Pan

What do you think happened to the mangoes?

I'm sure we'd all like to look at pictures of the food plants in your garden.

Kew, do you grow any food plants in a garden? If so, tell us about that.

Hmmm...hermaphrodite papaya. What would that taste like?

The wonderfully perfumy Malaysian papaya totally rules! Anyone who visits Malaysia has to get some of the sliced fruit in plastic sold by vendors on the streets. Papaya, pineapple, jambu air ("water apple"), etc.

Hmmm...I have tried cherimoya imported to New York from somewhere in Latin America, I believe, but I found it rather uninteresting: Kind of insipid, if I remember correctly. It could very well import poorly, though.

That one is unfamiliar to me. Does it taste similar to anything I might have tried before in Malaysia?

Indeed so [edit: His grandparents were from Japan, or one of them was, but he was a 3rd-generation Peruvian], but best not to talk further about him, I figure. Look up news stories on Alberto Fujimori on the web if you like.

Nice cake, Kew! Your family, such picky eaters-lah! Why so much susah punya? (="Why so much trouble?", sort of.) So what's with the honeydew? Back in the 70s, we smuggled some honeydew seeds into Kg. Merchang, hoping that they could make a lot of money growing honeydew during the glut of watermelons in season, but the plants all withered and died. I'm guessing the honeydew is imported? From Australia, perhaps? Good Malaysian watermelon not good enough for you picky eaters, is it?

I would have thought a majority of the Muslims in the Beijing area are Han (Hui are Han Muslims, are they not?), not Turkic. I'm wrong about that?

chengb02, have you tried the food at Spicy & Tasty or Sichuan Dynasty in Flushing? If so, do you consider it a real bastardization? I'd also be curious for your opinion on how authentic (yeah, I know, that word again) the Hunan offerings at Grand Sichuan St. Marks are. I'm a regular customer of that establishment and have been told that the chef is from Hunan, and they hired him specifically so that they can feature more Hunan food than at other branches of Grand Sichuan.

But Jon, I think the Shanghai cuisine is in fact cooked mostly by Shanghainese immigrants, whereas the Sichuan and Hunan food is not primarily cooked by immigrants from those provinces, I daresay (with some exceptions).

I had dinner tonight at Yeah. I got some standby dishes for me (spicy cabbage and spicy minced meat noodles), which were as per usual. They have a redesigned menu with some new offerings (also look at additional lists on your table), and they were doing good business tonight. Their card shows their hours to be: Sun.-Thurs.: 10:30am-11:00pm Fri. & Sat.: 10:30am-12:00mid In any case, THEY ARE NOT - REPEAT NOT - CLOSED FOR BUSINESS!

I can't recall seeing this story elsewhere, so here goes: Major bummer, to say the least!

What is a "Chinese-Peruvian"? ← A Peruvian of Chinese ancestry, of course.

[...] ← So, some restaurants have cooks who are perpetually in love?

I think this thread is due for a revival. Adam Balic's Tuscan Food Diary, Two weeks in pictures is wonderful! Frightfully freaky fruit, scary looking but delicious, started by spaghetttti, is a must-see! Back in the Italy Forum, there's Ore's spectacular Slow Food Diary -Study in Italy, Living the Master Italian Cooking Class. Also well worth looking at is My massively nerdy culinary New Year's resolution. A short quote will give you a sense of what that thread is about: And Kevin proceeded to walk us through his fulfillment of that resolution, with pictures. And of course, there are a slew of eGullet foodblogs that deserve mention and a link. You can see a complete annotated linked list here, but I'll focus on some of the relatively recent blogs that I loved: Foodblog: Malawry, 34 hungry college girls Foodblog: arbuclo, Dubai is a long way from Montana, baby! Foodblog: little ms foodie, Sauteing in Seattle But really, there have been a bunch of great blogs. Looking over the annotated list maintained by SobaAddict70, I was reminded of the great work by MissTenacity, Chufi, slkinsey's amazing Thanksgiving blog, etc., etc. If you haven't been looking at the foodblogs, you've really been missing out! And a new thread that's already great but definitely one to watch is this beautifully photographed one on Vietnamese food, started by guppymo.

As in Guinness Stout? You put beer in the brownie batter?

The older Flor de Mayo branch is on Broadway near 101 St. Maybe that's where the Peruvians are, but the greater likelihood is that you can't tell who's a Chinese-Peruvian just by looking at them.

I haven't commented on my dining experiences in college, but the fact is, the food at SUNY at Purchase was dismal, and I was delighted when I got into the Old Apartments on campus and was able to cook my own food. In our anti-establishment university, there were no fraternities or sororities, and even the Roman Catholic Mass was almost cancelled for lack of sufficient participation. But if I could have regularly had food as good as you prepare made for me, even someone as dismissive of fraternities as I might have considered joining one, providing the members were actually reasonable people and there was no sick hazing ritual.

Put a little of it on your finger and put it in your mouth. Seriously. No-one else but you can determine how it tastes to you. All the rest of us can do is but a poor attempt to translate a complex taste into words. And when you try it, tell us whether you think the star anise flavor or some other flavor predominates, in your opinion. It adds taste. Five Spice flavor.

The St. Marks branch does have some special menus that don't make the delivery menu, such as the one with New Years dishes. I would have to disagree that all branches have the same menu. There is considerable variation between the 50th/9th menu and the St. Marks menu. And I've even occasionally ordered off-menu items for delivery.

I enjoyed reading that report, Tana. My epiphany in Siena was the time when I overslept and missed breakfast at the pieno pensione dormitory I was staying at in the summer of 1991 and ordered a mortadella, mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwich at the local bar. That showed me just how good an inexpensive sandwich can be -- when you have ingredients locally available in Tuscany!

Yeah, Sam, we should try New York pizza to an Indian taste. There's a branch of Singa's on Kissena Blvd. (I forget the cross street), but with all the Chinese, Korean, and Malaysian food in that neighborhood, I haven't gotten to it yet. The name that got me to take notice is Gnocco Caffe. They're on 10 St. near Av. B, and I didn't realize they made pizza. I really have to go back there some time in the reasonably near future.

I was actually thinking of asking whether you had a restaurant. Your dishes and presentations are impressive!