God Bless you all! Hoping my food blog site will be last to be removed in these End Times. Stand strong in the faith in Jesus Christ! He is the Way, the Truth and the Life..No one gets to the Father except through Him..
Fusion Cuisine is actually not new. It has been around for a couple of decades. Chefs started to merge cuisines around the ’70s. Culinary legends like Wolfgang Puck among others introduced this concept. He actually laid down the foundation for this technique. He is the brains behind the common culinary fusions and pairings. An example of which is the fusion of European cuisine with Asian cuisine, commonly referred to as Eurasian cuisine. This was easy for Chef Puck because of his knowledge of both cuisines. He was originally trained in Europe, but he is thoroughly familiar with the Asian dishes. Eurasian basically combines two cooking techniques and dishes, so you can end up with poached tofu, for example, which generally mixes European and Asian method of poaching.(multiculturalcookingnetwork.wordpress.com)
Shrimp, crab, and crawfish boils are a LouisianaCajun tradition and can be found across Louisiana and can even now be found along the Gulf South. But it is the more popular crawfish boil that is most closely associated with Louisiana. The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival in Louisiana has been named one of the top 10 food events by USA Today[3] and is a showcase for Cajun music and culture. Major crawfish boils are held by churches and other organizations as fundraisers throughout the spring. Tulane University holds an annual “Crawfest” in April, and the University of New Orleans holds an annual crawfish boil for all students at the end of the spring semester (Students unwinding on Crawfish and Unprecedented Fun—SUCAUF). Smaller events can be found in backyards and parks throughout April, May, and June. Locals traditionally eat crawfish, as well as crabs, without tools such as shell crackers or picks.(en.wikipedia.org)
Today’s Restaurant
Rockin Baja Lobster – Old Town, San Diego
Average Cost
$11-$30
Rating (1-10)
9.5
Recommended Dishes:
Lobster Corn Chowder, Signature Baja Buckets
Americans don’t gather around for just barbecue.
We flock for seafood boils as well.
What’s a seafood boil?
A seafood boil would be considered a get together where you boil potatoes, sausage, corn on the cob, some great seasonings and most of the time shrimp, crawdads or crab.
I won’t be boiling myself today, but dining at a restaurant that does.
Of course, food is influenced by history as much as vice-versa, and the French Revolution was no exception. The birth of the Republic of France laid the foundation for the modern restaurant to flourish. According to Larousse Gastronomique, the French culinary encyclopedia, although taverns, inns and cafés had served food and drink to the public for centuries, the first restaurant as we know it was opened in around 1765 in Paris by a bouillon seller named Boulanger. At the time, clear soups such as those Boulanger sold were considered restorative; hence the term “restaurant.” However, as the encyclopedia explains, “the first Parisian restaurant worthy of the name was the one founded by Beauvilliers in 1782 in the Rue de Richelieu, called the Grande Taverne de Londres. He introduced the novelty of listing the dishes available on a menu and serving them at small individual tables during fixed hours.”
Following the revolution, the abolition of the guild system that controlled who could be a butcher, baker or cheesemaker and how they did their jobs made it easier to open restaurants. Also, since so many aristocrats fled or were executed, their former cooks and servants had to find new employment. Paris became the center of the new restaurant scene, which, to some degree, it remains today. (smithsonianmag.com)
Truffled Hamachi Tartare with Meyer Lemon and Pea Shoot Emulsion, Dungeness Crab Soufflé with Lemon, Saffron and Caviar, Sugar Snap Pea Soup with Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms,Salsify Soup with Duck Royale and Truffle,Pinot Noir Braised Duck Breast with Sour Cherry, Sage and Black Forbidden Rice, Grilled Loin of Lamb and Braised Shoulder with Caramelized Yogurt and Barberry Reduction
I’m not going to make this long because I want to make sure I can actually publish this during Valentine’s Day.
It’s hard being a blogger sometimes; either you enjoy the day then write about it later, or sacrifice a piece of your enjoyable day and do it right then.
For my reader friends..
I will always do the sacrifice!!
Let’s talk romantic French dining at Le Papillon..
People born in a year of the Monkey are witty, intelligent, and have a magnetic personality. Personality traits, like mischievousness, curiosity, and cleverness, make them very naughty. Monkeys are masters of practical jokes, because they like playing most of the time. Though they don’t have any bad intentions, their pranks sometimes hurt the feelings of others. Monkeys are fast learners and crafty opportunists.
