Thursday, July 31, 2008

裏技パウンドケーキ/ urawaza pound cake

1 Agustus 2008, jumat siang,

Wah cepetnya da hari pertama di bulan agustus...udara sini makin panas aja, makin gerah nih..kyknya badan jg da ga enak, cepet cape.. Iseng iseng liat buku resep urawaza...wah ada bikin kue pound cake tp cara gampangnya.. perlu dicoba nih...

bahannya
150 gr hotcake mix

1 bh telur

100 cc kream kental
80 gr selai [rasa sesuai selera]

Caranya
Aduk telur, kream kental n selai dengan adukan telur.
Campur hotcake mix kedalam adonan.
Oven 170 drajat 30 menit

Atasnya sengaja gw tambahin coklat mesis...hehe...biar lbh enak... ternyata hasilnya enak juga...bolunya mengembang..ga bantet..hehehe...resep gampang, perlu dicoba yak

POTATOE, HAM,and CHEESE OMELETTE

Last entry before my holidays ...By Jackie's


- TORTILLA de PATATA, JAMÓN y QUESO (POTATOE, HAM,and CHEESE OMELETTE):

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Recipe:

http://guisando.org/recetas/tortilla_patatas_mixta.html (SPANISH)

I didn't find anyone in english.

Thanks to Jackie!

I'll be back in August 17th!

taluego!

Ambience Chaser

Please join me in welcoming NRN’s newest blog, Ambience Chaser. It’s written by my soft-spoken but quietly brilliant colleague Elizabeth Licata, whose humor you will very likely enjoy and whose insights you’ll no-doubt appreciate. Already she has a video of a magical expanding table, as well as an appreciation for blowing things up.
What more could you ask for?

Department of Redundancy Department

July 31

My summer drink of choice is iced coffee — black, unsweetened. It tastes like cold anger, and for some reason that appeals to me when it's hot outside.
In the two (2) blocks from my subway stop to our offices, there are five (5) chain restaurants and at least two independents where I can get iced coffee. At Dunkin’ Donuts I order a large black iced coffee, they ask if I want sugar, I tell them I don’t.
At Pret à Manger I order a black iced coffee, because they only have one size of iced coffee. They get it without discussion and wish me well.
At Starbucks I order a venti unsweetened iced coffee, and the baristas can't help themselves: They have to add another "iced" to the drink’s description when announcing that it’s ready.
“Iced venti unsweetened iced coffee,” they say.
I kind of understand why that happens, because all languages have a sort of rhythm, and that includes Starbucks language, with its invented definitions of things like macchiato, its own internal distinction between latte and cappuccino, its use of “venti,” from the Italian word for 20, to mean “large,” even though a venti iced drink there is 24 ounces. "Iced venti unsweetened iced coffee" has a nice little rhythm that "venti unsweetened iced coffee” doesn’t, although that certainly flows better than “iced venti unsweetened coffee.”
So I guess it’s good Starbucks language. You could even argue that the first “iced” is meant to go with the “venti” to describe the cup size, and then the second “iced” describes the temperature of the drink.
Even so, it’s bad English.
Double use of the same word in a sentence is kind of an old joke. I first heard it probably in the early 1980s with the phrase that is the title of this blog entry, possibly from George Carlin.
The gag was used quite effectively in the 2004 movie Dodgeball. That game is, of course, the province of thugs and bullies who delight in causing pain to those who are smaller, slower and weaker than they are, and can think of no more clever way to do it than to fling balls at them. So naturally its advocates and historians — which all sports have — are dimwits who declare that true dodgeballers must learn the five d’s of the sport: dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge.
Because they’re stupid, you see. So stupid they can’t remember five distinct words. As stupid as rabbits. (You might recall in the novel Watership Down that the runt of the litter is named Fiver. The book’s appendix explains that rabbits can only count to four, and so Fiver might not have been the fifth rabbit in the litter, but the last one — that five in the mind of a rabbit is equivalent to a thousand.)
The gag has been repeated again recently, in Joss Whedon’s viral video phenomenon Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, in which Dr. Horrible, played by Neil Patrick Harris, is aspiring to join the Evil League of Evil, which as far as I can tell is a cabal of the sorts of social misfits who would be on the losing end of a dodgeball game. They’re anarchists, but they’re not stupid, and certainly clever enough to notice that “evil” is used twice in their club’s four-word name.
But it does sound good, doesn’t it?
Evil League of Evil, iced venti unsweetened iced coffee. Part of the same linguistic shift? You decide.
Speaking of Starbucks and other chain restaurants, please allow me to link to a story in this week’s Nation’s Restaurant News about customers’ reactions to New York City’s new regulation requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on their menus and menu boards.
I certainly hope you enjoy it.
Food-in-film note: Dr. Horrible buys a frozen yogurt for his love interest, Penny (who of course is infatuated with his nemesis, Captain Hammer). He pretends he was given two yogurts when he only ordered one, because he’s so shy, so insecure, that he couldn’t possibly risk the rejection that could come from showing enough interest in Penny to buy her a snack.
It looks like a Pinkberry-style yogurt, plain and tart. Inexplicably, they eat it with a spork, allowing Dr. Horrible to stab himself in the leg with it in frustration.

August 18 update: “I-V-I-C,” my Starbucks barista said to me today, handing me my venti iced coffee. I repeated it back to him, but as a question.
“Iced venti iced coffee,” he said, as though I were dumb.
I pointed out that both of the i's stood for “iced” and that he only needed one of them.
He was convinced that I was slow, but said, with clarity, politeness and a smile on his face: “One for the cup, one for the coffee.”
So I was right. I have innate knowledge of Starbucks language even though I have never worked there. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Animal herido.

- Estoy cansada, dolida, herida. Soy un animal al que han atacado y ahora se retuerce de dolor... ¿no dicen que es cuando los predadores son más peligrosos, cuando están heridos? Pues así estoy yo.
- No exageres.
- Para ti nunca es importante - miré a Oniros con reproche -. Nunca es importante nada de lo que diga o haga, sólo te interesa tu ego personal, el crecerte sin importar a quién pisar, el ser superior sin tener en cuenta mis sentimientos. Ya lo has hecho antes.
- Yo siempre tengo en cuenta tus sentimientos.
- Mentira. Demuéstralo.
- No es algo que se pueda demostrar así como así.
- Te quiero.

Silencio. Uno, dos tres, cuatro, cinco.

- Y a ti parece darte igual - continúo.
- No me da igual... - contesta él, alargando las palabras.
- Tú me buscaste.
- Tú te dejaste encontrar - reprocha.
- Tal vez quería dejarme encontrar por ti. Tal vez quería dar una oportunidad de intentar algo diferente con alguien diferente. Alguien con quien no tenía miedo de ser como soy en realidad, alguien con quien me mostré tal y como soy desde el principio, por mucho que lo niegues. Y tú, sin embargo, te comportas así.
- Nessa, no me van las peleas de enamorados.
- No estoy enamorada de ti. Y no me llames Nessa, maldito gilipollas.
- Es tu nombre.
- No el que tú usas para mí. Quiero oírtelo decir.

Silencio. Otra vez.
Me mira, me traspasa, siento cómo me desnuda con la mirada, cómo ve mis entrañas, capa por capa, molécula a molécula. Quiero oírtelo decir, para que todo esto acabe de una vez, para poder vomitar todo lo que llevo dentro y me sienta mal. Se acerca, decidido, y entonces yo tengo miedo. ¿Tal vez no debí de decirle todo aquello? ¿Por qué no soy capaz de mentir, sobre todo a él? Más cerca, más cerca. Sonríe. Se aproxima a mi cuello, respira junto a él, sube un poco y susurra en mi oído.

- Calíope, mi Calíope.

