oraklet

mac knives get a lot of praise, but the edge on their chef's knives is often ground in a way that makes it go "klunk" when you chop. i've even seen some (new knives!) with a "concave" edge near the heel.

Actually, I would disagree with that; a good espresso should not be overly bitter. Bitterness in coffee means that the beans are overextracted, regardless of brewing method. oh, what i tried to communicate was that the bitterness is present in any coffee. only, in an espresso, it's balanced by the fruit-like acidity (and of course, the sugar ).

talleyrand and me, we don't aggree (you know, "sweet, strong and black"). flavour apart, a good espresso is dominated by the bitterness with some acidity below that. adding sugar makes for a nice balance. i don't think it's coincitental that the little paper bag(?) they serve you with your espresso in a good bar is exactly of the size needed. and besides, karen s is damn right.

i think there's some sort of logic in the european (french?) way. you build up your meal to a crescendo of flavour and taste - and salt - and then, when your palate can hardly take more of that, you switch to dessert (and more wine, this time preferably with a high level of acidicy if the dessert is very sweet). by the time that is finished, you will often be in a state where the choice is beween taking a nap - or having good strong coffee to restore you. a cigar - or even a cigarette - may help, too! as for having something sweet, like chocolate, with my coffee - no thanks. i've already added sugar to it. and really, cake is much better with tea.

craig, i can't quite figure out if you think one should tamp or not - but i do with the lavazza 4-cup model, and i think that's what prevents the (lavazza espresso) coffee grains from seeping through the filter as it did before i started tamping. i mostly only make 2 cups at a time. very nice coffee, though not quite as good as on the small krups espresso machine. but that may be because i don't use it often enough, though i do wonder how that can make a difference (just as i wonder why soap is a no-no).

sure, but you'll need it more with a global than with the wood handle on the old sabatier i've got.

the thing is that the 8" and the 11" Drop Forged Chef's Knives are so similar in price :) Heh! question: should i go for the regular lightweight Global Chef or the DropForged more hefty Global Chef? i've got rather small hands, but i find the 12" sabatier (old carbon steel) very useful for splitting a melon or a cabbage, or for chopping large batches of onions, parsley etc. i might find it difficult to maneuver a 12" german knife, though. still, if i were you, i'd go for the drop forged, as you need some weight and heft for the splitting jobs. but do think twice about the global, as the handles may be slippery.

i certainly agree that wetter dough will give you a "better" bread, but there's no problem in kneading it by hand, really. just start mixing it in a big bowl with a sturdy spoon (or two), then fold it in on itself a number of times. when it's past the very sticky phase, use your hands. for me, that works well, even with a 75% hydrated dough.

Thanks for the info. My knife is a carbon steel knife. i THINK that if you keep your carbon steel well polished, it will be less liable to transfer taste. mine do, if i don't wash them well. like from onion to apple...

for technique: anne willan, "la varenne pratique" jacques pepin, "complete techniques" for inspiration (the tables are amazing): page & dornenburg, "culinary artistry" for straight-forward daily recipes (that are really not recipes but guidelines): nigel slater, "appetite"

Actually, it's quite small -- maybe only 2 quarts/liters at most. Remember that I only cook for 2, so I'm talking about 4 medium potatoes, or 1 or 2 plantains. As for the brand, I have no idea. I got it at one of Broadway Panhandler's yard sales. Only the fine and coarse plates can actually be used; the center hole of the medium plate is not reamed properly. And it is NOT stainless -- maybe it's tinned steel? -- so I have to be careful washing it. Still, I love it. I even used it to make spaetzl once, with the coarse plate. Worked pretty well. then i guess it's about the same size as mine (called "mouli", i think. it's old), and that's a bit too small for a family of 6. still love it, though.

"a friend broke the tip"

well, i guess grilling is smoky business any way you do it, but seasoning the pan is hardly going to make it smoke less.

sounds like a nice big food mill. what brand is it, and how big?

the two main risk factors seem to be minced/chopped meat, and cross contamination from raw to prepared food. on topic, i would not expect a four star (america) or 3 star (france) to be anything but perfect. should it fail to be so, i'd expect an offer of a free meal. not that i've ever yet eaten in such a place

try ebay. i recently bought a huge chef's knife from the 50'ies and a slicer from the 70'ies there, both sabatier carbon steel. they certainly weren't mint condition, but who cares, as long as the blade is full and the handle tight. the chef's knife was c. 35$, the slicer c. 25$. would have been a lot more, had they been collectors' items, though. i like pans with metal handles, too

heh - i'm not norwegian. and i'm sorry for being impolite. i just happen to know that norway is one of the richest nations on earth. i also know that, as you said, they eat a lot of fish, and half of them go skiing half the year. might explain the low number of obese norwegians. just like the low number of obese danes can be explained by most peole owning a bicycle - and using it for everyday purposes, like going to work, shopping etc. not a lot of elevators around, either. and actually, round here, the poorer you are, the higher risk of obesity. isn't that the case in most of the first world, as well as in the second world? i think you may be confusing being fit with being starved... and where did danes voting this or that way enter the picture?

