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Herbs & Spices: a Flickr Photo Group

bryce@chilefire.com

About a year ago I created the Herbs & Spices Group on Flickr - the online photo management and community where I host my images. Since I started the group over a hundred people have joined, and many of the photos are wonderful. I hadn't checked in for a couple of months, and after doing some moderating this week, I thought it well worth posting a slideshow here to introduce the group to Chilefire readers. I also want to encourage anyone interested to join the group, which appears to have become the largest Herbs & Spices group on Flickr.

A High Altitude Summer Crawfish Boil

bryce@chilefire.com

Summer in Laramie, Wyoming is fickle at best ~ and by the second snow in June it can seem downright elusive. This year, our first in Laramie, winter has seemed particularly dogged in it's cling to our thin air, but in the last 10 days, daytime warmth and the sudden greening of the plains seems to be announcing that summer has at last arrived.

This year we marked Summer twice. Our first attempt, a "Summer Barbecue" over Memorial day weekend was well attended and ended a great success, never mind the wintry chill and icy rain with which it was accompanied. Ultimately the event was hardly the warm outdoor picnic we had all hoped for.

No, it was going to be yet another 10 days, before we would really mark Summer properly. Naomi and I gathered some good friends, crossed our fingers and, took the folks at CajunGrocer.com up on an awesome offer, 10 pounds of live Crawfish shipped overnight and delivered to our doorstep.

Spicy boiled crawfish, smoked sausage and steaming corn, I can't think of a better way of welcoming summer.

The folks at CajunGrocer.com sent us a beautiful batch of large red swamp crawfish, straight from their farm in Maurice, Louisiana. They arrived packed in a large styrofoam case, cooled by several gel packs. We made several dishes with crawfish for the party: we boiled the live crawfish in a traditional style, with Louisiana seasoning (included in the shipment), smoked sausage, and fresh corn all boiled together in a large pot. We also made a huge batch of my Crawfish Etouffee, 6 quarts of home churned ice cream, and even made up some homemade lemon-lime soda. Our guests brought wines, salads and other side dishes that ultimately made the meal complete.

Fiona, our 2 year old was beside herself with excitement about the arrival of the "bugs" and was equally delighted with the idea of eating them by the handful from the communal pile, she just needed some help shelling them, "More bug plas!"

We count ourselves lucky around here when we can get our hands on ingredients like Crawfish. Finding good fresh fish other than trout in Wyoming is nearly impossible. Laramie is a small town, and getting harder to find ingredients often means a long drive to Denver Colorado, or even just forgoing them entirely. We usually end up driving to the Whole Foods in Fort Collins for special occasions that call for more than the locally available frozen farmed salmon and frozen farmed shrimp that makes up 90% of what is available in our local markets. So getting our hands on these crawfish was a real treat.

I can't think of a better way of bringing in Summer than with a crawfish boil. The internet and companies like CajunGrocer.com have made it easier to get some wonderful and traditional American ingredients that we just couldn't get otherwise.

From the Ocean to the Smokehouse - a Copper River Salmon Story

bryce@chilefire.com

It isn't often that what I do for a living, and my blog cross paths, but on May 15th in Cordova, Alaska the King Salmon season opened and those generally divergent courses have come together for the first time. Professionally I build and manage websites and web strategies for non-profits, principally environmental non-profits, and I recently started working with Dune Lankard an activist and native Athabaskan Eyak.

Dune was a commercial fisherman in his home waters of Prince William Sound, Alaska until March 24, 1989 when the Exxon Valdez spilled over 11 million gallons of oil into the Sound. Working with Dune, and learning more about the Exxon disaster, the Copper River, and Alaskan salmon has been enlightening, inspiring, and frankly terrifying.

"From the Ocean to the Smokehouse - a Copper River Salmon Story"
Dune and his sister Pam catch and prepare King Salmon for their smokehouse in Cordova, Alaska. Video by Thomas Dunklin

At the end of the day, when I sit down in front of my blog, I often consider the history, the culture, and the source of the many foods that the world cherishes. From the history of salt to the origins of chiles I have written about many of our foods and where they come from. This year however, I find it necessary, instead of just looking back to the history of food, to start looking to the future of many of the foods we love.

I haven't seen it talked about on food blogs yet, but in the first week of April this year, the Pacific Fishery Management Council, the federal agency that regulates the fishing industry on the West Coast, announced that it was canceling the entire fishing season for chinook salmon in California and Oregon, the first time the agency has taken such a step since it was established 22 years ago.

