jayt90

Once you have acquired the basics, there is no better choice than The World Atlas of Wine, by Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson. I found Hugh's original volume (1970) immensely helpful, and now the current edition, with Jancis, is even better.

I've seen a couple of the new shows. The host is unimpressive as a copy of the original host. The food critics were not introduced, but they were very pro-U.S. and hard put to give points to Morimoto or Sakai. The running commentary by Alton, and Brauch was fine, but so was the translated and re-enacted comments on the original show. Needs work...

There are attractive 2003 future offers by LCBO in Ontario now. I am a bottom feeder, and have found good value (on paper, at least) in Sauternes, Barsac, and the right bank.

I've used simple food mills for brandade de morue (salt cod, EVO, garlic, cream and potatoes, with good success. The food mill holds back the toughest pices of cod flakes, as well as pin bones. The result is smoother and more authentic than using a food processor. More work, though, but worth it.

The first serious dish I ever prepared was sole souffle, from E. David's French Country Cooking, a paperback I discovered when I was 19. I was home from college where everything was cafeteria style, and I was in my mom's kitchen, where she had prepared almost every meal I had until age 18. She had always made a superb cheddar souffle. I followed David's directions exactly, but I had to use frozen sole. It turned out really nicely, and from there on I was not intimidated in the kitchen, in fact I was rewarded, so I continued. I was glad to be able to feed my family something special, even if mom still contributed the side dishes.

e Gads! I called her Natalie MacMaster, when she is rightly Natalie McLean! For what its worth, Natalie sends a ready to use copy of her monthly ratings to LCBO consultants; I have seen this lying around in Vintages Corners. Those 90+ ratings are worth something when the uninformed consumer arrives! The LCBO, in its own publications, uses high ratings when they can get them, and when not so good (such as a Parker note with an 87) they print the blurb, not the rating.

I have been getting Natalie's LCBO Vintages scores for quite awhile. Useful, as they pre-dated the Vintages release. Recently Nat. upped the ante by boosting her scores, so that the good wines in the monthly release would score bretween 90 and 95. Not very useful, when most critics reserve this area for the very best. Nat, supplies these ratings to LCBO consutants be e mail, and they influence Ontario buyers. Even less useful...

Two aspects about the Presto are a bit dated: they use aluminum and should not be used with acidic foods; they don't have a safety puck (about .3 inch diameter) which will blow out if the wobbley part fails (might get gummed up under pressure). The modern stainless steel pressure cookers have that added degree of safety.

Just to complicate the issue, my electric power corp., Ontario Power, wants us to have smart meters, so that we get charged less in non-peak hours, and more in the early morning or evening...

This thread aroused my curiosity about the price/quality issue. There is a good discussion of this in September Consumer Reports. They preferred two pricey Calif. oils at more than $50. per litre, but some much cheaper Euro oils were not far behind. I don't think I'm ready for Pusateri's, so I headed to Costco and bought the cheapest and most expensive extra virgin olive oils they had: Bertolli 1st cold pressed at $5./litre with the in-store coupon, in a 3 l. jug (no date); and Kirkland Toscano 1st cold pressed, Dec. '03, at $17./litre. There were two other brands I did not buy. This morning, after coffee, but before breakfast, I tasted both: I put 3T of each in two white bowls, and examined them. Both were green-gold but the Toscano was greener. Both had a mild, fresh olive scent. The Bertolli was fruitier to taste, especially on the roof of my mouth. The Toscano was more pungent or peppery, especially on aftertaste. But they were both very good, and the Toscano was difficult to justify by price. If used in a salad or pasta with herbs, vinegar, or a sauce, the slight differences would be hard to discern. Spending more, on the $50/litre bottles, would be a bad risk for me.

The only sparkling shiraz I've been able to find at LCBO is E&E Black Pepper, and it certainly lived up to its name, when I opened the '96 for the millenium. I still have a couple, and prize them. The cost was about $24.

How could an esteemed Pauillac from a good, if not great vintage not last a thirty year journey? Did R.P. have a bad bottle, at a bad time? I think we need more details...

There is a wonderful middle eastern store called Nasr at Lawrence Av. East near Warden Av. They have a very large selection of olive oils from the entire Mediterranean area. Even Lebanon and Jordan. No tasting that I could see, tho' olives can be tasted. Remember the old adage about oil and wine purchases: Olive oil should be as fresh as possible, and wine should be aged!

Some gourmet stores sell a cotton sack of 'Herbes de Provence', for about $5, which contains about 20% lavender. This is strong enough for most cooking/baking purposes, as the lavender portion is potent. I find it useful to keep a sack onhand, especially during winter.

We don't need to eat any wild creature, especially higher mammals, endangered, because it is part of a tradition that ended with farmed mammals available to all of us (with the sole exception of the Inuit.) When I read the post about curious tourists eating whale in Norway, and not really liking it, and giving it to the cats, I have to think about how many years that whale survived eating plankton, how much of the carcas went to pet food, while the delicate portions were reserved for us, and whether the whale oil or whale bones were still needed for intricate human endeavours.

I have to agree wholeheartedly. I feel guilty enough eating farmed mammals but I am too addicted to stop. There is little point in hunting endangered species for scientific purposes (Japan) or to feed a longstanding tradition in a modern Norweigian society.

I don't get it. I never have enough fresh basil leaves to make a supply of traditional pesto (basil, olive oil, pine nuts or walnuts (that bit of heresy came from E. David!) and parmesan reggiano, to last through the winter, but the sauce is so good with pasta, soup, or salad, that I would not consider a new age substitute in March or April, any more than purchasing pesto in a tub.

I have had excellent dry riesling from Australian producers such as Jim Barry. But I have occaisionally had spectacular riesling from Henshcke's single vineyard bottlings. They are offered in Ont. by the LCBO every year or two, and there is a small following for them, as they are priced in the $25 range.

The cardamom should be pounded first, or added to the coffee beans if you are grinding them. A slight toasting as mentioned earlier is helpful, too. I was in an Egyptian store (Nasr) in Scarborough, Ontario, last week, where they would add 1 teaspoon of cardamom to a pound of coffee before grinding, for $1. extra. It results in a nicely scented brew.

Here is what I remember as a consumer in the mid 70's: The Japanese-made Cuisinart processors were well made, but similar in appearance and performance to the French made Cuisinarts, which had a Pabst motor. News reports, and industry information at the time indicated that Cuisinart, of Conn., had lifted the French design, after a disagreement with Robot Coupe, and had the machine made in Japan. There were lawsuits over this, and Cuisinart won, in U.S. courts. Robot looked like a loser, and their product was not available in the U.S. or Canada. The fancy tubes and push buttons cames later.

How can you call the classic square base DLC-7 better engineering, when they stole it from Robot Coupe (France) and had it made in Japan? Robot originally designed the product and sold it in Europe before Cuisinart got the rights for the U.S. market in the early 70's. After a disagreement with Robot, they stole the design and went abroad for manufacturing. Robot is cuurently with Kitchenaid, for better or worse.

Salmonella can grow in fowl, beef, or potato salad if improperly handled. Why single out pork? If you really mean trichinosis, it is also present in beef, but is at low levels in both animals, and can be killed by freezing at zero degrees for three days.

I like it, a lot! The tired brands from Labatt, Molson, Bud, and Coors will lose even more market share to upcomers such as Sleeman, Chambly, Moosehead, Keith, Algonquin, and many others who have been bullied by the big boys for years. The constant harranging of the little guys in the Beer Store (Ontario) has already led to an increase in boutique beer sales in the LCBO. This trend will continue, and spread to the Beer Store as the big companies become less relevant.

Apparently Molson's is held mainly by family and by strong pension funds, as well as some large Canadian mutual funds. This necessitates a Canadian head office, but it may turn out to be a shadow office after the cuts.