Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
bob_brigante wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , shempmcgurk shempmcg...@... wrote: Bhairitu, do you really like racist, anti-Semites like Karl Marx? *** Karl Marx was not only Jewish, he was descended from an established rabbinical family. http://www.vho.org/GB/Journals/JHR/5/1/Whisker69-76.html http://www.vho.org/GB/Journals/JHR/5/1/Whisker69-76.html Thanks Bob. I figured Shemp was off his rocker but I am actually not that familiar with Marx and sent the link as joke in reply to his joke link.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
I'm with you on Indian fry bread, one of the things I miss most about the American Southwest. Here in Spain I miss Mexican food. What you can find of it is anything but Mexican and anything but hot. (The Spanish just don't *do* hot or spicy...ordering your curry in an Indian restaurant here gets you mild.) In Spain I love churros. You'll have seen them in the Southwest as well. Donut dough squished through a machine that plops six-inch strings of them into hot oil. Then sprinkled with sugar. Great for dipping into your coffee or hot chocolate in the morning after partying all night, which seems to happen here in Spain with some regularity. In Morocco as a youth I really got into chocolate-covered ants. Really. They're just crunchy with not much actual taste that you can identify as an ant. In the winter in both France and Spain there are roasted chestnut vendors on the streets, and I like those. In the Pacific Northwest in the US, I really miss those roadside stands where you could get a crab burger. Hot fresh crab with a little mayo and Jack cheese melted over it on a hamburger bun. Mmm. To be honest, the American junk foods I miss the most are things like Tater Tots, which I used to fry up (as mentioned by Curtis recently) in duck fat. Mm. And macaroni and cheese. The latter I can make here, but Tater Tots are right out. Good tasty hot Mexican salsas are probably what I miss most. That and drinkable tequilas. Now you've made me hungry. I'm going to go out and get some churros... --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcg...@... wrote: I suppose the most exotic place I've ever been (aside from certain parts of New Jersey) is India. And the most exotic street foods (or junk foods) I saw and tasted while there were Masala Dosa and Onion Bhajis. The Masala Dosa was incredible. A southern Indian dish, I was exposed to it while in northern India, in Kashmir while on a one- month TM course there in '81. It's a crepe-type pancake made from a flour of ground-up rice and chick peas, rolled up over a potato curry or something with a coconut chutney (optional) smothered on the outside, accompanied with (or poured over the top) an onion soup like broth (the name of which escapes me at the moment. Cost: 1 1/2 rupees (well, that was in '81 which at the time equalled about 15 cents American). We tried to have 2 or 3 a day. The Onion Bhajis used to be piled high in those stalls that are found one after the other in a marketplace. Love 'em. Fried food at its best. Onions in what I assume is a gram flour (chick pea flour) that is deep-fried. Mmm Campbell Soup Good! Locally here in Arizona they have Indian Fry Bread which, when done properly, is delicious. It appears to be bread dough deep-fried. That's it. Back in Canada they used to call it Beaver Ears or something like that. And in Quebec they have Poutine, which is French Fries with curd cheese and gravy poured over the top. So, what are YOUR favourite junk foods of the world?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_re...@... wrote: I'm with you on Indian fry bread, one of the things I miss most about the American Southwest. Here in Spain I miss Mexican food. What you can find of it is anything but Mexican and anything but hot. (The Spanish just don't *do* hot or spicy...ordering your curry in an Indian restaurant here gets you mild.) In Spain I love churros. You'll have seen them in the Southwest as well. Donut dough squished through a machine that plops six-inch strings of them into hot oil. Then sprinkled with sugar. Great for dipping into your coffee or hot chocolate in the morning after partying all night, which seems to happen here in Spain with some regularity. In Morocco as a youth I really got into chocolate-covered ants. Really. They're just crunchy with not much actual taste that you can identify as an ant. In the winter in both France and Spain there are roasted chestnut vendors on the streets, and I like those. In the Pacific Northwest in the US, I really miss those roadside stands where you could get a crab burger. Hot fresh crab with a little mayo and Jack cheese melted over it on a hamburger bun. Mmm. To be honest, the American junk foods I miss the most are things like Tater Tots, which I used to fry up (as mentioned by Curtis recently) in duck fat. Mm. And macaroni and cheese. The latter I can make here, but Tater Tots are right out. Good tasty hot Mexican salsas are probably what I miss most. That and drinkable tequilas. Now you've made me hungry. I'm going to go out and get some churros... I've recently started to make my own felafels. I've always been very picky about felafels, finding that most restaurants (fast food or otherwise) simply didn't make them well and when I did find a restaurant that could make them, making a point of patronizing them because properly made felafels were so hard to find. So I always assumed it was REALLY hard to make a good felafel and never bothered to even try making them myself. But a few weeks ago I did. And, surprise!, they came out really well and was relatively simple to do. The key I found was to have the temperature of the oil (canola) just right: too low and the inside would be mushy, which I hate; too hot and it burns the outside. But it only took 2 or 3 tries to find the exact right temperature and so it's just a simple matter of putting the knob to the right setting. So I am intent upon making my own felafels from now on. I also tried to make my own tortillas. There's a new fast food Mexican Restaurant chain that started up recently (out of Utah, run by Mormons) called Costa Vida. They have a gimmick that sets them apart from your regular run-of-the-mill fast food Mexican Restaurant: they make their own tortillas right in front of you, immediately before they make you your order (be it enchilada, burrito, or taco...they all use tortillas): they take the dough, put it through a press, and grill it (no oil used) right there on the line on a specially-made round tortilla grill. And it really makes a difference. The best analogy I can use is Krispy Kreme where their gimmick is to make the glazed donuts right before your eyes. Well, the tortillas made fresh really do make whatever it is you've ordered taste 180 degress differently than a tortilla served up at another fast food place in which it may have been made 24 hours or more before. So this inspired me to make my own tortillas from scratch. And it hasn't turned out as well as what I get at Costa Vida but it's been a pleasant enough experience. I've tried it once and it was good. But what I made reminded me more of the Nan bread you get at tandoori restaurants which they make in clay ovens (at least in what it looks like). Next time I'll try whole wheat flour, though. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: I suppose the most exotic place I've ever been (aside from certain parts of New Jersey) is India. And the most exotic street foods (or junk foods) I saw and tasted while there were Masala Dosa and Onion Bhajis. The Masala Dosa was incredible. A southern Indian dish, I was exposed to it while in northern India, in Kashmir while on a one- month TM course there in '81. It's a crepe-type pancake made from a flour of ground-up rice and chick peas, rolled up over a potato curry or something with a coconut chutney (optional) smothered on the outside, accompanied with (or poured over the top) an onion soup like broth (the name of which escapes me at the moment. Cost: 1 1/2 rupees (well, that was in '81 which at the time equalled about 15 cents American). We tried to have 2 or 3 a day. The Onion Bhajis used to be piled high in those stalls that are found one after the other in a marketplace. Love 'em. Fried food at its best. Onions in what I assume is a
