Suvir Saran

Sounds fabulous! I live in NYC. But should consider making this adventure a part of an England trip. Thanks for the idea.

CLICK HERE for link to thread on souring agents.

Can last quite some time in a closed jar. We Indian use it a lot in our vegetarian cooking. At least in the North, it is a mainstay spice in many a vegetarian home. It is used in many recipes even as a substitute for tomatoes. Along with some other souring agents, this was one of the more popular ones. Curries, vegetable stir fries and even some salad type dishes and snacks have this powder. I was preparing an elaborate tasting menu yesterday and it was at least in a couple of the dishes we made. I know we have had a thread on souring agents in Indian cooking... I shall see if I can search for that thread and link it to this. If you email me at chef@suvir.com, I shall be glad to send you some recipes that call for this ingredient.

Again, many thanks. And I like the discolored roasting pans. They actually look good not polished. And thanks really for all this great advice.

Again, many thanks for such deep and fundamental insight. Rumor has it that both Bourgeat and Mauviel use Falk Culinair copper for their pans. And this rumor comes my way from a fool proof source. What I have now been most impressed by are the discount coupons one has when buying Falk Culinair. They have great prices offered through the website of the North America dealer. It makes any other purchase of Copper cookware just one of personal preference. I would now think of getting the Falk Culinair pieces and still get some of the Bourgeat pieces I have wanted over the years. Thanks for encouraging me to think of Mauviel and Falk Culinair and breaking the bubble about copperware. As for roasting pans, I have the stainless and the non-stick one from All Clad and the Calphalon one. I will get a copper one, for I like how it looks and I will enjoy it for deglazing at times. It sure does look very beautiful and seems worth it for those special occasions when the total experience rests equally on the presentation as it does on taste and ease of preparation. I thank you for all your help and your insight. WIll keep you posted about what I end up doing.

Many, many thanks for a great post and helpful insights. I have pieces from the Copper Core and Cop R Chef and the LTD lines. I do enjoy the Cop R Chef when I want to serve and cook in one dish. The Copper Core pans are great when I make Dam Aloos or other dishes that need to cook for some time and on very low heat. These recipes work well in this line. LTD I use not very often, I have them, but have hardly used them. I do use the LTD roasting pans and they are great. I have found Calphalons hard anodized very attractive, I often go towards the pot rack that holds them, and then find myself going for the Copper Core or Cop R Chef pieces on the other side. Not sure why... but earlier, I had mostly only LTD from All Clad and Calphalon. How do the Bourgeat Copper roasting pans work?? Does it make much difference, if any to have one? I do find them very attractive. But is the appearance all there is to take into account? I make a lot of chutneys and jams. Do you have any experience with copper Jam Pan? I was thinking of buying the extra heavy jam pan. I have never cooked with one. Wonder what changes. And the Bourgeat Fish Poacher looks terrific. I know All Clad is coming out with a stainless one this fall. Perhaps it will be more affordable. What thoughts do you have on this item? Is it worth getting a copper one? Is it also about looks? How does the crepe copper pan rate as opposed to other ones? And the paella pan? I use the Cop R Chef (All Clad) one I have often and find this a great pan to use for many things other than Paella. I have never made a paella in it. But have used it for many an Indian stir fry dish. How would the Bourgeat compare with the Cop R Chef? I do realize most of this is only about me having a fantasy about cooking with Bourgeat pieces.

If I were to invest in Bourgeat, what line and items should I consider? They have the Tradichef (Stainless line with sandwich construction: stainless/aluminium/stainless steel base) with cool cast stainless handles and shafts. It is very attractive for a stainless line of cookware. They have the Copper Stainless line that I really into. It is made with cast iron handles. I have All Clad Copper Chef and many of the pieces from that collection. I now tend to only use the copper-stainless cookware I have. The stainless and calphalon pieces take back stage. They have a line with special stainless steel for induction hobs. It is highly resistant to corrosion and with shape memory for perfectly flat cooking (if there is any such thing). The base is covered with magnetic stainless steel. And the handles are welded stainless. They also have the Black steel range. What pieces from these do you think are best to get? Should I stick to one collection or get pieces from each of them. Pieces that are best in each of them? Is the quality of the Bourgeat copper/stainless really all that different from the All Clad? What are some of the most successful Bourgeat products in the copper/stainless collection? Thanks for helping me with this.

