ghostrider

I don't know Wild Edibles. Do they sell only fish? If they sell other foods that get weighed, do they use a dedicated scale for seafood, as do my local grocery stores? Key questions in determining how I'd react in that particular situation. Either way, the failure to place a sheet of paper on the scale strikes me as utterly bizarre; I've never seen that in even the funkiest markets where I've bought seafood. I agree with the many posters who've pointed out that gloves are no excuse for abandoning proper hygenic practices. However, bare hands + frequent washing isn't always a good option; it may force a person right out of a food profession, as I learned last week from my dermatologist after he examined a particularly nasty case of thumb fungus (mine) caused by excessive handwashing & dishwashing.

New Scientist Source of the above, which is all there is to it. Not seeking to turn this political, simply passing along another piece of information.

The pork dish that jo-mel describes sounds very much like the one I used to get at the fabled Say Eng Look in NYC's Chinatown, which was for years the only outpost for genuine Shanghai cuisine down there. Coincidentally I just ran across a mention of Say Eng Look in the New York forum & that has jogged some memories (& a couple of posts over there). The first time I ordered the dish, the server tried to dissuade me by saying, tactfully, "Usually the Chinese people like this." I'm sure he'd had experiences with Westerners who didn't know what they were getting into. I was finally able to convince him that I had read about the dish & really wanted to try it, & was allowed to order it. I did wind up having to eat around some of the fat, but my gosh, it was good. Nice to know that China 46 offers a version of this. Got to get up there when I feel that my system can handle the sodium shock.

Wondrous where a site search on Say Eng Look leads you. Another trip down memory lane. Nom Wah Tea Parlor - we went there many times for dim sum in the 1970s & 1980s. It always looked like it was on its last legs. Pleased to know it's still there. We tried a couple of more upscale/highly rated dim sum places in those years, & they may have had some better individual dim sum pieces, but I always preferred Nom Wah; something about the funk of the place, to which Bux alludes, always made it enjoyable. We went to Wo Hop once, but always preferred Lin's Garden (alas, they are no more) for good, cheap Chinese food. You knew the tea was cheap, they used it to clean the tables! But 25 years later, I can still taste their roast duck chow mai fun. Am I getting too far off topic here? Well somebody will tell me if I am.

Stumbled on this now year-old post last night, had to come back & say yes, I remember Say Eng Look vividly too. It was indeed great.

Thanks for the perspective. We're still a month or so away from this dinner. If there's a movement toward St. Marks I'll post, otherwise I'll re-check this thread before we head to Chelsea.

Any updates on the qualities/virtues of the St Marks location vs Chelsea location? Friends of ours are raving about the Chelsea spot & we're planning an outing, but I'm realizing that St Marks is pretty much equidistant from where they live, so I'm wondering. Further uptown is not an option, I'll have to save the Hell's Kitchen version for another occasion. Thanks.

Yes, but were they "in the same place" both times? SB (lightning harbors no personal grudges) ← Nope, once in Virginia as a child, & once atop the Matterhorn when he was in his late 20s.

She said "at 12 years old," not "12 years ago." BTW, nice to see another Avengers fan on board!

I have a good friend who's been struck twice by lightning, so I'm not sure how much comfort this is. He wasn't killed either time, though, so maybe he's not relevant. My wiseacre tendencies aside, the statistical perspective is useful.

I think the theory is that plastic boards can contain the meat juice and if not washed after meat uses it can transfer the juice to other things. That being said I use a cheapo plastic board for all things, and only really wash the thing once every month if that, I have yet to get sick from it. ← See John Whiting's post on page 1. There've been actual lab tests that bear this out, even after washing, the bacteria lived considerably longer - we're talking a day or two I think - on the plastic boards than they did on the wood. I don't believe that the plastic boards were dishwashered though, I think that both were washed with soap & hot water in the sink. I don't have the reference any more, it was either in the NY Times or New Scientist - New something. It's easy to get carried away with this cleanliness stuff. I've never in my life used bleach on anything in my kitchen, & have not given self or anyone else food poisoning in 35 years of cooking. I'd be more worried about the bleach somehow getting into the food & making people sick that way. I've been given food poisoning twice in Chinese restaurants, once in NYC (the classic bad clams) & once in London (the classic MSG overdose, or so said the doc).

