bmubyzal's Profile
SF: The doner kabob krawl concludes - A La Turca
I'm just curious what you liked about the meat at Turkish Kitchen? I found it to be quite dry and bland. Perhaps it was because I went in the middle of the afternoon and it had been sitting on the spit too long...
In any case, your Kebab crawl is amazing! I ate way too many of these when I was in Europe and now I'm craving them again. I will definitely check out the other ones are your list.
Gumbo virgin - what am I getting into?
I've made the cooks illustrated recipe that doesn't use file powder or okra. I felt the flavor was excellent but it was definitely not as thick as I have seen in restaurants.
University Ave between Shattuck and Milvia, Berkeley
Considering I live on this block, it's embarrassing how few of these restaurants I've been too... Perhaps I'll blame it on the student budget...
Just to add to the list of restaurants,
Cafe Tibet
Round Tables Pizza
Platano
Ryowa
Berkeley - Yikes, anyplace that serves breakfast at 6:30 pm ... yep PM
crepes a go go is open til 10 pm or midnight, depending on the day.
http://shopinberkeley.com/c/crepesagogo/index.php
And i'm pretty sure that au coquelet serves breakfast all day
Pinkberry in the Bay Area?
In cupertino, there's Tartini and Yogurtland. I prefer Tartini.
I'm not sure, but Red Mango might also be open here too.
-----
Tartini
20488 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino CA, CA
Yogurtland Cupertino
19700 Stevens Creek Blvd, Cupertino, CA 95014
What would you consider as the best Country for eating?
Oh I know. When I traveled through China, I tried some of the other regional foods as well. My maternal grandparents are from Shanghai, so I've traveled there and have had amazing food there. I spent maybe a week in Szechuan and thought the food amazing as well, but a little too spicy (but you certainly wouldn't expect anything less).
I was just making claims about Hong Kong because I felt as if that was a place that I've spent a significant amount of time in and have tried a range of foods. I didn't mean it as an all encompassing representation of Chinese food as a whole.
What would you consider as the best Country for eating?
The two countries (other than the US) that I've spent somewhat extensive amount of time in are France and China (most of which was in Hong Kong)
My explanations for why I feel this way are below, but if you don't feel like reading a short essay, here's the spark notes version.
France - Certainly has good food, but over rated.
China - Delicious food from top to bottom.
I've been studying abroad in Grenoble, France for the past 4 months (unfortunately, I'm leaving Wednesday), and to be honest I've been somewhat disappointed with the quality of the food. It may be due to my limited financial resources as a student, but I think that a country should offer good quality food across all price ranges. France simply does not offer good food at the bottom. I have no doubt that their 3 star Michelin restaurants are unbelievably good, but there's nothing French for 5 euros. The only cheap delicious foods I have come across in France are kebabs, paninis and pasta, which are not French in origin or local ownership. One of the best meals I had in my time in France was a couscous aux legumes in the North African district in Marseilles. The only "French" offering I've found at the same price are baguette sandwiches which are usually mediocre bread with even more mediocre fillings. Even at the 10 euro price point, the best options I've come across are pizzerias (which are actually quite good, but nothing compared to the 5 euro pizzas I had when traveling through Italy), although you could make an argument for crepes. Only when I was willing to spend around 20 euros per person did I find French food that could compete in quality to other ethnic fairs. That's not to say I didn't have good food. For example the fondue is amazing. The fois gras at a Christmas dinner was unbelievable. And I can eat pain au chocolat or a croissant with a cafe every morning for the rest of my life.
I've been traveling to Hong Kong ever since I was a baby (apparently I took my first steps there). I've had the freshest seafood I've ever eaten in my life. As in we pointed at the still swimming fishes and living mollusks and said, "We'll have that one!" I think the food stalls are amazing. Outside my aunts house, there is small restaurant that serves the best Chinese donuts and excellent congee. I even think the local fast food restaurants serve good quality food incredibly cheap prices (Cafe de Coral is my personal favorite), although I think you should avoid the American fastfood joints that have exported themselves to Hong Kong. And I think the Chinese bakeries serve products as good as any bakery in Europe (although very different).
Say it ain't so: Panda Express moving into lower Sproul Plaza
I can tell you that THIS Cal student cares about food. A significant percentage of my disposable income (which unfortunately is incredibly small) goes to food from local restaurants.
However, I think it's important to note that the demographics of UC Berkeley has changed. A large percentage of students are now science and engineering majors (me being one of them) who are attracted to UCB because of the excellent research and education, not because of the history of the civil rights movement. While this is clearly an overgeneralization, I don't think that these students care whether a Panda Express is there or not. It's not about a political/social movement.
More and more, I find that the "anti-everything" movement still exists in Berkeley, the city, but it doesn't emanate from the student body of UCBerkeley. For example, the infamous tree sitters outside Memorial stadium weren't Berkeley students. Frankly as much as students may care about the environment or some other political issue, the majority of students are willing to risk their education. I may not like Panda Express coming to Sproul, but I'm not going to waste my time protesting against it when I have a physics midterm next week. It's simply a matter of priorities, and for most Berkeley students, the existence (or nonexistence) of PX scores relatively low.
What (else) to do with Raclette?
I'm studying abroad in the Dauphinois region in France and everyone seems to use their leftover raclette to make a local type of gratin ("gratin dauphinois"). It's delicious. Most recipes you find online don't use raclette, but as far as I can tell, the locals here have no problem substituting raclette for the gruyere traditionally used in the recipe.
