EatNopales

Actually.. in the Fujian province of China they make a tangy, very salty cow's milk cheese called Nguri which is used to condiment plain Congee... I could see a combination of Yogurt, Rice Vinegar & Soy Sauce working well with Congee as well. In Yunnan they make a flat, leathery cheese called Rushan that is grilled then rolled with various syrups including Condensed milk... it would not be a stretch to blend Yogurt with Plum preserves or wine to make a dipping sauce for Rushan

One of the traditional ways to prepare Turkey & Duck eggs in Mesoamerican cuisine is the crack the raw egg into a "cup" made out of some kind of leaf / husk such as Dried Corn Husk, Fresh Hoja Santa or Banana leaves etc., The cup is put on a comal, the whole thing covered with a clay bowl... and after a few minutes the white is set & yolk runny. A few weeks ago I bacon larded a ramekin, cracked an egg into it, salted & baked at 425F for about 5 minutes or so until the white set & yolk was runny... an instant household favorite... even the 2 1/2 year old that stopped eating poached eggs asks for one every day. Unlike a poached egg... the baked egg has a better texture & more concentrated flavor & is actually much easier to deliver a perfect result consistently. Not sure why this method isn't more widely discussed online... if it is old news to you... then disregard my ignorance... if it is new to you... try it.. the results are awesome!

Cream of Wheat farina cereal. (It was one of my failed experiments at being a foodie when I was growing up; the other one I rarely talk about is pineapple and farina. There is a reason for that. ) Actually... Yogurt & Cream of Wheat work well... Griddle the Cream of Wheat into pancakes... top with thick yogurt & various savory topping combinations... > Chives & Caviar > Mex Chorizo sauteed with Mushrooms, Nopales, Beans or Potatoes > Crisp Bacon & Pan Fried Ham > Deep Fried Herbs > A wide range of Mexican, Thai, Indian, Malay etc., sauces

bump Flavored Fage with fresh oranges today.... REALLY delicious although the texture was basically Lassi with orange segments. Juiced one Orange & stirred in 4 teaspoons of sugar... stirred in about a 2/3 cup of Fage... poured over two freshly diced oranges that were macerated with a little bit of sugar for a few minutes.... it was like a 50/50 Lassi... citrus & yogurt ABSOLUTELY go together.

I've actually had excellent meals at Chinese & Indian buffets... but with an * In Rowland Hills, CA (an upper middle class Hong Kongese refuge East of Los Angeles)... there are a number of Chinese Banquet / Wedding Halls that do $39.99 per person buffets... with excellent, high quality food... much of it being prepared to order... and with very small steam table pans (if used) i.e., high batch turnover. I had a similar experience with Indian cuisine in Parsippanny (Central New Jersey) at Indian wedding halls... were I was the only person not fluent in Gujarati (btw... these people ain't Punjab... if they say it is very spicy... it is VERY SPICY) But I understand the typical Chinese or Indian buffet is marketed to an unknowledgable, value seeking crowd in the <$10 price point.

I have a weak (okay, very weak) spot for that unsweetened mango. I can easily eat an entire package in one sitting... I think their unsweetened mango is blah... i can get better in bulk at the local Mex market... however their chile powder mango I have banished from the house because I will eat in one sitting.

I just noticed TJs now has organic, "grass fed" beef patties (15% fat)... will try them out this week to try to make a Famous Star style burger (now with 99% less plastic polymers)

Sorry but no you cannot make that claim even remotely. For starters, the most popular & established fish taco stands in Ensenada all have electricity & refrigeration... Tacos Corona (40 years & going strong), Don Zefe (who claims to be the original fish taco stand), Tacos Lulu, El Fenix (the most financially successful with several locations), La Floresta and Tacos Ensenada... these are the busiest stands sought out by local connoisseurs. I know for a fact that: Tacos Ensenada uses straight Crema Agria that happens to be naturally thin (kind of like the Cacique brand Crema) La Floresta uses straight Mayo Don Zefe uses watered down Mayo Further there is no universal agreement on the fish to be used (Corvina, Angel Shark, Mako Shark and Dogfish are all popular), and there is no universal salsa style (from Pico de Gallo to Molcajete sauce) or batter style (ranging from Pancake Mix & Beer... to Egg Batter) You cannot make a universal claim based on one particular experience with one particular unnamed stand.

