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jumanggy

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Posts posted by jumanggy

  1. Why not just subscribe?  I find it much cheaper than buying through bookstores--Bon Appetit, for example, is just US$38 for one year compared to about Y1000 per issue if I buy it in a bookstore (so with an international subscription, I get 12 issues compared to 4 if I were to buy them individually). 

    Then again, now I've got 36 issues of Fine Cooking to haul back to Canada with me next March, so maybe subscribing wasn't such a good idea after all!

    Direct subscriptions only give me around 0-25% savings when the international shipping is slapped on. Not worth it considering I don't buy every issue (i.e., I buy the magazines *because* they're so cheap), and even at that rate I'm running out of storage space.

  2. I just saw the cover of the new Bon Appetit (February 2008). I've read here that

    I usually buy back issues at the surplus bookshop (about 6+ months late, to save on money), but I was a moderate fan of the old format. I'm curious to know what you guys think of the new one.

    *************************************************

    Where do you find surpuls bookstores that offer magazines?

    NJFoodLover

    Hi NJFoodLover,

    There's a huge market here in the Philippines for back issues (surplus) from the US/UK/Australia. Good for people like me who can't afford to buy the issues new (taxes on magazines are heavy- inflates it to twice the $ price)-- if I can wait 3-6 months (and with a little luck that there *is* a surplus of that particular issue), I can get a magazine at around 1/2-1/8th the price of when it was new.

  3. Ooh everyone's a fan of the bitterness! :)

    Allen, (heh, people think you're a natural Canadian ;) I've recently discovered that gingerbread is the one dessert flavor I can't seem to get tired of. Cannot get enough, and I think it's a shame people don't make it usually outside winter months.

    It's awesome in barbecue sauce. Can't imagine spooning it though, as it's a tad too sweet even for me. (But somehow condensed milk is okay.)

  4. Yes, it's this one: clicky

    The name has changed from "Artisan Breads Made Easy" and "Artisan Breads Fast" to "Artisan Breads Every Day." (I'm not even sure which is the correct title now. Grr!) It "replaces the breakthrough methods of the past, the various preferment methods, and the no-knead craze, and offers high-caliber versions of classic breads using the best techniques to create the highest quality loaves in a fast and convenient fashion."

  5. Delivery from the States isn't an option for me right now, unfortunately. I made the slow-roasted strawberries but there wasn't any verjuice (ugh) that I could find, so I subbed (don't ask). Anyway, they didn't slow-roast so much as slow-dried in the oven.

    The fresh produce here is a completely different subset. It figures that I can't get excited about things I *can* do (pineapple polenta spice cake...) and the things I want to do, will break my wallet if I get the ingredients together. Sigh. I need a re-wiring.

  6. Thanks for sharing, FG. There's actually quite a few Filipino restaurants in San Francisco and New Jersey, though some of them might be better called cafeterias. I can't really think of a reason why they're not more popular, especially since the US has had 2 military bases in the Philippines in the last century. Maybe because it's too easily reproduced at home?

  7. So, the book's been out for nearly (?) half a year... How are you guys finding it? Has anyone been cooking through it? I've wanted to review it for some time now but I'm finding it hard to move forward with a recipe I like because the ingredients can get extremely difficult to procure where I am. I wish I had the courage to substitute freely and know it would work.

  8. Yes, I did notice that the book was relatively more expensive compared to other books with similar production values, except for the hard binding, which is less common at this size. But cost isn't all about the physical properties of the book, I guess :/ (well, duh jumanggy :)

    Anyway, Ruhlman invites readers to share any errata discovered on his blog post.

  9. I think the general consensus is that the concept of the book (your questions 1, 2, and 3 probably leading to the writing of it) is solid and important, but most criticisms have been in Ruhlman's execution. I invite you to read fellow eGulleter lamington's review here.

  10. Maintaining the book news section of The Gastronomer's Bookshelf is a ton of work, but it does keep me up-to-date on the forthcoming titles, so it's all good.

    (the Grand Livre de Cuisine dessert book should have come out by now, by the way.)

    Vefa's Kitchen (May 2009) by publisher Phaidon is something I've wanted to see-- it aims to be a "Silver Spoon" of Greek cooking.

    As a P&B regular, I want to get a copy of The Big Sur Bakery cookbook (June 09), Cake Chic (July 09), La Maison du Chocolat (Sept 09), RLB's Rose's Heavenly Cakes (Sept 09), and Ace of Cakes (Oct 09-- but should I really?). A Chronicle title, Gingerbread, is out Sept 09 but it's only noteworthy to me because I really, really love Gingerbread!

    David Leite has a book coming out, The new Portuguese Table, in August.

    Out October 09: Diana Kennedy has a revised edition of The Essential Cuisines of Mexico. Lidia Bastianich has a new book, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy. Alton Brown has "Good Eats" coming out.

    Looks like October/September are busy months! And I still pick up a ton of new titles to publicize as the months progress.

  11. So what you're actually saying is that maybe it's not the message, maybe it's not even the messenger.

    Maybe it's the people who don't want to listen to the message even one bit, because they're so convinced that the path we're currently on is the correct one?

