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Jen, I like your idea. I do think that choucroute garni is a bit too similar to cassoulet to do next. Char siu bao is a good choice for the next cook-off because it's quite different from the last one (cassoulet), and meets the other criteria as well. Especially the I've-always-meant-to try-making-that but-never got-around-to-it one. There's a recipe for char siu bao in a cookbook I've had for twenty-five years. It looks intriguing, but I've always gone for the simpler recipes over that one. Maybe now I'll finally give it a try.

I've already lobbied for a bœuf bourguignon (Bourdain v Bouchon) battle *, but maybe we should take a break from slow cooked, old-fashioned French dishes. Your suggestions of pho and char siu bao are brilliant! Great dishes that many of us love but few have attempted. The techniques involved are different enough from cassoulet to provide a nice contrast. There's a recipe (actually more of a tutorial) on preparing pho here. I'm sure we can locate others that are accessible to all (without violating copyright). All of the ideas here are great. Paella? Jambalaya? Gumbo? Yes to all! But I think that your suggestions make for a nice contrast with the cassoulet. * I'm not giving up on BBBBB Just think we should try "something completely different" next.

After hearing bourdain rave about Tarbais beans I decided to order some from Dartagnan. (I was ordering Moulard duck legs from them anyways, so the beans didn't add much to the order). Next batch of cassoulet I'll try 'em out.

I was in the MSP area on business last week, and I naturally looked to eG for restaurant recs. This thread was very helpful. My experience was basically inversely proportional to the cost. I ate at Vincent in downtown Minneapolis on Monday - nice service, OK food - certainly not the highlight of my visit. I ate at Lucia's on Tuesday. Nice food, very relaxed ambience. The best meal by far was at Fasika. I love Ethiopian food, and Fasika certainly delivered. I had the lamb combo - absolutely wonderful. My only regret was not ordering the greens from the veggie menu. Thank you Ellie for starting this discussion. I definitely ate better as a result.

That seems an unfair swipe -- unless the quality of the cheese sections at Dean & DeLuca, Balduccis, and especially Fairway have tumbled quite a bit. Any NYers care to comment? What would Steve Jenkins say? On the other hand, Did anyone else cringe when they saw this? What the hell was up with that? I'd love to know any back stories about it. ← Did anyone see Thomas Keller on the Dennis Miller show the other night? Keller was running circles around Miller (no surprise there). Talk about "rock stars". In Ms Water's defense, I think that her efforts on behalf of "real" American cuisine speak for themselves. The "We're still in Kindergarten" remark came across as a bit condescending, but I think her heart is in the right place. Well, that's just demoralizing. Exactly. What were his expectations of the high-end restaurants in New york, and why was he disappointed? Even more baffling to me is the romanticization of Rt 66. I'm only familiar with the central-OK and high-desert-CA portions of RT 66, but I can't fathom why anyone would expect to find a great culinary experience there.

I've been traveling too much to fully participate in this cook-along, but I did have the opportunity to make a half-assed attempt at cassoulet. I've got the Les Halles book and was able to approximate Bourdain's cassoulet, with some major shortcuts. I didn't have any pork fat back, but did have some jowl bacon in the freezer. I sliced off the rind and used it to line the bottom of the casserole. I simmered the rest to reduce the saltiness. Some slow-cooked duck leg (see Culinary Bear's confit thread) was the best I could do to substitute for the duck confit. All I had in the way of sausage was some dried Spanish choriso. Hey, I said I was traveling! I was only home for one day last weekend (last Saturday), so I cooked the beans (I had Great Northern in the house) and assembled the mock cassoulet. I did the first baking and stuck it in the fridge. Today I pulled the casserole out of the fridge, topped it with bread crumbs, and finished baking it. The fat on the surface turned orange from the spices in the choriso (like I said, this is a half-assed cassoulet), but the results were quite palatable. Far from authentic by any measure but tasty none the less. For the next cook-off I heartily endorse the bœuf bourguignon recipes from Les Halles and Bouchon. They make a great contrast in approaches, and the former is freely available on Bourdain's web site.

As long I live, I'll remember a piece of advice given to me when I visited very, VERY rural upstate NY in the fall. "Allan, if you go out walking, try to look as little like game as possible". no comment. :) ← I can relate by personal experience. I have a large scar where my left thigh meets my hip where I was shot while deer hunting when I was 16. We were on private land, and there should have been no other hunters around. Fortunately the shot came from a great distance as it was a 30:30 slug and didn't do any serious damage. Actually the doctor who removed it did more damage than the shot itself. Another fortunate thing was that it was near zero (Wisconsin) and I didn't bleed much initially. I was wearing bright orange!!! ← Andie, you forgot to shout "I! Am! Not! A! Dear!!! I! Am! Not! Venison! I Am A Human Being!!!!!" Might have worked...

