"Vanya" > wrote in message
om...
> "Peter T. Daniels" > wrote in message
>...
> > La Donna Mobile wrote:
> > >
> > > "neurocratic malfunction" > wrote in
message
> > > m...
> > > > what does caviar and truffles taste like?
> > > >
> > > > what other gourmet stuff have you eaten?
> > > >
> > > > are they better than pizza and chopsuey?
> > >
> > > Perhaps before you try 'gourmet' food and splatter your ill-informed
> > > opinions on random ngs, you should try some plain un-gourmet good
quality
> > > everyday food made with good quality fresh ingredients and without
chemical
> > > additives. It is unlikely that somebody who uses pizza and chop suey
as a
> > > reference point has a sophisticated palette.
> >
> > It's entirely possible to make either pizza or chop suey from good
> > quality frech ingredients and without chemical additives. (Even MSG.)
>
> Chinese food (which chop suey, of course, is not) without MSG is not
> authentic Chinese.

Complete nonsense. From Itene Kuo's cookbook:

"What we knew as "taste-essence" in China was a seasoning agent made at home
primarily from dried fermented wheat gluten and/or soybean protein, often
further enriched with powdered dry shrimp or seaweeds. It was used to
enhance weak flavors, such as watered-down broths, poorly seasoned foods
from unskilled hands, or meager meat dishes, intensifying primarily the
natural flavors of meats and poultry. While "taste-essence" is of Chinese
heritage, it was never accepted by the elite society of gastronomy where
cooking skill and lavish use of natural ingredients are the essence. Today's
version is a chemical compound known as monosodium glutamate or MSG and to
me it does nothing to enhance flavor. Rather it gives food a peculiar
sweetened taste that I find absolutely distasteful, and for some people it
has unpleasant side effects."



--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.