Las musas revolotean y se ríen... quién iba a decir que su reina caería presa de las ondas oníricas infinitas y en forma de espiral.
Ahora, ¿cómo escapar? Llevo tanto tiempo intentándolo...

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

HAKE FIGURINES

By Pacheco's frozen products:

- FIGURITAS DE MERLUZA (HAKE FIGURINES):

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Recipe:

http://72.47.194.34/pescanova/public/manager.php?p=FichaProductoCongelado&FichaProductoCongelado_producto=6154

Thanks to Pescanova! :-P

冷たいうどん/ tsumetai udon

31 July 2008, Kamis siang,

Panas2 gini kayaknya malas banget buat makan...jadi pengen makan yg dingin2 aja...pilihannya yah tsumetai udon aja..caranya gampang bgt...
Udon direbus aja, trus didinginin...bisa pake es batu kalo mau..ato dibiarin dingin aja.
Trus ditaburin nori diatasnya...untuk pelengkap, boleh ditambahin timun, goreng ham, ato telur.
Makannya biasanya bersama kecap ponshoyu khusus buat makan somen, udon...enakk..dingin2...hehehe...

裏技ガトーショコラ/urawaza gateau chocolat

31 July 2008, Kamis pagi,
Liat buku resep yg pinjem dari perpus keliling, wah ternyata ada kue coklat gateau, tapi pake cara gampang, pake blender buat bkin adonannya...wiih...ini kue ga pake tepung lagi, pake fu...


Bahannya..

30 gr fu 麩 
3 bh telur
80 gr gula
20 gr cocoa powder
10 gr baking powder
50 cc susu
1 sdm minyak sayur

100 gr coklat kue
50 cc cream kental

Caranya
1 campur telur di blender selama 10 detik.
2 tambah fu, gula, cocoa powder,susu, minyak sayur cmpur di blender jadi satu, trus matikan, gunakan sendok untuk mencampur bagian di pinggir blender, blender lagi selama 10 detik agar semua bahan tercampur
3 Lumerkan coklat bersama kream kental, lalu campur dengan adonan 2, aduk rata
4 oven 180 drajat selama 30 mnit

Bikinnya gampang banget, ga butuh wkt lama, enak, lembut...rasa coklat..hehehe

Olvidos

Estremeciéndose, las gotas caen por su espalda como témpanos fríos de hielo. "Ojalá nunca llegue la primavera", se repite una y otra vez, "Ojalá siempre sea invierno..."

- El tiempo ha de pasar para todo y todos; ten en cuenta que es lo único que pasa y siempre permanece.
- Ya, pero no me gusta. Ojalá se detuviera para siempre en un día lluvioso... ya sé que ahora me dirás el típico tópico de "No llueve eternamente", pero es algo que nunca aceptaré.
- Tendrás que hacerlo.

Es cierto. Pero sigo negándome ése placer, esa derrota, ése rescoldo de cordura que aún me queda. Sólo quiero correr, marcharme lejos y olvidar para olvidar... ¿cuál es el secreto para hacerlo? ¿Por qué unos pueden con tanta facilidad y otros, sin embargo, no podemos olvidar?

...Algún día nos iremos ambos lejos, tan lejos que ni las estrellas podrán encontrarnos. Y entonces todos nos olvidarán.

Todos los que triunfaron y consiguieron lo que querían sonaron al principio prepotentes. Recuérdalo cuando estés arriba... Nunca lo olvides, es lo único que en ti debe permanecer de mí.

Bún again

July 29

Michael Bao Huynh is still at Bún, kind of, or perhaps as much as he ever was, I’m not sure.
“He’s my brother,” said Tony Lam, who owns the place and does the food. Huynh’s a partner there, but his day-to-day involvement is minimal, except perhaps when Tony’s out of town. And maybe not then, either. (click here if you’re curious about this topic, otherwise read on as I am about to change the subject).
Because although Tony conceptualizes the food, he trains cooks to cook. He doesn’t do it himself.

Bún has a new publicist (Susan Rike), and often with a new publicist comes a new round of press dinners.
Susan’s press-dinner style is to round up four to eight journalists and bring them all to dinner at once, in a group. She tends to do three such dinners per restaurant.
Group dinners can, of course, be deadly, but there’s always the off-chance that you’ll meet someone interesting at them, and I have met a number of interesting people at Susan Rike dinners. She tends to draw an eclectic group.
I already knew (and like) the three other journalists at dinner last night, and so I could focus on getting to know Tony Lam, the Sino-Vietnamese owner, born in Saigon, spending formative years living in and then running refugee camps in Malaysia, and then going to college and becoming a merchant.
Tony kind of reminded me of my former boss and (former) guru Pansak Vinyaratn, who ran the magazine, and later the newspaper, that I worked for in Bangkok. He would wax philosophical about things and discuss them in mercurial ways that made you wonder whether he was really smart, borderline crazy or just messing with you.
But I ended up staying and listening to him talk about his approach to ambient music and his food background until after the other journalists had left, and until after Susan had left.
After dessert of pandan panna cotta (very much like the bay leaf panna cotta I had at Fireside; this might be a trend) and sweet coconut-banana tapioca, he ordered some cuttlefish for me to try.
Tony served us lots of things that weren't on the menu, including raw green guava (underripe, the way they like it in Southeast Asia) with dried plum powder. That was sort of an intermezzo after the sweet-and-sour fish, if I remember correctly, which actually came after the lamb chops with eggplant, pear chutney and anise sauce.
Tony also interspersed the menu with drinks, including a couple of flaming shots that we were supposed to drink quickly through straws. The problem with that is that if you're not quick about it your drink tastes like melting plastic, but I was quick.
We also had a pretty remarkable Piña Colada flavored with crushed mint, giving it a cooling effect that somehow was in no way minty. In a cocktail that I think he called the Poison Ruby, lychee liqueur was made to taste even more lychee-like with the addition of rosewater.
Who knew?

Wats for Lunch

After spending a day lost amid the tumultuous frenzy of Chinatown, drinking in the vast array of sights, sounds and smells (not to mention some excellent food), we felt that a slightly more sedate approach might be appropriate for our second day. Yes, Bangkok is a manic city but it is possible, thanks to the influence of the predominant religion of Theravadin Buddhism, to escape the chaos and the noise in any one of a number of blissful oases. Temples, or Wat, rise up out of their surroundings and provide delightfully serene pockets where perfumed incense replaces the more familiar smells and a gentle calm pervades.



Buddhism is a visible and welcome influence in Thai life, one that segues its way, almost effortlessly, into virtually all other aspects of the culture. Where we may be used to taxi drivers hanging air fresheners and fluffy dice from rear view mirrors, here they prefer amulets in the hope that they will bring them safety on the chaotic roads (although I can’t help thinking that if a sizeable chunk of the windscreen wasn’t taken up by nine or ten swinging mascots, they would have less need for such trinkets). I am quite used to buses and trains having dedicated seats for the elderly or pregnant women but doubt whether transport for London would go so far as marking ‘space for monks’, as they do on the river buses. Nor do I envisage the buyers of Tesco deciding to stock monks’ robes or other such religious paraphernalia. And so, with Buddhism such an integral, unavoidable and interesting part of the culture, we felt it necessary to see some of the Wat.

We took an express boat up the Chao Praya (being careful to avoid the monk space), the central river that runs like an artery through Bangkok, and got off within walking distance of the Grand Palace, the former residence of the Thai royal family and now the city’s main tourist attraction. On our way we were accosted at least three times by helpful locals informing us that the temple was closed, despite the hoards of tourists flocking towards a very open looking entrance.

Here I shall digress momentarily to impart some advice to anyone who visits this great city. Unless you wish to spend a couple of hours being taken from gem shop to gem shop and tailor to tailor in a tuk tuk (imagine a golf buggy with three wheels, a frighteningly large engine and a death wish and you are somewhere close), ignore anyone who says that your destination of choice is closed, no matter how official they may look. This is a scam.

