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Ah, yes, now I see that you mentioned adding a few drops of white wine to adjust the consistency if it appeared too oily. I was thinking in terms of decreasing the oil while your approach is to maintain the proper balance. It makes sense to me now. Thank you for the elucidation.

I enjoyed Andy's profile of you in the Dailey Gullet, especially the excerpt from your book. Your ingredient list for the ratatouille recipe calls for one tablespoon of olive oil. I assume that this is for the onion-garlic mixture, and that an unspecified quantity of oil will be required to fry off the remaining vegetables. How do you keep the ratatouille from being greasy? In my experience, eggplant (aubergine) absorbs oil like a sponge. Also, the eggplants that are typically available here in the US tend to be a bit pulpy and bitter. Do you ever have to salt the eggplant to extract the excess juices? Thank you for participating in the Q&A.

Has this gotten much press in the Chicago area? When an editor resigns in protest and receives awards for ethical behavior, that can't be welcome publicity for the papers involved....

Funny you should say that. I too was fascinated by several of those things; am certainly planning to play with the powders (and I have not only a great $1 garage-sale dehydrator but also my blessed oven pilot light!) and... yes... I confess... I want to at least try that silly jellied martini thing... once, anyway. But the foam thing - I was wondering if something like that might not be feasible too. Somewhere around here I have a modern version of the old-fashioned soda syphon - takes those little CO2 cartridges, of which I probably have a few lying around as well. The effect would presumably be somewhat different, but it could be an interesting thing to try, no? In fact, I think I may also have one of those cream-whipping jobbies, the kind that uses little oxygen cylinders. So at least it's within the reach of home technology to aerate a substance; that is, oxygenate or carbonate it. Any guesses as to what the result would be like? and what sort of substances would be good candidates for experimentation? I'm not about to rush out and do it this instant, but it's an intriguing back-burner temptation.... The foam stuff is really quite easy to experiment with. Balma, your soda-siphon-thingy is great for putting bubbles into liquids, but foams are best left to the nitrous-oxide devices like your (you think you might have one) cream whipper. ISI makes cream whippers in various sizes and temperature ratings. All of them can produce whipped cream with or without your favorite added flavorings. Unfortunately, the texture is reminiscent of the "canned stuff" - not surprising considering that the Readi-Whip-type products use the same basic method, just with the nitrous pre-charged in the can. Frankly, I prefer the hand-whisked method by far. Where the ISI-style chargers come into their own is in making foams out of exotic bases. Coconut cream, mayonnaise, you name it. Adrià often incorporates gelatin into the cold foams to help them hold their form. I think he uses agar (kanten) in the warm preparations since it melts at a higher temp than gelatin. Supposedly one should use the "regular" cream whippers only with cold preparations. ISI makes a "professional" stainless steel line for cold and hot use. I've seen Adrià use one of the "regular" models with a warm sauce and it didn't explode. YMMV, I guess. I have a half-liter "regular" model and a one-liter Profi-Cream stainless. I've tried a few warm sauces with it but must confess I've been reluctant to use the gelatin or agar. I'm nervous about gumming up the works.

Oh, and Robyn: Al "I'm in charge here" Haig ain't no VIP - he's a freakin' megalomaniac! Good for you for standing your ground.

let's be clear: this is strictly supposition based on one person's interpretation of how he thinks things work. it may or may not resemble reality. Well, this "one person" seems to have a more-than-passing familiarity with the NYC dining scene, so I'd say his comment carries a bit of weight. Maybe cities like New York and LA have achieved a critical mass (sorry) of people who demand to be treated "better" than the riffraff. I'm with Robyn on this one - perhaps a restaurant could treat very loyal repeat customers with a bit of deference, but kowtowing to the self-important is a recipe for resentment.

Digijam, from his posting history , I'd say that Cathar has "nothing better to do" than play the spoiler in every discussion of El Bulli. From the tone of his postings it seems clear that he has absolutely no desire to ever dine at el Bulli. Those of us who are genuinely interested in what Adrià is doing in his restaurant appreciate the time that you and others have taken to share your experiences with us.

For a better sense of why so many of us (myself included) find Flay to be obnoxious, check out this thread started by Chris Cognac prior to the new series taping. In the pre-battle intro aired on Friday, Flay addressed the infamous cutting board incidents. He didn't apologize (far from it), but he did state that prior to the first incident he wasn't aware that the Japanese consider the cutting board to be somewhat "sacred". When he stood on the counter during his second appearance he tossed the cutting board aside - nice gesture, eh? I don't see anything anti-American here. Look around this site and you'll see enthusiastic discussions of many quintessentially American foods. I think that Flay is being bashed for his (previous) boorish behavior. If Flay produced the tastiest dishes that best expressed the theme ingredient, then he deserved to win. If Sakai is the "Delacroix of French Cuisine", is Flay the "Kincaid of Southwestern cooking"?

