
Vanessa
legacy participant-
Posts
563 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by Vanessa
-
Please To The Table is especially inspiring. Thank you Priscilla for reminding me v
-
Kharius and moiva are smoked, rather than dried fish and utterly delicious. Kharius is grayling. I've only had it brought over from Siberia. I had no idea what moiva was - it is small - maybe 4 inches long but quite fleshy. I've just located it on the net as capelin , whatever that is - but the picture looks roughly right - it's a while since I had it. The couple who own Potemkin in Clerkenwell used to run a glorious Russian food shop in a swanky office just off Oxford Circus - the first shop of its kind in London and a world away from those decrepit, Soviet-looking dives that are springing up all round London. She had a great selection of smoked fish which, sadly, she did not transfer to her menu at Potemkin. One of the advantages of produce in Russia, though it is while since I've been there, is that it is still relatively 'unspoilt' - foods still taste of themselves, they haven't been modified to death to suit the demands of mass distribution. I agree with Ivan about vobla - at first it seems horrendous - like getting nutrients out of a stone - but then it becomes strangely addictive as an accompaniment to beer. v
-
Ginger Pig. Heal Farm good for mail order but costly for a big hunk of beef. v
-
Thats not such an easy question to answer. I've tried many, many varieties not all of them good. I currently use a brand simply called Madras which cost about £3.50 for 300. I have found the morse expensive the popadom the better the result. But, really, I haven't found any that cost more than £4 for 200. They were good, but no better than the Madras ones I currently use. Now I understand why Indian restaurants always try to foist papadoms onto the punter - just look at the profit margin v
-
Scott - welcome. v
-
Thank you Ivan from saving me from weighing in on basic definitions here. Two of the areas where Russians excel are, in my view: smoked and dried fish (e.g. moiva, kharius, vobla - I'll leave you to explain these Ivan/Helena) and homemade jams (i.e. varenie) which are utterly different from anything we know in the 'west' - wild fruit suspended in sugar syrup, barely cooked, full of the flavour of the berry. v
-
These Parrotts have great genes you know v
-
Oh, I know this sounds like the other end of the world for you Miss J, but it is only a few minutes walk from Clapham Junction, which you can get to direct from Willesden Junction. And there are all sorts of other interesting food shops in the vicinity, like Stefano Cavallini's and the honey shop and Hamish Johnston's for cheese. v
-
Some years ago I roasted an enormous rib of beef very successfully for a party, never having done such a thing before. Largely due to the quality of the beef, acquired from Dove's on Northcote Road, Battersea. v
-
Ouch! Wrist feeling slapped. A few clarifications on my part: When I said 'slightly overcooked' I was not referring to the filling (which is always fine) but to the fact that the skin comes up a bit softer than if you simply boil then fry in another pan. I do use a well-seasoned cast iron pan as per Eddie. Interesting the point about using less water and steaming - I will try that next time although the frying then steaming then frying again seems a bit odd to me, particularly from frozen. v
-
Hope you noted my earlier remarks about splattering . Good luck. v
-
Sandra - what H, J & K said! And if you need any 'professional' tasters before you open.... v
-
I don't control timing. They end up slightly overcooked, for which the crisping on one side compensates. But I do the boiling with the gas turned high so the water boils off asap. Also sometimes I ladle off a bit of the liquid if I feel it isn't going down fast enough. I add oil with the water at the beginning. If the frying pan is being cooperative, then there is a precious window of a few seconds when the bottom of the dumplings are thoroughly crisply fried and they come away from the surface of the pan before burning/sticking again. That is when they are ready. v
-
FG was threatening to create a thread on reheating dumplings. Dumplings have never survived long enough in my house for the issue of reheating to arise, so I thought I would add to K's old dim sum thread instead. Here are related bits from the 'Most Popular Chinese Dishes' thread - if I got the quote thing right. V: FG: K: Unconvinced by K's assertion of the potential glamour, as opposed to unholy mess, of my method of cooking potstickers, I tried the other method last night: boiled in a pan of water then fried in the wok. Definitely less messy, apart from that moment when the dumplings are added to the wok with an almighty splatter. Altogether quicker and tidier but I'm not convinced by the results - elegant but a little anodyne. When using the wok I am unable to refrain from stir-frying out of sheer habit which means the dumplings got fried lightly all over. My wok is well-loved and old, so the dumplings don't stick at all. However, what I love about potstickers is the fact that on one side they are soft, and on the other they are crisp - almost burnt. My frying pan method often means they get stuck to the bottom of the pan and are damaged when I try to get them out - but that's part of the charm. Next time I'll try FG's way - in a deep pan. v
-
What Vserna said: good quality 'ethnic' (how I detest that word) restaurants depend on a substantial population of a particular nationality. Sadly, we only have a smattering of Mexicans in this country, so no serious Mexican food outlets. I consider Mexican to be one of the great underrated cuisines of the world and it is a tragedy that we can't experience it here. Armadillo is really about food from South America rather than the Central American isthmus. Buy lots of Diana Kennedy books instead. v
-
ASC - very helpful You are clearly a very experienced popadum fryer. One question - how do you judge quality of them when purchasing? v
-
This thread reminded me that I had a passion for frying papads some time ago - I would buy all different kinds in Indian shops and try them out and still have some lurking at the back of the cupboard. I think one of the reasons I stopped was that I could never get all the oil off them after frying, however thoroughly I tried to absorb it with kitchen paper. My method was with the wok, pretty well as ASC describes but without worrying about the shape. Any thoughts? v
-
Now is the moment for Ed, our resident Chinese expert to intervene. In the meantime: 1. Ken Lo is no longer with us - so no worries on that front 2. Red bean curd cheese is very strongly flavoured fermented bean curd which comes in jars. I believe that the red one gets its colour from spicing/chillies. Certainly not red bean sauce. This might explain the blandness you mentioned. I believe this is not a favourite ingredient of Ed's v
-
Surely you can ask your Chef to rustle up his finest example for you? He doesn't cook for the likes of me v
-
Ginger wine (my teenage tipple - yuk!) Neat vodka (few too many bad experiences when drinking with Russians - n.b. vodka, not the Russians the problem) v
-
Charlene - ever seen these in the UK? I'm addicted to crinkle cut plain Spanish crisps - obtainable in Spanish shops here and Green Valley in Upper Berkeley St but had never noticed garlic ones, neither here nor in Spain. v
-
I've always kept a good strong hammer in the kitchen v
-
Wot, straight out of his lunchbox? v
-
Philippe - I had been looking at your syrups on your web-site, thinking they seemed lovely - I especially like the idea of the geranium one - the flavour of geraniums is so wonderful. Have you ever made ice cream or sorbet from it? I have done so from scented geranium leaves in the past, with great results. Also, in England syrups made from elderflower are very popular and available almost any supermarket - do you know them? I don't remember the French name right now and don't have a dictionary with me but it is a tree/bush which grows wild with clusters of cream blossoms which give a muscat flavour when infused. Later small blackish berries are produced from which wine is traditionally made in England. Thank you for the ideas. Soon I may be persuaded to make an order from you v
-
A precision, as I sit here at my desk working my way through a building worker's bacon and egg baguette: I felt that there was a discrepancy at gbk between the high quality beef and everything surrounding it. But then I have never looked at a burger with a critical eye before, i.e. as a serious item of food. v