(Although I did admire the gall of one wizened looking gentleman who attempted to convince us that the temple was very much closed whilst stood squarely in front of a sign that said in at least four languages ‘The temple is open seven days a week. Ignore any person who tells you otherwise’ – or words to that effect. I toyed with the idea of suggesting he chose his pitch more carefully in the future but he had already moved onto another couple before I could say anything).



The palace itself is, quite simply, stunning. A seemingly disparate collection of buildings each gilded with thousands of tiles of gold or vivid primary colours. The walls are painted with detailed and gory frescos relaying some ancient Eastern legend. Between three of the buildings sits a scale miniature of the great Angkor Wat. Amidst the bright ostentation of the temples that surround it, it looks drab and helpless. I couldn’t help thinking that far from being a mark of respect or admiration, it is perhaps a sly and underhand dig at neighbouring Cambodia. Hopefully the photographs should do justice to this incredible place.



A short walk from the Grand Palace is Wat Pho, home to a 46 metre long reclining Buddha figure painted head to toe in gold leaf. I had read about this in the guidebook but had somehow mis-read 46 metres as 46 feet. As a result I was in something of a state of awe when I saw the sheer size of the construction.



For all the grandiose design and impressive architecture of the Grand Palace, if I had to choose between the two then Wat Pho would be my recommendation. Although still relatively popular and still quite sizeable, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha is more of a haven, a delightful pocket of tranquillity in possession of the largest, and most relaxed, looking Buddha I have ever seen.

Having spent the morning exploring Wats of one sort, we spent the afternoon delving into temples of another – Bangkok has a number of enormous shopping malls, each a stand-alone temple to consumerism, an air conditioned leviathan specifically designed to get you to part with your baht. A trio of these sit next to each other, each jostling for space around the perimeter of Siam Square.

Because of our increasingly empty bellies we chose MBK, a towering eight-floor mall, two of which are devoted entirely to food outlets. Here you can sample sushi, Indian food, Greek grilled meats, Middle Eastern kebabs and, of course, Thai cuisine. Of the two floors the lower one is a slightly more formal and expensive affair where food and drink is paid for on a swipe card and the balance settled on exit.

We picked two curries and watched them being made in the open kitchen, one of six each with a team of chefs sweating over woks, burners, ovens, rotisseries and pans. Our steaming food was presented to us and we were shown to a selection of condiments with which to flavour our lunch as we saw fit. Thai cuisine is about balancing acidity, saltiness, sweetness and heat and virtually everywhere you eat you see this philosophy borne out in the same way: four containers holding white vinegar (with chilli), fish sauce (with chilli) sugar (without chilli) and, yup, chilli.



I spooned some of each into a dedicated sauce tray and we took a seat close to the bar, for obvious reasons. Despite my affinity for street food and desire to embrace the culture of wherever I happen to be as wholeheartedly as possible, there was a real element of luxury in eating sat at a table in an air-conditioned shopping centre as opposed to huddled on a pavement with the heat and dirt from a thousand cars enveloping your being. And the food here was good. It was fresh, tasty, as spicy as you want it to be and wonderfully satisfying, especially when washed down with an icy cool Singha. Perfect fuel for exploring the shops, of which there were hundreds.



At the time I felt as if we had split the day firmly into two separate parts: culture and shopping, but hindsight would suggest otherwise. Seeing the malls of Siam Square was as much of a culturally relevant experience as seeing the gilded temples and jewelled Buddhas, perhaps even more so. There are purists who would suggest otherwise, that it is a shame Thailand has bowed so eagerly to consumerism and perhaps lost its core elements along the way but I disagree. It is just another wonderful manifestation of the multifaceted nature of this diverse country, two sides of the very same coin.

www.justcookit.co.uk

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Warm Spinaches, Bacon and Parmesan Cheese Salad

A new dish, by Santi from Madrid:

- ENSALADA TEMPLADA de ESPINACAS, BACON y PARMESANO (Warm Spinaches, Bacon and Parmesan Cheese Salad):

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Recipes:

http://www.directoalpaladar.com/2007/06/21-ensalada-templada-de-espinacas-parmesano-y-bacon (SPANISH)

No english recipe found.

Thanks to Santi!

Fuego



- Puedes crear lo que desees. Puedes hacer fluir el oro de tus manos, puedes beber hidromiel de las rocas desnudas. Ante la tempestad, resguardarte del viento y la lluvia; ante el sol, llamar a la tormenta. Hablar con los señores de los yermos desiertos de Estigia. Cuando tengas frío, crear fuego de la nada - dicho esto, la palma de su mano comenzó a arder - y sentirte como lo que eres, una diosa que ve más allá de la vida y la muerte.

Calíope pestañea, pero no se inmuta. Extiende la palma de su mano mientras que Oniros, con delicadeza, toma el fuego y lo posa con extremo cuidado y ternura entre sus dedos. Es incandescente, no quema, casi le da frío, un frío que recorre toda su espina, todos los nervios ventrales y dorsales, ascendentes, descendentes. El cerebelo comienza a mandar señales, y siente que su sentido del equilibrio flaquea por unos instante. Su corteza comienza a cambiar, y las neuronas liberan neurotransmisores y descargas eléctricas más rápido de lo normal. El diencéfalo se dispara... ¿acaso es amor?

La llama tiembla, se empequeñece, suspira... y de pronto se descontrola, comenzando a arder con una fuerza amenazadora. Pero Calíope no tiene miedo al fuego, ni a ninguno de los elementos. No teme a la muerte, y mucho menos a la vida... al fin de cuentas, éso es lo más peligroso, vivir en este mundo, caminar por los renglones del paraíso perdido creados hace millones de años para ser algo imperfectamente perfecto.


- Nessa... ¡Nessa!

Diana abraza a su hija, que tose un par de veces y respira con dificultad. Gerard sofoca el fuego de la mesita de noche... adiós a los apuntes y uno de sus libros de anatomía, pero sólo ha sido un susto... podría haber perdido mucho más... pero, realmente, ¿son conscientes de lo que acaban de perder?

- ¿Ves? Te lo dije... - masculla Diana en tono de reproche -... era muy pequeña para tus juegos, y ahora hace esto con 14 años... ¿qué será capaz de hacer con el tiempo?
- Seré una musa, una diosa que ve más allá de cualquier velo... éso dijo él.

Gerard y Diana miran a su hija. Se equivocaban, no la acababan de perder, pero... ¿Cuándo la perdieron?

Oniros ríe en la lejanía, en las sombras de Estigia. Ya entonces te veía y soñaba contigo. Y tú siempre susurrabas lascivamente en mi oído ésa palabra que me hace estremecer, esas que cuando dices hoy día provocan orgasmos en mi cerebro.
Ca-lí-o-pe...

Ya estaba despierta, pero tardé diez años en encontrarte. Diez años practicando mis dones en soledad, diez años deseando sentir tu lengua sobre mi piel.

¿Cuándo me convertí en ésto?

- Extraído de Calíope, por Libertad Gómez-

Monday, July 28, 2008

Dinner for 2 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAI !

Yesterday was Sai's Birthday, and Jackie, 2 days before, cooked this dinner for her:

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Composed of:

- JAMÓN y LOMO IBÉRICOS (IBERIAN CURED HAM and LOIN)

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- ENSALADA de KOKOTXAS de BACALAO (CODFISH KOKOTXAS SALAD)

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- SOLIMILLO con PIMIENTOS ASADOS (SIRLOIN STEAK with GRILLED PEPPERS)

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Thanks to Jackie and Happy Birthday Sai!

FREEBIES

The White Hat Marketing Manager Eric Chao sent me this so I can spread the news to everyone. Soon I'll visit their store in MOA to taste my favorite "ITALIAN FROZEN YOGURT" and I'll share it with all of you. Don't worry.

