Pyewacket

I am always amazed at the hostility that people in the food business visit on those who believe that animals should be treated humanely. Does that mean you would feel just fine about kicking your neighbors dog because he pooped on your lawn? I doubt it. Why does it seem incongruous that folks who love well crafted food necessarily must treat animals cruelly? I eat meat, but not foie or veal. My diet also includes a lot of vegetarian meals as well. Not because I have any emotional reason for it, it just feels healthier. I only buy free range, non factory farmed meat. It tastes better, is healthier, and generally has a higher yield because it isn't pumped up with saline solution.

I agree with you about these stupid names for chocolate desserts. Can we also put an end to "Undercooked chocolate cake with raw egg oozing from the middle" type desserts too? I dont even like that gum that squirts in your mouth. Eeewww.

Try a Bleinheim's (Pork-)Butt Biter. 1 icey Bleinheim's ginger beer (extra hot) 1 shot Jack Daniel's or Old Fashions made with blood oranges and Mr. Jack Daniels

Beautiful pictures everyone. Thanks for starting the thread Omyganache-beautiful wedding cake. Just a note of caution though.... Before putting flowers from arrangements on any edible item, make sure they are no danger to your clients... Calla lilies and the sap from their stems are extremely poisonous.

Roast Turkey!

I've been ordering form these fellows for several years now and have always been very happy with the quality I recieve and the rapid delivery. I want to grow some vanilla planifolia orchid plants and have the perfect place to do it. However, I'm having difficulty finding anyone who can sell and ship me a starter vine. Anyone here have any idea where I might get one, or several?

It seems folks here are being unnecessarily hard on vegetarians- "Pains in the asses" etc. etc. I happen to be one who you might consider a "flexitarian" although I find the label silly and pointless to the extreme. Generally, I eat a vegetarian diet. My tummy feels better if I limit my meat and dairy-that is the long and short of it. And yet, sometimes I feel the need for that extra dose of iron and protein that meat provides, so on those occassions I have some. My food choices are made by what makes me feel good when and after I eat it, not for any religious or ideological reasons. Granted there are some people out there who decide to be vegetarian to give themselves some sort of distinction that they otherwise would not have, but I believe these are the exceptions to the rule. But, "flexitarian?" When would you ever need to use this word?

May I offer a different perspective on this issue? Try to think of it from the diner's point of view. Answer: Why do people go out to eat at a restaurant, country club, etc. and what do they want to do while there? Customers pay to have the convenience of someone cooking and cleaning up for them, to try foods that they could not make for themselves, to enjoy a nice surrounding environment and enjoy the company of their friends, collegues and loved ones and to celebrate special occassions. Not included in this mix is getting educated, studying or reading huge volumes of text. They just want an enjoyable time and the pleasure of eating good tasting food. When I go out to eat, I just want a reasonably short description of what to expect on the plate, not every single ingredient. I also make restaurant choices based on what they do well and what I've enjoyed there before. It's a bummer to go to a favorite place because I was in the mood for their vegetarian lasagne (or whatever) and find they have now added roasted green peppers and shiitake mushrooms to it. I think, "Yuck! I came here to get lasagne with fresh spinach and creminis because that's the one I like! Now they go and change it just because the cook was bored with the recipe that day." The same goes for desserts. Lack of consistency is the downfall of many a terrific establishment. Your goal , especially in a place that depends on repeat business, is to know what your customers want and expect and deliver it. That's not to say you can't mix it up a bit and add a few surprises here and there. That's what keeps the work interesting for you and the experience a joy for your clients. Keep your descriptions simple and use words that evoke pleasurable experineces-creamy milk chocolate-deep rich chocolate-toasted macadamias-s'more pie-zingy lemon-sweet & salty peanuts or the like. "Exotic curd" sounds gross--could be like primordial soup.

