alanamoana

volume 2 available at Chef Rubber under "new items". it is a few bucks cheaper than chips books and it looks like they have it in stock. of course, they might not since it isn't supposed to be released yet.

holy cow abra, that just looks beautiful and delicious!

it will work, however remember with agar agar, you have to boil it for it to activate. you might not want the champagne to taste cooked. you'll also end up with a "crunchy" texture with agar. with gelatin, you barely need to warm it to get it to melt and you can add it to the champagne at room temp, so you won't have to cook it at all. with gelatin you get a more jiggly, melt in the mouth texture than with agar. so whatever final texture you want will decide what product to use to solidify your champagne. also, when adding the gold leaf, you might need to wait for the (if using gelatin) product to firm up a bit and then stir it into the jelly...that way, it will be suspended instead of just floating to the surface or sinking to the bottom.

errrm, K8, i've been holding back...but you are what you eat, dontcha know... only kidding! a bit of fruitcake humor, ya know! I was the same way--I wanted the surprise factor. I think tinsel and fa la la goes with fruit cake. Egg nog-y something?? Red and gold glass christmas ornaments, Collins Street Bakery tins, monks, lace doilies, egg nog hard sauce, fruit cake tarts?? Has fruit cake creme brulee been mentioned?? That's a wild thought Geez make some stollen and I'll eat it through the screen. I totally think yeasted candied fruit stuff fits with your theme. 'Cause I love that stuff, I get sick as a dog eating it though what am I laughing about??!! : ) Y'know what??? I think I've always had fruit cake served cold or room temp. That is a huge mistake isn't it?! Bet it would be better served microzapped a few seconds. Just some fruitcake thoughts pun intended, probably true too!! ←

You're getting closer to what I've been envisioning in my mind. I don't want to give too much away, but slightly deconstructed is what I'm aiming for. I like the idea of the almond pudding but I'm leaning in another direction for a creamy element. Again, I want it to be a bit of a surprise. Everyone, keep the ideas coming. Last minute changes are always possible! ←

We can get most Asian products here. Not to stray too far off topic but we have Mitsuwa supermarkets on both coasts and other Asian markets that carry tons of Japanese products. There are a lot of Japanese ni-sei and san-sei (old immigration, new immigration, expats, etc.) all over California, so the demand is here. The Takara product is a plum "wine" and can be seen here. Don't know if it is real umeshu or if it is made for an American market. Interesting topic at any rate!

i'll say probably a month. but i've never had a problem making reservations for "busy" nights (friday or saturday) the same week. they have a website: clicky i agree with most posters: i never dined at kuruma, so i can't do a comparison. i just know that i love sushi yasuda for the rice, the overall value, the fun factor when you're sitting at yasuda san's station, etc. etc. it really is my favorite sushi place across the board. docsconz, i have to agree with you about the lingering. the other day (ooops, that was in september) when i sat at a table in the dining room, i felt like they were rushing us. they mentioned when i made the reservation that they needed the table back at 8pm...but with the rushing we were done eating in about 40 minutes (at 7:10). so we just sat there and chatted...probably scared the wait staff!

where does takara (the brand) fall on the list as far as quality and flavor? it seems to be rather inexpensive, but also rather sweet and artificial tasting. i have used it successfully in a cake which tastes delicious. i don't normally drink alcohol but use it frequently in cooking. i'm sure there are many ways to use different ume-shu in desserts due to its sweetness.

i'd do the whole thing just to get the week with balageur. edited to remove dumb question after looking at web site: Olivier Bajard Website looks like a great school.

folding or "punching down" serves a couple of purposes (at least): it helps to develop gluten, it redistributes yeast so it can get to food and thus create more fermentation gas which in turn gives your dough/bread good rise/oven spring. redistributes the gas so you get a bit more even crumb structure.

i would pm gfron1. he lives in new mexico and owns his own store which sounds similar to what you are wanting to open. maybe he can help as he's a wonderfully open and friendly presence in the baking and pastry forum.

thanks for pointing out the marzipan, jackal10. in traditional english wedding cake (which is fruitcake), the cake is first coated in a layer of marzipan and then covered in fondant. all of this is done to preserve the cake. but i think i can find a nice way of including the marzipan...

agreed Pan. good quality dried fruit or fruit confit is worlds away from the green and red "cherries" that are often used in fruitcake. i think there are more chemicals involved than fruit in those preparations. Confit de fruit isn't an abomination of any kind! It's really an issue of quality. I love confit de fruit but don't think much of that stuff with artificial color! ←

K8, it is an eau de vie distilled from pears. Often, you can see bottles that have a pear inside of them. They put the bottles over the flower and keep them there until the pear grows to maturity, then they pick the bottles with the pears inside and fill them with the alcohol. here's a picture this company also makes a great eau de vie de pomme (calvados or apple brandy). at my first job, we used a ton of it in our cinnamon creme fraiche ice cream served with an apple galette.

i have to agree with you here. i really love that people are interested in the process. of course, there are as many opinions as there are people on the planet, so having to weigh each post with as much care as weighing ingredients in a recipe takes some time. as i scroll down, everyone has such great ideas for this one. i do think that fruitcake is a bit controversial. but that's what makes it fun.

