Forum Thermomix
Welcoming Center, Management and General Chat => Chit Chat => Topic started by: fundj&e on October 03, 2011, 01:11:01 pm
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i only do 2 recipes always the same, the rest of the time its like mum, remember when you made that curry last week it was awesome can you make it again.................................... Who the hell remembers how i made that curry :-))
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I am an average cook but I can read and follow a recipe so that I can be an awesome cook ;D ;D
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I am bad at reading and following recipes. i skip lines and sometimes pages.slowly i am geting better thanks to this forum. I really did not have a recipe for my sexy legs and now i do ,so next time i make it i can look it up .
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I am bad at reading and following recipes. i skip lines and sometimes pages.slowly i am geting better thanks to this forum. I really did not have a recipe for my sexy legs and now i do ,so next time i make it i can look it up .
A recipe for my sexy legs?? :o Where?? I want that recipe!!
I'm an intuitive cook. I will read 5 or 6 recipes, put them away and make my own up (except for cakes and biscuits). I modify cake and biscuit recipes (and make notes of what I've changed) once I've made them once and end up developing my own recipes from these modifications.
Since having my TMX, I write everything down as I make something new, even when I'm not using the Thermomix for that particular dish. I check measurements and make notes. This has really helped when I've made something wonderful and want to make it again!
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A messy one :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
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A messy one :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
I used to be a messy cook!! ;D I now fill my sink with hot soapy water and wash everything as I go.
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A happy confident cook until I cook for anyone other than family then I become insecure.
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Im a cook who can easily follow a recipe but also make a dish up as I go but my downfall is not noting things down as i tend to add and taste etc and dont take note of how much of what I have added lol...but I am getting better since thermomix...I consider myself as do those around me a good cook but I have my successes as I do my failures..comes with the territory of experiementing I think and also frame of mind...I also hate to cook the same thing twice..like to always have something different unless I feel like an old fav :)
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I often cook by eye and taste - fingers feeling how a dough is working, sniffing for aromas.
Recipes are often altered at a whim - sometimes I have alternate ingredients or just "because" -
I don't rely on writing down, if it is a recipe I think I will want to repeat I make audible "notes" as I go.
Possibly I have mentioned in prior posts in another topic that I have a little digital dictating recorder and it's easy for me to make audible "notes" then transcribe the notes later.
There is usually no one around to wonder why I am talking to myself and if there is, it is easy to explain. Also I have converted quite a few friends to this way of keeping track of things.
I have it with me when I am doing household tasks to make shopping notes - saves having to run to the market at an inopportune time.
The one I have is voice activated and rechargeable and has a USB cable so I can transfer the file to my computers.
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I'm pretty much by the recipe...even before Thermie.
I wish I knew intuitively what flavors will go well with each other. I'm in awe of these kids on junior master chef!
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Stop (http://www.myemoticons.com/images/emotions/disappointed/pouty.gif) these ever so interesting posts especially when I cannot be in on them all day!!!!!!!! :D :D
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:D :D You can still join us on weekends or during your insomniac moments Robyn ;)
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I wish I was an intuitive cook, but alas I follow a recipe to the letter. If the dish doesn't work out, I go back through to find out at what stage it could possibly have failed. If I think its my fault, I might make the recipe again or look for something similar that I think will work next time. For every recipe that works out I give a tick and a comment, and its only the last couple of years that I have made neat alterations or tips in a recipe book for future reference. I would never be able to go on Masterchef or similar because I need a recipe to go by. Having said that, I know a lot of general things about cooking and most likely am a better cook than average because I enjoy cooking and seeing people enjoy the fruits of my labour. My style of cooking would fit into the "Homestyle" category. I don't have time to make confits or fiddly things as I run my own business and spend a lot of time on this forum :-))
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I'm a lazy cook, an intuitive cook, an adaptive cook AND a by the book cook!
I strive for maximum impact with minimum effort, generally like to follow a recipe for the first time then I tweak like crazy, am very happy to substitute where possible/desirable and tend to cook by smell or taste adding different ingredients to boost the flavours of my dishes.
I tend not to write things down until after the event. This is not always successful as I often don't quite remember what it was I did to take the dish up to the next level. ???
