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Serious Eats did a feature on Pueblan cuisine, with a paragraph devoted to other Central Mexican cuisines. They've also done several features on cemitas as found in NY, Chi, etc. Around here, cemitas is a bun, about the size of a hamburger bun, that comes in de leche, de trigo and, my favorite, de anis. I've never known them to be used for sandwiches but maybe I've just missed them. I've seen tacos arabes on several menus. Ordered once from a lonchera but couldn't detect any difference from their other tacos. I'm trying to remember where else I've seen them so I can try them, now that I know what they are!

The TAM mild jalapeno. I read several years ago this was developed in response to requests from canners and salsa producers. There's another wikiarticle on Texas Agrilife Research, the new name of the division of the university that produced this (and the 1015 onion) that says salsa sales rose when it went in to use.

I know nothing of competition bbq so I have stayed out of this discussion. However, on the subject of woods, at least in the realm of bbq joints, both mesquite and hickory are widely used in Texas but seldom if ever by critically acclaimed places. There are lots of ‘hickory pit bbq’ places scattered around Houston. There was one short-lived place here (Pierson’s) that used mesquite exclusively and caused raised eyebrows because of it until you tasted their product. He handled it very well. I have never used it but I know it can produce a very bitter or acrid taste. I’ve read that the problem is that mesquite burns very hot and is hard to control but I couldn’t explain what that means. Pollo asado places around here sometimes use mesquite or mesquite charcoal. I think mesquite goes well with chicken. The old line places in Central Texas - Luling, Lockhart, Taylor - all use post oak from what I understand. I really know nothing of all the newer places in Austin and what they use. Maybe it’s just ‘something in the water’ up there but I think post oak is the best wood for smoking. Around Houston and SE Texas you encounter the inclusion of pecan, usually with live oak, the variety of oak that grows here and is probably the variety that is most prolific here. Some places use pecan exclusively but it has problems similar to mesquite. It does tend to produce a very thick, beautiful ruby-colored smoke ring. There is one critically acclaimed place here, Corkscrew in The Woodlands, that uses red oak. I’ve only had it once. I didn’t dislike it but wasn’t sure I liked it either. It was a little reminiscent of mesquite to me and I have had some awful mesquite smoked bbq in the past. I think some places in Dallas use red oak, too, but I don't think it grows commonly around here.

This thread has been beyond wonderful. Fortunately there is the 'like' button here on eG, so I could quickly express my appreciation while my mind was racing ahead. I have just taken the pot off the burner with the ham and sausages (and will be stealing an advance dip in the pot with the vört limpa shortly) and already I'm looking forward to next year and more dishes to try. Thank you again for sharing all of this with us. Now you deserve to take a week off and rest. God Jul to you and your family and Gott Nytt år.

Beautiful loaves. Wish I could smell them.

The sausages look so good. Swedes seem to really be into sausages - I am too, so I guess I inherited it. I have read of the korv kiosks and I wish we had a few of those around here. Mostly our sausage makers here are of German, Czech and Cajun extraction. I'm thinking of adding a third sausage to my table, not that it is needed. Maybe I will go off-map and add a Cajun crawfish andouille. I will have to come to Sweden sometime in December. My third cousin in Stockholm has tried to entice me by sending me pictures including one of a roadside sign for a Julbord but your pictures of the Christmas market seals the deal. I have been reluctant to commit because at my age the cold will be very hard on me as will the very short days, I think. If those don't get me over-indulgence at the julbords probably will. Are you doing vörtlimpa and dopp i grytan? I made vörtlimpa last year but this year I ordered a loaf from the Swedish Bakery in Chicago. It is a beautiful and very aromatic loaf. Is the custom still widely observed in Sweden? Thanks again for sharing all of this and answering all our questions.

Ok. So some questions. I'm going to be making your red coleslaw but I wonder what Swedish sour cream is like? Is it like American or more like creme fraiche? And I see you have three mustards on your Julbord. I'm going to be making a Christmas mustard from Tore Wretman's 1983 English language book on the smörgåsbord and I have senap grov and sås senap & dill from Ikea. What are your three mustards and how do you use them? Thanks.

We had a store here called Stor, a West Coast-based clone of IKEA, which bought them out in 1992. I remember on my first visit being thrilled to discover the food market at the new IKEA. I had been doing genealogy for a dozen years including my Swedish line but knew nothing of Swedish cuisine at the time. I got my first taste of lingon and crisp breads and rolls, among other things. One of the things I brought home on that first visit was about a 2# link of potato sausage. It was surprisingly spicy, something I had not expected from Swedish cuisine, with all the heat coming from black pepper as I recall. That has been 21-22 years now and I have never seen potato sausage for sale at IKEA again. There are a couple of sausage makers in the states that make potatiskorv but I’ve never gotten around to mail ordering any. Today, searching desperately after reading this thread, I discovered that a local specialty store carries it, Continental Sausage brand. I had to enlist the owner himself to find it, buried in the bottom of one of the freezers, underneath some bangers or brats or something, but now I have some for my Christmas table. CatPoet, my thanks to you also for going to the trouble to post this thread. I am always eager to read of Swedish cuisine and I learn such fascinating things from your posts. I am one quarter Swedish, on my mother’s side, but was never exposed to Swedish foods growing up, other than that her father insisted there must be potatoes on his table at every meal, morning, noon, and night, which he said was Swedish! He was born in the Upper Michigan Peninsula in the 1890s. His father came from the Brandbo Peninsula in Västmanland as a young man in 1880, heading originally to Chicago which was referred to as the second largest Swedish city in the world at that time while his mother came over as a young child with her family from Västergötland in the 1870s. I have been looking back over your menu in your first post and I am salivating and looking forward to seeing the final spread.

