Steak Tartare.

Roasted Goose, Stuffed With Sauerkraut.

Pozole.

Bouillabaisse: From Humble Beginnings To High-Class Tourist Meal.

The southern French city of Marseille on the Mediterranean Sea has long been famous for its spicy fish soup, known as bouillabaisse. The soup started as a poor man's meal, made with leftover fish scraps, but these days, it's evolved to the point that it can run connoisseurs about $75 for a generously sized meal.
 "In the first part, you make a soup with all these different little fish. With vegetables, tomatoes, onion, garlic, fennel, olive oil, saffron. And after, we cook the six different fish in the soup. It's very big. But this is a vrai bouillabaisse," says Christian Buffa, owner of Le Miramar, a popular destination restaurant on Marseille's old port for the region's famous soup.
 The city is pretty serious about the vrai part. Back in 1980, according to the city's bouillabaisse information website (yes, they have one), local chefs drew up a charter describing the necessary ingredients in order to prevent the soup from being "debased by these tourist traps." And, possibly, to bring a little business their own way.
 Buffa gets his fish fresh every day at Marseille's fish market near the docks. He says in the summertime, the restaurant needs some 2 tons of fish a week. He says a true bouillabaisse contains about 3 pounds of fish for one person, and these days, it includes high quality fish like John Dory, monkfish and red snapper. As he speaks to me, the restaurant's 15 chefs are bustling around, preparing for the Saturday lunch rush.
 The stew wasn't always so fancy, says waiter Andre Bluck.
 "Bouillabaisse was created by the sailors who worked on the fishing boats. All the best fish was sold, so they took what was left over and made a spicy stew of it," he says. It might have been made of shellfish and rockfish that was too bony to sell.
 Some Marseillais like to say bouillabaisse was the soup the Roman goddess Venus sent to her husband, Vulcan, so he would sleep while she pursued her lover, Mars, according to the city'swebsite.
 Around noon, the Miramar begins to fill up with tourists from around the world, and from not so far away. Parisians Franc and Antoine DuBosc have brought their families down on the train. They came to Marseille for the sun, sea and bouillabaisse, they say.
 Finally, my own Bouillabaisse arrives. Waiter Bluck serves up the first part, a thick fish soup, which is eaten with croutons dipped inrouille, a garlicky bread-based sauce that no self-respecting bouillabaisse would do without. Then he presents the six fish, which will be cut up and put in the soup as a sort of second course.
 A crisp, dry white or rose is the perfect accompaniment to the spicy delicacy. Diner Elaine Cobbe, who hails from Ireland, is enchanted by the dish and the ritual around it.
 "It's very good. I love the two-course idea of the meal. ... There's so much saffron in it. It's so yellow and orange. It's sort of like the sun down here in Marseille," Cobbe says.
 I'd have to agree. The taste is spicy, warm and hearty, the soup's smoothness gradually revealing the complexity of the dish. The crunch of croutons and garlic, the joy of rubbing garlic on the croutons and slathering the rouille sauce on it, and finally, the chunky fish flesh. It's a full meal and a spicy appetizer, all combined.

NPR

How Come The Fattest Country Need Feeding?

Forschmack - Herring Pate.

1 medium sized salted herring 

1 small onion 1 hard boiled egg 

1 medium eating apple - NOT a cooking apple

2 medium slices of wholemeal bread 

20g butter 1 small onion spices and salt (optional) to taste 

 1. Remove the crust from the slices of wholemeal bread and soak them in just enough milk to cover.

 2. Skin and remove the bones from the herring, peel and core the apple. Grind the herring and apple separately until they have the consistency of slightly chunky apple sauce. 

 3. Peel the onion and dice into small chunks. Dice the hard boiled eggd and the butter separately into similarly sized small chunks. 

 4. Remove the bread from the milk and squeeze the two slices almost dry then crumble.

 5. Combine thoroughly all ingredients together into a pate and place in the fridge for a few hours.

 6. Serve cold (preferred) or at room temperature on fresh bread (preferably Rye bread).

Ravioli Di Zucca.

Ramsons And Lard.

Pork A La Salvador Dali.

