Panaderia Canadiense

It's water quality, I think, with Sbux, not coffee quality. Lord knows they've got reasonably good beans to start with. Then again, I'm spoiled.

Sacrilege! That's just plain wrong. The minute you cut a pineapple it starts to lose its flavour - and I shudder to think about how much handling one of those pre-cut ones goes through before it's vac-packed. Yukkk.

For me it depends entirely on the day. I prefer coffee on cold days or on days when I know that I need the extra caffeine to get through the things I need to do, and in the mornings there is really nothing quite like the aroma of fresh coffee. However on hot days I'll forgo coffee entirely in favour of tea. And my go-to beverage is actually chocolate.

I think the French might disagree with you on "plating" - artistic ways to present food have been around almost as long as food has....

Here's my understanding: Demerara and Turbinado have both been processed a second, and in the case of Demerara, third time after simple evaporation, which results in a higher concentration of molasses solids in the final product. Simple evaporated cane is almost always pale (with the exception of drought-cropped black cane, which is a class of its own) simply because it hasn't been concentrated in the refining process. Hence, the flavours of the three sugars will be greatly different. Simple evaporado has less complexity than Turbinado, and less again than Demerara. However, the queen of the dark sugars is undoubtedly Panela, which is subject to a different process and is infinitely richer in flavour.

Vatel, Dorothy Drummond (a relative of mine, who taught me everything I know about Jamaican cooking), and the head chef from the kitchens of Queen Elizabeth I

St. Remy VSOP Cognac. I think the store's messing up - it was $17.50. All the same, I'll be taking advantage of their mistake and buying several more bottles before they catch on - my fruitcakes will be amazing this year!

Must we choose real food luminaries? Or can we also draw from fiction?

As I said, I'm not trying to be troublesome. I'll gladly learn different if I'm incorrect. I realize there is chemical cauterizing (silver nitrate, etc.) that doesn't require a heat source but I wasn't aware that chiles had that effect. Be an interesting thing to learn if it is the case... I like learning. I can only speak for what works for me. I'm fairly cautious with knives (cutting my finger nearly in half with a bandsaw, years ago, has made me reticent to chop things too fast) so I have little case to use peppers to stop bleeding in the kitchen. However, it's a very easy thing to carry in the jungles, where I am prone to nicking myself with my machete....

I'm not trying to be troublesome here, just trying to be clear on what we're doing. Is the cayenne, aji, habanero for some purpose other than forming a paste to plug things up? I'm asking because it seems like flour or cornstarch would do the same thing without inflicting the pain chiles on open wounds might. Actually, in my experience with my own wounds, the cayenne has been enough to sear the flesh (I'm quite sensitive to capasicin); the aji and habanero work faster. If I'm just going to plug the wound, I tend to use flour or cornstarch or medical-grade sterile cotton lint.

^^ Yup. I keep Aji and Habanero powders for serious bleeders (I live far away from the city's hospitals). However, I haven't had to use them yet (touch wood) - I generally give myself superficial cuts, for which the superglue works just fine.

Everything that's in your kit is in mine, along with a tube of Superglue (for superficial knife cuts, to close them without requiring a bandage), a shaker of Cayenne pepper (fast cauterizer for really bleedy wounds) a pair of splinter tweezers, and a sharp knife that's dedicated to my Aloe arborescens plant (for burns). The kit sits just below the Aloe plant.

And in the realm of "other foods that do similar things" I've always found that the fruits Borojo and Arazaa make my pee smell funny; I think it's the massive B-vitamin hit in both that does it, though - the smell is nothing like Asparagus pee.

Asparagus contains various sulfur-based thiols and other volatile compounds, particularly methonethiol, which aren't processed by the body, and which have a disagreeable odour when eliminated in the urine. It's comparable to the phenomenon that happens after a heavy dose of B-12, although the smell is different. The accepted term, is, I believe, "asparagus urine odour" - I think we need a better one!

Northern Latin American dishes are almost always served with rice, and almost always with rice that's been lightly salted or otherwise enriched in the pan/pot (at least in the Bolivarian republics; I can't speak for the southern Andean nations on this one.) The genius of this is that the sauces that accompany main dishes are often very rich but lacking in salt, and the rice complements them and brings out the flavour in very intriguing ways. I rarely cook rice without bullion, salt, and spices, but that's a matter of personal preference and also comes down to the type of rice I use (golden, for the most part) and the dishes with which it's paired.