Lots of joints in Baja make deep fried folded over Ahi tacos as well as flautas... no need to preshape a "shell" unless you are specifically trying to make play on Tex-Mex / Taco Bell type food. The best flautas will blow you away... the secret is to dissolve some ground lime in water & soak the already cooked tortillas.. this will allow two layers of "skin" to seperate on the surface which you peel off by hand then let the tortillas air dry... after that you put in some lightly seasoned fresh Ahi in 1/2 inch cubes & roll the flautas as tight as you can.. put three toothpicks.. near the ends & center... deep fry until barely golden... the fish will still be slightly rare in the center... serve with guac & arbol-tomatillo salsa.

Almond Cream is pure, unsweetened Almond Milk that has been reduced to 1/3 of the original volume.... good stuff you can use it any way you would use cow milk cream but with superior flavor, same thing with coconut cream etc., Also good for hardy cocktails etc.,

Thanks... no I haven't read her.

The Prik Kii Nuu are Capsicum Frutescens (while the Prik Kii Faa are Capsicum Annum just like Jalapenos, Serranos etc..) its related cultivars are the Tabasco, Piri Piri, Malagueta & Barbare (Ethiopia)... if you can't source it at Asian markets then try places with Ethiopian or Indian groceries... one Indian brand to look for is NimSim Chilli (it will be labeled Dry Red Chilli)

FYI.. the red prik chii faa are the same exact cultivar as the green... they are just allowed to ripen on the plant longer & then sun dried... in other words they are a nothing more than a particularly slender cultivar of sun dried serrano chiles... if you find Serrano Seco at a Mexican market it is almost identical to what you are looking for.

The writing style is fantastic and makes the current Gourmet articles seem about as stupid as Food Network celebrities. She was a WRITER who happened to cover travel & food. With that said, I do think the vast majority of what she wrote was likely very embellished & distorted if not outright fabrication because it too conveniently plays in to the narratives, stereotypes & characters of the time... not just of Mexico but it parlays the world view of that time as captured in Hollywood movies.. the faraway strange land with a cast of unlikely world characters... impoverished Old World nobility, broken spirited American adventurers, feckless Spanish / Southern European descendants, noble savages all coming together in a magical realism setting where the clear sighted North American is the hero of all, and the only person with ultimate wisdom etc., With that said the descriptions of the dishes, recipes, typical market purchases is absolutely invaluable - she is too innocent & clueless about these to fabricate - and gives us a real insight into Mexican culinary traditions of the time.. which evidently have not changed all that much.

I came across something that might interest other Mexico aficionados... http://www.gourmet.com/search/query?keyword=mexican+mornings&

Actually, the Thai peppers are descendants of common Mexican peppers and the Thai varietals have not changed very much. In this case the prik chii faa is actually a type of dried serrano, the original cultivar is from Veracruz however China has (by far) become the dominant producer of chiles (most chiles sold in the big box stores & supermarkets in Mexico are actually grown in China)... I have heard that the Chinese grown dried serranos for some reason are consistently mild... I have some in my pantry that fit the mold. I don't know where ChefShop.com dried serranos are grown but they are available online http://www.chefshop-gourmet-food-store.com/4562.html and of course any well stocked Mexican market or herb shop should have them. The serrano chiles in Mexico are generally grown in high altitude, cool mountain climates (in fact the name serrano translates to Mountain pepper) and should do well in many U.S. climates. So next time you buy fresh serranos save the seeds of a nice spicy one & make your own prik chii faa

True +2 It is not just the living standard in general.. but the # of almost rich has risen exponentially.. within 5 years China will have more households with similar wealth & incomes as the top 10% of U.S. households, and within 10 years that number is expected to double... as such they will compete intensely for the best of everything.. already the market for fine art has seen some gravitational shifts, as well as rare wine etc., For the last 20 years the best California produce has been exported to Japan but the Chinese are starting to make a dent on that. The funny thing is that in California (which is suppossedly a great garlic producer).. we had quite a few bad garlic years.. but the garlic available everywhere right now is great & cheap such that I throw away anything with the slightest hint of a green vein... of course now I feel kind of guilty

And then they throw sweeter wines into the mix on top of that...

