eG Foodblog: Peter Green - Bringing Bangkok back home

[racheld]

Inveigling coffee and a wall of garlic---sounds like Paradise to me.

And we have our own garlic wall, located somewhere out the back door, and depending on the breeze, somewhat beyond the potting shed and not quite to the arbor---the strip mall hidden behind our immense back shrubbery (Sleeping Beauty's Prince would STILL be trapped en vert) has a Chinese buffet/Mongolian Grill which cranks up those woks about ten of a morning and sends a siren call out for blocks around.

I'll be in the garden, and suddenly---whoosh!---a breath of garlic to set the tastebuds on point and play havoc with any vampiric types still about in the light of day. It's deliciously-scented, but about two p.m., you just wanna smell flowers for a while.

Loving the travels, the cooking, your home; your little one is beautiful (and handy in the kitchen).

[C. sapidus]

Peter: I am so looking forward to tagging along with you and the family this week, although I will miss Scud. From a purely selfish standpoint, the more Thai food the better, of course. And sign me up for any airline that serves red curry beef.

When you are in Egypt, how do you satisfy a craving for jungle curry? Can you get Thai ingredients in Egypt, or do you have to pack in enough supplies to last? I am especially curious about fresh produce – can you find, oh, apple eggplants, or do you substitute?

[prasantrin]

Are you in Egypt? I always thought you were in Kuwait or Qatar. Exactly where are you? And what do you do? I has assumed in the past that you were in the foreign service, but now I'm thinking oil business...

[Abra]

This is a really fun melange of cultures! About that Thai chicken rice, before we were living in France our neighbors were Thai, and when they served us the chicken rice they explained that the secret is that all of the skin is left on the chicken while the rice is cooking, so the rice absorbs all the fat and flavor from the skin. It was indeed delicious.

[milgwimper]

Wow I had that energy once and loved hand mixed milk shakes, but then somehow the energy desserted me. But I still hand mix ice cream til I get the soft serve consistancy.

Thanks Peter your blog is so interesting, and the food. Oh the chinese cookie like thing I forgot the name! They look so good you have to send me some now!

[Peter Green]

This is a really fun melange of cultures!  About that Thai chicken rice, before we were living in France our neighbors were Thai, and when they served us the chicken rice they explained that the secret is that all of the skin is left on the chicken while the rice is cooking, so the rice absorbs all the fat and flavor from the skin.  It was indeed delicious.

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I agree, it can be very good. I think my cursed karma came into play and lured me to the one chicken rice stand that couldn't deliver very well just when I had Yoonhi with me. I did get to the Montien for theirs last October, and it was good (but would I rather have had a nice yam som o?)

[Peter Green]

I love the smell of fresh mint. As soon as you pick it up and stuff it into a shopping bag, your nose is just happy. What could be a better way to end your day than bouncing home, the Rover trapped in a cloud of mint? (Well....maybe basil.......)

Mint (as reverently referred to), rocket, spring onion, baby eggplants, a green mango (nice and sticky to the touch, some coriander, a tenderloin, chicken breast, and a deboned leg of lamb. But the lamb’s for tomorrow. Yoonhi bought me a tagine, and I want to try that out.

Oh, yeah, there’re some limes, and some green beans, too.

I’ve now got the tenderloin in for a quick marinate job. Garlic, soy, sea salt, and fresh cracked black pepper. Simple. I’ll get the grill warming, and then turn my attention elsewhere.

And Serena and I have some ice cream to make tonight when she’s finished with her baseball tryouts.

[MarketStEl]

Things look mighty delicious after three days of posts, especially that tenderloin you've got marinating just upthread from this post. So far, this is a very interesting trip. I do know a little more about Thailand than I do Estonia, and a good bit more about its cuisine, thanks to the presence of Thai restaurants on this side of the Pacific, but any visuals you can provide of Bangkok the city by day would be greatly appreciated.

Looking back from fridge number 2, you get something of an idea of what a mess the place is.  Our accommodations here are okay, but I would kill for a bigger kitchen.

