ExtraMSG

What Katherine, you expect me to proof-read before I hit "Add Reply"? This is what I get for being on another list always talking philosophy and religion.

Nice article Dave. Thanks. I didn't see it the first time around. btw, I have a non-stick pan that was allegedly dishwasher safe, but lately (I've had it for maybe two years) it's been getting an odd film. I'm not sure if it's a bonding of grease and something in the detergent or a result of the non-stick coating breaking down or what. The stuff is like concrete after it dries, though.

20/20 had a story about the dangers of burnt Teflon's smoke. Here's an article on its effect on birds. I have burnt a non-stick pan or two, usually cheap ones. But I'm more worried about burning dried chiles. Ever get chile smoke in your eyes? Most unpleasant. The Aztecs used it as a form of corporeal punishment. I was hacking and had blurred vision for hours once.

I have A Cook's Tour, but it almost entirely ignores Northern Mexico, unless you consider San Miguel and Guanajuato northern Mexico.

One thing you should do is make homemade flour tortillas. Flour tortillas are from northnern Mexico/Sonora and are so much more wonderful than store bought. Some of the dishes from One Plate at a Time you can try: Queso Fundido (serve it with the homemade flour tortillas) Sopes Carne Asada Tamales Tortilla Soup Beef ala Mexicana All these dishes are truly ubiquitous in Mexico, though they often change by region, such as tamales in the south using banana leaves instead of corn husks. One Plate at a Time isn't the best book for regional Mexican. There are several books out there that take that approach. I have another book by this guy and like it. His may be a good one: Northern Mexican Cookbook You might want to call around if you want to do something more specific.

Did my description of the calamari seem way off? I wasn't very kind to it, but you love it.

I think AP style has been one space for years, if memory serves, as Kaga would say.

Portland.

Went to Lauro for the first time tonight. What a pleasant neighborhood gem it is. Got second dessert at Pix across the street afterwards too. Couple of hogs, me and my wife, but very contented ones. It's nice inside with high ceilings and attractive chic lighting, an open bar with a large mirror behind, huge windows to the street, soft benches facing comfortable chairs for most of the tables, and an open kitchen with seatings facing the wood oven as well. I like the menu. The highest priced entree was $17. The highest priced appetizer was $8. Plus they have a -- what you might call -- blue collar section with pasta, pizza, and burgers, though the pizzas sound very interesting, things like Linguica and Roasted Peppers for $9. The highest priced item on this section was only $11. And I saw a pizza. It was probably about the size of a standard medium pizza, maybe 12" or more. Very fair price. The back wall next to the bar is essentially a huge chalkboard. On one side of the doorway are specialty drinks, on the other are the appetizer and entree specials. My wife ordered the "canja" chicken soup with rice, lemon, and mint ($5), a special of ahi tuna with Sardinian cous cous, tomatoes, and fennel topped by a green olive, caper, and lemon preserve relish ($16), and the pudim flan "Portuguese port custard" ($5). I had the crispy calamari with Portuguese piri piri sauce ($6), a special of boccacia rock fish with winter root-truffle oil puree topped by a chanterelle sauce ($15), and the Marsala poached pears with zabione ($5). The soup was interesting and light. The chicken was tender and juicy and the flavors well-balanced. My wife really loved it. I could see it as a wonderful palate cleanser soup in between courses in a tasting menu. The ahi tuna was cooked perfectly, grilled nicely on the outside, rare in the middle. It had no off flavor whatsoever. It was a pretty big portion. I'd say at least 8 ozs. I like the large Sardinian cous cous that seems to be in vogue. It has substance and holds up to big flavors. There was an absolute ton of it on the plate coated with a tangy tomato sauce. The sauce didn't have much depth to it, but it was okay. The relish, however, was very good, a nice mix of briny, sweet, and tart that broght the fish alive. The flan was very good. I can't imagine something being more smooth and creamy. One of the best textures I think I've ever encountered. The flavors were somewhat muted, but had to be because you're essentially just getting one thing. There was no sauce, just a couple cookies along side. I would have preferred some texture variations and options, but I know this often happens with pot de cremes and the like. In its limited scope, though, it was excellent. My calimari was probably the most disappointing item of the night and somewhat of a failure. The calamari themselves were way oversalted and I don't like the coating they use. It tastes almost processed, like they're coasted in ground Doritos or something. Maybe they toss them in salt and MSG. The sauce was good, though, a vinaigrette, really, with a little spice to it. If I had three times as much sauce I could have drowned out some of the salt (and I like more salt than many people). My fish was fantastic, though. It reminded me in many ways of monkfish it was so meaty and juicy. There was no off flavor at all. I'm hypersensitive to that and can't stand things like salmon or trout even when they're at their best often. The winter vegetables were really good and the truffle oil enhanced them perfectly. The chanterelle sauce had a nice rich flavor with large slices of sauteed chanterelles. The portions, again, were very generous. I liked my dessert better than my wifes. The pears had a nice firmness to them while still being able to be cut with a spoon. They weren't near as alcohol soaked as I expected, which was nice. That is often overdone. The zabione had a wonderful light creamy texture and came with two twisted flaky sticks that were fun to dip into the flavorful froth and then crunch. The desserts are simple, but good. If I didn't have so many promising restaurants to visit in Portland, this is one I would definitely put on a rotation. I was very impressed and its a great value. The servers were very helpful in their recommendations, although I'm not sure if I could have gone wrong. Afterwards, we got second dessert at Pix. (We were stuffed but our car was parked right in front of Pix and the dessert case in the window called to us.) Picked up a Tart Menage a Trois: almond cream, chocolate ganache, and orange vanilla bean creme brulee all piled into a butter tart shell for $5. Very good combination of flavors (we ate it later during our video rental, Legally Blond 2 -- the tart was much better than the movie).

