ned

I shouldn't be surprised you're in Trinidad. Everybody I talked to in Port Antonio said we should ask a Trinidadian about how to handle shark.

I am glad to hear someone writing this. I had the exact same experience almost a year ago. The way I thought about it was that each individual part on the plate was excellently executed but as a whole, nothing we ate came together. It was as if all the cooks were using recipes of weights and measures but nobody was tasting and adjusting the final products. This was especially true of a sweetbread dish with licorice powder. An exception was frogs legs in garlic broth which was near to sublime.

THANK YOU!!! I love egullet. Always somebody there with the information. So it must be a matter of bleeding them asap as well as emptying the digestive system. As my grandma used to say (In an irritating and beseeching way, but with love) "Try it you'll like it"

As memory serves, gjetost isn't actually cheese. Maybe someone else can chime in and explain why.

I'll go with Prune and Sushi Seki

After a delicious and fiery meal at Grand Sichuan the wife and I walked by Bamn. I can't imagine how this place won't be a great success. However I submit that any review made by a person who hasn't smoked a funny cigarette before eating there is going to hopelessly miss the point.

This all jibes with the info that;s been trickling in. A fishing buddy said something about the soaking in milk and I didn't believe it. Bile in the stomach sounds right. Alas we were a little late on that count. No worries about fish getting thrown. Word from Port Antonio is that it's all gone.

I mostly agree with you except in the case of the muscle-bound warm water predators like wahoo and marlin. In my experience both these fish benefit from a little brining. It's not necessary but sometimes it's nice. In the case of the shark, my intention was to overcome the smell. . . it was a success but I think the smell lingered on in my mind.

We were in Jamaica, about ten miles off the northeast coast. We were trolling for marlin, wahoo, yellowfin etc. Thought it was a yellowfin as it never surfaced and kept diving. We took good care of the fish, short of cleaning it on the deck of the boat. It was stinking the moment it hit the deck. I've heard since from an experienced shark fisherman that the accepted method is to sever the tail above the anus while the fish is still alive. He said all the contents of the digestive system pump out and that's where the stink comes from. Best to do it while the fish is in the water still. I don't know about going after a live shark that way. In Port Antonio the fish will be eaten. About that I have no worries. And I'm safe and sound in NYC. Whew.

I'm pretty sure this guy was a blue water feeder as he took the hook in 1200 ft of water. Very unusual. It was right before Ernesto blew through. In his stomach there was a 10 lb hunk of wahoo that was so fresh we considered cooking it.

Braised brisket Roasted pork shoulder Flageolet beans

Last week I was stymied by a large shark. With smelly meat. We butchered it on the dock, and I took a five pound piece home. I made serving sizes, cutting out all the tough tissue. Then I brined it for a few hours with lime, allspice and a little rum. I seared the 1/2 inch thick medallions in oil and then basted with thyme and brown butter. The fish looked good, I think my technique was good. . . But the fish wasn't. At least not to me. Maybe the idea of eating shark freaks me out. Maybe the chewiness of the meat was too much like the scary bastard was coming back to life. Probably should have rested the meat for a couple of days I know. In any case, this is a solicitation of any and all that have had experience with sharks from ocean to table. Thanks in advance.

I've taken a few elbows at this fine grocery store myself. Thought about returning them but didn't think it appropriate for healthy 6'2" man to be trading blows with middle aged women. Honestly I was more impressed with (lack of) response my utterance of "oh pardon me" when I was trod on. "Excuse me" is apparently not part of the language there, much less "Sorry sir, I didn't mean to drive my heel into the top of your foot." Push and be pushed. Lucky for me, the UWS Fairway is too far away from my apt to be much of a draw.

There appears to be a groundswell of discontent with either the formatting, the contextualization, or maybe just the food itself at Chinatown Brasserie. I've eaten there five or six times and must offer a voice of dissent. I think the pricing is just right given the service environment, the interior design, the geographic location and most importantly, the food on the plate. Their ma po tofu is that much better than all the others in town. As are their sauteed pea vines. I totally disagreed with Bruni about the Peking duck. On two occasions, mine was as succulent as could be. Must have been bad luck for him (and for the folks at the restaurant). We all seem to agree that the dim sum is fabulous. I totally agree with Rich's assessment that Bruni's review might best offer two different star ratings. To me though, while the star system does provide fodder for graphomaniacs, it is largely irrelevant for the purposes of the informed eater. I have found the entrees to be uniformly delicious and creative in ways that are sometimes subtle (general tso's) and sometimes not (but in a good way), as in the black cod with shitakes and asparagus. In reviewing the menu on menupages I see that there are many entrees I haven't eaten. . . still it does seem to me that Bruni's but more importantly, many gulleter's comments about the entrees being dull, well it just doesn't jive with my experience. As for the relative creativity of the dim sum, well I'm all for more of everything. But I think, and Ed has written here that the restaurant isn't trying to push an agenda of chicken feet or tripe-stuffed sticky rice balls, duck tongues or deep fried pork bung. It's just not that kind of place. I always walk out of there thinking "Damn that food was good." I hope for my sake that the so-called "foodie community's" difficulty embracing Chinatown Brasserie doesn't impact their prosperity.

