Post-Holiday Uses For Holiday Spice Blends

    Much and more has been made of holiday spices in the winter. Mulled wine and cider, spiced cocoa, trifles, custards, and pies, pies, pies- Chess, Pecan, Pudding, Apple, Sweet Potato, Pumpkin, the list goes on. But what happens when the time for a jolly wassail and a pile of pies feels past? All the warm satisfying spices often just sit there untouched in the pantry for another year, and that's no fun at all!

    Those spices are quite versatile and useful- most of them all year round. Sweet or savory, there's always a place to tuck them to make a little magic. Why don't we go down the likely list?

Ginger, Nutmeg, Cardamom, Coriander, Mace, Cinnamon, Allspice, and Star Anise are the most probable, but there's also the blends. 

(If you have the premixed "pie spice" blends, you can still comfortably use them as components elsewhere- though be sure to check if they have sugar added, because that could cause a lot of flavor adjustments! The most common brand in my part of the world is McCormick, who offers blends for both Apple and Pumpkin pies. Deceptively simple, the Pumpkin Pie mixture consists of Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg, and Allspice, in decending order of quantity. The Apple variant simply omits the ginger.)

    You're most likely to see many of the individual spices in other mass market blends too! Things like Garam Masala, Chili Powder, Five Spice Powder, Ras El Hanout, Jerk Spice, or Curry Powder. Each of these uses some of the spices I've mentioned to create completely disparate flavor profiles in dishes from completely different parts of the world.

-Add some coriander and star anise to pumpkin pie spice and you have a decent interpretation of five-spice powder, a foundation for plenty of Asian cooking

-Add some cumin and chili to either of the blends and you have a passable American Southwest spice blend. Add star anise and toasted nuts to that, and you're leaning into Mole territory.

-Add chili peppers, cilantro, garlic, and scallion, bump up the allspice, and you have the start of a Jamaican Jerk paste.

What if you don't even want to fiddle with the blends? Just swap them for where you'd normally find one of the components therein.

-Cinnamon rolls made with 'Pumpkin Pie Spice'? Hell yes. In the filling, the icing, either or both!

-Stir them into softened butter with a little honey or maple to make a sweet and spicy compound butter- wonderful on waffles, pancakes, french toast, and many other things!

-Shake them into oatmeal, porridge, or cream of wheat- a much more vigorous start to the morning!

And so, something that at first seems simplistic and singular in use can be seen all around the world.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Awoo^^

Why Representation Has Requirements: Screw You Uncle Roger

    Rapid improvement in international and global communication has led to all manner of improvements in understanding between people, places, and cultures otherwise far apart and dissimilar. However, the rapid spread of information and ideas also brings its inevitable baggage along: misinformation, stereotype, and caricature. 

    Which brings us to my memetic headache of the moment: Uncle Roger. His comedic gimmick is pretty simple- leaning into the middle aged Asian Uncle who behaves like a FOB despite being far from 'home' for many years. Take this, turn the accent up to 11, add gratuitous overreactions to a variety of situations, including many video clips of Asian cooking by non-Asians, and you pretty much have it down.

    The enterprise is not wholly without merit. Some of the examples used in his videos are legitimately appalling, and the reactions would be the same from just about anyone, irrespective of their background.  (Making 'fried rice' with raw, uncooked rice? Yikes.)

    When he turns the clowning on professionals though, it gets rather more bothersome. His targets sometimes seem cherry-picked. Influential, largely wealthy veterans of the food media world occasionally publicize things far outside their area of expertise. 

    The former part of that is Uncle's armor- any angry response would come across as ego driven and 'punching down', so the latter part's often valid criticism has time to sink in. There are occasional counter-reactions from those targeted by the dramatic 'Aiyah!', but it feels like there's a lot of smiling done with clenched jaws and gritted teeth.

    That in itself isn't even so bad, but what's underneath is a more subtle kind of damage that bothers me very much indeed. 

Consider: 

I am the Whitest Dude You Probably Know- I look like a mix of Daniel Radcliffe and Peter Parker. I'd probably be a prime target for a Fried Rice Reaction Video if my media presence were larger. 

But you know what? 

(admiral_ackbar_its_a_trap.jpg)

I'm a chef that specializes in the food culture of Asia and Southeast Asia. I know everything Uncle Roger talks about when it comes to food- what's true, what's exaggerated, and what's outright nonsense. I've spent years living and working alongside both the people he mimics and the ones he griefs.

    

    The stereotype shorthand used by Uncle Roger to influence believability and legitimacy takes away from those who have the expertise, but not the look. Seen most commonly in 'ethnic' restaurants here in the West, hiring practices are geared to give customers what they expect to see. While far fewer than in years past, plenty of people still want to see their very own Uncle Roger when they go out for Chinese- and that's simply not a good thing. 

    Well-meaning as the entertainment might be, it inadvertently causes backsliding of the gains made in Asian media representation, and it undermines the more universal effort to move past stereotypes and preconceptions of knowledge or experience. 

    The days of Short Round and Yan Can Cook are decades gone by, and the Asian communities around the world are better for it. Why draw from a manufactured subculture proven to be harmful, and that's in the process of being deliberately phased out? Uncle Roger feels firmly in the territory of "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.".

    The goal should be to judge the content of the craftsmanship, not the color of the culinarian.

-Awoo.

