robyn

I did an experiment last night. I poached a couple of the eggs (for crab cakes Benedict). The whites for 2 eggs took up all of a large fry pan (filled with water). Wispy plumes in all directions. A definite sign of old eggs. I wish there was a better explanation - but I'm afraid - cage free all natural or not - what I'm buying here is old eggs - really old eggs <sigh>. BTW - I couldn't find anything like a date on the package (there was some red marking on the top of it but it was mostly rubbed off - perhaps that was the date mark). Robyn

I must admit. I don't eat beef that often. So I haven't had that much experience. But when I've eaten braised ribs (don't know what kind they were) in fine restaurants - they didn't have more than a trace amount of visible fat. That's why you have to braise them - not much fat. And - despite what people have said here - animal fat - visible or invisible - isn't really good for you. It's downright bad - whether or not you can see it. Ditto with large amounts of salt. So it's best to eat those things in moderation - or as an occasional treat when it comes to the stuff that has huge amounts of animal fat or salt. I'm not sure an 8 year old can relate to that concept. What your wife likes to eat doesn't sound swell either. So in your family - you're basically arguing about unhealthy home-cooked food as opposed to unhealthy fast-food-junk food. Sounds like a good time for a family conference. Robyn

Crucial? Define crucial. I think Sam has already said enough on the importance of foie gras and of cheap chicken. The world would go on quite well if we stopped eating foie gras and chicken. Poultry, poultry products and poultry by-products aren't crucial, with the exception of eggs. I'd really miss eggs far more than foie or chicken. As a crutch ingredient, if it is one and I don't even care to argue it isn't, it will go out of fashion. It already has to a great extent, but as it's become less of a crutch in haute cuisine, it's gone populist -- albeit to a very small degree. In Israel I'm told, it's snack food. In the Perigord, it's seasonal and a part of every farmer's Christmas and New Year's traditions. I do think we've gotten off target. The ethics and morality have been debated in a number of threads and we're repeating ourselves here. Trotter and Tramonto are the story here. Of course I only have the author's words to go by, but it seems an awfully great escalation to go from Tramonto's " "It's a little hypocritical" to Trotter's "Rick Tramonto's not the smartest guy on the block." Indeed, Trotter didn't stop there. "Dumb," "idiotic" and "fat" were all used perjoratively referring to Tramonto. Interesting article. It seemed pro-foie gras and fair. Given my sentiments on the subject, there's no contradiction there. Obviously the comments throughout the article were well chosen, and interesting to me. ← I agree in large part with sizzleteeth. And pointing out what may be going on in Israel (I think you exaggerate perhaps a bit here) and the Perigord (2 of the 3 largest goose foie gras producing areas in the world - the other being Hungary) doesn't prove that foie gras is populist. When it starts showing up on a regular basis in restaurants in Peoria - then perhaps I'll change my mind. As for Trotter and Tramonto being the story - well the facts of what happened seem to be a moving target in this thread. With a lot of people slinging mud (and worse) at the moving target. I don't care if Bourdain is correct in asserting that Trotter is a "public figure" (a lawyer/journalist term of art that means you're free to sling a lot more mud at that person than you can sling at ordinary people). I don't feel comfortable roasting or defending someone on the basis of what he's supposed to have done when I'm not sure exactly what he did. And Bourdain may not even be correct in his "public figure" conclusion. In which case - I feel even less comfortable. I agree with you about eggs. So I will now go to the thread I started discussing the mystery of the easy to peel eggs. Robyn

I find these endless splitting-hairs discussions about foie gras kind of silly. Either you don't mind killing animals to eat them - or you do. Like Woody Allen said (more or less) in Love and Death - I'm scheduled to be executed at 6 - it was supposed to be 5:30 but I had a great lawyer. By the way - don't "free range" small animals like chickens ever get eaten by predators? I see little animals getting eaten alive in my back yard all the time (mostly by ospreys and other birds of prey). Robyn

Bistro Mediterranean Grill looks interesting. But it's definitely in Ocala. Here's the web site. Robyn

I'll be interested to see what you think of Emiliano's. We only ate there once - during a downtown arts festival. Downtown was too crowded and the restaurant was pretty bad. But I'm not willing to make a final judgment about downtown restaurants when they're slammed like they are during an arts festival. Robyn P.S. Re the place in Ocala. Ocala is about 40 miles from Gainesville. Do you have to go to Ocala - or is the place supposed to be worth an 80 mile round trip?

