"DC." wrote in message
...
Hi Peter,

I believe the Horchata in Mehico & that part of the world were introduced
by
the Spaniards. In Southern Spain & the agricultural region of Valencia is
where you'll find tiger nuts or chufas. It's a traditional drink but not
many people drink it these days, you'll see it in fairgrounds or at the
kids
stands at fiestas next to the Helados/Ice cream etc. but generally people
&
kids buy all the new healthy diet stuff like yogurt etc. I even had a
Spanish woman asking me about soya milk etc. saying how great & healthy it
is etc. I said what about Horchata... she said it's some kind of old drink
that they use to drink in the old days when they couldn't get milk etc.
Then
i told her how similar the 2 were & that maybe she should look into it. I
also hear that the Mexicans use rice, almonds & other stuff to substitute
for tigernuts in their Horchata & i've always wondered why no one grows
tigernuts there or in the states for horchata?


Hmm. According to this web page, tiger nuts or chufa are actually starchy
tubers and are indeed to be found in Latin America. But I've never heard of
chufa in Mexico, and I'm pretty sure their horchata isn't made with it.
Interesting.

http://www.foodsubs.com/Nuts.html


As for the thick hot chocolate. I've never been to Spain, so I don't
know
how it is done there. But in the Bikol province of the Philippines, for
breakfast and as snacks, we dip binutong (glutinous rice seasoned with
coconut milk and steamed in a banana leaf wrapper) into thick hot
chocolate.
The chocolate is prepared with freshly-roasted cacao beans that are
ground
and mixed up with water and sugar (or at least that is how it used to be
made).
snip

Peter, maybe a trip to the 'old country' Spain is needed. I've never
thought
of Spain as a old colonial power


Hehe. Well, that's actually why I'm not so interested in visiting Spain--I
hold a poor opinion of that country due to their former evil empire, even
though my father says I shouldn't think that way... And Spain had a
dictator until only a few decades ago. So, actually, Spain is one of the
last countries in Europe I'd like to visit. Yeah, it's stupid, I know. But
Iceland has Björk! Way more interesting!


but as a popular tourist destinations for
many in Europe but my recent trips there, i've been seeing links to many
places & countries far & wide. One of my trips to Seville, we spent a
leisurely sunday morning drinking coffee opposite the cathedral & did a
bit
of people watching as families came out of church/sunday service. I saw an
elderly man wearing a natural white linen short sleeve shirt, very similar
if not the same as the ones you would wear in the Philipines when you turn
up for sunday mass or at any official gathering, what are they called?


We call them "barong tagalog." I love them, though I don't personally own
one, unfortunately. Over here in the Americas, that style of shirt is
called a "guayabera," and both Mexicans and Cubans argue over origin-rights.
I think it originated in Mexico, and I'm certainly biased there, but since
the galleons travelled from Acapulco to Manila, isn't Mexico the more
logical choice for its origins? In the Philippines, however, I believe
those shirts are made with pineapple linen, thus giving them that
see-through characteristic.


[...]
I think it is because we are not dealing
with cacao powder, but with freshly ground beans that include the beans'
natural oils and fats.

Hahaaaa... i have an intersting story to tell you, my bro' has one of them
Italian coffee machines that has the bean hopper, grinder & water all in,
you just need to press the button & prime the steaming arm etc. Well in
parts of SE Asia like Malaysia through to Indonesia, local coffee beans
are
roasted with butter to achieve a realy tasty flavour but this leaves the
beans covered in oily butter residue. He decided to use local beans
instead
of the imported Italian ones etc. & the machine clogged up because of the
oils! You see, local coffee is boiled in a pot & a old muslin sock is used
to strain it. No machines & it's all done by hand. The result is a really
fragrant brew with a slighty oily film on the surface from the butter. I
was
told one Italian expat living there threw out her Italian coffee & drank
local coffee everyday! Heeheee. It's highly addictive.


Wow! I din't know that. I know about the muslin sock, because I have
several, but not about the butter roasting. Can only imagine how that
tastes.

Peter

"Peter Dy" wrote:

We call them "barong tagalog." I love them, though I don't personally own
one, unfortunately.

They've gotten quite fancy with them lately. Colors, multi-colors,
etc. Not to my liking but what do I know?