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcg...@... wrote: snip So, what are YOUR favourite junk foods of the world? Fried clams. One of my most enjoyable meals of all time was a fabulous fried clam platter in a little hole-in- the-wall joint on the waterfront in Gloucester, Mass., a few years ago. The clams (with bellies!) were right out of the ocean, incredibly sweet and flavorful, fried to perfect nongreasy crispness in fresh fat (not sure what they used). I've had good fried claims before on the Cape, where they also know how to prepare them, but these were the ultimate. If you like fried claims and are ever in Gloucester, the place is Captain Vito's, at 322 Main Street. It's very unprepossessing; my sister and I were driving through and needed lunch, but it was January and all the restaurants around were closed for the winter. Captain Vito's was the only place open, and we weren't expecting much.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: I suppose the most exotic place I've ever been (aside from certain parts of New Jersey) is India. And the most exotic street foods (or junk foods) I saw and tasted while there were Masala Dosa and Onion Bhajis. The Masala Dosa was incredible. A southern Indian dish, I was exposed to it while in northern India, in Kashmir while on a one- month TM course there in '81. It's a crepe-type pancake made from a flour of ground-up rice and chick peas, rolled up over a potato curry or something with a coconut chutney (optional) smothered on the outside, accompanied with (or poured over the top) an onion soup like broth (the name of which escapes me at the moment. Cost: 1 1/2 rupees (well, that was in '81 which at the time equalled about 15 cents American). We tried to have 2 or 3 a day. I am certified South Indian food nut. I have spent years perfecting Idly (steamed cakes) masala dosas and Sambar, the soup you mentioned. Here are some details. The batter for Idly and dosa is a specific kind of rice (not basmati) and split Urid dhal. It has specific properties than make it work. Sambar is made of Tur dhal a larger split pea. The secret of great Sambar is roasting your whole coriander before grinding it and toasting dried coconut. It needs tamarind for the sour taste and hing instead of garlic. The batter for idly and dosa has to be fermented for a few days to get sour. You have to soak and grind the 2/3 rice(coarsely) and 1/3 urid dhal (finely) separately and then combine them to ferment. I have a great Indian store that sells the freshly made batter so I rarely make it from scratch these days. If you use a powdered instant mix use yogurt instead of the water from the recipe on the box to approximate the sour of freshly made batter. On last obsessive detail. You fry uncooked split urid dhal till they brown, with your mustard seeds to add to your coconut chutney. Thanks for the great detailed description of how it's done, Curtis! ...which invokes a fantasy I've entertained from time to time. It comes up whenever the rat race gets me down. I fantasize having a push cart offering something exotic -- like Masala Dosa -- which I've perfected cooking and which I offer in some urban area like New York or Washington, D.C. And I make it so good that I can replicate for the customers off the street that come by my push cart the same eureka! experience I had whenever I first came across the dish. Masala Dosa is a perfect example; a discovery that I felt no one else from my culture had yet experienced. Souvlaki is a good example. It's very common everywhere now but until the '70s it wasn't anywhere except, perhaps, some parts of New York. Someone discovered it (although it was common place in Greece) and then it took off. Same with pizza. How many places had a pizza parlour prior to the '30s or '40s? The Onion Bhajis used to be piled high in those stalls that are found one after the other in a marketplace. Love 'em. Fried food at its best. Onions in what I assume is a gram flour (chick pea flour) that is deep-fried. Mmm Campbell Soup Good! Locally here in Arizona they have Indian Fry Bread which, when done properly, is delicious. It appears to be bread dough deep- fried. That's it. Back in Canada they used to call it Beaver Ears or something like that. And in Quebec they have Poutine, which is French Fries with curd cheese and gravy poured over the top. So, what are YOUR favourite junk foods of the world?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: snip So, what are YOUR favourite junk foods of the world? Fried clams. One of my most enjoyable meals of all time was a fabulous fried clam platter in a little hole-in- the-wall joint on the waterfront in Gloucester, Mass., a few years ago. The clams (with bellies!) were right out of the ocean, incredibly sweet and flavorful, fried to perfect nongreasy crispness in fresh fat (not sure what they used). I've had good fried claims before on the Cape, where they also know how to prepare them, but these were the ultimate. If you like fried claims and are ever in Gloucester, the place is Captain Vito's, at 322 Main Street. It's very unprepossessing; my sister and I were driving through and needed lunch, but it was January and all the restaurants around were closed for the winter. Captain Vito's was the only place open, and we weren't expecting much. Best fish and chips I ever had was in Newfoundland at two places: Chess's and King Cod. Second best fish and chips? Here in the desert! Yup! Who woulda thunk it? Sadly, the place closed down last month. Judy: your clams are making my mouth water...but please elaborate on what you mean by clams (with bellies). You see, I understand the concept of toro which means the fatty belly of the tuna (and toro sells for as much as $100 a pound, it's so delectible) but I can't grasp the concept of a clam having a belly. So please explain. Also: perfect, nongreasy crispness. Note that greasy CAN be a plus. No one likes, say, a greasy outer layer on your tempura but you can't GET crispness without grease. And sometimes grease adds to a dish. Perhaps it's me but a greasy pizza is, simply, fantastic. And I love a submarine sandwich, left in its wrapper for an hour or two that leaks grease when I finally take it out and eat it (gotta watch the mayo, though, because you don't want that white bacteria- catcher fermenting too long in the heat).
