Topic: Do bir chefs know where the 'taste' comes from?

[chinois]

Quite right CA. Bangladeshi are the best for me by a long way. I almost now ask the chef's origin as it's only recently that i've realised that the sign "Indian" TA or Restaurant is very misleading.

I used to think that but i wouldnt say it's very misleading. Bangladeshis were Indians until recently. I guess they think that less people will know what bangladeshi food is like than indian.

[joshallen2k]

I tried to find the site and post a link, but I couldn't find it again. I came across a Bangladeshi travel website site time ago, and clicked on the "food" link. What was interesting is that while they were going through some of the must-try local dishes, it was like reading a BIR takeaway menu: tikka, tandoori, bhuna, dopiaza, patia, rogan, dhansak, biryani, naan, shashlik, etc. I don't know if they were deliberately targeting British tourists, but found this interesting. Much more "BIR" than a similar list of common dishes in India.

What I did learn today by scanning bangladesh.com, is that today's most popular search on their website is "adult picture". Lol.

[Panpot]

Thanks Graeme, I must say I have always believed that the effect on our nostrils and sense of smell as we cook will have a significant role in why we cant fully recreate the BIR experience. When being introduced to tasting wine we learn that the nose has everything to do with actually tasting. The nose is actually planted right inside the glass and in order to taste the subtlety of the wine we need to develop our nose.

The spices we use in our cooking are hardly subtle and by comparison must almost shock our senses as the aromas are released through the frying in hot oil. By he time we serve up and eat the food I suspect we are limited in our ability to taste it or smell it the same. Thanks too Joshallen2k , I have never had ago with the closepeg but since you say it works I will have a go next time.

Last night I cooked Admin's Jalfrezi and Madras as per one of JerryM's postings, both chicken. I folowed instructions to the letter and my wife scored them as follows

Looks/Presentation Jalfrezi 10, Madras 10.
Smell Jalfrezi 9, Madras 9
Tate Jalfrezi 9.5, Madras 8.5

The Madras flavour was scored slightly less due to it not being as hot as she was expecting. I limited the amount of chili so I am not concerned at this little variation. I did however not use the "Secret Ingredient Onion Paste" since I have not had the time to make a batch and in both dishes I know it would have made a significant difference. By the time we are getting scores like what my wife gave last night any improvement has to be subtle and the paste certainly does that as JerryM has pointed out.

Having said that I could not taste or smell in any real terms that would allow me to give a reliable score due to I believe my argument above. When friends come over they equally score the food highly and almost cant believe the quality I can recreate, though I am never satisfied.

I hope to be in the Kitchens of a leading Glasgow BIR over the next few weeks and cant wait to figure out what is missing, if anything.

I now use the pans they use although limited currently by a halogen hob but In a months time I will be using a descent gas cooker. I will be using the paste again by then and I intend to ask for a basic bunch of recipes I can follow. So the base sauce the ingredients of the pastes they do use and the spice mix. The precooked meats and onions etc too.

If I am lucky enough to get this info followed by carefully observing the process of actually cooking then if there is still something missing then I must come from either or a combination of the following.

The Heat from their gas jets.
The burning or flaming of the contents either in the pan or as they splash.
The the nostril and taste buds being adjusted.
Or and it is still big or for me that they do indeed use a "secret ingredient" that serves to seduce our senses like no other resteraunt style does and almost has us addicted to the smell and taste. If it exists and it has these effects then it might explain why the Chefs don't eat the food themselves.

I genuinely cant wait to get into the kitchen and explore all of this and no matter the outcome I will continue to push myself to finally recreate the 100% BIR Duplicate.

[JerryM]

Panpot,

well pleased the good lady is happy (they're certainly tricky customers).

i'm not sure on the paste in the jalfrezi (i guess it's got be a give it a try to decide oneway or the other).

it sounds like the Glasgow opportunity is one of a lifetime. when the SnS trip had looked on i'd given some thought as to what are the key bits of info we need and found it very hard to decide on priority.

i think just being in the kitchen for any length of time will provide a fantastic insight just on it's own. my final top 3 are here http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3001.msg27241#msg27241.

i was also interested in Haldi's thought that there must be something circumstantial ie something done in the BIR as a matter of fact that we would not naturally think of doing at home.

[Panpot]

Thanks JerryM I will certainly go in with a wee note book and questions ready so any further thoughts and anyone else's welcome to ensure I take the most out of the opportunity. Cheers Panpot

[Graeme]

Thanks Panpot  :

Panpot other Bir members,

Have you tyred prawns in sweet and hot curry
(prawn patia) this is found in 50 Great Curries of India
from Camellia Panjabi.

Page 126 in the new A5 smaller book, its in the bigger A4 book too.
The A5 book i have is ISBN 1-84509-264-3

Not BIR style but goes some way to pleasing guests.
You dont need to add any prawns at this stage just make
the sauce. see what you think, it stinks the house/street BIR
style for days :-)

However as we know the book does contain a few errors, i am sure you will
work this recipe out for your self.
I use a pint glass full on onions or more, plus one full tin of toms.
I also use the BBQ :-)) even in the snow.

graeme.

[Derek Dansak]

Hi panpot, try and discover if they use plain vegetable oil for each dish. or if they pre treat the vegetable oil with some additive we are all unaware of. i have spent quite a bit of time in a bir kitchen and always wondered if the oil they cook in is plain vegetable oil. when i asked them they said it was veg oil. it certainly looked like clean fresh veg oil. however it came from a big tub and not straight from the bottle. i wonder if they treat it with some additive? this would exaplin a lot if they did. might be worth asking if they use any spiced oils, which are quite popular in real indian/bangledesh cuisine. cheers DD

[JerryM]

DD/Panpot,

i'm always amazed that any BIR uses fresh veg oil to cook in. i appreciate the potential hygiene issue. the malik's video shows how they scoop off the top of the base to cook each dish. the difference in taste is worlds apart too.

i've recently switched from red to yellow oil (i don't put paprika in the base at the mo). u'd be surprised how close it looks to fresh oil. i suspect that the yellow oil is not as good (potent) as the red oil though and most probably will change back even though my local/fav TA uses yellow oil off the top of the base.

[Curry King]

I have been told by one chef that they only use plain veg oil but no that they are probably in a minority, this guy happened to be quite young and was very up on H&S.

[Secret Santa]

it certainly looked like clean fresh veg oil. however it came from a big tub and not straight from the bottle. i wonder if they treat it with some additive?

So veg oil comes in a tub now?

Derek it was veg ghee mate!

Seriously derek, I mean seriously, veg oil in a big tub?