fifi

Cool. Its the Boy George of fish! *mopping up Shiraz spit*

I'm not sure it is your bad. I think I read somewhere that some folks were trying to sell shark as barramundi, thinking us yanks wouldn't know the difference. Hell, they were probably right.

All tree barks contain tannin. And the trees that make cork are a variety of oak. I have always wondered about the cork in the pot routine and can't make it make sense to me. There couldn't possibly be enough tannin leaching out of a couple of corks to make a difference, could there? Has anyone ever done a side by side comparison? My various SSB references are silent on the subject.

During the Tempura Party era, we would fry daylilies if they were in bloom. We had used the buds in various dishes before so we knew they would be good. We had a variety growing that had small blossoms with substantial petals. We figured out how to batter them and put them in the oil so they retained their flower shape. They were absolutely gorgeous. Someone would always notice that they had a slight shrimp taste.

1:1 gives you a consistency that is easily stirred to prevent burning. This is especially important if you are trying to achieve the really dark roux for that style of gumbo, for instance. A discussion of how to acheive that roux is here. I have seen chefs on TV doing a roux that is a thick paste where you can't really get good heat distribution. That is probably ok if you are just going to knock off the raw flour taste, but it would be devilishly difficult to go any further to the toasted flavors. For even color and flavor development, you need to have all of the flour grains evenly coated with the fat and you need a consistency that you can manipulate to achieve an even result. 1:1 seems to do that so I would say that the proportion is a result of what really works rather than tradition.

I am going by pixels because of sizing for eGullet. My camera produces 1600x1200 pixel images on its highest resolution. That is what I shoot. For ImageGullet I resize to 640x480. But, I only seem to be able to do that one picture at a time.

If anyone can figure out how to resize a batch of photos using Elements please let me know. Great shot of the butterfly, robyn. You even got it on its host plant. Butterflies try my patience. They just don't listen to me. Dragonflies are just positively rude.

Check the link above. It isn't shark unless someone is hijacking the name.

fifi's stupid question #3... What is RAW setting and what does that mean in processing?

OK... I have been rereading this thread and have now identified my favorite phrase therein. Brilliant!

Asiento is the condiment of the gods. Do not deprive yourself. Make your own.

I agree on the blue border. Ellen may not have been able to choose the plate, but she had the great good sense to spot the opportunity. Maybe not consciously, because she obviously has "the eye", but she spotted it nonetheless. I started into photography about 30 years ago when the kids were little. Then I got into botanical subjects that dragged me into the world of macro. Now, because of eGullet dammit , that has extended to food. One thing that happens with me, when I have a camera with me, is that I look at things differently. I now notice how lovely those bits of red pepper are in that salad, or how deliciously that texture of the refried beans makes my mouth water . So far, the obsession hasn't led me into cooking for the camera, yet. But, maybe my plating will improve. I have never been much on photographing people (my kids excepted), but Jason's shot of Ed Williams is changing my mind. What a story is in that picture! I need to start trying to develop "an eye" for such opportunities. All I am saying is that it ain't all technical, folks.

Thank you for saying that! It is one of my pet peeves. The stuff they serve that is light and fluffy, cake-like and sweet is not real corn bread. It wouldn't hold together when dunked into bean soup, which is the criteria by which I measure cornbread. And it isn't baked in a cast iron skillet. Good corn meal is sweet enough on its own - heck there is enough sugar in it to make alcohol so there is no reason to add more. One of my clubs meets at Marie Callendars and they all think the "cornbread" is lovely. Blech! Yes... Yes... Yes... Some of that other stuff may be legitimate if called corn cake, but not cornbread.

fifi has yet another stupid question... Why is it that, when cropping, I feel like I have to retain the original proportions? Is this a hold over from the 35mm world? In the digital world, does it matter at all? Is it a thing about the normal print stock? If you never print it, who cares? But then, as I look at printed media, not all of the photos (not many?) adhere to the traditional proportions. I think I am getting another headache.

I found this on the barramundi. I had heard of it from some Australian friends but I don't think I have ever seen it here. I haven't really looked at some of our larger Asian markets that have an incredible range of frozen seafood. Reading that link, it is not clear if there is a really big commercial market for it. The range of the fish is such that it would necessarily be a frozen import.

First thing that I like about the shot is the scale and the composition. (Well, once I get past the point of wanting to snap a scallop. ) The fork and napkin on the left help establish the scale. That is one thing I like to see in a shot of a plate of food. To get ultra-picky, I may have moved the fork and napkin in a little and pulled in a little closer. But that is really picky. The one thing I keep wishing for is that it was shot from the other side of the table. The reflections on the table and in the upper right are distracting. If it had just been the wine glass, it would have been interesting but there is other stuff there that I can't identify and that is drawing my attention away from the food. (But then, I am an intensely curious person so that could just be me.) A little glare on the plate would be ok to indicate the texture of the plate but this is too much. It distracts from the glisten on the scallops, for instance.

