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I have a friend who loved the 99 cent whopper w/ cheese but didn't want to pay the extra 35 cents for the cheese so he kept a package of Kraft singles in his glove compartment. Thanks to all the preservatives the things lasted weeks without refrigeration and he got cheap, tasty cheeseburgers.

Ah, that explains why I haven't seen a Hardees here out west. Do they have the exact same menu?

But almost no one uses the term "Tex Mex", even in Texas. Go through a phone book and the term is "Mexican". And "Tex Mex" is usually inaccurate anyway, since many of the Mexican places are regionally from California, New Mexico, or Arizona, or universal Mexican-American adaptions from authentic Mexican. We're dealing with the bald man dilemma or fallacy, or whatever you want to call it, here. You can pluck away hairs from the head of a man one by one and he's not bald. However, when you pluck away enough hairs, the man is clearly bald. Which hair does it? It's a fine line that's quite subjective. But we still know the difference between a bald man and a man with hair, there's just a grey area in between. I know you haven't been to Typhoon, but look at their menu: http://www.typhoonrestaurants.com/dinner.htm I think it would be a huge mistake to use any term other than Thai to describe Typhoon because that's the term that will communicate best to the greatest number of people. Sure, it should be clarified when talking with experienced Thai eaters or people interested in understanding nuances of Thai food and Thai food in America, but basically, it's Thai food. Setting a bar, such as saying that lemons instead of limes or bell peppers in a specific dish, falls prey to the same critique of someone who tries to say that after the 200th hair is pulled from a man's head, he is then bald. You have to look at each more wholistically. You look at Typhoon with its menu and the best term is "Thai" just like the best term for Baja Fresh a couple blocks from my house is "Mexican". We can qualify it for accuracy when necessary or fruitful just like we can say a man isn't fully bald, but has a nasty-looking comb-over. However, for simplicity and ease of communication we just tell people the guy is bald. I even think it's quite fruitful to refer to places like Tabla in NY as Indian, even though they're consciously and aggressively fusion. But if someone were to ask, "So, this Tabla palce we're going to, what kind of food is it?" The first answer out of my mouth would probably be: "Indian". Though I'd certainly want to qualify it. I think you're generally right that it isn't X if it loses the "ethos" of X. However, that is a perception, not something objective. And the use of the term isn't static or objective either. It's made sense of in a historical and cultural context. And in our historical/cultural context it currently makes sense to speak of places like Typhoon as Thai food even though that may be partially because of a lack of a familiarity with the cuisine in its native land, with its native ingredients, and native prejudices about flavors and flavor combinations. But in America, that's still Thai food. Some day, maybe Thai food will be more like what's enjoyed in Thailand. Maybe it'll be more diverse in many ways than what's enjoyed in Thailand because the authentic cuisine will be enjoyed here as well as the Westernized version.

Oh, then you just have to get yourself to a Steak N Shake. Never tried the frisco burger, because I love the frisco chicken sandwich so much. (Buttered, grilled sourdough bread, grilled chicken breast, Swiss cheese, special sauce). And their cheese fries ROCK. http://www.steaknshake.com/default-home.asp Probably won't be any time soon. Like many of these places, they have a hard time getting past the Rockies. However, next time I'm in Texas if I can pull myself away from the Q.... I thought Carl's Jr was the $6 Burger marketers?

I can see where you're coming from and it's an important issue in food criticism, I think, even the casual criticism we all play with here. However, I tend to disagree. What else should most Thai restaurants in the US call themselves? What about Indian food restaurants in Britain and the US? Mexican food restaurants in the US and abroad might be the most troubling for you since really what's termed Mexican is usually a regional American cuisine heavily influenced by Mexican cuisine, not just a "dumbed-down" version (as someone like Kennedy might call it, probably unfairly) of the original cuisine as is Thai and Indian (although Indian is closer in that regard with things like Chicken Tikka Masala which were invented in Britain from what I understand and are ubiquitous in the west). It's just not very feasible, nor does it impart extra meaning to 99% of patrons to call a place like Typhoon Thai-American, Thai-Fusion or whatever. Just like it wouldn't mean much to call most Mexican restaurants Mexican-American or Regional-American-Mexican, or to call most curry houses British-Indian restaurants. Contextually, we already know that (and context is more important for meaning than any word or phrase used). The exception is the truly authentic restaurant, in Mexican places like Cafe Azul here in Portland or to a slightly lesser extent Bayless' restaurants in Chicago. Or the authentic Thai places, which, apparently, I've never been to yet. Same with Indian. They're quite rare and very few people would know the difference and if they were given the difference, because of their unaccustomed palates, they might just get a prejudice against that cuisine. Basically, it's both unwieldy and meaningless to play a names game with cuisines. If authentic Thai, Mexican, or Indian ever gains parity with its less-authentic counterparts, a way of distinguishing them will probably emerge anyway, either by price, like with Italian, or by name, such as references to their regionality.

