My lunch at Tajima..*long*

I ate at Tajima today after reading the somewhat mixed reviews.

As for me, I loved it.

There are precious few places in San Diego to get Tonkotsu Ramen, and I was not disappointed in the least by Tajima's. Tonkotsu can sometimes be overly greasy and cloying, and I loved Tajima's dashi-flavored broth. The thin noodles were the right texture and very delicious, and the toppings were authentic, fresh, and well balanced.

I drank all the soup. That's always a good sign.

I have been a regular at Chopstix for well over 15 years, and like the shoyu ramen there, but I thought Tajima was a great change of pace and I will definitely return.

Nostalgia note: my first ramen restaurant experience was in the late 80s or early 90s at Mr. Noodle, which used to occupy the same space as Tajima now does. It was a nice trip down memory lane.

Peter G

Peter G in California

Appreciating bitter (moved from Not About Food).

I used to think the same thing.. but chlorogenic and caffeic acids are both bitter and contribute bitterniess to coffee. Quinic acid (better known as quinine) is an alkaLOID, and contributes its extremely bitter taste to tonic water.

Peter G in General Chowhounding Topics

Appreciating bitter (moved from Not About Food).

The chemical you're probably talking about is carbonic acid, which results when carbon dioxide and water interact. It is a little sourish and a touch bitter....

Peter G in General Chowhounding Topics

You find MSG where?!?

I just want to add my voice to those who defend MSG, a perfectly good seasoning that has been maligned by food hysterics. The "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" book that triggered all this mess has been thoroughly debunked, and everyone who does the research eventually realizes that using MSG in cooking is essentially no different than cooking with salt, vinegar, or sugar. Anti-MSG hysteria is misinformed, and to me has a strong overtone of xenophobia.

Glutamic acid is the most common amino acid in dietary protien, so if you are trying to avoid glutamate, you're in big trouble. MSG is simply glutamate bonded with sodium, so it's really no big deal. It's not a preservative, it's not really any more "artificial" than say, sugar. We love glutamic acid because it stimulates our "umami" (savory) taste sensation, and signals the consumption of protien (just like "sweetness" signals sugar, "salty" signals minerals, "sour" signals acids, and "bitter" signals alkaloids.) MSG allows you to add umami/savory flavor without other flavors. Other ways to add umami/savory are the aforementioned kombu, tomatoes, worcestershire, soy sauce, hard cheese, or meat broth. MSG, like salt, sugar, or vinegar, can be used judiciously and artistically, or it can be used with a heavy hand in order to make bad food taste a little better. MSG is a great thing when used by a talented cook.

All that said, I discovered when I moved to the South that Chick-fil-a tastes like it is coated in pure MSG. Also, Bill Poundstone reveals in his book Big Secrets that Kentucky Fried Chicken's "11 herbs and spices" are salt, pepper, and MSG.

Peter G

Peter G in General Chowhounding Topics

Once and for all -- rice in a burrito -- Yay or nay?

As a San Diegan, I generally vote no, EXCEPT...

Chile Relleno burrito with rice!
Bean, cheese and rice burrito!!!

Otherwise, carne asada should have guac and salsa fresca only. Fish should have cabbage, crema and salsa fresca. Potato, egg and cheese; no rice. Machaca con huevos, no rice.

Peter G in General Chowhounding Topics

Mandoline? any suggestions

While it is not as adjustable as most mandolines, I highly reccomend the Borner V-Slicer. Here's why:

Mandolines with the diagonal blade tend to move hard-to-slice items to one side. The v-slicer, with its v-blade, draws toward the middle.

The thin slice is very thin, perfect for wispy shreds of cabbage or pommes anna. The thicker slice is perfect for sliced tomatoes, etc (though I usually just use a knife for thicker stuff).

The julienne blades are great. I use them for french fries and matchsticks, and I love them.

The guard is very good; I have used the v-slicer for almost 20 years (replacing the first one when the blade got dull) and have never cut myself once. (I realize I have now jinxed myself. Better buy a glove)

If you ever go to a state fair, search out the v-slicer booth (it will be there, trust me) in the "gadget" hall, next to the synthetic chamois and the ronco showtime. The patter is worth the price of admission. Love the slicer-dicer patter!

Peter G

Peter G in Cookware

The 3 Grand Cuisines

I didn't mean to qualify Thai and not Chinese.

I'm just saying, both Thai royal and Chinese royal cuisines qualify, given the rules in the O.P.'s post, as do a bunch of other cuisines, some of which I have listed.

China and France (like most countries) both have robust cuisines that are NOT associated with affluence, so they have "common" cuisines that accompany their "grand" cuisines. The common cuisines have pronounced regionality, whereas grand cuisines might be more codified.

I was saying that Chinese regional cuisine might not fit into the definition of "grand" cuisine; but certainly fine/artistic/royal Chinese cuisine would.

