Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cuisine

Dairy in Asian Cuisine?

Yiggs — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:23:04 -0800

Why do dairy products have a limited geographic range in Asian cuisine? I've noticed a trend in my (admittedly limited) experience of Asian food: dairy products seem to be rarely featured, if not totally absent, in the cuisines of China, Japan, and some of Southeast Asia. Yet, just over the Himalayas, Indian cuisine has ghee and paneer, and the Mongolians have kumis. This also seems to be correlated with geographic distributions of lactose intolerance, with China, Japan and Southeast Asia having the highest rates in the world.

My initial guess was that, historically, geography prevented cultures with dairy-heavy cuisines from intermingling with dairy-free cultures - either the Himalayas or the Gobi Desert may have limited the movement of cattle into mainland China. But China seems to have plenty of opportunities to intermingle with other cultures, be it the Silk Road, the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty or even later trading with the Portuguese or Dutch. Why would the use of dairy products - which, if Wikipedia is to be trusted, greatly increases the amount of calories extracted from livestock - not be adopted by these cultures?

Help Me Make My Salads Less Lame

jason's_planet — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:34:17 -0800

How do I make my salads less lame? Hello. My name is Jason and my salads are painfully dull. Every day, usually with dinner, I throw together some spinach, a tomato and half of an avocado.

Ho-fucking-hum.

I attribute my utter lack of salad inspiration to my utilitarian view of the dish -- that they're just vitamin pills that you eat with a fork. But I know that there's more to making salads than that, that they can be bona fide examples of culinary artistry as well.

So what are some good salad recipes -- or salad-making principles -- that would help me get out of this rut? Bonus points for salads that draw upon a wide range of vegetables, as I've heard that such variety is not only pleasing to the palate but also great for one's health.

Many thanks in advance.

Cook Like An Egyptian!

jbenben — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:01:20 -0800

I need to flatter and impress my favorite Egyptian...What dishes would you consider Egyptian high-end cuisine? I want to make something "fancy" for his birthday! Bonus Points: He's from Alexandria (think: seafood!) and a Francophile! His birthday is next week. Thanksgiving is the week after.

I've sourced A-grade Foie Gras (imported from France, secret chef hook-up) and gorgeous Merguez sausage.

I'm planning a Duck Cassoulet for this week (from a whole duck - I'll render all the skin for fat (Thanksgiving) reserve the breasts, use the carcass for stock for the cassoulet, legs in the pressure cooker, odd bits & bones saved to zip up a poultry stock for TG) I'm doing lobster bisque for TG (already have have extra lobster bodies in the freezer.)

I don't want to duplicate menus between His Birthday and Thanksgiving. I'm thinking the Foie can only be one or the other. Ditto the Merguez.

If I had a main planned for the Birthday - I would be set. I could then figure out what dish goes where. Help?

Sorry folks - Ful Medames won't cut it! I'm looking for a new idea, something so surprising and elegant, why, he'd marry me again!!

Google is woefully unhelpful on initial searches. If you grew up in Alexandria - then what is your favorite expensive restaurant dish? What did your Mom make for special occasions??

Recipes are not necessary, unless there is on regional ingredient or technique I must not not not leave out.

I'm trying to keep my evil plans a secret -- Thanks so much for any help!!

When did people stop being ok with soup just being itself?

Lutoslawski — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:27:42 -0800

When, why and where did people start putting crackers in their soup? Oyster crackers, saltines, and more exotic varieties of crackers are now ubiquitous and 'traditional' companions to a bowl of soup at diners everywhere. Why did this start? Where? When? Was there some sort of culinary evolution - like people used to put bread crumbs in their stew and now we have this oyster cracker skeuomorph? Answers or directions to good resources regarding the history of crackers and soup are very welcome.

Hey Limey! Your mum's gonna cook MY sausage!

SinisterPurpose — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:40:02 -0800

A question for my brethren in Britannia, how did your family prepare the full breakfast? I understand that there are several local variations on this delicacy of British cuisine, I'd like to hear about the individual variations that existed in your collective recollections. How do you remember the full fry up? And when typically was it served? (day of week, time of year, specific point in parental hangover) And any other details you feel like sharing.

What I don't want is links that point to sites telling me what a "typical" Great British Breakfast is or should be.

Thanks in advance to all.

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

Good food in Boston

felix betachat — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:25:29 -0800

So, Boston, where do you go for your good food? I'm moving to Boston from Chicago in a couple of months, and I'm a little ambivalent about it. Chicago is a wonderful city for food. I love her farmers' markets. I have a great little produce market right around the corner from my place. And there are so many wonderful restaurants doing interesting things with local ingredients. I love lula cafe and am in awe of Blackbird.

So tell me...where do you shop and eat? I'd like to know where Boston's gems are, and how its local agriculture is influencing its cuisine. I'm particularly interested in recommendations for Allston/Brighton, Jamaica Plain, Brookline, Newton and Metro West, but I'd love recommendations for anything you know of that's interesting and worth a trip.

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.

Foods that originated in the United States?

wastelands — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:23:38 -0800

Where can I find a list of foods that originated in the United States? Wikipedia has this list, but it's more of a list of "commonly consumed" foods in the US, rather than strictly ones that originated here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_dishes

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?

Interesting restaurants near W44th Street?

lonemantis — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:44:30 -0800

RestaurantFilter: Restaurant Recommendations for NYC on Saturday evening (13Dec2008), around the Broadhurst Theatre - near W44th St. (more inside) My wife and I are lucky recipients of two free tickets to see Equus this Saturday, in NYC. To thank the couple who are so graciously giving us the tickets, we are going to buy dinner before the show. Any ideas on interesting and tasty restaurants (moderately priced) around the Broadhurst Theatre near W44th Street? They're an older couple who we'd rather not inundate with the too exotic. A nice place with some character, and food which isn't too bland would suffice. Preferably within walking distance (a few city blocks at the most) to the theatre. Thanks!

