markemorse

Right on...hence my opening note quoted above. Tasting notes: tastes like very good jerk that unfortunately had to be cooked in an oven due to inclement weather. I can't really compare it to other real jerk I've had, because this pork, while nicely spiced and not too citrus-y but with that slow scotch bonnet burn in there...this just isn't at all the same as jerk on a grill. It was perfectly acceptable, even great for what it was, but I think I won't really know what this tastes like until I put it over some coals and hopefully some pimiento branches. mem

Here's the recipe I ended up making for Chufi's latest eG Foodblog: couple notes: ordinarily this would be cooked on a grill, ideally over some pimiento branches for smoking, but since we cooked inside here's the oven recipe. Also, this amount of pork would normally require 6 to 9 habaneros (some recipes called for 12!)...I only used 3 just to make sure that everyone could eat it (and enjoy it). jerk-marinated pork shoulder in the oven. marinade: 3kg boneless pork shoulder, in one piece 6 big scallions, chopped 1 large sweet onion, peeled 1 head of garlic, cloves peeled 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves 1 tbsp dried thyme 1/4 cup (60ml) allspice berries, ground 2 tbsp freshly-ground black pepper 2 tsp cinnamon, ground 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled 3 habanero, madame jeanet, or scotch bonnet chiles, fire-roasted, seeds removed 1 cup fresh-squeezed OJ 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup soy sauce juice of 1 lime sauce: 1 cup of water 2 tablespoons brown sugar or more 2 tablespoons cider vinegar or more Blend all marinade ingredients to a paste in a food processor or blender. With a sharp knife, score the thick fat on the pork shoulder in a diamond pattern. You might want to use gloves for this: pour 2/3 of the marinade over the pork and massage a thick coating of the marinade into the pork. Place in a roasting pan and cover with a lid or foil. Refrigerate to marinate at least 24 hours or up to two days. Place the remaining 1/3 of the marinade in a saucepan and add water, sugar, and vinegar. I boiled this down for about 20 minutes until the raw ingredients weren't raw and the flavor was nice and round. This sauce goes over the pieces of pork when you serve it. When ready to cook, let pork sit at room temperature at least one hour, then preheat oven to 450F/Gas 8. Roast for 30 minutes at this high heat, then lower temperature to 300F/Gas 2. Bake an additional 2.5 hours. I then uncovered it and blasted it at 450F again to try and crisp up the crust. Take pork out and let rest at least 30 minutes before dismantling. Cut into caveman/cavewoman hunks and slather with reheated jerk sauce. Serves 6-8. I wasn't hungry until lunchtime today. ETA: We used this article for tips on what wines to serve with jerk, and it was spot on: a 2005 Alsatian Gewurztraminer from Antoine Heinrich, and a 2005 Riesling from Rudolf Müller...both were very nice.

Basically a 3kg boneless pork shoulder baked for 3 hours in a low oven...all the dirty details can be found here... mem

Geez, Klary...hope you're not actually sick. Just a false alarm let's hope. thought i'd add my 2 cents about dinner here.... so, the goal of the night was to give Chufi some "adventurous" food/cooking experiences...it was originally designed to be a grill/BBQ night on our roof, but the weather turned wet (our first rainy days in weeks), so we ended up cooking inside. unfortunately, the one dish that was supposed to be a no-brainer ended up a bit weird: the bacon-wrapped tequila shrimp is something that we've made a few times to great success, but last night's rendition was rather anemic and bleh: though they looked beautiful, the shrimp shrugged off its marinade like it had other plans for the evening, and I inadvertently sabotaged Klary's mayonnaise by suggesting an all-olive oil version...it was a bit too in-your-face (I take sole responsibility for this, Klary!). in fact, i would continue to sabotage Klary throughout the evening (see plantain photos)...c'mon, she wanted "adventure", right? but it was all smooth sailing from there. actually, the plantains came out totally great. as did everything else, frankly. Klary's palm heart salad was a nice cooling breath of minty-limey goodness (if you haven't tried these before you should), and her ginger-lime sugar cookies were a perfect complement to the creme brulees. in fact, um...my breakfast is consisting of me dipping Klary's ginger-lime shuga cookies in leftover ginger-lime creme brulee. this tastes pretty good.

ooek. good time had by all. mara and i are taking our full bellies to bed at the moment but will elaborate on the evening's festivities tomorrow...thanks to IlCuoco (+ Nic) and Klary (+ Dennis) for a very nice evening. Andy (pork host) came by right after you guys left and took all the leftovers... mem

