Adam Balic

Well you know it's Tuscany there are more bean recipes then people. The above recipe is essentially 'Fagioli al fiasco', but there is 'Fagioli all'uccelletto', 'Fagioli alla Fiorentina' (more like you description), etc etc.

Too much hard work, for little reward, bad hours and no family life? Sounds too much like a vocation. If it is any help while restuarant people have to deal will critics, good, bad or ugly, you give us Jamie, Gordon etc and that must even it out somewhat?

First take your Tuscan terracotta bean pot or failing this a cast-iron enamel pot. Pre-soak the former if you have it. I pre-soak beans, but are keen to try the Parson technique - as you will in this case. Beans - well several types are used, but many are quite rare and are not used by real people, only Foodies. So best to use cannelini beans. Place beans in pot cover with water plus half and inch, add much sage leaves and garlic cloves. Add olive oil to cover water. Seal pot with parchment paper, place lid one and heat very low until beans are done, about 3 hours. At this point the beans will have cooked and absorbed water and oil. They can be seasoned and have diced tomato, shallots etc added and served cold or have the best New Tuscan olive oil you can get added and served hot. I prefer the later and this is a killer dish to serve with hot Porchetta.

More importantly, perhaps, why are there so many "Newfie" jokes? Because New Englanders are jealous that they invented chowder I guess.

So who was the boss of them pre-1948?

Earliest records of North American Chowder suggest it developed in Newfoundland first, from the Breton Frenchies. When did Newfoundland become part of Canada (?). chaudière => caldaria=> cauldron. So chowder could be like pottage, terrine and tagine in the respect of being named after the cooking vessel. One point though. The Chowder => chaudière theory doesn't have to be all or nothing. 'Jowter/chowter/chowder' is a Cornish/Devonish word for fish trader. It is quite an old word (1500's at least) and at this time the Cornish would have spoken Cornish, this being very similar to Breton (them being practically the same people and all). One can imagine quite strong links between Cornwall and Brittany families, especially fishing families, maybe they even fished on the same boats. So I haven't a real problem with some contribution from the Cornish connection to the development of the word 'Chowder'. Plus if chaudière was originally a French word spread by Breton fishermen, would not these people be speaking Breton, not French? So the French language connection in New England may not have mattered very much, especially in light of a Newfoundland origin.

Actually the Melville description sounds more like a very thick stew, rather then the modern chowder.

Oyster crackers? What be these, matey? Are they served along side te chowder or cooked in it or crumbled in it at the diners discression? What would be a good UK substitute? Bath biscuit, Matzo, Carr's water biscuits?

OK, apart form the poncy type over garnished with Physeter catodon var. "Alba", what about potato (I assume potato replaces ships biscuit now?)

It now means "Boiler" as in the thing that makes produces hot water. What a pity that US English didn't develop the term "Chowder Chicken". So what are the exact ingredients in New England Clam Chowder (or "East Coast White Bivalve Pottage" if it will save arguement).

Anglo-Indian has some stupidly hot dishes, the entire point of which is to be as hot as possible. Vindaloo is often bastardised like this, but fals are are even worse. But since most people in the UK prefer milder curries (not matter what the popular imagine is), I guess that this doesn't count as a hot cuisine. I would guess that some of the East-Asian cuisines are heavy one heat (chillies/ginger/garlic/peppercorns), but I doubt that an entire cuisine will be hot, it has to cater to too many different peoples tastes, including children.

Gratin of red peppers, zucchini, shallots, Lancaster cheese, garlic and herbs with roast Seacat. Seacat is also known as Wolf-fish is a new fish to me. It is a giant blennie and ugly as hell, in a Jim Henson workshop cute type of way. Found in the waters of the coast of Scotland and regions further north. Medium boneless fillets , half an inch thick, sweet mild flavour, medium firm texture (I have seen the fillets being sold as 'John Dory' and 'Monk-fish'). If the fisheries are developed, expect it to become very popular. No doubt will be marketed in the States as 'Scandanavian Sea Bass'.

I was speaking to a Brunello maker recently and he mentioned that many of the more more modern Brunello do not contain the Sangiovese grosso as more modern clones had largely replaced them, the legend of S. grosso being a great marketing tool (as if they required it). Does anybody know if there is any truth in this? This wine ages very well (Brunello in general). Many of the ST are mande for the export market and they vary from excellent to rubbish. Chianti ages well for 5-7 years, the Riserva for 7-10, maybe longer in better years and from more modern style wines. Many '97's (vintage of the century) are falling apart now, where as the '99 are developing much better.