I also tend to struggle a bit from season to season as I try to remember what it was that I cooked the previous year. Again, note taking would probably be useful.
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I need a recipe, although I do tweak and substitute. I believe that being a good cook is also about knowing what to cook. Until thermomix came into my life I had about 3 standard cake recipes and a few biscuit recipes which I always cooked and people thought I was a wonderful baker! When I started working full time, my husband (for a short spell, anyway) endevoured to cook more and wouldn't take any guidance from me. Frequently, he would be disappointed with his efforts, but when I looked at the recipes he'd chosen from the internet, I would think no wonder, I can tell that would be bland, or that would be difficult. I can usually tell if something will work or be to our tastes by looking at the recipe.
I like how Amanda said she doesn't take enough notes and finds it hard to remember from season to season what she cooked last year, I'm like that too. I've been trying to remember what I used to cook BEFORE Clancy, so I could do some more converting and sharing with others who have generously shared their recipes . . . but other than my favourite chocolate cake and lamb curry which I've already put up, I can't remember what I used to cook, apart from a few key dishes which aren't really suitable for conversion!!
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I just love to experiment, throw things together, add herbs and spices, and it always works out.
Our closest takeaway is 25 minutes away, so I cook every night, also a couple of times a week for Mum and Dad too.
I then bake biccies, cakes on the weekends, and just love to stay in the kitchen for hours.
Footy sunday , was great, as i did heaps of breads, foccacias, dips ect.
Robyn
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I love to cook, especially cakes, biscuits and breads. Having said that I wouldn't say I was a great cook as I'm not into 'plating up' and all the fancy bits and pieces. I do love to try new things (everyday of the week :P). I say I stick to a recipe but Dh said I don't. ONce I have made something once I may fool around with it and alter things. I do like to have something to guide me though.
Since Termite we have never eaten so many types of breads. I make more steamed things too. I have always rated my recipes. Three dots for great and make again, two dots for not too good, don't make again and one dot means don't even think of it. I tend to make notes all over my cookbooks and they look well loved. When converting I try to have pencil and paper handy although I often just use instinct with Termite now.
Not sure what type of cook that all makes me, but I love it and don't really care. ;) ;)
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lol cookie re the dot system...mum told me to rate every recipe i try out of 5 so i remember what it was like as i often cook new recipes I sometimes forget I made it until its too late lol!!! so the rating definately helps..sometimes i dont rate and just put plain yuk!!! and i keep the recipe so i know not to repeat!..As some of you know im a bit additcted to cookbooks but i also have alot of recipes from all over in both languages on evernote..im similar to what lellyj said also...i can usualy tell if a recipe wil be good or not by looking at it and particularly the ingredients and how they are put together..mum is the same and often we talk about some reicpe we found someplace and pass it on..
CP I think most could go on masterchef as they provide recipes most of the time if you notice..however the time constraint would bother me as im not one for enjoying to be rushed and think everything would come undone for me lol
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:) Frozzie your kitchen is so cute and tiny.
loved the photo.
Robyn
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Where did you see the photo of Frozzie's kitchen, Robyn?
I love reading about how people cook. I use a rating system too, but it's ticks. 1 tick for OK, 2 for great, 3 for excellent.
I'm constantly adapting recipes and noting changes. I only take proper notes now as my daughter complains that my recipes are impossible to follow "What's a dollop, Mum?" ;D
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yes robyn so tiny (about 3m square)...but typical of europe..some are even smaller...not many kitchens are that big except in some big old country houses but anywhere close to a city or built up area and there is just no hope..small rooms small kitchens..often joined lounge and dining which is often the biggest part of the house...like i said...miss the open plan and large space rooms in oz...those of you in oz are very much spoilt for space!! Next house I would like to build and design myself...just to find the right size piece of land (not so easy) in the right area and find builders we can trust (almost impossible lol)..one day! For the moment its home and its cosy!
MJ its on the whats behind your forum name post that JD posted along with johnros, JDs and Fundjs kitchens :)
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MJ its on the whats behind your forum name post that JD posted along with johnros, JDs and Fundjs kitchens :)
Gorgeous kitchen!! I somehow missed the thread about our forum names.
