Behemoth

A lot of the above, with some exceptions. (My butter lives on the counter during all months containing the letter R and I don't like ice in my water. Oh, and a wedge of fresh iceberg with homemade buttermilk or blue cheese dressing can be amazing.) But my biggest biggest biggest restaurant peeve? Dear waiter. If your two-top just ordered a bottle of wine please do not bring the appetizer, main, coffee and check in 20 minutes. ESPECIALLY after they make a comment about it. Having to either get wasted or leave half the bottle was not part of our meal plan, and next time we might get so drunk that we forget to tip. Oh, also: DON'T take the plates away until everyone is finished and DON'T keep asking if we're "still working on that". Ugh!

At some point I really need to take pics of my better looking meals, but then I usually have an audence and get kind of shy about running around the kitchen with a camera. Anyway, inspired by Elie's meatloaf mac n cheese, but feeling lazy, I split the difference with Marcella's baked rigatoni with bolognese meat sauce and bechamel. (The lazy man's lasagne. ) Homely but good. Photo for practice: I am envying the saurkraut eaters. My husband won't touch the stuff.

Are you talking about kalguksu? Were the noodles thick and slighty chewy? Do you need a recipe for the noodles as well? The noodles are made from wheat flour (you can use AP), water and salt. Knead untill smooth as if you were making Italian pasta. Let rest, roll out and cut like paparadelle. The broth was probably a mild anchovy and dashima broth. Water, Korean dried anchovy (the bigs ones), dashima is Korean for Kombu. If there is a Korean market in your area Pulmuone makes really good fresh Korean noodles. You can also buy a powdered base for the broth. There are online Asian markets as well. Add garnishes of your choice, such as scallions. Sorry about the allover the place recipe. .. but I'm in the middle of working on a writing project.... ← Thanks! This is enough direction I think. I don't remember the korean name of the dish, but what you describe sounds about right, though the noodles were more of a fettucine width. I will have to give it a shot next time I see some decent clams on sale. So let me get this straight, you are french algerian living in the US and married to a Korean woman? And here I thought I was weird

Anyone have a recipe for hand-cut noodles with clams? I had it in Seoul last year and really fell in love with it. Since I am in the midwest its hard to get clams so none of the local Korean places have a version I would dare to try. But bi bim naeng myun is widely available, and also a big favorite, as is chap jae.

Great value Spanish wine -- Mas Donis Barrica 2002. Salumi and a ripe gorgonzola to start. Steak Au Poivre (roughly) from the Les Halles cookbook, with roasted cauliflower and cippoline onions agro-dolce. Espresso and bought apricot tarts for dessert. Grappa chaser, as always. edited to add: Elie, that is one cute chubby chicken. But it is the mac n cheese/meatloaf meal that is really setting off a craving now. (I have simple tastes.)

I'd love to try! I've done it a couple of times before but I think my pork recipe could be improved. The cookbook I used had two recipes for the dough, one for home using yeast and flour, the other for industrial kitchens using a starter -- along with the caveat that the home version (the one I used) would not be as good. (It was good, but not *as* good as I've had elsewhere.) Anyway, count me in. Oh, the cookbook I used was one of the two Wei-Chuan dim sum books. I will have to check which one.

Looking forward to this blog, Andy -- I never got to thank you for your recommendations from last summer. We really enjoyed Brighton, and if we had to have fish and chips there, the Regency was definitely the place for it. I must admit we weren't expecting much out of Brighton before we went -- I thought it would be like the Jersey Shore or something equally cheesy. But it is a lot bigger and a lot more dense than I expected. Great places to eat and shop, lots to see and do. From what I understand it is also a large artist's community? We got lucky with great weather, so we were able to spend a lot of time out of doors. For me the one particularly charming feature in Brighton were the Thai pubs. Decent Thai food and good beer for little cash, and some even have outdoor gardens in the back. A Blessing for grad students and recent docs.

I've made a bunch of things out of David Thompson's cookbook, and it is always phenominal, but since I'm in the midwest I have a hard time obtaining some of the fresh ingredients, eg the pea eggplants, fresh galangal -- I've been soaking a jarred-in-brine kind with okay results. I've managed to keep my basil plant alive, no mean feat considering how long we are out of town...Oh and of course it is hard to find good fish. But the biggest problem is that it is such a huge time commitment. My housemate in Urbana is a Thai grad student, and makes great looking meals most nights, though he basically will make just one stir-fried dish (using pre-made curry paste) and some rice made the normal way. I wonder what the middle ground is -- what an ordinary urban-dwelling parent without a large extended family would make for dinner, I mean. Do they do the whole curry/condiment/rice/soup/stir fry setup every weeknight?

Ha! It took me two beats to get that...my ear is out of practice. How true. I am taking my spouse to Lebanon this summer to finally meet the family, and Shawarma is top on the list for him, lucky man. Closely followed by the infamous chewy ice cream Amen, and to me that is the difference between a döner and a shawarma that makes the latter superior. It's all in the vinegar -- Lebanese LOVE sour. And the turnip kabis is a must. I haven't had a good shawarma since I left Lebanon. Looks like next time I'm in NY I will have to drag the posse to Astoria.

