Steven Raichlen, The Heat of India, at Home; An ancient form of cooking is now safer and portable. New York Times, May 11, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/dining/a-tandoor-oven-brings-indias-heat-to-the-backyard.html?scp=1&sq=tandoor&st=cse
Quote:
"A man with an Indian accent called, wondering whether Mr. Levy, a ceramic artist, could make a large pot with a tapered mouth, no bottom and no glaze: a tandoor.
"sparks and flames from glowing charcoal shot from its [tandoor's] mouth
"The tandoor’s shape, a cylinder with sloped clay walls, has remained essentially unchanged for 5,000 years. * * * and the inward slope of the mouth traps the heat
The tag LEARN in the top horizontal bar contains a menu:
(i) TANDOOR CARE:
"•Use a stiff brush to clean clay pot; never use water or any liquid.
•Empty charcoal ashes from combustion drawer between each use.
•The clay pot of the Hômdoor may crack. Cracking of the clay pot is natural, due to the stress of high temperatures. It is not a structural concern. You can continue to use your Hômdoor for many years even though it may develop cracks.
(ii) COOKING TIPS:
"•Place the larger pieces to cook in the middle of the tandoor.
•To retain heat, keep lid partially closed while cooking.
•Although the clay tandoor and insulation have been pre-heated, ambient moisture may drip out as water when the Homdoor is heated. This is normal and will not affect performance.
•When in use, do not cover mouth completely with the lid as it will overheat.
(c) allspice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allspice
(a spice that is the dried unripe fruit ("berries") of Pimenta dioica , a mid-canopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world./ The name "allspice" was coined as early as 1621 by the English, who thought it combined the flavour of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves)
(d) Regarding the "sloped wall," see photos in
Robert Musa, The Construction of a Tandoor Oven. July 12, 2008.
http://www.gourmetindia.com/topic/720-tandoor-oven-construction/
(e) The "fire" in "an unfired vessel"
(vt): "to apply fire or fuel to: as to process by applying heat <fire pottery>"
(f) vermiculite
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiculite
(g) Mixers: Hobart invented the mixer in 1908. We've been reinventing it ever since.
Hobart, undated.
http://www.hobartcorp.com/products/food-prep/mixers/
* Hobart Corporation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart_Corporation
(founded in 1897 as Hobart Electric Manufacturing Company in Troy, Ohio, by CC Hobart)
(h) Rajasthan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajasthan
(("the land of kings" or "the land of colours"; the largest state of the Republic of India by area; with another state Punjab to the north)
(i) Chandni Chowk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandni_Chowk
(originally meaning moonlit square or market, is one of the oldest and busiest markets and the major street in the walled Old Delhi; The 2009 Bollywood movie Chandni Chowk to China starring Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Mithun Chakraborty, and Ranvir Shorey features some scenes depicting the city)
(j) Sushurata
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushurata
(fl. 800 BC)
* The "fl" stands for
flourish (vi): "to be in a state of activity or production <flourished around 1850>"
(k) The last paragraph refers to recipes shown in the left column.
(l) tandoor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tandoor
(The heat for a tandoor was traditionally generated by a charcoal fire or wood fire, burning within the tandoor itself, thus exposing the food to live-fire, radiant heat cooking, and hot-air, convection cooking, and smoking by the fat and food juices that drip on to the charcoal)