Author: CuisineWriter
How to Use a Knife, Fork, and Spoon
An Introduction The rules that specify how knife, fork, and spoon must be used have evolved along with the forms of the utensils themselves. In general, these rules are explicitly intended to prevent the utensils from appearing threatening. Margaret Visser, in her book The Rituals of Dinner, points out that etiquette and the ritual it […]
Eric Ripert
Image courtesy of Eric Ripert on Twitter. When Gilbert Le Coze, Le Bernardin’s 48 year-old chef, died suddenly from a heart attack Eric Ripert, the restaurant’s 29 year-old Executive Chef was asked to step up. In the world of four-star restaurants, Ripert insists that the show must go on, and food service stops for nothing, […]
Southeast Asian Cuisine
Photo by insatiablemunch An Introduction To Southeast Asian Cooking Southeast Asia is a cook’s paradise, and an eater’s as well. The food is truly art: tastes mingle with subtle complexity, and presentation is spectacular. The region stretches east from India and Bangladesh to the southern border of China, encompassing the mainland countries of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, […]
Palm Sugar
Palm Sugar Photo by stu_spivack Palm sugar is often used in Indian cooking as well as Thai cooking. The dark-brown colored and crumbly sugar is also called gur or jaggery, is made from the sap of the sugar palm, or it can also be made from the palmyra palm. The tree trunk tree is tapped to drain the […]
Galangal
Photo by Ruth and Dave In Laos and Indonesia, Galangal is called “Blue Ginger”, in Thailand it is called “ka” or “kha” in , and Malaysia it is known as “lengkaus“. This root is a member of the ginger family and looks like ginger, but ginger may not be substituted for it. Both Persian and Southeast Asian […]
Indian Cuisine
Photo by PublicDomainPictures India is huge; its geography and climate ranges from the landlocked mountains around Kashmir, to the fertile Ganges river valley, to the arid Deccan plateau, to the steamy coastal regions around Goa and Madras. Her cooking is as varied as her land, and so, with apologies to the illimitable reality, here is […]
Tamarind
Photo by tacowitte Tamarind, the sweet and sour fruit of the tamarind tree, is native to Asia and northern Africa and is also grown in the Caribbean. Like lemon, tamarind brings an acidic zing to food. Tamarind, along with a host of other flavors, gives Worcestershire sauce its je ne sais quoi. Sometimes, tamarind seeds are […]
Coconut Milk
Photo by ewige No, believe it or not, coconut milk — an indispensable ingredient in most Southeast Asian cooking — is not the liquid inside a coconut. It is made by soaking the grated flesh of a coconut in hot water or scalded milk, then straining the combination. Coconut milk is classified as thick, thin, or […]
The History of Restaurants
A Timeline of The Restaurant The hospitality industry has existed since the beginning of Western culture. People have always been forced to travel for one reason or another, which means there has always been someone there to make money from travelers. Food, a bed, shelter from the storm – these are things people have always […]
A Glossary of French Dishes
Photo by Kent Wang Axoa A specialty of Gascony made with seasoned ground veal, onions, and plenty of sweet and hot red peppers. Blanquette de veau This classic French stew is made from veal, mushrooms, and onions. The stew is first simmered in a white stock, then served in a velouté sauce finished with egg […]