Thanks. Those are some good points. I used the white plate just because it was there and I needed a white background. I really didn't put a whole lot of thought into it. I was focusing on just getting the four products together and used the white plate to emphasize the color of the lard which is the whole point of the picture. (This is the picture that I took specifically to add to the recipe in RecipeGullet.) The little pots are just the 1/2 cup wide mouth canning jars that I use to store it in the fridge. I use those kinds of jars for storing all sorts of things and don't think of them as anything special. But, now that you mention it, that information would be important since you need to use jars to keep the lard from picking up flavors (I think I even say that in the recipe) and featuring them more in the picture makes ultimate sense. I like the idea of lining them up some way on white fabric. Problem is, I don't have any. That is why I used the plate. Backlighting is a good idea as well. When at room temp, the white lard is more opaque than the tan and that would show that quality as well. This was a small batch that I talked about in the carnitas thread, I think. (Exploding carnitas!) The next time I make a typically larger batch and use the larger jars, I am going to take your suggestions to heart. I also just noticed that there is a speck of something on the white. ARRRGH!

I will jump into the fray. I am using the example of a shot I took of lard. The goal of the shot was simply instructional, a demonstration of what various lard products look like, the color being the most important. I was not really after any artistic nuances. The only concession to "art" was to deliberately choose my butcher block table top because the color fit and I tend to like monochromatic color schemes. The light source was natural. Rip away.

While Jason is pouting... I actually found my notes from when I took that macro course with Wendy Shattil and Bob Rozinski in Rocky Mountain National Park several years ago. The one thing that I underlined several times was: "When planning a shot, the first thing you need to have in your head is what the goal of the shot is. In macro, deciding on that goal is more complex than just about any other type of photography." I recall that they used mushrooms as an example. There was a field with just a bunch of clumps of mushrooms. Each student had to take several shots, each with a stated goal. (They were then developed overnight and critiqued the next evening.) Here was my list. General shot - Goal: just mushrooms in a field. Not much more to do with that. Not really macro. Where else could you go with that? Not far, unless you introduce another element like a butterfly or something. Moving in - Now one mushroom just about fills the frame. Goal: capture the dew on the cap and the striated texture of the stem but keep it in the context of a mushroom in a field. A few blades of grass are showing. Closer - One of the mushrooms is slightly tilted. With some contortionist moves and groveling in the dirt, I get some of the pattern of the gills. Goal: show the gill structure in an artsy and pleasing way. But it is still recognizable as a mushroom. Closer still - Break off the cap and turn it upside down. The sun is still low. (They got us up early.) I am able to get a few pleasing compositions of abstract studies in beige and brown with some lighting up of the gill edges. If I didn't tell you it was a mushroom, you might not guess. Goal: abstract pattern. I don't care if you know it is a mushroom or not. Well, I might care if I want to demonstrate that there is beauty in the details and you need to pay attention. I am going to guess at Jason's goal with the beans: A study of amyloplasts in grease, hopefully lard. Actually, the texture does come across.

Thanks for the details on the liverwurst/cucumber creation. That was actually one of those "I-just-read-this-on-eGullet-and-I-gotta-go-to-the-store" moments. (Hm... sounds like an interesting thread. )

*adding to shopping list* liverwurst - check rye bread - check Why does that sound so insanely delicious to me?

Every "deli" in Houston commits a capital crime against that epitome of the sandwich world, the Muffaletta. The infamous list of offenses: Bread all wrong, some even without sesame seeds Olive salad chopped too fine, or not fine enough Not enough oil in the olive salad TOO MUCH MEAT! It is about the bread, dammit The real deal is here. (Actually, the current Central Grocery sandwich seems to have more meat on it than it did 30 years ago. They are probably having to bow to the sinners of excess. About 2/3 of what you see in the link is more like the original.)

I much prefer the originally posted picture of Williams. This one seems a bit washed out. The more I look at this picture, the more I think the darkness of the face in the original conveys more of a sense of mystery to the man behind the BBQ. It also seems to project his profound concentration on the task at hand in the midst of the chaos in the background. It is growing on me. I reserve the right to change my mind and hereby retract my comment about the darkness of the face.

Heh heh My dad did that one year. He saved up the tall, cylindrical olive jars for months. Then we did a lot of work figuring out how to support the bottle while the cucumber was growing. He put them, bottle and all, into the pickle crock and proceeded to make "jars of pickle" that seemed impossible. They were a source of great wonder to all.

My mother started growing the "burpless" cucumber back when the seeds first became available. I think Burpee was the first to introduce them to the general seed market. We never looked back. She grew other varieties for my dad to pickle and such but these became the eatin' kind. All of the above suggestions sound really wonderful. I have been in a cucumber rut for many years... chunks or slices with Mexican crema (a little milder than commercial sour cream) and dill served very cold. Sometimes I get really adventurous and substitute basil, mint, Mexican mint marigold (like tarragon) or whatever else is growing. I will venture into the sweet onion and mild vinegar combo occasionally. But, for some stupid reason, I will start out to make something really new and go right back to the crema/dill routine. I have to get out more.