ned

Dear, dear Big Bunny, Thank you for that. As soon as I saw the lyrics it all came rushing back. Of course some maniac has put the goeduck song on the internet. How good.

Have you tried this gin? What do you recommend it be used for, if anything?

Anybody ever heard of a bloody mary garnished with meat products? How about with a beef or pork demi-glace? Burger? A short rib on the rim? An englishman has suggested to me some of these possibilities, indeed claims to have experienced a couple of them. Seems too wonderful awful to be true.

I had the FF for 6 years. Excellent service. In use more than twice a day for the duration. Six months ago Iwent out of town, a friend house sat, I came home and there had developed a pressure problem. There was too little of it. I'm awaiting repair. (BTW: Don't go to that espresso machine place on Houston and Bowery. Not to buy a machine or to have one fixed. I tried. Bad human relations.) In the meantime, I'd been given a fully manual Pavoni that was still in the box. I've been using that for some months now. It's more labor. Is fabricated rather poorly IMHO, the base is finished to look like stainless steel but is plastic. The amount of pressure required to pull a shot can be athletic. But. This machine makes a bloody good espresso. It took a couple of weeks to make it sing. . . I've more or less got the hang of it. The coffee is milder and fuller in taste. There is more crema than the FF. In re coffee choices: I use the Illy. I've been verbally assaulted for the choice on multiple occasions. I know there is better coffee out there. Somehow, despite that I'll go to the end of the earth for a great sandwiche cubano or lobster bisque, I can't be bothered to do what it takes to make the perfect coffee every morning, i.e. roast at home, buy the burr grinder and grind every day (it's morning. early, who can listen to that before an espresso or two?), bring home Blue mountain coffee from Jamaica. The Illy meets the minimum standard for me. Also, I'd say the barista can have quite an impact on the product.

So what are your recipes for the aviation? Mine is: 2 pts gin 1pt maraschino dash of simple syrup juice of 1/2 a lemon garnish of preserved cherry

It's the (un?)official mascot of Seattle I think. When I was little I had a goeduck stuffed animal and a little record that played a goeduck song. btw, the spelling of this fast digging mollusk is a little mysterious. I googled it and got as many geos as goes. M-W.com wants money for the definition. Saw somebody do a ceviche of goeduck. Just the same as a normal ceviche. Thin slices. I might be inclined to braise it, considering it's size and athletic ability.

This debate has been going on for a while now with suggestions of book giving and reservation precedence. I've been uneasy the whole time. I'm sorry to hear that they didn't take proper steps to cancel your reservation Bilrus. I had a reservation for March 14th. Got a polite call canceling the reservation--expected thanks to this thread, for that matter I got the reservation thanks to this thread--and when I asked how rescheduling would happen was told they would call back. I believe that they will call back. There's a difference between an error like not canceling a reservation properly and a PR weakness. They've suffered a real hardship at per Se. I don't think they owe it to anyone, even themselves, to do more than they have from a PR perspective though I can see what you're saying FatGuy, why shouldn't they apply the grace in business that they do in the kitchen? In any case once they open I doubt there will be a problem keeping the seats warm. Construction is a funny thing. It's hard to make a deadline and harder to keep it. Maybe they don't want to make (any more) promises they won't keep. Who knows. For my own self, I look forward to eating there. I've tried on three different visits to SF to get a table at FL. Called in favors "anything but that, I can do anything but that," spent some time on the phone competitive speed-dialing against silicon valley personal assistants, even now I have a standing invitation to any of my friends in the Bay area, if they can get a table we'll eat there my treat. Friends only. I was charged up about the march 14th, then it was cancelled. I feel like I've finally got my foot in the door. Maybe we should hold them to the standard to which we hold airlines. Mechanical failure, their fault. Act of God, blame him and patiently wait.

I'm a little late returning to the scene of the crime but just had to add a tip of the hat to Fat Guy and Slkinsey. Those two omelet(te)s are fine examples of the species. I couldn't agree more with the pragmatics of your techniques as well as you editorial comments. Just a note towards questions of authenticty. After some reading on the subject, I've had to conclude that there is no authentic omelet. There are a few. Another is cooked like silkinsey's but in a smaller pan and with loads of butter, folded more in half than in thirds. It makes the eggs thicker and uses the stirring with a fork technique. The CIA endorses this method. I like it less than JC's but must admit that when an overqualified CIA grad produced one of these omelets for me I found it quite excellent. Great work. Here's an oldie but goodie from Escoffier: 1484 Omelette Brillat-Savarin Stuff the omelette with a small spoonful each of diced breast of cooked woodcock and truffle, mixed together with a little cullis of woodcock. Place 3 nice slices of truffle on top of the omelette and surround with a cordon of game glaze finished with truffle essence.

I brought a salted, dried leg of lamb (called fenelar) from Oslo to Newark. There's some question about the legality as the curing process is a form of cooking. Still I was tickled to pass through with a leg of lamb in amongst my whites.

