budrichard

Just tell me where you are going to be in the Chicago-Milwaukee area when you start photographing your food because you seriously don't want to do it when I am around. It appears to me that a number of individuals have lost sight of what fine dining is or was and elevated the food and the chef to 'cult' status rather than having a good time with people having good conversation. -Dick

Aun... A true Japanese hand forged kitchen knife is not all that common. Many of the more "commercial" brands do involve machine making operations (plus some hand work sometimes). I think Hattori (for their Unryu series anyway) and Kasumi and Global are like this to varying degrees. True hand-forged knives are usually made by the smaller workshops or individual smiths, of which there are numerous in Japan but not many are well marketed outside Japan. Some names have already been given in this thread. Other names I can mention are Murray Carter and Takeshi Saji. As you have correctly stated, true hand forged blades rarely make it our of Japan and are extremely expensive. Murray Carter, a true smith in his own right, acted as an agent in my purchase of a true hand forged 'Sashimi' Honyaki. It is made from Hitachi #1 White Steel with mirror polished blade and ebony and ivory handle and scabbard. In reality it is about as sharp as any good commercial Japanese Sashimi blade. As they say, if you have to ask the cost, you can't afford it! Seriously, we are talking in the low $K's. -Dick

I can tell you that i have already curtailed any European purchases until the $ gains significantly against the Euro. Wine will be no different. -Dick

I view the different types of blues as really different cheese categories. There are the blues that are made to be combined with other ingrediants in salds and such, Maytag is certainly th best of the lot. A true roquefort is hard to find but an excellent cheese. The English blues such as Stilton or Shopshire are just made for Port and cigars. The soft blues such as a gorganzola are great with crackers or a crusty bread. What i don't care for is the factory blues produced in the US that bear no relation to anything or than the name. -Dick

Viking, 4-15,000BTU/HR burners, convection oven/broiler, wouldn't be without it! Note that true commerical ranges are not rated for NFPA residential fire codes. -Dick

American Coot, 'Fulica americana', superficially ducklike species have conical bills, dives for aquatic plants, feet are not webbed. Source, Sibley 'Guide to Birds'. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i2210id.html Source of great joy to veteran duck hunters, when they see a 'newbie' coming out of the marshes with a brace of coots. -Dick

Did they 'prime' the glass with wine from the bottle you ordered? Did they use another wine? What happpened to the wine used for 'priming'. Never heard of the practice, sounds like something dreamed up. Of course what do i know, I only have been collecting and drinking for 40 years. -Dick

Sorry I didn't answer sooner but I was hunting. The only simliarity between a domestic duck and a wild duck is the name and two feet and two wings. Otherwise they are two different birds. As I have already posted, hanging is not required and can infact be dangerous. Treat a wild duck like rare beef and roast until rare to medium rare serve hot with some sort of sweet sauce. Put aromatics in the cavity. Any over cooking and it will be tuff. There are fish eating ducks and coots that are never going to taste that good. There are all sorts of recipes out there to cope with this but they don't really work. A slow braise in some sort of aromatic may help. Most of the posts that one gets about wild game are from inidviduals with not a lot of experience. I have been shooting and eating wild ducks for 40+ years. Great water fowl! Just don't shoot the coots! -Dick

Rick ,thanks for the reply. My post was a bit facietious because I purchased the brew for the novelty and to have with Sashimi as a first beer, we then switched to Asahi 'SuperDry'(real 'SuperDry' from Japan) and unfiltered Sake. I don't age beer and don't plan on it in the near future. I will stick with wine. -Dick

Various Point brews are still available in Wisconsin. I think that the number of micro-brews available now are dipping into the Point market. Augsburger is brewed by Huber and used to be basically Huber Bock, the diff is about $7/12 for Huber Bock and $6/6 for Augsburger. I think Huber would like to take all its brews upscale but don't want to alienate thier long time Huber drinkers just yet. Huber Bock in non-returnables is available again after being off the market I assume for a transfer from returnables. -Dick

View showing the John Boos countertops and Franke sink. Another view. All appliances are Kitchenaid except for the Viking four burner. Dick

Franke Manor House sink with Franke Pot Faucet in brushed nickel. One big sink with no other adornments. -Dick

We always have a 3l can of Colavita EVOO and pay about $20US/can. There is some acidity but for most uses it suffices. Have experienced no quality or degradation problems. -Dick

You mean it's not a National Holiday? I was born in Boston, live about 80 miles from Chicago and have an Irish wife. You could have fooled me! We go to http://www.chiefoneillspub.com/ on St Pats. Real Irish Pub with real Irish people, real Irish music. In fact we go there a lot! -Dick

