Thank you for the links! I hadn't seen the Dutch table or the about site for Dutch food before - nice!

Your last link - the food buzz - going Dutch blog introduced me to the Holtkamp/Raat cookbook. After reading about it, I found it easily available online.
http://www.bol.com/nl/p/nederlandse-b...

It is beautifully designed and the Dutch is not hard to follow - especially with google translator's help. The book is inexpensive but the shipping is kind of crazy. If you know someone going to the Netherlands, ask for it. It's small and compact - good travel gift.

Thank you both for the information. I haven't yet been able to find a protein percentage for zeeuswe bloem yet , but will look for a lower protein content and/or soft wheat flour.

I'm going to be baking cookies from the Dutch cookbook "Koekje" by Cees Holtkamp and Kees Raat. Some of the recipes call for "zeeuwse bloem" or zeeland flour. I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a good substitute. According to what I've found online (not much) it's a high quality, low-protein flour. I'm wondering if I can substitute cake flour. Any suggestions welcome - sadly although I could buy the cookbook from the Netherlands, I won't have time to order the flour from there!

Thank you!

La Casita has been open since 1999.

It's too bad about the poor meal, I've always really enjoyed my visits there and like it better than Babita.

I don't know if this reply is too late, but I just got back from a week in Singapore.

While there we took a class from the At-Sunrice cooking academy. At-Sunrice is a professional culinary academy located in Fort Canning Park but they offer classes for tourists as well. The first botanical garden in Singapore was in Fort Canning Park (founded in 1822) and we took a class that included a tour of the garden (many spices, herbs and fruit trees).

Our instructor was great, very knowledgeable and passionate about his subject. We didn't stay for the full-on cooking part, but he demonstrated making a curry paste and five spice powder. I think the full class included 3-4 recipes and lunch. The class is offered three times a week so it's pretty easy to schedule. We booked and paid in advance through their website and they were very prompt with confirmation.

Fort Canning Park is really close to central Singapore and just a few minute walk away from the Dhoby Ghaut metro station.

http://www.at-sunrice.com/main_idx.html

Mustard? That's really funny. I don't remember that and it seems like it would be hard to forget!

Have you been to King Torta on Valley? It's pretty close to Cal State LA and County/USC Hospital. That was pretty much my favorite in that part of town when I was trying them out. The bread was really good there. They've moved into their own stand-alone building and I've only been once since that move.

I have to say my latest obsessions are huaraches and cemitas so I'm not totally up on the torta scene anymore - but good luck with your further explorations!

King Torta
4521 Valley Blvd # 102
Los Angeles, CA 90032
(323) 222-7006

How much you want to bet they heard about it from J.Gold?

http://www.laweekly.com/eat+drink/cou...

I went there a couple years back when I was on a big torta tasting spree (I don't recall exactly what I ordered, but highly doubt it was the milanesa since I rarely get those). I don't remember it standing out as more exceptional than others I was trying at the time. But the wonderful thing about tortas is they're cheap - give it a try and report back!

It's such a gem - I hope you enjoy it! I think that it's superior to the Greens Cookbook in that its less a product of a restaurant kitchen and more like what you'd regularly make at home (i.e. the hummus recipe here produces 1 cup and is made from canned chickpeas, in Greens you start with dried and end up with 3 cups - way too much)

Ironically given the title, I most love the desserts. I think they are the best of any she's published. Very seasonal and sometimes old-fashioned (the sweetmeats!), I think everyone I've tried is a winner.

I especially like the walnut nugget cookies, the quince compote, the prune and quince tart (almost like a tangy mincemeat pie), and the plum and nectarine crisp.

From the savory side I like the tians very much when summer garden produce is abundant, the picked red onions are a staple for me, and I can't remember how I used to make greens before trying her mustard green recipe (although I now add coriander and cumin). Looking at the toc I remember loving all the spreads and should start making them again.

It's also a good cookbook to turn to when you spy some really good produce and need to find something new to do with it.

Enjoy!

La Casita in Bell buys from local farmers and community gardeners and makes some of the best Mexican food around.

http://www.casitamex.com/home.html

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La Casita Mexicana
4030 Gage Ave, Bell, CA 90201

Not a restaurant as such, but a teahouse. Lady Effie's enforces a strict no-denim policy for its tea service. I very much enjoyed the tea and food when I went a couple years back, but they did really look us over at the door to make sure we were appropriately dressed.

http://www.ladyeffiesteaparlor.com

Great quest - I hope you both report back on what you find.