I have stopped eating hamburger, unless I'm damned sure of the source. I'm supposed to eat only filet mignon when I have beef anyway due to fat content, & I pretty much stick to that. I will occasionally eat other cuts when I know the source. There's a lot of info out there from folks with axes to grind who have a vested interest in scaring you. OTOH, the way mad cow unfolded in the UK should make everyone leary of trusting in gov't pronouncements from authority. There are scientists who experienced the UK debacle & now say that US testing is severely inadequate. That's what worries me the most. Does it scare me? Nah, that's putting it too strongly. But it worries me enough to cut out the cheap supermarket hamburger.

Finally! Tom Yum Gai was excellent, lemon-grassy & fish-saucy, with some bite to it. Keang Pa ("old fashioned Thai curry") w pork - lots of bamboo shoots, green beans, mushrooms, carrots, green pepper, basil & lime leaves. Very fragrant, not a particularly rich or salty curry, perhaps not their best offering, but satisfying. Mee Krob + Thai Salad, first rate. So much more I want to try on that menu. Wish they were closer. Found the place easily, coming down from Paramus, after turning the wrong way onto Fairview - WHY don't road signs in this area EVER say simply North or South, they always name some damn town instead & you have no idea whether it lies in the direction you want to go. Then getting out of Hackensack to head south is a nightmare, I always wind up in some industrial wasteland & then suddenly I'm in Teterboro, which is not where I want to be. Oh well, a couple more trips to Wondee's & I'll get the hang of it.

Thick toppings? That's the last thing I'd have said about the pizzas I've had at Lombardi's. Which go back to a couple of years ago. I know we've had a discussion on another thread as to whether Lombardi's has changed since I was last there, & I'm not seeking to resurrect that, it gets redundant. But that statement is the clearest indication I've seen yet that their approach may have changed in some fundamental way.

Had Venezuelan food last night, which seems to be an interesting hybrid of / variation on some of the cuisines discussed here -- more savory than spicy, lots of corn & corn products, plantains, rice, black beans.... A resonably fiery green chile relish appears as an accompaniment to the meal if you need some heat. Sorry, not strictly OT.

She can't/won't eat garlic/onions/hot peppers/ginger etc. Is it any wonder that I'm the cook in the house?

Sears Essentials is an off-mall store that "will offer Sears' product categories that are integral to home and family life, such as appliances, lawn and garden, tools, electronics, apparel, and home fashions along with routinely purchased convenience items, such as health and beauty, pantry, household and paper products, pet supplies, and toys." ← In other words, it's a drugstore without the pharmacy.

I wonder the same thing about certain olive oil bottlers. But in both cases, it lets you see just how appetizing the product looks, & has certainly gotten me to buy some. I just make sure it remains in a dark place when I get it home except while in use.

Hmmm. I would argue that eating is all about the even more fundamental acts of tasting, smelling, and seeing. Taking away the act of eating would simply be an effort to get people to taste/smell/see the emptiness. Ferran Adria seems to be getting people to eat air; isn't this just the next logical step? Not that I'd consider "eating the emptiness" a worthwhile act in any real sense. And I'd agree that it's dining only in whatever sense 4'33" may be music; both smack more of conceptual art than what they purport to be. But it would be interesting to see how many people you could get to pay for the experience.

Coincidentally, the "Ultimate India" episode of Globe Trekker last night (PBS travel show) featured a very brief segment on South Indian coffee. The pouring ritual, as described so well above, was remarkable to watch; the speed and dexterity of the coffeemaker spoke of highly developed skills.

Weird- I've been working on a little piece for another outlet, about the odd people that you meet on mountaintops, which concludes with a very similar line..... Maybe this is why that OddFellows organization keeps going.

My only basis for comparison is Montclair NJ. Was a place there called Taste of Asia that we quite liked, as did other eGullet folk. I'd still be inclined to try the Hoboken place should the occasion present itself, but one hasn't materialized yet.

could an empty dish, somehow, provoke contemplation? ← Of course it could. But only a sucker would pay for it.

There is the famous Iron Age hill fort of Old Sarum which is near Salisbury. I wonder if this is an issue of geography rather than pronounciation. Don't know if this is food related, but if you want a train ticket to Hereford, you'd better be able to say "heeryfurd" or you won't get one. That Wendy Brodie person, whose vocal tones by themselves make me grit my teeth, caused me to break several molars last night when she started carrying on about "deeANNchoo" pears.

I posted about this place in the NY Forum but since it's buried in a thread about Patchogue, I wonder how many beer lovers actually saw it. BrickHouse Brewery I tried the BrickHouse Red, which I thought had nicely balanced flavors, but was overly fizzy and seemed to lose its head too quickly. My friend had the Hurricane Kitty, which was described at the bar as an IPA. I would have termed it amber. He reported it was hoppy indeed. It held its head properly. He liked it a lot. Has anyone else been to this place?