Fat Guy

Mano, I think it would be nice to get a sparkling wine from a house that makes a vintage and non-vintage version, bring a bottle of the NV over in advance and ask that your friend prepare the champagne chive butter sauce with it. Then drink the vintage with the meal.

The white-grapefruit topic reminded me that Japanese prefer white and Americans prefer red.

Maybe not toasters only, but household appliances in general? Sure. That's a non-ridiculous ambition. Even some of the biggest names like Michael Graves have designed toasters. Though I guess he's a designer not an engineer. Most of the engineering work on toasters was probably finalized in the 1950s.

Going back to the list of issues emannths raised, I think another issue is consumer toast ignorance or at least a lack of consensus about what toast should be. I know people who like toast that I consider woefully undercooked and squishy. Meanwhile those same people think the toast I like is dry and overcooked. So as a toaster manufacturer it must be hard to figure what people want.

"Both in South Korea and Japan consumers prefer chicken legs and dark meat, and assign a low value to chicken breasts. This fosters U.S. exports, since preferences in the United States are for white, rather than dark meat." -USDA Economic Research Service "During colonial times, lobster was food for the poverty stricken, prisoners and indentured servants. In the Massachusetts colony that encompassed the land that became known as Maine, indentured servants protested and had instructions written in to their seven-year contracts that they would not be forced to eat lobster more than three times a week." -USA Today These two examples are fascinating to me. When I think about an extremely desirable, expensive food such as caviar, I wonder: were caviar totally abundant, would we all seek to avoid it? Caviar allowed only three times a week. I'm sick of big bowls of caviar. I think the lobster example goes to show that there people's perceptions are heavily influenced by supply. The chicken example, I think, demonstrates that the preferences we take for granted are hardly universal -- so much so that our castoffs are sold to other countries as premium products. I also have to say, I think the Japanese and Koreans are right on the chicken issue. The Western preference for white meat is inexplicable from a flavor standpoint.

The best pastry chef I know -- serious, world-class, restaurant pastry chef -- told me that, when he was 9, he said to his mother "I want dessert with every meal." She said, "You can have it if you make it."

I heard tell of another UES Sichuan place opening, Wa Jeal, but I haven't checked it out. Wu Liang Ye's East 86th Street branch is, I believe, now defunct. It had some great stuff but also too much inconsistency.

Just noticed that Costco, at least in the Northeast US, is now selling cheeses aged and packaged by Artisanal. We tried the Tomme Fermier D'Alsace today and it was terrific -- one of the best pieces of cheese I've had in recent memory.

A couple of weeks ago I was walking on Amsterdam in the 70s and noticed a new branch of Grand Sichuan on 74th Street. It's called Grand Sichuan 74. I ate there yesterday for lunch and thought it was very good. The dan dan noodles came in a bowl big enough to mix them in and were more complex than the norm. There are several dishes on the menu prefixed "Chong Qing." We tried the Chong Quing drunk shrimp, which turned to be reminiscent of a Southeast Asian dish: shrimp cooked in a tomato broth. The eggplant with garlic sauce and minced pork was the best example of this dish I've had. Kung pao (bao on their menu) chicken had interesting sour notes and a light hand with the sauce. The only disappointing dish was the cumin lamb, called Lamb w. Sichuan style on this menu, because it was way to bready. The place was not at all crowded at lunchtime and all the platings and presentations were far more attractive than is typical. Prices low for food of this caliber. The entrees we had ranged from $10.95 to $12.95, though there are others at higher price points. Szechuan Gourmet on 39th Street probably remains my favorite Sichuan in the city, and has taken the place of the dearly departed Grand Sichuan International Midtown for me. I like it better than Spicy & Tasty in Flushing, which I think is overrated. However, just up 39th Street from Szechuan Gourmet is Lan Sheng, which I think is a serious competitor, is better on some dishes (such as twice-cooked pork), has a nicer physical facility and is less crowded. What else is new in the Sichuan world?

I wonder how Lutece would hold up next to the best of what we have now. Could Lutece play in the same league as, say, Per Se or Adour? The most controversial part of the interview is all the stuff she says dissing Brooklyn restaurants, e.g., "...I’m not going to Brooklyn to wait on line. Not when there are 10 good Italian restaurants in Greenwich Village. The Times has certainly been very exaggerated in its Brooklyn coverage, because most of them live there. They begin to see it as being better than it is because it’s so close to them. I would go to Brooklyn if it were exceptional."

Instrumental musicians who start early gain the benefit of a lot of muscle memory. That sort of benefit might show with respect to something like knife skills, where the repetition and experience are paramount. It's hard to be a good sushi chef without years of training and practice. But even there, where repetition and experience are so important to the outcome, I've never heard it suggested that you have to start as a child or grow up around great sushi. When you look at other types of cooking, and you think about the specific skills involved, it's hard to see how growing up around good food is necessary or even all that relevant.

Oh man, I never should have started this topic. My list is growing.

