Boris_A

I like Powidltaschkerl a lot. (Kind of potatao dough raviolis filled with a prune reduction. Served hot). Originally from Boehmia, I think. Let's say "K&K". My preferred Austrian cake is "Mohn-Gugelhopf" of Demel's Zuckerbäckerei. Very thin layers of dough (what dough? I still don't know) and very thin layers of grated Mohn rolled over and then pressed in a Gugelhopf mould. Very elegant. Once, I bougth a whole for my birthday party and paid $70 for it. I did not regret. Hello zaelic. My father is Bulgarian and he attained 1954 the cup final in Wankdorf stadion in Bern. I think he is still sad.

I'll try to post a pic. But hey, right now the pike is somwhere in the lake, in front of my home. My fisherman still has to catch em. It's not predictable at all. So let's keep fingers crossed. I did it with about half sized pikes and 20+ minutes (starting at 180C and giving upper heat at the end). Pike has firm meat and is relatively forgiving regarding too long cooking. But I'm scared, of course. Frightening animal!

FWIW,I'm planning to cook a 3ft, 10 lb whole pike around easter. I've never such a thing before (I did it with smaller 1.5ft pikes though). I'm living lakeside, and it's the only time during the year I can get a pike of that size. I'm intending to braise for 25 minutes it in my large oven, in a "fond" of salt, pepper, light olive oil, white wine, and a bit lemon. I'll serve it with a lot of butter fryed parsley, steamed potatoes and some butter sauce. I'll invite 10 people. Bone structure is a nightmare with pike, so it's going to be an ugly slaughtering, but I absolutely don't mind. My intention is to arrange a anachronistic feast provoking visual emotions. I want to play on the extreme contrast of a fine meal with a horror beast, so it's going to be served "à la francaise", as a whole animal in the middle of the table. If it's a success, I intend to make it habit, a yearly ritual: "Easter Pike", welcoming spring time.

I remember of a extensive university study about sport drinks (Gatorade and the like), that a mix of aple juice and water (50/50) is a highly effective way to get a lot of minerals, a quick resorption and intake of some carbos. Let's not forget: Branded drinks are marketable, no names not. As for power bars: as I mentioned, on my rides I had dried fruits (bananas and pears) out of my back pockets enough for a lifetime. But I'd prefer them anytime over those somewhat artificial and expensive bars. I was a bit familiar with Euro pro racing, so I try to answer your questions: Usually, the contents of the bags are similar, but still individual, according to personal preferences. Rice-cookies, low-fat sandwiches, fruits and similar, all easy to eat (on the bike) and to digest food. In longer stages, you have usually two "ravitaillements" = places where people of the team are placed a the side of the road and the riders pick their bags. Some stuff is eaten immediately, other is filled in the back pockets for later use. "Water carrier" is an expression for those who work for the team leader(s). They drop back to the service cars and carry water, food, cloths, whatever to the peloton, make the pace, lend their bike in case of a mechanical accident and so on.

Beer and Aspirin. No, seriously, in my younger days, I did long rides in the Alps with serious climbs (Galibier, Stelvio, Ventoux and the likes). But back then in the 70/80ies, there was not so much sophistication on the amateur level. Dried bananas and dried pears ad nauseam. Water in your "bidon". And after 150km and 3000m dislevel, I just ate everything not too fat. However, our best "culinary" rides (my girl friend any I, that is) have been in France. Aquitaine, Languedoc, Auvergne, Provence. Two low rider bags on my bike, a handle bag at the other, (5 kg luggage altogether) a credit card, some money, michelin maps and some notes taken from "Logis de France" and 2-3 weeks of time. From Lyon to Bordeaux to Perpignan, for example. Bred, goat cheese and fruits during the ride. Every evening a two person feast in a small family restaurant. Local food, regional dishes and local wine. Best holidays ever. Time was frozen. A week was a month im memory. "Vive la petite reine"!!!

