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Post by chefmate on Oct 18, 2009 19:01:04 GMT
I think the general perception is that Brits are lousy cooks. But they're far better than Germans (who have no taste buds and might just as well eat dog food). The French and Italians are the masters of taste (or so goes the conventional wisdom in foodie circles). Americans are not in focus on this issue because they borrow their food ideas from other cultures. I will say that American fast food chains provide stiff competition to the Germans when it comes to serving dog food. Buying a pizza from an American fast food chain like Pizza Hut is like buying hot cardboard. OK, so which masters of taste would serve you with Chicken's foot soup? being a good old fashioned American no damn chicken foot is ever going to appear in my kitchen or my plate......give me a pot roast, filet mignon or a prime rib but keep the chicken feet attached to the chicken, the tripe in the cow's stomach, the fatty liver back in the goose and the blood still running in the circulatory system of an animal not my pudding.
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Oct 20, 2009 0:08:53 GMT
Nice photo. Good ol' IPhone What exactly is that? I think I see 2 kinds of fish - a pastry of some sort, sauce and - is that a carrot? What is the pastry like thing? What kind of sauce? You are definitely looking at two kinds of fish. That is a small carrot. There is a ravioli with filling that I think is crab. Under the ravioli is is a round serving of duxelles (chopped mushrooms in a sauce). I think the dark brown item beneath the carrot is FAR, a Brittany speciatly. It was delicious no matter what it is.
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Post by beth on Oct 20, 2009 2:12:22 GMT
Nice photo. Good ol' IPhone What exactly is that? I think I see 2 kinds of fish - a pastry of some sort, sauce and - is that a carrot? What is the pastry like thing? What kind of sauce? You are definitely looking at two kinds of fish. That is a small carrot. There is a ravioli with filling that I think is crab. Under the ravioli is is a round serving of duxelles (chopped mushrooms in a sauce). I think the dark brown item beneath the carrot is FAR, a Brittany speciatly. It was delicious no matter what it is. Far Breton. I've never had that but it sounds nice . . . maybe not on the same plate with my fish, but I'm sure if it weren't good they would not serve it that way. The fish looks very tasty. Far Breton Ingredients 2 cups milk 3 eggs 1/2 cup sugar 5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, cooled 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract 1/8 tsp. salt 3/4 cup all purpose flour 1 cup pitted prunes 1/3 cup raisins 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup brandy Instructions Put milk, eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt in a blender. Blend for 1 minute. Add the flour and pulse until blended, scraping down the sides of the jar. Cover and chill in the jar at least 3 hours and up to 1 day. Meanwhile, put the prunes, raisins and water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the fruit is softened and water is almost evaporated, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat. Pour brandy over fruit and ignite it. Let the flames burn off, shaking the saucepan occasionally. Transfer the fruit to small bowl. Let cool at room temperature Preheat the oven to to 375�F. Butter 8-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides. Line the bottom with waxed paper. Butter the paper. Dust the pan with flour, shaking out excess; place on a baking sheet. Reblend the batter until smooth, about 5 seconds. Pour into the pan. Drop prunes and raisins into the batter, distributing them evenly. Bake the cake on the baking sheet until sides are puffed and brown and knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool completely. www.marga.org/food/int/brittany/far.html
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Post by Liberator on Oct 20, 2009 3:46:57 GMT
Just a supercilious guess but is the flour ordinary or buckwheat? I discovered that the difference between a pancakes and a Breton crepe (or Russian bliny) is that the latter used buckwheat (dock-seed) flour.
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♫anna♫
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Post by ♫anna♫ on Oct 20, 2009 3:57:44 GMT
Nice photo. Good ol' IPhone What exactly is that? I think I see 2 kinds of fish - a pastry of some sort, sauce and - is that a carrot? What is the pastry like thing? What kind of sauce? You are definitely looking at two kinds of fish. That is a small carrot. There is a ravioli with filling that I think is crab. Under the ravioli is is a round serving of duxelles (chopped mushrooms in a sauce). I think the dark brown item beneath the carrot is FAR, a Brittany speciatly. It was delicious no matter what it is. If i fly internationally i try if possible to fly with Air France! The meals, ambiance and service are all first class!
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Oct 26, 2009 2:56:46 GMT
Anna - We flew Air France this trip and you are correct -- the service and food are better than most other airlines. However, the seats in the tourist section are close together. There isn't much knee room and using a laptop computer it very difficult (nearly impossible) due to cramped space.