I think it's important to note, Jim, that Typhoon doesn't really try to be authentic, even if they claim that they do. They're trying to make semi-authentic Thai dishes that appeal to a broad Western palate often integrating Pacific NW ingredients. I don't have a problem with people saying they don't like them or people saying they're not authentic, but I do take issue with people saying they're bad because they're not authentic. They're two different issues.

I'm not saying the disparity is a good thing. Sounds like there's a lot more disparity there than here (in Portland). I'm just saying that my expectations for disparity actually increase with the level of the chain because the human element becomes much more of a factor. McD's and other fast food places try to eliminate the human element as much as possible and so there is greater similarity between outposts than probably any other restaurant chain. But even there, my experience is that some stores suck more than others, usually because of bad mgt and bad employees who don't care if something sits too long or if they follow guidelines for putting things together, etc. Just like the discussion of the disparity between the SW chicken buns at BK.

I do want to take more classes. I wish those truffle classes weren't so damned expensive.

One thing I wish these companies would do is give better info about their chefs. When it's a guest chef, often promoting a book or their restaurant, it's fine. You get the info. eg, I trust Laslow to do Cuban food because his grandparents were Cuban and he's a good chef besides. But how do I know that someone named Schumacher knows any more about Mexican food than me?

Yes, please, more info publicly.

I'm not sure when it began, but I used to have some serious GI problems. It may have started with a regular lunch I'd have in college when a friend and I went out to a taco shop. They made fresh salsa and chips and for $1.50 you could get a big bag of fresh tortilla chips and a pint of homemade salsa. They also had a salsa bar with nice taqueria style salsas, pickled spicy carrots, etc, jalapeno slices, and a thing of cheese. I would get the chips and salsa and then a plate and put a big pile of jalapeno slices and a big pile of cheese next to each other. Then I'd sit down and eat chip after chip first putting some cheese and then a couple jalapeno slices on each chip. I was probably eating 20 or more jalapenos each time I did this and my friend and I would eat there a few times a week. I first noticed I was becoming lactose intolerant. Then I noticed that orange juice and oranges would cause serious laxative effects in me. I also started getting serious acid reflux in the middle of the night, so bad that I once had to drive to a 7-Eleven so I could buy some pepto to try to ease the burning because water, milk, or anything else did nothing. (Simpsons line: These goggles do nothing.) Anything spicy or acidy started to just run right through me or cause acid reflux. I was also drinking about a six pack of soda per day (Diet Mt. Dew was my computer programmer nectar of choice). It was getting really bad. I had these problems increasingly over a couple year stretch when I decided to lose weight finally. One of the first things I did was decide to drink only water. I pretty much still do that. It made an instant improvement in my GI issues. I stopped getting acid reflux and spicy foods wouldn't instantly cause me to run to the toilet. I could eat oranges again. And milk products only had a lessened effect on me (and after eating a lot of yogurt on my diet, milk products now only have a mild effect on me). For anyone who has GI issues I would highly recommend trying to drink only water for a month or so and see if there's any change. Most everything else that we drink can have a negative effect -- juice, soda, beer, coffee, milk. That's just my anecdotal recommendation from a guy who lost 100 lbs and is happy he can eat hot Thai food again.

Irwin, even McD's has unintended variation in quality from store to store.

