Darienne

I have a life-long habit of finding mentors as I go along. Won't try to figure that one out. The answer might be disturbing. First mentor was Andiesenji for candying fruit and peels. Then Kerry Beal for chocolate. And paulraphael for ice cream. And Jaymes and Chris Hennes and pierogi...and some who have disappeared...trying to recall the names...Theobroma?... And Kim Shook for baking. And also And Heidi Husnak for just about everything. And JohnT for African. And Shelby. And AnnaN. Too many to name. Sorry for those names which have escaped my declining mind. And PanaCan. And of course Lior, who was so kind to us during a family tragedy. That I will never forget.

Curious qualities these goodies have. I find that when I am making my signature (purloined to be sure) almond-sprinkled chocolate-coated toffee, I have to box it up right away and seal the boxes with stickers, or the little pieces of candy can migrate to my lips and hence to my body. So curious...

Congratulations, Alex. Soon it will be 7 years for me. And an actual lifechanging event it was for me. Wonderful forums and wonderful folks.

So sorry to read your post, sparrowgrass. What a disappointment.

Hooray for Shelby. This will be both educational and great fun. Beautiful okra flowers. Okra? Not so much.

I'm with Franci on those cinnamon rolls. I am almost glad that I've never tried to make such a thing. You know why of course.

And Porthos, I fear your 'anality', if that is a word, is minor to mine. Our printed grocery list is one complete page in 5 columns in size 8 type. And we have one list for Ontario and another one for Utah. She who lives by the list... (I could add that my calling was in literary research...whatever I could find grant money to do.)

I can add to the grocery store supply question. We live outside Peterborough, a city which is now off the beaten path. Our grocery stores fall at the end of the majpr distribution chain for items. Toronto and its surrounding areas (the GTA) always get supplied first and then Peterborough will get the remainder...if there is one. But still, it's not bad. You can find Poblanos and eggplant in Peterborough as an example. We live just outside of a small village near Peterborough. It is even further out on the supply chain as to being almost non-existent...a bit like Manitoulin Island. Never, ever would you find Poblanos or eggplant in our village grocery store. People simply don't eat such things...or they go to the city to buy them and hope that the Peterborough grocery got them in this week. Still, I wouldn't change it for the world. If one of us has a serious stroke, for instance...we are pretty much doomed. You can't get an ambulance to pick you up and get you into the city hospital in under an hour at the best of times. But we are less likely to suffer city stress and noise and lights living out here in the middle of nowhere, walking on the farm every day with our dogs and seeing the sky, the birds, the deer, the trees, etc. I could add that Poblanos have been available for only about four years now. Before that the selection for Mexican food was dismal and a trip to Toronto was needed for piloncillo, chiles, spices, cheeses, etc. Tomatillos are still not available at all in Peterborough so I grow my own.

Franci, your current baking spree is simply wonderful and overwhelming. What fun! Watch out lest a gang of unruly and hungry eGers turn up knocking at your door!

Thanks so much for your offer, Deryn, but please do let it lie for now. I emailed the Brampton firm a couple of weeks ago and have not heard back from them. I will call them next. Just been too swamped to get around to it. There's a Food Basics in Lindsay, 1/2 hour from the farm, and we'll try there next. Thanks again for your research on my behalf.

I've posted this dessert, Malva Pudding, before in the Foods from Africa forum. Thanks again to the eG folks who helped me on that dinner. I've made it again (for the fourth time) today, mainly to see how it freezes. It says it freezes well. To me it was a fascinating experience. The cake is baked and then the syrup, about two cups, is poured over the top and each time I just stand there and watch this incredible amount of sugary liquid disappear into the cake. I photographed the sequence this time. Just out of the oven Poured the syrup onto the cake and by the time I picked up the camera, much of it was already absorbed. Most of the liquid has disappeared into the cake. Success is mine. Some time later, I opened the microwave to use it, and discovered the melted butter which was destined for the pudding was sitting there. So, the pudding did not get frozen whole, but rather we had to have a goodly sample to make sure that it was still edible without said butter. It was delicious.

DH bought me another brand of Bomba Calabrese today. Looks a bit like the one Chris posted a while back. I opened it. Took a small forkful. And the most excruciating hot pain screamed into the back of my throat and up into my ears. I couldn't function for about 10 minutes. Fortunately we had milk on hand and I drank some. Never had anything like that happen before. And hope never to have it again. I can't imagine that the Bomba is really that hot all the way through. That MUST have been some kind of weird occurrence. I wonder. I'll get back. But not today. BTW, my friend, the gifter, says the Gigi is carried by Food Basics in her area. We don't have a Food Basics in our area.