Anyone ever listen to Steve Martin's bit on McDonald's about everything coming from one giant mulch or something like that. Pretty funny bit. I used to have it on vinyl when I was in elementary school. There should be an MP3 archive of such things on eGullet.

Jump in with both feet and try everything. Never eat the same dish twice or at the same restaurant twice in the same month. Eat chef's tasting menus if you can. Take chef or server recommendations. Cook the standards using the best ingredients you can.

I don't know what makes one successful, but I know I'm looking for flavorful dishes with depth and good braises as mamster said. I also want whatever else I get to have a good sauce. Maybe some cheesy braised vegetables. And I also expect to be able to take my dad there and he can still find something he'll like, a relatively inexpensive wine and steak and fries. And I won't be spending a ton of money.

How about the lack of proper punctuation? When referring to words such as "palate" or "palette" they should be quoted. Another pet peeve: "1990s" shortened to "90's" rather than "'90s". Yes, my wife has a master's degree in English and has beaten me into grammatical submission. Help me, please, help me....

I first look at The Best Recipe or its newer sister book The Quick Recipe (or check cooksillustrated.com). The recipes are consistent (and the books very fairly priced), but one of the great things about it is that before each recipe is a long discussion of what the goals were and what worked and what didn't and why. It's like watching an episode of Good Eats. It's as much about understanding the foundations and science of cooking and baking as it is about a recipe. I don't use recipes that often except for baking (or for ideas about combinations of flavors, etc.). Joy of Cooking is a great book to have, too, but I find that the times and temperatures are often off. Another excellent book that's not really a cookbook, but a wonderful resource is Culinary Artistry.

A good point. I just picked up a copy of Petrini's "Slow Food" and that was my initial response. People have a lot of fast food choices, even just within the burger genre. And most people interested in fast food have taken the opportunity to try the competition, at least the other big names. And for whatever reason, they seem to keep going to McDonald's.

Don't get kicked out of the CC (Corpulent Collaborative). "You ain't fat....you ain't nothin'" ~ Weird Al

Even a proper couplet, summing up nicely....Willy would be proud. MathewB, you're taking the release of The Matrix III way too seriously.

Does anyone know where one can purchase the magazine? I looked at Barnes and Noble and didn't see it.

A decent episode. One of the few with a dirty joke that I can remember: AB: Man yams, why do they call them man yams? FoodScientist: Because they resemble something [closeup on long slender yam] that only a man has. [cut to AB's bewildered face as he looks at the elongated tuber] Think about it.

At $15/lb, it'd be cheaper to get already made duck confit. Some gourmet delis/grocers make duck confit and often have fat that they'll sell you. I'd call around if I were you. I've made duck "confit" in mixtures of different fats with duck fat, lard, olive oil, and bacon grease. Bacon grease and lard really impart too much flavor. Olive oil gives a flavor, too. Vegetable oils don't give enough flavor. A mixture of some duck fat with oil or shortening is the best alternative, I think. I don't know how good the oil versions are for a method of keeping the meat, either.

There are lots of methods to help keep it from drying out: brining, trussing, cooking upside down, not overcooking, basting, using an oven bag, putting some sort of fat under skin, such as bacon or butter. CooksIllustrated (who I trust for consistently solid results) says: For a 12 to 14 pound bird they brine using 2 pounds of salt rubbing it into the bird's skin and inside its cavities and then place it in a pot that easily holds it, then cover it with water for 4 to 6 hours. For large birds, Cooks Illustrated suggests: They also brine the bird in a mixture of 2 gallons water and 1 pound salt for 8 hours.

