mamster

Toby--if you haven't already, do start a sticky rice thread. There's something we can agree on.

Not pedantic at all--I'm glad to hear your defense. If Yu's interest is in historical cooking, that's great, but I would argue that pre-Columbian Thai cuisine, like most pre-Columbian cuisines, is interesting only from a historical perspective and not as a model for a way to eat today. Dancing Shrimp focuses on Central Thai food. If there's a good book on Southern Thai food, please let me know--I'd love to find one. Sorry I can't give a more complete response; I haven't looked at Cracking the Coconut in a long while.

Shit, that really is a tragedy. I was hoping for a story involving an exploding gas stove or something, but that's just depressing.

Seattle: Madrona eatery & Ale House is a really nice family restaurant with a very good beer selection. We had dinner last week at Eggs Cetera Blue Star (we'd been before, but only for brunch) and they were very forthcoming with beer samples and had a pretty interesting array.

What was the tragedy at El Greco? (I only pretend to be in the loop.)

I seriously dislike this book; I gave it kind of a sideways review here in my review of Kasma Loha-unchit's Dancing Shrimp, a far more rewarding volume. Some of the choices Yu made in the book are really bizarre: identifying black pepper but not chiles and salt but not fish sauce as central players in Thai food just doesn't make sense.

I went for the eggs and they were fine. Laurie went back and had eggs again. I haven't really been moved to try anything other than the eggs. I do have to say that I like what they did to the building, and I'd rather have a mediocre place that's always hopping (cf Broadway Grill) than a boarded-up storefront. It's hard to beat the burrito al pastor at Guaymas, in any case.

I'll be reviewing El Vagre Marino (formerly La Viagra Marina) for the Times--it'll run soon. I guess I'll try Muy Macho's taquitos next. FYI, I know a bit about trademark law (nasty subject), and corporations like Pfizer are required by law to "vigorously defend" their trademark or the trademark will fall into the public domain. The law is supposed to protect the public against companies merely sitting on valuable trademarks without using them, but the flipside is that the little guy gets sat on by a big elephant. tighe, which taquitos would you recommend most highly at Muy Macho?

There are many varieties of garlic and some are much easier to peel than others. The soft-neck white grocery store variety is one of the hardest to peel; if you can find some purple hard-neck garlic at a farmer's market or specialty store, you'll probably have an easier time peeling it. (It also tastes better, if you ask me.)

In such a case, is it not appropriate just to let the muthaf*cka burn? Rachel and Jason, if there are party people in your house, the correct procedure is to put your hands into the air, and wave them like you do not care, until they leave. This is what I have been told.

Better TPV than TVP. I should add that they have Jarritos Tamarindo, which puts other sodas to shame.

And I said that that next he should ask, "Okay, how many homejewers?"

Laurie, heyjude, and I stopped at Pancho Villa last night. Laurie got some kind of crunchy thing whose name I forgot, but it was quite good. I had a taco al pastor (excellent) and a chicken taco (good), and heyjude had a tongue taco (great) and a shrimp ceviche tostada (too spicy for her, so I inherited it, and it was good--very fresh tasting). The place as a whole was a little less funky than I expected. It would be a nice place to sit and linger over a succession of different tacos. If only they had machaca....

Sour salt can refer to citric or ascorbic acid, but I think it's more often citric these days. If you see lysergic acid labeled as sour salt, well, do let us know. I've only seen it granulated, too, usually at natural foods stores.

The raw salt cod was quite good. It's got a wonderful chewy texture, subtly fishy taste, and, as Wilfrid said, it's not too salty. In fact, when I made the brandade (also delicious, without potatoes and then with potatoes on the second night) I had to add a little salt. And I have leftover brandade in my freezer; a pound of salt fish makes a whole lot of the stuff for two people.

At the mention of white coats, the biologist's ears prick up. However, for once I have no special knowledge on this issue. Aren't you glad I posted? I will say this: pH does refer to the concentration of hydrogen ions in water, but all "solid" food is loaded with water. I served potstickers on a bed of green mango last night, and despite its solid appearance and crunchy mouthfeel, green mango is quite acidic. I can't think offhand of which foods might be basic, though, and searching for "alkaline foods" got me a bunch of health-nut pages. Wait, here we go: http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/lacf-phs.html Conch is basic? Who knew?

That peaches thing was the first food writing I ever did. I didn't jump in because Laurie had already linked to my article, and what more could I say other than, "I like peaches?"

This is pretty much the worst thing about eating.

Beef Burgundy. I freely tell people how easy it is, and they'll never believe me. Most of it is made the day before, and then it's just reduced and garnished before eating. It also tends to generate some awesome leftovers.

Here's my mother's recipe, courtesy of the grub shack. It's what I grew up on, so I can safely say it's the best.

Well, the Salumi pancetta is a good bit cheaper than the pancetta at QFC, which is not bad, but it's $20/lb. And the Salumi stuff is the best I've ever had, although it tends to call attention to itself--best to use it in something like fettucine with parsnips and pancetta, from the Babbo cookbook.

I've had lotus root crisps at the Bread Bar at Tabla, among other places. Fry with impunity--they're quite delicious.

Dill.

What kind of flavor is "Fran"? Do they taste like Fran Tarkenton?

We usually make blueberry. The recipe is from John Thorne's Outlaw Cook, and I'm not sure how much resemblance it bears to a traditional clafoutis recipe.