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcg...@... I fantasize having a push cart offering something exotic -- like Masala Dosa -- which I've perfected cooking and which I offer in some urban area like New York or Washington, D.C. And I make it so good that I can replicate for the customers off the street that come by my push cart the same eureka! experience I had whenever I first came across the dish That is s funny! I also have an alternative life fantasy like that! Did you see the great indie film Push Cart? There are people out there living this odd dream. In NYC where street food is very serious they have a yearly Vendy award and and Indian cart won last year: http://tinyurl.com/4m7pml Here in DC there is a couple at the Balston Metro stop serving high level pizzas out of a cart. I read about it but haven't eaten it yet. Hot dog and sausage stands can be really creative. I saw an Asian version with all sorts of toppings like wasabi and kim chi. I fantasize that around here an Asian toppings pizza joint could do well. Kim chi is great on almost anything IMO. We have a lot of Hispanic food trucks here. I love beef tongue soft tacos that they serve and homemade tamales. They have a lot of Hispanic workers who are single guys living together who keep them busy. In Adams Morgan, a night club rich zone, a guy is making a killing with a great Falafal stand modeled after the ones in Amsterdam with lots of toppings. Not having any meat makes it easy to keep the kitchen clean and it is high profit. All the drunks who are sick of the usual pizza after drinking storm the place after the club's closing time. I talked with the owner who is franchising the idea. He reiterated the location,location, location mantra as the reason he is rocking. The food biz is so labor intensive that my pipe dream will remain that. But every time I see some interesting food cart I get the same thrill of That could be me and here is what I would do with it! I am so food obsessed this topic rocks my world! Thanks for feeding my attachment! wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: I suppose the most exotic place I've ever been (aside from certain parts of New Jersey) is India. And the most exotic street foods (or junk foods) I saw and tasted while there were Masala Dosa and Onion Bhajis. The Masala Dosa was incredible. A southern Indian dish, I was exposed to it while in northern India, in Kashmir while on a one- month TM course there in '81. It's a crepe-type pancake made from a flour of ground-up rice and chick peas, rolled up over a potato curry or something with a coconut chutney (optional) smothered on the outside, accompanied with (or poured over the top) an onion soup like broth (the name of which escapes me at the moment. Cost: 1 1/2 rupees (well, that was in '81 which at the time equalled about 15 cents American). We tried to have 2 or 3 a day. I am certified South Indian food nut. I have spent years perfecting Idly (steamed cakes) masala dosas and Sambar, the soup you mentioned. Here are some details. The batter for Idly and dosa is a specific kind of rice (not basmati) and split Urid dhal. It has specific properties than make it work. Sambar is made of Tur dhal a larger split pea. The secret of great Sambar is roasting your whole coriander before grinding it and toasting dried coconut. It needs tamarind for the sour taste and hing instead of garlic. The batter for idly and dosa has to be fermented for a few days to get sour. You have to soak and grind the 2/3 rice(coarsely) and 1/3 urid dhal (finely) separately and then combine them to ferment. I have a great Indian store that sells the freshly made batter so I rarely make it from scratch these days. If you use a powdered instant mix use yogurt instead of the water from the recipe on the box to approximate the sour of freshly made batter. On last obsessive detail. You fry uncooked split urid dhal till they brown, with your mustard seeds to add to your coconut chutney. Thanks for the great detailed description of how it's done, Curtis! ...which invokes a fantasy I've entertained from time to time. It comes up whenever the rat race gets me down. I fantasize having a push cart offering something exotic -- like Masala Dosa -- which I've perfected cooking and which I offer in some urban area like New York or Washington, D.C. And I make it so good that I can replicate for the customers off the street that come by my push cart the same eureka! experience I had whenever I first came across the dish. Masala Dosa is a perfect example; a discovery that I felt no one else from my culture had yet experienced. Souvlaki is a good example. It's
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: On Feb 9, 2009, at 10:13 AM, shempmcgurk wrote: I was exposed to it while in northern India, in Kashmir while on a one- month TM course there in '81. Did you get to meet Lakshman Joo? Impressions? I like gulab-jamins. Donut-balls in cardamom syrup. Love 'em. I'm also fond of raw elvers (baby eels) esp. when they're in season in Maine. Actually had some eel sushi on friday as an appetizer with seaweed salad. Not my favourite but, yes, eel sushi can be deletible despite the prejudicial image such a name conjurs up. Love seawee salad...but a little goes a long way because the seaweed can be so crunchy that it takes a long time to chew. Another New England fav. is Fiddleheads, the fronds of baby ferns, made during mud season, sold all over on the roadside. http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4198.htm Same with New Brunswick (the province in Canada, not the town in Jersey). In Quebec at a certain time of year, the produce section of supermarkets will carry them along with other greens. Love 'em. Ever had Scrapple? It has to be the most disgusting substance ever eaten. If you'd seen the recipe I have for it (from an organic farming cookbook) you'd know why. Next time you're getting ready to render a pig, lemme know. Never had scrapple but if it's rendered from pig, you know it's going to be delicious. Emeril says that pig fat pretty much defines American cuisine. Bam! Speaking of pigs, pickled pigs feet is a popular Pennsylvania delicacy. Of course Penna. is also famous for their soft pretzels.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcg...@... wrote: snip Judy: your clams are making my mouth water...but please elaborate on what you mean by clams (with bellies). You see, I understand the concept of toro which means the fatty belly of the tuna (and toro sells for as much as $100 a pound, it's so delectible) but I can't grasp the concept of a clam having a belly. So please explain. Basically, it's the clam's gut. I'm not sure I want to know any more than that. It's the part of the clam that has the most oceany, briny taste and the softest texture; the meaty parts don't have as much flavor and are more chewy. Many restaurants serve only clam strips, which are just the meaty parts. That's for two reasons: one, squeamish diners prefer not to think they're eating internal organs, especially of the digestive tract; two, it's cheaper to use big clams and just cut up the meaty part into strips than to use small clams whole. Clams have to be carefully cleaned in any case. I think (but am reluctant to find out for certain) that proper cleaning removes the more objectionable contents of the gut (at any rate, what's removed is said not to taste very good). I prefer to assume that the belly contains only what the clam has eaten recently and not the waste products of its digestion. Clam bellies are often fried and served by themselves, incidentally. I like the combination of bellies and meaty parts, though. Here's a quasi-lyrical ode to clam bellies from the blog of the New York Times restaurant critic, Frank Bruni (it also mentions tuna belly): http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/going-for-the-gut/ http://tinyurl.com/b5h4pm Also check the comments if you're interested in more detail on what's served where. Also: perfect, nongreasy crispness. Note that greasy CAN be a plus. No one likes, say, a greasy outer layer on your tempura butyou can't GET crispness without grease. Right, but as you say, you don't want the grease to soak into the batter. Ask Curtis, but I believe it's a matter of the proper frying temperature; it can't be too low or the grease invades the batter and what's inside instead of just cooking it from the outside. Greasy fried clams are yucky, by me. And sometimes grease adds to a dish. Perhaps it's me but a greasy pizza is, simply, fantastic. Heart trouble runs in my father's side of my family, so I have a highly ambivalent relationship with saturated fat. Pizza should be made with olive oil, though, no? That's good for you. It's the cheese that's the problem (not to mention the sausage). And I love a submarine sandwich, left in its wrapper for an hour or two that leaks grease when I finally take it out and eat it (gotta watch the mayo, though, because you don't want that white bacteria-catcher fermenting too long in the heat). These days commercial mayo contains so many preservatives it probably will last quite awhile. Better safe than sorry, though.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
