eugenep

hmmmm..yes you might have a point. Now that I think about it, the fermented foods on the market like miso, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sichuan broad bean chili paste is very salty and I..can't really name a fermented sauce at least that's only lightly salted But..I think it's just this intuition and judgment about the food in front of me...like this observation and past experience that gives me the confidence to know it's safe I look at the japlapenos. It smells super good, looks bright, and fresh - hell yes it's safe! (in my mind) And I balance the risk vs. reward (flavor) and it's worth it to me to ferment food at lower salt levels and the flavor is in-cre-dible!!!

Hey. I looked at the articles referenced in the links. Here is one quote: "So how often does botulism really occur in fermented foods?...I did not find a single incident of fermented vegetables, sauerkraut,...etc. " It sounds like the risk of botulism is low or nil (as I suspected). By..sterlization..you mean heat up the food above a certain temperature (e.g., 165F) or add a lot of vinegar after fermentation (which will sterilize it)? I'm hoping the latter works since I think it's too much work to cook it again and likely will be skipped. I think haresfur is correct about no MINIMUM that's safe. I believe the 2-3% is too salty. By the way, my fermented jalapenos came out great tasting. Because of the summer heat, the ferment just took 2 days to have that delicious smell and bubbles to start appearing and rising (all indication of some good ferment going on). I added 1/4 cup vinegar. The taste was super bright like a salad and it was only mildly spicy (which is surprising since it was seeds and full capsasin and all). Amazing technique. I think I'm going to do less salt going forward and I recommend it. I think it's safe.

Hey. I don't know the chance and probability of botulism but I think it's supposed to be very rare. Is this risk especially high in fermentation? I was planning to just sniff and look at it to gauge for safety and taste a little (bc a little poison is ok) Like...are there special risks in fermentation and are there indicators I should look out for (that is poison)? I was just going to look for gross pathogenic looking mold etc. at the main indicator. But yeah - bottoms up bro. lol

I saw in this interview by Fox news years ago where they interviewed this small immigrant family business in San Franscisco. They asked this immigrant herbalist and demanded answers for why this chop shop was selling medicines with MSG like characteristics that were harmful to people. She answered that this was helpful to people and that humans can actually take a little bit of poison and be ok. I always thought about this weird statement but the FDA itself permits poison and all sorts of harmful substances in our air, water, meat and so on as long as they fall under a certain percentage. So poison is actually ok as long as the amount is minimal. I don't know the exact MINIMUM ratio of salt needed to block pathogenic bacteria during fermentation. Do you? (this would be helpful) I tried to follow the famous Noma guide but the salt content is so crazy high in the book that there's no way the NOma restaurant is using it or else it would taste like sh-- I found this recipe for fermented hot sauce where you dice chilis and add salt. It was too high so I added like a teaspoon to the attached post and submerged under water. It's like I don't know if it's enough salt but I'm going to wait for the ferment and just use the taste and smell taste and follow the principle that a little poison is okay (even if the salt might not be high enough). I'm going to finish with lots of vinegar after the ferment so I think it will be ok. Does what I'm doing sound like a rational (maybe not the bestest) idea? I think it's the best given the above - i.e., that high salt ratios will make it taste like crap. small salt levels risk danger but a little poison is ok (and safe).

Nice show. I watched 3 episodes so far and hoping to see and learn new techniques. It doesn't seem as well funded as Chef's Table - like set design and resources being poured into make it and seem like a low budget show But that's cool that Bludso is on here and he won the James Beard award for best book in restaurant

I believe you and I wish her luck with that. I know she had another TV show like "Taste the Nation" or something where it was about ethnic food. I never knew she was an authority on ethnic food but it seemed like..she got the job because of her skin color and not her knowledge ,experience, or any authority of her background in ethnic food I remember she scoffed at ethnic people in one episode for "these people being so grabby" and couldn't believe how barbaric these people were It seemed..so authentic when she made her withering comments about cooks that cook their heart out etc. about their food was so blasé etc. For the above reasons I'm glad I don't have to see this fake person and hear her withering comments etc. - what a phony

I wonder if that is the only reason? I remember one CEO that said he was stepping down to "spend more time with family." and then he said - why the B.S. - okay they fired me a lot of executives say they are stepping down to "spend more time with family" but the background story seems more interesting I always thought Padma spoke in this mannered and fake aristocratic voice but I wish her luck in her new pursuits so she could spend more time with family etc.