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Peter G in General Chowhounding Topics

ISO recipe & info about Sicilian fritter

Mary Taylor Simeti has the following recipe for "Varcocchini" (Ricotta Apricots) in her magnificent book on Sicilian Food, Pomp and Sustenance.

makes 4 dozen
4 cups ricotta (1 3/4 lbs)
3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
4 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
vegetable oil for frying

basically, you make a smooth batter of the above (which could be flavored easily with rum- yum!) and deep fry, covering with powdered or superfine sugar.

Hope this helps

pg

Peter G in Home Cooking

Ramen Science

I am by no means an expert on the subject, but my Japanese mother-in-law (and ex-restauranteur) calls pork-broth ramen "Kyushu style". In eating at many Kyushu style ramen houses in Japan, I agree that the broth is always porky, cloudy (indicates connective tissue, bones), and pretty rich (fatty). Northern Ramen style seems more Dashi-based (bonito and kombu broth) which is quite clear.

When I want to make ramen at home, I usually make a dashi broth and flavor it with shoyu, then combine it with vegetables and some slices of chashu (which I try to keep on hand in my freezer!)and fish cake, etc. In the winter, I might make a pork or chicken broth (with bones, makes it rich!), and dose it with lots of scallions before adding noodles, lots of chashu, and ginger and mushrooms. This I consider Kyushu-style.

pg

Peter G in General Chowhounding Topics

Your favorite Campari drinks.

Gin Campari: gin and soda with a splash of Campari and an orange slice. Like a very dry Gin and Tonic. Vodka Campari is nice too.

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Peter G in Spirits

The 3 Grand Cuisines

I think it is interesting that most of the theories about Grand Cuisine seem to limit the possible "grand cuisines" to three. Once again, our culture's strange love of threes comes up. Three cuisines, three criteria....

Using the OP's criteria, however, lots of cuisines qualify as "Grand". To me, the biggest questions are: 1. the definitions of "royal kitchen" and "variety of foodstuffs", and 2. the implied injunction that the culture still be in existence.

Given relatively loose definitions for question one and negating the second as a little absurd, you could define virtually any cuisine that evolved within the context of an empire as "grand". If there is royalty, there will be a royal kitchen. Most continental cultures, and many island cultures, have a variety of foodstuffs available. Off the top of my head, I would say that Aztec, Roman, Greek, Persian, Ethiopian, Japanese, Thai, and Indian royal cuisines qualify as "grand cuisines" under this theory.

What makes it more complicated, and I think the confusion of this thread attests to, is that these royal "grand" cuisines are always accompanied and succeeded by regional, non-royal (maybe common?) cuisines that are arguably more influential anyway. More modern Mexican, Italian and American cuisines, along with regional French and Chinese cuisines fit into this category, but most don't consider those "grand" cuisines in the normal use of the word.

Interesting thread, thanks.

Peter

Peter G in General Chowhounding Topics

"neopolitan" style pizza

Here is my take on the subject;

The thin, hot-woodfired-oven pizza is associated with Naples, where it was probably invented. This kind of thin, crisp pizza requires a very hot oven and lots of oven space, so it is difficult to do in a small oven. It's also a pretty inefficient use of fuel, since you are heating up a big oven to bake only a thin pie. Naples was a pizza-eatin' town throughout the 19th century, and it is likely that the thin, crisp style gained popularity as the apotheosis of the pizzaiolo's art, a restaurant version of the homespun pizza dish.

This other, older homespun pizza style was common in Naples and elsewhere in Italy. Remember, pizza is from an old word for "flat bread", and pizza was a common food all over the Italian south. Usually, they just took normal bread dough, pressed it flat, and arranged various foods atop it before baking. It made much more sense to make it thick, for a few reasons: #1, the bread/dough is the least expensive and most filling part of the pizza (remember the Italian south was very poor and starving at this time, #2 it is a more logical use of oven space to bake a thick pizza that can feed many, #3 a thick pizza is more suited to moderate oven temperatures (pizzas were often baked after the bread, as the woodfired oven cooled)

For all of these reasons, thin, crisp pizza has a "city pizza" reputation, because it is expensive and requires a specialist focus. When folks are trying to be as authentic as possible, they mention Naples in tribute to the birthplace of this style. However, most people in Naples who were making pizza in the 19th century were making pizza in the thick, even pan-baked style, and as they emigrated to other parts of Italy and the world, they brought that style with them. This kind of pizza is usually called "country pizza" (pizza rustica) because of it's association with poor/rural folks. This is the pizza my Sicilian family made at home, (always on Christmas Eve, so I'm making it today!)

As you probably remember, Romans can be fairly dismissive of southern Italians as "country folk" so saying "pizza Napolitana" is something like saying "rustic pizza", and "pizza Romana" is something like, "OUR pizza, the city kind."

Does all this make sense?

Peter G

Peter G in General Chowhounding Topics

RTP Lunch Eats

I believe that Sara's is still there, I don't eat there often for some reason. In the same center as Sara's is an OK Indian place, called Tandoor I think. Inexpensive Indian buffet.

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Peter G in General South Archive