As I have some free time, I've started to cook again and I've made several dishes that were a big hit with the neighbors. I've worked with chefs and was the chef/cook at many restaurants until I "got stupid" and graduated from college to have my soul sucked out as a white collar worker.
My style is low temperature cooking that often takes hours to produce a dish where the flavors are enhanced and complex, the vegetables are front and center, the meat falls off the bone, and umami rules. The neighbors are clambering for more.
I've been comparing this to the Dominican style of cooking which I can only describe as "burn and serve". Everything is high-temperature frying or boiling over a high flame. Oil flows freely. Chicken is fried with a hard shell outside, tough dry interior, it tastes like it was barely cooked as it has a distinctly raw, pungent smell to it, and the tough meat needs to get picked out of teeth. The use of horrible flavoring cubes seems to be endemic. It's often difficult to taste the food because of the extremely high salt content and when I can it just seems bland. I'm a big fan of vegetables, but that too is sad story.
And, what's up with the giant plate of rice? I get handed a plate that I put in the center of the table thinking that there are more guests coming. Nope, it's mine.
I have to say that the "Pollo Asado" is a wonderful exception. Bless the barbacoa. I'm definitely an umami fan. I need to try the pork now too now that my auto-immune is better.
However, am I wrong? Please, tell me I'm an idiot and where to find fantastic food.
Also, where can I find chilis? I guess the dried stuff at La Sirena will need to do.
My style is low temperature cooking that often takes hours to produce a dish where the flavors are enhanced and complex, the vegetables are front and center, the meat falls off the bone, and umami rules. The neighbors are clambering for more.
I've been comparing this to the Dominican style of cooking which I can only describe as "burn and serve". Everything is high-temperature frying or boiling over a high flame. Oil flows freely. Chicken is fried with a hard shell outside, tough dry interior, it tastes like it was barely cooked as it has a distinctly raw, pungent smell to it, and the tough meat needs to get picked out of teeth. The use of horrible flavoring cubes seems to be endemic. It's often difficult to taste the food because of the extremely high salt content and when I can it just seems bland. I'm a big fan of vegetables, but that too is sad story.
And, what's up with the giant plate of rice? I get handed a plate that I put in the center of the table thinking that there are more guests coming. Nope, it's mine.
I have to say that the "Pollo Asado" is a wonderful exception. Bless the barbacoa. I'm definitely an umami fan. I need to try the pork now too now that my auto-immune is better.
However, am I wrong? Please, tell me I'm an idiot and where to find fantastic food.
Also, where can I find chilis? I guess the dried stuff at La Sirena will need to do.