Thank you, all of you, for your enthusiastic responses. We are still very much in the planning stages, but it looks like the move is going to happen. My husband will be going over for a 6 week introductory stint-it's actually unclear which company he'll be working for-the investment firm he works for now that is outsourcing it's presentation production to Mumbai, or the company that facilitates groups of firms doing such outsourcing. The trial period will answer these questions. Of course, politically, I have a few problems with all of this, but self-interest, job and income security seem to take precedence over political views these days. It's exciting to know that I might continue my work as a stylist in India. Thank you for your offers to introduce me around. I'll be in touch with further developments. Meanwhile, I'll try to send some images. My hubby is the IT expert, I just cook and arrange the food.

My husband has been asked to manage an IT division in Mumbai, India. We are excited and intrigued by the possibility of living in a very different country and culture for a few years. The two of us would be going along with our 8 year old son. Maybe folks here could help us with a few questions: 1. What would be the best approach to providing for our son's education? Home school? English speaking Indian schools? US Embassy school? Private? 2. I now work as a freelance food stylist. Would it be possible for me to work/teach the vocation in Mumbai? Who should I contact? 3. What are the preferrable districts around the city to find a place to live?

I have, upon occassion, eaten a parsnip dish that was good. HOWEVER!. To me, they always have a taste and smell that is way too much like male B.O.! You know, that sickly acrid B.O. that comes along with groups of deadheads when they've been camping and following the show for about six months? The one they so unsuccessfully try to cover up with patchouli oil? Yeah, that smell. Well, that's parsnips all over! Icky Icky Icky P-tang!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwww!

God! How lame! Don't these people have lives? How many times can a person watch TB roll his eyes over some plate of food before it becomes just the same redundant bore?

That's great work on the diagram! Just what I was aiming for. If you absolutely must have the silver tray for the cheese, go to your local artist or photo supply store and purchase a can of dulling spray. Use it to spray a light film on your tray to reduce the glare and reflectivity-otherwise, all the consumer will see in your photo is a bright white tray. Better yet, use the marble----some beautiful green marble will reinforce the impact of your olives and create a nice balance for the red wine. You may also want to obtain a nice wooden cheese board--there are some lovely burlwoods available that will add interesting texture and contrast to the cheese. Forget the candles-they are a nightmare to shoot and must have dark background for the flames to be visible which negates your aim for a bright airy look. Try to find some fresh grapevines with leaves and tendrils (try a florist) and maybe a few small clusters grapes of interesting variety-avoid the boring green and red seedless. Make sure not to touch them too much to avoid rubbing off the natural must on them which photographs in a lovely way. By all means- do not wash them or make them shiney-it looks fake and will draw attention away from your product. Better yet, try fresh figs or some other interesting, specialty fruit--but only a small amount as garnish. I gather from your posts that these are individual photos, not one with the cheese, wine and olives all together. Make sure that all the photos have the same, or similar elements to the overall look. That way, it reinforces in the viewer's mind a consistent message from you, the supplier. Consistent message=consistent product quality=consistent sales and consumer loyalty. Differing images and styles denotes a lack of confident vision for your product and confuses the consumer. Go in for the close up and forget the pretty foliage outside. It is to far way to register clearly any way and it will seasonalize your photo. Do you really want to use a pic with fall foliage on May 1st? If this is your first go round with this go for a season-nuetral look so you can use the photo as much as possible.

Sorry, my diagram didn't really show up properly. One more note--don't be afraid to go in close. The closer the food the more edible it looks.

