Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cuisine

What to do in Montreal?

GlassHeart — Sun, 12 May 2013 23:36:32 -0800

I'll be in Montreal and Longueuil, Quebec, Canada for two weeks. What budget-friendly things should I do there? In a few days I'll be heading off, by train, to Montreal and Longueuil, Quebec, Canada and am not sure what, other than chill with my family, to do there.

I want to avoid doing costly activities and don't plan on spending more than $1000 CAD (I'll likely be spending much less than that).

I'll be spending most of my time in Longueuil, but should also be spending much time in Montreal.

Though I can speak French, I'm not fluent in it. But that shouldn't be much of a problem since I'll be with bilingual family members of mine who can act as translators for me when in very French places (supposedly most of Longueuil is very French) which means I can go pretty much anywhere without worrying much about language barriers. So please don't limit yourself to recommending very English places.

Questions regarding Montreal and Longueuil:

What are some good liquor stores there that sell beers such as Hoegaarden, Duvel and Holsten Festbock? Is Holsten Festbock, a great, cheap German beer (IMO; many beer connoisseurs would scoff at me for saying so), easily found in Montreal?

What are some good vegan restaurants there (I'm not vegan, but my partner, who'll be there with me, is)?

What are some interesting Quebec-exclusive products I should buy there?

What are some must-eat-at, budget-friendly, non-vegan restaurants there (anyone here been to Restaurant Lou Nissart? It's one restaurant I'm considering dining at)?

What are some must-see things there (I hope to snap lots of interesting photos there)?

What are some places that sell high-end colognes like Zino Davidoff or Rochas Man (I want to smell good while there)?

Questions regarding trains:

Do you handle your checked baggage yourself, or does someone else do it for you?

I'll be transferring trains on the way to and on the way back from Montreal . . . do you have to do much walking when transferring trains?

What's it like taking a train across Canada (the train ride will be extremely long and I don't really know what to expect on it. This is the first time I'll be traveling alone and am scared I'll lose my baggage—something which would be a huge bummer)?

Where exactly on the train does your checked baggage go?

Would it be stupid of me to bring expensive (closed) semi-portable headphones with me on the train (I've cheap, high-quality "beater" headphones that I could bring with me. But they're open, leak a ton of sound and I'm quite certain they'd annoy people on the train which would prevent me from getting use out of them)? Would there be much risk of them breaking on the train ride? I fear I'll be bored out of my mind if I don't bring headphones with me . . .

Countries in which chile is significant in the cuisine

falsedmitri — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 14:21:04 -0800

Countries in which chile is significant in the cuisine? I am gathering a list of countries (or states/provinces) in which chile/ahi is significant in the cuisine. More importantly, I'm looking for a symbol representative of that place, other than its flag (and ideally there are public domains images for these). For example, New Mexico-USA => Zia symbol. (Yes the Zia symbol is on the state flag, but it stands alone as an image).

What do you know?

Do dim sum waitstaff get paid on commission?

dontjumplarry — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:28:54 -0800

Do the waitstaff at traditional dim sum (yum cha) restaurants get paid a commission on what they sell from their trolley? Or do they need to sell a minimum amount? Why are some quite pushy and others don't seem to mind if you buy from them or not?

"I know this awesome _________ place."

griphus — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:05:17 -0800

I grew up in New York City with an open mind toward cuisines of other cultures, so I've got both a broad palate and (reasonably) broad experience. Which cuisines do I stand a chance of not having encountered and where can I go to try them? I am looking for the "Astoria hole-in-the-wall"/"Mott Street basement"-type places rather than $100/plate Michelin-rated restaurants.

I'm also open to suggestions of hidden gems for the more frequently-encountered ethnic cuisines.

Salted rice

dontjumplarry — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 01:37:13 -0800

Is it common to add salt when cooking plain boiled or steamed rice? Specifically, is this widely done in India, China or Japan?

Pressure Cooker Recipes

otherwordlyglow — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:58:37 -0800

Just got a pressure cooker. Now I need to make some stuff, but what? I bought a used pressure cooker at a rummage sale yesterday and they claimed it works fine. It's a Fagor Rapida and I've never used a pressure cooker at all so I'd like some recipe ideas. I've seen this question but I need more ideas and specifically, I need ideas that will work in a 4 qt cooker. If I end up liking it I'll size up but this one was cheap and seemed to be in good order so it might be a good gateway into the wonderful world of pressure cooking.

No real food restrictions other than no beef.

