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Look Who's Talkin': Comments, Quips, and Tips We Have Known and Loved

Posted by Adam Kuban, March 19, 2010 at 3:30 PM

There's so much going on in Talk week to week that we almost can't keep up. If you're in the same boat, here's a small selection of topics and responses that have piqued our interest this week.

[Photograph: ©iStockPhoto/tap10]

Therapeutic Tedium... or Hateful Kitchen Tasks I Strangely Enjoy

"I am another who loves dishes for the zone out time.. but only when I feel in need of zone out time. Peeling potatoes is another big one for me, and chopping vegetables, because they both require concentration, but not so much you can't zone out a bit." —GegeMac

Easter Candy!

"Cadbury Mini Eggs. Already plowed through one whole bag of 'em. I couldn't contain my excitement when I spotted them in the store. I used to like Cadbury Creme Eggs but I don't care much for them anymore. I swear they made them smaller a few years ago and totally threw off the creme-to-chocolate ratio." —keybe

Why Are Professional Cooks and Bakers So Poorly Paid?

"...I think of the restaurant industry and its chefs as analogous to the music industry and its musicians. A musician can attend Julliard and study theory and composition, have access to all kinds of instruments and brilliant minds in the industry. And not every graduate will become Itzak Perlman or Yoyo Ma or Phillip Glass. On the otherhand, I can enjoy Bach's Cello Suite #1 without knowing the first thing about suites and minuets or key signatures or form. And I can play the prelude to the 1st suite, but no one is going to ask me to play a solo in front of any audience. And somewhere there are thousands of musicians making a great to decent living and elsewhere thousands of musicians are living one gig to the next. Some are truly talented and passionate, others are hacks. A few, lucky or smart, will rise to super-stardom. Of those lucky few, some will be flashes in the pan (so to speak) and others will become icons." —wookie

Tamales

"Find a Mexican butcher shop and ask the person behind the counter for manteca de cerdo (lard of pig), they will point you towards the green and white box on a shelf. Politely say “no, fresca, por favor”. This will get you the fresh roasted pork lard they make on the premises. You’ll get a pound or so of warm brown goo, in a plastic bag, that makes the BEST Tamales you have ever had. The recipe and method I use come from Rick Bayless’ book, “Mexico, One Plate at a Time”. My wife took some of the tamales I had made to a party where she was the only non native Spanish speaker and they were the hit of the feast, especially when word went out, her very anglo middle aged husband had made them." —NWcajun

What Are Your Morning Coffee Gripes?

"Weak 'breakfast blend' that tastes like someone brewed REAL coffee, poured it out, and made this pot from the wet,used grounds. See also: hospitals, churches, lousy diners... Second gripe: no Dunkin Donuts within driving distance! I love the Vietnamese iced coffee out here, but haven't found dependably good hot coffee." —lyricanji

My Life is Serious Eats (MLISE)

"I feel like I just stepped into the best support group ever." —_greenbean

How to Feed a Political Vegan

"Eat Wild is a great website. It's also worthwhile to check out farmers markets, where you can actually meet the farmer and ask any questions you want (including 'can I come visit?'). It's more affordable to buy by the whole or half animal, in which case they will get a lot more variety and minimize waste (i.e. you'll get soup bones with beef to make stock from)." —MoEats

Green Food for St. Patty's Day: What is the Appeal?

"I like the idea of serving green foods, in their natural state. Artificially colored green: yuk." —CJ McD

Latest Convenience Items in NY Times

"...The idea of getting people 'cooking' at home can potentially lead to more people gaining confidence and an interest in Cooking at home, and if you can make it just a little easier and a little less intimidating, that is probably going to be mostly a good thing. There's even a benefit to younger kids, in that it makes them feel like, 'Gee, this isn't that hard!'

But what I do find more than a little disturbing is the idea that it's worthwhile to eliminate a few button-strokes in the name of chicken nuggets, frozen pizza and hot pockets. How much better is it to press 'pizza' and 'start' vs. read the box, punch in three numbers, and hit 'start'?..." —RouxTheDay

Foodie Bummer. Help!

"My big thing when I started to eat to save my life, was BIG flavor. Lots of herbs and spices, scallions, citrus and sauces made with chopped herbs, garlic, lemon juice and zest and a touch of olive oil (my take on chimichuri). This truned out to be so good I could eat it on cardboard and enjoy the heck out of it. Garlic, garlic, garlic. Cilantro, basil, dill, the list goes on and on. Once you start thinking about it you can put these herb mixes on or chicken or beans or whatever and it's good. For me, at least." —zilli

School Lunches

"...When my family moved to France, we realized that you can't bring a packed lunch to school (to the utter incomprehension of my mother)but you could go home for the full duration of the hour-long lunch-break if you liked, or eat at the 'cantine' which served bread, a starter, main course of meat and vegetables/starch, a cheese or yogurt and a dessert, no milk, just a water-pot for the table. Also we sat at actual tables, and had real plates, silverware and glasses and sometimes were served family-style, one dish per table. In one school you had to bring a cloth napkin with you that you would leave and take home with you on Friday to be washed. The food was real food, still cafeteria food, but actual, freshly-cooked food and so I ate at school almost every day...." —moonlyt

Your 'Poor Era' Eats

"As the daughter of a depression era mom, we wasted NOTHING. Poor eats were: polenta, eggs in purgatory, pasta in every incarnation imaginable, lentil soup with cut up Hebrew National hot dogs, lots of frito misto (fried mixed veggies).

As for me, in lean times (like when I was in my 20's) I'd go to Lamston's instead of Woolworth's because Lamston's had Ramen noodles 5/$1 instead of 4/$1 like Woolworth. Of course, lots of soups and stews came into play but here's the thing—even after I was able to afford better food, I still craved the 'peasant' food and opted for it many times over something shee shee.

If you wait long enough, everything seemingly 'poverty induced' will somehow become gentrified—and 10x more expensive than it was when you were poor. Example: short ribs." —therealchiffonade

Followup: What Kind of Pepper Is This?

@rasellers0: Did you ever figure it out? If so, what kind was it? ——AK

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