Do you have a culinary passion?

I love food!, I love to cook! but most of all I like to eat. Saying that I'm kinda particular about what I eat!. I'm amazed at how many people find cooking both a chore and not important. So because The Loops is a truly International family, I really would love to hear about what some of you guys eat!. Regional/cultural or just basic family/generation passed down recipes that you eat at home!. Some pictures of your culinary creations would be cool to see. Or even restaurant pictures of what's on your plate! and even a note about the kind of beverage you favour to accompany your food would be fantastic!.....so Bon appetite! ;)
Pico :)

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incivanpico attached the following image:

Ok Pico

You asked for it, now don't go complaining… ;)

I LOVE shopping for food, cooking & have people over for a meal, i think it's the best thing in this world : people breaking bread together !

I don't prefer this cuisine or the other - everyone has delicious dishes & some that i eat less often or skip.. - although in general for every day eating i focus around portuguese, italian, french, greek, mexican, chinese, thai, japanese. Add to these some english, irish, scottish & german, hungarian, russian dishes & i'm amply satisfied !! ;)

Fortunately in Portugal it's easy to buy high quality food at reasonable prices most everywhere, the cost of wines, beers & spirits being positively laughable.
What can become expensive is high quality fish, freshly picked clams & mussels, shellfish + stuff like smoked /cured meats, cold cuts & such..

A couple of stapplemates in our cooking are Black pork of Alentejo - a portuguese species ( Spain also has variants as well.. ) that are raised in the open plains, foraging on 100% natural acorns, fruit & veg in untouched landscapes..
& of course our BELOVED dried/salted cod fish wish we've fished for ages in the New Foundland sea banks & off the Norwegisn coast, etc…
After being brought to land, the fish is gutted, opened up the middle & layered in sea salt & hung to dry in the sun at a certain angle
Prepared this way, you can store it in a dark dry place for months & it won't go bad - when time comes to eat it, you cut it in pieces, place it in water for a nº of hours, it regains it's original size & shape & is ready to cook. However, the salting/drying process adds a unique & fantastic flavour to it - totally different from fresh cod !

Now, what i eat - being a small list it's easier to start by what i NEVER eat :
Anything w/ cartilages, internal organs - liver, brains, kidneys, tripe, tongue, pig's trotters, pig's ears, real fatty meats, etc… might like the taste of their sauces on bread but the textures make me SERIOUSLY gag :( my loss i guess ?..

Then my favourite foods in winter are any kind of ''comfort foods'' as stews w/ veg, thick pipping hot soups w/ or without croutons, oven made roasts w/ all the trimmings & being portuguese, there are a few cod fish recipes that i absolutely love..
In warmer weather, since i tolerate heat badly i take refuge in grilled fishes, shellfish ( raw or cooked.. ) sushi with the occasional grilled meats/poultry thrown in for good measure, specially at dinner time when it's cooler : a big heavy lunch in days going from 30 to 45ºCentigrade ISN'T my idea of fun…

LOVE any type of cheeses, butters, cream, double cream, sour cream, ICE CREAM !!….. cold cuts, sausages, hams, breads ( ONLY home made, wood oven baked.. ) the whole washed down by generous amounts of fantastic wines, beer or our sangrias ( white or red, w/ all sorts of fruit inside, loads of ice, etc.. ) in summer ''Vinho verde'' is a firm favourite - fizzy, slightly acidic, fruity but dry, low alcohol content & stupidly cold makes it one of the most dangerous - it feels like drinking a light refreshment so you easily drink a lot of it & when you TRY to get up, it's like the planet collapses under you & you sit back down FAST !!!…LOL… DANGEROUS stuff guys !!

We also have a reasonable selection of quality locally made spirits, some endogenous to us & others which have their respective equivalents in your countries
Please DON'T mention rosé wines, i am deeply sorry & apologise profusely to all the countries we invaded w/ our stuff…LOL…. 90% of them are bottom of the barrel CRAP, the remainder 10% are GORGEOUS and drunk by their respective producers & RARELY are sold !

Since i don't have photos of things i cook ( never occured to do it.. ) i'll post some YouTube links, all as short as possible, about portuguese dishes since those will be the most ''exotic'' to you guys, OK ? Hope you enjoy it

Tacky promotional video but their Cataplana is good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmkz0cfcqP0

A long show by a guy who rocks - Anthony Bourdain & it mixes music, food a bit of the mood etc.. - it focus in the Lisbon region but it's well made

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QU9T2dDZlg

Not much to do with food but shows the south, the Algarve where i live only in a new way of living people are more & more adhering to..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt9G8-zcmy0

One day i'll post photos of stuff i cook ;)

