Comments on: Saturday Dinner with Friends

By: Marketman

Marketman — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 05:45:39 +0000

Joey at Salcedo carries rosemary plants and often sprigs. Also, the herb section of Rustan’s groceries at Rockwell and Glorietta also has rosemary particularly on Friday and the weekends.

By: maria

maria — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 07:38:23 +0000

i’ve been to salcedo and the lung center markets but i can’t seem to find fresh sprigs of rosemary for sale. would you know where? i’m planning on doing a rosemary themed gathering and i’ll use that from the appetizer to the dessert. thanks! i bought a shrub of rosemary but it died on me already. sigh.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 13:29:46 +0000

Zita, they used to have it at Bacchus at the Shangrila Hotel but I am not sure if they still do. Also, there was supposed to be someone who made it and sold it from their home in Pasay somewhere but I don’t know how to contact them. Not a lot of help, I realize.

By: Zita

Zita — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 12:57:45 +0000

Do you know where to get a really nice bottle of truffle oil in manila?

By: stefoodie

stefoodie — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 04:07:31 +0000

nononono, sherry vinegar even from Spanish sherry isn’t close to good balsamic at all. unless perhaps if you made the vinegar yourself from some good sherry (you just need a mother!). i concur with the balsamic vinegar reduction. not the same thing but lifts inexpensive balsamic to a whole new level.

By: Rampau

Rampau — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 21:51:19 +0000

I saw an episode of the cooking show of Diana De Laurentis, Everyday Italian(not sure of her name) where she reduced Balsamic vinegar with sugar to achieve the syrupy consistency. The end result is sweet and she paired it with Tenderloin steaks topped with goat cheese. Looked really yummy!

By: Marketman

Marketman — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 13:04:11 +0000

Sherry vinegar is very good and I use it a lot…but I find it is much more acidic compared to the mellow almost sugary sweet taste of good balsamic vinegar. I suppose it depends what you use it for, but the flavor, texture and color of good balsamic is unique. And yes, balsamic and strawberries is a classic pairing. I have only tried it once and found it a bit odd but perhaps that was just ignorance. In theory the sugary sweetness of the balsamic pairs well with the tartish-sweet berries.

By: Anson

Anson — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:22:47 +0000

I was watching Alton Brown on Lifestyle Channel, he suggest using sherry vinegar. According to him same flavor and taste as balsamic but not as expensive. Any comments? Since strawberries are in season now, someone told me that balsamic vinegar and strawberries goes together very well, will have to try it out some time.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 12:05:09 +0000

lee, your comments are so succinct and yet so often witty you would definitely be on my short list of dinner guests… kulasa, they sell instant risotto at Santis (trust me, I am not advertising for them, I just happen to go there for some stuff that I like), Ana, there are several good balasamic vinegars but generally the ones that are 100% made up of vinegar that is 10-20 years old is the really pricey stuff. Mon C it was almost like syrup. The cheap way to achieve a similar effect is to heat up a pan and reduce cheap balsamic vinegar by half or more and it also get syrupy but obviously not the same as the really old stuff, Mandy, what are you doing eating a cup of yakisoba??!

By: lee

lee — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 07:40:37 +0000

when do i become a friend worthy of a saturday dinner at your table?