Rojo rubí

Contoneándose, bailando entre las sombras, flashes de luz y Lágrimas de San Lorenzo; un movimiento, otro, y otro... susurrando palabras sin llegar a pronunciarla, bailando sola con los espectros de la muerte... Calíope suspira, emocionada; escucha sus palabras, siente el frío de sus latidos, la humedad de sus transparentes lenguas sobre su espalda, los latigazos obscenos de sus inertes manos... y no se arrepiente de nada en absoluto, de nada de lo que ha podido decir, de nada de lo que ha podido hacer.

Jamás pensó que bailar con un escalpelo en sus manos fuera tan enriquecedor, que cortar la carne produjera tanto placer... carne humana que desearía llevarse a sus labios y comer... pero aún no sentía predilección especial por el canibalismo y ése tipo de filias culinarias.

"¿O tal vez sí?"

No me tientes, Oniros... o sólo querré morder lo que hay bajo tu piel, aquello que existe dentro de ti, aquello que ansío, entre jadeos, cada vez que te siento cerca de mi nuca; cada vez que muerdes mi cuello y te apoderas de mi ser. Podré entonces crear figuras vivas de materia inerte, podré entonces ver más allá de todos los velos, sentir lo que hay al otro lado, oler la humedad que allí se acumula, expectante de ser respirada por mi cuerpo.

¿Dónde quedaron las grandes esperanzas, dónde se ocultan los pequeños sueños?

Un corte más del bisturí, unas pinzas... ahí, en tu rubí rojo guardado en el pecho. Justo ahí está lo que más deseo lamer.

Algún día viviremos en un mundo rojo rubí, y entonces oh, todo será tan bonito... tan bonito y tan vacío que no nos hará falta nada más.

Aw shucks


I’m delighted to announce that I have been presented with my very first award. Dave Sacerdote, from the excellent blog Dave's Cupboard, deemed me worthy of the Arte e Pico award (details here) passed on from blogger to blogger and given to those who ‘display creativity, present interesting material and contribute to the blogging community in some way.’ As a result, I am honoured and get to pass on the award to five like-minded foodies. And so, in no particular order:

Matt from Wrightfood is clearly a talented chef and his photographs do justice to some wonderful creations. I am always delighted when I see he has updated his blog.

I discovered Kate’s blog, A Merrier World, when she invited me to write a post about free-range chicken. The post hasn’t (yet) been written but it did allow me to discover a great blog.

Taste Bud Travels is a great blog from Cheeky Spouse who documents her adventures on the ‘grow-your-own’ front, many of which strike an eerily familiar chord with me.

Darlene from Portland, Oregon is the author of Blazing Hot Wok– an awesome blog which I always delight in reading, thanks in part to her love of Thai food.

And finally Foodycat, is a London based Aussie who write about some of the finer things in life including, amongst other things, pork scratchings. Anyone who respects pork scratchings deserves an award (plus it's a really good read).

Oh, and the rules are:

1. Pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award with their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogger community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog.
3. Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award
4. Award-winners and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. Display these rules on your blog.

I'm also going to take this opportunity to mention again my new blog where you will be able to read musings of all descriptions. It is here

Bangkok

Food dominates life in Bangkok in a way I have not witnessed in any other city. The residents of this vast urban sprawl appear to be engaged in a near perpetual hunt for the next meal. A while back I was discussing the nature of being a ‘foodie’ with my girlfriend. The conclusion we reached was that a ‘foodie’ is one who is thinking about their next meal even before they have finished the one they are eating. If this is the case then Bangkok is a city of six million bona fide foodies.

Couple this desire for eating with an almost natural entrepreneurial bent and you have a city where it is possible to sample a new taste or textural sensation every five metres, or so, whatever the time of day.

Restaurants and cafés per se don’t really exist. This is a city that ebbs and flows like a vast ocean and the food carts and nomadic street vendors are the living embodiment of this philosophy. Even the markets, which appear stationary, evolve and shift, tide like. It is, in short, a paradise for any gastronome.


We headed straight for Chinatown. A heaving, sweaty, tightly packed part of the city next to the river. There is no centre, as such, to Bangkok and it is easy to get hopelessly and wonderfully lost in this alien world. So that is exactly what we did. The market here swallows you hungrily, quickly enveloping you in a seemingly endless collection of stalls. The streets are narrow and covered making it even more difficult to navigate your way through the labyrinthine warren.

Rain had leaked through the canopy during the night making the ground underfoot dirty and treacherously slippy, especially for any idiot wearing flip-flops with little grip. Unfortunately that idiot was me. Thankfully, the sheer busyness of the place made it impossible to fall over. I was also a good foot taller than the vast majority of people around me allowing me to be able to see when an impossibly laden cart was heading directly for us, seemingly bending the known laws of physics with its ability to slip lithely through the throng.


The market appeared to be loosely organised into sections although at each junction, and at many places throughout, the system deviated and a wandering hawker would be proffering some tasty treat or other: sliced fruit on ice pepped up with chilli and sugar, skewers of non-descript meats grilling over hot coals, chicken frying in vast woks of spitting oil, steaming bowls of noodles complete with various bits of duck or pig – the choice was so vast as to be almost paralysing, as long as one wasn’t too concerned about the apparent lack of health and safety and basic hygiene precautions.

I take a philosophical view when it comes to such matters. Here in the UK, as in much of the western world, we live in a disinfected cotton wool shroud that appears to be doing us more harm than good. The human body is much more resilient than we give it credit for and if being seared in boiling fat doesn’t kill whatever bugs might be residing in my plate of rice or noodles, then maybe it deserves to have its fun inside my gut.

Suffice to say I am not squeamish about street food. Far from it. I simply adore it and think it gives a better indication and insight into a nation’s culinary culture than any three star restaurant or sanitised hotel kitchen. The streets are where people eat. Together. There is something wonderfully democratic about individuals from all walks of life heading to the same cart to get their Khao Phad or noodles. Street food is the soul of a city and I have never, not once, fallen victim to any malevolent bug caught from a roadside eatery.

In Thailand, street food is an institution. It isn’t a whim dreamt up to please the hoards of tourists that descend upon the country, many of whom refuse to eat anywhere other than their hotels – it is a 500-year-old tradition that exists because the Thais love to eat and they love to share this base pleasure with as many people as possible, as often as possible. The notion of three square meals a day is as alien to the Thais as the idea of near constant grazing is to us. Well, most of us at least.


For our first taste of this gloriously simple food we went by smell alone. It was nearing lunchtime so the fried eggs that appear at carts all over the city first thing in the morning had made way for more savoury and filling wares. It was too early for Phad Thai - more of an evening dish cooked when the sun has set – and we didn’t quite feel confident enough to test the noodles yet. Amid the heaving market was a tiny woman knelt by a large flat pan in which she was frying cubes of what looked like green jelly. We had no idea what it was but the smell alone was enough to convince us to part with thirty baht and sample the strange foodstuff.

Ten of these cubes, each one a large mouthful, were piled into a small plastic tray and sprinkled liberally with dark soy sauce, flecked throughout with the deep red of dried chillies before a wooden skewer was thrust into the steaming pile and we were sent on our way.

I have no idea what we ate (the first of many times during our holiday) but it was delicious: a crispy outside and a savoury dark green jelly inside with an intense saltiness thanks to the soy sauce. But they were filling and we struggled to finish the tray. I closed the clear plastic bag around the remains and we carried on through the market, pondering what we just ate in a happy and content fashion.