They don't do so much grilling but I recommend Daphne's on East 14th street for a good quality New York Jamaican experience.

It's not safe for the pregnant to eat raw fish. The tuna was served mostly raw, just seared on the outside. Also, those who caught the fish, the tuna and wahoo were at the meal and I wanted to do them the honor of cooking both.

Most of the Jamaicans I know will only eat what they call ram goat, the male goat. They think it tastes much better. I think it's pretty uncommon to find Jamaicans roasting whole goats. Life there is hard on a goat. They are skinny and strong. Not like in spain.

I think the seasonings are balanced to the jerker's taste. There's no rule of thumb. They do use quite a bit of allspice. Also garlic figures prominently My guess about why Jamaican restaurants in the US calls braises and stews jerk is that it's good marketing. Brown stew doesn't sound all that appetizing. Also that they seldom have a facility for cooking over a wood fire. Jerking is usually a slow process so a gas grill probably wouldn't work because it would go too fast. My favorite kind is jerked pork from a place called boston bay on the northeast coast of Jamaica. people come from all over the island to this place. It's kind of a coop, an outdoor grill that abuts a bar and is run by a few different families over the course of the week. The townwship owns it and you have to be born in boston to cook there. It's not for the faint of heart. Some days the pork is spicier than others but even on the mildest day you'll need a few red stripes to make it through. Also, it's kind of an all-in-one kind of joint. The grill is on a hillside. Just below is a small concrete outbuilding with a concrete counter-like thing. They kill and slaughter the pigs there, in plain view of the cooking. They are not long on tools at boston. A machete for butchering and a chunk of wood and a paring knife for the cutting of of pieces that are delivered wrapped in paper. You can get roasted breadfruit and festival there also. The breadfruits are just thrown on the coals to cook. Tastes a little like wonderbread. Festival is heavy savory fried dough. You eat with your hands. They cook the whole pig. Sausages are made with the intestines. They cook the head, the knuckles are a prized delicacy, all of the organ meat too. Everybody's got their own favorite bit. I like the belly. On a good day the skin is so damn crispy. It's hard to describe both how spicey and how tasty it really is. On the first bite I usually experience the cartoon moment where my eyes turn red and steam starts shooting out my ears. My hat rises up off my head about six inches. Then the flavours push through. The roof of the mouth tingles sort of a palatial (palatal? palatory?) form of panic. I go to work eating through a half a pound or so.

The baseline for jerking, I think, is a dry rub of scotch bonnet pepper, ginger, allspice, thyme and salt. Individuals take off from there. I've never had any wet preparations of jerk in Jamaica. It always happens over a slow smoky fire with aromatic (sometimes pimento) wood. Chicken or beef in a stew is usually called brown stew even though it has the allspice, thyme, etc. Also I've never seen jerked beef. Somebody must do it. You can jerk fish, goat, pork, chicken, lobster, whatever. The discussion about true jerk is like the one about barbecue here in the states. Frisky and opinionated and wildly varied. Every year in Port Antonio they have a jerk festival. Tens of thousands of people come. I've never been but hope to go some year soon. I think jerking probably in the beginning was a way of preserving meat and also of masking some rotten smells and tastes. It's hot in Jamaica and refrigeration hasn't been--still isn't--a ubiquitous thing. However the process came about I'm happy for it.

Here's the menu I did last night: ten guests (four pregnant couples, two bachelors) seared foie with compote of apple and vidalias reduced in orvieto and then elderflower syrup with a squeeze of lemon juice leek and epoisse tart with roulade of wild mushrooms, reduction of madiera then cream split down gender lines: seared but mostly raw belly of yellowfin tuna (caught by one of the guests) served on a bed of blanched julienned jicama in a hazelnut oil, lime shallot vinaigrette (boys) lightly escabeched then roasted wahoo served on a bed of julienned red carrots in a grapeseed oil, lime shallot vinaigrette (girls) Dry-aged rib roast (from arthur avenue), creamed spinach (black truffle oil), horseradish mashed potatoes, fresh horseradish sauce and jus made from roast trimmings and foie gras trimmings. tart: chocolate crust, custard, pomegranite seeds.

This is a great thread. Particularly like the etymological bits. I think you can find a terra cotta terrine at Bridge Kitchen Supply. There's a book by the guy who teaches charcuterie at the CIA called The Art of Garde Manger. Quite technical and very helpful. Excellent photography, though not enough of it.

