Sandra Levine

A friend who wrote a book, Bittersweet Journey, that explores the connection between sex and chocolate,* was told that Angelina's chocolate is made by bringing 2 cups of milk to the boil, then lowering the flame and stirrring in 5 ounces of Valrhona Manjari until the chocolate melts and the drink is as thick as you would like. No cream. No added sugar. *a connection that's obvious when you drink Angelina's hot chocolate

I will probably drink only lassi and water. I don't like alcohol with Indian food. I am bringing a bottle of Alsatian Pinot Gris.

Alan would like to be waitlisted, too.

Something Sweet, a bakery on the southwest corner of Second Avenue and 11th Street has a variety of macaroons, but they are good only if fresh -- and you never know. The same bakery makes a fabulous cookie called a truffle button: ganache on top of half a macaroon, coated with dark chocolate.

I agree with you, Ajay, but I will bring a bottle of Alsatian Pinot Gris -- I think Suvir said someone knowlegeable recommended it with India food. I don't feel like looking for the thread. I'll be drinking lassi.

The Frank Lloyd Wright cake is amazing! I wonder how you would go about doing a Frank Gehry?

What other uses are there for porcini powder?

Rachel, I couldn't agree with you more. No tedious arguments here, just a friendly, informative exchange of experience(s) and knowledge.

Do you think the substitution of almond flour for ground almonds made some difference in the final height of the cake?

A fine report, Yvonne. May I be so bold as to askwhat the damages were?

All of this sounds good to me. What restaurant do you have in mind?

Did you use the same size eggs as specified in the recipe? The same size pan?

I like to saute some sliced fresh shitake mushrooms in butter to serve over pasta, with a few drops of the truffle oil sprinkled on at the last minute.

Can't wait.

Sharfenberger or Callebaut make good brownies. Sharfenberger is a very serious new chocolate maker trying to produce chocolate at a very high level, in the French style. Callebaut is the basic Belgian chocolate, not quite as intense or, some would say, distinctive. For those who love the fruity, complex tastes and aromas of Valrhona, Callebaut will seem too simple. There are times, though, when I prefer that simplicity. Callebaut is my standard baking chocolate unless I'm going for a French-style dessert of some sort and want the added complexity. Ghiradelli is not in the same class. For me, it has an inappropriate waxiness that I think is due to the very long conching process they are so proud of.

I don't think we are wedded to Dimple. The "official" eGullet events have been about $35-$40 per person. Is it possible to do what you have in mind in that price range?

I've PM'd Suvir.

Yes, I remember talking about this with Suvir some time ago, but I let the ball drop. It would be fun.

Maybe I'm being too much of a nitpicker, but, because naan is supposed to made in a tandoori oven, no matter what you do, it won't come out the way it's supposed to. Why not try some of the other Indian breads that do not require special equipment, like puri or chapati?

Thank you Cathy, for this wonderful description. I love to watch the kitchen at J-G from the south-facing window on the street. You can see these dishes being prepared by a bevy of intense cooks. It's like a silent movie. I hope to actually eat there one of these days, but your post made me feel that I was there.

Oh no, Paul -- Taylor Pork Roll is not Lebanon bologna. Both items are sui generis. The spicing of Taylor Pork Roll is aggressively salty and sweet. I seem to remember that it is usually, if not always, heated on a griddle before being placed in a hamburger bun. Lebanaon Bologna is a much more typical dry sausage. Mail order Taylor Pork Roll

Toby, French cooking also uses the de-clazing technique you have described, but not in haute cuisne.

Marcella Hazan: "Properly made lasagna consists of several layers of delicate, nearly weightless pasta spaced by layors of savory, but not overbearing fillings made of meat or artichokes or mushrooms or other fine mixtures. The only pasta suitable for lasagna is paper-thin dough freshly made at home." Well, never mind the last sentence. In Marcella gives only one recipe The Essentials of Italian Cooking," she offers only one recipe using ricotta and notes that it is not classic. Bechamel (balsamella) is the essential binder. I think the secret of a really good, classic dish is restraint. Resist the temptation to pile on the ingredients. Layer the par-boiled noodles with bechamel flavored with parmesant and two or three other ingredients, applied rather sparingly and you'll have something delicious, but not too heavy. I used to make the old-fashioned Southern Italian immigrant version, with tomato sauce, ricotta, mozzarella and sausages. People loved it, but it turned you comatose for the rest of the day. Who needs that anymore? When is dinner?

Fiction: I've just discovered Penelope Lively. . I finished "Cleopatra's Sister", tore through a book of her short stories, "The Five Thousand and One Nights" and am halfway through "Heat Wave." Non-fiction: "Brickwork Architecture & Design", by Plumridge and Meulenkamp.

I'm in.