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Hope you aren't coming to Indy to get away from the hot weather. I still haven't been to Shapiro's yet. Just today Jane and Michael Stern were talking about Delis outside of New York (on NPR's Splendid Table) and mentioned Shapiro's in a short list of worthy contenders.

from Kristin's blog: I don't know whether my pictures came out any better, but I did get shots of a few dishes Kristin missed. I posted them in ImageGullet. Parallax (Friday dinner) The Leopard (Saturday dinner) I noted the wine pairings in the comments for the Leopard pictures. Derrick did an outstanding job of matching the wines to the dishes. edit: got Derrick's name wrong...

Reno in August, with open fires? Hot enough for ya? When do you think it will air? I get OLN at my current (temporary) abode, but not back home. Hope I can catch your adventures. This is gonna be good.... Love the topic title, Emma!

My hoarding disorder is hardly in doubt. I have a real weakness for Asian ingredients in particular. Oh, and spices. Lots and lots of spices. Just this past week I've been trying to explore the various seaweeds lurking in my pantry. Make some dashi (konbu and bonito flakes), soak some wakame, mix in some miso, cube up some tofu. The miso and tofu were in the fridge, everything else from the pantry. I'd forgotten what a great vegetable wakame is, even re-hydrated from dry. (Actually, don't they use it that way in Japan?) I've also got various cured meats in the fridge. I could whip up a cassoulet from stuff I've got in my kitchen - tarbais beans, duck confit, duck stock, duck fat, home-made garlicky sausage. I even have the rind from some pork belly to line the cassoulet. I could also do carbonara. Pasta, eggs, parmigiano, guanciale... Lately I'm trying to restrain myself from buying stuff at the store when I know that I've got a ton of stuff to use up at home. Wish me luck.

Falafel from scratch is easy, and so worth it! Though you will find yourself standing in front of a wok full of hot oil again. That ma po dofu looks scrumptious.

So sorry I missed the festivities on Friday (don't get me started on the car thing. ) VTR is such a wonderful throw-back. Is anyone here old enough to remember when cocktail lounges were supposed to be elegant, suave, sophisticated? When I was last there, we met on the patio, passing through the "secret" door - shades of the old speakeasy era. The blimp was flying overhead (Indians game a couple miles away at the Jake). There were fireworks. It all feels so ... retro. Kris, I can't believe you drank something with alcohol and lived to tell the tale. I had a Ramos Gin Fizz at VTR a couple of weeks ago. Raw egg white usually puts me off a bit, but everyone raved about that drink so i tried it. It lives up to the hype - what a complex and fascinating concoction (at least as VTR executes it). I have to say that the real hit for me was the classic daiquiri that Paulius started us out with. Forget the crappy slushy drinks that you may have encountered in the past, this was subtle sweet-tart citrus and rum wonder. I want to try the Old Cuban next.... Edit to add: I see we've been split off from the other thread. Fine by me - VTR deserves its own topic!

It's not just the video games. With any luck, Kris took her camera along. Pictures of the rat will explain things the international audience may not want to know. It's an eGullet first!

[Moderator's note: This topic on the Velvet Tango Room was split off from another topic. CA] Thanks, everyone! I was so frustrated by the car thing that I went out and spent way too much on sushi at a restaurant within walking distance of my apartment in Indy. Yeah, a return to VTR is in order, for sure. I realized, somewhat belatedly, that "VTR" means next to nothing in the context of this thread. I was referring to "Velvet Tango Room", a very lovely bar not far from Momocho. Actually, "bar" sounds far too vulgar - Lounge? Speakeasy? I guess they're sort of "Latin" (Tango in the name), and they serve some lovely drinks made with 10 Cane, a Trinidadian rum. Don't let the nay-sayers put you off, the mixed drinks with 10 Cane are lovely. Classic Daiquiri comes to mind. The Old Cuban sounds a bit whack, but I'm game for trying it.

Well, since my car wouldn't start, I missed out on Momocho/VTR. Did you guys have fun while I was fuming?