I'd kill for a kitchen the size of yours -- though it does look like it's somewhat underendowed in the counter-space department, or maybe I'm just confusing stuff on your counters for lack of counter space. My experience has been that urbanites simply don't have huge kitchens unless they have equally huge bank accounts.

I’m going to hold off on the fridge shots for just now, as, frankly, the freezer sections of our fridges terrify me.  I can deal with the general purpose cold storage, but things get kind of scary with what we’ve squirreled away in the deeper sections.

Don't hold off too long. We can take it; we're a tough crowd -- very little scares us.

Having said that, I’ll toss up a teaser of the main pantry.  Everything we drag back, or figure we’ll need in depth goes in here (well, almost everything…there is that section in the closet…)

And what’s needed at hand, along with some of the dry herbs and spices, goes into the small cupboard by the sink

My eyeball estimate is that your pantry would take the prize in the "Condiment Creep" derby begun in this forum in July.

Since our Egypt days, we’ve taken to distilling our water with countertop units.  The sludge we pull out scares me almost as much as our freezer section.  And we’d seen a string of our friends suffer kidney stones from bottled waters (they used them for everything, even boiling vegetables, which goes beyond overkill).

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I'm not surprised to hear that the quality of the public water supply leaves something to be desired -- why Americans seem to think the same thing about their public water supply is a bit more mystifying, aside from the fact that in many cities, it runs through decades-old unlined cast iron pipes -- but I am surprised to find out that the quality of bottled waters could also stand improvement. Sounds to me like it's far safer to avoid water entirely and stick with disinfectant beverages like wine or beer.

Carry on, blogger!

[Peter Green]

Sandy, I'll have time on Thursday, so we'll do a magical mystery tour of the fridges, freezers, and pantries.

As for the kitchen, it's bigger than some, I will admit. When we first moved here they put us in a double wide trailer. Now, cooking in that was a challenge (bathing in that was a challenge!).

Anyways……I figured that (as usual) I was making too much food, so we invited a pair of friends over at the last minute. As she’s having her birthday today, it seemed like the thing to do. One of many pleasant things about life here is that are friends are close at hand, always ready for an experiment (isn’t that why Stalin built The House on the Embankment?)

So, where were we?

Ah, yes, the meez!

Yoonhi’s out with Serena at stuff (there’s a lot of “stuff” in Serena’s schedul) so I’m free to mess about to my heart’s content. What’ve we got here?

Salad fixings: rocket, mint, coriander, peeled green mango, lily flowers, chopped red chilis for the dressing, grated palm sugar (it just looks like cheese), my piece of lamb for tomorrow, mashed garlic for the curry, chicken for the curry, coconut milk, chicken stock, limes for the salad dressing, chilis for garnish, eggplants for the curry, pea aubergine, green beans, green curry paste, julienned kaffir lime leaves….

oh, yeah, and the basil and green pepercorns.

I share the enthusiasm that Nicole Krazinski and Stuart Brioza of Rubicon have for the fresh green peppercorns of Thailand. I like the Malagash pickled ones, too, but these are just so clean and….well…different.

The chili flowers are sort of therapeutic, except when I slit open a nerve on my fingers, but that doesn’t happen too often.

I’m giving a variation of Susur Lee’s lamb recipe (see the WGF thread) a try. An Indian flavoured pesto type marinade for the meat. Lots of coriander. If things don’t go too far astray I’ll get to try out my new tagine tomorrow

I’ll fish the lamb out of there tomorrow. This looks someewhat wetter than Susur’s version.

I’ve pulled the meat off the grill. It was seared, then slow cooked for awhile. It’s just off of rare now, and can finish in its own time.

meanwhile it’s time to work up the curry, coconut, and kaffir lime leaf.

cook up the chicken first, then add stock, reduce, and then add coconut milk, pea aubergines, green beans, and eggplant.

throw the salad together, and then hit it with the lime, nampla, sugar, chili dressing (in the glass), and garnish with green mango, chili flowers, and lily flowers.

Yoonhi figured that Serena would never survive dinner, so she had some kim bap on hand for her.

There’s the salad tossed about. I think I lost sight of the meat in all the greens. I’ll change my proportions next time (I used a bigger tenderloin last I did this).

The curry’s not as pretty as it could be, but tasted alright. Our friend packed all the leftovers home for herself.

Serena unpacked her special “gold bar chocolates” (“it’s a limited edition, you know?”) from the fridge to share with all of us.

And then we spooned out the ice cream onto some of the mangoes we keep in the kitchen. You always need a mangon on hand. I contrasted the home made Szechuan peppercorn version with the Baskin-Robbins Vanilla. Can you tell which is which?

The peppercorns worked well in the ice cream. There was none of the numbing I’d expected. I think the cold surpresses the active ingredient. But there was a definite flavour on the finish, when you had done with the pure creaminess of the ice cream, and you took in a breath to clear. That’s when you caught that hint of the province of Szechuan.

Not a bad little meal. Could’ve been prettier, but our friends were happy.

Okay, it’s 9:41. Time to get unconscious. I’ll try to get up early tomorrow to talk about Khun Mechai Viravaidya and his restaurant.

[Peter Green]

I'm not surprised to hear that the quality of the public water supply leaves something to be desired -- why Americans seem to think the same thing about their public water supply is a bit more mystifying, aside from the fact that in many cities, it runs through decades-old unlined cast iron pipes -- but I am surprised to find out that the quality of bottled waters could also stand improvement.  Sounds to me like it's far safer to avoid water entirely and stick with disinfectant beverages like wine or beer.

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Water is a tricky subject. Too much in the way of minerals, and stones seem to become a problem. But rig workers from the 70's can attest that drinking only distilled water will leach the minerals from you and cause even more problems.

We've always taken the path of drinking the table top distilled stuff - it actually tastes to me like what I drank from the tap in Vancouver as a child. I seem to remember that, back in the 70's and early 80's Vancouver tap water was considered pure enough for lab experiments. That, sadly, is no longer the case, with blurps of brown sludge coming out sometimes now when I'm back in town for a visit.

In Houston it struck home that I could buy a case of Black Label beer for less than the cost of an equivalent volume of water.

I was happy then.

And for cooking we use the "sweet water" from the tap. This stuff is pretty heavy in salts and other stuff, but it's getting boiled, so it should be safe enough....just give me a moment to confer with my second head here.

Bottled water on the table is another matter. We pay more per volume for San Pellegrino and Evian than we do for oil. And the waitstaff push it upon us with mercy. And at home people will stock crates of bottled water about the place (we do too - in part so we have bottles to take with us to keep hydrated, and in part so we have empties in which to store chicken and other stocks).

Anyways, time for bed.

[Peter Green]

I’d mentioned before that I was prone to getting stuck in ruts. Some of these ruts I really enjoy.

It was just after our first trip to Thailand. Yoonhi was just back to work and was immediately being asked if she’d been to this restaurant being talked about in Time magazine.

“What restaurant?”

Next trip, we had to go. How could you not go to a place with a name like that? At the least, we figured, the food would be safe.

The food was excellent, and had me even more excited about Thailand (yes, that is always possible).

If you’re not familiar with the story, Khun Meechai Viravaidya, the son of a Thai father and Scottish mother, educated in Australia, has been an extremely active (and effective) agent for change in Thailand. In particular, he’s recognized for his work in AIDS control, having earned the title of “Mr. Condom” for his role in getting the Thai people to help stop the advance of disease. He’s been an activist, a politician, and has set up one of my favourite restaurants.

The Cabbages and Condoms story went back to 1978, when the Vietnamese ground offensive (which followed the earlier probe in 1977 – I remember seeing that on TV) swept the Khmer Rouge out of Phnom Penh and into the hinterland. Breaking the Khmer Rouge had to be done, but, as the guerrilla ware settled in, the result was a situation where hundreds of thousands of Khmer refugees were seeping into Thailand as the only safe harbour. By late 1979 the situation in the camps was becoming very bad, and the international community, with the Thai government, was trying to keep things under control. One of the volunteer groups, the German Volunteer Service, had an association with Khun Mechai’s PDA (Population and community Development Associationt), and called upon him to help.