That was until heavy traffic forced us to stop outside a stall. A young Thai man, presumably the proprietor of the shop, looked at the bag in my hand, pointed at it then glanced up at my face before breaking into uncontrollable laughter. Still, it tasted good.

www.justcookit.co.uk

sPaghetTi BologNessE

Hari minggu, sebelum pergi ke gereja gue buat spaghetti dulu.
Bahannya : 225grm spaghetti kering (1 dus 500 grm = Rp. 13.000 => 225 grm Rp. 6.500,-), 200 grm daging sapi cincang ( Rp. 13.000,- ), tomat 250 grm (Rp. 2500,- ), 1 buah bawang Bombay (Rp. 1.000,-), ½ sdt the gula pasir, 1 sdt garam, ½ sdt oregano, ½ sdt merica hitam, 2 sdt tomat pasta, 1 siung bawang putih, keju parmesan secukupnya.
Caranya: rebus spaghetti ke dalam 2 liter air yang sudah diberi 1 sdt m
inyak sayur dan 1 sdt garam, sampai matang, angkat lalu tiriskan.
Masak saus spaghettinya, lelehkan mentega lalu masukkan bawang bombai, bawang putih, sampai layu, masukkan daging sapi cincang masak sampai berubah warna.
Lalu masukkan bahan2 lainnya masak hingga matang (kalau suka hingga mengental).
Lalu sajijan, cara penyajiannya : taruh spaghetti ke dalam piring, tuang saus-nya lalu taburi dengan keju parmesan.

Rasa spaghetti-nya enak, kalau pake daging sapi lebih berasa dari pada yang kalengan.
Ditambah rasa oregano jadi enak dan wangi rempah2nya dan rasa keju parmesan yang menggugah selera.
Sayangnya gue cuman makan seporsi kecil (seperti yang gue foto), sisanya habis totalllll
Hikhikhikkkk…
Kata husband gue enakkkk, dan minta gue bikin lagi (oc dehhh…. )
Total biaya yang dikeluarkan = Rp. 23.000,-

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Smoked Salmon Pie

Good morning!

By Ana from Madrid:

- PASTEL DE SALMON AHUMADO (SMOKED SALMON PIE):

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Recipes:

http://www.afuegolento.com/recetas/casa/3167/ (SPANISH)

I didn't find any recipe in english, if you find one please let me know it!

Thanks to Ana!

KITCHEN TIPS - 1


It's been 20 days since the last post!!!! How busy we have been! So, here's a different kind of a post for now... until we all get back into our aprons and get cooking.
Cooking tips:
1. How to peel a tomato without boiling:
(a) Freeze it. The skin comes off easily.
(b) Stick a fork in it, and heat it on direct flame.. until the skin starts peeling off.

2. Get rid of odours in your refrigerator by placing soda bicarbonate in a bowl & putting it in the fridge. Vinegar also works.

3. To avoid the hassle of handling frozen homemade ginger-garlic paste, make the GG Paste nd then, saute it in heated oil for 2 minutes or so, until the oil disappears. This done, store it in the refrigerator for as long as u like, it won't smell, it won't go bad.

4. Coriander leaves can be kept fresh for a longer time by wrapping them in paper and then refrigerating.

5. Keep fresh green chillies fresh for a longer time by removing their stems and then storing them in the fridge.

6. Save valuable energy by boiling potatoes along with dals (lentils) esp while making dosas when you will need the lentils for the sambar and the potatoes for the dosa filling.

7. Added too much salt in your food??? Worry not!
(a) Malai or milk cream works like magic.
(b) add a sliced potato to pick up the extra salt.
(c) add wheat flour balls to balance the salt. Discard after the taste is balanced.

8. Burnt your onions for the Indian gravy? Again, milk cream/malai is the answer, hands down.

9. Keep lentils bug-free by heating them before storing in air free containers. Same for semolina too.

If any of the tips helped you, do let us know.
Have any of your own kitchen secrets? Do share them with us.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Tempura

26 July 2008, Sabtu malam,

Malam ini menunya tempura...wah, enaknya...aduk tepung, air, telur,bumbu penyedap buat adonan. Trus tinggal bahannya dimasukin ke adonan, goreng aja... gampang, murah meriah.
Hari ini si bikin pake terong, chikuwa, sosis...wah sip deh..
Kalo husband dsini sih biasa dicocol kecap saos gitu, kalo gw tetep lebih enak dicocol sambel yak..
hehehe

cherry tart cake

26 july 2008, sabtu sore,

Tadi pergi ke kota, liat2 toko kue...ternyata tokonya ga brapa gede...cuman banyak tepung2 sgala macem n peralatan bkin kue..kayak loyang, cetakan kue, cetakan coklat, mixer, dll deh..
Kesitu liat ada loyang silicon, wah baru nih...kebetulan emang lagi cari ..wah ternyata harganya agak mahal juga...mmm...mikir2 juga pas mo belinya...tp husband bilang, gpp beli aja, dicoba...
ya uda, nyoba deh beli satu aja...

So pas sorenya, Mei da ribut aja bilang mo bikin kue...hehe..ya uda dibikin deh...buat adonan pake 3 bh telur, 100gr tepung, 100 gr gula, 50gr mentega, panggang 170drajat 30 mnit. jadi deh kuenya, tinggal di hias pake cream putih..
walah, ternyata hiasnya itu susah ya...mana Mei juga ikut2an lulurin tuh cream, jadinya malah ancur lebur..hahaha...gpp deh, pengalaman pertama...hihihi

Friday, July 25, 2008

kimchi Drink?????

I found this here .
Described as one of the drinks launched in Japan and failed to win the market. 

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Banoffee



Banana and Toffee Gives you Banoffee



This is a great pie to make in Korea the ingredients a rather cheap and available all year round . You can easily make this pie for under 8000 won. It was invented in England in the 70s. Although the original recipe called for a pastry pie base I feel the biscuit base is just as tasty and is so much easier to make .



Banoffee is hugely popular in Europe so much so that Cadburys made a banoffee pie flavoured chocolate bar . Wonderful for a birthday party or just looking to impress your friends.
No cooking involved, no oven needed.


Ingredients
1 Can of condensed milk
5 bananas
2 packets of digestive biscuits
1 cup of butter 2 cups of cream

To Make.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Add the unopened can of condensed milk to the water.
Reduce to a simmer .
Simmer for 3 hours ,always checking to see there is plenty of water.
Warning if the water boils dry the can will explode.
Smash the digestive biscuits and add melted butter.
Pack tightly into a pie tin. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
Place a layer of chopped bananas on top of the biscuit layer.
Allow condensed milk to cool.
Spread condensed milk (toffee ) over bananas .
Whip cream (adding a drop of Tia Maria if you like )
Top the bananas and toffee with whipped cream.
Decorate with some chocolate shavings or chocolate syrup.

Watch your friends faces light up with joy as they eat.

Pork and Plum Sauce


Pork Tenderloin With Plum Sauce

Plum Sauce

1 garlic clove, minced fine
1 tablespoon of fresh ginger, minced
1/3 small onion, minced
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cups water
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon crushed dried chili
5 plums, pitted & chopped
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/3 tablespoon cornstarch



Thinking of having some friends round for dinner. Want to try
something other than pasta. Try this plum sauce it really is very
easy.  Now is the time to cook with plums they're now in season,   plentiful and
cheap. This is a wonderful fresh tangy sauce with a nice hint of Asia.
You could eat it with chicken, duck or tofu. To accompany it you may
like a nice crispy summer salad, maybe some fresh baby spinach.
An alternative is mashed potatoes and some steamed broccoli. This
really compliments it and is my personal favorite.

To start:

1 Place all 12 ingredients into a pot.
2 Bring to a boil then simmer for 30 minutes.
3 Blend it in a blender.
4 Simmer again until thickened to your liking.

For Pork tenderloin

Take a nice pork tenderloin and season generously with pepper. Roast it
in a preheated oven at 200c for 20 minutes or until cooked to your
liking. Be careful not to over cook or it will be very dry.
Alternatively pan fry in a small amount of oil at a medium heat for
15-20 minutes. Make sure to check it's cooked through at the largest
part of loin.
Drizzle with plum sauce and  enjoy.