Due to what most think it is a combination of temperature changes in the ocean and man-made water diversions in the Sacramento Delta, the estimated population of Salmon in the Sacramento river last year was only 70,000, down from 800,000 only 6 years ago. This alarming trend isn't limited to the Sacramento river, salmon all along the Pacific Northwest are simply not returning to spawn.

Wild Pacific Salmon, a prize to foodies across the nation is virtually off the menu this year, and next year? Who can say. In Alaska the fishing season wasn't cancelled, but salmon numbers there are down as well.

It's time we, as foodies, start to think, and write more about where the foods we love really come from. About the people who catch it, raise it, or grow it: How is their life shaped by what we eat? How is the food we love brought to our tables? How do the people who provide our food, prepare it themselves? And most importantly is our food being harvested or managed in a sustainable way?

The Pacific Northwest salmon is treasured by the cultures it is part of; for all the cultural history of the Pacific Northwest, the salmon have returned each year, giving life in much the same way as the blood pulsing through our veins. The salmon is a crucial source of nutrients for plants, animals, and humans. The annual pilgrimage of the wild salmon to spawning grounds is a time for celebration for the cultures of the Pacific Northwest.

Dune and the Eyak Perservation Council offer Wilderness Rafting experiences, to help raise awareness of environmental and Indigenous cultural issues in the Copper River Delta, Prince William Sound and the Chugach National Forest and how these issues are connected to the global community. More information on these trips can be found here. Video by Thomas Dunklin

Often times the food that ends up on our plates, so easy to take for granted at $6.99 a pound, is a critical link in the health of an entire ecosystem, a local economy, and even individual families. It is becoming so very important for us to consider these things when we sit down to eat. Our relationship with food - so often a loving one, is also a relationship with places, with people, with cultures, and is a relationship that must be carefully nurtured, tended and deeply appreciated as we move into these times of global change.

For more information on Dune Lankard and how you can help make a difference please visit redzone.org

Book Review: Spain And The World Table

bryce@chilefire.com

Spain And The World Table

My introduction to Spanish cooking has come from a couple of distinct places; first and formatively from my fathers family, who spent many years living in Puerto Rico. I grew up familiar with a number of recipes which while generally considered Puerto Rican, take much of their heritage from Spain, such as Grandma Tugwell's Arroz Con Pollo and her "Puerto Rican Paella". My second and perhaps more transforming introduction came while living in the DC area, where I was lucky enough to regularly frequent several of Jos� Andr�s restaurants, including Cafe Atlantico, Oyamel, Jaleo, and on one lucky occasion the Minibar at Cafe Atlantico - which was an experience unto itself.

Chef Andr�s completely and significantly altered the way that I think about food, and particularly Spanish food. One very common misconception in the States is that foreign cuisines remain somehow static and unchanging, locked perpetually in a state of quiescence. Perhaps this comes from what may be a unique conception of the "old country" cuisine created by the millions of second and third generation immigrants who eat family recipes brought to the States over the last two centuries. Recipes, and traditions that have been broken away from their homes, ingredients, and cultures. In fact the cuisines that inhabit these cultures are living, evolving and vibrant, changing as the world changes, and Spanish food, while steeped in a colorful and dynamic history is still completely contemporary and fully capable of stunning an unfamiliar American palate.

In 2006, the Culinary Institute of America gathered chefs from Spain and around the world to attend a conference on Spanish cuisine and its impact on the 'world table'. The result, this visually splendid cookbook, reduces some of the best culinary talent from the event and present 125 recipes that have been adapted for the home cook. The recipes, each, speak to the traditions of Spanish cuisine, but do not ignore the modern taste for a broad palate for ingredients, or the crafting of new flavors and textures. Over 600 culinary industry leaders participated in the CIA's 2006 "Worlds of Flavor" International Conference and Festival. And the resulting cookbook brings many techniques, flavors and concepts that might not be historically familiar, but are traditionally rooted, and as richly imaginative as they are flavorful.

Some of the recipes use fairly advanced techniques, and many ingredients are not widely available, though some substitutions are suggested and, along with a glossary, a helpful list of sources is provided. I have only tried a few of the recipes in this book thus far, but I am excited to have this book as a great reference as I continue to explore the world of Spanish flavors.