Not that I can think of... fellow Clevelanders are you here? help me out!! ← Wow - that's a tough question! I've lived in Cleveland just over ten years, but I can't think of any food uniquely indigenous to Cleveland except for Dominic Cerino's Blue Egg Ravioli. Still, when I think "Cleveland Food" - I think pierogi and kielbasa - a reflection of the large Polish and Eastern European population here. The grandmas at some of the local Polish churches still make pierogi to die for! Kris - do we need to get you some of those before you leave?? ← Funny, when I saw Michelle's post I thought "pierogi and kielbasa" too! It's not exactly unique to Cleveland, but the Polish and other Eastern European food seems to be popular with just about everyone. Maybe Kris could make a trip to the West Side Market. There's a pierogi stall there (E5 on vendor map). Plus there's lots of other cool stuff. WSM is one of those great old urban markets - very photogenic.

Lettuce, onions, chard, and peas this week. Also my usual dozen fresh eggs. (Shiitakes and garlic are from the farmers' market, not the CSA).

Dominic and Linda, so great to see you posting on eGullet! We had a wonderful dinner at CC on Friday. Dominic is so enthusiastic about the fresh ingredients, the fresh pasta, and the heritage breed meats. The Carbonara really is a point of pride. House-made pasta, fresh egg yolks, and house-cured guanciale. He calls it "peasant food", but it's sophisticated in its simplicity. I love Carbonara, and have been making it at home for years. I appreciate how tricky it is to get everything just right - the slightest slip-up and you've got scrambled eggs. The Carbonara at Carrie Cerino's is silky perfection. If you're wondering how the "Blue Egg Ravioli" got its name, here's a picture of some of the eggs from Kathy Breychak's Blue Egg Farm: As you can see, only some of the eggs have blue shells. It isn't the color of the shell that matters - it's the freshness of eggs and the true free-range conditions the laying hens enjoy. Dominic compared an egg from Kathy's farm to a standard commercial egg. Cracked onto a plate, the white of the "Blue Egg" holds together and stands high on the plate. The commercial egg spreads out flat, limp and watery. I'm glad Kristin finally got to check out Carrie Cerino's. And it was great meeting Shannon. It is worth the trip!

I've been watching this thread with great interest - it appeared with perfect timing (thanks Chris!). I was actually considering starting one myself, given all the questions we all have on the Charcuterie thread.... I've been making fresh sausage and such for years. Despite my love of cured meats (especially dry-cured hams), I always chickened out when it came to hanging meat to cure at warmer temperatures. Thanks to the Ruhlman/Polcyn book and the eG "curing from" thread, I finally started curing guanciale, bacon, pancetta, and bresaola in my basement. The results ranged from OK to really great. In early June I attended a benefit dinner for our Ohio Terra Madre delegates (see the heartland forum). Among the guests of honor were some folks from Heritage Foods. OK, here's where I went a little nuts. Inspired by all the good things the Heritage Foods USA farmers are doing, I ordered a Red Wattle ham (bone in) to be delivered in early June. I chose the Red Wattle breed because it's supposed to have an especially flavorful ham. I've since read that the hams from Parma and the Veneto are from breeds similar to the Duroc, but the Red Wattle just sounded really cool. My basement was hovering in the mid-sixty range (Fahernheit), so I figured I could hang the ham there to age. I've got the ham curing in my refrigerator. I followed the recipe in Paul Bertolli's book since he uses nitrate in addition to salt. Yeah, I know that it's less authentic than Italian Prosciutto or jamon Iberico, but I'm feeling a bit paranoid. Actually, the nitrate is the only thing in Bertolli's recipe that seems to deviate from the Italian tradition. No sooner had I ordered the ham than the temperature started creeping upwards in my basement. I belatedly realized that August is not the best month to hang a ham. Too late for buyer's remorse. So I've got a Red Wattle ham crusted in salt curing in my refrigerator. To further confuse matters, there seems to be some disagreement about the safe temperature for dry-curing ham. I've seen instructions for hanging the ham in a kitchen. There's a Virginia Tech page on dry cured Virginia ham that says you can age the ham for 45-180 days at 75-95°F and a relative humidity of 55-65%. My basement never gets that warm! Richard, I saw your post about your lamb "pancetta" in the Charcuterie topic. So did you cure it entirely in the fridge? I find your adventures especially encouraging. I lived in Jakarta some years ago (so many that I want to spell it "Djakarta" ) Believe me, the humidity in Ohio never approaches what you're experiencing there!

