Food in the time of a pandemic

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, gfweb said:

You have a lot of mouse traps to bait?

 

For the storm that is coming tomorrow the NY Times quotes authorities as saying you should have three days of non-perishable food.  They were not sure fruitcake counts.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

My culinary plans for the next few days were knocked into a cocked hat, or whatever the expression is.  The Library Foundation provided lunch today.  Given the circumstance it wasn't a party per se but the food was catered well.  I'm not sure where from.  Obviously not Shoprite.

 

Our manager took home the platter of cookies.  I took home (and she gave me a ride) six sandwiches and an unopened bowl of spinach, pomegranate, feta salad.  Large bowl.  No one else wanted leftovers.

 

Back home I stuffed myself with two sandwiches.  Good bread.

[Smithy]

1 minute ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

...unopened bowl of spinach, pomegranate, feta salad. Large blow. No one else wanted leftovers.

 

Was this a second or third bowl of the salad, or did nobody try any of it? If that salad all went untried, what a travesty!

 

Except that you are in a position to enjoy it now.  

 

Oh, and I'd like details about that salad. It happens that I have all the ingredients mentioned.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

32 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

Was this a second or third bowl of the salad, or did nobody try any of it? If that salad all went untried, what a travesty!

 

Except that you are in a position to enjoy it now.  

 

Oh, and I'd like details about that salad. It happens that I have all the ingredients mentioned.

 

There were two bowls of salad.  One had been sampled.  I brought home the unopened one.

 

In addition to the spinach, pomegranate, and feta there were a few apple slices and cranberries, and seeds of some kind.  The salad was undressed although dressing was provided.  I dressed mine with the batch of blue cheese ranch I had in the refrigerator.  There is still plenty of salad left.

 

 

 

[weinoo]

15 hours ago, Duvel said:

I usually buy Hinode. It is one of the more economic brands and I used to buy it when I was living in Japan, so I kept the habit. I have another (more fancy) one down in my cellar which came in a care package from a dear Japanese friend, but I haven’t gotten to try it yet.

 

I actually did a little more research, and it sure appears as if one of, if not the main reason that salt appears in that Ohsawa Mirin, as well as in the Eden Foods brands mirin imported from Japan (which is also highly touted and which I also bought) has to do with changing it from an alcoholic beverage (i.e. wine) into a cooking product (i.e. cooking wine). And that, in turn, has to do with taxes and other bs. Here in the US, obviously.

 

For instance, on this website Cooking With Yoshiko:

 

Quote

Genuine mirin contains approximately 14% alcohol but to avoid alcohol tax, small amount of water and salt are added for cooking mirin. 

 

And on this one, Dreams of Dashi:

 

Quote

Mirin (みりん、味醂). This sweet rice wine comes in 3 types. The best is hon-mirin, which means true mirin. The wine is naturally sweet from the fermentation and has an alcohol content of 14%. It should only contain 3 ingredients: rice, koji and shochu (Japanese distilled alcohol). It is nearly impossible to find this variety in the US even if the label says hon-mirin.   The second best option is ajino-haha mirin which is a respectable substitute for hon-mirin. The brewing process is the same, but salt is added to be considered cooking wine. Eden Foods Mirin is your best bet but it can be pricey. 

 

I guess, in a way, this is all similar to the Chinese cooking wines sold in the grocery stores here. Even though it's called Shaoxing wine (and comes in bottles which look exactly the same as the real stuff), the Shaoxing sold in grocery stores includes the addition of salt; however, because of where I live, I'm able to go to liquor stores all over Chinatown and buy the real stuff. Also much more expensive than the grocery store product.

 

11 hours ago, KennethT said:

I know it's a hike, but what about Mitsuwa? 

 

If I ever get there again, sure. Love the place. And of course, the rules about ordering alcohol on line are cray cray too!

