FaustianBargain

btw, pan, have you tried georgian(georgia, the country) tea? my georgian friend once sent me a couple of different bags of tea and i found it very interesting.(actually, it was the georgian script on the bags that captivated me more than tea itself..i have NEVER seen anything so beautiful as those inscriptions) it was almost floral and like no other tea i have tasted before. she said that it had less tannin and not as much caffine as other teas. but then again, i am not a regular tea drinker..i cannot declare its uniqueness without doubt...

jamiemaw: thanks. it was very informative bux: i wrote a whole reply but it fluttered away in net space.. however..it was all notes circling around this and this . question re the feed...france/europe=maize and usa=soy?

from here The American version is larger, with a bit more protein and a bit more blood than the French style. (His French-style foie gras comes from Canada.) here is another bit: It has been a luxury food for some 5,000 years, according to Michael Ginor, author of "Foie Gras: A Passion" (John Wiley, 1999). It was found in ducks who naturally gorged themselves prior to migration, their swollen livers acting as storehouses for protein. When animal husbandry techniques are employed, though, a formerly natural process becomes wildly controversial. are you telling me that the original foie gras that was found in the ducks that gorged themselves (by themselves, of course) prior to migration(this means that they can fly with their fat livers) were less heavier (or less tastier) than the 600g gavage version of american foie gras. if this is the case, what Mr.Ginor is selling is a foie gras that has evolved from the 'luxury food for some 5000 years'. obviously its not the same kind of fat liver found in migrating birds. thats my first objection when an argument is put forth about the antiquity of foie gras as food. so..get this timeline. first, you have foie gras from the swollen livers of migrating ducks/geese. flying birds that used this as a storehouse for protein when food wasnt plenty. then you have foie gras of antiquity when these birds were force fed figs. in fact, i believe that the ducks used for foie gras production now are a hybrid and one of the species doesnt even migrate. hmm...some food of antiquity. somehow, i have this feeling and i am even willing to bet that the original foie gras were nowhere near 400-600gm(over 10 times the normal weight of a normal liver, iirc) of today. then the french, being masters of all things cuisine, began the foie gras business which is smaller than the non french standard of today. and finally, you have the american foie gras that is obviously oozing with passion and with incriminating photographic evidence. wait...are they fed normal duck food? this is my first objection to lines being dangled in front of me by foie gras manufacturers..obviously from the kindness of their hearts to alleviate my guilt...what foie gras is in today's world is a man made abomination....which is fine actually..we like to munch on cakes that glow in the dark...all i am saying is that justifications like 'food of antiquity' is horse manure. *I* am not buying it...having said that, i am not calling for a ban on foie gras. if i am swallowing force fed duck liver, i will do it knowing what i am putting in my mouth. and i will live with it. anyways, to your point..i do not think that a 350gm fat liver is going to much different in taste than 600gm fat liver. a normal duck/goose liver is 75-100gms. foie gras is 6-10 times larger than a normal liver. why should anyone think that something that is 10 times bigger and fatter is better than something that is 6 times bigger and fatter than a normal liver. i know. because thats what they are told. or they are not told otherwise. surely, a bird that can give double the amount of foie gras is more profitable than a bird that isnt fattened enough. of course, i have never tasted the waitrose version and we'll know for sure when we taste it. but if you think that the appeal of foie gras lies in the gavage/force feeding and not the foie gras itself is..which is mostly fat stored in liver..then i have to say that i am disappointed in the producers of foie gras who havent educated the public, the media that is obviously now useless and the consumer himself who doesnt know or care about what he is putting in his mouth... the connection between food and the table is lost these days. you look at your plate and knowing where it comes from is part of the relationship we ought to have with food. what people see is milk in a bottle..eggs in a case...meat wrapped in paper..foie gras in pouches. food is no longer food. food has become plastic and impersonal. sad. edited to add: re typos, its 3.57 am here. thats my excuse and i am sticking to it.

