melamed

This is a hilarious thread. I really don't know why metaphors and similes are being excommunicated from the food writer's repertoire.If used well it can add a bit of colloquial color to a piece of writing. Also don't understand the length some writers go to avoid words they feel are overused. Will this drag professional writing to the level of the common blogger? And how long does an overused word need to be quarantined before being allowed to circulate again?

I am more offended by stupid ideas than by word choice.

Some bloggers/writers are exhibitionists and cursing seems to be employed to grab a reader's attention, for others it is the natural part of their vocabulary. There are those who are sensitive to profanity because of their cultural upbringing and I think that a writer needs understand their audience to avoid offending them. Unless it is meant to illustrate voice and character, like in this case, cursing can quickly become cheap.

the stupidest gadget I have is a chopstick training set. How long does it take to learn to use chopsticks?

I was told to store the herbs in the freezer on a bed of coarse salt. I also read that it is possible to preserve basil layered in salt and stored in the refrigerator but I have yet to try that method.

I think the clean water act was a response to water contamination found in several schools, for example here and the general fear of drinking tap water (partly perpetuated by bottled water companies) I would hate to see more waste from bottles instead of developing stricter regulations for tap water and perhaps more fountains.

goodness, What have some of you been eating through childhood? What tasted gross while I was a kid never got better. The only thing I remember truly loving but now I like much less are Hershey chocolate bars. It was worse than I remember but not to the gag inducing level of oatmeal or velveta.

California has decided to give school children free clean water. This is good news, but what took so long? LINK While traveling in some of the poorer areas of Europe it was clear that many people had very little, but they did understand the importance of providing water to every visitor and citizen alike. The village fountain is one of the most welcoming symbols when entering any village or town. We saw these fountains all over Eastern Europe.

The Israeli mint tea, a culinary habit introduced by the Moroccans, is often made with black tea instead of the traditional green tea. This was simply because in the early days of Israel's existence green tea was not available. Although green tea can be obtained now, most people prefer their mint tea either plain (with only fresh spearmint leaves) or with black tea.

thanks for the answer, it makes sense to me. If freekah has a higher protein/starch ratio than regular wheat it would have a lower glycemic index and be better for those with diabetes. (However, proteins do not turn into starch). fresh chickpeas are in season here as well, very yummy roasted with salt

In general I know what farik is- green wheat that has been burnt to remove the tough outer covering creating a smoky flavored grain. My question is, what kind of wheat is used to make farik- spelt or duram? Second, why is the wheat burnt in the first place? Why isn't it left to mature and picked when the grain is dry? These are the answers and ideas I received so far: Burning releases nutrients which would not otherwise be bioavailable Burning kills the parasites on the grain and enables long term storage It is an easy way to remove the tough outer husk. Any ideas?

I used Claudia Roden's recipe for ma'amouls using white flour dough. Her recipe is very good except the butter content is high and the cookies tend to melt and don't hold their shape well. It is often made with a mix of semolina and white flour. Observant Muslims of course would never add rum, wine or any alcohol in theirs and I don't associate those flavors with ma'amouls. I have never tried mahlab (cherry pits) in ma'amouls and would love to try it like that. I love the addition of rosewater or orange blossom water, especially together with date filling (Medjools)

This sounds like an interesting course but for those who don't want to pay 145$ there are several extensive and informative English Israeli food blogs that discuss everything from recipes, outdoor markets, restaurants, vegetarian diets, history, culture and much more. Although Haim Cohen is a well known and respected celebrity chef in Israel, the food blogs available present much more than he can in a three part course. thanks lior for the link

I once smuggled a banana from Thailand into New Zealand by accident. I spent the night scrubbing my hiking boats to make sure I had nothing on them but had completely forgotten about the banana. At the airport I was sniffed out by a large German Shepard and surrounded by NZ police who told me to empty the contents of my carry-on, I felt like a drug smuggler. In another incident, had a major delay when the scans detected what looked like a bomb- a bottle of maple syrup.

I like dayglo cheetos, the kind made with 90% MSG. I googled (marshmallow) peeps as had no idea what they were. I try to avoid recipes that tell me to brunoise, don't have the patience for that (and don't have any cookbooks by Julia Childs). I threw my foodmill out and mash my potatoes the old fashioned way. I never ate kraft mac and cheese, am I missing something? and....... am a bit perplexed when reading descriptions of gourmet wine, have no idea what they are talking about

From a book that has the Arabic, Hebrew, English and Latin names it is cape sorrel (oxalis pes caprae)It is a clover leafed plant with yellow flowers. It has a sour flavor and often added to salads or yogurt.

interesting discussion I have been using tynt (www.tynt.com)to see what is being copied from my site (yikes! is all I have to say to that). It is difficult to keep track of where my pictures and articles are going and I don't have the time to chase them down. If I see my material with a link back to my site I don't usually mind (although I know bloggers who do, even if it might send them large amounts of traffic). Only in cases where I am not attributed will I write a polite email and this usually works. On my part, I try to do the same -giving credit where it deserves , perhaps I missed some (I don't have an editor)

last time I made preserved lemons and some floated on top I just covered them with olive oil to keep them from spoiling.

lsayyen or lisan as it is known at ramle shuk is probably not borage like I previously thought. It is Jerusalem sage (Salvia hierosolymitana) which grows wild in the hills of Jerusalem and the north of Israel and Palestinian territories.

tehini paste shouldn't be anything but ground sesame seeds without any added oil. I never tried making it at home as I don't have the equipment for it and the store bought versions here are very good.

This summer I spent time in Alaska which looked to me, in that short time frame like the garden of Eden with all the wild food growing and roaming in the great outdoors. I spoke to people who made their own bear salami. venisin is common throughout the state, especially reindeer. It seems like all Alaskans go fishing and stock their refrigerators to last all winter. In an Alaskan cookbook I bought bear, moose, reindeer, walrus and all types of fish were used in the recipes. Every Alaskan we met were either hunters/fishermen or both. It seems to me the Alaskans eat more wild food than any other American and have even written conservation laws within their constitution to protect their resources.

A few days ago I made bastilla, the famous Moroccan pigeon pie, except with chicken. Traditionally it is made using young pigeons or squabs but I do not know where I can obtain them besides catching the vermin which sits on my roof. I don't think this is a good idea. I wonder where squab can be obtained and what people are doing with it. In the ME, pigeons were an important source of food as can be seen from the dovecotes dug out in caves around the country. It seems like now, at least around here, nobody regards pigeons as food.

nothing too exotic has come my way. I have eaten turtle shell pudding from China (by mistake). Duck tongues which look awful but taste pretty good. Jelly Fish I popped into my mouth thinking it was noodles. My husband has eaten Crickets stuffed with french fries and bee larvae pretty tame compared to the rest of the list here.

what kind of vegetable soup was it? My relatives who have a catering business simply replace the meat filling with either mushrooms/fried onions or tofu. This is not traditional but probably also very tasty. They make the shell using semolina only, without meat as a binder. You will have to create a richer vegetable soup than usual for more flavor.

What did you do with the seeds? Isn't mahlab sour cherry seeds? BTW, the rice looks wonderful ← really? I threw them out! are you saying I should have ground them up and used them in kaak, or other cookies? I didn't even think about that. can I eat the sweet cherry pits as well?