prasantrin

How skilled are you at learning languages? Both Spanish and French are Romance languages, so if you become fluent in one, it will be easier for you to learn the other. That being said, having studied both (but having become proficient at neither), I found Spanish easier to learn than French in terms of pronunciation (French has some weird vowel stuff going on). French is also heavily influenced by Germanic languages (English is a Germanic language), so the grammar sometimes strays from that of other Romance languages. What's my point? I'd go for Spanish first, just because it's easier (to me) and it will be an easier segue to learning other Romance languages including French. But you should also be thinking about your near future--will you be working primarily in the US at first? If yes, Spanish is probably more useful (especially in Florida, where iirc you're from). Or are you thinking of going abroad to stage somewhere--and if yes, Spain or France? Yes, most people think of France first in terms of classical cooking, but Spain is producing a lot of great food now, too. Which are you more interested in? Pick one, and then you've also picked the language you should study first.

http://www.bigcitylittlekitchen.com/2008/1...conut-tea-cake/ Many of the recipes can be found online. I left my book in Canada, so online searching is the only way I can get most of the recipes!

The acidity thing must be why I like cold-brewed coffee. It's one of the reasons I don't like coffee (the bitterness is the other reason) in general, so cold-brewed is the perfect match for me! You have a point about the Blue Mountain, but it seems so reasonable when you think of the price in 100gram increments! I think that's one of the reasons Japanese prices for food items is usually in 100 gram increments--it seems oh so much more reasonable that way.

I vaguely recall hearing that in the past, any extra money from the Heartland gathering was donated to "The Society". Perhaps this year (and in subsequent years), extra money could be donated to a local foodbank or similar organization? There could also be some kind of sale of donated items, the proceeds of which would go to a local food-related charity. When I was active in rfc (rec.food.cooking), after 9/11 there was a movement to publish and sell a cookbook of recipes compiled from members. The profits went to Second Harvest. If there is interest and if there are people willing to take on the task (and if eG can legally undertake such a project given its charitable status), perhaps something like that can also be done.

I made another batch of iced coffee using my Mizudashi Coffee Pot and some very fresh coffee (purchased and ground the same day) roasted for iced coffee (whatever that means). The store I went to (Hiro, a local chain) has four types of beans for iced coffee--mild, regular, Blue Mountain (using real Blue Mountain beans judging from the price), and one other I can't remember. I bought the mild and had it ground for the Mizudashi (they suggested "paper grind" which I assume is for when you use a manual drip cone--is that the same grind as for an automatic drip machine?). I accidentally left the coffee to brew for a few hours longer than suggested, but it's still very good coffee. The initial hit is a bit bitter, but then you can taste the nuances of the coffee. I'm not really a coffee drinker, but I really like what the Mizudashi produces. I should brew up some hot coffee and some iced hot coffee using the same beans just to see how the flavours compare with the different methods. I'm going to try the Blue Mountain blend next, but it's more than Y700 (US$7.30-ish) for 100 grams--that's for just two batches (roughly 400mL each) of iced coffee making for some very expensive beverages. My mild iced coffee blend was about Y350 for 100grams. I can't imagine how this maker is different from the cold-brew sock method, but it sure is prettier.

I like The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook but her recipes call for CELERY! (yucky face here). Not cooked celery in my Chinese food, dammit. It's too easy to find Bok Choy! Maybe this is just a factor of when it was published, but it's just WRONG! ← maybe she meant Chinese celery??? ← FWIW, we have friends from mainland China who make a stir-fried celery dish. It's very simple and somewhat flavourless, actually. I can add 9 to the list, but most of my cookbooks are in Canada, and who knows how many there are.

Kyocera now has a diamond sharpener for sharpening both Kyocera ceramic knives and metal knives. It cannot sharpen single-edged knives, so I assume it's better for western knives than Japanese ones. It's only Y2100! http://kaimonoichiba.com/fs/item/item_zoom...tem_num=07-0391

I washed out my Mizudashi Coffee Pot last night, and put it to work. It took a bit longer to make than I thought (it takes awhile for the water to filter through at first, so you have to stop and let it go down before adding more water), but it wasn't so long that it was annoying. This was the mini, however, and I imagine filling the larger one might be a bit more annoying. After sitting about 8 hours in my fridge, I made my first iced coffee. I like it. There are no errant coffee grounds in my cup (the filter really is very fine), and the coffee is neither too bitter nor too sour. I think I'll have to try it using a different grind and fresher coffee, however. The makers suggest using coffee roasted specifically to make iced coffee, so perhaps I'll stop buy my local coffee shop and see what they have. One note--it uses quite a bit of coffee--50grams for what I think is maybe 800mL of water. I don't make a lot of coffee (and when I do I use a moka) so I don't know how much coffee one usually uses, but it seems you could go through coffee grounds very quickly with this thing, and it could get very expensive.

Thanks weinoo and Richard. The filter itself is very very fine, so I don't think the coffee will get through. One day I'll take a picture of it so you can see. It's almost like very finely woven organza. The mini cost Y865 which at today's exchange rates is about US$8.50. When I was searching for English instructions, I found that it will be selling for about US$12. The store I purchased it at had larger ones, too, and some other similar vessels for making iced coffee (At least one other was HARIO, but I'm not sure of the makers of some of the others I saw). I hope to make some iced coffee up tonight, and I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow morning! (my time)

The art has not been lost. You just have to move to Japan to find it being practised. In Japan, customers bag their own groceries at most stores, but in stores where the clerks or baggers do the bagging, they do an excellent job (in terms of efficiency and packing).

