oraklet

yes, oh yes! though i don't replace mine every year

no, no, no! to the right!!!

does it serve any..er...gastronomical purpose? (i know, the tourneed potatoes will cook evenly but so will cautiously chosen potatoes, too. and somehow, the tourneed ones make me think of canned potatoes ())

if you want non-stick for other than crepes, go for a surface that can take some serious abuse, like scanpan. not quite as insanely nonstick as teflon, but doesn't peel off, nor warp. not exactly chap, though.

most sharpening "systems" can't be used with most forged kitchen knives because of the bolster. better to use a stone, you can can teach yourself with an old cheap knife. don't trust your local butcher or kitchen appliance store, they'll most probably ruin your knife. personally i feel that wusthofs are for those with big hands. but sure, 10" (or even 12") is better than 8" for most cutting jobs. for smaller hands, i'd like to reccommend french (thiers) made sabatiers, but the quality is apparently deteriorating. there's victorinox, and a portuguese company too, who make lighter, french style forged knives.

if i remember rightly: in saltimbocche.

i don't know mahi, but as a method it sounds fine - i've had good results with it. not with fish, i should say, but making fondant potatoes. yummy yummy yummy. took a very long time to finish (like 3 h.), though. i must try fish, too. and perhaps the ideal fish would be cod, as it's not already oily but has a lot of taste to stand against the butter.

as usual from loufood: very interesting, very well told. thanks a lot, and good luck!

6, 75 x 11,5 - square feet, that is. may seem allright, but there has to be room for all tableware, washing machine, non-kitchen tools etc., too; so in reality it is smallish. hardly room for 2 at the same time but works fine for just me.

sure, salt will influence the yeast, but it's not that "finely balanced". now, i know that european and american flour are different, but the few times i've made baguettes, this is what i did: rather sticky dough from 1/6 durum semolina and 5/6 pizza flour (tipo 00?); very little yeast; two proofings, the first one loooong (like 24 h) and cool, the second short (like 2 h.); loaves formed, then rests for c. 2 h.; high temperature, like 270ºC, and of course a pizza stone. cup of water thrown in pan at the start. came out very, very close to the real thing. the first time, i was originally planning to make bread, but one of the kids leaned on the dough, forcing me to give it a second proofing.

there's one problem with those knives: the handles are so "deep" that your knuckles will hit the cutting board when chopping.

sharpie, sorry for taking so long in answering. "klunk" is the sound of a knife that has a "hollowed" edge, or is too straight-edged near the bolster, so that i't doesn't roll over the edge like wusthofs or globals do. it's a common problem with the new sabatiers. the two macs i've tried were new ones demonstrated in a store.

the expensive mac line looks cool - but the few times i've actally had one in my hands, it went clunk when used for chopping. like many sabatiers.

truffles are delightful in small quantities, awful when dominating. like fennel. well, like a lot of things, actually. tripe is probably the worst of all things. probably, 'cause i haven't tried insects. buttermilk is really really bad, too. french and italian apples are shit. danish and swedish apples are wonderful. all strawberries suck, nowadays. caviar and oysters are aquired tastes. lov'em now.

we sure like having wine or beer, but - on workdays, we're often tired and we'll have to think of getting the small ones to bed, and the big ones to make their school lunch and remaining home work, etc. etc. etc. so mostly, it's tap water.

If you had used veal it would be saltimbocca - consider it a variation.... pound both meats flat and put one on top of the other, and it's something bolognese (according to e. david, i think). actually one of the few occasions where i find myself sometimes using turkey breast in stead of veal. edit: saltimboche are rolls. i'm not sure if the authentic sort has parmesan in it?

no granite counter top for me. drop a plate or a glass or...on it, and that love is instantly cured. hey, one can't even throw one's knife aside when in a hurry. wood is good, 'long as it's properly seasoned and treated. and i'd love to have a double sink. helas, no room for that.

i would go by taste and smell. if it looks strange in places, try cutting off the strange parts, perhaps. anyway, i'm pretty sure you won't be sick from a cheese that smells ok. (except for listeria/campylobactor etc). the change in colour may be due to a too cold storing? i wish i had a special refridgerator for cheese, white wine, beer, butter, fruit, vegetables...)

isn't espresso supposed to be made from 100% arabica, anyway? both lavazza and illy is pure arabica, as far as i know. different qualities, roasts and blends, of course. by the way, there was a dane who was world champion barista a few years ago. works at my favourite cafe in copenhagen. i'm very grateful for that!

i've never been able to make an espresso - crema, taste and all - on a stove-top model. my present braun model - a cheap one - will on the other hand produce quite decent espresso when newly cleaned and when you don't use too much water , and the coffee is correctly pressed. better than at most restaurants in copenhagen, but a few cafés serve absolutely splendid espresso made from illy beans. i use lavazza (did i hear gasping?)...illy tends to become too sharp on my machine. edit: not braun. krups. silly me.

hehe, here we go again: balic, what plotz missed was the feeling and sound of eating red pepper. the taste was there, but not the texture, so it was not immediately recognizable. with a chili dish, everybody knows there may be red pepper in it. makes it a bit easier. if you so wish we can say that's part of presentation, though i doubt that was what was meant by "presentation" in the first place. "preparation", perhaps? still, i think you'll agree that you have been forced to point to rather extreme examples to prove that even super gourmets may be fallible - and neither plotz nor i ever said they weren't. we just said that a professional is trained to shut out most exterior stimuli and concentrate on the taste(/texture). unlike ordinary diners, whose enjoyment of a meal will be more of a homogeneous mixture of environment, presentation, expectations and taste. we further said that this shows that presentation does not change the taste but it sure changes most people's focus . it would have be an interesting experiment to serve the lollipops to a number of great chefs like gray kunz or alice waters, asking them what it contained. personally i don't think they would have been "fooled". do you?

do you really mean that the taste of pepper in the lollipop has changed because we don't immediately recognize it? would mona lisa be a different painting if it wasn't lighted? i can't believe this is happening. it's a good thing that in a moment i'll be leaving for the sweedish wilderness, with no computers or internet, 'cause this makes me slightly dizzy. have a nice easter! edited for mona lisa example