Duvel

The first day was rather unexciting. We had a smooth flight to Dublin and picked up the rental car … The guys at the rental were very „concerned“ whether I would be able to drive with a manual transmission or could manage to drive on the left side with a slighly larger SUV. After ensuring them that a) in Germany 90% of the cars have manual transmission (although mine doesn‘t 😎) and b) that I own driving licenses from Japan and Hong Kong, with both driving on left, they stopped trying to sell me any extras … A leisurely 3h drive later we arrived at our cottage in Killarney. Little one found his spot while we were unloading … Unfortunately the nearby pub didn‘t had the kitchen open, so we headed into town. My parents asked for live music, and that’s what we got … First: that’s what I came for ! Food was nice, too - Pulled lamb burger … Cottage pie - very good. Definitely have to put sage into mine at home, too … Fish & chips (for both my father & little one - two portions, of course …) And a braised lamb shank for yours truly … We enjoyed the live music - a very lovely evening ensued 🤗 Finally, at home I had another „local“ specialty (and a good nights sleep afterwards) …

Prologue With little one having almost two weeks of „Pentecost“ (Pfingsten) school holidays and last years hiatus from major holidays due to a new job, we decided to start up our holiday season already in May. My idea was to go to Ireland, because of the lovely nature, the food (of course) and also because I studied at UCD Dublin some 25 years ago … As my parents are not up to holidays on their own anymore, but my mom really wanted to see Ireland again, we took then along as well. So, here we go …

Fully with you. In fact, the Wagamama recipe does start by making a roux in situ. While it’s not difficult to do, usually this is where the lack of flavor is stemming from, as using curry powder (that usually doesn’t keep its potency for long) can be a hit and miss affair. The vacuum sealed kare cubes will eliminate that source of error. But if you are versed cook, making your own cubes it’s a great way to introduce variety …

I assume you are looking for a decent kare („curry“) sauce recipe, to serve with a breaded meat item … in which case I‘d wholeheartedly recommend a Japanese Kare cube (start with the medium spicy S&B or House brand one, both are readily available), dissolved in a weak dashi stock.

That is … interesting. Can you outline the recipe a bit ?

It’s a professional method, used by an authentic German …

You’ll need to beat the eggs with the sugar and a pinch of salt until stiff peaks, then very carefully fold in the cocoa, flour, starch and baking powder. Finally you add melted butter.

Damn straight ✊

It's been done ... A novel beer fermented by kefir enhances anti-inflammatory and anti-ulcerogenic activities found isolated in its constituents - ScienceDirect

Me too. Then I pour it in the sink and drink a beer ...

We‘ve spend the sunny Saturday in the nearby town of Strasbourg, just across the border. Haven’t been there for a while … Brought back a lot of food, including some stuff for tonight’s BBQ … Soooo, we had: lamb, some Merguez, some sausages with herbs & garlic, some saucisse de Toulouse and a kind veal & milk sausage, that was sinply excellent … Plus a horse rumpsteak and a marinated rabbit skewer … To match the French theme, a very garlicky potato grstin instead of Kartoffelsalat … And - because it’s the season - Spargel en papilotte 🤗 All accompanied and finished with a sweet white wine from the Jura … No complaints 🥳

I think the S&B is the way to go. I know the Karashi you are stocking very well and while it is much sharper and hotter than the S&B it lacks the complexity you are looking for. You may consider adding a tiny pinch of sugar (to harmonize the taste, not to sweeten) and a more generous pinch of MSG. Other than that you are golden … (Come to think of it: of course, one could use a different vinegar to add additional depth)

I found this current article on the matter informative … Quote: Researchers estimate that one in six U.S. food preparation and service workers have signed a noncompete agreement as have one in five workers in the agriculture or hunting industry, based on a survey of nearly 67,000 workers. This means as many as 1.4 million food workers are potentially bound by a noncompete agreement, affecting low- and high-wage food workers alike. They’re particularly pernicious across fast food chains, but they also impact chefs, white-collar food service managers, food safety specialists, and many more.

You can use a 1:1 mixture of sugar (e.g. icing sugar, but regular will do as well) and starch (e.g. corn starch).

Spitzkohl, right ?

GreenVC2017-Abdullah (iop.org) tl;dr: Potato starch has a lower gelatization temperature than corn starch, meaning it thickens faster, and - depending on cooking time - more complete (i.e. leaves less to no starchy residue that may impact the mouthfell). It also has a higher bulk density, so all in all you need less potato starch than corn starch for the same effect (think 2/3).

I like Nami, and most if her recipes are decent. So is this one, but it neither gives the right texture (compared to the original, which is smoother), nor the taste I am looking for … as I said: it’s ambitious (and I have played around a lot 🤗).

Oh dear … that’s an ambitious target. Shokupan of course, crustless. The egg salad is tricky: there is an excess of yolk, plenty of kewpie and - from sources I trust - a drop of fish sauce (I know no one believes me, but the closest I’ve ever gotten was with fish sauce). Anyway, as much as I’d like to I am still those last 5% away from the iconic original (of which I had a looooooot) …

Such a perfect surface pattern browning 🤗

Now that you mention it - Reel Big Fish goes well with stir fries ...

Metallica for chopping onions and root vegetables …

Exactly … And once a significant number of people have succumbed after eating pork intestines or oysters in a surprisingly warm environment, codifying a law against eating them will protect their ancestors at least from that danger. I think there is a point to be had. Bleeding out animals to make the meat spoil slower is a smart practice as well. Eating fish on Fridays maybe less so, but then religion isn’t a strict science …

Not necessarily set apart, but maybe help them to thrive in a certain environment, e.g. the matzo as a long lasting & spoil resistant bread alternative ? A colleague in university came from Haifa and whenever I had a Mettbrötchen (raw minced pork on a rye roll) for breakfast, he said that that would be a death sentence at home. I always assumed for religious reasons, given that pork is a no go for both Jews and Muslims alike, but one day he explained that pigs carry so many diseases/parasites in warmer climates plus the ambient temperatures in conjunction with the raw mince would make my favorite snack probably as healthy as slurping raw sewage. So, to forbid certain foods can have significant benefits for a population. I never got him to try it, not even on a Matzo cracker ...

Maybe we see this topic from a wrong angle: not that they were forced to prepare the unleavened bread hastily (as the legend says) , but maybe the did so by design, i.e. to create an (barely) edible derivative of flour they could transport and live of for longer time than from bread. I mean crackers will keep significantly longer than bread, due to the low water activity. Plus bread with its sponge-lke texture will likely trap moisture in a desert environment due to the drastic day/night temperature change more easily and thus limit its shelf life.

Sure, that part is uncontested. My point was that if there was a need to prepare matzo within said very short timeframe, the ambient yeasts in ancient Egypt must have been the pretty powerful ones. If I mix flour with water it’ll take a loooot longer than 20 min before anything ferments …