B Edulis

Nobody's mentioned the new super-sweet varieties of fresh corn on the cob. They appeared maybe 10 years ago and at first they tasted horribly sweet to me, and it had less corn flavor. Remember the days when you had to eat fresh corn the same day it was picked, or it would lose its sweetness and be starchy? The new corn might actually be better the next day, tho' the texture is tougher. I've actually acclamated to it, I hate to say. Have you noticed that American bread often has suger added? Yech.

Naw, but what I do carry (on road trips) is an old tin picnic basket with the following: chef's knife and paring knife, stone, pepper grinder, wax paper (for pie crusts), pastry cutter, meat thermometer. I might throw in a bottle of sesame oil. I'm thinking of adding Kikkoman soy sauce to the kit, since decent soy sauce can be surprisingly hard to find in some places. Come to think of it, it is sorta like having a stone chained to my ankle. But it's just so frustrating to be in a kitchen without the basics.

Morimoto-bashing aside, I've eaten a Nobu a number of times since it opened and have become less impressed each visit. Maybe, as Steven suggests, it's the lack of surprise. Which is not a testiment to the essential quality of the food. I've only eaten at Next Door once. Can you get Omakase there?

Funny, I recently had a conversation about dill with my room mate, who is a French Culinary School-trained Chinese-Italian cook at Tabla. We both agreed that while dill can be tasty, it has very, very limited uses. I used to really dislike it, but I've grown to appreciate it, particularly on gravlax. I have a friend who uses in all her composed salads--she has other redeeming qualities. As for repulsive ingredients, how about dried shrimp? Oh, oh, and here's a really good example: assafoetida. It's an herb (spice?) used in southern India. Smells like sulphur, but does heavenly things to vegetables when you add it to hot oil first. Lobster mushrooms are pretty repulsive, when you know what they are--parasitized russula fungus: a type of mushroom, specific species often unknown, that has been covered in red mold. They taste delicious.

I really like my Polder thermometer, but I would add a 4th tip to Stephen's list: don't put your Polder thermometer anywhere near the stove! It's made of plastic, and mine got a melted corner almost immediately. I'd suggest that they make it of metal, but I suppose that heat hot enough to melt plastic would fry the electronics, too. Also, if you're leaving the probe in the meat while it cooks, be careful of the wire, it gets really hot and is hard to manage when removing the probe.

I sometimes travel with my own knives (on road trips), but I always carry a stone. That way, I can make do with whatever knives are in the kitchen. This might be a solution for you, if you're not too picky about size, weight, etc. Isn't September in New Mexico roasted pepper season? I hear they're wonderful fresh!

This is such an interesting discussion -- I've had the same twisted relationship with chains as most of you -- avoiding but often when traveling they can be the last hope. A pet peeve: that Olive Garden (where I've had a truly vile meal) run commercials that dare to compare their food favorably to real Italian food. Insult to injury! (Luckily, I'm a Neilsen Rating family, every time one of those commercials come on -- 46,000 people change the channel!) I've compiled some tips for spotting good indies when traveling -- I'm going to start a new thread.

Cherry-pitter it is! Thanks guys!

I saw that Food Network is also going to show 52 never-before-dubbed episode starting in the fall. Not a moment too soon! I'm sure they all will do their best.

I second that. Alex has got the only decent scallops I've been able to find in New York, his mussels are incredibly sweet and his mackerel is sashimi-quality. He's a treasure.

It was synthetic fur, colorful, maybe an inch long. Reminded me of stuffed animal fur. Yeccchhh! On the other hand, in Japanese home bathrooms, there are slippers that you switch to just for use in the bathroom, then you change back to the ususal house slippers when you return to the main rooms. It is a lot cleaner, when you think about it. Personally, I think that the old-fashioned Japanese porcelain trench toilets make a lot of sense for public toilets everywhere, at least for women. I don't know any woman who actually sitson a public toilet seat, and these are much easier to use.

Anybody know a better way to pit olives than trimming the pit with a paring knife? The pre-pitted ones never seem to taste as good.

One of the oddest resto bathroom's I've been in is one in Tokyo. The Japanese are cleanliness freaks in many ways - for example, to have a bathtub in the same room as a toilet is revolting. At the same time, they have adopted lots of western materials, decor, etc. This bathroom had a fur covered toilet seat. And I don't mean the lid.

Are you thinking of Fanelli's? It claims to be the oldest bar in NY. Corner of Prince and Mercer, I think. Or Greene. It's got diagonal corner etched glass doors and a "Ladies Sitting Room" in the back. Another really old bar is the Ear Inn, on far west Spring Street. It was a Longshoreman's bar until it became a poet's hangout sometime in the late 1970s.

I saw a place in Chelsea the other night that had 2-way outsized mirrors between the bathrooms and the street!

Holy sh*t, I mean holy basil, Cookie! That dessert looks amazing. Unfortunately, I doubt that I'll ever make it (see "heartbreak of lactose intolerance" thread). :throwing self on floor sobbing emoticon:

Liza, do you know where they're going to be filmed?