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joshua’s journal

Ooh La La

· 🌡️ 63°F

Have you ever felt the urge to write in your journal despite the fact that you really don't have anything to say? Granted, I'd stay quiet rather than gossip like a tabloid magazine. Trust me, if you ever needed to tell someone a deep, dark secret I'm like the fucking CIA. I will either deny any knowledge or run misdirection.

@jbeatty's latest journal entry reminds me of why I like to cook, and also why I wish I would spend more time trying to find cookbooks that suit me. I've always taken an interest in cooking. At first it was a matter of principle - I simply wanted to know as much as I could so that I wouldn't have to rely on anyone but myself to cook. Women love guys that can cook, or so I'm told, but I've never cooked for a date before. I'd rather do something more interesting... such as take a cooking class together. How would that be for a date surprise! I suppose that I should watch what she does with the knife...

For me, its the learning and doing aspect of cooking that I enjoy. Cooking does for me what playing musical instruments still do - it provides an escape and you're really only torturing yourself. That is, of course, assuming that you are by yourself and you are the only one listening/eating! There is also a creative aspect to cooking that I enjoy, as well as the flexibility that cooking allows you to explore. I also find pleasure in cooking for my friends - on occasion I am struck with a moment of culinary brilliance such as my teriyaki chicken. Other times it works out miserably, but the magic with cooking is that failures are edible.

I don't particularly have any fears of trying new recipes and my interest in this is insatiable. My only problem is that I can't drink up the entire culinary world in one gulp. It will take my entire life to do what I want to do with the culinary arts. However, for the mean time, I think I should focus on half a dozen recipes to master in a handful of cuisines.


368 words

💬 10 comments

  1. jbeatty ·

    Joshua you are more than welcome to borrow my copy of the Les Halles cookbook, although its a bit stained and thrashed from prior use. I find some of the best and most useful cookbooks are ones that explain how to actually cook what you are making. Recipes with vague explanation piss me off. There are some really good books out there that explain recipes in great detail. I find Cooks Illustrated to be a great source for very detailed info on the dish. Also Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques is probably one of the best sources with instruction on tons of cooking methods. Another good book is Mastering the art of French Cooking by Julia Child. But I also don't own enough cookbooks myself. There are a bunch that I would love to have, but there also are a bunch that scare me.

  2. james ·

    I have cooked on for dates several times. I am better than average and I use ingredients most Americans have never tasted before (why does no one use a fucking shallot?) so it was easy to wow.

    Never got laid cooking.

    Not once.

    I even got myself an apron that reads "Sodomize the Chef" as if I wasn't sending bill board sized clues out.

    So, learn from my mistake! Cooking skill isn't enough to overcome a nervous deficiency of charm.

    Rufies help.

  3. joshua ·

    Hmm. @james - I like shallots. But I'm oniony/garlicy like that.

    As for foods and dating, and how they relate, Rachel Ray (who Anthony Bourdain apparently hates... which I find puzzling) always says that two cloves of garlic cancel each other out. Is that some old Italian trick?

    @jbeatty thanks man. I saw on Bourdain's site that he had a couple sample recipes from the book, which I found so incredibly useful. It appears that in the book he enforces proper cooking methods and actually bothers to explain why... which couldn't be more up my alley. I also saw on Amazon that there is a paperback version of the book out, which I tend to like. I think maybe I am going to ask for it as a Christmas gift. Do you have any recommendations for an Asian cookbook?

  4. jbeatty ·

    Martin Yan's Chinatown Cooking is really good. But I don't know any really good ones for other types of Asian Cuisine.

  5. mrdt ·

    Good cookbooks, holyshit where do I begin. I own over 60-70.
    Tom Colicchio: "Think Like a Chef" & "Craft of Cooking"
    Alfred Portale: "Gotham" & "12 Seasons"
    CIA's: The Professional Chef
    Jasques Pepins: Complete Techniques
    Steven Raichlen: "the Grilling Bible"
    "The Dinosaur Cookbook"
    My Favorites:
    Julia Child & Simone Beck's: "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"
    Thomas Keller's: "The French Laundry" & "Bouchon"
    Eric Ripert's: "Le Bernadin Cookbook"
    Daniel Boulud's "Cafe Daniel"
    It all really depends on what you want to do and how complicated you want to make it.
    Cooking for me has been a journey toward culinary perfection so I totally immerse myself in reading on subjects like fish, bbq or sauces. Sometimes I just look at the pictures and work on my approach to plating/presenting the food.

