bleudauvergne

Here's a link to another thread on shopping lists from a couple of months ago.

I really enjoyed the bathroom at Felix in the Penninsula Hotel in HK, too but I experienced the ladies room. It was really very nice, in fact I'd say it may very well have been the most wonderful restaurant bathroom I've ever been in. It's all stone. One wall is made of glass - a panoramic view of the city of Hong Kong. The sinks are waterfalls. I don't remember if it was one big waterfall or individual ones, it's been a few years. The attendant comes and sets the waterfall in motion as you wash your hands. Designed by Phillipe Starck.

To answer Carrot Top's question, my okra comes direct from Africa, and the label calls it Gombo. That's the french word for okra. The gentrification of the South is the only logical explanation I can come up with for the absence of it in the ragout called Gumbo. I'm sure there are some others on this board who can explain the reason why from a much more educated standpoint. There are shops here catering to African populations here. It's expensive fresh, mainly because it's not grown anywhere near this country. They pick it young, compact and small, and it never arrives in prime condition. Canned and in jars, you can find it from the North African food shops. They sell it more cheaply than fresh, always with a tomato in the bottom of the jar. I wish I could find it frozen. It's not the same canned. We eat it every once in a while. Plain. As a vegetable. We never prepared gumbo the ragout at home. But we did eat the vegetable plain. My family came from AL/TN, not LA.

Yes, I agree, I find the slime to be one of the most wonderful qualities of okra.

It's just shellfish / seafood. We had a mix of little calmari, scallops, mussels, and shrimp.

We had hotpot at home. We do it Beijing style, with lots of meat. We never had fish balls or any "balls" of any kind in Beijing, but when we were in L.A. we found things like that and used to use them. The French touch this time were the endives. Our electric plate does manage to keep the stock boiling despite the additions, in fact we had to turn it down to keep it from boiling too rapidly! We also had some fruits de mer (which I had frozen), and the noodles, of course. The best part is the noodles at the end, with the rest of the sauce, which is a mix of mashed fermeted tofu (the hot kind), fresh sesame paste, with just traces of black vinegar & soy, plus the addition of hot pepper garlic paste (which contains some smoked peanuts, ground). Link to Hotpot Thread in China Forum

I have a firm belief that this will happen, Brooks. I didn't mention that this same emulsion can be smeared on the face and has skin softening properties. In fact, tests have shown that it will remove 10 years of age with each application. Again, I see the events in the more formal environment of fine dining wherein the amuse is served, you smear the scrapings of the dish upon your face, and leave it in place through the next course. There is then a break in which a staff member brings hot towels to remove the applied combination facial mask / amuse bouche, and your continue your meal. After the meal people come from the restaurant not only feeling refreshed and renewed, but looking 10 years younger. All coming to you from okra pod technology. About the impending Okra shortages, I am one step ahead of you, as I envision miles and miles of tent city hothouse okra farms to replace the Spanish tomato and pepper farms existing today. This will be enough to sustain Europe. You'll come up with something for your side of the pond, yes? edit: Yes, Carrot Top, you may be a dancer. Prepare for your screen test, Brooks will send his crew up. You can PM him for the details.

Now that's a great idea.

Niall, It is really quite close, I'd say no more than 15 minutes from city center by car.

Here's the link to the dicsussion on, (um I think), French Cuts of Beef. It might confuse things a bit though. Here's the amazon link to La Varenne Pratique. It's less than 50 bucks, and, well, read the reviews. It might be a worthwhile purchase. Julia Child also has a segment in her Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol 1 on the differences, and she covers the popular French cuts, although I don't think she goes into a whole lot of detail.

I'm reading this and really enjoying not only the photos, Anna, but what you're sharing with us about your life. Thank you. And Basil / Tomato soup looks wonderful.

Knife scraped okra juice added to puree of fruits de mer slow cooked sous vide creates an emulsion of the most amazing qualities that will solidify like jello but better yet can be formed into various shapes like scultping clay. Depending on your base, it can take on different color and opacity. And it tastes amazing. Slice the pod, and scrape the juice perpendicularly from the okra cross cut as it oozes out, bit by bit. Once you have accumulated approximately 140 grams, (this only takes about 5 or 6 hours for a team of 4), then puree that with 500 grams shucked oysters using a 1250 watt industrial immersion blender for 20 minutes while maintaining a temperature of between 60 and 70 degrees celsius, and voila. Okra clay of oyster. Otherwise I like it fried, simmered, with tomatoes or just plain salt & pepper.