Funny, I wanted to ask the same question.

Not sure why you had difficulty whilst it was a breeze for me. Maybe the recipe is not faulty.. could be the water content of the zucchini and also the pan you cooked them in and the souffle dish. Not sure though. I am sure you have no reason to wait till next summer. You could easily make it again, in the next week or so. It is really tasty. I have made it twice now.

Mine came out perfectly. I used one of the all clad gold standard loaf pans I have. I know it was slightly larger than Mr. Bittman suggested for use, but it worked perfectly. I used just slightly more than 3lbs of zucchini. I cooked them in one of my copper pans, an All Clad Paella Pan pictured below. I never used the lid. It cooked the zucchini perfectly and gave a great color. I could have cooked less. But my guests and I enjoyed the slight browning of the zucchini and I remember Mr. Bittman also mentioning that one should cook till the zucchini has some color. I found a photograph of the loaf pan, here it is below. The flan was really a hit. So was the tart, but the Flan was the winner. It really is a great summer dish. Also, the tomato coulis was really enjoyed by all. Maybe you did not reduce the liquid left by the vegetable? I know I was ready to throw it into the cream and eggs but kept patiently cooking to get rid of some of the juices. I also strained the juices from the zucchini before adding them into the eggs and cream. I was worried I added the zucchini whilst they were still hot, but it seemed to have had little if any effect on the smooth texture of the tart. I sliced the zucchini very finely. I had good luck that day. And I really did thank Mark Bittman and the NY Times and Marie Martin. PS: The above pictures are courtesy of All Clad. Must give credit where it is due.

Paula, we are lucky to have you post here and share every so generously with all of us strangers, all that you have learned through years of travel and curiosity. Many, many thanks from me, heartfelt and totally sincere. I was in awe of you through your books and always held you in great esteem, and now I see you here on eGullet and find you just as much of a legend. Thanks!

I am glad it worked out OK for you. Email me at chef@suvir.com and I can send you a ton of chutney recipes I have from my own home in India, NYC and those of friends.

I love the fait tout and the gratin pans myself. I also enjoy serving in the lions head soup tureen that emile henry makes. I have enjoyed cooking in red claypots but have not done so in quite some time. I remember in India, as a young boy, I would have parties for those few friends that like me, enjoyed to cook, and at these parties, I would cook in clay pots. I have also cooked using these a couple of years back in NYC. But it has been that long. Where do you find your claypots? What care do you have to take? Do you have vendors that sell them in the US?

Arunaputri, you are most welcome, though the pleasure is all selfishly mine. Like the other voices thus far on this thread, I too want to learn from you. Roti Canai and I are old friends. And those curries it is served with are delicious as delicious can get. Please do share some recipes with us. You can click HERE to go to the thread Prasad mentions on cooking with goat meat. Or HERE for another thread on lamb/goat. Welcome to the Indian forum. It is going to be wonderful to learn from you just as much as maybe you can learn from this forum

I love cooking in tagines, the terracotta ones. I have the Le Creuset one but when I make a tagine, I use my terracotta one at home. It is great. What do you use for some other dishes from around the Middle East? Do you ever serve in some of these ceramic and porcelain dishes that one has coming from France? I enjoy several of the bake and serve pieces that Emile Henry and Le Creuset have. Do you have any such feelings? Or are you just as happy using Pyrex or Corning? I use those too. But for Middle Eastern and Indian food, I find myself happily enjoying these French goods. Maybe I am just being silly.

