theabroma

Cast my vote for "semi" scratch as well. That's a lot of basic ingredients to add to a mix! I confess to being a scratch snob, but after some totally memorable Pyrrhic victories in that department, including a notable one involving 3 full-sized sheet pans of pistachio baklava, where I made ALL of the bleedin' phyllo from scratch, and since I couldn't find shelled pistachios at that time, I shelled the suckers by hand (blisters for weeks), I have had to get real about some things pertaining to the juncture of scratch, clients, and a food business. The comment about clients loving the mix cakes was interesting and telling, and a great point for recovering scratch snobs like me to contemplate: so many people are so used to eating "x" made either ready made or from a box, that when they do eat the "real" from scratch item, they don't identify it as being "x", or if they do, they don't think its that good. I do a lot of traditional regional foods of Mexico and fight the "it ain't enchiladas unless it's got yellow cheese" belief all the time. The ongoing engineering of ingredients (high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated lipids, weird flaked fats in biscuit mixes)and from the laboratory taste profiles are creating a palate which a chef has to deal with. And this is especially so I find for caterers, or "hit and run" chefs where you have only the one event or especially so, cake, to put out there as your calling card. What to do? Go over to the Dark Side and sully your hands w/mixes? Be a culinary Luddite, and just pray that the scratch cake behaves and is consistent? It's a tough choice, and a good topic for discussion. It is especially pertinent to cake decorators - whose task is to dazzle with the cake's external presence and not with the cake's innards. It is difficult for those with bakery/pastry shops or businesses. And for those from the hot side who might feel the urge to tsk-tsk: how many establishments out there make a full complement of stocks from scratch, along with a true demi, and glace de viande? I ask you, would we find no Haco or Hero products on your shelves? No pre-made praline paste? I have never tried that particular cake, and I like the idea of using self-rising flour. I want to give it a test run ... it sounds like a winner for a durable layer which will be handled, decked out, stacked, and schlepped, and still be expected to taste just from the oven fresh. Theabroma

The fact that a major segment of 'French' baking and pastry is referred to as viennoiserie should tip you off to something. You mentioned the Sacher torte: the world of AustroHungarian pastry and baking is little known in this country, and grossly underappreciated. It is fabulous, exquisite stuff. Especially the torten. The best book I've found in English is by Christine Berl ... although George Lang's Cuisine of Hungary does have a decent pastry and torte section. The Bilheux and Escoffier series is great, but I would encourage you to look into the Middle/Eastern European pastry kitchen. Theabroma

An excellent point, Caro. At this point it is a bit of a slippery slope for me because I think of all wheat flour based bread as European ... but certainly these crusty loaves of pain au levain are. What of the "original" wheat bakeries in Mexico? Are you referring to things like pan de pulque, etc? I have a lovely little book on the bread making traditions in San Juan Huatzinco, Tlaxcala. Apparently it is believed that if a drunk approaches the oven as the risen loaves are being loaded, they will collapse. To counter this they traditionally built ovens with whiskey bottles in their foundations to ward off the evil powers of the drunkard. There must be a million such beliefs out there regarding this strange European stuff. Theabroma

Hello??? This is sounding more like a review of Le Grand Bouffe or Fellini's Satyricon. It makes me wonder how/where they serve the dipping oils these days. Admittedly, I would prefer not to have to dine while being served by Lord Voldemort - even if it IS Ralph Fiennes under all that Max Factor, but am I part of a dying breed that still focuses on The Plate? Just wondering. Nope. Not the style of cuisine. It says Italian, but mostly in this whole country that is either Frank Sinatra style or California. It was, indeed, the attitude of the staff I was referring to. An early dinner - barbaric! 5:30pm w/a plane to catch. Couldn't seat us because we did not have rezzies. There was not one customer, ni uno, in the entire place. Checked w/a friend who at there later in the eveing, and it was the same routine. Have heard similar complaints voiced by other, reasonable, and food savvy people in Austin. Sorry. Although I do agree with you that in most cases to take a restaurant's offerings and efforts apart based on picky reactions to waitstaff (ie: barring egregious lapses, etc.) is not fair, this seemed to be arrogance with the intent of adding cachet to the level of food served. The only people I have ever seen who could do that and deliver something so utterly stunning that you decided not to cane them to death on the spot were maitre d's and captains in NYC French restaurants of the 60;s and 70'. Outside of that, I regard it as an affectation which forebodes a big cuidado for the kitchen;s offerings. Regards, Theabroma ... who used to be blonde and thin, but is now platinum and zaftig.

The first person I ever saw using a mandoline gave himself the manicure from hell, and I consequently would not enter a room where one was kept. Then I began cooking, and was faced with a Frensh Bron mandoline in a do or die type situation. I did, and still have all of my digits. There are now a suburb's worth of Bron/Matfer clones out there, and aside from my Bron, my next favorite European-style mandoline is the Oxo ... for stability, sharpness, and ease of set up. I was fluent in mandoline when I first encountered a Benrinner - through Barbara Tropp's suggestion. I found it to be incredibly sharp, easy to set up, easy to clean (hallelujah!), but totally scary because it did not have the stability that my good old Bron did. It just took some getting used to, plus and understanding that you do not have to shred, slice, julienne, or otherwise garrotte every last little piece of whatever you might be cutting. So now I have both. I use them for different things - mainly the Bron for julienne and gaufrette cuts, and the Benrinner for the rest. Like anything else, they are both great implements. My only suggestion would be to price the mandoline at a real, gray and gritty commercial restaurant supply store (when chinois were running at 100 I go a French one for 54) and to check an Asian market with a well muscled kitchenwares section for the Benrinner. They are getting way too expensive in kitchen shops. Theabroma

Heyyyyy! This is reminding me of Edward Tillerhands! First, investigate the history of farmers' markets in Austin, especially the one up on Lamar (sorry, or is it Burnet?) and the plans for a 'mercado' in East Austin. People were still wearing black armbands for the demise of Casaraghi's and Bag o' Chicken when those debates and debacles began to crank up. Face facts: Austin now has a fledgling farmer's market scene. It could be better, but it sure could - and has been - a lot worse. Educate yourself in what it takes to run a large truck garden or small farm. Country club bitching from the 'you can't find good help anymore' school, does three things: erodes support and nurture for the new markets, pre-conditions attitudes about the value of these markets, and marks the bitchor as someone who only knows megamarts, organic or no, and while spouting the Alice Waters mantra, thrashes the produce clerk with their organic cotton shopping bag, demanding to know why there are no fraises de bois in dead December. Visit other markets. Come on up to Big Duh and check it out: City support went to build a fancy shed to sell furniture, paper flowers, and tchatchkes in ... not produce. Developers are hovering like pterodactyls chanting their Black Mass of "Highest and Best Use! Highest and Best Use!" (ie: they want to tear it down and have the City give tax breaks to them for building more high end condos, lofts, and apts, leaving downtown with only one, small sorta grocery store ... at the other end of downtown. I will say at the outset that this is not a comparison, nor should it be. But if you want to shoot for the stars and educate yourself, and have one hell of a good time, visit the Ferry Bldg market in San Francisco. The City put a HUGE amount of support behind the refurbishing of that bldg, not to mention the bldg itself, plus helping the market get going. It is just tremendous. I spent a few Saturdays there with someone helping them w/their stall, and just wandering and taking photos. That is the kind of urban gathering and exchange I should think any city would love to have, and Austin could and should. I left the Bay Area, as I often do, sad and frustrated. If there is a pulse like that here in Texas, it is quite thready. This is a state gifted with microclimates in which almost anything can have its season and soil in which to grow. We have a burgeoning wine industry, and there are, obviously, people out thre growing wonderful, hard to find varieties. It is going to take a lot of support from many different sources to stimulate and nurture the real food business in Texas. It is so ripe for it. Think about putting some of your energies there. Local chefs and restaurants will benefit, hell, everyone will benefit. It's just a whole lot harder to do than sitting around carping about it. Theabroma

I would add it as I add any other liquor/liqueur/flavoring to ganache ... but it will likely need some tweaking. Depending on what you're using the ganache for, I would start w/about 1 fl oz per cup of ganache and work from there. There are some alcohol based flavorings I use that I like to intensify, so to keep the ganache from becoming too loose, I bump up the amount of chocolate a bit. That being said, somehow I think limoncello would go best with white chocolate. I am one of those who says she would eat bat guano if it were covered in fine chocolate, but I have never developed a yen for lemon or lime and chocolate. Orange, oh my yes, tangerine, grapefruit, definitely. But not lemon. And especially not w/dark dark chocolate. I'lll have to give it another whirl, though. It's likely some idiosyncratic thing in my biochem. Please report results!! Theabroma

Any suggestions for good sources for chocolate, cocoa butter, acetate sheets, colors, etc? I am starting to work with chocolate again on a small scale, and would appreciate some leads. Thanks, Theabroma

I think the trayf thing has to do with the gentleman who travels w/5 full sets of dentures. As he explains to his eyebrow-arching hostess: one set, milchig, one fleischig, the other set the same, but for Passover. When she inquired about the fifth set, he replies with a shrug, " for when I get that occasional yen for pork!" For me, trayf is how I see it until I got the ganas for it real bad. Good thing chocolate is/can be kosher, otherwise, there'd not be any women keeping kosher! Maybe for dessert one of those Albert Adria pulled sugar raviolis filled with bacon crisps and egg foam, w/a red eye gravy sauce? Theabroma

Find people in Austin who remember Casaraghi's (it was classic, Big Night, southern Italian, but not by way of New York); or come up to Dallas and try Arcodoro/Pommodoro (Sardinian). I agree wholeheartedly with Asti as a choice, but I just do not get Siena ... it is surely huge and expensively appointed, but I have never been touched by what was on the plate. It becomes more and more difficult to understand why Italian is so hard to do well ... and why so many try to make rocket science out of a thing of the garden and the heart. Vespaio now strikes me as more California than Italy. Have they mellowed out on the attitude? theabroma

Apple tarts w/crisp, salty rendered lardons, and a dark caramel, and the more I think about this, w/prunes and a Calvados glaze, or figs, quartered and drenched in a hot, sweet bacon vinaigrette, the whole on a drift of mascarpone w/crumbled amaretti. Crisped bacon crumbled and scattered over all (recommend applewood smoked. Theabroma

Thanks. I am trying to accommodate a client with some very set notions of a Mexican Christmas meal, yet wants it to be "accurate." Thanks for the info on the cakes; I actually did know the difference, but it is often helpful to have independent clarification of one's understanding. I am trying to make this as 'accurate' as possible while not losing a client. Where the rubber of business meets the road of anthro/historical fact there is often a loud noise and smoke! Were I given carte blanche to set the menu, there are many things, including the rosca that I would not put on it! Again, thanks. And if there are any more traditional Christmas food suggestions, I would love to hear them. Regards, Theabroma

Caroline, I will have some time over Thanksgiving to play in the kitchen, and I'd like to give those batters a try. Any measurements I need to be aware of? I am assuming that the 1/5 is a volume, rather than a weight, measure. I'm looking forward to it ... who knows? Crepes for turkey w/after the fact mole sauce????? Thx, Theabroma

I found an article on Discovery about an early 'micro brewery' and beer bust from the archaeological record in Peru, and it was too good a read to pass up. Apparently the whole enterprise was devoted to making chicha, or corn 'beer', and the patrons drank it dry, smashed their cups, and torched the establishment. It added some perspective to directly fermented corn; besides, it's fascinating! http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20051...w01-101-ae-0000 Theabroma

Flor de Lis in the Condesa? Really good tamales. Of course, there are the street and market vendors. But Flor de Lis has napkins. Lots of napkins! Theabroma

