johnnyd

Some French friends of my family came to visit while I was in the midst of my Urchin Diving tenure and to their surprise, I brought a little tote of urchins I had harvested that day. We were in a little bistro with funky sofas and the hostess gladly provided some espresso spoons. I sliced the top off of les oursins and presented them to these stupified guests who went crazy. Apparently, Maine urchins are up to standards, but my french is below average so I can't be sure. They insisted on buying another bottle of wine so I assume they were a hit.

Those little guys have been part of my Caipirinhas and Mojitos lately, nevermind the hassle of de-seeding, the flavour is worth it.

Hey,Hey,HEY!!! You knockin' eel innards, mang? Dude, they are deeeeeLISH!!! ThankYouThankYouThankYou

Actually, NYT had an article containing tips for the troops from iraqi residents about dealing with the hot weather, one of which was to drink lots of hot tea. Would you like to borrow my hat? It was 5 below zero when that pic was taken.

oh, absolutely!!!

I am all too familiar with this feeling, but I was paid to do it!

Ahem, I had to step in to provide a little inside perspective that might help all the UNI haters. Indeed a challenging top-shelf sushi item, especially since it is highly perishable, and since people like Stone don't order it UNI doesn't move nearly as much as the usual suspects. So UNI gets on the gamey side as it sits in those little pine boxes all weekend, but owing to it's high perishability it probably got that way before it arrived at the restaurant. As a commercial diver on the Maine coast, I harvested urchins by the quarter-ton or so on a seasonal basis for seven years. 90% were destined for Tsujiki Market in Japan while the other 10% went to Stateside sushi brokers. I became aware of many aspects of this fishery (another story, another time) including being witness to colossal blunders of organization that yielded much spoiled product. There are few things more delicious than sea urchin roe right out of the shell, right off the rocks from a depth of three meters, where the sunlight still penetrates deep enough to allow forests of kelp, urchins' favourite food, to flourish. I made sure I had at least one every day I jumped in the water for good luck. Did the urchins I harvested make it into the mouths of sushi-lovers in Manhatten during the mid '90s? I'd bet on it. But how long were they out of the water? Some shippers were better than others. When I visited a pal in NYC and went out for sushi, we ordered UNI of course and my friend made a big deal about my occupation, but the staff didn't care much. The UNI was pretty awful, downright rank I thought. It occured to me that sushi fans might not ever really get the good fortune of knowing what fresh UNI tastes like. It's a challenging flavour, week-or-more-old uni! That explains the macho postering among diners who swear by it, and the common sense of those who don't: it's just not fresh, people! Since I had to give up diving, I've settled for whatever uni that's available. My local sushi bar chef who knows my past sometimes gives me the most imperceptible nod when he catches me peering into the sushi case at his uni. If he looks away or ignores me, I know to get a quail egg on top if I order it that day, or avoid it all-together.

Oren, I did a little digging and found the China Pearl in Boston's Chinatown. Never been but epinion reviews seem favorable. Let us know how it turns out.

That is probably Piri Piri Sauce, an afro-portuguese hot sauce that seriously rocks.

Omigawd... Trish, this is far better than what it really means: "Puxa" is closest to "wow" than anything else.... "such a mouth! Make yourself a caipirinha my friend, you'll feel better!" is the rest

After reading this... ... I decided I better get my ass out of bed this morning and tip my hat to the heavens, lest all hell break loose! Alas, we had a fog so thick you couldn't see across the street. I heard on NPR that around seven, the fog rolled out to sea and folks in town saw a little show through the swirling mists. I am a cardamom freak. Among my many pepper grinders in current rotation, I have a 4:1 mix of tellicherry black and cardamom seed. I have a cardamom/sugar blend I use in coffee. It's always hand-grinded in my BBQ sauce. The stuff is awesome. I'm sure those rolls were well received! I have yet to tackle the baking world but if your recipe has cardamom, I guess I'll have to start!

Puxa!! Que palavres horrivel! Faca-te uma caipirinha, meu bem! Voce vai ficar mais calma!

I've been making a killer sauce that I tweak one way or another every time I make it. It goes roughly like this: 1:1 Tamarind paste to Ketchup Brownsugar Worceshire Crown & Royal Handground: Tellicherry Pepper Cardamom seed Coriander seed Cumin seed Kosher Salt Garlic Healthy Pinch of: Cayenne 5spice I think that's this weeks recipe, give or take a spice or two. It's awesome.