America Discovers Curry Laksa

bryce@chilefire.com

Curry Laksa is perhaps one of the most incredible soups that I have ever had. Laksa though now available world over is� originally of Peranakan or Nonya origin. Nonya cuisine combines Chinese, Malay and other influences to create a truly unique, and wonderful mosaic of flavors, and it is my opinion that Nonya cuisine's incredible potential can be fully realized in a bowl of fragrant curry laksa.

The result of a masterful blending of Chinese ingredients and wok cooking techniques with the aromatic and sometimes fierce spices of the Malay community, Nonya recipes are tangy, aromatic, spicy and herbal. Key ingredients in Nonya cooking include coconut milk, galangal (a rhizome similar to ginger), candlenuts which are used as both a flavoring and thickening agent (and it might be noted poisonous uncooked), laksa leaf, a dried fermented shrimp cake called belacan, tamarind juice, turmeric, lemongrass, ginger bud, jicama, kaffir lime leaf, rice noodles (rice stick) and cincaluk - a pungently flavored, sour and salty shrimp-based condiment that that is typically mixed with lime juice, chiles and shallots and eaten with rice.

The curry laksa soup base is stock, coconut milk and a generous but measured amount of laksa paste - a spice paste thickened with candlenuts, which must be boiled well before being eaten.

Peranakan or Nonya cuisine, and curry laksa haven't really be discovered in United States until recently. Laksa has begun to sporadically appear on The Food Network, the Travel Channel and other foodie programs and networks. Laksa made it's most recent appearance on last nights episode (episode 11) of Top Chef on Bravo, with a shrimp laksa made by one of the contestants. Bourdain, after announcing that he "took his laksa seriously"� judged the entry to be too smoky for his taste. Interestingly, it might be noted that Bourdain presumably had his first laksa two seasons back on his traveling foodie show "No Reservations".

I discovered laksa on a trip to visit family in Australia several years ago, where the soup has become as familiar part of the Australian diet, as Vietnamese Pho has in big city America. After my initial introduction I returned with with several recipes for the soup - most notably a recipe from "Spice" by Christine Mansfield, the chef and founder of Paramount restaurant in Sydney. The recipe below is closely based on the Paramount recipe, changed mostly to accommodate for difficulty in finding Nonya ingredients in American groceries. The last time I made up a batch of the paste I ended up driving for 6 hours to an Asian super center in Denver for several of the ingredients.

I serve my Laksa piles high with bean sprouts, laksa leaves
(sometimes Vietnamese corriander, or Thai Basil) and fried shallots. I find that the aromatics and texture of these toppings make the soup a wonderful meal in a bowl.

Laksa defines two different types of noodle soup dishes: curry laksa and assam laksa. Curry laksa refers to noodles served in coconut curry soup, while assam laksa refers to noodles served in sour fish soup, and nearly endless variations exist under the two core types. My preference is the curry variation, the Assam variations that I have had are very similar to Thai Tom Yum, though a bit less spicy, and while the soup is great it isn't as rich and fully satisfying as the curry version.

Wikipedia lists three main variants of Curry Laksa:

Laksa lemak, also known as nyonya laksa (Malay: Laksa nyonya), is a type of laksa with a rich coconut gravy. Lemak is a culinary description in the Malay language which specifically refers to the presence of coconut milk which adds a distinctive richness to a dish. As the name implies, it is made with a rich, slightly sweet and strongly spiced coconut gravy. Laksa lemak is usually made with a fish-based gravy and is heavily influenced by Thai laksa (Malay: Laksa Thai), perhaps to the point that one could say they are one and the same.
Katong laksa (Malay: Laksa Katong) is a variant of laksa lemak from the Katong area of Singapore. In Katong laksa, the noodles are normally cut up into smaller pieces so that the entire dish can be eaten with a spoon alone (that is, without chopsticks or a fork). Katong laksa is a strong contender for the heavily competed title of Singapore's national dish.
Sarawak laksa (Malay: Laksa Sarawak) comes from the town of Kuching in the Malaysian state Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. It is actually very different from the curry laksa as the soup contains no curry in its ingredient at all. It has a base of Sambal belacan, sour tamarind, garlic, galangal, lemon grass and coconut milk, topped with omelette strips, chicken strips, prawns, fresh coriander and optionally lime. Ingredients such as bean sprouts, (sliced) fried tofu or other seafood are not traditional but are sometimes added.

