Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cooking and cuisine

breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Chile?

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:37:03 -0800

You are a resident of Chile. What do you eat? I want to spend a month eating like a Chilean. I ordered this book , but want to do some research before it arrives. Some specific questions are below, but any related info would be of interest!

1. What are the eating schedule and rituals (early dinner vs late dinner; small meals vs large meals; utensil use vs eating by hand)?
2. What would typical days of food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) look like (including, for instance, when you don't necessarily want to cook, but just throw something together)?
3. Do you drink water, tea, wine, beer?
4. What's in your pantry?

I love you, fresh egg

chalbe — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:34:01 -0800

What cooking secrets take your food to the almost-pro level? I love food; making it, reading about it, eating it. I already do a few basics, like shopping the NYC Union Square farmers' market, using fresh leafy herbs and garlic, squeezing lemon juice, cooking meat the right temperature, adding enough salt + pepper, grating Parmigiano-Reggiano, etc. Even so, my cooking still tastes a little flat and two-dimensional.

What practices or ingredients do you use to elevate your cooking? Spice mixes? Marinades? I prefer answers that skew towards the complex-but-tasty and avoid processed goods. Bonus points if you are a professional cook or culinary school student.

To get us started, here are some ideas I've been wanting to try:
- Making brown veal stock and remoullage, for braising and sauces
- Making yogurt from scratch milk + starter
- Making herbed butter and herb-infused oils

Why should I throw out the floating beans?

evhan — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:54:44 -0800

Quite a few times in recipes I've seen directions to put beans in water and discard any that float after a period of soaking (I've even heard this from you, AskMeFi). Now, I like beans. My question is: why can't I eat those?

I'm sick of scrambled eggs, but can't deny their cooking appeal

typography — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:46:08 -0800

I'm lazy, impatient, and space constrained. But I really like food. Which cuisine should I master? I'd like to get into cooking but all my attempts so far have been defeated by one of three things:

Too much cleanup. I can't stand washing dishes, so meals that call for 5 pans are eternally depressing.

Too much time. Instructions like "now wait 2 hours" don't work for me. I like to be eating in under 30 minutes from the onset of hunger.

Too much equipment or too many special ingredients. My kitchen is small and I'm probably not going to have a crockpot just for that one dish. I also prefer having a simple pantry with a dozen or so staples. Since each cuisine needs it's own set of spices and sometimes equipment, I'd like to focus mainly on one.

Is there a cuisine I can learn that alleviates some or all of these concerns? I like virtually all food (except italian for some reason), so go wild.

Previously: lazy cuisine and tight budget cuisine

How to master ________ cooking on a tight budget?

Picklegnome — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:52:52 -0800

I need to eat cheaply. Can I do so while extending my cooking ability in a specific direction? What cuisines, categories, or focuses can my home cooking pinpoint while living on a budget? Just in case this isn't clear: are there types of foods, foods from specific regions, etc., that are generally low-cost while having a fair amount of breadth? Or is this a dumb question - do all cuisines have consistent scales that more or less overlap of low to high cost food?

How to acquire a taste for cilantro?

rwhe — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:18:06 -0800

Ever hate cilantro, then acquire a taste for it? I'm a cilantro hater. I keep reading about people who used to hate cilantro, then learned to tolerate or even love it. However, it's also been suggested (based on twin studies, and so on) that there's a genetic basis for hating it. Puzzling.

So... I'm in the tryouts for the other team. If you used to hate cilantro, but then acquired a taste for it, please tell me how you did it -- the more relevant details, the better. No rants, please; I can supply my own.

It would be so nice not to live in fear when I visit Thai and Mexican restaurants.

Bean me, Soup Nazis.

dinger — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:30:36 -0800

Winter's here, and I have a hankerin' for some good bean soup. Help me out. I have:
1. A craving for some decent, homemade bean soup.
2. A magnificent ham bone from Christmas frozen in the fridge.
3. A decent stock pot.

I do not have:
1. Much soup-making prowess, although I am a marginally talented cook.
2. A dependable recipe.

I once experimented, with questionable success, with the ubiquitous Senate Bean Soup recipe, thickened, as I recall, with mashed potatoes. I'd like to try something different, or hear about your treasured recipes, innovations, and variations. To give you a starting point I will somewhat abashedly admit that I find the Campbell's concentrated version not bad on an occasional basis. I'd like to make it better.

What are your favorite bean soup concoctions, and your best homemade soup-making tips, techniques, and secrets?

