cteavin

I live in Yokohama Japan and 95% of the produce I buy is local through the (organic) farmers market. Nothing beats the freshness. I'm very happy to know that I'm helping local farmers. That other five percent is usually for specialty items or -- the uber rare -- canned good, like tomatoes. I do a lot of "foreign" cooking so a lot of my other foods are imported. I use import shops for my nuts, grains (except rice), pulses, etc. The meat and seafood I use tend to be from Japan. I don't know where it's raised or caught. I say tend to because there are times I want things that are hard to come by and I have to import. Cheek meat, liver, sweetbreads, turkey, buffalow.... For me it's less to do with the environment and more about getting the freshest food I can. That it does help the local economy is an added bonus I sometimes pay more for. It also keeps my cooking in tune with the season which I suspect is better for my body. Gazpacho in winter. Hmmm.

I've been wanting to play with invert sugar in place of corn syrup (expensive to buy in Japan) and did several searches on Google and only came up with the basic idea of sugar + water + acid + 20 minutes at a boil = invert sugar. That's okay but I when the formulas listed a ratio there was disagreement. Some said one to one, others two to one, some 20 minutes, others 30 minutes. (sigh) I did a 1:1 for 22 minutes to bring the final temperature to 200 degrees with a 1/4 teaspoon tartic acid. It's not very viscous. I'd really like to know what the water content should be for a proper invert sugar to be used in either baking or candy making. Can someone post The Definitive Measures, please. Also, on an aside, could invert sugar syrup be used in place of sugar syrup to soak a genoise?

Since water can make up a significant part of a dish I'm curious if restaurants, bakeries and even home cooks are using bottled/imported waters or water from the tap. If it's from the tap do they/you use a filter and if so, what kind do you recommend? I just read two very informative forum threads here about how water in pasta cooking and in pizza dough and wanted more information on the topic of what kinds of waters are in cooking. Cheers,

I'm going to make this over the weekend. I'd like to know the shelf life. If it's long enough, I'd like to make it in bulk and store it. How long should I be able to keep it outside the fridge, in the fridge or in the freezer? Cheers,

I'm curious. What good does posting that do besides reenforce the prejudices of people who wouldn't eat raw or rare foods, anyway? (shakes head in disapproval) I live in Japan and there's plenty that's raw on the menu including the lesser known horse and liver. Customers here would never put up with that kind of notice.

Thank you for the advise. I'll start doing the research over the weekend. cheers,

Hi, For the winter holiday I'm thinking about going to India to take part in a cooking class or workshop and I was hoping some of you out there could recommend some places that I can look into. I haven't decided which type of cuisine I'd like to study, yet. I'd like to keep an open mind while I look around at what's available. Ideally, I'd like to be able to practice yoga and learn how to cook. Anyone out there have any suggestions? Cheers,

I go with idli. It's a whole protein, cheep and easy to make. If you happen to mess up the batter you can pour a dollop on a hot griddle, spread it out and still have something delicious. Even though it's traditionally eaten with sambar there are lots of flavor combinations out there for you to play with. Oh, they freeze really well, so you're just moment from a healthy snack if you've got a microwave. And there are non fermented versions available, too that much all the easier to make.

I don't know that this really qualifies as a neuroses but it drives me up the wall when well meaning raw food enthusists, vegans and vegetarians MISname foods. I love trying new dishes and I was totally interested by the title, "healthy raw food brownie" to find nothing brownie like inside -- and with all the sugar from the dried fruits, I question "healthy", too. Also, if someone choses to be a vegetarian then why call it "chicken"? I love vegetarian food but if it's from a bean don't call it beef. (lol) And isn't an apple pie supposed to baked? Raw apple pie on sprouted nut crust. Hmmm.

Natto and kimchi? I've never thought or heard of that combination. I don't think I'd be able to do it for breakfast, because my students would complain too much. :lol: Brown rice is a fermented food? Maybe FOR fermented foods. At one of my favorite izakaya's they serve natto, maguro, kim-chi and raw egg mixed together and served in a dish before the meal. It's really good. When I was seriously into body building I often ate it for dinner. Yeah, natto really goes well with kim-chi. Punish your students a bit.

