Recent content by AlexR

jennyema, Further to your last post, I thought I actually should go back and open the two links you sent (i.e. overcome my prejudice). I noted the following quote from the first link : “This explains why tasters kept describing real vanilla as “boozy,” an adjective rarely applied to fake...

jennyema,</SPAN> jennyema, I have a healthy scepticism and believe that first-hand experience from people on this forum – foodies – will give me a much more accurate and in-depth perspective than the studies cited. Got garlic, I’m confused by your post: “Quote: "You argued that because...

Got Garlic, I'm furthering the discussion not in a spirit of contradiction, but to try to understand. I'm of course willing to accept that some simple synthetic food flavors are indistinguishable from the real thing. In a way, they *are* the real thing, because their chemical composition, the...

Got Garlic, You say that "Natural and artificial flavors are chemically indistinguishable". If that is true why, for instance, does natural vanilla extract cost so much more than the artificial stuff? Could there - must there not be - other factors, molécules, etc. that add something to the...

Hi, My wife has a gluten allergy and I was puzzled when I saw both "starch" as well as "wheat starch" and "corn starch" listed on labels. If it said just plain "starch", could it, in fact, be wheat starch? I live in France, so I wrote to the European Food Safety Authority in Parma and was...

Hi, I love risotto, but am unfortunately rarely successful cooking it at home. I cannot seem to imitate the creamy consistency I find in good Italian restaurants. I'm not referring so much to the sauce here as to the rice itself. I generally brown the rice in butter for 3 minutes or so and...

Steve, Yes, that is exactly what I am talking about (côte de boeuf in French). What is the difference between grilling and broiling, please? All the best, Alex R.

I neglected to say that this is not a roast consisting of several ribs. I have three very thick individual ribs. Am I better off putting them under the grill in the oven or roasting them at high temperature ??? Alex R.

Jenny, When I speak of an oven grill, I'm referring to a heating element on the inside of a normal kitchen stove. Nothing fancy whatsoever. Best regards, Alex R.

Hi, I'm planning a dinner for 8 on Friday and have bought three beautiful aged ribs of beef. I should explain that this is a wine dinner so any cooking must not overwhelm some fine old Bordeaux. I only have a standard oven grill to work with and it will not be possible to barbecue. Any...

Hi, I've had lucious meat cooked this way in restaurants and so considered buying a steam oven, or some sort of hybrid, for my new kitchen, but did not do so in the end. Do any of you have such an animal? Is it awfully expensive? Are you satisfied with the results? Is there any waye those...

I have a new kitchen and am delighted with it. I am getting used to induction and find it mostly good news. We have a new oven now too, one with a self-cleaning program (pyrolysis) that works well. However, it is annoying that when the oven is looking like a million dollars, the grills...

Thanks for all your suggestions. Bill, the model I saw was a de Buyer, such as you suggested. What you and Gadzooks say makes me think this would be a good choice after all. I am a bit wary of the non-stick aspect, and am wondering if abrasives will harm it, but I think I may well go for it...

Hi, We had a new kitchen put in, and the range uses induction, so we need to replace some pots and pans. We want to buy a new wide (min. 35 cm, and up to 40 cm.) frying pan suitable for induction, but the only one we could finds is a carbon steel one. Seeing as we use this sort of pan to...

I've often wondered how many nutriments are lost during processing and cooking... Ideally we'd all eat raw feeds and be healthy, long-lived, ecological, etc. Of course, this is not for most people... However, it would help to know if buying fresh rather than canned or frozen, for instance...