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nuno Big Boy! ;)
Firstly a big thank you really! for this wonderful and engaging invitation to your Country Culture/Home/Table!:)
Yes! there is nothing better than inviting friends to an experience of culinary offerings! and I have to agree! there is no better interaction between us humans than food, conversation!.. and least we not forget wikiloops music!!!! to provide the required ambience!
That Vinho Verde m8! sounds fantastic hehe! :D.I Love the fact you enjoy the process of both sourcing produce and cooking nuno!, such a very important factor in enjoying the final result of ones effort to make great wholesome tasting food. OH nuno! Homemade wood fired cooked Bread?..is a Killer!...absolutely beyond anything I could buy or get in Blighty (UK)..to be honest the bread in Britain is crap! :( and Brits don't eat much of it with their main meal anyway! not like other countries, which is a shame.
Fish and other seafood items are easy to get in Cornwall where I currently reside! helps if you gotta m8 on the day boats!;)....but again most is shipped out to European areas as they consume far more than UK people ( CRAZY! IMO!)..LOve the idea of that dried Cod! I gotta try that!:)
I grew up with friends that came over from Hong Kong when I was a kid...they had a takeaway outlet so I got to see Chinese methods of cooking and was allowed to be about their Kitchen. But later learned the difference between the real Chinese food and the commercial UK menu!:D....it was this experience that fired my passion of food!
Thanks again nuno!....loved your post! and I hope more add!
until then! Desfrute de sua refeicao nuno! :)

Pico :)

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Edited by incivanpico on Marzo 22 2015 03:27

I can't cook to save my life but fortunately my wife is a good cook. My favorite food is Indian - I like just about anything spicy. My favorite Indian curry is Madras. Where I live in New York state there are quite a few good Indian restaurants and my wife is learning to cook some of it too. She made chili chicken with onions recently and she can even make naan - which you need when you have very spicy food. I have travelled to the UK twice and they do have really good Indian food there too, at least in the London area. Nuno, I have got to get to Portugal one of these days - sounds like you've got a lot of good food to eat there, plus warm weather sounds good because we still have snow on the ground here.

Killer beef marinade..as in some kind of roast..London Broil is also good..here goes... 2 cups cheap Cabernet wine...1 cup Soy Sauce...put in blender. Clean up 1 garlic clove..the whole thing..not just one clove..about 2-3 tablespoons of granulated sugar and maybe 1/4 cup Italian Seasoning...whip it all good in blender...then put in gallopn size Food Bag..throw your meat in and let it moulder for about 2 days...Cook on BBQ..then eat and partake in food coma...Ahhh

Mark

Sounds Great Fishin Buddy! :D
I think i'm gonna try that! The whole reason for this post was 2 put up real quick tasty food wid a twist. I like In a bag marinade thang! very cool!
See ya on the next Jam Fishin!:D

Regards,
Pico ;)

I love cooking. I only got into it a few years ago after being a 'can't cook' person for as long as I can remember. Then I discovered the art of cooking was to just do as the recipe tells you to! Since then, I've got into it big time. I still mostly follow recipes but I've started to develop my own creative abilities now by learning from recipes. But I only enjoy cooking for others - I don't cook for just myself. Don't see the point.

With food I eat practically anything. The major exceptions being mushrooms (it's a textural thing for me), oysters (it tastes just like the sea it came from) and, oddly, soup in any form but especially the watery ones. You cannot say you do not like something until you've at least tried it!

One of my all-time favourite foods is also one of the simplest: spaghetti bolognese. So satisfying, so filling and just so many ways to make it. But it has to have simmered for hours to really get all the flavours going in my book. I often cook mine for 4-5 hours. Same goes for chilli - gotta cook it long and slow.

And bhunt is right about curries in the UK. Oddly, we're home to some of the best curry houses and curries in the world. The Chicken Tikka Massala was invented in Birmingham, UK, not India! Cambridge is host to some very good curry houses. I'm terrible at cooking curries though - there's a real dark art to balancing those spices and flavours based on my attempts. It's usually the only food I won't take on cooking from scratch.

And Fish has just reminded me: when it comes to cooking meat - especially BBQ - you cannot beat the USA. I'd love the UK to have some of those proper pit BBQ places like they have in the US. And as for southern US pulled pork... OMG! I've watched far too much Man V Food in my time!

Now I'm hungry...

