butterisbetter

If it's a powerful food processor you want, I would strongly suggest you go with verasu. The moulinex on sale at homepro is an okay machine for light work but not up to heavy duty work.

So, have they got schiacciata?

I haven't been to the bakery. just had the selection of sweet things they offered at the event. They may well offer schiacciata or some other kind of flat bread but I don't know.

Do they sell hamburgers?

and serve free water?

No, but they serve free coffee and they are very friendly.

The free coffee entitlement has expired - at least for the present. It's now 10 baht a cup.

The free coffee entitlement has been renewed. Didn't want to make a liar out of you.

First of all, I’d like to give a shout ot to all my fellow conspirators, UlyssesG, Electrified, realthaideal,csmsoulbrother. SamsaiSam and,chiangmabruce , (or, as I affectionately call them , Mr. Brown, Mr. Pink, Mr. White, Mr. Green, Mr. Black, and Mister Gray) at thaivisa whom I enlisted into this vast conspiracy to circuitously promote my wife's bakery. You will be rewarded with the usual bags of 24 carat cholesterol. No need to remind you all of the vow that you took never to mention my wife’s bakery by name even under threat of torture or debarment from the forum. Which maybe comes to the same thing or worse for some of us. . I am only sorry that the innocent Cannella and others will have to suffer the injury of even further praise. Such are the fortunes of war & guerilla marketing..

And now to answer various questions.

The truth is, I came to taste Cannella's products by a kind of reverse slumming. Gate crashing? Thanks to my wife being the owner of a well regarded anonymous bakery, she was given an invitation for 2 to attend a wine tasting of some new wines that Italasia was promoting. Much of Chiang Mai's Hi-So o was here. The guests were almost universally a lively and attractive group of people who seemed to have many interesting things to say. So naturally I avoided disgracing myself conversation with them and concentrated on the wine and food. I know my place. Which is in the buffet line.

. And here I am going to continue in my serial shilling vein by saying that these wines were astonishingly good. And a few, astonishingly pricey. Still if you have 4000+ baht to dispose of, I highly recommend the Ca' del Bosco Annamaria which is an Italian version of Champagne using the same varieties of grapes that the French use. And the same prices. Also a very fine cabernet named Maurizio Zannella, that sells for nearly as much. But I did have a pinot nero (pinot noir) that retails for about 900 baht and while I am not nearly wealthy enough to call that a bargain, it seemed a very fair price for an excellent wine. (It’s also fair to note here that much of that price is due to the high tariffs Thailand imposes on wine.) On the label e grape is called Spatburgunder and the vineyard's name is Kettmeir. Spatburgunder is German for pinot noir)

. These wines come from the Alto Adige, the northernmost part of Italy where a Germanic dialect is the lingua franca.

The venue was Casa del Antonio Restaurant which I think is owned by Giorgio. as is Italasia Along with the wines, Giorio provided some excellent antipasti. More subterranean marketing. Sorry, I can’t help myself. Maybe I should go on some kind of medication?

And somewhere in the middle of the soiree, a variety of pastries from Cannella were provided. I wish I knew what they were called. Is there a taxonomy of pastry with latin names? We need a new Linnaeus! Okay, I did recognize the cream puffs. Didn’t see any cannoli. I suspect that the people behind Cannella may come from somewhere north of Rome and do not traffic in cannoli, but that’s only a guess. At any rate, the products tasted like genuine pastry. Not as sweet as we Americans generally like but excellent. No skimping on good quality ingredients here.

I don’t think Cannella does bread since it’s a Caffe. But I can’t say for sure.

Do they sell hamburgers?

and serve free water?

No, but they serve free coffee and they are very friendly.

The free coffee entitlement has expired - at least for the present. It's now 10 baht a cup.

Nice advertising technique!!!

Might even work.

the mods are slow today

you can't blame the guy for trying - better than paying thaivisa for advertising 351 free hits already and counting

but yes a bit slow

TYPO CORRECTION

Is it that the mods are slow in acting or rather that the cynics are slow in their thinking? I believe Ulysses G. is a mod and could have pulled the plug on my post had he felt there was cause for it. He knows who I am and, in this case, what is even more to the point, he knows who I am not.

The sad news is that an excellent new Italian bakery has opened in Chiang Mai. The news is sad because my wife also has a bakery and I hate the thought of serious competition. The only good news in all this is that the new bakery is Italian so mostly isn't offering items that would compete with my wife's products. I lived in New York City for 30 years and never had much use for the multitude of Italian bakeries there. Their producs either tasted either very dry or as though their flavorings had been created somewhere in the vicinity of a refinery.