To quote from Thomas D’Agnes’ autobiography “ Mechai viewed refugee relief as community development with an abbreviated time frame”.

PDA’s role was to help in the distribution of supplies to the camps. One of the big problems in these situations is the sudden arrival of “middlemen” in the distribution chain, and circumventing these became crucial to getting the supplies to the camps.

To do this, PDA on soi 12 Sukhumvit took up coordinating the direct purchase and distribution of produce. This was only possible due to the earlier history of PDA in working with the villages across the country, establishing a network or local connections.

I’m getting awfully long-winded on this. Sorry.

With all the extra produce around, soi 12 was getting to look like an open market. The local residents asked if they could buy some of the excess food that wasn’t fitting into the shipments, and Khun Mechai set up a small shop to sell the produce, along with souvenirs that the PDA already had been selling to help fund the organization (such as key chains, t-shirts, and condoms).

That shop was called Cabbages & Condoms.

Now, you can’t have any group of Thais in one place for long without having some place to eat, so a small outdoor café popped up with the shop. Soon the restaurant had a reputation for their som tam and laab gai (chicken laab), and started drawing people down soi 12.

When we first arrived, in 1990, the restaurant had expanded to an air conditioned extended house (thank heavens for a/c). By the late 1990’s they’d extended, adding on another dining room and an upstairs open-air area.

C&C has a lot of dishes I love, but,, as I often travel alone, I’ve honed into a few that I like more than the others, and that allow me to get more flavours. What I ate last week was pretty much the “single guys’ lunch” for me.

First up were the chaw muang. This is one of those things I’m not going to do at home, so I wait for tha opportunity to get back here and order a plate. Glistening little purple dumplings with chicken and onion inside. Sometimes we forget the name, and then they’re just known in our family as “the purple things”. For a couple of years they changed the food colouring, and they were blue. We still called them “the purple things”. Now they’re back to being more of a purple colour.

The appetizer menu here is very good. They’re the fussy little steamed and fried (tung thong) things that I’m not likely to undertake in my own kitchen. If I’m here with the family, we always come at noon grabbing a table from amidst the Japanese lunch ladies that throng the place, and work our way through the small dishes.

Another favourite is the crispy duck salad. Today’s was a little too crispy, but normally it’s a good balance of succulent meat and snappy skin, all mixed into a yam (salad).

I consider a perfectly good meal to be three different yams. With that I can be content. I know, I know, this goes against the Thai definition of a meal. I’m a heretic, especially as I avoid rice, which can be too filling for me, cutting down on the variety of other dishes.

The third dish is the goong chaer nam plaa, “ceviched” prawns in garlic, chili, lime juice, and nam plaa, with some bitter gourd for contrast. My separate shot of this didn’t work, but you can see them here on the plate. This is the hot and fiery element of the meal.

And when you leave, you don’t get an after dinner mint. Take your choice of sizes (and I won’t say which is which).

Time to get to work. See you later.

(note - edited for a coconut)

Edited September 26, 2007 by Peter Green (log)

[prasantrin]

I've only been to Cabbages and Condoms once, and I didn't really like what we had. Krathong thong and khao tang na tang (sp?) are two of my favourite appetizers/snacks, but I didn't like what they did to them. The krathong thong filling was pasty, and the khao tang na tang dip/sauce was too sweet. I probably shouldn't complain about the sweetness, though, because I find most Thai food in Thailand to be much sweeter than what I'm used to. I will have to try the crispy duck salad if we go again.

There's a branch of Cabbages and Condoms in Kyoto now, by the way. I haven't been, yet, but one day I'll try it. It's quite a bit more expensive than the one in Bangkok, though!

[Peter Green]

I've only been to Cabbages and Condoms once, and I didn't really like what we had.  Krathong thong and khao tang na tang (sp?) are two of my favourite appetizers/snacks, but I didn't like what they did to them.  The krathong thong filling was pasty, and the khao tang na tang dip/sauce was too sweet.  I probably shouldn't complain about the sweetness, though, because I find most Thai food in Thailand to be much sweeter than what I'm used to.  I will have to try the crispy duck salad if we go again.