PORK SALVADOR DALI

Pork 
Pork tenderloins, approximately 2-1/2 lbs. each,
silver skin removed 4 ea.
Mango, fresh, pureed 1 ea.
Shallots, minced 1/4 cup 
Chipotle Pepper Sauce 2 Tbsp.
Garlic cloves, fresh 3 ea.
Cilantro, chopped 1/4 cup
Allspice 2 tsp. Olive oil 1/2 cup
Sugar as needed Habanero

Mashed Sweet Potatoes
 Ingredients Weight Measure
 Sweet potatoes 5 lbs.
 Olive oil as needed
 Salt and pepper to taste
 Butter 1 stick Nutmeg 1/4 tsp.
 Cinnamon 1/2 tsp.
Habanero Sauce 2 tsp.
 Brown sugar 1/2 cup
 Roasted Red Pepper

Coulis
 Ingredients Weight Measure
 Red bell peppers, halved, seeded 2 ea.
 Olive oil as needed
 White wine 2 cups
 Shallots, minced 1/2 cup
 Garlic Pepper Sauce 2 tsp.
 Sherry vinegar 1 Tbsp.
 Heavy cream 1 cup
 Butter, cold, cubed 8 oz.
 Mango puree, fresh 1/2 cup

 Tropical Salsa Ingredients
 Mango, fresh, small dice 1 cup
 Papaya, fresh, small dice 1 cup
 Pineapple, fresh, small dice 1 cup
 Red onion, small dice 1/2 cup
 Green onion, thinly sliced 1/2 cup
 Cilantro, chopped 2 Tbsp.
 Jalapeño, seeded, minced 1/2 ea.
 Green Jalapeño Pepper Sauce 1 Tbsp.
 Salt and pepper to taste
 Lime, juice of 1 ea.
 Olive oil 1/4 cup

 Sweet Potato Hay Ingredients
 Weight Measure
 Sweet potatoes 1 lb.
 Oil for frying
 Salt and pepper to taste

Pecans
Weight Measure
Pecan pieces 2 cups
Sugar 1/4 cup
Pepper Sauce 8 dashes
Water 1 Tbsp.

 Method

1.  For the Pork, combine mango puree, shallots, TABASCO® Chipotle Pepper Sauce, garlic, cilantro, allspice and olive oil. Place pork in a non-reactive bowl or plastic bag with marinade and marinate for 2-6 hours in refrigerator.

2.  For the Habanero Mashed Sweet Potatoes, lightly brush potatoes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast potatoes for 50-60 minutes at 425°F; then let cool to the touch.

3.  Scrape out the flesh of the potatoes and place in a bowl. Add the butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, TABASCO® Habanero Sauce, brown sugar, and salt and pepper to taste; mix with a hand mixer. Adjust seasoning to taste and set aside on water bath until service.

4.  For the Roasted Red Pepper Coulis, lightly rub oil on peppers. Place on a cookie sheet and place in a 425°F oven for 20-25 minutes, until skin is blistered and dark. Remove from oven and place in a plastic bag to steam; remove skin and dice.

5.  In a sauté pan, add peppers, white wine, shallots, TABASCO® Garlic Pepper Sauce and sherry vinegar. Simmer until the liquid is dissolved. Remove from heat and puree in blender.

6.  Return pureed mixture to pan. Add heavy cream and reduce by half. Add butter, whisking continually. Add mango puree and hold in water bath until service.

7.  For the Tropical Salsa, combine all ingredients in a bowl and hold until service.

8.  For Sweet Potato Hay, using a mandoline or knife, finely julienne sweet potatoes. Deep-fry in oil until crispy and light brown. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside until service.

9.  For the Candied TABASCO® Pecans, combine all ingredients and place in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Continue to stir until sugar caramelizes and crystallizes on pecans. Remove to parchment and cool.

10.  To plate, grill tenderloin to 155°F internal temperature and let rest. Slice pork on a bias, about 1/4" thick slices. Sprinkle each slice with sugar, and using a torch, caramelize the sugar on top of each slice.

11.  Pipe the mashed potatoes at the top of each plate. Paint the plate with some of the coulis. Fan 5 slices of pork, slightly draped against the mashed potatoes. Spoon the salsa between each slice of pork and sprinkle with pecans. Place a small mound of sweet potato hay on top of the mashed potatoes and serve.

 Yield: 12 servings

Chili Con Carne.

