ludja

Stone: thanks for the two detailed posts on R&G Lounge; have always heard good things about it but haven't been yet; now I can go armed with lots of good suggestions in mind. The salt and pepper crab does sound incredible. I've had some good roasted crab with great garlic noodles at Thanh Long out in the Sunset (or Long Thang, as we call it, purely for mnemonic reasons...) but need to try the salt and pepper...

I'm sure there were types of home remedies around with varying effectiveness, but there sure weren't a slew of products like Tagamet, Pepcid, Zantac, etc. to deal with upset stomachs, indigestion, etc... Luckily I haven't had to deal (yet?) with things like heartburn, but hearing from people that do, I can imagine that people would go to great lengths to avoid it. I wonder too with the comparative lack of medical knowledge and most likely poorer sanitation available if people might have combined a whole bunch of symptoms together and ascribed them to 'poor digestion'. I can't recall the details, but I recently read the Forsythe Sagas (written in and about late 19th and early 20th century England) and there was quite a bit of interesting discourse among characters regarding how to 'manage their digestion, liver, etc...

Hi Caroline, Thank you, and thanks for the information on sangrita! Please do start another thread on this! (I was thinking about it after I asked the question, but you would be a much better person to start it off). Maybe under the 'Beverages and Libations' forum? I have always been intrigued by sangrita. I've had the orange, chile, tomato version in LA once, read a little about it in one of Zarela Martinez's books and would love to learn more about it. The pomegranate version you mention with ancho chile puree sounds very interesting! Thanks again. Here's a Sangrita Recipe. POM is turning up in all sorts of lovely cocktails -- pomegranate martinis, daiquiris and yummy margaritas. Very quickly too! thanks for the sangrita recipe; POM cocktails sound very good too. I think I might like it better than cranberry-type drinks...

Hi Caroline, Thank you, and thanks for the information on sangrita! Please do start another thread on this! (I was thinking about it after I asked the question, but you would be a much better person to start it off). Maybe under the 'Beverages and Libations' forum? I have always been intrigued by sangrita. I've had the orange, chile, tomato version in LA once, read a little about it in one of Zarela Martinez's books and would love to learn more about it. The pomegranate version you mention with ancho chile puree sounds very interesting! Thanks again.

Some good things: Belgian Beef Stew made with dark beer served with potato gratin w/gruyere and creme fraiche Posole (pork; red or green) Paprika Chicken w/spaetzle Lamb or Chicken Stew w/Lemon and Olives Braised Oxtails Hungarian Beef Goulash common thread as above: saucy, rich stews or braises

Hi Rachel: Can you give more details on the pomegranite sangrita? And am I correct in assuming this is a chaser after drinking some tequila? Thanks!

Yes, to paraphrase Jinmyo, anything with pork

As a woman, I don't really mind who the wine list gets handed to. If I'm in the mood to contribute to a wine decision; I'll just ask the person who received the menu to look it over and negotiate with them from there. That being said, I prefer it when the server politely pauses and either explicitly or not, inquires as to who would like the wine menu.... rather than handing it to the man or any one person with a big pre-ordained flourish... I think one copy is fine; I agree that the table would get a little crowded w/multiple wine menus which are often larger. I do expect, as a part of good service, that the server will remember who ordered the wine and arrange the tasting appropriately. If a given server seems to have forgotton and recovers gracefully, all may be forgiven. The more grating situation is when the server handles the mistake and/or recovery with elaborate awkwardness. I don't know exactly how to describe this, but some servers (very few, I'm happy to report in SF) will, if the woman indicates or is indicated for choosing the wine, suddently adjust their demeanor to falsely convey extreme over-solicitude and 'respect' for the woman ordering. This pantomine will then continue to the tasting. It comes across as so patently false and is the only thing that will get me really mad in this situation.

I agree on NOLA sandwiches; have only been there once so far but sandwiches were definately a big part of the awesome food experience I had there. The Chickie's Special looks and sounds absolutely great! For cold grinders, subs, and hoagies my preferance really is Italian coldcuts like in this one or as people have described above. Marinated veggies or oil and vinegar go so well with. Provolone perfects the combination... great photo!