Book Review: Grilled Pizza & Piadinas

bryce@chilefire.com

The best part of this review is that this time I have an extra copy of Grilled Pizzas and Piadinas that I can give away. So, if you want to win your own copy of Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas, see below.

The Gamberian on the grill - this recipe is just as good as it looks.

I first tried grilling pizza on my parents gas grill in Falls Church, Va. I purchased dough from a great New York style pizza place called Valentino's (which is probably the best pizza in Northern Va.) and put together a pie for my parents and wife last Spring, shortly before moving to Wyoming. It was terrific. The grill made for a fantastic crust - overcoming what had been homemade pizzas invariable downfall.

I was really pleased when about 2 weeks ago I received an advance copy of Grilled Pizzas and Piadinas by Chef Craig Priebe with Dianne Jacob, from DK Publishing. Naomi and I were having friends over the following night - so I gave the grill a once over and visited a local wood stove and fireplace company locally that sells Big Green Egg accessories and picked up a grill top pizza stone.

I made up the pizza dough early in the morning the next day, and let the dough work over the day. The recipe was different from what I was used to seeing in most basic pizza dough - it included corn flour. I had only blue corn flour but it seemed to work just fine in the recipe.

The dough, in my opinion is going to make or break a book like this one. Yes, the flavor combinations that Priebe puts together in his book are great too - but in the end the crust recipe was going decide it for me - it is foundation of good pizza and the toughest nut to crack. Historically I have always purchased my dough from the best pizzeria that I can find, so while this was not the first time I was making my own dough, a good recipe was going to bring me back to this book over and over.

And to his credit he nailed it, the crust was perfect, in fact it was better than most of what I bring home from pizza places. The recipe is straight forward, and makes an earthy crisp and chewy crust that I think is the most important part of good pizza.

I should have guessed it was going to be good - Priebe has the resume to back up his book, but his resume isn't going to recommend and good cookbook the way his crust is going to. What's great is that the book follows up the crust with 190 some pages of really creative ways to top off his terrific crust, an overview of pizza grilling that will make a first timer feel a lot more comfortable about throwing dough on the fire, and a good solid list of grills and grilling accessories that can help anyone make great pizza at home.

Bonus: I've got a copy of this cookbook to give away!

The best part of this review is that this time I have an extra copy of Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas that I can give away. So, if you want to win your own copy of Grilled Pizzas & Piadinas, leave a comment below with your favorite pizza recipe. Please make sure you include you email address so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner (all addresses will be removed before posting). Apologies to my international readers, but the books can only be shipped within the continental U.S. The contest closes at 6 P.M. Mountain Time on May 14, and I will use Random.org to select the wining recipe.

Diamonds of The Desert - Medjool Dates

bryce@chilefire.com

Once reserved exclusively for Moroccan royalty and their most important guests, Medjool dates were considered a precious confection and for many remain so today.

Date seller in the old souq in Kuwait City, surrounded by dates from Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. Image credit: Trammell Hudson

Dates hang from the crown on a date palm.
Image Credit: Stan Shebs

There are very few desert foods that are as universally loved as fresh Medjool dates. I used to consider dates as little more than another barely edible dried fruit added to American Christmas cakes, which I don't care for much. I didn't really appreciate them fully until in the summer of 1987 on a road trip with a small group of high school friends I was forced to pull into a roadside farm market on route 86, 50 or so miles north of the Mexican border with an overheating engine.

The market was associated with a date ranch that we had been driving by - unnoticed as our attention was focused on the wavering engine heat indicator which was only being kept from a boil over by our willingness to run the heater all out on this 104� day.

We pulled into the market to give the car some time to cool off, while we wandered down the market aisles and pondered the idea of a "Date Shake". The heat may have helped me decide that day to go ahead and order that five or six dollar date shake, and I remember well waiting in anticipation as the girl with the long brown hair put it together, three or four scoops of french vanilla ice cream, a good sized scoop of a date paste (I was later to learn it was Medjool date paste) and a splash of milk. I imagine now the buzz of the burr inside the frosted stainless shake cup, before she half poured, half scooped my date shake, now a rich carmel brown into a paper cup.

