Bitch Slap!

Diana Kennedy writes in her wondrous book, My Mexico:

The good cooks of Chihuhahua do not, of course, call the USDA food safety hotline to ask it it's okay to dry their uncooked beef on a clothesline, the way it's been done for generations.

Give it to them, Diana! Show no mercy.

Linguini with Rosemary and Anchovies

Rigatoni with Brussel Sprouts & Anchovies

Trenette with Anchovies, Tomatoes and Peas

Orecchiette with Broccoli & Anchovies

The Nectar of the Gods

These are whole anchovies preserved in salt a.k.a. pure umami.

They are much preferred to anchovies preserved in oil because they are more versatile. However, they need to be deboned which is quite easy. The salt just allows you to peel each side away leaving the skeleton behind.

India : Day 7 : Post 1

This is the hotel breakfast which was one of the great WTF moments of all time.

It's pan-Indian, and a total mish-mash. It's like having pancakes, and pasta, and pad thai in the same meal. (Clearly, they are catering to some very confused tourists!)

However, the CC is purist but not that purist. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. That's eat breakfast. Especially if it's good.

India : Day 6 : Post 1

We drove to Agra on day 6. Started very early, and stopped at a local dhaba (trucker's restaurant) for a late breakfast.

Vegetables fried in chickpea batter. Nothing like a good nutritious meal to start the day right!

We liked it so much, we ordered a second round (pictorial proof provided below.) It's topped with kala namak, of course.

Piggy, piggy, piggy. Oink, oink, oink!

Kala Namak

This is the ultimate love-it-or-hate-it thing about Indian street food. It's "black salt" which is really purplish-gray in color.

It is basically salt with trace amounts of iron sulphide which give it the color and the faint smell of hydrogen sulphide. To put it differently, it smells like the gutter, and there's no way to put this politely, ripe farts. It's an acquired taste. To those that acquire it, it's like crack-cocaine. To those that don't, you're missing out. Big-time!

The CC is addicted, needless to say.

This is not going to be the greatest advertisement for this product but those who are addicted probably know what the CC is talking about. You can't live without it!

The Complete Meal

India : Day 5 : Post 7

We were pigs on Day 5. We skipped dinner. It wasn't missed.

India : Day 5 : Post 6

It's only the fifth day in India, and the sixth food post for the day, and we've just gotten to lunch time.

If you're under the opinion that all the CC did in India was eat and eat and eat and then just for good measure eat some more, you would only be partially right.

We did eat though.

Linguini with Mussels and Rosemary

This is such an easy dish to throw together on nights when cooking can be a chore.

Access to fresh mussels is a must. It's quite easy on the East Coast to get local mussels but the CC realizes that this may not be the case elsewhere.

The CC has shelled the mussels below but you need not. Just toss it all together. If you don't have rosemary, use thyme, or tarragon, or parsley. They all work perfectly.

Coupled with a simple salad, and some crusty bread to mop up the juices, it makes a perfect weekday meal. (You can share the rest of the bottle of white wine to go with it.)

Ingredients

1 lb mussels
1 onion (chopped coarsely)
2 sprigs rosemary (chopped)
3/4 cup white wine (substitute by stock/water.)

linguini (or even spaghetti)
salt
pepper

Recipe

Heat a tiny bit of oil. Toss in the mussels, and stir just for a bit. Add in the wine. Cover and steam them until they open (about 2-3 minutes.) Do not overcook. (The CC removes the mussels one by one using tongs as they open.)

Now, you want to keep the mussel water because it has all the flavor but it may have grit so you need to filter it.

Separately, in a large pan, fry the onions. Add the rosemary, black pepper, and then the mussel water. Reduce just a little bit not too much.

Cook the pasta just under al dente in heavily salted water. Toss with the mussels and the cooked liquid. Serve.

The CC has gotten it down so that the first two steps take exactly the same amount of time as the pasta to get done. So can you!

India : Day 5 : Post 5 : Paranthewalli Galli

This is the famous Paranthewalli Galli in Delhi's Chandni Chowk neighborhood. We are talking tiny tiny lanes which are narrow, crowded, and super-filthy.

Naturally, the food is out of the world because nobody but the locals and the criminally insane would go there (so the CC qualifies!)

They only make one thing - paratha's. Stuffed with innumerous ingredients as the first photograph shows. The second word in all the items is just paratha so the CC will just list out all of the stuffings from top to bottom: potato, lentils, fenugreek leaves, cauliflower, radish, peas, paapdi, parwal, carrots, "mixed", paneer, mint, lime, "rolled", "sweet", fruit and nuts, cashews, raisins, almonds, rabdi, "golden", banana, bitter melon, okra, and tomatoes.

The place is pure vegetarian (being run and originally catering to the Brahmins) and the food is cooked in ghee (clarified butter.)

This was breakfast which started the day off on a perfectly healthy note. Hey! The CC was on vacation.

The lassi featured below comes from a neighboring shop. They outsource! And focus on what they do best. (Ricardo lives!!!) If you order it, a boy is sent (child labor laws be damned!) and you can have a complete meal.

Please note that the cup of lassi is disposable and bio-degradable. It's just clay. Elementary, my dear fellows!

India : Day 5 : Post 4 : Lodhi

By sheer coincidence, we landed in Delhi the night before Lohri.

Eating sesame and jaggery is customary, and naturally, we partook too.

Pulao and a Salad

I Really Want Some Black "People" on my Pasta!

BBC reports: Cook-book misprint costs Australian publishers dear.

An Australian publisher has had to pulp and reprint a cook-book after one recipe listed "salt and freshly ground black people" instead of black pepper.

Penguin Group Australia had to reprint 7,000 copies of Pasta Bible last week, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported.

The reprint cost A$20,000 ($18,000; £12,000), but stock in bookshops will not be recalled as it is "extremely hard" to do so, Penguin said.

The recipe was for spelt tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto.

If anyone complains about the "silly mistake", they will be given the new version, Penguin said.

Now there's a problem of relying on computer programs to do your "spell-check".

The recipe sounds delicious. Now if only the CC can get some black people black pepper.

Brunch

There is only one rule for scrambled eggs. Extremely low heat (and the CC does mean "extremely"!)

Do it over a double-boiler (pot heated by simmering water underneath) just for practice, and you'll get the hang of it.

Creamy, meltingly creamy. That's all there is to say.


Salad, prosciutto di parma, scrambled eggs, Turkish pide

Spring Mac 'n Cheese (with Truffles)

Who the hell is the CC kidding? He can't afford truffles. But nearly as good is using a cheese that has truffle skin built into it. Yes, it's exactly as good as it sounds.

Cassinelli's

One day the CC came home to find a large empty package sitting on his kitchen floor.

Break-in?

Hardly!

Thieves don't leave stuff. They take stuff.

Turns out the friend of a close friend owns one of the best fresh pasta stores in the city. One that supplies many of the restaurants. He dropped off a "restaurant-sized" package for the CC to try.

The freezer was stuffed with the pasta. Take a look!

Well, enough about the freakin' back story, CC! How was the pasta?

Absolutely top-notch!!!

The CC is in love (oh no!)

(Minor caveat: The cooking times printed are a little off. You want the pasta al dente - you gotta cook towards the lower end of the cooking times printed. Or just do what the CC does. Sample. DUH!!!)

You want pictures of the pasta? Well, you'll just have to wait.

Cassinelli Pasta Products
31-12 23rd Ave.
Long Island City, NY 11105

718-274-4881