I see that MiguelCardoso has linked to this thread from mefi. Also to Moby and Jonathan's article on Adrià's recent London appearance and to lizziee's account of her "wonderful to absurd" experience at El Bulli. Miguel's primary link is to a Slate piece by Sara Dickerman in which Adrià is discussed in the context of the industrialization of food and contrasted with the "Slow Food" movement. Ms. Dickerman admits that she's never actually eaten at El Bulli - like me she has to rely on Adrià's books and the various published accounts of his cuisine. I find it extremely frustrating that she writes a very thoughtful piece but then ultimately fails to "get" what Adrià's all about (IMO, obviously). It's also rather frustrating that I can't post a reply on mefi. Thank you, Digijam, for posting your first-hand account of a meal at El Bulli. And thank you , butterfly, for the Chowhound link.

This sounds like something Jeffrey Steingarten could organize. He's performed methodical tastings comparing sea salts and bottled waters, why not sashimi? Judging from his adventure hunting the freshest possible tuna (chronicled in his article "Toro! Toro! Toro!"), it's something he's already interested in.

Most artichoke varieties don't produce buds the first season. There are ways to "trick" them into producing in the first year, but it's not easy. This Page mentions a variety called Imperial Star that is supposed to produce in the first season. I tried growing some a few years back. The plants were beautiful but barely yielded the tiniest buds before the first frost got to 'em. I didn't fool with trying to "trick" them into thinking they'd gone through a short winter as the linked page suggests. I also started them rather late in the spring. I don't have a proper greenhouse, just a sunny windowsill that's already crowded with herbs. Maybe next year I'll try again, using the quick cold season trick - too late for this year.

Wow, that's quite a list of techniques to demonstrate in one afternoon! Floating rose water globules? I'm still trying to picture it. Thanks for the list, Moby.

Moby and Jonathan, Thank you for a very entertaining piece. Consider me "diadvantaged". I am curious about the linear progression of the event, not to mention which preparations were actually demonstrated that day. I'm guessing that he didn't actually prepare the Griddled Vegetables with Charcoal Oil as your montage might suggest. Wouldn't it take too long given the time allotted?

Maybe it's "bad luck" because parsley seems to transplant so bady. Same thing with cilantro - so much as look at it with a spade in your hand and it keels over dead. Direct-seeded in the sol it does fine until the warm weather comes and it bolts.

Some herbs are pretty easy to start from seed. Parsley, chive, cilantro/coriander, dill, fennel... I believe that all of those can be direct-seeded in the ground rather than started indoors and transplanted. Tarragon needs to be started from cuttings - I'd leave that to the professionals! There are varieties like Russian tarragon that can be propagated from seed, but they're not the kind you want for culinary use. Many herbs are perennials that should be able to survive the winter in California. (I have to bring the bay laurel indoors here in Ohio). If you ask some of the smaller nurseries I bet they could order some for you even though they don't stock them on a regular basis. Mail-order is also an option for some of the sturdier plants. I've bought scented geraniums (pelargoniums) from mail-order sources and they arrived in fine condition. Hey, if you can step outside and snip some parsley or chive, there's nothing pitiful about that! Any herb garden is a good herb garden, even if it's just a window box or some potted plants on the patio.

Oh yes, forgot to add: Greek oregano ,marjoram, spearmint, peppermint, chives (regular and garlic), French thyme, lemon verbena, lavender, dill, fennel, borage - all come back as perennials or self-seed. The oregano and chives are already poking up through the late snow. Parsley, cilantro, and basil have to be started fresh every year. I brought in some curly parsley this winter but it dried out quickly in the forced heat. Rosemary and sage are iffy in my climactic zone. Some years they make it, some years they don't. I've had bad luck growing chervil and chamomile. Jackal10: Your herb garden sounds lovely. Is the curry plant the one that yields the "curry leaves" used in Indian cooking?

