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18
Dec 08 - SpicaBooks.Com/Food.html
Copyright 1999-2008 by Andrew Homer - Webmeister StarHeart
Web Designs StarHeart
Food 
Today's
dish: Besides Sorpotel
and Xacuti, Vindaloo
(or vindalho) are Portuguese style cooking introduced to Goa. Vindaloo started
as meat being cooked in wine and garlic, but later become meat & seafood stew
being cooked at low heat with mild vinegar, curry and onions which has become
one of the spiciest and most popular dishes of India. Yesterday's
dish: Eggplant Ritolo (favorite dish of the Naked Chef) & Malahada (Portuguese). Best
starch for sauces: 1) Kudzu & 2) Arrowroot. 
Food-a-Go-Go I
couldn't help but notice how often food terms are adapted into other arenas of
life, especially into the music world. Vindaloo,
besides being a style of cooking in Goa (India), is also the name of a Seattle
rock band. One of the most popular American rock bands, today, are the Red Hot
Chili Peppers. Salsa, now America's #1 food condiment, is also a dance and a music
style. Decades ago, there use to be a dance
called The Mash Potato. Chubby Checkers instructed us how to dance to the song
The Cinnamon Twist. Who can forget Hot Buttered Soul sang by Isaac Hayes? Joni
Mitchell could drink a case of Blue and still be on her feet. Jim Morrison wanted
to be shown to The Next Whiskey Bar. This winter holiday season, will you be catching
the ballet The Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky? The
Joy of Cooking, besides being a very popular cookbook, was also the name of a
beloved San Francisco hippie band. Tupelo Honey was my favorite song by Van Morrison.
Juliette Binoch stared in the movie Chocolat. Frank Zappa lyrically asked Suzy
Creamcheese "What got into you? Who got into you?" Here
in New Mexico, the Air Force National Guard unit is called The Flying Tacos. |
*
World Wide Curries
* Diary of a Foodie
* Lidia's Italy *
Navaho Cooking * Gilded Fork 
Wild Sweets - the kitchen, the
laboratory, the flavor
Read
: "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan *
The
Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan 
Weak
Links in the Food Chain: Why Uncle Sam Won't Tell You What Not to Eat
(Remember
when the Beef Council violated Oprah Winrey civil right of freedom of expression
regarding what she thought of beef?) *
BAD FAT: Animal meat. * GOOD
FAT: Vegetable & Fish. 
*
Portafoglio—a “wallet” of lamb chops stuffed
with cheese, parsley, and wild herbs.
Paella Delivery
Buying Spanish Food in the U.S. |
|
Baharat spices
Yuzu citrus
Loomi - dry limes from Iraq & Oman - Interesting flavor,
it is an acquired taste, it also is most amazing in the summer. It is a great
restorative and also a drink that will liven up a tired and exhausted palate,
not as tart as I would have expected for a citrus drink, it becomes more woody,
in the end product, the loomi lemonade is dark in color - chop the loomi into
small pieces using a mortar and pestle, this brings out the flavor and sourness
- in loomi you do cook it a bit, add salt or peppery spice to inhance the sweet
base of the sugar. 8
Loomi Lemons
1/2 cup or more to taste, sugar
1 gallon water
Add a gallon of water to loomi in a non-reactive pan. Bring
to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes, turn gas off and cool.
Strain and then add
the sugar. Let sugar dissolve at room temperature.
Taste for sugar and chill.
Serve chilled with ice cubes.
Note: You
can also leave the loomi soaking in the gallon of water overnight. Bring to a
boil, turn gas off and strain and add sugar. But the recipe above can be used
when making it in a hurry.
| Shami
kebab - simmer loomi with lamb and lentils - lamb stewed to a shredded consistency,
with red lentils, the loomi was simmered along with it, probably pricked to give
off its tangy perfumed citrus flavor, but the shami kebab I've eaten made by Pakistanis
is made into patties. S ometimes just go out and get a chunk of lamb and a bunch
of other ingredients (I'm sure cilantro was an ingredient and even if it wasn't,
it would be in my shami, big-time) and experiment. I simmer a couple of loomi
with chicken to make chicken soup; I add a little tomatoes, as well. |
25
Jun 2004 - I've justed started the Chefs
of Europe nation in the NationStates online game. Let's see where it takes
us. Any delicacy recipe of note provided I'll archive here. The
healthiest diet in Europe is on the isle of Crete. Forget California Gewurztraminer
wine, that from Alsace-Lorraine is THE vino. 90% of the world's hazelnut comes
from Turkey. No Turkey, no French Nutella spread nor Roche candy. I hear British
cuisine is an oxymoron. Is it true that vegan is outlawed in Germany? (ar-ar) (On
the Deep Space 9 tv show, a character states that every civilization in the universe
has a dish similar to Swedish meatballs.) | *
Fry food: Buttermilk & Rice flour. Can reuse filtered Peanut oil
5-6 times. If you've fried fish, then you can clean the oil afterwards by frying
a sliced potato.