I'd invite: - Alain Chapel (I'd try to make him cook) - Giuseppe Verdi - Vanessa Redgrave - Thomas Jefferson

I'm going to visit Rioja in May. Oh, how I love places with zero atmosphere. Some of the best parties of my life have been in places with zero atmosphere, where the light of self-reflection and standards created by mass media doesn't shine too brightly. Thank you, Marco Polo, and thank you, vserna for the explanation of Spanish lamb. Until today, I can't make up my mind about my preference for baby lamb or for baby goat. I'm looking forward to visit the Iberian continent again.

Exactly. His "Grand Vin" series are coming from a "complantation" = several varieties (Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinto Gris) from a single vineyard harvested (!) and vinified together from the beginning. So it's not an "assemblage" (blend). He claims this was the common vinification method in Alsace before the variety thing started some time ago. I found the wines irregular in characteristic from vintage to vintage , but mostly excellent and really great wines. It's a remarkable and absolutely unique way of vinification, as far as I know.

After visiting a decent number of cellars, I came to the conclusion that in most cases pricing within a producers range are positively correlating with quality. For example. most of the time, a $20 "Village" Burgundy is inferior to a $40 premier cru or to a $100+ grand cru. I don't' say the $40 or the $100 are necessarily worth the price, but the vertical quality hierarchy is mirrored there. In other words: these guys are just as smart as I am.

Some Alasatian VTs, SGNs and German BAs, TBAs carry the ~ $100 tag with certain justification: production cost is eyxtremely high. In that sense, you get adaequate wine for the money. I pay sometimes such a price, because I love the chracteristics of those wines and I don't know of a true second source. As for dry reds, I think with a limit of $40-50 you can still buy top wine in almost every region of this world. Maybe not the the most respected labels, but then in a blind comparison you just don't see the etiquette. The quality differences are so small IMHO, that parameters like personal preference, aging, consuming context (not tasting! context) and so on are more influental to perception than the the quality of the raw material. But I have to confess, together with friends we did buy some Vegas, Giacosas and the like.

I don't really know Zagat, but 1) Considering the share of information Michelin is more of a hotel guide. All merits in restaurant rating come from reliabilty, not from intriguing articles. 2) On one star level, Michelin does quite a fair job, I think. And not only in France. Their mistakes are rather by omission. With its pictograms and its somewhat grotesquely compressed descriptions, there is room for phantasy and surprise. 3) Wrt. three star - this is more a fashion and art business anyway. Those who expect reliable guides for contemporary work ... Its' all about too much meaning, somehow.

Domaine Albert Boxler does a very fine job.

Then let me add a word ot two: Here you can find more information (and some very nice pics) on Nebbiolo in Valtellina. Outstanding traditionalistic producers are: - Ar.Pe.Pe. (Arturo Perego Pelizatti) - Nino Negri - Rainoldi (as Phil Ward already pointed out) - Prevostini Other Nebbiolos DOCs I didn't mention are Gattinara DOC and Carema DOC, where a 80-90% Nebbiolo share is prescripted by the DOC rules. And I can assure that these wines are quite unknown to most winelovers outside these regions. Winelovers with some affinity for lighter wines and prepared to search in those backwaters overshadowed by fashion and trends can ride there all in front of the rediscovery of elegant food wines. So when the mediatic touting stes in - for us, it's going to be old news.

Baby goat. Roasted in clarified butter, with a bunch of garlic cloves "en chemise" (with inner shells). Served with roasted new potatoes and spring salad.

Very good observation. I found Nebbiolos (d'Alba) sometimes better with food than Barolos. Since 1994/95 when I sampled quite amounts of $18-20 Barbarescos (before hype set in and due to the Lira exchange) it's definitely my favourite variety. Maybe you can get some bottles of Valtellina DOC (mostly made from 100% Nebbiolo or Chiavennasca as they call it there) and give a try. I recommend ArRePe among others. They tend to be on the lighter side of the spectrum like Nebbiolo d'Alba compared to Barolo/Barbaresco. Other lesser known fields to explore for Nebbiolo aficionados are Ghemme DOC and Roero DOC. All these wines should be tasted (consumed, that is) with food in order to deliver the sensations you described so wonderful in your 1999 Belle Pente, Pinot Noir Willamette Valley review. Which I found on of the most telling posts (not only for wine) I've read here in recent times. Bravo!