Don't grieve for your bay - plant another! You're in the DC area, right? My mother planted bay in the garden when we moved to MacLean when I was a kid. She took great pleasure (rightly so!) in going out to the garden to pluck a couple of leaves when preparing stews or sauces that call for bay. Then one year there was a nasty late frost followed by weeks of dismal rainy weather. The bay plants died. All of them. The roses took quite a beating that year as well, as did the famous ornamental cherries at the Tidal Basin. I have a bay laurel that I drag in every winter (the pot gets bigger and heavier by the year). The fresh bay leaves are marvelously aromatic, and fresh-dried leaves are vastly superior to the usual supermarket mummified remains. (Penzey's is an exception). Memesuze: you mentioned having the California variety - a lovely plant, but for culinary purposes you want the Mediterranean bay. It seems that it's propagated by cuttings and is fussy to get started. Same goes for tarragon. If anyone tries to sell you "French tarragon" seed, shop elsewhere. My dear departed cat Lila was mostly indifferent to catnip, but lemon grass made her crazy. For those who don't know, lemon grass is dead easy to grow. When you get the fresh stalks from the asian grocer, look at the ends to be sure that there's a bit of the root at the base. Don't worry if the roots have all been trimmed off - just look for little vestigial nubs at the end of the stalk. Cut the ends off and plant them in wet soil (use the rest for the usual culinary purposes).

Victor, you're in Madrid, right? I'd love to hear from you (or anyone else who can drop by the NH hotel in Madrid, for that matter) as to your first-hand impressions of the "Fast Good" experiment. Have any eGulleteers checked it out yet? I saw the Nhubes concept written up in an in-flight magazine from one of the major U.S. airlines. (I think it was Continental). Adrià seems to be rather high-profile these days.

Veal stock has yielded the occasional disappointment for me as well. Others here have zeroed in on the likely cause of your problem (marrow bones must be treated with the utmost care). I would hasten to add that some of my very best culinary experiences involve roasting /simmering / clarifying / reducing veal stock. OK, now you're starting to sound like me! Welcome to eG, KT!

Thanks, Pedro. I guessed that macedonia must be something like that - we sometimes use the French term macedoine for fruit-in-syrup. I actually quoted the babelfish translation of that portion of the article because it illustrates just how difficult machine translation can be. I found a press release on the nh-hoteles web site - search for "Fast Good". It appears that they do indeed plan to roll out more than one of these. Unfortunately, NH doesn't have any properties in the U.S. I'd love to see first-hand Adrià's notion of good fast food.

I gather that he plans to open more than one of these "Fast Good" establishments? My Spanish is fairly abysmal, but that's what I was able to discern. The Fish wasn't much help.

Amanda, the Anson Mills Website lists a "quick" version of their grits that takes only 20-30 minutes to cook. Richard, thanks for posting the article link. This stuff sounds fascinating!

My own excuse is (a) size matters. Mine is big enough to do a good-sized bird in and also to use as a stockpot. I decided to try steaming a chicken in the PC last night. I don't have any of the modern spring-loaded cookers, just an old-fashioned Presto PC and a big pressure canner (also Presto-Matic). The smaller PC is much too small to accomodate a whole bird, so I used the canner instead. Both cookers use the jiggling-weight for pressure control, and the mechanism appears to be identical on both. I placed the aluminum rack that comes with the canner in the bottom and dumped in about two cups of water. I placed a heat-proof bowl (about one-inch smaller diameter than the canner) on the rack, tossed in some roughly-chopped veggies, poured about 1.5 cups water over the veggies, then placed the previously brined chicken on top. I added the water in the bowl because I thought it would make a good start on some stock. I placed the weight in the fifteen-pound position on the pressure valve and brought the canner up to temp. I cooked the chicken for twenty minutes (a bit too long as it turned out) and killed the flame under the canner, giving it another five minutes to slow-release the pressure. I don't have any recipes for pressure-cooked chicken so I relied on a sample recipe from a web search. I need to find some of the books mentioned earlier to have a better chance of converting the cooking time successfully. Anyway, the chicken was moist and flavorful, if slightly over-done, and the juices dripping into the veggies produced a nice-tasting but thin broth.

Jeffrey Steingarten wrote about his obsessive pursuit of fresh tuna in "Toro! Toro! Toro!", reprinted in The Man Who Ate Everything. He wound up on a charter boat off the Carolina coast. After catching a yellowfin tuna he requested that the otoro be handled with special care. The charter operator and the other sport fishermen found this highly amusing, since they regarded the belly meat just behind the gills (otoro to us) as too fatty to eat. They routinely threw it to the dogs on the pier! If Masa buys his tuna from Tsukiji (as some have suggested) I wonder if it has made a near round-trip to get to New York. It's my understanding that much of the tuna sold in Tokyo originates off of the North American coast. Maybe Masa should contact those Carolina charter operators.

I think that's the problem. The stick blender's blades need to be well submerged or you wind up wearing the sauce. Try switching to a narrower sauce pan, or transfer the sauce to a narrow container before pureeing it. Make sure the level is above the cowl that protects the blades. You'll soon learn to love your stick blender.