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Gazpacho with shrimp and HB eggs made for a very substantial lunch! Walnut torte with a chocolate icing and filling, brushed first with tart cherry molasses.

J knives are perceptually sharp more because of the thinness of the blade behind the edge than any particular sharpening angle. That’s why the wusthoff knives et al don’t cut as well and why the chef’s choice style sharpeners aren’t so hot. Pictures can hint at the thinness behind the edge, that’s why the choil shots are so useful heres a pretty exhaustive discussion of this if you’re interested. You can see from the chart that sharpening angles are all over the place https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/thin-behind-the-edge.69329/ and some illustrations https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/what-is-thin-behind-the-edge-anyway-and-kujira.42359/

Intermission This „… in China“ installment unfortunately follows the trend of the last posts in various other threads, focusing on the odd and - in my view - unsuited examples that show very little of the overall picture; something I would expect from a general topic title. Maybe to balance it out, some facts: Of course „China“ understands pizza. You can buy a Pizza Hut pepperoni pizza in over 1000 locations and while purists may argue that’s not the best pizza there is, it is a representative of what pizza is supposed to be in the western world. That it adapts to local markets is not a surprise; but showcasing the (for Western audiences) oddest additions to the pizza world as representative for the pizza in an entire country is more counting on the „wow“ effect of the reader not able to travel to China (or Japan, or Korea, or Thailand …) and misrepresents the information promised in the title of the thread. An informative and fact-based assessment on the state of the pizza market in China including some market history can be found here … Adapting a product to the local market, taking the customer preferences into account is not something spectacularly weird - it is common sense. Given that cheese is not a popular food item, many Asian countries add mayonnaise, which - contrary to the pictures in the advertisements - is baked with the pizza and will result in puffy browned strips of egg yolk / fat, that substitute the cheese role / mouthfeel decently. Maybe just „China“ but not the OP gets that … Using fruit on pizza is not something to look down upon. We would celebrate fig, walnut and blue cheese varieties, no ? Or blood sausage & apple on a Flammkuchen. So singling this out as an odd feature of Chinese pizzas is more of a clickbait than a factual information. Almost all pizzas I had in 5 years living and working in China were salty and without fruit. Neither is the use of different bases - including more softer, sweeter versions. Cake is a bit far fetched, but one can peruse Modernist Pizza to understand the scope of what bases, shapes and preparations can encompass before again taking one or two examples as the „… in China“ representations. With that in mind I am looking forward to more informative & less „exaggerating odd things“ posts in this thread …

So the place mentioned above is apparently very popular with the local Chinese community and now using Chinese coffee beans as well as non Chinese beans but from a couple different Chinese coffee roasters including https://www.rabbitholeroasters.com/products/guiben-honey-4 As well as beans from a roaster called Terraform from Shanghai and the interestingly named Gout coffee roasters from Chengdu https://goutandco.com/pages/about

I love this little paring knife from Japanese Knife Imports. Super pointy blade, really sharp, I actually have the 105 but only the 90 is in stock now https://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/products/gesshin-90mm-paring-knife?srsltid=AfmBOorEaWEHT42ChTriHHtbU6kalH4_njLXaZBIBEjtUZ-WURZrk_ir action shot of me degerming garlic:

Chard and Sausage with Crispy Spiced Chickpeas by a Milk Street recipe - always a bit skeptical about crispy chickpeas with corn starch in the dutch oven and prefer more an oven approach and the chickpeas were indeed not as crispy as hoped but still tested good with the coriander spices. Otherwise you cook crumbled Italian pork sausages with chard stems and leaves, garlic, brown sugar and fennel seeds. Finished with some banana peppers and brine and the crispy chickpeas

Goats cheese with warm honey and balsamic vinegar for lunch. I didn’t have any bread to grill or toast but found some parathas in the freezer.

My Matzo Ball Ducky - Not rubbery at all

No, just like to use some pics as a background. I had a dough in the fridge since August 14th. Six day cold fermentation. Decided to take it out and leave on the counter this morning and make pizza for dinner. Enough dough for a pizza and four baguettes. Italian Sausage and mushroom.

I consulted the Wusthof site today and they say the bevel on their European style knives is 14.9 degrees and on their Asian style knives the bevel is 10 degrees. I have a couple Wusthof Le Cordon Blue paring knives (no longer in production) and I prefer the Le Cordon Blue to the Classic series because of the gigantic bolster on the Classic. If I wanted another Wusthof pairing knife I would choose the Ikon. Not only are the bolsters better but the handles are longer than the Classic and to me more comfortable. However if I really wanted a pairing knife I would go with Watanabe. I have two Watanabe knives and they are superlative. There are three pairing knives on this page, one of which is out of stock: https://www.kitchen-knife.jp/special/petiteknife.htm Those three are double bevel, but if you wanted to know the exact angle you could write and ask him. Other than that I have an almost antique paring knife from Chicago Cutlery from back when Chicago Cutlery made knives and was not just a brand name as sadly it is today. I reserve mine only for scarifying loaves. I also have a MAC paring knife. The MAC is sharp and cuts OK, but it is too light. For me the MAC does not spark joy. Have fun on your search! Edit: the Wusthof knife @ElsieD shared I believe is this one: (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) I was surprised it does not have the typical bolster of the Classic series European style paring knives.

I agree 100% about the corn chips. https://forums.egullet.org/topic/155097-trader-joes-products-2017–/page/66/#findComment-2456583

Makes ketchup on hotdogs look gourmet. 🙄

Those are beautiful.

Heresy.

I am not a huge TJ fan, but I worked around the corner from one for a decade, and got to know the products pretty well, because I'd get something for lunch or to take home as part of dinner several times a week. There are a few things I do like, such as the Frito clone (better than original), the dried fruit, some of the cheese and other dairy, and some things that they sell at good prices. But now that it requires a special trip, I only go a couple times a year.

Hot damn Ann! Are you shooting a cookbook?

Last night's dinner. Cioppino with Halibut, Mussels and Prawns.

I got a guy from Nebraska who comes in when needed.

We processed our Sasso chickens about a month ago, and I am extremely happy with them from both a husbandry and a culinary perspective. The birds were all between 3-5 lbs (5 lb rooster on left, 3ish lb hen on right), and had abundant yellow fat that rendered into a deep golden schmalz. They are delicious. Even Cornish cross (standard, big breasted meat chicken) birds that forage and are raised on grass have great flavor, these are next-level. They are more satisfying to raise than Cornish crosses as they are very active and actually act like chickens. Their more upright posture and body shape also means they don't drag themselves around in the dirt, which keeps the scalding water relatively clean. We will definitely raise these again next year.

What??? No nuclear weapons?

Oh boy, @liuzhou - I really don't know whether to laugh or cry over that last post.

I'm convinced the Chinese are convinced pizza is a type of cake. In many places, the base is more like sponge cake than bread; sweet and well, spongy. Also, they love to stick fruit on top. The is below is described on the menu as "Fruit colourful pizza (seasonal fruit*)" and is of course, lathered with Japanese Kewpie sweet 'mayonnaise'. Curses on squeezy bottles and whoever introduced them to China. All sorts of inappropriate foods get covered by irrelevant squiggles. * Watermelon, dragon fruit and pineapple. And we thought "Hawaiian Pizza" was bad.

I use a flamethrower. Or dynamite.

Serrated knife for me.

That first tuna image is a work of art. I want to hang it on my kitchen wall.