yes. it can be done in very few lines. less trouble than writing the post i quoted from. and relevant to those who do not know you very well, or don't read all your reviews. there might, after all, be a few such people on egullet.

ah, i'm glad to hear that. thanks.

oh, it's cast iron all right. and most copco is of a very fine quality, and beautiful, too. i've just been wondering about the thing you mentioned in your lecture: that when the frying pan is heated, the enamel will not expand at the same rate as the iron - which will cause it to loosen. meaning, as i understood it, that i won't be able to use it like i would use a "raw" cast iron skillet. i believe most enameled cast iron like, for instance, a french oven, is used for low/slow. ?

"how good the food is in various European countries." (pan) well, compared to somalia, i think we are doing quite well in denmark. on the other hand, compared to italy or france... anyway, let me tell you, in denmark it's the big corporations who are making the choice for us. i'm forced to shop on a dayly basis in our local supermarket, because i have to pick up our youngest son from kindergarden (wife picks up daughter) before they close, and THEN go shopping. no time for buying high quality stuff in central copenhagen where i work - and that's the only place to get it. now, we live in a part of urban copenhagen that is rather poor by danish standards, and i'm aware that some supermarkets in other parts are better, but that's irrelevant to me. so, what can i get in this supermarket of ours? stone hard peaches, sour pineapples and green bananas. bland apples and strawberries all year round. chicken that are of an industrialized race with hardly any flavour (organic, free range or whatever). ham that's been pumped full of water and chemicals. samurai-cuts (made by a swordsman whirling two swords at random down the lines of hanging carcasses) of beef, veal, turkey, pork etc etc. i'd gladly pay 30% more for better quality, and in the case of chickenor other meat, 100% more. after all, we could tell the kids that they can not have the latest playstation game instantly. but this alternative does not exist for us, except on saturdays. actually not even then, because if i want, say, an unadulterated ham, it's not 30% more it's 300% more. what i'm lamenting is not so much the existence of cheap, poor quality. it's the huge gap between the good stuff and the crap. big corporations make big deals with big manufacurers and transporting companies who make big deals with big farmers. this makes for the production of loads of easily transported crap (because customers have come to see apples and strawberries as year-round produce, and meat as a daily necessity). the good stuff becomes niche production, and is therefore much more expensive than it need be. and the fault is not mainly with the customers, because it'd be very easy for the supermarkets to do a little educational effort. i mean, ANYBODY can taste the difference between a danish apple and a french or chilean apple. that's the situation as seen from copenhagen, denmark. oh, and robyn, what a load of crap about the thin norwegians.

i just bought this vintage copco enameled fry pan. couldn't resist its beauty, and it was only 6$. but what the devil can i use it for? decorative purposes only?

hmmm..i think that's pronounced mi-SHAY-een. mish-LANg (the "Ng" stands for the nasal sound that to non-french is facilitated by having a cold)

But how many other people can order trocken-beeren-auslese or kartofflepuffen mit schlagsam properly? Play to your strengths... trocken-beeren auslese is fine with me, but i would not like to order the other stuff. something like "potatoes with whipped cream"? wait a minute. "schlagsam"? not schlagsahne"? i'm officially lost.

my attitude is like, i want there to be something of interest in what i cook and eat, something that will make myself, my family or guests say "ah!". as i'm not a very experienced cook, sometimes i succeed in that, sometimes not. the family or guests will not always notice if i succeeded or not - only in the rare case of burning or overcooking something, or if a combination of flavours is completely off, or of course, if it's actually like i hoped for (sometimes the idea may be so good that minor faults in preparation will not be felt by them). an sometimes the idea does not come through, though the course is quite edible. me, i know what i was after, and i like discussing the result, as well as the process. so, wife and kids will say either "stop complaining" (mostly) or "stop bragging" (the rare occasion). except for the oldest kid, who's really developing an awareness of food and will therefore enter in a discussion of it, knowing that it's not a question of complaining-to-make-others-tell-me "no, no, it's wonderful" etc. my own family knows that, too, as their awareness of food is quite developed. and i have no problems enjoying a good result of my cooking, as i don't so much taste as smell the food while cooking. i know very few people who can cook well, alas. quite a few think they can, but once i enter in a discussion with them on cooking, most of them will soon involuntarily reveal that they're too recipe-dependant and that they haven't got the foggiest idea of what they're doing. and it shows. i've given up eating in cheap restaurants. that, and fast food, is waste of money - except for the occasional md's when we're on the road, to keep the kids calm!