CeeCee

Now bay leaves I can find both fresh and dried, thanks! Ps. Lemon trees in your backyard, I'm slightly envious. That must be great...

Thank you for sharing your recipes! If not available, would kaffir lime leaves be an acceptable substitute or would it be wiser to use lemon rind perhaps?

Probably not easy to get your hands on boerewors in Canada, but here's a SA version of Scotch eggs.

Oh and I remember painting eggs with my grandmother. Also a lavishly spread Easter breakfast table with butter shaped as a lamb and stollen with almond paste, currants and powdered sugar on top which I still don't like to eat. Chocolate easter eggs though with various fillings for whenever I could get my hands on them. No recollections whatsoever of Easter dinners somehow...

If you're looking beyond the South-African heritage, perhaps these recipes will tickle your fancy: - Dutch-Indonesian hussar salad - Dutch-Indonesian sambal goreng telor (eggs) - Indonesian klepon (can look like an egg, rolled in desiccated coconut) All 3 recipes come from Jeff Keasberry, who's family left Java for The Netherlands and started a restaurant in Amsterdam.

There's a new cookbook on it's way (the hardcover that is, kindle is already available): Anatolia by Somer Sivriolu and David Dale. Seems like an interesting book, but would be curious if someone here has an opinion to share? Somer has a restaurant, Efendy, in Balmain, Australia. Did a search, but have found no posts in the Australia&New Zealand forum about it. Some of his (other?) recipes can be found on the SBS Australia website.

Thanks ElsieD en Huiray for the info, nice read!

Thank you for your explanation! Slightly confusing though as in my world terasi belacan is the fermented shrimp paste exclusively, while the sambal refers to a condiment or sauce containing said fermented shrimp paste. Perhaps this is because around here we have very little obvious Malay influence. Mostly is Indonesian in name and somewhat or more adjusted to Dutch-Indonesian or Dutch. Terasi is a stand out ingredient which to many people around here just screams Indonesian. It doesn't mean something without terasi can't be Indonesian or is not Indonesian to me and that no other cuisine uses this ingredient. The second part of the sentence you cut short was referring to just that, it being a personal reference.

You're welcome Anna! Lonny Gerungan does state in his Rijsttafel book that nasi goreng is a dish in itself and no Indonesian would eat it as part of a rice table for instance. Not sure how other cultures look upon this. Is it a solo dish in general? To me, the trassi belacan makes nasi goreng Indonesian, but this is highly personal I think. Also the colour is somewhat telling. The Chinese versions around here tend to be white, while the Surinamese tend be quite dark. The Indonesian versions I come across seem to be in between. As mentioned, there is also a Surinamese rendition of nasi goreng. Supposedly the Javanese brought this to the Sranang melting pot, but the Chinese influenced this cuisine as well. So in the end, who knows? Some Suri style ingredients include fa-shong (Chinese sausage), a bigger quantity of celery leaves than one sees elsewhere, white pepper iso black (although I've both being used), a mixture of both salty and sweet soy sauce(s), Maggi stock cubes (the red-yellow ones in a tub are ubiquitous). Trassi is not always used, even saw some fish sauce once although this doesn't seem to be very common. Galangal or kencur are sometimes used as well. If looking for a cheat, Faja Lobi brand has a jar of nasi trafasie (trafassi meaning different or special). Beats Conimex imho, albeit you can do better preparing it from scratch obviously. At least I've seen some Surinamese actually use this brand (opposed to no Indonesian using Conimex). Dried and spiced veg packs are available as well, they contain kencur sometimes.

