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mfg
10:00 PM
@Mien not true, it's legume and minerals and water
 
Legumes aren't vegetables?
Here they are :)
 
mfg
@Mien it has eggs
 
Although we don't use the term 'legumes' much.
@mfg Ah I didn't know.
 
mfg
@Mien I think that may fall under depends on if you as a biologist or a nutritionist
 
@mfg a question about quorn wouldn't be tagged vegetarian by default either...
 
mfg
10:01 PM
@rfusca unless it was about whether it was vegetarian
which it is
 
@mfg I think nobody of us is too happy with the way this week's contest is going
 
@rumtscho indeed
 
mfg
yeah? low participation, quality?
 
I agree.
@mfg Low participation.
Only 2 participants or so?
 
I think that when we saw the tag in the list of possible contest topics, we did imagine things like a contest going in the direction of tofu etc. (rather naively)
 
mfg
10:02 PM
well crrap i justy invited the vegan columbus facebook group to check it out, ooop
 
And then the contest started and people started using the vegetarian tag wrong just to get on the contest
like tagging a question about aubergines with vegetarian
I am sure that wouldn't have happened in another week
 
just because something is in the vegetarian diet, doesn't mean it gets tagged vegetarian. The question would still need to actually be about its use in vegetarian
 
mfg
thats another area where it would bump up against Atheism; Veganism/vegetarianism aren't that great for QA
 
It just throws the tag system into chaos
 
@rfusca So there isn't one single food that can be tagged as such, correct?
 
10:04 PM
perhaps the bottom line is that this is a poor choice for a contest?
 
mfg
well, I would say it is a market SA hasn't tapped
 
@hobodave It's good that it get some attention I guess.
But for this contest, not a good choice.
 
Why would a non-vegetarian eat tofu? Ask yourself that!
 
mfg
@hobodave for all the success of the vegan community in bulletin boards, i think its still too care-bear-y for straight QA
 
For a contest 'come up with the best dish using a pound of tofu', it would be better
 
10:05 PM
@ElendilTheTall exactly
:)
 
@ElendilTheTall That's what I was thinking!
 
I tried to come up with at least one token question - I have been doing it the last weeks to increase participation - and haven't thought of a good one, because the ones fit for the tag seem to be about substitutions only (and some silly questions about definitions, like is honey vegan)
 
@mfg look at the starred comments :)
yesterday, by hobodave
@Mien I don't believe in vegans
 
mfg
@hobodave should i be flirting with you?
 
"Hmmmm - tasty, 4 week dry aged inch thick ribeye steak, or slimy, tasteless, gelatinous bean curd. Talk about a dilemma!"
 
10:06 PM
lol
 
@Mien no question that contains a specific food should be automatically classified as such, no
 
I think 1 billion Chinese eat tofu without being vegetarian. They win :P
 
@hobodave I'm glad I don't win then ;)
 
@ElendilTheTall That's only a problem if you think of tofu as of a meat replacement
 
mfg
and they get less cancer or something
 
10:07 PM
They're probably told to by their glorious leader or whatever
 
@rumtscho How do you think of it then? :)
 
@rumtscho That's only a problem if you think of tofu as food
 
mfg
gawd why am i still at work chatting, peace out thanks again for the patience
 
I choose the steak when I am in the mood for good meat, and the tofu when I am in the mood for other types of food
 
lol
ciao
 
10:07 PM
Even if I was vegan I couldn't see myself eating tofu
 
I wonder if you guys just haven't had good tofu
 
@tastefive pure tofu is a bit boring
 
Well, I once had good tofu.
No idea what they did to it.
 
incidentally, i have one of these on my car
 
But there are so many things whose flavor is so delicate, it needs a bland base
 
10:08 PM
It was brown, not white; so at least a marinate.
@ElendilTheTall Heh, I like the one with the dinosaur too.
 
@hobodave Well I have tried a lot of tofu, the problem might be I have never had something I would consider good. No matter how many other people tell me "this is good tofu"
 
For example, a veloute made with avocado oil. If you pour it on seasoned meat, you can't taste the oil notes.
 
And now, i try to avoid soy at all cost so no tofu for me
 
@rumtscho But do you eat meat and tofu together?
 
10:10 PM
@Mien I would, depends on the kind of dish
 
Okay.
 
But I can totally imagine a salad with vegetables, tofu cubes, and ham or chicken strips.
 
I would prefer feta :p
 
Now you're talking
 
10:11 PM
@rumtscho we did that, tofu and shredded chicken
 
Cheese > tofu all day long
 
Even spray cheese?
 
