Peter the eater

Mojoman, please take and post photos of this most worthy journey. Although I am not a "bald physician with a cellphone earring"? I am 41 with an undergrad in biochemistry and have spent a lot of time recently thinking about the MG. It is a totally compelling challenge to the way we perceive food and flavour, and I'm counting on you to provide some useful evidence that will enable me to get more kitchen equipment.

Do you tend to mostly cook foods or recipes that spring from your home culture, or do you tend to mostly cook things from other cultures? 50-50 Where are you from and what is it that attracts you to the things you choose to cook? I'm originally from Toronto, Canada - a very multicultural city - lots of places to sample other food cultures. I am a total omnivore. How long have you been cooking, and has your cooking shifted from that of one culture to another over time? I dabbled in high school and college, but then (1999) married a real food keener/skilled baker. Its been escalating ever since. I'm not really shifting, just building experience in many traditions. How did you learn to cook - from a person, from books, from television, from TV and books has been big, plus a lot of self guided exploring. And magazines! We get Bon Appetit and Fine Cooking. I find FC much better, more practical. What direction would you like to see your cooking go in the future - do you have a "plan" or any ideas as to what focus you would like to take? I'm not so interested in fashionable "food trends", unless its something actually new or important (eg molecular gastronomy has something to offer). I care more about cultural traditions, good nutrition, environmental issues and creativity. And I'm totally into food photography these days. My plan? Acquire knowledge, develop technique, be healthy, have fun. Isn't that why God or Steve or somebody created eGullet?

Leonardo could never have created the Mona Lisa without years of unremarkable painting at the Verrocchio studio. Who knows what people are capable of? Good on mojoman for wanting to know what some of the rules are before trying to break them!

There's a margarine-like product called "Mom's Spread" I bought camping near Lake Placid NY once. Raccoons stole the tub at night and the next day we found it in the woods only partly eaten as if the raccoons couldn't handle any more. There's a squeezable condiment I got in France called "Crudup". I used to work (1988) for a guy in Conway, Massachusetts who had a whole collection of wacky food products. He runs (ran?) a bicycle tour company called Student Hostelling Program so people would travel the world on bike all summer and occasionally bring back weird stuff. Here's a funny site with ontopic stuff.

Dave, thanks for that calendar of harvests for your area, that just the kind of thing I like to read about a place that I have little experience with (I've been to Washington but not Spokane). So whats it like outside your window? Rolling hills, jagged mountains, high arid plateau? Or is exactly like your teaser photo? Do you eat any unusual foodstuffs from the coastal rainforest? Little-known First Nations food?

I hear the Marionbarry jelly from Washington DC is addictive. Sorry, couldn't resist that one. Seriously, I am very glad to hear about food on the left coast. I have never had a huckleberry, friend.

I'm pretty sure I once had greenplumb sauce (as opposed to green plumbsauce) I say start experimenting and report in! With pictures! I would try it like applesauce, just simmer whole in some water for while, put through the food mill, add sugar as necessary. I did this with the quinces from our tree out front, it was pretty good. Get a pack of gelatin and let it set up in a martini glass (everything looks good in a martini glass) Godspeed Soup!

Wow you have been busy! I love the look of that salmon - its like a present ready to be unwrapped. What kind? Fresh poached? I also love the shot of the cake pans by the open window, was the heat coming in or going out? I'm sure you know its tornado season in SW Ontario (my family and I got sunburnt in New Brunswick today but came home to cool fog) Chicken Kiev! Its so famous and I have never had it, this must be remedied. And WRT your quiz, I'll guess a shiny bowl of whipped cream. It may be concealing something, if so I'm going with the also very famous baked Alaska. don't keep us hanging . . .

I bought cherry tomatoes at an enormous supermarket in Toronto once, and feeling peckish on the streetcar home I popped one in my mouth and just about had the foodgasm. In my memory I could actually taste the sun. Hasn't happened since.

I think I just found the next flavour for the ice cream maker!

I love seeing those half price stickers! Well done. Out here on the east coast the grocery store beef is severely underaged when it hits the shelf. So when its reduced for quick sale it actually gets better before it gets worse. I can always find 30% or 50% off lamb too, but not always the cut I want. The thrill of the purchase is greatly enhanced when there's a deal.

The sumac I know is a spindly shrub that grows wild along the road and in open forested areas. Its most remarkable feature is a brilliant red leaf in autumn. Is this the same plant you all are talking about? If so which part - leaf, bark, root, sap?

Susan, we love the pouches! Here's some family salmon in parchment from a few days ago (you might have seen it on the Dinner? thread) Those three thai peppers were too much even for me, so I suggested a round of follow up yogurt beverages. I find teriyaki salmon to be one of the best combos on earth. I have been caught drinking right out of the Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce bottle. We only had soy so I added a bit of sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. And I like daikon raw with a bit of coarse salt rather than cooked as it was here.

