Nika's Culinaria - Eat With Your Eyes

First I want to thank everyone who submitted their delicious and delightful pictures to this edition of DMBLGT. We had 41 submissions! I am so glad to have emails from each of you. It was great to meet so many nice people.

I would also like to thank, profusely, our three judges for this month’s contest. They are:

Brenda at The Culinary Fool
Bea at La Tartine Gourmande
and Kathya at .let me think I left a spot on your lovely sun.

You all did a beautiful job, thanks so much!

Judging Metrics:
Each judge (4 total) rated each pic on a scale of 1-99 with three categories. 33 for Eatability, 33 for Originality, and 33 for Aesthetics. I am going to present the top three overall winners and then the top three in each category. I will also provide a few comments as provided by the judges in the overall category and in the other categories where not repetitive. I will note the averaged score for each winning entry.

Overall winners (top three):

Food Beam (87.75 out of 99) (GRAND WINNER)


Charlotte aux framboises et au fromage blanc [Fromage blanc and raspberry Charlotte]
Savoiardi + a raspberry/fromage blanc (thick creamy yogurt) mousse

- Love the pinks: "Alice in Wonderland Award"
- Great idea. Original and very good looking
- Very pretty and appealing.

---


Oishii Ringo (86 out of 99)


Rum-Orange Broiled Shrimp with Asparagus Couscous

- This is very nice and would have scored even higher if the focus was a little more precise
- Nice looking dish but wished the picture had had more light
- Lovely dish.

---


Lucullian Delights (74 out of 99)


Favabeans with sundried tomatoes, white wine and thyme

- I love all the green and wanted to rate this higher. However, my eye was drawn to the out of focus background instead of to the in focus bean. I had to force myself to look at the bean. I think a slightly different crop (through the bean in the bowl, maybe) would help this
- Great eye-catching colour,
- Would have preferred a photo of the finished dish!!

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Eatability (top three):

Mekuno Cooking (31.25 out of 33)


Eccles cakes, a spicy raisin-filled puff pastry

- Just give me a cup of tea and I'll be ready!
- Lovely looking food
- Simply love everything about this!

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Oishii Ringo (30.5 out of 33)


Rum-Orange Broiled Shrimp with Asparagus Couscous

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Ripe London (30 out of 33)


Tart au Citron

- I would have liked to score this higher but the photo is too dark
- Nice looking pie but too dark
- Photo a bit too dark, wasn’t crazy about the raspberries on top.. but lovely otherwise!

------------------

Originality (top three):

Food Beam (30.25 out of 33)


Charlotte aux framboises et au fromage blanc [Fromage blanc and raspberry Charlotte]
Savoiardi + a raspberry/fromage blanc (thick creamy yogurt) mousse

---

Lucullian Delights (30 out of 33)


Favabeans with sundried tomatoes, white wine and thyme

---

Cookbook 411 (29.50 out of 33)


Portobella Mushrooms

- Beautiful focus and detail! Love the feathery affect.
- Great idea and composition. Lovely details and focus
- Sounds interesting, would have loved to have seen the finished dish.

------------------

Aesthetics (top three):

Chez Pim (30.25 out of 33)


Noodle with crab meat and green garlic

- Looks comforting and I like how the chopsticks help frame the noodles
- Great composition of food. Nicely styled and very nice looking
- Love the use of fresh, local, seasonal ingredients. For me, the black background takes away from an otherwise lovely photograph.

---

Food Beam (30 out of 33)


Charlotte aux framboises et au fromage blanc [Fromage blanc and raspberry Charlotte]
Savoiardi + a raspberry/fromage blanc (thick creamy yogurt) mousse

---

Lucullian Delights (29.75 out of 33)


Favabeans with sundried tomatoes, white wine and thyme

---

Once again, thanks to all and congrats to the winners!

Nika

(Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)

I just wanted to let you know that we now have all the judge's scores and I am crunching away with the help of post-slide rule technologies.

I hope to have the results posted soon.

(Swinging Bacon - Image Source: Alinea Restaurant food gallery)

[I know you all are waiting breathlessly for the DMBLGT results. I am crunching the numbers as they come in. Hope to get them out as soon as the judging period has closed.]

Today I cruised over to Slashfood and saw a post regarding the Gastronomie blog's day by day expose (a delicious and curious one) on her visit to Alinea in Chicago.

I have never visited Alinea but from the accounts you read on Gastronomie and eGullet, it is clearly in the vein of high-tech molecular haute cuisine (Molecular Gastronomy).