I just found an old pack of matches from CAFE BRASIL in Newark. Bingo! Mystery solved. I'd like to mention that the waiters there were gracious when asked for rarer cuts off the spit and made a point of bringing those over. The place was not tooooo busy, even on a Saturday Lunch, which is when Feijoada is normally served. The "Salad Bar" there was made up mostly of feijoada add-ons like orange slices, coconut flakes, farofa (manioc), sauteed collards, and two rice styles, but had the usual suspects too, even cole slaw and fries. There were mostly large families in the spare dining room dominated by a jumbotron airing soccer game highlights, and then a long counter in front of the churasqueria. We got snookered on caipirinhas. Traditional deserts offered there looked like they could have been made at the bakery across the street. I can't wait to go back!

We try to get to Ironbound once a year for good churasco and always end up at a place UPSTAIRS in a downtowny kind of area but I don't remember the name. Is that the place? It was very friendly, not that expensive, and good quality.

I'm sorry, but I have a problem with mixing Harvey's Bristol Cream and all that citrus. Hmmm... I'll probably make it another JulepDay since the ones I made for the KDerby were so good.... or hang out with balmagowry and sip negroni! I didn't know the connection w/secretariat! That's awesome! What else is awesome is Katies endlessly cool emoticons! How did you get all those???

'nessa, you've solved the mooshu sauce mystery for me, thanks! I've been trying to figure out what that stuff was for a while. My SpringRoll all-time favorite diiping sauce is the MAE PLOY sweet chili sauce, cut with a smidge of rice vinegar. YUM! Thanks for your pics and tours of Dallas. The scoop on the ethnic diversity there is illuminating, and your writing is a riot to read:

Thanks anyway, Amanda, but Tony Bourdain's review (3/18/04) was much better...

Ooooohh, I got so sick from Dona Maria, I thought I was going to die. I love mole but was defeated by one 'from-scratch' debachle. So I bought the damned jar, added fresh stock 1:1, used fresh ingredients as always from reputable sources, and I haven't had cramps/poisoning that bad since. Needless to add, I'm casually shopping for mole recipes...

... but seriously folks, getting back to New England.... September is right at the beginning of harvest time so the restaurants who are in-the-know will be loaded with specialties like heirloom tomatos. Maritime Canada is a beautiful place and the attitude there is refreshing. Then you can drive the Maine Coast and stay at a B&B or two, on your way down to Boston or West to Vermont. The Shelburne Museum is probably the most comprehensive collection of Americana in the country, located 7miles from Burlington, VT where you can sample amazing artisinal cheeses and Vermont specialties. I89 in the autumn is a visual feast, and if you are so inclined you can stop just about anywhere for a hike up a hill or rent bikes or a kayak on the coast.... or, if you're not so inclined, there are some award-winning micro-breweries to visit! Plus, if you hit it right, there is talk of an eG pigroast in NJ around mid-Sept!

Hey, my pleasure, but a project compiled like that: simple, logical, and all-encompassing of it's subject (one of my favourites!) deserves a nod at least - great pictures too. Beats the hell out of some of the crazy sites devoted to cocktails. I have to email it to my pal who runs a martini bar here in Portland. He's always looking for exciting recipes.

Owing to it's extreme age, and as a precautionary measure, I think it should be sent directly to the eGullet team clubhouse for immediate testing, thus sparing you or your dear son-in-law any ill effects....

More on "Batidas"... Probably the definitive site (in english): Maria's Batida Page The one posted y'day was from a Brazilian cookery website, and I botched the translation at the end, big time. The "xicara de cha" is tea-cup. so the prospect of mixing iced tea with passion fruit, condensed milk and cachaca is mercifully unnecessary. The last ingredient should be "cold water". Evolving Cocktails is a wonderful collection. Thank You!

BEANS: Your Blueberry Smash has a future here in Maine! Big glut of the damn things in market, like 2lbs for $3. What sort of rum do you use? Looks white-ish. Also, if you/anyone is a fan of cachaca, "Batidas" are a great drink. "Batida de coco" uses coconut; "Mango Batida", metioned elsewhere on eG uses mango puree, lime juice and cachaca. By far the most interesting uses "suco de maracuja", a passion fruit concentrate that I almost feel cachaca was invented to accompany. I just found a recipe: Ingredientes: - 3 colheres de sopa de leite condensado - 3 colheres de sopa de suco de maracujá concentrado - 3 colheres de sopa de pinga ou vodka - 1 cubo de gelo picado - 1/2 xícara de chá de água fria ...essentially translated: 3 tblsp condensed milk 3 tblsp maracuja concentrate 3 tblsp cachaca or vodka ice 1/2 cup of iced tea Wow, I don't know man!!! My mom didn't make 'em like that when we lived in Brasil!!!

I couldn't believe they chose the Portsmouth stuff. I had a pint of the very same at the Portsmouth BrewPub two weeks ago (okay, two pints) and thought it was just okay. Shipyard IPA is better Perhaps I'm missing the subtle differences vs. pale ales? D.L. Geary's here in Portland being a spectacular one.