...another reminder that I am in exile to the Provinces. Never forget that provincial is just another word for country style.
Decided to do some real (from scratch) cooking, for the first time in a long while. Stumbled upon a recipe for mejadra the other day, and thought it sounded simple, tasty, and a good candidate for tweaking. I was only missing one ingredient, so I hopped down to the grocery store to pick it up.
BZZZZZZZZT. Allspice, Alum, Basil, Cinnamon, Coriander, Cumin...
No cardamom. A fucking garam masala blend, which no one will ever buy, way down at the end of the rack, but no cardamom. 4000 cuts of cow but no cardamom. 96 can boxes of MGD but no cardamom.
I'd also forgotten that it's the beginning of Happy America Day Weekend, which meant the store would be full of large (in all senses of the word) families buying large quantities of the aforementioned cow and beer. And then taking their overflowing carts to the self-checkout lanes, which their technophobia usually prevents them from using. And then struggling with the magic checkout boxes. And then writing checks to pay for it all.
Living here isn't all bad, but it isn't all good either.
My rule for Middle Eastern cooking is that you can substitute cumin (possibly in shockingly large amounts) for just about anything, with the excuse that "that's the way they make it in Egypt".
Re:"Provencial" ?
mdxi on 2004-07-06T15:30:40
Just a misspelling. I meant "provincial" (which is also an English word meaning "not cosmopolitan; countrified; not polished; rude; hence, narrow; illiberal").
This may or may not be also be provençal; I wouldn't know. I will also refrain from making an AIX joke at this time.
