Boris_A

To learn at the end of that century that the most simple and yet greatest food is not the result of an technological/anaylytical process. It's still the result of maybe only gently manipulated nature in the hand of skilled craftsmen.

If you look at the map, you'll notice a blue "snake" from Belfort to southwest. It's the Saône which is a wonderful river for canal cruising on a chartered house boat. It did a small section years ago on two boats with a couple of friends and kids. We shopped everyday in little towns and villages nearby and had wonderful lunches and peaceful in- and outdoor dinners when mooring somehere at the border of the Saône. A highly recommended, contemplative way to visit this region.

I never checked it in detail, but I'm under the impression that the latte for prima colazione in hotels is a highly sterilized, defatted milk derivative. I guess it's just another diabolic method to punish all those who insist in prima colazione in Italy.

Good Morning Gianduiotti directly imported from Torino, I guess. Did you like them? Did you had a nice travel? Any other culinary souvenirs from Torino beside the chocolate and the Barbera d'Asti?

[offtopic] In (Swiss) German, there exists the "Brockenhaus", a term for a place like a warehouse where you can find used furnitures that are not antiquities. Very popular among students and so on. Many of them just collect well usable furnitures from people who don't want to kick it away. Some of the profit goes to charity organisations. I guess it's related to the English "broking" like in stockbroker etc.. [/offtopic]

In Switzerland, you'll find Easter Cakes in evey bakery. They are made of pastry, rice, almonds and raisins and are offered mostly in small, round sizes with 3" or 5" diameter. At the bottom of this page under "Related Story" you can find a detailed recipe (click on "Osterflade"). My bakery is 50 yards away. I've never made them myself.

All I know about this is that for yoghurt, some bazillus bulgaricus is at work. (Actually, my father is from Bulgaria). And I know that a big producer of yoghurt in Switzerland has (had?) regularly his bazillus culture imports from Bulgaria, because the bazillus is degenrating over time. A question of terroir, I believe. BTW, my Ayran: - yoghurt - water - a tiny bit of mineral (carbonized) water to add some spritz - some salt

I'll stick with roasted baby goat (suckling kid), one of the easter classics here. Butter, a bit rosemary, a bit garlic and white wine to deglace. I'll take a little stool, I'll sit in the front of the oven and "spoon" it uncountable times within an hour. Served with some roasted spring potaoes.

Some other wines like Muscat d' Alsace (dry or semi-sweet), Chasselas (Alsatian or Swiss), Sherry-like Côte-de-Jura, German Kabinett Rieslings (sometimes verly low in alcohol) or Burgundian/Alsatian bubblers make for great aperitifs. Thanks for the poire eau-de-vie / apple juice suggestion, Lucy. I'm going to try this.

Thanks for the invitation, Lucy! Palette? (or: I see what you mean )

"People [aka societies] who sacrifice beauty for efficiency get what they deserve." (Robert M. Pirsig)

The qualities of a yoghurt depend of the microbiological cultures (bacteria clones) you're using. Acidity levels, firmness, appearance, left over water, etc. are controled by such parameters and temperatures etc. Companies like Danone make series in every country and invite a "typical consumer sample" to tastings in order to receive consumer respond. So when the average consumer prefers a "creamy", soft, bland yoghurt in country, then it's what you get there. Here in Switzerland, I have a source for very good, almost artisanal yoghurt. I contacted the guy who's producing it and he told me that food engineers call his yoghurt "defective". Oh well.

Data for 1997. Unfortunately, we dont' know about distribution, i.e. the consumption of a "typical" wine consumer. For example, in Bavaria, Germany, many people drink almost exclusively beer, so the per-capita consumption data doesn't tell much about the individual consumption patterns of the wine drinker minority.

One problems with the perception of Italian cuisine could be a cognitive dissonance: why on earth can so simply pepared homestyle food be so good, even great and delicious? (at least, for a western palate). The perception of French cuisine poses no such challenge: Haute cuisine, chi-chi, complicated techniques, great results. And whenever you find a cognitive dissonance, you don't need to wait a long time until impressive lines of arguments are built up to talk it away.