Why not just subscribe? I find it much cheaper than buying through bookstores--Bon Appetit, for example, is just US$38 for one year compared to about Y1000 per issue if I buy it in a bookstore (so with an international subscription, I get 12 issues compared to 4 if I were to buy them individually). Then again, now I've got 36 issues of Fine Cooking to haul back to Canada with me next March, so maybe subscribing wasn't such a good idea after all!

Nuoc cham. It's my family's default beef accompaniment (prime rib, steak, etc. etc.).

Back to cold brewing. . . I bought a HARIO Water Brew Coffee Pot Mini last week. http://www.harioglass.com/webshop/coffee/coffee03.html I'd like to try using it, but I only have decaf that's ground for a Moka maker. Is it too fine a grind to use for making cold brewed coffee? And will decaf coffee give me really nasty cold-brewed coffee? It's Intelligentsia Decaf Black Cat brew if that makes a difference at all.

They need to watch this: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_barb...as_parable.html

In fairness, the recipe uses the "safer" method which involves heating the aromatics in the oil, then cooling, bottling, and refrigerating it. He says the oil is usable for one month or so, which is longer than FDA guidelines of 10-14 days, but the FDA often rules on the side of overly safe (the FDA used to say pork should be cooked to 170F which results in dry, unpalatable pork, but has more recently given a lower end of 160F which is a bit more appetizing). That still doesn't make his method perfectly safe, but it's not as quite as egregious as made out to be, in my opinion.

I did some browsing, and this site says back fat gives about 80% of its weight in lard. It's not as much as what I thought, but it's more than 50%--does 80% seem too high in your experience, even if guessing? I might be reading it incorrectly, though. It actually says:

If I render 500grams of back fat, would I get about 500 grams of lard? And is 500g of lard about 2 1/2 cups (2.44 cups according to Gourmet Sleuth's ingredient conversion)?

I can't do the chicken thing, because in Japan whole chickens are more expensive than boneless chicken breasts (and chicken breasts are the cheapest kind of chicken you can buy, much to my disappointment). I can get by with buying even fewer ingredients, but I have the tendency to cook just one or two things, and eat them for lunches and dinners all week long. I'm lazy that way.

In the NYTimes, Mark Bittman went shopping for 10 ingredients, and created a week's worth of meals out of them (and some staples already in his kitchen). Really, he only created 5 meals of 4 servings each, so if you're single and don't mind leftovers, it's a week's worth of meals, but if you've got a family of 4, it's just a week's worth of dinners (or lunches). Anyway, I thought it was an interesting idea, and a great way to meal plan for the week. The blog entry includes his recipes. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/t...-shopping-trip/

That was always my understanding too. When we dined there, I left nothing else besides that, and I was warmly thanked as I left—something they'd hardly be likely to do if they considered themselves stiffed. ← But the receipt says outright that the service charge is not a gratuity and is not distributed to staff. In North America, a tip is always for the staff. If they're not distributing the money to staff, it's not a tip.' If you want to see it, take a look http://eater.com/archives/2009/06/happy_en...ouse_charge.php

I'd spit it out, too. Shiso is definitely not one of my favourite flavours! Re: Gokuri blood orange--in my 'hood it's available at Seijo Ishii. Maybe you'll find it there?? I think they have the peach one, too.

Darn. That's going to be harder for me to source! Mail order to Canada is probably too expensive (factoring in shipping and duty). I made another Horlick's malt tonight. I've decided it's really the ice cream that's too sweet. Must try other brands, but ice cream is so expensive in Japan! I don't want to waste my money on crap!

I took a look, and I would have taken the survey had the survey been better written. Question 1: This implies dining at a Michelin restaurant is a regular experience. For many who have dined at such restaurants, it may only have been once or twice in their lifetimes. Which reply would be best for such people? Question 2: Wouldn't "multi-sensory experience" mean "all of the above"? How is it different from rating the food, service, atmosphere, environment, etc. separately? Question 3: How are you defining "satisfier"? It seems inappropriate in this context. How can "other guests" be a satisfier? Question 4: What's the difference between "'extraordinary' meal experience" and "the provision of excellent food"? For some people, a meal is simply the food. Basically, I think you need to define your terms better for your audience. Yes, I could take the survey as it is, but I'd prefer to take one which was better formulated. (and in case you were wondering, I do have experience writing surveys so I know a little of what I speak)

An oldie but a goodie! I'm trying to make a malted shake. I've got Horlick's, Milo, and Ovaltine. Horlick's seems to be the most highly recommended, but by the time I added enough Horlick's to get a nice malty flavour, it was also way to sweet. I know I should just bite the bullet and try the other two, but I have a limited amount of Haagen Dazs ice cream, plus I'm already chubby and don't need to add to my chubbiness with all that experimentation. So. . . I'm wondering if anyone has compared the three drink mixes--is one more malty than the others? Should I maybe add some Whoppers to my shake to make it more malty? What about malted milk powder http://www.ctlcolfax.com/maltedmilk.htm . Would that be an even better option?

Come to Japan. It's a wee bit before prime season, so they're super expensive, but usually worth what you pay for them.