Topic: Is CRO as a forum finished.

[livo]

G'day all from Downunder.
I returned to the site this morning for the first time since September 12 2015. I'd lost my recipe for Lizottes Lamb Shanks and I knew I'd posted it on here in a thread about achieving tender fall apart lamb.  It isn't a curry but the thread was about the cooking process.  So a password forgotten and reset plus a little searching has paid off.  All good.

Yesterday I was able to purchase nearly 10 kgs of lamb leg for only $4/kg.  It's usually $10/kg down here now.  I've boned it all out so it's tender lamb in Italian Napolitano Sauce tonight and definitely some pressure cooked lamb curry for a couple of meals coming up as well.

But then:  What should I also find at the top of the recent posts list but this thread?  Very Sad

On July 03 2015 Admin locked a thread "Is the CRO forum dying?" because it had become quite inflamed and raw.  I see some reference made to certain events from that period in the posts above by members who were active at the time.  I recall the somewhat unpleasant environment that ensued around this time and I will say that is was certainly a contributing factor in my decision to abstain from visiting (albeit not the only one). I was invited to "Jump Ship" at the time but I was already a member of the 3 main curry forums, I never really understood the "Us vs Them".  I know the story behind it all but to be honest from way down here it seemed a bit remote.  It all had nothing to do with me and was before my time on this site.  I basically stopped visiting any cooking sites and instead chose to use the valuable knowledge already gained here and elsewhere and pursue my own path. Plus my family was curried out and would groan at the mention of Rogan Josh.

The depth of knowledge  and general helpful attitude of mostly everyone here, and on the other sites, helped my cooking beyond my wildest expectations.  I tried to visit a different site earlier and got an "Error 404: site not found on this server" message.  Maybe that site is dead.

If this forum is dying, it is a terribly slow death, or perhaps the fact that it is still here may suggest it isn't.  I doubt very much that I'll be resuming my past activity levels but I will have a look around over the next day or so to see what is being discussed and cooked.

It was nice to immediately see a couple of old friends usernames pop up straight away.  Phil, George, Stephen Lindsay, Littlechilie

Hey Sverige ol'mate, are you still cooking those odd shaped pizzas? ;D ;D ;D

[Les]

Hi Livo,
Yes, I can remember starting this thread in 2015, And I wish that I had not, We lost a couple of good members because of it, It was de-railed a bit . and went a bit stupid. good on admin for locking it up.

[haldi]

we achieved all we could
The information here is phenomenal
I don't think you can produce 100% BIR at home
But this is as close as you can get
The last great posts were by JB
The Fleet 5 stuff was incredible too
Even Bruce Edwards stuck his head around the door for update recipes
And what about the BIR Bandwagon posts
and there are so many more

All amazing posts, which were new recipes for most of us
When this site started, noone even knew what went into a BIR base
There were no BIR videos
We've come such a long way
Everyone ever involved in running this site deserves a well earned pat on the back
It was the main reason I turned my computer on
Thank you so much!

[jb]

I hope the Forum doesn't die.I've been on it since it started and I my curry cooking knowledge and skills would be nowhere near as good as they are if I hadn't found it.I remember when the Forum started I didn't really know about base sauce ingredients or mix powder so we've come a long way.There's so much good info on this site now.

Sure,it's not as busy on here any more and a lot of the old regular people have moved on for one reason or another.I still check in regularly to see what's happening,I must admit I don't post that much stuff,only if I've been cooking or if I have anything new from my takeaway kitchen.I think I've seen just about everything been prepared and cooked and I've posted everything I've learned from there.

I still visit and watch the chefs,we've become great friends.They've actually got another chef now to help out as the place is so busy.He's a great bloke from a local takeaway that's recently shut down,he does things a slightly bit different so anything new I learn I will report back as soon as I know anything.

[Peripatetic Phil]

I hope the Forum doesn't die.I've been on it since it started and I my curry cooking knowledge and skills would be nowhere near as good as they are if I hadn't found it.I remember when the Forum started I didn't really know about base sauce ingredients or mix powder so we've come a long way.

JB's mention of "mix powder" has piqued my interest.  Except when slavishly following someone else's recipe, I make no use of mix powder at all, preferring to use instead a blend of spices that is unique to each dish.  I would be interested to learn roughly what fraction of CR0 members habitually use mix powder, and what fraction prefer to use individual spices.

** Phil.

[littlechilie]

Nice for members to have input on this thread, it has generated more life on the forum than I have seen in 12 Months.
Phil I use mix powder always, sometimes in small amounts in conjunction with individual spice to tweak a dish to its preferred taste.
But essentially if you use more than one spice in any dish then it

[redman1212]

As littlechilli said I use a mixed powder (I forget which one currently) augmented with individual spices based on the dish. I find such a powder convenient to use

I know the forum is quiet but I don't want to see it fold. Whilst the meals I cook are probably inferior to some of the dished you see posted on the forum they are infinitely better than you get use a jar of sauce from a supermarket. One thing I have nailed is the rice, with separate fluffy grains each time (again so much better than the rice porridge I have been served by family members in the past)

[Stephen Lindsay]

I would be interested to learn roughly what fraction of CR0 members habitually use mix powder, and what fraction prefer to use individual spices.

** Phil.

Phil apart from a couple of dishes I use mix powder (BE recipe) in every dish. The amount you use,and the addition and amount of chilli, along with other ingredients will change the flavour of the sauce. However it's notable that Bruce Edward's first posts for the Curry Club magazine consisted of a hot, medium and a mild mix.

[George]

I would be interested to learn roughly what fraction of CR0 members habitually use mix powder, and what fraction prefer to use individual spices.

I never use so-called mix powder. I found I achieve better results from alternative approaches,.

[livo]

Hi again. I notice that a few comments suggest the forum is quiet. Having not visited for over 2 years, I wasn't aware of this but I have knowledge of other forums experiencing the same downturn in activity.  It may be similar here.

The culprit. Facebook. 

I was an active member on several different website based forums in the same format as this CRO forum.  Between 2 and 3 years ago the level of forum activity dropped off to near nothing and in one case my last posting from around 30 months ago was the most recent post on the Splash page when I last looked in earlier this year. That site is now completely gone.

I actually know several forum members personally and the reason they stopped using the site was because they were more satisfied with the similarly themed Facebook pages instead.  I just wonder if the same may be the case here.  I don't have a Facebook account, (or Instagram or Twitter or any other Social Media), so I'm not sure if there exists BIR or Curry based Facebook pages.

As for mix powder, I have used it as specified in some particular recipes otherwise it wasn't the recipe.  From memory I think Chewy Tikka's version was one that I quite liked and used fairly frequently.

I was always a bit confused by the use of pre-mixed powder (curry powder) in the production of "mix-powder."  The curry powder could be Keens, Clive of India, Nirapara, Kitchen King or a generic mild madras to name just a few. The resulting mix powder would be different. When you analyse the ingredient listing of these and then use them to "create a mix powder", it becomes obvious that all you are really doing as altering the ratios of the existing spice ingredients.

I will say that the only Curry Powder I ever use in Curried Sausages or Curried eggs is Clive of India. Nothing else works to recreate the flavour from my childhood.