27 Comments

NOTE: If you already answered the polls, please go back, I added another... want to know if Time or Flavor is biggest priority in recipes for you. 🙏

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Flavor top priority. But also like to know other options in case time is short

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Love all your posts a lot. The soy sauce in your hazelnut romesco a while back is something I thought about for weeks. In addition, the harissa paste with lemon zest is now just a regular standard in my fridge. If anything, I miss meal set drops. It would be nice if you did one once a season, and then maybe eventually a book of those. Thanks for all you write about food!

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I find myself always buying spices for my pantry when I make your recipes.

Could we see more recipes utilizing the same spices?

Also, would love to see a guide for cooking or scaling for a large group versus for a few.

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We have jumped around the globe... as far as spices, give me some specifics and I can be more helpful 🙏

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I have a lot of cumin leftover and a little extra allspice.

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First of all, big fan of the substack!

Being often short of time I especially find the quick twitter-recipes very useful, ie. the boiled eggs in curry-sauce and sweet basil chicken. Are there any way to get an overview over the different recipes you've just posted on twitter? The Index here on substack is great(!!), but it does leave alot of your content out.

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Also, almost forget. You use Lawry's seasonsed salt in several of the recipes. It's impossible to get my hands on where I live, any suggestions for what to use instead?

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try this:

3 TB sea salt

1 TB Smoked Paprika (not the hot kind)

2 tsp white sugar

1 tsp Celery seed, crushed

1 1/2 tsp Turmeric

1 tsp granulated Onion

1 tsp granulated Garlic

1/4 tsp ground Chile (ancho is good, or chili powder is fine)

mix well and pass through a medium mesh strainer

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I'll check and update the index. Also the monthly reviews should be really helpful for this

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Plenty of general questions that I myself would ask

Feel like what we need is just drilling the basics over and over until closer to perfection

Just cook and eat and repeat

The thing for me is... I'm lazy with most things like timing, measuring and getting the exact ingredients

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Pretend you have to teach someone to invent their own dishes, but you'll never be in the room with them... What do you tell them to learn or do so they can creatively make up their own dishes?

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Always start with the basics. Learn the basics before trying to create anything out of thin air. The classics are classics for a reason. Learning those will put you head and shoulders above most. Then improvise from there.

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Technique always big for me. I spent years making Greek rice that wasn't quite right until a yiayia gave me 2 details that dialed it in, and she uses the same recipe that I and everyone else I know use.

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What were the details that completed it for you?

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Not enough salt. Also, everyone I watched (including her son) turned the heat down towards the end. She told me to keep it on a low rolling boil until the end. Final detail was timing on when to add lemon, and when to pull off the heat and cover with towel. I gauge that based on how the rice sticks to the wooden spoon.

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I want to learn how to balance flavor and meld flavors together, if that makes any sense. But in order to do that I feel like I need to know what the answer tastes like. How would you approach educating your readers on how to do that? Would you put out recipes that "balance salty and sweet" or a thai recipe that does salt/sweet/sour/spice? Hopefully what I am asking makes sense.

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Check previous Substacks in the Flavor series, and use that as a start. Tasting food consistently is your biggest friend, as that will begin building a "library" of flavors that your palate remembers. Balancing flavors is primarily being present and aware of what your palate is telling you...

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What are the biggest red flags for restaurants, especially when you're traveling?

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When travelling, I avoid tourist traps. Tend to be overhyped, underseasoned and over priced. Would largely depend on where you are traveling. Check my previous restaurant guides and lmk any specific questions.

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The better question is how can I avoid being disappointed when I have to travel for work and eat out?

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Nassim Taleb says he knows a restaurant is good if their customers are overweight but nicely dressed (nice sports coats)

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I’d be really interested in seeing a tomato soup recipe or another ramen recipe. I know you did the budget ramen recently on Twitter. (super good btw)

Fun question for you.. Favorite bottle of Champagne?

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Noted 📝.

Fave Champagne House: Krug. No question. Esp Vintage Stuff.

Smaller/Growers; Domaine Jacques Selosse and David LeClapart are both absolutely STELLAR 🙌

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I know some people don’t care for champagne. So I’ll ask another question just in case.. Top three cook books?

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Impossible to narrow to 3; I have over 400 😂

For home cooks. On Food & Cooking (McGee), La Technique (Pepin), and Elements of Taste (Kunz) are PACKED with gold, independent of specific cuisines. That's where I would start.

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My man! Thank you so much

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