Food

[Shiningrobes]

I’m in the heart of the biggest agricultural region in California for an extended visit. It’s the overlap of end of cherry, strawberry, blueberry and winter greens season and the beginning of stone fruit (peaches, plums, nectarine), tomato and most vegetables (soft squash, okra, corn, chilis). It’s pure heaven. I wouldn’t want to have to live here again, but eating here in summer is fit for ten kings.

 

[The Scent Guru]

I’m in the heart of the biggest agricultural region in California for an extended visit. It’s the overlap of end of cherry, strawberry, blueberry and winter greens season and the beginning of stone fruit (peaches, plums, nectarine), tomato and most vegetables (soft squash, okra, corn, chilis). It’s pure heaven. I wouldn’t want to have to live here again, but eating here in summer is fit for ten kings.

Salinas? I'm in San Jose, we're definitely spoiled with amazing produce. This is the salad bowl of the USA

 

[Shiningrobes]

Salinas? I'm in San Jose, we're definitely spoiled with amazing produce. This is the salad bowl of the USA

Sadly no. Central Valley

 

[HugeBall]

Sadly no. Central Valley

I grew up in Modesto, and I regret to say that my experience with local produce was not particuarly good. Yes, you're closer to the production of grapes, almonds, and walnuts, but none of it evers seems remarkable. The strawberries taste watery just like they do at every mass grocery market...

 

[Shiningrobes]

Maybe it’s better the further south you go?

 

[Saudalhajri]

Lassie with Yemeni mangos and agave syrup

 

[Saudalhajri]

Honey I made to strengthen the immune system and increase testosterone production
The ingredients are:
Qatari Sidr honey
Crushed black seed
Ginger powder
Turmeric powder
Ceylon cinnamon powder
Organic Maca powder
Ashwaghanda powder
Bee pollen powder

Tastes really good raw, but I didn’t like its taste too much when mixed with hot water, the turmeric, ginger and cinnamon take over and it tastes like a bland soup 😂
I’ll try it with hot milk next time

 

[Saudalhajri]

Friday means seafood
This is a modern, easier twist on a traditional dish called “Gasheed” قشيد.
It’s originally made with baby sharks, or salted, preserved fish. But here I made it with tuna packed in oil.
First red onions were fried in ghee till dark and soft, then crushed, dried black lime was added along with a little water, then a teaspoon of spicy harissa, and the tuna was added along with the juice of a lemon. All of that was cooked until the tuna was disintegrating and incorporated, then the spices and salt were added, a mix of garam masala and fish spices. Then the heat is turned off and chopped coriander and dill are all mixed in.

Served with white rice, ghee, pickled onions, fermented lemon juice from Al-Ahsaa’, and a few caramel sweet fresh dates.

 

[Mr.P]

Just getting started on some cucuzza soup. Cucuzza is a calabash gourd that's really delicious. The plant is a very aggressive climber and it makes these 6 foot long baseball-bat shaped squash that hang from the vines. Very simple old recipe I learned from my grandfather - sliced cucuzza, olive oil, onion, salt, pepper, and a small chopped tomato. You can throw in some pasta as well if desired. Most of the recipes I learned from him were very basic like this but produce some of the most delicious food. The gourd has a distinctive taste, quite delicious. You can put some pasta in there and it's basically a very simple minestrone (which is any kind of vegetable stew type thing more or less).

 

[studio.albion]

Just getting started on some cucuzza soup. Cucuzza is a calabash gourd that's really delicious. The plant is a very aggressive climber and it makes these 6 foot long baseball-bat shaped squash that hang from the vines. Very simple old recipe I learned from my grandfather - sliced cucuzza, olive oil, onion, salt, pepper, and a small chopped tomato. You can throw in some pasta as well if desired. Most of the recipes I learned from him were very basic like this but produce some of the most delicious food.
View attachment 49099

Just getting started on some cucuzza soup. Cucuzza is a calabash gourd that's really delicious. The plant is a very aggressive climber and it makes these 6 foot long baseball-bat shaped squash that hang from the vines. Very simple old recipe I learned from my grandfather - sliced cucuzza, olive oil, onion, salt, pepper, and a small chopped tomato. You can throw in some pasta as well if desired. Most of the recipes I learned from him were very basic like this but produce some of the most delicious food.
View attachment 49099

i love recipes like this : ) grandma & grandpa food. one of my favorite ways of cooking this is at the lowest possible temp in a lot of garlic-infused olive oil for at least an hour. options could include lemon, bay leaf, thinly sliced tomato. all braised courgette are heaven