You sure it wasn't hard provolone? I've never seen them with mozzarella, but maybe that's how they make them in Philly. Stuffed peppers are addictive. can't swear to it; but I'm pretty sure it was mozzarella. Provolone sounds it would be very good; more assertive flavors to match w/the rest.

I still do it. It's nostalgic. Pardon my ignorance, but how did drinking out of the Yahrzeit candle glasses become a tradition? Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a tradition. It probably had more to do with thrift than with anything else. Yarzheit glasses, as you noted, are lit on the anniversary of a family member's death, and on certain Jewish holidays in memory of those family members. That adds up to a lot of glasses! They're strong, sturdy glasses, quite hard to break. So we always reused at least some. Most went into the garbage because there was a limit to how many glasses we could break, even in my family. It was a stiff competition between Yarzheit glasses and Flintsone jelly glasses. Thanks for explaining; interesting story and nice to learn a little about the tradition. I *did* think of those jelly glasses too...

I still do it. It's nostalgic. Pardon my ignorance, but how did drinking out of the Yahrzeit candle glasses become a tradition? Is it just a hospitable shape and good recycling practice? Or does it have any other significance? I learned (from Google) that Yahrzeit candles are lit in memory of loved ones. (Interesting that Yahrzeit sounds like Jahrezeit... ?time of year?) Thanks

Well, that does sound very good...my previous comments aside, *maybe* I'll have to try another recipe. (I'm especially intrigued with the jalapeno salsa). I'm the one that mentioned not liking tomatoes in guac. For me, the texture and flavor of the tomatoes don't really add to the experience I'm looking for. Only caveat, is that I haven't made my own guac with tomatoes in it in any serious way, so maybe making sure to remove as much of the water as possible will help (and also cutting into small dice and using ripe tomatoes...). Your testimony and experience sound convincing enough for me to give it a try (even if I don't have a tree in my yard!) Thanks for the detailed recipe, Jaymes

That article states that the pronunciation of "Po' Boys" is "poo-boys" which I would think is incorrect. Being a derivative of "poor boys", I would think the " Po' " would be more like "poh", which sounds more like a southern affectation. I hope someone from Crescent City can clear this up. I've always kind of paw-pawed around so to speak when it came to pronouncing 'Po'boys'. I kind of start saying 'poe' or 'poh' and then get kind of scared and try to turn it back into 'poor' and it comes out really lame. Help! Proper pronunciation on 'Po'boys' needed.

for me it's cherry peppers or hot cherry pepper relish. I agree on the hot cherry pepper relish; I haven't had much luck finding that out here (N. CA). I should probably check up at some of the Italian groceries in SF though, like Molinari's. The marinated artichokes sounds very good too!! Related: Recently had a great cherry pepper snack/antipasto at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia: roasted cherry peppers stuffed w/proscuitto and mozzarella. A little grinder with out the hoagie... ???A hoagie popper??? (see Holly, I'm being careful in all Philly references....)

like an italian egg hero almost, if i'm not mistaken. generally scrambled. there was (is?) a place in NJ that served only egg sandwiches (i don't remember if they had peppers though). i think it opened at 9 pm, catering to the post-pub crowd. It's been awhile, but as I remember it, basically scrambled eggs w/roasted peppers added in. When we made something like it at home, we used green bell peppers, but I think at restaurants they might used, what at least used to be called, "Italian Frying Peppers". Not sure if they are still called that. In any case, not a pepper with a huge amount of heat. Might also add grilled onions to this grinder/sub. Some people above that mentioned grinders are usually 'heated up'. This fits in with my recollection. Although, I thinks lots of places served both and may have called them all grinders. A common type place I remember having them was in pizza places (with ovens...). Also used to get tuna in a grinder roll w/cheese, olive oil, pepper and vinegar and heated up to melt the cheese...