Iceland For Foodies?

like_a_friend — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:13:09 -0800

I'm planning a trip to Iceland, probably for May, and a friend has expressed interest in coming along. I'm a bit worried ... because said friend generally likes the following things:

sunlight
heat
beaches
fancy food
fancy booze
fancy hotels

...And since the first 3 are obviously Not in abundance in Reykjavik, early spring, I'm wondering what our odds are for the last three. Personally, I'm dying to visit, and will go solo if need be. But this friend is generally a blast to travel with, so if a convincing argument can be made, I'd like to make it.

I've done some googling, but my unfamiliarity with Icelandic cuisine means I can't really tell how fancy/excellent these menus really are. Personal recommendations would be WAY welcome.

Have norms surrounding eating chicken changed over time?

codacorolla — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:21:54 -0800

Was there ever a period in time before widespread acceptance of germ theory, or, is there a current culture where raw or undercooked chicken is an accepted part of cuisine? As I was making dinner I was wondering what it would be like if we ate chicken with a sear on it instead of fully cooked, much like we eat tuna. This made me think about whether or not the taboo against uncooked chicken is a recent historical invention, or if it's something that's persisted since they were domesticated.

General principles for maintaining weight while traveling globally

infini — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:21:52 -0800

Help me figure out a way to eat healthily, without gaining weight, while traveling on work, across climates, geography, cuisines and hotels. Gained 7lbs/3kg in just the past 2 weeks of travel for work. I just spent 2 weeks working in Europe (Holland) and came back to Singapore today to find that I've brought some excess baggage. And I was trying to lose a few pounds!

I have a few questions on this challenge:

1. Climate variations are extreme - it was snowing in Holland and its a tropical 32 Celsius here.

2. Food is either eaten on the go, in restaurants or readymeals unless I get a chance to cook in a service apartment.

3. Cuisines are so different and the ones I'm most commonly exposed to are never listed in all the thousands of websites on calorie counting. i.e. North and South Indian, Malay, Chinese, Dutch, whatever, its not possible to follow a formal (western style) diet such as a lettuce leaf and a boiled egg type of thing.

4. I need general principles rather than diets - such as "cut out all sugar"; "don't eat cheese"; "coconut milk is out" or some such

5. What else can I do? I have never formally dieted or calorie counted but only started gaining weight in this past year.

Links to calories of non Western/American foods/brands appreciated! I don't even know if kuay teow is an artery choker or not!

Thanks!

Needle out of haystack

bleep — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:48:05 -0800

Can you suggest a low-key but memorable place to eat in Manhattan? Preferably close to a park and a movie theater. For Wednesday. Thanks for your help. Preferably "American" style food if possible.

Bring the spice!

ninazer0 — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 01:40:26 -0800

Summer is coming and I'll have a lot of time on my hands. What are some of the tastiest spicy foods you've ever had? I'm thinking Indian, but Cajun, Mexican and so forth are all possibilities. I'm after interesting, involved recipes that can be spicy, but are above all TASTY. What should I make? I have a well-quipped kitchen, and my kitchen skills are medium-to-advanced. I eat anything (except balut and insects) and I have access to great produce. I can easily get Indian and Asian products, and can source harder-to-find South American products without difficulty. There are several outstanding spice stores in my area.

I lived in Chinatown for years, so I'm a bit over Chinese/Korean/Japanese/Thai foods and I've been cooking a lot of Indian and Middle Eastern food lately. What delicious things have you eaten that I should make?

Fleur de Sel Appreciation Society

Liesl — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 08:37:13 -0800

What are some good uses for my fleur de sel? What makes it so special, anyway? I picked up some fleur de sel de Guerande while on a recent vacation to Brittany. (We ended up going to Bénodet, a seaside town not far from Concarneau, on the south side of Brittany. Beautiful.)

I'm not a heavy salt user in the first place, but everyone raves about fleur de sel and I thought I'd see what's so magical. I use plain ol' kosher in my salt mill for everyday use. As far as I understand, NaCl is NaCl is NaCl, but the shape and flakiness of fleur de sel makes it special as a finishing salt. But why? And how can I use my small stash to appreciate it best? I'm looking both for actual recipes and for general tips. I'm an accomplished cook and we eat most everything, heavy on the veggies. Not so much into the preserving, pickling and non-food answers that made up the bulk of the answers to this previous question.