It seems that the most prominent practitioner of Molecular Gastronomy would be Ferran Adria chef of El Bulli in Rosas, Spain.

As per the Discovery Channel article by Noelle Paredes, the following chefs are also noted MolGas practitioners (with one of their keynote dishes):

Juan Mari Arzak of Restaurant Arzak (San Sebastian, Spain): Pumpkin-and-squid ravioli.

Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck (Bray, Berkshire, UK): Carpaccio of cauliflower with chocolate jelly.

Grant Achatz of Alinea (Chicago, IL): Dried Crème Brulee.

Pino Maffeo of Restaurant L (Boston, MA): Avocado carpaccio with brulee grapefruit.

Homaro Cantu of Moto (Chicago, IL): Peanut butter and jelly sandwich dumpling.

Dominique and Cindy Duby of Wild Sweets (Richmond, B.C.): Apple red-cabbage gelee and chestnut praline (chocolate filling)

If molecular gastronomy is a new concept to you try this google search and some of these links:

Molecular Gastronomy on the Discovery Channel

Molecular Gastronomy : Exploring the Science of Flavor by Hervé This.

Molecular Gastronomy – Wikipedia article

Various discussions regarding molecular gastronomy at eGullet

McGee on Food and Cooking : An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture by Harold McGee

Here is a link at L'Epicerie for some of the chemicals one needs to work magic in today's Molecular Gastronomy, such as agar-agar, calcium chloride, sodium alginate, carrageenan, and other likely molecular grade reagents (from the looks of it on the page).


(Calcium Chloride - Image Source: L'Epicerie)

Whew, that's a lot of information and its just a cursory peek at Molecular Gastronomy.

But, after all this, I would like to get to my point. If you surveyed all these restaurants you would find at least one commonality beyond their use of molecular gastronomy: they are fantastically expensive, some in the range of a half-grand per person.

Here is my point, as a person of regular non-Paris-Hilton means, that sort of price tag makes me nauseous.

I am the sort that can not see spending a lot on a luxury car, new off the lot. I can not fathom spending many 100s of dollars for one night's stay at a luxury hotel or resort. When faced with these sorts of things, my eyes do not see the value, literally. Gape, I stare, I try to get in touch with my feelings wondering if I am missing something. I am left cold and bit insecure that I am missing some huge not-the-trees-but-the-whole-forest picture.

One can convince themselves, I suppose, that the consumption of a $500 meal is more value-inherent than a night's stay at a very expensive hotel. You consume the food, you have an intensive interactive experience that will be something you remember the rest of your life.

Sure, but I would not be able to do that.

When you are like me and have to trade precious life (time away from family and commuting huge distances to work) for dollars, each dollar spent represents that time lost. It is not value-less or trivial.

Those of us who live at the bottom of the affluence scale have no choice but to imbue money with this sort of meaning because it is the deal or trade we make to survive in this economy.

Thus said, to spend, to invest, $500 on 24 micro-dishes, however revolutionary and profound, is folly.

Here is my soap-box and my vision:

Molecular Gastronomy is in some part about play and experimentation. When that spirit is swept away by the nausea that comes with the bill, that is a DARN shame, dadgummit (winks).

I say, let us find a way to make Molecular Gastronomy more populist, more accessible.

I would love to find a way to get training in Molecular Gastronomy (beyond my own PhD in Cell Biology) and teach it as a course in Elementary and High schools and even at the undergraduate level, OUTSIDE of the culinary school setting.

I think Molecular Gastronomy has important things to teach us all BUT the pompous and sickening prices found in the restaurant setting is such a high barrier that its message may be lost or never found.


(Squab and accupuncture needle - Image Source: Alinea Restaurant food gallery)

Related Posts:

• Molecular Gastronomy for the masses? (A Rant)
• Molecular Gastronomy 101: Part 1 - The Nose and receptors
• Molecular Gastronomy 101: Part 2 - The Nose and receptors

DMBLGIT is now officially closed to new submissions.

Thank you everyone for your beautiful submissions!

We are now scurrying around like little woodmice judging and scoring and collating.

Check back here in a few days for the results!

Here is a Flickr slideshow of the latest DMBLGIT entries. You can click on a specific inmage that you are interested in to get more details.

Enjoy!

Related Posts

• Does My Blog Look Good In This 2006 #5 Flickr Slideshow
• Does my blog look good in this? #5 May edition (DMBLGiT)[Da Rulz]
• DMBLGIT entries look delicious, keep them coming!

