Just came across this blog 'The curious cook' one of my favourite authors Harold McGee. Check it out.. Too good!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Salute to the Salads
In my recent trip to France, I noticed people eating large amounts of food. The funniest part was that they were all physically fit and shapely. I rarely came across an obese person on the streets of Paris.
I was curious and decided to watch their eating habits. At Bistros, restaurants, Mac Donalds, I found them ordering a large salad first. The portion size was huge with bright coloured lettuce, rocket and vegetable strips. The salad dressing was a simple Olive oil and vinegar mix and not the sinfully rich mayonnaise thingy offered in other countries that I have visited. People chewed the crunchy leaves and vegetables heartily before they swallowed it. There were miniscule amounts of meat/fish which accompanied the salads along with a small portion of baguette. This was followed by black coffee.
At Mac, I found men and and women ordering a couple of burgers and fries each, over and above the salad, during lunch time. These people were probably the working types who may or may not have had a proper breakfast. I hurried after them to see how they were commuting. To my surprise, I found almost all of them walk briskly for about thirty minutes to reach their buildings which probably was their work-place. I found myself puffing and panting as I could not keep pace with them.
At Dinner, people ordered dishes which had lots of uncooked vegetables and leaves as their first course. The wines that we had ordered came with an accompaniment of cheese cubes and vegetable sticks in a bed of lettuce.
My point is that the French eat sensibly and burn their calories smartly. Even a cookery show that I avidly watched on the french TV, showed a man cooking passionately with hardly five minutes of stove use. Out of the twenty minutes of the program, the host spent ten minutes cutting the vegetables very artistically, another ten minutes arranging the salad leaves, fruits and vegetables and finally five minutes on cooking the sauce! The end product was a delight to see and taste!
None of the french that I came across looked tired or sick or ugly. They were all very well-dressed (Not expensively dressed) each with his or her own style statement. It was a treat for the eyes. The cabbies were extremely friendly, helpful and the most surprising part was their knowledge of French history!
More on French cuisine later but do feel free to write in your views.
I was curious and decided to watch their eating habits. At Bistros, restaurants, Mac Donalds, I found them ordering a large salad first. The portion size was huge with bright coloured lettuce, rocket and vegetable strips. The salad dressing was a simple Olive oil and vinegar mix and not the sinfully rich mayonnaise thingy offered in other countries that I have visited. People chewed the crunchy leaves and vegetables heartily before they swallowed it. There were miniscule amounts of meat/fish which accompanied the salads along with a small portion of baguette. This was followed by black coffee.
At Mac, I found men and and women ordering a couple of burgers and fries each, over and above the salad, during lunch time. These people were probably the working types who may or may not have had a proper breakfast. I hurried after them to see how they were commuting. To my surprise, I found almost all of them walk briskly for about thirty minutes to reach their buildings which probably was their work-place. I found myself puffing and panting as I could not keep pace with them.
At Dinner, people ordered dishes which had lots of uncooked vegetables and leaves as their first course. The wines that we had ordered came with an accompaniment of cheese cubes and vegetable sticks in a bed of lettuce.
My point is that the French eat sensibly and burn their calories smartly. Even a cookery show that I avidly watched on the french TV, showed a man cooking passionately with hardly five minutes of stove use. Out of the twenty minutes of the program, the host spent ten minutes cutting the vegetables very artistically, another ten minutes arranging the salad leaves, fruits and vegetables and finally five minutes on cooking the sauce! The end product was a delight to see and taste!
None of the french that I came across looked tired or sick or ugly. They were all very well-dressed (Not expensively dressed) each with his or her own style statement. It was a treat for the eyes. The cabbies were extremely friendly, helpful and the most surprising part was their knowledge of French history!
More on French cuisine later but do feel free to write in your views.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Chemistry of Cooking
Hi folks,
This is for the the curious cooks who want to know why food gets cooked in a particular way.
If you have a scientific reason why foods taste/look the way they do, feel free to share the info. For eg. why do the perfect tikkis or dosas get that golden look which immediately make you drool? This is a reaction called Maillard named after the french chemist who observed it in the early twentieth century. Here, the nuclephilic amino group of the amino acide reacts with the carbonyl group of the sugar to form molecules with interesting flavours. The browning reaction is one such example and so is caramelization of sugar. By this process, hundreds of different flavours are created.
Put on your thinking cap and share the chemical fundas here on everything you have tried cooking.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Creativity in cooking the simplest of recipes
Hi..
I've always loved simple food and strived towards making it look, taste and feel simply great. The humble brinjal is tossed up with a dash of onions, tomatoes and cheese and given an exotic name for the husband or an exciting story behind the recipe for my boys! Please do feel free to share your similar attempts and let us make the world enjoy the simple pleasures of cooking (not look at it as a boring chore!).
Happy cooking!
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