On Feb 9, 2009, at 1:06 PM, shempmcgurk wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: On Feb 9, 2009, at 10:13 AM, shempmcgurk wrote: I was exposed to it while in northern India, in Kashmir while on a one- month TM course there in '81. Did you get to meet Lakshman Joo? Impressions? I like gulab-jamins. Donut-balls in cardamom syrup. Love 'em. I too appreciate your desire to replicate various favorite delicacies, as I am a forensic chef: I find meals I love and then work painstakingly to reproduce them to share that same Zen moment with friends and family. My area of expertise is Indian food, Thai food and Chinese, although I do make some French and Italian dishes. Soups are my winter fad, with chicken corn soup (very easy to make) being the new item this last weekend.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: I like gulab-jamins. Donut-balls in cardamom syrup. I *LOVE* gulab jamuns! That's why my Indian name is Gulabjamunanda. My other favorite junk food is Kettle Chips potato chips. However, highly disciplined paleo dieter that I am, I only indulge in them about once a year, if that.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jst...@... wrote: That was interesting. It makes sense that a place that would serve the whole more expensive tiny clams would be much better then a place that buys the cheaper bigger ones. I'm pretty sure there is nothing to remove from a clam, you just shuck them and eat the whole thing. One of the most transcendent foods for me is raw oysters from Northern cold waters. I was reminded by your description of the oceany, briny clam bellies. It is like tasting the ocean complete with some filtered ocean water, especially if you shuck them yourself. Only certain cheeses have that same ability to transport me into such a subtle flavor complexity. It is food poetry that captures the whole ocean in one bite. I know it grosses many people out, but for me it is as close to a spiritual connection with the ocean as I can get. A great read on the history of oysters and NYC is Kurlansky's The Big Oyster, History on the Half Shell. http://www.amazon.com/Big-Oyster-History-Half-Shell/dp/0345476387 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: snip Judy: your clams are making my mouth water...but please elaborate on what you mean by clams (with bellies). You see, I understand the concept of toro which means the fatty belly of the tuna (and toro sells for as much as $100 a pound, it's so delectible) but I can't grasp the concept of a clam having a belly. So please explain. Basically, it's the clam's gut. I'm not sure I want to know any more than that. It's the part of the clam that has the most oceany, briny taste and the softest texture; the meaty parts don't have as much flavor and are more chewy. Many restaurants serve only clam strips, which are just the meaty parts. That's for two reasons: one, squeamish diners prefer not to think they're eating internal organs, especially of the digestive tract; two, it's cheaper to use big clams and just cut up the meaty part into strips than to use small clams whole. Clams have to be carefully cleaned in any case. I think (but am reluctant to find out for certain) that proper cleaning removes the more objectionable contents of the gut (at any rate, what's removed is said not to taste very good). I prefer to assume that the belly contains only what the clam has eaten recently and not the waste products of its digestion. Clam bellies are often fried and served by themselves, incidentally. I like the combination of bellies and meaty parts, though. Here's a quasi-lyrical ode to clam bellies from the blog of the New York Times restaurant critic, Frank Bruni (it also mentions tuna belly): http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/going-for-the-gut/ http://tinyurl.com/b5h4pm Also check the comments if you're interested in more detail on what's served where. Also: perfect, nongreasy crispness. Note that greasy CAN be a plus. No one likes, say, a greasy outer layer on your tempura butyou can't GET crispness without grease. Right, but as you say, you don't want the grease to soak into the batter. Ask Curtis, but I believe it's a matter of the proper frying temperature; it can't be too low or the grease invades the batter and what's inside instead of just cooking it from the outside. Greasy fried clams are yucky, by me. And sometimes grease adds to a dish. Perhaps it's me but a greasy pizza is, simply, fantastic. Heart trouble runs in my father's side of my family, so I have a highly ambivalent relationship with saturated fat. Pizza should be made with olive oil, though, no? That's good for you. It's the cheese that's the problem (not to mention the sausage). And I love a submarine sandwich, left in its wrapper for an hour or two that leaks grease when I finally take it out and eat it (gotta watch the mayo, though, because you don't want that white bacteria-catcher fermenting too long in the heat). These days commercial mayo contains so many preservatives it probably will last quite awhile. Better safe than sorry, though.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradh...@... wrote: On Feb 9, 2009, at 1:06 PM, shempmcgurk wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: On Feb 9, 2009, at 10:13 AM, shempmcgurk wrote: I was exposed to it while in northern India, in Kashmir while on a one- month TM course there in '81. Did you get to meet Lakshman Joo? Impressions? I like gulab-jamins. Donut-balls in cardamom syrup. Love 'em. I too appreciate your desire to replicate various favorite delicacies, as I am a forensic chef: I find meals I love and then work painstakingly to reproduce them to share that same Zen moment with friends and family. My area of expertise is Indian food, Thai food and Chinese, although I do make some French and Italian dishes. Soups are my winter fad, with chicken corn soup (very easy to make) being the new item this last weekend. ...love that term forensic chef! Never heard it before. But I understand what it means. And I wish I could put your skills to work here in the Phoenix area. I'm not a big red meat eater but about 2 or 3 times a year when I have the urge, I indulge. My desire is to be vegetarian, which I am for the most part, but I also believe that if I have the overbearing urge for meat that it's healthier to indulge rather than to deny. Anyway, a few times a year I'll go and have a slow-roasted beef short ribs dish at a restaurant in Scottsdale. $31.00 a plate...and worth every cent. I've pretty much got down how to cook the ribs but its the brandy/cherry reduction sauce that's got me baffled...and that's at least half the wonderfulness of the dish. I can't tell you have many times and how much money I've spent experimenting trying to recreate the sauce. I should hire you out to come here and replicate the recipe!