Zurich: "Zürcher Gschnätzlets mit Rösti" Oops. Already mentioned.

I pay a cool 2$ (two dollars) for 1 (one) Italian baby! Still - generously cut away hard stuff (oh man, how petite they are afterwards), cut vertically in thin slices and braise them gently for 20/30 minutes in a reduction of EVOO, white wine, a bit lemon or vinegar and some garlic. Mix with pasta or serve on toasted bread.

If you can get "Vacherin Fribourgeois", with this 50/50 recipe you get the most popular version around Pays de la Gruyére. Wrt. Kirsch: beside having it in the fondue, immerse your piece of bread in Kirsch before stirring in the fondue. Don't repeat too often. Wrt. wine: see Mark's post. Impéccable as always. German dry Sylvaner should be fine as well.

That's not so bad. The new kitchen plannings looks so good, it's going to be a final, not an interim solution. So more time and thus more careful planning is no real harm. It's a chance. A good design is always arranging and rearranging of possibilities. But of course I feel sorry for the extended time you will have to cook in your maze kitchen.

The price in Europe is about $16-18 for Jaboulet's Giogondas. And Jaboulet is a good, very renowned producer/negociant. I don't know that specific 98 Gigondas, but in all probability buying a handful of these bottles can't be wrong. If you like the wine, at $12 it's a bargain.

Screw caps are THE convenient solution for wines intended to be consumed within 2-5 years. But even 10 years should be no problem.

When I was in Beijing some years ago, I liked a restaurant at the NE corner of the Ritan park very much: the Xihe Yaju restaurant.

Maybe you've seen then, but sometimes the US prices for imported wines are a rip off. The dealers here in Europe are not shy to lock in some profit, but sometimes I see those prices being doubled(!) in the US. Shipping cost should not be more than 20c a bottle, BTW. BUT there are stiff import tariffs, AFAIK. $3-4 per bottle.

Here in Switzerland, tip @14% is included in prices. A bit rounding up is common. Feel free to add 5% or more for exceptional good service. And feel free to complain about exceptional bad service. Somehow, I'd expect the boss to select and educate his personnel by himself. It's not my task to this by tipping. And it's simply unfair to punish the service for bad kitchen perfomance or dirty service rooms or whatever.

Export ratio of Swiss wine is under 1%. About 7000-10'000 bottles are flooding the US market per year. Chasselas is the main variety and tells an interesting story. It's among the oldest varieties we know. I learned that it's orogins might go back to 8000 bC and that the Aegypts did it know (5000 bC). It seems that the Romans brought it to Switzerland. At the border of the lake of Geneva, it's planted for 800 years now, I was told. Today, apart from Alsace (where more planting started recently, I heard!) and minuscule quantities in Germany, it's only in Switzerland where we find Chasselas today. I wasn't a fan either because of the "lack of character" prejudice, confirmed by many bottles produced by less caring growers. But when I met a young grower (Pierre Leyvraz), deeply commited to produce Chasselas of concentration and intense character, I was converted in a second. Interfestingly, his Saint Saphorin improves with 3-4 years cellaring. A little glass of his wine together with a little piece of Gruyère Surchoix - and you know why our common ancestor Epicurius was reminded of paradise when he had great cheese together with great wine. Because many Chasselas from big producers is rather uninteresting and confirming old prejudices, this peculiar wine doesn't cost more than $10-$11. That's unmatched for a bottle of intense, characteristic, spicey wine, produced from one of the oldest varieties of this this world. I admit, my opinion has a lot to do with my general experience (especially in the realms of gourmandrie), that things that have been able to exist for a long time, are mostly not outdated, but out of favor only. In the world of 'vin médiatique', like the French say so nicely, this is truer than ever, I dare to say.