Aubergine.

Gluten Free Bread.

Vegetarian Friendly.

FitPerez Presents: Recipes Of The Day In 4 Ingredients!

Get your sweet-tooth ready, because we have one AMAZING dessert recipe here for you — AND it's vegan! Everybody likes raspberries, so here's a recipe from Mariko that's delish and easy… with just 4 ingredients! Raspberry Mousse Scared of tofu? Try this simple vegan recipe for a delicious dessert! Silken tofu has a pudding like consistency and is high in protein – making it perfect for a fit lifestyle. Experiment with different berries, or add 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa for a chocolate kick! 8 ounces fresh raspberries 12 ounces soft silken tofu 3 Tbsp agave nectar 1 Tsp vanilla Mix all ingredients in a blender, and puree until well combined. Pour into 4 dessert bowls, and chill for 2-3 hours or until firm. Enjoy! Want more from Mariko? Follow her on Twitter and Facebook– and if U wanna know more about recipes OR anything else, U can always email us at Questions@FitPerez.com!!


Fitperez

Anthony Bourdain Pho - Food Porn.

Sauerkraut.

Blumenthal is crowned world's most successful chef.

With two restaurants in the top 15, Heston Blumenthal has effectively been voted the best chef in the world. Heston Blumenthal has been crowned the world’s most successful chef after two of his restaurants were named among the top 15 in the world. The chef’s new London restaurant, Dinner, was voted the ninth best restaurant in the world, the highest new entry in an annual survey of the world’s finest restaurants. Meanwhile The Fat Duck, Mr Blumenthal’s establishment in Bray, Berkshire, was named the thirteenth best restaurant in the world. The rankings were announced in London on Monday evening as part of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants survey by Restaurant Magazine. The survey, which is now in its tenth year, is based on the opinions of 800 international food experts. The high ranking of Mr Blumenthal’s two establishments means that he is the only chef in the world to have more than one restaurant in the top 15. The next most successful restaurateur on the list is Thomas Keller, whose US restaurants Per Se and The French Laundry are at number six and number 43 in the Top 50 list respectively. Mr Blumenthal described the result as "brilliant". Dinner, which is based in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel near Hyde Park and opened at the beginning of 2011, specialises in “historic British gastronomy”. Its dishes included Spiced Pigeon, Braised Celery and Roast Marrowbone, which were popular dishes in the 1700s. When Dinner opened last February, Matthew Norman, the Telegraph’s food critic, described it as “a theatrical tour de force”. The restaurant has since been awarded one Michelin star. Mr Blumenthal, who is currently on a book and cooking tour of Australia, said: “I am really happy to have two restaurants side-by-side so high up the list, it’s a brilliant result. “The Fat Duck is better now than it has ever been and I am extremely proud of the whole team. Ashley Palmer-Watts [Dinner’s head chef] and the team have done a magnificent job since opening a year ago. I wish I’d been there to enjoy the party.” For the third year running the world’s best restaurant was named as Noma in Denmark. The Copenhagen restaurant has become known as the standard bearer for the so-called New Nordic movement, which focuses on seasonal and local produce. Meanwhile Spain has the highest concentration of restaurants in the top 10. El Cellar de Can Roca in Girona near the Mediterranean coast was voted the second best restaurant in the world, followed at number three by Mugaritz in San Sebastian. Its third top ten entry – Arzak, also in San Sebastian – also won an award last night for the world’s best female chef. Mr Blumenthal’s crowning moment coincides with the chef finally paying himself and his family a financial dividend. According to accounts just filed at Companies House, the chef’s SL6 Ltd company paid Mr Blumenthal and members of his family a dividend of £750,000 in the latest financial year. It is the first time the company has been in a strong enough position to make such a payment.


Telegraph.

Experimenting With Hake.

Homemade Pork Sausage.

Fried Gobies.

Texas restaurant recreates last first class dinner on Titanic — for $12,000 per person.

