Job Discussion Forums

[molly farquharson]

is it melemen or menemen? Some of my Turkish friends call it one and some call it the other.

When I have time at home I will post the biscuits recipe, promise.

And, re men being the best cooks, I think it relates to women HAVING to cook, rather than wanting to. This is changing probably, but having been a wife and mother in my distant past (I am still a mother, but my kids are not children anymore), I find a sort of resentment about cooking because I was supposed to cook. Boy, those tofu dishes just did not go over very well!! Plus my (ex)husband did not like fresh tomatoes, onions, or peppers (not to mention the tofu). Kind of makes it not fun to cook. I love to bake, though-- keeps me well-rounded

[justme]

I'm with Molly, but from a different angle-- I think it's that the food women tend to make and the food men tend to make are different, stemming from women being the ones that have to cook. Overall, men are better at the fabulous and exciting foods, and women are better at the warm and comforting home foods that are more likely to be taken for granted.

When my mom or I cook, it's usually keeping in mind something that will be fast, good, and not requiring much cleaning up. When my dad or brothers cook, it takes hours, many steps, complex procedures, and someone following behind cleaning up. Even with the cleaner following behind they still manage to get sauce on the ceiling and things like that.

Which leads me to my question-- why are men usually such messy cooks? How do they get stuff on the ceiling?

[molly farquharson]

they say that you can test if spaghetti is done if you throw a piece at the wall and it sticks. maybe they hit the ceiling instead? I have been known to hit the ceiling, but not about spaghetti

[justme]

Hmmm. That thing about throwing spaghetti doesn't work-- it sticks well before it's done.

Still, it's fun throwing spaghetti....

[alterego]

molly, it's menemen. (see here )
it's a lot like the difference between pronouncing nuclear vs nucular...

[alterego]

about men being expected to be better chefs... i took it to mean professionally. men are taught to be more competitive natured than women and i wholeheartedly believe that this has a lot to do with the professional success that men have over women. working in a professional kitchen is smelly, dirty and quite tiring and women are raised not to be involved in such professions. there's no way you can keep up your femininity symbols -say long fingernails- if you're cooking for a living. as in many other areas, men have always had a better chance of pursuing cooking professionally. so, as they dominate the culinary word, it is expected that most of the well-known chefs are male. but that doesn't mean that men make better cooks. men deal with professional cooking environments better since the standards are set by men. i know many women who are great at cooking fabulous and exotic foods and many men who can't even boil water. women are pursuing their passions more and more nowadays without restrictions and there are many brilliant women professional chefs. if nothing else, there's always julia child to fall back on

but i think at this day and age, i wish we wouldn't make gendered generalizations.

[justme]

I once saw Julia Child at the San Francisco airport. She was very tall.

[dmb]

[molly farquharson]

baking powder biscuits
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter (better than marg)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

cut the butter into the flour and then rub with your fingers until it is fine, about like big cornmeal. Add the other dry ingredients and mix. beat the eggs and the milk together and add to the dry ingredients. Mix until moistened and then roll out on a lightly floured board. Roll 1/2 inch thick, fold in thirds (helps make them flakey), and cut with a cutter or use a biggish glass. Bake at 225-250 C 8-10 min and eat hot with butter and/or jam.

afiyet olsun

[justme]

Thanks Molly-- that's great! I even inherited my grandma's rolling pin, which I have here for some reason-- now I have an excuse to use it, along with the homemade strawberry jam my mother-in-law gave us...

Another trick for flakey biscuits is to cut up and freeze the butter beforehand, then cut it into the dry ingredients with a knife. It makes nice little butter pockets in the biscuits. Not that I've made them myself, but my mom does this...

[31]

In speaking which is better: sarmısak or sarımsak?[/quote]

In speaking both are perfectly acceptable but in writing only the latter one is acceptable.

[whynotme]

[calsimsek]

Who cares.

[whynotme]

in Turkey there is a saying"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach"

[calsimsek]

Yea well my wife found my a long time ago now theres more stomach than heart.

My wife will kill me if reads this