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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2010 10:16:08 GMT
Calendula petals are tasteless too... I find that the whole idea,practice, of substituting herbal flavors (or many flavors actually), how should I put it,distasteful. Call it snobbery, or perhaps an attempt at being a purist when it comes to flavoring dishes that call for a specific taste,substitute that flavor with something else,and you have a different dish all together in most instances. Worthy of a thread topic of it's own. My biggest peeve regarding this is (and I know most real cooks know the difference,but,I'm astounded over and over again by how many don't) people who take "Mexican tarragon", (another cultivar of tagetes,in the marigold clan) and try and substitute it for French tarragon. You couldn't ask for a more distinctly different flavor. What are other peoples take on this? I am curious.
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 21, 2010 17:13:26 GMT
I think substituting, or rather, replacing one flavor with another is acceptable if one is doing it consciously. After all, most good cooks get where they're going with a dish by springboarding off what they already know.
What I object to are publications that allow the neophyte to think that certain herbs are interchangeable. And I'm continuously astounded at food writers who should know better describing wildly different flavors as "anise-like". For one thing, anise flavor is widely disliked by many people, so they're scared off without even trying something that is in fact not "anise-like".
Flavors are so difficult to describe. I have The Great Chile Book by Mark Miller in front of me. In it he describes the habanero as "very thin fleshed, with tropical fruit flavors of coconut and papaya, a hint of berry, and an intense, fiery acidic heat." Say what?! I would say that yes, it does have a fruity flavor and aroma and is indeed fiery, but the rest of that is pure b.s.
The same goes for describing herbal flavors. It may be useful to point out to the budding cook that the flavors of marjoram and oregano are similar, with marjoram being milder and sweeter, but this also sets up the idea that one might be "better" than the other. The real help would be to reference dishes in which a particular herb might traditionally be encountered, and suggest that the learner try using it that way at first in order to familiarize himself with the taste. Also, they should be directed to plant nurseries in order to see and smell the herb in its natural state.
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Post by onlymark on Apr 21, 2010 17:33:14 GMT
And as for the pretentious 'experts' who describe the flavour of wines......................
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2010 21:38:24 GMT
Someone PLEASE tell me what to do with all this chervil!!!!!!
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Post by bixaorellana on Apr 28, 2010 0:57:01 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2010 10:55:02 GMT
Thank you Bixa!! I think that the Cream of Chervil looks the easiest and most appetizing,will make a big batch and then freeze. I may improvise and add some of the new potatoes I have to a small batch as well. I think I wouldn't mind some with potatoes but,not too many.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2010 13:59:42 GMT
Have we had a mint thread before?
I love the taste of mint. My mother grows it in her garden and going by memory I think she always has.
It's easy to grow and perfect for Indian cooking.
I worked as a Nanny years back for a few months, and the family always used mint when cooking beef and rice. It always came out really well.
What other dishes does it go really well with?
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2010 14:01:01 GMT
Mint chutney, that's another thing my mom makes that tastes just wonderful.
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Post by tillystar on May 14, 2010 14:08:31 GMT
My grandma's garden was always full of it too. I do like mint in tea and on new potatoes with lots of butter, but you can't beat a good mojito.
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Post by bazfaz on May 14, 2010 15:51:01 GMT
After visiting Vietnam I use mint a lot more. It is wonderful to include with the lettuce leaf when you wrap up a spring roll. I love sprigs of it with fried fish. Fortunately our new garden has a rampant mint bed.
I have never been a devotee of traditional English mint sauce with roast lamb (unlike my South African mother who liked very vinegary mint sauce and thin gravy swamping her plate). But I sometimes make a little relish with chopped mint, sugar and a squeeze of lemon juice.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2010 17:03:54 GMT
I use the mint leaves for Vietnamese spring rolls and also in Thai salads. I have to remember to ask my colleague who lives in the outer suburbs to bring me some plants, because she says her garden is overrun with it.
Since I really don't use much mint at all when it comes down to it, probably my favorite thing is to just ruffle the plant and smell it.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2010 19:52:51 GMT
Yeah, I like smelling it too. Mint chutney: yum.
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Post by lagatta on May 14, 2010 19:53:05 GMT
It can also be used, mixed with flatleaf parsley, in taboulé.
Mint is VERY invasive.
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2010 19:56:20 GMT
It has a very strong aroma, yes.
In the above picture it's mixed with coconut.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 14, 2010 23:57:47 GMT
Well, I really scored last Sunday. Went to visit friends who live in San Sebastián, and was given a pot of sage and one of shallots! I had beautiful sage before, as did Charlie, but our plants got hit by some kind of waxy sucking bug that killed them. And shallots are almost unattainable here. The lady who gave me the plants is married to an American and interested in all kinds of cooking, which is how she knows these two herbs that are not used here at all. Of my Mexican herbs, the oregano is fine, as is the thyme. Epazote is putting out new growth, all ready for the rainy season, and the papaloquelite is stunted and bolting because of the hot weather. Papaloquelite is a seasoning herb, but it can also be eaten as a green. The guy who gave me the seeds is from the area south of here and also shared some of it cooked up as greens by his mother. It was excellent, but I never could duplicate it. My rosemary is maintaining, but the mint is pretty unhappy because of the heat and dryness. Mint gets used here in savory dishes, such as flavoring blood sausage. The use of it that I found the oddest was as the herb in chicken broth. I have learned to really like it, but it threw me at first.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 15, 2010 19:25:21 GMT
When it was time to eat my (delicious, if I do say so) pork/tomatillo/potato melange last night, I decided I needed a nice salsa. Accordingly, I put slices of a small onion, a couple of unpeeled cloves of garlic, and two whole habanero chiles on the dry griddle. Left them there to roast while I went outside and picked some papaloquelite leaves.