Is that a winter melon? I can't tell.

What happened after that?

Dear Anna, I like your plates. A few months ago I also invested in a square plate service with square bowls. I was talking to a friend from Scandanavia (she is swedish) and she mentioned that the potato is extremely important in scandanavian food culture. She said that people where she's from go to great lengths to get certain kinds of potatoes, especially the different varieties of new potatoes. Your new potatoes and carrots look very good.

Simply gorgeous. I'm astounded at the beauty represented here. I am very happy to hear that very inspiring bit of advice.

King Leo peppermint sticks.

That was a fantastic article, Monica. Really wonderful.

Oh please do, Yetty. I love your photos.

Well, I've been watching this for awhile now, and it has begun to manifest at my table and in my kitchen in various ways... It's fascinating and I can't help but be inspired by the creative process at work here. I find most satisfying your illustration of one of the serving appareils designed in an earlier thread being put to actual use in the presentation of what's being developed (the pbj with stem in the food lab thread). It is affecting me so much in fact, it's been on my mind almost constantly over the past few weeks. My husband is wondering if I am alright at dinner time, actually. I have two questions - The other night I found myself discussing this with some people at a dinner party. There seem to be two opinions here in France, some completely optimistic and enthusiastically supporting this trend in food preparation, presentation, and experimentation. These are the people who follow restaurant trends carefully and have substantial experience in fine dining. These are the people who have learned, through experience, that they can achieve a state of implicit trust in a chef to create their dining experience. The other are people who are suspect of what they perceive to be industrial processes simply done on a small scale, and even venture to say that they not only resist this concept strongly, but it smacks of manipulation, and they'll have none of it. These are the two poles I encounter as I discuss this with the people in my entourage. My question to you is: Are you prepared for an onslaught of general suspicion, and in what ways are you preparing to explain this to a mainstream public (represented in the press) who may not understand your approach or have the supporting context available to them? My second question: There are certain food combinations that evoke strong sense memory response in specific cultures. These combinations are present in an emotional memory bank we carry with us for all of our lives. The PBJ calls to mind a plethora of associations for me as an American. However, present this to a person who never come to a full understanding of the association of pbj and childhood, and he's relying purely on taste. When you test these preparations, are you testing them on people with different cultural backgrounds, or is this meant to be an exclusively American, bref uniquely American sensual experience? Your devoted fan,

Nice to note the lists exist. I agree with Louisa, There is much progress to be made. Often the non-smoking areas of restaurants tend to be closed up, stuffy, and dark, whereas the smokers are placed in the prime seats, on the terrace, near the windows, etc. It is nice to see that some restaurants are making an effort, in any case. To note too this list coincides with a current multi-media campaign of shock advertisement on the effects of secondhand smoke put out by public health authorities. When I first got to France, it was completely the opposite, in the midst of the media buzz on those pesky non-smoking militants who were trying to put constraints on the rights of smokers. Recently Markk was trying to compile a list of recommended places in Lyon with seperate non-smoking rooms. It would be nice to hear about his experiences.

What are the dimensions of your table? I'm trying to sketch out a floor plan here.

I'm looking forward to this blog.

Hey, duck fat is one of the good fats!

Hi dlc, the sommelier might have thought you were, by suggesting that some wines might need longer decanting, suggesting that certain of the wines on his list weren't ready to drink yet. Just a thought. Could it be possible that he wasn't sure himself and felt like you might put him on the spot with a question he couldn't answer, thus abruptly ending the conversation? It really is a bummer when you try to get some exchange on some part of your dining experience, and you either meet on deaf ears and a blank look, or a suprising negative reaction. I have on some occaisions expressed a particular interest in certain cheeses and asked questions, only to be looked at like I was some kind of freak for asking. I admit, I am a cheese freak. Oh well.