BTW... regarding the 5 lb Masa dilemma... Masa can be frozen (whether it is for tortillas or tamales)... you do get a little alteration in texture but not anything to significantly affect gustatory enjoyment.

David, I for one absolutely require soft rolls for burgers, fast food or homemade. I despise those "artisanal" pieces of crap some places insist on using that completely overwhelm the burger (in addition to making it harder to eat!). I am 100% with you... Focacia Rolls & Ciabatta Rolls on burgers have to rank right up there with Taco Bell abominations at the official Worst Food Ideas Hall of Shame

Yeah it is not just a few dishes.. I recently had a tasting menu where every single dish was sweet... I felt pretty disgusting after it was all done.. it went: Burrata with Sweet Corn remoulade & Blue Berry reduction Frog Legs with Coconut Curry & Teriyaki greens Roasted Quail with Carmelized Figs & Lavender served with an giant inverted Baklava (walnut crusted exterior, honey delight on the inside) Misoyaki Pork Belly with Sweet Potato & Plantain Tempura Short Ribs with Molasses BBQ & Napa Cabbage-Apple Slaw Brie Cheesecake with cheese platter accouterments Assorted Brownies, Cookies & Chocolates Maybe there is a right way to execute such a menu... but overall it was a very unbalanced, unsophisticated let me throw it on the wall & see if it sticks type effort. Maybe the Chefs are just responding to consumers & I am the one who is out in left field.

Agree the fries blow. The fries suck at In & Out as well.. but if you ask for Well Done.. they are much better.. is there any chance Five Guys can do the same? Incidentally, there is now a Five Guys in my town... but didn't know anyone who has tried one (lot of burgers around here... most good but not better than home made.. makes me unexcited to try new places)... but that does look good.

Is it just me... or are fine dining restaurants (at least in the U.S.) increasingly pawning off desserts as savory dishes? Whether it is the Michelin starred restaurants in the Bay Area, haute joints in Hawaii, Seattle & other places... the Foie Gras PBJs, Molasses Short Ribs, Sugar flavored with Pork Bellies are taking the joy of out of every f_ing fine dining meal I've had in the last 5 years and the trend seems to be getting disturbingly worse... and on top of the junior high school vending machine equivalent sugar load of the dishes they try to pair them with Sauternes, Rieslings etc., Is it just me... are anybody else noticing the trend, and put off by it? I really can't get excited by any haute joint now.

On the protein preferences in Mexico.... Mexicans eat more Chicken than any other protein Mexicans prefer raising Pork over Beef for the Lard... and in general it is a better protein for using small amounts of flavorful meat & fat to season a largely vegetarian dish Mexicans see Beef, Pork, Chicken & Lamb as workhorse proteins... Mexicans generally view Seafood as THE celebratory protein (but Beef has gotten a lot more popular as a celebratory protein since NAFTA as cheap U.S. & Canadian beef has allowed people to afford more steaks, chops & roasts) Indigenous Mexicans still see the iconic native proteins as THE celebratory proteins (local varieties of Turkey, Venison, Duck, Pheasant, Quail etc.,)

On Casseroles in Mexico... according to an online definition a casserole has the following components: > Indirect Heat > Clay, Glass or other non-browning vessel > Protein & Starch + Liquid > 1 Pot Meal Included in the definition of Casserole are Cassoulet, Tagine,Ragouts etc., Under that definition then yes Mexican cuisine has a vast repertoire of Casseroles... a tradition that goes back thousands of years to Pre-Hispanic cultures. For example, THE main dish of Hanal Pixan (Yucatec Day of the Dead) is Mucbil.. a layer of masa goes down in a clay pot, then on top of that poultry rubbed with an achiote paste, on top of that another layer of masa and then it goes into the Pib to bake. Every indigenous community (villages with indigenous names & coat of arms where the majority of residents speak an native language as their primary or villages that are only a few generations removed from primarily speaking native languages).... has some regional version of that dish... a regional protein mixed with seasonal vegetables, the local seasoning paste... a layer of masa to seal the pot and in the underground pit it goes. In terms of urban & mestizo Mexican cooking.. there are a proliferation of Casserole dishes typically referred to as a Budin, Cazuela or Cazuelita & Pastel. For examples you can search for Budin Azteca