I like to wear my barong to parties dressed all in white. I hear
comments like, "Oooh, Mabel, this is really a ritzy affair. They even
hired a Filipino busboy."

LeeBat
the tips ain't bad either .....

"Peter Dy" wrote:

We call them "barong tagalog." I love them, though I don't personally own
one, unfortunately.

They've gotten quite fancy with them lately. Colors, multi-colors,
etc. Not to my liking but what do I know?

I like to wear my barong to parties dressed all in white. I hear
comments like, "Oooh, Mabel, this is really a ritzy affair. They even
hired a Filipino busboy."

LeeBat
the tips ain't bad either .....

Hi Peter,


Hmm. According to this web page, tiger nuts or chufa are actually starchy
tubers and are indeed to be found in Latin America. But I've never heard
of
chufa in Mexico, and I'm pretty sure their horchata isn't made with it.
Interesting.

http://www.foodsubs.com/Nuts.html


I was told tigernuts were native to Spain... but then who knows with all
these coming & going of stuff & produce, it could even come from your own
backyard with you knowing. LOL.

Hehe. Well, that's actually why I'm not so interested in visiting
Spain--I
hold a poor opinion of that country due to their former evil empire, even
though my father says I shouldn't think that way... And Spain had a
dictator until only a few decades ago. So, actually, Spain is one of the
last countries in Europe I'd like to visit. Yeah, it's stupid, I know.
But
Iceland has Björk! Way more interesting!

Icelands sounds cool, i mean COLD! why the heck do you think it's called
Iceland.. LOL. but i'm sure it's a really nice place to visit in the summer
but it must be pretty bleak in the winter. Ohh... it ain't cheap either,
apparently it's as expensive as Tokyo or even more! Post Franco Spain is
shaping up to be quite a nice place to live hence lots of Brits, Germans &
other Europeans move there & live there. So the future of Spain looks to be
pretty interesting with 1/2 of Europe descending on it every year. But
they've got to watch out for over development.

We call them "barong tagalog." I love them, though I don't personally own
one, unfortunately. Over here in the Americas, that style of shirt is
called a "guayabera," and both Mexicans and Cubans argue over
origin-rights.
I think it originated in Mexico, and I'm certainly biased there, but since
the galleons travelled from Acapulco to Manila, isn't Mexico the more
logical choice for its origins? In the Philippines, however, I
believe
those shirts are made with pineapple linen, thus giving them that
see-through characteristic.

That's it... i remember they were made from some veg. fibre or something. It
ain't all white either is it, kind of a off white in colour if i remember
correctly.

Wow! I din't know that. I know about the muslin sock, because I have
several, but not about the butter roasting. Can only imagine how that
tastes.

I have a kilo of the top grade (fragrant) beans & powder but i can't see it
lasting forever, we try & reserve it for sunday mornings only & if we try
real hard, once a month. It's a treat & our neighbours know it. When we
bought ours, there were 6 bags of beans to choose from. All roasted with
butter. The cheapest gave a bitter taste, not much aroma but mainly taste.
The most expensive which was what we bought is mainly fragrant. That's what
the guy said & the locals would make a mix of 2 o 3 grades etc. He suggested
the top grade(fragrant) & one of the middle grade for taste. So we bought 2
half kilos but we ended up drinking the top grade /fragrant beans as western
tastes goes, they were out of the world!. The other stuff was indeed bitter!
We've since had another kilo of the fragrant stuff sent over to us. It costs
just over £3 for a kilo of the fragrant/top grade beans. That's about US$5+
for a kilo, is that a good price? i was told the beans were sumatran from
Indonesia. BTW... the locals there drink their coffee & tea with sweet milk
like tinned condense milk, they have to i guess as some of the cheaper
coffee tasted so bitter!

I can remember as a kid smelling the roasting of coffee beans from the back
alleyways of coffee shops... they would have one of those big oil drums cut
in half & filled 1/2 way with coffee beans & fry them with butter. I
remember them stirring it with a huge wok scoop or a mini spade etc. & later
covering the lot up & occasionally stirring the lot up again. Do they do the
same in the Philipines?

DC.

"DC." wrote in message et...

Iceland has Björk! Way more interesting!

Icelands sounds cool, i mean COLD! why the heck do you think it's called
Iceland.. LOL. but i'm sure it's a really nice place to visit in the summer
but it must be pretty bleak in the winter.

