HKDave

I wouldn't recommend veg oil.... As long as you can sand or plane it smooth again, and it's not badly cracked, you probably haven't destroyed it. To get it back into shape: If needed, smooth it using sandpaper or a planer. You can fill small cracks with exterior (waterproof) wood filler, but if there are large cracks, or cracks in the middle of the board, it's new board time. Cracks trap food and breed bacteria, and too much wood filler isn't good for your knife. Sterilize it using hot water and soap or cleanser, or a paste of baking soda and water, or lemon and salt, or vinegar - there are plenty of methods but most should work OK because wood boards are actually more sterile than plastic. Rinse whatever you use off with water, and let the board totally dry out - probably overnight. Oil it with edible mineral oil (in the US, the oil will say "U.S.P." on the bottle, get it at any drugstore). The reason for using mineral oil is that it won't go rancid. Wipe it on with a cloth, with the grain, until you've wetted out the surface. The oil is to a) keep the wood from drying out, and b) to keep water from penetrating the grain. Leave the oil to sit for a while, then wipe off any extra with a clean cloth. There shouldn't be oil left on the surface, you want it to sink into the wood. I suggest let the board sit overnight before using it. Edit: I need to learn how to spell 'knife'....

It's time to improve my wine knowledge. Friends in the biz suggest I take the Wine and Spirit Education Trust advanced certificate, but I'm now reading their textbook and they seem overly France-centric. I recently heard about the International Sommelier program. Has anyone done any of these courses? I'm asking about the intermediate level courses here.

Nessa, you've been a real popular lady all week. Thanks for a great blog. And, umm, you look mighty sweet in that photo [blushing]. Got a question, if you're still around - how many of each dried chilie did you put in the enchilada roux?

Of course it's OK. I'm flying into Portland in July for 3 days and will be pumping you for the good stuff in return (got any real BBQ there?)... Downscale/ethnic/lunch ideas: Vancouver has several good Vietnamese pho restaurants, and they're all pretty cheap. My old fave is Pho Hoang 3388 Main St Vancouver, tel (604) 874-0832. Also has a downtown location. Another reliable inexpensive Cambodian/Vietnamese option would be Phnom Penh 244 E. Georgia in Chinatown, tel (604) 682-5777. There are a lot of good Greek restaurants strung along Broadway. One to try would be Ouzeri, 3189 W.Broadway tel (604) 739 9378. For reliable downscale Chinese, there's Hon's Won Ton House (original at 268 Keefer in Chinatown, plus locations in Richmond and downtown). Noodles and dumplings, just as good as in Hong Kong. Hmmm. If I was coming to Vancouuver from somewhere like Portland, I'd probably want to hit Chinatown. The 200 block of E. Pender is very interesting for Chinese cookery stuff. I'd definitely stop into the Dollar Meat Store at No. 266 for a 1/2 pound of the world's best warm char siu (Chinese BBQ pork) and snack on it as walked. To answer your question about how Vancouver's various ethnic restaurants compare with other North American cities, I'd say (all IMHO, of course): For Cantonese (incl. dim sum), Vancouver is the best place on Earth. Vancouver has a combination of excellent Cantonese chefs, excellent fresh ingedients, lots of customers that really know the cuisine, and (unlike Hong Kong) low rents. Ditto for Japanese food, especially sushi. Vancouver simply rules for sushi. Daddy-A and I agree on Tojos. I've had several of my 'best meals of my life' at Tojos sushi bar. Definitely sit at the bar, don't go if you can't sit at the bar. Let Tojo choose. $$$ but worth it. For Sichuan, Vancouver sucks. But so does most Sichuan in North America. Real Sichuan food is simply too explosive and far too oily for most westerners (and for most Cantonese - even in HK it's watered down to suit local tastes). But if you ever make it to Hong Kong, I'll set you up with the real deal. I love it. For Indian and Malaysian, I would agree with Daddy-A's recs. Vancouver is good but not really world-class for either cuisine, but Vij's is a real standout. For Korean, Vancouver is not in the same league as, say, LA or New York. Arirang at 2211 Cambie (just south of the Cambie bridge, tel (604 879-0990) is fairly authentic. So now you probably have total info overload....

I think we're in for yet another good one here....

Bleu, please have mercy. I had to join a 12-step food porn recovery program after that week with your foodblog, and now you've got your camera out again.... Seriously, this is a very interesting thread. Thanks.

The car ferry to Victoria leaves from Tsawwassen, about 45 min south of Vancouver (it's closer to US border, and to Richmond, than to Vancouver). Time on the water is 1.5 -2 hrs depending on which boat you catch, and schedules are here: http://www.bcferries.com/schedules/mainlan...sw-current.html So unless you plan to have an early dinner at C and not drink very much, the 9pm ferry would not be a good plan. Lunch would work better.