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?

What to do with too much coconut

ruelle — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:46:04 -0800

I have copious amounts of coconut cream and coconut shavings. What food-item (ie: not 20 galleons of piña colada) can I make with those ingredients that would require as little additional ingredients and effort as possible. And if you would have a bare-bones recipe at hand, it would be very much appreciated. :) I was thinking perhaps something along the lines of simple coconut cookies...? Does anyone have an idea for a simple recipe?

What is this raw beef dish from Texas or Louisiana?

fiercecupcake — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:50:28 -0800

I can't remember or successfully Google the name of a raw meat dish that may have originated in East Texas or Louisiana. It involved raw ground beef and possibly raw onions, peppers, and maybe egg -- very much like steak tartare. (Another comparison: as with citrus in ceviche, the "heat" of the onions/peppers was supposed to have some effect on the meat.) It's on the tip of my tongue -- I think it started with a P and sounded vaguely like it could be a girl's name, but I don't want to lead anyone astray. I think it was eaten with bread or crackers. I was quite young and didn't like the idea, though I suspect I would love it now, if I only knew what it was!

service à la française

plexi — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:38:31 -0800

What is the best recipe (and wine) for Beef Bourguignon?

Hate to be a Maine in the...

littleredwagon — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:04:25 -0800

My family and I will be taking our 3rd annual trip to Waldoboro Maine in a few weeks. We'd like to get some strong recommendations on the following items within 30 miles of Waldoboro: - Place for breakfast that doesn't include Moody's. - Out of the way lobster spot (send via mail link in profile). - Unique things to do for a 3 year old? Any and all information is greatly appreciated! Oh..one more question...is it normal for lobster in a lobster roll (at Red's Eats) to be cold? That threw me last year.... Thanks mefites!

Have you heard of sandulla?

sluglicker — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:24:22 -0800

I'm trying to find the recipe for something called sandulla (spelling is probably wrong, san pronounced as in bonbon and dulla as in hoola). I had this when I was a kid at a friends house. It was like a ravioli stuffed with I think beef that had been slow-cooked for a long time. The meat was either shredded or ground and mixed with maybe chives and parsley. The sandulla was then simmered for a long time in the original meat broth. It might be a Polish meal, though the grandmother who cooked them was French/English. This could possibly be Irish or Scot. They called the meal "Sandulla Sunday" so it might be a special holiday meal or for religious observance. The recipe is a closely-guarded secret. I've offered to pay hundreds of dollars to the granddaughters and my offer has been refused. I've search the web and got nothing. Over the years, I've asked countless people if they know this dish and have never found one person who has.

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!

Me And Bobby Eat Ghee (freedom's just another word for 'nothing left to eat')

spoobnooble — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:25:33 -0800

Would anyone in their right mind eat vegetable ghee, or any kind of ghee, straight from the can? Good day. A while back I posted a question looking for info regarding a minor point in a novel I'm writing. I thank everyone for their input.

So here's another (weirder) question:

In the second half of the novel the narrator (the punk rocker), now in his twenties, has married a Canadian woman of Indian descent -- her family moved to Toronto when she was three. While she is pretty westernised, her diet includes a lot of Indian staples like rice and curry. She tries to introduce her husband to some of the foods her family eats, and he ends up snacking on a certain traditional food that seems natural to him (a white guy who tends to eat mostly fast foods), but in a manner that ends up mortifying his wife and amusing his Indian in-laws.

I had it in my head several years ago that he would develop a taste for eating vegetable ghee straight from the can. The only basing I have for this idea is a commercial I saw several years ago on one of the local multi-ethnic channels in Toronto which included some shots of happy Indian men and women eating what looked like white chunks of vegetable. Upon further inspection, it seems that ghee is a kind of butter made either from dairy or vegetable products.

Not knowing the taste of ghee, I am hesitant to claim that the narrator would start eating ghee 'out of the can' (or jar, as the case seems to be). Then again, when I was a kid I loved eating peanut butter by the spoonful, and some people have told me in no uncertain terms that eating straight peanut butter was disgusting, at least to them.

So is it possible that a westerner who doesn't know better would eat ghee in this manner? Or is there another Indian foodstuff I can substitute? Either way the wife has to be dismayed and/or horrified by her husband's actions, even if he's not doing himself any real harm in eating the food in a non-normal way.

(P.S. As of this writing I still do not have a publisher for this novel. It is possible that I may end up going to Lulu.com to print out copies once it's done. I'm still hoping to publish this thing properly -- four chapters to go! -- but otherwise don't go overboard thinking that you're helping out the next Norman Mailer or Margaret Atwood or whatever. But thanks in advance nonetheless!)

How to make egg noodles?

macsigler — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:35:52 -0800

How do I make decent egg noodles? I've been trying to make Chinese egg noodles but they come out weird. Ideally they should be the skinny, long, round noodles. Instead, the dough clumps together, smushes when I try to roll it up, breaks when I try to unroll it, and I basically just lose at life. :P
What is the secret to making these? Is there a step-by-step recipe or method that you've used that is tried and true? Thanks in advance!

Where to find authentic Chinese food in Madison

chippie — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:48:02 -0800

Where can I find authentic Chinese food in Madison, Wisconsin? I mean authentic Chinese food from a restaurant. And I know that some Chinese restaurants offer two menus--one for "American Chinese" food (i.e. sweet-and-sour chicken in a fluorescent pink sauce) and one for "authentic Chinese" food. I'd be interested to know which restaurants in Madison do this, too. Thanks!