But this place is different. I briefly chatted with the owner, a young Italian woman, who told me that hers are family recipes. Realy dairy products are used here. I suspect that she comes from Northern Italy but I neglected to ask. At any rate, the name of the bakery is Cannella Cafe. I wouldn't be surprised if the espresso is delicious too but since I don't like coffee I can't say for sure.

The bakery is located on 51 Singharat Rd. Soi 4. It's roughly halfway between Siam TV and the Thai Airways Headquarters. Phone number is 0-5341-7727. I've attached a map.

To judge by the flavor of both of them, I would say that the cattle are not grass fed. Grass fed beef usually has very strong flavored fat and is a lot leaner.

just wondering if some-one can tell me if l can and where to buy whole grain flour in the Udon Thanni area ,,, all l can find is all purpose and bread flour ,,,l dont want the premixed stuff ,, to expensive,,,, dont really want to buy a big bag but if l have to l will , thanks for any help

cheers

egg

If any of your local stores sell Indian groceries you might find the flour that is used to make roti and other indian breads. this is whole wheat flour

just wondering if some-one can tell me if l can and where to buy whole grain flour in the Udon Thanni area ,,, all l can find is all purpose and bread flour ,,,l dont want the premixed stuff ,, to expensive,,,, dont really want to buy a big bag but if l have to l will , thanks for any help

cheers

egg

At the northwest corner of the intersection of the canal road and doi suthep road is the king's project store. they sell all kinds of vegetables and fruits there. not only are the prices great but they are either grown organically or with very reduced use of pesticide. there is a word or phrase for the latter approach to raising produce but it escapes me.

Do not be misled that produce from Doi Kham is either organic or grown with very reduced use of pesticides. With all respect,

"The 37 Development Centers operating under the tutelage of The Royal Project Foundation are all responsible for extension programs. An initial major challenge was to convince the hilltribes to give up opium cultivation while offering them other crop substitutions. Each project emphasizes the eradication of the slash-and-burn methods, the promotion of reforestation, and ceasing the illegal opium growing. The projects also stress the importance of providing education in remote areas in order to train farmers in the principles of highland agriculture and animal husbandry, and enable them to increase their earnings and become more self-sustainable."

In order to grow vegetable with reduced pesticides they must be grown in greenhouses. There are many greenhouse growers around Chiang Mai and many are represented at Rimping Supermarket.

Here is a quote from the english language version of the royal project website: "Technology has been introduced for the minimum use of synthetic chemicals to control plant diseases and insects, for soil conservation and for seed multiplication,"

I believe that the fruit being referred to is the "jujube" jujubes come in different sized ranging from olive size to small apple. not to be confused with the candy of the same name. an image search on google using "jujubes fruit" should get you lots of images. the small ones are often mottled and bear a very strong resemblance to fresh olives. i just saw some of these locally a few days ago.

At the northwest corner of the intersection of the canal road and doi suthep road is the king's project store. they sell all kinds of vegetables and fruits there. not only are the prices great but they are either grown organically or with very reduced use of pesticide. there is a word or phrase for the latter approach to raising produce but it escapes me.

there is also a saturday morning and wednesday morning market that was referred to earlier as a saturday market only. It opens about 6:00 AM and it's good to get there early. If you drive down nimmanhemin coming from suthep road you take the first left turn you can. about 100 meters up this road is the market. it is supposed to carry only organic produce and the prices are excellent. or if you are on the canal road heading north it will be the first right turn after you pass suthep road. it's hard to miss this place since it is on the northern border of Chiang Mai university's experimental agriculture field. it's a lot of fun to stroll through the fields and see produce and rice and cows. well, it's fun if that's your idea of fun.

I don't know if this is useful or not but last night I noticed that a Swensen's ice cream store in Chiang Mai had a Vitamix. So I'm assuming that most if not all Swensen's stores have one too. Maybe if somebody has a connection at Swensens, he or she can find out where Swensen get's its blenders.

I would also highly recommend Dr. Sutee. Not only is he a first rate doctor, but a very decent man as well. He is always trying to find ways for patients to save money and actually quit working with one hospital because he felt they were charging too much. With what I know now, if I didn't live in thailand and I need orthopedic surgery, I would travel here to be treated by Dr. Sutee.

Cooks Illustrated magazine recentaly ran an evaluation of upscale blenders. Vitamix and Blendtec weren't included. The top rated machine was a Kitchenaid blender which I believe has one important advantage over Vitamix: it is available in Thailand. I did see it on sale at Robinson's not too long ago. Here is a quote from someone at Amazon who purchased this model (KSB580NK):

"I have owned a lot of blenders and this one is very impressive. I was tempted to give it 4 stars as it is not the best blender I have ever owned. That distinction goes to the Vita-Mix which has a nuclear reactor for a base, sounds like a Harley and cost as much as a microwave but if you need a blender that can crush anything and make flour and HOT soup....well....but back to the KitchenAid.

