benjamin & I made “fish”!

[fairyarmadillo]

benjamin and I both have a love for dated cookbooks like this one and we’d been eager to try one of our recipes since before I moved in but we tended to be too busy during our previous visits. Check out that awesome cover.

Comments

[benchilada]

I just figured that if they were going to Americanize the recipe, I'd Americanize the condiments.

I must admit, it did taste like far-more-mustardy/ketchupy bland smoodgy stuff when I was done.

Still, it's the journey and not the destination. Lord knows we had more fun making it than eating it. :D

[myuphrid]

As sort-of-nifty as Redstache Swordchef looks on the cover, I think I'll just pop down to the chippy next time I want fish for tea.

[savia]

I agree. Also, how you use it (and how much) really makes a difference.

Sam and I make cauliflower paprikash (with mushrooms, onions, peppers, cauliflower, sour cream, etc) and it's flavored largely by mixing large amounts of hot and sweet paprika. It is SO FREAKING DELICIOUS, though. My god.

[vonandmoggy]

Ohhhhh...recipe? That sounds delicious!!!

[fairyarmadillo]

I will have to experiment with it some more. Maybe my paprika taste buds are all dead?

[savia]

From what I understand, herring is close to anchovy in flavor, and very extremely intense - very, very strong, salty, and oily. So boiling it down and mixing it with potatoes would probably just temper the flavor so it didn't knock you over, and loosen up the meat on the bone. It would still be pretty salty and oily and flavorful.

Soy is about as opposite from herring as you can get, so that's probably what made it bland. Hard to think of a vegetarian equivalent, really.

BUT hooray for experimentation! I look forward to more photojournalistic archives of adventures in cooking.

[fairyarmadillo]

benjamin just had some pickled herring in his last So You Don't Have (http://benchilada.livejournal.com/851929.html) and he said it wasn't that strong (weirdly sweet, ew). Tinned stuff might be a whole different thing, who knows.

I'll have to try more paprika experimentation. I have a friend from Hungary who insists it's a really amazing spice.

Next time you got to India we'd love it if you happen to see something truly peculiar if you could grab it for us!

[savia]

Well, pickled is probably a whole other story. I dunno. I am allergic to most fish (though I have to admit, I like a little anchovy paste in my Caesar dressing!) as well as seaweed, so I tend to stay away from it.

I'll keep an eye out for stuff in India. Most of the great stuff is perishable - you have to eat it on the street. But if you ever go to India, make sure you hit the street vendors in Kolkata and/or Mumbai. Plenty of veg options, and Benjamin would probably enjoy trying the offal. The remote tribes probably have the best food in terms of what we would see as strange (like ant chutney), but again... very perishable. Alas.

[savia]

Oh, and write to Sam for his recipe for Paprikas. It's really hella good. Also, you have to get GOOD paprika. Most of the stuff you buy in regular supermarkets is rubbish.

[acexkeikai]

Try Hot Hungarian Paprika... it's got heat and flavor... very so unlike the americanized version of Paprika that tastes like... nothing at all... or maybe it does taste like dust?

Basically it's like Soy sauce. Once you try the real thing which is fermented soy liquid you can never go back to the americanized soy sauce which is basically water , a shit load of salt and caramel coloring.

[cdk]

Totally agree, on both counts. Although I have found that some good soy sauces start to taste like bad soy sauces when they go stale.

(Also, supermarket paprika tastes a little like steel to me.)

[fairyarmadillo]

All of these comments have inspired me to get some REAL paprika. It looks like I'll be able to pick some up in town, even.