isnt there more caffine in coffee than in tea?

you could get married. better still, have a kid. you will NEVER sleep. edited to add: wait..wait..i know! mountain dew! i think its probably somewhere between a wailing infant and espressos. of course, i am no authority on caffine, espressos marriage, kids or mountain dew.

well foie gras IS 'fattened liver'...what did you think foie gras is... good grief! are you telling me that ducks and geese are being force fed for livers @ 600g...a good 16-25% more than what the French think is ideal? what I want to know is this... has anyone informed the French about this?

the reviews at amazon.com are intriguing...thanks!

A friend forwarded me this article, Scientists find coffee really is addictive , my first response was, "no way! get outta here!!". My immediate and urgent second reaction was to look up WHERE these good folks are getting their research funding from...I need some grants for a new study I'd like to conduct on my own. "Food. Is it edible?" the good news is that.. Results of the study could result in caffeine withdrawal's inclusion in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM — considered the bible of the psychiatric profession. "We need to recognize that caffeine really is a drug and accord it respect as a drug. People need to know what it does when they take it, and what it does when they cease to take it, and make an adult decision about that," said Roland Griffiths, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins, who published the findings with his colleague, Laura Juliano, who teaches at American University.

from my Independent.co.uk link below: Waitrose is currently trying to find a new supplier for its own-brand foie gras products which, they say, do not use force-feeding methods. They claim the ducks that supply its products will grow 350g livers naturally over a period of 25 days with an unrestricted diet as opposed to the 600g liver produced in 14 days by force-fed birds. edited to fix url link

Surely that's a given? Its up to the reader to decide how much weight they accord to the views of any critic writing on any subject, not just restaurants. ←

I read the Club Gascon review and found it lacking in one aspect. review of the food itself. give the man some time. everyone shapes up...sooner or later. having said that...what constitutes a 'good review'..from the point of the reader...apart from the puns and tongue in cheek utterances, should it contain more information..narrative or descriptive? imo, a good restaurant review should be split into two...apart from the style of writing ...which is the puns, insults, sarcasm etc...the first shoul give lot of information about the 'facts'..i.e. the chefs, any history..history of the dishes, state of the silver...the decor...pretty much anything interesting that is solidly indisputable...any opinions as to service, ambience, taste of food etc should be clearly stated as the reviewer's personal opinions and his only...reviews do affect a restaurant's credibility...it is the responsibility of the journalist to declare the obvious and factual...and to deliver subjective reviews of the rendered services...

when you have given your biceps, triceps and everything in between a good workout after trying to force meat through a tamis(i think the patent belongs to marquis de sade) and begging god and/or the devil to put you out of the never ending misery, you WILL be 'wow'ed. trust me. another nice thing is that you can only process stuff in small batches which means less wastage. you just need to invest in a lot of those containers. just shove them into your freezer if you are done with it and you can reuse them! because its frozen, it doesnt go bad and a another whirl in the pacojet makes it ready for service. you can pretty much process anything with a pacojet. truly amazing. edited to add: acc to their website, other than ice creams/sorbets, the pacojet can be used for farces/terrines, mousses, sauces, soups, herb and spice concentrates.

I'd never..NEVER..understand why Blumenthal would go about selling...wait..maybe the word we are looking for here is...ermm..what word should i use that bring up a nice visual for you..err..i dont know..pimping? his wares..A BOOK EVEN!...to and I quote..daytime scum!! Its a mystery, I am telling you..a bleeping mystery! people who cannot drop 90 bucks per person for a meal have NO business spending 1/6th cost of afore mentioned meal on a book. i hear you, brother..what the HELL are they thinking...trying to look trendy and sitting in furnished homes instead of living on top of trees...my skin crawls! tell you what...you really ought to pick up a paper and pencil. sit by the window, get yourself a bottle of beer, roll up your sleeves and you lick that lead well, my good friend. write a letter to the chef himself. ask him and i am serious here... ask him to STOP selling books to people who do not visit his restaurant. write it in bold. underline it in RED for effect! then..and here is where you shouldnt be shy...and then, you go right ahead and tell him who you really think he should be selling books to....especially NOT to folks with bleached hair!! that killed my appetite for three days just seeing it on the screen! why stop with one letter. make it a glorious campaign! good luck!

