Pan

I'm not privy to their recipes, Pam. All I know is that I wish it were less salt. I don't think their raspberry jam has seeds in it.

Yeah, you're right: Raspberry, not strawberry. I also concur in much preferring the big (regular-sized) ones. But I wish they used less salt in the non-soft hamantashen.

I never heard there was any distinction between hazelnuts ands filberts, and have always considered those two words synonymous.

Signs of bad working conditions and a bad boss?

My grandmother used to make a triangular bun(?) made from sweet dough and filled with wild blueberries or saskatoon berries every year for breaking the fast. Would that be similar?[...] ← Yes, a triangular bun. Wild blueberries or saskatoon berries? I wish! Sounds good! The flavors they make them in are poppyseed (mun), prune, apricot, and I think strawberry. I prefer the poppyseeds but also like the prune.

I like it either way, as long as it's good. Though I have to say, warm pudding is very indulgent. And I, too, like raisins, and also lemon zest. Or, there's the Indian style with cardamom. That's nice, too.

We have some new members now. Anyone have some places to add to this list? Anyplace serving food from La Reunion? (I wish!) Any Manchurian hotpot places? Any Bulgarian places? According to Eric Asimov (check out his Q&A if you haven't already), the menu of Yangpyung Seoul Haejanguk Restaurant contains some special North Korean dishes. I frankly wouldn't know which ones are which, but have a look at this, published on June 18, 2003, and provided to you by courtesy of the New York Times archive: "$25 AND UNDER; Korean Food That's a Cure for What Ails You."

I had some once. It was actually a mixture of regular and buckwheat beer. It was very dark and rich, and I liked it.

My local Hungarian-style kosher bakery makes them year-round, but the soft ones are available only around Purim, and those are their best.

Kaya is Malay for rich, which is what that delicious foodstuff is.

Golden Krust. I'm a regular of their branch on Nostrand near Flatbush. A better-than-average place for a quick takeout lunch for sure. No time to walk to DiFara's and wait for 30 minutes for my lunch between classes on Saturday at Brooklyn College.

Well, I guess that made it food-and-drink-related, at any rate. . .

I'll be curious to follow this thread, but an all-saffron meal seems like overkill to me. I like saffron, but it's a strong flavor.

"Gah yeng" is how you say "kaya." Somehow, I find that interesting.

I had a seasonal "red spinach" dish at my local Grand Sichuan branch the other evening. I figure this is the same thing that's called bayam in Malay/Indonesian. Can anyone confirm or refute that, please?

I've never been to Tabla. What kinds of negative comments, and how reliable do you think those who posted them are?

A good quiche is great; the problem is that a lousy quiche is a bunch of oily crap! At least, that's my experience. My mother used to cook a mean quiche Lorraine back in the days when she still ate pig meat.

Seems to me that the solution in such restaurants is for you to order your own fish dish. If he doesn't want to try some of your dish, more fish for you! Am I suggesting possible solutions too much? Yeah, I know, very male of me. . .

I was debating whether to post again tonight. I finally made it back to Borobudur Cafe tonight. My first course was Soto (erroneously printed as "Coto," and oddly enough, wrongly spelled in the menupages.com menu, too) Makasar ($5.95), described on the menu as "Beef Tripe, Beef Liver, Investines with Spice Lemongrass Soup." What could be wrong with that? Sounds flavorful and delicious, right? Well, the broth was in fact tasty, but the intestines were overcooked and the liver was both overcooked and didn't taste very good (not such a good liver, I think). The rest of the meal was fine -- a good baked red snapper with a slice of lemon and a nice sauce that came separately (Ikan Bakar Dabu Dabu -- $14.95). When it came out, it smelled a bit fishy, but every part of the fish (and I ate every part except the bones that were too hard and the eyeballs) other than the extreme front of the head tasted fresh and unfishy. A dessert of Pisang Goreng (Fried Banana) served with Chocolate Sauce ($3.00) was very pleasant and cute, as the fried bananas were formed into two hands with the batter. And my tea ($1.50) was refilled twice, and would have been refilled a third time had I not declined the offer, without extra charge. I came out of the restaurant feeling cheerful. The owner and the staff are very nice, and I enjoy speaking to them in sort-of-Indonesian (really Malay with some Indonesian words I remember). But with tip, my dinner was $36, and I think that the food should be more reliable at that price. So I suspect that I will continue to go to Borobudur Cafe only as often as I feel like tasting the locally-available Indonesian food and smiling. For everyday eating, I have the option of a non-Indonesian but spicy restaurant -- Grand Sichuan St. Marks -- which is more reliable and ends up costing me less. I really didn't end up needing the dessert tonight, though.

But is Xinjiang Muslim food indeed "truly authentic Chinese Muslim"? On the one hand, yes, as Xinjiang Muslims are both Chinese citizens and Muslims. On the other hand, whereas the Hui are Han Muslims, the Muslims in Xinjiang are primarily Turkic peoples, mainly Uighurs and Kazakhs. I imagine them to be East Turkestanis during a period when East Turkestan is part of China. In previous periods of history, both East Turkestan and West Turkestan (now comprising Kirghizstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan) have been part of certain Chinese empires and not others. So is Xinjiang Muslim food authentic Chinese Muslim or authentic Turkestani or both? And what is Hui food if not authentic Chinese Muslim? See what a hornet's nest you stirred up?

I wonder how you pronounce that word. I pronounce tongue "tung" or sometimes "tun-g@" with the @ being a schwa.

I've had that dish. It's terrific.

Sugar? Well, yes, they do look like rock sugar. But they're not, they're way weirder than rock sugar. They're actually weirder in some ways than basil seeds, and that's saying something. Plant origin, dry, chewy. Really really chewy. You could chew one of these until tomorrow and it still wouldn't be gone. I think so anyway---I've not actually done this experiment. ← Gum Arabic?

For whatever it's worth, I don't think of Manchu and Manchurian to be the same thing. I do think of "Manchuria" as synonymous with Dongbei.

That looks tasty! But I'm curious to know the name of the green leaf in the bowl.