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Post by indiga on Oct 27, 2009 21:04:29 GMT
Who knows how to cook?? ... Spanish, of course! ;D
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Post by beth on Oct 28, 2009 0:43:17 GMT
Who knows how to cook?? ... Spanish, of course! ;D I don't, Indiga . . . unless Mexican dishes count. It would be great if you'd share a recipe or two.
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Post by Liberator on Oct 28, 2009 1:24:12 GMT
I reckon the Chinese are the best cooks on the planet. They eat just about anything as long as they think it has had enough cooking time. We are mostly familiar with stir-fry stuff suitable for knocking out fresh in a restaurant, but there some opposite recipes involving simmering overnight. The Japanese eat anything too, but the Chinese prefer to cook it first.
My favourite food is probably Indian but even boiled bacon cabbage and potato can be made to taste good.
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Post by indiga on Oct 28, 2009 14:28:10 GMT
Who knows how to cook?? ... Spanish, of course! ;D I don't, Indiga . . . unless Mexican dishes count. It would be great if you'd share a recipe or two. of course!! but I don't know which recipe are only cooked here. Paella, potato omelette..and right know (but only in Catalunya) we are preparing "panellets", and other recipe we prepare is "torrijas" panellets: torrijas:
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Post by beth on Oct 28, 2009 19:47:22 GMT
What nice photos, Indiga. The foods look delicious. While looking for a recipe, I came upon this site you might like. recipespicbypic.blogspot.com/2008/10/panellets-catalan-traditional-treat-for.html Is this the recipe you use for panellets? It's a bit confusing to me because I'd have to convert the measurements, etc.. Once one prepares them the first time, I'll bet it's much easier. The torrijas recipe sounds almost exactly like the way I prepare french toast. Is the taste the same?
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Oct 30, 2009 2:08:28 GMT
Agreed! Catalan cooking is outstanding. In fact, the top rated restaurant in the world is El Bulli in Roses Spain (Catalunya). I've been there some years ago when it was still possible to get reservations. Fabulous.
Your photos look like El Bulli dishes indiga. Outstanding. Could you post the recipes?
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Post by indiga on Oct 30, 2009 21:07:21 GMT
beth! I use my own family recipe, if you want to prepare I can tell you my measurements, which use to be spoons, glass...
BushAdmirer yes of course!! Do you want the panellets recipe??
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Oct 30, 2009 21:29:03 GMT
Sure would like to see the recipe(s).
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♫anna♫
Global Moderator
Aug 18 2017 - Always In Our Hearts
The Federal Reserve Act is the Betrayal of the American Revolution!
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karma:
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Post by ♫anna♫ on Nov 4, 2009 4:14:53 GMT
There's a Catalan Resturant in Stuttgart called "Er Vaquita"! I've heard it's outstanding! I'll have to try it out sometime!
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Nov 8, 2009 23:25:29 GMT
Anna - There is also a Catalan restaurant in Houston that's getting good reviews. We haven't tried it as yet but have it in mind to try. The name of the restaurant is "Catalan." Not very creative but gets the point across :-)
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Post by indiga on Nov 10, 2009 15:36:53 GMT
"Er Vaquita"? It sounds "andaluz" jaja Well, let's do panellets!! we need: for the mass 400 gr sugar 400 gr ground almonds 200 gr. sweet potato 2 eggs and the other ingredients: pinions, almonds, cherries (for cakes), grosella (I don't know the translate, it's a drink of this You have to peel the sweet potato, you cut it and you boil it in water for 20 minutes. You take it off from the water and dry it. In a container, you get together the sweet potato, the almonds, the sugar, and 2 egg yolks (you can also add a little vanilla or lemon zest). It is mixed on a marble flour (to prevent sticking). With this, the mass of panellets it's done! Then, you have to set the mass in a cylinder shape and cut it in some parts (to make some differents kinds of panellets). Panellets are more or less as a nut (the size) Then you take one part and pull a gush of "grosella", and in this panellets you can put a cherry. You can also prepare panellets of pinions or almonds. You take the panellet and batter it in panellets or pinions. Then you can "paint" them (I do it with a brush) with egg whites until stiff. Then, put them in the oven until they are "golden brown" (time depends on the heat of the oven). In the tray, you can put butter to avoid the panellets sticks to the tray. I am sorry but I can't explain it better If you don't understand anything, please say it and I will try to explain it in a correct way.
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Post by DAS (formerly BushAdmirer) on Nov 14, 2009 0:38:01 GMT
Thank you for posting Indiga. I'm going to give that a try when we get our kitchen back together (torn up now with water overflow and damage). Thanks.
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