LaNiña

"In 1994, the International Wine Center was the first organization in the U.S. to become affiliated with the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) in London, and offer its courses. The WSET is an educational organization for members of the wine trade in the UK; its highest accreditation, Diploma, is the traditional qualification necessary for those who wish to become Master of Wine candidates." Anyway, I'm going to the IWC program starting in the Fall. Anyone who'd like to do it with me, great. I'm not looking for additional recommendations at the moment, but perhaps other folks are.

Edit: nevermind.

Yep, do it all the time.

I've been thinking about doing a serious wine course for a while, and started doing some research a couple of months ago. All roads have led to the same program. Jaybee's nephew did this program and loved it. Darrin Siegfried, whom I know, who was the Education Director of the Sommelier Society for 5 years, has recommended it also (and NOT the Sommelier Society program, mind you). Someone else I know, who works for one of the major importers/distributors in NYC also recommended it. Cabrales and Blondie have expressed interest in doing it too. Check out the link below for details: International Wine Center

gonna get myself in trouble here, but what the hell. i know paul lukas (writer of hotdog article). his more or less raison d'ecrire is focused on this kind of thing...makes me nuts, too. it's like, if it ain't decrepit, it ain't worthy. reverse snobbery at its best.

Well folks, due to circumstances beyond our control, our scheduled Indian feast will not be taking place this weekend. But stay tuned for rescheduling. Thanks for all your input.

That's beautiful information, about the Chelsea wine storage thing. I wonder if they have a minimum number of bottles you can store?

Just kill me right now.

As a matter of fact, yes.

That sheep's head and eyeball meal was pretty unbelievable, too, I must say.

I will never forget the first time I ate at Chanterelle - it was years and years ago. That cheese course (and the 10 minute presentation/lecture which preceded it) was an extraordinary experience. I had never experienced such magnificent service on every level. I'm not sure I have since.

send it along! i love okra, but i'd rather do green beans...

Yes, that's the one. It was my favorite dish of the evening. For the record (and who knows, Eyal could be reading by now) - he's Israeli, from a Sephardic family. He grew up eating hot as hell food...you should see him in an Indian restaurant - mama mia.

Simon, do you have a recommendation for green beans? I usually do them with a lot of coriander greens, but I was thinking tomato and onion? Something else?

Loser! nice. really nice. Damn! Who was the group that did "Nice, Nice, Really Nice" Back in the 70's? Yeah! Ambrosia... Was partially written with Kurt Vonnegut... Cool! Was it a "Cat's Cradle" reference?

For the record, his name is Eyal. It's pronounced Hey, Al without the H

I'm cooking for myself and one other person, but I always make way too much food, because the leftovers are wonderful. I can always freeze some too, for another time. It's not so time-consuming, really. The chutney's made, the raita takes 5 minutes, so does the onion relish. The salad takes maybe 10 minutes. The rice takes about 10 minutes of prep (cleaning, soaking, par-boiling), since it's done in the oven. The cauliflower (or green beans) is probably about 20 minutes and them some simmer time, and the shrimp the same. The pani puri takes some doing - but I'll probably take the easy way out and buy the shells themselvse. Making the fillings is no big deal. If I make a clafouti, that's probably about 15 minutes of prep (peeling, sauteeing the apples, making the batter), then the baking. What takes the time is the fuss I make - I set an elaborate table, use lots of serving dishes, some of which will invariably need polishing, things like that. But that's half the fun

Just never got into making Indian desserts. Would rather make a dessert I'm really good at.

I make that kind of rice when I make Persian food - it's called "tadik" - and I do it sometimes with the thing slices of potato on the bottom, and sometimes without. Always with saffron.

I have read many references to Jaffrey's tomato chutney on eGullet. I hate to sound stupid but am wondering, is this a product that you purchase or prepare from Jaffrey's recipe? If it is the latter, can you tell me where I can find the recipe? The recipe is in her book "An Invitation to Indian Cooking." I make it all the time - always have a jar of it handy. It's easy to make and always great.

I have attempted Indian desserts, but without a great deal of success. And there doesn't seem to be much of a reason - it's a lot of work and there are such really good ones available all around me to buy.

I've been cooking Indian food with great enthusiasm, and if I may say so, success, for a number of years. I had an Indian/Israeli boyfriend (born in Bombay, grew up in Israel) with whom I lived for many years, and during that time I worked very hard to get my Indian food to a certain level. We visited his relatives a lot, too, and I collected recipes from the Aunties over a long period. So here's what I'm thinking for this particular dinner: dahi batata puri (delicious and makes for a fun activity, too) shrimp with dill and ginger buttered saffron basmati rice (which I bake) sweet and sour tomato & raisin chutney (from Madhur Jaffrey - it's fantastic) raita salad - just cucumbers, tomatoes, scallion, cilantro, oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper cauliflower with onion and tomato some onion relish on the side, probably onions soaked in vinegar fruit salad or perhaps an apple clafouti with vanilla ice cream chai The only thing I'm not sure about is the cauliflower. I'm thinking a green bean dish would be better. What say you all?

All fruit is not always kosher. There are those who observe the rules about 7 years - eating fruits from fields that are rested every 7 years...from the story of Joseph, if you recall.

I think that's only one of the reasons. Say what you will, the kosher laws ALSO came into existence because of lack of refrigeration, disease, etc.

I bet you could find one in Boro Park. I can easily find out if you're curious.