Rec.food.cooking faq - 8 of 13

1 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++
5 eaches This has come up once too often....

Directions

This list is a (futile?) attempt to keep certain well-worn subjects from coming up yet again. Further suggestions always welcome.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5⅒ The $250 cookie recipe This recipe comes up often, usually here but also on other newsgroups (where it is even less appropriate). The story goes that a woman had a cookie at [usually Mrs. Field's or Niemann Marcus' cafe], and liked it so much she wanted the recipe. The clerk said "It will cost you two-fifty"; the woman thought that meant $2½ and was shocked to find it meant $250. She is now spreading it to get revenge, since it was not returnable. There are a number of holes in the story, and no one has ever brought forth any evidence that it really happened. (If you want to argue that you know someone who knows someone who this really happened to, take it over to alt.folklore.urban, where they will proceed to have you for breakfast if you have no evidence.) More importantly, it has been posted more than enough times by now.

Some people have tried the recipe and pronounced it good, but it ain't Mrs. Field's. If you would like the recipe, ask for someone to mail it to you. It has been pointed out to me that the recipe is in the standard source distribution for GNU Emacs. If your site has that source, look in the "etc" directory for a file named COOKIES. Most importantly, please DO NOT post it any more. There is also a Mrs Fields cookbook, published by Time-Life. This has recipes, but not the exact ones for the ones sold in the stores, as those recipes are not well suited to home baking

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5⅕ Requests for "authentic" recipes Can someone please post the authentic recipe for ...? The problem with questions like this is that, for many foods, there is no single recipe which can be said to be the most authentic. Recipes undergo a slight variation as they are passed on from one cook to the next. The only recipes this can work for are those whose creator is known (and still living) and those which were written down and preserved or published immediately after being invented. This sort of question seems to pop up a lot about buffalo wings (chicken wings in a spicy sauce)... ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 6 What on Earth is...? A glossary of ingredients aji ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- Aji (singular form) is what the Peruvians call chile peppers. The species in particular is capsicum baccatum, and the derivation of the name is somewhat odd. When Columbus started this whole confusing thing with Indians and peppers that weren't what he thought they were, the Arawak people of the Bahamas called their capsicums "aji." Columbus packed them back to Spain, the Portuguese took them around the world, and within a hundred years peppers had been distributed to China, Japan, India, Turkey, and back through the Balkans to Europe. allspice, mixed spice and five-spice ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Allspice is the dried, unripe berry of a small tree. It is available ground or in seed form, & used in a variety of dishes such as pickles, casseroles, cakes & puddings. Also known as Jamaica Pepper. Mixed spice is a classic mixture generally containing caraway, allspice, coriander, cumin, nutmeg & ginger, although cinnamon & other spices can be added. It is used with fruit & in cakes. (In America 'Pumpkin Pie Spice' is very similar). Five-spice powder is a blend of star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel & Szechuan pepper. It is used in Chinese cooking bagels ++++++ Chewy bread with a hole in the middle - round, and 3-4 inches in diameter. The origin is Russian-Jewish. Can come with many types of toppings on it. Dough is boiled then baked with toppings such as onion, garlic, poppy seeds etc. Flavours can also be kneaded into the dough. On the east coast usually used as a breakfast bread but can also be used as a sandwich bread. A well known combination is bagels with cream cheese and lox (brine-cured salmon).

broccolrabe ++++++++++- A green bitter vegetable unless harvested young. Looks like broccoli but has skinnier stalks. The leaves, stems and florets are eaten. Really good sauteed with garlic and olive oil and served over pasta. conch ++++- A Mollusk Gastropod - "Strombus" - Abundant in US only off Florida Keys, where it is illegal to take. (has been for 10? years now). Most now comes from Caribbean islands such as Turks and Caicos, Trinidad, or Honduras. It is imported in frozen 5 lb boxes, which is how I buy it at fish markets. Some will defrost some and thus put individual "steaks" (conchs) out on display case for lower quantity purchasers, but these may sit for a while. One Conch steak typically weighs ⅕ to ⅓ lb appx. These sell for prices ranging from $4.99 - $6.99 per pound.

These steaks are taken home, beaten the crap out of, with device such as a rolling pin, (to tenderize) then cubed for conch salad or conch fritters. (BTW when in Florida & Caribbean you better pronounce it "Conk" or we all laugh at you and double the price).

Submitted By DAVID KNIGHT On 02-27-95

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