Royal Burger Special: 1/4 lb flame broiled burger, 1/4 lb griddled pastrami, bacon, cheese, and whatever condiments and produce on a toasted sesame seed bun. Damn! In Utah of all places. I don't know if it's just a local chain, but they all seemed to be run by Pakistanis. Only burger I ever truly loved. Hardee's had a burger called the Frisco burger or something when I was in college. It was a grilled sourdough burger with bacon and cheese, I believe. It just melted in the mouth. 99 cent whopper. I much prefer flame-broling and the 99 cent whopper helped me to balloon to over 300 lbs in college. btw, Soba, I don't think that's Russian dressing on those sandwiches. It's special sauce most closely resembling thousand-island. Americans put 3 sauces on anything and everything: 1) Ranch, 2) Cheese, 3) Thousand Island. The first is fat and salt with a little tanginess. The second is fat and salt with a little msg. The third is fat and sugar with a little tanginess (ketchup and mayo). Nothing green would be eaten without the existence of these sauces in the US, I think.

There's not as much difference between Typhoon and your average Thai place and Arun's (in Chicago) and your average Thai place. I think there is a consistency to Typhoon and a successful effort at fusing NW ingredients and tastes with what we think of as Thai tastes. But the gap has narrowed over the years, I think. There are a lot more medium level Thai places that have nice interiors, decent service, linen napkins, and a specials board that includes local ingredients. I think they're kind of like having a PF Changs (though with a regional emphasis). If your only options are dive Thai houses, a Typhoon can be a godsend, though you will pay more for aesthetics and a certain refinement that fits wealthier/Western expectations. But like I said, I think the gap is narrowing, at least in Portland, but also from what I've seen in Seattle, probably because Thai has become trendy. I haven't been to either of the Seattle area locations, however.

I saw 30 most recently.

I think it's more like the line from Lawrence of Arabia: it's not that it doesn't burn, it's not minding that it burns.

Was looking over Sur La Table's and In Good Taste's cooking classes today. Thought I'd share some of the ones that especially interested me. Anyone done classes at both? I had a basic knife class at In Good Taste that was mediocre. Too basic for me and the guy was a little inexperienced. At least it was cheap. Most of their classes are a lot more expensive than Sur La Table's. I think I'm inclined towards non-hands-on classes, too, because I think you could get through more stuff not having to wait for novices. And you'd be able to ask more questions and see the expert do it. Any experiences or opinions either way? SUR LA TABLE 2.26 Braising: Winter Do-Ahead Dinner Party, Lydie Marshall -- $55 2.28 World Tour Cuisine: Morocco, Angela Favre -- $50 3.05 Artisan Bread I: Baking with Yeast, Tim Healea (Pearl Bakery) -- $65 3.09 Pork and Shellfish from Wildwood, Adam Sappington -- $50 3.12 Artisan Bread II: Sourdough Baking, Tim Healea (Pearl Bakery) -- $65 3.13 Fun Fish Taco Party, Nancy Zaslavsky -- $95 3.30 More Secrets of a Cuban Kitchen, Eric Laslow --$50 IN GOOD TASTE 1.22 Cathy Whims Presents, Cathy Whims -- $95 1.27 Hands on Truffles and Wild Mushrooms, Vitaly Paley -- $120 2.02 An Evening of Foie Gras and Black Truffles, Tom Hurley -- $150 2.03 French Mountain Delights: Gruyere and Black Truffles, Nancy Forrest -- $95 2.05 Flavors of Umbria; Black Truffles and Handmade Pastas, Cathy Whims -- $105 2.23 A Portuguese Dinner, David Machado (Lauro) -- $95

I was talking with a fellow-chowhounder about Arawan today. They know the owners (they seem to know the owners of every restaurant they frequent). I guess they had talked with them about the sweetness and he said that's what he grew up with. I do think Arawan does a consistently good job. But you have to like your curries a little sweeter than average (or a little hotter to balance it out). btw, I didn't realize they had a website: http://www.arawanthaicuisine.com/index.shtml

Unicorn magnum. I know. It sounds like a condom or something, but it's recommended by people like Alton Brown and Cook's Illustrated and after comparing everything at Sur La Table and a couple other such stores, I agree. They have a big model and a small model. I have the small one. Easy adjustment, keeps its grind, and it has an easy loading slot in the side which is wonderful. Also can dump a hell of a lot of pepper quickly. btw, one thing AB mentons is that he actually uses the one handed grinders a lot just because it's easier. Something to keep in mind, and a lot cheaper than an electric.

