I used to be able to buy both of these very easily at Carrefour and even Wellcome. It’s been months since I’ve seen them in either store in Danshui, and the Tienmu Carrefour didn’t have the mayo (forgot to check for the cheese when I was there). I haven’t gotten over to Wellman’s grocery in Tienmu, either, so maybe they have it. Just wondering if anyone has seen these in the stores recently. I hate the local mayo, too sweet. The crap Kirkland brand that Costco has is simply horrible. I haven’t even seen Anchor grated Parmesan cheese around here lately!
Get yourself a brick of parmesan and costco and grate it as you need it. Huge difference in quality. The Gran Padano will do you as well at a cheaper price.
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Dragonbones would probably tell you to do it yourself -as he did to me- but lazy old me does as suggested by TG: Costco. Large size mayo -agree, not the best, but against that plastic glop sold locally, much better- and parmesan cheese -cut and freeze in Ziploc bags, take out as required, do remember to wear plastic gloves when cutting cheese.
There were other options, like Japanese and Mexican mayos, mostly flavored, at City Super.
Jason’s in 101 has the Anchor cheese, as of a week ago. I’ve gotten the Kraft low fat mayo at city super in SOGO and can’t remember if they had the regular…things really come and go there though but it’s maybe worth a look. Agree with the op about buying the good stuff. Every cheese counter has it and the only reason I bought the Anchor stuff is because I didn’t have a grater where I was going.
I do buy real Parmesan when I’m doing serious cooking, but since I don’t use it very often, I usually have the pre-grated on hand (keeps forever). Never thought about freezing the fresh stuff, great idea.
As I mentioned, the mayo at Costco is total crap, and I’ll never buy the Kirkland brand again. City Super didn’t have Kraft mayo when I was there last week. Guess I might as well bring back some from the US since I’m going in June anyway. 
Fresh hard cheeses are so salty and dry that they don’t go moldy for a long, long time, so I really don’t see where the resistance against buying them comes from. One wedge of Romano from Costco lasts ages. You can freeze it as noted, but it’s not generally necessary. SOOO much better than Kraft crap, really, and since you don’t use much on any given application, it’s not really expensive.
As for mayo, has anyone tried the imported French mayo in the import section at Carrefour?
[quote=“Dragonbones”]
As for mayo, has anyone tried the imported French mayo in the import section at Carrefour?[/quote]
Yes, I use it regularly when they are out of Kraft real mayo, which is better.
There are two types I’ve tried, the stuff made with olive oil and the stuff mixed with Dijon. Both quite acceptable, and I’m picky about my mayonnaise.
I do like the Dijon mayo from Carrefour, but the Danshui store hasn’t even had that for some time.
Have you tried to do your own mayonnaise? It’s not difficult, you just need one of these hand mixers (or whatever, I’m not sure how do you call it in english):
You put an egg inside, some olive oil (say, 1 medium glass or 250cc, and if it’s virgin or extra virgin olive oil, it will taste much better), squeeze some lemon juice on it (better than lime, some dudes like it with vinegar instead, but IMHO lemon it’s better), salt and black pepper. Let the mix wait for a little while so every ingredient (specially the egg, if it was in the fridge) is at the same room temperature (you can achieve that by taking the egg out of the fridge for a couple of minutes before cracking it).
Put the hand mixer all the way down before starting it. When you touch the bottom, turn it on, but DO NOT MOVE IT. see how the oil magically turns into mayo from the bottom up. Wait for the mayo to touch the surface (it will still have some oil on top) and SLOWLY begin to raise the mixer to the top. When the mixer detaches itself from the mayonnaise goodness, you’re done.
It should taste awesome, and you need to keep it in the fridge AT ALL TIMES when not eating it, and never, EVER leave it outside the fridge for long periods of time, specially in Taiwan’s climate. You should consume it in 3 days (4 at most, if you’re extra-careful with it or in winter, to be more on the safe side, I’d say 2 days in summer).
This simple recipee (it should took 30 seconds of actual work) makes a better mayonnaise than sny you can buy at any supermarket. Period.
Pro tip: If you’re going to have a BBQ, just add some peeled garlics (and parlsley leaves if you have them) to the mix. It turns a juicy roasted chicken into something angels would kill babies for.
Funny, I just watched some videos on how to make my own and added an immersion blender to my “must buy for kitchen” list.
A must-buy. Good for salsas and sauces; good for pureeing soups, and making smoothies. Our “real” blender broke about six months ago and so far I haven’t seen the need to replace it. And there’s another giant virtue for apartment kitchens - it’s far easier to clean than a blender.