Technorati tags: DMBLGIT, food, photography, contest, Flickr, Flash, slideshow.

Here is my latest Well Fed Network article for your reading pleasure.


(Trust me when I tell you not to google pineapple images - some of it is disturbing!)

Summer dreams, Mint concoctions

I imagine there is a place in these United States where it is warm in May and it is not raining like the end of the world. I imagine a place where the sun shines bright and warm breezes dance through the trees instead of the dense fog and drilling drizzle that has hovered over Massachusetts for weeks on end.

In such a place, you are likely to need cooling libations that bring relief to a perspiring (never sweating) brow and an excuse to sit on the porch and relax after weeding the garden.

For such a moment and such a far-away place, I recommend a non-alcoholic drink -

Pineapple Mint Tulip

Ingredients:
1 C Pineapple juice (make it fresh for better flavor)
2 TBS sugar, powdered
1 TBS grenadine*
1 small bunch of fresh Mint, as much as desired
Ice cubes, as many as desired

Directions:
Mix juice, sugar, and grenadine together well. Rub mint leaves on the inside of your glass, fill 1/2 way with ice and top off with your juice mix.

* About Grenadine (grenadine syrup) is a blood-red, strong syrup made from pomegranates. It is the number one among fruit syrups, and is used in many cocktails not only for sweetening, but also to give them a red color.

Grenadine syrup for use in a bar is usually bought on bottles, but you can also make your own:

Use 4 pomegranates to make about 2 cups of pomegranate syrup. After removing seeds, process with food processor knife blade. Simmer pulp with 1/4 cup honey over low heat 3 minutes. Stir well. Strain to remove seeds. (Source: The Webtender)

For the rest of us cold and wet huddling masses in New England, I might suggest a Hot Toddy to help with the moldy frostbite of our lovely northern spring.

Cookbooks used:

Great American Favorite Brand Name Cookbook

Related Posts

• Horchata - Authentic Mexican Drink for Cinco de Mayo
• Egg Creams – Where's the egg?
• Fishing for some clarity
• Mango Sunshine
• Cappuccino
• Italian Coffee

Technorati taggage:
nonalcoholic, drink, pineapple, grenadine, mint, pomegranate, tropical, food, well fed network.

"What we have here is a failure to communicate" - Captain, Road Prison 36 "Cool Hand Luke".

Ok, maybe not YET but it may be on the horizon.

We global blogizens assume that the internet is a democratic and free space. Its not and there are market pressures at the hubs of the large backbone providers to split the internet into first class commercial citizens and second class proletariat.

Just to clue you in, we are the proletariat.

Why?

Not just because we are wage slaves, per se, but because we are not huge multinational corporations willing to pay bucks to hardwire a distinction between them and.. well... US.

How you say? Seems that the backbone providers are offering to split the "pipes", giving the big guys fast service and the rest of us slow service.

On first principles, this is offensive but not surprising. A multinational corporation will be a multinational corporation, bless their little ferengi hearts (NOT).

On second principles, it brings we proletariat closer to obsolescence, something we are rising out of with the current net.

Today is a net-wide protest against this change. You too can spread the news by blogging about it at your blog.

Get your blogging tools at this link

Learn more about it:

Save the Internet
Sign up your blog as part of the protest
Robert Reich on this issues

Technorati taggage:
Save, Internet, Save the Internet, protest, Net Neutrality, May 16.

DMBLGIT is now officially closed to new submissions.

Thank you everyone for your beautiful submissions!

We are now scurrying around like little woodmice judging and scoring and collating.

Check back here in a few days for the results!




Here is a Flickr slideshow of the latest DMBLGIT entries. You can click on a specific inmage that you are interested in to get more details.

Enjoy!

Related Posts

• Does my blog look good in this? #5 May edition (DMBLGiT)[Da Rulz]
• DMBLGIT entries look delicious, keep them coming!

Technorati tags: DMBLGIT, food, photography, contest, Flickr, Flash, slideshow.

(Image source: www.Esmas.com)

Well Fed Network article - Horchata - Authentic Mexican Drink for Cinco de Mayo

If you are interested in injecting some more authentic flavor into your relatively in-authentic Cinco de Mayo celebrations try the truly mejicano drink called Horchata.

(Oooh-rrrrr-ch-a-ta, one does not say the "H" sound in Spanish, don't forget to trill your "R"s too. If said right, this word can be fun to say).

