Text 1001, 127 rader
Skriven 2013-06-13 21:46:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av NANCY BACKUS
Ärende: cross cultural 701
==========================
 ML> Attribution of authenticity of cooking based on the ethnic
 ML> background of the cook is way overrated, as has been noted.
 NB> Indeed.

You've always had talented white guys making brown (seldom
yellow) people food - cf. Rick Bayless and his Mexican stuff and
Bobby Flay with his fake (though mostly fine) Mex, and now the
brown and yellow ones are returning the favor. Some great ones
- in Australia Japanese Tetsuya Wakada and Malaysian Cheong Liew
doing fusion French-influenced stuff; Marcus Samuelsson (an
Ethiopian or Somali I forget which, brought up in Sweden) running
the gamut from classic European to soul. There are notable misfires,
too, for example, 2013 James Beard winner Danny Bowien's Chinese -
he's an ethnic Korean with white boy cultural roots whose take on
Chinese seems to me to be like what one would come up with if one
read about the cuisine but never tasted it.

 ML> Too bad about the buffet disappearing. I wonder what Asian
 ML> touches there were in the pizza and mac & cheese.
 NB> For specifics, you'd need to ask Richard... he was the one that got
 NB> them usually and commented on the touches...

Probably intentional, and I'd probably disapprove, even if they
tasted good.

 NB> Like the difference between using Chinese 5 Spice vs Old Bay on
 NB> baked/poached salmon... 

That's an enormous difference. Probably as big as the difference
between different fishes, halibut and salmon, for example.
 
 ML> When you described this, it sounded like a deliberate change,
 ML> though, plus a cheapifying of raw materials, not good for business.
 NB> I don't think it was a deliberate change, they got the recipes along
 NB> with the restaurant, the menus hadn't changed, but the food just
 NB> wasn't done properly... the cheapifying was probably part of the
 NB> problem, too..    

Cheapifying is always a problem. I wish people understood this.
Or perhaps they do, and they're desperate.

Bacon pixie sticks
categories: pork, candy, odd
yield: 1/2 kg

150 g well-fried thin-sliced bacon
- (just cook the whole pound and make BLTs with the extra)
310 g dextrose powder (ca. 2 c)
40 g cornstarch (ca. 5 ts)
25 g tapioca maltodextrin
7 1/2 g citric acid

Fry up your bacon until it's quite crisp and dry, though
not burned. Be sure you're using thinly-sliced bacon -
this is important, as you want to make sure to drive all
the water off, and that won't happen with thick-cut bacon.
When done, remove from the pan (or oven, or microwave) and
drain on paper towels. Pat dry to remove any excess fat.

Dextrose-based powdered sugar. Normal powdered sugar is
super finely ground sucrose mixed with cornstarch.
Dextrose is slightly less sweet, and provides a specific
type of sweetness that's absolutely necessary for a pixie
stick. It's easy enough to make your own.
Make sure your blender (or food processor) is clean and
absolutely dry - you're working with powders, and don't
want to get them soggy and stuck. Combine 310 g dextrose
powder with 40 grams of cornstarch, and blend on high for
2 min. This will mix the two ingredients thoroughly, and
give the dextrose an even finer grind if needed.
Remove from the blender, and reserve.

This time we'll be using a food processor, as most blenders
aren't going to do a clean job with bacon powder.
(YMMV - I hear VitaMix blenders blend most anything.)

Dump the 150 g of bacon into your food processor, and add
half the dextrose powdered sugar.

Pulse until all the powder is incorporated, then add the
7.5 g of citric acid and the rest of the powdered sugar,
and pulse some more until the mix looks like the slightly
clumpy greasy sand.

Sprinkle in 25 g of tapioca maltodextrin, and pulse a bit
more. The tapioca maltodextrin will soak up any remaining
grease, which is absolutely necessary both for proper
mouth-feel and to allow you to pack the powder into straws.

Check your bacon pixie stick powder -

Texture. Is it a fine, greaseless powder with few if any
clumps? (Add more tapioca maltodextrin to absorb excess
grease.)

Taste. Does it taste like a pixie stick with bacon in it?
(Add more dextrose for sweetness, citric acid for tartness.)

If so, you're good to go. If not, adjust seasonings as
needed, then proceed.

Use a plastic funnel (mine is made from a piece of semi-stiff
sheet protector; don't use paper as it will absorb grease)
and a skewer or chopstick to fill your straws. I'd recommend
using slightly larger-gauge plastic straws. McDonalds makes
nice big straws, and you could go even further and use the
big straws intended for drinking bubble tea.

Crimp one end (folding works fine for paper straws; add a
small staple to hold plastic straws) and fill your straw
with magical bacon pixie dust. Crimp the other end (again,
staples for the plastic straws) and get started on another
one. This is a rather slow process.

Serve as soon as possible, especially if you're using paper
straws! Bacon pixie stick powder is amazing, but don't store
longer than a week, as its high surface area makes it prone
to oxidation. You can probably put it in the freezer for
longer-term storage, though I haven't run those tests myself.

This powder is tasty on its own, and can also be an amazing
addition to ice cream, fruit salads, or anything else you feel
like sprinkling it on top of.

canida on http://www.instructables.com
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 Join Us: www.DocsPlace.org (1:123/140)