Appliance Reviews: Frigidaire 'Professional' and 'Gallery' 30" Induction Cooktops

The other week, I went to visit a friend for a couple of days. I came home to this: 

Yes, that's shattered, and yes, that's superglued. Apparently dropping a ten-kilo bag of dog food on it with no particular care causes damage. Shock. 

But! A replacement was already en route, and after I returned from another job requiring my being away from home, it had already been installed. Now, we have this! 

Since both of these are/were Frigidaire products, I'm going to compare and contrast without fear of a turf war, and as someone with lots of experience in restaurant, catering, field, and home kitchens, there's a bit to say.

Equivalencies: Both are embedded, requiring an opening of appropriate size. A larger lip for overhang and stability is better, naturally. Each also has 4 'burner' locations, clearly marked. But that's about where the similarities end.

The Gallery model has its largest burner in the center- which may have contributed to the eventual breakage by virtue of relatively constant stress on the area most susceptible to buckling . The Professional model's largest burners are on the left and right sides, nearer the edges where the stovetop physically rests. This allows more stability and creates less stress on the physical form. The amount of difference this makes is unknown, but as far as engineering goes, it should be sturdier for longer.

The Gallery is fully flat and purely touch-operated, with no knobs or other things. While making it quite easy to clean, this creates an issue I consider severe enough to recommend against a possible purchase: Automatic Shutoff. If liquid of any appreciable volume spills on this stovetop, be it from a bubbling pot, spilled saucepan, or even a soapy sponge, the safety mechanisms will kick in and deactivate the whole thing. It can't be turned on again until the surface is fully dried. There being no way to override or shut this function off in the manual (at least that I could find), the potential for resulting culinary catastrophe is high. It nearly ruined meals many times, to the point where I would have the oven hot in preparation for the stovetop's failure and simply move the cooking vessels to something that does as it's told.

The Professional is a different beast entirely. With clearly visible physical knob controls, the inadvertent shutoff is not a problem for this model. However, it's not without a few of its own worries. The knobs do not seem to be readily detachable, which will make cleaning under and around them somewhat difficult. Another sticking point is that the temperature readings are more numerous, adding .5s between the whole numbers, and the knobs themselves are fairly small. Coupled with them being at the front of the stovetop, inadvertent bumping of controls and temperatures becomes a modest concern.

Price-wise, the difference is also nontrivial. The Gallery model MSRPs for about 2000USD, and the Professional for about 2500. For those that cook seriously though, the Professional seems the way to go if you have to choose between.

To be frank though, I'm not sure why they're so expensive. If pressed to guess, would have expected the price tags to be half that. Reliable, consistent, and easy to hook up and operate even for laypersons. But does that justify the price? 

I find the notion dubious. But needs must.

New Notion: Toasted Marshmallow Panna Cotta

I adore marshmallows, and consider them underused. When you hear the word though, not many things are likely to come to mind. 

- A cup of hot cocoa, topped with marshmallow. Few finer things are to be had on a frigid day. Heat to warm the body, sweetness for energy to fight the chill, and a deep richness to infuse the soul with comfort.

- A classic camping trip treat, the S'more. Chocolate, graham cracker, and a marshmallow gently toasted over a crackling campfire.

- A sweet snack so readily advertised and commonly made the company started making it themselves- the Treat of Crispy Rice, or whatever they call it that won't have lawyers knocking on my door.

There are a few other places they work as accents, such as ice creams and fudge, but what more might be had? A little work on my part yielded a tasty innovation, which I now use as a standard catering dessert item. 

Simple technique, applied to a dish that already uses gelatin, allowing the rich intensity of a toasted marshmallow to infuse into a delicate, often mild-mannered dessert like panna cotta. In addition (or lack thereof), there's no additional sugar used in this recipe. The marshmallow provides all the sweetness necessary.

Toasted Marshmallow Panna Cotta

Ingredients: 

2x 1 cup Milk (Whole milk, at least 3% milkfat)

2 cups Cream (Heavy / Whipping cream, at least 30% milkfat) 

8oz marshmallows (Ideally minis for more exposed surface area)

1 envelope / 7g powdered gelatin (to be bloomed in 1 of 2 cups of milk) 

Recommended Equipment:

Oven with functional broiler, 2 small bowls, measuring cup, medium pot, rubber spatula, blender, strainer, baking tray/sheet pan, oil or cooking spray, aluminum foil, molds for finished product.

Method of Preparation: 

Place the cream and 1c milk in a pot to be brought to a simmer. 

Sprinkle gelatin over remaining 1c milk. 

Turn on broiler. Line a sheet tray with aluminum foil and grease well. 

Place marshmallows on tray and carefully brown under broiler. 

Add to heated milk/cream mixture, stirring till dissolved. 

Repeat with milk/gelatin mixture, and allow to return to a bare simmer.

Blend the mixture, then strain and portion into greased molds.

Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Awoo!

A Quiet Re-Introduction.

If you haven't seen this blog before, welcome.  If you have, welcome back!

Given the fading state of the larger Internet media platforms, I decided to bring this back online. A decade and more have left their mark, but much of what was already here is still solid information, and there will be much more to come.

Book reviews, appliance reviews, deep dives into specialty ingredients, food culture pieces, it'll run the gamut. 

If you want a live Q&A, I also stream on Twitch: The Hungry Wolf's Kitchen

Awoo!