RAW Mode

The less, the better

According to Wikipedia:

A raw image file contains minimally processed data from the image sensor of a digital camera or image scanner. Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed and ready to use by a bitmap graphics editor, printed, or displayed by a typical web browser. The image must be processed and converted to an RGB format such as TIFF^? or JPEG^? before it can be manipulated.

Actually, today many image browsers and editors are able to process the RAW image formats of leading camera vendors.

• Microsoft's "RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP" allows you to view thumbnails and use the Picture Viewer application over RAW files.
• Google's Picasa now supports various RAW image formats, from indexing to editing.
• Adobe's Lightroom project will provide professional-quality cataloguing and editing for images in RAW format.
• The latest versions of the software that comes bundled with digital cameras allows for basic editing of RAW images. Such is the case with my camera^?.

As I see it, the digital RAW is the equivalent of the film negative, and there's no way to go if you're serious about your photography than to shoot and transfer your pictures in RAW format.

For a nice explanation of the whys and the trade-offs, read the Understanding Raw Files article by photographer Michael Reichmann.

Salmon Ceviche

This is a delicious way to prepare fresh salmon. The recipe has nuances that stimulate almost every taste receptor in your body.

Ingredients for four people

• Four fillets of skinless, boneless, and very fresh (non-smoked) salmon cut into byte-sized chunks
• A red onion, sliced or chopped
• About four spoonfulls of finely sliced red, sweet (non hot) chilies.
• A spoonfull of freshly cut cylantro
• About twenty small capers
• One tangerine (mandarin), peeled, and white parts removed
• The juice of two tangerines
• Half a cup of fresh lemon juice
• One hot, yellow chili, or yellow chili hot sauce or any other mildly hot chili or chili sauce
• Salt and peper

For the garnish

• Four medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled, cut in thick slices, and blanched
• Corn off the cobb, either blanched or sauteed in butter until it's tender (Peruvians use the kind of corn with the giant grains)

Preparation

Mix the fish and all the dry ingredients in a bowl, cover, and let stand in the fridge for half an hour or more.

When you're ready to serve, cut the tangerine in byte-sized pieces, and add to the salmon along with the tangerine juice.

Slowly add the lemon juice until the acidity seems right.

Add salt and peper to taste.

Serve within a few minutes along with the sweet potatoes and corn as garnish, or wait some more for the fish to "cook" in the acid if your guests have a "thing" with raw fish. Serving it immediately is best.

How Spicy?

It is important that the Ceviche is hot. You can either add the hot chili cut in large pieces (so people don't confuse it with the sweet one) to the bowl, or you can serve the ceviche along with hot chilli sauce and let everyone add heat to their plate as they wish.

You can buy the yellow chili hot sauce from a specialized food store, or you can prepare it your self on the blender out of fresh chillis or chilli powder, adding a little water, oil, vinegar, and salt.

The sweet potatoes and the (also sweet) corn serve to wash out the heat between ceviche bytes.