about the earphones thing..i had made a previous post on the subject of noise and appetite here. The author of the book quoted someone else. Unfortunately, the name of the researcher and his work slips my memory at this time.

quality show? ahem. have you *read* Kitchen Confidential?

veal is usually the bovine young not older than three months old. 'humane conditions' for raising veal means that they dont crate them in dark, sunless boxes. there are four primary cuts of veal. these are leg, loin, rack and chuck. you can ask your butcher to make smaller cuts from these whole cuts. there are two halfs..the front and the back..the former aka foresaddle includes the breast, foreshank, rack and chuck. the tail end of the animal known as the hindsaddle includes the leg and loin. here is a useful resource.

I once picked up Stevia from an organic store. It was quite ghastly. I think using more than a nailful makes it cloyingly sweet..but in an incomplete way....one of my atkins-abusing friends suggested that stevia is better when used with splenda. what is the point, i ask you...I prefer sugar, but if i had to...i'd probably go the splenda way instead of stevia. wasnt there a fabulous splenda based cola....like diet coke/pepsi..only one that uses splenda instead of artificial sweeteners...they even had really cool flavours like orange and white grape,iirc. i havent found anything like that here in london tho'....

what is a HP Sauce?

you cant negotiate on the chicory corruption. somehow, what is basically adulteration turned out to be delicious(and might i add, an acquired taste). it *is* addictive. as someone who has spent precious moments of irretrivable childhood waiting in coffee shops for coffee beans to be roasted and ground(grandmother insisted that we always WATCH as the coffee guy measures the blend...he could mess up and bring ruin upon The Ritual, you know), i can tell you that its all about blends. if i remember right, it was peaberry (there were two varieties in peaberry itself..i forget) and then robusta...and yea, the staggeringly high levels of chicory. dont get me wrong. its truly horrendous and almost obscene, this high chicory content, yet, thats what makes the filter coffee so beloved to the south indians. and the filter system drips the coffee really ..REALLY...slowly. the instant coffee craze didnt have a prayer in south india. how it works? two compartments. it takes forever to get the 'thick' decoction(read as black coffee so strong that you can cut it with a knife) from the upper deck with tiny holes to the lower one. its such a simple device and i have never been able to figure out what it is that makes filter coffee different. its important that you cover the top compartment..or the aromas escape. maybe the steam from the closed upper compartment that makes the percolated coffe better the milk. it has to be steaming hot. preferably scalded over the stove with that thin skin of cream over it. no self respecting south indian will have his coffee milk anyother way. simmer the milk? i laugh on your face, sir. the sugar is already present in the lower compartment so that the dripping decoction combines with the sugar. all you need to do is add the milk. the drinking equipment is key. a 'davara' and a 'tumbler'...which is basically a lipped stainless steel cup and a tall, lipped stainless steel tallish cup. you add milk to the sweetened coffee and then..mind you, only those blessed by the coffee fairy can do this right....you pour the coffee from davara to the tumbler and you got to keep increasing the distance between the davara and the tumbler and bring it back again, decreasing the distance now, before the entire liquid has been transferred...all in one movement..then you repeat...tumbler>davara...davara>tumbler. you may think i am pulling your leg, but filter coffee lovers will insist that there is something about this process that makes the coffee special...surely, it doesnt make sense, right? i am guessing that 1.it cools down the really hot liquid quickly. 2. it builds that nice airy foam top that is oh-so-attractive.3. it gives out an aroma that causes coffee lovers to curl their toes and moan..probably increases the appeal and anticipation of The Ritual. hence, this step is crucial. i have tried to keep the brown stuff away from me all my life because it truly scares me. imagine, if you can, that your entire family is addicted to crack and you see adults, authority figures whom you trust, follow and obey, literally whimpering if they are denied what they call their ambrosia...it was scary. i have always been curious about coffee, but i purposefully forbidden myself to try it. to keep denying myself gives me pleasure. a sense of victory. convoluted? maybe. its like your college mates are all having a ball puffing pot and you resolutely stay 'clean'. yea, kinda pathetic, lame and anal, but hey! it rocks my boat. oddly, NOT having coffee gives me as much pleasure as OD'ing on it gave my family their daily high...

