[When the French Attack]

I had to tell them everything, including income and penis size. I lied about both, though.

[When the French Attack]

You can take the 20-question test online. I just passed (barely) without studying, and will be receiving my diploma within 6-8 weeks. Very exciting.

[Q&A -- Drive-in Cooking]

(Are you using kosher beef? If so tell Holly; it might help him answer the question.)

[Q&A -- Drive-in Cooking]

What strikes me about all the methods described in your presentation, Holly, is that they are all 1) extremely straightforward and easily executable by a novice cook, 2) virtually guaranteed to produce delicious food, and 3) rather economical even when made with best-of-kind ingredients (what does a Usinger's hot dog cost even if you mail-order it? A dollar?).

So, if all that is true, why is it that the food you describe is virtually extinct from the American restaurant landscape? You can't get it at any of the big chains. You can't get it at most diners. You can barely get it in people's houses. What's up with that?

[Q&A -- Brining]

Dave, what I've heard about the koshering process from a variety of sources is that meat needs to be made kosher through brining because brining "draws out the blood." Does brining indeed draw out the blood? And if so, does it draw it all out, or just some of it? And is there anything actually kosher about kosher salt, or is it called kosher salt only because it's used in the koshering process? Isn't it interesting that this is probably the #1 English-language use of the word "kosher" yet, I'm sure, 90+ percent of the consumers of kosher salt aren't Jewish, don't care if their food is kosher, and aren't using the salt to kosher anything?

[Rick Bayless and Burger King - Part 1]

However, one would think that making them do it the way I mention HAS to result in a better product, because at least the Whopper isnt sitting under a heat lamp for an hour or two with the mayo going rancid on it.

I'm telling you, go to a BK or McD today and you won't see anything sitting under a heat lamp. They don't use the old system where they'd make 50 Whoppers and put them in the chute and the cashiers would pick them up until they got low, and then they'd make 50 more Whoppers. Now, they have computers and a different assembly system. They make a zillion Whopper patties and they line them all up in a drawer where they sit until needed -- just the patties. When an order comes in, it is transmitted from the POS terminal (aka cash register) to a computer screen in the prep area. A Whopper order comes up, someone grabs a piece of paper wrap, a bun, a patty, and all the other toppings, quickly assembles them, sticks the whole package in a high-power microwave for a few seconds, and drops it in the chute. Holly, can you elaborate on this if you're reading along?

[Rick Bayless and Burger King - Part 1]

I personally would rather have the product in question (any product for that matter) taste slightly different each time out.

That's an atypical consumer preference, though. Predictability and consistency are hallmarks of pretty much any successful mass-market food product. I certainly wouldn't single Burger King or anyone else out for trying to achieve that widespread goal. Even high-end gourmet products, when they get put in jars and sold on shelves, often need a lot of help from food-science to guarantee that they'll be consistent, fresh, and otherwise up to standard every time.

[Rick Bayless and Burger King - Part 1]

http://www.burgerking.com/Food/products/sfcb.aspx

Thats the lowdown on the Bayless sandwich.

It actually looks from that as though the Chicken Whopper and the Southwest Chicken things may be made with different patties, because the calorie counts are different. I'm now thinking maybe it's the same patty from the Grilled Chicken Caesar Club.

Also, ordering it that way pretty much ensures they are going to cook you a fresh specimen.

That hasn't been the case in ages. They now assemble every burger to order from lukewarm ingredients sitting in drawers, and for the most part they microwave them up to temperature. Holly Moore could give us more details on the current productions systems at McDonald's and Burger King.

[Rick Bayless and Burger King - Part 1]

I had the sandwich today in West Haven, Connecticut. I'll report in a bit more detail once I've, uh, digested the information.

And you forfeited "Chick's" and "Turk's", all in the name of research?! Say it ain't so FG!!

