when I left the baking business. They take too much time and effort to maintain, IMO. (I'm retired now.)

When I think of "fresh yeast", I think of cakes of compressed yeast that need refrigeration. But, what I think you are referring to is a "maintained sourdough starter". Perhaps you could clarify this for us.

Great report, Kalypso, and one I've been waiting to read for some time. Did your group have any meals at Rancho San Cayetano?

That would be the poster known as Anonimo, who sometimes posts here on eGullet. Thank you, Kalypso; here on EG I'm known as PanosMex

Somehow, that name evokes Korean Chap Chae , a sort of chop suey. Could there be an Asian, particularly Korean influence on Peruvian cuisine?

How was your visit? Any recommendations? I apologize for not responding too your OP sooner.

Panettone is made with eggs as well as butter and is much lighter (the reason it needs to be in a mold to rise). Stollen has no egg and is relatively dense, sort of like a yeasted shortbread texture. ← There are undoubtely variations. I've always made stollen, both at home and professionally, with eggs. I'd describe it as a rich, yeasted, fruit and nut coffee bread.

I am using Sierra Nevada Gold, the Mexican brand name for SAF-type instant active yeast. It works fine.

Sure: a potato masher to squash avocado meat into guacamole. A blade type pastry blender to cut up eggs for egg salad.

War Eagle Mill I have never ordered from them. Just thought I'd mention that.