Gifted Gourmet

again with the duck fat!! Do you folks ever think about those poor ducks?? Is your breakfast spread on toast, this can't be duck??? I love schnitzel as well ... made with either veal or poultry ... and a golden crispy panko crumb crust ...

Observer Guardian UK article What a superb engaging article this is! If you are a woman of any nationality, this article will appeal to you ... is the root of everything, in fact, vanity, as the article implies? Do you tend to "linger over your food"? Find it sensuously pleasurable? Treasuring each bite, savouring each flavor? The individual French women interviewed at the end of the article have some profound, and occasionally, not terribly deep, observations ... from their unique perspective ... enjoy the article ... but slowly... chewing each "bite" with pleasure!

Observer UK article good article! If you are, or have ever been, in the restaurant business, and this is more than just a little likely on eGullet, what is your take on people who are nattily attired and obviously able to purchase their own dining accoutrements, pilfering restaurant items? What are they making off with? How do you handle it? Have you ever noticed, as a diner in a fine establishment, someone pilfering something from their table? As to whether you yourself might have indulged in this practice, that shall remain confidential .. we are, after all, a discreet organization ...

Culinary Cafe reference dictionary This looks rather interesting ... Filipino Food Glossary yet another Mexican food dictionary lamb index from New Zealand The Gutsy Gourmet terminology for cooking Spirits dictionary Coffee terminology Living wine dictionary with audio pronunciations from Daniel Rogov Beer and brewing Glossary

Ach! Of course! Wunderbar, Frau Newell! Danke schoen!

You have to know the "secret password" maybe ... or maybe weird combinations of search terms ... very intricate work actually .. like threading a needle ...

a Supersized thread .. some 3 pages worth ...

My own particular translating to English problems appear mostly in the New Orleans forum ... until I get them translated? I harrass Mayhaw Man until he gives in and offers assistance ...

Thank you for coming up with this topic, lovebenton! I happen to have a folder, to which I always refer, which contains glossaries on all manner of culinary delights, international, by type of food, etc. Here is a group of my all-time favorite links: Cook's Glossary Medieval & Renaissance Culinary Terms Asian food glossary Asian vegetable thesaurus The cook's thesaurus with pictures! this is my absolute favorite!! The fish glossary Sushi dictionary Indian food glossary Italian food glossary Mexican food glossary New Orleans food glossary The complete spice index (by country here!)

* waves back at StudentChefEclipse* Nice work indeed!! .. will answer tomorrow because it is so late here ..1 a.m. ... like I said, starting a topic isn't too difficult once you know what you want to know ...

a very initial answer to your question ... the foods in Cajun and Creole cultures which is what makes food Cajun ... spent 4 years commuting to New Orleans when my daughter went to Tulane University, so I got some impressions along the way ...in other words, Smithy, laissez les bontemps roulez!

Perhaps it's my own personal primitive reaction to the change of the seasons, but something about fall makes me want comfort food.... the darker evenings send me seeking cozy, warm places for big, satisfying meals... and so when the thermometer dropped sharply today here in town, I decided to prepare something substantial and warmly reminiscent of the song from The Sound of Music ... stopping at the lines: Noodles I had ... no raindrops, no kittens ... no crisp apple streudel ... certainly, Atlanta ain't exactly the Alps ... and to make the schnitzel? aha! white meat turkey tenders, now that I had! ... Finally, after this very long lead-in, you are no doubt asking, "what is she driving at anyway here"?? Schnitzel: deep-fried breaded meat cutlets .. and they are often made out of veal or pork or chicken breasts or turkey tenders ... and topped with an egg or something else ... Have you ever made any type of schnitzel? What did you top it with? (i.e. when made a la Holstein, the traditional topping is a fried egg with anchovy strips crossed on top and capers) Have you ever done some variations on this theme? perhaps using veal or pork or chicken cutlets?

Hate to tell you this, russ parsons, you ain't exactly alone with the Empire kosher bird problems .. it has happened to me and I find it particularly sad because they are charging top dollar for their product .. which only serves to heighten the disappointment and subsequent anger ... Here is the process of kashering and defeathering the birds: (treif is a term which means the bird is not kosher for some reason) a little clearer explanation:

You got that just right! I have to concur with you, point for point, here! I loved watching people cook who seem to do it out of a passion for the food.. and for sharing, teaching others from their passion .. yes, like Jeff Smith and Julia and Jacques and Lidia .. the PBS folks actually .. food is too commercial from a lot of the TV Food Network people now on the air ...

Maybe because they are unsightly? and make what should be a pristine fowl, appear unkempt? and for the price of purchasing a kosher turkey, I expect it to be superior ... this just looks plain untidy and entails more work .. and those pinfeathers are on the wings as well ... I expect more ...

I buy Empire Kosher turkeys, of course, but the pinfeathers (or whatever they are called) left on the legs bother me terribly... Dear Abby, Should I add a bottle of Nair to my Thanksgiving grocery list? Does the bird need an appointment for a bikini wax? Perplexed and Bewildered in Atlanta

Me too, SteveCleve ... just read this: Interesting, no??

same b'day as me ← and now back to our topic at hand ... cooking as solace ...

Since the turkey will soon be a major issue which must be dealt with in some spectacular manner by Thanksgiving Day, the question must, inevitably, now arise, do you brine? Not an intimate look into your culinary soul so much as a realistic, should we or shouldn't we, do we or don't we, brine the bird? Your opinions? Is it actually worth the extra trouble? Adds too much salt? Better results in the completed bird?

Mashed potatoes. Always. ← from scratch .. real butter, real cream, and best available Idaho spuds .. and, yes, Marlene, always!

First answer: talk therapy combined with proper medications might be able to lift "seriously depressed" individuals ... and I did not mean to imply that cooking, in and of itself, was the "magic bullet" to defeat sad, even traumatic, events ... it is, of course, something some people resort to which will help them in resolving (temporarily) their own unique "needs" ... As for what I would make (and I know I have said this in my initial post here because it sounds familiar: "Is there any one dish which you turn to to alleviate that feeling of despair?"), the answer is first, last, and always, chicken soup with matzoh balls ... classic Jewish mother anti-depressant used long, long before current psychotropic drugs cheaper with fewer side effects as well ...

Ah, perhaps Balistreri's will always be your personal Gold Standard by which all else is judged??

but, Jon, over time, some interesting dining may reemerge in the countries of eastern Europe ... none of this will happen in a fortnight ... and I do agree with you that capital cities do attract connoisseurs ... and money.

With my deepest appreciation for your compliments and for popping the topic back into a place where others may want to read and ponder the question posed ... Thanks, Chrisamirault, for this!

I would suggest that cities like Budapest and Prague might have better dining options were it not for living in the Communist bloc for so many long years .. now, since they are democracies and members of the European Union, they might hone their culinary talents more finely .. all of this, of course, takes time to develop. When I was in both cities last year at this time, the citizens were basically begging for more tourism .. comparing themselves to nations like France and England .. the money needs to start flowing copiously from the tourists to make them rethink their culinary priorities ... thank you, Jon Tseng, for this terrific website!