alanamoana

one of my problems as a "barrista" is that i don't drink coffee . i loved making it though, so i must be some kind of heretic . theoretically, i totally agree with all of you. it just makes sense regarding the milk fat. i never really drank a whole latte (with anything other than skim) so i can't compare. i'll have to use my restaurant's machine and do a comparison, risking the buzz p.s. i am proud of my foaming ability...now i just have to try some of that amazing coffee art! if i only knew about it when i was making coffee every day, i would have had something to show off!

wow, neil! such great pictures, and of course, such great work...my school was nothing like yours. i'm envious but happy that they are producing such good students with such a broad background. i don't think the cia even has a leg up on your school. good luck in whatever you choose to do!

to be honest, i don't think new york dim sum matches san francisco dim sum. i've also rarely found much creativity in the dim sum arena...same old same old. what i try to get is freshly made, flavorful standards. rather than dim sum, if you want xiao long bao, go to "new green bo", very good, very fresh. they also have a killer luo bo xiar bing (shredded daikon cake). but, this is very subjective...of course. in san francisco, my fave is ton kiang which a lot of people on the california board will pass up and instead rave about koi palace. i do think that koi palace is good, but ton kiang beats all in freshness, i feel. also, there's the "flower lounge" place by the airport...that's good too. those are my comparisons, and new york doesn't measure up imho... edited to add: i have never eaten at yank sing (always felt it was too touristy and hyped) but their web site is pretty cool. thanks for linking it ludja. if they actually do offer all the dim sum that they picture, and the quality is good...then they beat everyone hands down.

i haven't seen the desaulnier book, but i would probably stay away from that...if you learn the basics first, you can make his desserts...probably better

this discussion is interesting to me as i worked in a cafe for about 4 years making lattes and the like. we always thought that skim made better foam. i guess you're right (theoretically), the skim did make more volume...but i felt that the foam i made was pretty damned good with skim...texture of shaving cream or pudding, no big bubbles, etc. eventually, all the bubbles will separate and rise to the surface. i think that's the nature of it as it isn't cream. you can whip cream because the fat content creates a "network" which holds the air in the whipped cream. but even whipped cream "deflates" after a while (liquid on the bottom, foam on the top)...that's why pastry chefs have to make stabilized whipped cream with gelatin or creme fraiche as additives. so, not to beleaguer this point...i still argue that you can make great foam with non-fat milk. it is in the technique and how immediately you use the foam. this doesn't argue the fact that you might also make "better" foam with whole milk or anything with a higher fat content...i'm just saying that technique is important.

i've personally never had a problem making lots and lots of spun sugar with just a large dinner fork. i agree with nicole on the corn syrup. you can also use glucose. these additives make the sugar a little more pliable, easier to work with. a lot depends on the viscosity/temperature at which you are using your cooked sugar...it should run off the fork slowly, sort of like room temperature glucose. it shouldn't be too runny but it also shouldn't be too hard. sounds to me like you're using it too cold. also, you should be rather quick with your movements. if you're just waving your fork back and forth over your greased sticks, you'll have a problem...as they always say, it is all in the wrist . what about the environment you're working in? is it humid, is it very dry? here in new york when it is very dry (winter), it is very difficult to work with spun sugar because it becomes very brittle. you might want to wet your hands when gathering it up (have a damp towel nearby to wipe your hands on). and finally, if it becomes too firm while you're working it, heat it back up. sugar is imminently re-usable. you'll get a feel for how long to heat, and again to what viscosity.

i second golden unicorn. their signs have pictures with names of everything in english and they are posted on the appropriate carts. so, it is easy to choose what you want and actually get what you expected. they have westernized a couple of offerings...heavy on the deep fried stuff. they have a deep fried shrimp wrapped in bacon served with mayonnaise...not exactly authentic, but most other stuff is...enjoy!

based on the texture of the tapioca, i think that a hot tea might be pretty dangerous! imagine getting that thing stuck on your tongue . also, tapioca's starchy qualities are brought out by heat...it could get gummy

i've also seen, at a korean market in nyc, bubble tea "kit". you can throw a bubble tea party at home

i've just been drinking some "jin-xian" woolong that my mom sent me. it is "butter" flavored. smells a little like buttered popcorn...quite delicious.

definitely the gravy

also, i worked at a restaurant (fusion, of course) where we smoked it and served it with regular chicken...a sort of "black and white, yin and yang" dish. what a load of cccccccrap . wesza, you're correct, the chinese do believe it is good for you. then again, what doesn't kill you...

and they make good pets! my mom and dad had one for a while. she was really cute, her name was "moppy" referring to her appearance. when my mom would walk into the yard, she'd come running...but to nobody else! she always tried to peck my toes edited to add educational material: the chinese call the silky bantam or black chicken: wu-gu gi (can't put the tones over the words, sorry...)