Thanks for merging my thread. I didn't know there was a topic. In reading over the other threads I was surprised no one talks about cocoa and roasted cauliflower. It was reading about the possibility that got me interested. Has anyone here tried it, yet? Yesterday, half the florets I put in the over were coated in coco butter and half of those had a drizzle of sugar. Those with sugar really went well with raw cacao nibs. I'd like to know if anyone else has done any experimenting along these lines. Cheers

I made one batch with canola oil and a second batch with cocoa butter. Both had a good flavor. I was thinking I had done something wrong because the tips were drying out but it seems to be just their nature. Is that right? What I was hoping to do is puree a batch for cream of cauliflower soup. I might just trim the dry bits and see how that works. Who knows, they might make a nice garnish.

That's good news Thank you How much gelatin would you recommend and should I mix it in before I begin to whip it or after I've begun to whip the cream?

I pan roasted some cauliflower this evening and the results were delicious but a little dry. Specifically, the flower part was dry. The center and the stem were moist. I did oil each pice before putting in the oven. I was thinking of covering the next batch with a leaf of aluminum foil, do you think that would help? On an aside, having heard that roasted cauliflower is a flavor match with cocoa I tried several pieces with 'raw' cacao bean -- and it was good. Real good. I'm going to be looking into this some more.

I just read this thread and had a couple of questions of my own about whipping cream. If I want to infuse a savory flavor into the cream would it be best to start with a higher cream, say 45% and "thin it out" or should I risk heating it? I'm a little wary of mathematics (high school trauma) and don't really know how to about gauging how much water to add to equal X percent of cream fat for the whipping. I'd also like to know if it's feasible to whip a small about of vegetable puree into whipped cream and have it be stable. If it's doable is there a ratio of puree to cream I should be aware of or any special methods you can suggest? I really want to make a light and fluffy vegetable flavored cream to fill cream puffs or pipe onto frico. Cheers,

I was brought up with this well worn maxim: milk for tea; cream for coffee. Tea meant any black tea. For green teas and herbals I always drink it straight but a lot of friends prefer them with honey. On an aside, in Hong Kong they have a drink that's half black tea, half coffee -- and it's delicious. I drink that with milk.

I finally have time to become more active here at e-gullet. Trust me, I have lots of questions. 453,411 to be exact. One of those great and grand experiments of the kitchen I've always wanted to try is the Frozen Florida created by Nicholas Kurti at the end of the 60's. It just sounds so cool. Has anyone here ever attempted it? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to go about preparing using a modern microwave? Flavorwise is it worth attempting? I'd love to know. Cheers, steven

I'm enjoying a pot of White Tea from Taiwan.

Having just put my own breakfast dishes in the sink and then looking at this post I feel I've been deprived my whole like. (lol) I live in Japan. I often have a 'living' breakfast of miso soup, natto with kim-chi over brown rice and green tea. (living because those foods are all fermented.) Corn ice cream and celery root sauce? That's bloody brilliant. Hope the kids never log on here.

I love living in Japan. The only two things I miss are good ol Mexican chilies and bleached flour. (sigh) I'll settle for a the flour. I was looking through the Home Buyers Club this afternoon and they have 5lb bags of Gold Medal AP flour for about 900 yen per page. It makes me ill because I know how much it really costs. Before I place an order I thought I'd check here and see if anyone knew of a place in Japan (or China or Korea or wherever) where I could get bleached cake and AP flour. Also, I really want to give my new Rose L. B. book a workout and to do that I need Wondra flour. I'm tempted to get a group of people together to have a couple of cases shipped over from the states. Would anyone be interested in that? Cheers, Steven

Success! I can kick myself for not taking a photo but essentially you can make a genoise with honey. The batches I made with 50 grams of flour were much more moist but there was no true grain to the cake. It was more like the webbing you might find inside a cream puff. This cake still has a "skin" but much, much, much thinner. I've tried a piece with and without. With this top crust it gives the sensation that the cake is dryer than it is. I then peeled off this crust and could see a beautiful crumb underneath that is very moist. It's not really presentation ready but it's good enough that I can start thinking ways to make this into a proper dessert. Still, I'm going to make another batch later with less flour and maybe another with 100 grams of flour and three eggs measured to 180 grams to see what changes. I should add to anyone who might want to bake this that I'm in Japan so I'm limited to UNBLEACHED flour.

