dipping sauce | The Rambling Epicure

Sauce for Thought: Fish-flavored Funk for your Sauces – from the sunny parts of the world

Published by Alice + Tuesday, August 23, 2011 Permalink 0

by Alice DeLuca

In the early 1990’s we camped at Maleakahana State Park on the windward coast of Oahu Hawai’i. In the heat of the day I came upon a Hawaiian man who was busy reaching in to an ironwood tree to hang up a plastic grocery bag half-filled with something heavy, soft and squishy. It looked like what it was, a bag of guts, and I was somewhat apprehensive. He saw me watching him and offered politely that the bag’s contents included fish guts, salt, and chilies, and that after a few days of hanging there in the sun, rotting, the liquid would be drained off to use as sauce. I must have wrinkled up my nose, because he quickly expressed his opinion that only a Hawaiian would appreciate this sauce. He was hanging the bag in the tree to protect it from animals that would eat the rotting contents, which would ruin his planned feast. I regret not speaking with him about how he would use his sauce, but that opportunity is now lost in the mists of time.

One American’s Synopsis of Chinese Food

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, May 27, 2011 Permalink 0

by Gayle Black

In China, there are at least seven styles of cuisine. They vary according to region. While living in Jiangsu Province in the central eastern part of the country, I was mainly exposed to one, broadly defined as “spicy.” Many of the dishes were spicy, but not extremely so for my American tongue. In northern China, the preference tends to be for noodles and dumplings, rather than rice. The bread available is very good, even when produced on a mass scale. The Chinese are excellent bakers.

In Xuzhou, where I lived for half a year, the mutton is fresh and readily available. They slice it in an artful way and bring it to the table to be enjoyed for visual beauty as well as taste. A popular form of dining is called “hot pot.” Restaurants provide two pots of boiling water, and diners are able to cook various meats and vegetables at the table. Wonderful sauces for dipping complete the experience.

I especially enjoyed the fresh fruit available in China. The mandarin oranges were sold with stems and leaves, which kept them particularly flavorful. There were also small mangoes, which had a better texture and more delicate flavor than the larger ones most of us are familiar with. Fruit markets were common on many streets. There were also many flavorful dishes sold by street vendors. Of course the buyer had to be careful. I bought a good pancake with vegetable filling. I would have been hesitant to buy a meat-filled one.

In order to discover the many varieties of Chinese cooking, a traveler short on time would do best to visit Shanghai. It is a beautiful, cosmopolitan city where all manner of Chinese food and every other type of Chinese creation can be enjoyed.