Black backgrounds tend to be viewed as rather dated (1980s). Also, a dark background with dark colored food (olives, red wine) can be very difficult to light- you just get a dark photo with dark unrecognizable food. You need to aim for high contrast. Remember, the human eye distinguished almost 300 gradations of light-the camera, about 9. An easy way to light is to place the food next to a window where a good amount of daylight is coming in. Set up your camera with one side facing the window (so your shoulder is toward the window when looking through the viewfinder.) Then set up a large white card on the other side of the food to reflect light back onto the food and into the shadowed areas(see below). Shoot with your flash pointed toward the ceiling to avoid glare and bounce a diffused light onto the top of the food. l l l O l l l window food card O camera Make sure your props do not overpower the food, if food is what you are trying to emphasize. Pick props that are understated and not too fussy or with busy patterns. Look for pleasing shapes with variety to keep the eye moving around the photo. If all the shapes are the same your photo will tend to look static and boring. Make sure whatever reds are shown in the photo are not dead center and are distributed around the arrangement. (The eye tends to fixate on red.) Water down red wine or use a light red wine vinegar as most red wine photographs black in its natural form. Also stick small white cards (cut to the shape of the liquid) onto the back of your glasses to reflect light through the liquid-this is a good trick for any liquid or beverage. That's all I can think of right now, but feel free to ask any other questions. I'll try to answer them. I have to say, I'm a food stylist not a photographer, but these approaches will help you.

This depends, in large part, upon what you are photographing. Savuer shoots almost all their food with natural sunlight and some reflective cards. To get that "fade to white" that you describe, items are placed on what is known as a "white sweep" or "seamless". Basically, it's a large sheet of white paper hung from the ceiling that gently bends and covers a surface upon which the food is placed. Let me know what you are shooting and I can give you some more specific tips.

As a former pastry chef (25 years) and now a food stylist, recipe tester, developer and editor, I can truthfully say "I feel your pain!" There was a brilliant article in Gourmet a few years back entitled "Should Chefs Write Cookbooks?" The general conclusion was a resounding NO! Not only do chefs assume that home cooks have comparable equipment as they; but they also assume an easy facility with technique that one who cooks all-day every-day has. Also, they pay little mind to the hard to find and expensive ingredients they take for granted. Attention to obtaining reasonable yields is a rarity. I can't tell you how many times I've had to style recipes from chefs that are to be published in periodicals or cookbooks or used in promotional demos where the recipe is only a rough outline, ingredients are left out of the text, measurments are estimations only (" to taste" kills me!--whose taste? For God's sake, commit to a quantity will ya'?), and there is six times the filling or glaze that you really need to finish the dessert. A good indicator as to whether recipes will be successful or not can be found in the acknowledgements. If an author compliments a bunch of testers, you can bet that most of the recipes are well tested and work pretty well. Also, in the preface, if the author gives you a sense that the subject is meaningful to them and that they have a genuine history with and understanding of the subject, the recipes generally work. Forget any cookbook published originally in Europe- too much gets lost in the translation from metric to US measurements. About measurements--the reason the US standard measurement is by volume dates back to settlement times. Most Americans one or two hundred years ago were on the move and transient. Scales were expensive, breakable, inaccurate and heavy-not conducive to life on the frontier. Home cooks made do with teacups and spoons. Grant you, I'd love it if all American cooks started using metric scales for everything! Fewer headaches all around, for sure. But until the US gets with the rest of the world, we must make do in our own way, as we always have.

Good God! Your dining companions make my occasional ones look like absolute hyenas! I have an acquaintence who, no matter what she orders, dumps ketchup all over her food! Visuals matter to me a lot-it looked like a massacre. How about parents who bring their lovely toddlers, but refuse to clean up after them, leaving it all for the poor server. I don't mind the babies at all--love them, in fact--but tolerating dining in such a mess is beyond my understanding. While I enjoy tasting other dishes from time to time, I have to take issue with constant sharing of everything on the table. I enjoy ordering so that my meal is cohesive and has a pleasant flow of taste and texture from one course to another. I hate, I mean HATE, the constant passing of plates around the table and only ending up with a smidgen of half a dozen dishes that don't go together. Invariably, by the time all this passing is done, my meal is tepid and beginning to congeal---YUCK! Order what you want to eat--if you want something else, order another entree or come back again; how hard is that?

