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Manuel Dexterity

Apr 29, 2010, 10:27 AM

Post #26 of 35 (3079 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] The worst cooking task is....

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In Reply To

By the way, Manuel; I had The Princess go back and correct her error so your jibe is diminished if not entirely pointless.

Esperanza´s response was more cleverer.

Your fowl play isn't surprising.

Peter

Apr 29, 2010, 11:04 AM

Post #27 of 35 (3070 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] The worst cooking task is....

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I also noted that any decent tamal claiming to be a tamal contains an enormous amount of lard and only lard will do unless one is kidding oneself so perhaps eating tamales too often is an invitation to stent city (or is it stint?) for us geezers.
_________

I'll go one different. I have a nasty habit of Americanizing some traditional recipes which often results in the cooks here asking what I did and sometimes leading me to believe I improved on it in some way. I don't use lard but you can decide if my change is a healthy improvement or not. I think in this case, yes, but marginally so.

I make chicken tamales and start with a pressure cooker full of chicken thighs, skin and all. After cooking and letting them cool I remove the skins and put them into the blender with some stock, blend it up, then add that to the corn flour to make my masa for the tamales. Besides the necessary grease the skins add flavor and additional protein. The rest of the process goes as normal here with one more addition, I think a good tamal should have one black olive in it.

A favorite old Mexican restaurant in Oxnard, which opened in 1948 and has now closed this past December, used to make the best tacos dorados and it took years before I could discover what gave them their distinct flavor. I discovered it when after making my tamales many years ago I used some chicken grease I skimmed off the stock to cook the taco shells. That was it, Yreka!

(This post was edited by Peter on Apr 29, 2010, 2:03 PM)

Hound Dog

Apr 29, 2010, 11:36 AM

Post #28 of 35 (3057 views)

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Re: [Peter] The worst cooking task is....

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Thank you, Peter. I guess, unfortunately, the secret ingredient is "grease". This same secret applies to Alabama-style pork butt used for making BBQ sammiches which is far fattier than the pork butt one can buy in the parts of Mexico in which Dawg has lived which have been primarily Jalisco and Chiapàs. The Alabama-style pork butt (shoulder) is larded with fat and, consequently, after slow smoking over hickory or mesquite or oak, is a beautiful thing full of cooked fat and as tender as butter. BBQ sammiches from heaven. Incomparable. Down here, even Bubba´s pork butt is lean and not nearly of the quality demanded of Southern BBQ fanciers from the Carolinas to East Texas. It´s a shame but everything in life is a trade-off. So be it. If Alabama and Texas are the best places to live on the planet, what the hell are Dawg and Bubba doing at Lakeside.

Peter

Apr 29, 2010, 2:24 PM

Post #29 of 35 (3040 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] The worst cooking task is....

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I guess, unfortunately, the secret ingredient is "grease".
_________

Seems universal, as is the question: If it is so bad for you why does it taste so good? Grease is kind of different in that regard though. I mean, who would eat a saucer of grease by itself? But as you point out, it is necessary. Leave out one spoonful of that disgusting glop and something wonderful becomes hardly worth eating.

And cleaning up a greasy mess is certainly among the worst cooking tasks.

Hound Dog

Apr 29, 2010, 4:20 PM

Post #30 of 35 (3028 views)

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Re: [Peter] The worst cooking task is....

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Seems universal, as is the question: If it is so bad for you why does it taste so good?

God´s little joke.

La Isla

Apr 29, 2010, 4:51 PM

Post #31 of 35 (3017 views)

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Re: [Hound Dog] The worst cooking task is....

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Here's a scientific answer to Peter's question, as opposed to Dawg's theological take on the joys of grasa :

Why Fat Tastes So Good by Kathy A. Svitil
From the February 2006 issue; published online February 20, 2006

No matter how cleverly prepared, fat-free foods never seem satisfying. Now we know why. Nutritionist Philippe Besnard of the University of Burgundy in France has found that the 10,000 taste buds on the tongue seem to include a type that specifically responds to the flavor of fat. If confirmed, it would be only the sixth known type, joining those that sense sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and savory (also known as umami).