I'd suggest messing with the LA Public Health database. Pick some likely street +/or zipcode and get to work! It's the greatest info resouce on restaurants around.
http://www.lapublichealth.org/rating/

Also if you're based in CC - have you done much surface street roaming to the east on Jefferson, Adams, Washington, etc? I'm convinced there are some gems to be checked out there. For starters there's that bakery on Adams selling the very delicious Armenian lahmajoun (reminiscent of pizza - ask them to heat it for you). Then there's Kobbler King on Jefferson which has had a sign up saying they serve gumbo on weekends - that could be promising. Those streets are just lined with potential.

ARMENIAN BAKERY
5410 W ADAMS BLVD
LA CA 90016

THE KOBBLER KING
3622 W JEFFERSON BLVD
LA CA 90016

I'd bet you're thinking of Le Pain du Jour at 828 Pico.

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Le Pain Du Jour
828 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405

I'd go for Middle Eastern or non-sushi Japanese. I think most of the Persian places on Westwood Blvd would offer good choices (particularly the vegetarian stews - if they don't have yogurt in them) for vegans. And plenty for the omnivores! And any izakaya or other cooked food Japanese restaurant like Torafuku (even a fusion-y place like Beacon) is likely to have a good range of vegan options.

Once you have a short list, you could get the menus from los angeles menu pages and ask your sister and brother-in-law to check there are enough options for them.

I couldn't find liquid glucose in drug stores here - only tablets or crazy forms with "orange" flavors, etc. Sadly not usable for candy making.

We were able to successfully use corn syrup. Although I hate that its domination of all processed foods, I don't mind using it in candy-making. I'm not intolerant to it and three straight failed attempts at a lemon caramel recipe without it got me over that bias pretty quick.

I can't remember the cookbook that we found it in, but one author suggested heating 1 cup corn syrup to boiling, then adding another 1/2 cup and cooling to room temp for similar properties to glucose. It worked great and both the black current and guava are intensely flavorful and delicious. I highly recommend the Boiron recipe above (esp. if you have a digital scale). Thanks again for the suggestions and advice!

thanks for these thoughtful replies.

I've looked for glucose in the likely spots here - too bad I'm too late for Amazon! And while golden syrup is much easier to find than glucose, I'm not sure about it in pates de fruits. It seems to me the flavor is more assertive than light corn syrup.

I have been seeking out other recipes, but I really do want to use the Boiron pureed fruits (I've got the guava and the black current). If you know of any recipes with pureed fruit - I'd love to hear about them!

I'll try a test batch first and keep my fingers crossed - thanks again!

Excellent! Thanks so much....

Can anyone suggest a substitute for glucose in a recipe for pates de fruits? Would corn syrup work and would the amount be the same?

http://www.boironfreres.com/uk/uk_rec...

Thanks!

There have got to be people who know more about this than me (I haven't had Turkish coffee in ages)...

Have you tried places like Magic Carpet on Pico? It's a Yemeni restaurant and Turkish coffee is listed on their menu.Other kosher places in that area maybe as well? I don't know if the Lebanese coffee at Sunnin would also be similar, but you could give it a try and report back.

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Magic Carpet (CLOSING)
8566 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

hey Steve,

Welcome back. Can you give us a bit more info? What have you really missed? What do you crave that you can't get in the Netherlands? What did you love when you were here? Like when a Dutch friend is visiting here, what do you recommend to them?

Any budget limitations? Given the pathetic state of the dollar if your life is in euros now , I guess you could probably eat at Spago, Providence, and Bastide all in the same night and consider it chump change. Although I guess those aren't super freeway convenient.

More info from you will result in more answers....

How about Oaxacan at Guelaguetza on 8th?

http://www.guelaguetzarestaurante.com/

I hope you do! And report back - your post definitely was the incentive to get us there.

You had chipotle caramels? Yum! I missed that in your report - ours didn't have any heat, just saltiness from the sesame. Maybe by the time we got ours, they were out of the other caramels.

I can't believe you did your review without notes! Excellent work.

