Exactly. Thanks for clarifying.

I probably didn't phrase that well it was a long, margarita-ful lunch. I was trying to say that people's tastes are completely individual, and fun to discuss rather than many conversations that turn to arguments around facts.

How do you photograph your food so well (suggestions for a $100 camera are very welcome). Also, a cooking forum would have lot of traffic/great info.

I wish I wasn't so used to using my comically large chinese cleaver for every task in the kitchen. I look completely awkward whenever I'm at anyone's house and I'm forced to use a regular knife.

My setup was pretty simple for my early photos:
Canon T3 (mine was $399 new - cheapest DSLR out there)
50mm Lens ($100)
18% Gray Cards ($10)
Lightroom ($$$$$$$ = free for everyone but parents who don't seem to like stealing software)

I wasn't sure I'd like photography, so I went with this baseline setup figuring I could always sell everything for a 30% haircut at worst. The two keys that friends have told me are

1) Natural full spectrum sunlight is your friend - best light you can get, so use it

2) Use the custom white balance feature on your camera - that's where the 18% gray card comes in. When you set the white balance, you avoid the ****ty yellow / brown pics that are unappetizing and common with tungsten (standard) light bulbs.

That will get you 90% there. I also do some light post processing if the color in the pic isn't quite right, or I'm losing detail in the shadows, but they really don't change the elements of the pic - just my mistakes as a dude who didn't light a shot properly.

Since then, I've done a bunch of diy stuff. Bought some vellum (tracing paper) and put it on a frame as a scrim to diffuse light. Bought 3 $10 metal reflector lights and some full spectrum bulbs (4 for $25), along with a piece of white foam core to bounce light off of. Pretty budget setup, but seems to work ok so far. Well, except for my wonderful gf who bought me a Canon 100mm macro lens for my birthday (which allows me to take pics like these)





Fwiw - those are just pics of vacuum pickled shallots I made with a little thyme and red wine vinegar. They literally took 30 seconds as part of the fried eggplant with habanero aioli dish I made. Interesting to see the effects of pulling -25mm hg vacuum on plant cells as they break down and take up the surrounding liquid.

As far a $100 cameras, I couldn't tell ya. I know what I've done and why, but I don't generally know much about photography (though I'm learning).

Chinese cleavers are balling!!! I don't currently use one, but know that a lot of good cooks don't need anything else. Embrace that thing!!! I'm going to pick one up one of these days.

New playground?

bone marrow?

Gratuitous pork butt/meteor, since I was talking smack about that poster's bark in the steak thread

concur! currently reading this book and trying the recipes, really enjoying the shirred eggs. made the french onion soup this week, took about 3 + hours to caramelize the onions

Always loved cooking, so I took a sabbatical and started culinary school, then i got a job working for some talented chefs one of which was the executive chef at Craft Dallas b4 moving on to the place I'm working now. We do lots of sou vide and use the Cryovac to press all kinds of stuff. I get to help prepare a weekly 5 course dinner and they make stuff like this:

roasted monk fish wrapped with prosciutto with ricotta filled ravioli, leeks, lima beans, corn puree, gypsy peppers & lime zest



chocolate terrine with cherry sauce & pistachio ice cream:



Salmon tartare with fried sweet breads w/avocado fennel puree:



Heirloom tomatoes, pressed cucumbers, shaved fennel, avocado, feta & sumac:



Roasted hen of the woods mushrooms, olive oil mashed potatoes, capers, spring onions, asparagus & red wine reduction:



Confit of rabbit with country ham, leeks, heirloom peppers, mustard greens and peach gastrique:



I thought I could cook until I started working for these guys. I never realized the depths taken to construct a dish full of wonderful flavors until I worked for these guys.

If you're ever in Dallas and you want to try the weekly dinner, pm me. Its $75 pp & includes wine, tax and gratuity, pretty good $ imo.

great thread op, keep em coming!

ya i've come to the realization that reading recipes and looking at pictures isn't gonna help me cook. I think taking some courses at a culinary school is the best way to get started with this. really excited

Gonna be very honest.
A) I got very excited reading this post (in an appropriate, not an adult way)

B) I'm very, Very, VERY jealous of you. Just being around people with that passion for food and experimentation is really fantastic.

C) Really hope you post more stuff here. Getting some pics / words about stuff you're doing would be great. I've worked in 2 restaurants in my life, but was too young to appreciate anything but my own positional idiosyncrasies. Again, just hearing about some day to day goings on would be great for a guy like me who keeps fantasizing about getting involved in the food industry (but will likely never do it for various reasons).

D) My work has an Austin office, and I will DEFINITELY come down next time I'm down that way

yim: Welcome to the thread / thanks / awesome.

Jack: Awesome, that is why you can talk **** to that dumbass in the steak thread.

All: Just had an outstanding heirloom tomato + mozzarella salad @ Zero Zero in SF. Recipe: awesome tomatoes + awesome mozzarella + salt/pepper/olive oil/basil:

It would be cool if 2+2 had a cooking subforum. Not that I mind invading OOT with cooking threads. It's just that condensing everything into only a few topics can quickly become unwieldy to read through.

+1,735,629

this thread already. Will be checking it often.

Don't forget the quality of the olive oil. That stuff that's $7 a bottle at Safeway is not going to get it done. Do some internet searching for quality EVOO.