    And trust me on this one there are very few cooks on this city that have more talent or knowledge for the craft than I do. Anybody that says this is an art should be taken down into primal cuts and served for lunch.

  6. joshua ·

    Thanks DT. I think that I will also try to find Julia Child's book, since it seems like such an important book. What I need is a set of books that I can build a foundation on, learn more and improve from there. It seems like Bourdain's book is also up my alley, since really what I want is direct, no bullshit explanations of the methods to prepare the dishes.

    You have no idea how badly I wanted onion soup yesterday! I think, since I've never learned, I'm going to make this first.

  7. jenks ·

    I agree with jbeatty that cooks illustrated is good. They rip a recipe apart and try it a million ways and then tell you what worked the best. One of my "standby" recipes is from there.

    I enjoy cooking too. But I don't think I've cooked more than pasta in... shit! over a year! :( Just don't have the time, and I have less incentive since it's just me.

    Oh, and yes- I will confirm - girls like guys who cook. (notice I didn't say guys who CAN cook- just guys who do/will cook is good enough for me. But if you're GOOD, you get major extra bonus points. Just like dancing. )

  8. mrdt ·

    Bourdain isn't so much of a cook as he is a culinary journalist. The Professional Chef is probably the best foundation book on the market. It is what they use to teach with at the World's leading culinary school, the CIA.

    Becareful with being direct. Often in those explanations are history or advanced knowledge that will help you to walk away with a better grasp on the technique or origin, which will help you to develop your culinary skills.

    Onion Soup is easy but to make really good onion soup you have to learn how to extract the best possible flavor from your onions, which is to slowly caramelize them in a small amount of fat. Then you take some flavorful broth or stock, maybe some wine, maybe some apple jack brandy some not so fresh bread (not old or stale) and add it to your onions. The onions are key and one of the ways to becoming a great cook is to master your heat. You cook the onions to fast and they will get color but they will be crunchy. You cook the onions to slow and you will be wasting alot of time not-to-mention they might burn based on how they sit in the pan. One fo the most important ideas I took away from "The French Laundry Cookbook" in a blurb along the side of the page, is to cut the onions with the grain (you should see natural lines in the onion) and this will prevent them from being tough. The onions should melt in your mouth. And their natural sugars, which you slowly extracted in the caramelization process, should be the base for the soup.

    Every ingredient you use say to yourself, how can I extract the most amount of flavor from this?.

    Cooking comes from inside of you not from a cookbook. For me only new ideas come from these resources. Most of the time I deviate tremendously once I understand the meaning and purpose of the dish.

    With experience and the continual training of your palate you will develop inot a marvelous cook.


  9. tinypliny ·

    Check out my comment in @museumchick's blog.

    My recipé for onion-tomato-garlic-but-mainly-onion soup.

    1. Get red onions for strong flavour, or yellow onions for light flavour. Cut them up lengthwise into thin strips.

    2. Take peanut oil in a vessel which will conduct heat well - preferably a stainless steel pan with a flat copper-bottom. Set heat to medium.

    3. Drop some cumin into the oil and just when the cumin starts to dance and bubble, drop all the onion into the oil. Turn down the heat a little.

    4. Sauté the onion about the pan, till they are slowly browned. Add some fresh chopped ginger to the onions. Keep sautéing. The onions will first turn glassy and then start to become reddish and crispy.

    5. When the onions are somewhat browned (after the glassy stage), add chopped garlic (maybe 3-4 cloves of garlic).

    6. Keep Sautéing. When the edges of the onion strips go a deep red and the middle of the strips get a nice brown, it's time to add the tomatoes.

    7. But before the tomatoes, add a bit of powdered black pepper, salt, small pieces of ginger and green-chillies (Sliced long into thin strips).

    8. Take greenish tomatoes (they are more sour than the reddish ones) and cut them into really tiny bits.) Add them to the onions.

    7. Keep sautéing till the skins of the tomatoes separate from the flesh and the tomatoes start to liquefy.

    8. Add a cup or two of water in the mix and bring to a boil.

    9. Garnish with a generous chopped bunch of coriander (Cilantro).

    10. If you like a lemony twist, squeeze a half lime/lemon into the soup after turning off the heat. Salt to taste.

    I love this soup to bits, on dark cold days! :)

  10. tinypliny ·

    Damn. It may seem like my kindergarden maths was deficient... and it totally was! I hated my maths teacher!

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