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Alex Stanley j_alexander_stan...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: I like gulab-jamins. Donut-balls in cardamom syrup. I *LOVE* gulab jamuns! That's why my Indian name is Gulabjamunanda. That's very funny. I think I'm going to plagiarize that! My other favorite junk food is Kettle Chips potato chips. However, highly disciplined paleo dieter that I am, I only indulge in them about once a year, if that.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: That was interesting. It makes sense that a place that would serve the whole more expensive tiny clams would be much better then a place that buys the cheaper bigger ones. I'm pretty sure there is nothing to remove from a clam, you just shuck them and eat the whole thing. One of the most transcendent foods for me is raw oysters from Northern cold waters. I was reminded by your description of the oceany, briny clam bellies. It is like tasting the ocean complete with some filtered ocean water, especially if you shuck them yourself. Only certain cheeses have that same ability to transport me into such a subtle flavor complexity. It is food poetry that captures the whole ocean in one bite. I know it grosses many people out, but for me it is as close to a spiritual connection with the ocean as I can get. A great read on the history of oysters and NYC is Kurlansky's The Big Oyster, History on the Half Shell. http://www.amazon.com/Big-Oyster-History-Half-Shell/dp/0345476387 Curtis: Like sushi, I believe that eating oysters as you describe above is a very primordial thing: it brings us back to our oceanic roots! Back in Canada my Dad and I used to buy a case of Malpeque oysters (P.E.I. and New Brunswick) every season and, for a week, pig out on 'em. We'd basically stand over the sink in the kitchen and get into a routine of shucking, lemon, and red sauce and eat 'em standing up. 3 or 4 dozen each at a time. But, as you indicate, the brine is the essential part. And to a lesser degree, the lemon and the seafood sauce. A friend of mine -- who had never had oysters before but had heard me rave about them -- called me from his cell phone in Manhatten a few months ago announcing to me that he was on a street that had an oyster bar. And I encouraged him to go in and invest $15.00 for a dozen (or whatever they now cost). And he did. But I forgot to tell him HOW to eat 'em, assuming that everyone knew. And it ruined the experience for him because he told me he couldn't stand them (and this is a fellow sushi eater, so it wasn't the raw or squeamish factor that turned him off). Upon questioning him, I soon discovered what the problem was: he had no idea how to eat them (i.e., he didn't know there WAS a particular way to eat them) and what he did was stick his fork into the oyster while it was sitting in the shell, shaking it gently to remove the brine, and then sticking it into his mouth. Of course, that would ruin the experience for anyone: no brine, no lemon, no seafood sauce. I tried to tell him that he would have to go with me the next time so I could tell him how to eat an oyster properly but I think he's unconvinced and I think that's it for him for this lifetime as regards ever eating oysters again! --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: snip Judy: your clams are making my mouth water...but please elaborate on what you mean by clams (with bellies). You see, I understand the concept of toro which means the fatty belly of the tuna (and toro sells for as much as $100 a pound, it's so delectible) but I can't grasp the concept of a clam having a belly. So please explain. Basically, it's the clam's gut. I'm not sure I want to know any more than that. It's the part of the clam that has the most oceany, briny taste and the softest texture; the meaty parts don't have as much flavor and are more chewy. Many restaurants serve only clam strips, which are just the meaty parts. That's for two reasons: one, squeamish diners prefer not to think they're eating internal organs, especially of the digestive tract; two, it's cheaper to use big clams and just cut up the meaty part into strips than to use small clams whole. Clams have to be carefully cleaned in any case. I think (but am reluctant to find out for certain) that proper cleaning removes the more objectionable contents of the gut (at any rate, what's removed is said not to taste very good). I prefer to assume that the belly contains only what the clam has eaten recently and not the waste products of its digestion. Clam bellies are often fried and served by themselves, incidentally. I like the combination of bellies and meaty parts, though. Here's a quasi-lyrical ode to clam bellies from the blog of the New York Times restaurant critic, Frank Bruni (it also mentions tuna belly): http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/going-for-the- gut/ http://tinyurl.com/b5h4pm Also check the comments if you're interested in more detail on what's served where. Also: perfect, nongreasy crispness. Note that greasy CAN be a plus. No one likes, say, a greasy outer layer on your tempura butyou can't GET
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ I fantasize having a push cart offering something exotic -- like Masala Dosa -- which I've perfected cooking and which I offer in some urban area like New York or Washington, D.C. And I make it so good that I can replicate for the customers off the street that come by my push cart the same eureka! experience I had whenever I first came across the dish That is s funny! I also have an alternative life fantasy like that! Did you see the great indie film Push Cart? Yes, although I found it a bit depressing. Also, for a Pakistani immigrant, the guy's accent was too perfectly American which made me wonder at what age the character could have emigrated to America and still have been famous back in Pakistan for his Pakistani music. Other than those two points, fascinating film. There are people out there living this odd dream. In NYC where street food is very serious they have a yearly Vendy award and and Indian cart won last year: http://tinyurl.com/4m7pml Too cool! A Biryani cart! I've come out not only with my own junk food cart idea but the actual junk food I'd sell is my own invention, too. It's really simple...but delicious: it's a swedish crepe most in a rectangular shape with a smear each of nutella and mascarpone on it, rolled up and then cut into slices...and it's marketed as: CHOCOLATE SUSHI! Everyone who's tried it loves it and the name entices everyone who hears it...of course, the only thing common with sushi is the shape. Here in DC there is a couple at the Balston Metro stop serving high level pizzas out of a cart. I read about it but haven't eaten it yet. Hot dog and sausage stands can be really creative. I saw an Asian version with all sorts of toppings like wasabi and kim chi. I fantasize that around here an Asian toppings pizza joint could do well. Interesting fusion. The big fusion thing here in the Phoenix area is Mexican/Chinese combo: http://www.chinobandido.com/ Kim chi is great on almost anything IMO. Too