Schneier

Basically, put whatever you want to flavor near the truffle. Putting it in the rice flavors the rice. Putting it in with a carton of eggs -- or, better yet, sealed in a container with a few eggs -- flavors the eggs. If you have to store the truffle anyway, you might as well store it near something that will soak up the flavor. Bruce

Truffle honey is honey infused with truffle oil. I've never seen it with truffle pieces. It's available in many specialty food stores, and typing "truffle honey" into Google yields several different brands. Bruce

Just returned from a trip to Quito and the Galapagos. (You can see about 200 of the 1500 wildlife photos I took here.) All meals in the Galapagos we had on our boat, but we had four dinners in Quito. El Nispero. Equatorian nouvelle cuisine, if you can believe it. We liked the avocado and sea bass ceviche, and the corn souffle in a creamy crab sauce with sherry. The beef medallions in garlic and cilantro butter was very tasty, but the pork medallions in tangerine sauce was better. Several people we talked to considered this to be the best restaurant in Quito. Highly recommended. Mare Nostrum. Delicious fish and seafood. We ordered the "mariscado" for two. It was a huge dish of seafood cooked in the oven with a light sauce: a lobster, two crabs, two large langostines, shrimp, clams, mussels, squid, octopus. Absolutely delicious. The rest of the menu looked good too. Highly recommended. La Choza. This is supposed to be the best traditional Equadorian food in Quito, but we were unimpressed. The shrimp ceviche with tomato sauce, onions, and lemon was good. The empinadas were less impressive, and they weren't the plantain, yucca, and corn varieties that were promised. The entrees were overcooked, too salty, and not what was promised on the menu. Not recommended. Swissotel. Great, and cheap, breakfast buffet. There is an Equadorian dinner buffet on weekends which looked better than our meal at La Choza. We ate at the Japanese restaurant in the basement, which was just okay. All of these restaurants are cheap by U.S. standards; dinner never cost more than $20 per person. And they're all in "New Town," and probably near your hotel. Bruce

I'm changing plans in Miami, and have a five-hour layover. (Don't ask.) Where should I go for lunch? I'm looking for one amazing meal in Miami. I don't care if it's expensive. I don't care if it isn't expensive. I don't care what genre. I just want to be impressed. Suggestions? Bruce