I've been traveling of late, so could only participate vicariously. Now that I'm home let the experiments begin! Twelve Moulard leg/thigh quarters, marinating in salt (per Paula's ratio), black pepper, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, thyme, rosemary. The aromatics are according to André Daguin's recipe in Foie Gras, Magret, and Other Good Food From Gascony. That's the recipe I've followed in the past, so I'll stick by it for now (interesting citrus-y suggestions by Allan CB notwithstanding). Fridge full of vacuum-packed marinating duck: Bleary close-up showing cloves impaled in garlic, etc. The juices are just beginning to flow, after several hours in the bag. I've been massaging the bags every hour or so trying to get the marinating juices to distribute evenly. I'll open the bags tomorrow to rinse the salt off before repackaging the legs for sous vide processing. As MKLynch would say, more to follow.... Edited to add: That last shot is so bleary you can't even see the cloves imbedded in the garlic. At least the bay leaves and rosemary are big enough to show up in my crappy pic.

Thanks for the temperture/time guidance. I like the idea of packaging the legs individually and pulling them at intervals to determine the best time. The main reason I thought that a gradual increase in temperature might be benificial is that it would give the meat enzymes more time to tenderize before being deativated by heat. (See page 144 of the new edition of McGee). I'm not certain that my assumption is correct, or that the enzyme action would even be desirable. Just another variable in the mix.

The gradual increase in temperature sounds like the right approach to me. One of the advantages of sous vide cooking, as Nathan pointed out, is the ability to "dial in" a precise temperature if you're using a steam oven or water bath. I'm still not sure what temperature I should be aiming for - more experimentation needed. One thing I didn't mention about my previous attempt was the amount of juices that accumulated in the bag during cooking. I don't know if that has any effect on the heat transfer (compared to duck fat alone), or how it might affect the storage properties. I was hoping to keep the duck sealed in the bag until use. Perhaps a more traditional dry cure will reduce the moisture in the duck before cooking. The duck needs to be fairly well dried before using a Foodsaver-style vacuum machine, and the fat should be well chilled so that it doesn't mess up the seal. A chamber machine won't have that problem.

Nathan, You mention that you haven't done the duck confit sous vide yourself, but you've had it prepared by others. Do you know what temperatures/times were used? And how much fat was used? I've tried it myself with mixed results. I seasoned the duck leg/thigh quarters (from Long Island duckling which is all I could get locally), sealed them in the vacuum bags along with roughly 1.5 T of duck fat, and let them sit in the fridge for a day. I heated them in a water bath at 68°C (154°F) for about six hours. Then I got impatient and cranked the temperature up to 77°C (171°F) and cooked for an additional 2 hours, chilled them in ice bath, and refrigerated. The results were flavorful and reasonably tender, but definitely not "confit". One mistake I made was in trying to combine the marination and cooking stages rather than following the traditional procedure of marinating in the dry rub, rinsing/drying, and then cooking. I thought that the flavors from the (light) seasoning would absorb during the rest period and slow cooking. Next time I'll do the traditional treatment using Paula's salt-to-meat ratio. It's also clear that I need to start out at a higher temperature and/or use a considerably longer cooking time. Even the higher temp I ended up at is lower than what you specified for the pork and lamb. I'll try 10 - 12 hours next time. I'm inclined to stick with the lower temperature and extend the cooking time. If you make duck confit, please report your results here or in your sous vide thread. Thanks for the info.

Has anyone tried the dryer-vent attachment? It should be possible to make a cardboard or plywood window insert with a circular cutout for the vent tube - better than leaving a window open in the winter. After poking around in the coffeegeek forums, I figured out that I had a "chaff problem". The screen at the top of the unit was getting plugged up with chaff, making the roast run hot. I rotated the gasket per the suggestion on SweetMarias and the chaff buildup is noticeably reduced. The roast profiles are much more consistent now.

Chef Adrià, it was a great pleasure having you here on eGullet. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us. Thank you Bux and pedro for making this happen. I first found this forum via a Google search for "el bulli". Having Chef Adrià join us here is a very exciting "Special Feature" indeed!

Allan, if you have a butcher who can supply you with dry-aged beef, you're way ahead of most of us here in the US. Even restaurant suppliers typically ship beef in sad, soggy cryovac'ed packages. The styrofoam-with-diapers packaging is typical in supermarkets here. Treasure and encourage your butcher!

I think the name might be a nod to the butchering terminology, whereby carcasses are broken down into 'primal' sections which are then cut down further into the usually traded cuts. Perhaps it's a legal grey area that needs tightening up; I suspect the majority of people buying prime rib think that they're buying USDA Prime meat. ← Allan "culinary bear" Brown nailed it! There's a big distinction between "Prime-as-in-Rib" and USDA Prime Grade beef. Most "Prime Rib" roasts are USDA Choice grade, and given the thick fat cap on the roast, the Choice grade beef usually does just fine - as long as it isn't overcooked. I'm impressed that someone from the UK noticed the distinction, when many many of us in the US are still baffled.