Hopleaf, in India we call this Khurchan. It is prepared the same way. And in old days, and still in some smaller cities and towns, I am told that this khurchan (scraping) was sold at a higher price. In my kitchen, when I make rice, many a friend want to taste some of the khurchan and get extra servings of it. Our North Indian rice traditions owe much to Persia.

Thanks for these recipes Jaymes. I only saw them today. Will cook using them very soon. Shall keep you posted.

Where does one by Cracker Meal in NYC/Brooklyn? Is it something I should be able to find easily in the grocery stores around town?

I do have tagines in my own kitchen, but have cooked for friends that do not have them. The results are not really that distinct. Is there a line of cookware that lends itself most beautifully and also practically to the cuisine of this region (not just Morocco)? I have enjoyed using some of the Emile Henry pieces from my vast collection of them. They are both practical and a visual feast. Some of the Le Creuset pieces are also a great match. What do you use?

Oh, we're back with this are we? Why is it difficult for people to accept that restaurants might adapt a cuisine to cater for local taste? The fact that a few cooks in India might put cheese in naan does not alter the fact that the vast majority do not. Nor is it done in Britain which has infinitely more Indian restaurants in it than any other European country. The odd exception only proves the rule. What we ARE finding in Britain are Indian breads being regarded as a less essential part of the meal in the upmarket Michelin aspiring Indian restaurants. This is because these restaurants are Frenchifying, by which I mean pre-plating the food before it is served in strict portion control, and paying a great deal of attention to how the food looks on the plate and to the importance of good cutlery. Gone from these places are the communal bowls in the middle of the table where you help yourself and eat with your fingers, ie. with bread with every bite. Now the bread is an adjunct because you are eating with a knife and fork. You have to put these down to take up your bread so you're likely to eat less. We're also seeing more specialty breads as courses in themselves (this is where the cheese naan would come in were it on the menus, all kinds of stuffes parathas) rather than the piles of plain rotis and chapatis one gets in the more traditional places. And then there's Dr. Atkins................ Succint and on the mark points Tonyfink. Cannot agree more with all you have said.

Hello Arunaputri! I do envy you and all Malaysians and Sinaporeans and Indian. You all have such great diversity. It is mind boggling and no wonder so fully enveloping in all ways. I usually toast my saffron for a few seconds and then grind it and only after that, add milk or cream to it. The color should usually be yellow or very pale orange. Never the red that one finds in rice preparations in restaurant cooking. IN fact, I am offended when served that coloring instead of the yellow I look for when wanting to enjoy saffron. Your color might have been closer to what it ought to be. Do not worry much. CLICK HERE to get to the Indian forum. I cannot wait to have you join us in threads there. Maybe you can start a thread on how to cook mutton in the Indian forum. I am sure you will find all the information you ever need and more. Or, you can email me at chef@suvir.com and I can send you some recipes from the meat chapter from my upcoming cookbook. Also, if you have any interest, I can send you via email, the recipe I have for Kathal (jackfruit) and in that, I use turmeric like your mother. I envy you to be able to eat your mothers cooking. My mom lives several continents and seas away.. I can only speak about food with her most of the time.... when she visits me in NYC, I get to eat her cooking for a day or two. After that, I make it a point to cook for her.

No hazards in using canned in my limited experience. But if you can find fresh ripe tomatoes, there should be no reason at all to use canned ones. Use red chili powder or paprika. And some times, when not wanting to make the chutney too hot, I even skip chile powder/cayenne all together. Use either. You will be just fine. Kashmiri Mirch will give a great color to the already beautiful chutney. And do let us know here or email with any questions you may have. All the best to you with the canning.

Thanks nimki for giving details.

Which one is it?

Episure, I learned only after filing that this name is already taken. By someone in NYC no less. And I feel you are being very modest. You know what you are talking about. You just had not shared as much in your first post here. As I wrote in my own post earlier, OIL is the key. At least to me, and I understand from your post you feel the same way, oil is not attractive. That film that once upon a time meant so much to so many Northeners, is enough of a factor for me to not eat.