PCL

Steingarten writes about Wagyu in one of his books. Can't remember which one. Will check and post. However... in Sydney, next to the ANA hotel is a quiet little teppanyaki joint. They do Wagyu there occasionally, and the way they do it reminds me of how Steingarten wrote about it. It's quite simple in essence, but requires high heat on the Teppan. A steak is left to attian room temperature. Butter is browned with some oil on the hot plate, some garlic browned and discarded so the oil/fat mix is flavored, then the steak placed on top, seared quickly, flipped, seasoned, and before flipping again, it's sliced. This continues ad infinitum. The slicing is the key here, so that little mini steaks are made, like, a little less than an inch square, or 2.5cm/sq. Before serving, the lid is put on to 'bake' it a little. Then served with a ponzu type sauce, and a sesame dressing. it's like eating little beefy cubes of butter... HEaven... I tried it at home on a large skillet, but only with eye fillet. the stuff costs $120/kg here in Melbourne, but i'll probably try some after the NEw Year.

The box I have was used, and I saw it filled once, but despite my tasting protestations and loud mouthed carrying on, all I saw was the fat laid into a base of salt, followed by another layer of salt, then more fat etc etc etc. Some herbs were crusted on the fat, say rosemary, thyme, peppercorns. The results did not last very long. I was given the box and since, it's kept wine and cigars.

I was a kid like this. Really... honestly... I was... I'll get my mum to prove it... imagine that, my mum posting on eGullet... well, posting anything at all really... I mean, this year for my birthday, no card, no call... but a text message on my mobile phone... But yeah... I know loads of Italian kids who eat A N Y T H I N G ...

missed one... Scotland... i mean, like c'mon... dinner for lunch?? tea for dinner??... even some aussies still call dinner 'tea'.... and it shold read, no time is ever a good time for homework.

The week's almost out!!!... Anyone actually tasted it yet?? I was hoping to live vicariously through you guys, seeing as American wines are not easy to come by down here...

Reports on the efforts will be gratefully received. I L O V E S W E D I S H M E A T B A L L S..... ..... ....

The Shanghainese dialect is apparently very similar to Hokkien/Fujianese... whatever. They understand each other. Mind you, Shanghai is a metropolis. Has been for centuries. People come from everywhere.

La Maison du Chocolat stocks Michel Cluizel if I recall correctly, non?? If so, then they are divine. The plain, no fuss, milk chocolate bars.... OH GOD... OH GOD... a'la Meg Ryan.

Colonata style... not sure about this reference. I lived and worked in the Versilia for a little while, and when going up and down the hills/mountain passes, La Colonata was a frequent feature. Breakfast could be a panino di lardo, it could be lunch, it could be a snack, and lardo would appear everywhere. E V E R Y W H E R E. They make it in marble boxes ( I have one of these) but apparently its also the air, the temperature, the humidity. I would tend to agree to a point because marble, and specifically, White Carrara Marble, aka Bianco Carrara, is porous, but can be a great thermal insulator, ie. does not retain heat, but will keep cool. However, humidity inside such a container can vary. The thickness of most lardo boxes of marble is around 20mm, or close to an inch. If one moves around and tries lardo from other places, you won't find it quite the same.

My bet's on garlic shoots. Absolutely tasty. Can eat it every day. Wonderful, um, garlicky flavours but green and fresh. Everyone should have some. It's good for you. Honestly.... Really...

A new champagne bar, Juliet, has opened at the GPO development in Melbourne. It's on the 1st floor and when this punter was informed, a call to the owner at 11am caught them in the middle of breakfast service. The owner, or one of them anyway, is Umberto Lallo, formerly of Cafe e Cucina, Wine Room, and former co-owner of Sud (man I miss that place after Umberto and Giovanni sold it). Umberto had been helming front of house at ScusaMi while waiting for the green light on new ventures. Anyhow, this punter hasn't been, but its likely I'll be there tonight to suss things out. It should be good. Umberto looked after wines for his past ventures, and I trust him. Implicitly and explicitly, whatever that's worth. There will be a bistro/cafe/wine bar opening soon at GPO under the Lallo hand, and that will be on the ground floor. Not sure if the name is on general release therefore will wait till given the green light.

