Wolfert
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Posts posted by Wolfert
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sis kebab, for example, as prepared at the hotel divan in Istanbul. I watched the chef take finely grated onion, pack it into a cloth bag, and squeeze the juice over the cubes of meat. Garlic, spices and oil were added then the meat was mixed in and left overnight. The following day, it would be threaded onto skewers and grilled.
by the way, in Syria women soak veal breast in water with a pinch of baking soda to tenderize or so they say. In fact, baking soda is added to the water when rehydrating air-dried octopus in Tunisia.
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Turks have been marinating chunks of tough goat and sheep in yogurt for centuries. If it doesn't work why do you think they continue to do it? Also, grated onion is often rubbed into the flesh to tenderize some cuts..
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congratulations, "food writer Carolyn Tille." I like the way that sounds! Your piece on the world of flavors conference is a terrific read.
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Do you ever disguise yourself when you are checking out a restaurant? If so, will you share a tip or two with us?
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zingerman's sells saba via the internet.
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You find vin cotto in almost every region of the Mediterranean:Sapa from Sardinia; saba from Emilia-Romagna, pekmez from Turkey, and petmizi from Greece. All are Mediterranean syrupy reductions made from grape must. In each
case the flavor is pure, clean, and concentrated. Any of these syrups can be thinned and used as a dip for roasted chestnuts, grilled sausages, or boiled carrots. Or they can be dribbled over mild ricotta or sweet gorgonzola, vanilla ice cream, or even a meat stew.
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Thanks so much. I will definitely call before I make a trip to Berkeley. I want to make a new batch of preserved lemons.
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However, today, at Fiesta - a chain that caters to the international, especially Latino, shopper, I saw a "sweet lemon" and purchased it in hopes that it would substitute for, or actually be, a Meyer lemon. It looks like a miniature greenish yellow-skinned grapefruit - not elongated like regular lemons, or like the picture of a Meyer on the A&M website. It's about 2.25" tall and 2.5" wide.
Since I've never tasted a Meyer lemon, I couldn't say whether its taste, once I've cut into it, will be the same as a Meyer.
Have any of you run into this type of fruit notation? And can you fill me in on its potential as a sub for Meyer?
There is a difference between sweet lemons (C. limetta Risso) which are green, very floral and sweet, and 'Meyers' (lemon X mandarin hybrid) which are vivid yellow, spicy and aromatic.
Does anyone know where I can purchase Sweet lemons in the bay area?
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In Morocco, there is a sweet lemon called lim lamsayyar. It is green, thin-skinned and small with a sweet flavor. Some Moroccans consider it the finest lemon to preserve in salt. And it is also known as "lime." or "limetta."
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For the tilted frying: be sure the oil is bubbling when you add the slices and only add enough to fry one layer at a time.
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It helps to salt the eggplant slices for an hour, then rinse and squeeze dry. The slices will look terrible but once they hit the hot oil they will return to their original shape. Also, it might help to do a few slices at a time, and tilt the pan (away from you) so that the oil totally surrounds the few slices as they fry. THis operation will take less time and take up less oil. Let me know how it works out.
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I never use a springform pan to bake a cheesecake. I use stoneware. After first blasting the cake with high heat I bake it in a slow oven at a very low temperature to avoid curdling the eggy cheese mixture, and finally finish it off in the receding heat of a turned off oven. In this way, you can serve the cake in a very attractive dish. And, this slow baking is very forgiving, it will actually produce a better cake with a fragile texture and subtle flaovr.
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Until recently, I used "food journalist." This produced wonderful results outside of the States where food writer doesn't mean much, but the magic word "journalist" seems to work in every language!
Now that I have a website, I have the address neatly placed in the corner of the card as well.
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I thought you did a great job.
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Adam:
I think you might enjoy the book La pharmacopee marocaine traditionnelle by Jamal Bellakhdar. IBIS Press. isbn 2-910728-03-x. It is a 700 page fine-printed book packed with everything you would ever want to know about traditional Moroccan food, medical uses of plants and roots, and all backed up with written arab and french sources.