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I wasn't thrilled with the khao tang, I must admit. But I don't mind the sweetness, as long as there's variety in the other flavours on the table.

But you're right, when things go sweet out here, they go very sweet. Have you noticed how the Coke is wayyyyyyy more sugar loaded in Thailand than it is in North America? As a mixer with Maekhong I have to add soda to get it down to the point where I'm not courting diabetes.

My disappointing Thai meals are generally outside of Thailand. Blue Elephant opened a place in Bahrain that folded a little while back. Everything I tried there was sweet, relentlessly so. And Blue Elephant has a good (if expensive) reputation elsewhere. I was told afterwards the trick is to eat at the weekend buffet, and not try to order ala carte.

There's a branch of Cabbages and Condoms in Kyoto now, by the way.  I haven't been, yet, but one day I'll try it.  It's quite a bit more expensive than the one in Bangkok, though!

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Somehow the words "Kyoto" and "expensive" fit well together. I'm thinking of meeting Scud there next year, and my wallet is already moaning.

[Peter Green]

I've strayed. I've been posting in other threads.

Maybe we need an egulleters anonymous group?

Still, when I saw my daughter run in terror from the box of moon cakes we brought back, I figured I had to write something.

Edited September 26, 2007 by Peter Green (log)

[insomniac]

I've strayed.  I've been posting in other threads. 

Maybe we need an egulleters anonymous group?

Still, when I saw my daughter run in terror from the box of moon cakes we brought back, I figured I had to write something.

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my son would be running fast but in the opposite direction, would hate to see his cholesterol reading right now (love mid-Autumn festival.....and durians)

[racheld]

First up were the chaw muang.

Enchanting little pansies on a plate!!! How can you NOT go there at every chance and have these?

Knowing they were waiting and available just a little journey away would have me over there often---even if I did not order them for myself, I'd be the rude old lady peeking over everyone's shoulders for a look at their lunches. I'd love to watch the flying fingers in the kitchen---dumpling making seems to have been a part of almost every culture's evolution, and the shapes and crimps are fascinating.

And your meez---I could frame and hang that in my kitchen---it's lovely, with all the colours and shapes and unusual herbs and vegetables. "Pea" eggplants? For the size? We have these in the garden from time to time, and just call them the little round stripey ones.

[Peter Green]

"Pea" eggplants?  For the size?  We have these in the garden from time to time, and just call them the little round stripey ones.

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"Little round stripey ones" is right up there with "purple things". I like that term.

Edited September 26, 2007 by Peter Green (log)

[Peter Green]

So, we did C&C yesterday. Today, another iconic restaurant, but one I’ve never been to before. Sarah-Jane’s.

I was surprised at the location. I seemed to remember it on Wireless, but my latest Nancy Chandler map (I have the utmost respect for her. I’ve been collecting her maps over the years) showed Sarah-Jane’s down on Narathiwat. Just head past the Chong Nongsi BTS station, across Sathorn, and then keep your eyes open on your left.

I’d read about her before, in James Eckardt’s Bangkok People, a collection of short pieces he’d done for The Manager, back in its heyday when they had money to pay people. People like James. That was in 1992. Right now he’s with the Nation, but he’s also gracing the editorial headings for Bayon Pearnik, my favourite Phnom Penh magazine (www.bayonpearnik.com). Warning, it’s not for the…. well……you decide. If you like dirt biking, bars, and bars, and general irreverance, it’s not bad.

So, here I was at Mrs. Sarah Jane Angsuvarnsiri’s restaurant, famous for its Isaan Italian cuisine.

I wasn’t here for the Italian.

The room was great. Clean, tidy, and very white. And jammed with Thai on their lunch break tucking in. Steel tables, steel chairs, and big windows with lots of light. No pretension whatsoever.

