ludja

I remembered that Lang published this recipe in Saveur a few years ago. They are really good! Hungarian Walnut Buttercream-Filled Cookies

Sorry if I'm being dense this foggy morning, but could you clarify which tasted sweeter? (the brandy-based ones?)

Cool, thanks for that lafcadio; I've never heard or read of that before. (I really like 'big hominy' as well).

Didn't get to cycle in Brittany but did eat lots of crepes and galettes there. I've made this buckwheat crepe recipe from Saveur wih success. (The leek, gruyere cheese & creme fraiche filling is great as well). I have made some recipes which use 100% buckwheat flour, but can't remember which recipes I've used... I made this recipe above more recently; it uses a combination of wheat and buckwheat flour. (In any case, the first crepe almost never turns out quite right and remember to use a nice hot pan, the butter should sizzle merrily). Does anyone know a more precise definition of the word "Krampouz" (a Brittany word)? I've heard it used in different ways--to mean sweet and savory crepes, or just savory ble de noir noir crepes, or a buckwheat crepe wrapped around a sausage...

These both sound delicious-- nuts and apricots and whipped cream are certainly flavors of Hungary.

A nut slice would be very typical (and delicious) for either Hungary (and Austria). Usually a dough pressed into a large pan (like a cookie sheet), then a layer of ground walnuts flavored with sugar and lemon juice, and then a meringue layer or sugar glaze baked on top. Cut into small squares. If it sounds like something you would like to make I'll post a recipe. Another nice recipe is for a walnut cookie, with a walnut butter cream spread between two cookies. Interested to hear what andiesenji and others come back with as well!

oops, never mind (in my best RosanneRosannadanna voice)

How about the pronunciation? Interesting to see it spelled, b/c growing up in central CT with a large Polish community I heard it spoken more than saw it written. We called them, (phonetic spelling): gah-LUMP-kees. Is this close to how it's pronounced?

Hi creepygirl, Looks like you did some homework! A few comments: I like Ti Couz (but havent' been there in awhile) if yoiu can go at a slightly off time you might have a shorter wait. If you want some food to take away from the Ferry Market for a picnic/snack try some Cowgirl Creamery Cheeses and Acme bread. The Ferry Market wine store has great selections and they usually have some interesting wines open for by the glass tasting. Another great bakery (french in this case) is Bay Bread Boulangerie off of Fillmore--great selection of savory tarts and sandwiches and sweet things--including a large selection of macarons. Again, if you're interested in chocolate and over in the East bay you could stop by Scharffenberger's factory and cafe... If you love seafood--fresh oysters, crab Louis, consider stopping by Swan Oyster Depot. It's counter seating on stools. Open during the day up until ~ 5:00. (they might not be open on Sundays). Haven't been to Aziza, so can't comment. If you look on the recent, "who's hot in SF" thread, I'd be interested in trying out some of the Peruvian restaurants people mentioned. Have a wonderful trip and report back if you can; always good to get more recent info on places and different impressions.

And The Blinde Kuh (Blind Cow) in Zurich...

Here's one that uses strawberry preserves in the cake batter. The recipe is for cupcakes but I suppose it could be used for cake layers as well. I think most recipes incorporate strawberry as a non- or slightly-cooked ingredient to preserve the flavor of the fruit. (strawberry pie being one of the more common exceptions). It would be interesting to hear if any of these turn out good! I saw some recipes with the strawberry gelatin as well. Some of those recipes add fresh pureed strawberries to the frosting or add them between the cake layers.

Check out this thread. There are lots of great threads in this forum that you would probably enjoy; it's fun to go through and read them. Also check out this great egullet course on Classic Cocktails by Jaz.

If I understand what you're saying properly, I believe that what the 'rest of the South' calls grits, is just called "hominy" instead in the particular area around Charleston, or as noted above, from Beaufort to Charleston. Not sure what the people in that area call "hominy" (as known in the rest of the south). Interesting to know that the Hominy Grill chef worked w/Barker and Neal and that you worked with Barker as well. I looked at the Hominy Grill recipe and it is indeed very close to Neal's recipe published in the late 80's. (Not to speak for Bartow, but it didn't seem like he was designating the Hominy Grill chef as the originator, just rather that it was a good recipe in his opinion). It would be interesting to ask Neal if he were still around how much of 'his' recipe was 'his' so to speak. He read so many old sources for recipes, I wonder how much he 'changed' or added to the recipe from the ones he had seen. Perhaps this is a silly question to ask a chef.