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Fundj that used to be me until I started writing down anything the kids said they really liked. I have a little notebook with these kind of made up recipes, usually with whatever was in the fridge at the time. It's a bit like a diary because I date it and say what was happening around the time too. I find it hard to remember what worked well when I just chucked anything in the pot.
With the EDC I am really bad at following directions - I see the list of ingredients and start putting in the TMX - I think it's the whole measuring thing and the simplicity makes me complacent.
My general rule is first time follow recipe exactly, unless I don't have all the ingredients I never let that stop me, I'm happy to substitute. Next time I will make changes and when I alter I either make notes in the recipe book, or in my notebook where I also write down good library book recipes, and increasingly with Evernote as my laptop sits in my kitchen now and gets as splashed as much as old cookbooks. Whatever I decide to cook I like to open about 3 different books and see how each one varies and I mix it up based on this.
Or sometimes I make myself not look at books and forums and try to summon up the great cook that lurks within all of us, depending on what I'm cooking she's usually a traditionally built mamma from ancestry not of my own and wow she can cook.
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I'm not a baker/cake maker etc, I don't have a sweet tooth so little interest so just make a few tried and tested recipes and always to a recipe.
But main meals I often make it up as I go along, know what to put in, rarely weigh/measure and just go by instinct or taste.
Though I do love following recipes, but often I'll tweak them due to ingredients I don't eat/don't have.
But no way could i go on masterchef as there are some real basics that despite many many times cooking I would have to look up the recipe (I think it's a bit like driving, if someone has always directed you/used gps then it's harder to learn where you are actually going)
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mum says she always has to follow a recipe so thats who I have to blame :D
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I'm a "have a go at new recipes" cook when I have time. I love using new ingredients and experimenting with flavours, then again my menus are most of the time dictated by what we have growing in the veggie patch.
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When I asked DH how he would reply to this post his one word answer was - prolific!!!!!! Now for a true picture, I found this in a book Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink - on reflection I have multiple personalities when it comes to cooking - as I float around amongst all of these types, sadly though I rarely describe myself as a healthy cook if using the descriptors below - makes interesting reading (I hope!!!!!!) :D :) :-\
Friendly
Well-liked, and enthusiastic, giving cooks seldom experiment, they love baking, and like to serve tried-and-true family favorites, although that sometimes means serving less healthful foods.
Healthy
Optimistic, book-loving, nature enthusiasts, healthy cooks experiment with fish, fresh produce, and herbs. Health comes first, even if it means sometimes sacrificing taste.
Methodical
Talented cooks who rely heavily on recipes. The methodical cook has refined tastes and manners. Their creations always look exactly like the picture in the cookbook.
Innovative
Creative and trend-setting, innovative cooks seldom use recipes and like to experiment with ingredients, cuisine styles, and cooking methods.
Competitive
The “Iron Chef” of the neighborhood, competitive cooks have dominant personalities and are intense perfectionists who love to impress their guests.
This article (http://jrosewater.hubpages.com/hub/What-kind-of-cook-are-you) may also interest some!!!!!!
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Haha Robyn I think I have a bit of all of those in me! I love to cook and read so I have read a lot about food and cooking - I think this helps. Could not live without my Stephanie Alexander bible. I love to experiment - hence Thermie getting a good workout since he arrived on Monday! I guess I am above average. Friends say I should go on Masterchef - but no way - firstly I don't think I'm that good - I look at the mystery boxes and panic and that's just watching it on telly! Also I do not want to cook for a living and I could not be bothered with all that w*nky cheffy plating up. We had the degustation meal at the Press Club in Melbourne (George's restaurant) last year - each course looked amazing but I've eaten better for waaaay less!
DH's mum is a CWA stalwart and winner of many baking awards so I don't even try to compete there - she has given me some great recipes.
I've found that having a coeliac DS has made me experiment even more and use less pre-prepared food (not that we used all that much). We rarely get takeaway now or eat out because DS can't eat it and if I'm cooking for him I might as well do a full family meal. Sadly Rockhampton has pretty much no restaurants that combine good food with good service. GF is hassle for most of them.
Must go and cook dinner - trying the steamed sausages and veges tonight because I have not used the varoma yet.
