ghostrider

My dad, who grew up in a small Missouri town in the earliest decades of the 20th century, always called it the "oyster," and always made sure I got one when we had roast chicken. We had a lot of issues, my dad and I, but he sure knew his food. I got much of my appreciation of fresh ingredients, simply prepared, from him. Anyway this is to indicate that "oyster" in this context has been in common parlance in the US for close to a century, and probably longer. (I've never heard it called "chicken oyster"; in context, that would be redundant.)

Seems to me that Shaws Supermarkets in New England also started doing this a couple of years ago. (Did TJ's presence have anything at all to do with that? I'm not sure I'd ever heard of them at that time.) I forget the name of their upscale label but they bottled a delicious & reasonably priced EVOO that to my taste beats WF's house brand.

I do believe it's for real, though I can't speak for the functionality. I'd read a newspaper article on this last month. There are several versions of it floating around in the media, here's one: link (scroll down) I can't see why it's not possible. We swallow hard-coated pills that dissolve in our stomachs every day. Surely modern chemistry can come up with lethal & subsequently dissolving buckshot.

I get the feeling that some folks aren't reading even the summaries of the Science article all the way through, let alone the piece itself. I've already noted, on page 1 of this thread, that the piece is more nuanced than the dire-doom headlines would indicate. The Seattle Times article linked above also points this out, saying the following about the study & its lead author: The study & at least some of the reporting on it seem clear on the point that no unequivocally dire forecast is being made, despite the headlines. To say that it is & then attack the unreliability of long-term forecasts is to engage in a straw-man argument. Let's skip the headlines and look at the actuality. Forecasts aside, it seems indisputable that 2200 commercially fished species had collapsed in the 53-year period ending in 2003. Why do people think that the collapse won't continue if we do nothing? How can we ensure that the rest of the world's fisheries will be managed as well as the No Pac fisheries off Alaska?

I once had a genuine Le Creuset frying pan, one of those that looked like it was molded from one piece, including the handle. I happened to whack it on the edge of the sink one day and the pan broke right off from the handle. I thought LC was made of sturdier stuff. Since then my take on LC has been, why bother?

When I was in Paris at age 20, I thought that French coffee was the best I'd ever tasted (and perhaps it was at that point), and Gauloises were the best cigarettes in the world. At least I was right about one of those. Thirty-something years later, France no longer makes Gauloises, some say the coffee's rotten, and I no longer drink coffee or smoke. (Whoosh, that was your life mate. Do I get another? Sorry, just the one, that's all there is - to paraphrase John Cleese.) But I am now wondering whether French coffee may have gone downhill since the 1960s. This observation brought me up short. Is that really true? (Not that UHT milk smells and tastes peculiar - I totally agree - but that it's taken over the cafes.) I was going to opine that the difference in the flavor of French coffee with milk may be due as much to the milk as to the coffee, what with the cows eating different grasses and the milk tasting different. That was noticeable in the 1960s. But if the primary taste is now that of UHT milk, that puts yet a different, and regrettable, spin on the whole issue.

Nice to hear. I was too full last night to try the falafel. We rec'd what I consider to be a huge glob of hummus, almost twice as much as you get at the grocer in one of those containers for $2-something. Maybe I lucked out because it was the very end of the evening.

We got our first meal last night from the recently opened Greek Town Gyros, and I just gotta say WOW! They are a most welcome addition to our town. We ordered a takeout meal - it was Friday, had to watch "Numbers." I had the chicken souvlaki platter w baked lemon potatoes - nicely grilled & spiced chicken with a proper amount of char, good taters, and the best tzatziki sauce I've had in a long while, redolent with dill. My SO had the falafel platter, with homemade fries. She loved the falafel, and omigosh, what fries. Clearly the best in town and, I'd wager, the best within a 9-mile radius. (I haven't gotten to Amazing Hot Dog yet to have a standard for comparison, hence the specificity of 9 miles .) They weren't at their peak as a takeout; in a closed container, they'd gone a bit limp, but they were still beautifully browned, full of flavor and irresistible. Both dishes came with big Greek salads, tasty oil/vinegar/herb dressing on the side, nice feta. Excellent fresh pita on the side which also, alas, lost a bit of crispness in transit. We also had hummus, a nicely garlicked, generous portion. We have enough falafel, hummus, pita & salad left over for a lunch. Greek Town Gyros is at 65 Park Ave., same block as Village Gourmet. Open till 9 on Sundays, 10 every other night. They've brought some very good & reasonably priced Greek food to town. We'll be back.

Whoa. I had to go back and read this a couple of times. Does that mean that you can't always trust the dates printed on Italian labels? I guess some strive to make it clear - I have a bottle of Badia a Coltibuono that says "Harvest December 2005, Released Spring 2006" which I bought toward summer's end. (BTW, it was almost inedibly peppery, to my taste, when I opened it. After making a couple bowls of Insalata Caprese with it, I let it sit for 5 or 6 weeks and consumed a different bottle. I've just gone back to it and it's mellowed out quite nicely; still has a bite, but not overwhelming now.)

