Human Bean

Hmm, that's a tough one. How about if you crumbled the bread (perhaps drying it a bit in a warm oven first), add it and ketchup to the ground beef (vintage 1995 not necessary, but it would that that extra something). Bake it, et voila, meatloaf. Serve iceberg lettuce on the side.

While writing my last msg, I was debating - top done, but cold in the middle - hotter oven, or cooler? I like what Nickn said; I'll try 350 or even 325 instead.

I can't eat cold pizza; it's just too icky. I also use the toaster oven, but I don't have a fancy convection model. If the pizza is frozen, I'll leave it out for awhile, and defrost it in the microwave if necessary, but not too much - rubber crust is no good. Then into the toaster oven at 375 for 10-15 minutes; occasionally, I'll end up with melted cheese on top, but cold in the middle. Maybe 400 would be better; I'll have to try it.

While thinking about Suvir's thread, 'why you don't cook/eat Indian food,' I wondered if there is really such a thing as Indian food at all. Can there be such a thing as 'Indian food'? It seems to me that India may be the most geographically and culturally diverse country on the planet. Russia may also lay claim to the title, but here, we're concerned with India. If someone from Mumbai were to eat at the house of someone from Calcutta, would they say, "Yes, this is Indian food?" How about if they ate in Delhi, or Amritsar? Certainly, it was prepared in India, but the food would be very different. Is it 'Indian'? I think that the concept of 'Indian food' is one that has been created by people outside of India. 'Indian food' outside of India appears to be a mixture of different foods from many different areas, all put into into a single category. By analogy, consider Italy. Italy has geographic diversity, but not nearly as much cultural diversity as India, and the cooking in various areas of Italy is very different. But in the US, there's a thing called 'Italian food' that again is a mixture. It's starting to be distinguished by regions, but this isn't common yet in the popular culture. 'Indian food' in the US also seems to be a very strange mixture of regional foods from different areas. I'd welcome some distinction between regional Indian cuisines, but I don't see it happening yet. Is this likely in the US? When will it happen?

Suvir, what types of dishes do you prepare when doing the test? I could imagine that if you had enough spices and other complex flavors in the dish, any taste difference in the beans may by masked by everything else.

Fresh vs. frozen - I've never had a problem with any frozen seafood. I've certainly had problems with "fresh" seafood that was probably previously frozen anyway, then sat in the store for dog-knows-how-long. I've bought scallops that weren't frozen, sitting in that milky bath of tri-poly; I won't make that mistake again. The party line of the frozen-food producers is that it's frozen right on the boat, shortly after catch, and is therefore "fresher" than the stuff at the counter that may have sat there for who-knows. Sounds good to me; I have no info to indicate otherwise. I've never heard of 'aging' seafood, but if so, the aging is measured in hours, or a day at most. I don't have Nickn's vast experience on this subject. A couple weeks ago, I bought 5 pounds of frozen 10-20 scallops on sale at $6/lb. Origin unknown, but they are chemical free and delicious. Ultimately, the frozen or non decision probably depends on how much you're willing to pay, and your proximity to where the scallops actually came from. I'm on the west coast, so never-frozen eastern scallops would cost more than I choose to pay or would have that "not so fresh" feeling. Given that you're not on the east cost, I'd choose frozen, unless you had a spotless provenance for the scallops and don't care what they cost.

I've never eaten in a posh Indian restaurant because I've never had a guide (person or book) to tell me how to do it properly. - "Should I put this on the naan and eat it that way, or would that just make everyone aware that I'm an ignorant tourist? Should I mix this and that other thing, or not?" I enjoy the food, but haven't cooked it very much. Again, simple ignorance. However, a few weeks ago, I made a curry shrimp using a recipe in (don't laugh) Joy Of Cooking. It may not have been completely "authentic", but it was more than just "dump prepared curry powder on shrimp." It had fresh curry leaves, lots of fenugreek, and several other spices. It was very time-consuming to make though - over two hours for prep plus cooking. Deeply carmelizing lots of onions took quite a long time, as it was done per the instructions at somewhat low heat. The result was fantastic though, and I'd do it again. I think I'll have to - I now have a large bottle of fenugreek that I need to find more uses for. Suvir, you're doing a fantastic job as Press Officer for Indian Cookery (Monica too!)

I see a point to them, and a need, actually. I have a VERY low tolerance to smoke, hate smelling of it later myself and on my clothes (etc, you've heard it all before.) Now, there are certain beverages that I'd like to try, like some single-malts for example, that are far too expensive to risk buying a whole bottle, only to find out that I dislike it. Unless I know someone that already has a bottle of the stuff, and is willing to let me sample it, a bar is a perfect way to sample something without risking very much money. Since I can't tolerate smoky rooms, I can't try those expensive but possibly worthwhile drinks. Edit: For clarity.

Odd that you should mention that. Coincidence or conspiracy on their part? The very same issue has a recipe for... (Wait for it...) Boston Baked Beans. I've eaten lotus too - roots and seeds. ISTR that both were canned, and not particularly impressive, but slices of lotus root look pretty cool; sort of like an edible doily.

