mamster

I'm sure kale is a traditional part of your complete Southern green pantheon (along with collards, turnip greens, and so on). I'm equally sure that curry powder is not. Sure is good, though.

I also have a fridge full of curry paste tubs and agree that it lasts at least six months, although the red never lasts that long because it's my favorite.

Anyone want to have dinner at Tropics post-Morimoto? It's the Thai place a block away that has the $5 dinner special before 6pm.

Beat you to it, MsR. I think I can make it.

Thanks, jhlurie. I knew someone else would have the answers after I posted this column. Xanthippe, that kale stem idea sounds delicious. How Northern cornbread got to be called "johnnycake" beats me. I think the word "johnnycake" just gets thrown around for everything; I've even heard those cast iron cornstick pans called "johnnycake pans". Really johnnycakes are native to the northeast (Rhode Island? Maine?) and are pancakes made with white whole-grain cornmeal--the same stuff used for Mississippi cornbread.

Oops, I forgot to mention the kale stems. I'd chop them into half-inch pieces, braise, cook with some Italian sausage, and serve over pasta. What Jinmyo said certainly sounds good too.

Jason made me put the bacon in! That's it. Seriously, I hope it was clear that I was being extremely tongue-in-cheek about any sort of cornbread dogmatism, but I do find that bacon and cheese, however inauthentic, can turn Southern cornbread into a meal. Haven't tried omitting sugar from the northern cornbread recipe, but I'm guessing that among other things, it helps to counteract the bitterness from the baking powder.

High-end restaurants in Thailand also represent an incredible value, but they aren't, to me, what eating in Thailand is all about. Possibly this is because the food you get in high-end restaurants isn't much different from what you get on the street; it just has nicer presentation. Still, you can have many courses at an attractive restaurant (Baan Khanita, for example, or Thanying) and get out for maybe $13. FG, you can ignore the cost of your flight to Thailand if you tell yourself that you have to go there to see some temple, and then pretend you just happened to notice the food.

There are no absolutes here, only arbitrary categories laid down by me. Compared to most people I know, I'll eat anything. I got some pretty funny looks from a friend of mine while I was talking about the suckling pig we ate at West in Vancouver (I didn't mention that it wasn't presented whole, with an apple in its mouth, but I would have eaten that, too). Compared to some people here, I'm a picky eater. Therefore, you can all rate yourselves on a "picker than mamster/more adventurous than mamster" scale.

We ended up at Luau after the show. I had some rock shrimp potstickers, which came with a sambal-heavy dipping sauce. Pretty good. Some friends of mine got the mixed pupu platter, which had an awesome array of stuff: sausage, shrimp skewers, ribs, chicken wings, potstickers. Everything I tasted I liked. Laurie had a Pina Colada.

So, can someone explain (I know Craig hinted at it in the column) why oak sometimes works and sometimes not? I enjoy drinking port (full-bodied, sweet, heavily oaked), but an oaky California chardonnay (generally also full-bodied, sweet, and heavily oaked) is gross. What else has to be in there to make the oak work?

Craig, the extent to which our wine palates coincide is amazing. This article rocked. There's a place in Seattle that does (or did last time I was there) half-price bottles of wine on Monday nights. Their house wine is a very nice Macon-Villages that never got anywhere near a handful of wood chips, and it was $11.50. A serious wine bargain.

That's a load of borscht! I'm withholding judgment on whether I consider dried fruit fruit, pending further eating.

Sausage and Grapes Serves 4 as Appetizeror 2 as Main Dish. It's fun to watch the grapes turn into a sauce during the second half of roasting. Don't overdo it with the grapes -- if the sausages are completely immersed, they won't brown well and the grape juice won't reduce enough. The dish is best served with mashed potatoes (red potatoes, skin-on), but it also makes a good sandwich on French bread. This is not the sort of recipe that needs to be followed to the letter. You can double or triple it, or forego reducing the sauce. 4 Italian sausage links, hot or sweet (see note) 1/2 lb red seedless grapes 2 T butter 2 T balsamic vinegar salt and pepper Preheat the oven to 500 F. Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Prick the sausages several times with a fork and add to the boiling water. Reduce heat and simmer five minutes to remove some of the fat. While the sausages are simmering, remove the grapes from their stems, wash, and place in a bowl. Melt the butter and toss it with the grapes. Drain the sausages and arrange in a single layer in an 8"x8" pan. Pour the grapes over. Bake 25 minutes, turning the sausages after 15 minutes. Remove the sausages to a platter. Transfer the grapes and their juice to a skillet and reduce over high heat until syrupy. Off the heat, stir in the balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Pour the grape sauce over the sausages and serve immediately. Note: There's no substitute for pork, but our local Whole Foods sells excellent-quality chicken sausages, and we often use them in this recipe, which lightens it a bit. Keywords: Appetizer, Italian, Main Dish, Dinner, Fruit, Pork, The Daily Gullet ( RG462 )

I don't like the bacon candy. I know I'm the only one. Wait, Jinmyo too. Jinmyo and I are the only one. The fleur de sel with the caramel was fantastic, but salt is never unwelcome.

I was making it before there was a Blue Hill. That's how cutting-edge I am.

Hey, you got a problem with music writers crossing over to food? Seriously, I'm reluctant to comment on another publication's reviews (unless, y'know, I really like them), so let's just say I like sauce.

I was using the chocolate stove more as a symbol than a genuine example of something bad, which I'm sure it's not. Update: I'm playing phone tag with the reporter from the Vancouver Sun (I'd already called her before it occurred to me to just call Haas instead). So the recipe is still coming soon to the archive.

Doesn't a lot of the rise of the "I" have less to do with egoism and more to do with a general move to informal style, which is supposed to simulate the writer's speech, which is naturally peppered with the first-person? This strikes me as a positive trend.

Who wants to do One World next week? I'm going whether you like it or not.

Are you OUT OF YOUR MIND??? Seriously, I'm up for the Great Wall anytime, if someone's driving.

There was an equivalent unfounded rumor at the Yaohan Center in Richmond, BC. There are some real assholes out there.

I'll make sure the recipe gets into the archive one way or another.

It's inappropriate. Links are always acceptable when you have them, but in the case of a full recipe, I'd ask. Do you have the date of the issue? I'd even be willing to call the paper and ask for you. A while ago on Pacific Northwest we were talking about this great rendition of Szechuan dry-fried green beans at a Seattle restaurant, and Blue Heron got permission to reprint the recipe from a book. Publishers are usually pretty good about this because it promotes the book; in the case of a newspaper I don't know what they'll say, but we could find out.

Yeah, stupid Kamloops.