"And not to rub it in, but...You better get you some Yuengling and prepare to watch the Iggles! " Translation please! -Dick

Marketing Hype. -Dick

Maybe you were looking for this: Egyptian Beer Experiment. Here's the Japanese Story. And through this company, Pharaoh's Brew, you can reserve a bottle... Before anyone orders a $250 bottle of beer, let me post what i know since i live in the area of the distributer. The Gold Pyramid is a large structure built by a contracter many years ago and there are or used to be tours, I have never gone. Wadworth, Illinois is not known for its water used in brewing. The whole thing looks like hype to me. Reminds me of a fellow I knew in High School who tried to ferment alcohol by using suger, yeast and grape juice! Completely undrinkable. -Dick

Huber Bock has always been brewed in Monroe Wisconsin by a guy who commutes from Chicago, at least last time I knew. It is a good brew with a 'smokey' flavor. It started out at $6/case for returnables and gradually escalated to about $10/case. For a while it was simply not available. Now it is back in non-returnables for about $7/12 pack or $14/case. I wonder if the cost of returnables was actually more than the cost of throwaways? BTW, it my understanding that Berghof 'Dark' is essentially the same brew and that the reintroduction of 'Augsburger Dark' is also about the same. That is about as good a story as Miller taking Leine's from a $6/case beer to about $12/case by tacking on Miller's overhead and advertising costs. Of course Miller was also responsible for killing the Lowenbrau brand in the US! Yes, I know it is now available again but only as a light beer. When asking the importer why no dark, the answer was that dark doesn't sell. Reply, of course not, all your data is based on beer brewed in Canada. Enough, I have to get ready to watch the Pack! Requires beer and brats! -Dick

Even though the anlytical testing says that the beer is the same, I'm afraid that testing cannot capture all the nuances. Many years ago while sitting at Kuni's in Evanstan, Illinois, after ordering an Asahi 'SuperDry', I remarked to my wife that it tasted different. I looked at the label, Imported from Canada. Where in the Chicago area can I find a source for the Japanese micro brews other than the little they have at Mitsua? Thanks for any info. -Dick

There are none up to this time or they are doing a good job keeping the news secret. If you mail them and ask for a brochure, they will send one to you that will make it a little easier to order. Ordering from France by fax is no problem and entails no risk. -Dick

Frankly, i have a tough time reading ANY wine review these days. most of them are just journalisitc exercises in word smithing without any real information conveyed. I seriously doubt that many of the tastes, smells and nuances are actually perceived or that the speculations about longevity, when to drink are valid. It appears that many of the reviewers have read so many types of these reviews that they feel they must also be able to convey this information or they are not truly wine people. So as a general rule i don't comment anymore on specific review but since this is not a specific review, it just came out! Me, after 40 years of collecting, I just purchase, drink and enjoy! -Dick

Be aware tha most 'Japanese' beer is now 'imported' from Canada and Kirin is imported from Los Angeles! I have to go to Mitsua to get actual Asahi 'SuperDry' in liter cans from Japan and even Saporro is now coming from Canada. -Dick

I really don't understand why my actions in avoiding venison and beef are so threatening. They are my decisions and are based on a cautious approach. Why try to change my mind or belittle my decision? All I did was to state my position and concern and not attack the viewpoint of other posters. As to your other questions, I am a Nuclear Engineer by degrees and specialize in Nuclear Safety and Probabalistic Risk Analysis. We also own and drive three Volvo's and don't own a pool. While not a clinician specializing in these 'Wasting Diseases' , the fact that humans, bovines and deer are all experiencing increases in the numbers of infections leads me to believe that there is some commonality that we have not discovered yet. Since the incubation period is years before evidence of the disease is discovered, it makes my informal risk analysis meter jump to where i will not wait for definitive word but will take action now to preclude contracting the human equivalent of the disease. -Dick

I have found that if I purchase the 'tails where less than choice quality beef is sold or in the Cryovac pachages, the 'tails are inavariably tough. Choice quality oxtails will not be tough and will only need a couple of hours of braising and the meat will almost fall of the bone. Actually i like to suck the meat off the bone!-Dick

My faxes are written in English along with the dollar amount and the kinds of chocolates I want, filled, bars or thier 'Gold Coins' or whatever combination. Amexo information is included along with US shipping address and expected delivery. Works like a charm! THE BEST IN THE WORLD! The hazelnut filled are truly to die for. People keep giving designer choclates made in the US to try and I don't even bother to comment on them anymore. A few months until my Easter order. -Dick