Crisp Potato Cake (Galette de Pomme de Terre)

As part of my Paris "Try the World" box, I received a jar of persillade as well as some large grain salt. This was not a term in cooking that I was familiar with, but I looked at the ingredients on the jar and set it aside figuring I'd use it in a meat or fish dish in the future. It includes parsley, onion, garlic, and salt and they are all dried little bits. Little did I know that I would have a chance to use this item with a potato dish far sooner than expected.

Aside from the persillade, this is actually a dish with fairly conventional ingredients. It's also simple, but creates a version of a potato dish that isn't common due to the effort that goes into slicing potatoes super thing, slow cooking the "cake," and carefully flipping it over. The persillade merely adds some flavor depth at the end which definitely raises the bar on this. The real star is the textural complexity of the crispy potatoes on the outside and tender ones on the inside. The devil is in the details in getting this right.

The instructions for this potato cake - which sounds so much more impressive when you call it by its French name of Galette de Pomme de Terre - makes it clear that overly starchy or wet potatoes will create issues for the dish so I decided to do what I could to avoid either of these interfering with a good result. I sliced the potatoes to 1.5 mm on a mandolin and then rinsed them three times then let them soak in cold water in the refrigerator for over five hours. This hydrated the potatoes and allowed a lot of the external starch to wash off. When I was ready to make the dish, I laid out a kitchen towel and laid the potatoes out on it in a single layer then put another towel on top and allowed them to dry between them for about a half hour. 

Other than that extra care, I made a persillade by putting a tablespoon of oil into a small glass dish and a half teaspoon of my dry persillade mix in it and heating it in the microwave. I let that sit around a bit as well to allow the flavors to mix a bit and soften up the herbs. This was what I planned to drizzle on the finished galette.

Mine looked like this:

My photo isn't great-looking because it was taken at night with a flash, but this was a really tasty dish. The textural elements were an absolute delight. My husband likened it to a potato chip on the outside. The complexity the olive oil and herb drizzle gave it was just enough to liven it up a bit. 

I not only will make this again, but will make it two days in a row because it was such a hit. It's also really not that hard to do. You just have to be patient and a little careful. It was far easier to flip over than I expected and cooked faster than I anticipated. I did use a non-stick pan, however, because I don't have a cast iron pan at this time and I don't trust my stainless steel not to create a problem. I don't think it suffered any for the choice and it certainly did not stick despite the fact that I forgot to intermittently shake it to stop it from sticking.

Try the World: Tom Yum Soup (Thailand Box)

When I lived in Tokyo, I bought curry mixes which were little more than a cardboard sleeve filled with plastic packets of spices on a few occasions. I wanted to produce something that was more authentic than Japanese curry, which is more like a spicy beef stew than a true curry. Unfortunately, my results with these mixes were lifeless and thin.

I've since gotten a lot better at making curry thanks to the copious amounts of advice on the internet for doing a better job with Indian cuisine. I am still, however, wary of mixes that are little more than plastic packets of spices. I associate them with the same failures I had in the past, but I also wonder if they are "enough" to produce a dish of complexity and depth. So, it was with no small level of skepticism that I looked at the dry spices and had my doubts.

The instructions say to use mushroom, onion, "lemonade." I interpreted that as "lemon juice" as I believe it's a poor translation. For the meat/seafood portion, I opted to use tilapia fish because I had tons of it in the freezer. I cooked the onion a bit longer than it said (1 minute) because I don't like the sharper flavors of raw onion in soup, but otherwise followed the instructions faithfully.

The soup smelled great and I was very careful not to overcook the fish since that could make it rubbery. The lemongrass was the strongest aroma, followed by the pandan. I did not question the portions of the spices that I used because the end of the recipe said one could add Thai chili paste for more heat. I don't have this item, but I figured I could shape in some red chili flakes if it was bland.

It turned out that this was far from an issue. I'm quite tolerant of heat in my dishes, but this was nuclear hot from the plethora of dried chilies. It would stun me if anyone felt this needed more chili. I had to add in coconut milk and mix the soup with rice to make it tolerate. It was stunningly hot.

Though this was really tasty, I wished I'd been warned about how hot it would be. I think that half the number of chilies would have worked better for my tastes. For people who are even less intolerant, I'd think no more than three would do. The other issue with this was that the spices remained too hard to consume when the soup was done. I had to laboriously pluck them all out each time I ate it.

This was very good and I'm glad that it was included in the box. I wish I had known more about it before I had prepared it so I could have made more adjustments to suit my tastes. I can say that the fish went well with this and I think this is a fantastic way to have seafood in your diet. If you don't care for it, the soup is so flavorful that you can't really taste the fish. 

Try the World: Chaidim (lemongrass/pandum), Coconut Crispy Rolls, Coconut Flower Syrup (Thailand Box)

Sometimes the assortment in a "Try the World" box doesn't lend itself well to combining multiple elements at once. In such cases, I often feel that the little guide book tries extra hard to pull more than one ingredient together to form a cohesive whole. In this case, they didn't have to try hard at all.

I should begin by saying that I didn't know what pandum was before I got this box. I chose the tea because I knew it'd be the least familiar. After I smelled it, it was much more familiar as I recognized pandum as one of the most aromatic elements of tom yum soup.

When I tried the tea (Chaidim lemongrass/pandum tea), it was very hard to separate the smell and taste of it from the broth from that soup. It didn't taste like "tea" to me until I sweetened it with the Chiwadi coconut flower syrup. I used one carefully measured teaspoon of the super thick syrup and it transformed the tea into something complex and lightly sweetened. I was a little worried about the syrup because one of the ingredients is coconut vinegar (5%). I didn't know one could make vinegar out of coconut, but I guess you learn new things all of the time if you're trying new food.

The tea still smelled like tom yum broth, but it tasted like flowers and honey spiced with something unidentifiable and exotic. It's a bit like having turmeric in sweets for the first time. It seems a little weird at first, but gets better as you get used to it.

The Virgin Coco Coconut Crispy Rolls were much more approachable. They are like a thick, but very light and crispy sugar cone with three hits of flavor. First, you get orange, then a strong burst of coconut, then the sweetness comes along to bind it all together. They are delicate, but have very present flavor. All in all, a very tasty addition provided that you like coconut (and I do).

Try the World Thailand: Unboxing

The Thailand Box was my first box on my paid subscription. Depending on how you look at it, it was $33 (6 boxes per year) or $27 (7 boxes per year including the bonus Paris box). Because I considered this the first one on my dime, I expected a bit more fully formed options from it and, fortunately, I got them. When I say, "fully formed," I mean something from which I could make full dishes (main or side) rather than seasoning, condiments, drinks, or snacks.

The box includes:

Top row: Thai Spicy Rice Crackers, Red Curry Paste, Coconut Flour Syrup, Jasberry rice
Center "row": Tom Yum soup mix, dried coconut
Bottom row: Chaidum tea, Coconut Crispy Rolls

As always, the guide tells you a bit about these things. There are some interesting cultural tidbits including the fact that the coconut rolls are often considered a wish for wealth when when given as a gift to someone. I guess this isn't a gift since I bought it myself, and, no, I didn't get richer since getting this box so someone should give me a box of them.

The coconut was my roll of the dice option among several types of dried fruit. Apparently, one could end up with Jackfruit, mango or coconut. Personallly, I'd have preferred the Jackfruit as it would have been more outside of my experience, but I'm okay with what I got.

The back, as always, tells you how to use your box including a tea time and a Thai meal. The main meal they describe is red curry beef. Since I don't eat beef, I'll have to improvise, but I am looking forward to trying it. I will say that I have never cooked my own Thai dishes before. I've only been to Thai restaurants twice - once in Tokyo and once in my current rural home. Yes, there is a Thai restaurant in a town of 8,000 people! Oddly, both of these places that I've experienced are on the posher side with relatively refined options, small portions, less than modest prices, and elegant plating. My lack of experience with Thai food has more to do with my husband's issues with very hot food than a lack of interest, so this should be an adventure.

In terms of my rating of this box and its contents:

Desirability of contents: 5
Mix of items: 5
Uniqueness: 4
Value: 3
Guide content: 4

Try the World: La Mere Poulard and The des Lords (Paris box)

Many years ago, one of my husband's English students went to France and brought him back an enormous bag of butter cookies from a bakery there. They were like nothing we'd ever experienced in Japan or America and my best guess was that was because they were made with enormous amounts of butter and relatively less sugar.

My husband and I have never eaten anything like them since, and I wish I could say that the La Mere Poulard cookies in the little red box that came with my "Try the World: Paris" box came close to those cookies, but they did not. They are buttery and rich with an amazing texture, but they are shelf-stable cookies so they can't have that fresh-baked flavor or reflect a recipe that is likely fine-tuned over years of baking experience. For shelf stable (boxed) cookies, however, they are quite impressive.

The tea I chose to go with the cookies was the plain old earl grey that is named The des Lords for some reason. As earl grey goes, this is a pretty present, but somehow subtle expression of bergamot. It was quite tasty and lacked any strong bitter notes despite my somewhat long steep time.

I took a picture of the tea bag in the cup because I wanted to note that it is a very high quality linen bag rather than mesh- or paper-based. These are supposed to be better, but mainly I think they are valued for not dispersing any toxins into the tea and for being reusable for those who are "do-it-yourself" types. I can't speak to the value of the bag, but it is a good cup of tea for something that comes from a bag.

For uniqueness, this was not an especially unusual experience, but it certainly was pleasant. I probably would not buy the tea again unless I was offered it at a bargain price (a huge one), but I'd probably pick up the cookies for a reasonable price if I found them available at an import store.

Try the World: Clementine Jam and The du Harmony (Paris Box)

"Experience 1" in the guide pamphlet in my Paris "Try the World" box encourages me to have a French Gouter or "afternoon snack" while  listening to a playlist of French music which is available on their web site. I accessed the playlist and found that it send me to Spotify where I had to sign in via Facebook or sign up. Once that process was complete, it spun forever while I finished my snack without a background of French tunes.

