fou de Bassan

thanks jango, I'll try to get to the cranberry guy. It's terrible. Here I am craving braises and stews and the mercury's rising and people are grilling. I guess it will take some time for the internal food clock to revise itself!

Hi guys, Just wanted to say thank you to all who took the time to respond here, you made the transitions that much easier and less fraught for all of us. We are settling in and love Melbourne! Fou

Shin, Thanks for remembering! We are renting for the time being, so bought a fridge and then a freezer which arrived today. Both Fisher Paykel. Will look at actual cooking stuff later.

Oh man, Pots of tea, almonds, yogurt and salami and a huge bag of chips

Marvellous news! eGullet is just amazing. Looking forward to more reviews, guys. Félicitations, Fou

Megan, they really do need an envy green because, how wonderful is that!!! Italy any time of year is marvellous! I'd like another tagine and a couscoussiere. And Jeeves, please.

Very cool, thanks. We will definitely be there. fou

Wonderful start! I'm looking forward to the descriptions of Polish food. Second everything on Cashew, how cute. It's nice to see pumpkins in the stores. Over here we're just going into Spring. Happy blogging!

Oh man, I can't wait 'til the sea freight arrives. I would love to do a side by side cookoff. American barbecue to Aussie bbq! With summer coming I would love to see how you do things down here. ( For clarification, I should add that we've recently arrived in Mebourne from the U.S.)

Kevin, I'm coming out of lurkerdom on this thread to tell what an amazing job you are doing! I've followed from the beginning and you've made me aware of the vibrancy of Italian regional cooking. Bravo! and thanks

I have loved reading your bog. Such gorgeous photos! Thanks for putting so much time and effort into others enjoyment.

I'd be a potato. Unassuming, useful and always delicious

My first reaction was Blecch! But then I'm not a food trend forecaster so what do I know. The idea of getting a dispropotionate amount of cheese first and then crust still doesn't appeal to me. And having orange oil on the tip of my nose isn't a big lure either. Pizza is all about getting the cheese and crust together. Definitely not dinner party fare but a 5 year old might like it.

Inspired by this thread I bought a Smart Chicken yesterday and grilled it a la ellencho. I let the thigh temp. get up to 168F and took the bird off the grill to rest for 10 minutes. The breast meat was juicy as were the thighs and there was no hint of wet cardboard like most supermarket chickens. I would make this my bird of choice from the market now. And, at about $2.69 per lb., not very expensive to feed four.

OH! Ellencho! My salivary glands just stood up and saluted! (Now they are weeping because I have nothing that good in my house)

Pam, A neighbor of mine in Canada had celiac and used to make his own pizza dough from a mixture of rice and spelt flours. I wish I could give you proportions Good Luck.

I didn't know it had a name, but I've used one since I started cooking for myself. It just seemed to make sense. It certainly does streamline things. Welcome to eGullet!

smithy, Could you show a picture of Potica, please? That it's a pastry I understand, but what is in it? What makes it so good? How is it shaped? Are there regional variations? I enjoyed reading your posts on the Tagine thread, you were partly responsible for my rifi tagine obsession . I'm glad you're blogging now.

I think this would be a great tool for kids as mentioned above or for those with arthritis or were otherwise unable to handle a slippery object and a knife. In fact, I'm thinking of getting one for a friend who has arthritis.

Well, I think you may have lost the blueberry battle. But, for us envious Northerners who have yet to see a ripe tomato, sounds like you are winning the produce war. If you are bent on using the nets try to stretch them taut so that the birds will bounce right off, sorta like trapeze nets, only smaller .

Thanks for that. Now I know more. You are obviously having a heat wave by the looks of that man in the cap. Ye gods, no scarf?

What beautiful flowers! I think the presence of a small child doubles my admiration. Looking forward to checking back for more.

Happy to see you are blogging! I wondered what Ayr bacon was on the shop front. Now I know it's round, but is there a specific curing process that differentiates it further? Also, glad to know as an aside that Melbourne is food-centric as we will be moving there in another month or so.

Melissa, I'm glad things are moving forward with the kitchen. I look forward to seeing your reno unfold. We have similar lighting in our kitchen and have been very pleased with the heightened visibility.

hot toast definitely. Immediately spread with paper thin slices of cold butter so the toast doesn't get smooshed. No smooshed toast.