Director and chef of Cullen's restaurant spent months researching the menu, the waiters’ attire, the china, silverware, crystal, wines, cognacs and Burgundies

Evan Boyle sets menu cards during a re-creation of the final first class dinner served on the RMS Titanic, Saturday, April 14, 2012, in Houston.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/texas-restaurant-recreates-class-dinner-titanic-12-000-person-article-1.1062035#ixzz1s90s4i8z
HOUSTON — Crystal tinkles as women clad in dinner best bow their heads over champagne glasses, listening attentively to the captain’s evening address. The Armagnac they sip is circa 1900. The dishes, crystal and silverware also hark back to a bygone era — one when the Titanic sailed the high seas, destined for disaster.

On this evening, though, the captain is Ryan Roberts, executive director of Cullen’s restaurant in Houston.

“We’re here to remember the people who perished on that fateful night, so if we could just bow our heads in a moment of silence,” Roberts said, his white-gloved hands reminiscent of the opulence of the Edwardian era that birthed the lush first-class cabins and dining rooms of what was then the world’s largest ship.

It’s the 100th anniversary of the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, which hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic on a frigid, dark night, killing 1,514 people. And to mark the occasion, 12 people in Houston enjoyed a replica of the lavish 10-course dinner the wealthiest people aboard the ship enjoyed just before the crash.

The dinner was one of many served from New York to Memphis, Tenn., and across the oceans to Hong Kong, as chefs attempted to transport diners to a time when waiters in starched coats and napkins hanging from their arms served an upper class that was far removed from the common man, who filled the lower portions of the Titanic and went largely unnoticed by the wealthy until they perished together in the cold sea.

At Cullen’s, Roberts and Chef Paul Lewis spent months researching the menu, the waiters’ attire, the china, silverware, crystal, wines, cognacs and Burgundies, hoping to offer their guests an experience as close to the actual event as possible. Pairing up with the Museum of Natural Science to include a tour of its Titanic exhibit, they came up with a $12,000-per-person meal that will be offered through September, when the ship’s relics will move on to a new destination.

After viewing the exhibit, diners are driven by limousine to the upscale restaurant about 20 miles south of downtown Houston, where they are seated in an exclusive dining area suspended over the main hall. There, they are treated to an array of foods from around the world prepared by cooks who have for months practiced and discussed how to interpret a menu too lavish for today’s palette.

The truffles are from France, the oysters from neighboring Louisiana, the salmon from Scotland. The portions, however, have been scaled down, and some — such as the Consommé Olga, a Russian-style meat broth — were given a more modern twist.

“We wanted to make sure there’s enough there to give you the flavor or the substance but nothing to make you hugely uncomfortable sitting there, dreading the next course,” Lewis said.

“Dinner back then was a little bit different as well. If you didn’t want a course, you just waved it off and the waiter would just skip you and go onto the next person,” Lewis said. “Of course, we don’t want that. We want to make sure that everyone gets a little bit of everything.”

Finding the menus from the Titanic — first, second and third class — was fairly easy. They are among the artifacts that were recovered from the wreckage. Rather, it was making sense of the scant descriptions, such as “roast duckling, apple sauce,” that was more complex, Lewis said. He cross-referenced the menu with other research, then came up with his interpretation of the meal.

But what did the waiters wear? To answer this question, Roberts went to the movie and finally dressed his waiters in white tuxedo jackets, making sure all, including himself, donned white gloves.

Unable to find a complete set of china, silverware and flatware for a 10-course meal or confirm the authenticity of HMS Titanic sets offered online, Roberts finally turned to those who have some memory of the era.

“We begged, borrowed and pleaded with a lot of grandmas to find that china,” he said, noting that diners will eat off of sets from the 1900s “that none of us have even touched and weren’t allowed to eat on,” Roberts said.

Tracking down some of the food was also a challenge, Lewis said. Truffles, for example, are between seasons and the chef was reluctant to use a canned variety. So he called in a favor from a friend who works at a restaurant in New York and the earthy mushrooms arrived barely 48 hours before the big dinner.

And then, there was the hunt for the drinks. Roberts found no wine or drink list from the Titanic. So instead, he hunted down some wines and ports he believes the people on the ship may have enjoyed with their meal, and a couple of bottles of Armagnac from that era, one at a cost of $400 per ounce, or nearly $4,000 for the bottle.

“To have something form that era, from that age, is quite amazing, a lot of history there,” Lewis said. “That bottle’s got a huge story to tell.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/texas-restaurant-recreates-class-dinner-titanic-12-000-person-article-1.1062035#ixzz1s90NmX5O