Cooking: the DIY you can eat!

[jacco vermeulen]

22 lbs bag of sea salt from the French salt planes.
Ovenbaked salt crust fish dishes require a lot of sea salt.

 

[jacco vermeulen]

And one from Italy.
I'm also into black pepper, beats stamp collecting by a mile.
We have friends from Santiago de C. who bring me pepper from Spain every time they visit their family.
(and Pincho Moreno herbs, and real garlic, and more)

 

[Cal Weldon]

Back to W sauce for minute.

Having made it I would like to share my findings. There are three ingredients more important than the others.

1. The vinegar you use
2. The molasses you use
3. Time.

The sauce must ferment for about a year to achieve that characteristic flavour.

The anchovies need not be fermented ahead of time, you can use dried.
The shallots and onion must be fresh
The tamarind can be powdered
The sugar can be sucrose
The salt should be coarse not iodized.

I'm not recommending that anyone try making their own. It's a pain with lot's of trial and error. I won't do it again.

 

[SY]

Tomatoes are doing great out here right now and I found a source for some excellent burrata. Not exactly a traditional caprese, but I'm no respecter of tradition- and the two Italians at this dinner (I cooked for 13 people) were pretty pleased.