Here's another that just sends me straight up the wall--servers who haven't the slightest idea what they are serving. We were seated at a moderate, but nice restaurant and the wait started his soliloquy of the evenings' specials rambling on and on about the mahi served with baby something-or-others. He leaned down to us (both accomplished chefs) and condescendingly whispered "really, mahi-MAHI, it's like tuna!" He looked a bit perplexed when we burst out laughing!

The correct spelling for that specific mushroom is shiitake-pronounced properly, it has three (whoops!) edited, FOUR! syllables. Anything with the letters s-h-i-t in that order should be kept off menus in my view.

Back to pet peeves, I thought i might weigh in.... 1. Restaurants who bother to offer a kids menu, but don't bother to serve a fresh hot dog bun. It's hard enough for kids to eat anyway without the bun cracking in half upon the first bite. 2. Dirty high chairs and booster seats! Booster seats that pose a tipping (over) hazard when placed on the banquette or chair! Order them to fit! 3. Dishes that are clean on top, but grimy underneath--you discover this when you pull your plate closer or turn it around to access your food. 4. Sauce paintings squirted or dribbled all over the plate-as if this was art! If you use sauce paintings, make it interesting visually to enhance the look and taste of the food or don't do it at all. 5. Restaurants that ask how you want your burger, steak or salmon filet cooked, but then cannot manage to fullfill your request. Otherwise, don't ask and just cook it however the hell you want to and take your chances with my satisfaction. 6. Wet salads with bruised lettuces. 7. Entrees without balanced vegetable portions. Do I want an 8 oz. steak with only 3 green beans and 6 pounds of mashed potatoes? No! 8. Menus with mispellings and grammatical mistakes--shitake mushrooms and arugala show up frequently. 9. Architectual presentation of food. What am I supposed to do with this entree that towers a foot and a half above the plate? Knock it over and pray it doesn't land on the table or my dining companion? 10. Dining tables with stiff paper on top of a tablecloth. The rough, torn edges snag my silk blouse, or stockings etc. I halfway expect my food to be dumped on the paper in the middle of the table- as in a crawfish boil. I could go on, but will stop now.

Bananas dipped in barbecue sauce-sounds yucky, but surprisingly good. Also, my Mom used to make the family "hawaiian sandwiches"-toast spread with peanut butter, a pinapple ring and cheddar cheese, then popped in the toaster to melt the cheese. We all loved 'em! Popcorn with brewer's yeast on top is another favorite.

Cranberry and anasazi beans are my favorites--could they possibly be the same?. I love their rosey speckles and the creamy, almost herby flavor. I cook them with bay and a little thyme and serve with spinach and maybe a spicy pork chop. Yum!

Here are a couple other observations about food here around Bronxville--- There is a good little cafe in Tuckahoe that serves a terrific breakfast called the Main Street Cafe-it's just up Main St (duh) from the Train Station. We go there for breakfast quite often. The buttermilk and buckwheat pancakes are made from scratch--- hot, light and absolutely delicious. The Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine are likewise very tasty with each of holladaise made to order and perfectly poached eggs. The Crabcake Benedict is good too, though for my taste, less bread and more crab would be preferable. We've been disappointed at lunch, but if you do a great breakfast, you deserve success in my book. There is also an admirable Asian grocery store on Central Ave. around Scarsdale and Hartsdale--lots of very fresh Asian produce and every imaginable noodle, tea and spice. Avoid the fish, but if you like Kim Chee, there are about 5 different varieties to choose from. Once I found this place, I decided the only way to get good Chinese, Japanese, Thai or anything was to learn to cook it myself--a happy and enjoyable project. I think this place is called Chinese Supermarket or something like that. They also make a lot of pork buns and other dim sum there that look good, but they don't have a proper kitchen and put the items together in an area right next to the cash registers --a practice the Dept of Agriculture would stop if they saw it happening, I'm sure. More recommendations to come if I think of them.