hot for me...and for some reason I associate Kim Chi with Haggis, I don't know why. We have a lot of Hispanic food trucks here. I love beef tongue soft tacos that they serve and homemade tamales. They have a lot of Hispanic workers who are single guys living together who keep them busy. In Adams Morgan, a night club rich zone, a guy is making a killing with a great Falafal stand modeled after the ones in Amsterdam with lots of toppings. Not having any meat makes it easy to keep the kitchen clean and it is high profit. All the drunks who are sick of the usual pizza after drinking storm the place after the club's closing time. I talked with the owner who is franchising the idea. He reiterated the location,location, location mantra as the reason he is rocking. The food biz is so labor intensive that my pipe dream will remain that. But if it's just you, the push cart, and one item (like, say, Falafels) I don't think it could be that bad labor-wise. But every time I see some interesting food cart I get the same thrill of That could be me and here is what I would do with it! I am so food obsessed this topic rocks my world! Thanks for feeding my attachment! ...and don't forget: it's a CASH BUSINESS! F*CK the IRS. wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: I suppose the most exotic place I've ever been (aside from certain parts of New Jersey) is India. And the most exotic street foods (or junk foods) I saw and tasted while there were Masala Dosa and Onion Bhajis. The Masala Dosa was incredible. A southern Indian dish, I was exposed to it while in northern India, in Kashmir while on a one- month TM course there in '81. It's a crepe-type pancake made from a flour of ground-up rice and chick peas, rolled up over a potato curry or something with a coconut chutney (optional) smothered on the outside, accompanied with (or poured over the top) an onion soup like broth (the name of which escapes me at the moment. Cost: 1 1/2 rupees (well, that was in '81 which at the time equalled about 15 cents American). We tried to have 2 or 3 a day. I am certified South Indian food nut. I have spent years perfecting Idly (steamed cakes) masala dosas and Sambar, the soup you mentioned. Here are some details. The batter for Idly and dosa is a specific kind of rice (not basmati) and split Urid dhal. It has specific properties than make it work. Sambar is made of Tur dhal a larger split pea. The secret of great Sambar is roasting your whole
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunsh...@... wrote: On Feb 9, 2009, at 9:13 AM, shempmcgurk wrote: So, what are YOUR favourite junk foods of the world? Spinach pies, you can buy them on any street corner in Athens. Sal Spanikopita. Love 'em. My father was Greek and he used to make them. My job was to clean up after him...well worth it to get the pies. There's also a Lebanese version of them that I like very much. And the Lebanese also do a version of the Greek Tiropita which is Spanikopita but with cheese.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 2:09 PM, shempmcgurk shempmcg...@netscape.net wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine salsunsh...@... Spinach pies, you can buy them on any street corner in Athens. Sal I've had spinish pies about almost anywhere you could imagine. They are best at what used to be Bonnie's Fried Chicken in Fairfield (2nd Street Cafe). Bonnie knows how to cook or who to buy from. Best falafel? Tel Aviv, hands down.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: [snip] My guru has an apartment next to a little shopping center where the [snip] Tell you what, Bhairitu. I challenge you to go to your guru and ask him who is right on the question of capitalism and globalization: me or you. I'll bet you a dollar to a donut that you guru will bust your boundaries by telling you that he agrees with me. Care to take that challenge?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcg...@... Like sushi, I believe that eating oysters as you describe above is a very primordial thing: it brings us back to our oceanic roots! Yes it is the rawness that is the magic! High grade sushi has it too. It makes me feel as if I am suddenly tasting in 3-D. I am so jealous of your Malpeque oysters in abundance story! Malpeque is one of my favorite types. The clean cold water is the key I believe. Our local Chesapeake Bay oysters are not good raw. Here is another tale of raw food. Devoted vegetarians and real Hindus please read no further... I was watching Anthony Bourdain's travel eating show a few weeks ago and he came to DC. He ended up at an Ethiopian place I had never heard of to eat raw grass fed beef in their traditional style. I just ate there for the first time last week. We're talking beef sushi! I love Ethiopian Injeera bread. They served my friend and me thumb sized pieces of meat with yellow fat (indicates their grass diet) as well as a tartar of ground raw meat mixed with their version of ghee and fresh paneer like cheese. You grabbed a piece with a section of injeera and dipped it into the typical Ethiopian spice mix. It was a revelation. Corn fed beef sucks! This was tender and had a wonderful flavor. Of course being the obsessive that I am I had spent the previous night researching all the parasites you can get from raw meat, but the guy convinced me that he has two sources he trusts to test the meat so the risk is minimized. Here is the place; http://tinyurl.com/aoodb2 He took me into the kitchen and the walk-in just like he did on the show for Tony, and it was like a scene out of Rocky! A temple of hanging meat. He sells a ton of it since Ethiopians love this traditional food. Raw rocks! I had been drifting towards a cooking style of searing the outside of a think prime aged Ribeye from Whole Foods and leaving the middle raw. Now I know what I had been dreaming of. Great food rap! A case of oyster! Man, that's living. Back in Canada my Dad and I used to buy a case of Malpeque oysters (P.E.I. and New Brunswick) every season and, for a week, pig out on 'em. We'd basically stand over the sink in the kitchen and get into a routine of shucking, lemon, and red sauce and eat 'em standing up. 3 or 4 dozen each at a time. But, as you indicate, the brine is the essential part. And to a lesser degree, the lemon and the seafood sauce. A friend of mine -- who had never had oysters before but had heard me rave about them -- called me from his cell phone in Manhatten a few months ago announcing to me that he was on a street that had an oyster bar. And I encouraged him to go in and invest $15.00 for a dozen (or whatever they now cost). And he did. But I forgot to tell him HOW to eat 'em, assuming that everyone knew. And it ruined the experience for him because he told me he couldn't stand them (and this is a fellow sushi eater, so it wasn't the raw or squeamish factor that turned him off). Upon questioning him, I soon discovered what the problem was: he had no idea how to eat them (i.e., he didn't know there WAS a particular way to eat them) and what he did was stick his fork into the oyster while it was sitting in the shell, shaking it gently to remove the brine, and