Nowhere near as fancy as y'all, but...a good friend is visiting us this week, so I've been cooking a good bit, albeit homestyle. Monday: The farmer lady I buy my meat from had these super cheap but very good organic stewing hens. Made for a very flavorful chicken stock, part of which was used for avocado soup with fried tortilla strips, and just enough breast meat to fill some simple enchiladas (both Diana Kennedy recipes). Oh, and I made my own queso fresco for the first time! The easy kind of cheese, curdled with vinegar, but it really worked. Also, a salad with arugula, goat cheese, shallots and walnuts. Tuesday: Salad Nicoise and homemade pizzas. Ever since I started using the Peter Reinhardt dough method I've been really happy with my pies. Mine was simple Margherita, the menfolk added slices of prosciutto on theirs. I just had martini bianco with my food, I think they had beer. Today: Stir fried pork with leeks (improvised dish) and David Thompson's pad thai recipe. The latter has a lot of fussy steps but god is it worth it. We drank beer with dinner. We all ate too much. All three meals were followed by espresso and a shot of ransom grappa. We've been avoiding wine since we all need to work after dinner. (Guest is mainly here to talk research...)

legourmet, awesome. That's exactly the type of information I was looking for. When I lived in Philadelphia it was always easy to find the star restaurants, but the best place to get the cheap/offbeat stuff -- that's when you had to dig around or ask the locals. I will probably need to ask a lot more once we know what neighborhood we will be living in (and once I begin setting up my kitchen -- I hope we can get a place with a decent stove ) but in the meantime I've got a few months to daydream about fresh fish, game and Weissbier. It sounds like Munich will be a great place to live.

I think Heidi also did all the photos for the book. She posted a few on eGullet and they are beautiful. I am also a big fan of the Madhur Jaffrey vegetarian cookbooks -- I have the first one, Worlds of the East, and it is falling apart from use at this point. I haven't been veg for over 5 years, but I still find myself going back to it for ideas. I wish she would do an all indian vegetarian cookbook, as those always tend to be my favorite recipes.

It has been. For example, two years ago some liquor stores in Philly started opening on Sundays. And then they had a bunch of Christiam protesters outside with placards saying it was a sin to drink on the lord's day. Also when I left, several Philadelphia restaurants were trying to negotiate loosening the rules (their success in past years gave them some leverage with city hall, which in turn put pressure on Harrisburg.) Maybe Katie Loeb can say something about what happened there. But basically, I think it is typical state politics. Someone's cousin or nephew runs the state stores, people complained with no results, then finally gave up and resigned themselves to stocking up in Jersey.

I recently moved from Philadelphia to Illinois so I have no response, I just want to gloat.

I am sure I will get to experience all the traditional stuff (and I do look forward to it). Also looking forward to the Viktualienmarkt, though I've never been a big fan of Weisswurst... But I'd especially appreciate any info about ethnic food markets and restaurants. Aside from the expected Turkish grocers & imbiss, I mean. For example, when I was in Berlin a local biweekly market had a great North African stand with the best Harissa I've ever had (including in North Africa). In Hamburg I found a little shop run by a Malasian lady that had sufficient quantities of real cilantro and chilies to keep my going. In Flensburg, the Citti Markt actually carries jars of Gochu Jang for some weird reason. (A Korean population in Flensburg??) The thing is, as much as I enjoy European food, after more than two weeks in Germany I tend to get a raging jones for fiery Bibim Naeng Myun or carnitas or something. (What can I say, I've lived in the US too long.) Most restaurants tend to cater too much to local tastes from what I've experienced (bland, no shared plates), and the supermarket offerings tend to be very hit-or-miss (yes fenugreek, no black mustard seeds, for example). I've never seen corn tortillas, or masa. I realize there is no good reason why they should have these things, but it is always a happy day when I find them.

I've never had trouble using up shallots. Thai curries, thai condements, thai pickled shallots (see David Thompson), let's see, shallots braised in red wine to go with roasts... Oh, and after searing lamb chops & setting them aside, I like to put butter in the hot pan, add some thinly sliced shallots & sautee until limp, then cracked black pepper and a little red wine & reduce, as a sauce over the chops (This works with minor alterations for any type of meat, pretty much). I can look up more recipes, but honestly I don't think you can ever have enough shallots. They're like more refined onions, basically.

Fifi, sorry I didn't see this post until now. I have the Nikon D70 and I absolutely love it. It turns on instantly, it takes pictures instantly, and it can take as many photos in rapid sucession as you have room for on your flash card. I bought it in anticipation of several big upcoming family and travel events, and I must say it has more than justified its price in terms of the beautiful photos I've been able to take. It took me a while to explore what it could do, but a few hours with the manual (and I have a fairly short attention span) and I was able to figure most things out. But the nice thing is I feel it still gives me a lot of room to learn...you can have as much or as little control over the process as you want. It makes me look like a much better photographer than I probably am -- which is really a pleasure: I find myself taking it along to snap whatever catches my eye these days, not just "big family events" kinds of stuff.

