It's amazing, isn't it? After I was married, my wife convinced me to start a garden for her. We went organic. Tough in Texas but do-able. Before long we had swiss chard, tomatoes, peppers, radishes, arugula, and pecans growing. Pears, peaches, and blueberries should come along in a year or two.
I find it extremely difficult to eat most microwave or processed food. There is something about the smell and taste that just puts me off.
Apologies Jacco, I meant when I sampled in Curacao the original Senior brand was the only local one I thought worth it, never tried Bols. The blue color E133 was apparently banned in the EU for a time, I wonder what was used there for a while.
The bottle in #2014 is blue, but the content was transparent.
Bols 'senior' was a VOC shareholder, imported the offbeat zest (as did/does Cointreau with their orange raws)
The Bols original dates back to the closing of the 1600's, the local production started a century later.
(=> slave trade down the crapper in the late 1700's => main focus on the plantation bizz => diversify)
The Senior family may have experimented with soaked zest, but the expertise there & then was either plantation farming or trading.
More rational for an f&t guy to sell a dried peel to moonshiners who'd already been doing it for a couple of centuries.
Still, got to admire the Sephardic Spirit. (must be a coincidence that the marina where I hang out, used to be the No1 'auction' location
)
The blue coloring was a marketing thing from the 1970s, to promote it as a cocktail mixer, targetted at the bar/disco scene then. By Bols.
Cointreau took over Bols in 2000 (sold off again six years later), likely the moment when the Carib line split off.
As blue is the island's color, the isle (owner) made the stuff a trademark, turned it into a circus freak show. Not so smart in the long run, imo.
My post had more to do with the Lahara, totally worthless as a fruit, but the zest is pretty special, imo.
(merely accidental that I have a 35-year connection with the rock, up till a decade ago, I would not have touched the Blue with a wooden pole)
(not the 1st distillery, but the longest surviving one)
Bols 'senior' was a VOC shareholder, imported the offbeat zest (as did/does Cointreau with their orange raws)
The Bols original dates back to the closing of the 1600's, the local production started a century later.
(=> slave trade down the crapper in the late 1700's => main focus on the plantation bizz => diversify)
The Senior family may have experimented with soaked zest, but the expertise there & then was either plantation farming or trading.
More rational for an f&t guy to sell a dried peel to moonshiners who'd already been doing it for a couple of centuries.
Still, got to admire the Sephardic Spirit. (must be a coincidence that the marina where I hang out, used to be the No1 'auction' location
) The blue coloring was a marketing thing from the 1970s, to promote it as a cocktail mixer, targetted at the bar/disco scene then. By Bols.
Cointreau took over Bols in 2000 (sold off again six years later), likely the moment when the Carib line split off.
As blue is the island's color, the isle (owner) made the stuff a trademark, turned it into a circus freak show. Not so smart in the long run, imo.
My post had more to do with the Lahara, totally worthless as a fruit, but the zest is pretty special, imo.
(merely accidental that I have a 35-year connection with the rock, up till a decade ago, I would not have touched the Blue with a wooden pole)
(not the 1st distillery, but the longest surviving one)
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Do you have a reference? I can't find any reference to a pure orange zest cordial from before the 1800's. Mandarine Napoleon is another that goes way back with zest extraction but that was early 1800's (Napoleon's exile?)
Bad breath, always keep some mints in your pocket. Now this could turn into an interesting conversation. What ingredients give you foul smelling breath.
I also like Tangerine for such essences, had some excellent DIY Frangelico on the weekend, more pungently spiced. with some DIY Maleny rain-water based Vodka, fresh pineapple and lime, it went down faaaar too easily for my own safety ...
Simple, but tasty evening meal tonight. Organic Veal, briefly marinated in garlic, thyme, seeded mustard, olive oil, Seasalt/pepper, Grilled then finished in the oven. the remainder of the twice cooked 3 cheese polenta (cheddar, parmesan, gruyere) and a simple wild rocket (arugula) salad, with blood orange and lemon, garlic and olive oil dressing
Simple, but tasty evening meal tonight. Organic Veal, briefly marinated in garlic, thyme, seeded mustard, olive oil, Seasalt/pepper, Grilled then finished in the oven. the remainder of the twice cooked 3 cheese polenta (cheddar, parmesan, gruyere) and a simple wild rocket (arugula) salad, with blood orange and lemon, garlic and olive oil dressing
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Once a week my grandmother did a giant pot of polenta. The old fashioned way of constant stirring ending up with a crust on the entire surface of the pot. I used to peel it off and eat it like crackers.
Dear Cal,
If you dislike the bitter flavor of the eggplant, maybe you'll love the "pastel de choclo" or corn-pie that we enjoy here.
Pastel de choclo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I eat it with added sugar but some prefer salt...earthenware bowl is (almost) mandatory for the final aspect and taste...
Cheers,
M.
If you dislike the bitter flavor of the eggplant, maybe you'll love the "pastel de choclo" or corn-pie that we enjoy here.
Pastel de choclo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I eat it with added sugar but some prefer salt...earthenware bowl is (almost) mandatory for the final aspect and taste...
Cheers,
M.
