Hassouni

I just got This book from the Beirut Airport Duty Free, in French. I later realized there's an English version, and my French cooking vocab is definitely not up to par. Oops. However, it looks extremely interesting, with several types of dough described as well as preparation guidelines. I'm less interested in the multitude of recipes, which seem to only vary in the toppings. I already know what toppings I like! That being said, there is a good recipe for 'Awarma (Lebanese lamb confit).

I'm new to eGullet but I've used ChefCrash's recipe a few times and it's flawless. Some of the best Baqlawa I've had. Ya3teek il 3afiyeh ChefCrash!

In Germany, honestly I saw more Beck's and Weihenstephaner than anything else. That being said this was in Berlin, which is not in the heart of German beer country. As for French beers, by far the most popular is Kronenbourg (Krono), which is not very good. As for Corona, I've never been able to get to the bottom of the bottle without saying "yuck". For a similarly styled beer, my favorite is Sol

The nicest restaurants will be in hotels, and the two nicest hotels are the completely over the top Emirates Palace, and the futurist and equally stunning Yas Island Hotel. I don't remember the name of the restaurants there, but the food at its several restaurants was really good. Hotels are also the only place in the UAE where you can drink. Of course, everywhere in the UAE is great for cheap and excellent South Asian food, but I can't name any places in Abu Dhabi, only Dubai. Still, if you see a place filled mostly with Pakistanis or Indians, it'll be a good bet

Hmm, haven't seen many in copper, most are brass or steel that I've seen. There are always loads on eBay, I look there from time to time wistfully hoping for when I have my own kitchen

Norm, to answer your question, here's what Wikipedia has to say: "There are several conflicting theories for the origin of the name parmigiana. One common theory attributes the name to the use of Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan cheese).[2] For this reason the dish is sometimes called "melanzane alla parmigiana", though "parmigiana di melanzane" is considered more correct. Another theory attributes the name to an alteration of the Sicilian word parmiciana: With its liberal use of aubergines and tomatoes, this is most likely an ancient Sicilian dish which, in many cookbooks is erroneously described as deriving its name from Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, one of the ingredients. However "parmigiana" is the Italianization of the Sicilian dialectal word "parmiciana", which refers to the slats of wood which compose the central part of a shutter and overlap in the same manner as the slices of aubergine in the dish."[3] A variant of this theory traces the name to Sicilian "palmigiana", also meaning "shutter", from the way in which the slices are laid.[4] As with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, the word Parmigiana is often rendered, as "Parmesan" in English-speaking countries, from the French word for "from Parma." "

Hi EatNopales! Gotta say in my time lurking I've loved your posts, especially your foodblog. Maronites are actually from Lebanon, and Mexico has a huge Lebanese population, the vast majority of whom are Maronite Catholics. Iraqi Christians are either Chaldean (Catholic) or Assyrian (Orthodox).

Isn't gin already essentially an infused vodka anyway

So a while ago I had an infused vodka party - we did graprefruit, honey and some kind of herb (rosemary I think), kiwi, something else I can't remember, and mint, using fresh mint leaves. Everything came out great except the mint, which after 24 hours was wilted and smelled truly revolting. I've also noticed that after you've drunk a mojito, the mint in the glass also looks wilty and ends up smelling bad if you let your glass sit out for even a few minutes. What is it with mint and alcohol, and how does one create an alcoholic mint infusion?

For drinking sans glass, I like a bottle a LOT more, but when pouring into a glass I don't really care that much, and I might concede that it actually does taste better. Certainly green glass is worthless. I do tend to always prefer a glass though, so if there was more beer available in cans I'd probably buy

Yeah for a place called Total Wine, they really are the best for beer...

Several favorites: Dark Belgians: Gouden Carolus classic, Cuvée van de Keizer, and Christmas beer; Kasteel Donker/Bruin, Rochefort 10 (but that's sort of obvious right?), Gulden Draak Light Belgians: more obvious choices: Duvel, Delirium Tremens, La Chouffe Wheat: Hoegaarden, Weihenstephaner, English ales: Fuller's ESB, Ringwood Old Thumper, Coniston Blue Bird Bitter, Theakston Old Peculier, Shepherd Neame Spitfire Others: Guinness, Red Stripe, Kozel, Pilsner Urquell, anything by Spaten, Dogfish Head Raison d'Etre/d'Extra, Unibroue Fin du Monde and Maudite Of all of these I'd say the Cuvée van de Keizer is my all time favorite though

Last purchase was: Smith & Cross Jamaica rum Bulleit Rye Rothman & Winter Creme de Violette (guess who's starting to make Aviations?) Eagle Rare 10 year single barrel bourbon, my first bottle of bourbon ever, actually. I heard it's really good and found it for $20. Might open it tonight in fact.

I find them to be a great addition to soups

Hello everyone, I've been a longtime lurker here (over 5 years), just joined today. I gotta say, I love this site and dunno why it took me so long! I usually make a revolving lineup of Middle Eastern (I come from an Iraqi background), Mexican, Subcontinental, Sichuanese, Japanese, Korean, and random Southeast Asian and generically-Mediterranean dishes. Tonight was Mexican inspired I guess: chili made with ground beef, pinto beans with bacon, roasted and pureed guajillo chiles, a couple roasted turning-red Hatch chiles, a serrano, a Korean red chile, some red bell pepper, with Sierra Nevada Tumbler brown ale as the cooking liquid. Served with lime wedges and queso fresco, along with some El Yucateco Kutbil-Ik habanero salsa. Sadly no pictures, but maybe tomorrow's leftovers will show up. Chili is always better the next day right?