Hommus with meat and pine nuts - حمص مع اللحمة والصنوبر


The recipe of preparing hommus is already listed among my previous recipe. Now for the meat and pine nuts topping you'll need:
- Lean minced meat (1 cup)
- Pine nuts (about 1/3 cup)
- Olive oil (or vegetabl oil, which ever you like, about 2 tablespoons
- Finely chopped onions, about 2 tablespoons
- Salt & pepper to taste, and a pinch of allspice (optional)
In a skillet on medium-high, add oil and pine nuts. when the pine nuts start to brown, add the onions, mix and cook for about a minute then add the minced meat and mix them all together and keep cooking until the meat is fully cooked. Serve over the hommus along with pita bread.

Speaking of Mexican food…

... but really otherwise à propos of nothing, I was talking to a friend the other day who had just had tacos from a place with a weird name he couldn’t remember that he assumed was a local New York joint trying to copy Chipotle.
I asked him if it was Qdoba.
“That's it!” he said.
So I broke the news to him that Qdoba is in fact a national chain just like Chipotle is. Indeed, both are based in Denver. I didn’t break down the differences in the concepts — that Chipotle has a much simpler menu, all developed by its founder and president, Steve Ells, and all of the restaurants are company-owned, whereas Qdoba is largely franchised and has an evolving menu under the stewardship of strategic product development director Ted Stoner.
Isn’t that a great name for someone who develops burritos?
“Dude! I totally need a queso burrito, dude. Can you put some ancho chile barbecue sauce on that, brah?”
Sorry Ted, I'm sure you’ve heard it all before.

Trixters, fajitas and a drink named mitch — oh, and the end of the world

July 24

Mercadito Cantina doesn’t have a full liquor license, just one for beer and wine, so drink consultants Tad Carducci and Paul Tanguay, the Tippling Bros., had to get clever.
I was early last night for my dinner there, so while I waited for my friend Andy Battaglia, Tad gave me the low-down on the tric-quila.
You know how tequila has sort of a spicy bite to it? Well, sake doesn’t, so they added chiles, white and black pepper and Sichuan peppercorns to it to simulate that bite. Tad poured me a taste. It’s pretty cool. Kind of tequila-like. It's used to make what the restaurant calls “Mentirosas,” which I think means liars or tricksters, because there’s not really any tequila in them.
I started with a Paper Daisy, which is made with lime, agave nector and orange flower essence (and tric-quila) and is meant to taste like a Margarita.
Andy was right on time and I asked him if his friends pretty much thought the world was going to end soon, maybe today or tomorrow (or the day after).
He said that indeed some of his friends were gloomy.
That’s going around a lot these days, and neither Andy nor I were able to determine exactly why people think things are so much worse now than over the past several thousand years (or past 500 million years, if you get right down to it). Remember how we were all going to die from avian flu a couple of years ago, and how Y2K was going to make planes fall out of the sky at the turn of the millennium? That's not to say the current dangers of economic collapse, environmental disaster, global political instability etc. aren’t legit, but those things are always around. Doesn’t anyone remember the Cold War? DDT? Thalidomide? The Second World War? The Great Depression? Hasn’t anyone read about the deaths of almost the entire population of North America from small pox in the 16th Century, the death of half of Europe from the Bubonic Plague in the 14th Century?
Can anyone in the developed world even imagine a cholera epidemic?
How about the asteroid that killed all the dinosaurs?
I’m truly sorry that the polar bears are in trouble. I really am. But that’s not going to keep me from enjoying my tacos and taquiza.
A taquiza is Mercadito Cantina’s version of a fajita. It’s served in corn tortillas rather than flour ones along with a choice of salsas, onions, cilantro and lime.
We had the chef pick the food for us (I’m not sure whether it was chef-owner Patricio Sandoval or chef de cuisine Ivan Garcia, because the place was packed and so he understandably didn’t come out to chat). He sent out the carne asada taquiza (grass-fed skirt steak, marinated with hoja santa) along with the salsa verde and the salsa de cacahuate (peanut).
He also sent out some head-on shrimp marinated in roasted garlic, and two types of tacos: estilo Baja, which had beer-battered shrimp, roasted habanero, avocado and cole slaw; and the pescado (tilapia in this case) with a poblano chile-tomato-garlic mojo.
We had three types of guacamoles: traditional, chipotle (also with pineapple, pico de gallo and mint), and sandia (watermelon with habanero peppers, epazote and pico de gallo).
And three salsas with crispy cornbread bites: Veracruzana (roasted tomato, capers, pickled jalapeños), habanero (with grilled tomato, garlic, lemon and crema fresca, as well as habanero chiles), and chipotle (with roasted tomatillo and garlic).
We also sampled another Mentirosa, the Papa Low, made from passion fruit, an herb called papalo, jalapeño, salt and pepper. And we had a couple of Miches (prounounced "mitches"), which are the Tipplong Bros. riff on the Michelada, a sort of Mexican Bloody Mary made with beer instead of vodka. It’s not nearly as gross as it sounds.
I had the ker~mich, made with cucumber, hoja santa, agave nectar, cumin and salt. Andy had the happy~mich, made with watermelon, lime, hot sauce (it says salsa picante on the menu, which sounds a lot better and means hot sauce), and hibiscus.

土用の丑/ hari unagi

24 july 2008, Kamis malem,

Hari ini menunya unagi....soalnya hari ini adalah hari unagi...unagi itu sejenis belut kalo di indo. Di semua supermaket uda dari kemarin2 pada lagi sale jualan unagi ini....byk macem, kecil gede, produksi dalam negri, produksi luar negri.
Herannya kalo produksi dalam negri itu mahal banget, cuman bisa menuhin 20 persen dari permintaan pasar....jadi import deh unagi luar negri, biasanya si dari China, harganya murah banyak dibanding yg dalam negri punya, n biasanya unaginya lebih gede...wah wah wah

Tapi banyak juga org jep sini yang lebih milih produksi dalam negri biarpun harganya bisa 2 kali lipet dari yg luar punya . Menghargai produksi dalam negri nih...hehehe...soalnya dari kemarin2 itu ada gosip2 tentang unagi dari china itu pake obat terlarang....ga tau deh apaan...jadi permintaan ama barang dalam negri lebih banyak ...lah mo gimana yak...kalo cuman bisa penuhin permintaan kurang dari separoh????
Di sini, produksi udang kebanyakan dari Indo lho.. Kenapa ga import unagi dari Indo aja yak? Btw, malam ini menu unagi don, enakkk....lezzzattt...

New blog

Recently I’ve been writing an increasing number of non-food related pieces, some of which have found there way onto this very blog. Whilst these have been well-received, I’ve decided that they have no place under the Just Cook It umbrella and so I’ve decided to start posting them here, on a brand spanking shiny new blog: www.alexrushmer.blogspot.com

There is no theme, no unifying factor and no agenda. They are simply my non-food related thoughts. So, please feel free to pop over and say hello. It would be great to see you over there.

NB – Facebook users, these posts won’t show up on the site so you’ll have to go here directly. Assuming you want to read them, of course.

きな粉ロールケーキ/kinako roll cake

24 july 2008, kamis sore,

Tadi siang ke mall, ngeliat loyang buat roll cake, wah jadi beli deh...hehehe...dulu2 bikin cuman ditatakin kertas, mgkin karena itu, jadi kuenya ga terlalu ngembang...so praktek deh sore2..mumpung lagi sempet...

Bahannya 3 bh telur, 70 gr gula, 60 gr tepung trigu, 10 gr mentega, 1 sdm susu. Semua bahan dicampur jadi satu buat adonan, trus oven 170 drajat selama 15 menit... Kalo uda jadi, tinggal diangkat, bubuhin topping trus digulung deh. Kali ini bikin pake kinako, kacang yg uda halus. ..