Stephanie :)
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I really don't know what to say, except that i love to cook. I like to experiment and have some awful disasters, like today. I thought i would cook Jambalaya. The chooks will enjoy this tomorrow. :-)) :-)) :-)) i like to eat savory food but love to cook sweet puds. I love this Forum as there are so many interesting recipes and members are quite honest about the recipes. I always write down what i need to know when converting a recipe. I have always done this , even before I had my TMX. I am a natural 'list maker' so this is easy. I have hundreds of cooking books, it is a bit of an obsession. I am fortunate in that we have friends who love to test a new recipe that I have cooked. The TMX has given me a new interest in life, after a very challenging working life I found retirement a bit of a drag. That about sums it up. It is difficult to talk about yourself as I am sure other might see things differently.
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I'm an envious cook. I read every day about what everyone has been cooking and wish that I didn't work long hours and had more time to cook. When I have time off work, I'm like everyone else on here making recipe after recipe to try out what's been posted on the forum. When it comes to cooking I generally have a read through the recipe first and decide what it will taste like and what I will and won't follow. As for cooking from scratch I never seem to make the same meal twice. I make it up as I go along and can never remember what I did from one minute to the next.
I can follow a recipe to the letter but generally choose not to (sometimes not a good thing) but my whole family love my cooking and will always choose it over another such as eating out or someone else's cooking. When it comes to TMX I have reigned myself in a lot but am now spreading my wings and trying diffferent things. One thing that I have found is when I need to use another appliance or the stove (other than the oven) I feel really guilty, almost like I am cheating on Thermie.
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" I thought i would cook Jambalaya. The chooks will enjoy this tomorrow"
Chookie, did you make up your own version or did you try the recipe in the Gluten Free book? Riv Mum did a review of that one here (http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=2685.0).
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" I thought i would cook Jambalaya. The chooks will enjoy this tomorrow"
Chookie, did you make up your own version or did you try the recipe in the Gluten Free book? Riv Mum did a review of that one here (http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=2685.0).
No Judy, I tried to convert one from BBC web recipe. Will look at this one, thanks
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I have changed my style of cooking since starting this thread, thanks to all of you.
I now can leave bread dough to rise without touching and poking
I now can wait until a cake cools down b4 icing
I now write down all of the family favorite meals
I now follow a recipe :-)) (most of the time)
thank you
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Since Thermie came along and DS intolerance to artificial colours and flavors, my cooking style has changed greatly. I used to cook from jars and packets a lot as I wasn't confident enough to cook from scratch. Now nothing comes out of a packet. I have even been able to make recipes up. For example my meat pie filling is cooked diced beef, garlic, mustard, beef stock and cream. No gravy mix at all and it is lovely.
I love the way I can wash up all my dirty utensils etc whilst Thermie does her thing. No more mess.
I have to say that this forum and it's lovely helpful and encouraging members are what have inspired me to cook the way I do now. Without you lovely friends, I would still be Cooking from packets and jars. So a BIG Thank You to you all.
DG xxxxx
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i still have plenty of mess DG ;D
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I've realised that since I have had FFS I have been happily making things that involve lots of steps. Tenina has made me realise that if you do things a step at a time you will get a lovely result. Before I just became frustrated and things never turned out like the picture.
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I'm pretty much by the book cook. I love cooking and cookbooks (I have hundreds of cookbooks).
I usually read the ingredients and occassionally add or delete things to suit our tastes.
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I make things up as I go along, Or use cookbooks and then make my changes to it.
Robyn ;D
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At the moment, I'm a one handed, time poor and generally sleepy eyed cook. I have a 21 month toddler (DD) and 6 month old baby (DS). So nothing too adventurous here at the moment. I'm just happy to get food on the table.
The toddler has learnt the word "NO". She was such a good eater, now she is testing the boundaries and what she likes on Monday she won't touch by Wednesday. The baby is just starting with solids so pureed root veggies which is so easy in the TM.
Can't wait until they are a bit older and can help, at the moment they watch.
But my partner would describe me as a messy cook, but quick. He on the other hand is a very tidy cook but takes forever.
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My DH is an occasional cook. Once I let him use the thermie but the blades weren't in properly and we had mess everywhere. Lucky the srange noise alerted me to his errors.
He does make the best scrambled eggs (which I can't eat now :'( ) and pancakes.