Why do people think there is nothing but sausage and beer in Bavaria. Nowhere in Germany the variaty of food and culture is like in the southern regions, especially along the Austrian border. Also Bavarians drink as nearly as much wine as beer. The majority of beerdrinkers in Germany live in " Nordrhein-Westfalen ". Even up North the consumption of beer is close to the Bavarians. Just the Oktoberfest in Munich raises the value of liters per person, but that's because millions of foreigners are in town. As sausages concern every region offers their own speciality. Up North the dish "Grünkohl mit Pinkel" is very famous. (Pinkel= a very fat sausage). "Sauerland" offers the famous "Bregenwurst". Thuringia is well known for their "Thueringer Bratwurst". Hessen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, is famous for Frankfurters and "Fleischkaese" etc., etc. The Berlin "Currywurst" is as famous as that one in Nordrhein Westfalen. So everywhere in Germany you'll find sausage eaters and beerdrinkers. I personally wouldn't miss one of the favourite Bavarian dishes "Kalbsweisswurst mit suessem Senf, Brezen und Weissbier" which is nothing but a light meal. Munich, January, 2005 ← My apologies, it was too broad a statement, meant only as an offhand example. In any case, I will soon have intimate familiarity with Bavaria, as we will be moving to Munich in the coming year! (Mountains!! Yay!!)

I'm a relative newbie as far as wine is concerned (having lived in the wine-unfriendly state of Pennsylvania until recently) but I now have access to a couple of great wine shops, and have started paying real attention to what I drink, and ever so slowly forming preferences. Out of curiousity, and for whatever it's worth, here are my answers: Edit: Duh, forgot to say the first thing I thought when responding -- I really appreciate everyone's contribution to this thread, this is a lot of useful, thought-provoking information!

For... dessert? ← Okay, a steamed chinese bun with red bean paste then. (I'm not much of a dessert person but that is neither here nor there.) The thing is, travelling on our section of route 66, there is no way the author could have known about the saturday morning farmer's market downtown, or that the mennonite lady sells excellent grass-fed beef and lamb in the bike store on saturday mornings off season, and in the Unitarian church parking lot in the summer, or about the awesome mexican taqueria farther up main street, etc. etc. The chains are easy to find, what is part of why they are so popular, but there is good stuff in even the smallest towns, if you know where to look. God knows I disparage the American diet as much as the next person, and complain about the midwest all the time, but having lived here for nearly two years there have been a lot of positive surprises as well.

Flens! You should be very proud of your experience, that is a "cult" local brew. It is famous especially for the odd bottles (I will dig up a photo as soon as my husband comes back with the laptop) and their advertisements are very funny. Example: Big american Texas lookin' dude walks into a Flensburg bar, and sits next to a local. Texan: "It takes me three days to drive around my ranch" Flensburger: "Yeah, I had a truck like that once" (And so on...) edited to add photo. Note the cool pop-top. Sorry it's a rather old photo, and we'd had a few when we took that.)

Sorry, but I would hardly make a sweeping generalization about the US based on the people I observe along route 66. I happen to live along a rural section of route 66 but I would wager that 95% of the population does not. You could possibly make sweeping generalizations about the diets of American cows... edited to add: Okay this really bugs me. There is a certain level of cultural chauvinism needed to maintain that one cannot have a world-class city without a french style patisserie. I'll pick the puerto-rican roast pork sandwiches in Brooklyn over some overpriced overwrought confection in Paris anytime, thanks very much. (Though it would be nice to have better cheese...)

Were you in Flensburg? If you saw a SMART car with a giant rental logo on the side, it was very likely ours Welcome back, in any case! For christmas eve brunch my SIL always prepares a beautiful north sea smoked fish and "krabben" (little shrimp) breakfast, which is always the big highlight of the holiday. People always think of sausage and beer when they think of germany, but up north they have as much or more in common with Danish food and culture as they have with Bavaria. (I've also learned to love salty licorice.) We have a houseguest starting tomorrow so I will be doing a lot of cooking soon. In the meantime, I have been happily subsisting on oatmeal, soup and cheese.

Good to know, I don't think I'll transport anything like that again. But no alcohol allowed at all?? How does he explain explain cocktail service and duty free? Has this person actually been on a plane? Yeesh. Lately I've been finding american airport employees way more out of control (not to mention a lot more rude) than can be justified by any security risk. As goes the country, so go the airport personnel, I suppose.

It looks like we will very likely be moving to Munich next year. At long last, mountains! Please help us get settled in. Where are the good farmer's markets, ethnic markets, wine shops, restaurants, bars etc etc? Non-food related tips would also be very welcome. In the meantime, any tips for our next visit would also be welcome...