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Post by hwinpp on Mar 23, 2010 9:46:05 GMT
Them? Your relationship with G& t seems to be quite close, Bixa... I've switched to drinking vodka& tonic, it seems to agree better with my stomach.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 23, 2010 16:02:47 GMT
Guess it showed that I think of G&T in the plural. Really, I hardly ever drink liquor. And when I do, I prefer it straight or mixed with water. It's too easy to drink cocktails quickly because they taste so much like pop -- and the combination of alcohol and sugar slamming into the bloodstream can give a buzz I neither want nor expect.
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Post by imec on Mar 26, 2010 15:42:24 GMT
The kids turned their noses up at grapefruit this week - too bitter. I love it!
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Post by joanne28 on Mar 31, 2010 17:09:18 GMT
I eat red grapefruit all the time and it's only slightly sour to me. No bitterness at all. The white grapefruit is a lot more sour, as I recall. I love vodka & tonic, it's my default drink. Tonic water contains quinine so I drink it for medicinal purposes only. I guess that's a bitter taste. I love coffee & will only drink it black. I'll say right now that I don't like Starbucks. I find their coffee seems to have a 'cooked' taste. Licorice is delicious - I would never have thought of describing it as bitter. But I guess it is. Must test it tonight.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2010 17:23:19 GMT
I don't think I ever shyed away from 'bitter' because I remember eating grapefruit at a very early age (and also dill pickles). It had a lot of sugar on it of course, but the bitterness came through very well. And of course, grapefruit were much more bitter back then than they are now, because they are another victim of genetic engineering to make them as consensual as possible.
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Post by lagatta on Mar 31, 2010 21:35:29 GMT
As are aubergines/eggplants. Pity - there always were less-bitter ones, but there was more of a range. I like bitter ones in baba ghanoush.
joanne, I also detest Starbucks. Overpriced and not good. But I'm spoiled, living in La Petite Italie. I can get a better espresso or cappuccino for about half Starbucks prices. No strange sugary "coffee drinks" though. The old guys would laugh you out of the room.
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Post by fumobici on Apr 1, 2010 0:56:43 GMT
Yet strangely not adding sugar to your coffee in Italy will have the old guys eying you with suspicion or at least bemusement.
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Post by cristina on Apr 1, 2010 2:57:46 GMT
I find the packets of sugar served with my orange juice in Spain to be interesting. I don't typically think of orange juice as needing to be sweetened.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 12:36:12 GMT
Belgian endive is interesting because the white parts have absolutely no bitterness. The bitterness develops when the leaves are exposed to light and begin to turn green. Interestingly enough, the greener the leaf, the better it is nutritionally, so it is good to accept the bitterness. One thing that most people don't know about endive is that it is one of the only plants that cannot not be found growing wild in nature. That's because it was invented accidentally when a Belgian farmer buried some of the plants in his cellar to evade taxation (as usual!). When he uncovered them, he found that something completely unexpected had developed. So commercial endive is now grown in complete darkness. France is the biggest producer and it is the 4th favourite vegetable, but only during the winter. www.endive.fr/wp-content/uploads/production/developpement-300x244.jpg
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Post by tod2 on Mar 7, 2017 13:17:04 GMT
So T H A T'S what they really look like! Naturally in our shops we only get the white part with the top of the leaves a pale yellow. Is that the same thing?...or am I thinking of chichory leaves?
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Post by bjd on Mar 7, 2017 14:13:21 GMT
Tod, when you buy them here they have the root cut off, so they look like what you see in your shops.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 7, 2017 16:31:08 GMT
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Post by tod2 on Mar 7, 2017 17:21:28 GMT
Oh Bixa, I am so enlightened by the Chicory root! I have coffee pouches in my cupboard which are almost 100% chicory. You can definitely tell the big difference.
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Post by bjd on Mar 7, 2017 17:54:49 GMT
Chicory seems to be the generic plant and one variety is called Belgian endive in N America. I don't know whether chicory is eaten in salads but it is used to make ersatz coffee. In France the brand is Ricoré. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicory
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2017 6:33:18 GMT
Curly endive and Belgian endive are two branches of the same plant family. I don't have any idea what Belgian endive would look like if it were allowed to grow out in the open -- maybe the leaves would curl up? Anyway, curly endive has two varieties as well -- what the French call frisée which is tightly curled and bitter and escarole which has broader leaves that are less curly and less bitter. I like all of them.
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Post by chexbres on Mar 8, 2017 8:04:29 GMT
Belgian endive, if left uncovered for the "blanchissement", will separate from the outside, like a rose does. There is another hybride of endive, called "friseline". It's a tender, upright stalk (sort of like young celery), that isn't bitter at all. Unfortunately, it costs 10 to 14 EU per kilo... I prefer buying a 2 kilo sachet (2 EU) of regular Belgian endive.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 9, 2017 6:51:01 GMT
What about that red and white leaf Radicchio? I toyed with buying some yesterday in a pre-washed lettuce pack with other greens. In the end decided not to as there was an awful lot of radicchio and I'm sure it is fairly bitter..
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Post by chexbres on Mar 9, 2017 21:38:11 GMT
Radicchio can be bitter, if it's allowed to grow large. Treviso does, too. But if you blanch it for 1 or 2 minutes, all the bitterness goes away and you can continue with your recipe.
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Post by rikita on Mar 13, 2017 7:19:20 GMT
i am not a great fan of bitterness (though i wouldn't describe licorice as bitter, that kind of surprised me - i prefer the sweet one there, or the salty one, not the very strong one, but still it doesn't taste bitter, just strong) - drink coffee only rarely and with lots of milk and sugar, don't like tea that is too strong (though sugar helps), and while i love chocolate, i don't like it when it is very dark (slightly dark is fine). i used to not like beer at all until my mid-twenties, now i like the milder ones. the bitter alcoholic drinks aren't really my thing either ... still, a slight bitterness can be fine, i might enjoy it, but it can get too much quickly ...
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Post by tod2 on Mar 13, 2017 14:14:38 GMT
Bitter drinks like Campari used to be my way of showing I was sophisticated (enough to order it at the bar with my girlfriends) while they stuck to gin or vodka. On our recent trip to Paris I ordered a 'Spritz' and was pleasantly surprised at the lovely orange colour and bitter taste. I was only expecting wine and soda water which is what we get here. Now the big problem is I cant duplicate it as I do not know the components
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Post by bjd on Mar 13, 2017 15:54:38 GMT
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Post by lagatta on Mar 13, 2017 16:16:57 GMT
I love strong black coffee and in general avoid sugar. Some over toasted black coffee beans are too bitter for me though. Starbucks is notorious for this, probably because they serve mostly very sweetened beverages.
I've had that spritz - it is good. In general I avoid spirits and cocktails, but that one isn't too strong or too sweet.
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Post by tod2 on Mar 13, 2017 17:42:13 GMT
bjd - that is exactly it! When I have my next one in Venice I will make sure the waiter gives me the ingredients and also will get them in Paris after that. Thanks so much. I see further down the list of cocktails, a DIRTY MARTINI is on the list. I watch Geoffrey Zakarian make that exact coctail today! The 'dirty' part was adding the liquid from the green olives - like pickle juice I guess.
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