One of my most long-held food ambitions has been to try the dessert tasting menu at Providence. A couple years ago I had the regular nine course tasting menu which was fantastic, but I don’t even remember what we had for dessert. I believe that was before Adrian Vasquez became pastry chef. After I started hearing about his creations, I was intrigued. But every time I floated the dessert tasting menu option to friends – eyes rolled – at best. And worst were the guys, who seem chromosomally incapable admitting interest in lots of dessert. But every time I read about Vasquez’s desserts my interest was intensified.

nick_r mentioned here recently he had had a vegetarian tasting menu at providence I saw a flicker of a chance to fulfill my goal! I have friends who have been very interested in trying Providence but don’t eat fish (or other meat). The regular menu makes it seem unlikely that it would be a good place for high end vegetarian dining. How wrong we were. I knew this would be a good way to get my foot in the door again so to speak.

I believe when D made the reservation he mentioned that two people would be interested in a five course vegetarian tasting menu. I then called the restaurant to ask if while the others in our group were having their tasting menus (two veggie, one regular) if I alone could have the dessert tasting menu served at the same time. The man I spoke to was worried about the pacing but said he’d check and call me back - which he did a few minutes later saying it would be fine. So at 9pm last night we sat down to dine at Providence.

But first the obvious question, how do you prepare for five courses of dessert? I wasn’t able to track down reviews here on strategy. Perhaps others who have this option have eaten a couple dishes there first? Or elsewhere? I’m not sure. I decided to prepare by having a late lunch (a carnitas cemita from the smart & final truck) around 2pm and some peanuts later in the afternoon. So I wasn’t starving but hadn’t had anything substantial or sweet in a few hours.

Once we sat down our waiter came to confirm our plans and to check on drinks. J who would be having the regular tasting menu would also have the wine pairings. L, one of the vegetarians, decided on a glass of red to carry her through and D stuck with water. I asked to speak to the sommelier. My sweet tooth does not extend to wines and I was not interested in the pairings. When I told the sommelier that I’d like a dry white, she suggested a Craftsman Cserszegi Fuszeres from Hungary that was dry but subtly fruity (similar to a gewürztraminer?). It was a great suggestion and worked well with the desserts ($12.00/glass).

Even though none of us got drinks from the bar, we all began with cocktails as described by krez - http://www.chowhound.com/topics/448515
(thank goodness she visited the same night or this post would be even longer!):

First amuse: gin and tonic gelee (most of us agreed the fizz was faint but spot on taste

Second amuse: mojito ravioli – very fun texture and taste

Third amuse: watermelon soup shooter – odd blend of flavors with that wasabi kick, maybe my least favorite of the amuses, but interesting nonetheless.

1st course –

Dessert: White chocolate lollipop with apricot & saffron filling. I’m no fan of white chocolate, but this worked as a nice foil for the luscious apricot on the inside. Good concept that worked well.

Vegetarian: Curry sorbet on a heart of palm base with cucumber, sesame and passion fruit. That curry sorbet was a huge hit.

Regular: Tuna tartare wrapped in heart of palm (krez’s first course too)

2nd course –

Dessert: Litchi-shiso sorbet on top of passion fruit gelee on top of a bed of basil seeds with a soy milk & coconut (& white chocolate?) soup poured around the gelee/sorbet. The basil seeds had been hydrated which created this seeded-gel-like quality – it reminded me of the chia seed lemonade you can get at La Casita. This was amazing with the layers of texture and flavor going on.

Vegetarian: Squash soup with porcini, cubes of squash and crème fraiche. I had a taste of the squash soup which was lovely – very squash like but far more delicious than any squash soup I’ve ever made. I’d love the recipe for this dish.

Regular: Seared scallop with matsutake mushroom, squash and gewürztraminer reduction. I hear the scallop was great. I had a piece of the matsutake which was less flavorful than I expected. Maybe I could get Roh Moo-Hyun to give me a tiny portion of the four tons he just got from Kim Jong Il so I could do some further taste testing!

3rd course –

Dessert: Anjou pear on almond cake with huckleberry sauce and miso ice-cream with micromint. As krez described, but I loved the miso ice-cream. I found the miso somehow warmed up the flavor in a way that complemented the pear in a superb way. Easily the least adventurous dessert of the evening, but satisfying.

Vegetarian: A combination of fava & cranberry beans, artichoke, a little grilled cheese sandwich, and chervil & microcilantro. I didn’t try this but it was a hit with those who ate it. We meant to follow up on what kind of cheese was used but forgot.