Though the pamphlet encourages cookies and a baguette, I didn't feel like a cookie and had no baguettes. I did, however, have rather small homemade scones that I felt would give me a chance to both try some tea and the clementine jam. With only three packets of tea to choose from, it didn't take long to decide on the green tea with citrus aspects. "The du Hammam" is described as "evoking green date pulp, orange blossoms, rose, and berries." I figured that it should go well with an orange-flavored jam.

My repast looked like this:

The tea definitely has citrus notes with some of the low level bitterness of green tea. It grew more bitter as it cooled and I think it tastes better while it's still very fresh and hot. I drank it straight because the flavors of green tea are so subtle that they are easily overwhelmed by any additions.

The clementine jam is surprisingly clear in its flavor. It definitely takes on the distinct flavor of clementines and is very sweet. I used about a teaspoon of jam on each half of my scones and it was very much sufficient to add to their flavor profile. I expect that small amounts will more than do each time I have this jam. That's for the best because the jar is tiny - only 110 grams.

By the time I'd gotten close to completing this post, I'd gotten the French music playing and the first track is pretty terrible. It's a discordant and odd selection called "Bonnie and Clyde" featuring Brigitte Bardot and Serge Gainsburg. The other tracks were definitely better, but I guess I can't fault them for offering a cross section of types.

With the green tea and technical problems, this felt very little like a French tea time snack and more like a weird moment in a Japanese cafe, but that was okay. I was pleased with the tea and jam and that's as much as one could ask. 

Try The World Paris Box: Unboxing

The Paris box was the bonus in my subscription to "Try the World." I'm guessing that labeling at "Paris" instead of France allows for greater subdivision of the food options from a country which has a great deal to offer.

The box includes:

Top Row: mixed herbs, Dijon Mustard, sea salt
Middle Row: Clementine jam, salted butter caramels, tea
Bottom Row: Butter cookies

The culture guide explains a bit about each item though the pictured items are a little different than mine. The herbs bottle is a different design and my mustard is Dijon and the one in the guide pictures whole grain mustard. I'm happier to get the mustard that I got because I think getting Dijon mustard from France seems like a better chance at a unique and authentic experience. I can compare what I get in America to this mustard.

The back of the guide offers information on "how to use your box." This includes a playlist of music from the country of origin that you can access via the Try the World site and some style recommendations for making tea and having the cookies and a baguette while listening to French music. I like this touch in the guides, even though I probably don't need to be told to smell the aromas and attend to the flavors of the food I eat.

The recipe included on the back for the second "experience" they offer is for steak tartare with mustard, herbs, and finishing salt. Since I don't eat beef, I'm not going to try that particular recipe, but it does look like it uses the ingredients in the box quite effectively. I'll have to find my own way to cook with them.

I don't want to focus overly much on the "value" (price of the items), but I am paying about $33 a box and it's hard not to assess it in that way to some extent. The guide itself represents an "intangible" asset that has value as someone is paid to compile it, write it, edit it, lay it out, and print it. Nonetheless, I'm going to rate each box on a scale of 1-5 in terms of various points based on my subjective sense:

Desirability of contents: 4
Mix of items: 4
Uniqueness: 3
Value: 3
Guide content: 2

In future posts, I'll talk about each item as I consume/use it. 

Try the World (an introduction)

Contents of the "Try the World" holiday box (2015)

Though the name of this blog is centered around my trying recipes featured on the New York Times (and I will continue to try and do a new recipe from that place once a week), the core concept is about trying new things. The Times is just a guide on a journey, but it is not the only one.

I wrestled briefly with limiting my posting here to only recipes from the Times, but, it's my blog and I'll do what I want to in regards to culinary and gustatory adventures. I don't want to start another blog to talk about other things avenues, especially when they revolve around the same core concept; I am exploring new things. To that end, I'm going to talk about "Try the World" and my experiences with it.

"Try the World" is a subscription service that offers people the chance to receive a "goody box" of food items from various countries every other month. I first learned of them through targeted Facebook advertising and the concept appealed to me because it is always a surprise package and the food items are ones I'm unlikely to find locally, particularly since I currently live in a rural area. One of my friends gave me a gift subscription that offered me three boxes (Spain, Japan, and a holiday box representing many countries). From then, I was hooked.

Before I get too far, let me say that this is in no way a sponsored thing. I'm not promoting anything here, though my enthusiasm for the experience of using "Try the World" may make people think otherwise. I paid the regular subscription fee for the boxes I'll be discussing on this blog; that is $198 for six boxes.

From a cooking stand-point, the Try the World boxes are different from the services that give you a variety of snacks since they tend to offer cooking ingredients and recipes as well as snacks and drinks. The picture at the top of this post of the holiday box was an exception in that it largely featured snacks, though it did include olive oil, fruit sauce, and pistachio cream (things that need to be used with other types of food).

Given that the boxes are not cheap (though also not super expensive), I want to really take the time to appreciate the contents. To that end, I'm going to talk about the contents of each box as I receive it as a way of fully exploring and inhabiting the experience of receiving them.