Food glossary for Non-Aussies

[LauraTO]

I have had to work out quite a few of these when I try to convert some US/Canadian recipes too.


I haven't read all the thread but there is a recipe that needs cornmeal. Is that the same thing as cornstarch?

I've also learnt that button mushrooms are crimini mushrooms, romaine lettuce is cos lettuce, Napa cabbage is chinese cabbage, swiss chard is silverbeet.

Thank you so much for these additions!

Cornmeal is ground corn.  Polenta is cooked cornmeal (by NA definitions).  It may seem weird to make pancakes with them (assuming we have the same name for pancakes) but it would be something done in southern US cooking.  Southern US cuisine uses cornmeal for everything!  Do you all call the basic dry ground corn you'd buy in a bag Polenta?  Or just the prepared version.

I will add cos lettuce, chinese cabbage, and silverbeet.  I think I was assuming silverbeet was beet (beetroot) tops, I was wrong!

Cremini mushrooms aren't button mushrooms though I don't think.  Button mushrooms are white, cremini are similar size and shape but brown and more flavourful.  In Canadian grocery stores they are side by side in the produce department.

[gertbysea]

Cornmeal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Indian meal" redirects here. For food of India, see Indian cuisine.


Cornmeal
Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) ground from dried maize (corn). It is a common staple food, and is ground to fine, medium, and coarse consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour.[1] In the United States, very finely ground cornmeal is also referred to as cornflour.[1] However, the word cornflour denotes cornstarch in the United Kingdom, where cornmeal is known as polenta.

I don't know anything about prepared polenta though I have seen it on the shelves. I guess that would be cooked and you could just reheat or fry it.

It took me years to get my head around silver beet. I still call it spinach.


Agaricus bisporus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Crimini mushroom)
Common mushroom


Agaricus bisporus—known variously when white as common mushroom, button mushroom, white mushroom, cultivated mushroom, table mushroom, champignon mushroom, when brown as Swiss brown mushroom, Roman brown mushroom, Italian brown, Italian mushroom, cremini/crimini mushroom, brown cap mushrooms, chestnut mushroom,[2] and when mature as Portobello mushroom—is an edible basidiomycete mushroom native to grasslands in Europe and North America. Agaricus bisporus is cultivated in more than 70 countries[3] and is one of the most commonly and widely consumed mushrooms in the world.


Seems they are all the same mushroom and only a matter of maturity. The older the button mushroom the better the flavour therefore the Swiss Brown and Portabello are more expensive because they are more desirable which makes me pretty cranky.

Gert

[Cuilidh]

Silverbeet is also known as chard or Swiss chard - it has a large, glossy green leaf with either a silver/white or coloured stalk.  The coloured ones are referred to as rainbow chard and the stalks are generally red or yellow.

[LauraTO]

Wait, so portobello mushrooms are the same species as button mushrooms, just more mature?!?! My mind is blown!

[cookie1]

Gert I eventually learned about silverbeet and spinach. Silverbeet is all crinkly and spinach is flat and easier to wash.

I cook polenta in the thermomix. The EDC  has a recipe. It's nice made and spread into a tray. Then later cut it into chips and lightl cook them. The AF would be good for this.

[gertbysea]

I had enough cornmeal as a kid. Cheap and filling . If I never have to eat  it or cook it I will be a happy person. Waste of time, effort and is tasteless.

Gert

[Nikkit]

I'm with you Gert (not that I had to eat it as a kid) but it is tasteless and a waste of time! I have never eaten any good polenta!

[Tasty]

You don't make polenta sound too good but I would still like to give this recipe a go:

http://www.veria.com/video/peggy-ks-kitchen-cures-omega-3-gluten-free-cornmeal-pancakes-with-peach-topping/

[gertbysea]

You don't make polenta sound too good but I would still like to give this recipe a go:

http://www.veria.com/video/peggy-ks-kitchen-cures-omega-3-gluten-free-cornmeal-pancakes-with-peach-topping/

That ain't no pancake. Sounds disgusting and why bother messing with such a simple thing that tastes good.

Gert

[Nikkit]

I'm with you again Gert!

Give it a go Tasty and tell us what you think.

Hemp seeds might be ok though...  

[gertbysea]

I'm with you again Gert!

Give it a go Tasty and tell us what you think.

Hemp seeds might be ok though...  

I would need plenty of hemp,seeds ground and smoked to make me eat  that recipe.

Gert

[LauraTO]

You don't make polenta sound too good but I would still like to give this recipe a go:

http://www.veria.com/video/peggy-ks-kitchen-cures-omega-3-gluten-free-cornmeal-pancakes-with-peach-topping/

I think it sounds pretty good, but I don't have cornmeal aversion due to childhood trauma.  Looking forward to hearing how it turned out!

[cookie1]

Where would you buy hemp seeds? Margaret River or Byron Bay or somewhere like that?

I don't mind polenta occasionally. Never had it as a kid either. 

[gertbysea]

Nearly all things hemp. Cannabis Sativa sadly not  Cannabis  Indica

http://www.hempfoods.com.au

Gert

[cookie1]

Thanks. I wasn't sure if there was a difference. I saw on the lunchtime news that the villagers in Myanmar were smoking heaps of opium from the poppies they grow. Not sure what the link is here.........I guess they are both drugs.