Anthony Bourdain’s Theory on the Foodie Revolution

If you aren't going to read the article, this is the key takeaway for me. 

"But not Instagramming food. He has strong feelings about the craze of Instagramming dishes that has taken over social media.

“Chefs bitch about it when it’s going on in their restaurants,” Bourdain says, “yet when they go out to dinner, they’re taking pictures of everything. And any notion that that’s sharing? It’s bullshit. It’s about making other people feel bad about what they’re eating. And a certain knowledge that what you’re eating is more interesting.”

He has a theory about this I hadn’t considered. That the whole seismic food culture shift isn’t American superficiality but the New World learning what the Old World has known for centuries. “We’re just catching on,” he says. “We are changing societally, and our values are changing, so that we are becoming more like Italians and Chinese and Thais and Spaniards, where we actually think about what we’re eating, what we ate last night, and what we’re considering eating tomorrow. When I grew up in the ’60s, we’d go to see a movie, then we would go to a restaurant. And we would talk about the movie we just saw. Now, you go right to dinner and you talk about the dinner you had last week and the dinner you’re going to have next week, while you’re taking pictures of the dinner you’re having now. That’s a very Italian thing. A lot of the sort of hypocrisy and silliness and affectation of current American food culture is just fits and starts, awkwardly and foolishly growing into a place where a lot of older cultures have been for quite some time.”

With that thought I guess this is something we have to adapt to and live with. So what's the next step after that? Some sort of picture automation? Food recognition? 

I believe that there are pieces there with Exif data and how foursquare api works yet I'm not quite sure I'm ready for this.  

David 

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/anthony-bourdains-theory-foodie-revolution-180951848/#Tr6gZBSgMYSM0ghV.99

Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course

Items I want to cook from this series. For Fat Night; Please comment on the facebook event which ones you would want served or prepared. 

Thanks!

1. Mussels with celery & chilli
   
2. Pasta with tomatoes, anchovy & chilli
   
3. Grilled Corn with Chipotle Butter
   
4. Roasted mackerel with garlic & paprika
   
5. Pork & prawn balls in aromatic broth
   
6. Spicy sausage rice
   
7. Sweet pepper sauce with grilled prawns
   
8. Sticky pork ribs
   
9. Stir-fried pork noodles
   
10. Chicken stir fry with rice noodles
    
11. Spaghetti with chilli, sardines & oregano
    
12. Beef tacos with wasabi mayo
    
13. Grilled Lobsters
    

Site Changes

So I'm consolidating my sites in an effort to keep everything together. All of my randomness will now be through here.

This will no longer be just about food but also about my life.

I am terrible at writing and I hope to use this as a platform for improvement. It's also handy as a cooking reference document. ;)

Thanks!

David

Cooking Lessons from Papa Chiang: Lesson One: Steaming Crab, Hidden Ingredient

Papa Chiang is the father I aspire to be.

With a cup of hot oolong tea sitting by his desk, I would watch my father work tirelessly on schematics while I sat on the other side playing Diablo II. 

Now back to the inspiration for the post.  

Last night a few coworkers and I had a hotpot dinner. This dinner unknowingly marks a lot of changes for each of us at the table. 

One pair will become parents, another with a new job roll, one newly single, one newly promoted and of course myself in my own chaos. 

This dinner made me reflect on who I am. 

My father taught me explaining to me right from wrong, but doesn't prevent me from stumbling. 

It's not a secret that my lineage comes from sailors and we love our seafood. (beer, swearing, and all the other sailor ect activities.)

So now I share with you how the Chiang family steams crab. 

TLDR: Steaming Crab Method

1: Wash Crab and let them kinda soak with the sink running. 

2: Boil 2 cups of water until steaming in large hot on high

3: Place crab in pot use tongs if you are scared of handling live crab

4: When it steams again; add 1 cup Taiwan beer, and other seasoning if you wish. Acid like garlic and green work well for aroma. 

5: When the pot reaches steaming again you are done.

6: Allow Crab to chill for at least 5-10 mins before eating. 

This process should take no more than 8 mins from beginning to end. 

Back to the Story

I didn't learn this method  of crab streaming until I was an insult to my linage with my attempt in front of my father. After butchering the first crab by over-boiling and thus over cooking. Papa Chiang passed down his knowledge of steaming crab like said above. He explained to me that crab is a meat that needs to be met with care, and not fear of under-cooking. Also to respect the sea spider's last rite to be delicious because it's becoming food.  

So this is one of the few cooking lessons my father taught me and the hidden ingredient is to always make crab with care. 

I hope this is the start of a series with more lessons as I sit at my desk with plot charts and technical reference documents on my screen and a cup of hot oolong tea sitting on my desk. 

  

BONUS Alcohol from last night. Stella Rosa gives me feelings of Bartenura moscato

The Sake is of fruit and AWESOME. 

Taiwan beer was for crab and has a fruity taste for beer my favorite for flavoring crab. 

A One Year Promise

I'm always popping in and out of this blog. The reason I haven't abandoned this is because this acts as a good reference site for myself.

Whelps, little did I know that my friends do care about what I write here.

As far as a few new years resolution goes. I think I will buckle down and get serious on this site. "Serious" as in blogging when I can and when something remotely useful comes into mind. 

There's a lot of projects with food I want to do. 

1. Bacon Project (TBC)
2. Ultimate Cookery Course - (My picks from Gordan Ramsey's Series) 
3. Shit I wish I knew about cooking for college life. 
4. Tools and Item reviews - (Notes on what I use and what I look for in my tools) 
5. Homemade and Chinese 
6. Wines and Crap I drink- (wine that I don't know I can appreciate enough) 

So my new years resolution to this blog is to go serious for one year. 

I thank Kelvin Jeon, Bryant Yao, and other friends (who I am not naming because I'm not sure they would want me to name them) (but they are no less important) 

So for one year, get annoyed. Hide these posts from your wall, Because I'm going to start blogging way more. 

For this one year commitment, I ask you to comment, post, message, anything that will help me in my cooking development. In return, I will spill out all of my ability onto this blog. 

Thank you. 

David 

 

Testing and Results of Benton's Bacon

Inadequate, Unrefined, Unskilled.  Bacon Project (TBC)

This is how I would describe my ability to truly give a real review on Benton's Bacon. 

This Bacon has to be the smokiest bacon I have ever encountered. The smoke flavor reminds me of a boy scout camp fire. The consistency of the meat has the softness of sausage. The oil that comes out as a byproduct is clear and clean. 

By itself the bacon is incredible.

However, I realized that i do not have the skills or the current ability to harness the full potential of this bacon. 

I will be returning to this bacon, always looking in the back burner for a recipe that is worthy of the smoke that this can provide.      

The oil is the surprise. With this bacon oil I've done pan fried scallops which are incredible. However, waiting 6 weeks to pan fry some scallops in this oil is underwhelming. 

So thus I have a few pounds left of this bacon. Which will slowly be used. I will return to this. Perhaps after some of the other projects as I increase my skill level. 

The bacon project in my eyes will never end. However this is not the epic send off I want to give it. 

TLDR: Skill level to use this quality of ingredient is not high enough. Will return when level goes higher.