It was even more thick and smooth than I'd anticipated, with chewy bits of date skin and an intense carmel and honey flavor. The cold made the pieces of date in the shake chewier, somehow even more satisfying as they softened under my bite - I was quite literally smitten with this first real taste of fresh dates, and before I left the market I had spent twenty five dollars on soft, fat Medjool dates, some wrapped like truffles in thin colored foil, others pressed together in transparent plastic cartons.

Our road trip sent us north - away from the fertile date plantations of the south, so there were to be no further forays into date shakes on that trip, and before we made it home - the dates I had purchased, even the fancy foil wrapped delicacies, were long since gone; eaten around fires at campsites, or warmed on the dashboard with morning coffee in San Luis Obispo.

A Thousand Uses

The origin of the date palm is lost in antiquity. Dates have been a staple food of the Middle East for thousands of years. They are believed to have originated in the Persian Gulf area, and have been cultivated for thousands of years in the Middle East. Known cultivation range from Mesopotamia to prehistoric Egypt. There is archaeological evidence of date cultivation in eastern Arabia in 6000 BC. Dates and date cultivation gave a means of existence to thousands of people. It was said to offer man a thousand uses including thread, needles, baskets, lumber, mattresses, rope, numerous other household items and an integral part of their diet.

In culinary terms dates are equally versatile and Medjool dates are particularly wonderful, deep amber to almost red in color, with a slightly wrinkled skin. The flesh of the fruit is immensely satisfying, sticky and thick, they are rich with flavors of wild honey, carmel, and cinnamon. Cooled they are slightly harder to the tooth, warmed they are like some decadent pastry, almost cloying in their sweetness.

Dates, while wonderful by themselves (and in shakes) are used in a huge variety of culinary preparations. While commonly eaten out-of hand dates are also stoned, or pitted and stuffed with a variety of fillings, such as almonds, walnuts, candied orange and lemon peel, marzipan or cream cheese. Dates are used as an additive in beer and fermented into wine. Dates are also chopped and used in a wide range of sweet and savoury dishes, from tagines in Moroccan dishes to traditional puddings, bread, cakes and other dessert items

In today's recipe I offer a wonderful (and spicy) smoky date chutney. Dates make a wonderful base for many chutneys adding a thick body and great base sweetness. Many date based chutneys work well with yogurt, and are wonderful with eggplant and pork dishes.

Kitchen Gadget: The Kohler Karbon Sexy Articulating Kitchen Faucet

bryce@chilefire.com

Occasionally I like to highlight a cooking or kitchen gadget here on Chilefire - However normally I have actually used the gadgets that I am reviewing. In this case I couldn't help myself - I had to post about this gadget before I got my hands on it. It is just one of those gadgets, that in short - I want. Kohler has released a new faucet, the Karbon which really is different from most faucets on the market. My wife and I have recently purchased a new home and are out looking for a new sink... and a new faucet. The Karbon was showcased last week at the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show & Conference, and has since begun to appeared all over the web. The second I saw it I wanted to know more.

After spending a good deal of time with the online tour (see below for a link) my interest in the unit has increased, I really wish I could be giving this product a proper "in use" review. This kitchen fixture has a fantastic sculptural quality. The angular, linear aspects of the Karbon give it an amazing futuristic look and clearly fantastic flexibility. Sharp engineering means that the faucet can hold any pose and be used hands free � designed to be extended upwards for filling large pots, or pulled deep down into the sink to prepare food; and then can be tucked out of the way when it�s not in use. With a modern looking textured surface, this faucet is built of light weight carbon fiber, which can be an incredibly strong and durable material. It isn't clear in the images how the carbon fiber is contained, in chrome or in a glass or plastic coating - how this design element is finished is going to be an important detail - as it will effect the feel and structural durability of the faucet.

The Karbon� won't be available until later this year, so very few people if any have actually gotten to play with one. I must admit being really attracted to it. The cool futuristic adverts certainly don't hurt (closet sci fi fan). There is a great online tour of the unit available here, that is totally worth checking out. I haven't seen any reviews of the faucet that included more than a description, it will be interesting to see if Kohler offers the Faucet to any food bloggers for a formal use testing review, it certainly has the design chops to make a splash (sorry)

Experiments Smoking Salt: Part II

bryce@chilefire.com

Fresh from the smoker, my latest batch of mesquite smoked salt crystals. The color of good smoked salt should be as rich as the aroma and flavor it provides, ranging from a light amber to a dark pitch, almost black color.