i understand the list and the reasons why those restaurants make it on the list year after year. there really are no other choices. i guess what upsets me is that the chefs just tend to sit on their laurels. they don't do much to challenge even themselves, much less each other. if they all know that they're going to make the list each year, there's no reason for them to even try to "one-up" they guy next door. but as we see even here on eGullet, people visit the islands as a sort of "once in a lifetime" scenario. they have a meal at mavro (from what i can see, he's the only one doing things a little differently as far as cooking technique) or alan wong's or, god forbid, roy yamaguchi's; they have a great time and they don't worry about it. here in new york city, with over 4,000 restaurants to choose from, you couldn't get away with that kind of business mentality. tourists are the people that eat at chevy's in times square...you have to offer something different to the residents so that they come back. i'm not talking about places like peter luger that just do steak...but the middle to higher tier restaurants that want to maintain a large customer base by being even slightly innovative. more and more ingredients are available in hawaii now, so there's no excuse that we have to have mango slaw on every single plate. if i see another version of "lilikoi cheesecake" or some such b.s. i'll be sick. but, i guess i'm a little jaded on the food scene in general, even here in nyc.

please don't think we were trying to discourage you (well, some of us might have been ), we just wanted to have you think about all the details and plan them out! it sounds like you have a good plan...write it out with a schedule. you'd be surprised how fast the time goes by. good luck with this, we have confidence in your success!

how about a "spring in central park pie potluck extravaganza"? i think it would be great as soon as it warms up to find a time/place to all gather and relax and of course, EAT!

why does the term "gastroflex" NOT make me think of delicious canneles? Rhea_S, that sounds delicious.

as is to be expected, no mention of pastry chef. NoMi is located in the park hyatt, chicago. click here chef is sandro gamba mystery pastry chef

a little bit off topic, but the alice medrich book cocolat is also great to work from. before i studied pastry, i made most of the desserts from it. i didn't have a tool to my name and did everything by hand, guestimating on weights, etc. and they still turned out wonderfully. probably one reason i became a pastry chef. her cookie book is great also, unless you double the recipe and quadruple the brown sugar...let's just say we had chocolate chip tuiles! math skills aren't my strong suit!

this is an interesting question. new york pizza is thin crusted and usually purists (as you've read) believe in only a few if any toppings (sauce and cheese + one...at the most). i have a friend, she and her friend go to patsy's (east harlem) and are famous there (well...that's relative) because they always eat an entire pie...EACH. waiter says "look, there are the two girls that each eat an entire pizza!" so, for you chris, you should be able to eat at least one whole pie! we're not talking cpk (california pizza kitchen) sized either...new york pies come in two sizes usually...medium and large. the large are about 24" in diameter.

i made them every day for several weeks at work and we only used parchment. i think professional kitchens tend to use parchment for everything except tuiles and sugar...the home chef gets suckered into buying these at a huge markup and think they should use silpats for cookies, etc. it's a little ridiculous. use parchment, and if your macarons are baked properly (to correct doneness) you shouldn't even have to use the water/steaming method. you should be able to lift the parchment and peel it away from the back of the macaroons (a little easier than trying to lift the macaron from the parchment as sometimes, you'll just remove the nice crisp dome and leave behind the semi-chewy interior ). good luck

hey, i think that we've scared sherribabee enough. the point is just to get the cake cold. so bake it really early and shove it in the fridge. while it is chilling get the rest of your components ready. i'm a procrastinator and when i did the cake for my friend, i baked the cake early (less than a week, but it was ready to go), i had the buttercream made (a day or so ahead), etc. and i still ended up staying at the restaurant until 7am the next day (i...i'm a pastry chef . of course i was working that day on restaurant production, but i still didn't think it would take me as long as it did...and i had the cake and icing ready to go! i just think that for that many people, make the cake itself smaller than you want and do what jason said, make sheet cake. that way, you won't have as much to decorate. i do recommend doing the glazing technique instead of fondant unless you're already well versed with fondant. you aren't giving yourself much room (time) for error. with buttercream, it is much more forgiving. since it is winter, you don't have to worry about the cake melting.

also, when preserving you can add some spices: bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme whatever combination pleases you. since you have so many, you can experiment a little. when they've sat in the liquid long enough (a couple of weeks or so), just take the "meat" away from the skin and use the skin only. at least that's how we did it. i worked in san francisco for a restaurant that has a retail product line. they made preserved lemons and lemon curd to sell to high end gourmet shops. well, one day at the restaurant a semi-truck pulls up to the garage and unloads an entire truckload of meyer lemons!!! about three guys in the garage juiced for about 15 hours a day for three weeks. boy, the garage never smelled so good. we had barrels and barrels of preserved lemons. it was crazy!

i hope this works! a lot of juggling with photo shop to get the right sized image. edited to say: again, this is italian meringue buttercream. i made it, then melted it down to glazing consistency and poured it over the finished (crumbcoated) cake tiers. i used gumpaste or some such concoction for the "fences" around the tiers sorry about the image quality, but this is a digital photograph of some actual photographs. the color may be off a little. i think it wasn't so yellow in real life, just sort of vanilla-y colored. oh well.

i will try to get a picture on the site of my friend's wedding cake which i made. instead of fondant, i glazed the cake with italian meringue buttercream. you get the smooth look without the fuss of fondant...but the temperature of the wedding location makes a difference . i contoured it a little by trimming the edge off of the top of each tier. it is pretty easy to do without much skill, as i had never done it before. again, i'm used to being able to use full sized sheet pans and a large convection oven. i don't like having to slice a cake horizontally to make layers. it just seems like more work than necessary. i like the cake scraps (you can make something else from them) that are left over from baking in a flat pan and cutting out the circles. but if you don't have cake rings and you do have cake pans, then i guess it isn't worth buying more equipment (can't believe i said that... ). i'll work on the picture.