Pizza dinner party: I supplied the seafood, meat lovers, and vegetarian stuffed-crust pizzas, my upstairs neighbours supplied their appetites. I'm dead on my feet - pictures tomorrow.

I have an old-school self-cleaner that doesn't lock the oven door during cleaning. I rarely use that setting to clean the oven (I'm with the majority - a wipe a day negates the need) but I do use it for pizza. I believe the temp last time I did this was around 550-600 F.

A good pineapple has a good balance of green and gold/yellow/brown on its scales, the scales are tight together (not separating to show the surface of the flesh), is firm in texture, has a pleasant and slightly acid pineapple smell (as Jenni says), and when you turn it over you should see no mold or blotching on the stem end. If it's still got its crown, the leaves should come out cleanly with a gentle tug. If it doesn't have its crown, don't buy it (unless the vendor has just removed the crown for you). Ecuadorian pineapples are far superior to Hawaiians, IMHO, and these are the criteria for selecting them at market.

Ah, there's something I missed reading your post the first time round, Thornado. You're at a chocolate festival? Is there any way that you can make your quick microwave cake in silicone molds? If so, I'd be very tempted to do that and then layer it alternatingly with the daquois noisette, perhaps a truffled brandy mousse, and a fruit-influenced mousse layer, and top it off with a chocolate fan or something similar. If you can get the cake to come out in perfect little rounds, it will be very visually appealing and should also be very easy to assemble.

I'd be inclined to go the other way entirely - a simple, flavourful dessert that shows off the fresh fruit that's in season. Since you're doing one chocolate dessert already, I'd avoid it in the second - it shows better range to present chocolate and non-chocolate in contests like this. Shortcakes, sweet quick biscuits, or some similar base with fruit quick-macerated in liqueur and piped chantilly are visual stunners and generally take around 30-45 minutes from start to finish. This is my go-to quick shortcake.

I may also have scaled incorrectly. The recipe I have originally calls for 1/2 C of stock per person eating and 3 potatoes per person, and there is a huge difference between Locro potatoes and non-Locros (which hold their form and therefore don't become part of the broth the same way). I'd try it with a bit more stock. And both I and Abuela would say that there's really no such thing as too much cheese in Locro de Queso... No worries about the chili - Locro is normally served with Aji on the side to pep it up to the palate of the individual eating it.

Fanesca is the traditional Easter soup here - it actually dates back to the harvest festival that was held by the Kichua before the Spanish came, and which was later absorbed into Easter by the Catholic Church. It's an entire day's work to prepare a pot, but I have yet to encounter a recipe that makes less than about 10 gallons of it and it does freeze rather well. Here's the recipe I use when I make Fanesca; I got it from my Abuela Fidelina, who is from Cuenca and who is an excellent cook. Makes 50 plates, and takes about 4 hours on the day you're going to serve it (and about 2 hours the night before). INGREDIENTS 500 g (1 lb) long grain white rice 10-12 L (2.5-3 gal) Whole Milk (3% minimum), no other 1 L (1/4 gal) Full-Fat Cream (35% minimum), no other 4 C Peanuts, shelled and husked 6 C Leeks, the white portion only, chopped finely 6 oz (12 TBSP) Butter, unsalted 3 TBSP Butter whipped with achiote (annatto)* 2 C Garlic, blendered with enough milk to make it a liquid 2 kg (4.4 lbs) Bacalao. White Bacalao is best. Salt, black pepper, to taste 2 TSP Ground Cumin 4-6 TSP Oregano 2 TSP Ground Cinnamon 3 TSP Brown Sugar 6 C Squash meat, steamed until it is tender, and mashed (in Ecuador, a large squash similar to Acorn is used.) 4 C Pumpkin meat, steamed until it is tender, and mashed (in Ecuador, a large squash called Kobucha is used. It's called pumpkin, but it's not, really.) 6 C Lupines (Lupini beans), peeled 10 C White corn kernels, boiled until tender 6 C Green peas, steamed until bright green 6 C White cabbage, julienned and steamed 8 C Young fava beans, peeled and cooked 6 C Young strawberry or red beans, peeled and cooked 1 shot Sherry Brandy METHOD - THE NIGHT BEFORE 1. Boil the peanuts in enough milk to cover them, until they become tender. Blender these with the liquid they were cooked in, and set this aside. 2. Soak the Bacalao in enough water to cover it. 3. Cook and peel all of the grains and legumes. Reserve the water in which the corn was boiled. 4. Steam the cabbage, squash, and pumpkin. 5. Cook the rice in milk. METHOD - THE DAY OF 1. Boil the Bacalao in 1 L of milk. Drain and reserve the liquid. 2. Fry the leek and garlic in the butter and achiote butter until they glassify. 3. Add 1 C of the water in which the corn cooked, and boil until the garlic loses its metallic flavour. 4. Add the peanut liquid, and cook for 3-4 minutes. 5. Add the rice and 2L of milk, and a bit of all of the spices. 6. Drain and cut the Bacalao into tiny pieces. Add the milk in which it was boiled to the pot. 7. Add the squash, pumpkin, and cabbage. 8. When it comes to a boil again, add the grains and legumes one by one in the following order: lupines, corn, beans, peas, favas. 9. Add the cream, the rest of the milk, and the rest of the seasonings. 10. Keep stirring as it boils. Don't scrape the bottom or sides of the pot - that is where the stuff that tastes bad is collecting. Don't put a lid on it either - just stand there and stir. After about 3 and a half hours, the Fanesca is ready to eat. Serve it immediately. ---- The method of roasting a suckling pig is to take the pig, gut it, brine it for 24-48 hours, and then build a nice fire in your Horno Lena (wood-fired clay oven). Once that's hot enough to bake bizcochos, you smother the pig in lard or butter, stuff the cavities with lemon verbena, and slide it into the horno. It's ready when the skin is a deep tanned colour and crackly. The ladies who do this are experts in it; the pig comes out tender, succulent, and dripping with fat. The fat gets collected and used for cooking the Llapingachos, small achiote and potato pancakes that are the traditional accompaniment to Horneado. This is the traditional local method for roasting anything - before the Spanish and domestic pigs, it was used to prepare alpaca and javelina.