We weren't told to eat the crouton first, either. Interesting. Bruce

My wife and I had dinner at Moto a couple of weeks ago. We ordered the Grand Tour Moto, and had a truly excellent meal. Interesting, fun, and -- most surprising -- no clunkers. Here are the courses (wines follow the courses they were served with): Amuse. Caesar Salad. This was a single spoonful of romaine ice cream pellets, with a crouton and some Caesar dressing. Wine: Henri Mandois "Premier Cru," Blanc de Blancs, Champagne, France, 1999. 1. Maki in the 4th Dimension. Delicious. A complicated-tasting sushi roll served in printed edible paper, with a spicy mayo-like sauce underneath. This was served without utensils, which made it harder to eat every bit of the sauce. Wine: Jurtschitsch Snoohof "GruVe," Gruner Veltliner, Kamptak, Austria, 2003. 2. Champagne & King Crab. Another good dish. Poached king crab served with caviar, creme fraiche, and caviar. It came with three carbonated grapes. (No really; he has a machine in the back that carbonates fruit.) Wine: Terre Firme, Albarino, Rias Baixas, Spain, 2003. 3. Onion...Crouton...Nitrogenation. The waiters brought out bowls with sauteed onions and a crouton in them. Then they brought out a smoking pitcher of soup, and poured it into our bowls. The liquid nitrogen foamed nicely all over our table. The soup was delicious, but it was cool. French onion soup is supposed to be piping hot, so that wasn't as good as it could have been. My suggestion is to use this liquid nitrogen preparation -- which is way cool -- with a gazpacho or a fruit soup that is supposed to be cool. Wine: Hollywood & Vine "2480," Chardonnay, Napa Valley, CA, 2003. 4. Lobster & Orange. Lobster meat served with celeriac puree, brown butter ice cream, and a carbonated half orange. We were to squeeze the orange on top of the other ingredients. This was one of the best dishes of the night. Wine: Yves Breussin, Vouvray Reserve, Loire Valley, France, 2003. 5. McSweetbreads. Three pieces of otherwise cooked and then flash fried sweetbreads. Each was on a plastic pipette of sauce: sweet and sour, barbecue, and honey mustard. We all wish McDonald's served something this good. Wine: Alpha Estate, Xinomavro, Amyndeon, Florina, Greece, 2003. 6. Artichoke & Macadamia. Artichoke ice cream and macadamia nuts, with a hint of balsamic vinegar. A nice palate cleanser. 7. Sweet Potato Pie with Savoy Cabbage. This was one of those "more clever than tasty" dishes. Someone in the kitchen carved a sweet potato into a single unbroken chain. This was lightly fried and served with a sauce that tasted for all the world like sweet potato pie. And a very tasty kraut. Wine: Fitz-Ritten, Gewurtzraiminer Spatlses, Pfalz, Germany, 2003. We also got to taste two other Gewurtzs: one from Alcase and the other from New Zealand. 8. Bass Prepared Tableside. The raw bass came out in boxes after course 5, and it cooked in front of us. It was hard to see in the box, unfortunately. The waiters brought plates, opened the boxes, and put the bass on them. Then they poured out of the box an absolutely fantastic sauce made from tomatilllos, bacon, garlic, onion, and Thai peppercorns. Another great dish. Wine: J. Palacios, Petalos del Bierzo, Galecia, Spain, 2003. 9. Quail Pull Apart. Dish of the night. Quail and rutabaga slices. It came with a tube-like won ton filled with sauce, which we were to break open and pour over everything. Interesting, fun, and delicious. Perfect. Wine: Vision Cellars, Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, CA, 2002. 10. Margarita with Chips and Salsa. Another palate cleanser: Margarita sorbet with a chip paste and salsa gelatin. The salsa was too mild, and was lost in the rest of the flavors. 11. Lamb with Braised Pizza & Garlic. Lamb and a small piece of Kobe beef tongue, served over a Swiss-chard mixture that was supposed to taste like pepperoni pizza. It tasted more like ratatouille to me, but it was a great dish nonetheless. Wine: The Magnificent Wine Co., Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, Washington, 2003. 12. Edible Literature of Morbier. In the lower left corner of the plate: a slice of Morbier with edible instructions printed on a something on top of the slice. In the upper right corner: a non-edible flaming pile of ash. Neat. Wine: Warwick Estate "Old Bush Vines" Pinotage, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2003. 13. Green Curry, Hearts of Palm, and Salted Sugar. Green curry ice cream. Hearts of palm puree. 14. Freeze Dried Pina Colada. Exactly what it says. Surprisingly tasty. 15. Beet, Carrot, and Ajowan. Ajowan is kind of like caraway, but not as intense. This was just a spoonful: bits of beet, carrot puree, cream cheese, and ajowan. 16. Doughnut Soup. Soup that tasted like a donut. I loved this dish. This was the cell phone course. A waiter came to our table, and set a covered dish in front of me. He removed the cover, and there was a cell phone on the plate. Something like "Answer me" was written on the phone, and it was vibrating. I answered it; chef Homao Cantu was calling. He told me a bit about the next dish and the waiters, and asked me how I liked the meal so far. I asked him for a kitchen tour at the end of our meal. 17. White & Dark Chocolate with Yuzu. A very pretty hollow white-chocolate ball that required liquid nitrogen to make. And a very tasty chocolate cracker and marshmallow thingy. Wine: Eliot Prone "Sour gal," Muscat drastic, Piedmont, Italy, 2004. 18. Chocolate Cake with Hot Ice Cream. I didn't take any notes, but I remember thinking this dish didn't work all that well. Churchill's "Late Bottled Vintage," Port, Aport, Portugal, 1998. Bonus: Popcorn Flavored Packing Peanuts with Caramel Sauce. This had no right to taste good. Chef came out to say hello around course 18. We talked about the meal and the restaurant. We passed along our comments. Then we went downstairs to see the kitchen. Definitely a nice end to the meal. This was not a cheap meal: $160 each for the meal and $80 for the shared wine pour. And the restaurant was not full. There were only fourteen covers that night. Admittedly it was a Tuesday night and Alinea had just opened, but still. Bruce

