russ parsons

i think we're looking at the same thing, with slight variations because of different plants. fun fact: the same guy who perfected "forcing" belgian endive developed the "forcing" for radicchio tardivo.

you might not, but many other people do. and they're not all innocent dupes of evil corporate mind-engineering.

that's radicchio di treviso. it's not quite as pungent as chioggia or tardivo, so it can be used in salads. i still prefer it cooked.

years ago i did a story on swifty lazar's oscar party at spago. i showed up early and worked through the day in the prep kitche, so when dinner started, wolf through me onto the line, second grill and second pizza. that was an experience. i made a pizza, the waitress picked it up and delivered it to a table right next to the bar ... jimmy stewart and george burns. it was all like that. and then about 10 p.m., wolf came up to me and said "can you make a pasta with fresh tomatoes?" of course. that was for audrey hepburn, who came late, entered through the back door and sat alone for hte meal. kind of sad, actually.

interesting link. it got me wondering what/when most people's first connection with food on the internet occurred. my own came when i was an editor for prodigy (well, for the lat, but working part-time on a prodigy project). we'd hook up chefs and cookbook writers to do some short pieces and then answer questions from readers. i think this was in '88 or '89. had folks like wolfgang puck, marion cunningham, paul prudhomme. some good questions, mostly not. i remember one guy asked michael roberts for the recipe for the bob's big boy fudge cake (he complied with a molten center chocolate cake). i was also pretty active on a group called "chefs and cooks on hte internet" that was more of a listserve. this would have been about '90, i think.

despite what that idiot ruhlman says (and thomas and the rest), i had fine luck making the quiche with a springform pan ring. the MOST important thing is not trying to roll the dough out too thin. that's very hard to resist because the pastry is so wonderful to work with you want to keep rolling forever. but it really needs to be about 1/4 inch thick. look at the picture in the book and you'll see that it is quite thick. and, of course, bake it on a jellyroll pan just in case you screw up.

i'm with dave on the drying, but i've never rinsed. as is probably exhaustively detailed on some other thread, by the time the brining is done, the salt is distributed evenly through the bird, not just on the skin.

the two i've liked the most from the santa barbara area have been cold heaven and melville. that said, i find them in general a lot more fruit-cocktail-y and less well-structured than the mendo viogniers. alban makes a good one a little further north (slo). he also makes a killer roussane.

i'd go along with that. the only obvious similarity is in texture (and i'm speaking mainly of the mendo viogniers now ... on the central coast, i find the resemblance closer). there is a kind of "oily" texture to viognier that shows up in both places. but condrieu smells like ripe tropical fruit, california smells more like pear syrup or something like that.

i'll second the bonterra recommendation (though i'm not sure creamy would be the descriptor i'd choose ... the thing that makes it work for me is a really firm acidic structure). i think there are a couple good viogniers in the mendo area. jepson makes a good one.

imagine how you would have felt if the opposite were true! i probably would have wanted more than one piece of potato, too. maybe 3 or 4. but those clams do look great.

i'm with rancho. i'm afraid this may be one of those occasions where one misses the charms of the dish that's served because he is expecting something else. that looks to me like an amazing clam chowder. traditionally, chowders are not those flour-thickened things you see today. look at old recipes and you'll see that they're cream and potatoes and whatever the featured ingredient is. the flavor you get from this is much more direct and clear. it may not be "rib sticking", but it's delicious (speaking from personal experience because when i'm at hog island i usually get a dozen oysters, a glass of sancerre and a bowl of clam chowder).

that was making me nuts and i couldn't find the book. finally tracked it down. it was the hotel villa madruzzo in cognola. and not far away is maso cantanghel, a great farmhouse restaurant.

did you stay at that hotel he raves about in trento? my god. that was one of the best places i've ever been ... and it was like $85 a night (dollar was stronger). i can't find my copy right now. it was in the hills above town and it was a re-made monastery/convent.

it should, that's the beginning of the mother (i believe technically, the acetobacter that have not yet formed a cellulose clump). by now, you're probably getting all steamy ... if you're a real vinegar lover, anyway.

i'll second the suggestion for osterie, but also rise to the defense of my friend fred. i've used his book (in conjunction with faith willinger's) to plan two of my italian trips and turned up absolutely magnificent hidden places doing so. the piedmont is certainly an area that has undergone substantial change in teh last five years and all guidebooks lose their currency eventually. but i have had nothing but good fortune from fred's.

me too--i went back about a year later with the bright idea that some of those old French housewive's knives would make great steak knives. but they were all gone.

i guess the point is that there is no "they," though there certainly appears to be. you have to pay attention to the "secondary brand", rather than just shopping for laguiole. jayt90--i'm glad to hear someone else got in on the lee valley deal. i was beginning to think it was so perfect i must have dreamed it. the one time in my life i was in the right place at the right time.

i've known a whole lot of great chefs, many of them quite well, and they all have a weird streak--in the very best way. it takes someone with an unnatural attention to detail and a really unbelievable drive to be able to cook consistently at that level. it's not the same thing as playing in your kitchen. the main part of being a great chef is not inventing fabulous dishes, but managing and motivating a staff to the level where every member can replicate those dishes perfectly 30 or 40 times a night. along the way there are so many spots where you could easily just let one little thing slide. and that's the beginning of the end. great chefs are the kind of people who can walk into a 60-table dining room and instantly see the one napkin that is improperly folded, or walk into a crowded kitchen and instantly know who is behind on their prep, or who has gone a little sloppy. that kind of person just is not normal.

theoretically that may be true, but in practice, not so much. the knives made there are stamped with the name laguiole and--folding knife or not--they almost invariably carry the bee. when you buy them, they are usually sold as "laguiole" (sometimes with individual factories listed, sometimes not). this implies a family resemblance that does not carry through in quality. which was the point of the post.

there's a hardware catalogue, lee valley, that turned up a ton of vintage carbon steel sabatiers a few years ago. oh my. i picked up a good share of it and i don't think i paid more than $40 for anything (and that was for a hachette--like a cross between a chef's knife and a cleaver). as for laguiole, a very considerate friend gave me a laguiole "g. david" carving set for christmas and it is amazing: beautiful and wicked sharp.

a lot of the answer depends on the quality of the oysters. if you've got great oysters right out of the ocean, anything you add is an insult to god (don't think i'm overstating). on the other hand, appalachicolas, the most common oysters in the gulf, are rarely great and so you should feel free to doctor at will, or even roll in cornmeal and deep-fry.

technically, there's no such thing as a "louisiana orange". the two main families of oranges in the us are valencias and navels. my guess, given your climate is that you have a valencia. these are good juice oranges (though the flavor is usually not so distinguished out of hand). satsuma is not an orange but is a mandarin.

white grapefruits are certainly still around--they're most of the florida crop while the rubies and pinks come from texas. it's true that pinks have lycopene, it's also true as Daniel points out, that the health benefits are dubious. granted, if you ate 10 grapefruit a day it might make a difference, but i'm sure the acidity or something else would cause problems, then. in california we have some white grapefruit, but mostly we get (or got, freeze damage indeterminate as yet), some wonderful pummelo-grapefruit crosses, particularly oroblancos, which are sweet, slightly subacid (compared to a marsh), but still have that wonderful "piney" grapefruit note.

almost guaranteed those were moros. they are quite good, especially if y ou haven't had a blood orange in a while. but just wait until y ou taste a tarocco. if there are any left after the freeze.