Long time ago, I used Piedmontese Arborio. Then I found Carnaroli. After trying Vialone Nano from the Veneto province, I think this is the best risotto rice I ever had. But remembering the times many years ago when I travelled on my old BMW motorbike through the silver-shining rice fields of Vercelli and Novara, now I think I'm going to try Arborio again. Fads are coming, are going, and coming back again.

Some 25 years ago, I visited Barbados and I'm a Mount Gay guy ever since. I'm buying the stuff for a decent price in Italy. I'm at 5 ounces a week max, but sometimes, I kill a 15 weeks credit in one evening. These are the days when I can't stand rationalilty. Edit: Oops? Ounces, metrics? I think I miscalculated a bit.

Floor: solid hardwood Wet prep countertop: stainless steel with seamless integrated sinks Dry countertop: solid hardwood (if not hardwood, I'd go with slate. Relatively soft, but I like patina and scratches. The first scratch is the deepest, but over time ... Just like in real live.)

A large number of the cooks in European chinese restaurants are just Chinese immigrants seeking some work. Most of them didn't even cook at home in China. Furthermore, most chinese restaurants are cheap restaurants, so no one expects ingredientwisely real quality there. How can the result be different from what it is?

I make a lot of risottos with regular "white" rice (carnaroli, nano) and I'd never do it in a pressure cooker. However, whole grain rice is a different animal and I like the idea of combining whole grain rice - a prodcut of really excellent nutritional value - with some time saving techniques. I tried whole grain risottos wihout pressure cookers, but actually it's a terrible amount of work and the result is less convincing.

I like my pressure cooker for whole grain (natural) rice risottos. I prepare it like classic risotto (shallots, broth 1.75 times the volume of rice, maybe some dried porcinis or morrels), have it under pressure for 30 minutes and then gently stir it for another 5-10 minutes. Serve it with parmigiano (or sbrinz), chopped parsley and pepper. A great whole grain dish. Also great: make the risotto pure and the prepare a rice gratin with some parmigiano and tomatoe sauce. Can easily be prepared in advance. Once known as "natural rice Italian style". (Ed, maybe I can offer a try very soon )

For food shopping, I'd recommend: - chocolate, especially Gianduja (invented in Torino) called Gianduiotti - artisanal grissini - Robiola di Roccaverano cheese (but only pure goat variants) If you look out for Massobrios' Guida Golosa (16.90 €, in every bookshop) you will find not only a useful restaurant guide for Piedmont, but a large number of shopping adresses for all kind of culinary treasures and specialities.

The Czech signature dish is pork roast, bread dumplings and sauerkraut. Try to find "Budvar" (from České Budějovice or formerly Budweis) called "Czechvar" in the US. It's a really good Czech beer.

First, I'm not a winegrower. My observations say: If you prune too early, you promote stronger growth (that's what I've seen with my wisterias). If you prune too late (that's what my local winegrowers say), you have no second "rescue" prune in the case of late spring frost. Here in Switzerland (rather frosty region) they prefer pruning in late February to have some more rescue pruning. It's regionally different, I assume.

"Taille tôt, taille tard, rien ne vaut la taille de mars." Prune early, prune late, but nothing is better than pruning in March. (French winemaker proverb)

There are no really telling hard data parameters to define an EVOO. "The law is an ass" here (to quote Andrew Barr's "Wine Snobbery") and only a sensoric test - opposed to a purely analytical-chemical test - can decide whether an olive oil is "real" EVOO or not. Don't forget, state-of-the-art EVOOs are too spicey and "green" for many palates. I think the Spanish Marques-de-Griñon EVOO is a good start to learn about the chracteristics of cold pressed, "real" EVOOs. Remember the three biggest swindles in the world of food: Champagne, Grappa and Olive oil.