Under the cork acorn listing there is a lot of material devoted to uses of the hull including the grinding it to a powder and using it in medicine. According to Jamal Bellakhdar, the glands (peeled acorns) have a very smooth flavor, are very valued for winter storage (you thought only squirrels, right?), and are eaten raw or grilled in the streets.
he also provides some historical notes: During the time of the Saadians, the sultan Ahmed Al-Mansour fought the Ait Souab tribe trying to starve them out. These particular acorns kept them alive through a particularly harsh winter.
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The famous Lindy's cheesecake is made without a waterbath, or so I've been told. Food writer James Vialls told me his father so admired the Lidny's version (and this was back in 1954), he asked his waiter for the recipe, slipping him a 20 dollar bill while telling him that his wife simply 'had to have it'
The waiter returned with the details handwritten on a paper napkin. According to these notes, at Lindy's the cake is first balsted with high heat to set the outside, then baked slowly at a very low temperature to avoid curdling the eggy cheese mixture, and finally finished the cake in the receding heat of a turned off oven.
In my own research I've found many versions of wobbly, delicate and creamy cheesecakes abked in shallow earthenware dishes set in wood burning ovens. I can't help but think this was the original way it was done before people had ovens in their homes.
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Moroccans grill acorns over embers in the same manner of chestnuts and eat them as a snack. They also boil acorns in water, then dry and grind them to a floury state before using them to make couscous.
Oddly, the Moroccans don't use chestnuts in preparing stews the way Tunisians and Algerians do. The only chestnuts they eat are imported, grilled on braisers in the street and consumed out of hand.
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The reason I use crumbled parchment paper dipped in water is I can easily fit it over chunks of food that "stick up" over cooking liquid.
As for the layer of parchment: it helps regulate the moisture level and keeps the food in place, allowing it to literally bathe in a small amount of liquid. In many recipes of the Mediterranean, I begin with a small amount of liquid and let it slowly develop deep flavor as the food cooks.
The alternative is to boil down liquid at the last minute. The flavor is never the same.
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Heard from Gourmand books that they were shipped on Monday. Anyone got theirs yet?
Mine arrived just in time for a long weekend read. It looks fantastic.
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Elie: as soon as I learn digital photography I will post the pics of these wonderful Lebanese pots.
Ace hardware sells "leadcheck." I've been told the Mexicans have a special lye they use to clear away the glaze but I don't know what it is. If anyone knows about this I'd love to read more on the subject.
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Sorry I didn't answer sooner. I 've been traveling for the book launch and didn't have access to a computer.
Mexican clay pots often have lead in the glaze, though I doubt new ones do. Anyway, to play safe, you should pick up a package of leadcheck at a hardware store and rub the insides of the pot to be sure it is lead-free. The pot looks really nice and probably only needs a short soaking and a lot of loving care.
Food man: the Lebanese visitior brought some fabulous glazedshallow pans from Beirut: one for making yogurt; another for frying eggs which reminded me of the painting of the women frying eggs in a clay dish by velasquez; and some wonderful unglazed ones for stewing meats and vegetables. As soon as I learn to do photo on the internet I'll paste them up.
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Outside California, wild fennel can be found in some Italian markets around March19, the day of the feast of Saint Joseph.
I have blanched and frozen wild fennel with great success. Wash, drain and trim away all hard stalks and any tough sprigs. Blanch for 1 minute, chill, drain well and freeze.
Common Nonsense...
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
If found the following in my notes:Science seems to support the yogurt partisans. Not only is the acid in yogurt far milder than the acids in wine, lemon juice or
vinegar, but it also contains calcium, which McGee says activates enzymes in meat that break down the muscle fiber. "It's conceivable that the calcium in yogurt may result in the same sort of tenderizing that you get when you age meat," he said. That's a good thing.