They have many interests and need partners who are capable of stimulating them. While some like the eccentric nature of Monkeys, some don’t trust their sly, restless, and inquisitive nature. Although they are clever and creative, monkeys can’t always exhibit their talent properly. Monkeys like to take challenges and they prefer urban life to rural.
How “Monkeys” Should Keep Healthy
Usually Monkeys are very healthy, partly due to their active lifestyles, and wanting to experience the flavors of life. If they do experience illness, it is usually of the nervous or circulatory system. People born in a year of the Monkey often spend more time at work. Therefore Monkeys need to remember to take breaks to save their energy during their busy schedules. Since Monkeys usually do more outdoor activities, they should pay attention to safety, and while traveling or driving.
The Best Jobs and Careers for Monkeys
When it comes to their careers, Monkeys work very hard. They can adapt to different working environments. Good career choices for monkeys are accounting and banking, science, engineering, stock market trading, air traffic control, film directing, jewelry, and salesmanship.
How to Build Relationships with “Monkeys”
In relationships, Monkeys are not very quick in settling down, as they tend to be promiscuous and are easily bored. However, once Monkeys get a perfect partner, they commit to him/her in every possible way. Since Monkeys love to talk and are sociable, they can be communicated with easily.(chinahighlights.com)
Fusion Cuisine is actually not new. It has been around for a couple of decades. Chefs started to merge cuisines around the ’70s. Culinary legends like Wolfgang Puck among others introduced this concept. He actually laid down the foundation for this technique. He is the brains behind the common culinary fusions and pairings. An example of which is the fusion of European cuisine with Asian cuisine, commonly referred to as Eurasian cuisine. This was easy for Chef Puck because of his knowledge of both cuisines. He was originally trained in Europe, but he is thoroughly familiar with the Asian dishes. Eurasian basically combines two cooking techniques and dishes, so you can end up with poached tofu, for example, which generally mixes European and Asian method of poaching.
Over the years, fusion cuisine restaurants emerged all over Europe. Many of these restaurants were established in urban areas. In fact, you would likely find these restaurants still offering the same mixed cuisines. Urban areas are actually prime spots for fusion cuisine restaurants since these are also the areas where cultural integration is more predominant. Thus, people are more acceptable of the combined culinary dishes.
Of course, this form of cooking is not limited to Eurasian cuisines. Asian foods are also combined. You can find dishes that combine Thai food with Malaysian food or Malaysian cuisines with Vietnamese dishes. Combining cuisines of countries from the same region, however, is less challenging. It is actually easier to combine ingredients from the same region because these countries have, more or less, influenced each other in their cooking.(multiculturalcookingnetwork)
That there is a highly-sophisticated, multi-billion-dollar campaign underway designed to teach your children about food? There is. In fact, experts agree that this campaign is wildly successful. Unfortunately, the massive instructional campaign to which I refer is the $2 billion effort by the food industry to teach children and teens to want candy, sugar drinks, sugary cereals, and other highly-processed junk foods. Mostly, these lessons are delivered through your television set. Increasingly though, these messages reach kids through mobile devices, so-called “advergames” on the web, and shockingly, even junk-food marketing within the four walls of their classrooms.
When one-third of American kids are overweight or obese, and are on track to have shorter lives than their parents, it’s clear that food education is too important to leave to Big Food. That’s why Jamie Oliver’s Food Foundation and the organizers behind Food Day (Oct. 24) are collaborating on a new national initiative to put food education in every school.(huffingtonpost.com)
The first barbecue sauces were mostly butter. In “Nouveaux Voyages aux Isles d’Amerique” by Frenchman Jean B. Labot in 1693, there is a description of a barbecued whole hog that is stuffed with aromatic herbs and spices, roasted belly up, and basted with a sauce of melted butter, cayenne pepper, and sage, a popular technique from back home that probably came to the new world via the French West Indies by slaves and Creoles. The French are incapable of making anything without butter. The French also were big on meat juices in their sauces, an ingredient still found in some homebrewed Texas barbecue sauces and more recently in Adam Perry Lang’s Board Sauces.
The German fondness of pork with mustard resulted in the wonderful yellow barbecue sauces still popular in a band of South Carolina from Charleston to Columbia.
