Mjx

Hi gekichan, and welcome to eGullet! Pastrami isn't something I've attempted to make, but there was the the The Great Pastrami & Smoked Meat Experiment (click!), which covers quite a lot of territory, and is likely to go into your question. With any luck, some of the experimenters will weigh in now, with their expertise.

Coconuts are concave so flat graters don't work. But you don't – okay, I don't – grate coconut in the shell, and the meat tends to break apart, so the original form isn't particularly relevant. At least, that's been my experience. But unless you're grating masses of coconut on a regular basis, I'd hesitate to go with a dedicated tool that doesn't really do anything else.

More 'pasty' than mochi, I'd say. Kind of yelled 'starch starch starch!', if that makes any sense. Those remind me of the herbal jelly with the large, dark tapioca pearls that I rush to get at Saint's Alp, every time I go back to NYC (sometimes, straight from the airport). And definitely, Asian gelatine desserts are mostly about texture, a texture I happen to love, but since the ingredients involved are often such blank slates, it would be interesting to add something(s). I'm thinking more interms of aroma than flavour (although a bitter or sour note could be interesting with the mildld sweetness), layers of, say rose and cacao, or citrus and orange blossom might be. Or coffee and coconut cream.

I'd just go with one of the coarse Microplane (or similar) graters, unless there is something about grating fresh coconut that makes this out of the question. Just do not get any grater with a plastic frame, since it will break in no time.

Your comment sparked an immediate online search for "Vietnamese agar jelly". This turned up masses of images of gorgeously coloured and wobbly sweets, so regardless of whether or not this thing was an agar jelly (the gelatin part didn't seem as clear as most of the jellies I saw online), I've got to thank you for introducing me to this. Don't know how I missed it, up to now. Might be; that green definitely looks like the colour of the green ones, and the surface has than 'skin' look. Purple from the magenta plant? This definitely calls for further research.

Yesterday, as I was trawling one of the local pan-Asian shops for black vinegar, I noticed these bright purple and green things, sitting on one of the shelves, next to the sushi mats and MSG. They were simply wrapped in cling film, and their colours really stood out. I gently prodded one: gelatinous; warm. I finally asked one of the women in the shop what they were (they had no labels), and I was told that they were made with what sounded like 'blé' (awfully close to the Danish word for 'nappy', but I assumed she meant the French for 'wheat', unless there is some Asian-language word that sounds like this..?), and flavoured with 'blomst', (flower). I'll take a chance on sweets where I would be reluctant to tackle something savoury, and anything gelatinous speaks to me. So, I got a purple one. Behold (poorly focused mobile phone picture, unfortunately): The purple portions were gelatinous, and the white layers were starchy. It didn't taste of anything particular, but it wasn't a horrible experience by any means, and I'd love to have a version that involved actual flavour. Since they were warm, I'm guessing they were made by the shop owner, which suggests they are part of her culinary heritage. In-depth investigation of this was precluded by the fact that neither of us spoke very extensive Danish (and we had no common language). The shop is called Minh Áhn, which I believe is Vietnamese, but I'm far from certain. Anyone have an idea of what it is, where it comes from, and how it is made?

. . . .Do you have a reference to the particular Cooks Illustrated discussion regarding alkaline cooking of potatoes? . . . . The issue in question is the January & February 2012 of Cook's Illustrated; the discussion is on p. 15, lower right corner. One point that emerged was that cooking potatoes in an alkaline solution breaks up the the cut surfaces, making them crisp far more efficiently when fried/oven-fried (increased surface area, I'm guessing).

I'm guessing that a price tag in the range of $800 has a lot to do with it. That, and for some reason, people don't take smaller kitchen appliances that seriously.

Those are spectacular looking! Did I miss where you described what flavour these are?

Would they be 110 V or 220 V? If 220, please grab me one (I'll bring a bigger suitcase :-) ) I think they operate on batteries (this, I believe: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/6/Tools/MeasuringTools/SpecialtyMeasuring/PRD~0574554P/Mastercraft%2BDigital%2BTemperature%2BReader.jsp )!

I've bought Trappist Preserves products in NYC, and particularly like their kadota fig preserves. St. Dalfour's (also widely available in NYC) products exceptional, too (the apricot preserves are my personal favourite).

Check McGee's The Curious Cook for a full discussion of the effects of oil on the breakdown, leading to wiliting of salad greens; unfortunately, all my books are in moving boxes at the moment. However, the takeaway is that if you want salads to be at their best, dress them as soon before serving as possible: When you have a mix of greens, the more delicate ones may start to wilt in as few as 15 minutes, sometimes less.