Furi knives are made in China, always have been. Not necessarily a bad thing, but Furi do seem to talk up their Aussie heritage and avoid the reality that they sell a very good 100% Chinese made product. Details in the furifaq here: http://lib1.store.vip.sc5.yahoo.com/lib/ul...ore/furifaq.htm

Richmond's easy if you're driving (especially if approaching from the USA), but basically impossible without a car. All of the Richmond places mentioned above are in or near malls on #3 Road, so parking isn't a big problem. Parking in downtown is better than average for a typical city, although Vancouverites still complain about it. Vancouver does have a 'Skytrain' but it's fairly pathetic and can be ignored by visitors. Other than that, there are buses.... I respectfully disagree with my learned associates Daddy-A (re Commercial Drive) and Sam Salmon (re Liliget). I wouldn't bother with either. Edit - punctuation....

Richmond has great dim sum. Many of the big Vancouver Cantonese restuarants have branches there, so the food quality is basically the same. No. 3 Road is like a very weird suburb of Hong Kong. You shouldn't go wrong with any of these: Sun Sui Wah 102-4940 No. 3 Rd., Richmond, 604-273-8208 Richmond Mandarin 8181 Cambie Road, Richmond, 604-270-3003 Kirin 200-7900 Westminster Hwy., Richmond 604-303-8833 There are some longish Richmond dim sum threads over on Chowhound.

Park City is about 45min drive from SLC.

The best meat I've ever tasted anywhere was some injected and smoked turkey breast and brisket, done by a professional BBQ chef from Texas. He was using Tony Chancere's marinade for injection and smoking in a SmokinTex. And he was using those cheap plastic syringes. I couldn't get him to cough up too many secrets but he said the injection technique is to insert the syringe all the way, then inject a line of marinade as you slowly withdraw it, and stop injecting before you get to the surface so the meat can seal up again. Repeat all over the meat. Don't try to inject a pocket of marinade in one place. He also said to make sure the marinade is 100% liquified - even a tiny piece of garlic will gum up the needle. From the taste of the results, I'll tell you this technique must be worth it. The meat was amazing. He gave me a few injectors (which I forgot I had in my bag when I went through airport security the next day - but that's another story) but I never was able to try this out because I can't get prepared injectable marinades in HK, and I haven't seen any good recipes for same. Anyone have injectable marinade recipes?

Granville Island market: Friday less crowded, otherwise not much diff. Not as good as Seattle or SF markets. The ferry is 5 minutes and is not needed unless you're coming on foot from downtown - you can drive or walk onto Granville Island by land from the South.... If I had one meal in Vancouver, I would go for dim sum for lunch. Vancouver dim sum is the best in the world. My old fave is still the Pink Pearl on the less-than-salubrious part of Hastings St, but many say there are many others just as good in nicer parts of town. If it had to be a dinner, Tojo's for sushi (sit at the bar, and let Tojo choose for you). Again, there are those who would say other sushi places are better but Tojo has delivered for me for 20 years. I'm not up on the latest hot swank western places in Vancouver, but going by the talk in this thread, I'm tempted to do the chef's table at West for my next visit. I'm totally out of the loop on Victoria.

For years now, I've been preserving basil by chopping it up (fresh, unblanched), mixing it with olive oil, and freezing it. The basil darkens somwhat, but I've never had any other trouble, and after thawing I often use it uncooked such as on insalata caprese. Your mileage may vary.

The ones in the freezer section are usually 'spring roll' wrappers - thinner, sans egg (not to be confused with Vietnamese spring roll wrappers which are just rice paper and are sold dry) . Egg roll wrappers (thicker, made w/egg) are usually not frozen, at least I haven't seen them that way. They may be in sealed bags in the fridge section or more likely you need to find a shop that sells fresh Chinese egg noodles (mein) who will probably also sell egg roll wrappers fresh. If none of that works where you live, they are not hard to make. Some wrapper recipes with and w/o egg can be found here.

That sounds like a tremendous meal, but $600+ for two... wow.... Vancouver sure has changed since I lived there.

Assuming they're boiled to the point of being basically cooked, I would just slice and quickly wok-fry in a little peanut oil to get some heat into them, then add lots of finely chopped garlic. Before the garlic starts to brown, add a little stock, then if needed thicken with a little cornstarch solution so that the stock forms a thin glaze, and plate and serve immediately. This is one of my all-time fave veggie dishes, I can still remember the first time I had this.

