Culinary Thinking

[Daniel Rogov]

A quotation from one of my faithful correspondents.....


Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.

-Alice May Brock, author (b. 1941)

[Matilda L]

Does your correspondent subscribe to A.Word.A.Day? That quote was AWAD's "thought for the day" yesterday. I was about to post it here on the forum myself

Matilda

[Robert J.]

"Only the pure at heart can make a good soup." L.V. Beethoven

"Someone fetch me a bowl of coffee before I turn into a goat!" J.S. Bach

"Chili ain't got no beans in it!" Cowboy

rwj

[Robert Reynolds]

"Chili ain't got no beans in it!" Cowboy
rwj

How about lentils? That could be in interesting addition, texturally speaking.

[Robert J.]

"Chili ain't got no beans in it!" Cowboy
rwj

How about lentils? That could be in interesting addition, texturally speaking.

I ought to kick your ass.

rwj

[Amy_Y_]

After reading that I started to think about the characteristics of food in different countries. When thinking about food in Finland, we surely use dill a lot (I do not think that you can get a fish dish here without it) and root veggies as well. Those are the typical ingredients that come to my mind first.

What are the typical things in countries where you come from?

[Matilda L]

What are the typical things in countries where you come from?

I don't think there is an established Australian taste, I think culinary style is evolving here as an amalgam of the styles of the various waves of immigration we have had. White Australia has started to make use of indigenous herbs and spices in cooking - although I think these are still regarded largely as a curiosity. Let's say, we still don't see little jars of ground wattleseed alongside the cloves, nutmeg and allspice on the shelves at the supermarket. Forty years ago, the average Australian kitchen was very shy of herbs and spices; today, people are more adventurous, and also more inclined to try cooking foods in the way they are prepared in their country of origin (eg, rather than adding a pinch of cayenne pepper and a half-teaspoon of turmeric to a pot of beef stew and calling it "Bombay Curry").

Matilda

[Daniel Rogov]

What are the typical things in countries where you come from?

Amy, Hi....

Certainly very few ingredients that are specifically "Israeli" but a great many things that are traditional to the Middle-East..... Among those olives and olive oil, eggplant (aubergine if you prefer), garlic, the generous use of Mediterranean herbs, fava and other beans, chickpeas, etc. as well as a heavy reliance on fish.

The same true with dishes and their preparation as this is (as I have said before) a region in which recipes cross borders far more easily than people. What is Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Palestinian, Greek or Turkish is often very hard to define..

Best
Rogov

[Robert J.]

"What is Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Palestinian, Greek, or Turkish [food] is often very hard to define." - D. Rogov

Great quote, Daniel.

rwj

[Leanne S]

No, basil makes it Italian. Oregano makes it Greek. Cumin and Paprika makes it Moroccan. Cumin and Chile makes it Mexican. Paprika and sour cream makes it Hungarian. Butter makes it French. Lime and fish sauce makes it Thai. Turmeric makes it Indian. Ginger and soy sauce makes it Chinese. Cilantro goes with anything other than European.

I have to admit, sometimes I cook that way: 1. go to fridge, take out everything that's about to go bad, put it in a pot. 2. Go to spice rack, pull out everything that seems stereotypically whatever it is, add to pot, heat.