mongo_jones

another mackerel recipe here

and just what is it that you have against us? well, you people have sold me on famous grouse. now, if the boulder establishments don't carry it i'll have to take it out on mike k.

mike, you're clearly a perceptive man with refined tastes. perhaps we might even think about a beer at the southern sun at some point. not actually go there together to drink beer--let's not rush things--but just think about it.

Which of Julie Sahni's garam masala recipes do you use? please feel free to disregard this since i have not read any of comrade sahni's books...but...can garam masala recipes actually belong to anyone? or does each of hers have some funky variation that allows her to make a proprietary claim on it? edward, are you in dhaka or is that still some time away--looking forward to some reports on your food findings there.

as mike points out after 2 stiff examples of each none of us is likely to care or be able to tell. but i've only ever had manhattans with bourbon (never realized there was a point of view that defines it via rye) and i can certainly tell the difference between bourbon + vermouth and scotch + vermouth. cdh, this may be a topic for a different thread (and our host should feel free to split it if she agrees) but i've always thought manhattan and rob roy classification broke down like so: with sweet vermouth only--classic with dry vermouth only--dry with dry and sweet in equal portions--perfect are the latter two considered corruptions by purists? or are they co-terminous?

mike, not a bad idea... not to get all pedantic on anyone's ass but isn't a rob roy called a rob roy only because it is made with scotch? scotch + vermouth= rob roy bourbon + vermouth=manhattan canadian whiskey + vermouth = ? the shatner? the trebek?

i see the new blog has begun--i guess this means tejon is done. just want to say i enjoyed what i've read of it so far. i missed the first half (and all the other blogs since mine) and need to go catch up before i get stuck into foodman's.

thanks andrea. there seems to be a common thread among all asian beers: variations on the lager theme. it is the same in india--a bunch of flavorful lagers with differing levels of alcoholic content (with beers with names like "bullet", "guru" and "thunderbolt" at the high end). i have some other questions for you about vietnamese food, but i'll ask them on the "elsewhere in asia/pacific" forum.

the advertizing has me thinking that the local specialty is rosy-cheeked tykes wearing overalls. i don't what the authentic manner of preparation is though.

A man after my own heart (no sign of breakfast for me here, either). We usually have something substantial on Saturday mornings since my husband is home and we can all sit down together. Sundays I'm out grocery shopping, usually earlier than my stomach is willing to agree to any kind of nourishment. want to clarify that the only reason i don't have breakfast most weekends is that i usually don't rise till at least 11! though i often miss breakfast on weekdays too--usually i'm so late leaving for anywhere in the mornings that i don't eat anything other than a couple of chocolate biscuits dipped in my tea. mrs. jones tries to force fruit down my throat but it is usually a losing battle. now if we had access to good mangoes and guavas that would be a different story.

does this merger mean that the coors commercials will now feature bob and doug's boys' nights out? i can't wait! grrrrrrrr!

at last night's colorado egullet dinner at the excellent da-lat in denver a bunch of us had a vietnamese beer called export 33 or something like that--i'd have remembered the name but i also made the mistake of eating whole a raw bird chilli and many of my memories have been wiped. but that is neither here nor there. what i do remember is that i liked the beer, that it was a lager, and that it was a little sweetish. anyone ever drink this or any other vietnamese beer? are these common characteristics?

man, those look good! almost noon here and i still haven't eaten breakfast.

nice to see everyone again last night--i'll have the pictures up in a bit. the food was as good as the company. we're now thinking of visiting the vietnamese drag on federal on a regular basis--though we might need to go through da-lat's menu a little more thoroughly first. so, how are all the chilli eaters doing? my fingers etc. were still tingling quite late into the night.

mackerel is a great, great fish. so it is possible to get it at regular markets on the atlantic coast? in l.a and denver i have found that it is only available in korean and chinese markets (usually $1.99/lb!!!) i recommend the recipe i linked to above--it is bulletproof.

see here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...958&hl=mackerel

carswell--you'll have to excuse my bengali-centric view of indian culture (phora/fora would mean what i said it does in bengali; possibly in hindi it might not have that connotation, though i've rarely heard of panch-phoron being used outside of the bengali cooking context). haven't had the energy to probe deeply into the google links for "panch phora", but at first glance most of them seem to be from non south-asian sites (for what that's worth), some even citing your charmaine solomon text (so there may be something circular happening there). as for typos--there are always the strategic kind as well... why would you want me to take you to task over missing fenugreek? okra doesn't have to be cooked with fenugreek (seeds or leaves)--in fact i've never put any in my okra preparations. there's all kinds of recipes, approaches. and yes, entering my blog armed with a machete is probably the way to go.

afoodnut, if you find the truck can you tell the guy to swing by north boulder? mongo

just to clarify--i'm not looking for a cheap scotch per se; when i want to drink scotch neat or with water i'll go for a single malt (glenmorangie sherry wood) or black label. but i wouldn't put either of these (or others of their ilk) in a rob roy--seems like a waste. what i'm looking for is a blend that can match the vermouth (i tend to make "perfect" rob roys--and manhattans--so there's sweet vermouth in there too) without overwhelming it; and ideally add some character as well. will hunt down some teacher's and some famous grouse and get back to the forum.

yes, it is only the price of jw black that stops me from using it--i like it very much in its own right with a spot of water. jw red i've had bad experiences with. thanks to everyone for the suggestions. especially cutty sark--which my father used to drink way back when (he drank a lot of cheaper scotch too: vat 69, white horse etc.) i'm using this site as a pricing guide (aware that prices fluctuate across states): http://www.abc.state.va.us/Pricelist/SCOTCH_WHISKEY.html they only list a 1 liter famous grouse, which at $30 seems outside my range. if they make a 750 ml, i'm guessing it'll be in the low 20s area (the high end of doable). i'll check into it. teacher's seems more affordable. ballantine's gets high points too for having been mentioned in a tom waits song, but i haven't actually ever had it. i hope i haven't given the impression from any of the abovegoing that i am highly experienced with scotch. i've only had very few brands but i do know what i like (jw black) and what i don't (jw red, j&b, lucky's brand scotch...)

i'll look for teacher's. and "burning tires" is a good description for what j&b brings to a rob roy--glad it isn't just me. what i see coming on is a trip to the liquor store to buy a bunch of small bottles--make a bunch of small-proportion rob roy's and do a blind taste-test. there could be worse ways of spending a rainy weekend in boulder. the last time i flew to india i passed through bangkok intl.--the duty free there had a great deal: 2 bottles of johnny black for $30. made note to myself to grab a pair on the journey out, but, of course, when that time came i completely spaced.

i'm curious--what makes this a particularly gujarati recipe? is it the peanut oil? certainly punjabis and other north-indians cook lobia and channa in the same way. with the onion and garlic it is unlikely to be a jain recipe--do you know what its antecedents might be?

i know it is just an inadvertent typo for "panch phoron" or "panch phoran" but i can't help be amused by the thought of a "panch phora" mix--that would translate as a 5 lump (as in from boils or heavy bumps) mix. but that aside, i belive i might have posted an illustrated recipe for okra in my blog--if you can find it.

that's dewar's white, right katie? i think that usually runs in the low twenties for 750 ml. can you think of anything <$20 that might be acceptable? i find jw red and j&b to be not very good with vermouth (may just be my palate), but am disinclined to use anything too expensive in a cocktail.

which would you recommend? tried it with j&b and it was 'orrible. but yes, i'm looking for a cheap'ish scotch--you're free to suggest i put jw black in my rob roys, but then you'll have to buy it for me.