Absolutely - syrup and raw bits They're in for a treat

I'm just watching from the sidelines, now, but was hoping to read that you'd be bringing things representing those two flavours! For the liquorice, Johan Bülow, or?

The oil in the vinaigrette will begin breaking down the waxy cuticle/cell walls almost immediately, so, depending on precisely what is in the salad (i.e. tender v. more robust greens), the greens in particular will often show visible signs of wilting within 15 minutes.

Actually, ha-la-PEH-nyo; the letter 'e' is never pronounced as an 'ee' in Spanish (for that, they use the letter 'i').

Really sorry to hear about this. Is the advice to replace because of some form of chemical contamination, or just odour?

I toss some konjaku powder into hot coffee/chocolate/mocha (occasionally, lemonade or tea), then shove it in the fridge for half an hour. Love the stuff, and it sets up much more quickly than gelatine.

I know, but it would sidestep/solve potential problems (and unless US ricotta is a different substance then the one I know, it isn't generally a lump..?). And to be clear, I agree with the premise that if you're eating as part of a group, you partake of (or not) the things on the table; it's about the group and its needs, which trump individual needs. And I'm saying this as someone who has a couple of food sensitivities (not allergies, but they're real, unfortunately: they visibly attack my joints and mucous membranes, visibly and within minutes), and has some distinct and visceral dislikes. But if I'm eating with a group, I shut up about these things, and deal, quietly. If there's nothing I can actually eat, well, too goddamn bad; if I have to eat something to be polite, I can usually manage to keep it down. I can't say I've ever felt marginalized by this sort of situation. On the other hand, none of this is going to help jrshaul come up with fabu solutions for meals at USD0.50/head, so...

That looks really good. And very similar to a dish I often make. But you do realize, of course, that all of the various 'No Dairy' factions wouldn't touch it. No reason the dairy items couldn't be served on the side; it kind of makes sense anyway, and besides, people usually enjoy doing a little low-end customizing of their food. Not to mention, on a table with not much on it, dishes of cheese and so on fill up a bit of the empty real estate.

Well, here's mine: Objectively, I'd have to say the picture is not that appetizing (you should see the raw image), but the dish was actually quite tasty. We don't tend to have much in the way of leftovers, so this was a combination of a single portion of a supposedly Spanish-inspired beef stew from the January/February issue of Cook's Illustrated, combined with a half-portion of a home fry recipe from the same issue. My idea was to do something along the lines of biksemad (which Mette mentioned, upthread), but I ran out of steam when the time came to turn the beef chunks into small dice, and I just broke/shredded them up, instead. The potatoes were crisp and caramelized on the outside, fluffy within, and the meat was moist and tender. Apparently, ketchup and HP Sauce are standard with biksemad, so my boyfriend set up small ponds of each at the edge of his plate. We had rucola with this, too. But, does this count as hash, or did the inclusion of home fries kind of blow this out of the water?

Actually, lighter roasts have more caffeine, because some of the caffeine is broken down by the roasting process, or so I have read. And a truly "blonde roast" wouldn't even really be "done", I wouldn't think. If you are not through first crack, it's not really roasted, and in my roasting experience, if you are past first crack, it's more brunette than blonde... No interest in trying this one. I've read that too. But I was thinking in terms of flavour, actually: The first thing to hit you with a dark roast (first sip, even before the caffeine manifests) is the assertive, eye-opening flavour, which seems sort of intrinsic to drinking coffee... 'mellow' and gentle' just seem misplaced/pointless (but I've been drinking espresse since I was two or three, so this obviously biases my view).

But... that somehow makes the whole 'two-in-one' thing entirely superfluous. ...on the other hand, there is that.

I think court bouillon is used to poach fish, but not made from fish. Hm. For whatever reason, I just assumed it was made from fish/seafood, too.

This doesn't mesh with my experience at all; I've eaten fish (mostly trout, and some perch) caught directly from the river, and they've always tasted clean and fantastic. I've never quite seen the point of court bouillon, but these fish would probably make fine versions of it, for... whatever it's used for. You were probably not brought up on ocean fish like me. Seems like most others had different experiences to you as well. Would the character of the stream bed affect the flavour of the fish living in it? The fish I had came from a (mostly swiftly flowing) stream/river that was rocky/pebbly over the length of most of its bed.