Oh, and many of them come with extensions, such as a one-cup “mini food processor.” There’s also a whisk extension that I haven’t yet dared use for fear of getting batter splattered all over the kitchen - boy, the ants would love that.
Mr. B., where’s the best (read: cheapest) place to buy one in Taiwan? Or should I just pick one up next month in the US?
We bought ours for about 2300 NT$ in an offer they had in the 3C store closer to our home. It was a Cuisinart blender, it came with many accessories (the mixer recipient, a meat/vegetable chopper, an egg mixer, and the regular chopping blades) and you can take it apart for easier cleaning.
I tell you, once you’ve done it, you won’t want the industrial stuff. And it’s the best way to make sure it doesn’t have any preservatives or random chemical crap on it.
Oh, and another alternative if you have egg allergies or you’re overparanoid about salmonella (I can understand, in this climate): You can do it using milk (cow milk, soy milk) instead of egg. The procedure is a little bit different, though: food52.com/recipes/3041-milk-ma … e-de-leite
I’ve never done the milk mayonnaise myself, I just like the traditional one more, but many restaurants in Spain use it to avoid raw egg-related problems (i.e. salmonella) in summer, and if done well, it’s a really good alternative.
It’s generally called a stick blender or immersion blender, I believe. The Cuisinarts are decent. Very handy for making a bit of hummus, pesto, whipped cream or mayo without having to clean a traditional blender, and you can use them as immersion blenders for smoothing out a split pea soup, tomato sauce, etc.
It’s generally called a stick blender or immersion blender, I believe. The Cuisinarts are decent. Very handy for making a bit of hummus, pesto, whipped cream or mayo without having to clean a traditional blender, and you can use them as immersion blenders for smoothing out a split pea soup, tomato sauce, etc.[/quote]
Yes, since they allow to detach the lower half, cleaning them is a breeze, and they take less space than the other blenders (the ones with the glass jar and everything). Since I bought it, I’ve used it to make mayonnaise, Gazpacho (a spanish cold soup), lentils puree, my infant daughter’s food, custom hamburgers (with the chopper accessory), fruit and yoghurt smoothies… It’s really convenient.
It’s generally called a stick blender or immersion blender, I believe. The Cuisinarts are decent. Very handy for making a bit of hummus, pesto, whipped cream or mayo without having to clean a traditional blender, and you can use them as immersion blenders for smoothing out a split pea soup, tomato sauce, etc.[/quote]
Yes, since they allow to detach the lower half, cleaning them is a breeze, and they take less space than the other blenders (the ones with the glass jar and everything). Since I bought it, I’ve used it to make mayonnaise, Gazpacho (a spanish cold soup), lentils puree, my infant daughter’s food, custom hamburgers (with the chopper accessory), fruit and yoghurt smoothies… It’s really convenient.[/quote]
Please do feel free to share any and all recipes of aioli, baby food, etc. :lick:
[quote=“500CBFan”]I do buy real Parmesan when I’m doing serious cooking, but since I don’t use it very often, I usually have the pre-grated on hand (keeps forever). Never thought about freezing the fresh stuff, great idea.
As I mentioned, the mayo at Costco is total crap, and I’ll never buy the Kirkland brand again. City Super didn’t have Kraft mayo when I was there last week. Guess I might as well bring back some from the US since I’m going in June anyway. [/quote]
Not to mention once you read the ingredients list on those parmesan cheeses that keep forever… well, it will spoil your appetite.
Agree on mayo, and really, making your own is so much better.
I made my first mayonese last Saturday. Quite an experience. At the beginning it was a total failure, but when I tried a second (third?) time with less quantity of ingredients, I got it showing up like magic 
DIY! Like bread 
The only way to get good mayo is to make your own. With an immersion blender it takes only 2 or 3 minutes. All the materials are available @ City Super. Here is the recipe:
Mayonaise
2 egg yolks
1 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS white wine or champagne vinegar
¾ tsp salt
1/8 tsp sugar
1 tsp Dijon mustard or hot English mustard
1 cup oil
½ cup olive oil
Put all ingredients in the blender beaker
Let eggs settle to bottom
Hold stick blender against the bottom and give it 2 second pulses until it starts to thicken at bottom.
Increase blender speed and move around in mixture until it has completely thickened
[quote=“Dragonbones, post:6, topic:82627, full:true”]As for mayo, has anyone tried the imported French mayo in the import section at Carrefour?
[/quote]
I do look for mayo in Carrefour from time to time (ZhiShan branch). They never have it.
EDIT: sorry, just realised this is a really old thread. If I can add to the above recipe, I suggest leaving it to sit in the fridge for 24 hours before eating. For some reason, it can still taste a bit oily when freshly made.