Edited December 24, 2020 by weinoo (log)

[KennethT]

6 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

I actually did a little more research, and it sure appears as if one of, if not the main reason that salt appears in that Ohsawa Mirin, as well as in the Eden Foods brands mirin imported from Japan (which is also highly touted and which I also bought) has to do with changing it from an alcoholic beverage (i.e. wine) into a cooking product (i.e. cooking wine). And that, in turn, has to do with taxes and other bs. Here in the US, obviously.

 

For instance, on this website Cooking With Yoshiko:

 

 

And on this one, Dreams of Dashi:

 

 

I guess, in a way, this is all similar to the Chinese cooking wines sold in the grocery stores here. Even though it's called Shaoxing wine (and comes in bottles which look exactly the same as the real stuff), the Shaoxing sold in grocery stores includes the addition of salt; however, because of where I live, I'm able to go to liquor stores all over Chinatown and buy the real stuff. Also much more expensive than the grocery store product.

 

 

If I ever get there again, sure. Love the place. And of course, the rules about ordering alcohol on line are cray cray too!

Interesting, and definitely makes a lot of sense.  Don't get me started on alcohol rules in the US. Between the leftovers of prohibition and pandering to large corporations.... bah! Damn you, 3 tiered system!!!

[weinoo]

12 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Damn you, 3 tiered system!!!

 

Yeah, the 3-tiered system - AKA - screw the consumer!

[KennethT]

41 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Yeah, the 3-tiered system - AKA - screw the consumer!

It also screws small producers as it is much harder for them to get distribution - especially when the market is dominated by a couple huge distributors, it is really hard to get their attention to pick you up, and even if picked up, get enough attention so that they can really help sales.

[Duvel]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

16 hours ago, Duvel said:

I usually buy Hinode. It is one of the more economic brands and I used to buy it when I was living in Japan, so I kept the habit. I have another (more fancy) one down in my cellar which came in a care package from a dear Japanese friend, but I haven’t gotten to try it yet.

Expand  

 

I actually did a little more research, and it sure appears as if one of, if not the main reason that salt appears in that Ohsawa Mirin, as well as in the Eden Foods brands mirin imported from Japan (which is also highly touted and which I also bought) has to do with changing it from an alcoholic beverage (i.e. wine) into a cooking product (i.e. cooking wine).

 

Or, you could have just read my post ... 😉

 

16 hours ago, Duvel said:

And that being said: shio-mirin is a product of its own right (though often used to circumvent the import tax for alcoholic beverages),

But this is usually not the major difference. Typically, the shio-mirin has little to no alcohol, as opposed to say 14% in hon-mirin. Please check the label on the Ohsawa.

To illustrate the difference: If your recipe calls for an off-dry Riesling you could use off-dry Riesling (equivalent to a hon-mirin) or substitute grape juice with added salt (your shio-mirin). You can get great flavour profile from a nice grape juice, organic and all and the best sea salt there is, but at the end it won’t give you the result from the off-dry Riesling. If you notice and/or accept the difference depends on you and your point of reference. 

 

[weinoo]

27 minutes ago, Duvel said:

Or, you could have just read my post ... 😉

 

Only if you were to preface it with...I don't mean to be pedantic, but..

[blue_dolphin]

I enjoyed this LA Times article about a San Diego photographer who turned his studio kitchen into a small bakery during the pandemic.  

With no street-level storefront and wanting to avoid customers crowding into the elevator to pick up bread, Izola Bakery lowers the still-warm bread to the street in baskets.  

 San Diego bakery’s warm bread is coming right down, by basket

Edited December 24, 2020 by blue_dolphin
to add link (log)

[gfweb]

13 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

For the storm that is coming tomorrow the NY Times quotes authorities as saying you should have three days of non-perishable food.  They were not sure fruitcake counts.

 

Good grief. Even NYT is doing weather porn/alarmism. Its just rain.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

Only if you were to preface it with...I don't mean to be pedantic, but..

All eGullet falls into two groups.  Us pedants and the rest.

😀

Edited December 24, 2020 by gfweb (log)

[chromedome]

7 minutes ago, gfweb said:

All eGullet falls into two groups.  Us pedants and the rest.

