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hathor

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Everything posted by hathor

  1. Why Pepin? He seems to have reached an age where he does exactly what he pleases. Just curious.
  2. Maybe this is why Marco Pierre White hasn't been so interesting: Marco Pierre White kicks off Singapore tour with Unilever
  3. I'd say, "Follow the money." Stores have a higher profit margin with balsamic vinegar, than they do with red or white wine vinegar.
  4. IN the spirit of being a contrarian, this begs the question: Is it you who have become jaded? Did Marco Pierre White stop providing thrills? Is that what we are after? The first chef name that came to me was Emeril. But, what do I know? I haven't eaten his food in years, he's become a TV creation, and that doesn't make me want to seek out his food. Does that mean it still doesn't taste good? He used to be rock solid delicious..I'll never forget a roasted quail in a puddle of BBQ sauce. Would that make my heart go pitter pat now, years later? Maybe so, but it wouldn't be that moment of thrill that existed 30 ought years ago. What are we after in a restaurant experience? Constant reinvention? Classics that are classics for a reason? fun to think about, no?
  5. The Ruben is alive & well at Snowbird & Alta, Utah. Greasy, delicious. And you spend your afternoon out skiing in the wide open air..if you get my drift....
  6. Excellent...we're always looking for a decent ristorante a Roma! I hear you on the vegetables...makes me crazy. And they're all referred to as cotto (or cooked)..well, duh...
  7. Isn't dilution factored into a cocktail? You want a certain amount of water, right?
  8. Ciao and best of luck with the shop!! Are you dialed into the local community via Twitter? It's a powerful connector if you use it well. What about local food events in Montreal? Get involved in that scene and get your name out there. Create an event.. a Kids make Sandwiches Saturday. Get the bloggers in your area to love you. These days there are a zillion ways to spread the love!
  9. Why is this different than a Rollex? Because watches don't melt? It would be fun to do a full on scientific eval of melt rates, dilution, etc. Anyone have a lab? Where is Dave Arnold when you need him?
  10. Maybe they should call it hutzpah ice??? You gotta hand it to them...selling ice in the winter.
  11. Join IACP (Intl Assoc of Culinary Professionals), they have a test kitchen section, And start networking.
  12. Ciao!! Now THAT is a fish market! I want to see more of that wacky blue crab...so beautiful. Australia has been on my To-Go list for so long, and this is making the wander lust really kick in. Apparently I need some rare earth magnets, because I must have cheap earth magnets . My spices barely stay on the wall, if I had them on the freezer door they would go flying off. I'm jealous. What kind of butter is in that picture? It looks very yellow and "floofy".
  13. I"m with Qwerty all the way. jrshaul, it sounds as if you are looking for reasons not to tip. All of us have or have had cash shortages. The fact that your wallet is lean is your particular problem. If you go out, you do need to factor in a tip, that's the nature of dining out. If, at the moment, you can't afford it, that's the way it is. We've all been there.
  14. A few years back, there was a too-chic hotel in London (so chic there was no name on the outside so you drove round & round trying to find it, so chic the registration card was white on white print, so there was no telling what it said, so chic the room doors had no visible means of entry...) And they were probably the first to go slate. The servers literally could not pick the slate back up from the table, they had to do this awkward slip and slide movement to get the plate off the table. We laughed the whole time we were there....until we got the bill.
  15. I'd love to have you take me around Torino! We finally got there last Oct for Salone del Gusto and never left the Conference area, which does include the Mothership Eataly. We're anxious to go back and explore the city. I still would have to argue there is no "Italian" cuisine per se. The regional divides run deep and strong. A bruschetta in Toscana (bread topped with chopped tomatoes) is not a bruschetta in Umbria (bread rubbed with garlic and covered in olive oil). I know that's a simplistic example. As you are leery of rehashing modernist v.traditional, I'm leery of the true v. fake debate. Is it fake if they import ingredients? Or is it fake if they use local English ingredients? And believe me, I don't know the answer.
  16. Thoroughly enjoy dining alone, and having a book in hand is great cover for eavesdropping. We've invited single diners to join us at our table if they looked lonely, and had single diners ask to join us. My only regret when I dine alone and eat something wonderful is that I can't share the experience. I like mixing it up.