My wife's parents have a house in Port Antonio Jamaica that we visit twice a year or so. I like ackee and salt fish. Those hard little biscuits I've heard called Johnny cakes. Real nice with Jamaican honey. Some of my favorites are jerked pork from Boston Bay, jerked chicken sausage, roasted red snapper, curry goat, mannish water if it's mild and doesn't have too many identifiable parts in it, smoked Marlin, Blue Mountain coffee, rice and peas, conch salad, all the fresh fruit you can imagine but particularly mangos and papayas, pumkin soup full of scotch bonnet peppers, ginger and allspice. Did I say jerk pork from Boston Bay. Oh I did. I'll say it again. Jerked pork from Boston Bay. God it plays hell on the digestive system but it's worth it every time. Two red stripe per half pound of pork is the best solution I've discovered.

As I understand it the limit on fresh frozen meats is six months. I'd be learly of putting time and effort into roasting a pig that's been around for so long. As far as getting your hands on a fresh one, there are a few farmers around the country raising pigs organically, milk fed no less, who are more than happy to ship. I'd be inclined to go that route.

Brine. Sear then braise. Brown and crisp. Season however. Cinnamon is good. Use sugar. With that much fat, how can you go wrong? I have found though that many fussy americans don't like all the striations of fat. So the coolest way I've found to present this wonderful cut of meat is as a terrine. I did all of the above except the browning and crisping. Pulled the bellies, removing most of the fat (only to be returned to the terrine later). In the meantime cooked some split trotters. I mixed the reduced braising liquid, broken down fat and pulled belly and built the terrine with a column of that cartiligenous trotter running through the middle.

I've eaten at Bianca twice. Excellent vittles, fabulous service. I second, third and fourth all of the above. But I'd like to make one comment and it's a conditional one. I know how expensive it is to run a restaurant in NYC and that the more tables there are, the better likelihood there is a restaurant might break even. Not to mention that the pricing at Bianca is quite generous. Ok so here's the thing. I'm not nearly so large as the fabulous James Beard. I'm about 6'2" and 240lbs. I walk into that little restaurant and feel that the likelihood of finding a place where I'll fit is very slim. And that's when the restaurant is only half full. During our last meal at Bianca, my wife and I formulated the following question based on the premise that no one should ever do anything to dissuade James Beard from visiting their restaurant. Would Mr. Beard squeeze into Biance for the sake of fried artichokes and a fluffy mountain of fried parsley? I say probably. The wife says no way. (she likes the artichokes and parsley as much as I do)

My first experience of the sea bean was on the Washington state coast. A curious boy tasting a plant he found growing in the sand. Then last year my wife had the excellent judgement to take me to Picholine for my birthday. The second or third plate to arrive at table was cubed shellfish gelee with uni flan garnished with sea beans. Just awesome. I've since chopped them finely and served in shellfish or lobster consomme in the place of chives. Or you can just eat them out of the bag. I hope lots of people buy them so they stick around. Whole foods in chelsea sometimes has them, the 14st street garden of eden has them more often.

Yes. . . if it's a talk o' texas spicy pickled okra. Otherwise no way.

I'm no expert but did spend a few days in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) some years ago. There is a very large muslim population there. Also I had some of the best dim sum I've ever had in their Chinatown. Many Chinese emigrated there at some point, not sure when, might have been around the cultural revolution, the wife says was at the turn of the century which lends creedence to my memory that the dim sum place was a hundred years old. Sure looked it. Anyway, people breed and cultures collide and so, to me, it's not impossible that Mr. Ismail is the result of some of this.

An all-duck dinner. Sounds like fun. Might have to do that myself before the weather warms up too much. I like sweet things with duck. Maybe a slow saute (no caramelization) of fennel, vidalia or walla walla sweet onions, a fine diced shallot, julienned lemon zest, and reduction of sweet wine. Could add a small spoonful of orange marmalade. S&p. This for the foie gras. Haven't ever confitted anything myself. Can't offer anything. For the breasts, I might roast some turnips or celeriac. Maybe even a pan roasted with them prepared like large french fries. Of course they could also be quartered. Could use duck fat but I'd be inclined to use not much of whatever fat is chosen to keep the veg more dry. Also, I might do swiss chard. Separate rib from leaf. Rough chop the ribs and blanch them in salty water, then plunge in ice water. Chop the leaves, combine it all in a pan with already sauteed shallot and a little garlic, and white wine, olive oil. Wilt. Or instead of this, braised medallions of fennel. It's hard to underseason a duck. You could probably pick the wrong seasonings but assuming you pick the right ones, and I do assume that, use plenty. Good luck.

I spent new years this year in a Spanish town called Cadaques. Learned lots about anchovies. Great ones come from a nearby town called Escala. Upon returning to NYC I quickly felt a need for them and went on a search. www.latienda.com has them as well as fantastic spanish olive oil. The best preparation I had was in the boqueria in Barcelona at a small lunch counter rumoured to be Ferran Adria's favorite spot. On a Spanish style baguette cut lengthwise was schmeared an avocado spread that I've guessed to be 2 pts avocado to one part olive oil run in the blender til smooth. Seasoned with s & p and maybe the slightest squeeze of lime. On top of the vibrant green is laid a beautiful fat reddish escalan anchovie.