Instagram on your plate

Social media diversified amazingly our ways to see the world but also the ways in which we address food. Here it is an example of how we can use Instagram to share and reviews our food options and recommendations!
Bon Appetit and don't text too much while eating!

How our tongue works

As a beginner chef - I did not advanced too much from this position in the last 2-3 years - the most difficult problem was how and why to match various tastes and types of food. Thus, the basic of my learning in terms of food was to know what the foods and spices taste like. It took me some time and I still make mistakes, because I am more attracted to the color combination of different foods I am getting better and better.

When I've read this article in the NYT about the Chemistry Behind Great Food Pairings, I understood that it is more behind a simple match of the foods there are biological explanations requested by the way in which our human body is built. On the other hand, I continue to believe that some tastes and food combinations are part of our anthropolotical genome and that it is not only a matter of biology. 

Our food tells stories not only about our history and culture, but also about our bodies.

Another way to say how much I love salmon

I am this kind of simpleton that I do not care too much about sophisticated methods to prepare and serve the salmon as long as I do have salmon on the table. Usually, it is the easiest product on my Shabbos list and I insist to have it on the menu on other occasions as well. 

When I am waiting for guests, I should be creative and wrap even a modest and tasty piece of salmon in a more sophisticated way. But Sukkot makes me always happy because I add a lot of vegetables and fruits on the plate and many of my worries are naturally solved.

As I was - as usual - out of time, I made the following marvelous combination:

avocados

slowly roasted pepper - red and yellow

olive oil

sesame seeds

salmon

I kept it in the overn for a couple of minutes to allow all the ingredients communicate and melt a bit properly, but I served it cold, as an hors d'oeuvre. The preparation did not take more than 15 minutes, the roasting stage included. It gives you the feeling of being full (the avocado is guilty for that) and you need a talking break before the next meal. 

That's all. 

Colours of cheese

I am late with more than 10 posts and pictures, but due to other professional and family obligations, I will take it as slowly as possible. Meanwhile, will continue to document new and new post and maybe if one day will dedicate more than 5 hours to blogging will be able to end up with having the plenty of posts I am dreaming about.

Till then, some short visual memories from the last Rosh Hashanah, when in one of the days I served the following colorful combination:

Emmentaller cheese+2 types of camembert+another non-branded sort of cheese

Pomegranate seeds

Olive oil - even though it looks in the picture as honey (and probably it works very well with honey)

With the green tablecloth and the red roses, it created an amazing effect that made the ambiance even more enjoyable. 

Claudia Roden and her cooking stories

Claudia Roden writes more than simple recipes, but stories about cultures and old good times. Despite her multicultural, mostly European life, she continued to keep part of her heart connected to the colourful Middle Eastern cuisine whose stories she's telling over and over again.

Why to bake garlic?

As I can hardly resist to add more than 2 cloves of garlic to almost every salty meal, this question does not make too much sense for me. What do you mean by that? Why not baking garlic?

For turning the page to very serious problems, baked garlic is a good idea for eliminating the surplus of water and to make its cooking smoothly. 

The following tip I got while looking reading my Middle Eastern recipes about how to prepare tahini. Thus, I started the cooking by unpeeling the garlic and placing it on the tray of the oven for about 10 minutes. 

The next stop, in the mixer, together with the other ingredients of the tahini.

iCookbooks

One day I will offer myself the pleasure to eat one of the meals made by Chef Meir Adoni, but till then, I would love to read about his recipes, on my iPad. This app, Look and Cook, is not only a source of inspiration for the most sophisticated gourmets, but it is also a challenge for the world of cookbook publishing. 

And, even you may be the most conservative cookbook reader - or eventually, writer too - you would love the amazing possibilities offered by the modern technologies. The visuals - video and photo - are very helpful for a successful cooking experience. In addition, you will not lose too much time by searching various tutorials on YouTube as you have all the necessary ingredients at the same place.