I saw this on Eva Longeria's new Mexican food tour show. She says it's super good - maybe better than Gordo's? Has anyone tried it? I was thinking about getting it on amazon. It's just 12 cans for $15

I found this bbq book on the James Beard book nominees for 2023. It has some basic stuff like how to bbq pork shoulder, brisket etc. I thought it was just like all the other bbq books out there. But it gets really interesting after the basics of bbq. It has really good, new and interesting ideas like doing an curry but instead of the usual lamb it's with oxtail and pork hoc (I'm super going to try this) It also has recipes for the really good stuff like using pork collar and off cuts etc. that I don't find in standard boring bbq books. But Bludso also uses chick bouillon cubes, cambell' mixed onion soup powder, and I guess a lot of processed flavoring stuff which most guys cooking from scratch might not find in his pantry.

Hmmmm..yes this is interesting. I am thankful for the informative comments (that do not have the accompanying insults). But, speaking on behalf of the Luddites in this world: There was this book about CRISPR and its discovery in earlier years. I found it on the Economist best books of the year list. It was by this female scientist, one of the pioneers and early inventors of the CRISPR Cas9 process. She wrote a really good book on how the process was discovered and how it worked. I even drew diagrams to map out her clear explanations - very exciting read. I think she wrote it because there was a court battle going on on who was the real inventor and IP owner of the CRISPR Cas9 process and the book would help her case to demonstrate to the judge the real events that led to her team's discovery. But...to my point. She said that our DNA as lots of segments that appear useless with no function. We can easily edit, delete and replace. But scientists are hesitant to do so because some of this old DNA stuff (that is even harmful) might have a usefulness that we can't see and that we don't know what's going to happen when we edit and delete our DNA like this. That's why we don't have DNA edited babies coming out of the hospital regularly and it's used in special cases to save lives and alter DNA to get rid of really serious illnesses. The point she was making is that science is always limited and the effects of changes aren't always clear. This is why I take a cautious approach and would wait and see. But - ahem - its so weird when I hear people feel so confident of their knowledge that they don't seem to have this awareness of the inherent limitations CRISPR Cas9.

Hmmm...like I'm not a scientist but I do watch TV. I saw on TV those scientist at Space X tried to put a rocket in space but it exploded. Like..it seems that they have a theory and prediction but they don't know for sure if it's true or not until it's tested. That's how I understand all that science stuff. But you..seemd to imply there's something super deeper that laymen don't know. If you could share..like the process and how it's valid and stuff. Maybe your knowledge. I am curious.

Like..when a new product is released into the consumer market, it's not really clear what the side effects are. I don't work at Space X or Tesla but I always thought even the best scientists don't know if facts match theory and they have to test it. LIke..I'm trying to say that it takes a lot of intelligence to admit we don't know what's going to happen when a new thing is released and you might not see the real side effects for decades But yeah dood - u go first and I'll observe

I often heard about producing meat and veg based not on quantity but flavor. I'm glad they might actually start doing it or at least discussing it. I would be kinda afraid of side effects - like cancer etc. - and would like to know it is safe before I try.

New food movie with an original theme. The set design and the scenes are very high quality and beautiful to look at. It's about that scary type-A personality of guys like Marco White and the abuse that goes on in the kitchen to be number 1 and stuff. It's listed as a horror-thriller movie. Very much worth watching.

I would buy Wisconsin if the aging and quality standards were high. But even if they were, no US consumer would pay for fake parmigiano unless they know the quality checked out And this requires and initial upfront $$$ captial injection to improve not just quality but marketing and clever advertising They need like Rihanna, Beyonce and so on promoting it and getting the word out. And this costs $$$