then sticking it into his mouth. Of course, that would ruin the experience for anyone: no brine, no lemon, no seafood sauce. I tried to tell him that he would have to go with me the next time so I could tell him how to eat an oyster properly but I think he's unconvinced and I think that's it for him for this lifetime as regards ever eating oysters again! wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: That was interesting. It makes sense that a place that would serve the whole more expensive tiny clams would be much better then a place that buys the cheaper bigger ones. I'm pretty sure there is nothing to remove from a clam, you just shuck them and eat the whole thing. One of the most transcendent foods for me is raw oysters from Northern cold waters. I was reminded by your description of the oceany, briny clam bellies. It is like tasting the ocean complete with some filtered ocean water, especially if you shuck them yourself. Only certain cheeses have that same ability to transport me into such a subtle flavor complexity. It is food poetry that captures the whole ocean in one bite. I know it grosses many people out, but for me it is as close to a spiritual connection with the ocean as I can get. A great read on the history of oysters and NYC is Kurlansky's The Big Oyster, History on the Half Shell. http://www.amazon.com/Big-Oyster-History-Half-Shell/dp/0345476387 Curtis: Like sushi, I believe
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcg...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: On Feb 9, 2009, at 1:06 PM, shempmcgurk wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: On Feb 9, 2009, at 10:13 AM, shempmcgurk wrote: I was exposed to it while in northern India, in Kashmir while on a one- month TM course there in '81. Did you get to meet Lakshman Joo? Impressions? I like gulab-jamins. Donut-balls in cardamom syrup. Love 'em. I too appreciate your desire to replicate various favorite delicacies, as I am a forensic chef: I find meals I love and then work painstakingly to reproduce them to share that same Zen moment with friends and family. My area of expertise is Indian food, Thai food and Chinese, although I do make some French and Italian dishes. Soups are my winter fad, with chicken corn soup (very easy to make) being the new item this last weekend. ...love that term forensic chef! Never heard it before. But I understand what it means. And I wish I could put your skills to work here in the Phoenix area. I'm not a big red meat eater but about 2 or 3 times a year when I have the urge, I indulge. My desire is to be vegetarian, which I am for the most part, but I also believe that if I have the overbearing urge for meat that it's healthier to indulge rather than to deny. Anyway, a few times a year I'll go and have a slow-roasted beef short ribs dish at a restaurant in Scottsdale. $31.00 a plate...and worth every cent. I've pretty much got down how to cook the ribs but its the brandy/cherry reduction sauce that's got me baffled...and that's at least half the wonderfulness of the dish. I can't tell you have many times and how much money I've spent experimenting trying to recreate the sauce. I should hire you out to come here and replicate the recipe! I can relate to this Shemp. Most of the time I have no desire at all for red meat, preferring large salads that I throw anything that looks good into. Lately I've been on a soup binge making various concoctions with no rhyme of reason other than that they taste good to me and my wife. However, several times during the course of a year, I'll have the real urge to have anything from a Kobe beef cheeseburger (Lucky Devils in LA is the best place for that!) to your short ribs to a nice rib eye steak. When I feel the urge, I want to satisfy it with something worthy! The urge for a good Belgium Trappist ale like Chimay or Westmalle seems to be there throughout the year.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
shempmcgurk wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: [snip] My guru has an apartment next to a little shopping center where the [snip] Tell you what, Bhairitu. I challenge you to go to your guru and ask him who is right on the question of capitalism and globalization: me or you. I'll bet you a dollar to a donut that you guru will bust your boundaries by telling you that he agrees with me. Care to take that challenge? Discussed it with him many times. He doesn't agree with you at all. He's seen too many greedy people in the world and too many oppressed people. In fact he has some billionaires and millionaires as clients. They sometimes get in trouble and ask for a fix but he makes sure they still have to deal with their karma.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcg...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: On Feb 9, 2009, at 1:06 PM, shempmcgurk wrote: I've pretty much got down how to cook the ribs but its the brandy/cherry reduction sauce that's got me baffled...and that's at least half the wonderfulness of the dish. I can't tell you have many times and how much money I've spent experimenting trying to recreate the sauce. I'll bet it is veal bone stock. When you make stocks the old school way they are magical and add a depth of flavor that cannot be approximated without them. If don't want to make it yourself Williams Sonoma has a high end version. I haven't tried it since I love making stocks. I freeze small containers and it takes any soup to the next level. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj vajradhatu@ wrote: On Feb 9, 2009, at 10:13 AM, shempmcgurk wrote: I was exposed to it while in northern India, in Kashmir while on a one- month TM course there in '81. Did you get to meet Lakshman Joo? Impressions? I like gulab-jamins. Donut-balls in cardamom syrup. Love 'em. I too appreciate your desire to replicate various favorite delicacies, as I am a forensic chef: I find meals I love and then work painstakingly to reproduce them to share that same Zen moment with friends and family. My area of expertise is Indian food, Thai food and Chinese, although I do make some French and Italian dishes. Soups are my winter fad, with chicken corn soup (very easy to make) being the new item this last weekend. ...love that term forensic chef! Never heard it before. But I understand what it means. And I wish I could put your skills to work here in the Phoenix area. I'm not a big red meat eater but about 2 or 3 times a year when I have the urge, I indulge. My desire is to be vegetarian, which I am for the most part, but I also believe that if I have the overbearing urge for meat that it's healthier to indulge rather than to deny. Anyway, a few times a year I'll go and have a slow-roasted beef short ribs dish at a restaurant in Scottsdale. $31.00 a plate...and worth every cent. I've pretty much got down how to cook the ribs but its the brandy/cherry reduction sauce that's got me baffled...and that's at least half the wonderfulness of the dish. I can't tell you have many times and how much money I've spent experimenting trying to recreate the sauce. I should hire you out to come here and replicate the recipe!