Some ingredient listings for Indonesian and Indisch/Indo/Dutch-Indonesian nasi goreng recipes to see how they differ. This is an incomplete list by any means, just to compare for fun. Please note that all ask for cooked and cooled down rice and mostly cucumber and tomato to garnish. Dina Yuen - Indonesian Cooking, Satay, Sambals and more Classic Nasi Goreng: oil, garlic, shallot, eggs, rice, green onions (scallions), soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, salt, ground turmeric, ground coriander. Heinz von Holzen and Lother Arsana - Authentic Recipes from Indonesia Classic Nasi Goreng: rice, oil, eggs, shallots, garlic, red chili, trassi, fresh shrimp, fresh chicken meat or left over chicken/lamb/beef, cabbage, salt, kecap manis. Charmaine Solomon - Asian Favourites Nasi Goreng: rice, eggs, salt, pepper, oil, shallots or onion, garlic, dried shrimp paste (blacan), rump steak, small raw or cooked school prawns, sweet soy sauce, spring onions, fresh chillies, fried egg(optional). The following books were released on the Dutch market (Jeff Keasberry is hoping to release an English version later this year btw), so this more fusion style and translated by me. The last entry was only an ebook I think, which they also posted online here. (Dutch website) Jeff Keasberry - Indische Keukengeheimen Nasi Goreng (met Tjeplok/fried egg): rice, onions, garlic (powder), oil or butter, fresh trassi, sambal ulek, leek, celery leaves, vegetable stock cube, salt, sugar (fried egg). Nasi Goreng Billy Style (Billy being his dad): rice, beef or corned beef or just some left over meat, onions, garlic (powder), oil, leek or scallion, fresh trassi, beef stock cube, sambal ulek, kecap manis. Joyce Huiman and Kwee Siok Lan - Koken op z'n Indonesisch Nasi Goreng: rice, oil, chicken breast, onion, garlic, trassi, sambal ulek, ground coriander, ground cumin, ground galangal, ground turmeric, thick slices of ham, kecap manis, eggs. Robin Cohen - Sambal Bij! Eigentijdse recepten uit de Indische keuken Nasi Goreng: rice, garlic, egg, trassi, scallion, red onion, red chili, lean bacon, chicken stock cube, peanut oil. John and Maggie D'Ancona - Indisch Kookboek Nasi Goreng: meat, rice, cabbage, onions, garlic, coriander powder, turmeric powder, trassi (belacan), ham, cooked shrimp, celery leaves. Nasi Goreng Chinese: rice, onions, garlic, bean sprouts, cabbage, celery leaves, pork chicken shrimp crab or a mix of these, ham, eggs, lard, vetsin (ajinomoto/msg), chives Nasi Goreng Jawa: Shallots, garlic, oil, trassi, sambal ulek, paprika powder, rice, red and green chili, salt Nasi Goreng Marine style (army): rice, eggs, trassi, ham, garlic, lean bacon, onions, pork, leek, kecap, salt, msg, Dutch shrimps. Nasi Goreng Speciaal: speklap (something pork, no clue how to translate this correctly, but perhaps some carnivore will recognize its proper name...?), candle nuts, garlic, trassi, onion, stem ginger, veggiemix of cabbage, bean sprouts, leek, carrots, etc. red chili, coriander powder, salt, kecap, galangal powder, lemongrass powder. Curls or anyone else, if one of the above tickles your fancy, please let me know.

In the mean time here's chef Lonny Gerungan in a Dutch video making a nasi goreng. Yes, a nasi goreng since there exist thousands of versions in the world he explains in the intro. This version is nasi goreng kampong, kampong means village. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oyNid30IZc He advises a light Chinese soy sauce here by the way. I think the light refers to a less thick soy sauce rather than the light vs dark soy like Pearl River Bridge brand. His bottle looks like Kikkoman to me. Not a cook video, but I feel this belongs here as even Lonny referred to it in his video. It's a song by a Dutch actress born in Indonesia. She still performs as the Dutch-Indonesian character Tante Lien. One of her songs is "Geef mij maar nasi goreng", which is about moving back to The Netherlands, Dutch cuisine and how she prefers nasi goreng and other Indonesian delicacies instead of Dutch fare. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB-mVj54PQg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AB-mVj54PQg

Funny, I also have 2 of Heinz von Holzen's books... If you're really looking to reproduce an experience like that, it's important to know where you had it. Was it in a restaurant or take out from a toko? Chinese-Indo, Indonesian or perhaps even Surinamese-Javanese? Or did you eat at someone's house? Where they Dutch, Indo, Indonesian, etc.? Conimex imho is only suitable if you're longing for a home cooked Dutch-Indo meal by a Dutch person. It would be nice to finally give something back to this great forum, but I don't have a go to recipe I'm afraid. (Generally, I'm more inspired by a recipe anyway than following it to a tee). Depends on what's in my fridge, which cookbooks or websites I've been reading and what we feel like. Lateley this meant Surinamese-Javanese mostly, but I'm looking into rendang atm I do have some of my Indonesian cookbooks out so I'll look up some recipes for you.

You're referring to their boemboe's (pron. boom-boos) I see and not the packs with dried veg and stuff which are also available (but not from the Conimex brand I see. Google nasi kruiden, you'll see pictures of the mixtures with pieces of dried onion, leeks, etc. along with spices. I prefer these over Conimex boemboe's if I don't cook it from scratch, which is very unusual though). If you don't want to cook from scratch, do yourself a favour and select something more authentic than Conimex boemboe's. It's Dutchified, so unless you're looking specificly for a toned down version of a Dutch-Indo experience at least get yourself an Indonesian or Malay brand instead. Like Andie I have ABC kecap, but I also use (and like) the ones in the white mini jerrycan's like ketjap medja. There's a difference in flavour between some of these as some have more molasses or sugar content, which might be worth trying out.

Try some (green) cardamom with white chocolate.

Sorry about your friend, but what a nice gesture. Reminds me a bit of offerings to gods. Speaking of offering, would you mind sharing your recipe for kladdkaka please?

