Panaderia Canadiense

1. Season it with neutral vegetable oil, like Sunflower. This won't impart any flavour to the cakes you bake in it, but will fill the pores a bit and keep the pot from cracking. There is a recent discussion on seasoning clayware somewhere around here. 2. The paper is there to prevent sticking. Parchment will work just fine, although it probably won't drape the same way as the Portuguese version - that's a weight issue, though. If you can get a very low gsm parchment, it will work in exactly the same way as the papel does. 3. I always have, and I've only ever had one pot break on me; I assume that that one was poorly seasoned, because it was the only one I didn't do myself. 4. I'm not entirely sure, but whenever I've tried to make pao de lo in anything but clay, it doesn't come out right. I think the conductivity of the clay is such that you get the lovely gooey top and the well-set bottom. Done in other types of cooking vessel, it's a sponge cake (literally translated, pão de ló means "powder cake").

Well, I've got a batch that's 15 large Sevilles to 20 small Bergamots on to soak at the moment. I'll let you all know how it turns out. And in other news, it looks like I'll be able to experiment quite a bit with Bergamots - my friend just called me, and he's got about 100 lbs of them for me: his plantation has overproduced, and since he's growing the plants for their leaves (he's an essential oil producer) they're free.

Here's a question for you oh-so-wonderful and knowledgable eGulleteers. I have a quantity of Bergamot oranges, which I would like to incorporate into my next batch of marmelade. Does anybody have any idea at what point they'll overwhelm the flavour of my Seville oranges? I've got about a dozen really nice, big Sevilles, and about 20 small Bergamots (they're about the size of Key limes). Alternately, does anybody have any suggestion as to what else to do with Bergamots (besides make orange pie with them, of course)? Ideally I'd like to preserve them in some fashion....

Lots of edible mushrooms in Ecuador, Huiray, (in fact, pretty much anything that grows on wood down here is edible) but unfortunately they're in the forests, which is quite far from where I live. I do occasionally go on collecting trips when I've got the time (HA!) but those are few and far between.

Close enough. Those are what's called "rosa de agua" - they're similar to Kaisers (they're formed in the same way) but the bread is more like a mild sourdough. Rotuts: only one of them was mine, unfortunately. Which means you may see me posting other bacon/tomato combos in the near future. Rico: just to grind it in - the tomato on those sandwiches was a Brandywine. I used perhaps 1/4 of it, and I was being really generous with the slice width. And as long as we're being tortured by other peoples' lunches.... I am absolutely green with envy over Huiray's mushroom medly. I have access here to button, slimecap, and occasionally (in a blue moon) oyster mushrooms, and it makes me so sad. Fungi are one of my favourite food groups.

I love that it's never too late to enter a cookoff. I'd like to submit my version, which is closer to a Basque version of the dish than the Provençal one - the recipe comes from a little farmhouse Mom stayed at while biking through the Pyrenees in the 70's; she's unsure whether she was in France or Spain at that point. It is aberrant from the other ratatouille in this thread in that it contains meat - in this case, ground beef, and a bit of cheese as well. My stepdad, who trained at Cordon Bleu, calls this dish Rat Patootie. When I first served it to my friend Alain, who is from Provençe, he slapped me. Both happily take seconds when offered. If y'all think this isn't ratatouille, please accept my apologies, and tell me what it is. Construction of the dish. The casserole is liberally olive oiled, then layered with tomatoes, spices, eggplant, zucchini, meat (fried with copious amounts of garlic and red onion, as well as peppers and mushrooms in this case) and queso fresco. I'd normally prefer a fresh goatsmilk cheese like chanvre here, but I was late to the market and the goatman was gone. Then continue layering with veggies until the casserole is full, and top with a bit more cheese. Ideally, the top and bottom layers are tomato. Comes out looking like this.

BLTs. I was craving.

Well, local weather conditions have conspired to grant me excellent eggplants at the market. And when life gives you eggplants, ratatouille is the obvious answer! More details in the ratatouille cookoff thread - this is a take on the dish that doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet....

Oooh, we can talk veggies? I like most things (with the exception of green beans, which I want to be tender) steamed just enough to be hot through but retaining their crunch. Particularly asparagus - I like them when they've just turned emerald green. The minute they go that olive-drab colour they're limp toast as far as I'm concerned - the texture is ruined and so is the flavour. For greens (I usually eat either chard or beet greens) I want them just wilted then tossed with vinegar. The long-stewed shmoog that passes for spinach, beet greens, or kale in most people's kitchens just makes me shudder. Never been overly fond of collards done in any way, ditto to poke.

I want most steak medium rare to medium, hamburgers well-done, but I want my slices of prime rib blue rare.

1. Eat more goat and lamb 2. Start wood oven baking (this will probably mean I have to build a wood oven) 3. Teach myself fresh pasta 4. Stretch more in the salt kitchen. My dinners have become utterly, boringly routine, and that needs to change. Food without fun is just calories.