I had dinner at Moto this week: the 16-course Grand Tour Moto (GTM). It was grand fun. I'll try to post a full report later, but I want to mention two surprises based on this thread: 1. There were no clunkers. Reading this thread, I expected a few courses that simply didn't work. While some courses were better than others, everything was good. 2. The wine pairing was excellent. Someone in this thread commented that the wine pairing wasn't that good. And I generally expect wine pairings to be only okay. This was one of the better wine pairings that I have had. (My wife and I shared a pour, which is really the way to do a wine pairing with a 16-course meal.) More later. Bruce

There's a new flavor of Izze: pomegranate. I tried one today, and it's good. Any other new flavors? Bruce

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. We appreciate it. Bruce

They're made from hooves, you know.

I just bought two packages of these home from Bahrain. They were labeled "black lemons." I was going to use them in a mild shrimp curry, although the lamb stew idea sounds pretty good. Bruce

How about them? What and where are they?

My wife and I write a monthly restaurant review for the "North" section of the Star-Tribune. (We also do "West" and "South," but that's not important now.) The problem is that the northern Twin-Cities suburbs are a culinary wasteland. We've reviewed Singapore Chinese Cuisine. We've reviewed Udupi Cafe. We've reviewed a couple of other random restaurants we've found. And it's incrasingly harder to find anything worth saying something nice about. Anyone live up there? Any suggestions? The towns in our geographical area are Ramsey, Anoka, Andover, Ham Lake, Coon Rapids, Columbus Township, Circle Pines, Lexington,Blaine, Spring Lake Park,Fridley, Columbia Heights, New Brighton, Mounds View, Arden Hills, Shoreview, North Oaks, Vadnais Heights, Gem Lake, White Bear Lake and township, Dellwood, Maplewood, North St. Paul, Little Canada, Falcon Heights and Roseville. Bruce

Dara Moskowitz also gave the restaurant an excellent review in City Pages. I'm trying to work a dinner there into my schedule. Bruce

I'm bringing this thread to the top, because cooking steak at 500 degrees in cast iron at five minutes per side is just about the best thing you can do to a good piece of meat. (I served it with asparagus and beets.) Bruce

Interesting stuff. B

Wow. http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/hou...lock-033956.php Wow. I think I covet this, but I'm not sure. Bruce

Good grief. I thought this would be a discussion of where to eat at the airport. I'm so relieved. Bruce

I'm going next week. I'll let you know what I find. Bruce

I forgot to report on the results.... A double soup is way easier than I expected. I put each soup in a large measuring cup, and poured them both into each bowl at the same time. I found that if one hand got ahead of the other, it was easy to correct at the last instant. Bruce

Visited Fleur de Sel for dinner, with friends, the day after Thanksgiving. We were all having way too much fun to take notes, but I can enthusiastically recommend the "Maine sea scallops, black truffle and cauliflower mouselline, organic cider and carrot emulsion," and the "wild Scottish partridge, seared foie gras, sweet potato puree, and cider jus." And the hot chocolate souffle. We all ordered the tasting menu, which came with the souffle. After we had that, one of us -- probably me -- noticed that there was also a dessert menu. We looked it over, and ordered two additional desserts for the table. Then the chef gave us another two desserts. I tried to get my hands on the lunch menu to see if there was anything else we wanted to order, but couldn't. Bruce

Piperade serves an interesting and tasty array of traditional and modern Basque dishes. My advice is to order an array of "Small Plates" to share, and may be the dish of the day. Ignore the entrees, which are not very Basque. The "sauteed sea scallops with green apple, capers, and gnocci" was fantastic, as was the "artisan foie gras sauteed with Monterey squid, grapes, and verjus." And since we were there on Tuesday, we got to enjoy the sauteed squid in ink sauce. The "seated ahi tuna and saffron potato sailed 'marmitako'" was the only clunker on the menu. Bruce

