Comments on: Salad of Tomatoes, Spanish Onions, Spanish Olives & Basil Oil

By: porkygourmand

porkygourmand — Fri, 22 May 2009 23:09:52 +0000

@Des Asante sana…………

By: Des

Des — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:37:23 +0000

Looks awesome. Well presented. I don’t like olives but that looks good enough to eat.

By: porkygourmand

porkygourmand — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:08:49 +0000

@Tamaku thanks mate!

By: Tamaku

Tamaku — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:39:44 +0000

The presentation is impeccable. Just wow!

By: Kaasa

Kaasa — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:23:59 +0000

Thank goodness you’re not using Google to translate recipes!

—

The only tomato I like is an organic sundried – and not often – only on pizza. The mama mboga ones are good because they’re organic? Someone in the office was telling me the other day that Israeli tomatoes are the best, because they’re nourished by sea water. Don’t know…

—
Books:

I saw your Alinea and want to get one sometime. But I am looking to get Phaidon’s massive Italian “Silver Spoon’, which is apparently, the cooking bible there (Italy).

But right now, I’m working through Claudia Roden’s ‘Arabesque’. I love her and have been a fan for years.

Maybe someday, you could do a ‘dream’ menu post (and tell us the occasion/location)? I’d love to see how you set it up – plus desert and wines (and water!)

Gotta earn my salary…

Peace again!

By: porkygourmand

porkygourmand — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:42:46 +0000

@Kaasa blanching is all about enhancing & preserving the colour. About the balsamics, I have only seen your everyday modena balsamics, i have not seen any aged balsamics. It’s a pity you don’t like tomatoes, one thing about tomatoes is that they are seasonal, you may see them in the supermarket all year round but they may not taste good all year. In nairobi, i have found in nairobi, the street mama mbogas have better tomatoes than supermarkets, why? I don’t know.

je vous remercie, ont une bonne journée – my google translate french:)

By: Kaasa

Kaasa — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:05:22 +0000

Monsieur Gourmand,

Interesting that you blanched the Basil before adding to the oil. I’m curious as to why? I’ve never seen this done before? Does it enhance taste…?

I usually just blend mine with the oil then strain.

Also, another thing I’m curious about, what sorts of Balsamics are readily available in Nairobi? I’m wild about Balsamic vinegars but usually have to reduce them first.

—

The salad looks good, but I’m not a tomato fan. I would have blanched, gotten rid of the skin (the worst part of the tomato for me), de-seeded and then proceeded… But that’s just me.

J’aime beaucoup ton cuisine Monsieur Gourmand!