[extropy-chat] The Extropy of Cooking

[J. Andrew Rogers]

On Jun 27, 2006, at 1:27 PM, Amara Graps wrote:
> So while I have no trouble finding many varieties of mozzarallla di
> bufala because some person carries it in to my local alimentaries from
> the countryside, the good dark viscous balsamic vinegar from Modena is
> in quantities of a just a few sitting on the top shelves. It's there,
> but not in abundant quantities.


Good basalmic is really hard to find.  Most is watery and harsh, at  
least in the US, but is well worth the money to locate and buy the  
really good somewhat syrupy basalmic.  A very little bit goes a very  
long way and lasts a long time, so the expense is amortized.  It is a  
kitchen essential, IMO.

Best uncommon use of good basalmic:  a stiff dollop in a thick Bloody  
Mary, which significantly enhances the overall flavor.  Considering  
the ingredients, it makes sense if you think about it.  (First  
discovered that trick at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco.)


> The following is my favorite Italian dish. I haven't made it  
> completely
> correct yet, but it's almost there. This recipe has gone through  
> several
> iterations; each time I tell my Italian colleagues what I did, and  
> they
> correct my mistakes, so the recipe has been transformed into a group
> Italian planetary scientists + Amara result.
[...elided...]


That is a very good looking recipe, and well inline with my tastes.   
I have all the vegetables and herbs listed growing out back and am  
expecting them to be ready to harvest in abundance within the next  
few weeks.  I will be trying this out and reporting back here. :-)

Is the Parmesan cheese that you use fresh or aged?  I normally stock  
imported Italian Parmesan in the 2-year range (and occasionally 3- 
year), so what I have on hand is pretty well aged.

Cheers,

J. Andrew Rogers