Ahh...the timing! Just 12 hours ago, suspicions crept into my mind about the overestimated merits of sauces. But no matter what the theories say, you should eat as your tastebuds guide you. I am in a perilous stage wherein the urge to rebel against classical french techniques is strong. for the first time in my life, i witnessed honest cooking. not being dramatic, but i am simply blown away and questioning all the 'rigourous training' that i have attempted to upload these past several months. follow your taste buds. they wont mislead.

re the sauce. i think this should apply for almost any kind of sauce. the dark remanants you have on your pan after you brown your meat is the flavour. all the good flavour is right there. add sliced onions or mirepoix first. sweat. this will cook in that wonderful flavour remains. wine is for deglazing. add the wine and scrape the pan clean. cook until most of wine evaporates or at least until you know the alcohol has been burned away. throw in a bouquet garni. now add the stock. a good dark stock or game stock should do. mushrooms is mostly water. they are usually added towards the end. reduce. strain. thicken with beurre manie, if you wish. now. having said all that i said above, i have to add that its only the technique. we havent been taught how to cook game, but straight from my theory bank, i can tell you that the sauce isnt 'hearty' enough for game. for game, you want full bodied, 'bold' flavours. you want spices and strong flavours. mushrooms are delicate. they are wonderful, but do they complement game meats? personally, i dont think its a good match. i'd suggest madeira, juniper, red currant jelly even! or cider. you get the idea. use aromatic herbs like rosemary that has a distinct character. now..garlic! that has character. here is a recipe from my just-purchased game book... brown meat(this one says shoulder of venison) in butter infused with cardamom and cinnamon. seal it in several layers of tightly wraped foil with Madeira, cherry juice, stock and butter. roast it at high temperature. here is a simpler italian recipe fry 2 cloves of garlic and a sprig of rosemary in oil. remove garlic and rosemary when the oil is infused enough. brown the meat(this recipe if for venison steak, about a pound). seal the meat on all sides well. moisten with 1/3 cup or 100ml of dry white wine. wait till the wine evaporates. add 2 large tomatoes(peeled and deseeded) cook gently for 20 minutes or until tender. season. serve. this fascinating book has recipes for kenyan gazelle with manoes and cashewnuts, middleeastern kibbeh with gazelle. i suppose gazelle can be substituted for venison. there is a swedish recipe for elk..also suitable for venison. a couple of stews, shashlik, polish marinated elk(or venison) with pepper sauce. its called gourmet game by phillipa scott.

a while ago, i saw 'apple crisps' in some supermarket. is it the same as dehydrated apple slices? edited to add: oh dear! someone thought of this. You can probably freeze it!

thats interesting that you cooked a mousseline filling in the oven. i would have thought that the double cream consistency would have been suitable for poaching. the forcemeat sans the DC would have probably been good too. you have the already soggy trotters and then the DC filling(soft). maybe sealing the trotters first might have made them less soft..giving it a 'crust' of sorts? hoepfully, i will get to try this out in a kitchen one of these days. sounds delicious. edited to add: is this the trotter that has been frozen since feb?!

We always have sugar coated anise after a meal. Supposedly, it is a digestive aid.

how would you actually define chaat? the ingredients too.. btw...congrats on that bon appetite article...