Well what happened was it was pouring rain and my job was to wait outside with the dog in the van while my wife had an appointment in West Haven. It was a SWAT-like mission -- we were just in and out of town and the only downtime was my waiting time. It just so happens that there's a BK with a drive-thru right on the main drag in West Haven, so I was able to use the time for a little research. If I had driven any farther, I'd never have found my way back -- despite nearly a decade of marriage to a Connecticut native, I have zero ability at local navigation. Anyway . . . so I had the sandwich. As far as I can tell the chicken patty is the same chicken patty they use on the Chicken Whopper. Can anybody confirm that? It certainly looked that way. Basically, it seems to be a Chicken Whopper reconfigured on a longer bun and topped with all that faux-Southwestern crap instead of the usual Whopper crap. But, while both are pretty crappy, the standard Whopper crap toppings are a lot better than the toppings on the Southwest Chicken Baguette or whatever they're calling it. The veg and the sauce are just awful -- the sandwich is totally overpowered by the greasy vegetal taste of the green peppers and the sauce is at a very low level even for a commercial barbecue-type sauce. As for the chicken patty itself, it is totally palatable -- certainly better (though also more unholy) than a lot of dry tasteless chicken breasts I've been served in people's homes. The bread, well, it's standard-issue mass-produced fluffy white stuff without any crust or interesting flavor or texture. Nothing out of the ordinary. In other words, everything about the sandwich was okay except the Southwestern parts.

[Rick Bayless and Burger King - Part 1]

I had the sandwich today in West Haven, Connecticut. I'll report in a bit more detail once I've, uh, digested the information.

[Rick Bayless and Burger King - Part 1]

Can someone enlighten me as too exactly what Chicken Powder is?

Do you mind if I do not EVEN think about that question?

I believe it's a dessert at El Bulli this year.

[Rick Bayless and Burger King - Part 1]

Does anyone else find it disturbing that it takes Burger King, by my quick count, 55 ingredients to make the CHICKEN!?!?!?!

LOL, this is a science project, not food.

=R=

I didn't intend to imply, by posting those lists, that I think there's anything so terrible about putting 55 ingredients in something. Those long ingredients lists tend to look worse than they are. A lot of the ingredients come down to being useful ways to maintain consistency of product: if there's not enough fat, you add some, or whatever. A lot of those things are often just fancy words for salt and sugar and shortening. Don't let the technical terms freak you out too much. Unless you're one of those people who belongs to groups like Chefs Collaborative, where the mission specifically opposes the ingredients that are commonplace in mass-market foods. Hey, wait a second . . .

[TDG: Meet The New American Chef]

In today's Daily Gullet you'll find a book excerpt from Page & Dornenburg's forthcoming New American Chef . . .

+++

Be sure to check The Daily Gullet home page daily for new articles (most every weekday), hot topics, site announcements, and more.

[Thrown out of Vegetarian restaurant]

I never knew India and Wales had so much in common.

And that's in addition to Simon M.

[Rick Bayless and Burger King - Part 1]

Note that a Burger King grill is a gas grill. It's not likely to provide much flavor.

I can't tell for sure if this is the right chicken patty, but if so it does have smoke flavor added:

Boneless Chicken Breast Filets with Rib Meat, Water, Seasoning (Maltodextrin, Salt, Flavors†, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Modified Corn Starch, Spices, Chicken Fat, Chicken Powder, Chicken Broth, Disodium Guanylate & Disodium Inosinate, Citric Acid, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Dehydrated Garlic, and Artificial Flavors), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Modified Food Starch, Soy Protein Concentrate, Salt, Sodium Phosphates, Monosodium Glutamate. †Natural flavors from animal and plant sources Glazed with: Water, Seasoning (Maltodextrin, Salt, Methyl Cellulose, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Modified Potato Starch, Flavors†, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Onion Powder, Xanthan Gum, Modified Corn Starch, Spices, Dehydrated Garlic, Chicken Powder, Chicken Fat, Garlic Powder, Disodium Guanylate & Disodium Inosinate, Caramel Color, Sucrose, Grill Flavor (from Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil and Cotton Seed Oil), Chicken Broth, Citric Acid, Turmeric, Annatto Extract, Smoke Flavor, Soy Lecithin, and Artificial Flavors), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil. †Natural flavors from animal and plant sources Contains Soy and Wheat.