It looks delicious. Did you eat it? We almost always eat my failures.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=JX-EAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT161&lpg=PT161&dq=salatat+fool&source=bl&ots=w7TpThA5Zr&sig=6I31WJSRIWagS2rssNeDO4itxFA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDEQ6AEwBGoVChMI35fCsqb0xgIVyjo-Ch3a5Qbb#v=onepage&q=salatat%20fool&f=false I can't seem to do this one anymore. OK. Maybe it has worked this time. Above is the recipe for the Salatat Fool from Habeeb Salloum' cookbood. I found it on Google.

I'm no expert, but I'd say it was. ....and now...are you going to eat it?....

Thank you. I shall make this one as soon as I can. Sounds wonderful. And also look for the cookbook. The world of international cuisine just keeps opening new doors every time I turn around. Thanks again.

I LOVE tomatoes. Just not in tabbouleh (or one of its many spellings.) I use a great lot of mint in it and love it to pieces. Fattoush I have had at a local Persian Falafel shop and the pita was deep fried. Oh yes. Do you have a name or a recipe for your Egyptian salad? I love eggplant. Come to think of it, a now long lost friend, a blonde freckled Canadian, whose parents had given her a Persian name for reasons completely unknown to me (and of course right now I can't remember it) introduced me to a salad which cannot be 'Canadian' in origin but must come from the Middle East. Chickpeas and sliced black olives and halved cherry tomatoes, with tons of parsley and a lemon juice and olive oil dressing. Cannot get enough of this salad. It and the Tabbouleh are two of my mainstay salads for the Annual Dog Weekend when I feed a gang. I'll add the Salatat Fool this year. I need salads which can withstand several days of keeping. Added almost one hour later: It just came to me. Her name was Narjis.

Jaymes, your American version was much fancier than the 'Canadian' version. The purchased base was a soft vanilla cake which was only a couple of inches high and had a slightly higher rim. The fruit went straight onto the cake with a clear glaze over it. But then we Canadians are always known for being modest and polite and not in the least exciting. :raz:

I'm not sure exactly what she did, but she was certainly not advised to do it. That was the last time we all worked together. Some people are good for friends...but not for cooking partners. It was a truffle making party. And it's where I did find my confectionery partner, Barbara. We all were learning how to make truffles at the time, and the mint was to be a truffle center. It looked like (don't read this if you are sensitive...) the face of a three year-old boy who has needed to have his nose wiped for some time. It was repulsive. Never quite forget it.

Couldn't find a thread on salads in general in the Middle East and Africa. I have this wonderful cookbook: Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East & North Africa by Habeeb Salloum, 2000. It predates my interest (aka obsession) with cooking and I have no idea why I bought it. Isn't even second hand... I've made Tabbouli for many years now...NO TOMATOES...but let's not go there again. We'll just agree to disagree. Today I made Salatat Fool (Peanut Salad) because its main ingredient is peanuts and my DH loves peanuts. The salad is great and he likes it immensely...although he did suggest that I put more vegetables into it, which I refused. Any one else out there making any notable salads from these regions?

It couldn't have been better said than this. I always loathed peppermint and all the other mints until I tasted real mint. Then it was a love affair. Definitely infuse the dairy. But don't make the mistake a friend once made: she chopped up the mint leaves finely before infusing them. I guess she thought it would work better. Not needed. She could not get all the miniscule leave bits out of the dairy and the result looked very unpleasant to say the least.

I cannot recall whether this dessert was "in" in the 60s or the 70s...but I do remember making it. A purchased cake called a flan. Then cover it with a variety of berries...fancy pattern if you had the time or the inclination. And then a homemade glaze over top of this. We called it a Fruit Flan.

I knew that you were using it, paulraphael. At 5 g per 1000 g...I'll have to figure out what my mix weighs. Never done that before. Thanks. (You're still my ice cream mentor guy. )

I am gearing up to making my own Bomba Calabrese but in the meantime, I opened the second bottle of the Alessia brand which DH bought me last week. Of course, I've noshed down the first. I dumped the contents of the bottle into a sieve and just let it drain for a few minutes. I was stunned to measure the oil collected. The entire contents measure 314 ml and the oil was 80 ml. A quarter of this expensive little goodie is oil. Not pleased.

Hello Charlie and welcome to eGullet. It's a great place to be and the members are so friendly and willing to share recipes and help. Although I've never really eaten much in the way of Spanish food, I've certainly enjoyed foods from Mexico which came from Spain and from the Arabs and so on going back. The history of food interests me greatly and I look forward to seeing what you come up with for us to try.