Iceland is, due to the Gulf stream and the surrounding sea, not as
cold as the name implies. Iceland has maritime temperate climate with
mild winters and cool summers, most of Eastern and Northern Europe is
colder than Iceland in the winter,
but Iceland is usually colder than the rest of Europe in the summer
(not much though)

"Peter Dy" wrote
Thanks, Tippi. Informative post, as usual from you!

What are siu-bang, though?

thanks Peter! siu-bang is a flat baked pastry, round or oval, usually
made with just flour and oil, with sesame seeds and maybe spring onion
on top, or it can have a meat stuffing (like a calzone!)

Here is one version
http://wf-www.sd.cninfo.net/online/mc/sb.htm

This version shows the yiu-tiao "sandwich"
http://www.hfjb.com/zhmc/ms/200410/1002.html

This version has the meat stuffing
http://leilako.com/recipes/chinese/09092002_1.html

"Tippi" wrote in message
om...
"Peter Dy" wrote
Thanks, Tippi. Informative post, as usual from you!

What are siu-bang, though?

thanks Peter! siu-bang is a flat baked pastry, round or oval, usually
made with just flour and oil, with sesame seeds and maybe spring onion
on top, or it can have a meat stuffing (like a calzone!)


Ah, I had a feeling those are what you were talking about. And thanks for
those great photo links! Wow, never would have imagined sticking a you-tiao
in one of those. Kinda funny. I like the slightly crisp/tough texture on
the outside though, and that would be lost if you placed them in the bread.
That's one reason I'm not so fond of that dim sum item where the you-tiao
are wrapped in a sheet of rice noodle. Still, I'll have to try it out.

Actually, a few years ago, I closely watched the mother of a
Chinese-American friend of mine make spring-onion cakes. A few months
later, for Christmas in Cleveland, I made the same for my family to great
success. Alas, I've forgotten all the moves since then! Should have taken
notes...

Peter






Here is one version
http://wf-www.sd.cninfo.net/online/mc/sb.htm

This version shows the yiu-tiao "sandwich"
http://www.hfjb.com/zhmc/ms/200410/1002.html

This version has the meat stuffing
http://leilako.com/recipes/chinese/09092002_1.html

"LeeBat" wrote in message
...
"Peter Dy" wrote:

We call them "barong tagalog." I love them, though I don't personally own
one, unfortunately.

They've gotten quite fancy with them lately. Colors, multi-colors,
etc. Not to my liking but what do I know?

I like to wear my barong to parties dressed all in white. I hear
comments like, "Oooh, Mabel, this is really a ritzy affair. They even
hired a Filipino busboy."

LeeBat
the tips ain't bad either .....


Hehe! Hilarious, LeeBat. Especially "Mabel"--haven't heard that name in a
good while.

Peter

"DC." wrote in message
t...
Hi Peter,
[...]
Wow! I din't know that. I know about the muslin sock, because I have
several, but not about the butter roasting. Can only imagine how that
tastes.

I have a kilo of the top grade (fragrant) beans & powder but i can't see
it
lasting forever, we try & reserve it for sunday mornings only & if we try
real hard, once a month. It's a treat & our neighbours know it. When we
bought ours, there were 6 bags of beans to choose from. All roasted with
butter. The cheapest gave a bitter taste, not much aroma but mainly taste.
The most expensive which was what we bought is mainly fragrant. That's
what
the guy said & the locals would make a mix of 2 o 3 grades etc. He
suggested
the top grade(fragrant) & one of the middle grade for taste. So we bought
2
half kilos but we ended up drinking the top grade /fragrant beans as
western
tastes goes, they were out of the world!. The other stuff was indeed
bitter!
We've since had another kilo of the fragrant stuff sent over to us. It
costs
just over £3 for a kilo of the fragrant/top grade beans. That's about
US$5+
for a kilo, is that a good price? i was told the beans were sumatran from
Indonesia. BTW... the locals there drink their coffee & tea with sweet
milk
like tinned condense milk, they have to i guess as some of the cheaper
coffee tasted so bitter!

