tchefunkte

Good point. I used Chlorox wipes for counters. And the rice in the jambalaya I made was cooked, cooled, and refrigerated just like at home. Im more concerned with what that omelette's ingredient list is. At least I know what I put in the rest.

I didn't prepare much, obviously, or have the opportunity to bring stuff from home. I have the Dorkfood PID controller that I generally use with a crockpot, but I didn't have it when I was still traveling a lot. That and some ziplocks would have made a big difference in what could have been pulled off. Great to hear all your ideas!

Philadelphia, MS is not easily confused with Philadelphia, PA if you've been to both. The Mississippi version has exactly one bar, and it is beer and wine coolers only, connected to a bowling alley. The food ranges from fast food to "Kuntry" Buffet type places to truck stop sandwiches. And if you had come across the free breakfast at the hotel, you'd quickly beg for anything smelling like real food to come wafting down the halls. The "western omelette" i dared to peek into, made of some vomit colored shpoo folded into a small yellow yoga mat, had me wishing i had brought an electric griddle with me too...

I like to check out local cuisine as well. But some cities that I worked in for extended periods (Sioux City, Iowa and Philadelphia, Mississippi come to mind) had a pretty short list of culinary gems, to say the least! I was mostly interested in developing the idea of what you can do within the limitations of a meager per diem and with limited tools.

has anybody else played around with this idea? When travelling by car for business trips, I got into the habit of bringing a crockpot with me. I've also just purchased cheap ones upon arrival when travelling by air. Here are some examples:

Most of the Vietnamese restaurants down here have pate free versions.

The pate! It's essential to me, but I was less impressed the fancier they were. I think we had a banh mi from HK Market and put half of it in a backpack for a long leisurely Lundi Gras trek around the city. It actually improved with age, and I'm pretty sure it was the earthy funk of the pate that helped segue us so effortlessly into the evening. And at those prices, they certainly ain't shmearing anything fancy on the sandwiches! As a side note, a kitchen friend of a friend at La Provence in Lacombe gave us a tub of house made pate that tasted like pure meat butter, so delicious I couldn't put it down. Well actually I put quite a bit of it down, no banh mi substrate needed The vietnamese pistolettes I'm familiar with are similar in consistency to NO style "french bread" like from Leidenheimers bakery. I would use that in a pinch over the denser ones I used in my experiments. Too heavy even with the guts pulled out.

What book are you referencing?

I wanted to give a background of my particular experiences with banh mi. I did post a pic of one I made, unfortunately couldn't find more of the pictures I was looking for. But I just found some more so here they are! This attempt was made with a Vietnamese "white" kimchi in place of the usual pickled vegetables. I also used a hollowed out French bread, and truffled pork and chicken pâté from fresh market. The meat is picked rotisserie pork ribs from the same.

I have never seen a crumbless banh mi! These pics are from the Hong Kong Market's Yelp page. Look at those ridiculous prices.

I have loved banh mi since this, my first one, in NYC's Chinatown in 2006: Here are some of the offerings of Duong Phong bakery and restaurant in the far east area of New Orleans. The banh mi sandwiches in the lower part of the picture are great, and cheap (sorry, no photos unwrapped). Not only do they have ,in my opinion, the second best banh mi in the NO area, but they also supply the bread to most of the other restaurants in town that have banh mi: My favorite banh mi in NO comes from Hong Kong Market on the westbank. They bake their own break as well and are also ridiculously cheap considering the quality of the sandwiches. As seen in the picture, their English isn't quite at the level of their sandwich making! Unfortunately, the only picture I have of an actual banh mi I made is one is one of my first attempts a few years back (a solid C-) : In recent years there have been a lot more restaurants offering banh mi, and presenting them with non-traditional fillings. A local food writer dubbed the vegetarian/Indian one at Pagoda Cafe one of the best dishes he had eaten all year: "Indian Banh Mi with Phyllis’ green chutney, honey roasted beets, pickled and raw vegetables and arugula "

Thanks Catdaddy, I grew up on and around the Tchefuncte River. I purposely misspell it with the funk, as an ode to Parliament/Funkadelic, and my fondness for fermented things. Kayb, I think my desert island foods would have to involve avocado and lump crabmeat. Our place is Mande's Restaurant, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It's nothing fancy, but I do slip some interesting specials by occasionally. We opened in '79, and I have done every position, but got stuck on cooking! 25 years of it so far. Thanks for saying hi, I'm looking forward to exploring this place...

No formal training here, definitely not a "chef". But have been running and managing a kitchen most of my life. Grew up in my family restaurant making scratch breakfast and lunch food for large crowds. Always learning from fellow cooks. I like to experiment in the context of specials at the restaurant, as well as at home for the family. I've been playing with Indian spices lately. I like playing around with the eggroll form. I like good beer. Yes, I can cook a mean gumbo. Here's some pictures of stuff I cook. Nice to meet y'all!