I felt quite out of place. (You’re going to have to figure out when I’m joking or not)

Isaan food calls for two items.

Som tam and laab

The som tam was good, brutally spiced, and the sauce just right for the basket of khao niao (sticky rice) I’d ordered. I’d ordered it with salted crab (you can just spot the black claws in their if you squint) which gives it a neat twist.

As a question for the folks out there who know more than me, though (so we’re talking a big audience here) I though that som tam Thai had tomatoes, whereas som tam Lao went more for fermented fish. Does som tam Isaan go for tomatoes?

I ask as I was at a place in Udorn back in ’99 that had 11 different types of som tam that we worked our way through, and the only one with tomatoes had been the som tam Thai.

Advice?

Anyways, the laab was more of the standard approach of simmered meat. Maybe the meatball method in Luang Prabang was more of an innovation? Or maybe it’s just regional. (Truth be told, I kind of prefer the meatball, with the variation in texture from the outside in cooking).

The pork was heaven. The sauce was almost a Heinz 57, which worked really well with this – soft strips of meat consumbed by fat, and a light caramelizing on the skin that made it more like a carnivorous candy than anything else.

I’m drooling again looking at this.

But I was pushing my limits. Yoonhi hadn’t joined me at this point, and I was coming down from the massive food binge of the WGF at the Four Seasons. I finished off the pork (how could I not?) struggled with the laab (but did my duty), but only managed to finish off about ¾ of the som tam. My khao niao was only about 1/3 down.

I was a mere shadow of myself.

I paid the bill, was laughed at for my Lao (but I don’t mind), and headed back towards Silom to see my brokers.

And then I got my second wind.

Sausages! Little ball molded sausages, freshly stuffed into some odd intestinal linings! How could anyone not love these!

I trailed the woman to where she had her spot, helped her manouver her stand, and then waited patiently for her to cook some for me. I had one of each for 5 baht apiece.

I think I scared her

Edited September 26, 2007 by Peter Green (log)

[Peter Green]

Tonight I have a new toy. Yoonhi bought me an Emile Henri tajine. I’m so happy.

This was why I decided yesterday to go with Susur Lee’s lamb. Lamb just seems like the way to start this puppy off. After this I can get strange.

First thing in the manual (yes, I read documentation) it says I should cover the bottom with water and bring to a boil, then cool and wash.

After that’s done, I take my lamb from the marinade and brown it in a bit of oil. Then I reintroduce the marinade for the cooking.

Then I go back to writing on egullet.

[Ce'nedra]

OMG I love tajines! Is that coconut milk inside it? I can't WAIT to see the results! Unfortunately, I don't have a tajine and have no idea where to buy it. Is there such thing as a substitute for a tajiine?

[Peter Green]

OMG I love tajines! Is that coconut milk inside it? I can't WAIT to see the results! Unfortunately, I don't have a tajine and have no idea where to buy it. Is there such thing as a substitute for a tajiine?

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Ce'nedra,

thanks! I messed up in that last post. The instructions said to cover the bottom in milk and then bring to a boil, then clean before using. Not water.

I notice that I'm having to do a lot of editing of posts, too, to clean up some bonehead typos.

I need this weekend.

Coconut milk would've been cool, but I'm too chicken to mess up my equipment (not of messing up the equipment, but of what Yoonhi would do to me).

As I understand it, the tajine acts as a self-baster (no jokes, you lot out there). Fluid evaporates and then recondenses in the "hat" to rain back down upon the meat.

The results were good. I pulled the meat out of the tajine to rest for a few minutes while we finished the cous cous in the juices.

Then I sliced the lamb, and laid it out on the cous cous to serve. It's only Yoonhi and I (Serena had chicken adobo earlier with her tita), but it might as well look good.

Susur's recipe worked. It permeated the meat overnight, and the tajine did an excellent job of cooking through. This was a 45 minute cook, and up until the moment I cut in I was terrified it would be too rare for the wife. But like Susur's it had cooked evenly all the way through.

