parabolicaer's Profile
Calories in Oats
I think it would be more appropriate to compare the final, prepared volume of both products, as opposed to comparing Fiber One to unprepared (dry) steel cut oats. I usually prepare oatmeal for breakfast--although I use one cup of oats, the amount I actually end up consuming is something like three cups worth of oatmeal due to the addition of water.
Emme is right though--you need to see what makes you feel "full" longer. Although oatmeal has a higher caloric content than other breakfast choices, it keeps me fuller longer and with a more even blood sugar level than "lower calorie" cold cereals.
Tips for crappy American Chinese
Interesting dilemma. Fujien cuisine is a lot like Taiwanese cuisine (not surprisingly, given that most Taiwanese immigrated at some point from the province) and I'm not sure its dishes are something that an "American-Chinese" restaurant would typically serve.
My best bet is that learning the names of Fujien dishes and mentioning these to the owners may help them realize your genuine interest in trying more authentic cuisine.
dim sum questions
You are correct, of course. I limited my example to dim sum to hopefully alleviate any concerns the OP may have had.
dim sum questions
I agree with the posters who recommend the "just go and enjoy yourself" route. As many have mentioned, dim sum is an informal type of service, not much different from Sunday brunch for a number of American families. Unless you're picking your nose at the table, there's really not much in social faux pas that you need to worry about. When my Chinese family and I used to go out for dim sum, we were usually too busy talking or flagging down the cart ladies to notice what people at other tables were doing.
The death of national cuisines
As the OP, I'd like to clarify that I never said (or even assumed) the introduction of new and foreign tastes "damages" cultural food. Having lived in Taiwan and Ecuador, I'm certainly grateful for the robust variety of cultural food available to us today in the US and think cross-pollination of food traditions and techniques is alive and kicking for a good reason: like someone mentioned earlier, variety is the spice of life.
Alanbarnes makes a good point about the dangers of beginning a discussion with the presumption that there exists such a thing as "national cuisine." In fact, my original posting acknowledged as much when I wrote that the term "cultural" would perhaps be a more accurate descriptor than "national" in describing certain dishes. While I understand there is some uneasiness with categorizing food into geographic locations, I think it's unrealistic to deny that certain dishes are associated with certain cultures. Alan is correct, of course, that many "cultural" dishes would never exist without introduction of "foreign" cooking traditions. However, one cannot deny that certain foods are so associated with certain places and cultures the foods can be said to be "from" those cultures. Ask the average joe with some interest in food and he will most likely tell you that baguettes are a French food item. Yet, he will also tell you that bahn mi is Vietnamese, notwithstanding the fact that its central ingredient is French.
In any event, my initial post was born out of the question of what NEW (cultural/national/regional) cuisines we can expect to see, if any, in 50-100 years, given the effects of globalization and the much faster transfer of food trends thanks to the internet.
I'd like to give another example of my line of reasoning. While molecular gastronomy has origins outside Spain, Ferran Adria's work has done much to popularize this particular style of cooking (although he considers himself a deconstructivist). Yet, most (but not all) people would not associate molecular gastronomy with any particular region, and certainly not Spain. In part, this is because the technique was picked up by other chefs in other parts of the world within a relatively short time of El Bulli achieving fame. Yet, had Adria's work remained mostly regional for, say, 100 years (let's imagine a world without modern mass communication), it's conceivable that molecular gastronomy/deconstruction would be recognized as a Barcelonan cuisine.
The death of national cuisines
Passa, you're correct about food traveling since time immemorial. On the other hand, I think it's also undisputed that the pace of exchange has increased significantly since the 1500s. And as your examples point out, many of the items that were transported successfully into other cultures were limited to vegetables that could be cultivated in the adopted land.
To use one thought experiment, imagine how different modern French cuisine would be had items like tofu or soy sauce been easily available in continental Europe during the 1500s. Or imagine a scenario where Southeast Asia had easy access to items like wheat flour and cheese during that same time period.
The death of national cuisines
Good point about home cooking.
In terms of new dishes, I suppose that for it to be established as a recognized national dish it would first have to become popular with a critical mass of people within a region. In thinking of an example of a recent "national food," the only one I could come up with is bubble tea, which reportedly did not appear until the 1980s in Taiwan. Of course, it had to become popular locally before some enterprising business person decided to export it to the US and beyond (the first time I remember seeing bubble tea in the west coast was in the late 90s).
Let's take the above scenario, however. Assume bubble tea was invented in Taiwan today. I can imagine CHers writing posts about this new drink they just had recently. Soon enough people outside Taiwan are making bubble teas and adding their own variations to the original formula. Would bubble tea be considered a Taiwanese (or even Asian) drink at that point?
The death of national cuisines
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that most national cuisines evolved out of a history of relatively isolated local food sources and practices. For example, sushi is considered a Japanese food item because it was not exported outside the country until it had for the most part evolved into its current standard form. Similarly, curries are considered representative of Indian cuisine because the cooking techniques and traditions associated with it had pretty much been standardized by the time Victorian England discovered it. You can say the same about many other "national" (cultural may be a better term) dishes such as tamales, stinky tofu, pho, etc. In some ways, this was possible because their development occurred during a time when geographic isolation (e.g., travel before the jet age) meant cooks could mainly work only with local ingredients. Additionally, information exchange was much more difficult and slow, and it is reasonably to imagine that food trends did not travel outside a local area as fast, if at all.