Does it count as "learning" if you can't remember anything afterward? I can bring a soda syphon and some CO2 cartridges if anyone wants to play with fizzy stuff. And I have a shaker and part of a bottle of Regan's #6 orange bitters. Time to order more....

Running water for twelve hours? Wouldn't it work just as well to soak with periodic changes of water? The mojama sounds intriguing. Anyone know what it tastes like?

*bump* For those of you who haven't tried the Blue Egg Ravioli or the Copper River King salmon, see Kristin's post in the ISO thread. This is the end of the line for Copper River salmon for this year. The (incredibly labor-intensive) ravioli are available on the first Friday of every month, but NancyH has persuaded chef Dominic to make an exception to the first-Friday-only rule since kristin is just rolling into town. Drive up from Columbus, zoom over from Toledo - hell, fly in from Yokohama! Friday's the night to check out CC! <hr/> ~ postscript to my (various) posts above. I see I never reported back about the Terra Madre benefit dinner. It was every bit as sensational as I had hoped. I just want to note a couple of CC-relavent items: First of all, the CC house-made salumi made it's debut at the benefit. Chef Dominic's Coppa was one of the standouts among a very elite company (from Armandino Batali and Michael Symon). Also, this year's Terra Madre conference will include chefs who take an active role in promoting artisinal and sustainable products. The Ohio delegates are Michael Symon and Dominic Cerino. <hr/> ~ pps: There's a nice review of CC in Cleveland Scene Magazine. It pretty much echos what we've been saying in this thread:

Regarding the idea of boycotting Whole Foods, I really don't care if they decide to not sell foie gras or live lobsters. Sure, their reasoning may be faulty, and maybe they're just pandering to a certain market segment (whatever), but here's the deal-breaker for me: They didn't simply chose to avoid foie gras in their own business. After all, that's their right. No, they decided to strong-arm one of their distributors into not doing business with a foie gras purveyor. Now they're being sued. Here's a Maureen Dowd column in the NYT that explains the situation. Whole Foods seems to be addressing some of the criticism it's coming under, the less-than-sustainable practice of shipping food over huge distances in particular. The recent announcement of a new initiative to increase purchases from local suppliers is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the Grimaud Farms action trumps all of that. I'm not sure what they could do at this point to win back my business.

A dual-boiler machine like the Brewtus II or La Spaziale Vivaldi S1 will probably give the best steaming performance. Both are under $2K, but the S1 needs to be plumbed in, which may take it over your budget (filters, fittings, etc.) Do you already have a good grinder? if not, you need to include that in your purchase. That would definitely put you over your limit with the machines I mentioned. Maybe a Heat Exchanger (HX) E61 type machine coupled with a good grinder would fit your budget. I have a Macap grinder and an Isomac HX machine. The steaming performance is good but not stellar. Maybe someone else can suggest a "steaming champ" in you price range. Search Google Video for "latte art" and you'll turn up some great shots of people pouring the decorative foam stuff. Great fun, but it takes practice. (I can't do it).

Thanks for the LeNell's link, donbert. I didn't know there were so many makers of bitters. Sounds very interesting. Does it have that weird "electric" Ma La heat?

Now that sounds like fun! I'm going to look for these next time I'm at the asian market. Any idea how they might be labeled? (The dry ones are sometimes labeled "red pepper", which isn't too helpful if you don't know what the sichuan peppercorns actually look like.)

Are you saying the alginate made you feel ill? I just got my package from WillPowder yesterday and haven't tried out the alginate yet. I thought that since the alginate is just a seaweed extract, it should be relatively benign. Is it the calcium salts that cause the distress?

FG, I'm not getting why you're so adamant about Pollan adhering to journalistic standards. Yes, yes, I know that he' a journalism prof. I think the premise of the book was clear from the outset - Pollan wanted to "follow" several distinctly different meals from their origin to the table. IMO, he did that in a fair manner. I think his biases were evident from the outset (he's on the Slow Foods USA advisory board, after all). I'll concede you the fact that he would have been better served by actually asking WF for a response to the criticisms. He chose to let their labeling and marketing speak for them, but it would have been a nice gesture to at least *ask* them to justify their position. He did, however, deal extensively with the suppliers who sell to Whole Foods. They spoke for themselves unapologetically. Also, Pollan gave much freer reign to alternate viewpoints, even allowing for some "rants" from independent farmers (Joel Salatin in particular). So there was an evident bias there. I just don't see how this is dishonest - Pollan never tried to hide his personal biases. He seemed to be reaching for an understanding of why things have evolved the way the have.

