Green Beans Quotes

“Dinner that night is a feast of flavor. To celebrate the successful exorcism, Kagura has cooked several more dishes than the shrine's usual, simple fare- fragrant onigiri, balls of rice soaked in green tea, with umeboshi- salty and pickled plums- as filling. There is eggplant simmered in clear soup, green beans in sesame sause, and burdock in sweet-and-sour dressing. The mood is festive.”
― Rin Chupeco, The Girl from the Well

“Vegetables cooked for salads should always be on the crisp side, like those trays of zucchini and slender green beans and cauliflowerets in every trattoria in Venice, in the days when the Italians could eat correctly. You used to choose the things you wanted: there were tiny potatoes in their skins, remember, and artichokes boiled in olive oil, as big as your thumb, and much tenderer...and then the waiter would throw them all into an ugly white bowl and splash a little oil and vinegar over them, and you would have a salad as fresh and tonic to your several senses as La Primavera. It can still be done, although never in the same typhoidic and enraptured air. You can still find little fresh vegetables, and still know how to cook them until they are not quite done, and chill them, and eat them in a bowl.”
― M.F.K. Fisher, How to Cook a Wolf

“This rich pork flavor, which lands on the tongue with a thump...
It's Chinese Dongpo Pork! He seasoned pork belly with a blend of spices and let it marinate thoroughly...
... before finely dicing it and mixing it into the fried rice!"
"What? Dongpo Pork prepared this fast?! No way! He didn't have nearly enough time to simmer the pork belly!"
"Heh heh. Actually, there's a little trick to that.
I simmered it in sparkling water instead of tap water. The carbon dioxide that gives sparkling water its carbonation helps break down the fibers in meat. Using this, you can tenderize a piece of meat in less than half the normal time!"
"That isn't the only protein in this dish. I can taste the seafood from an Acqua Pazza too!"
"And these green beans... it's the Indian dish Poriyal!
Diced green beans and shredded coconut fried in oil with chilies and mustard seeds... it has a wonderfully spicy kick!"
"He also used the distinctly French Mirepoix to gently accentuate the sweetness of the vegetables.
So many different delicious flavors...
... all clashing and sparking in my mouth!
But the biggest key to this dish, and the core of its amazing deliciousness...
... is the rice!"
"Hmph. Well, of course it is. The dish is fried rice. If the rice isn't the centerpiece, it isn't a..."
"I see. His dish is fried rice while simultaneously being something other than fried rice.
A rice lightly fried in butter before being steamed in some variety of soup stock...
In other words, it's actually closer to that famous staple from Turkish cuisine- a Pilaf!
In fact, it's believed the word "pilaf" actually comes from the Turkish word pilav.
To think he built the foundation of his dish on pilaf of all things!"
"Heh heh heh! Yep, that's right! Man, I've learned so much since I started going to Totsuki."
"Mm, I see! When you finished the dish, you didn't fry it in oil! That's why it still tastes so light, despite the large volume and variety of additional ingredients.
I could easily tuck away this entire plate!
Still... I'm surprised at how distinct each grain of rice is. If it was in fact steamed in stock, you'd think it'd be mushier."
"Ooh, you've got a discerning tongue, sir! See, when I steamed the rice...
... I did it in a Donabe ceramic pot instead of a rice cooker!"
Ah! No wonder! A Donabe warms slowly, but once it's hot, it can hold high temperatures for a long time!
It heats the rice evenly, holding a steady temperature throughout the steaming process to steam off all excess water. To think he'd apply a technique for sticky rice to a pilaf instead!
With Turkish pilaf as his cornerstone...
... he added super-savory Dongpo pork, a Chinese dish...
... whitefish and clams from an Italian Acqua Pazza...
... spicy Indian green bean and red chili Poriyal...
... and for the French component, Mirepoix and Oeuf Mayonnaise as a topping!
*Ouef is the French word for "egg."*
By combining those five dishes into one, he has created an extremely unique take on fried rice! "
"Hold it! Wait one dang minute! After listening to your entire spiel...
... it sounds to me like all he did was mix a bunch of dishes together and call it a day!
There's no way that mishmash of a dish could meet the lofty standards of the BLUE! It can't nearly be gourmet enough!"
"Oh, but it is.
For one, he steamed the pilaf in the broth from the Acqua Pazza...
... creating a solid foundation that ties together the savory elements of all the disparate ingredients!
The spiciness of the Poriyal could have destabilized the entire flavor structure...
... but by balancing it out with the mellow body of butter and soy sauce, he turned the Poriyal's sharp bite into a pleasing tingle!”
― Yuto Tsukuda, 食戟のソーマ 36 [Shokugeki no Souma 36]

“Meat loaf with mashed potatoes and green beans." I leave it at that, neglecting the mention that his meat loaf features ground veal and pork and is wrapped in caul fat and basted with a homemade fig barbecue sauce, that the potatoes are more of a classic Joel Robuchon pommes puree of such buttery silkiness that you want to bathe in them, and that the green beans are blistered and charred in caramelized fish sauce with lime.”
― Stacey Ballis, How to Change a Life

“They're the finest of salicornes, green beans from the sea, from Brittany, très exotique. I thought you'd adore them."
She holds out a large bag and, without even opening it, the scent envelops me and I'm no longer in the restaurant. I'm running by the ocean, powdery sand sticking in between my toes, waves crashing around me as I dive into the sea with reckless abandon. The water swells into a froth, whipped like freshly made Chantilly. My body glistens with water droplets.”
― Samantha Verant, The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique