russ parsons

a couple of my favorite pear quotes (you can take them as related, if you like): "In the long history of the pear the year of 1849 stands alone in importance. The historian will be reminded of the annexation of the Punjab, the accession of Francis Joseph, while in that year America hailed her 12th President in the person of Zachary Taylor. But what are such things to us? . . . Happy those who were present when Doyenne du Comice first gave up its luscious juice to man. Whom could they envy at that moment? Certainly not Zachary Taylor." Edward Bunyard, "Anatomy of Dessert" 1934 "It is folly to suppose that every person who plants an orchard of pear trees succeeds. On the contrary, as far as my personal observation has extended, there has been more money lost than made, for I could enumerate five persons who have utterly failed to every one who has made pear culture profitable. It is during the time spent in wading in the dark, without any beacon to guide their steps, that the inexperienced suffer from a series of disappointments." P.T. Quinn, "Pear Culture for Profit" 1869

it's interesting: actually all of the commercial pear varieties are legitimate heirlooms. the bartlett is the same as the british williams, the seckel is an american sport found by pioneers, then of course, the bosc, comice and the anjou come from the great french pear frenzy of the 1700s. attempts to introduce new pears have met with indifference, at best, though you do sometimes see red anjous and barts. when i asked some university pear breeders about it, they said there simply wasn't enough money in pears to warrant the cost of developing and breaking in a new product. i think pears have been overshadowed mainly because they come into season at the same time as apples. they are certainly NOT too tender to ship, as they have to be harvested rock-hard and ripened off of the tree. pears used to be important in the northeast and there's no reason you shouldn't be able to do something with them, particularly through direct marketing. i think the reason most orchards fell out was because they couldn't compete on a cost basis with the oregon and washington growers, who because of a just about perfect climate, were able to plant massive acreage in the late 1800s and whup up on everybody else thanks to economies of scale. if you want more information on obscure varieties of pears that might do well in your area, try to find a copy of UP Hedrick's Pears of New York, published in the 1920s. it's very pricey--$100 and up--but it's really amazing. hundreds of different varieties (with gorgeous botanical illustrations--hence the high price).

that's one of my favorite places: great oysters, nice wine list and you sit on the bay. what could be better? they also sell oysters. last time i was there on my way up to a weekend with friends at a vacation house and i picked up 7 or 8 dozen. they packed them nicely and gave me good advice on storing them in the hotel overnight until we left. i think it was about $1 per.

and please, PLEASE, if you change a recipe, don't tell people it's mine! all praise or otherwise should go to you.

don't get me wrong: there's no sin in changing one of my recipes. i think all cooks do that and we who write recipes expect it. the problem is changing the recipe and then blaming us when it doesn't work. that was one of the reasons i wrote "french fry": i got a call from a reader complaining that a chicken in red wine didn't work, then it turned out she'd substituted beef because her husband didn't like chicken (or some such thing). it occurred to me that there was a lot of improvisation being done out there by people who mgiht have good taste, but no earthly idea of how food worked.

maybe it's just a varietal thing, then. because the stuff i get is green with a red blush. not pure red.

for some reason, rhubarb is really hard to come by in southern california and i don't have much experience cooking with it. the old guy across the street has some in his backyard that he digs for me each spring, but they are huge stalks, nearly cardoon-sized, by the time he gets around to it (hey, he's gotta be 90). i usually either stew it to serve with vanilla ice cream, or bake it into a crisp. i love the flavor of rhubarb, and the texture, but it never stays that bright cherry red. what am i doing wrong?

i think everyone who has ever taught cooking classes from their own recipes has had this experience. at first, it's annoying when someone hands you a dish that's supposed to be yours and you don't recognize it. on the other hand, though, the reason for writing recipes is so other people can replicate what we're cooking. maybe the problem is ours, not their's--we're not writing clearly enough or with enough explanation.

interesting wording on that poll: it's what is known in the business as a "push" poll. the polling was taken after an "educational statement". here is the text, from the farm sanctuary website: "Foie gras is an expensive food item served in some upscale restaurants. It is produced by force-feeding geese and ducks large quantities of food, causing the animals' livers to swell up to twelve times their normal size. A long metal pipe is inserted into the animal's esophagus several times a day. Often, this process causes the animals' internal organs to rupture. Several European countries currently prohibit this practice as cruel. Do you agree or disagree that force-feeding geese and ducks to produce foie gras should be banned by law in the United States?" in addition to loaded language, several points presented as facts are, at best, disputed.

actually, i just remembered that bruce aidells did a demonstration on this at an iacp conference a couple of years ago--i believe it was pork chops salted and unsalted. huge difference, not in saltiness but in depth and richness of flavor. yet another reason to love that big sausage boy.

do you believe everything you overhear? french laundry has its own bakery. maybe it's not as good as zingerman's, maybe it is.

yup. exactly. this is one of those cases where only looking at a little of the science gives you a false picture. yes, salting does draw moisture, which you might think would inhibit browning. but the moisture it does draw is loaded with "stuff" (too lazy to look it up) that encourages browning. it's very simple to test. salt a pork chop a couple of hours in advance and then cook it side-by-side with one that hasn't been salted. after testing judy's theory, i now do just what she suggests--when i get meat home from the store, i salt it on both sides. right before cooking, i pat it with paper towels to remove any excess moisture. Then i cook it. makes abig differences in teh browning.

i know, i know. but it's just so amusing watching them muddle through on their own. seriously, i wouldn't recommend it if i hadn't tried it (several times). take a look at the dough in the picture, it is very plush (also makes a nice contrast to all that custard).

there's a funny aphorism that goes something like: the british like to drink their wines old so people will think they inherited them; the french like to drink their wines young because they're afraid the socialists will take them.

any oyster that is special is special because of the water. in reality, there are really only four "important" varieties--east coast virginicas, flats (like belons), pacifics and kumamotos. everything else is terroir (can you use terroir for something not on land?). seasonality and freshness are also key, of course (the best oysters taken during spawn will be milty and gross; the same thing for oysters that have been too long out of the water). and really good oysters don't need any sauce other than what you find in the bottom of the shell.

exactly. but i've had go-rounds with thomas about it and he insists the ring mold is the only way to go. silly, but i'm just too damned tight to go out and buy a ring mold that looks just like a springform ring.

i think it has to do with the quality of the wine vinegar you're using. i find almost all commercial wine vinegars almost inedible--a miracle, really, when you consider how easy it is to make good vinegar.

i hate to disagree with the august mr. ruhlman, and i know that this is the bouchon party line, but i have made it repeatedly with a springform pan without leakage--once i overcame my urge to over-roll (difficult because the pastry is such a joy to work with).

great list. lots to try. i really like carousel; sometime i want to go when there's music (there's always a bandstand full of instruments, but i'm afraid i get there too early). i'd add the various sunin restaurants, but particularly the newly opened one in long beach on second street. really good stuff.

hmmm, i did a piece on the quiche last year and it didn't strike me as being a big deal ... for a quiche, that is (blind baking, etc., is pretty much the norm). i found the tart crust really amazing to work with, but you absolutely MUST resist the urge to roll it thin. this is a very custardy quiche and if y ou roll it thin, it will leak like a ... well, you get the picture. as for re-heating, either room temp or warm is good. if you're going to reheat, follow the instructions and do it in the oven, not in a microwave, which will sog the crust.

i've had both gas and charcoal and i now use a weber kettle. if you're going to do this you absolutely HAVE to spend the extra $25 and get the model with the ash catcher underneath. on my third one, i finally did and it is the greatest thing since ... hardwood charcoal?

olive oil and garlic?

sorry, this strikes me as a little silly and more than a little offensive. reading the two passages, i see no resemblance other than a contemplative tone. furthermore, there is no way you could mistake cunningham's body of work for fisher's. marion is a recipe writer who sometimes wrote very well. fisher was an essayist who occasionally included recipes. other than the fact that they were both well-brought up young women of a similar generation from southern california, there can be no confusing the two. and please, if you're not a writer, perhaps you don't understand how hellish it is for someone to imply that your own thoughts have really only been copied from someone else. that is an accusation that should only be made in the face of solid evidence.

i had the great pleasure of editing marion for many years--she wrote a bi-weekly column for the la times. she is a great lady.

i did a story on the family behind pasquini and ever since then i have lusted after livia. i just had to change the gasket on miss silvia and i was half-hoping she wouldn't pull through (o fickle heart!).