It's like, a 3 day drive from Adelaide to Sydney. Anyway, the dim sum is better in Adelaide anyway! The point I was trying to convey is very simple: It's about dedication and the innate need to have something good. If its innate, not all people have it, but that's no great sweat is it? Sure, if there are good frozen products, then good, I buy frozen peas and carrots. Anyhow, in the interest of empirical science, I purchased a batch of frozen dumplings. These were not strictly dim sum dumplings, but rather pork and vegetable dumplings of the Shanghainese variety. They were sourced from a renowned dumpling parlor in Melbourne's Chinatown, called funnily enough, The Shanghai Noodle House. The instructions were simple, do not defrost, just steam or fry. When frying, one has to sizzle the base and then lid on for steaming effect. Worked well. Tasted just like the ones in the parlor, and with comparable MSG to boot. In this one instance, I was wrong in that the result was commensurate with the original results, but we're not talking industrial frozen food. In order to simplify further, perhaps I'm just a dim sum snob.

On develops relationships and one seeks out proper dim sum parlours. It's like any other restaurant odyssey. It's quite simple just to ask politely and most times you'll get told. Taking a peek into the kitchen is always a good one. Look for tall boy steamers and racks of bamboo and messy prep areas, and pastry skins and dough everywhere. Stake out the kitchen entrance in the morning. Dim sum chefs usually arrive around 5.30am, as we all know service for dim sum should end shortly after lunch. Period.

It's an abomination. It's like, tater tots. Dim sum are supposed to touch the heart. Where's your heart if you're not gonna drive/travel/hike somewhere good for quality dim sum? Frozen? I do not even think about it. It fucking frightens the shit out of me. I won't buy frozen foie gras, I won't buy bottled pasta sauces, or ready cooked tv dinners. But I guess you're not after dim sum in its pure simplicity. Contentious, but sometimes, the emotions are strong.

Amen to the Gertrude St option. Couple places in St Kilda do good bread too. There's another place on Smith St, but its been years since I lived there. Otherwise, the market is always a safe bet. David Jones Food Hall does okay too. Their mini baguettes are terrific.

Stock is always helpful, in place of water, but you need to match it well to the rest of the hor fun, especially where seafod is involved. Chicken stock, the master stock for much Chinese cooking, can overpower seafood unless its stinky cuttlefish etc.! The stock also makes the sauce richer, but sometimes you just want texture because all your seasoning is already in the noodles.

Welcome to egullet Dim Sim. Take it you're an Aussie. The starchy egg thing is called 'Wat-Tan' in Cantonese, meaning smooth egg literally. It's pretty much an egg wash. It provides another layer of texture which is its primary purpose. This isn't so much a recipe as much as it is observing the guy at the hawker stand doing his magic. I was born in Ipoh, and man, there's a lot to be said about Ipoh food. There's a thread here somewhere about Malaysian eateries, with a whole section on Ipoh.

it's based on corn starch. mix 2 tsp corn starch in a rice bowl of water. one egg, loosely beaten, ie. not totally integrated, in the starch mixture, salt pepper oyster sauce pour into hot wok after noodles have been removed, and off the heat, with back of spatula/wok stirrer stir until thickened and egg whites are stringy... taste for seasoning, should be savoury eggy, and picked up flavour from the wok, then pour over noodles. should serve two.