EEEEEEEK! Hehehe, I actually like fruitcake as well. Thanks for passing the torch SweetSide, and what a great job you did on your Five Kernels of Corn challenge. I actually mentioned to SweetSide that I felt the challenges were getting more and more esoteric (in the hopes that she'd give me an easy one), but although this isn't so out there I don't think it is any easier than previous challenges. So, as everyone has done on previous challenges, please pipe up with any suggestions, tips, ideas, etc. I think the first thing that comes to mind for me is lightening up what has traditionally been a pretty heavy or dense slice of cake. So if there are any thoughts as to how this can be done, chime in! The wheels are turning...

the advice already given is great. i think this is a great business idea, klary. as people mentioned above, maybe you can offer a couple of different courses. you could sell packages too: a) intro to dutch cooking: offer a series of three or four classes b) intro to dutch shopping: groceries, fresh markets, meat and fish c) intro to dutch restaurants: cheap, middle of the road, fine dining d) where to buy ingredients from "home": american ingredients, etc. e) dutch cooking for families: rachel ray style quick meals f) dutch cooking for entertaining: cocktail parties, etc. g) how to ride a bike and eat stroopwaffels at the same time...just kidding of course! people can pick and choose and you can charge x amount for one class and give a "discount" if they sign up and pay for two or three in advance. i think people are willing to pay a fairly decent amount for classes like this. first, before you think of the price as a whole, break it down so that you know what you're charging for (so you don't feel intimidated asking people for money...i know how that is, i always undercharge for stuff): cost of food, cost of equipment as you'll probably have to buy some more knives, pots, pans, etc, cost of your time, cost of having people come into your home (if that's where you're having classes), or cost of renting space somewhere to have classes, etc. etc. once you do this, you can come up with a base price to charge people. do NOT underestimate the cost of your time. imagine what you were paid when you were working! i have a friend who went to southeast asia and they took a local cooking class in thailand. i think that is one of their favorite memories! cooking thai food at a local's house. with your hospitality and personality i'm sure you'd make any expat feel like amsterdam was home for them. remember the amazing database of photos that you already have catalogued here on eGullet which will make great eye-candy for your website: dutch cooking thread both of your eGullet food blogs dinner! thread dessert thread these of course would be great for any print material you might want to have as well. wow, what a great idea. i do hope you make a go of it.

i'll bet a quince mostarda would be fantastic also. don't have experience making it, but it sounds like it would work well.

just about anywhere you'd use apples, you can use quince. they do, however, need to be cooked/poached/roasted to make them edible. i would think they'd pair very nicely with pork cooked with red cabbage you can make a homemade membrillo (quince paste) to eat with cheese

similar to what kerry said, making a pate a bombe mixture (whipped egg yolks with sugar syrup cooked to soft ball stage poured in, whipped until cool), lightened with a bit of whipped cream and folding in your crunchy/chunky ingredients, then freezing would also work.

please allow me to use this for my first sig line on eGullet...

right, but eGullet was founded by new yorkers. so it is much more likely to have more posting on the new york thread. new york is also a lot smaller (since we're talking about manhattan and the boroughs for the most part) than the vast stretches of california. the concentration of restaurants and amount of time people spend in restaurants (because their kitchens are so small) is much greater than california in general. los angeles and most of southern california aren't in the same league as san francisco and most of northern california when it comes to cuisine of the 2-3 star level, but i'd have to say that they're doing better and better (from what i'm seeing and hearing about). i'd think that santa barbara could certainly sustain a 2-3 star level restaurant, but you'd have to do some serious market research when it comes to location. you might have to base it on seasonal traffic, i certainly wouldn't depend on college town business. when it comes to adventurous dining, i think that is a bit of a different topic. people all over the united states are willing to pay for good food and good service. if you're talking about molecular gastronomy, then that's another subject entirely. but fine dining with interesting flavor combinations is always welcome, i think, particularly if couched in the typical terms of california cuisine: fresh, locally grown or produced, organic when possible, seasonal offerings. edited to add: when it comes to labor, it is all in how you train your people. just because there aren't a ton of out of work actors, writers, musicians and models in sb like there are in new york doesn't mean you can't find good front of house staff .

well, ghost, i finally ordered a pie from "a slice of ny". i'd say they're about 97% there on authenticity! i'm so happy to have found a place that is similar to ny pizza. my husband is happier! i will say their prices are a little higher than ny ($3.50 for a slice? in new york, it's about $2.50 for a slice and a drink.), but i'm willing to pay a premium to get it so close to home. also, they're pretty friendly folk who were happy to hear that their business was getting some mention on eGullet. if anyone is nearby and misses good ny pizza, this is your place!

or you can use a hairdryer if the concern is that you don't have a heat gun.

chopped up and added with dried fruit and toasted nuts to oatmeal same as above but sprinkled over tempered chocolate for chocolate bark used with dried, fresh and ginger juice to really take ginger cookies or cakes to another level