Hard News: Food and drink
417 Responses
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Heh, here's something I just read that I commend to Brickley:
The fact that some people simply don't enjoy cooking, much less find it fascinating, seems to completely escape Pollan. In 1960, before most Americans had heard of Julia Child or Betty Friedan, Peg Bracken published "The I Hate to Cook Book," which included instructions like, "Add the flour, salt, paprika and mushrooms, stir, and let it cook five minutes while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink." The New York Times said in her 2007 obituary, "Ms. Bracken's cookbook ... quickly became a staple of suburban homes. Published in various editions over the years, it sold more than three million copies. Every baby boomer's mother, or so it seemed, had one on the kitchen shelf, its pages stained with the makings of Stayabed Stew, Sole Survivor and Spinach Surprise."
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Her ' I hate to housekeep' book is on my shelves from my mother's collection, and I'm sure the other one is around here somewhere. But then I've also got her 'Dine with Elizabeth', for those 60s NZ cooks who wanted to be a bit sophisticated sometimes.
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That isn't falafel.
I'm adopting this phrase and shall use it every time I want to express my disapproval of something.
Getting the taxpayer to subsidise a $1,000 rent to live in a home you actually own? That isn't falafel.
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You seem to have ruled out sauces and seasonings.
If I may clarify: he's ruled out sauces and seasonings *unless his wife makes them*. Unfortunately not all of us have a similarly exploitable member of the proletariat at home...
"Add the flour, salt, paprika and mushrooms, stir, and let it cook five minutes while you light a cigarette and stare sullenly at the sink."
Oh, that is awesome! I must find this book. (I recently ordered Amy Sedaris' entertaining guide I Like You, which I expect similarly great things from.)
I do love cooking, though. If our household had enough money for me to be Little Susie Homemaker, I'd probably create elaborate, marvellous meals twice a day for at least six months before getting sick of vacuuming and becoming addicted to Xanax. :)
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I can make a quick and simple dahl in under 30 mins but it's pretty average. I have some more "authentic" recipes but their complexity and requirement for specialised ingredients is off putting especially when shopping with and cooking for little children.
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Gio, what about a combo of recently coined PAS phrases?
Felafel: I'm Blowing It Right Now
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I found this interesting:
Along with other Arab dishes, falafel was adopted by early Jewish immigrants to Palestine as a "deliberate attempt to relinquish Diaspora habits in favor of a new existence in Palestine" and to "adopt certain Arab models that they perceived as related to Jewish existence in the mythical, Biblical past" to the point that falafel has now become a "signifier of Israeli pride".[3]
Middle East peace by diet. If only so easy etc.
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On the Apple thing: the FCC has just issued an entirely awesome "please explain" letter to Apple, AT&T and Google. This is regarding Apple's rejection of the Google Voice app.
I'm pretty sure the answers will never be made public, but I so wish they would. The FCC is basically asking Apple to explain the arbitrary nature of how they review and reject applications.
My guess: 50 minimum-wage slaves scanning every application for nudity and swearing, and 1 guy looking for stuff that Apple can rip off and sell themselves.
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Anything prepared from home is from scratch and didn't take long to make. Down tools? Chopping onions? What are you on about?
Clue: Russell works from home, and I'd venture Brickley doesn't.
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Anyway, I don't want it all to get snarly: I just felt Brickley was making some sweeping judgements.
The Pacific Harvest furikake I mentioned earlier, earning Brickley's ire: it contains nothing untoward (which distinguishes it from the authentic imported product, which almost invariably contains MSG and too much salt and sugar), and it's handy and delicious.
But the conversation got me looking, and yep, I could make my own (although I think I'd be satisfied with just one kind of seaweed), and I will when I'm entertaining sometime. But for now, it's a good option to be able to reach for on the shelf (and it was really cheap at show prices).
Just had some, actually, over vegetarian edam and free-range ham on rosemary sourdough ...
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Kong,
Isn't making sweeping judgments what having a sense of taste and style is all about? Or do they need to be informed sweeping judgments?
If so, then how can you really be sure that there isn't at least one nice coffee at Starbucks? Some experiments are too painful and distasteful to finish.
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Felafel: I'm Blowing It Right Now
Now that's just weird.
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Felafel: I'm Blowing It Right Now
Now that's just weird.
Possibly related, in a puerile sort of way...
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Undoubtedly tangential.
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If so, then how can you really be sure that there isn't at least one nice coffee at Starbucks?
I've been to plenty of airports off the beaten track where S/Bs is the only real choice (unless you want grossly over-sugared teh es or teh panas) and I've tried pretty much everything that looks half decent on their boards.
I'm sure.
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I thank Mr Grigg for doing the hard research on my behalf.
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In exchange, I may visit Kiwibog later..
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Isn't making sweeping judgments what having a sense of taste and style is all about? Or do they need to be informed sweeping judgments?
The latter is what I was getting at. I've just been to the supermarket and looked at the fine print on some of the curry sauces. None of the ones I checked (I ignored the crappy ones) had "chemical by-products" in them, unless you count cornstarch in one of them. Which is what I thought.
And that's shelf sauces, not the chilled or frozen ones. So I suppose you could object on grounds of personal taste or style, but the idea that they're all full of nasty toxic additives doesn't wash. I feel no shame in dropping some fresh ingredients into a decent sauce and serving it on basmati rice to get the family fed at the end of a long day.
I should let this go now ... lamb shanks need to be in the oven ...
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And that's shelf sauces, not the chilled or frozen ones. So I suppose you could object on grounds of personal taste or style, but the idea that they're all full of nasty toxic additives doesn't wash.
No preservatives? How do they keep?
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Uh, spices I believe.
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Which are thus preservatives.
(Likewise, Brickley's wee rant against `chemical byproducts' is slightly mad: given that lots and lots of things are chemical byproducts & perfectly food. Like beer, or marmite, or vegemite.)
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Colon should be a comma.
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Which are thus preservatives.
Totally agree - one of the originals. And later the Brits weren't keen on their Indian colony for nothing.
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I looked at a pesto sauce a while back - which I always figured to be similarly self-preserving - and was amazed at the number of ingredients with alarming names, but of course Keir you're correct that it all rather hinges on your definition of chemical by-product. Besides it's hard to cause more damage than by simply packing too much salt into something.
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@Hilary
Yes, I got into making elderflower cordial while I was living in London, but apparently it wasn't actually the done thing to go to the local park and steal the flowers from the elder bushes there. Since it was Lewisham and not Mayfair, no-one actually bothered me about it.
But when I moved to Oz, I was amazed to find that the inner north suburbs in Canberra are coated with elder bushes! I live in a block of flats, and that's what they use for the hedging. So I still have a stash of cordial left from summer. - very nice with Hendricks gin. I should also acknowledge that that recipe came from The Guardian (left off the link in my original comment).
On another thread, bourgeois porridge makes me LUL. My wanky aspiring-to-middle-class touch is to buy trail mix (dried cranberries, various nuts and seeds) from the local health food shop and chuck a handful of that in. Not having a microwave, I still boil it up in a plebeian pot. Also, topped with coconut milk and palm sugar makes lots of NOMs. Must try the soaking-overnight trick (or soaking-during-the-day, since I have it for dinner at least once a week at this time of year).
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