Brooklyn Fare is my number one target in Brooklyn. The trouble is, I never get more than 5 or so restaurants deep into my list before 5 more places get added, so Brooklyn rarely happens for me.

Even in the case of learning an instrument or language, the most you can say is that it helps to start early -- not that it's an absolute necessity. John Holt started playing cello at age 50. English was Joseph Conrad's third language and he didn't start until he was in his 20s and didn't write in English until his 30s. Not that being a chef is exactly like either of those things anyway. Also, if you had to grow up around good food, there wouldn't have been an American food revolution.

Yes and I have had it since 2004 so despite flimsiness it hangs in there. Posted from my handheld using the Tapatalk app. Want to use eG Forums on your iPhone, Android or Blackberry? Get started at http://egullet.org/tapatalk

Ever since we had a kid I've been struggling to stay semi-literate on the New York City dining scene. I keep a list of restaurants I want to try. The list keeps getting longer and plenty of places close before I get to try them. At the top of my list I have: Corton Maialino Braeburn Riverpark Osteria Morini You?

Society Board of Directors meeting 12 January 2011 The Society's board of directors held its first quarterly meeting of 2011 yesterday, 12 January 2011. Present were all directors: Steven Shaw (executive director), Chris Amirault (then acting secretary, now secretary), Chris Hennes, Janet Zimmerman (treasurer) and Dave Scantland. The meeting lasted approximately 70 minutes. After calling the roll and declaring a quorum, the board heard status reports from the executive director (Steven Shaw) and the directors of operations of the eG Forums, eG Technology, and eG Development segments (Chris Amirault, Chris Hennes and Dave Scantland respectively). Steven Shaw spoke of the need to increase the Society's revenue in order to fund a more ambitious set of projects. Chris Amirault spoke of the need to increase the depth of volunteer staffing for the eG Forums segment. Chris Hennes provided an update on technology projects, including ongoing efforts to improve server uptime. (Currently at 99.991% with a goal of 99.999%). Dave Scantland outlined development goals and will be delivering a marketing plan as follow up. The board then heard, discussed and unanimously approved the following four resolutions: Resolution 1 Shorten the organization's name "eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters" to "Society for Culinary Arts & Letters." Online program services will continue to operate under the eGullet.org domain. Specific branding changes and choices, if any -- for example "eG Forums" or "eGullet Forums" -- to be left to the discretion of the director of operations for eG Development. The executive director and treasurer are authorized to implement this resolution with the relevant government agencies, banks, vendors and others who need to be notified of the change. Resolution 2 Change the organization's fiscal year to be the same as the calendar year. The executive director and treasurer are authorized to implement this resolution with the relevant government agencies, banks, vendors and others who need to be notified of the change, and to file a partial-year IRS Form 990EZ to achieve the quarter-year adjustment. Resolution 3 Confirming Chris Hennes's interim appointment as director of operations for eG Technology, an officer of the corporation, serving for an indefinite term at the discretion of the board of directors. Resolution 4 Electing Chris Amirault as secretary of the organization, not affecting his current position as director of operations for eG Forums. Chris Amirault abstained from voting on Resolution 4, and Chris Hennes abstained from voting on Resolution 3. The meeting was adjourned and the next meeting announced for 13 April 2011.

Has anyone seen the Restaurant Story app for Android yet? It's a free app game in which you pretend to run a restaurant. I noticed it today as one of the top downloads in the Android app market.

Protein tends to get distributed throughout the day. Most breakfasts are either an egg or something with egg and/or milk as an ingredient (e.g., pancakes). Lunches usually contain one element thet is cheese, meat, yogurt or some other protein source -- though not always. The general map of lunch is protein, starch, fruit, vegetable, dessert, but sometimes different factors change the plan. Dinner can vary, and usually includes a protein item, e.g., last night braised beef brisket and baked potatoes plus salad. And after-school snack, of course.

I'm also a user of the toaster oven. I have a Panasonic with so-called FlashXpress technology, which is a second element that emits infrared. As far as I can tell it's the only actual advance in toaster technology in the past century or so. It has the effect of making the toaster oven very quick and even. Once you find a setting that works for a given bread product, it performs admirably at a later date if you use that setting. All that being said, it is a flimsy piece of junk so I expect to be replacing it every few years.

...what really happens? I've been given the dire warning that the potatoes will explode, but I forget about half the time and it seems to make no difference. What's the deal?

There's a story in the New York Times today by Florence Fabricant about Cut Brooklyn, a knifemaking shop. Does anybody have any experience with this place?

This photo on the Blog Sous Vide blog shows that the Ziploc vacuum bags actually say "sous vide" on the bags, for what it's worth: http://blogsousvide.com/2010/04/eggs-sousvide-supreme-style/

Does it work for the intended purpose? http://www.ziploc.com/Products/Pages/VacuumFreezerSystem.aspx And is it useful for sous-vide cooking?

That sounds very cool. As usual, I will make every effort to attend. It's a little early for me to know my summer plans but if I can come I absolutely will.