"At Mi Tocaya I really wanted to embody what it means to be a Mexican woman and a Mexican mother, cooking for people that I love with sheer feeling and understanding for ingredients.".
But when I bit into the lobster roll at Seaworthy in New Orleans, it was the celery that caught my eye and palate.. Don’t get me wrong — the fresh, sweet lobster meat and buttery toasted split bun were glorious.But of all things, it was the chopped celery that took the meal over the top.
It tasted like extra-strength celery, amped-up celery, celery times a thousand.Each perfectly diced square was crunchy and burst with fresh, green flavors, slightly herbal with just a hint of bitterness.I felt like I was eating celery for the first time.
Or at least, this celery was nothing like the sad stalks I keep in the refrigerator to use while making soup or stock.. You Should Quick-Pickle Your Vegetables.I found out later that Kristen York, the chef de cuisine at Seaworthy, had fermented the celery in a salt-cure.
She mixes a 10% salt solution, meaning she uses one part kosher salt to 10 parts water.
She lets the salt dissolve, then stores celery in the mixture, keeping it refrigerated.. "I wouldn’t store it more than a week or two, but technically they could probably last longer,” York says.When I was growing up, I don't know that we used any rice that was particularly special.
It was just long-grain white rice in five and 10 pound bags.My Asian friends bought it in 25 pound bags, but people, not rice-eating people, bought a one-pound box of rice, so that would be like, "Well, what are you going to eat tomorrow?".
What I discovered over years long before I opened the Geechee Girl is I would buy rice and it had no flavor.I used to think that maybe my tastes have changed and I just didn't like rice anymore.