Liza

I'm re-invigorating this thread. Alex is a treasure. We just enjoyed his mussels (cooked over the grill with hickory chips) and two whole trigger fish. Come on, New Yorkers, check him out on Wednesdays at Union Square and Saturdays at the Tribeca Market, on Greenwich at Reade. He's the real deal.

Should we start a thread about essential traveling items? We won't go anywhere without tongs, a pepper grinder, coarse salt, and a strainer - we do leave the chinoise at home, but only because unless I wear it as a hat, ala the TinMan, it's simply too bulky.

Michel Roux is my sauce/stock God and he roasts the bones for veal stock, so I do, too. He also throws in a pigs foot (but no barrel of beer.) For lobster stock, he recommends roasting the shells, which emits a wild ocean / lobster/ 'yuck what's burning?' smell but is worth it. Yet I'll admit that for chicken stock, I break with M. Roux and roast the bones, too. I find the ensuing stock is much easier to make because most of the fat is left in the roasting pan, and not swirling around waiting for me to remove it; and it has a deeper flavor. BTW, Jerry Traunfeld does this in The Herbfarm Cookbook.

With a juicer, though we mashed up some ripe canteloupe in the blender yesterday and it was fine, too. The hard part is lugging home all the melons! There's a guy at the Santa Fe farmer's market who only sells melons from the back of his flatbed. But that's a lot of melons. His sales pitch is simply to offer a sample. Works very well.

Wow. Thank you for your answer and link. I couldn't ask for a more thorough and smart response. I guess Fed Ex will be the answer! Thanks again, Adam.

I'm going to check with some chefs who I know travel a lot and report back.

I should have mentioned that I'll only be doing carry-on. I've got to switch planes and I never check bags if that's the situation. So the question remains...

I'm going to New Mexico in September and staying at a place with a not-so-great kitchen. I want to bring out some of my own equipment but don't want to be barred from the plane because of my knives. (I don't think I'd handle it as well as Natasha in "...killing the great chefs of Europe") My sweet little mom had to hand over her scissors before a flight so I know I need to be prepared. And I would rather not send them through the mail. Any suggestions for how to handle this situation?

From www.ironchef.com: IC America: Todd English of Olives ("Captain America") IC French: Jean Francois Meteigner of La Cachette ("The Battering Bon Vivant") IC Italian: Alessandro Stratta of Renoir ("The Italian Scallion")* IC Asian: Roy Yamaguchi of Roy's Restaurant ("The Samurai of Stir Fry")

We recently sampled the house cocktail at Obeca-Li on Thomas Street in NYC, and have swiftly adopted it as OUR house cocktail: honeydew juice with sake. (They add Midori, but with good melons, it's unnecessary). The closest competition in this weather for us would be a minty Mojito. Next to a Friendly's Watermelon Cooler, can anyone top this for summertime refreshment?

Just cooked up some of his mussels and indeed, they were sweet, and large! With just a little white wine, shallot, and curry powder, their sweet flavor sang through.

For those in the NYC area: do try to get some of Alex Villani's fish. He's at Union Square Market on Wednesdays and the Tribeca market on Saturdays and it would be selfish of me to keep him to myself. I have never sampled better nor fresher fish or shellfish. If you're in the mood to cook, make a bee line towards his stand and you'll be justly rewarded. In season now: tuna, swordfish, scallops, wild mussels, Spanish mackerel, sea trout, blue fillets, lobster, fluke. Look for black fish fillets and clams in the fall.

Let me second Terrie - I bought a ŭ olive stoner / cherry pitter at Dean and Deluca and have found it masterful in both objectives. I like it better than the knife technique because it allows you to retain the shape of the cherry or olive, whilst you de-stone. B, you can always borrow from me!

They already were taped - check out the unofficial Iron Chef website at www.ironchef.com. They've been following this very closely.

Word is that UPN is only going to make 2 special Iron Chefs - not the dreaded series.