Last month I dinnered WD-50 in New York -- first visit -- and had their tasting menu. Course 1: "Fluke, artichoke soup, papaya, tuna powder." Not a great beginning. The artichoke and papaya worked well together -- and had an interesting high sour note -- but the fish was lost in the noise. Course 2: "Foie gras, grapefruit-basil crumble, nori caramel." A nice dish. The nori caramel was inside a foie gras ball, with baby basil leaves, slightly dehydrated grapefruit, brioche croutons, and fleur de sel. Course 3: "Rainbow trout, pork belly, apple cider, horseradish, miso paper." Pretty good. The apple cider was a cream, and there was also candied lime. Course 4: "Beef tongue, fried mayo, tomato molasses." An excellent dish which, on another menu, would be called something like "deconstructed deli sandwich." The pickled tongue was delicious, the fried mayo was good, and it came with Romaine lettuce stems and onion strussel. Course 5: "Shrimp noodles, smoked yogurt, nori powder." This came with prawn crisps and was sprinkled with paprika. A neat dish. Course 6: "Slow poached egg, parmesan broth, tomato." Course of the night. I've had slow-poached eggs -- 147 degrees is critical -- and they're delicious. This one came with chick pea and parmesan broth, noodles, tomato powder, and baby chives. Absolutely stunning. Course 7: "Lamb sweetbread, green daikon, eggplant honey puree, chocolate powder." This was the night's only clunker. I wanted the sweetbread to be crisper. The eggplant was delicious,but the daikon wasn't. And the chocolate didn't add. (I'm kind of done with chocolate being the trendy ingredient. Bring back salsify or something.) Course 8: "Squab, encrusted golden beats, sweet potato juice." The squab was delicious. The beets were covered with crispy beet bits. Everything about this dish was delicious. Course 9: "Quince tonic, manchego." Palate cleanser. Fine. Course 10: "Caramelized butternut squash, chocolate consomme." This also came with a puree of graham cracker. Very good. Course 11: "Chocolate cream, coffee soil, tonka bean ice cream." This came with apricot powder, basil sauce, and apricot sauce. Delicious. Course 12: "Mulled apple cider, pine-needle cotton candy." The cider was tasty, and the cotton candy was silly. We expected an edgy menu, and weren't disappointed. Two of the dishes were clunkers, but some were absolutely delicious. All were interesting. Bruce

NEW YORK (IPU): Dinner last night at Picholine. I chose the restaurant because I wanted game. Picholine had a winter game tasting menu, a "regular" tasting menu, and a $300 white truffle tasting menu. Instead of going that route, we picked this and that off the various tasting menus and the a la care page. And we shared a lot. Our menu: "Chesnut fennel soup with cranberry compote and duck confit." I really liked this dish. The soup was smooth and tasty, and the cranberry added a nice sour note. Pheasant boudin blanc. This was served with a celerac, pistachio, and truffle salad. Another really well-balanced dish. (I didn't even mind the piece of shot in the sausage.) "Sauteed foie gras, Bartlet pear coulis, and cocoa tuile." Nothing wrong with this dish. Wild boar serloin. This was a pretty basic preparation, and was served with porcini mushrooms, red mustard leaves, andv a porcini puree. Good meat, and good dish. Roasted woodcock. There's some importer that's bringing wild Scottish game to New York; this is the second restaurant that I've seen it on a menu this Fall. The menu said "partridge," but when the waiter heard that I was here specifically because I wanted game he said that there were a few woodcocks in the kitchen (although not on the menu). I have never seen woodcock on a menu in the U.S. It came with the head -- to prove that it was a woodcock -- and feet, served with beets, roasted diakon (they called it "navet"), mustard greens, a piece of foie gras (not sure why), and a fairly standard veal reduction. The bird was very gamey, especially in the legs. And really delicious. Dessert was a piece of goat-cheese cheesecake on a peanut crust, served with red currant ice cream. (No cheese this time; too full.) Picholine is a pretty restaurant, and I always enjoy eating there. B

You're definitely right that soup must be hot. I think I just need to practice. Luckily, the soup looked good even when I didn't get it even. And fried sage leaves on top should only increase the festive look. Bruce