Heavy Heavy.

As well as the more serious and heavy sections on politics, economics, philosophy and so on, I also regularly browse the food section of The New York Times, and sometimes the BBC News. For example, last term I read a fascinating article about a delicious Korean way of cooking pork which I chose as a source to blog in "Another Helping of Korea". And a week or so ago, I emailed myself the link to "Creamy Custards Put Pudding to Shame" to remind me that I had found it interesting and might want to blog it. And here it is.

In "Creamy Custards Put Pudding to Shame", Melissa Clark tells us that although superior to custards made using corn starch, the water bath used to bake custards in the French style, called "pot de crème" (¶ 3) can be a bit messy (2012). However, Clark says that this need not be a big problem because you don't need boiling water and the tray for the water does not need to be large or very full. Clark points out that her only regret about pot de crème compared with American style "custard" thickened with starch is the lack of a "slippery, sticky skin" (¶ 4), which she likes. Clark also discusses the merits of three baked custard recipes she gives in a separate article.

I think that food is important to most people which is why even serious, somewhat academic newspapers like The New York Times have whole sections on it. We eat out with friends, we compare restaurants, we talk about what we eat and ate, and it is an essential part of many social events: food is an important part of life. And I rather like it. Until recently, I used to cook regularly, but I don't do that so much these days. It's much easier to eat out. But I still like to read about restaurants and different ideas on food. In her article, for example, Clark also remembers and relates personal details, such as her opening sentence about spying in a French chef's kitchen.

Reading her article, I was reminded of two things. First, why I stopped going to the Marriot Hotel on Sukhumvit. A group of friends and I had been visiting for a few years for the excellent value of the international buffet, but then they started making the pumpkin soup with ... corn starch! That's right. They same awful thing that so upset Clark's French chef, and I'm afraid I agree with him. Like a real custard, a pot de crème, authentic cream soups are thickened using cream and perhaps some egg yolks to make them rich and creamy. Using corn starch is easy and cheap, and awful. So I haven't been back to the Marriot for a while. The Hyatt Erawan and couple of other hotels get my buffet custom these days. The second thing that came to mind was making custard at home when I was still a young boy in high school. My mother encouraged all of her children to cook, and when I was young, I was more interested in desserts than roasts. Rich, creamy custards were fun. I actually loved the fuss of having trays of water in the oven and little pots of creamy vanilla or whatever all golden yellow slowly setting in the oven. And I don't agree with Clark about the skin - I think it's yukky, but instead, real custards have a crisp top from the baking and a nice sprinkle of sugar that slowly browns. And because I grew up on a farm, there was no lack of fresh eggs for yolks, and fresh, thick cream. I'm sure it's very unhealthy for the heart, but what can you do? At least in those days, it didn't make my waist grow the way it does today.

And that reminds me of my sister's traditional pan cakes, but they can wait for another day. I hope you found this blog post a bit less heavy than my last ones.

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References

Clark, M. (2012, February 24). Creamy Custards Put Pudding to Shame. The New York Times. Retrieved March 8, 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/dining/creamy-custards-that-put-pudding-to-shame.html