@ElendilTheTall depends on the cheese. (and probably on the tofu)
 
A matter of opinion. I'd rather have any cheese - yes! even spray cheese! - than tofu any day
 
The stuff the supermarket sells for 1.60 the 200 g block and labels Emmentaler... well, it isn't that different from tofu. Has less taste and a similar texture.
 
10:13 PM
I don't really like Emmentaler :p
I prefer soft cheeses.
 
I like really mature cheddars
 
It is my go-to-cheese for semi-hard.
 
Canadian Cheddar is excellent
 
For example, I used it tonight for the crust on my stew.
 
but they trigger migraines, so I can't have them :(
@rumtscho ahem - I believe you mean go-to cheese
cheese to go would be takeout cheese :D
 
10:14 PM
I really don't like cheese crusts :(
Is something wrong with me?
 
@ElendilTheTall I noticed it - after you pointed it out :X
 
@Mien yes but i'm not sure its cheese related.
 
tsssk
 
You dislike cheese of any kind? Of course there is something wrong with you.
 
I didn't say that.
I really like some cheeses.
 
10:15 PM
A well made mac 'n' cheese, fresh from the oven, bubbling, with a crisp cheese crust, is a bee-yutiful thing
 
@ElendilTheTall I would give the crust to my cat. Or my mom.
 
<slap>
 
Ah another thing I wanted to ask!
 
thing
sorry, pedantic tonight
 
Mac 'n' cheese is quite a common dish in the US / UK.
 
10:16 PM
yyyeeeessss
 
But do you put ham in it?
 
go on
Not usually, but you could
I put sausage in it actually
 
I've never seen just mac n cheese here.
 
Bacon would probably work better than ham
 
There is always ham in it
And I put always ham in it.
 
10:17 PM
you can, but most often, its just pasta and some kind of cheese product
 
I think the bacon would be too salty.
 
i've seen it with bacon
 
Rfusca boils his pasta, then dumps a can of spray cheese in there, seasons with ketchup, and boom, mac n cheese
;)
 
:D
I hope he drains the pasta at least
 
some nice crispy cubetti di pancetta would work a treat
 
10:18 PM
ah yes
 
@ElendilTheTall pretty close
 
but is it still crispy if you mix it in?
 
@Mien if you crisp strips of bacon to death, they are too salty
 
@rfusca He forgot to mention that you put mayo in it too? ;)
 
Right now, I am eating my great stew, and it has bacon in it
 
10:19 PM
I prefer crispy bacon. But I'm not a salt lover.
 
did you saute your onions @rumtscho
christ mien, no salt, no cheese, what's the matter with you? You'll be eating tofu next
 
@ElendilTheTall yes, but still not sure it had an effect
 
@rumtscho Could you mention the kind of stew again? Too lazy to search it.
 
I put the vegetables and bacon in the oven for an hour
@Mien gyuveche
 
@ElendilTheTall Actually, I was planning too but I couldn't find it in the store.
@rumtscho Thanks :)
 
10:20 PM
Maybe it is more of a crustless pie than a stew
Only Wikipedia says it is a stew
 
And I didn't say I don't like cheese!
 
Đuveč (, ; , ; , ) is a Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Macedonian and Serbian oven-baked beef and vegetable stew similar to ratatouille. It is made with beef, olives, tomatoes, mushrooms, rice, onions, herbs, and spices and is often served with "Balkan mixed salad", a combination of roasted eggplant, sweet peppers, garlic, tomatoes, and vinegar. Variations on the dish can also have other meat and vegetable ingredients. Meats can include chicken, pork, lamb or sometimes beef or fish (or the meat can be omitted), while vegetables may include onion, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini (courgettes)...
 
I love cheese.
 
This is the big version, baked in a pan
 
But just not all cheeses.
 
10:21 PM
Mine is individual-portion, baked in a closed earthenware pot
 
I hate eggplant
 
@ElendilTheTall What is wrong with you?
 
So I parbaked the vegetables, then added feta and the egg mixture, with grated emmentaler on top, and baked for another 20 minutes
It is great
 
@rumtscho Did you add olives?
 
@Mien no, but it would have been a good fit
 
10:23 PM
@mien oh, I don't know, I just have an aversion to bitter slime. I'm odd like that
 
actually, it may have been not so good - they would have made the taste too strong.
 
@rumtscho Yes, that's what I would think.
 
