Chef Dominique's Profile
Hot Tamale!
If you like spicy and you haven't tried Whole Foods, Santa Monica's Machaca Tamale, you are in for a treat. Mucho picante! Not your regular size tamale, masa filled with beef brisket, New Mexico chilies, tomatoes, yellow onion, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds,garlic, black pepper and wrapped delightfully in a banana leaf. 2 min in the microwave! Coméis comer !
WHITE SAFFRON
I've never heard of it either. In fact neither has my Indian friends. In Santa Monica, California Akbar on Wilshire is known for their white saffron. I can't help but burst out in laughter. I know that saffrons are different and the Indian is one of the most colorful but WHITE? I love Indian food and my husband and I decided to order in one night from Akbar. I ordered my favorite ..."saffron rice". When I received it at my door, I opened it and there was white rice. I called Akbar immediately and asked for the manager. He told me "It's white saffron", although I second guessed myself for a moment I realized he was full of @!**!!!@!. When I asked him why he was using Vietnamese white saffron in Indian cooking, he didn't know what to say. The manager continued to tell me I didn't know what I was talking about. I thought this was a funny story and am wondering if anyone has recently been there and has any similar stories? The food in the past has generally been pretty good.
Tokyo with peanut and soy allergies. PLEASE HELP!!
If it's "LIFE and DEATH" for the children I would suggest not putting them at risk at all. If concern of eating in a foreign country is this "SERIOUS", with all the allergies and as a mother myself I would re consider eating at any restaurant in Japan and stick to what you know. And believe me, after 3 months of Japanese food "Mickey D's in Japan is HEAVEN" and tastes completely different than the US. Re: Smiling and Nodding, it's funny I have a different experience when asking for help during my several trips to Japan. As long as I went through the appropriate channels...notes, doctors notes, finding an english speaking person, which is not hard to do...i never had a problem communicating my needs. Good luck Mom!
Tokyo with peanut and soy allergies. PLEASE HELP!!
Hey CA Mom,
I am a Japanese food junky and chef and I have been to Japan several times over the years, stayed 2-3 months at a time. The first time I went was in "88" and I didn't eat raw fish then. I still found lot's of good things to eat. Although I don't have food allergies, I studied Japanese cooking. Tokyo especially has become so Westernized, I wouldn't worry. Just don't eat at the quaint little noodle house in the corner with the old guy cooking with a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth kinda place. Very authentic cooking, but that guy doesn't care about food allergies.
Japan has such a wide variety of places to eat. The sushi is so fresh and you can stop at a small corner stand, just like fast food and get a Tekka Maki roll (tuna roll)to go. There are Indian restaurants, Italian,pizza, French,Mexican and by the way, Mc Donalds taste like heaven in Japan. I am not quite sure what they do differently but doesn't taste like here. You must try it at least once, just make sure they don't use different oils there.
Stay away from curry "period" anyway because most curry has msg. in it, unless made fresh. Yes, Japanese cooking has mostly peanut oils and soy so you should be careful, even tempura is usually deep fried in a mixure of oils. So, watch out for deep fried stuff. Most of the salad dressings have peanut or sesame oils or both. Teryaki salmon,chicken or beef is usually a good choice as long as it's grilled. How about Seasame oil? They use lot's of seeds and oil from sesame in cooking. Be careful with ramen is my suggestion, even Shoyu (soy sauce) ramen. A lot of noodle houses add toppings and flavored oil to soup base.
You will be suprised at all the English speaking Japanese people. You will love Kyoto, it's sort of the Japanese Bel Air along with Ginza in Tokyo. Sticking to fresh vegies, fruits and sushi are a safe bet.
Good luck and happy dinning!
Dominique Rooney: Chef.Food Critic.Mother.Blogger.Fashion Diva