My first smoked salt, a hickory smoked Maldon salt I cold smoked in my old Bradley Electric. The salt lacked the taste and color I was looking for. Time, humidity and temperature all play a role in making good smoked salt.

Almost two years ago I wrote up an article on a series of experiments I was doing smoking salt. At the time I promised a follow up article posting my results in a "couple of weeks". Clearly it has taken me longer to get here than a couple of weeks, but I didn't want to post on the subject again until I sorted out some of the details and techniques and had a chance to do some research.

The art of salt smoking has prompted more inquiries than any other subject I have posted on Chilefire.com - I have received emails from both professionals interested in marketing their own smoked salt and amateur home smokers interested in making up a batch after having tasted the unique salt, all looking for a web resource on the topic. So, after experimenting for over a year and making up a few batches of really great salts, as well as a few total failures I thought it worth starting up the Salt Smoking Discussion Forum which I am setting up in the new Chile Fire Spicy Food Network I have been working on over the last couple of weeks.

This is the place - the webs only salt smoking forum - please join us! post your questions, experiences, methods, photos or how to videos. This discussion board is here to help.

What I Have Learned - The Basics:

There are six basic recommendations I have for the first time salt smoker outlined below. if you follow these basics you should have decent luck making up some great salts.

1. Use Long Smoke Times
Smoking salt take time, salt doesn't absorb the smoke - or cook and react in the warm environment the same way meats will. Salt absorbs flavor as the smokes resins coats the grains, and this take some time. In my experience, depending on the coarseness of the grain, salt needs at least 4 hours in the smoker, but my best salts spend 24 hours smoking.

2. Use Cool to Medium Heat, and Always Cool Your Salt in the Smoker
Heat is tricky, I have made great salts at regular barbecuing temperatures around 225�but have had better luck when the temperature is even lower. Some folks I have talked to swear by cold smoking, but in my experience anywhere from cold smoked at 85� to regular BBQ temps at 225� work well. If however you get a spike in your temperature to grilling temps - for any length of time you're gonna have to start over - the higher heats will burn off the smoky resins and leave you with salt that pretty much tastes like salt. In short - tend your fire. Finally leave your salt in the smoker until the smoker goes cold. I have 't the slightest idea why this makes a difference, but it does. Salt cooled in the smoker has a better aroma and a smoother smoke flavor, sure it takes longer - but has that ever stopped you before?

3. Soak Your Wood
This is the only time you will ever hear me suggest soaking your wood before you smoke with it. Every time I hear someone on TV or the Web say to soak our wood chips before you put them on your fire it makes me cringe - soaked wood makes nasty, bitter meat in my opinion. However when you're smoking salt - and only when you're smoking salt - it seems to work pretty well. Moisture plays a role in Salt smoking and while I have had some luck with using a pan of boiling water in the coals, my best luck has been when I soaked my wood. With salt it doesn't make for a bitter taste.

4. Use Coarser Salts
Coarser grain salts smoke better. The smoke can move through the grains more easily and the smoke seems to stick to the grains better. I mostly use a grain size I can put in my salt grinder, it seems to work best.

5. Resist the Urge - Smoking Salt when Your Smoking Other Foods is Not a Good Idea
Fastest way to mess up your smoked salt? Smoke it with a pork butt, a slab of ribs, or god forbid a fillet of salmon. Don't do it! Salt takes up the flavor of cooking meat faster than it does the smoke - and the effect is not good. If you are thinking "oohhh! bacon salt!" this isn't the way to do it, trust me. Yuck.

6. Store Your Product in an Air Tight Container
Finally, when your done, seal the salt in an airtight container. The smoky flavor you have carefully layered into your salt is sensitive to oxygen and looses it's tang, smoke flavor and aroma as the essential oils oxidize and evaporate.. Seal it up tight as soon as it leaves the smoker. I use big mason jars that folks use for canning.

You can find the complete" How-To" I have put together on the Smoking Salt Group - including pictures of the rig I am using and the processes that I have used to make my best salts. And if you have smoked salt - please consider joining the group and sharing your experiences, recipes, tips and tricks.