 

[Mr.P]

i love recipes like this : ) grandma & grandpa food. one of my favorite ways of cooking this is at the lowest possible temp in a lot of garlic-infused olive oil for at least an hour. options could include lemon, bay leaf, thinly sliced tomato. all braised courgette are heaven

Courgette? Another word for cucuzza? (it is zucchini which is kind of similar to cucuzza although a different flavor). That sounds delicious, I have only consumed cucuzza in soup form but I think it would work sautéed like zucchini if you peeled it or got it when it was young enough. 🙂

 

[Mr.P]

I'll tell you I'm struggling to maintain enthusiasm for cooking now that I'm living on my own here… My daughter moved out a while back, and my ex is on the West Coast near her family. I had to come east for a number of reasons including helping out my 90 year old father (something that I have sworn I would do since before I ever formed a family of my own).

So it is solo cooking for me. I'm having to reactivate skills from my youth lol.Many more improvised low effort meals that's for sure...My breakfast today was completely scavenging what I could find around the house: strong coffee, blackseed oil, walnuts, an organic local peach, and spicy red lentils I made a couple days ago. This is hardly the traditional breakfast I was raised on but pretty freaking delicious and satisfying and doesn't leave me weighed down like pancakes and bacon.

 

[SteveE]

I married a chef (could be a professional but I am her only customer normally)

Every night is a new dish

She is Korean and a tough grader on herself (seems an Asian thing?)… an A- is the same as an F grade to her. I am happy to eat it all including her so called mistakes.

Thank you God!

 

[Joe]

I'll tell you I'm struggling to maintain enthusiasm for cooking now that I'm living on my own here… My daughter moved out a while back, and my ex is on the West Coast near her family. I had to come east for a number of reasons including helping out my 90 year old father (something that I have sworn I would do since before I ever formed a family of my own).

So it is solo cooking for me. I'm having to reactivate skills from my youth lol.Many more improvised low effort meals that's for sure...My breakfast today was completely scavenging what I could find around the house: strong coffee, blackseed oil, walnuts, an organic local peach, and spicy red lentils I made a couple days ago. This is hardly the traditional breakfast I was raised on but pretty freaking delicious and satisfying and doesn't leave me weighed down like pancakes and bacon.

sounds great to me!

 

[Joe]

I married a chef (could be a professional but I am her only customer normally)

Every night is a new dish

She is Korean and a tough grader on herself (seems an Asian thing?)… an A- is the same as an F grade to her. I am happy to eat it all including her so called mistakes.

Thank you God!

You sound lucky to me!

 

[Mr.P]

I am dehydrating some small porcini mushrooms I found growing not too far from my home. Perfect specimens free of any worms (in my limited experience with these mushrooms, usually some insect or another gets to the porcini faster than any person can).

 

[Joe]

I am dehydrating some small porcini mushrooms I found growing not too far from my home. Perfect specimens free of any worms (in my limited experience with these mushrooms, usually some insect or another gets to the porcini faster than any person can).

@Mr.P I've been looking everywhere!, but I can no longer find the post you made about my ongoing problems with heating agarwood. So I'll post my response here:

The piece that @mesOUD gracioously sent me (from his Nha Trang) WAS fragrant, so I might have been getting cheap/non-resinous pieces before. I do NOT recommend the agarwood from Enflueguage. It's mostly wood.

Also, I've never had problems with muattar from aromology.com or @Oudique 's bakhoor filling my tiny bedroom.

I contacted Kotaro, the owner of Japanincense.com, and he told me I was using the Shoyeido warmer wrong for woods. I was using the silver tray, whereas he told me to use a mica plate DIRECTLY on the ceramic heating element, foregoing the silver tray. I purchased Shoyeido agarwood chips (he gave me a good discount), so I'll let you know how those work out using the updated technique. I bought the Matsu grade, so they should be full of resin.

There's nothing wrong with my nose or olfactory senses as I've been experimenting nearly every day and releasing works over the last couple of weeks. This is just my technique for heating the woods.

I had to clean my sub. Some of the plate was covered in charred essence. I cleaned it with old perfumer's alcohol. And I used it all day yesterday. I had it on for like 6 hours, warming and burning various things. Bakhoor, muattar, woods, etc. When warming woods, I found my sweet spot, starting at 17 volts and then, toward the end of the day, moving the dial up to 20 volts. When warming bakhoor, it was much lower as @Oudique 's bakhoor is very fragranced. I have no idea what the mis is but it's wonderful--i highly recommend it.