I can remember as a kid smelling the roasting of coffee beans from the
back
alleyways of coffee shops... they would have one of those big oil drums
cut
in half & filled 1/2 way with coffee beans & fry them with butter. I
remember them stirring it with a huge wok scoop or a mini spade etc. &
later
covering the lot up & occasionally stirring the lot up again. Do they do
the
same in the Philipines?


No, not at all, as far as I know. From what I've heard, I don't even think
coffee came to the Philippines until after the Americans took over. I'll
ask my Dad though, or maybe others here know?

DC, where did you grew up exactly? I don't recall you mentioning it. The
Dutch solidified their control of Indonesia rather late, didn't they? I'd
have to check back at my history books, but didn't they start growing cash
crops only in the early 1800s, when coffee was only just starting to become
popular in Europe? So I can see how Indonesia became very familiar with
coffee, since that was a crop the Dutch pushed heavily.

The Spaniards took over the Philippines rather early, before anyone had ever
heard of coffee in Europe. And they weren't using the Philippines for cash
crop profits like in other colonial lands, as far as I know. I imagine that
is one main reason why coffee isn't as big in the Philippines as it is in
Indonesia or Vietnam.

Peter

"Sigvaldi Eggertsson" wrote in message
om...
"DC." wrote in message
et...

Iceland has Björk! Way more interesting!

Icelands sounds cool, i mean COLD! why the heck do you think it's called
Iceland.. LOL. but i'm sure it's a really nice place to visit in the
summer
but it must be pretty bleak in the winter.

Iceland is, due to the Gulf stream and the surrounding sea, not as
cold as the name implies. Iceland has maritime temperate climate with
mild winters and cool summers, most of Eastern and Northern Europe is
colder than Iceland in the winter,
but Iceland is usually colder than the rest of Europe in the summer
(not much though)


Hey, thanks for posting, Sigvaldi. I wouldn't be surprised if you were the
first person from Iceland to post on a.f.a! How's the Asian food scene over
there?

Aside from Björk, who I love, Iceland is really popular/hip these days, no?
The New York Times has had several articles on how great the rock/pop music
scene is on the islands. And then there is that movie where the Japanese
guy goes to Iceland to honor his dead parents (forgot the name of it), and I
recently saw an well-acclaimed Icelandic movie called something like "Ron"
about a wayward boy, that was quite good. And, I don't know if you know
German or not, but one of the brightest new stars on the German literature
horizon is Judith Hermann, and she had a wonderful short story in her latest
collection that took place in Iceland where the narrator was an Icelander.
That story alone made me want to head on over for a visit!

That book of hers is called, _Nichts als Gespenster_, BTW. I'm a little
more than half way through, but I don't want to finish it, 'cause it is so
good!!

Peter

snip
DC, where did you grew up exactly? I don't recall you mentioning it.

Long story... i'll email you.

The
Dutch solidified their control of Indonesia rather late, didn't they? I'd
have to check back at my history books, but didn't they start growing cash
crops only in the early 1800s, when coffee was only just starting to
become
popular in Europe? So I can see how Indonesia became very familiar with
coffee, since that was a crop the Dutch pushed heavily.

The Spaniards & Portugese were the first to arrive in SE Asia but then in
the late 1700's to the early 1800's there was a mad rush by other colonial
European powers to establish trading ports & enclaves in SE Asia. Spices,
natural produce & the trade between China & India were the main commodity
traded. The trading ports & enclaves were later made into administrative
capitals for each colonial power as they began expanding inland in search of
more spices & natural produce. Lots of bartering also took place, not just
with produce & spices but politically. The local rulers or sultans would
seek protection from a colonial power from invading neighbouring countries
or tribes etc. & in return they would give the colonial powers the right to
harvest whatever produce they wanted etc. Hence the begining of various
trading companies like Dutch East India Trading Company etc. These obviously
led to full scale colonialisation. Funny thing... Siam or modern day
Thailand was the only country not colonised because they had a fairly strong
monarchy where the king was seen as a god like figure. I guess various
colonial powers thought it was too much trouble for them but that didn;t
stop them from trying. Cue... Anna & the King & the King & I movies etc. One
last interesting fact... Germany came fairly late in their bid to colonise
eastwards... they ended up with a group of islands that make up a fair bit
of Papua New Guinea & surrounding islands.


