OT Peppermills For God Sakes

I Just Finished Talking To My Old Man
and learned he had a coffee grinder- I found what I was looking for and am in process of getting one. Coming back here to bring the news, I found Firkin and Yvsa as often is the case are on the crest of the learning curve. Thanks so much guys.

You should see this cast iron version I saw- like having a steam locomotive at the dinner table.


munk
 
Josh Feltman said:
Firkin, you are the spice master! (Which is probably better than being a spice girl :p )

How do you know so much about spices and cooking? Hobby or profession?
--Josh
Click to expand...

I guess "hobby"--no body pays me to cook.

I'm cheap and often poor, so just about everything I eat, I've cooked. Cooking is cheap entertainment too. And I like spicy foods.

I've acquired various cookbooks and and by now one cupboard of my kitchen is packed with jars of spices. Regularly cook Indian or some type of Mid-Eastern food without using prepared spice mixtures, and it's easy to accumlulate a lot of spices. Cook Mexican food from authentic recipes and you'll have five or six kinds of dried chiles in no time.

Among my cookbooks are a couple from these folks' interesting collection:
http://www.hippocrenebooks.com/cgi-...e.cgi?page=cooking.html&cart_id=5106697.11204

I'm finding out that places like Georgia or Uzbekistan have interesting and distinctive cuisine. Places that were crossroads for trading like along the old silk route often have interesting traditional recipes derived from the varied influence of the different cultures. Brazilian cooking or Cajun/Creole cooking are other examples of this kind of combination. Go for books that relate the recipes to geography and culture, and you're more likely to have the real deal, plus it makes things more interesting. You don't want to buy a Chinese cookbook that contains a recipe for chop suey.

"Ethnic" food stores often sell whole spices at a fraction of the price asked for those little jars at the grocery, but often in larger quantity, another reason to buy whole spices and store carefully. Find out where recent immigrants shop for stuff like they used to get back home, and be aware that some spices consistently get mistranslated into English. Searches on the 'net often provide alternate names for spices.

One nice link:
http://www.foodsubs.com/Spice.html

It is an index to information on many spices by common English or scientific name.There is also a link to: "a much more informative alphabetical index is available, featuring thousands of spice names in about 40 different tongues".

Each entry contains spice name in foreign languages, photos of plant, description of parts used, etc.

It is one of those things that you can't believe is free. on the 'net

Many "exotic" spices are actually common to the cooking of different areas, you will be able to find many "Indian" spices in a Mid-Eastern store but (mis?)pronunciation of the Hindi name for a spice won't be very helpful at a Persian store. Cooking information is probably one of the things the net distributes best (except of course, for porn), so it's pretty easy to find the right name for the kind of store you're going to. Sometimes one culture's spice is another's medicine, or used for a totally different seasoning purpose.

Also check out the Mexican spices in hanging cellophane packets that are often displayed in groceries. They can be good and quite inexpensive, though I'd avoid pre-ground stuff unless one knows that there is a high turnover.

Speaking of cheap, I've lately been snagging nopalito from a neighbor's plant that hangs over the fence. Nothing like free food.
 
Firkin, several years ago I lost a Chinese cook book to a guy with no intention of returning it. The book was simple, easy to read and impliment, and authenic. Can you tell me the name of another Chineese cook book that fits that description?


Grinders- under Coffee grinders I found a Chinese site with wooden drawer type units. I am still hoping to hear from them. These boxes can grind coffee too. Other places have these units, and I think they're from the same source, but they want about 80 !!! dollars for one.

There's a metal machine for about 35 dollars that is my fallback. This morning I found another metal one for 25 that looks promising.

I still say Firkin that should you wish to get married, all you have to do is get the gal inside your home and feed her.


munk
 
I tried for 5 minutes and failed, Bruise . The "back" button function doesn't work for me on that site. The search box turns up nothing, the categories insufficient.

The site is exclusive in that you need a minimum IQ to purchase any of the above ordinary products they offer.

Apparently, I'm destined to purchase Chinese mass production.


munk
 
munk said:
Firkin, several years ago I lost a Chinese cook book to a guy with no intention of returning it. The book was simple, easy to read and impliment, and authenic. Can you tell me the name of another Chineese cook book that fits that description?
munk
Click to expand...

Sorry, I actually don't have a Chinese cookbook....Maybe some-one else can suggest one.

