Tropicalsenior

Speaking of chopsticks, did they originate in China or other parts of the East. Although they make perfect sense it's strange that no type of Western cutlery has ever become popular. Is there any reason for the different shapes of chopsticks? For example some are square and some are round. How far back into history can they trace the chopstick?

Thank you. That does answer my previous question very well but I do have another. I have always heard that the reason for cutting food into bite-size pieces before cooking was because of a shortage of cooking fuel. But I have also heard that it is because it is considered discourteous to expect a guest to have to cut up anything. Is there any truth to either of these?

Your food photography is always amazing. You make real food look as good as the food stylist do with the fake food. Love that butter dripping off the bread.

I think that the perception of most of us in the western world is of the Chinese home cook crouched over a wok on a brazier fed with twigs and cow chips. With the advances that China has made I suppose that many home cooks have kitchens that resemble those in the West. Just as their style of cooking has to have changed, has the type of food that they are cooking changed? With the transport and availability of food from other regions, has it caused them to be less regional in their home cooking?

Plus they have the centuries-old traditions of drying, pickling, and preserving their food. Then again, maybe it's because they tried it and they just don't like it. I can't say that I would blame them for that. Frozen food has never become a tradition in Costa Rica for two reasons. One is the fact that most people have refrigerators with tiny freezers and the second is that many people have to travel a great distance to buy their food and by the time they got home, by bus or on foot, it would be mush.

I can well imagine. These sound absolutely ghastly. Although I suppose that comparing the two types, Chinese and European, is like comparing apples and oranges.

The label on that is intriguing. Are they bottled in Spain for the Chinese market or are they imported in bulk and bottled in China. I find it interesting that it has a Spanish name and English lettering with the Chinese label. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember seeing olives on some of the dinners that you make. Which do you prefer, the Chinese or the European?

It looks beautiful and so juicy. What cut of meat did you use?

Yesterday I made some of @Duvel's Leberkaese. It is wonderful. For dinner, I cut it in thick slices and fried it. I served it with potato pancakes, a rich pork gravy, Jessica's pineapple casserole, and a simple green salad. My Nicaraguan housemates loved it and they can't get enough of Jessica's casserole. I almost forgot. We had @shain's Basque cheesecake for dessert.

Thank you so much, but now I'm completely confused. Are all the pasta type dishes in China called noodle dishes? Do they use a lot of different types of pasta? Then there's always the inevitable question. Who made them first? The Italians or the Chinese. I have a hunch that the Chinese were making them long before the first Italians we're still trying to find the wolf.

Most welcome - and thanks to you I made a batch for lunch 😉 Before ... It takes a heavy beating I might not have beaten my pork mixture enough.

I grew up on German sausages in Nebraska. It's great to be able to enjoy that unique taste again. My next project though is going to be @liuzhou's Lorne sausage. I've never tasted it but the flavor profile sounds interesting.

It doesn't taste terribly salty so perhaps I could up the amount that I used.

I did use pink salt but mine is about 3 to 4 years old. I'm not sure what the expiration date is on something like this because mine was bought in bulk.

I just made my first batch of this. I followed the recipe down to the last gram. Did have to use nutmeg instead of Mace because it's impossible to find here and used cornstarch, as you suggested, instead of potato starch for the same reason. It didn't turn out as Pink as yours but the texture and the flavor are wonderful. It's something that I am going to be making regularly. The next time I might try it with half beef and haft pork. Thank you so much for the recipe. Now if I can just find your recipe for wurstsalat, I will be in business.

Somehow I suspected that.

You drive me crazy with this orzo. Can you actually buy that in China? My favorite pasta and I can't get it here. Maybe you ought to do a feature just on the noodles and pasta of China.

Great idea! I love carpaccio. Thank you.

That's the kind of meat that we get in Costa Rica. It's a part Brahma cow and all free range. No fat whatsoever and impossible to ever have a juicy steak.

It seems like this is what started the whole subject.

It sounds like a great idea but again, I live in a third world country and the closest thing that I can come to a torch is rhe neighbor's welding torch or my barbecue lighter. It gave me another good idea though. I can pop it under the broiler for a few minutes. Thank you.

According to Wikipedia, pea floater is also correct. The pictures that I saw of a pea floater looked just like yours.

The article said that he was a gentleman farmer. Obviously he didn't do the dipping himself. However, the story of being able to run it through their books without paying the taxes was amusing. Hence, the whole reason for the name.

Oh my word! It is Heavenly. I followed the recipe down to the exact gram. The only thing that I changed was the pan. I don't know the capacity of the cupcake pans but the diameter of the hole is just a little bit over 3 in. I filled the pans almost full and the amount in the recipe was perfect. I baked them 25 minutes instead of 35 so they didn't get black like a real Basque cheesecake but the flavor and the texture are wonderful. The only problem now is not to eat them all so that I have some to share with my housemates. I like the fact that the ingredients are something that I always have on hand. It is definitely one of the easiest cheesecakes that I have ever made. I'll be making this again and again.