Thanks for the corrected link, Pan. However, that's one of the worst op-ed pieces -- and poorly supported -- I've seen in a while in a major newspaper. Reminded me of the papers I had to wade through from freshman polisci students. It's all assertions and non-sequiturs.

One of my favorite Thai/Fusion restaurants in Oregon is called Ring of Fire: http://www.ringoffirerestaurant.com/ btw, you want to guarantee the "ring of fire" just go low-carb like me and don't eat any rice with your curries. Just eat them like soup.

Restaurants can do this smartly. There have even been some good and healthy trends come from it. eg, you can find things like mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes as an option on menu. I sometimes like it better than mashed potatoes. Also, finding the very low-carb asparagus, one of my favorite vegetables, on menus has been great. I worry, though, about all the low-carb stores popping up. Few diets last as a significant industry. I hope these people haven't invested too much in these stores selling crappy ice cream and overpriced soy flour. John, I think your understanding of Atkins may be based primarily on the "induction" phase of the diet. The South Beach diet has a similar phase at the beginning. My understanding is that its primary purpose is just to break the individual's "addiction" to carbs. This may be a case of unintended consequences, or the explanation not necessarily being true, but the results being desirable nonetheless. Moopheus, it's important to note that the effect of ketosis on the kidneys is contextual. I don't know how well Atkin's or other low-carb diet plans account for this. Hopefully, they help their dieters avoid the problems that can be associated with ketosis (I don't think it's ketosis directly, but the acidulating of the blood, that causes the problem). Anyway, look at this study: http://atkins.com/Archive/2002/1/11-228300.html Also, it's important to note that many of these low-carb diets raise the amounts of carbs that can be ingested and so the most extreme results of a low-carb diet should be lessened over time. The body can handle a lot for short periods and kidney stones should be much less of a worry to obese people, I think, than heart disease. Even the best studies on low-carb dieting -- those by the NEJM -- haven't actually studied Atkin's or South Beach in particular. The diets are probably too variable for them, too contextual. Science likes to keep things simple so they do things like just set an amount of carbs per day. But in both of these low-carb diets, the dieter either doesn't have to count carbs or they can increase carbs throughout the diet trying to make it more of a "lifestyle change".

Sorry that you had a bad experience. Never had that sort of thing happen there. I have heard yelling from the kitchen, though. I'd highly suggest Khun Pic's for a change from the standard Thai restaurant. Best dive so far is still Thai Little Home in Vancouver.

Discussion of Miang in Thompson's Thai Food: What does "kum" mean? Miang appears to be the dish itself, whereas the modifier follows that term. I made miang style snacks along with others within the little folded banana leaf cups described above for a brother-in-law's wedding lunch. Got the banana leaves from Vatch's Thia Street Food and the miang ideas from Thompson's book. I love these types of foods. Hopefully I'll find a place in Portland that has them, though I kind of doubt it. Typhoon, started in Portland, I think, does indeed bring in chef's from Thailand, but that doesn't make it authentic anymore than Bourdain using cooks from south of the border makes his food Mexican. Here's some reading: http://oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/ba...l?oregonian?fng I like Typhoon a lot, but you have to recognize what they're doing: upscale, Americanized, NW Thai.

Went to E-San tonight. Had the larb, green curry, and the evil prince curry. The larb was okay. Very limey. It had the cabbage wedge, it had the onions, but it didn't have much flavoring to the meat and not much texture from toasted/roasted rice. Also no fish sauce flavor whatsoever that I could notice. I'd say it was mediocre. The evil prince curry was a red curry with a lot of basil, broccoli, carrots, and (my wife got it) tofu. Kind of sweet but a decent flavor. I don't know about the proportions of ingredients, though. Very little tofu and a lot of basil, like I said. The best of the three was easily the green curry. It had a very unique and tasty flavor. I'm not sure what it was from. It came with bamboo shoots, apple eggplant (I think), and bell pepper. The beef was actually kind of tender, somwwhat of a rarity in curries (personally, I like to westernize curries and just grill some flank steak medium-rare and add it on top at home). I think this is something worth trying, though. Overall, they seem decent, though I don't know if they're a standout. Certainly one of the better options downtown or in NW (they have two locations).