Sandra Levine

F-G, those latkes look even better than mine did last night!

This would not be authentic, but I think it would go: either a watercress, red onion and orange salad or a green salad that included leafy herbs, like coriander and flat parsley. You could use a mint vinegar in the salad dressing, or even try adding a little garam masala.

Not a problem last night!

I've seen it in France more often than here.

Danal is a casual, eccentrically-decorated restaurant on East 10th Street just west of Third Avenue that I don't think anyone has mentioned on eGullet. Alan and I had a cozy early dinner there tonight. We shared an appetizer of two spreads, one made with roasted cauliflower, the other with chickpeas, served with grilled pita. Alan drank a glass of champagne. I had reisling. For mains, Alan had grilled calves liver, served medium-rare, as requested, that came with a confetti-like mountain-let of red cabbage, shredded apple, onion and brussels sprouts, with Calvados Dijon sauce. I had wild striped bass perched on spaghetti squash and roasted garlic in a mushroom broth. It's good to see striped bass back on menus again. The vegetables were beautifully caramelized, the broth rich with mushroom flavor. A few slices of red beets were strewn on top of the fish, to no purpose. We each drank another glass of reisling (Louis Sipp) with our entrees. For dessert we shared pumpkin bread pudding with cinnamon ice cream -- wonderful flavor complements. Why isn't cinnamon a more popular flavor for ice cream in this country?

I agree with you F-G about bread standards having risen. At the same time, Jewish rye standards have fallen, so the lower quality is even more pronounced. My mother-in-law in NJ produced a very good rye bread a couple of months ago. It may have been from Wegman's. I don't know the supplier, but will try to find out.

I will take a look, Liza.

Alas, you are right about the decline of rye bread in NY general.

The last time I was there (during the summer) the bread had reached a new low, having started very a very low point to begin with. It was so soft and soggy that it was impossible to finish the sandwich qua sandwich and I had to eat the pastrami plain. Katz's hasn't used good bread in a generation. I am tempted to bring my own the next time I go and ask the counterman to make my sandwich using it. I attribute the failure to source decent bread to outright cynicism on the part of the owners.

Also, F-G's can of creamed corn suggestion sounded good to me, if you are not being a purist about this.

Is this different from cornmeal? If so, that may be the problem.

Broiled red snapper filet, brushed first with melted butter and lime juice, dusted with curry powder Roasted parsnips Salad

James Robinson has three-tined forks in a number of patterns. Mine is Trifid, with the cannon handle on the knife.

I sometimes do this and put the cooked apples through the food mill to remove the skins, but usually I go for the traditional monochrome plate of our people.

If you eat them only during Chanukah (as my family does) they are special.

Steve, are the truffles incorporated into the batter or shaved on top? Black or white truffles?

I must say, nomenclature aside, grated potato cakes with either bacon or truffles sound wonderful.

Never. And no "improvements" like adding other fruits, either.

I made mine the same way Nina makes hers. I usually use corn oil for frying, because that is what my grandmother used, and it adds a certain taste I've come to expect, although duck or goose fat is even better. The latkes are golden brown and very crisp on the outside. I try to use a minimum of matzah meal, since I prefer the lighter crispier texture you get with less. I make my own applesauce. I peel and cut a mixture of apples into quarters and cook them down in a tiny bit of water so they don't scorch and add sugar to taste when they have softened. Occasionally, I'll add a little lemon juice or vanilla if the apples are not flavorful enough without it. It is not necessary to pass the sauce through a food mill, but it will be less chunky if you do.

Can't resist. Why would these be the best, Steve? Because they cost more?

I, too, am finding the book enjoyable and very well written. I'm not sure that I have anything to say about it, though. I would have liked a separate bibliography and the inclusion of a time line to help place food developments into the larger historical context. The time line link below does not quite do it... Food timeline I have a feeling that there was a deliberate decision not to include a time line, not only because the times of so many developments sare either unknown or so wide as to be relatively meaningless, but also because the book is thematic rather than chronogical, but I would have found it interesting anyway. The thematic structure of the book allpws for some very stimulating juxtapositions -- like cannibalism and vegetarianism being treated in the same chapter, on the meaning of eating.

Here's what we ate at my sister-in law's: With aperitifs: smoked salmon eggplant caviar First course: Mushoom bisque The main event: roast turkey, giblet and mushroom gravy wild rice, chestnut and fennel stuffing cranberry/raspberry sauce two-potato gratin broccoli with crunchy topping endive and arugula salad Dhateau St. Jeane Pinor Noir, 2000 Dessert: my mother-in-law's apple pie my mother-in law and James Beard's pumpkin pie

Yes. Always in English. The name of the language is, "English."

Steve, you consistently fail to capitalize "English." Is this supposed to be a subtle put-down, similar to LML's consistent mis-spelling of your name? Or, do you not know that the word is capitalized?

The antipasto plates at Fiorello are very good. You can have your choice of the number of items, vegetarian or meat or mixed, etc at different prices. It's reasonable and fast. It would never occur to me to have pizza there (or any other place that doesn't specialize in pizza, for that matter.) How many years ago did Gael Greene eat pizza there, anyway?