The leaves and the roasted stuff (w/peel removed from garlic) went into the lava rock mortar with some salt and got pulped. I added lime juice, water, and a little vinegar for a beautifully green and spicy sauce.
When I was at Charlie's house the other day, she was making split pea soup and enthusiastic about the recipe she'd found which suggested mint as a seasoning. I will definitely use that the next time I make split peas.
I have a bunch of teeny lentils and am formulating an idea for a lentil salad with lots of parsley and mint.
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Post by Deleted on May 15, 2010 21:58:11 GMT
Mint does sound like an interesting addition to pea soup.
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Post by lagatta on May 20, 2010 17:36:45 GMT
I saw some «Vietnamese Coriander" at the market yesterday and (shh) ate a tiny leaf. I like it. Will probably get one to use in pseudo-Southeast Asian food. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persicaria_odorataHWINPP, are you familiar with this plant? Anyone else?
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Post by bixaorellana on May 20, 2010 19:44:45 GMT
I've grown it, but not here. I knew it by its other name of Polygonum odoratum, which is the clue that by any name it's a knotweed and will grow furiously. I'm glad you brought this up, as the other day I read a reference to saw-tooth coriander, Eryngium foetidum, as Vietnamese coriander, which confused me. I had a plant of it once while living here, but it died. Here are various "coriander" plants. The links are from those wonderful spice pages originally found by HW, & give names in various languages: Eryngium foetidum -- www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Eryn_foe.html Persicaria odorata -- www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Poly_odo.html Coriandrum sativum -- www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Cori_sat.html#disc
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Post by lagatta on May 20, 2010 21:03:33 GMT
I love those spice pages as they are maintained by an Austrian, so they are also in German, giving my German a spicy workout!
Yes, what I saw was definitely the middle herb. Good, I'll put it in a nice big tub on the balcony (I miss having a wee garden in the earth).
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Post by hwinpp on May 27, 2010 7:20:35 GMT
Yes, I know it as well but funnily enough as laksa leaf and as it's used here. I prefer it in laksa, here it's eaten with the fertilized duck eggs which ::)I can just barely take...
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Post by hwinpp on May 27, 2010 9:27:13 GMT
Mint is difficult to come by here. You have to be lucky to find it in markets. Cambodians don't use as much of it as the Thais or Viets do.
I like it too.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 27, 2010 15:46:44 GMT
Boy, this shows how confusing common names can be! I had to look up laksa and got all excited when I found this recipe. However, under the "gravy" part of the recipe, it says that Asian basil (which links to a page for basil) and laksa leaf are the same thing. See how valuable you are, HW? I would have swallowed a false internet statement whole if it were not for you. Why do you eat those eggs if you don't like them?
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2010 17:53:46 GMT
hw, doesn't it grow too well there then? I wonder why. I bought this plant from the nursery the other day, it's doing really well. When it grow more branches, I'll plant them in the bigger garden. This variety is supposed to be very hardy in cold climates:
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Post by auntieannie on May 27, 2010 18:23:58 GMT
I love itl, but PLEASE do NOT add it to chocolate! that is such a terrible mistake!
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Post by bixaorellana on May 27, 2010 18:38:16 GMT
There is a brief discussion in the cold soups thread about fresh herbs and their fleeting availability. I pitched in with my suggestion of filling small prescription medicine bottles with herbs, then freezing. However, I suddenly remembered something I did ages ago that was quite successful. You often see references to pickling green nasturtium seeds for use as "capers". I've done that, but I've also done it with coriander as it goes to seed. Get the green ones before they get hard and treat them as you would the nasturtium seeds. (examples: www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ssf/2009/08/pickle_nasturtium_seeds_for_ca.html ) Another lovely summer herb thing is to make mint ice cubes. You could probably get little kids to help with this, which would make it less tedious to build up a stash. Simply fill ice cube trays half full & let them freeze. Place a mint leaf atop each cube, then finish filling with water. The leaves will retain their color.
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Post by hwinpp on May 29, 2010 3:08:59 GMT
Why do you eat those eggs if you don't like them? [/img] I get dared. I know, stupid reason.
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Post by hwinpp on May 29, 2010 3:15:10 GMT
I think I might try that, D. I'll have to try and find seeds of a local variety.
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Post by Jazz on May 29, 2010 3:34:14 GMT
I find mint overpowering in most dishes (as is tomato). But I love it simply... a pitcher of cold, fresh water and fresh mint. Delicious.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 29, 2010 4:05:01 GMT
I yam so glad I yam a gurl and not a boyee.
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