Best
European dark beers: Belgian Trappistes Rochefort 8, Newcastle Brown, Dutch Amstel
Bock, & Staropramen Dark. Best European
amber beers: Spitfire, Czech Staropramen. | 
Latest international
food rage according to Epicurious.Com
- The Basque Kitchen: Tempting Food from
the Pyrenees:
Basque native Gerald Hirigoyen, chef/owner
of San Francisco's Fringale and Pastis, offers an inside look at cooking on both
the French and Spanish sides of the Pyrenees. His straightforward yet subtle recipes
encompass both traditional and modern interpretations. The
Basque Table: Passionate Home Cooking from One of Europe's Great Regional Cuisines:
Teresa Barrenechea is a native of the city of Bilbao, in the Spanish
Basque country, and the chef/owner of Marichu in New York. Here she proudly presents
the traditional dishes of her region, along with authoritative notes on achieving
authentic flavors. Life and Food
in the Basque Country:
In this beautifully written book,
Maria Jose Sevilla describes, through the eyes of its inhabitants, the intertwining
of life and culinary traditions in this unique part of Europe. She also includes
recipes from her travels. Tastes
of the Pyrenees, Classic and Modern:
Marina Chang has collected
both traditional and contemporary recipes from the Pyrenees region, which includes
the Basque country. An in-depth introduction explores the historical and geographical
factors that shaped the region's food and wine, and the recipes, many of which
are adapted for the home cook from local chefs, are accompanied by cultural notes
as well as practical tips. | 
Homer's Food
Commentary: Argentina & Australia are smart enough not to give their cattle
hormone shots. Their beef is tender enough that it can be cut with only a fork.
Elk & Bison are very lean. Is "beefalo" available in your part of
the country? Aside from osso buco veal, you can't beat wild boar with horseradish
sauce. Try blood orange for the tastiest juice. |
|
Flour | |
Julia Childs uses King
Arthur Flour. | Martha
Stewart uses White Lily Flour.
|
"Genetically
Engineered Food : Changing the Nature of Nature : What You Need to Know to Protect
Yourself, Your Family, and Our Planet" by Martin
Teitel, Kimberly A. Wilson
| Kosher Salt
- recommended by the Barefoot Contessa & Martha Stewart |
| | | |
"Root
Cellaring : Natural Cold Storage of Fruits and Vegetables"
by Mike Bubel, Nancy Bubel, & Pam Art. 
Andrew's
Favorite Foods * Beans -
Lentil * Beef - Oso Buco
- not injected with hormones * Cheese
- Swiss * Chicken *
Chocolate - dark * Coconut -
shredded * Coffee - Sulawesi
Kolassi + Cinnamon & Chicory *
Fruit - Cherry Apricot, Cherry,
Grape, Orange & Pear *
Flax cereal * Garlic *
Grain - Millet & Oat * Herb
blends - Creole, Curry & Provencal *
Mushroom - Shitake & Portobello *
Mustard - Brown German * Nuts
- Almond (marzipan), Cashew & Hazelnut (butter) *
Oil - Olive & Sesame * Pumpkin
Mascarpone Cheesecake * Sauces
- Soy Tamari & Worchester *
Sausage - Andouille * Seafood
- Salmon, Scallop & Shrimp *
Seeds - Fennel, Poppy & Sesame *
Spices - Mustard & Paprika *
Sprouted bread - baked at 100 degrees for 2 hours *
Tea - Earl Grey * Tomatoes -
Sundried * Vinegar - Basalmic 
Only
Online: The Ultimate Guide To Cooking Schools Southern
Foodways Alliance
A valuable resource for American culinary traditions.
Director John T. Edge says the annual three-day symposium at Ole Miss is "like
a tent meeting for the true believers of Southern food." OXFORD, MISS.; 662/915-5993;
www.southernfoodways.com; $375 COPIA
This sleek cultural museum/education center has daily epicurean seminars, exhibitions,
two weekly farmers' markets, and a restaurant dedicated to Julia Child. NAPA,
CALIF.; 888/512-6742 or 707/259-1600; www.copia.org;
from $12.50 Slow Food
This organization's worldwide chapters arrange field trips and fare fests. The
biannual Salone del Gusto in Turin is foodie heaven. 212/965-5640; www.slowfoodusa.org;
from $25 
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