Interesting little snippet here in New Scientist on how farmed fish accounted for 9% of fish consumption in 1980. Today, a mere 26 years later, that number is almost 50%. That's a major change in a very short period, to my way of thinking. CNN doesn't mention this interesting fact at all. To discuss why goes beyond food-related topics so I won't go down that road here. But I think it's unrealistic of them to suggest that we may not be eating seafood in another 40 years. There is a general scientific consensus that the sixth mass extinction of species in our planet's history is well underway, is being caused by human activity, and may be irreversible in many instances. I don't think that you can look at changes in wild aquatic populations without reference to this reality. It's going to change how we eat so I think it's relevant to eGullet even if it's expandiing the scope of this topic. There's an interesting NS article on this subject here, for those inclined to pursue it. Back to the topic at hand - Actually, when it comes to fishing, we're taking them all. There was a study earlier this year (referenced in, you guessed it, NS) indicating that fisherfolk aren't waiting for the top-of-chain populations to collapse, but are already grabbing the "lesser" species as well. This contradicts the conventional wisdom, but observation will trump theory every time. On the collapse of cod fisheries - I can't find my source for this one, but there was yet another interesting study a couple of years ago where marine biologists had figured out that size limits, coupled with natural selection, had contributed substantially to the collapse. The original idea was that you take the biggest cod and leave the rest so that they will continue to breed. What the biologists found, though, was that removing the biggest fish also meant removing the survivors of life in the ocean - those whose genes carried the strongest survival traits - and leaving a higher proportion of less hardy cod behind, thus ensuring a gradual but inexorable weakening of the species. Things like this give me hope that we'll be able to preserve some species, assuming that we can muster the will to use our increasing knowledge. In that vein, I'll finish with the NS report on the same study referenced in the CNN article. Notice the different perspective, and in particular the last four paragraphs on the upside of what the study found:

Folks who live or work in Montclair and see the drive to W Orange as a hassle. The real question is whether there will be enough of those folks to sustain the Montclair store. I work in Montclair, live in the opposite direction from W Orange & expect to get there once in a blue moon. Though if they stock Maine Shrimp in season when the Montclair branch doesn't, that will change to a couple times a week.

Ha! I have done that for years, at least during the months when the farmers' markets are running & there are super-fresh seasonal vegs to be had. They by no means are the least expensive - if I wanted those, I'd go to the "Farmer's Market" that imports everything from CA & South America - but the small premium for freshness & flavor is worth it. We dine out maybe once a month, sometimes twice. Just don't feel the need (and haven't really had the budget since I got laid off) for it. I've rarely found a restaurant that can cook seafood better than I can, so when I feel like splurging, I'll buy a good piece of fish or some sea scallops for much less than the price of a meal out. We still spend too much on take-out meals for nights when I'm too tired to cook. I don't have the discipline to plan ahead & make freezer meals for nights like that. Something I should work on. CKatCook, you'd asked about Indian food. This goes back 30 years & I have no idea if it's still in print, but I learned a ton from Dharamjit Singh's "Indian Cookery." It was published by Penguin back then. Not just great recipes, but an excellent 25-page intro on concepts, techniques, & spices. There are many many other books on the market now, there were few back then, this one's still my favorite.

On a visit to my local "Farmer's Market" tonight, where they have the cheapest produce from all over the world, & you'll rarely see anything grown locally, I learned that asparagus is in fact in season in Peru at the moment. (It actually looked pretty good.) And it is springtime in Peru now, so I guess that, technically, the Seasons 52 folks are sticking to the letter of their marketing material. Anyway, if their cooking is good, as I gather it is, that's something to cheer. We can wrestle with issues of long-distance sourcing elsewhere.

I second that notion. Very rarely do I have the room or the desire for the huge slabs of Mississippi Mud Pie & the like that seem to abound at otherwise decent places. Often I've wished for a nice little fruit tart & you just can't find them. One of the most memorable desserts I've had was a simple slice of cantaloupe at an Italian place near Union Square in NYC - memorable not only because it was the perfect finish to a rather large lunch, but because it was perfectly ripe, clearly from a melon chosen by soneone who really knew their fruits. That's the kind of attention to detail thar I appreciate.

Sandy, I remember very well where you're from, & I would never try to argue against KC's supremacy in the realm of Q. However, StL has several things that KC doesn't: 1) Generous citizens who don't disparage that stockyard town at the other end of the state; 2) The best baseball fans in the country; 3) Some darned good gelato (this is a relatively new development, so it may have reached KC as well by now); 4) The City Museum (for that matter, there's no place like it in the country); 5) Chuck Berry. I also can point to some good Indian, Thai & Vietnamese food, which certainly wasn't there when I was growing up. Again I digress. I remain fond of your adopted city. I'd give a lot to have places like the RTM & DiBruno's near where I live, and I really enjoy the tours that you've given us. Thanks to all for the Khyber-related dining tips!