Thanks Holly for the answers ! And I promise to respectfully refer to any sandwich I know to be native to Philadelphia as either "hoagie' or 'sandwich' as appropriate. At least on my posts...

serrano chiles.... mmmmmmmm! The flavor of serranos is definitely heightened when in guacamole. Tomatillos are so underused. Could you please share your recipe with them? I agree that serranos are really good here (i.e. better than jalapenos...) The tomatillo guac that I've made is a variation off a recipe of Rick Bayless' in his book, Mexican Kitchen Basically, make a roasted tomatillo-serano salsa, by blistering/roasting tomatillos under broiler or in hot skillet. Also roast some serranos and garlic. (for about 6 medium tomatillos you may use 2-4 serranos, to taste and 1-2 garlic cloves, to taste). Cool, peel all and blend together. Add this to 4 avocados, mashed. And add cilantro and chopped onion to taste. Basically, it is very similar to the other basic recipe, but roasted tomatillos, rather than lime, donate the tangy, citrusy note. Also, the roasting add a nice toasty flavor. Hmmm....don't have any ripe avocados at home right now!

A lot of the guacomole variations sound very interesting. But it's funny (to me) that this is one of a few dishes that I just don't want to experiment further with (famous last words). Once I honed into the basic version I described above (over the course of several years), it tasted so good to me that I only want to make it that way when I have the chance. I guess the *cure* to this would be to have such an abundance of avocados (off a tree in my yard) that I wouldn't 'mind' passing up on my basic recipe now and then...

most important, how could I forget... (I should be stripped of my sig) If not on the dessert, you can also serve it with the coffee!

First, Grinders sound so much better.... Second, after visiting Philly over New Years, I perused the PA boards here (I know, wrong order, but my host knows a lot of the ins and outs of food in Philly so it turned out great) and I discovered this famous roasted pork, aged provolone and sauteed greens sandwich. It sounds so fabulous; I told my friend back in PA and he had one since at Tommy DiNic's. He confirmed my suspicions, which is seconded by your post, that I need to get back to Philly to try this sandwich!!! (It was, in part, inspiration for this post). I think I will need to try and make my own version before then to satisfy this itch. Just to clarify, it's called a sandwich, but it is served on a 'grinder' type roll, no? Also, do you know if the roll is toasted or not? And since you're here (hopefully), what kind of greens do they use? I've heard mention of broccoli raab...

Just my personal taste, but I don't like red tomatoes in my guac; it just seems to add a watery note that I don't like in this dish (note: I do love tomatoes...). I don't mind tomatillos for a variation... Don't claim this relates to authentic; but I've evolved (after starting w/mayo, etc.)to the following: ripe Haas avocados serrano chiles lime juice cilantro minced red onion s&p My usual *complaint* in guacs is if there is not enough chile and/or lime juice. Love their counterpoint to the creamy avocado..

Almost always make buckwheat or cornmeal pancakes... If 'regular' pancakes, buttlermilk with fresh blueberries... I may be in the minority, but I like my pancakes more on the thin side; nice and browned. One reason I make cornmeal pancakes a lot (they tend toward this style). Oh---and softened good quality butter and real maple syrup go a long way towards making a 'good pancake' experience (if your're eating them sweet).

A nice vegetarian alternative that you can make with spaetzle is make the noodles; cover with some melted butter as Rachel Perlow suggested; then blend in grated gruyere cheese and sauteed mushrooms (some wild ones are nice). Then cover and bake in oven awhile. Take cover off towards end to get a nice crust... Apple strudle is classic (and in the song) but can be a little challenging to make (I learned how to do it from my mom; haven't tried it w/frozen phyllo dough, but that might work...) An easier Austrian dessert might be Linzer Torte (torte w/ground hazelnut crust, perserves (red or black currant or raspberry), lattice crust on top and sliced almonds... Any ground nut cake (in which ground walnuts, hazelnuts or almonds are substituted for most of the flour) would also be very typical and could be frosted with chocolate; filled with nut buttercream... Palatchinken---Austrian/Hungarian Crepes filled w/various fillings---(currant jelly, walnut cream). Could use a standard crepe recipe and make them ahead. Jelly ones dusted w/confectioner's sugar; walnut cream ones drizzeled w/chocolate... If you're very ambitious and like to bake; try checking Rick Rodgers, "Kaffehaus" out of the library for great ideas and recipes! kaffehaus Well, these are few of my favorite things...