I scribbled this for the Texas forum a long time ago: it is a how-to guide for eating tamales in the car ... but while driving in Texas. For Mexico, you'll have to make the necessary adjustments in situ. As for driving in Mexico City ... I will defer to Shelora and Caroline on that one. It is the one place in Mexico where I have not put shoeleather to the pedal. The traffic is thick and aggressive. The decision is, really, a personal one. Better that you are w/someone who is relatively familiar with the DF. Preferably only in daylight hours, and stick to main streets ... it's the vehicular rubbernecking in strange and quaint little neighborhoods that can get you into situations you'd rather avoid. This does not, however, mean that the major thoroughfares are ok. When I returned from Puebla to Texas, I was advised not to take Hwy 150, a huge interstate that would shoot me way up north in no time; instead, I took a lovely, b ut slow route through southern Hidalgo, Queretaro, and thence north through SLP. The reason I havce been given is that in my car, with "placas gringas" (Texas/US license plates) I would be a sitting duck for any police interested in a, um, gratuity. So, ask around. HOW TO DRIVE AND EAT A TAMAL AT THE SAME TIME: a) get A LOT of napkins at the tamaleria as you're leaving. Don't be shy about the knowing looks you'll be getting - they KNOW what you're doing with all those napkins. They do the same thing. b) have newspaper - or buy one (the Dallas Morning Snooze is, in my book, printed just for this purpose). Put it on the seat next to you. Place bag of tamales on newspaper, put napkins between seat back and tamal bag. c) start car, engage gears, stream into traffic. Personally I find freeway traffic easier to deal with than neighborhood or neighborhood collector streets - too many other people in their cars eating tamales on the sly. Their hands get greasy and slip on the shift knob or steering wheel, creating awkward turns and speed changes, plus in panic tamal falls and slides down leg to floor of car. Foot jerks to knock it away, but it gets on sole of shoe. Inattention to road due to attention to spicy grease slick on leg, leads to tailgaiting. In attempt to avoid rear ending the next car, foot applied briskly to brake pedal slides off due to stepped-in tamal residue. Get the picture? It ain't pretty. d) although you can pre-open tamal bag, this is really cheating. Once you have the car moving through traffic at a steady pace, and you have a sense of flow patterns, remove right hand from steering wheel and reach into tamal bag. Insert hand into neck of bag, and open fingers widely - thus opening the neck of the bag. Next, feel the foil package of tamales and make sure that they are running longways back of the seat to the dash rather than driver door to passenger door. Now, insert your index finger into the foil, and gently inchworm it down the length of the tamales. Make sure that the opening is long enough to permit lifting one out without having to tug at it. e) ease a tamal out and put it on top of the bag. Push the tie off (if there is one). Flip the tail of the tamal open, grasping the body of the tamal with your thumb and 2nd through 4th finger. Use your index finger to run down the flap of the corn husk. Now grasp the opened flap with your index finger and your thumb, and with a smart wrist snap the tamal should roll out onto the bag, leaving you with the husk in your hand. Slip this back into the bag. f) Calm yourself at this point. Think about what's waiting for you. Make sure that you are still feeling the flow of traffic. g) pick up the tamal, in all its glistening nekkid glory and munch away. you will, undoubtedly be wearing something on top that is made of either cashmere or silk. You will have scarfed tamal No. 1 without incident, and you're now feeling pretty frisky. You go for no. 2. h) almost to your destination, you realize that you've decimated half of your stash. You call yourself to task, readjust yourself in your seat, sitting up and forward a little more, but with greater resolve. At this point the smell is all about you, and the well-described after-tamal niceness in the mouth is more than you can bear. You go for another one, not really caring if you are wearing chinchilla, polyester, or sack cloth and ashes, when something hooks the corner of your left eye. You snap your head around, half tamal protruding from your mouth, bits of masa settled into your cleavage, and pork in red chile sauce polkadotting your blouse to find that the car that has pulled up next to you at the stop light has Johnny Depp in the passenger seat, and that he is staring right at whatever that funny thing you have in your mouth is. And the real problem is you're about to swallow what remains of the last one, and you haven't anything but greasy cornhusks to offer as an explanation. Who says you can't eat tamales in the car? Regards, Theabroma

I ducked for cover on that one! I know that the rosca is for King's day, and relates more to mardi gras stuff that Christmas. But I stand chastised!!!!!! Thanks for the suggestions and keep them coming!\ Theabroma. PS: I am making savory and sweet tamales. T.