@ElendilTheTall you must be doing something very strange to your eggplants
 
@rumtscho sounds more like a casserole than a stew
 
@ElendilTheTall Good thing I'm not a bitter slime then.
 
10:24 PM
stew = on the stove top
 
That, or you must think that imambayaldi is the only use for an eggplant
 
casserole = in the oven
 
@ElendilTheTall read the wikipedia article
And we also had an old question on the site, where your position is present, but not universally accepted
I think it is a pie
But instead of being baked in a dough crust, it gets baked in a closed clay pot
3
Q: How to take care of glazed earthenware?

rumtschoI got a traditional gyveche (гювече) as a gift, and since it would be hard to replace here, I intend to take good care of it. For those who don't know it, a gyuveche is an earthenware pot intended for baking a single portion of casserole-like mediterannean dishes. There are unglazed and glazed ...

I posted a picture of it in this question
 
surely a pie has to have a crust
 
(yes, the pot has the same name as the dish, our cuisine is very simplistic)
"crustless pie" has 707K results on Google
 
10:27 PM
707,000 idiots
 
You have a pot for each dish? I would say that's a very sophisticated cuisine.
 
And the thick non-conductive pot walls do for the filling the same thing (in terms of thermal dissipation) as a dough crust
 
not uncommon for a dish to be named after the... dish
karahi, balti
 
@Mien no, there are many different recipes for a gyuveche. But if it is made in this pot, it is called a gyveche.
 
tagine
 
10:28 PM
Actually, I think that in America, casserole is also both the name of the food and the pan used for baking it.
 
not just in America
 
"In British English, this type of dish is frequently also called a bake, coinciding with the cooking technique used to cook casseroles."
But OK, it looks like you Brits use the term for the food too. I'm afraid I don't have a good overview over your kitchen habits.
 
hmmm
generally the only time it would be referred to as a bake would be as part of the term 'pasta bake'
 
In Bulgarian, if you use any old oven pan, you can call it a word derived from bake - "zapekanka", derived from the verb "peka"
But if it is made in a real clay gyuveche, the food has to be called gyuveche too. Probably a matter of pride.
 
We really have a lousy vocabulary for food and cooking.
We have 'pot', 'pan', 'sauce pan' and 'oven dish'
That's about it I guess :D
 
10:33 PM
I only got it last summer, and I forget to use it - and it is a pity, because the food tastes so well
 
surely you have all the French terms mien?
 
@Mien Bulgarian cooking vocabulary is also lousy
 
@ElendilTheTall Some regions use 'casserole', but that's just a dialect for 'pot'.
 
We have "boil", "bake", "fry" and "braise".
Many people don't even know there is a difference between deep-fry and shallow-fry
Forget about things like sauteeing and grilling. Or simmering.
 
@rumtscho I don't?
Oh deep-fry I do know
Shallow-fry is fake deep-fry, but on the stove?
 
10:35 PM
And the rest of our cooking vocabulary is Turkish, with the odd Greek word like Fasul strewn in.
 
Is there a big difference between braising and simmering?
 
shallow frying is frying in about 1cm of oil
 
Shallow-fry is frying food in a shallow layer of oil, typically not too hot
 
And when or what do you shallow fry?
 
For example, frikadellen are often shallow-fried, so the oil only reaches the half of the frikadelle
(and the other half gets cooked after you turn it)
 
10:36 PM
schnitzel is shallow fried
mmmmm, schnitzel
 
@rumtscho We deep-fry those.
 
Deep-frying is like the fryers at McD, everything is submurged in an extremely hot oil bad
 
@ElendilTheTall We fry those.
But of course, the breadcrumbs take a lot of oil.
Yes we know deep-fry.
Almost all families have a deep-frier.
We love fries, remember ;)
 
@Mien you seem to use it very extensively too
 
@rumtscho I don't think so?
Here, once week, for fries.
But don't deep-fry a lot of things.
Only frietkot-stuff.
 
10:38 PM
@Mien many people here don't have a deep-fryer. And if they do, they still don't do their frikadellen and schnitzel in it.
 
And appetizers when we have people.
I don't say we deepfry our schnitzels ;)
 
I don't think I've ever made deep-fried appetizers
2 mins ago, by Mien
@ElendilTheTall We fry those.
I thought you mean you deep-fry them
Pan-frying is the same thing as shallow-frying
 
No :)
@rumtscho Ah okay. But I don't put 1 cm of oil in my pan.
 
a sigh of relief
 
The best way to fry schnitzel is to use lard, get 1cm in the pan, get it good and hot, and spoon the hot fat over the top while the bottom fries
gives a nice puffy, light crust
 
10:40 PM
If it is less, it is not technically frying, it is more like searing. Not even sure what the correct word is, when you don't cover the half in fat, but don't go up to searing temperatures.
 