It may be big and corporate and all, but I recently made a great sidecar with Courvoisier and Cointreau 2 oz : 1 oz : 0.5 oz (i.e. 4:2:1) and a sugared rim (with no dripping, sticky sides!)

I thought for a long time that mont blanc would only work with fresh chestnuts. Two weeks ago, my wife and I (craving for mont blanc) went on a fruitless hunt for fresh chestnuts, we came up with the crazy idea of attempting the recipe with chesnuts in a jar. To our surprise, it came out quite alright.. ← Cool, thanks for sharing. I like it enough that it would be great to be able to have it more often!

Goat cheese log near the front? Mascarpone in tub?

Chestnut creme and puree (sweetened and unsweetened) can be great for certain desserts--as a filling between or on top of cakes or tarts. For Mont Blanc (or Kastanienreis in German) I've only made this (and seen recipes) using fresh chestnuts. It's just basicaly pureed cooked chestnuts sweetened with sugar and flavored with vanilla and rum; then topped with whipped cream. I'm not sure if this would work well with dried chestnuts in a jar or can. Personally, if I was considering this, I'd want to hear from someone that it comes out alright using dried chestnuts b/4 I invested the time or $... It is a pain to peel fresh chestnuts and the season is ending, ended?... I'd wait for fresh chestnuts next fall. (I go thru the effort to make this dessert every few years b/c I do really love it). If you have a yen for chestnut desserts this time of year it might be better to try another type of dessert w/the canned puree. Chestnut desserts (including 'Mont Blanc') are popular in Austria and in N. Italy so I would look around for recipes w/that in mind. Lots of desserts combine chestnuts w/chocolate which is also very nice. Here are a few threads on egullet to check out.

pomegranate?

If purchasing mayo, I always buy Helllmans (on the west coast, it is the same stuff but called "Best Foods"). I like to make mayo for certain apps; like if I want aioli or some other flavored mayo. One other favorite is to make a Southern Mayonnaise using cider vinegar and flavoring with cayenne pepper. This is great on freshly sliced tomatoes in the summer.

I've just read it ascribed generically to the 'low country', basically coastal Georgia and S.Carolina. The simplest incarnations were just shrimp sauteed in butter, salt and peppered and serve with plain grits for breakfast. In his book, "Classical Southern Cooking", Damon Lee Fowler just calls them 'breakfast shrimp". Other versions are gussied up some-like Bill Neal's version, bacon, mushrooms, green onion and a little hot sauce added and then served on cheese grits. He also has another excellent variation where the shrimp are shallow fried with an egg white batter coating and then served over plain grits with deeply caramelized onions. All good! Would be interested if anyone has any other variations to share...