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: That was interesting. It makes sense that a place that would serve the whole more expensive tiny clams would be much better then a place that buys the cheaper bigger ones. Well, they get them right from the latest catch. The place is owned by local fishermen, so no middleman. The place has a counter as well where they sell fresh fish. This is a *tiny* place, maybe four small tables. Most of their fried-clam business is takeout. I'm pretty sure there is nothing to remove from a clam, you just shuck them and eat the whole thing. Couldn't tell you. I suspect when you fry them, you need to at least wash out the sand. The first raw shellfish I ever had was clams, about 35 years ago in Baltimore, at a stand-up bar in that big open market; don't know if it's still in existence. As you say, the guys behind the counter just opened the clams and threw them on the plate and handed it to you. The place didn't look any too clean, either. So I was a bit dubious at first--but oh, God, they were good! Those would have been right out of the water as well. One of the most transcendent foods for me is raw oysters from Northern cold waters. Love them too; prefer them to raw clams, but it's close. And my mother used to make an oyster fry that was incredible. Unfortunately, there are no local places near me that specialize in fresh seafood, which is weird considering I'm right on the Jersey shore. But Long Branch isn't really a fishing town per se; those are more southerly, I think. There are always guys fishing on the beach, though. Next summer I'm going to try to get friendly with some of 'em, see if they'll sell me some of what they catch. I was reminded by your description of the oceany, briny clam bellies. It is like tasting the ocean complete with some filtered ocean water sigh Yes. Just intoxicating.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltabl...@... wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ Like sushi, I believe that eating oysters as you describe above is a very primordial thing: it brings us back to our oceanic roots! Yes it is the rawness that is the magic! High grade sushi has it too. It makes me feel as if I am suddenly tasting in 3-D. I am so jealous of your Malpeque oysters in abundance story! Malpeque is one of my favorite types. The clean cold water is the key I believe. Our local Chesapeake Bay oysters are not good raw. Here is another tale of raw food. Devoted vegetarians and real Hindus please read no further... I was watching Anthony Bourdain's travel eating show a few weeks ago and he came to DC. He ended up at an Ethiopian place I had never heard of to eat raw grass fed beef in their traditional style. I just ate there for the first time last week. We're talking beef sushi! I love Ethiopian Injeera bread. They served my friend and me thumb sized pieces of meat with yellow fat (indicates their grass diet) as well as a tartar of ground raw meat mixed with their version of ghee and fresh paneer like cheese. You grabbed a piece with a section of injeera and dipped it into the typical Ethiopian spice mix. It was a revelation. Corn fed beef sucks! This was tender and had a wonderful flavor. Of course being the obsessive that I am I had spent the previous night researching all the parasites you can get from raw meat, but the guy convinced me that he has two sources he trusts to test the meat so the risk is minimized. Here is the place; http://tinyurl.com/aoodb2 He took me into the kitchen and the walk-in just like he did on the show for Tony, and it was like a scene out of Rocky! A temple of hanging meat. He sells a ton of it since Ethiopians love this traditional food. Raw rocks! I had been drifting towards a cooking style of searing the outside of a think prime aged Ribeye from Whole Foods and leaving the middle raw. Now I know what I had been dreaming of. Great food rap! A case of oyster! Man, that's living. Back in Canada my Dad and I used to buy a case of Malpeque oysters (P.E.I. and New Brunswick) every season and, for a week, pig out on 'em. We'd basically stand over the sink in the kitchen and get into a routine of shucking, lemon, and red sauce and eat 'em standing up. 3 or 4 dozen each at a time. But, as you indicate, the brine is the essential part. And to a lesser degree, the lemon and the seafood sauce. A friend of mine -- who had never had oysters before but had heard me rave about them -- called me from his cell phone in Manhatten a few months ago announcing to me that he was on a street that had an oyster bar. And I encouraged him to go in and invest $15.00 for a dozen (or whatever they now cost). And he did. But I forgot to tell him HOW to eat 'em, assuming that everyone knew. And it ruined the experience for him because he told me he couldn't stand them (and this is a fellow sushi eater, so it wasn't the raw or squeamish factor that turned him off). Upon questioning him, I soon discovered what the problem was: he had no idea how to eat them (i.e., he didn't know there WAS a particular way to eat them) and what he did was stick his fork into the oyster while it was sitting in the shell, shaking it gently to remove the brine, and then sticking it into his mouth. Of course, that would ruin the experience for anyone: no brine, no lemon, no seafood sauce. I tried to tell him that he would have to go with me the next time so I could tell him how to eat an oyster properly but I think he's unconvinced and I think that's it for him for this lifetime as regards ever eating oysters again! A sushi bar in Montreal once served Wagyu beef (i.e., Kobi beef) raw, but in the manner that you describe. What they did was take a filet of the beef (when I use the word filet I am not specifically referring to filet mignon but filet as in no bone) and seared on it very high heat on each of the six sides for 10 or 15 seconds and then sliced it very, very thinly. It was then served sashimi style. From there, I dipped it in the soy sauce. Best beef I've ever had. Your choice of rib eye is good. I think it's the only cut worth having. wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: That was interesting. It makes sense that a place that would serve the whole more expensive tiny clams would be much better then a place that buys the cheaper bigger ones. I'm pretty sure there is nothing to remove from a clam, you just shuck them and eat the whole thing. One of the most transcendent
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: shempmcgurk wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: [snip] My guru has an apartment next to a little shopping center where the [snip] Tell you what, Bhairitu. I challenge you to go to your guru and ask him who is right on the question of capitalism and globalization: me or you. I'll bet you a dollar to a donut that you guru will bust your boundaries by telling you that he agrees with me. Care to take that challenge? Discussed it with him many times. He doesn't agree with you at all. He's seen too many greedy people in the world and too many oppressed people. In fact he has some billionaires and millionaires as clients. They sometimes get in trouble and ask for a fix but he makes sure they still have to deal with their karma. ...then my advice to you is to switch gurus. Here's one for you: http://www.revike.org/
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
shempmcgurk wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: shempmcgurk wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: [snip] My guru has an apartment next to a little shopping center where the [snip] Tell you what, Bhairitu. I challenge you to go to your guru and ask him who is right on the question of capitalism and globalization: me or you. I'll bet you a dollar to a donut that you guru will bust your boundaries by telling you that he agrees with me. Care to take that challenge? Discussed it with him many times. He doesn't agree with you at all. He's seen too many greedy people in the world and too many oppressed people. In fact he has some billionaires and millionaires as clients. They sometimes get in trouble and ask for a fix but he makes sure they still have to deal with their karma. ...then my advice to you is to switch gurus. Here's one for you: http://www.revike.org/ And one for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozg...@... wrote: shempmcgurk wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: shempmcgurk wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: [snip] My guru has an apartment next to a little shopping center where the [snip] Tell you what, Bhairitu. I challenge you to go to your guru and ask him who is right on the question of capitalism and globalization: me or you. I'll bet you a dollar to a donut that you guru will bust your boundaries by telling you that he agrees with me. Care to take that challenge? Discussed it with him many times. He doesn't agree with you at all. He's seen too many greedy people in the world and too many oppressed people. In fact he has some billionaires and millionaires as clients. They sometimes get in trouble and ask for a fix but he makes sure they still have to deal with their karma. ...then my advice to you is to switch gurus. Here's one for you: http://www.revike.org/ And one for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx Bhairitu, do you really like racist, anti-Semites like Karl Marx?
[FairfieldLife] Re: Junk foods of the world
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com , shempmcgurk shempmcg...@... wrote: Bhairitu, do you really like racist, anti-Semites like Karl Marx? *** Karl Marx was not only Jewish, he was descended from an established rabbinical family. http://www.vho.org/GB/Journals/JHR/5/1/Whisker69-76.html http://www.vho.org/GB/Journals/JHR/5/1/Whisker69-76.html
