PrintIngredients challenge: What have you made with hard to find ingredients?
Recently, I had to make a nesselrode pie, and the recipe called for lots of glaceed fruit and chestnuts in a syrup.. Surprisingly enough, places like Whole Foods or Trader Joes did not have what I needed. I had to find a Middle-eastern store to get my ingredients. What have you made with hard to find ingredients? What were the items?
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7 Comments:
I made pad thai following Chez Pim's recipe and it required me to go to a Thai grocery in Elmhurst Queens. It was fun to cook and fun to shop for.
Eroca at 9:55AM on 10/16/07
I'm just now coming back from a search for filé powder for use in gumbo. Last week I ordered the free cookbook of rabbit recipes from Pel-Freez even though my wife has always responded negatively to the possibility of eating rabbit. She found the Rabbit and Sausage Gumbo to be interesting and bought everything for it, including 3 pounds of domestic rabbit. But here in SE Michigan/NW Ohio, no one had heard of filé powder. Of course, I hadn't until yesterday ... This morning after going to two Krogers, a commercial food service, and a local specializing grocery, I found the Tony Chachere's brand at Sofo's retail shop. Then on my way home I passed the local seafood shop, owned by a friend of ours, had one of those "D'OH!" moments, and went inside, where our neighbor up the road sold me some of the Louisiana Fish Fry brand for comparison. Talk about not having enough caffeine ...
LunaPierCook at 10:45AM on 10/16/07
I was reminded of the fact of the multi-culturalism which exists within "Asian" cookery and ingredients a little while ago when upon deciding to make dashi, I went to the two international food stores nearby to try to purchase katsuo-bushi and neither store had it or knew what it was by that name. One of the stores is owned by a Chinese woman, the other by a Korean man. Katsuo-bushi is Japanese. I finally ended up buying hon-dashi (instant dashi) until one of the stores ordered the katsuo-bushi for me several weeks later.
This might also be an example of how industrial or quickly-made mixes have infiltrated the cuisines of many places all around the world.
Not that katsuo-bushi is exactly unindustrial though certainly older in terms of production than hon-dashi. Probably most cooks for some time now don't go around catching their own bonito then drying it and shaving it into shreds.
Anyway.
I made dashi. Both ways. :)
It was good, both ways.
Karen Resta at 1:00PM on 10/16/07
Pad Thai also. I lived in a small town in WY at the time, but (lucky me!) there was a specialty store that sold tamarind and dried shrimp and a couple of the other strange ingredients.
lo82070 at 1:55PM on 10/16/07
I love making Thai curries and this calls for some real ingredient-hunting. Having been spoiled living in NY for so long where eye of newt and/or wing of bat are plentiful, I was unsure about hard to find ingredients here in Tampa. Luckily, there is a place called Oceanic Market and they have everything including meats, fish, dumplings, produce and numerous canned and bottled sauces.
I got Mae Ploy Thai Curry paste in Yellow, Red and Green. Fresh Kaffir Lime Leaves and Fresh Lemongrass. My favorite base for Peking Duck Sauce, Koon Chun hoisin; and black bean and garlic paste. They also carry Chao Koh coconut milk. I use Keo Sananikone's recipes for curries.
I was also introduced to Mochi Ice Cream by my BF who dashed off to the frozen food aisle while I was on my hunt for the Thai stuff. A tiny blob of ice cream surrounded by a rice noodle. What a chilly, creamy, textural experience!
chiff0nade at 2:20PM on 10/16/07
Out in the middle of noplace (where I live) I could not find food quality lavendar. You cannot just buy lavendar that has been treated with things for potpouri. Luckily someone I knew bought some at a herb dealer and mailed it to me. The lavendar biscotti are going to be good.
JerzeeTomato at 2:41PM on 10/16/07
A couple years ago, I made this this Dark Chocolate-Caramel Cake with Gold Dusted Chestnuts, quite a big deal since my family has NEVER eaten chestnuts in any way shape or form. The jarred chestnuts were not too hard to find, the sweetened chestnut paste with vanilla was a little more obscure, but the most difficult ingredient by far was edible gold dust. The gold dusted chestnuts on top of the cake looked amazing in the picture, so I really wanted the gold dust, and luckily I found some last minute (and in two colors!) at an art supply store. It was totally worth it!
ChristineB at 10:06PM on 10/17/07