Product Comparison Review: Santoku Knives

bryce@chilefire.com

The Santoku is a Japanese chef's knife, a low-tip style with a broad blade and a slightly curved cutting edge. in Japan, this knife is used as the same kitchen workhorse as a French chef's knife is in European kitchens. Its cutting edge is less curved than the traditional chef's knife, so it provides less rocking action. The blade is designed for superb straight-down slicing and precise chopping. The santoku is often ground with alternating hollows on each side called Kullenschliffs. The hollows create breaks in the blade, which provide air pockets, allowing food to fall away cleanly.

The santoku's sharp, tough cutting blade makes the knife ideal for most ordinary kitchen cutting chores. However, because of its shorter blade and hardened, thin-profile edge, the santoku is not designed for cutting against thick bones, kitchen sinks, or other hard surfaces, which could damage or chip the cutting edge. The santoku is especially popular among people with smaller hands.

The Mac 6.5 inch Santoku at $95.00 - A beautiful blade, light, exceptionally well made, and probably the sharpest knife I have, however the blade itself is fragile and not well suited for the hardships of everyday use.

Product Description
A flagship blade in MAC's Professional Mighty chef line of knives. The knife includes dimples for easy release of foods while slicing. Voted best Santoku knife along with the (MAC #SK65) by Cooks Illustrated. Razor sharp and an ideal size and weight. A very popular knife! 11 3/4 inch total length with a 6 1/2 inch blade. The bolster makes the knife shaft heavier and keeps food out of the handle area.

Product Review: The Mac 6.5 inch Santoku quickly became my favorite knife during the initial review process. The knife is exceptionally well balanced, beautifully made, a pleasure to hold and is without question the sharpest knife I own. As I used the knives over the testing period however I found the Mac to be less hardy than the other knives. While the blade has un paralleled slicing ability it could easily be damaged by a hidden bone, or fall to the kitchen floor. I found that I store the knife separately from my other knives and in a protective sheath - bringing it out for specific tasks rather than using it as the kitchen workhorse the Santoku is in many kitchens.

Wusthof Classic Ikon 7 inch Hollow Edge Santoku $129.00

Product Description
Classic Ikon was designed to marry style and functionality from handle to tip. The 2/3rd bolster allows you to sharpen the whole length of the blade. The ultra-smooth polypropylene handle offers durability, resisting cracking and warping, while curving gently to nestle snugly in the user's hand. To promote greater control, the balanced bolster contributes to safety and strength. The handle is finished off with a traditional triple rivet and exposed full tang. The high-carbon stainless steel blades are hardened to maintain a sharp edge and full tangs provide perfect balance with riveted, high-impact triple-riveted composition handles.

Product Review: Wusthof Classic Ikon 7 inch Hollow Edge Santoku is probably the best all around knife that I reviewed in this test. The knife has beautiful lines and is well balanced and while not having quite the edge of the Mac is still exceptionally sharp. The blade is slightly heavier than the Mac, and a more sturdy blade while remaining a pleasure to use. The handle of the Wusthof is one of my favorites of all the knives I have used in this test. While my second favorite knife in initial reviews after using the knife over a period of time I found that it is the blade I would most recommend for daily use.

Messermeister San Moritz Elite 7 inch Santoku $83.95

Product Description
The 7" Kullenschliff Santoku Knife, essentially an Asian Chef's Knife, is an enhanced version of the regular Santoku because of its alternating kullenschliffs along the blade. The San Moritz is one-piece fully forged from a single blank of steel. An elaborate 3 step sharpening process is enhanced in its final step by being carefully hand-polished. These Knives are hardened to 56 Rockwell hardness C, making them hard enough to hold their edge for a long period of time, while it is easy to restore their edge with a steel.

Product Review: The Messermeister San Moritz Elite 7 inch Santoku didn't impress me the same way that the Mac and Wusthof blades did. The blade is heavier, and the knives lines and curves are less ergonomic than either of the competing lines. However the Messermeister is also the sturdiest of the knives I tested. The blade is very sharp, and holds its edge longer than either the Mac or the Wusthof. The Messermeister is likely to hold up as a kitchen workhorse better and longer than either of the other blades reviewed here - however offers less control and isn't as fine a slicing tool. The Kullenschliff dimples on the Messermeister actually interrupt the edge line on the knife I was sent - which didn't seem to cause any cutting problems, but concerns me in terms of long term sharpening of the blade. Ultimately I felt that the Messermeister would be a very good knife in a professional kitchen, would take more punishment than either the Mac or the Wusthof would endure, would require less frequent sharpening, and would be a very good introductory knife for a student or aspiring home cook.