First it looks great. As a home chef, having a sleek modern looking kitchen is important. Second it is easy to clean... I will never own a push button (i.e. old Oster-type) blender again. Nor one with a multi piece jar. One leak can and has ruined an evening or party, as you run to grab paper towel and dish clothes to control the margarita or soup that is running across your counter and down your cabinets. Then the fun of cleaning your blender nooks begin....grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Now the really impressive part. I have owned a Waring for years. Everyone always raves about it and if you have a thin liquid, it works great. But for crushing ice and making smoothies, it just flat out sucks. So I sought out an ice crushing (margaritas), sealed jar (gravies/soups), lightweight, large capacity (parties), easy touch (easy to clean), piece of art. The KitchenAid is all those things and has a logic built in that controls the blade speed. It knows how well it is crushing the ice and modulates the motor to ensure an even snow like texture that is incredible. The same system is also built into the other modes, measuring resistance to step the motor up, then back it down to ensure smooth results.

This is my first KitchenAid product, but it will not be my last. BRAVO"

If anybody is interested, I could forward them the text of the cooks illustrated article.

about a year ago, there was a very long and informative article in the Bangkok Post about water buffalo dairies being established in Thailand. I would love to be able to purchase water buffalo mozzarella. Another great product would be water buffalo yogurt, It's being made in the USA and it's delicious. It's richer and denser than cow milk yogurt. I'm pretty sure it would be a hit with resident farangs, though I doubt Thais would touch it. Whenever I mention it, they invariably react with disgust to the idea. I also think it would appeal to tourists.

When you first apply to study at Cornerstone, you are given a diagnostic test to determine your fluency in Thai and then are placed accordingly.

To help you in your search, they are called "peels". In Chiang Mai, I know of 2 places that carry them. That in itself may not help you much unless you want to order them from here. But if 2 places in chiang mai carry them, then they must be available in Bangkok, too. At any rate, the places that carry them in chiang mai are Bakersmart and Yok. At Bakersmart, they speak enqlish very well, at at Yok, not so much.

Also, there is a company called Jasco that carries all kinds of bakeware and catering tools stuff. They usually host a stall at the hotel and restaurant shows. I believe that there is one such show coming up at siam paragon sep 2-5.

Company Name : J & P Jasco Products (Thailand) Co., Ltd.

Address : Secon Square Department Store,904 Room no. 2025, 2nd Fl. Moo 6, Srinakarin Rd.

Pravet Bangkok Thailand

Zip : 10250

Tel : 66- 2- 9884602 to 5

Fax : 66- 2- 9884601

Website : http://www.jnpjasco.com

Actually, bananas are native to Southeast Asia. I don't think anybody has pinned it down more precisely than that. As for chile peppers, they are indigenous to central and south america and cultivations seems to have arisen independently several times.

I ordered molasses from BBI in Bangkok and to my taste, at least, it was inedible. I'm assuming this is the class of molasses that ordinarily is given to cattle. Rim Ping in Chiang Mai briefly had Grandma's molasses in stock which is to my taste, and lots of cookbook authors, the molasses of choice to use in baking. I haven't tried the organic kind that Rim Ping is carrying.

I used it for about a month before I came to Thailand. The problem is that Thai is a tonal language, and unless you know to listen for the tones, you won't notice them. Rosetta does nothing to point this out, or, for that matter to point anything out. The use of classifiers is another puzzlement they neglected to identify. Basically, it's a total immersion program. Which probably works great if it is teaching you another indo-european language and probably okay for some other languages as well. But, Thai, being so different from english, needs some explanations along the way.

You should try to get there early if you don't like waiting. There are usually a lot of people there. With reason. Dr. Suttee is a remarkable doctor. My wife was in a motorcycle accident. got bad medical treatment at a very expensive medical center in Chiang Mai, but Dr. Suttee undid the damage inflicted elsewhere in short order.

The person who posted this inquiry about hotels was interested in Central Airport, not Central Kad Suan Kaew which is a few kilometers away. Near Central Kad Suan Kaew is where the Lotus Hotel is located. I'm just noting this in case the inquirer is unfamiliar with Chiang Mai and doesn't know that there are 2 separate malls each with the "Central" in the name.

K

Come to think of it, i think the name of the company is Microgenesys or something like that.