Malamnya, husband nyari makanan di kulkas, laper katanya, ya udah deh, dipotong tuh kue...dicobain, wah enak katanya...seneng...hehe. Wah ternyata pake loyang baru bisa ngembang yak. Tapi permukaannya masih pecah kalo digulung...gimana ya biar ga pecah?? ada info?

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

PR V Ebi Doria

24 July 2008, Kamis pagi,

Uda mulai lagi nih PR kelima...ternyata susah juga tentuin resep yg disetujui...hehe, akhirnya setelah berdebat n berunding akhirnya disetujui deh ma resep yg gw ajuin : ebi doria: nasi panggang udang...
Seperti biasa bkin stengah resep...coz yg makan jg cuman bertiga ama Mei..

Sibuk2 di dapur dalam hawa panas di musim panas...walah kringetan nih...hehe.
Ternyata bikinnya ga susah ...n ga perlu waktu lama....setengah jem juga uda jadi...tapi berhubung ada urusan, husband ajak pergi...yah uda, masakannya taroh di kulkas dulu deh...mestinya dimakan anget2 baru sip....

Pulangnya da siang, so langsung deh angetin tuh masakan..wah untung da bkin tadi pagi...kalo gaaa, mesti masak dulu..repot deh. Mei juga da kelaperan...jd die langsung lahap deh....habis ludes....suka juga die..
Husband makan, die bilang enak juga....sip deh...oishii desu.

SALMOREJO CORDOBÉS

This time, a freshly dish by Carlos from Madrid (Spain):

- SALMOREJO CORDOBÉS (CORDOBES SALMOREJO):





Recipes:

http://www.recetasdemama.es/2007/08/salmorejo/ (SPANISH)

http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/recipes/salmorejo.htm (ENGLISH)

Thanks to Carlos!

Sobre una chica.

- A veces sentía la necesidad de pincharme, pero no de pincharme en el sentido de drogas y estupefacientes... sencillamente cogía un imperdible y lo clavaba en mi brazo hasta que sentía dolor. O cogía un cuchillo y jugaba a clavarlo entre los dedos de la mano. Me fascinaban las cosas punzantes, y el fuego... hacía hogueras en ceniceros de casa.

Escucharme decir esas palabras me daban escalofríos. ¿Qué clase de infancia me había hecho? ¿Qué me había inspirado ser así? ¿Yo misma, acaso? Mis padres me habían dado amor de sobra, a veces a su manera; y nunca tuve necesidad de nada a pesar de haber vivido momentos a veces difíciles en casa. ¿Por qué era así, qué me había influenciado tanto para acabar convirtiéndome en lo que soy?

- No te martirices - dijo Oniros mientras me abrazaba -. Todos tenemos ése tipo de momentos. Yo los tengo incluso ahora... tú me los inspiras.

¿Realmente era cierto? ¿Por qué era capaz de inspirar, por qué era capaz de crear esa magia envolvente a mi alrededor? Según él, algunos tenemos ese don de hacer soñar con el pestañear de nuestros ojos, con el olor que queda impregnado en nuestros cuellos; el sabor a herrumbe de nuestros labios. ¿Realmente era yo así? Si era cierto, nunca nadie me lo había dicho... claro, a las musas no se les dice esas cosas; y es una pena, porque así nos podríamos esforzar mejor en cumplir nuestra misión y, tal vez, ser más felices.

Pero, ¿qué inspira a una musa entonces? ¿Somos capaces de ser inspiradas por algo o alguien, tal vez por aquel al que inspiraremos la próxima vez? ¿O soñamos con aquellos que ya inspiramos?

- ¿Con qué sueñan las musas, Calíope?

Esa pregunta me hacía eco dentro de mi cabeza...
Y la respuesta era simple.
Tú.

Thailand - A brief introduction


I really don’t know where to start. My usual existence plays itself out in a satisfyingly sedate fashion: the occasional domestic duty punctuating an otherwise relaxed approach dominated by growing food, cooking food and writing about (mostly) food. There might be the odd day when I go for a run, wander into town and buy a new album or amble around the flat countryside that surrounds our house. But most of the time I am beavering away, attempting to eke out a living by doing the things I love most, the things listed above.

Suffice to say that the last fortnight has provided something of a departure from this genteel life. The sweaty streets of Bangkok, so alive in so many ways, the soft beaches of Phuket and the sinister underbelly of Patong are a world away from the small, sleepy Cambridgeshire village I call home. And what a wondrous, living, breathing, pulsating, vibrant world Thailand is.

A slow and relaxed karmic paradise that lives in a manic frenzy. The sweeping hills flecked green with lush trees overlook heaving polluted city streets where the concept of a carbon footprint is unheard-of. The peaceful tranquillity of the Buddhist tradition exists amidst a tumultuous ferocity of a sprawling metropolis. The gentle curves of traditional Thai architecture sit alongside the harsh angular regularity of a modern city block. The intricate delicacy of old artwork appears soft against the brutal realism favoured by the nation’s contemporary artists.

Thailand encompasses all these things and more with an indescribable grace: everything and nothing that you expect. During the two short weeks that we spent there we saw many sides to this disparate yet cohesive nation; a country developing both within and outside of itself, finding its place in the world; struggling with and embracing the many facets of its intricate existence.

I have no doubt that we barely scratched the surface – the north of the country remains a mystery, as do many of the outlying islands, not to mention the complex traditions and formalities that pervade Thai life – but I like to think that we managed to at least begin the process of unraveling this incredible, fascinating and wonderful nation.

And the food? I suppose you’ll just have to wait and see.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

MEAT HEDGEHOG

And now, one of the weirdest meal I've ever seen.... by Jackie from Basque Country (after ingesting one thousand pills):

- ERIZO DE CARNE!!! (MEAT HEDGEHOG)

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Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Recipes....

http://cocinaados.blogspot.com/2008/07/erizo-de-carne.html (SPANISH)

http://www.bigoven.com/136542-Meat---Roast-Meat-Loaf-or-%22Hedgehog%22-recipe.html (ENGLISH)



Thanks to Jackie!

Monday, July 21, 2008

PORK BURGER

The first Burger in this blog... by Carlos from Madrid (Spain):

- HAMBURGUESA DE CERDO (PORK BURGER):


Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us



Recipes:

http://www.hamburger-recipes.com/basic-pork-hamburger-recipe.html
(ENGLISH)

http://www.bloghogar.com/2007/10/10/hamburguesas-de-cerdo-con-queso-y-guacamole/ (SPANISH)


Thanks Carlos!

Tivoli Koen, Kurashiki

20 july 2008, Minggu pagi

Pagi jam 6 an da mesti bngun, siap2 , mkan pagi, menunya pizza...heheh, pizzanya uda kemrin sbtu bkin, jd tinggal dipanggang aja, siap dimakan...
Trus pergi ke stasiun JR Matsuyama, dari rumah naik kreta skitar 5 mnit aja...ga jauh, 1 stasiun aja. Trus disana nunggu kreta anpanmannya...lamaaa,kepagian nih kita datangnya...hehe. Mei uda ga sabar...mama mada?? mada?? mksudnya kretanya blom sampe??

Akhirnya datang deh kretanya...Mei seneng bukan main...Naik kreta skitar 3 jam sampe ke Okayama...trus nyambung lagi naik kreta lagi skitar 15 menit, nyampe di Kurashiki.
Disana ada taman bermain lumyan gede, bagus...Kita nyampe uda banyak bener yg ngantri beli karcisnya....walah...rame, mana panas lagi...
Mei da ga sabar lagi pngen main.Kebanyakan permainan untuk anak2...yg buat org gede paling jet coaster ya....Mei ga boleh naik, jadi ya kita ga ikutan naik juga. Namanya anak2...main permainan gitu banyak, ga cape....terlalu seneng....hehhee...Sebagai ortu, seneng deh liat anak gembira gitu, lari sono sini, liat ketawanya...sayang Xiang masih terlalu kecil buat diajak ke sini....so, harus nunggu 1 ato 2 th lagi,baru bisa diajak pergi sama2.