Yes I am just finishing up some Vasterbotenost from IKEA. Name brand product, too, not Ikea Food. Cheeses are one of the few name brand items still available at the Ikea Food Store although they do carry 'Ikea Food' cheeses, too. Got some Heergard I'm going to be getting into next. I was looking for reindeer myself last fall when I was having fun making tunnbrodrolles; found pretty much what others have found - too expensive for my budget. I keep hoping a local grill that specializes in game meats will give it a try - they've offered burgers and sausage dogs with elk, camel, pheasant, python -- maybe one of these days. I asked the guy one time about where to get this stuff and he just said it was a commercial supplier.

One of the few things I've found at TJ's so far that I go out of my way for and I typically don't eat and have never liked sweetened, sugary cereals. Not that sweet for sure but a big part of the appeal is how long they stay crisp in milk, which is longer than any cereal I've ever had. I'm kind of tiring of them, though. Last trip I only bought 2 boxes and it took me almost 3 weeks to finish one and I haven't opened the second. Next trip, I think I'll skip them. TJ's Bran Flakes are good, too. Better than any other brand I've ever tried and also stay crisp in milk longer than others, though not as long as Toasted Oatmeal Flakes or some of the Nature's Path Organics which TJ's carries.

Lovin' your blog, Smithy. That meat market looks like a real gem.

Ouch! Hatch products are everywhere here; haven't checked at WF but wouldn't be surprised to see them in C-stores. I priced it yesterday at WM for $1.98/can; $1.69 at Fiesta, on sale from $1.89. I looked but don't remember what the canned chiles were going for. I've never used this. The only canned enchilada sauce I've used is Old El Paso, the green, but I didn't see that available at either store yesterday. That's based on nostalgia, not a taste-test comparison with any other brand.

Thanks for this report. I enjoyed the vicarious travel and food. Some of it looks very intriguing and I loved the shots of the old cities; too bad the hotel buffet wasn't any good. The bread basket makes me want to go bread shopping or do some baking. I live close to several heavily Jewish neighborhoods in Houston and have been to all of the Israeli restaurants, some run by non-Israelis (Iraqi, Persian, Russian). Pizza at a couple of kosher dairy spots is superior to most neighborhood pizza joints but none of the venues puts out spreads like a couple you've pictured. Around here Israeli salad never includes onion, I think.

I grew up in Texas (40s-50s) and am familiar with both types though we didn't call one of them pralines. The pictures on the SL link look like the candies you used to get at Tex-Mex restaurants at the end of the meal, wrapped in cellophane. I haven't see those in years. We just called them pecan candies or Mexican pecan candies. The (other type of) praline was home-made, thinner, crystalline rather than chewy in texture, not really brittle but snap-able. I never turned down the 'free' candies at Tex-Mex restaurants but I considered them inferior, partly because of the quality of the pecans. On a solo trip to NOLA as a grad student I bought a box of pralines in the Quarter; they were like what I was used to growing up. I went googling to find out what the Mexican candies were called and found this Texas Monthly article with a recipe. It turns out many people did come to call them pralines. Note the sub-title - we don't cotton to the chewy kind. The home-made ones I grew up with were a bit paler in color and typically weren't that loaded with nuts - they were as much about the sugar as the nuts.

Chemex filters are a circle 11-3/4" in diameter. They come prefolded in a box, usually about twice as expensive as something like a Melitta cone filter. They will fit standard drip coffee makers that use a cone filter but have to be trimmed across the top. They can be used in other pour-over coffee makers that use a cone filter without trimming unless it's a Clever Drip. When you open the folded filter, there are 3 thicknesses on one side, just one thickness on the other side as it is placed in the carafe. The paper is somewhat thicker than other conical filters which slightly slows the drip through time; they are intended to filter out more of the bitter compounds in coffee and produce a smoother cup. The Chemex method involves wetting the grounds first to 'bloom;' this effectively lengthens the brew-time allowing for slightly more extraction of flavor. Robenco15 - I don't see any reason they couldn't be used in a bowl strainer except any limitations due to their size but I've never tried it.

Just saw this on Serious Eats - TJ's now has poutine. I've only been to TJ's a half dozen times since it first arrived in Houston this year but it's about time for a run (and I'm pretty sure poutine is not coming to a McD's near me anytime soon..