Fascinating. I'm 4th-generation US-Dutch, and, in spite of my obvious Dutch nose, I certainly didn't inherit any urge to prakken.

I'm not sure how strictly Umbrian this is, but since I recall hathor talking about pasta amatriciana early in her wonderful blog, I'll just add this here. I was craving the stuff last night, so I grabbed some pancetta and, on a sudden whim, Creste di gallo pasta from the Italian shop where I work. I have a nice stash of fresh Jersey plum tomatoes and onions at home, from this week's final farmers' market of the year in my little town. You know the rest. I thought the pasta worked wonderfully as a base for an amatriciana dish, had the right combination of absorbency and heartiness to complement the other ingredients. And drat, I was so hungry, and so eager to watch the Cardinals finish off the Tigers, that I forgot to photograph the dish! Not that my cell-cam phone (my only digital facility right now) is very good with closeups, but it would have been something. Ah well. It's been a delight following this thread and roaming through Umbria's cuisine. So much great input here.

Interesting (to me, anyway) to note the several StL / Missouri references creeping into your blog, particularly in light of last night's Cardinal victory. I too noticed those ceiling lights in the Criminal Courts bldg as reminiscent of 30th St Station, not from your previous blog, but from having been through the station a few times. "Take me to the station, put me on a train...." I am considering a weekend trip to Philly to see the legendary Blue Cheer at Khyber 11/11. Do you know the club at all? Any worthy dining establishments in the area?

If you follow the trackback, it does lead to the original. The problem is that there are so many pictures on the page that it sort of convulses and scrolls to a chaming picture of one of hathor's cats. (hathor's blog has to rank as one of the all-time best *ever*) ← Ah, I see it now, I wasn't focusing well earlier. Thanks. I thought eG had become unstable & that was a disturbing thought. My FIL, God rest his soul, always mixed his food on the plate, no matter what it was. His philosophy was, "It all winds up mushed together in your stomach anyway." I simply tried not to watch and held my tongue, since he was a wonderful man in so many other ways. I must add that, before I opened this thread, I expected from the title that it would be about some sort of food which was so marvelously incredibly delicious that it made you weep. The actual topic was a complete surprise!

Dang, I was just searching for hathor's foodblog, & you beat me to it! I was going to say to torakris: Don't worry, you are not alone, you're just Italian. As am I, at least in spirit. I am not obsessive about it when the foods seem to me to be designed to be together - e.g., meatloaf, mashed potatoes & gravy - but with that sort of meal, particularly if gravy is involved, I'll want my vegetables on a separate plate. Mysteriously, hathor's original post seems to have vanished from the blog, biut you can find it quoted here at the top of page 3. Re your drinking water with meals - the Italians will do you one better. A Roman friend once explained to me that, though Italians love iced drinks in the heat of the afternoon, they will not have chilled drinks with meals, because the alternating hot-cold sensations mask the full flavors of their foods.

Just to add that it ain't just the cities, it's the burbs too, at least in my area of Jersey. Can't find a new Indian place for love or money, but towns that seem saturated with Italian places still manage to support new ones. Often they seem to thrive as much on their ambience as the quality of their cooking. I think I read some time ago that polls show Americans love "Italian" even though most don't know the difference between Italian-American and Italian.

This place sounds intriguing, but I am wondering how asparagus in October jibes with their stated goal of serving fresh seasonal foods; not to mention their own PR material. I suppose it's fresh in Guatemala or somewhere in this world, but serving it in the US at Halloween seems to indicate that their talk of "seasonal peak of taste" and "best market-fresh" is more hype than substance. But anyway, how was the asparagus? Did it compare at all with freshly picked, local asparagus in early June? ←

Sorry I didn't post this earlier - this week (Weds R'ford farm mkt), the ears were smaller, the husks a bit more tough, & 1 out of the 6 ears I bought had that corn rust at the tip. But the sweetness & the flavor are still right there, up front, in your face. Mmmmmmmm! You're talking aboiut the Montclair mkt, right? Is this a big, hulking guy, dark hair a bit balding & beard? Just wondering if it's the same guy that I've been getting my corn from in R'ford. (I can't remember his name either.) It's been better than Matarazzo's corn this year. (The absolute best corn of the year came from Richfield Farms out on Van Houten back in August, but this guy's has been very very close, & his late crop is unreal.)

Omigosh. What a perfect shot. Must have porchetta NOW. Sigh. I really want to go live in Norcia & consume pork products for a year.

I'm strictly a potholder guy. I had a bad experience* with an oven mitt in my youth & swore off them & have not used one since. *The bad oven mitt experience: I was in my 20s & still learning the ways of ovens. Somehow a poorly insulated mitt got into my kitchen. While I was maneuvering a hot roasting pan, the heat from the pan went through the mitt and into my hand. I was able to put the pan in its cooling spot in fairly short order, but the heat that the mitt had absorbed continued to burn my hand for the several additional seconds it took me to wriggle the thing off, making the resultant burn worse than it needed to be. Since then I have never trusted oven mitts. A faulty potholder can quickly be dropped: end of burn.