Given the easy availability of what were previously purely local ingredients and the quick dissemination information about local food trends, are we witnessing the death of new national cuisines?
Searching for Baumkuchen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je47wA-QvJw&feature=related
Interesting video of how baumkuchen is made.
Things I ate/drank in college that I will never eat again
Back in the mid-1990s, McDonald's in southern California used to run specials on different days of the week. Mondays were 29 cent hamburger days, so my college housemates and I would buy as many as they would sell us (I believe there was a 10-burger limit per customer). Bring home and add cheapest sliced cheese available--usually from Food 4 Less. Repeat the next Monday.
I can't touch McDonald's hamburgers anymore.
Advice on starting a small food business
TofuNofu, many law schools run legal clinics that are aimed at helping small business owners or those contemplating a small business. Often they will be of help not only with the regulatory issues, but also with more general business advice. You may want to contact one of these clinics if there is one near you.
Searching for Baumkuchen
Oddly enough, Japanese groceries stores seem to be the only places where I've seen baumkuchen sold. I've bought baumkuchen from the Uwajimaya before--I'm not sure if they still carry it, however.
No Reservations - Sardinia
I haven't watched the full episode yet, but I just caught a clip of the roasted baby goat being basted with lardo drippings.
http://www.eatmedaily.com/2009/09/spit-roasted-baby-goat-basted-with-drippings-of-flaming-lardo-on-no-reservations-video/#more-26646
Just beautiful.
favorite cooling summer foods
I don't have a crockpot, but your pasta suggestion sounds like a great idea. What do you dress the pasta with?
favorite cooling summer foods
I'm not much of a salad-as-a-meal type of person, but I can dig this on account of the beans and corn. I may give this a shot this week.
favorite cooling summer foods
Ceviche is definitely a summer food for me and I can't believe I'd forgotten about it.
favorite cooling summer foods
With the weather turning hot lately, I've been trying to avoid using the oven as much as possible. That means I've been making lots of cold sesame noodles, gazpacho, and cold sandwiches.
What are some of your favorite summer dishes? Any suggestions?
How do you cool down stews?
That sounds like a great idea. I may try that next time.
How do you cool down stews?
I set my pot of stew into the sink with ice water today and it worked great. Thanks for the tip!
How do you cool down stews?
I usually make a large pot of stew so that it lasts a few days. Before putting the finished stew into the fridge, however, I usually wait a few hours for it to cool down to a temperature that is low enough that it won't wreck havoc with the fridge (I'm more concerned about the other items in the fridge than overworking the compressor). Given the problems with leaving food at room temp, what are some ways to speed up the cooling down period?
Taiwanese White Gourd Juice: Perfect Evocation of Cookies
Now that you mention it, it does have that brown sugar taste. That could explain the cookie comment.
Taiwanese White Gourd Juice: Perfect Evocation of Cookies
It's definitely a sweet drink. I'm not sure I'd describe it as a cookie though (unless Jim's had cookies I've never tried before). Taiwanese white gourd juice certainly has a pleasantly distinctive taste.
PDX food carts -- origins?
Good find! I suspected it had to do with regulatory reasons. I'm a bit surprised at the reported numbers though -- 387 licensed carts in Portland?!
PDX food carts -- origins?
Working downtown this summer, I've been relying on food carts whenever I forget to pack my usual ham and cheese or PB&J sandwich. Although I've tried the better known foodcarts since moving to Oregon a few years ago, I have never really given much thought to them until now. I mean, yes, California has long had its roach coaches, but as far as I remember it has never had permanent food cart locations. Does anyone know the history behind food carts in Portland? I'd imagine it has roots in city regulatory reasons.
Buying Cheap Meat in Asian Groceries - SEA I.D.
All meat products must pass a USDA inspection in accordance with federal food safety standards. From a safety standard, meat either passes or is rejected.
USDA beef grades, on the other hand, are optional and voluntary (paid by meat processors) and serve mainly a marketing purpose. More marbling (one of the grading criteria) means higher USDA grades, and thus higher profits for meat processors.
Obviously, meat processors are unlikely to shell out the bucks to grade beef that is likely to be lower in marbling and other USDA grading criteria, so ungraded beef may very well not be as tender as a USDA choice porterhouse cut. I haven't been to Viet Wah, but I'd imagine their "ungraded" beef to fall under this category.
Xiao Long Bao in Portland?
Awesome. I'll have to go there one of these Saturdays, I haven't had the chance to try out the roti yet.
Xiao Long Bao in Portland?
Just to bump this...I stopped by a food cart called Asian Station Cafe recently on SW 10th and Alder and did in fact get an order of XLBs. The owner was a very friendly man and actually gave me some free jasmine rice on the side because he felt the XLBs looked lonely in the box! I also got a sample of their curry -- good stuff.
The XLBs were delicious. They had gotten a bit cold because I phoned in ahead (it takes about 15 minutes to steam), but the skin had good consistency. Unfortunately, they were out of the roti, so I'll be back for more.