Mitmondol, you writing an epic poem or something? Use the word wrap and hit return only between paragraphs please for readability's sake. I think most people would agree with your sentiments, but there are some problems: 1) People do go to restaurants for more than the food: the wine, eg, the feeling of being treated special with quality service, the experience of being in a superior setting surrounded by nicely dressed people eating on fine china, etc. If it was just about the taste of the food, Thomas Keller and Charlie Trotter would be shlinging great tasting slop out of the back of a roach coach. 2) Few "celebrity" chefs (I put it in quotes, because very, very few chefs are celebrities to more than very small segment of the populace) are celebrities for reasons other than the quality of their restaurants, really. People like Emeril Lagasse, Tony Bourdain, Alton Brown, Julia Childs, etc, are the exception, not the rule. They just happen to be have even more broad notoriety than the rest of the "celebrities". Charlie Trotter is one of these lesser-known, more narrowly recognized celebrities whose fame comes from his quality restaurant more than anything. There may not be a perfect relationship between notoriety, acclaim, celebrity status, etc, and food quality, but there's rarely no relationship. Usually chefs get acclaim for a reason, their restaurants are good. 3) Just like any person in charge in any business, while the chef often isn't cooking the food on a day to day basis, he is the one who guides the restaurant. It is he who decides on and often creates dishes. It is he who ultimately guarantees the quality of the food, the service, and so on. Etc. The buck stops with him. He deserves the blame when things go wrong, and deserves the praise when things go right.

I've been getting rid of my useless cookware and utensils lately. My suggestion is to register somewhere that you can easily take your stuff back. I like Bed, Bath, and Beyond, eg. Then you can group returns to get the bigger items: KitchenAid Stand Mixer: I suggest the 5 qt (Artisan). I have the 6 qt (Professional), but it's often a little too big. Le Creuset: I suggest about a 7 to 9 qt oval or round. Knives: - Top Quality chef and paring knife - Global flexible boning knife - Wustoff's Santuko Pots and Pans: I prefer All-Clad, but Calphalon is a better value - 12 inch non-stick skillet - 6 qt saute pan (stainless interior) - 3 qt saucier (stainless interior) - Stock Pot, as big as you can get, I suggest no less than 16 qt Grill Pan - Lodge pre-seasoned dual burner stovetop grill/griddle Cuisinart: I suggest a 7 cup capacity so you can cut in fat to pie dough and the like Stick Blender: Has become one of my most used items (it's cheap, but I think many people overlook it). Silpat and a nice heavy sheet pan Other items you may want to consider, but aren't as broadly useful: Marble slab Nice non-stick rice cooker Ice cream maker Pasta roller attachment for KitchenAid Meat grinder attachment for KitchenAid

It's very rare that people take to anything right off. Smoking and drinking are perfect examples. People hack the first time they take a drag on a cigarette, they squint and pucker the first time they swig some alcohol. But then, for whatever reason, they *choose* to "educate" themselves. Some time later they're talking about tobacco grown hither and thither, cigars rolled here and there, grapes from this region or that region, etc. The product hasn't changed, their relationship to the product has. Take your grandmother to Thai food. Take a 7 year old child to Indian food. See how they react. There are very few flavors we have a natural affinity for and it's tough to prove that we have that natural affinity. Our body is meant to hunger for sugar, fat, charred proteins, and salty things. We're wired to dislike bitter things. Our natural affinities, then, might lead us to eat candy, potato chips, and grilled steaks. But they certainly don't lead us towards many of the "finer" things. It takes time to appreciate them, just like it takes time, for most, to appreciate smoking and drinking. And that's just a matter of taste. There are plenty of other issues such as being able to appreciate the creativity of a dish, the interesting use of ingredients, textures, techniques, etc. That takes experience, usually, or education. But basically, in *anything* someone must be acculturated into a system of thought, into a mini-culture, that gives them new rules of judgment that they can then use to apply to their experiences. It doesn't matter if it's for fine food or fine wine, bbq or bar hopping, Mexican food or Mexican folkdance. To appreciate it from within the system that created it and appreciated it to begin with, one must become part of that system to some degree. They must be educated.

I'd be willing to put that to the test. Would you, then, be willing to eat a bag of dirt for $175? I think we could get a collection going. Is it foolish to buy a diamond ring for one's fiance? Is it foolish to buy art? The stemware, the silver, the tablecloths, the chairs, the decorations on the wall, the china -- all are part of the aesthetic experience that is dining. For many people this broad aesthetic experience is important, possibly more important than the food or the wine. To call them fools is just a foolish belief that what you like should be what everyone likes and what you find important is what everyone should find important. Honestly, if you want to get into it, dining, eating, drinking are all wastes of money. They do nothing to make the world a better place. They go far beyond need. They do nothing quantitatively to add to our lives anymore than buying jewelry or art -- and at least those are more permanent purchases. Of course, if you want to consider the quality of life important, that's another matter. But then, that's largely subjective, and as such, people shouldn't be telling other people that they're fools for what they like.