😀

"The rest" being those who grab popcorn and enjoy the crackling flames...

[weinoo]

17 minutes ago, gfweb said:

All eGullet falls into two groups.  Us pedants and the rest.

😀

 

There is a third - the didacts.  I might belong to all 3.

[weinoo]

10 minutes ago, chromedome said:

"The rest" being those who grab popcorn and enjoy the crackling flames...

Don't sell yourself short!

[gfweb]

6 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

There is a third - the didacts.  I might belong to all 3.

Pedant and didact are close relatives.

I'd post the definitions but that would be irritatingly pedantic.

[chromedome]

4 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

I'd post the definitions but that would be irritatingly pedantic.

...and would also deprive the auto-didacts of an opportunity for a bit of happy Googling.

[heidih]

5 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Pedant and didact are close relatives.

I'd post the definitions but that would be irritatingly pedantic.

Although @liuzhou has repeatedly dissed "Mr. Google" I think we can all do that if needed.

[chefmd]

It I had hard time finding Lao Gan Ma for a while.  And now it’s on sale at H Mart!

 

[chefmd]

ALL 12 cheeses are on sale at Whole Foods today (Arlington, VA).  I bought more than I need but less than I want!  One of the cheeses was partially eaten immediately upon entering the house.

 

[weinoo]

The La Tur is a favorite of ours.

[weinoo]

Two of our favorite local restaurants offered meals to take home  for the holiday. Both Cervo's and Cafe Katja had full meals if you so chose, as well as much of their standard (well, standard pandemic) take home fare.

 

At Cervo's, I bought another chicken to be roasted, shrimp cocktail made from those gorgeous, fresh, wild North Carolina shrimp, and:

 

 

 

 

When I went to pick up, the chef told me that they had sent him these really large rib eye steaks in addition to the smaller ones he had ordered, and asked me if I wanted them instead. I said: "Sure!" They're big. And then I just asked them to pick me 3 fun wines, which they happily did.

 

Here's the Cafe Katja stuff:

 

 

4 pretzels with liptauer and butter, 2 fried chicken thighs, spaetzle with its sauce, Austrian meatballs, Jaeger schnitzel, roasted root vegetables, pickled vegetables, aufschnitt teller, red cabbage and apple salad, kale caesar (feh), strudel, and schlag. Oy. 4 bottles of Austrian wine accompanied.

 

 

The aufschnitt teller, only using some of product. Their house-made liverwurst happens to be great. 

 

And my poor fridge...

 

 

Merry Christmas, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by weinoo (log)

[chefmd]

31 minutes ago, weinoo said:

The La Tur is a favorite of ours.

I bought two La Tur but was ashamed to admit it.  😃

[KennethT]

14 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Two of our favorite local restaurants offered meals to take home  for the holiday. Both Cervo's and Cafe Katja had full meals if you so chose, as well as much of their standard (well, standard pandemic) take home fare.

 

At Cervo's, I bought another chicken to be roasted, shrimp cocktail made from those gorgeous, fresh, wild North Carolina shrimp, and:

 

 

 

 

When I went to pick up, the chef told me that they had sent him these really large rib eye steaks in addition to the smaller ones he had ordered, and asked me if I wanted them instead. I said: "Sure!" Tehy;'re big. And then I just asked them to pick me 3 fun wines, which they happily did.

 

Here's the Cafe Katja stuff:

 

 

4 pretzels with liptauer and butter, 2 fried chicken thighs, spaetzle with its sauce, Austrian meatballs, Jaeger schnitzel, roasted root vegetables, pickled vegetables, aufschnitt teller, red cabbage and apple salad, kale caesar (feh), strudel, and schlag. Oy. 4 bottles of Austrian wine accompanied.

 

 

The aufschnitt teller, only using some of product. Their house-made liverwurst happens to be great. 

 

And my poor fridge...

 

 

Merry Christmas, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No wurst??