Besnard uncovered the fat sensor in the tongues of genetically engineered mice that lacked the ability to make a protein called CD36. Mice normally have a yen for fatty foods, but the altered animals showed no preference for the stuff. Furthermore, regular mice release fat-digesting secretions in their bowel and ramp up intestinal fat absorption as soon as they taste fat; the modified mice displayed no such response. Apparently, CD36 is the key protein that allows certain mouse taste buds to respond to fat. Humans, whose sense of taste works almost exactly like that of mice, almost certainly have the same taste bud.

From an evolutionary perspective, having a fat bud is a big advantage. It causes animals to crave and consume high-calorie fatty foods and then prompts their bodies to quickly and efficiently digest the fats, storing away an energy reserve for times of starvation. If scientists can find a way to develop nonfattening foods that latch onto the fat receptors, they may be able at long last to develop fat-free snacks that can actually trick the tongue.

Peter

Apr 29, 2010, 9:59 PM

Post #32 of 35 (2990 views)

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Re: [La Isla] The worst cooking task is....

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Who's ya' daddy? He's that guy with the schmaltzy tongue. He's the one we want to blame for all our troubles. Very satisfying what he is saying to us, apparently, because it seems we all like what he has to say. It's obvious we don't trust him completely and we try not to invite him to dinner, but he seems to be the one who most reliably lets you know when it's time to quit.

On the other hand, it's umami who keeps urging us on. "Come on, have another bite. Just one more, OK?" And we trust her completely. But it is her that is going to get us in trouble. Who's umami? That is kind of hard to say. She's the one with the potato chips. "Bet you can't eat one," she taunts. So we do, then another, and another, then we turn around and blame the schmaltz. But before we get to the bottom of the bag he's already told us we've had enough, but then umami urges us on again, "Aw c'mon. Just one more." So we do, then after time takes its toll we look in the mirror, disgusted by that extra flab, and blame it all on daddy.

That savory taste is called umami. It IS the flavor in the potato chip that makes it addicting. In its basic form we recognize it as the universal flavor enhancer, MSG, almost pure umami. MSG had a bad rap but we forgave her. It's perfectly OK in moderation, we're told. But it is for immoderation that it is added. It is the non-descript flavor that is put there to get you hooked and keep you coming back for more.

Have you ever tasted MSG out of the shaker? Bleccch! Better grab something to wash it down, and something else just to be on the safe side. But ol' fat daddy told you, "Enough!" and you listened to him then. Perhaps he is the one to listen to after all. Don't blame him for what umami done to you.

(This post was edited by Peter on Apr 30, 2010, 5:47 AM)

Anonimo

Apr 30, 2010, 4:48 AM

Post #33 of 35 (2974 views)

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Re: [Peter] The worst cooking task is....

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Very good, Peter! You have a way with words.

Saludos,
Anonimo

wendy devlin

May 11, 2010, 2:47 PM

Post #34 of 35 (2884 views)

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Re: [Anonimo] The worst cooking task is....

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Dang! just can't resist responding to this discussion.

That and letting you guys, know(not that anybody necessarily cares, ja! ja!) that I'm still alive and kicking up a storm of farm-fresh food on the ranchito canadianese.

FAT in food. Was way good. Necessary. Valued. For many evolutionary(taste!) reasons, from farther back than any of us, moderns can count.

Trouble is. We got sedentary. Stopped hunting and gathering, running around and chasing women, women stopped running around, chasing children...How you going to burn off those delicious calories?

Nature's way is to store them, in all the usual places. Until you might need them.

Hound Dog

May 12, 2010, 6:02 PM

Post #35 of 35 (2839 views)

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Re: [tashby] The worst cooking task is....

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Dawg is changing his contribution to Tashby`s request that one post the worst cooking task ever. Dawg has chosen the task of picking blue crab meat but, while always a difficult task down on the Alabama Gulf, now most assuredly more difficult now that the clearly dead and repulsively inedible crab is covered with Louisana crud(e) and stinking of Dick Cheney´s lower extremities. Hard to get your fingers around all that slime. We have lived to witness the destruction of our precious Gulf Coast habitat for the sake of what? What was to come of that failed endeavor that would benefit Americans? You tell me.

(This post was edited by Hound Dog on May 12, 2010, 6:05 PM)

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