Regular: the Halibut that was krez’s fourth course.

4th course:

Dessert: Two rounds of a Greek yogurt & honey timbale– one topped by cucumber foam and the other topped by a cucumber gelee with thin ribbons of cucumber accompanied by a cantaloupe sorbet with small balls of cantaloupe. This visually was one of the most complex desserts but all the flavors were very harmonious and complementary. I love the combination of melon and cucumber and wonder why they aren’t paired more. The best lunch I had over the summer was a cucumber/cantaloupe/honeydew & burrata salad at Literati II – this was like its delicate, sweet, sophisticated cousin.

Vegetarian: Turnips hollowed out and stuffed with fall vegetables in a smoked carrot sauce.

Regular: Veal with vegetables in a miso reduction – I laughed at krez’s “green stuff” which was kind of what we were thinking too, but I have spinach in my notes.

5th course:

Dessert: Dark chocolate ganache square with a fig and cherry compote, port wine sauce AND salt and pepper ice cream. This was my absolute favorite ice cream – so excellent! I am a member of the salty/sweet club and this ice cream is amazing. The pepper adds a tiny hot kick to the salty, creamy goodness. I had read about this and dismissed it as gimmicky, but it was so great. So great.

Vegetarian & Regular: The Anjou pear & almond cake that I had for my 3rd course.

Little treats at the end:

Blackberry gelee, chocolate/hazelnut balls, & sesame caramels. All lovely but those sesame caramels kicked it.

I must seriously recommend the five course dessert tasting menu. It seems to me that Adrian Vasquez is really having some fun here. The desserts are filled with complex flavors and textures building a greater whole. They are interesting to puzzle out and delicious to eat. While I’m the first to roll my eyes at too many gelees and foams, these worked because the flavor was backing them up. I’ve never had a food experience quite like it. And it was only $40.00 (with wine, tax & tip it was $75.00).

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Providence
5955 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038

great review and descriptions!

We were there last night as well with a slightly more complicated, but briefer meal (different tasting menus going at once). I'll post when I can edit it down to a reasonable length.

Thanks! That's very encouraging news (and may mean I get a return trip to Providence sooner than I thought...).

nick r - can you give more info about the vegetarian testing menu at Providence? I have friends who have been wanting to go to Providence but hesitant because of lack of veggie options. Or have I missed a report you wrote on it on another thread?

thanks!

How about fish available from vendors at farmers markets? There's a regular fish vendor at the Culver City market on Tuesday afternoons. I have no idea whether the fishing practices or sustainable or not, but it'd be easy enough to ask.

For Saturday lunch, I'd suggest checking into your hotel and walking a couple blocks away to the Grand Central Market. While definitions of excellent people watching vary - my idea of interesting people watching would take me here over the Ivy any day of the week.

http://www.grandcentralsquare.com/

It's one of the oldest markets in Los Angeles with a wide variety of food stalls. Lots of options, most of them cheap and vegetarians can do fine (altho' maybe you'll change your mind visiting Roast-to-go or Ana Maria's when you see their carnivorous offerings.). In addition to great Mexican options, for more Latin American there's also Sarita's pupusas and an empanada place (is this still there?). And juice bars and fresh produce.

Then take a wander around the neighborhood and visit the Bradbury building, the Central Library, and all the other downtown sights.

Then you can splurge on a nice Sunday brunch somewhere else!

Enjoy your trip!

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Grand Central Market
317 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90013

You might have a look at How to Cook a Wolf by MFK Fisher. She wrote it at the beginning of WWII in response to rationing. I haven't read it in a long time, but I remember it being funny, sympathetic and down-to-earth while emphasizing the importance of eating well during hardship.

Weiser Farms at Hollywood - look for the stand on the east side upper half with mainly potatoes and melons. They can tell you when a specific melon will be good to eat most seem to be ripe and ready for that day, though I've successfully refrigerated ripe ones that've kept for up to a week. I like their cantaloup and the one that looks like a cantaloup but isn't (sorrry can't remember the name! Maybe it's sugar queen??). I think they go to SM as well.

And on a melon-y note, I cannot recommend highly enough the melon agua fresca at El Huarache Azteca in Highland Park. I didn't try the watermelon/sandia, but the cantaloup/melon one. Amazingly delicious last week during the heat blast.

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El Huarache Azteca
5225 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042