Bueno, your meal would command a pretty penny in a restaurant. I love steelhead, I used to catch them with a rod as a kid. The colour on yours is breath-taking. Earlier today I got a 2lb bag of locally farmed steamer clams. We had some left over slender asparagus stems so I shoved them through a "frencher" seen in the bowl below. Some spare button mushroom stems, garlic, onion and two thai peppers went in the pot as well: Clams were rinsed carefully, twice: The veggies got a head start in butter, deglaze the pan, then the clams steamed on top. Here's the result with glass noodles in the mix: I took the actual shells out along with the siphons (they were big and chewy) before mixing in the noodles a tiny bit of light cream. The taste was very good but their was still some residual grittiness - like getting a bit of sand in your food. I never have this problem with mussels, there must be a trick to it. Also, one pepper would have sufficed for heat as those suckers pack a big kick. There were a few grape tomatoes in their too for colour.

Yes the PC stuff is usually very good. PC or President's Choice is indeed the house brand for Loblaw's Co. Ltd. and they are Canada's largest retailer. They are HQ'd near Toronto in Brampton where I went to high school. This company includes a dozen or so different store names, it's Atlantic Superstore out here. More than just groceries you can get a bank account, a mortgage, a cell phone and gasoline. There used to be PC beer but that may be gone. I hear they are opening a Loblaws "hypermart" in Maple leaf Gardens in Toronto (old ice hockey arena). The Gardens is to Toronto what the Colosseum is to Rome, so we'll see how that goes down. Having said all that they are expert retailers and I spend hundreds of dollars there every month. The PC brands are generally excellent and better priced than the multinational brands. I tend not to buy the overly processed "entrees in a box" but I can definitely understand why they're so popular. Today I saw PC Wild Mahi Mahi and PC Lahvash.

C. sapidus: Those beef satays look very inviting. And I'll be on the lookout for applejack. Chufi: I have a glass door there beside my "little yellow kitchen photo studio" corner so its become the go-to spot. I think I should mix it up a bit. BTW I have been reading your Dutch cooking thread - very cool, I'm getting closer to shedding my phobia for eels. Anguilliphobia I am calling it although I just made up that word. No more coffee for me, when over caffeinated I tend to make up my own words. shalmanese: Dude, that's a lot of good food. dockhl: You think that little flounder is cute? As a fish in the larval stage they look pretty normal and symmetrical and upright. When they are around one month in age one eye starts to migrate over to the other side of the head. Next thing you know all the entrails are hidden on one side of the spine. I should have done more research before filleting it.

We had some fish yesterday. I bought a whole flounder for the first time, a small one and very tricky to fillet. In fact I made enough of a mess with it that he went straight into a fish stock once I cleared away the undesirable bits. Next time I clean a flat fish it will be twice that size. Fortunately I had also got some mackerel: It was very good. In the pan was some lemon and onion and a bit of water for steam. I am always amazed at home much oil comes out of the fish in just a few minutes - you can see the droplets of those virtuous omega-3 fatty acids just screaming "eat me".

Those onion rings triggered my "salivation reaction". Its funny though because I never ever order them - unlike french fries. And I am a major consumer of onions and all their relatives (shallots, chives, leeks, garlic, scallions, ramps) So what was wrong with them? What makes a ring?

Pork riblets look fantastic. What's applejack?

I thought this thread was going to be about molasses, and possibly rum. Now I see I only imagined the letter L in backstrap.

Klary, This thread is a tremendous resource and I am really enjoying scrolling through it. Do you have a book published yet? On-line info is good but its hard to beat a large and well-illustrated hardcover. Your words and photos are highly motivating, I am much more interested in real home style fare than the high fashion restaurant stuff. I must admit I have very little prior knowledge of Dutch food despite all the people I have known here in Canada with Dutch roots (even my wife is half Van Nostrand) Most people know about the salty black licorice, the cheese, some pastries and cookies etc. and of course the famous clay Dutch oven. I hadn't considered the produce and seafood - maybe palingbroodjes is just what I need to overcome my aversion to eels (I swam through a school of them when I was a kid, yuck) And I think I see sudderlapjes in my near future! I am a big fan of butter poaching as long as its not everyday. Pete

Wow the food looks good here. doctortim: what did you do to that chicken prior to roasting? I'm curious to know what weight and what price, it looks brilliant. Today I bought some salmon trimmings and a daikon radish. Some stuff from the fridge crisper drawer and some parchment paper resulted in this: I liked it but no one else seemed too interested, maybe rice would have been good. I put green Thai peppers in my pouch, and everyone had lemon juice and soy sauce. It was nice to prepare individual meals ahead of time, but next time I'll add more punch.

Hi Randi Calipoutine! I'm really pleased you are going to share your food-life for the next while, and from my home province no less. What a week you have ahead. I have very fond summer memories of The Pinery Provincial Park, plus my godmother lives in London. Spare no detail!