Adam Balic

Maybe not now, but the are enough 'poverty type' recipes in the cuisine to think that prehaps they once were. Acorns from Quercus suber are quite small and would be a lot of effort to collect and husk etc to get enough to eat. I just hope they taste delicious as some type of reward.

Quercus suber is the cork oak. How interesting, I didn't realise that they were edible (acorns that is). I wonder if they eat them on Portugal?

Do you know what type of acorns these are? Do they need special preparation to remove toxins etc? One of the advantages of couscous I guess, you don't need gluten to make the granules.

Yes, that is correct (also used in France, Corsica, Sardinia etc), the point I was trying to make is if you are so poor that you can't afford grain flour, why go to all of the bother with processing acorns when chestnuts are available ?

European types of oak produce acorns that have a lot of tannin, so are toxic/unpleasant if not heavinly processed. So maybe this is why there is little evidence of widespread acorn eating in European cultures (that and they had chestnuts as a much easier alternative). The were used to make a coffee substitute in WWI & II, but that is more sign of thrifty desperation that anything else I think. American natives lucked out with the sweet white oak acorns, these have highish natural sugar and low tannins.

Thanks for the kind comments. RE: Semolina flour. Durum wheat flour is Semolina flour and is much more coarse in texture then soft wheat flour (harder to mill). Different manufacturers produce slightly different products and the levels of gluten and fineness of the flour can vary. So in Italy people userly have a specific brand that they trust. The easiest thing for you to do is to use the flour to make some pasta. If it gives you the type of pasta that you want then great, if not you can look for another brand. I quite sure that it will be OK to use though.

Try dipping a kipper in them then. I samples three barrel strength Irish SM, two were interesting, one was 'better', but can't remember the details. Will have to contact the Whisky Society.

What is the name of this "stunner"? Is it available in the US? I will try to remember to find out (whisky was identified as a number, rather then distillery).

I have tasted maybe three Japanese single malts, interesting and distictivly different, but they didn't excite me very much. On the other hand I had a Single Malt from Ireland a few months ago that was stunning. The more the better.

Re: Water, well that's economics, so in the case of Islay it is cheaper to ship to the mainland at cask strength. Many Single Malts have caramel sprit added for colour. It is hard to tell this because most countries don't require its addition to be listed. Any German or Danish posters with some local bought bottles? The should have additive names. Lagavulin for instance has caramel added. Obviously location is very important, but I think that "house style" defines the whisky more then 'terroir'. Compare Bruichladdich to Bowmore for instance. Spitting distance from each other, many of the formers staff came from Bowmore, but the whisky they produce is very different. If you get the opertunity to talk to the head distiller at Bruichladdich, he is very clear about how he is developing the house style etc.

I think the term terroir sort of works here too. Those nuances in taste develop based upon the type and careful selection of grains (which I'm sure are "local" thus providing their own unique characteristics), selection of wood (oak casks) and type of water (I believe it is spring water, which is also unique). Then there is managing the process of drying the malt over an open peat fire, and aging. There are four geographical regions that single malts originate: Lowland - said to be the lightest in flavour and colour Islay - heaviest and full bodied Campbeltown - full bodied, but are very few in number Highland - most balanced with medium flavour and aroma. Speyside is a part of the Highlands and regard as the premium single malt producing area. Cheers! It is absolutely delicious stuff. Most grain is imported (from else where in Scotland and England), often the water used to dilute the barrel strength spirit to comercial levels isn't local. So in Islay only one distillery does this on the island it self, the others use mainland water. Most malts are made to a house recipe and this plays a large part in what the final product tastes like. ie. what malt to use, what level of smoke content in the malt, sherry wood or bourbon etc etc. Colour is mostly due to the addition of caramel. One of the most influences on the final product is the individual stills themselves, a slight change in the angle of the arm (forget the correct term) that comes out the top can influence the type of products you get in the whisky. Some whiskys taste very sweet due to the large amounts of esters and ketones etc that are distilled. Other stills don't have produce these componds so you get a 'dry' tasting whisky.

Err...the dry roasting/grill over the stove/dry fry is supposed to enhance the stink - it makes the belacan smell more rounded and less raw (usually done for raw sambals) - similar to dry roasting / frying spices. Yes, yes, heat = increase in stinkyness. But, belacan in foil traps the stinkyness in the foil.

I dunno Roger, when I roast/grill/dry fry the Belachan it goes, dry and crumbly. East to turn into a powder. There are numerous variants of this type of fermented prawn paste, so maybe I just got lucky. Smell doesn't really get out of the foil either in my case.

I doubt that the Arabs 'gave' the Chinese pasta, I would think that there is plenty of documentation of soft wheat pasta in China pre-Arab contact. The may have introduced durum wheat pasta to the East (comments made by the Chinese version of Marco Polo in Muslim Spain, indicate that the Chinese did not have durum wheat) , but the consumption of this type of pasta in the East s still relatively low. "Laska" noodles (Persian orgin) on the other hand was most likely a type of noodle/dish introduced into SE-Asia by Muslims. It is unlikely that Marco Polo brought back pasta to Europe (it was already there), but most food historians think it likely that most of Polo's stories are true, if gussied up some what. To find more about pasta you will have to see my pasta course in the eGCI next week.

Belachan (fermented prawn paste) is like anchovies and fish sauce, in the uncooked state they are very pungent, but become quite mild after cooking and are a background flavour. Best tip I learnt about Belachan was to wrap a slice in foil and grill, rather then fry in oil. No stinky house this way.