And these Indian approaches are extremely effective at lifting the unpleasant elements of lamb (the greasiness, the odour) away from the dish. Todiwalla and I had talked about this a lot last year, his father had been a great hunter, and many of the dishes in his book dealt with cooking game.

Not bad, and Yoonhi says I can do it again. A fun part of this dish is, having carved the lamb, you can bury it in the cous cous so that it doesn't dry out while you're working on your plate.

Now, what should I do for dessert?

[MarketStEl]

Tonight I have a new toy.  Yoonhi bought me an Emile Henri tajine.  I’m so happy.

This was why I decided yesterday to go with Susur Lee’s lamb.  Lamb just seems like the way to start this puppy off.  After this I can get strange.

First thing in the manual (yes, I read documentation) it says I should cover the bottom with water and bring to a boil, then cool and wash.

After that’s done, I take my lamb from the marinade and brown it in a bit of oil.  Then I reintroduce the marinade for the cooking. 

Then I go back to writing on egullet.

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Here I was, feeling all happy because I had bought a brand-new Crock-Pot yesterday -- the Hamilton Beach Crock Watcher that served me, and my partner before he met me, faithfully for almost 30 years died Sunday before last as I was cooking tomato sauce; a guy seated near me on the 109 bus in from Target at Springfield Park (on the way home from work for me) told me I had chosen a very good model -- this one -- and now you trot out this prize.

Now I feel all inadequate. And curious at the same time.

It looks a little like a tandoori oven. How's it work?

[Peter Green]

Here I was, feeling all happy because I had bought a brand-new Crock-Pot yesterday -- the Hamilton Beach Crock Watcher that served me, and my partner before he met me, faithfully for almost 30 years died Sunday before last as I was cooking tomato sauce;

It looks a little like a tandoori oven. How's it work?

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Sandy,

I haven't worked out all of the details of the tool. Fatima Hal from Mansouria in Paris was out at the WGF last year, but I couldn't make her cooking class, as she only did an evening class, and I reserve that time for focussed eating. She did, however, cook a lamb tajine course during the Gala(post #19) that I really enjoyed, and since that time I'd been looking for one of these.

I'd thought of asking some of my North African friends here if they could bring me back one, but then changed my mind, as the thing is quite cumbersome, and a real pain to transport. It's not the sort of thing any decent human being would ask of another.

So I made Yoonhi bring me one!

What I do know is that the tajine is a glazed ceramic dish with a matching hat. The nature of the dish is such that it can be used on stovetop or in the oven, so you have the flexibility of a good metal pot, browning meats first, then setting them off to roast.

With the "hat" (one of my friends here didn't know what she had and gave away the hat because it was getting in the way) you have a certain weight that will act to trap in moisture, and a shape that will allow circulation of the steam. You also have enough vertical, along with the shape, that you get a condensation funnel that will "rain" juices back down on the meat.

This is eGullet, though. There must be an expert out there.....aha! There's a whole thread on Moroccan tajine cooking

My apologies for dropping off the radar yesterday, but Serena had serious needs for Japanese cartoons, so we took a break and watched Studio Ghibli's Tales From Earthsea. No really great food scenes, although there was one stew dish that looked good.

Dessert (enjoyed while we watched the film) was a sorbet of red fruit juices (yes, I do believe red is a flavour) and simple sugar syrup. As Serena was having some I didn't want to perk it up too much.

and I got to use my new martini glasses.

Cheers,

Peter

P.S. - Sandy, please accept my belated sympathies for your bereavement over the loss of your Hamilton Beach. There's an interesting question. Is there reincarnation for kitchen appliances?

[prasantrin]

Peter, if you and Scud come my way next year, I hope you get in touch with me! It would be fun eating with you and Scud (assuming it's not just a boys-only trip!).

[Peter Green]

Peter, if you and Scud come my way next year, I hope you get in touch with me!  It would be fun eating with you and Scud (assuming it's not just a boys-only trip!).

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Rona,

We'd love to. With Scud in boarding school in Canada now, Japan makes a sensible mid-way point for us to rendez-vous when he gets out for spring break.

And food always tastes better with company.

Cheers,

peter