mongo_jones

now i have specific things to ask you to cook for me when i'll be in d.c in december... haven't had time to read everything so far but look forward to catching up later once the dust settles.

excellent! that other one was terribly fake.

you won't be too far from campanile either (over on la brea)

so...you're saying you smell a rat? i have to say that if i found recognizable rat parts in food that i was not expecting rat parts to be a part of i might well suffer some long term food aversions.

ham is always a safe option

don't forget the palang tod paan to end the meal

unlike, say, wolfgang puck? or masaharu morimoto?

andy, enjoying your blog--though i cannot approve of wanton food wastage. i am, however, discomfited to discover that you don't exactly eat like those kids in enid blyton's books--she would have been very suspicious of all this continental mucking about. all my illusions are being dashed one by one. mongo p.s: i do find it funny though that you keep reminding yourself to stay on topic--i hope no one's shocking you or anything.

i would like to amend my "pearls of phlegm" entry to "phlegmish pheast"--an all you can eat belgian buffet.

"the bleeding anus"--this could be brazillian themed depending on what you go to brazil for "pearls of phlegm" (edit: this could also be a dish at the french laundry) "membrane and mucus"--mmmmm membrane and mucus...i might eat there "poopin' fresh bakery" "der spermshack"

how long you brew black tea depends also on the kind of tea it is. most people will tell you that a delicate darjeeling should not be brewed for more than 3 minutes. blends with more ctc in them can go as high as 5. then there are the insane people who will tell you not to let the water boil too long as it affects the oxygen content or some such. ignore also people who worry about whether the milk goes into the cup first or the tea (my own preference anyway is for black tea with sugar). i drink darjeeling--not a particularly expensive kind (brooke bond's green label, available in any indian grocery)--i am careful to add exactly one cup of water to the pot for every tea-spoon of tea, and i am careful not to go over 3 minutes. but there are no hard and fast rules as teas differ, as do individual tastes. but do not make masala tea with darjeeling.

all, i'd like to apologize again to pim and anyone else who was offended by my post about the tsunami-blog a few hours ago. i stand by the content of what i said but realize that there is no way it can sound anything other than petty or trivial given the timing. in addition to pim's efforts, however, i would also like to recognize the work put in by peter griffin, dina mehta and rohit gupta, who not only set the blog up but continue to manage it, and all the other volunteers associated with it. credit for this isn't very important to them but they should get some.

this is the second site i've come across this comment on and i finally realized that the reference is not to pim's food blog but the tsunami relief blog. with everything else that is going on this may not be a point worth making, but that isn't exactly pim or anyone else's blog. it was set up by 4 people very early this week and various other bloggers have signed on since in various capacitites. this blog has really illustrated for me everything that i like and dislike about the blogworld. to begin with the blog was an amazing self-effacing effort (to date, peter "zigzackly" griffin's own websites do not even mention his connection to the blog--i know because i was one of the early people he contacted to spread the word)--however since more people came on board i've been seeing more and more posts all over the net with possessive pronouns involved. one of the later contributors posted a self-congratulatory message on the blog last night about the publicity the blog was getting--after some outrage was expressed by readers this was edited. the blog itself has gone from being a clearinghouse for relief information to an almost un-navigable mess--with some people cluttering it with completely redundant "news" posts that one can get at any news websites. posts about the economic effect of the tsunami are at best irrelevant at this point, and at worst a little offensive--but this i fear is part of a more general blogger malaise ("must post constantly", "must link and be linked to"). anyway. "only connect", e.m forster said, and it is great to see so many people are getting involved and participating in lessening the sorrows of people far less fortunate--i hope this won't be restricted to just this disaster or its immediate aftermath--millions of people will need aid and attention focused on their plight for quite some time.

this is one of the best, and most illuminating, discussions i've read on egullet in ages--thanks to everyone involved.

just a quick note: those who visit the relief-blog i posted a link to may see information on the "hindu relief fund". this is not a fund to benefit only hindus but a fund set up by the hindu, one of india's oldest newspapers and perhaps the best. the hindu is based in the south and so they're on the spot.