• Last updated 10/26/10 by Dorine

Chorizo   By Dorine Houston   Chorizo is pork sausage of Hispanic origin. It is pronounced choREEtho in Spain and choREEso in Hispanic America. Different countries have different recipes. The first difference for a chef in the US to keep in mind is that Mexican chorizo tastes nothing like the various chorizos from Spain.   Mexican chorizo is flavored with jalapeño peppers, and is generally raw and uncured; it must be cooked. Spanish (meaning only from Spain) chorizo is flavored with smoked paprika and is usually dry-cured; it does not need to be cooked.... read more

• Last updated 10/26/10 by sweetbasil

  Edible Containers. Arguably eco-friendly living at its ultimate finest. Not only are edible containers decorative and clever, they require no clean up or landfill space. What could be better than edible bowls, cups, and even spoons?!    I remember candy rocks as a child. These sneaky imposters tickled me pink every time my mother created an edible landscape with these pseudo pebbles. My culinary adventures went international with the discovery of rice paper-enveloped candies. I've lost count of how many "I'm so hungry I'm gonna eat the wrapper!" tricks I played... read more

• Last updated 10/27/10 by phatch

This is something I wrote a few years back for a now defunct forum with Camp Chef. Why the name Dutch Oven? There are different versions of why the name Dutch Oven. One is that it derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch who cooked in them. Another is that a Dutchman invented the casting method by which such ovens then became best known. A third is that the better ovens were imported from Holland and so you'd prefer a Dutch Oven over other similar ovens. There is no definitive answer. How do I season a cast iron dutch oven? Generally the most asked... read more

• Last updated 11/6/10 by Nicko

Urbani Truffle Thrills   Reviewed by Brook Elliott   Posh: adj. Elegant, fashionable, high falutin; typical of, or intended for, the upper classes.   When it comes to posh foods, it doesn’t take much thought to make a list which fits that definition: Caviar, champagne, fois gras, lobster---and, perhaps the poshest of the posh, truffles---come immediately to mind.   At one time, any of these foods was the sure sign of grace and sophisticated dining. Now they are, alas, so over-used as to be pitiful. Expensive ingredients strewn, willy-nilly, over any... read more

• Last updated 11/18/10 by phatch

Chinese Stirfry Stirfry is a melding of equipment, technique, and food cut relatively small. While the term is often applied in the west to sauteing, in China stirfry covers two terms: Chow (chǎo) a quicker, higher heat and more vigorous technique with similarities to a western saute with the food stirred and turned with a special spatula sometimes called a shovel. Bao a tossed technique in a superheated wok also sometimes seen as pow or even pao As with all the great cuisines of the world, the technique of stirfrying and the food it produces are largely... read more

• Last updated 10/17/10 by Nicko

Forum Rules Registration to this forum is free! We do insist that you abide by the rules and policies detailed below. By registering and using this site, you agree to the below terms of service. ChefTalk.com Community Guidelines Welcome to the ChefTalk.com community. Whether you are "browsing" our educational articles or discussing issues in the discussion forums, we are glad to have you here. To ensure that you have a positive experience, please take a moment to read though the following guidelines. By abiding by them, we can all enjoy interaction with others at... read more

• Last updated 11/6/10 by Nicko

The "Buy, Sell, Trade" portion of this site is a private forum for registered members only.  Use of this area is at your own risk. ChefTalk does not monitor the postings on the site for accuracy or reliability, and makes no warranty as to the accuracy or reliability of any information posted on the site. ChefTalk does not guarantee or have information regarding the quality of any of the products bought or traded or acquired through the Buy, Sell, Trade area. The choice to participate, the terms of any transaction and the outcome are solely your responsibility. Deals... read more

• Last updated 10/1/10 by ChrisLehrer

Miso soup (misoshiru 味噌汁) is one of the fundamental staples of Japanese cuisine. For many older or more traditionally-minded Japanese people, a meal isn’t complete without rice and miso soup. Fortunately, miso soup is very easy to make. Ingredients The ingredients are very simple: dashi, miso, and garnishes. Dashi: for ordinary home-brew miso soup, the finest dashi is not really necessary, but the powdered stuff is really so inferior that it will not give acceptable results — sort of like comparing mediocre canned soup to decent homemade. Dashi made from the... read more

• Last updated 10/1/10 by ChrisLehrer

Dashi (出汁) is arguably the most important fundamental ingredient in Japanese cooking, the basis of misoshiru (miso soup), sauces, and simmering liquids. It is an infusion (like tea) best thought of as comparable to stock. Like stock, dashi is best made rather than purchased, and indeed most of the premade or semi-premade dashi that you can find is mediocre at best: premade dashi is to dashi as a bouillon cube is to stock. Fortunately, dashi is not difficult to make, though finding good ingredients can be tricky.   Ingredients There are only three ingredients in... read more

• Last updated 9/6/11 by KGraf88

“Coffee in styrofoam is against my religion.”  ~Betsy Cañas Garmon   The difference between your average cup o’ joe and the freshly roasted, ground, and brewed coffee you are about to see here is like night and day, black and white, right and wrong…you get the point.   Too often I hear people say things like, “I don’t like my coffee too strong, it tastes bitter” or “All coffee tastes the same to me.” Well, the truth is, over-extracting coffee grounds with too much water is more likely to give you a nasty, bitter taste. As for all brews being the same…well, I’ll give... read more