Apart from that I am the one who cooks in our house and I don't mind as thermie and I have so much fun.
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Im also à messy cook... I really need thermie plus à commie or however you spell it (kitchen hand) or would even settle for a washer upperer lol..i know chefs teach to clean as you go but it goes against thé grain for me..maybe one day that Will change who knows.. :P
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Hi all,
I read somewhere that messy cooks are good cooks. I'm a clean as you go cook and the meals turn out ok. I still have my disasters and if I can't rescue things, I'm not brave enough to try the same recipe again. :)
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Until recently I have always been used to a tiny kitchen so I try and clean as I go, just so that I have some "elbow room" to prepare and cook (old habits die hard). I dispose of scraps as I go, put dishes in the sink that I know won't be used again in the recipe, stack in the dishwasher, and if I have the energy or time wash the handwashables whilst the TM is cooking, and clear bench space so the kitchen looks "usable". Its not so bad with TM.
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I am definitely
1. Messy- have many stained cookbooks, not to mention the amount of spray and wipe that I go through a year to clean my bench tops etc.
2. "Bit of this, bit of that" kind of inexact cooking
3. Can follow a recipe well- therefore TM perfect for me for as long as I follow the recipe as I have found it, or tweaked, I get pretty consistent results.
Also
4. Fully confess to some terrible disasters in the kitchen- usually due to experimentation gone wrong.
5. Hate waste so often 'recycle' or modify a recipe to use ingredients on hand- sometimes with dismal results!
6. In possession of a well fed worm farm, mostly due to reasons 4. and 5.
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so often 'recycle' or modify a recipe to use ingredients on hand- sometimes with dismal results!
needed figs for a pizza. Went to C*les after asking at a couple of places in our shopping centre and previously seen figs earlier in the week. Fuzzy female at the front entry showed me where they were and said they were disguised, I'm looking at them with a friend thinking "yep, they must be dressed up real funny" - where are they??? and she points to the dates. ok....pointed that out to her. she was embarrarssed and then shows me where they really are...ok, they look very much like kiwi fruit...customers are chuckling. so then the lady behind the deli counter who has had enough for the day in her section takes me on a little Lookie Tour of the aisles cos she has 20 mins to fill in before knocking off and someone is looking over her post. I knew it was a wild goose chase after that, and she was supposedly supposed to give me vouchers for not finding what I wanted or something, but really all I wanted was a fig or two. Is this where the saying stems from "I couldn't give a fig". Shame was they are in season at the moment and so many people probably have them rotting and falling off their trees, but I mananged to buy a couple at $3 each :-)) 15 mins drive away. Mind you, I'm glad I got them cos the pizza was delightful! (will post a pic tomoz under "fave pizza toppings").
Now that I am getting back on to the topic, the one who was just filling in time although she knew what I wanted them for, even suggested using apricots or raisens (god help me)...pizza?
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CP - What a strange experience you had shopping today...
Well I am definitely by the book/recipe kind of cook. I try to clean as I go too due to limited space and I have no dishwasher too so I have to handwash which I detest doing but don't want a dishwasher at the same time. If I like a recipe, I usually try to type it up that day and attach a photo, as well as adding tweaks.
I would love to be the kind of cook that can throw things together however I just can't do it although I think I am learning a little. I just don't know what flavours go together - that's what my husband is good at and he makes some pretty nice stuff. He is happy to cook everyday whereas it is something I never liked however enjoy much more now that we menu plan and I am a stay at home mum with a little one.
I enjoy trying out new recipes and am learning to extend my palate slowly slowly, especially with the TMX.
I am also looking forward to teaching my little one how to cook from a young age...something that I never had as it was all done for me.
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Tasty,
Cooking "free style" is something that happens as you get experience. Fifty years ago, as a new bride, I usually followed recipes to the letter and sometimes they didn't turn out and that too was a lesson that added to my "book of food knowledge."
I've always been very outgoing and never afraid to approach strangers in grocery stores who were purchasing something with which I was unfamiliar. In some cases I made life-long friends who had a similar interest in food.
I learned to cook many ethnic dishes in this manner and was introduced to some extraordinary people.
Now, with the internet, this is so much easier and the immensely wider availability of "exotic" foods makes adventurous dining a wonderful possibility.