26 vi 06 Monday raw journal entries
[Forgive some repetition from Horseshoe Bay to Tofino: Episode Two]
On dock last night with most of "the gang" from the Moose Tour after going to a "fish-and-chips" place which sold ridiculously large portions. Nearly everyone was either throwing food out or taking doogie bags.
Took prodigious numbers of photographs of the absolutely goregous sunset. [BC begs for superlatives and beggars the vocabulary.]
Retired early, but still must determine my account balance and other financial matters.
Breakfast: fries left over from last night, Irish Breakfast tea from home, and, if all goes well, an espresso from a nearby cafe.
The Clayquot Sound, where we are at the moment, is said by the Ahousaht First Nations Territory folks to be the "largest tract of lowland ancient temperate rainforest left on earth."
Water in the sound as we saw our third group of [Black Bears] was 21 degrees C [I went on a bear-watching tour in a zodiac boat for which I will provide a photo essay]
By third cutting [and replacement of "forest", the ecosystem has so degenerated that the trees cannot handle environmental stresses, and therefore sicken and die after about thirty or forty years; thus many of the forests in this area are browning, or show many completely dead trees.]
The "Salmon Forest" [is a term applied to the forests with] trees that grow large along rivers [because they] are fertilized by [the offal and droppings from Bald Eagles, Osprey, and bears feeding on] the salmon. [Since the large trees, in turn, shade the river and provide cover for the spawning fish, a symbiotic relationship exists between the trees fertilized by the bodies of the salmon and the salmon supported by the especially large trees.]
It was recommended [by a patron of the local Coop grocery in Tofino] that I look for information @ "nanoparticles and sunscreen" [I was approached while selecting salad greens by a very earnest fellow who was (and probably still is) convinced that scientists, perhaps working for some nefarious international agency, were creating nanoparticles and putting them in sunscreen so that they would be absorbed into the skin of unsuspecting sunscreen users. When I inquired why this was done, and what its effects might be, I was merely told to investigate by making a Google search for information. Apparently, this was this man's current public service work, as I heard him making the same recommendation to at least two other persons entering the grocery.]
coconut milk pepper
tomatoes coriander
potatoes garlic
chick peas curry powder
peanut oil sugar
soy sauce
[These are the ingredients -- minus sweet basil leaves, which I forgot -- for Gaeng Kari Tua. I made this Thai dish five times while in Canada, and as it was met with enthusiastic responses from all quarters -- including two professional chefs I met in Vancouver at the Jericho Beach hostel -- I will provide the recipe here, as I make the dish. I had the recipe from New Age Journal back in the early 1990s. I have the volume, issue, and page number somewhere, and will edit this post with that info when I find it.
2 coriander roots or scant tablespoon of powdered coriander seed
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper corns (or to taste)
One can (15 oz) of chickpeas/garbanzos/ceci
One can (15 oz) of coconut milk (for pure decadence, the equivalent sized can of coconut cream!)
Two medium beefsteak tomatoes or four to six paste tomatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
one large potato or the equivalent in smaller potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
10 sweet basil leaves, minced
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 tablespoon of sweetener -- sugar (demerara type is best), honey, syrup...
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
With a mortar and pestle, grind into a paste the coriander roots or seed powder, garlic, and peppercorns.
In a large saucepan, heat two tablespoons of peanut oil and briefly fry the paste until the garlic begins to carmellize (turn brown), then immediately add the coconut milk (watch out for splash) and bring to boil, then add the remaining ingredients, bring to boil again, then turn back heat to simmer and allow to cook, stirring frequently, until the potatoes are al dente.
Very simple, extravagantly delicious.
Sorry, folks, that I forgot about the basil when I made this in Canada, but it was still pretty damned good, wasn't it?]
On dock last night with most of "the gang" from the Moose Tour after going to a "fish-and-chips" place which sold ridiculously large portions. Nearly everyone was either throwing food out or taking doogie bags.
Took prodigious numbers of photographs of the absolutely goregous sunset. [BC begs for superlatives and beggars the vocabulary.]
Retired early, but still must determine my account balance and other financial matters.
Breakfast: fries left over from last night, Irish Breakfast tea from home, and, if all goes well, an espresso from a nearby cafe.
The Clayquot Sound, where we are at the moment, is said by the Ahousaht First Nations Territory folks to be the "largest tract of lowland ancient temperate rainforest left on earth."
Water in the sound as we saw our third group of [Black Bears] was 21 degrees C [I went on a bear-watching tour in a zodiac boat for which I will provide a photo essay]
By third cutting [and replacement of "forest", the ecosystem has so degenerated that the trees cannot handle environmental stresses, and therefore sicken and die after about thirty or forty years; thus many of the forests in this area are browning, or show many completely dead trees.]
The "Salmon Forest" [is a term applied to the forests with] trees that grow large along rivers [because they] are fertilized by [the offal and droppings from Bald Eagles, Osprey, and bears feeding on] the salmon. [Since the large trees, in turn, shade the river and provide cover for the spawning fish, a symbiotic relationship exists between the trees fertilized by the bodies of the salmon and the salmon supported by the especially large trees.]
It was recommended [by a patron of the local Coop grocery in Tofino] that I look for information @ "nanoparticles and sunscreen" [I was approached while selecting salad greens by a very earnest fellow who was (and probably still is) convinced that scientists, perhaps working for some nefarious international agency, were creating nanoparticles and putting them in sunscreen so that they would be absorbed into the skin of unsuspecting sunscreen users. When I inquired why this was done, and what its effects might be, I was merely told to investigate by making a Google search for information. Apparently, this was this man's current public service work, as I heard him making the same recommendation to at least two other persons entering the grocery.]
coconut milk pepper
tomatoes coriander
potatoes garlic
chick peas curry powder
peanut oil sugar
soy sauce
[These are the ingredients -- minus sweet basil leaves, which I forgot -- for Gaeng Kari Tua. I made this Thai dish five times while in Canada, and as it was met with enthusiastic responses from all quarters -- including two professional chefs I met in Vancouver at the Jericho Beach hostel -- I will provide the recipe here, as I make the dish. I had the recipe from New Age Journal back in the early 1990s. I have the volume, issue, and page number somewhere, and will edit this post with that info when I find it.
2 coriander roots or scant tablespoon of powdered coriander seed
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper corns (or to taste)
One can (15 oz) of chickpeas/garbanzos/ceci
One can (15 oz) of coconut milk (for pure decadence, the equivalent sized can of coconut cream!)
Two medium beefsteak tomatoes or four to six paste tomatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
one large potato or the equivalent in smaller potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
10 sweet basil leaves, minced
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 tablespoon of sweetener -- sugar (demerara type is best), honey, syrup...
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
With a mortar and pestle, grind into a paste the coriander roots or seed powder, garlic, and peppercorns.
In a large saucepan, heat two tablespoons of peanut oil and briefly fry the paste until the garlic begins to carmellize (turn brown), then immediately add the coconut milk (watch out for splash) and bring to boil, then add the remaining ingredients, bring to boil again, then turn back heat to simmer and allow to cook, stirring frequently, until the potatoes are al dente.
Very simple, extravagantly delicious.
Sorry, folks, that I forgot about the basil when I made this in Canada, but it was still pretty damned good, wasn't it?]
posted by M E Achtermann at 6:47 pm
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