Text 31330, 116 rader
Skriven 2011-12-13 13:39:00 av Glen Jamieson (5401.cooking)
     Kommentar till en text av Jim Weller
Ärende: LANGUAGE  11213
=======================
 -=> Quoting Jim Weller to Glen Jamieson <=-

 JW> Quebec... They will graciously switch to English for
 JW> Americans (Australians too, I would imagine) but do so very
 JW> begrudgingly for English speaking Canadians.
 GJ> Interesting.  Can they always tell the ESCs?

 JW> They always spot me and get surly.

What about when you try using your schoolboy French with them?  Don't
they then brighten up and forgive you for being an ESC, or do they
just laugh derisively?
 
 GJ> Can you put on a USAn (or Australian) accent, to get service?
 JW> Not convincingly enough.

You need a better disguise.
 
 GJ> Is English taught as a
 GJ> foreign language in the Quebecan schools?
 JW4> Yes. And French is taught as second language in the rest of Canada.

Don't non-Quebecan children get a choice of languages?  I would think
that Spanish would be useful.  Here, Indonesian, Chinese and Japanese
are popular choices.
 
 GJ> I like a salad with an appropriate main course, as the combination of
 GJ> simultaneous hot and cold in the mouth can be quite enjoyable.

 JW> So did my mom, often serving salad along side meat and potatoes
 JW> instead of some other vegetable dish. I never got enthusiastic over
 JW> the combination, especially if it was on the same plate and hot gravy
 JW> ran into and wilted the salad.

It is better to use 2 plates, side by side, so each set of components
of the meal retains its integrity until they meet in your mouth.  Some
people prefer to eat the hot and cold forkfuls alternately.
 
 GJ> It is a rather British tradition to fill up on (cheap) starchy foods
 GJ> before moving to the (expensive) meat part of the meal.
 JW> Norwegians too. Unlike the French with their appetizers and Italians
 JW> with their antipasto, they save their best dishes for last.

What sort of desserts do the Norwegians finish the meal with?

 JW> I find the cheapest way to improve a meal is to upgrade the starchy
 JW> component. The leap from ordinary potatoes to Yukon Golds is about
 JW> 80 cents a kilo, from supermarket white bread to fine bake shop
 JW> bread less $2 per loaf but to go from ground chuck to rib steaks
 JW> or shrimp to lobster add $13/kg. Quaffing wine to fine wine $20,
 JW> even $50 or more per bottle. We won't even talk about chicken livers
 JW> to pate de fois gras or mushrooms to truffles!

That is all well and good if you can afford it, but it is still
possible to eat well and economically if you try.  Cheap cuts of meat
can be made to taste heavenly using slow cooking, and I can find
delicious bread locally at the same price as the s/market white.
By hunting through the Specials at your local boozer and taking note
of wine writers you trust, you can get some good wines cheap.

 JW> The next cheapest item to upgrade is vegetables. Along those lines I
 JW> spent a little extra on fresh vegetables this week and picked up
 JW> some young beets with luxurious greens, Belgian endive and fresh
 JW> okra, a rare sight in my store. The beets were being sold by the
 JW> bunch and I ended up beside a woman looking for the biggest,
 JW> heaviest (and therefore woody) beets. She selected some large ones
 JW> with trimmed and wilted tops. She gave me a quizzical look when I
 JW> took a bunch she rejected, with twice as many small ones and lots of
 JW> greenery. Hers certainly weighed more for the same price but I know
 JW> I got the better deal.

I would have done the same as you, for the same reason.  Also, buying
vegetables in season gives you better quality as well as cheaper.

 JW> haven't decided what to do with the okra yet.

That depends on how much effort you are going to put into the dish.
The nicest that I have had is:-

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Spiced Okra
 Categories: Indian, Vegetables, Side dish
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
      1 tb Ground cumin
    1/2 ts Turmeric
      1 ts Chili powder
    1/4 ts Salt
    1/4 c  Lemon juice
      1 ts Dijon mustard
    1/2 lb Okra
    1/4 c  Vegetable oil
 
  Mix cumin, turmeric, chili powder, salt & lemon juice in a small
  bowl. Add mustard & mix into a wet paste.  Cut stems off okra then
  split them three quarters of the way down.  Split them again,
  dividing pods into 4 equal parts that are held together at the narrow
  end tip.
  
  Pour al ittle of the paste in to the openings, spread it lightly all
  over but the narrow tip.  Sprinkle with salt.  Heat oil in a skillet
  & fry okra, covered, till tender, about 10 minutes, turning them once.
  
  Ismail Merchant, "Indian Cuisine"
 
MMMMM
 


... A day without okra is like a day without a fuzzy slimy vegatable.
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

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