Gifted Gourmet

Every single gravlax recipe has instructions to weight the fish down during the curing ... the pressure on the salmon flesh presses the salt/sugar/dill mixture deeply into the fish and aids in the curing process. I personally have a tin foil wrapped brick which I use and reuse each time ... My recipe and an actual photo of my finished gravlax! Cured Snapper Maple Cured Trout Tasso Cured Red Snapper

one such preparation is here Vodka Marinated Halibut Gravlax with Rocket Greens and Melon Dressing Tuna Gravlax recipe even more variations: English, Swedish, etc Martini Cured Gravlax (scroll down for recipe)

Why am I visualizing the scene in "O Brother, Where art Thou?" with the eGullet people in striped prison gear alongside the highway picking cardoons... the film still I most adore

Food Product Design.com

Felice: thanks for finding this article! By using Altavista's Babelfish, one can translate full pages by putting in the URL of whatever you want translated .. and so, by doing this, I have read a couple of pages .. the translation, while not perfect, is fine for simply reading and enjoying! Thanks again!

actually the price, a mere $6 per banana holder, and the wide range of colours (nine, count 'em!), sold me! I wonder what life would have been like for me if only I had known this earlier ... live and learn ...

That photograph of Dave in his KK hat (above) should swing it completely! Dave is one lovable character you would never want to miss!

What's true is true .. he need not be humble about the quality and conception of his menus .. check them out: 33 Liberty website This week the Maliks' specialties include: Country Ham Salad with NC Apples & Candied Nuts Catfish Beignets with 33’s Hot Sauce & Cole Slaw Molasses Brined Pork Tenderloin with Green Apple Bread Pudding and Cane Vinegar Butter Vanilla Waffle Sundae with Peaches, Peach Ice Cream, Milk Jam & Whipped Cream Southern as all get out and cleverly executed ... coming up shortly at the Epcot Food and Wine Festival in Orlando:

Thanks for this information, Varmint! I think everyone will find you and your tennis courts by following the smoke in the Raleigh sky... White smoke = pork barbecue Black smoke = pig fled too soon

Miller's Analogy Test redux: Cool Whip: whipped cream :: Miracle Whip: mayonnaise faux, ersatz, phoney or just plain phake, you name it .. it ain't the real thing .. and everyone knows that only a meringue tops a self-respecting banana pudding ...

Thank you for explaining about the cheeses in Italy. I had never considered that anyone could give the French "a run for their money" when it came to cheeses! You have confirmed some of what the article says and given us new 'food for thought'. Quite a revelation, Robert!

Thanks for solving one of man/woman's eternal questions! I am so relieved! Now I can die in peace ... (great "find")

I liked them all but thinking about this in particular: Probably because they might open the oven and ruin the cake to taste it ... or was it their personal magnetism? I forget now ...

As usual, andisenji sees the positive side of everything culinary! Thank goodness! I see things and fail to make the connection as to their usefulness .. I am not too mechanically oriented ... Useless or necessary gadget? how could we live so long and not appreciate the versatile wineclip?? Is this statement true??

sounds a little like a porn flick ...

Is this the Pre-Banana Pudding Document which must be signed by both parties and witnessed thereunto in order to properly consummate the Pig Pickin'? Lawyers ... only a lawyer would run a Pig Pickin' with documents ... (disclaimer: my mother is a lawyer)

Nothing short of amazing, Greg! I am incredulous at your thoroughness and tenacity for staying on this project .. and it will remain one of my favorite "bookmarks" of all time! My appreciation, always ...

For sheer nomenclature, I vote for the Bagel Guillotine!

Do tell us how they influenced your cooking .. please?

My aunt Betty was my inspiration ... didn't live near her but whenever we visited her in NYC, I watched every single dish she made (quiche Lorraine, fancy soups, brandy alexander pies, etc.) .. and tried to emulate them ... Aunt Betty was my role model and it aggravated my mother no end! BTW, her sister is my mother who never cooked anything but managed to heat up a few t.v. dinners ... of course now she is 94 and watches Food TV religiously .. go figure ...

Last week I ate a remarkable Vietnamese meal at The Noodle Club in Atlanta ... right off I 85 .. eyeopener!

and it now appears that I will be joining you all ... this is something I had wanted to do, surmounted a couple of obstacles, etc. but now it appears distinctly possible! Very excited! This makes quite a few of us from Atlanta now ... And you will have my "extra set of hands", Dean! Do use them appropriately, please ...

You might choose your grandmother, your mother/father, a friend, a television celebrity, or even eGullet but seriously, is there any one person to whom you give credit for being your personal cooking muse or inspiration? And how has your muse influenced the way in which you cook today as opposed to when you first began cooking?

Ochef.com and yes, I did use the wrong term in choosing "scorching" over "scalding", therese ... but you got the drift of the comment ...

What about eccentric habits that have been passed down from generation to generation? For instance, do you really need to scorch milk? No, it's probably a holdover from days before pasteurization. Today it's not really necessary, but it still lives on in many recipes. Which "old wives tales" remain with you although you know that they are no longer valid today? Related but old thread from June 2004: Food Superstitions