But here is what I look for in a cookbook if I'm buying a general one that covers a cuisine with which I'm not very familiar.

Should have sections that cover:

cooking techniques, tools, and Western equivalents/substitutions

glossary of spices/ingredients with description, names in English and appropriate language

Discussion of regional cuisine--especially for large countries like China--Szechuan cookjing is very different than that in Hong Kong. Not to mention Mongolia or western part of the country.

There are lots of (expensive, photographically-illustraded) crap Mexican, Chinese and Italian cookbooks that just provide a collection of recipes that match the menus in chain restuarants or simply provide instruction on opening and mixing packages of ethnic convenience foods. Though you may not now imagine doing it yourself, I'd be suspicious of a Chinese cookbook that didn't tell you how to make fresh noodles for example.

Other signs of a good book are:

chapters on how to make commonly used preparations like spice mixtures and sauces.

appendix with listing of importers and mail-order suppliers

author has written other books devoted to specific regional cusine of the country, or other more specialized topics.

discussion of substitutions for hard to find or labor intensive ingredients (ex: an excellent Afghan cookbook from the publisher I linked mentions that many Afghanis in the US have adapted to use packaged wonton or pot-sticker wrappers for dumplings instead of preparing the dough.)

I won't pay for a new book that doesn't meet this description, except for ones addressing regional cusines or other specific topics, no matter how many pretty pictures it has. I have gotten some wonderful cookbooks for a few bucks in used-bookstores that provide authentic recipes. Often they were written before the cuisines became well-known or were common in the US, have no photos, and were cheaply printed.

Good luck on the grinder--a friend of mine in college got a nice old wooden drawer one at a flea-market while he was studying in Berlin, and I think it was a scarce item then.
 
I tracked down this small Pepper Mill at oldethompson.com . Number 3044-36


The Pepper apparently tumbles right out the bottom as you crank. There is another metal grinder available that has a drawer. I'm probably go for it even though it's larger and will be more inconvenient with wastage.


munk
 
Please allow me to introduce myself as a new member. I am the owner of the web site www.pepper-passion.com . I was surprised to see many hits recorded at my site last month as originating from this site, until today I saw the post that mentioned my site and was responsible for this.

I decided to join this group for several reasons. One, I have always been interested in knives and swords. Two, as a woodworker and former engineer I have a "keen" intererst in cutting edges. Lastly since the topic of Pepper Mills seems to generate some attention, I would like to offer what expertise I have to the group on that topic.

I guess there is one more reason. I have recently decided to wholesale some of my products to a local retailer by the name of the Epicurean Edge. The owner is blade smith and a kindred spirit I would guess. I have to respect a person who would offer 12,000 grit waterstone for sale. (I usually stop at 6,000 grit and they edges are scary sharp).

I hope the pepper lover will visit my site and please fell fre to contac me prvately if you have any questions.

Regards, Bruce Morgan
 
Welcome, Bruce. Hope you like it here.

What kind of knives are you interested in?
 
HI Bruce. Welcome to HI.

I went to your site. I finally bought a coffee grinder for my pepper. I could not find my Father's mill for less than 60 bucks- a wooden box with a drawer. In retrospect, I wish I'd got one of the Greek metal mills. I beleive there was one with a storage compartment for ground pepper.

I have the Universal. It is mostly novelty, I think, though it does work. Perhaps the coffee bean could be ground as fine as it boasts, but the pepper pod occasionally slips through. The little wooden drawer is now made from Pine for cost savings, and I could crumple it in my 'bare hands" , the stand is also Pine. My oldest son and I already have plans for improved structures should these fail. Also, if this cast iron locomotive of a grinder ever falls it will break, I'm betting.
On the plus it has a big wheel to turn and a little drawer to open- and my small son's are captivated.

We've covered hot peppers here in the forum before- there are many fans. I'm in my 40's now and prefer the El Yucateco green habanero salsa picante.

I try and give business to forum members. I hope you stay and get yourself a HI Khukuri. Watch for the specials around noon some days.

munk
 
Firkin: I'd highly recommend a cookbook called Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco by Paula Wolfert (she's got a site, www.paulawolfert.com, of course). I suspect it's something you'd like.