Is Chef School Cool?

bodywithoutorgans — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:31:52 -0800

I want to become a better cook, is chef school the nuclear option? As a child, my mother insisted that I do the eating and not the cooking. Despite her best intentions, I ended up quite clueless on how to cook. In college, I improved by cooking for myself and quite enjoyed it. I just graduated from college and I'd like to pick up a tangible skill on the side and attend chef school. The reason is because I've only been cooking for 2-3 years and would like to improve faster than the oh-just-keep-at-it-and-it-comes-with-age-and-experience rate. SO, collective mind:
1) Is cooking school going to improve my skill? I am not "gifted" at cooking nor do I cook all the time. Am I going to have the rude awakening that unless I enjoy cooking all the time or have some innate skill, I'm doomed?
2) Is it possible to do cooking school in the evenings while holding down a fulltime job?
3) Does anyone know the prices/good chef schools in Austin? I've looked at Texas Culinary Academy and the Cordon Bleu Program. I don't know anything about them or their prices.
4) Can anyone who has gone to chef school give advice to the casual cook who doesn't plan on being a chef at a restaurant the cost/benefit analysis of going to chef school?

Which is the meatiest Indian cookbook?

vorfeed — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:19:06 -0800

Lamb and chicken, pork and beef... which is the meatiest Indian cookbook? I love to cook Indian food, but the Indian cookbooks I have feature lots of foods I can't eat (namely, starchy stuff like beans/legumes and rice). I know it's tough, because many Indians are vegetarian, but can you recommend an Indian cookbook with plenty of meat dishes? Individual recipes are fine, too, but I'm mainly looking for something I can flip through when I feel like cooking. The more meat recipes, the better, but I'd like something with lots of authenticity and flavor, too!

I have Madhur Jaffrey's "Indian Cooking" and "Quick & Easy Indian Cooking", along with Shahnaz Mehta's "Good Cooking from India". Between them, I've got enough ideas for the next five years of veggies, but the meat dishes take up only a few pages in each. I'm sick of rogan josh, vindaloo, korma, and saag murgh, please help!

But there are many, many Moles, including Green Mole with Tomatillos, Green Mole with Pumpkinseeds, Orange-Red Mole, Red Mole, Yellow Mole and the famous peasant Soup, Mole de Olla.

mek — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 02:14:27 -0800

How do I make a great mole (poblano)? I've found this website, and I have a great deal of general cooking experience, but I'm not particularly adept at mexican food. I am reasonably confident I can execute a recipe, but I live in the frigid north of Canada (Vancouver), so real mole is impossible to find, thus I am determined to make my own. Ingredient sourcing is not a problem, nor is time or effort required.

What I really want to know are specific tips and tricks, general recommendations for ingredients, serving recommendations, etc. What is best done ahead of time, what is best left to the last minute? Where can I substitute and what is completely non-negotiable? If you have experience making mole, please share your l33t infoz.

Oh how refreshing. A question about travelling to France.

Deathalicious — Wed, 02 May 2007 13:20:33 -0800

TravelinginFranceFilter: I know there have been loads of questions about France. We're looking for beautiful places in the countryside, great cheap food and reasonable accommodations. I'd love to have the perfect trip that matches my favorite things: We're spending 18 days in France during June. We're planning around a week in Paris which leaves another 10 days or so for just traveling the countryside.

We're both really into food. I love open air markets. I'm crazy for fruits and vegetables, so places where those are particularly fresh or delicious would be great (I'm sure that's all over France, but there must be some markets that knock you flat).

Also I love cheese. What are some places famous for their cheeses, especially cheeses which, for legal or logistical reasons, are difficult to get anywhere else?

I love cooking, so if anyone has a suggestion of a good place you can stay that has a kitchen -- or even, dare I say it, cooking lessons? -- that would be fantastic.

Speaking of food, I've heard that a lot of dishes are cooked with bacon or lard in France. As a non-pork eater, is there any way for me to make sure that there isn't pig in my food?

My friend is a music lover, both punk/indie and world music, so if there are any towns that are small but known for their music scene, that would be great too.

I'm quite into stuff that is underground, so suggestions of catacombs and caves and other underground areas would be great. We also like hiking so that would be very cool too.

Neither of us is that into wine. Don't worry, I will be drinking it with meals, it's just visiting a vineyard for its own sake does not appeal to me.

Also, we are not planning on renting a car so ideally the place would be accessible by train or other forms of public transportation.

Outside of Paris, we'd like to stick to a budget of $50-60 per person, per day (that is, $100-120 total). Is that at all possible? We care a lot more about the quality of our food than the quality of our room.

Sorry this post is so long, and I realize this is really a bunch of questions (although all of them are really the same question: What should we see and do in France? just made a little more specific). Thanks all!

Seoul Food- Cooking Korean at Home

oflinkey — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 16:27:15 -0800

Korean Food—Help me get started making it at home. I am interested in learning to cook Korean food, but have no real idea how to get started. I have had both homemade Korean, as well as the restaurant fare. Additionally, we have a “fast food” Korean place on campus here, and most of my Korean colleagues cannot answer questions I have about some of the yummy things I get there. I know what they serve is the junk food of Korea, but I am interested in learning the equivalent of Hamburger Helper right along side the home-style and finer cuisine. I love it all.

I can’t really ask the people at the restaurant for help, and my Korean officemate admits to not being such a good cook. With her child, her husband and her dissertation, she has little time to help me around the Korean kitchen. Trying to orchestrate a translation session with my officemate and the cooks at the restaurant is rather out of the question, as well.

