tisch

Timh is echoing my thoughts too, as Albertan consumers contemplate the recent confirmation of yet another BSE case in a 8-year-old dairy cow here. "It never reached the food chain", the spokespeople tell us. "What about all that milk the cow was producing before it keeled over," I muse. "Was that not part of the food chain?". Yes, ORGANIC, has hoidy-toidy connotations and a bit of a misnomer anyway because, after all, most everything we eat is "organic" in the chemistry sense of the word. As for taste, organic beef, pork and fowl far outshine the flabby and soggy non-organic profferings on sale at the supermarket. I like to see restaurant with owners who somehow indicate they have 'purveyors', that the menu is seasonal and that they buy locally. Any indication that they actually care where the food originates, how fresh it is and that they will support small farms.

Congrats Katie and your limoncello sounds like a 'must try' concoction! I have another question for egullet's limoncello expert: I have read a number of recipes for of liqueurs where the whole citrus fruit is macerated in both alcohol and sugar, presumably because the sugar also has extractive powers. Have you (or has anyone) tried adding the sugar earlier in a limoncello recipe?

This bias is probably because a regional cuisine needs a critical mass of local artisanal cheese makers, bread bakers, purveyors etc. and if one province indeed has this critical mass, I think its Quebec. I know Steve to be a longtime admirer of the Edmonton food scene, and if I might add one small detail..."Dine Alberta" is a government-sponsored program (how Canadian is that???) running in September that aims to strengthen the ties between restauraturs and local food producers. Participating restaurants must feature a la carte or table d'hote menus with dishes containing at least 70% locally-produced ingredients. Oddly enough, dozens of restaurants in Edmonton, Jasper and the north and central towns of Alberta are participating, Calgary and Banff not.

This may or may not be related to the cramp-like sensation where the jaw meets the neck after the first sip of a dry wine. Or something else tannic/acidic. Is there a name for that? There should be. Oh! That happens to other people too? Its such a weird feeling. My first guess was that it has something to do with teeth sensitivity, but upon further reflection my best guess is that its a feeling caused by the salivary glands producing more saliva in response to the acid stimulus...I guess they sort of "squeeze". Still, is there any medical term to describe that? As to my "food hate", its not really food and its not really hate, but I just can't learn to appreciate the finer qualities of grappa. To me it just tastes like diesel. And I continue to drink it anyway, hoping one day I'll eventually learn to like it!

This is an interesting comment, as arts do tend to draw from each other and grow. Can you give some examples of specific areas that are good examples of the 'New Urbanism'? Are there any major names of architects/designers that create solely within this paradigm? (And if so, are any of them associated with 'name' restaurants?) What is coming to my mind at the moment in terms of this is that place they built right outside Miami...naturally right now I can not remember the name of it...the copycat 'New York'. Would this place be considered New Urban or simply still a mall of sorts... Just curious. Some big names in New Urbanism are Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Peter Calthorpe, and Andres Duany . They design on a scale of the pedestrian and seek to promote a symbiotic relationship between urban development and public transportation. Its a move away from prescriptive planning, epitomized by putting a residential area here, light commercial over there, a park over here and industrial somewhere else. New designs focus on mixed use areas and take into account that more and more people work from home. Probably the most famous example is Seaside, Florida. You'll find info about this community and others here: Planned cities There is also the massive redevelopment of Hamburg Harbour: HafenCity, Hamburg Harbour I'm Canadian, so I have to add one example from our native land: Regent Park, Toronto You'll find lots more on the net. I'm a civil engineer and not an urban planner so I can't answer your query about architects and their association with restaurants. But I think there is a lot of merit to the idea. As Fat Guy has eloquently pointed out, no particular food item is inherently urban or suburban. To me, an urban dining has more to do with the whole experience and setting. And unfortunately, I am not familiar with the Miami development you refer to. Perhaps someone else here knows of it?

Interesting thoughts on this subject. I am certainly no food expert, but perhaps you could take some cues from the realm of urban design, meaning to design food that espouses the urban ideas of functionality, sustainability, walkability and equitability. New Urbanism promotes the concepts of an enviroment focused on the "human scale". Its hard to promote urban food if the setting does not conform to these concepts, which is to say that hopefully the location of the restaurant is pedestrian-friendly and with parking in the rear. When I think "suburban" the first thing I think of is a parking lot. Viewing the issue through this prism, an "urban" eating experience, to me, is leaving the car at home, eating non-jumbo portions of carefully prepared food chosen from local, sustainable, organic farms. And I would want to feel welcome regardless of my degree of personal trendiness. And if we could draw the analogy one step further, New Urbanism tries to demonstrate that new design concepts are superior to revitalizing old cities and towns - so perhaps no rehashing of old classic dishes?

Try them diced in a chunky pork-based chili, the flavours are wonderfully complimentary. I make a thick paste (just with a big knife) and add it to pancake batter.

Richard Kilgore, I have a question: A baker's stone should be made of food-grade materials, but I always had concerns that the stuff you get at the hardware store might contain dangerous materials, such as heavy metals. Have you heard anything about that? Thanks!