  17. Pretty colors on the panna cotta. But I'm curious about your statement, "how the opposition between tradition and modernity can be simply stepped over". To what effect? What has been achieved? Maybe it's because of the disclaimer about the panna cotta loosing it's essential wobble. Or the sparse agnolotti on the plate, which unless you ate very rapidly meant you were eating cold pasta. I usually bristle a little when someone says "Italian cuisine" because there is no homogenized Italian cuisine, it's regional cuisine. But.. when you insert 'modern' into the equation, maybe there is a place for the development of a culinary national identity.
  18. When I was a kid, sometimes as a treat we'd go to this upscale restaurant. I love roast chicken but I was always afraid to order the "Half Baked Chicken". Seriously..that stuck with me...always worried me.
  19. Where's Weinoo? I'm pretty sure he has a few words to share with us. Dimly lit rooms work when you don't have to read a menu, otherwise give me a flashlight or candelabra. Loud music is only good if you've had a fight with your dining partner and no one wants to talk to each other. Chairs or banquettes that are too low. I'm short. I hate feeling like I've been invited to the grown up table. Cheap, nasty wine glasses. I love Roberta's in Bklyn, but I seriously do not want to drink my wine out of a Ball jar. The price of a glass of wine in NYC..for cheap swill...is ridiculous. Truly fun-sucking in every way. that's enough...I'll leave room for others.
  20. I second Janeer on Perugia, or one of towns nearby, like Spoleto. I live in Umbria, so I'm biased. Our town, Montone is a perfect town for settling in and getting to know EVERYONE. There are only 800 people within the walls, so it takes about 20 seconds before everyone knows you. PM or email me if you have specific, non-food questions, I'm happy to share & to help.
  21. I think you might be onto something.
  22. I just finished reading "The Unprejudiced Palate. Classic Thoughts on Food and the Good Life" by Angelo Pellegrini, first published in 1948. I've never bookmarked a book as much as this one, his musings are entirely contemporary. Many of the dark, decline of society points that we are discussing were on Pellegrini's mind in 1948. What's the expression, the more things change, the more they stay the same? In a way, the eternalness of these issues is oddly reassuring.
  23. Ciao. Just for the record, a field of canola flowers in the spring is gorgeous. In April, in Umbria, there are massive fields of deep, deep yellow flowers. I use it for frying and have never noticed an off smell or taste. I have a contact a Canolo oil and have asked her if she could clear up or explain some of the issues various people are experiencing. Laura415, I agree that I'd rather be using extra virgin olive oil or some good goose or pork fat. But, high heat does not cause rancidity. Rancidity in oil is the decomposition of fatty acids. Synthetic antioxidants can be added to oils to retard the oxidation process. When harvesting olives, you must handle the olives very gently as bruised olives will rot, and if pressed, will contaminate the entire batch of oil and you will quickly wind up with rancid or moldy oil; however these are separate flaws. So extra virgin olive, cold pressed, is not more or less stable than a chemically refined oil. In olive oil, heat and chemical processing is used for extracting oil from the sludgy remains of the first cold press or if there are inferior grade olives.
  24. Ciao Moopheus. All good points for further discussions. I think my stumbling block here is that we need to address food culture issues and then my hope would be that food policy would follow course. Just making potato chips more expensive will not encourage a child to beg for roasted cauliflower. And I guess you missed the recent article in the NYT about low salt. I'll try and dig it up, but it made a case for eating salt. Once again, nutrition guidelines are a moving target.
  25. Good morning. I need a night to sleep on everyone's thoughtful comments. Here's my issue: what on earth does food policy mean? It's become a catchall term for who knows what. Any agenda can be sheltered under the food policy umbrella. Do you want kids to eat healthy lunches? What about dinner at home? Do you want real vegetables subsidized instead of corn and soy? How do you change a culture to want roast cauliflower instead of potato chips? How do you get affordable protein on everyone's table? How do consumers get protected from claims that pomegranate juice cures erectile dysfunction? How do you keep consumers from eating too much sugar? too much salt? Where is that study that says low salt is bad? I could go and on, but you get the point. There can't be a meaningful 'food policy' dialogue. There can be a food movement, a food mission as general term. But it's tilting at windmills to talk about an over arching, utopian, food policy.
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