'Pita' around here is used for quite a variety of flat breads in terms of thickness, pliability and diameter. I have had some as thick as, say, an Oreo, and very soft at Israeli places (and they've been called Yemeni style pitas?). What are the names of the two Lebanese varieties you described?

Thanks for the report. There's an Ace Mart a few miles from me so I think I'll go take a look and talk to a salesman. I've got to get some rewiring done to get another circuit in the kitchen. ETA: I will appreciate any further comments by anyone, too.

Has anyone taken the plunge and tried either of these Vollrath units (mentioned upthread as Volraith)? http://www.acemart.com/restaurant-equipment/cooking-baking-equipment/hot-plates/electric-hot-plates/vollrath-portable-induction-range-vol59500p/prod240611006.html http://www.acemart.com/restaurant-equipment/cooking-baking-equipment/hot-plates/electric-hot-plates/vollrath-mirage-cadet-poratble-induction-range-vol59300/prod261511015.html I have a Duxtop which I’ve been using for over a year and I really like induction cooking but the unit does have some limitations, as mentioned in this thread. Over half my induction compatible cookware is unusable because the unit overheats and shuts down (heavier/larger cast iron pieces, a carbon steel skillet). I take it that’s typical of these small units with a small fan for cooling? Would these Vollraths be a signficantly better bet than a consumer unit that is more expensive than the basic Duxtop or are they going to be the same quality with a professional nameplate? The Cooktek units that have been recommended are out of my price range. These will used for home cooking.

I used to do rolled stuffed flank steak in the oven but haven't done it that way in a couple of decades. When I first read that you could broil flank I didn't believe it. These days that's the only way I do it because it's so much easier. I don't remember where I got the recipe but I remember it involved tenderizing the steak (with a mallet) but not butterflying it. The fillings included mushrooms, onions, pistachios, herbs, etc. The rolled steak was browned in a dutch oven, then a small amount of liquid was added (wine, bouillon, water) and it was baked, covered, for a couple of hours. It came out delicious and falling apart tender. Matambre is an Argentine rolled stuff flank steak preparation that I've had served cold, sliced, on a baguette, with chimichurri or other condiments. There are many recipes online. I haven't used any of them so I won't link to any in particular but you can look them up for possible ideas on times and temps. I noticed several I looked at called for adding enough liquid to almost or completely cover the roll but I never did that.

I had never heard of bacon flavored chips but I found these at the British Isles store in the Village. Is Tayto's a good brand? I'm going to try to get over there tomorrow and see if they have them in stock. Here's the entire Crisps and Snacks category. I think I'll have to try some others, too. Maybe the Haggis and Cracked Black Pepper.

I am loving this. I am one quarter Swedish but all we have here in the way of Scandinavian food is the IKEA cafe so I love being able to learn anything about Scandinavian foodways and folkways. Thank you so much for doing this blog. Yes, I want some of that fish 'n chips but I also want one of everything else on the menu. I see a couple of them are classic smorrebrod items.

I've been eating hot dogs this week. I read recently about the King's Hawaiian split top style buns and I prefer that style but can't get them around here so when I spotted these at my local market I picked up a package and have been trying to use them up. Yesterday I pulled a couple of Sabrett's wieners out of the freezer, steamed them and the buns, added some store-bought sauerkraut and Lowensenf's Medium Dusseldorf mustard, another recent acquisition I love and have been using in everything that needs mustard. The sweetness of the buns didn't go with the Sabrett's as well as it did with some hot links the day before and I definitely prefer toasting these buns to steaming them but - live and learn. Also had some Chobani and a black plum.

Thanks for the link to the blog. I’ll be perusing those recipes when I get some time. Yes, the menu descriptions for several of the dishes refer to a roasted coconut and peppercorn or spicy black pepper sauce. The Chettinad vegetables also had a notable presence of star anise. I found the link from the other forum. I had meant to post that with the original post but couldn’t find it. It seems my place is not very ‘authentic’ - there is no one passing through with a bucket of spicy chicken gravy, no organ meats on the menu nor red rice and no omelets - but it is growing on me. A couple of the links in the thread do not work for me but the ones that do give a picture of the cuisine more in keeping with Wiki.

I’ve been exploring a little restaurant serving dishes from Chettinad and have a few questions. The Wikioracle calls the cuisine one of the most spicy and aromatic in India and that was an apt description of the only Chettinad dish I’ve had before, a vegetable kurma at another restaurant, but the food here is neither particularly spicy nor aromatic, although the kitchen will adjust heat level to your taste. Actually there aren't that many dishes on the menu labeled as being from Chettinad. So I went in search of more information and found a discussion suggesting that characterization is just the result of restauranteurs trying to incite more interest in their businesses and Chettiars really prefer subtler seasonings. The easy answer is you can’t believe everything you read in Wiki, of course, but I thought I ask for some insight here. I have been enjoying the food, partly because of an enthusiastic young manager, but what should I be expecting? Just what is Chettinad cuisine? What sets it apart from other regional cuisines in India? By the way, the restaurant is in the same suburb where there are now four restaurants catering to an ex-pat community from Kerala and the chef is from Kerala, I’m told.