I cheated, its 3 min polenta. I actually added a bit too much olive oil/butter for frying off the thyme and garlic (I only measure for deserts and this was flying by the seat of my tipsy pants. as a result the grains didnt swell as much as I would have liked. the result while very tasty, was a bit more rustic than I planned and I had to drain a bit of the fat off after a few minutes in the oven.
but ohh yes, the crust... drool
Not really, but brinned oranges (succade) were already imported in the 1500's, and dried oranges in the 1600's, oldest reference of orange marmelade in GB is from the 3d quarter of the 17th century.
Between 1600 and 1700, the top-rank scene here was one chique yuppie watering hole (© Jack Lucas, The Fisher King '91).
Amsterdam canal center : if I can't have the widest (as you make me pay by the yard width), I'll sure have the tallest (with a fake top floor façade)
Afaig, a lot of liquor/liqueer flavors were hatched in those days, by the many hundreds, to suck coins from 'The Vogue'.
Many with fancy/mysterious/foreign names, to insinuate that the new ingredients from exotic shores had health/healing powers, and to appeal to the New-Agers & Esoteric of that era. Crème de Ciel is supposed to be among the oldest of the lot.
In South-America and the Caribbean, people throw anything in alcohol. To try something different to swallow the main load, or of boredom.
Till this very day there's a cocktail subculture in the former colonies, amongst the better/well off.
A friend, part of the Bridge & Cocktail inner circle for decades, talks 7/7 about drinks. An average evening with her means declining several beverage suggestions, some of which exotic. The lady is even mighty proud that a relative started a family name Ponche brand on the island a century ago. (good fortune I'm more inclined to multi-culti & food)
Flaw of living in a swamp is lack of tradition, a strength is the ability to adapt at high tempo.
Somewhat of an irony, that folks still drink stuff now, originally thought up to cater a bunch of decadent degenerates.
Some of the herbs/spices distilles are of very limited annual production, not available in shops, date back a couple of centuries, for the 'happy' few.
Other crèmes are in any supermarket, e.g. Advocaat (Attorney's sip), references to that stuff is found in literature from the late 1700's.
Both yuk, imo.
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Just curious, I guess not well documented and the commercial sites all have their own story.
Dear Cal,
If you dislike the bitter flavor of the eggplant, maybe you'll love the "pastel de choclo" or corn-pie that we enjoy here.
Pastel de choclo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I eat it with added sugar but some prefer salt...earthenware bowl is (almost) mandatory for the final aspect and taste...
Cheers,
M.
Does it go well with cuy?
True, personally I'm more interested in the how, than the when.
After years of trying different ways of making milk foam, from various espresso machine steam pipes to various hand-job shakers, I ended up with an 800W induction heater & frother. Fully automatic, the easiest to clean, but lacks a main switch.
A little over a week ago, unplugging it, I zapped myself for the so-manieth time.
The built-up discharge by touching two pins really hurts.
I didn't like the Nespresso frother before (or Nespresso), due to it's small milk capacity, but what the .., then I'll just get me two Aeroccino-3's.
And WOWZA, that thing is so cool, best foam ever.
Speaking of commercial fairy tales : in the '80s, a hotel chain wanted the guests of their +5-star hotels to have access to fresh coffee 24/7.
So they approached Nestlé with a request to develop a Formula-1 coffee machine.
Nestlé came up with frozen concentrated coffee in....sealed cups, and had a number of machines manufactured.
Real biggies, size of a vending machine, real expensive too.
A guest could go to the hotel corridor at 4am, and by the press of a button, the inside of a sealed cup would be unfrozen, mixed with hot water, poored : ét voila, fresh coffee for monsieur.
Part of the deal was that Nestlé kept IP of the sealed cup idea.
ét voila, the Nespresso system was born.
Horrible coffee for yuppies, Nespresso-Nestlé closes in on 5 billion dollars gross annual revenue, and George Clooney is a decaf.
*NEW* Nespresso George Clooney Commercial - YouTube
(but it's not exactly the story Nestlé tells)
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Hi Max, thank you for another attempt to convert me.
Bitter is no problem and I don't even look at them as bitter. In fact I drink bitter lemon soda, eat stuffed bittermelon, drink bitter coffee and beer, and love all things tangy and somewhat bitter. There are a number of things I don't like about eggplant but for the sake of those who enjoy them, I will keep my mouth shut.
Bitter is no problem and I don't even look at them as bitter. In fact I drink bitter lemon soda, eat stuffed bittermelon, drink bitter coffee and beer, and love all things tangy and somewhat bitter. There are a number of things I don't like about eggplant but for the sake of those who enjoy them, I will keep my mouth shut.
Phlegm. The phlegm that has been coated with a bread/cheese mixture, then deep fried is almost palatable after being smothered in marinara....
If you dislike the bitter flavor of the eggplant, maybe you'll love the "pastel de choclo" or corn-pie that we enjoy here.
Sounds like shepherd's pie but with corn instead of potatoes on top.
Tell you what, Ron- show up here for the Janfest in October and try my wife's eggplant parm, which is far and away the best I've ever had (and I've had a lot- it's one of my favorite foods). If you don't love it, I'll know that there's no hope for you, and at least there will be many other things to eat.
Precisely the word I wasn't going to type.
But I've had both grilled and dusted & fried that wasn't like that.