It's there more for colour than flavour, actually - I normally tweak by removing it (dad's allergic) and using a bit of cracked black pepper in its place. I generally use any stock I have in the fridge - so chicken, beef, or veggie work equally well. And if you add chunks of yellow-orange fleshed squash to this at the "throw in the potatoes" stage, it becomes Locro de Zapallo, which is also very tasty. Omitting the cheese and subbing in Habas (Fava or other broadbeans) gets you Locro de Habas, and the simple addition of chard to Locro de Habas makes Locro de Acelga, which is fantastic. The other wintertime fave here is called Repe Blanco, which is a plantain and white bean soup. If you want that recipe, let me know.

Locro de Queso is probably one of the easiest soups ever to make, Jenni. You'll love this. This version of the recipe is scaled for 3 people; the general ratio is 3 potatoes per person eating, given potatoes about the size of your fist. I've never bothered with weighing or any of that nonsense - my original recipe for this called for "butter about the size of a walnut" for sauteeing. 10 Locro potatoes (a gold type that dissolves when boiled); skinned and cut into chunks 1.5 C chicken stock a pinch of achiote about a clove or two of garlic or one big shallot, crushed about 1/4 of a baseball-sized red onion, minced a bit of the fat of your choice a pound of Queso Fresco (in India, use Paneer. It's very close.) An avocado for every 2 people eating. popcorn cilantro In a skillet, sautee the achiote, onion and garlic in the fat until the onion goes glassy. (You can make this step simpler by using achiote oil). Add this in to the chicken stock, and toss in the potatoes. Simmer until the potatoes have exploded. Remove from the heat and crumble in about half of the cheese, then transfer the soup to the blender and pulse until nice and creamy. Return to the pot, crumble in the rest of the cheese, then transfer to bowls. Float half an avocado in the soup and garnish with cilantro. The popcorn is a side-dish that is thrown into the soup bite by bite to provide a bit of texture. If you can't find the Locro type potato (I haven't seen them outside of South America), you can substitute any non-waxy type; then the simmer direction becomes "simmer until the potatoes are tender" and then blender as usual.

OK, but we're actually heading into "summer" in most of Ecuador. Our "winter" or rainy season corresponds to the North's summer, more or less. The biggest and best things of "winter" cuisine here are extremely hearty soups like Fanesca (7 grains, 2 squashes, cream, and bacalao; served during Holy Week), Sancocho (yuca, papachina, plantain, potato, and cabbage, with beef or lamb knuckles), and Locro de Queso (creamy potato and cheese soup with avocado and popcorn). Entire roast suckling pigs start to appear in the winter as well.