Thanks, Ned... I should've been able to figure this out myself considering the research I've been doing on Aruba and Surinam...most of the Chinese populations in these areas date back to the mid-19th century....but I'm not always the sharpest knife in the drawer. mem

Mucho thanks to everyone for the recipes! I hate when this happens: Before I started this topic, I combed the forums meticulously for a previous post on the soy sauce issue (and jerk in general), and I couldn't find jack....until now. sorry about that... mem

I'm getting ready to make some jerk pork this week, and though I used to cook jerk quite a bit, I haven't made it in several years (no access to a grill), so I thought I'd try a new recipe. My biggest question so far revolves around soy sauce: most of the "actually Jamaican" recipes I'm seeing call for quite a bit of soy sauce in the marinade (this one, for example), while the Americanized reconstructions tend to omit it (or they seem to use Jay Solomon's recipe). Is soy sauce an authentic ingredient? Anyway: any foolproof jerk pork recipes out there? And no I can't get my hands on pimiento wood to smoke it over (at least I don't think I can).... thanks! mark

beer and sausage. basically, alcohol, fat, and salt. but, you know, in a smaller dose than the one that got you in trouble the day before. mem

hey hbk, i'm also a great fan of these nuts, but have cut back on using them since I can't find any nutritional info on them (in terms of saturated fat)...I have a cholesterol problem. anyway, i'm looking for an online recipe in English for you, I can only find Dutch ones (like this one), but my favorite thing to cook with candlenuts is called Ikan Bumbu (or Boemboe) Bali...basically malaysian fish curry. I'll post one a link if I find one.... mark

They rocked my world. And they're pretty big...pizza width, but considerably thicker. I seem to remember not being able to eat my last one all in one sitting. But they're really very good. They were my first ones ever, so I can't say how they compare to actual Japanese okonomiyaki. On Queen's Day they sell little 3-inch versions outside, or at least they did last year. I fell in love. mem

For dinner on Queen's Day, we've always had a hard time finding a normal (good) sit-down place that's both open and not full. Last year we waited an hour to be seated at an Indian restaurant on the Haarlemmerstraat (and we were really happy that it was only an hour). In terms of eating a less typical sitdown dinner, we've had a good time twice at Duende (Lindengracht 62), where a friend was working...they set up huge tables outside and serve lots of very large boiled shrimp and paella (but the last time was 2 years ago, recent reviews of their non-Queen's Day food have been more negative)..... And last year for lunch I hit Japanese Pancake World (2e Egelantiersdwarsstraat 24a)... mark

Having looked at both the Lee Bros. and the Lewis/Peacock books, the latter is on my wish list...it's more diverse and the recipes seem more like what I've eaten for years as a primarily urban and mobile Southerner. I think the thing that turned me off from the Lee Bros book was seeing some kind of "Saigon Hoppin' John" recipe...which is fine, it just doesn't have much to do with what I think of as Southern cooking. FWIW mem

Sorry about the extra post, but I should probably clarify: we grabbed the only available table. They have 20 or so. mem

Weird. Completely unexpectedly, I just had one of the better (or at least one of the most Italian) pastas I've tasted in Amsterdam, at a place called Capri (Lindengracht 61-63). Homemade eggplant and truffle ravioli in a butter/parmesan/sage sauce (it was a daily special). Anyway, it's a completely casual and unassuming family-style Italian place, the person who took us there said to stick with the pasta and pizza, and we did, and it was quite good. Almost all of the pastas were under 10 euro (my special was 11). This was at 3pm Saturday and we grabbed the only table. Service was casual, efficient, and friendly. A good quick lunch spot if you're hitting the market. mem

Hey Gabe, this isn't exactly what you asked for, but I just visited France for the first time myself this month, saw quite a bit of the country, and the highlight was Brittany: great scenery and amazing oysters. So, it's not southern France, but if you like oysters you owe it to yourself to head up there for a day or two. I've got a bit of a trip report on my site (in my signature). mark