Gamay, White Zinfandel, and Sparkling Shiraz are all in the same camp. The vast majority of them are made for consumption by people who don't like wine. It's the exception when any of the three are made in a serious style - it's not that it can't be done, but that is rarely the case. Eh, although much Sparkling Shiraz is nonsense, it is taken seriously in Australia and even considered as a 'wine makers' wine. Seppelt make a show reserve version that can be very good. I have had a twenty year old wine that was very good. (Mental note to self: Think you may have blow your credibility). White Zinfandel? Why stop there? Grub up all Zinfandel I say.

I think that people are being very hard on Gamay wine. OK, they aren't Cabernet wines, but they still can make some interesting wine, even wine that has some aging potential.

Boy, you should really come to Scotland you know. In Italy (forget the region) they also do fried sandwiches: Moz, Parma filling, dipped in egg then fried. Tastes good, burns mouth. Where does this "Monte Cristo" orginate? An illiteration of "Much Crisco"?

I agree with slkinsey ( ), if it was wood pigeon then, sure they are tough buggers and require seperate treatment for legs v breasts, but the point of squab is that they are tender. They slow roast very well and I have a recipe fo stuffed squab from Marche that I can dig out if you are interested?

And how do the French eat artichokes? I know somebody that taught dining etiquette at a girls school (UK). She gave them stuffed Breton artichokes and a dipping sauce, told them to tuck in and then waited for half an hour before telling them to use their hands for the scutes and knife and fork for the stuffing and heart. Asparagus in hand is OK as well. I believe that eating whole asparagus with the hands derives from the small amount of titalation that can be gained from placing the phallic asparagus in ones mouth. Knife and fork spoil the effect. In the USA do people swap their knife and fork around when eating asparagus?

Good point, make sure that you tell "Sam". What would have been nice would have been a discussion on how much 'tradion' there was in Adria's cooking, as there seems to be do much discussion on the opposite aspect of his cooking. How unfortunate. This 'episode' certainly made me feel that the weekend I have spent writing a EGCI course was well worth the effort. Thanks ever so much.

From all what I have learned from my parents and relatives, I can say that in Italy many, many (poorer) people used to eat virtually every part of an animal. You don't need to go back to 12th century. Just about 50 years. Have you arguments why this should have been different in France or in Spain? Or why rabbit brain is an exemption? Just because you can't imagine something, it doesn't make it unreal. I can't stress that enough. Boris - I have no doubt that people have eaten rabbit brains, on a regular basis. That was never in doubt in my mind. I think I may have mentioned this at some point. Nice touch, where did you get you inspiration?

Mine too, you would think that world famous chefs could spell. Good ears. I can barely see the difference between genius and genious, let alone hear the difference. Your eyes hear better than mine see. Let's look at what we said before you went on to such extremes putting words in my mouth and then absurdly drawing "catfish testicles" into the discussion. This is not logical. I think that you would have to look long and hard to find a tradition of regularly eating rabbit brains in any of the countries you have mentioned. I did not say there was a tradition of eating rabbit brains in Spain, nor did I even make note that one Spanish citizen here seemed to think rabbit brains was not an odd food. All I said was that since brains and rabbits were both widely eaten in Spain, I did not find Adria's use of rabbit brains in a dish a sign he was moving away from his traditions. One is better advised to look at his other dishes for that. The logical point I was making is that there are many instances where Adria combines ingredients further removed from his traditions and that Joe displays too great an unfamiliarity with the food by using rabbit brains as an example. My point is not about Adria's creativity here as much as the value of experience when talking about a restaurant or a chef. I don't understand the need to drag this out in a form that precludes the inquisitive interest in understanding my post. Putting words in another poster's mouth is hardly constructive. I'll write my words and make my points. If they're not clear, to you or to others, I'm open to questions far more than I am to ridicule. As for the members, I trust them to understand my points without your interpretation. Sam gets it. I'm sorry to see you jump into the middle of a thread and go the route of catfish testicles to undermine my post, my points and the discussion at hand. Oh, stop been so pompous Bux. This really is a pathetic. How dare you become so precious and imply so sinister motivation of mine. There are none, so grow up. The only point I was making was that I didn't believe that there is a logical connection between Adria's rabbit brains and the the tradition of people eating rabbits and or brains in the region. There are other possiblities. Simple as that, no sad little button pushing. As for "putting words in your mouth", again pathetic and un-true. As I indicated, it was my interparation of your statement. You are far to keen to start some sad little witch hunt when what it could have been was an interesting discussion. Sam may "get it" but it is largely due to his un-pleasantness and eagerness to be an agressor that we are at this point. Since you are both moderators, you could do a lot better with your attitude towards contributions to this and other threads. As for the 'tocino en cielo'. I know what it is, otherwise why would have I made the comment? Could this be a case of you putting words in my mouth or offering your interperatation to undermine my post? No, I'm not that un-generous, so I assume that you simply missed the point. edit: Catfish testicles? Obviously it was stupid, that was the point, to demonstrate how silly "Sam's" American rodent brain munchers example was.

I'm sorry I still feel this is rather meaningless. No offense intended.

tan319 - I agree with the points that you have made (hurrah!). From Adrias books that I have read (with great difficulty) he seems fond of joking references to the cooking of his region (I seem to remember his 'bacon from heaven' take, which was bacon in nougat - that was quite funny). So I think that the brain dish evolved in the way you suggested, rather then been plucked wholesale from some rich peasant tradition of sitting down to bowl of rabbit brains and beans.