A further suggestion: bag the peach brandy and get out the Wild Turkey. Do this blanching and slipping of onion skins w/a friend. Fish each onion out of the ice water, and hold it between your thumb and index finger, near the blossom end of the onion. Press firmly, et voila ... a naked onion. An afternoon spent shooting pearl onions at each other while sipping bourbon is a great way to unwind. Regards, Theabroma

Thanks! And I am assuming that the leg is boned out, stuffed, and rolled? And then roasted (duh! Sharon, it likely won't be boiled!). And as for the bacalao, if I were to try to serve it in someting other than a dish to spoon it out of, can you think of an appropriate item to act as a dish to mouth conveyance? A tiny tortilla? A crisp totopo? A baby gordita? Or, just a crouton or cracker? I'm trying to stick as close to the tradition as I can without scaring the ladies who requested an 'authentic' Mx Christmas meal. Thank you Caroline. I sign off smiling over the image of a veritable porcine chorus line at the butcher's!. Theabroma

A sleep-aided recollection: you can incise a small 'x' in the base of the onion, not deep, but through the root hairs and dry skin, and barely into the flesh, and then blanch them after water returns to the boil for 1 minute. Shock. The skins will (largely) slip off. This is a not entirely foolproof, but much easier way to undress the little beasties. Theabroma

Hi, back, Dominicana!. I, too, adore tripitas, or intestines fried Mexican style. The pipiam, does the sauce also contain nuts or seeds of any kind? Like pepitas or ajonjoli? Fried or toasted and ground? Thanks, and yum ! Theabroma

1. Dry, and in a place where (dry) air can freely circulate around them 5. Yes! Ask Beulah. She's got the peeling technique down pat. Trim the blossom end straight across just above the head of the onion bulb. Using a paring knife - a tourne or bird's beak works great - peel the skin off. Trim the root end. 2. They're like any other onion: they will retain color. For the red ones, they will pale out a touch when peeled, and the yellow ones will not be so intensely yellow. 3. They are great in the Southern tradition: blanched until knife tip tender, then put in a cream sauce. They are also wonderful blanched, shocked, then sauteed in butter w/a bit of water and sugar - caramelize them. A drizzle of good, fairly old balsamic is a nice finishing touch. 4. I would put them, caramelized, around a turkey, though it does make carving it tidilyl a bit of a crap shoot. Creamed, I'd serve in a separate dish - Havilland, with a Francis I serving spoon. Theabroma PS: Seriously, if you cannot cajole someone into peeling these little suckers for you, I recommend you sit down with the container of onions, a bowl for skins, a bowl for peeled ones, a good paring knife, and a bottle of peach brandy. T.

Please, please describe this. It sounds very interesting and I'm wondering if it's a lost relative of Mexican pepianes? Regards, Theabroma

I am putting together a menu for a lunch party featuring a selection of traditonal Mexican Christmas foods. I am looking at ensalada de Navidad, ponche, tamales of course, and a rosca de reyes (also a tres leches because the hostess has requested one). I would really, really love to hear any suggestions on some traditional, regional items ... both for this event and just for all of us to try. Yucatan? Veracruz? Michoacan? Puebla? Queretaro? Hidalgo? All of the other regions. I know that there are candies, and I do know some special enchilada combinations, but what about breads? cookies? soups? and especially corn masa antojitos? Mil gracias, Theabroma

Find the best sushi restaurants in Austin, make friends with the sushi chefs and owners, and ask them where they get their fish. Kyoto on Congress used to be wonderful. I have purchased fish from the sushi restaurant or made contact with their supplier and arranged to purchase directly from them - but you may need to 'co-op it' because the quantities can be more than you might be able to handle. I would also be a bit wary of farmed fish for sushi or sashimi - parasites can be an issue if the fish was not frozen, and farmed salmon, aside from being rich in omega 6 fatty acids, is also rich in polycholorinated biphenyls. Theabroma