Say it ain't so: Panda Express moving into lower Sproul Plaza
There's been a lot of discussion about it on campus. If I remember correctly, people who were campaigning for ASUC (student government) made it one of their priorities to bring a Panda Express to Sproul. So clearly, a large section of the university community wants it.
Roast Chicken quandary
The gas convection oven may be a problem. Most conventional gas ovens use natural gas whose main component is methane. When methane burns, it produces CO2(carbon dioxide) and water. Obviously, filling the oven with steam isn't going to help crisp the skin.
Although I must say I'm not sure how great of an effect it is because the chicken will be giving off steam as well. So if the H2O from the combusted methane is negligible in comparison to the amount released from your cooking chicken, then it's probably not the cause of your problems.
Packaging cookies
The mason jar sounds really nice! how'd they seperate the different cookies? a piece of wax paper?
Packaging cookies
Ever since high school, my friend and I have been making cookies for all our local friends for Christmas. We typically make 10 different types of cookies over a two day period. The most difficult part has always been figuring out a way to package them and I was hoping you guys would have recommendations.
In the past, we've used:
- Tin buckets that we decorated
- Cardboard boxes (Not shipping boxes, but like the ones you get when you buy a sweater at Macy's)
- Chinese steamer baskets (the bamboo ones you get a dim sum places. These, by the way, were the best so far. You can stack the cookies three or four high in a basket and then add another basket on top, And when you're done, you have the cap that goes on top of the stack of steamer basket.)
- Festive plates (this was the worst idea, since they tend to slide, despite the entire thing being wrapped in colored cellophane)
Making Confit - What kind of duck is this? PICS! I almost lost my finger!
Can't help you with the first two questions. As for what to do with the duck breasts, I am studying abroad in France, and I did a weekend trip to Dijon (to go to the International Gastronomic Festival of Dijon!). At a local restaurant, I had a brochette (an American would call it a kebab) of duck breast. It was seared on the outside and still medium to medium rare on the inside. It was served with a mustard-cream sauce dipping sauce (as would be expected in Dijon...) and something I can only best describe as similar to apple pie filling but less sweet. It was downright delicious (although my dining companion did not enjoy the apple). It was easily one of the best meals I've had during my 3 months so far in France (despite not being actually a tradition French meal).
Do you have experience making duck confit? This past summer, when I was still in the US, I tried making it. The results were decidedly unspectacular. It just tasted like normal duck... Is there a recipe you've used that you could reccomend?
Best delivery in East Bay (Oakland/Berkeley)?
For pizza, I usually use West Coast pizza. They have by far the greasiest pizza I have ever tried, but the price is reasonable (at least the daily specials) and it doesn't taste terrible. My personal favorite is the deli pie.
http://homepage.mac.com/lost_bike/wcp/index.html
Get nude sushi (don't worry, it has nothing to do with nudity) is a sushi delivery company. I believe it operates out of Taco Sushi on Telegraph. The quality of the sushi is pretty poor and is definitely not authentic. The only reason I get it is because it is open until 4am.
http://www.getnudesushi.com/
Top 10 cities for foodies - Comments Chowhound?!
For London, do you mean "The Fat Duck"?
Wanting to make Jambalaya..
Where does one acquire taso? I asked at my local Albertsons and Whole Foods (in the San Francisco Area) and they didn't even know what it was. I ended up buying some cubed pork and liberally spicing it, but it just didn't taste right. If there is no place to purchase it, is it hard to make on your own?
What do I do with all these white peaches?
You should probably cover lightly with some sort of acid (usually a little lemon juice) before you freeze it. THat will help prevent it from browning.
Chicken feet at a Chinese restaurant -- I don't get it
All the good chicken feet I've had, both in California and Hong Kong, were very tender. In fact, the skin was bordering on mushy. Like Will Owen, I only like the warm ones with the sauce, but it's a matter of opinion. My parents and grandparents will eat the cold too.
As for how to eat them, the most common technique I've seen is to break off the bones into your mouth and suck off all the skin and meat. Then spit out the bones, which should be completely devoid of any meat.
Buttermilk to replace milk in...
My gut feeling is that this may not be a good idea. The idea when baking is to balance acids with bases. This is because the leavening in most cakes is a chemical leavener which relies on a reaction between the acids and the bases to create carbon dioxide. If you unbalance this, you may have some chemicals which have not reacted left in your cake. This often gives it a metallic/chemical flavor.
However, if you make your own cake batter, you can adjust for this fact. You would reduce the amount of baking powder (which is a mixture of and acid and an alkali) that the recipe calls for and increase the amount of baking soda (which is just an alkali). Since the buttermilk has so much acid, it will balance the amount of acid and base (an alkali is an basic, ionic salt).
My first durian
Berkeley Bowl has about a dozen fresh durians, and I really want to try one but have no idea how to choose one. Does anyone have any tips for picking a ripe one? I would like to consume it within the next day, so don't worry about how long it will store for.
Carbonated Fruit
WikiHow has instructions on how to make carbonated fruit.
You put cut up fruit and dry ice into a plastic bottle and seal it. Leave it in the fridge overnight and apparently it gives the fruit some fizz and makes it somewhat tangy. Anyone try it before?
here's the link:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Carbonated-Fruit
Advice: Wisdom Tooth Extraction, what to eat?
Just out of curiosity, did your dentist use absorbable sutures (the kinds that dissolve on their own after a couple of days). Because about 3 days after getting my wisdom teeth removed, the sutures started to dissolve and everything started tasting like starch.