All those things go in the deepfryer:
 
I don't like schnitzel.
 
But we don't eat those often.
 
I buy the meat, but do it in the pan like steak, without a crust.
 
There are party mixes, the things you see but smaller, mixed in one bag.
 
10:41 PM
I don't like veal schnitzel, I prefer pork
 
Turkey here ^^
Or cordon blue.
 
I just beat the hell out of a piece of pork tenderloin
good for stress relief
 
@mien you eat rod-shaped frikadellen?
 
Err... How is a frikandel supposed to look?
 
like a small hamburger patty
 
10:43 PM
A frikandel (plural frikandellen) is a Dutch snack, a sort of minced-meat hot dog, developed either in 1954 or in 1958/1959 in the Netherlands, depending on the source. Overview It is a long, skinless, dark-coloured meat sausage that is eaten hot. Unlike many other sausages, a frikandel is deep-fried. In Belgium and in the north of France it is called a "frikadel", "fricandelle" or "fricadelle". In the Flanders region of Belgium, it can also be called "curryworst" (not to be confused with the German currywurst). Due to the absence of skin, one could argue that it technically is not a s...
@rumtscho That's a french hamburger.
 
but unsquished
 
That's not a frikandel?
First of all, that's real meat.
 
That's what a German understands when the word Frikadelle is used.
No, that's ground meat.
 
Secondly, it's like a flat meatball.
 
Exactly, it is a flat meatball
 
10:44 PM
Frikadellen in Aldi are hamburger shaped
 
Frikadelle is considered a synonym for meatball
At least in German, it looks like there is a false cognate in Dutch
 
Why would you need another word for that?
I guess we just throw those in the pan.
@rumtscho Indeed :)
I was surprised you knew frikandel!
 
@ElendilTheTall and the other native speakers here
There is a review item pending the whole day
 
go on
 
@ElendilTheTall So what's the difference with hamburger then?
 
10:47 PM
A user wants to edit a question called "How to make congee"
 
His proposal is "How is congee made"
And a second, analogous edit for another question
No changes in the body
I thought of rejecting the edit
 
I don't think the difference is enough to make an edit.
 
How is congee made is correct
 
But I'm not a mod :)
 
10:48 PM
But if it is ungrammatical, or sounds strange to a native speaker, I will approve.
 
How to make congee isn't, technically
 
@ElendilTheTall What is the problem with this wording?
 
There is a difference in meaning, in my foreign opinion.
 
'How to make congee' is what you'd put as the title for a set of instructions on how to make congee
 
how to make => he wants to make it himself
how is made => he wants to know something, perhaps because he wants to make it himself
 
10:49 PM
'How is congee made?' is a proper question
 
There are a lot of titles that aren't proper questions :)
 
Regardless, 'How is congee made' is much better
 
Is it worth a bump?
 
It's worth changing
 
agreed
 
10:51 PM
I'm not a linguist so I can't tell you why it's correct, but trust me, it is
something to do with tenses
 
OK, if you think it is really a better meaning and not just a grammatically equivalent rewording, I'll approve it.
 
A lot of foreigners fail at asking that type of question
 
'How is congee made?' is a grammatically correct question, the other isn't, simple as that
 
checks her questions
 
How to sear steak?
 
10:52 PM
How is steak seared?
 
Grammatically, "how to make congee" is a clause, not a full sentence
 
@rumtscho Well yes, that was my point saying 'there are a lot non-questions'
 
my wife got me one of these for V day :) amazon.com/Frieling-3001-8-inch-Round-Brotform/dp/B00004R92T
@elendil hows the starter?
 
10:53 PM
Dead.
 
bubbling a little early - I've fed it with pineapple juice tonight
 
@rfusca congrats
Looks cool
 
supposed to sort out the pH in favour of the 'good bacteria'
 
Does it require special care?
 
right, off to bed
g'night all
 
10:54 PM
later
 
good night @ElendilTheTall
 
@rumtscho just flouring
@ElendilTheTall ciao
 
@rfusca ok - when I make dough at mixer-suited hydration (> 60%), it sticks to everything during proofing, including a silicone rolling mat.
Even after I have floured, I have to scrape thick residue of dough off the proofing bowl before I can wash it at all.
 
@rumtscho ya, you got two choices, there. Spray oil or lots of flour
 

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