Coming for an ethnic Catholic family in the Northeast, here's what is typical in my experience for a Catholic wake/funeral. There is a wake before the funeral and then a day or two later a funeral mass in church. Family and/or some others may then attend a little ceremony graveside or in a small building in the graveyard. You’re right that people would not bring food to the actual funeral in the church or to the wake. (I don't know if this would be true for ethnic Italian or Irish; our family is Austrian). The food is for after the funeral. What happens afterwards depends on the number of family, friends, etc. that are still in the local community and their age. When I was growing up it was more likely that children, grandchildren etc all lived nearby, (certainly in the same state). Then the usual thing would be a potluck type dinner with lots of food, usually held at a house other than that of the 'primary' mourner(s). Lot's of Catholic churches do have facilities attached to or underneath the church for holding church dinners, etc. I can't recall being to an after funeral get- together held there but it might happen; usually it was held at someone's house (which seems similar to a lot of the other stories on the thread). More recently when some older relatives, friends have died in that area, it is often the case that many of the closest and/or younger relatives who could organize something like this (like your SO) don't live in the same area or state anymore. And as we know, nowadays it is more common that some people don't cook or entertain as much. In some of those cases, it's easier to have a small get together at a local restaurant. The idea is the same; to share food, drink and stories with the people remaining. Sometimes people may or may not have practiced a particular religion or maybe just one of the spouses, for example did. Or maybe they are getting cremated. Then there are less 'traditions' or signposts to follow as well, or it is more difficult to know ahead of time what the family might want to do. These are simply observations and not value judgments, but it is/was easier to maintain traditions that were easily followed within a particular religious/ethnic group and when generations of families lived close to one another. Thus the funeral celebration is likely to be different if celebrated in a little town where someone lived all their life, went to a particular church, etc as opposed to a situation where the grandparents moved to a condo down in Florida. It would be interesting to read the book Carolyn mentions above, I'm sure it delves into these things. A big tradition in our circles (in CT) is to also bring some food to the primary household during this time, for them and for any visitors they might have. For example, the wife of one of my parent's neighbors just passed away and my mom brought some dessert squares down there a day or two after she passed away. Anyway, I think a large factor in how it is handled is in how much of the surviving friends, family and community are in the area and involved. There are always differences between families, even of the same religion, but all the Catholic people I know/knew had nice food gathering afterwards, the size and extent varying according to some of the factors described above. The specific food I remember when I was small (and still lived in CT!) would typically be large platters of delicious Austrian and German cold cuts and cured meats, cheeses, pickled herring, pickles, stuffed eggs, rye bread and lots of homemade salads, cookies and tortes.

Speck from Austria and the Sud Tirol in Italy is eaten uncooked in thin slices. (speck also generically means "fat" in German). Speck to be eaten raw is salt cured and cold smoked for a long time. The ratio of fat to lean can vary. The classic great examples are about 1:1. The meat part is very dark in color. Different spices can also be added; one version in Austria/Hungary is "paprika speck".

Thanks for the heads up; that is really sad. For some reason I haven't eaten there in a year or so--but used to eat there every few months. It's been so steady the last 10 years or so that I felt safe in the rec! Hopefully, the slip is temporary and the new folks will get things under control. Thanks for the info on Brigittes and Le Petite Bistro. I didn't know about the former and had forgotton about the latter. Ate at Le Petite Bistro once a while back but it fell off my radar. (It's so inobstrusive! ---drove by it for years without knowing it was there).

Isn't it called "johnnycake" when it's made with sugar and "cornbread" when it's not? ... ← Johnnycakes are non-sweet pancakes cooked on a griddle from a cornmeal batter. They originated in Rhode Island and do not traditionally have sugar in the batter--but they can be served with butter and syrup for breakfast or as part of a savory dish. They're said to date back to the orignal settlers who may have received a recipe like this from the Indians. edited to add: they're very similar to hoecakes as therese just described above.

Thanks for the great review Varmint; I'm glad that Crook's made it into your 'circuit' for this thread. The duck endive salad sounds very good and that was wonderful to have the sweetbreads. Occasionally I get them at some French Bistro restaurants here in SF but it is hard to find them. My experience with Crook's and its influence on me, culinarily, is similar to your's. In grad school there (around the same time) it was the first time I had my own apt and started really cooking; buying my own cookbooks, etc. Although Bill Neal was there the whole time I was, I only 'knew' him through his cookbooks and eating his food at Crook's. These were also my first personal forays into good food (separate from the good food my Mom always cooked growing up). It was a whole different cuisine from what I grew up with in another part of the country which only added to the experience. I've been lucky to eat there more recently as well, under Bill Smith. I was very happy to see the good balance they achieved between preserving much of the 'old' Crook's Corner but adding in new things in a similar spirit. (I subscribe to Crook's email subscription so I keep up vicariously with some of the things he's been doing and am looking forward to his upcoming cookbook). Reading your description I wished I could be there tonight sipping a Sazerac while perusing the menu but I'm a lot further away than a 30 min drive... Not exactly the same, but at least I can open up a cookbook, whip up some shrimp and grits and listen to the Skids when I want.