    It's probably the message and the messenger, and the method, and the audience-- a ton of other things I haven't sorted out yet, and probably far beyond the scope of what the topic's supposed to be (the backlash against Waters). (And well beyond my limited comprehension of the issues at hand!) :smile:

    I haven't had much exposure to Waters-- only an Iconoclasts episode featuring her and dancer Aleksandr Petrovsky (sp?). She didn't appear overbearing there, so I only know of the backlash from here on eG. Comparing her to a man with a similar message, Jamie Oliver, he isn't exempted from a backlash (quite the contrary-- it's pretty well-publicized in the UK, though it is a much smaller country and he is relatively a bigger celebrity there). However, I believe he does have some protection because

    1. He'd already established himself as a boy-next-door-chef for years ("He's cute, so let's listen to him")

    2. His television shows show him for the most part winning over his critics (add in the heartstrings factor of "the working-class single mum who found it frustrating at first but is now his ardent supporter!"-- seriously, watch Jamie's Ministry of Food if you can)-- though as we've seen, reality can be different, but it does alter his reception somewhat

    2.a. The show has him relating with working-class people.

    3. He tried to implement his message on a national level (though Britain is comparatively smaller and his methods sometimes clunky, it does have that "at least he's really trying/he has a plan!" factor to it).

    Sorry for the parentheses! I hope my thoughts came through clearly enough. :smile:

  12. I'm quite far from the scene of the action, so I can't say much about the praise/criticism of Waters' stances. But I gotta say, Jamie Oliver's efforts have similarly been criticized (from the Jamie's School Dinners and Jamie's Ministry of Food mini-series) as pompous and unrealistic, and he even meant to cater mostly to the very people who sneer at him (not "preaching to the choir"). The finales of both series paint his progress in a positive light, but there are plenty of instances in each episode where he deals with naysayers. I have similar criticisms but I do see his point-- the efficacy of his method lies somewhere in between. I suspect that's where Waters is right now too.

    Gosh, maybe she should have her own television show/documentary as well?

  13. The transfer from heat to mixing for swiss meringue is just an adjustment for people who prefer to use a stand mixer-- it actually produces the same result. 7-minute frosting is really a swiss meringue, but most, if not all the recipes I've seen, have water.

  14. Any favourite cake shops or bakeries in the Manila area?  Cakes and other sweets are the one area that I think Filipinos excel at (in terms of cooking).  I'm looking mostly for ensaimada, sans rival, chocolate cakes, mocha cakes, brazo de mercedes, sans rival, mamon. . .

    Yeah, I suppose DCF would be a good place to start, and maybe she can recommend a good sans rival (not my cup of tea-- too buttery and nutty!). As for the more general bakes-- brazo, mamon, puto-- Goldilock's is still a good bet and quite accessible. Don't buy their cakes though, they've taken a nosedive in quality. Red Ribbon actually came out on top (which is weird because 5 years ago I would have said the exact opposite), so you might want to try the usual fudge cake with natilla filling, etc. (I am, however, going for accessibility again... People swear by a certain fudge cake with natilla from a gas station in the Los Banos area, and it's quite good, but unless it's along the way? Forget it.)

    There are a few more cake shops (that boast their avocado or ube cakes or whatever), but since I'm not home I can't remember what it's called! It's near Greenhills, near where the Homemade Carrot Cakes are sold (sorry I've forgotten!). In any case, I've never tried the cakes either so that's probably why the name's not sticking :)

    Mary Grace, which you can find in the arcade area beside Unimart (along with a few dozen other stalls throughout Manila), have great ensaymada (the sponge type, not the coiled panaderia type), lemon squares, and cheese rolls.

    If you're in luck, there may be a pastry fair at the basement of Power Plant (Rockwell), but Valentine's will be long over before you arrive, I think, so they probably won't set up. I've had the best macaron de Paris in Manila there.

  15. Hi Rona!

    I'm still in the States and won't be back till probably April. Anyway, regarding Baguio, you can't leave without going to Cafe by the Ruins at least once. Breakfast is especially good (with their home-cured bacon or longanisang hubad), but of course lunch and dinner are great too. Can't recommend this place enough.

    I'm half-Kapampangan (though I don't speak the language), and unfortunately it's just one of those places where "my momma's cooking is better than..." is true. When we're there we never need to eat out, we just park our butts at my grandmother's and we eat great food. About Angeles, I've heard of great places to eat there but haven't felt compelled to go. Try this link:

    http://80breakfasts.blogspot.com/2007/03/c...s-xo-sauce.html

    There are some additional links there that may help you out. Good luck! :)

  16. And I'll be following this thread closely, looking to see if there are recipes people love.

    Hi guys, I was gifted a copy of the book and have made three recipes from it so far.

    1) honey castella: hmm, I realize that traditional castella doesn't have oil but I did see a recipe by a Japanese chef that used melted butter, so I didn't mind that particular variation. (Though I would probably use an equal weight of melted butter next time instead of oil, for the flavor.) Authentic or not, the cake was very good (and everyone loved the silky crust that formed), and it was one of the fastest-disappearing cakes I've ever made.

    2) almond tofu with fresh fruit cocktail: Not really tofu but tau-hu (... or gelatinized soy milk?). I didn't use almond milk (was a little extravagant for my tastes)-- used regular milk with almond extract, sigh, but the pudding had a lovely, light texture. I'm surprised he didn't include pineapple in the fruit cocktail, because I thought it could have used a bit of acidity. I definitely would have liked it more than the nectarine I'd bought. Anyway, this is quite a simple recipe, and it's hard to mess up really.

    3) pineapple lime mascarpone tart: this is the one that has pineapples "roasted" in palm sugar, over a lime-mascarpone cream. The asian-ness of this is a little forced really but it did strike a good balance. Gone quickly too (served at a party), guests asked for recipe. Gfron1 served something similar but I take it he didn't enjoy it as much as my guests did :)

    What I would like to try in the future is the malt chocolate cake (if I can get myself to buy a can of malt powder just for this purpose). I'm not too keen on cookies etc. with coconut in them.

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