 

[Mr.P]

@Mr.P I've been looking everywhere!, but I can no longer find the post you made about my ongoing problems with heating agarwood. So I'll post my response here:

The piece that @mesOUD gracioously sent me (from his Nha Trang) WAS fragrant, so I might have been getting cheap/non-resinous pieces before. I do NOT recommend the agarwood from Enflueguage. It's mostly wood.

Also, I've never had problems with muattar from aromology.com or @Oudique 's bakhoor filling my tiny bedroom.

I contacted Kotaro, the owner of Japanincense.com, and he told me I was using the Shoyeido warmer wrong for woods. I was using the silver tray, whereas he told me to use a mica plate DIRECTLY on the ceramic heating element, foregoing the silver tray. I purchased Shoyeido agarwood chips (he gave me a good discount), so I'll let you know how those work out using the updated technique. I bought the Matsu grade, so they should be full of resin.

There's nothing wrong with my nose or olfactory senses as I've been experimenting nearly every day and releasing works over the last couple of weeks. This is just my technique for heating the woods.

I had to clean my sub. Some of the plate was covered in charred essence. I cleaned it with old perfumer's alcohol. And I used it all day yesterday. I had it on for like 6 hours, warming and burning various things. Bakhoor, muattar, woods, etc. When warming woods, I found my sweet spot, starting at 17 volts and then, toward the end of the day, moving the dial up to 20 volts. When warming bakhoor, it was much lower as @Oudique 's bakhoor is very fragranced. I have no idea what the mis is but it's wonderful--i highly recommend it.

@Mr.P I've been looking everywhere!, but I can no longer find the post you made about my ongoing problems with heating agarwood. So I'll post my response here:

The piece that @mesOUD gracioously sent me (from his Nha Trang) WAS fragrant, so I might have been getting cheap/non-resinous pieces before. I do NOT recommend the agarwood from Enflueguage. It's mostly wood.

Also, I've never had problems with muattar from aromology.com or @Oudique 's bakhoor filling my tiny bedroom.

I contacted Kotaro, the owner of Japanincense.com, and he told me I was using the Shoyeido warmer wrong for woods. I was using the silver tray, whereas he told me to use a mica plate DIRECTLY on the ceramic heating element, foregoing the silver tray. I purchased Shoyeido agarwood chips (he gave me a good discount), so I'll let you know how those work out using the updated technique. I bought the Matsu grade, so they should be full of resin.

There's nothing wrong with my nose or olfactory senses as I've been experimenting nearly every day and releasing works over the last couple of weeks. This is just my technique for heating the woods.

I had to clean my sub. Some of the plate was covered in charred essence. I cleaned it with old perfumer's alcohol. And I used it all day yesterday. I had it on for like 6 hours, warming and burning various things. Bakhoor, muattar, woods, etc. When warming woods, I found my sweet spot, starting at 17 volts and then, toward the end of the day, moving the dial up to 20 volts. When warming bakhoor, it was much lower as @Oudique 's bakhoor is very fragranced. I have no idea what the mis is but it's wonderful--i highly recommend it.

Ah, I see - it sounds like you have things more or less less dialed in! I think I misread a post when quickly skimming through the threads.

As somebody mentioned in that other thread, it's worth trying a coal or some higher temperature apparatus if you have a wood that is not impressing. I seldom do the high temperature burns but I have this one wood from Maroke that smells mild and unappealing unless it's really cooking - a nice heavy oud resin scent comes out when almost burning.

 

[Joe]

Ah, I see - it sounds like you have things more or less less dialed in! I think I misread a post when quickly skimming through the threads.

As somebody mentioned in that other thread, it's worth trying a coal or some higher temperature apparatus if you have a wood that is not impressing. I seldom do the high temperature burns but I have this one wood from Maroke that smells mild and unappealing unless it's really cooking - a nice heavy oud resin scent comes out when almost burning.

Coal is the last resort, but I will if I have to. Too many VOCs and my dog is sick, so I'm trying to keep things healthier.

 

[Mr.P]

Coal is the last resort, but I will if I have to. Too many VOCs and my dog is sick, so I'm trying to keep things healthier.

Agreed - I seldom use coals and when i do I let them burn outdoors for a while before bringing them indoors. Fortunately my janky homemade wabisabitism can get hot enough to combust wood so a coal has no real advantage other than heavy output and freedom from an electrical outlet