My wife and I accidentally went to a Moroccan restaurant many years ago while on vacation, loved it, and went to the bookstore to try to find some Moroccan recipes. Stumbled on this book. I think it's brilliant. I believe it meets all of your criteria, plus tosses in some cultural / historical stuff. She partly Americanized some of the recipes, but they're still usually pretty involved (the phrase "the day before" isn't unusual). She's got a lot of cookbooks with stuff all around the Mediterranian and the her newer ones often repeat recipes from CAOGFFM, and often simplify them to save some time.

Moroccan food's a lot of work, but worth it. One of our favorites is a chicken dish that involves peeling/seeding/chopping a ton of tomatoes, simmering chicken in that and spices for an hour or two, removing the chicken, and continuing to cook down and reduce the tomatoes until all the water is gone and the solids fry in oil. Add honey, etc. and use as a sauce for the incredibly tender chicken.

Got a good source for saffron?
 
One of our family favorites is 'Moroccan Chicken' which uses preserved Meyer lemons, olives, turmeric, and LOTS of onions. Fantastic. We preserve our own lemons, too.
 
Already responded in email too, but welcome to the cantina. Pull up a chair.
 
Thanks for the recomendation of the cookbook;I just ordered it. The old lady has been yammering about Morocco foods for quite a while,having visited there in the past. My only connection with the country is a dagger called a "Flyssa" that I collected years ago.
 
Aardvark said:
One of our family favorites is 'Moroccan Chicken' which uses preserved Meyer lemons, olives, turmeric, and LOTS of onions. Fantastic. We preserve our own lemons, too.
Click to expand...

Yup. That sounds about right. Tip of the hat for preserving lemons, but I can't say as I know where to buy them (grin). I should make another batch...
 
GA LITTLE said:
Thanks for the recomendation of the cookbook;I just ordered it. The old lady has been yammering about Morocco foods for quite a while,having visited there in the past. My only connection with the country is a dagger called a "Flyssa" that I collected years ago.
Click to expand...


I know where you live and I'm telling your "old lady" that you called her that. :eek: Or...if you have any old rusty, unwanted HI Khuks laying around we might work something out. :D
 
GA Little: From what you wrote I believe you'll enjoy it, even if only to read it. A couple of tips:
1) Allow LOTS of time for cooking.
2) A common ingredient in that book, "Green Coriander" or "Chinese Parsley" is usually sold today as "cilantro". It is the greens from the plant whose dried seeds are sold as "coriander." Don't substitute ground coriander for green coriander. They're not even close. But you should be able to find the real-deal easily enough. In fact, pretty much everything in there is fairly readily available. You can buy a special "tagine" pan. I don't have one and I suspect a nice heavy dutch oven-style pot might be better.
3) Did I say allow lots of time?
 
FallingKnife said:
Firkin: I'd highly recommend a cookbook called Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco by Paula Wolfert (she's got a site, www.paulawolfert.com, of course). I suspect it's something you'd like.


Got a good source for saffron?
Click to expand...

Thanks for thinking of me!

I have this one by the same author, and it's very good:
"The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean". I'd certainly buy another book by the author.

As far as saffron goes, I buy what seems to be very high quality Iranian saffron from a local Persian food store. I do have the site linked below bookmarked and gave some consideration to a purchase, but an 1/2 ounce or an ounce of saffron is a shedload (the 5 g quantities don't pay to order compared to my local store),it looks a good deal, if the stuff is good quality, especially if you can use a 1/2 ounce in a reasonable time:

http://www.saffron.com/

Another surprising url!--however they do seem to offer vanilla extract as well. Worth a look anyway, good information about saffron there.

Can't go wrong with Dianna Kennedy for Mexican cookbooks, (though I'm keeping my eye out for a good Oaxacan cookbook). Copeland Marks has written a rather ecletic collection of books on what are often less covered regional cuisines. They are a bit sparse on the technique, but he really does a good job on the history/culture part. I've a couple of his books, and also would buy more. I don't have this one which is out of print, but you may be interested in his "The Great Book of Couscous: Classic Cuisines of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia".

As noted, a lot of these kinds of food (the stews, not couscous) don't get cooked quickly, but it is worth it. I should weigh more than I do.
 
Speaking of cookbooks.

American 'cuisine' basic cooking info, with heavy emphasis on
preserving nutrition, & simplicity.

Not exactly up to date in -all- details
but still my dependable reference among a shelf-full of cookbooks.

Let's Cook It Right
by Adelle Davis
1947, revised (considerably) 1962

Either edition shows up among piles of used books.
costing $2-$8.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top