Tropicalsenior

From the fact that they have such an international market I guess the Chinese caviar is comprable to the Russian?

Ah, now that is something that I will not be envying you about. I have never developed a taste for caviar but I do love salmon roe in sushi. There is just something satisfying and soothing about those little balls popping in your teeth.

I like the way that you do it all on one pan and I like those flour tortillas.

I think my grandfather bought it new for the house when he built it in 1900. Before that I think my grandmother cooked in a fireplace in a sod house. My mother inherited it in about 1930 when my grandparents retired.

My mother absolutely hated hers. It was over 70 years old and in perfect condition but when she got her modern stove she took it apart and threw it in a garbage dump in a far Canyon. Coming from antique crazy California I really cringed when I heard that. Even then, those things were selling for big bucks. But to her it was just an ugly old used stove.

I'm not an electrician, far from it. But even that looks suspect to me. That also raises the question of how good is the electrical system in your house. I had a Farberware table top rotisserie grill that I just loved but it blew the breakers in every house that I ever lived in. The only way that I could ever use it was to plug the rotisserie in the kitchen outlet and run an Industrial extension cord to the outside BBQ area for the grill. That got old very quickly. Lots of things to consider when buying a high powered countertop appliance. Another thing is how much would you actually use it compared to a bright new shiny wall oven that would also turn out beautiful casseroles and baked goods. Another thing you need to consider. Is it a want or a necessity. I have a Hamilton Beach countertop oven that I use constantly because we are just two and sometimes three people for dinner. Although I have a full size oven I can't remember the last time that I used it. I do all my baking in the little oven. Char sui bao Stomboli It has a broiler; it's not much shucks compared to my big oven but it does get the job done eventually. Another thing that I had to consider was the fact that I live in a tropical country and to turn the big oven on can turn my whole house into an oven. Besides, if I turn my big oven on, where would I store my sheet pans and my skillets?

When I saw this I got all excited because anyone that has worked in a professional kitchen has used a salamander and they are wonderful. Then I went to check this one out. They offer two models and they both have very low reviews. The biggest oven sounds like it might, might be able to broil fish. Steak, forget it. And they even called the small one a cheese melter. I don't think that this is the way that you want to go. Sounds pretty wimpy to me.

I am just starting to see those here in Costa Rica. Guess I'm going to have to try them. Thank you

Staff note: Split from the Food History Articles and Links discussion, to maintain focus. A very interesting article, thank you. Until the early 1950s my mother cooked on one that looked exactly like this. (Picture from Bargain John's holiday sale page) Only hers was white. The compartment on the right is the hot water reservoir and the one on the left is the separate heating unit to heat the house on cold days and to start first thing in the morning to make coffee so that you didn't heat up the whole house in the summer. That was kind of an exercise in futility though because you had to heat up the whole stove to make breakfast eventually.

Wow! I just found this thread and read it end to end. As always, I am grateful to you for sharing your knowledge and for your determination to find information to share with us. Growing up in the Midwest we did not have access to fresh fish except for that terrible, boney carp from the irrigation canals. I have never been a fish aficionado but your beautiful presentation has inspired me to go buy some fish. Thank you.

As you say, so much of this is regional. I should have prefaced with, 'Here in Costa Rica...' In so many ways, Spain and Costa Rica speak an entirely different language. This is predominantly used here. I studied Spanish for years but when I came here I had to learn Costa Rican.

I always open this with trepidation when I see your name. Thank goodness, this time, the only problem is you're nuts. No body parts damaged. Oops! Typo! Your nuts.

Duh, of course!

You're right. It has ingredients that I have never seen used in Scrapple. I think that I might even like this one.

Maybe I'm just too lazy, but that seems like too much work for too little gratification. I feel the same way about peeling grapes. If I see veronique on a menu, I'm in. If I see it on a recipe I'm on to the next recipe. It must have originated back in Rome when they had slaves to peel all those grapes.

Thank you for this. I knew that there were other threads on master sauce but this one alone sent me down an 8-hour rabbit hole. I think I know what went wrong. The recipe that I started with was not good. Unfortunately I'm going to have to pitch it and start over. But at least now I will be starting out on the right foot.

I can't buy it here but I do make my own. A couple of times I have been out and have even used fresh peel. Going back over my recipe I noticed that it does call for peppercorns. Would they be using white pepper instead? Or is it just not used? I've noticed in your dinners and the meals that you have posted from restaurants that there aren't many braised foods. Is that not common in your area or just a personal preference?

That would be one advantage of the canned cherry tomatoes.

Me too! I have seen an awful lot of recipes lately that have used cooked cherry tomatoes. It sounds to me like a case of 'let's get on the bandwagon'.

Welcome! It sounds like you have come to the right place and you are the kind of people that we love to hear from. This is the most educational Forum on the internet. It's all first-hand knowledge and experience with mutual cooperation and information-sharing. You can spend absolutely hours, even days just learning new things and learning about food from other countries from our members in other lands. One of the best features is the help from other members. If you have a question about anything just start a new topic and ask. Someone here will have the answer. I know that you will enjoy being here as much as I have.

Before we moved to Costa Rica, one of my favorite foods was mashed potatoes. Because all we can get here is waxy, watery potatoes, they are impossible to make. I bought every type of potato on the market and nothing works. When we first moved here they did have a purple, almost black potato that made passable mashed potatoes but the color was so bad that I couldn't get anyone to eat them. In 30 years I have only seen imported russet potatoes twice. I have tried every method on the internet and every potato masher known to man including mixers and food processors (the worst!) and nothing works. A couple of years ago I found the solution. Costa Rica does make darn good instant potatoes. My potato masher is now a fork. I saved one of the old potato mashers that has a flat head and holes because it makes great refried beans

One of the things that Costa Rica is most famous for is bad food. Even the foreign foods that they try to imitate turn out badly. It is such a small country that it has very few Regional favorites. Most things can be found in every part of Costa Rica. Most food is so bland that they have a sauce that they put over everything. It is ubiquitous. To me, it is a cross between Heinz 57 and mud. Most Costa Ricans love it and can't go a day without it. It is called Salsa Lizano. In our particular neighborhood they do sell something that I haven't seen in other parts of the country. We have a lot of grapefruit trees in this area and they sell something called toronja relleno (filled grapefruit). The grapefruit are boiled whole, then injected with dulce de leche and rolled in sugar. They are so sweet that they take this enamel off your teeth. They are only sold by roadside vendors and I haven't seen one since the pandemic started.

In Spanish we also have vaca (f) and toro (m) and the meat is called res. Pigs can be called chanchos or cerdos and the meat is cerdo. Sheep are ovejas and the meat is called cordero. Here in Costa Rica they like to really confuse it. Any thin, crosscut slice of meat they call bifsteak which is a corruption of the English word beefsteak. I have seen bifsteak of cerdo, bifsteak of pollo (chicken) and even bifsteak of pescado. A while back I saw rosbif of cerdo. It does no good to try and explain that there can be no such thing so you just shake your head and go on.

@liuzhou I have been trying to get a Master stock going and I am having a problem. Instead of getting more intense it seems to be losing flavor. The spices that I am using are star anise, cinnamon stick, Ginger, and dried Tangerine peel. I strain them out after each use and when I use it again I add fresh spices. Is there something more that I should be using?