Ugh! I hope it's not quite so formulaic as that! I have to feel a certain sympathy with the people who actually make these decisions. The notion of a forty-to-one (or more) ratio of applicants is an invitation to accusations of favoritism, etc. I feel that the well accepted fact that El Bulli is not the playground of the well-connected * reflects well on their sense of purpose (and integrity). I stand by my suggestion that loyal diners should be favored, if only for the sense of continuity they provide. My hopes of "scoring" a reservation at El Bulli (in 2006 - too late for this year) are not unfairly diminished by any recognition of loyal diners - I only wish that I could be considered in such lucky company. * If Tony Bourdain shows up with a film crew, do any of us feel like complaining when he gets a kitchen-side table? For that matter, if Gwenneth Paltrow or Sly Stalone shows up on a moments notice, who are we to complain? Chef Adrià is free to seat anyone he pleases - it's his restaurant. Edit to add: I don't disagree with Robert's suggestion to pool our collective knowledge of successful reservations. Any leg up on next year's applications is well worth it!

Is the roast bone-in or boneless? A pound of actual meat is more than generous for the average adult. But as NulloModo suggests, aiming for leftovers is not a bad idea. Don't forget to allow time for the roast to "rest". And be prepared to fend off the "pickers" with a carving knife.

Robert, Louisa and others have lauded the "fairness" of the El Bulli reservation process. There's an element of "winning the lottery", but I don't think anyone has suggested that there's a mindless algorithm at work here. If anyone is favored by the "selection" process, I would think that it is loyal, long-term diners. Consider Bob Noto, mentioned in the December 15 Wine Spectator profile of El Bulli: Ferran Adrià prides himself on continually evolving his cuisine. If no-one comes along on the journey, what's the point?

André Daguin's "Terrine de Foie Gras Nature" is pretty much as Derrick describes, with a couple of particulars that may be of interest: He calls for a whole lobe (not sliced), cleaned, blanched, and patted dry. Don't know how much you have left at this point. He suggests placing six layers of paper towel beneath the terrine so that water gets wicked up underneath to form a more even bain-marie. Oven temp is 200°F (93°C), target internal temp is 115°F (45°C), approximate cooking time 40 minutes. Since you bought the foie from his daughter's company, following his technique seems appropriate. Let us know how it turns out!

adegiulio, the iRoast has an attachment for hooking up a dryer vent (like the ones used on a clothes dryer) so you can vent the smoke out of the house. I haven't found it to be necessary - the amount of smoke produced really isn't a problem unless you're going for super-dark roasts and doing multiple batches. I'm still trying to find a good roast program for the iRoast. My first few batches have turned out much darker than I intended. I just finished a batch with a greatly reduced third-phase roasting time. It looks and smells better than my previous attempts. Just a whiff of smoke in the kitchen, and I didn't even pull the battery out of the smoke detector.

speidec, you appear to have quite the opposite reaction to mine. I think that this very public exposure of the development process is very valuable (not to mention unique). Sure, there are chefs such as Adrià who's every move is subject to close scrutiny and speculation (see here for example). This forum has provided us with an intimate view of the whole process, well before the restaurant has opened for business. ChefG may be a bit too thin-skinned regarding the whole originality issue, so perhaps he's trying to inoculate himself against charges of being derivative. I say to hell with the whole Caramel Light-bulb thing! Not to mention the it's-been-done-in-Spain thing.... Creative chefs should be allowed to explore similar territory without worrying about "who was first?" - sizzleteeth summed it up nicely in a previous post. This ain't no "reality show", it's a fascinating window into the creative process.

Martin, Is there any word on the English edition of 1994 - 1997? It still doesn't turn up on the U.S. vendors sites or on derecoquinaria.com , but I found a reference on Amazon.fr "Livres en Anglais" The ISBN number is 8478710795 and the price is listed as € 524,95. I certainly hope that the price is some sort of error in their database.... Edit: apparently my spell check doesn't know French.

The notion of using a bacon press sounded familiar. This topic also includes Mr. S.L. Kinsey's invaluable advice about whacking the knuckle off. I usually sever rather than whack - learned that trick from a Ken Hom cookbook. Irwin beat me to it on the starch-vs-flour angle. I was thinking maybe kuzu, tapioca or water chestnut flour, all of which crisp up nicely. Ditto on seasoning with white pepper and not salting 'til after the skin is fried. Chefwoody's Silpat technique sounds promising. There are some great ideas developing here. Let the Great Crispy Skin Experiment begin! Could it eventually rival the Onion Confit thread? Can't believe I said "ditto".

The December 15 issue of Wine Spectator features a lengthy cover story on Adrià and El Bulli. There is a photo of Oriol Castro preparing a "cream" from flavorless cellulose in a series of experiments at the Taller. They were exploring the textural qualities of the cellulose, and planned to add flavor components at a later date. I find it interesting that the texture and flavor of a dish would be treated as completely independent parameters. Dipping a spoon into a meringue-like cream that smells like toasted paper and tastes like nothing doesn't sound too appealing, but the creative environment at the Taller must be fun.... It will be interesting to see if the cellulose "cream" turns up on the menu next year.

Andie, that butter churn looks cool. I'd try to hunt one down, but I've got doubts about finding cream of suitable quality. It's easy to get the hyper-pasteurized stuff, but I'm not sure where to find the "under-the-radar" variety. Maybe I should start dropping hints at the local farmers' market. I just emailed the Vermont (non-Cabot) Creamery folks to try to find a new source for their butter. If I can find some I'll try a comparison with the Cabot whey stuff.