In 1867, just after the end of the Civil War, after all the slave cooks were freed, the Georgia widow Mrs. A.P. Hill published Mrs. Hill’s New Cook Book dedicated “to young and inexperienced Southern housekeepers… in this peculiar crisis of our domestic as well as national affairs”. It contains the first reference I have found for a sauce for barbecue. It is mostly butter and vinegar: “Sauce for Barbecues. – Melt half a pound of butter; stir into it a large tablespoon of mustard, half a teaspoon of red pepper, one of black, salt to taste; add vinegar until the sauce has a strong acid taste. The quantity of vinegar will depend upon the strength of it. As soon as the meat becomes hot, begin to baste, and continue basting frequently until it is done; pour over the meat any sauce that remains.” Interestingly, Mrs. Hill shares many “catsup” recipes, among them two for tomato catsup that are pretty close to what we know today. Originally ketchup was probably made from fermented fish.(amazingribs.com)
Something about tender rich meat smothered with barbecue sauce just gets me excited in every way.
Arousal in my eyes, my sense of touch, my palate, my stomach, even my sexual parts.
Then you take that and mix it with collard greens, baked beans and corn bread and I’m liable to explode.
I had an awesome, memorable breathtaking experience at one of the best barbecue joints I have been to in my life and that was at Kelsey’s in the Pechanga Resort & Casino.
Escaping the incoming Communist regime at the end of the Vietnam War, many Vietnamese fled to America in the mid-1970s, and quite a large number settled in Louisiana. Recent figures put the New Orleans Vietnamese population at 14,000, making our city host to the largest, most vibrant Vietnamese community in the state.
Why New Orleans of all places? For one, the sub-tropical climate and proximity to water appealed many Vietnamese immigrants. Also, many newcomers after the Vietman War were Catholic, and both New Orleans and national Catholic charities were spearheading efforts to help new residents find jobs and housing in the city.
Many Vietnamese settled in the newer, suburban parts of the city, particularly in New Orleans East but also in parts of Algiers, Avondale, and other places on the West Bank. As their local population grew, the Vietnamese community spread to other neighborhoods and began to revitalize these areas.(neworleansonline.com)
Something about seafood just gets me all riled up..
From cracking crab..
To sucking life out of a crawdad..
To sinking your teeth into some succulent plump shrimp…
Whatever your fancy, you haven’t had nothing yet until you try your seafood Cajun style.
When you think Cajun, the first thing that comes into your mind is New Orleans style; but did you know that Vietnamese Americans have cook Cajun New Orleans style as well…
One allure of three-star dining in the French countryside is the surprise of finding worldly offerings in a provincial environment. Similar dynamics are at play at the Plumed Horse, the famous restaurant that opened in 1952 in Saratoga, the storybook-like village tucked up against the Santa Cruz Mountains.
With white lights wrapped around the tree trunks lining the street in front of low-slung buildings, this stretch of Big Basin Way provides a dramatic contrast to the gilded, sophisticated interior of the restaurant. The entrance provides a neutral transition to the world of fine dining.
The dining room has a modern, big-city feel – perhaps not evocative of San Francisco, but certainly Dallas, Los Angeles or Las Vegas. The mod fireplace that dominates one wall in the 60-seat lounge competes for attention with the three-story glass wine cellar that divides the lounge from the 80-seat dining room. Step through the cellar door and you might have a touch of vertigo because the glass floor makes you feel as if you’re walking into space. Below you are boxes of wine; above are hundreds of bottles displayed in clear racks.
Designed by Walid Mando, the dining room features an impressive barrel ceiling of shimmering Venetian plaster, overlaid with sycamore panels that arch over massive leather-framed mirrors and sapelli wood walls. The tables are beautifully set before comfortable microsuede chairs. But what really grabs attention are the three Chihuly-like chandeliers made of fiber optics that change from steely silver to vivid green, pink and aqua. This unexpected dash of glitz adds a striking contrast to the tailored room and provides diversion should conversation lag. Depending on your mood, you can see the fluted disks as electrified jellyfish or psychedelic mushrooms.(sfgate.com)
One of the earliest dishes attributed to an Italian, and still extremely popular today, is Chicken Tetrazzini. It was created in the early 1900s in honor of Luisa Tetrazzini, the operatic soprano known as The Florentine Nightingale. The famous muffuletta sandwich of New Orleans, named after the muffuliette rolls baked in Sicily, was created in 1906 for Sicilian workers. The ever popular Philly cheese steak was invented by an Italian, and the specialty fish stew of San Francisco, cioppino, originated from the Italian fish stew ciuppin, made by the Genoese fishermen who settled there.
Soldiers returning from Italy after World War II brought with them their desire for the foods of a grateful but war-torn nation. Enterprising immigrants opened restaurants providing the soldiers with the foods they had developed a craving for and introduced the soldiers’ families to spaghetti and meatballs, sausage and peppers, ravioli, lasagna, manicotti, baked ziti and pizza. (lagazzettaitaliana.com)