Hi Judith, thanks for looking in your reference books. Duck eggs is really a shorthand for 'other than chicken'. It's been a long time but in civics classes once upon a time I remember learning that the Romans bread all types of birds and that eggs were scarce by modern standards being most plentiful in spring (I believe). In other 'classic' recipes they prefer duck eggs saying the yolk is larger and fat content higher, so I wrote duck. @Blether, I'm going to find a copy of that book and order it tonight. It sounds right up my alley. I'm baking a new version as I type. Since one large egg here is 60 grams I've used 2 whole eggs plus 3 egg yolks (bleeding off a little white) to measure 180 grams hoping to lessen the amount of liquid in the batter, I've also doubled the flour and changed it to AP. We'll see. The batter reached ribbon stage much faster than before. If this works, I'll make another version with chocolate. If it doesn't work I'll try again with less honey, perhaps a 50/50 split of sugar to honey to see what that does. It's nice to have such simple pleasures.

What kind of troubles have you been having? What percentage of cocoa does the chocolate you're using have and are you adding either butter, shortening or wax to it before you dip? Are you tempering the chocolate or just melting it? Is what you're dipping room temperature or cold? and Are you dipping with forks, literally by hand or by some other means? All of this will affect the finished product.

It's impossible to have a perfect reproduction. The types of flours have literally evolved, how poultry is raised today yields eggs with slightly different chemical structures, etc. A true food historian would have to be well versed in the region and do a lot of educated guessing. I think the closer you get to our modern period the better the chances of having a more "authentic" product which is one of the reasons why I love the work the people at Goode Cookery have done. For me, I look to the past for inspiration. My feeling is that people today rely to much on formula and too little on their senses: even variations in the amount of sunshine will cause slight variations in the final wheat berries that we use in the various flours around the planet, so a recipe that worked in the 70's in America with bleached flour will produce a different result than the soft unbleached wheat we get in Japan -- but it takes a lot of practice to get that kind of feel for cooking. Still, I think it's a worthy goal. The honey cake is interesting for a couple of reasons. The proportion of the ingredients, the use of honey in place of sugar, the spelt flour. It makes me think about how I can play with the texture of cake. I'm going to have to order one of those books. I have a pretty good collection myself. I've read that boiling the honey now is unnecessary but do you think it changed your results? I like the idea of using barely but I'd guess there'd be little or no rise. Was it yeasted? I was playing with a "breakfast cake" this summer that used corn meal in the batter. The texture was too corse and dry for me so I switched to quinoa and increased the BP. The grains swelled and added a nice bite. The extra nutrition felt fight for a breakfast cake. I've thought about using wheat berries but maybe barley would be good, too. I baked two versions with regular cake flour yesterday with similar results. The cake as smoother on the palate and a little more bland; I'm guessing one of the properties of a lot of honey in baking is a skin. It's Saturday here. I bake or not to bake, that is the question.

If she can beat the eggs by hand she can defend herself in any situation with the guns she must have. The original recipe only says to combine the ingredients and who ever translated the recipe, I'm assuming from experience in that era and regions cooking style, said to beat vigorously by hand. The eggs leaven the cake, so it made sense to me to try it first in the style of a genoise. I was also curious to see what would happen. Theresa might be right about separating the eggs. If I whip air into the yolks and honey and then add the flour and might lighten it enough to keep the egg whites from deflating. But what about developing the gluten in the flour (by beating) to help support the structure?