marlena spieler

yay, and it made the stephan colbert report!

katie, don't eat the brains of squirrels as a study found anecdotal evidence (only, nothing direct) that groups in the backwoods of kentucky who eat squirrel brain come down with a cjd variation.....only the brains have been implicated though, so it looks like you're safe with the bodies. harters, yes i quote the butcher at the wirral farmers market in my article. barry shaw, a very nice guy....he says he doesn't get a lot of repeat customers, says most people like the novelty of saying:"darlings, we're having squirrel tonight", that is quite exciting dinner party conversation starter...... as for river cottage autumn, interestingly enough, h f-w declined giving a quote for new york times, his assistant saying he was far "too busy". luckily we have the wonderful fergus henderson of st john's who not only gave a quote but had his chef whip up a little squirrel for the photographer! this morning i found a website with a live webcam hooked up in scotland watching the little red squirrels frolic. i have the link somewhere.....theres another site at which you can listen to the mating call of the red squirrel... as for the grey, well, we know what's in store for them, come this wednesday: the stew pot. to tell you the truth, my squirrel dishes were delicious, but it was mostly the sauce. our doggy was the only one who really loved the meat. but those sauces (i made two dishes, wish the paper could run the recipes for them, but space is always a condition) anyhow the sauces would be delicious on anything..... but i can't look a cute little rascal in the eyes any longer, knowing that i've had one of his or her cousins in my frying pan. please forgive me little one!

thanks to all for your squirrel help, as it happens, I have learned a huge amount about squirrels in the uk and have come to the comclusion that the whole country is one big squirrel farm! have met game keepers and foresters, all trying desperately to keep the numbers of grey squirrels down, while encouraging the little red ones to flourish. its hard work. anyhow, i have now cooked and eaten squirrel, and learned more about the furry little critters then I ever could have imagined. Its resulted in a feature for The New York Times, which will run 17 dec for those interested. how did it taste? well, not like chicken. it tasted more like, well, like well-done (ie overcooked) duck breast with a faint whiff of both hazelnut and furry slippers. it wasn't bad at all! and my Jack Russell was insane with squirrel-meat-love! thanks again, marlena

when i haven't been on egullet for awhile, then i come back and see a posting like this, i wonder why i've been away so long! daniel, what a wonderful tour of the humous and meaty plates that now i'm utterly dying to eat! right this minute! marlena

am just returned from poland, where the soups are a cuisine unto themselves. my favourite is: dill pickle soup, and if it sounds bizarre--it has cream and vegetables too--it is in fact, sooooo delicious and i'll be you can find a polish resto in your area that serves a yummy one! there is also zurek: soured rye soup with sausage; sauerkraut soup (my cabbage diet soup!), tripe soup which is very very very good if you forget what it is.....oh poland is all about the fabulous soups! borsht of course....we had a lovely borsht that floated wild mushroom-stuffed ravioli-like dumplings, tiny little ones...... then, from italy (after poland i went to campania), there is always pasta fagioli.....humble beans and pasta which never fails to be deeply delish..... wish i were going to be there to share a bowlful..... xoxo m

wish i had been there! (i'm arriving nyc sunday, just missed it).

Za-Zu! love that place! healdsburgh ish. rabbit and waffles: deeeeevine!

My dear friend (from france) is headed to Korea (Seoul), and she wants to know what to eat, what not to miss....she doesn't eat pork or shellfish.....other than that, she LOVES good food! all suggestions and recommendations for unmissable yummies appreciated, as well as suggestions about dishes and foods she shouldn't miss tasting! i've told her kimchee and kimchee and kimchee; wish i were going too! thanks!

one of the characteristics of jewish food that i find delightful, is the way each holiday has its own specialities, even when they are dishes you don't even like, you eat it once a year and you're like: omigod this tastes just like the holiday. fat guy is right that its not forbidden to eat harosets/charosetz/etc at any other time of the year, but it doesn't taste right, and as he explained, its symbolistic meaning fits pesach, doesn't match rosh hashana...rosh hashana is about a sweet new year.....sweetness, dip apples in honey, serve a glaceed-fruit-studded challah, make a nice little honey cake...tzimmes (carrots, prunes, meat, etc) then there are those ashkenazi staples good for all celebrations: kugel, knaidlach, chopped liver! the sephardim have a wide variety of their own special foods, for each holiday. their harosets are divine and varied. but still, harosets is all about pesach and vise versa. but you know what: i think its sweet that whoever made the display cared enough to go all out, albeit they should have done a little more homework to set the mood and inspire confidence..... have a happy sweet new year, to all, jews and non-jews! marlena ps: did balducchi's really offer a Hanukka Ham?

searching for farmed, not shot-in-the-wild, squirrel in the uk. anyone know the whereabouts of a farm?

yes, yes, that is the pancake!!!! i must have been wrong about the coconut milk....and it came in many sizes, i don't remember seeing them folded like that, but cooking in that little pan is totally the thing! i'm off to click onto that recipe asap, and did i say thank you and that you're fabulous?

Does anyone have a recipe for those street treats in Malaysia--I ate them in Terrengannu and KL--sort of pancakes, batter ladled into a mould so that the sides are paper-thin and the bottom thickish and almost creamy-doughy. The pancake itself tasted of coconut and/or rice, they were topped with peanuts and palm sugar. I was told they also made them savoury, they made them many different ways in other places, but the sweet peanut-topped tropical pancakes were delish. all suggestions appreciated! thanks

i'm in poland on a food tour called poland culinary vacations and despite being so full of stuffed cabbage and pierogi, pickles and sauerkraut, am feeling so excited that i wanted to tap in and share. its run by a woman, named sarna, whose family defected when she was a kid so she's grown up both places. this woman loves to eat and share her fave dishes, so we're shlepping all over the region around wroclaw, eating and cooking, taking classes from chefs and village housewives alike, its simply so fabulous i wanted to give egullet a hollah at ya! i'm off to shop now, before my flight back to uk: here is my list: kielbasa, smoked makeral, local pickles (basically kosher dills), rye bread, black bread, seeded bread, pastries, wild mushrooms, and a braid of garlic. i might find something else i need at the market, i think its inevitable. there is so much good food in poland, its amazing and really uplifting to see what a renaissance of polish cuisine is going on! marlena

heading to area of wroclaw, poland, for a weeks culinary tour, classes in a castle, harvest festivals, spa, etc, but still.....i don't want to miss anything delicious! so any tidbits of advice appreciated! i have this (delightful) feeling that all the foods of my childhood are waiting for me, to eat them again: pierogi, sauerkraut, pickles, stuffed cabbage, poppyseed shtrudel....i just have this image of them saying to me: hi, we knew we'd meet up again! so i'm going to the gym each and every day this week, to be ready for them! thanks in advance, marlena

stay dry, Fat Guy! (and eat something yummy, for me, tonight!) (am in hampshire, uk, where its also bucketing down like crazy...) xox marlena