The Spaniards took over the Philippines rather early, before anyone had
ever
heard of coffee in Europe. And they weren't using the Philippines for
cash
crop profits like in other colonial lands, as far as I know. I imagine
that
is one main reason why coffee isn't as big in the Philippines as it is in
Indonesia or Vietnam.

I think you're right about that one.

DC.

snip
Aside from Björk, who I love, Iceland is really popular/hip these days,
no?
The New York Times has had several articles on how great the rock/pop
music
scene is on the islands.

Norway too... over the last 5 years or so, some wonderful melodies have been
creeping into my ears from places like Bergen. Must be the long cold nights
& very very strong coffee ; )

And then there is that movie where the Japanese
guy goes to Iceland to honor his dead parents (forgot the name of it),

Yes what is the name of that movie? i saw it too. Bizzare seeing that
Japanese guy dragging his suitcase across miles of snow with a full blizzard
blowing!

That reminds me... anything new & funny from Aki Kurasmaki(sp?) of Leningrad
Cowboys fame... that was one hell of a movie! or did that finnish him off
LOL.

DC.

snip
Aside from Björk, who I love, Iceland is really popular/hip these days,
no?
The New York Times has had several articles on how great the rock/pop
music
scene is on the islands.

Norway too... over the last 5 years or so, some wonderful melodies have been
creeping into my ears from places like Bergen. Must be the long cold nights
& very very strong coffee ; )

And then there is that movie where the Japanese
guy goes to Iceland to honor his dead parents (forgot the name of it),

Yes what is the name of that movie? i saw it too. Bizzare seeing that
Japanese guy dragging his suitcase across miles of snow with a full blizzard
blowing!

That reminds me... anything new & funny from Aki Kurasmaki(sp?) of Leningrad
Cowboys fame... that was one hell of a movie! or did that finnish him off
LOL.

DC.

"DC." not@home wrote in message
t...
snip
Aside from Björk, who I love, Iceland is really popular/hip these days,
no?
The New York Times has had several articles on how great the rock/pop
music
scene is on the islands.

Norway too... over the last 5 years or so, some wonderful melodies have
been
creeping into my ears from places like Bergen. Must be the long cold
nights
& very very strong coffee ; )

And then there is that movie where the Japanese
guy goes to Iceland to honor his dead parents (forgot the name of it),

Yes what is the name of that movie? i saw it too. Bizzare seeing that
Japanese guy dragging his suitcase across miles of snow with a full
blizzard
blowing!

That reminds me... anything new & funny from Aki Kurasmaki(sp?) of
Leningrad
Cowboys fame... that was one hell of a movie! or did that finnish him off
LOL.


No, no! The Finn Aki Kaurismäki has made numerous well-received films aside
from Leningrad Cowboys, which I also love!

His latest is available here in the States and it certainly should be
available in the UK
as well: The Man Without a Past. It's a very humorous film, but it's a lot
more serious than Leningrad Cowboys. It starts out very slowly, but it
eventually blossoms into a heart-warming thing. I don't remember the names
of the other films of his I've seen though...

If you like Kaurismäki's quirkiness, I'm sure you'd like Man Without a Past.
Also, consider any of the films of my fellow Clevelander, Jim Jarmusch. One
of his films, I believe it is Mystery Train, includes a cameo with Aki
Kaurismäki! Or, if you like Johnny Depp, go for Ghost Dog...

Peter

snip
No, no! The Finn Aki Kaurismäki has made numerous well-received films
aside
from Leningrad Cowboys, which I also love!

His latest is available here in the States and it certainly should be
available in the UK
as well: The Man Without a Past. It's a very humorous film, but it's a
lot
more serious than Leningrad Cowboys. It starts out very slowly, but it
eventually blossoms into a heart-warming thing. I don't remember the
names
of the other films of his I've seen though...

If you like Kaurismäki's quirkiness, I'm sure you'd like Man Without a
Past.
Also, consider any of the films of my fellow Clevelander, Jim Jarmusch.
One
of his films, I believe it is Mystery Train, includes a cameo with Aki
Kaurismäki! Or, if you like Johnny Depp, go for Ghost Dog...

Peter

Heeheee.... seen them too, & there's that coffee connection again, coffee &
cigarettes. But i didn't know Johhny Depp was in Ghost Dog? wasn't it Forest
Whitaker?

DC.