I think this here is the sauce:

Tomato and Tomato Juice, Onion, Poblano Pepper, Distilled Vinegar, Tomato Powder. Contains less than 2% Water, Garlic, Salt, Food Starch-Modified, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar, Natural† and Artificial Flavor, Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate as Preservatives, Citric Acid, Malic Acid, Maltodextrin, Paprika Extract, Lactic Acid, Ascorbic Acid, Red Bell Pepper Powder, Bell Pepper Juice Solids, Carrot Juice Solids, Gum Arabic, Vinegar Solids, Smoke Flavor, Corn Syrup Solids, Caramel Color, Beef Stock, Medium Chain Triglycerides, Grill Flavors (from Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed Oil), Phosphoric Acid, Dehydrated Garlic and Onion, Paprika, Autolyzed Yeast Extract, Spice, Xanthan Gum, Disodium Guanylate, Disodium Inosinate, Calcium Chloride, Tocopherols. †Natural flavors from plant sources

[eGullet NJ Pig-BBQ & Potluck, Sunday, 9/21/03]

i want to mention doc's apple cider

Cross-posted. Great minds think alike.

[eGullet NJ Pig-BBQ & Potluck, Sunday, 9/21/03]

Have we spoken yet about Docsconz's amazing apple cider?

The good doctor went out near he lives in way-upstate New York (basically Vermont) and picked like a million Macouns (in my opinion the world's best apple) and then spent all day Saturday working them in a big old antique wooden cider press. By far the best cider I've ever had. I drank about half a gallon at the event. So enthusiastic was I about the cider that the doctor sent me home with a gallon.

It's all gone now. My recommendation: never drink a gallon of cider in a day. Nonetheless, I couldn't help myself.

Also, please allow me to dwell for a moment on the other thing I drank half a gallon of: RockADS21's incredible sangria. Woah. That was some serious sangria. We definitely need the formula ASAP.

At one point, I was about halfway through a cup of RockADS21's sangria, and I thought, hey, this might go pretty well with Docsconz's cider. So I topped off RockADS21's sangria with Docsconz's cider. I don't remember anything after that.

[San Sebastian Restaurants: Recommendations]

most of us will sooner return to what we think of a sure bet rather than take another chance at a place we've already had a bad experience.

Spending my own money, that's surely the way I'd behave -- it's hard to justify behaving any other way. But there have been two phases in my life when I've been able to dine out often and extravagantly on someone else's budget. First, as a lawyer with a big entertaining budget, I found myself stuck at a lot of restaurants that were chosen not by me but by clients, partners, colleagues, whatever. Likewise, when I was reviewing restaurants on a regular basis, I had a budget and often I really had no choice but to return to restaurants multiple times even if I hated them the first time. And most of the time, I'd go back a second time and it would still suck. And then it would suck the third time. And I'm quite sure it would have sucked the 100th time too. But once in awhile I'd go back that second time and it would be like a completely different restaurant. I've had that experience too many times to ever again be able to accept the proposition that anybody can firmly ascertain a restaurant's general direction on one visit.

[San Sebastian Restaurants: Recommendations]

I think that minimizing problems by categorizing them as bad days can also be a way of excusing and avoiding serious systemic issues.

Sure. That's the flipside of it. A bad night could be a bad night. A bad night could indicate a trend. And excusing a bad night as just a bad night may be too forgiving. But the fundamental point here is straightforward: you can't ascertain a trend by looking at one reference point. No matter how bad the night is, it's entirely possible that the next day things will be a whole lot better. To refuse to accept that is to deny the reality of how restaurants -- even the best restaurants -- function.

In any event, I'm almost certain I could go into Daniel tonight and be unrecognized. I'm pretty sure I've had plenty of meals there as a nobody, and most have been in keeping with the restaurant's reputation as an excellent restaurant. A couple have not. And yes, I had a horrible night there and was mad at the restaurant for years. But shit happens. You can bear a grudge forever or you can give the place another chance. I'm glad I gave the place another chance because I think this incident turned out, in retrospect, to be an off night rather than a general trend.