God those pics make me hungry.

As a matter of fact I am pregnant, well, my wife is anyway. Misery loves company. Misery and elation that is. Thanks for the sentiment. I'm officially a dry county as of yesterday. Back to the original programming.

Yeah that pretty accurately represents the way I feel about it.

Jerk. Not gonna say what it does to me.

I made a negroni tonight 1 part Plymouth gin 1 part Campari 1 part Noilly Pratt vermouth . . . but the vermouth had been in the fridge for a tad too long. On another day I might foraged forth except that, well it's a longer story. I was recently diagnosed with a form of arthritis called Anyklosing Spondylitis. Not such a big deal. There are some good medicines that can be taken for it. The one I'll be taking is called Enbrel. What does any of this have to do with the humble negroni? Before taking Enbril I must be clear of tuberculosis which I unfortunately have been exposed to. The downside of lots of 3rd world travel. Or taking the subway. In either case, to get rid of the dormant TB I must take a drug that requires going on the wagon for NINE MONTHS! Each of these last precious cocktails have to be on. No stale vermouth for me tonight. I looked around the kitchen for a solution. . . there was an open bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte champagne from last night. I tasted, maybe yes. . . 1 Plymouth gin 1 Campari 1 day old Nicolas Feuillatte champagne I thought it might need a couple of drops of lemon or lime but tonight anyway that wasn't necessary. I hop on the wagon tomorrow. Ok the day after tomorrow.

Chubby Hubby. They've already made it. I'm addicted. The only tweak I'd make is that it be a touch saltier.

Thanks Andy and all. I read so much about the cheesesteak and not a word of warning about Geno's. Now it's inked up here. I feel better. Anyone who searches the word cheesesteak will get a small earful about why Geno's might not be the best choice even if you do happen to be on ninth street and have to be at a wedding at the Quaker Meeting house in an hour and a half. Looks like there are a lot of latin american options as well as Vietnamese. We tried to go to Amada one night but it was full up and we were ten or more people. Next time when I'm not marrying off an old friend I'll be down there to EAT and I'll get in touch with y'all. Ahh Lakeside. . .

My wife and I were in Philly last weekend for a wedding. That ninth street is awesome. I'd be down there daily. An old lady was selling tamales on the corner out of a grocery bag. Oh brother were they good. I did a ton of research here and at hollyeats about cheesesteaks, and talked with some Philadelphians. You people really love sandwiches. And by the looks of it you've ample opportunity to eat many different great ones. We ended up at Geno's not because it was necessarily the best choice but because we were nearby. The sandwich was good and I feel like I get the whole cheesesteak gestalt. The whaaaa? part of the adventure was that after waiting in line for 20 minutes I was confronted with a sign that read "I'm an American and I order in English" (also t-shirts for sale with the same cheery language) under which is another sign: "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone." Then there were the t-shirts that every employee wore celebrating the execution of an albeit controversial character--Mumia Abu-Jamal. Yuck. Geno's serves a lot more than cheesesteaks and their cheesesteaks were not nearly able to clear the bad taste left in my mouth. Next time I'm going to Dalessandros.

From a conservation perspective, tap water is a far better choice. Bottled water is, well, BOTTLED. Plastics young man, plastics. Also it must be delivered which means burning fuel to get it from Coke's fauceted bottling facility to your corner store. Imagine the fuel savings if all of us with access to potable water stopped drinking the bottled kind. PS: If I had a tap in my house from which beer flowed freely, two things would be true. I wouldn't be too picky about the taste and I'd never go to the store and buy it in bottles.

Like oed.com but free.

Yet another drink inspired by the beloved aviation: 2 Boodles 1 lime juice 1 maraschino 3/4 Ginja (Portugese cherry liquor)