Pot? Pot? I sauted them in butter with smoked bacon, added capers and a squeeze of lemon juice to finish. Served on garlic crouton. What is this belly you speak of? I just eat the siphon.

Well I my original thought was that it would calm the clams down and then I could slice them up without guilt. Also remove the grit. What actually happens is that they thrash/flounder (not sure the English language has verb for 'movement of clam siphon/like neck of dreaming swan/or nodding of silver crocus in evening beeze') about, in a way that would make most grown men blush. The sheath thing bloats up with water and becomes all 'plastic wrap a daikonish'. Doesn't seem to affect the flavour though

I do not doubt it. But either way I found it felicitous. I wouldn't eat one bigger than 7 cm - but the best ones (IMNSHO) are closer to 4cm. 20 cm is a veritable monster in my eyes, and I quail at the thought of the consistency. Might well be perfectly fine for chowder, though - if a bit flabby in places. Hard to imagine it's the same creature. Er - why do you put them in fresh water? Huh, puny I thought so. Texture is fine, no more tough then the razor clam or abalone or cuttlefish. I wonder why they are so big here? Lack of New Englanders maybe.

Typo? Not I make him typo on mistake, methinks tired muchly he is and lack is in the delicious juicings of the booze tree. 15-20 cm is about right. Great big white siphon with clear sheath that swells when the clam is put into fresh water and does infact look rather penis-like in an anemic type of way. How big is yours normally?

This reflects the quality of the inhabitants, rather then the produce. Until recently Monkfish was used as bait for instance. The clams are good, very sweet, even more so then scallops and with more flavour.

Better or worse quality . West Cost waters are relatively warm due to the gulf stream, however, on further examination the buggers are found all over the UK. It is the Vikings fault apparently. "Mya arenaria became extinct on the east coasts of the Pacific and Atlantic during the glaciations of the Pleistocene. It subsequently colonized the European coast between the 13 th and 17 th centuries, possibly introduced by the Vikings (as food or bait) (Eno et al., 1997; Eno et al., 2000; Strasser, 1999)."

OK, not I feel like an idiot. These Sand Gaper clams I can occasionally get are Mya arenaria , also know as soft shelled clams or steamers. The are common on the sandy beaches on the West Coast of Scotland, but mostly used as bait rather then food.

What you might consider is doing a variation of Doug Psaltis' technique at Mix: puree a bunch of flavorful clams (razors, for instance) to simmer in the chowder, then add some smaller, more tender clams (I like cockles) off the heat at the last minute to cook in the resitual heat of the chowder. In New England, most of the clams used for chowder are those which are too large and tough to be eaten as-is. They are chopped up and used for chowder. This is to say that a little chewyness in the cooked clams is not inappropriate. Thanks - puree Hmmm, I guess you could modify it till you got some type of clam protein-broth-oil-emulsion-bouillabaisse type thing. That would be nice. Occasionaly I can get 'Sand-gaper' clams which are like geoduck, but the shells are only 20 cm long or so, they would be good in this.

If one were not living in the States with all its clammy bounty, but still wished to make the various chowders etc, what types of clams could be substituted in the UK? I have access to: Cockles, Whelks, Venus Clams and Razor clams. What is more important in the chowder the flavour of the clam or clam meat, as all of the above have little flesh and what is there becomes very tough when over cooked.

Adam, is there a critical mass of worm population which makes fish unsafe? Or is it just the unappetizination factor? Do the worms give off anything toxic in the immediately-surrounding flesh, meaning, how wide a swath should one cut around? I've only run into worms once in fish, and I forget which fish -- coulda been cod, does Alaskan/PNW cod ever harbor worms? Priscilla - most of the fish species I have seen in the UK have some worms. Some have more then others. Mostly they are found around the guts, but they will migrate into the flesh. From the one Mackeral we got about a hundred worms, from the horse mackeral about half this and from the gurnard only one. The are found in cod (hence 'Cod worm'), but will not really harm you unless you eat the fish uncooked. Even then you should be OK. The range from 0.5 to 3.5 cm, if you search through the guts you should see them. Enjoy.

Had to get some fish to obtain nematode parasites for my student. Good haul of worms from the Mackeral and Horse Mackeral, only one worm from the Gurnard, so marinated the fillets of this fish in Chinese wine, chilli bean paste and potato flour. Wok fried with ginger, chilli, sichuan peppercorns, yellow beans and veg.

Also genetic analysis indicates that Syrah/Shiraz's parent vines are the Dureza and Mondeuse blanche varieties, both French in origin, so even further away from Persia and the crusades.