I'm not familiar with this restaurant - but "holiday meals" (especially holidays like Valentine's Day - Mother's Day - Thanksgiving - Christmas) at most restaurants tend to underwhelm compared to the normal standards of the restaurant in question (food is worse and prices are higher). Perhaps the moral of the story is stay home for the holidays. Robyn

We eat a lot of egg salad with the fixings. It's a nice easy light meal. And peeling the eggs has always been the bane of my existence. My rule of thumb was the older the eggs - the better in terms of being easy to peel. I used to use regular white Publix eggs. Right off the shelf - they were impossible to peel. When they reached their expiration date - they were usually somewhat easy to peel. A few months ago - I started to use Harris Teeter "Cage Free" all natural brown nest eggs. They taste somewhat better than the Publix regular eggs. But - more importantly - miracle of miracles - peeling them is a snap - even the day I bring them home. The peel almost falls off the eggs. I haven't the slightest idea why this happens. Perhaps these eggs are old the day they're sold. But I don't think so. Any theories? I'm curious. Robyn

The nanny-state doesn't have to be nanny-statist in all its affairs. God knows the US isn't. I mean, there are apparently much stricter controls on raw milk cheeses, which kill maybe a few to a few dozen people a year, than there is on cigarettes, which kill roughly 400,000 people a year. ← People can reasonably expect to get sick or die from smoking. There aren't many people who think they can get sick or die from eating cheese. Robyn

Actually - you will find it almost impossible to get a rare hamburger in any Florida restaurant. At least any restaurant that isn't totally judgment-proof. Liability concerns. Steak is a bit different. Bacteria tend to be on the outside of a steak - so - no matter how it's cooked - the outside is usually hot enough to kill bacteria. When it comes to a chopped meat product like a hamburger - the bacteria can be on the inside as a result of the grinding process - and cooking to "rare" won't kill the bacteria. As for raw egg whites - you don't see them either. Most commercial kitchens buy them pasteurized in bulk. Food that is prone to contaminations that can injure people - like raw oysters - usually have warnings printed on the menu. And fewer and fewer restaurants are serving raw oysters (I don't blame them - a lot of oyster beds here in the southeast are perpetually contaminated). Robyn

Why do you assume that because the cheese needs more care - it gets more care? The most recent story here in the US is about how a fair number of people in NY got TB from eating cheese that apparently was deprived of such care. All one can assume from the fact that it needs more care is that is needs more care - and more inspections - particularly in the case of soft cheeses - to assure that the product isn't contaminated. Just curious - are you - or anyone else here - similarly indulgent about food poisoning when it comes from a really down scale product - like a Jack in the Box hamburger - as opposed to a "classy" product like raw milk cheese? I think the goal of food regulations is to maximize the chances that people don't get sick or die from food - no matter what the product is. No matter how many inspectors we have - they can't inspect everything. So it's appropriate to ban products that present an unreasonable risk of harm - particularly since those of us who live in first world countries presume that the food we eat won't make us sick or kill us. Robyn P.S. This is a pretty interesting piece on how it is just about impossible to eliminate the risks in raw milk cheeses. And I don't think the authors have any particular ax to grind.

I ate swan once on a trip to the UK in the 1970's. It was awful. Tough - and gamey. Of course - everything we ate there in the 70's was sub-par (as opposed to the much better food on later trips). So perhaps it might be better in the hands of a competent chef. Robyn

Forgot to mention. Mr. Han's is a sentimental favorite of ours. We go there for dim sum (don't know the exact hours - we usually go on Sunday). Mr. Han's was a dump of a place with the best Chinese food in north Florida. It moved to swell new quarters - kind of a nightclub setting - about 20 years ago. The place looks dated now. But the dim sum is good (not world class but as good as any you'll find in the south). As for the Chinese-Chinese/American population - it's large in Gainesville. As in any university town. Also - if you're on or near Campus at lunch - there's a nice buffet on one of the higher floors in the student union. It's the kind of place where faculty get together for lunches. Robyn