The Jan/Feb issue of Cook's Ill has a review by Christopher Kimball (editor, from Boston) of two cookbooks by San Francisco chefs. Part of his intro reads thusly: "My first impulse, being from the Northeast, was to cry, given the diverse cornucopia of fresh ingredients enjoyed by our West Coast brethren. Then, when reading a passage such as, "Make this with wild king salmon that comes out of the Pacific Northwest," I changed gears into an angry defense of a New England culinary landscape that is sparse by comparison but breeds a more resilient, scrappy home cook...we are not soft like the pampered lotus-eaters of the West" To which I can only say, tough shit, scrappy boy; enjoy your sparse landscape. That's just more salmon for us lotus-eaters. Visit, but don't stay. [R.I.P, Tom McCall.] The Northwest is full; go away.

I don't think that the jury has returned a definitive verdict on that one yet. It's almost (but not nearly) as bad as the 'favorite knife' religious question. As I understand it, microbes live better than you'd expect on plastic boards, and not nearly as well as you'd think on wooden ones. AFAIK, plastic, wood, it doesn't really matter. Your choice. Do try to keep them clean and sanitary though. But those sponges, THEY'LL kill you.

[Off-topic for this thread, but the thread is rather dumb anyway, and I started it, so I say it's okay.] I'm intrigued by your passion (if not vehemence) here; if you'd care to share, I'd be interested in why you feel this way. I'm not as keen on Cook's Ill as I once was; their cooking-as-science-experiment approach may not be to all tastes, but it's what attracted them to me in the first place, and they at least make an attempt to justify their conclusions. There does seem to be an undercurrent of smugness though (we're right and you'd better believe it) that can be grating; is that what you're objecting to? At least they're an alternative to the glossy food-porn mags; maybe they're smug about that too.

I've never applied any exotic cleaning method to my sponges - not even the dishwasher. I just wring 'em out, and put into it's home - an old tofu tub. I try to be reasonably clean, but I'm not compulsive about it; I don't even spray bleach solution on my cutting boards (the HORROR!) Somehow, I've managed to survive thus far. [i used to not even wring out the sponges; I'd just leave them a reasonably clean but wet condition - they tended to get musty-smelling after awhile. That CAN'T be good, but even so, I survived that too. Leaving them reasonably dry and letting them air-dry seems to avoid any unpleasantness.]

In a sidebar to a story in the Jan/Feb Cook's Illustrated, they look at the effectiveness of various methods of sanitizing sponges. Washing them in the dishwasher resulted in bacteria counts 410 times higher than the two best methods - microwave on high for three minutes, or boil hard for three minutes. The dishwasher method was better than soap and hot water though. To say much more risks the wrath of the copyright police; take a look at the mag when it hits the newsstand if you wish.

I think that under- or over-cooking is the biggest mistake, followed by under- or over-seasoning, followed by not knowing that it's improperly cooked/seasoned. Here's one I haven't seen mentioned yet: trying something new on guests. I have a rather firm rule that I don't serve anything to guests that I'm trying for the first time. Can't say I've never broken it, and don't have any particularly good horror stories, but some people will see a recipe in a magazine or book, think it sounds good, and decide to serve it to others without actually seeing if it works beforehand.

To me, fenugreek seed (Methi) is an obvious (if not dominant) scent in "curry" powder. I'd appreciate any history about that, if anyone knows...

It could happen, but I wouldn't bet on it. Once upon a time, 'gay' meant 'happy.' 'Hacker' meant 'one skilled in computers.' 'Alternative' music wasn't put out by major labels. 'Artisanal' has already been co-opted, tragic though it may be. Get over it. Sad but true. Doesn't matter what the term is, the marketing/media types will eventually adopt and kill it.

Uh-oh, mamster is looking at the thread at the moment. I did minimal further research on the question of 'white' vs. regular salmon; didn't see any definitive info. I saw anecdotal reports that the white coloring is genetic (inability to properly process the carotenoids that cause the orange/pink color. It could happen, but IMHO would be rare). I also saw anecdotal reports that diet is what causes the color. Dunno until I see something more definitive/credible.

What did the poor steelhead do to deserve the scientific name mykiss? Well, since mamster is our resident bioscientist, as well as the Glorious Leader of this particular backalley of eGullet, I think he owes us answers to all these pesky unresolved scientific questions... After all, he was the one that first mentioned a taxonomic name upthread, it must be child's play to him.

Break the word down a bit: artisan-al. So, it's something made by a person that considers themself to be an artisan, ie. artist, as opposed to a mere craftsperson, or amateur. Am I missing something here?

Amusing, but not particularly helpful: Snopes on pink vs. white salmon (also tuna colors). As I mentioned earlier, I've heard that the color depends on the fishes diet, not genetics, but I can't find a cite at the moment.

Here's another salmon web page, coutesy of King County, WA: fishies. And another one; your tax dollars at work: more fishies. And an update to the original names list with all the recent additions, and taxonomic names: King = chinook = spring = tyee = blackmouth (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) Sockeye = red = blueback (Oncorhynchus nerka) (kokanee is same species, but freshwater only) Chum = keta = dog (Oncorhynchus keta) Silver = coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) Pink = humpback (=humpy) (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) Atlantic (non-native, farmed in the PNW, Salmo salar) Steelhead (trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss) Cutthroat (trout, Oncorhynchus clarki, some spend time in the ocean) I'm not enough of a biologist to say why the atlantic salmon is a salmon, but different genus than the pacific salmon, but the anadromous trout are the same genus as the pacific salmon.

Judging by that website, Sea Trout may = Salmon Trout, but it's nothing like a steelhead at all. Or again, it's name-confusion run rampant.

Yes, it was nice to meet JD and get some great OO. But the place WAS a madhouse; I didn't buy anything else. There were some fresh chanterelles that looked tempting, but I couldn't justify the expense.