Ah, Pan, that's one situation I hadn't considered. Yes, if there's a major screwup I would expect the house to make it right, and that usually means a comp (at least). But even then, I never ask for a comp - if they make it right, I tip and come back; and if they don't, I don't, although I will usually let the manager know what happened in case they want to improve for their next customer. As for the rest of what you say, agree agee agee.

I don't think there's ever a point where you can expect a comp. Comps are up to the house. If the house has a stated policy like a freebie meal on your birthday or something, then that's a promotion, not a comp, and then it's cool to ask (in advance, please, not when the bill is presented!) If the deal's not publicized, however, it's up to the house if you get comped or not, and it's definitely tacky to ask. But as for proper etiquette when you get comped, that's easy: personally thank the staffer who made it happen, and tip big time. Not just 15 or 20%, but at least 20% on what the meal would have cost if you hadn't got comped, and then round up. And then add some more. Nothing says 'Thank-you' in a restaurant like cash money. If you're a regular, this also lets the staff know that you're the appreciative kind of guy who will share the love if they feel like taking care of you in some way on a future visit.

For me, any natural PB beats hydrogenated sweetened PB by a mile. I find the sweetened kind absolutely inedible. My fave was the generic Safeway just-peanuts-and-salt kind, but I can't get that here and they may not even sell it anymore. It was much cheaper than brands like Adams, and tasted better. The only unsweetened unhydrogenated PB currently on sale in Hong Kong is Arrowhead Mills, a brand that 20 years ago was the absolute best-tasting PB on Earth, but now is just OK. It costs an insane US$10+ per 500g jar (at Olivers in Princes Building, in case anyone's wondering).... but it's what there is here, so it's what we buy. The oil on top is no big deal. We just leave the jar upside down for a few days, then stir, then stick it in the fridge. Still spreads fine. If your bread rips when you spread cold PB on it, maybe you need healthier bread, not softer PB...

I've been lusting after one of these electric box smokers ever since I had some brisket and turkey breast done in a SmokinTex (very similar to the Cookshack). The chef had injected both with different Tony Chancere's marinades, and the results were astonishing - some of the best meat I've ever tasted. Problem now is that I live on the 28th floor of a sealed building, and shipping one of these things to Hong Kong would cost a fortune. The SmokinTex is made in China but only sold in the US, I can't buy it here There's a thread going on these kind of smokers over at homebbq: http://www.homebbq.com/duportal/forums/msg...id=187&for_id=8

Funny you should say that. I'd be willing to bet just about anything that in its original incarnation the drink called for a sprig of borage, and that later versions changed to cucumber as being easier to obtain. Could very well be. I've seen recipes for Pimm's with borage flowers (looks good if you're serving it in a pitcher) and/or leaves, plus various combinations of apple, lemon, orange and mint. The recipe on the bottle suggests "a slice of lemon, or orange and cucumber if desired". For my taste, plain cucumber does the job. The original drink also probably used lemonade, because I'm pretty sure there weren't any sodas like 7up or ginger ale in the mid-1800's. Would they even have had ice in taverns back then?

You're just not hanging around in the right places. On a nice afternoon, when the afternoon rain has just passed and the Quarter is steamy and hot, a soothing frosted Pimm's Cup consumed while listening to the ever present sounds of classical music can be a very sublime and satisfying drink. Highly underrated muffelettas, as well. Pimm's Cup and a muffeletta... [mouth watering] Brooks, I'm on the next plane! I keep both Pimms and Campari at my home bar, never really thought about them as being 'foreign'. But even in this former Brit colony, many bars don't have cucumber for Pimms any more. I always ask first, the drink is not the same without it. Our house variation on the Pimm's #1 Cup, and the only drink I claim to have invented, is the Incapacitator: Long glass, rocks 1 part Pimm's 1 part Tanquery Export (47%) Gin 3 parts Canada Dry ginger ale (not 7up - too sweet) Stir, garnish w/ cucumber The above is the genteel version. I used to make these in frosted beer mugs, effectively a triple. Drink outdoors on a hot day, followed by a nap. Hence the name. I'm grown up now and don't do that any more. Not often, anyway.

I don't see this as different than using good liquor to mix any cocktail. The difference between a margarita made with speedwell tequila and premium tequila is definitely tasteable. But that's assuming we're talking about a stirred, fresh squeezed lime juice, on the rocks marg, not some awful blender kiddie drink. Whoever invented invented the Island Oas*s machine has a lot to answer for. I hope when they get the the Final Judge, they get sentenced to an eterity drinking Island Oasis drinks.

Meat. Any meat. One of the first things I cooked, at about age 8 or 9, was a whole beef heart. I ate raw burger whenever I could get it. This was weird only because my family's house was - wait for it - vegan. Or maybe that's why my meat jones wasn't so weird.