Cooking Stack Exchange
Cooking Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [ingredient-selection]

Questions about selecting desirable ingredients (e.g. checking fruit ripeness). Please do not use for "which ingredient should I use in my dish" - this kind of question is subjective and will be closed.

The tag is for those looking to improve their "catch" when out picking ingredients, usually at the market. Questions about gauging the ripeness of a particular fruit or recognizing when a particular vegetable is still fresh are welcome topics in this tag.

This tag is not meant for general recipe-modification questions, i.e. "what can I add to X?" Those questions are likely to be closed, unless they focus on a very specific type of improvement. In that case you should a tag that describes the modification instead, e.g. or .

176 questions
8
votes
2 answers

Albacore or Yellow Fin

I once heard that one type of canned tuna is prone to have less mercury (poison) based upon the size it is at harvest or the location where it is commonly found. I buy Genova brand which has both kinds packed in olive oil. They are both the same…
BARTOL
  • 198
  • 9
8
votes
2 answers

Why add Wheat Germ to Bread?

A blogger I generally trust recently posted a recipe for a simple, brown soda bread. The recipe calls for: bread flour, whole wheat flour, and wheat germ. What is the purpose of adding wheat germ to a bread dough? What function does that serve? I…
john_science
  • 183
  • 1
  • 1
  • 5
8
votes
2 answers

Differences between haddock and cod

I saw haddock on sale at our local grocer. It's really cheap this week. It grew my curiosity. Are there any similarities in flavor between haddock and cod? I often see haddock and cod interchangeably used in the context of fish and chips.
chrisjlee
  • 2,999
  • 20
  • 52
  • 63
8
votes
4 answers

Trying to recreate my grandmother's buttermilk biscuits

My grandmother made the best biscuits in the world. She made them 7 days a week, and cooked them on a cast iron skillet without any sides. They were always perfectly browned and the bread inside was "stretchy" (they were not layered). I've been…
boatcoder
  • 221
  • 1
  • 3
8
votes
1 answer

Can swamp eels be used for unagi like American or Japanese eels?

So, at my local fishmarket, there is both live and frozen yellow swamp eel. I was not able to find very much on texture, flavor, or otherwise, so I was wondering if any of you have had much experience cooking with it, and is it suitable to make…
GeneralChef
  • 81
  • 2
7
votes
1 answer

How can I recognize peaches with split pits?

Split pits in stone fruit can be a real problem for farmers, because fruit that are seriously affected can’t be sold. However, if the damage isn’t obvious from the outside, the fruit are going to the stores just as usual. For me as a consumer and…
Stephie
  • 57,632
  • 7
  • 163
  • 213
7
votes
2 answers

How do I pick the best potatoes at the supermarket?

I was picking potatoes randomly from the supermarket without much thinking, and some potatoes take more time to bake properly. So on what basis should I pick potatoes, potatoes for baking? I'm not referring to the baking/roasting question, which…
pramodc84
  • 435
  • 1
  • 6
  • 11
7
votes
1 answer

Does the freshness of the ingredient impact the longevity of the cooked dish?

Using ingredients that aren't fresh will generally negatively impact the flavor of the dish, but does it impact how long the cooked dish will last before it goes bad? For example, if I make two pots of tomato sauce, one with freshly-picked tomatoes…
Lin
  • 253
  • 1
  • 6
7
votes
8 answers

What kind of onions for dal?

I'm making dal for the first time and have all of the ingredients below, but I can't decide whether to use white, yellow (vidalia), or red onions. I have all three in stock. Here are the other ingredients: 1/4 cup ghee 1 1/2 cups diced onions 2…
Dan Dye
  • 233
  • 2
  • 6
7
votes
3 answers

How to choose fresh, ripe (hot) jalapeños?

When shopping at a supermarket or a farmers market, how can I tell which jalapeños to take home? I want them hot and ready rock that very day. Do they get hotter off the vine? Is a ripe jalapeño a hot jalapeño? Does shape affect hotness (or the…
samthebrand
  • 1,285
  • 5
  • 25
  • 50
7
votes
3 answers

Heirloom tomatoes

What makes a tomato "heirloom" and what is the difference to conventional tomatoes? Edited: heritage -> heirloom, makes more sense that way.
lavonardo
  • 173
  • 6
6
votes
1 answer

Eggs used as Binders

Eggs are commonly used as a binder in meatballs and other foods. If separated, is one part of the egg a stronger binder: Is the white a stronger binder than the yolk? Is the yolk stronger than the white? Is either separated portion a stronger…
Cynetta
  • 2,271
  • 1
  • 8
  • 14
6
votes
2 answers

I lose the flavor of basil when I make pesto sauce

Okay, I am writing this question as a result of a long experience in trying to make pesto at home :p I like pesto sauce alot and that is why I have decided that I should make this at home. But for some reason when I make the pesto sauce I almost…
Sina
  • 185
  • 1
  • 5
6
votes
5 answers

What's the difference between Santa Cruz Rum and Jamaican Rum?

Reading through a book of cocktail recipes from the late 1800s, I notice some recipes call specifically for Santa Cruz rum and some call for Jamaican rum. Is this a mere place of origin reference, or is there some qualitative difference? For…
Yamikuronue
  • 8,776
  • 20
  • 71
  • 108
6
votes
4 answers

Could I use beer instead of/as well as water in my sourdough?

The sourdough recipe I use calls for 300ml of water to 500g of bread flour (along with the starter). Instead of this water, could I use beer - or a combination of beer and water? The reason I thought this would be possible is because the beer would…
Danger Fourpence
  • 775
  • 6
  • 12
  • 20
1 2
3
…
11 12