Only had pickled fresh turmeric once (some Indian recipe which calls for the turmeric in julienne strips) and I didn't experience the tingling. If you don't like the staining on your hands, keep an eye on the form of the root. Next to a somewhat fresh looking skin and hard feel, I also look how I can cut it up for easy grating. If you have relatively young fingers on the root, which can be easily cut off, you can hold it down with a fork while peeling. Leave a piece of skin on at one end, to hold when grating so your fingers won't stain. It is very good for the skin by the way, albeit a bit drying. Speaking of a certain aroma, please keep in mind that different brands and shelf life can give quite a difference in taste. Around here we have a dried biological powder available with a much fresher taste than for instance major Indian TRS brand. Too bad it's way too expensive to use in the amounts I do... Nasi Kunyit is known here as nasi kuning (Indonesian influence), it's one of the most frequent fresh turmeric uses in my kitchen. Also Thai yellow curry paste and some Indian dishes. For Surinamese curry potatoes and Dutch-Chinese version of mee singaporeI definitely prefer dried, because it just seems to taste right that way.

Really that odd? Wine is part of Ethiopean history.

The Bento hype is a bit over the hill by now, I guess. But The Just Bento Cookbook came in quite convenient at my house. It's not for kids, but it's nice for building a tactic for portable lunches imo. She also has an informative website and has written a bit about containers as well. I have a few containers, like Systema, which is BPA free and has some models that come with a cooling element. There are several books on making bento kawaii style, but I doubt if that's doable on a bigger scale business wise if you're working solo. Commercially, vegan might be a nice USP. Jennifer McCann wrote 2 books on vegan kids lunchboxes, one 'regular' and one international. As she's American, I would expect her to know a bit what American kids would like and with your cooking style, I suspect just some inspiration on that part is more than enough to built a lovely repertoire on. Edit: I looked up some other books I have on kids' lunches: - Best Lunch Box Ever by Katie Sullivan Morford - The Best Homemade Kids' Lunches on the Planet by Laura Fuentes Her website is MOMables.com - Weelicious Lunches: Think Outside the Lunchbox with more than 160 Happier Meals by Catherine McCord

Wow basquecook, good to see you're back to posting your adventures here! Thank you for sharing

So I got my hands on some of these buttons, as I love sechuan pepper and thought I could use them in a stirfry. I figured that these would taste fresher than the pepper, but they're not related. It gives a similar mouth numbing experience though. My 'dealer' got them for a client who lost most of her ability to taste. Appeareantly they are enhancing. Looks like they shouldn't be heated at all, so I'm thinking of blending it with fruit juice or something for a virgin cocktail. Wiki info Washington Post taste test: button up (on youtube) Has anyone tried these? Suggestions are welcome!

Yes, and see the food I'm enjoying! Although as I'm getting older, I'm beginning to understand where Escoffier was coming from and I'm even starting to agree a bit

This pretty much sums it up for me, although they were a special treat in general and not per se for my birthday (selfishly, we kept these for ourselves mostly). Both Betty and Duncan were not so readily available and if so, they would cost quite a bit. My mom never made frosting herself though. We also had brownies, blueberry and banana-nut muffins from those packs, before it got more common over here. At my birthday parties, my mom would set the table with madeira and/or chocolate cake along with decorations. We all loved this DIY party, as we could decorate a slice to our own liking and keep ourselves busy for a while (which my mom liked a lot too).

If someone aims to be a professional, you should be able to handle deadlines. But I agree, way too much emphasize on speed while we have so many other dishes missing out, just because they don't fit in the schedule. Masterchef is being mentioned a lot, I love the UK versions. I dislike the USA version and now even Australia's is putting me off. I almost wish that the Ozzies would try a bit of USA's rudeness to counteract all the mushy emo talk and tears, because it has seriously gotten out of hand in season 6 imho.

To me the adjuma and scotch bonnet still look pretty similar on those pics, but I will pay extra attention to details from now on It's nice to support independent stores and if they're conveniently located for you, it's not a problem. Otherwise, you could check with Albert Heijn to see if they want to order it in for you. I bought one there last week to make ghoegrie, so there's access and it will be probably be fresher than at Dirk's. There might be a problem if it's just the odd one or two i.s.o. of a batch though.

Sometimes is all the time in my area, if we are sure it's actually a scotch bonnet in the first place. I do get confused as there seems to be quite the mix up with ajuma's, which look a lot like scotch bonnets and they often label them madame jeanets anyway. I haven't seen them labelled as scotch bonnets in ages anymore. Madame jeanets look a bit different, so I think I can distinguish these succesfully, but these are less common available. Still waiting for fresh habanero's, but the dried ones are on the rise and the mainstream supermarkets now carry hot sauces including not only habanero, but also chipotle. I even picked up a pack of dried habanero's at a Chinese store a while back and had even happier times when I found another chinense, the aji panca as a paste at an Asian-Caribbean store