*BUMP* Hey folks, where are your CSA posts? It's late June, and even here in the "Heartland" we're getting good stuff from our farmers. This week I'll be picking up the same sort of stuff that we've had for the last few weeks, with a few changes. The first wave of radishes are on their last legs - last weeks were already pretty hot. Not sure if there will be any this Saturday, though there is a second planting on the way. We should be getting the first peas and kohlrabi , along with romaine and baby iceberg lettuce. My farmer had more time than usual to devote to her weekly email report. (It's been raining). Last Saturday was a glorious sunny June day (beautiful enough to almost make you forget how much late Winter sucks up here!) When I picked up my veggies, there were no other customers at the farm - an unusual situation. I was treated to an extensive tour of the fields. What a glorious sight - the plants were almost literally busting out of the ground. Sadly, I forgot to bring my camera with me.

Now THAT is MY Tony! ← Yeah, leave it to Bourdain to offer up a back-handed compliment. I can see how Bourdain might distinguish between the ideals espoused by SF and the rather pious tones of it's pronouncements. I only recently got around to joining the local convivium (gawd does that word sound pompous). At a recent fundraiser for our delegation to Terra Madre, I got to meet some of the farmers we're sponsoring. Let me tell you, these folks are not effete intellectual snobs. On the other hand, the local chefs we're sending to Turin are CIA-educated professionals (and in one case, a former Food TV regular). So it's not about snobbery, but neither is it about a perverse anti-snobbery. The head of our convivium has dined at el Bulli and other Michelin three-stars, but she also champions local farmers and ethnic restaurants. Seeking out excellence should not be confused with elitism. I cheered when I read this. A great interview, with Bourdain dropping the usual soundbites. ← Bourdain is fighting the good fight, but his vision of "the future", cynical tho it may sound, rings frighteningly true.

It's especially ironic that a professor of journalism and frequent New York Times contributor would rip in to a corporation in this manner (e.g., the numerous comparisons between Whole Foods and Wal-Mart) without even requesting an interview. For those of you who haven't read Pollan's book, the basic premise is that he "follows" (as much as is humanly possible), several strikingly different meals from the source(s) to the table. The section on Whole Foods is entitled "Big Organic", and the first chapter of the WF section, "Supermarket Pastoral" deals with the way WF presents itself to the customer. It's true that he didn't run his text past the Whole Foods corporate public relations department, but the chapter is focused on the way that Whole Foods presents itself to the consumer. He describes in detail his shopping experience at WF, noting all of the organic and Earth-friendly (seeming) labeling, signage (ugh!), etc. I don't see this as dishonest to any great degree. Pollan has an agenda to be sure, but his approach here is to allow the WF consumer experience to speak for itself. So if he didn't submit his manuscript for review by WF's legal team, maybe he wasn't being "Fair and Balanced". The more interesting (to me, at least) chapter in the WF saga is the chapter "From People's Park to Petaluma Poultry". Pollan talks about the idealistic Organic movement of the Sixties and Seventies (in the U.S.), and the earlier proponents like J.I. Rodale. If WF wasn't given the opportunity to rebut (or spin), their suppliers are given free reign to articulate their positions. Gene Kahn is especially fascinating to me - an old line back-to-the-Earth hippie, transformed into a General Mills VP. He's utterly unrepentant about his role in establishing Organic produce as a government-sanctioned commodity. Pollan let's him speak for himself, and his company. So maybe WF didn't get to review Pollan's manuscript, but I wouldn't characterize his depiction of their marketing machine as dishonest. After all, he walked into the WF market from a consumer's prospective. All of the labeling and marketing he describes were exactly what any shopper would encounter in that particular WF market on that particular day. Why should the WF corporate PR machine need to "rebut" that?