Topic: How to achieve high cooking temperatures at home.

[spiceyokooko]

It's been muted for a while that BIR is not as good as it use to be. Could that correlate to the introduction of comercial practices and kit.

It's an interesting thought and subject.

In my own personal opinion, as I've posted elsewhere on the forum, I rather suspect it's down to commercial BIR expediency in terms of streamlining their processes to make it quicker and easier to produce a wide range of dishes from a suite of ingredients that are simple and easy to produce.

It's about minimising inputs and maximising outputs.

Earlier, older style Indian Restaurants seem more of a fusion of traditional methods adapted for a modern commercial kitchen environment producing traditional dishes modified for the British taste. So they hadn't fully left their traditional roots in terms of ingredients, methods and cooking techniques but had started a transformation from traditional to modern methods.

This is purely supposition on my behalf based on my own experience and snippets gleaned from here and there.

I'm currently reading through many of my older traditional Indian cookbooks to try and understand how traditional recipes were constructed and with what ingredients and how these recipes could have been adapted for production in a more modern commercial kitchen environment.

That might give me some clues as to how to recreate these 30-40 year old, old school dishes as I feel I've pretty much gone as far as I want to with regards to modern BIR cooking and dishes. Like a restaurant, all I seem to be doing is creating similar tasting dishes with minimal variation because the base sauce and mix powder is dominating the underlying flavour. They may look different but they don't taste that different!

I want to get back to quite significant taste changes between dishes but without necessarily departing too far from the current modern methods.

[Aussie Mick]

Hi
I know this does not answer the high temperature question. Which would basically be get yourself a comercial burner. I note that an old friend of mine comented that early curry houses were just that and the food was cooked on domestic gas stoves.
Regards

I'd say the best curries i ever tasted were cooked on domestic gas stoves. Late 80's/early 90's Armadale Rd takeaway, Dukinfield, Manchester, and Scotland Hall Rd, Newton heath,Mmanchester.

Domestic cookers, aluminium frying pans, fresh oil. Food of the gods.

 

[Gav Iscon]

That might give me some clues as to how to recreate these 30-40 year old, old school dishes as I feel I've pretty much gone as far as I want to with regards to modern BIR cooking and dishes. Like a restaurant, all I seem to be doing is creating similar tasting dishes with minimal variation because the base sauce and mix powder is dominating the underlying flavour. They may look different but they don't taste that different!

I want to get back to quite significant taste changes between dishes but without necessarily departing too far from the current modern methods.

Were they that different though? I sometimes think its us and our tastebuds that have changed. For example I drink red wine now which in the 70/80's thought tasted disgusting. Fresh coriander for some reason used to sometimes really over power a dish for me, now its essential. The Korma and Madras I remember from my early days seem very similar to the ones now. In the old days it was Meat and Dark Meat Chicken (Breast of Chicken - extra). The dark chicken meat for me changes the flavour slightly.  My first local TA was great and he use to tell us to knock him up in the early hours of Saturday morning if we wanted food on the way home from the nightclubs. He would still produce dishes very quickly so have the techniques changed that much. Are we chasing the Golden Fleece?

Just my thoughts on the issue.

[Peripatetic Phil]

Intrigued by this recurring use of "dark meat"; first Axe (I think) and now Gav (via others).  I always thought that "dark meat" was the sole perquisite of prissy Americans and/or a hangover from the Victorian era.  Do people really use "dark meat" rather than "leg", "thigh" or whatever ?

** Phil.

[spiceyokooko]

Do people really use "dark meat" rather than "leg", "thigh" or whatever ?

Hmm...I see a definition coming of what dark meat is.

I've always considered anything that isn't breast, to be dark meat, although technically you could argue that thigh isn't. Leg is definitely dark meat. But that's essentially my definition, if it isn't breast it's dark.

[Gav Iscon]

Intrigued by this recurring use of "dark meat"; first Axe (I think) and now Gav (via others).  I always thought that "dark meat" was the sole perquisite of prissy Americans and/or a hangover from the Victorian era.  Do people really use "dark meat" rather than "leg", "thigh" or whatever ?

** Phil.

'Dark Meat' is quicker to type than 'leg and thigh meat' and I'm sure you know but as Wikipedia puts it

'Dark meat, which avian myologists refer to as "red muscle," is used for sustained activity

[Gav Iscon]

Hmm...I see a definition coming of what dark meat is.

I've always considered anything that isn't breast, to be dark meat, although technically you could argue that thigh isn't. Leg is definitely dark meat.

You're correct. You posted whilst I was posting. And is thigh not part of the leg along with the drumstick?

I'm the same as you though, if its not breast, its dark usually when sorting the turkey out at christmas though.

[ELW]

I'm the same as you though, if its not breast, its dark. 

unless they are wings.....which are white 

[Gav Iscon]

unless they are wings.....which are white 

I sit corrected. 

[spiceyokooko]

And is thigh not part of the leg along with the drumstick?

It is, but in terms of colour it's kind of beige! A half way house between the dark of leg and the white of breast, but as I said, if it aint breast it's dark!

Personally I prefer thigh to breast, specially if it's on the bone as I find breast can be too dry sometimes.