That's one of the laugh-out-loud-funniest things I've ever read on the internet! Thanks, Bux. To the point, too. ← A M E N

There seems a fundamental focus on status here. I may be wrong, but that is but a perception. A little guy a lot of us loved in Paris, Yves Camdebord, thanks in no small part to Steingarten's book, was turning out AMAZING FUCKING MEALS for a pittance. Who really cares about ambience, sure La Regalade had it due to it simply being French, but swinging a corporate Amex around may be a penis enhancer/virtual boob job for some, but really, it comes down to what you're going to put in your gob no? A good veal stock can be made at home after you've made friends with your butcher, tended your herb garden and visited your farmer's market. The rest, as Michael Ruhlman says, is just dumb repetition and a lot of heart. Like, I went out finally to one of the most raved about places in my little town, 13 courses, quail egg turned up in 3 of the courses. I took it up with them. They didn't cook out the alcohol in a crayfish sauce. I took it up with them. They didn't even mount it. The point? I cooked a little on the line. I can tell when someone's faking it. I can tell when someone's trying hard, too hard even. And I can tell when someone's honest. Like someone once said <smirk>, some people cook like they've never been fucked good. Happily, a lot of us get/do it good and cook well too. Eating out in NYC, for a small town boy like me, was sometimes a chore.

In Australia, Squid brand from Thailand is popular and ubiquitous. However, anything that says "Phuoc Luoc" exact spelling I will check, is pretty good. It's the Bordeaux of fish sauce areas in Vietnam. My wife and her parents swear by it as the cook's choice. To be used as condiment only, not to cook with as the flavour is like wow. I don't see it myself, but there you go, my 2 cents worth. And ned, like, you don't need to spend. Its wiser not to. Really.

Soak livers in milk, devein'ed... chop. chop shallots. butter in pan with EVOO sweat shallots in goes the liver stir dry white wine plonk on grilled bread, rubbed with garlic. a very crude pate en croute

Australians have been consuming kangaroo meat for generations without even knowing it, if popular beliefs are to be upheld. The humble meat pie which ostensibly is composed of ground beef in gravy in a crusty pastry has been rumored to be made from a subtle blend of beef, 'roo and other tasties. And it's been on menus, markets for years now. Almost artisanal in some circles. Shame on the Aussie who only had it last year, LOL

I had some tasty 'Cinghiale' when in Pietrasanta, near Lucca in good 'ole Toscana. It's a rare breed of pig, and the cutlet was marbled and the fat rendered and almost crisp. Not even really unctous. But I digress. The pork was served with a side of cannelini beans. Boiled in stock, drained and tossed in EVOO, S+P. Incidentally, the pork was grilled on an apple/grapevine fire and brushed with a rosemary bush soaked in oil. Soooo tasty. The beans were tender and you could mash 'em to soak up the pork juices.

I visited my friend the sushi chef at my local Izakaya in Melbourne. He pulled out a slab of skin-on fillet and began preparing it for sushi. I thought it looked familiar, like sea bass. The tell tale little black veins here and there on the flesh and the characteristic red tinge near the spine. Anyhow, he mumbled something about it being a new fish to these parts, called 'Suzuki' in Japan, and immediately I felt pleased. I'd only eaten sea bass in Italy, where it's caught in the Med and well adored in Tuscany by the coast. Cooked over coals or in the oven depending on size, but anything over 1.5kg is considered too much. Over-fishing, as we know, is a problem. The long and short of it is that they're being farmed in South Australia, alongside some of the best farmed tuna in the world, stuff's that exported to Japan everyday. This of course, is alongside things like uni from Tasmania which we consume rabidly, and is said to rival the good stuff from San Diego. So, I'm just wondering, if the definitions are consistent. Is Suzuki, the same sea-bass in Italy? Or a variant? And if any fish-o-philes out there can say if the same fish can be found in the Atlantic, Pacific and the Med? Also, how is it generally prepared in Japan? I'm sure sashimi/sushi would be a must, but how is it sliced? I found the thick slices served by my friend to be a bit on the 'much' side. PRevious experience with it raw as carpaccio was always paper thin and seasoned with lemon, salt, pepper and EVOO. We tried some thinner and a marked difference was observed. More flavour, less gelatinous if that's an acceptable term. Overall improvement in texture. It was a fun night!