If you're up for ordering from Britain, the Japan Centre is the place to order from.

I've noticed that gimbap is more substantial, with way more ingredients than most makizushi. The tastes are a lot bolder with the varied vegetables and sesame oil too. Also, as much as I like well-made sushi, at the lower end, supermarket gimbap is better than than supermarket sushi Also, gimbab tends to be wider and sliced a lot thinner, which does make eating it neatly a bit challenging...

Something that really makes Ma Po more restaurant-like is to use restaurant quantities of oil. I often use less at home, but using more oil definitely improves the dish. I have a round-bottomed wok and I'd say when I make it with less oil, the puddle of oil at the center of the wok has a diameter of about 2.5 inches, whereas the higher amount would have about double that. You can also use a mix of regular oil and chile oil, and add some huajiao oil at the end if super fresh huajiao is not available to you.

I've been a tea drinker my entire life and this concept of tea as a trend sort of bothers me. That being said, I don't know if tea is a "way of life" but it certainly is a very big "part of life," and I lament the as-yet lowly status and shabby preparation of tea across most of America (and, for that matter, Lebanon). I really would like somewhere where I could get a proper cup of tea without going to a zen-like environment or specifying the variety. Sometimes I just want some good, well-made black tea without a fuss, but for that I either need to be at home or in a country where tea is equally a part of everyday life.

I should also mention that just as in Russian, Turkish, and Persian, Iraqis call tea "chai." In formal Arabic and in other Arabic dialects it is pronounced "shai" (like shy), since most other Arabic dialects do not have the ch-sound that Iraqi and a couple others have. Needless to say, hearing "chai tea" just annoys me

The glass is quite hot indeed, the whole thing when done right is almost boiling, though. I've heard stories of ex-military guys who drank tea in Iraq that had burned mouths because they gulped it! In general you want to sip. As for fingers and holding, when you first get the glass, hold it between thumb and forefinger at the very top. It takes some getting used to, though I guess if you cook a lot you may have heat-resistant fingers anyway. To my knowledge, the metal holders are never used. Interestingly, those holders in Russian are called podstakannik, which means "under the glass" or something like that, with "stakan" meaning glass. The Iraqi Arabic word for those hourglass-shaped teaglasses is stikaan/istikaan, a clear borrowing from Russian. It is made for use on a stove - they also sell a brazier - charcoal to use with it or with a rice pot or tagines, but I only bought the samovar. It's like this one that on Amazon is called a Turkish teapot. In the store it was labeled just "samovar." The also had one like this one but it had a big dent in it and they couldn't estimate when they would get another shipment. Ahh, that's not actually a samovar, that in Turkish is called a çaydanlık, and is exactly what I meant by stacking the teapot on top of the kettle. I don't think there's a word in Arabic for them, but in the Iraqi dialect a teapot is "qouri" (a Persian borrowing) and the kettle is "keitli" (obviously borrowed from "kettle") Everywhere in Turkey and in Turkish homes and Iraqi homes (at least in the West), that's by far the most common setup. Iranians tend to favor actual samovars, such as these. That being said the overall result is the same, samovars are just cooler and a bit easier to not burn yourself due to the steam...

Hello DCers, fairly new here and glad to join in the discussions! I agree with what most people have said here, but have a few points to add: Bourbon is great, but their original location in Glover Park is nicer for a fewreasons: firstly, it has a large patio allowing outdoor seating much of the year, secondly, it avoids the Adams Morgan crush (I lived there for two years and it's unbearable on weekends), and thirdly it's not as dingy as the one in Adams. Speaking of Adams Morgan though, seemingly overlooked by many is Tryst, one of AdMo's grandes dames. Their bar is very well-stocked, and their bartenders know what they're doing. They also do pretty good original cocktails, priced well. $7 for a well-made Sazerac? Yes please! Also, I like to think of Gibson and Passenger as kindred bars for some reason, but the drinks at the Passenger are way cheaper ($9 for rather complex drinks the last time I went, vs over $15 at Gibson), and without any of Gibson's snottiness. That being said, Passenger has its own even snottier version of Gibson in the back of the bar, the Columbia Room, but the staff there are really nasty. Around the corner from Gibson and owned by the same people is Patty Boom Boom, a Jamaican patty snack bar and reggae venue. If you're at all into rum and rum cocktails, this is the place to go. And if you want really good agave-based cocktails, the bars at El Centro DF (best rooftop bar in DC by my reckoning) do a good range of original tequila and mezcal cocktails. I particularly like the Lavanda, which is tequila, lavender, and St Germain (I think), and the Red & Smokey: mezcal, agua de jamaica (hibiscus), and chile-ginger syrup.

El Pollo Rico hands down! Crisp & Juicy is also quite good, but the lines out the door for Pollo Rico ought to be an indicator... You put "Peruvian" in quotation marks, is such a thing not actually found in Peru?

A few 2007 and 2008 Trader Joe's Vintage Ales (brewed by Unibroue), and also one bottle of Gouden Carolus Cuvée van de Keizer 2006, and 2-4 bottles each of the same for every year from 2007 to 2011. Not sure when I should open them....

Is your samovar electric or charcoal-fired? I really want a samovar, but that'll only happen when I'm living on my own...