Waktu pulangnya kita naik lagi kreta anpanman...wah, kretanya gambar baikinman...sama kayak waktu perginya...Mei mewek, maunya naik kreta dokinchan...ya mo gimana...ga bisa rubah nomor kursi kan?? Tapi ga lama, Mei ketiduran....kecapean deh...terpksa mesti gendong nyampe ke rumah......hhh...beratttt....

Sebelom nyampe ke rumah, jemput dulu Xiang, yang dititipin di mertua...walah, 2 hari aja ga ketemu, kayaknya kangen banget...hehhehe.....

Chef's Garden

July 21

We really, really did not want Marcel Vigneron to win the cook-off last weekend.
I was in Milan (MY-lun), Ohio at the Chef’s Garden Food & Wine Celebration, the annual fundraiser for Veggie U, a program to teach elementary school kids how to grow vegetables. It’s a great cause, you can’t argue with it at all, and the Jones family, which runs Chef’s Garden, are such nice people that you want to help them. So when they asked me to help judge the cook-off, I said I would.
Of course, they provided transportation and accommodation. And in fact it was transportation on Viking Corporation’s private jet, accommodation at the Cleveland Ritz-Carlton. So it wasn’t a sacrifice.
Veggie U’s a charity, but Chef’s Garden isn’t. It’s a very high-end purveyor of precious little herbs and vegetables. We (six other passengers and I, including two guys from the The Food Network, journalists from Saveur and Food Arts, chef Joël Antunes and my fellow judge, Jody Eddy, who is the brand new editor of Art Culinaire) were picked up by Bob Jones, the family patriarch, who sets the aw-shucks tone of the family.
The entire Jones family persona, you see, is so folksy and down-to-earth that it would be a parody if they weren’t absolutely sincere about it.
Bob said something to the effect of “Hi folks, gosh I’m sure glad you’re here. I’m just a senile old man who’s come here to pick you up. My kids don’t let me out too often, so I hope I don’t mess this up.”
See, Bob Jones is the founder of this multi-million dollar company that has something like 130 employees and charges a king’s ransom for tiny little microgreens and precious little vegetables. And many, maybe most, of the top chefs all over the country gladly pay for it. They use top-of-the-line technology to analyze their soil quality, have designed their own ergonomically sound farm equipment for ease in working the land, and are starting to do DNA testing for dangerous types of salmonella and e. coli.
They have weeding machines that shield their laborers — Mexicans who are paid about $11 an hour, have work visas and are flown by Chef’s Garden to and from Mexico annually — from the sun as they lie on their stomachs inches above the soil and pick weeds as the machines move over the crops. It’s quite cool.
It was Bob’s idea, after his more conventional vegetable crop was wiped out by a hailstorm and he was driven to bankruptcy, to rebuild by growing food to the specifications of chefs.
That’s the story told by Lee Jones, Bob’s son and the face of the company, whom I’ve written about here before. His brother, Bob aka Bobby, does the planting while Lee does the marketing.
Lee seems still to be under the impression that he’s helping to run a small family farm. Again, this would be crazy if he didn’t believe it.
So that’s the Joneses, this was the Veggie U Food & Wine Celebration (held near Chef’s Garden, which is in Huron, Ohio, at the Culinary Vegetable Institute — a sort of chef’s retreat and test kitchen), and Jody and I (and a chef and writer named Fred Mensinga) were judging a cook-off.
Okay, actually, the day before the fundraiser was the Chefs Summit, which is mostly a series of 20-minute cooking demonstrations by chefs, including Will Goldfarb, pictured here with his almost-three-year-old daughter Lulu, who was helping him. So was the local volunteer, pictured on the right. It’s worth noting that nearly all of the chefs who did demonstrations did something with molecular gastronomy. Will did many things with molecular gastronomy, but that’s part of his schtick. He and Lulu made a pomegranate-beet mousse using some of his hydrocolloids, his point being that using great products and the latest techniques are in no way contradictory but in fact go hand-in-hand, and that by using a few grams of powder you can really highlight those products at their most pristine (unless you just eat them raw).
And it’s so easy a three-year-old can do it.
While all of this was going on, I got the chance to get to know Joël Antunes, who recently moved from Atlanta to New York to be the chef at The Oak Room, which is scheduled to reopen later this year.
The picture of Joël, on the left, is an old one that was used in the 2001 profile that my former colleague, the late, great Jack Hayes, wrote of him.
But he looks about the same now.
Joël (his surname is Basque, and is pronounced an-tu-NESS) spent much of his childhood in sub-Saharan Africa, where his father worked for Michelin (the division that makes tires, not guidebooks) and bought rubber. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, he spent about four years in Bangkok, where he worked at The Oriental hotel, at Le Normandie restaurant, in the same position that Jean-Georges Vongerichten held before him. There he raced motorcycles and otherwise enjoyed himself before returning to the West. He’s very cool, and I’m looking forward to The Oak Room opening.
Jody Eddy is very cool, too. She was a cook, and among the places she worked was The Fat Duck, so she has an opinion about molecular gastronomy. She pointed out to me that it could take Fat Duck chef Heston Blumenthal and his team two years to develop a dish. Other chefs try to rush the process, which is why the results are sometimes so bad.
But she doesn’t seem to take that very seriously, and she has a chef’s stamina for partying, sleep deprivation and salty language. We were engaging in the last of those while much of the cook-off was going on, the one that we (and Fred) didn’t want Marcel Vigneron to win.
Because Top Chef is stupid. Well, okay, maybe not stupid. It’s entertaining enough if you like that sort of thing, but we don’t. It’s the celebrity chef phenomenon at its most banal, its fans seem to care more about personalities than food, so the show (or to be fair, its fans) fosters the sort of celebrity chefdom that degrades and distorts what working in a professional kitchen is all about.
And he was competing against the delightful Celina Tio, who is just now leaving The American Restaurant in Kansas City to open a place of her own in Charlotte, to be called Julia(n), and the well-respected Don Yamauchi of Forte, in Birmingham, Mich.
The three chefs were on stage, frantically cooking, while emcee (and chef) Bob Waggoner, along with co-emcee, tie-breaking judge and local celebrity chef Michael Symon entertained the audience and Jody, Fred and I sat on a dais in back of the audience and chatted. I also nibbled on the cardamom shoots that were one of the ingredients the chefs had to use (the others were black cherry tomatoes — another Chef’s Garden specialty — and the pork tenderloin and grass-fed beef filet provided by the sponsors).
Then we went on stage (that’s a picture of us on stage), tasted the food and commented on it while marking our score cards, hoping to hate Marcel’s food. But what can I say? His food tasted the best, and we’re all judges with integrity, so he won.
Damn it!
The competition followed the fundraising tasting event, which was also a competition of sorts, as the chef that one of the sponsors liked the most was given a free trip to Spain to eat at elBulli.
And the winner was Aaron Deal, the chef of Tristan in Charleston, S.C.! Can you believe it?
Well, sure you can. Aaron’s a good chef and a nice chap. Here he is, on the right with Lee Jones and sous chef Wes Grubbs.
He made Manchester Farms quail with carrot purée, baby carrot, and Benton’s Bacon.
The chef who was cooking next to him at the tasting event, Craig Deihl of Cypress restaurant in Charleston, took the grease from the bacon and used it, instead of oil, to make bacon mayonnaise.
I recommend that you try this at home.