I've had great reviews with: personally-sized lemon cornmeal shortcakes topped with fresh fruit coulis (the recipe for the cake is in the RecipeGullet; any fruit preparation you like will work beautifully with it). Those are crazy-easy if you've got individual-sized moulds to cook 'em in. Also got thumbses-upses for Death By Chocolate Zucchini Cake volcanes filled with rich milk-chocolate and mint ganache, simple chewy oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies, and since nobody where I worked was allergic to much of anything, Cup-O-Everything cookies (that recipe is in the Christmas Cookies thread). Closer to Christmas, individual cubes of Nova Scotia Black Fruitcake go over really really well. If you're at all into yeast breadmaking, you can also try mini cinnamon buns in sticky caramel, hot cross buns, and filled brioches.

Jason, it's probably worthwhile to note that the shrimp in shrimp ceviches (at least, every shrimp ceviche I've ever had in Colombia, Ecuador, or Perú) are precooked before being introduced to the ceviche broth.... It's a process only followed for shrimp and prawns, and when I've asked the cevicheros, I've always been told that the precooking solves an issue with food-borne bacteria that would otherwise make the ceviche dangerous to eat. Whenever I've made shrimp ceviche, I've always lightly steamed the shrimp before adding them in. However, other seafoods (like, say, corvina, which makes a truly delectable ceviche) are added to the broth raw and allowed to "cook" over a period of between hours and days (depending on the seafood - octopus takes up to 5 days to get really tender).

Excuse me, but mine fit that bill. It was easily the tastiest thing I cooked this year. None of the ingredients are rare, obscure, or difficult to source where I live (the banana blossom came from my own garden) and I was, honestly, doing it specifically because I love a good encocado. You want the simplest tasty thing I've eaten this year? It's not even technically cooking at that point. I sliced a perfectly ripe avocado in half, salted it, filled the cavity with queso fresco, and ate with great relish.

Banana blossom has an unique flavour, sort of like celery but a bit more bitter, and a texture similar to fresh lettuce (even after it's been salted, pressed, and sweated, it's still crunchy). Encocado is an Ecuadorian style mild coconut and peanut curry.

Allergies or at least sensitivity could play a part in many food dislikes. Don't know if that's ever been studied. A friend of mine is gluten intolerant and one smell that she can't stand -- to the point of nausea -- is freshly baked bread. My husband, who has a problem with lactose, gets nauseated by the smell of fresh milk. Your nose is trying to tell you what the rest of your body thinks of ingesting that particular food. Maybe, maybe not, BUT scientifically we tend to crave things we are mildly allergic to... We eat something we are mildly allergic to, the "pain" of the allergy causes our body to release endorphins. The endorphins make us happy and mask the "allergy pain" so we keep eating. We go to bed, the endorphins wear off, we wake up with a food hangover. We crave that endorphin high so we go to the very food that gave us that endorphin rush and the cycle starts all over http://www.healthand...eight-loss.html Well, that's not how it works for me. My body rejects things but quick - I tend to redecorate the walls if I can't make it to the loo in time.

Mine was probably this: Banana Blossom Encocado de Camarones, with Saffron-Mushroom Rice.

My preferred winter drinks aren't even technically teas (ie not Camellia sinensis) - they're the caffeine-bearing hollies instead. To wit, when I'm cold, I don't want even the very best white (which is my preferred tea). I want either Hierba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) or Guayusa (Ilex guayusa).

Reboil. It doesn't destroy the pectin (at least, not in my experience) but it will thicken up the marmalade.

Shark Attack! My friend Henry is a SCUBA diver, and his lovely wife and son specifically requested this. I have to say, it's the first time I've ever decorated a cake where blood and gore were not only requested, but kind of necessary.... Building the shark head with its bit of diver out of gumpaste was probably the most fun I've had all month. The cake underneath that IMBC is coconut chiffon, with a cherry filling.

Half and half gives you the base texture of a purée, with the textural interest of the rustic soup.

Depends on the soup, more than anything. I'd half-n-half that split pea and ham hock, but if it were simply split pea (without any bits of meat for interest) I'd be very tempted to purée it and then serve it with either popcorn or chifles for textural contrast.

Kim - I'm probably never doing another one like that! The only reason I did was that the birthday girl had actually visited all of the places whose languages I used.

Sounds yummy! I'm interested in the N.S. fruitcake -- would love to know about it. We discussed it a bit in the Traditional Foods of Nova Scotia thread. This is what mine looks like (and that's bourbon vanilla ice cream there with it.) This year's cakes are aged in Ron 2300, which comes from a small distillery in Cuenca. 2300 is the altitude in meters of the ageing caves; it's fabulous and more similar in character to a slightly sweet brandy than it is to a rum.

Down here, we're going traditional all the way. Creme des carottes for the starter, with an assortment of sharp cheeses, Roast turkey with pumpernickel-sage-mushroom stuffing done the traditional way, in the oven with plenty of basting Papas puré, using probably Atahualpa or Oro Morado potatoes, plenty of butter, and a bit of gouda Whatever green veggies look yummy at the market on Monday, steamed lightly Green salad with baby strawberry tomatoes and cape gooseberries Gravy of the jus, as is fitting and correct Aged Nova Scotia Black Fruitcake, with fine high-altitude barrel aged domestic rum of the same vintage the cake was aged in Bourbon Vanilla ice cream An assortment of cookies