Pleasant Peasant Fare

Catch — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 01:47:54 -0800

Help me stretch my budget with new 'old' recipes? Looking for 'heritage' meals that might be technically challenging or time-costly, but use cheap ingredients.
I have all the time in the world to make meals from scratch (making stock the day before, simmering things for hours, and so on), but not a lot of money in my grocery budget.
Metafilter cooks of all cultures, do you have any low-cost traditional or regional dishes in your repertoire to suggest? For example, meals that use little meat, or cheap cuts.
I really want to hear about dishes if you regularly make them yourself, and that have a bit of history behind them - (more red beans and rice, less quick tuna pasta).

options when butchering a calf

yesster — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 17:44:22 -0800

My dear friend has purchased a calf and has sourced her butcher. What does she tell her butcher in order to optimize her enjoyment of this bounty, given her culinary preferences? The stats:

It is estimated that the calf will weigh 325 pounds, from which they say she will get about 150 pounds of packaged meats. Locker service has been contracted as well.

The dominant cuisine is Italian. Dishes include osso bucco, vitello tonnato, scallopini, veal marsala. Bone-in meats to be done on the grill are to be preferred over cuts that would optimize stews and roasts.

Also wondering about what part of the beast is required for "escapoles" and what the veal equivalent of a flank steak would be.

She already knows she wants pretty much all of the, um, other things. Tongue, organs, etc. We're taking them, but might want recipes for what to do.

So to summarize: what do we tell the butcher in order for my friend to get the greatest culinary pleasure out of this custom meat order?

What Did The Office Workers Of The 1600s Eat?

The Whelk — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:10:19 -0800

I always hear that the traditionally heavy US diet ( or any " traditional" cuisine, really ) was developed for people working long hard hours of manual labor, farm work, etc., so what did the people who had sedentary, less active jobs eat? What were the historical diets of people who didn't haul lumber through the woods or dig ditches, but recorded numbers or did accounting or translated documents?

Gateway Cuisine

rapidadverbssuck — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:06:52 -0800

What are the best "gateway dishes" for someone who wants to try authentic Chinese cuisine? The timing of the front page post on David Chan could not have been better, as I will be traveling to Los Angeles for the first time this July.

However, my only experience with Chinese food has been of the Americanized variety, which I am somewhat hesitant to admit I enjoy immensely.

What dishes would constitute the best options for someone like myself, who is looking for a "gentle introduction" to authentic Chinese?

Incidentally, if you have any additional advice on the Chinese dining scene in LA, I would love to hear it.

What should I buy at the Kosher deli/market?

cilantro — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:32:18 -0800

There is a Kosher deli near my new office. I'd like to have a look around and find some new stuff to try. I am almost completely unfamiliar with Jewish food. Where should I start? I've never lived anywhere with any sort of Jewish community before - I'm familiar with things like lox, kugel, matzoh ball soup and gefilte fish from books. I've never actually tried any of them but they all sound pretty awesome.

I love all kinds of food, especially pickled things, fishy things, salty things, and sour things. Sweet and rich is good, too. I'm not a massive bread fan, but if there's something other than bagels I should try, I'll have a go. What should I buy?

French food blog for the bewildered.

ninazer0 — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:36:24 -0800

I'm trying to find a French food website that I used to use a lot but seem to have lost. What details I remember are inside... It was produced by an older man with a grey moustache and the site used very old-time Victorian engravings as page graphics. It started with mostly just recipes but he branched out into short-ish video tutorials regarding dicing, knife techniques and the most recent one I recall was how to use a whisk effectively. The videos had a short honky-tonk style piano intro that sounded a little like "The Entertainer" from The Sting. The videos were about 5 minutes long.

The site had a wealth of details classic French recipes that were loosely organised via simple groups eg "beef", "fish" etc etc and were quite advanced.

I used to get email updates before I figured out RSS feeds and I think that they came from a domain that had either holtzman or holzman in it.

Does this ring any bells? I have Googled and gone through my browsing history to no avail.

How do I overcome the limitations of my upbringing and make Ayran palatable?

jason's_planet — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:16:46 -0800

How do I make Ayran drinkable? I have a bottle of Ayran in my fridge. Specifically, this brand.

The last time I tried Ayran straight, at a Turkish restaurant in Brooklyn several years ago, I thought it was simply godawful. Sour, nasty, overly-tart. I have an all-American palate; I didn't grow up drinking this. I rather doubt that I'll ever acquire a taste for the unadulterated version. But I would like to try adding things to this drink to see if I can make it palatable.

What are some recipes for lassi/ayran style yogurt drinks that might appeal to someone who doesn't regularly drink it? I'm particularly interesting in learning about mint-based recipes. Extra bonus points for recipes that don't rely on large doses of sugar; I do love the stuff but I know that it isn't good for me.

Many thanks in advance!