Horchata is a milky looking concoction that is served cool. It is based on rice and can have additional nut ingredients, such as almonds (so beware fellow nut allergy sufferers). There are other Latin American countries that serve this, as well as Spain. Take a look at this Wikipedia entry on Horchata for more details.

The following recipe looks delicious, give it a try!

Horchata

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons rice
6 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) blanched almonds
1 inch cinnamon stick (canella)
3 "2-inch" strips of lime zest (rind only, not the white pithy part) 3/4" long
1 cup white granulated sugar
4 cups water

Directions:

Pulverize the rice using a blender. Grind the mixture as smooth as possible. Combine the rice with the almonds, cinnamon and lime zest.

Allow to stand overnight (at least 6 hours).

Blend again for at least 3 - 5 minutes until smooth, with no gritty texture. Blend in 2 cups of water for a few seconds. Line a sieve with 3 layers of damp cheesecloth, place over a large mixing bowl and pour the rice mixture, a little at a time, through the sieve into the bowl, stirring to help it through the sieve. Once done pouring, gather the cloth together at the top, give it a twist and squeeze out any additional liquid into the liquid in the bowl.

Add the remaining 2 more cups of water and stir in as much sugar as you'd like, to taste. If the mixture is too thick, add some additional water.

Cover and refrigerate, can keep several days if refrigerated.
Serve in a tall glass over ice.

------

Mixes are also available (see below). I have even seen horchata for sale in convenience stores here in the North East! Blew my mind but glad to see it.

I hope you are able to make some fresh horchata for your Cinco de Mayo celebration!

Mixes

Horchata Mix by Juanita's 14 oz
KLASS Horchata Drink Mix - Aguas Frescas de Horchata .53 oz.
Horchata D'Vita Instant Rice Drink Mixes

DMBLGIT is now officially closed to new submissions.

Thank you everyone for your beautiful submissions!

We are now scurrying around like little woodmice judging and scoring and collating.

Check back here in a few days for the results!



I am so happy to be involved with this month's "Does my blog look good in this" contest. We have already gotten submissions which you can see by clicking the slide show link at the top of this blog or by going to this link.

Many of them feature strawberries! Hosting a spring DMBLGIT is a true treat because of the freshness of the foods we eat now.

I am fortunate enough to have three judges onboard to help out with the hard job of judging these delicious pics!

They are:

Brenda from The Culinary Fool
Kathya from .let me think I left a spot on your lovely sun.
and
Bea from La tartine gourmande

All of these lovely ladies are dedicated to food, writing about food, shooting food, and are great people!

Visit this page for details on the contest, enter and wow us with your beautiful April food!

The following is not about food but it is really important to me that I share it.



We have pre-ordered our copy of Neil Young's new protest album "Living with War". You can get it too at Amazon at this link.

Read his blog here.

In case you have not heard about this, Neil Young has pushed out this album in record speed and with MAJOR record company backing. It features the song "Let's Impeach the President."

Young is also pushing it out into the cyberspace as a free listen and you can get a stream of the entire album at this link.

As Young says at his site, foreign media have been predicting that this album would get no play in the US, a rational assumption considering the lock that Clear Channel and other pro-Bush pro-war multi-national conglomerates has on all aspects of our media.

Thankfully major radio stations ARE playing this album. KLOS in LA played the album IN ITS ENTIRETY, with no commercials, on a recent Saturday AND Sunday.

If you are so inclined, please host the free listening option at your blog/site by going to this link (recommended by the Neil Young site) and post something for your readers to consider.

"Lets Impeach the President" - Lyrics

Let's impeach the president for lying

And leading our country into war

Abusing all the power that we gave him

And shipping all our money out the door

He's the man who hired all the criminals

The White House shadows who hide behind closed doors

And bend the facts to fit with their new stories

Of why we have to send our men to war

Let's impeach the president for spying

On citizens inside their own homes

Breaking every law in the country

By tapping our computers and telephones

What if Al Qaeda blew up the levees

Would New Orleans have been safer that way

Sheltered by our government's protection

Or was someone just not home that day?

Let's impeach the president

For hijacking our religion and using it to get elected

Dividing our country into colors

And still leaving black people neglected

Thank god he's racking down on steroids

Since he sold his old baseball team

There's lot of people looking at big trouble

But of course the president is clean

Thank God

Thanks for reading! And now back to our regularly scheduled food porn!

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