[Rick Bayless and Burger King - Part 1]

Hey that looks pretty good.

[Thrown out of Vegetarian restaurant]

I feel it is disrespectful to the philosophy of vegetarianism to bring meat into a vegetarian restaurant

How about I give you the last word: tell us what the "philosophy of vegetarianism" is and we'll be all set.

[Thrown out of Vegetarian restaurant]

is it really okay for a customer to bring outside food into (another) restaurant?

Baby food for a baby? Yes, it is okay to do that. What possible reason could there be to oppose that?

[Thrown out of Vegetarian restaurant]

Or--for a counterexample--if I take a random sampling of 100 people off the street and ask them what they think of when they hear the word "vegetarian," if all 100 reply "someone who doesn't eat meat," is the argument also over? 

That's a poor counterexample, in fact not a counterexample at all. Who cares what 100 people on the street say? You've stated that it's unequivocally rude to bring meat into a vegetarian restaurant. How do we determine the truth or falsehood of that statement? Surely, the owners of vegetarian restaurants are the best people to ask. If they are not unified on the issue, it tells us a lot. It tells us that rudeness isn't part of the equation, and that we're in a much grayer area.

Actually, you'd have to ask them if they'd mind HEATING THE FOOD UP, not just having it in the restaurant at all, wouldn't you?

No, because your position is that bringing the food into the restaurant at all is rude. We have to ascertain the truth of that theory before moving on to the heating-up question, which is admittedly trickier.

Don't laugh too hard, I might just do that at lunchtime tomorrow if I'm really THAT bored.  Maybe one of 'em will throw money at me.  It could happen.

May I suggest you call Rick Bayless first?

[San Sebastian Restaurants: Recommendations]

when your opinion is the result of quantifiable, observable events such as waiting 30 minutes for even a morsel of food; of interacting with a service staff that doesn't smile, make any attempt to engage the customer, or offer any advice or comments; and running the risk of choosing two comparable desserts from a limited selection, then you can be confident in saying that you have patronized a restaurant that is off its form

Based on occurrences like that, you can be confident in saying that you may have patronized a restaurant that is off its form. Perhaps you can even be confident in saying that you have probably patronized a restaurant that is off its form. But I've experienced significantly worse evenings than what you've described, and I've concluded confidently that I've experienced a level of badness that can't be explained by an off-night, and I've later come to realize that, bad as it was -- and it was really bad -- it was indeed just an off night. And that has happened to me more than once, such that as a matter of logic I simply can't accept that a single occurrence of waiting 30 minutes for even a morsel of food; interacting with a service staff that doesn't smile, make any attempt to engage the customer, or offer any advice or comments; and running the risk of choosing two comparable desserts from a limited selection is sufficient proof to conclude that a restaurant is off its form. You are a far, far more experienced diner than I, so surely you've had worse experiences that have subsequently turned out to be one-time system crashes rather than episodes in a restaurant's decline.

[Thrown out of Vegetarian restaurant]

So if we can find some vegetarian-restaurant operators who will say, "I don't mind at all if some mother brings a jar of chicken-based baby-food into the restaurant for her baby" then this argument is over, right?

If we must again talk about what individual human beings might do instead of just using common sense, I might as well mention that I have a number of Jewish friends who have no qualms about eating pork or following other strictures only when it's convenient.

My example is specifically about owners of vegetarian restaurants, presumably the equivalent in their own context of the owners of kosher restaurants. Sure, you can find tons of Jews who don't keep kosher -- in fact you can find tons of them right here on this thread, and you can find at least one of them in this post. But can you find an owner of a kosher restaurant to say, "Go ahead, bring some bacon!" No way. So if we can hypothetically find vegetarian-restaurant owners who will say, "Sure, bring the baby food," then we will have uncovered a fundamental variance between the kosher and vegetarian restaurant communities, right?