Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Relax, it's just foie gras

Whatever else you want to say about it, at least acknowledge this: Foie gras, the fattened liver of a duck or goose, is truly, indisputably, delicious. Roasted whole, pan-seared, combined with brandy and turned into a pâté, the stuff just tastes good.

If you oppose foie gras, even if the only thing you've ever done about it is to make a dinner companion feel guilty, and you still eat conventionally raised meat, you're a raging hypocrite and a silly one at that.

The eggs you ate for breakfast, the cheese that came on top, and the bacon on the side, all of it is produced using methods more torturous than the ones employed on a good foie gras farm.

Animals on a typical farm these days are confined in spaces so small they can't turn around, much less do any of the things they'd normally do in nature. And in order to keep them at least somewhat healthy and functional despite those conditions, which tend to make them stressed and unhappy, their bodies are altered to keep them from harming themselves and their fellow animals -- chickens have their beaks trimmed, pigs and cows get their tails docked.

In his book, Foie Gras Wars: How a 5,000-Year-Old Delicacy Inspired the World's Fiercest Food Fight, Mark Caro states that foi gras opposition is not, ultimately, about foie gras at all. They're being waged by vegans who believe that all meat eating inevitably involves torture but who are smart enough -- and disingenuous enough -- to focus on a product the average person might never eat, one that can easily be portrayed as a decadent luxury enjoyed only by fat cats who could not care less about animals.

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Photo credit: AnaKreenSkyRider

Friday, November 14, 2008

Shrimp Masala

This recipe has been taken from the expanded edition of Healthy South Indian Cooking, authored by popular culinary instructor Alamelu Vairavan.


Shrimp pan-fried with ginger, garlic, and other seasonings, Shrimp Masala can accompany many flavored rice dishes and chappatis or pooris.



Serves 4

1 Tablespoon Canola Oil
2 or 3 slivers cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped tomato
4 or 5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons minced ginger root
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper and cumin powder mixture
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled and washed
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves

1. Place oil in iron skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, but not smoking, add cinnamon stick and cumin seeds. Stir-fry until spices are golden brown.

2. Add onion, tomato, garlic, and ginger root. Stir-fry for a few minutes.

3. Stir in turmeric powder and curry powder.

4. Add tomato sauce, cayenne powder, salt, and black pepper and cumin powder. Blend the seasonings well and simmer for a few minutes.

5. Add shrimp and mix with the seasonings. Cook until shrimp turns pink.

6. Add coriander and stir-fry, uncovered, for an additional few minutes. (Shrimp is delicious when allowed to absorb the flavor of the seasoned sauce while stir-frying over low-heat.)