Most intelligent and critical sources of information on food?

tnygard — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 08:31:55 -0800

What are the best blogs, online periodicals, or discussion groups that address the history and consumption of food in an intelligent and critical way? (In other words, not just a place to swap recipes.) I would love to know where people find the most engaging ideas about food.

Restaurant-quality desserts?

Bardolph — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:08:06 -0800

Part two: How can I make restaurant-quality desserts at home? I'm a fairly experienced baker and make a lot of desserts. I try to use only highly-rated recipes from respectable sources like Epicurious, and I'm fairly sure I'm avoiding most rookie prep mistakes. Yet I still had a moment of depressing epiphany during dessert (at The Olive Garden, of all places) last week, wherein I realized that not only had I never made a cake as moist and creamy as the one I was eating, I didn't know how to make one that good, even if I tried.

Thus, I am wondering: does anyone have tips on how to take home-made desserts to restaurant-quality levels? I'm especially interested in creams, frostings and fillings, and in regulating the qualities of texture/mouth-feel and intensity. Every single time I've tried pastry cream or custard, for instance, it's had a disappointingly bland eggy flavor without the rich vanilla/creamy finish of commercial versions. Or simple buttercreams will come out with an unpleasantly harsh "raw confectioner's sugar" taste, only to go waxy and unctuous when I add more butter. Or chocolate frostings will end up tasting cocoa-y and lacking the intense chocolate punch of commercial icing.

These are simple recipes, theoretically, so I'm puzzled as to what I could be missing. What does my local Applebee's know about desserts, that I don't?

Cultural values affecting foreign policy?

espada0 — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 03:22:57 -0800

To what extent do cultural values affect foreign policy making between U.S. and China? Culture provides people with ways of thinking, seeing, and interpreting the world. People from different cultures will inevitably have different ways of looking at the world, so in situations where cross cultural communication is prevalent, such as foreign policy making, there will always be potential for clashes and conflict.

The conventional view is that foreign policy is dictated by economic and strategic interests, while that is certainly true on an overt level, there must be other factors that form the undercurrent of it all, or else a lot of foreign policy would be much simpler and frankly a lot less interesting than it is. Everything from our racial features, to the food we eat, the way we dress, what language we speak, where we live all form a part of culture.

I choose the examples of US and China because both countries are arguably the superpower in each of their respective hemispheres (West/East), and it helps for comparison as both nations play a significant role (I daresay they may even be the leaders) of the "Western world" and "the East".

Imagine if Alton Brown or Mark Bittman wrote an Indian cookbook

matildaben — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:58:42 -0800

MisterBen needs recommendations for a very specific kind of Indian cookbook – one that’s organized by technique, not by course or ingredient. Imagine if Alton Brown or Mark Bittman wrote an Indian cookbook. The idea is to learn reusable techniques and general concepts of what flavors are used together. What he already has: Madhur Jaffrey’s classics, Raghavan Iyer’s “660 Curries”, and Vikas Khanna’s “Flavor First”, which are used as bibles. Almost all Indian ingredients can be found in our area, and he is comfortable at making his own masalas, so feel free to recommend books you might think of as advanced.

Show me your stollen

otherwordlyglow — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:59:59 -0800

I need a good recipe for Stollen. I'd like to make Christmas Stollen and there are about a million recipes for stollen online. Obviously there are lots of different interpretations of it and many ways to do it "right" but I want a version as authentic as possible and am not scared by multi-day processes or ingredients that may take some searching to obtain. Ideally I like the recipe to include candied orange and lemon peel since I just made a big batch of that.

Chicken again?

Diagonalize — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:32:51 -0800

Best "gateway" foods for uninspired palates? I occasionally find myself in the dining company of people who are unadventurous, for lack of a better term. While they have some general food preferences, they're not actually that picky or culturally biased, just uninspired and unlikely to try new things on their own impetus. As a food-enthusiast, I get a little sad when I hear that Panera is their one regular food adventure, but I know that they're not true "beigeatarians", and they've enjoyed new foods when the occasions presented themselves.

I grew up with a lot of heavy ethnic influences in my childhood foods, so my palate is pretty much all over the place, and I'm never totally sure what is or isn't approachable to the average American. In the past, I haven't felt confident enough suggesting anything beyond a safe pasta or grilled fish dish, so I'm hoping to arm myself with a solid list of more unusual entry-level dishes I could use to enliven their taste buds, either at home or at a restaurant. What meals have shaken you out of a food rut and opened your eyes to a new world of culinary possibility? In other words, interesting, but not too-challenging dishes for willing newbies?

Vegetarian and omnivorous ideas welcome. Healthier options not strictly necessary, but would be especially appreciated.