We go to Gainesville 2 or 3 times a year for an overnight. To go to festivals - visit friends - etc. We were there last weekend. It isn't New York - it isn't even Jacksonville. But I don't think you have to brown bag it. We ate at Steve's Cafe Americain last weekend. It was uneven (some things good - some things could have been better) - but interesting. And ambitious. Pleasant room. Good service (where else but a place like Gainesville will most of the staff be in the process of earning advanced degrees?). Certainly not what you'd expect in Gainesville. And it's hard to complain when the 4 course fixed price menu was about $25. Give it a try. The place we went to trip before this one was very acceptable neighborhood Italian (Italian chef/owner was friends with our friends and perhaps that helped - he knew we weren't "pizza to go" types). Can't remember the name. Will find out if you'd like (won't spin my wheels if you rule out Italian). Robyn

I've never heard of tax being added to the total amount including tip - anywhere. Has anyone else here? Robyn

Robyn, I'm not sure what a kid's size is, but if you wear a 35 or 36 you can get a red Super Birki here. Since they only have the two sizes, I'm sure it's discontinued. ← In Birki's - I wear a 32. As for why people wear them - for me - they're the perfect gardening shoe. Slog around in the mud - wash them off with a hose. Robyn

That was one of the points I tried to make. It's cheaper to ban raw milk than it is to have the controls and inspections that would certify we had a healthy raw product. Of course we, as a society, could allow raw milk but subject it's sale to rigorous testing and controls that would raise the price considerably. There may, or may not be a market at the price necessary, but it's not even that simple. The pasturized milk lobby that represents milk plants that operate far too sloppily to ever produce safe raw milk fears the effect of raw milk on the market. It lobbies the legislators and indoctrinates enough of the consumer market with fear thus reducing the power of those who would pay the price for raw milk cheese. Snip... Nevertheless, I suspect we're taking the easy safeguards but not necessarily the important ones. ← Bux, thank you. I think you summed this up perfectly. ← What makes you think that the producers of food products - or the entities that make/produce other kinds of things - bear the total cost of inspections? Robyn

The pancakes turned out great. Evenly cooked (perhaps not perfect but really good). Better than my usual (done with a double burner All Clad griddle). Note that I use a package of White Lily mix (think White Lily is mostly a southern product). And no grease at all (on the Griddler or the All Clad griddle). Griddler will do 4 average size pancakes at a time (2 on each side) - perhaps 3 smaller ones on each side. I'm sure this isn't the perfect "do-everything" small electric appliance - but I've been pleased with it to date. Robyn

Emeril's web site has recipes for shrimp - grits - and shrimp and grits. I tried this recipe the other night and it was excellent. I don't feel one way or the other about cheese grits. Goes with some dishes - not others. It doesn't go with this shrimp preparation in my opinion. This has been a great season for shrimp here in north Florida - at least from a consumer's point of view (lots of fresh 16-20 Mayport shrimp on sale at places like Publix for about $9/pound). Robyn

Thanks Fifi. I'll try to find some time in the next few weeks to make the pork. Now that we've perfected grilled cheese - we're going to try pancakes sometime this week (if I can find some decent berries at the market). Robyn

I think orange was discontinued. I know red was discontinued because I can't replace my old red ones (in kid's sizes). Yellow will be coming out in a few months - but I'm not sure how I feel about yellow. Robyn

I don't think of the Zabar places (Zabar's - Vinegar Factory) as particularly touristy because they're basically grocery stores. If it's a nice day - you might consider doing "take-out" and having a picnic in the park. Note that this will not necessarily be cheaper than eating in a restaurant . Robyn

Nobu is opening in the Crescent Court. Was supposed to open around now - but opening has been delayed until the summer (I'm staying at the hotel in May - and that's what the hotel said). Since the hotel won't have a restaurant - hotel guests are invited are dine at the Crescent Club. Is anyone here familiar with it? Robyn

I don't think of British Columbia as a particularly nanny-state place - but it's illegal to sell raw milk there. Look here. Robyn

Bruni casually tosses off the fact that he was recognized, as if it's not a big deal. This is in line with a few things I've seen Fat Guy say about the mystique of the unrecognizable NYT reviewer. I'm sure he has more interesting things to say about it than I do. ← I think being recognized as an "important person" is a significant factor. I've never been to Le Bernardin due to previous experience with Brasserie Le Coze in Miami (Miami outpost of Le Bernardin - since closed). Despite being a steady customer there for a couple of years - I was treated very shabbily by the FOH on an occasion of great importance to me. Wrote the place off - despite the good food. Life is too short to spend money and get treated like garbage. Robyn