Okay MP!( Just 4 You!)
I so agree Chilli and Bolognese isa better cooked slow(1 day old even Better!)
Curry is simple!
Onions sliced fine and the curry powder(if its 1 of those Schwartz bottles! then empty a good 1/2 of it in or a little more!(that's for 2 persons!....so basically do the lot ,don't be afraid okay! :D) on a medium heat and just wait till that aroma starts!..just toast it a bit!......put 2 small onions ! and about 8 gloves of garilic in a blender wid a big piece of fresh ginger...and pulp it up!...while that blends throw in your Chicken...let it get some colour( but not 2 much hehe!:D) then empty the blended onion/garlic/ginger!
You could even 1st fry some onions in Ghee un-till golden the add the meat! then remove and the add onions and curry powder( I do recommend going to your local Asian super market to source a good blend! please speak to these guys about spices and such!)...they'll give ya a good blend MP! ;)
If you need a little added thing get some coconut crème!(then you got Korma/Makni) especially if you add some natural yoghurt ...if beef then stock!(but it all goes together anyhow!)...if you need 2 thicken the sauce? ...just mix a desert spoon of flour into water and add or use corn flour!
If you wanna add more spices then cook it 1st a little in oil/Ghee to release the flavour then add!
if you need sweetness then use Honey!(that goes 4 Chinese food also)
Rice is 2 cups 2 1/2 cups water approx....use tight fitting lid ,wait till it starts spitting and the turn down 2 lowest heat(very low)...un just let it steam.......if you got a glass lid you can watch the bubble process take place...if need 2 add more water boil kettle un add on low temperature!...just enough to soak out the dry uncooked rice!(use the taste it method!)
If you got left over Veg then throw it in!....
Look! Buy a massive piece of Beef!( its better Flavour!)...1st meal you make a Roast....2nd cold meat wid fries(mayo!) un Salad.....un then the rest makes a great Curry!.....and you've got nice Sandwiches if ya get da Munchies!:D
Buy big un feed more(and save money!) not only that get meat with fat on it!...look 4 marbling definition and ask about its origin and quality! don't buy small joints(super market crap!) the bones then get boiled down for stock/gravy!(never waste nothing!)
I was a chef for 4 years! & my m8's lad was a Chef de partier 4 Rick Stein and then when 2 work 4 a Michelin Star Restaurant! ( he then quit and started life in the building trade same as me LOL!:D)
Anyway Loopers! WE gotta eat! guys so please add ur fast un tasty ideas!

Pico! ;)

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Edited by incivanpico on Giugno 01 2015 03:52

Pommes Mayo rot weiß ;)

Hi Pico

I've been cooking as my main source of income for 20 years. The advice I'd give to anybody is invest a few spondoolies in an electric coffee/spice grinder. Lloytron E5602SS works fine and is pretty cheap. If you toast and grind your own spices, you'll have a lot of fun & realize that the powdered stuff is a bit like sawdust. You might be doing this already, of course... :)

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So interesting to see these different points of view. To me, cooking is a pain in the butt which is always underwhelming, and I always regret spending time and money on recipes that come out gross anyway. Life is too short to spend time cooking. That's just me.

I reckon cooking is very much like making music. It's all about harmony and balance in the end product. I'll put perfectly coherent dishes together, beginning with a pen and paper or even just a quick look in the fridge. Some people are very impressed by this, but to me it's easy: I know the rules, I know how to break them and how to use them.

As an utterly amateur musician, I feel that discovering wikiloops is like a home cook waking up one morning to find that their kitchen had been replaced by a fully equipped commercial kitchen bristling with fresh produce and Dick handing you a big knife and telling you to have fun:)

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Wake up, Coffee, shower, Music from 14:00 to 18:30, then cooking to 20:00
For family first

That's like music for me: feeling
Wok(s) a lot (vegetables and not too much meat needed, curries), pastas, salted pies, blanquettes, risoto(s)...
I like garlic, gingember, basilic and Wikiloops
I don't cook fish

warm, cold
Tof's Salad'
Advocado, smoked salmon, grapefruit, kiwis, salad, tomatoes with citrus vinaigrette: just the juice of the components (no no no salmon juice lol)with few middle mustard, sugar soy, oïl, a touch of white balsamic vinegar, Pepper)
The must on: Ciboulette and red fine oignons slices over

Let's Have a Jam... In the Kitchen
Go hearing a song from The Times "Skillet" and will play it in the kitchen in september :)

ToF

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Edited by Tofzegrit on Giugno 12 2015 03:54

I love this conversation. In real life I am a professional Chef. I worked in NYC for many years. I have catered events in the 1000's, worked in small restaraunts and have participated in chef competitions as part of a job interview (thanks a lot "chopped") Cooking for me has been a chore, because it was business and it was relentless, but even then I still loved it. Now I live in Asia and my life is less stressful. My wife and I cook together out of classic cook books. It is a blast. Soon we are going to Rome for the 1st time. Can't wait to enjoy some Italian food. My favorite.

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Very much the reasons I gave up professional drumming 20 years ago. Apart from not earning much, when drumming became my day job and sole source of income it, as you say, became stressful and I started to resent it. Giving it up and returning my drums to a 'hobby I take seriously' status has enabled me to enjoy it so much more and get so much more out of it.

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Edited by mpointon on Gennaio 27 2016 11:53

I had two sisters and we would imitate great restaurant dishes at home. To this day I can break down dishes in a restaurant and /or get the secret ingredient. I am a rare person that I will eat anything and appreciate anything other then testicles, fish eggs or bladders.

My kitchen is dairy kosher so we eat vegetarian at home. We love cheesy-anything. I, however, love to bake pastries. I'm all about the pastries - and wine.

I'm good at making "stoner" meals, I took some bread, put butter on them, fried them and served them with pancake syrup ... easy peazy, good eatin' LOL!

Nice recipe. lol

Dip them into a mixture of beaten eggs and cinnamon and you have "French Toast!"