Speaking of "around Amsterdam", the text of this website is all in Dutch, but this list should be understandable: the Top 100 restaurants in The Netherlands as chosen by this Lekker magazine... Top 100 Unfortunately....I can't really speak to the accuracy/relevancy of this list since I've only eaten at one of the restuarants (Bordewijk, #85...it was a New Year's dinner, though, so can't compare it to their normal menu). I know, how can I even call myself an eGulleter, right? However, there are some good pictures and commentary over Lekker Top 100 meals eaten by eG's ulterior epicure on Flickr: Oud Sluis (#1 on the lekker.nl list) Beluga (#2) De Librije (#3) De Bokkedoorns (#9) Of these meals, really only Oud Sluis and De Bokkedoorns look appetizing (to me). I should also mention that these resaurants will almost definitely be in the same price class as Vermeer, so I've not helped at all with that part of the request ( )... mem

Serve it with sausages; in a sausage sandwich (British bangers, split lengthways, in your choice of bread); on burgers; in a cheese toasted sandwich. Stir it into curry for extra tang and depth. ← Ah, Blether beat me to it: you've got to try it on a burger.

Just had a big scoop of Marsala Fig this week in Paris, I'd never seen it before, it's only sold in the "boutiques". It was very good, a little on the subtle side, but the fig element was nicely done, sort of a preserve/confit thing. Check it out if you see it! I should mention that I'm not really an ice cream fan, but a couple of HD flavors really push my buttons: Macadamia Brittle, Coffee, and this new thing they've got over here called Chocolate Midnight Cookie, it's like crack. Not tastewise, but you know... mark

I second that Swallow at the Hollow recommendation, their sides are unusually good, and it's a nice bar to sit at while you get your grub on. However....recommending the Colonnade for its food is like recommending the Clermont Lounge for the strippers, isn't it? Although the chicken is fine. At the Colonnade I mean. This is not to say that I don't love both of these establishments. I'm just saying, in my experience the appeal has a bit more to do with the atmosphere than the items on the menu. mem

But they're all good questions.... I haven't been to the Tap for a burger in 5 years, but I hear that it hasn't changed much. The burger. I do have a hard time saying outright that the Tap's is better than the Vortex, but I think it could be. Go see. mem

Not road food, but for me the Highland Tap's burger is tough to beat. Vortex is for me a very close second (after many many head-to-head tastings ), and it may all come down to atmosphere: the Highland Tap is unparalleled for a hangover burger. But I digress. For "road food" I might try to hit Fat Matt's, Spiced Right, or Harold's for three very different BBQ experiences. Fat Matt's is a good hang with decent 'cue, Spiced Right is great BBQ, and Harold's has been in slow decline for years, but the Brunswick stew is still good, get that. If you find yourself near East Cobb, Williamson Bros. BBQ is worth a stop as well. If you're going to be anywhere near Athens, you must stop at Jamaican Foods, best jerk pork + cabbage I've ever had, period. Get a HOT Krispy Kreme and if you really ain't had enough Southern yet, stop in at an Old Hickory House for breakfast, just like I used to do every Monday morning. +++ Highland Tap 1026 N Highland Ave Atlanta, GA 30306 Vortex Bar & Grill 438 Moreland Ave NE, Atlanta Fat Matt's 1811 Piedmont Ave NE Atlanta, GA 30324 Harold's Barbecue 171 Mcdonough Blvd SE Atlanta, GA 30315-2338 Spiced Right 5364 Lawrenceville Hwy NW Lilburn, GA 30047 Williamson Bros. Bar-B-Q 1425 Roswell Road Marietta, GA 30062 Jamaican Foods 2017 South Milledge Avenue Athens, GA 30605 +++ mark

We use a wire mesh strainer, the weave (grain?) is fine, like a screen door, works great.

hi howard, welcome to eGullet! well that's the first positive thing i've heard about toscanini in a long time... great to hear that your experiences with service/attitude have been good, i've heard consistent reports of uninterested or rude service and lukewarm pasta. maybe it's time to send the intern out for some fieldwork.... mem

Wanted to bump this thread, because I became a socca addict this summer and have made it at home many times in the past 9 months, to great success. This has little to do with makig socca on the street (the original topic), but I think the recipe I've found is proportioned perfectly and might translate well to the griddle method... When I first started baking them, I made some that were just about inedible, so if you've tried one before and not loved them, try this Mark Bittman recipe and see what you think. There are some really critical secrets to making sure this works: 1) lots of freshly ground black pepper, more than you think makes sense. I used 60 grinds today, it was great. 2) and this is the most important: high temperatures. it must get seriously brown, almost burnt in places...otherwise, the texture is chalky like an undercooked tamale, and undercooked chickpea flour tastes much less appealing than undercooked masa. Very bad. as the recipe says, it's foolproof (after the first couple ). mark