Darienne

We have a pretty good Asian grocery in Peterborough, ON, although I don't think they carry fresh galangal...I bought fresh-frozen...at least not constantly. (They also have frozen Durian which I have yet to try. They came here 40 years ago and began their business in a hole in the wall when it was not a sure thing at all and I simply won't patronize any of the recent comers.) Also...how many friends can you tell this one to? Yesterday I pulled a pork 'butt' out of the freezer, defrosted it and slow cooked it for today's curry. It looked funny to me, but I thought nothing of it. Even while it was cooking...I thought strange looking butt. My brain was out of gear as it increasingly is I fear. Began to shred it and wondered where all the rib bones were coming from. Duh. It was a package of frozen spare ribs. So now we have spare rib pork for the curry. :raz:

Thanks for all the encouragement, Deryn. I do hope it will be fine. Of course, given the fact that I have no idea of what it should taste like.... :smile:

My paste is made and ready for tomorrow. Yep. Not likely to be repeated too often. As noted above...Considering that I cannot pound anything anymore in a pestle and it ended up being finished in a Bullet. I wonder how many Bullets have been used for Thai curry paste? So we is ready....

All grist to the mill, so to speak.

Thanks for the further advice. Alas, in our small (and very provincial local) city, I cannot buy Chaokoh or Mae Ploy coconut milk, but can buy Aroy-D. The owner (Chinese who escaped from Vietnam during that war) suggests Savoy and that's what I buy. Maesri brand also unavailable. Curry pastes are by Aroy-D only. Curry postponed until Wednesday. Sorry. We had to go into town this morning...40 minutes each way...which does not allow for first time dishes. Promises, promises.

Wonderful photos. Wonderful tour. Sure does not remind me of the groceries and markets in Peterborough!

So, the curry actually gets made tomorrow, Tuesday, for lunch. I was missing galangal and shrimp paste and I went into the city to get them. In the meantime, I made some coconut rice and it was delicious.

There is nothing unusual about items costing a lot more in Canada. Nothing at all.

Same here.

Hello back and welcome to eGullet. What are your areas of particular interest?

Not big news, but big enough for the novice pruners. The Northern Spy apple tree was pruned yesterday. I fear that it is not a well tree...but we'll see. The Macintosh will be pruned tomorrow when there are no in town errands.

Hi Norm, No expert here, but an aficionado. You probably know that the 'seeds' are annatto and the paste made from them is the achiote. Just in case you do run across the seeds somewhere. At last we are beginning to have such things available in our nearby small Ontario city.

I'm with Deryn. You don't mention pork which to me at least is the main meat for anything Mexican which I make. But then I discovered slow cooked pork late in life and am still infatuated with the taste.

Talk about wonderful. Nougat in Turron.

Chris, please, how large are those containers? And do you have one per herb?

Watch the movie, if you like. There's not a lot to be learned from it. However, much better is read the book. Much richer than the movie and a different slant.

I was able to google zocalo, cemitas. I could not find out who was China Poblano , exactly what is a taca arabe, Fortunately I knew the others or gulfporter explained them. Thanks for any definitions.

Chiles en Nogada sounds wonderful and I've never eaten it or made it but now it's on the menu for that date which is also the birthday of our female Spoiled-Rottenweiler and the 5th anniversary of falling and cracking open the back of my head...a sort of a mixed holiday you might say. I hope no one will mind if I use walnuts from North Carolina, a gift from a generous eGulleter. Otherwise, I'll be good to go. Thanks for the recipe Jaymes. My favorite Mexican dessert to date is Capirotada pudding...the one with sugar syrup and without eggs or milk, traditionally served during Lent. Love it. And thanks gulfporter for reminding me to mark the date on my calendar.

I'll use this duplicate posting to add some gardening news. We've lived on our farm now for 20 years this year and during that time the apple trees in our backyard have been pruned exactly once by my B-i-L about 8 years ago. One Macintosh and one Northern Spy. We actually have more than 20 apple trees on the property, some of them heritage apples and not too tasty by our standards. But then no one has cared for them for decades. So, just found an article in a local newspaper with instructions on how to prune your apple trees and so, that's exactly what I am going to do today. With help from DH I hope. Last year's crop was exactly 7 apples. The year before was hundreds, none of them appetizing. The year before that was a BUMPER crop and we had trouble just dealing with the abundance. So here we go again.

First of all, allow me to say I am no doubt among the world's worst gardeners. Followed up by I have planted tomatillos for the past few years with some success. They are one thing you cannot buy in my area. Ever. I plant seedlings from a local grocery store first of June. You don't plant in East Central Ontario until June 1st. Rule. No need now to plant Poblanos. They have been in two grocery chains for about three years now and these two chains have expanded their 'exotic' products greatly. Thanks heavens. This year, Cylexa has very kindly sent me some epazote seeds which I intend to plant immediately indoors. And hope for the best. Thanks again, Cylexa. Any information on growing epazote welcomed. ps. I think, I hope, I pray that the snow is finally over.

Good for you, Shelby. It snowed here this morning....

Fun to look back five years ago and watch the ganache videos again. Thanks for the reminder.

My go-to is to cover anything with a chocolate ganache. Hides a multitude of sins and everyone thinks you're so clever and wonderful! :laugh:

Well, I am gobsmacked. Looked again through my stuff for another all-Asian type cookbook and found a very small Thai cookbook. Tucked way back in my Chinese section. Obviously bought it second-hand. Probably in Moab, Utah. Your Favourite Thai Dishes by Wandee Na Songkhla. 1999. Printed and published in Thailand. No memory of it at all. I'll have to look at it carefully. Half-hour later: Quick look through. Doesn't look like what I am looking for in terms of curries.

Thanks to all so far. Next time we are in the city I'll look up those books. I did find a section on Thai food in one of my cookbooks. No, I didn't get galangal. I forgot to ask. And yes I do know about galangal and have used it before in a candying process which was not a wild success. and also I have tamarind. Of course I have ginger in the freezer for easy grating. I am heading to this Thai dish for Saturday noontime meal so I still do have some time.