I am looking for any and all resources that can help me out, as well as help me answer some very practical questions (Can a fishcake roll be thawed and refrozen? Which red pepper paste is the best one? Can I get that seaweed-nut candy here?). I cannot read Korean, so any visual help is especially appreciated.

Sugar and spice and everything nice

oissubke — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 10:20:45 -0800

I'm looking for some premium, gourmet, fancy-pants spices (e.g., saffron, really good vanilla beans, etc.) as a gift for a food-savvy friend. I'm clueless about where to look, and Google turns up all kinds of shady e-commerce sites. Where do I go for the really nice, high-quality stuff?

Any tips for making Yorkshire pudding?

bondcliff — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 09:41:20 -0800

Any tips for making Yorkshire pudding? [MI] I'm hoping to make it with roast beef for Christmas dinner and if it doesn't come out right Christmas will have been ruined and god will kill a kitten.

I've attempted to make it four times and only once did it work. The rest of the time it comes out as a flat mass of styrofoam. Soylent Yellow.

I need Encyclopedia (or Alton) Brown to read through this next paragraph and figure out what I'm doing wrong:

I follow a basic recipe out of the Larousse Gastronomique. Eggs and flour, maybe some milk and salt. I don't remember the exact recipe but I trust the source. I pre-heat the oven and a Pyrex roasting dish (maybe I should be using metal?) until the drippings (or butter) are SMOKING (I was told this is the key), pour in the chilled batter and close the door. I believe I turn the heat down a bit after fifteen minutes.

It never seems to rise nad bubble. It eventually gets brown but just stays flat.

There must be a trick. Maybe a metal pan will hold the heat better than the Pyrex? Maybe I could use a thermal mass (like a pizza stone) to retain the heat when I open the oven door? What's the deal? Maybe the problem is with the batter? Maybe I shouldn't chill it for an hour like I'm told?

FWIW: I have an electric oven and I'm a pretty decent cook.

There has to be a secret. The folks on that island that invented this stuff aren't exactly known for their skill in the kitchen. Surely an arrogant American like myself can take hundreds of years of refinement and figure it out in a couple of hours.

(that last paragraph was sarcasm)

So, what's your secret?

Squash!

kenko — Mon, 25 Oct 2004 11:38:22 -0800

What should I do with (acorn, butternut, other hard) squash? Also, does anyone think that a ricer would suffice for soups? I don't have a blender (I don't have a ricer either but imagine they're cheaper), and I used to have an awesome butternut squash soup recipe.

Cook to Impress!

jdroth — Tue, 28 Sep 2004 14:41:25 -0800

From the general to the specific: What are your favorite recipes, the dishes you prepare when you want to impress? This clam chowder never fails to impress:

Skipjack's Clam Chowder
from November 2000 Bon Appétit
with modifications by J.D. Roth

Three 8-oz bottles of clam juice
One pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (resist the urge to use Yukon Gold potatoes)
Two tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
Three slices bacon, finely chopped (I use thick, hammy deli bacon -- use six slices of bacon if you're using the thin, pre-packaged stuff)
Two cups chopped onions (about one large yellow onion)
Three stalks (about 1-1/4 cups) of celery with leaves, chopped
Five garlic cloves, minced
One bay leaf
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Six 6-1/2 oz cans minced clams, drained, juices reserved (chopped clams are fine -- I use minced because Kris doesn't like large, rubbery clam chunks)
1-1/2 cups half-and-half
One teaspoon hot pepper sauce (we use Tapatío, but you might prefer Tabasco)
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon hickory smoke salt (hard-to-find, but great flavor!)

At the top of my recipe card I've written, in bold: NOTE: Prepare ingredients before starting! Experienced, or quick, cooks can ignore this advice. I'm neither experienced nor quick. If I don't prepare the ingredients before starting the chowder, it's a disaster.

Bring the bottled clam juice and potatoes to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until potatoes are tender (about ten minutes). Remove from heat.
Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until bacon begins to brown (about 8-10 minutes). Add onions, celery, garlic, and bay leaf. Sauté until vegetables soften, about six minutes.
Stir in flour and cook two minutes. Do not allow flour to brown.
Gradually whisk in reserved juices from clams. Add potato mixture, calms, half-and-half, hickory smoke salt, and hot pepper sauce. Simmer chowder to blend flavors, stirring frequently.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Chowder can be served after as few as ten minutes of simmering, or it can sit on the stove contentedly for hours.

The garlic can be reduced; I think the original recipe called for only one or two cloves.

Advice on making jams, pickles, and preserves.

kenko — Sun, 11 Jul 2004 14:15:38 -0800

I want to learn how to make preserves, jams, pickles, and other such things. But, I don't want to die from botulism. I have a fairly basic grasp of how the sterilization process works, and I'd like some pointers to/on techniques, supplies, cookbooks, whatever anyone who's got some experience in the matter might recommend.