SobaAddict70

What constitutes "good" Thai food and good "Thai" food is different from what you or I would expect. The lack of variety of herbs is one thing, as is the tendency by most restauranteurs and chefs to "dumb-down" flavorings for local palates. Thus the result tends to be a decidedly non-authentic experience (i.e., too sweet, not spicy enough, not enough contrasting tastes, etc.), what most people would describe as "good" Thai food. To borrow another parallel, it's sort of like the difference between going to just any old sushi restaurant and dining at the feet of a master sushi chef, like at Kurumazushi. There are probably over 30 Thai restaurants in NYC, of which perhaps less than five are good "Thai" food. Sripraphai in Jackson Heights and the place in the east 20s on 1st or 2nd Avenue whose name I can't remember are two examples. Now that's sad. I think Sripraphai's relative in JH which was profiled in a Village Voice article late last year is a third. Soba

You can tag someone, you know. The rules of the game make it clear that anyone who's posted to the blog is fair game for tagging. (We'd prefer someone who hasn't been tagged before....like mmm, alacarte? Muahahahah.) Soba

They're not smoking, but I posted those two examples to show why the theory of "separate but equal" doesn't work in the workplace. It's not a question of "choosing to work where we want to" -- our offices and spaces are assigned to us by our respective managers; when smoking was allowed, you had to suck it up and deal with it if you were in close proximity to a smoker. I'm talking about secretaries, messengers, staff. We deal with each other on a close inter-personal basis every day. "Separate but equal" doesn't cut it. Don't get me started on the ventilation issue either. If someone gets sick on our floor, sooner or later the entire floor falls in line. All I can say is that the smoking ban is a long time coming, thank god. I recall that before the ban became effective, that smoking was legal within our offices as recently as 1999. (How do I know? Because of the smoking room that was then in place for the non-legal staff and the smoking policy that was then instituted by the firm's managing committee with respect to the lawyers.) Soba

This is fine in theory. But let me tell you of two tales, gleaned over the ten plus years I've been at my firm: 1. The case of the lawyer who chain smoked cigars in his office: The odiferous cloud permeated the section of the floor where he sat. This was in the days before odorizers were made available to the non-legal staff in our building. I recall during my first week at the firm, inhaling that mysterious aroma and wondering what in god's green earth was that smell, because it smelled like a cat soaked in month old tobacco water and wrung out to dry. 2. The case of the lawyer who lived in a cigarette fog: I kid you not. Whenever I had to give him a fax or document, I dreaded opening the door to his office because you could kill a potted plant just by putting it 6" away from the CLOSED door to his office. Even TWO odorizers couldn't drive away the smell. That's TWO odorizers going at full blast for at least 10 hours in the evening until 9:30 am the next day. There's more, but those are pretty illustrative of the conditions we had to endure under "separate but equally ventilated" solutions. Soba

you mean, like a weeklong foodblog of Jason and Rachel Perlow? Soba

don't forget coq au vin. Soba

Borjúpörkölt (Veal stew) 2 lb. boned veal knuckle (you can also substitute lamb, in which case the resulting dish will be a stew in the style of the Újtelek region) onions, finely chopped lard (or other fat. Lard is traditional but you can substitute schmaltz or duck fat) paprika, about 1 or 2 T. (you can, if you wish, add some hot paprika) sweet peppers, diced (you could, if you wish, add some hot cherry peppers as well) tomato, diced salt to taste Cut meat into 2" cubes. Heat the lard in a saucepan, add chopped onions, fry till golden. Add paprika, meat and salt; combine thoroughly. (You can experiment at this stage by adding the paprika to the lard-onion mixture earlier before adding the meat. The important thing is to create the base which forms the foundation of the dish.) Add 1 c. of water or red wine; cover and simmer, adding water as needed. After about 20 to 30 minutes, add peppers and tomato. Reduce heat and cook until veal is tender. Serve in a deep round dish, garnished with boiled potatoes or dumplings. A useful ingredient to have around when making Hungarian-style stews is lecsó, which is a battuto-like mixture of onions and tomatoes fried in lard and paprika. Incidentally, you can substitute tripe for the veal. However, if you do so, blanch the tripe first. Fry onions in lard until golden; add hot and sweet paprika, lecsó and black pepper. Stir for one or two minutes, add tripe. Cover barely with water, bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for about four to five hours or until tripe is tender. This preparation is particularly good if finished in a crock pot. Another interesting variation uses venison and pork shoulder in place of the veal, along with potatoes, rosemary, caraway and juniper berries. Vesepaprikas (pork and kidney stew) pork shoulder pork kidneys onions, chopped lard sweet paprika salt, to taste black pepper, to taste bay leaves mace flour unsalted butter sour cream dumplings or cooked potatoes Soak kidneys in milk for an hour. Dry kidneys and remove any membrane or tubes or tough tissue and as much fat as possible. Discard milk. Slice kidneys and cut in small cubes (smaller than dice). Ditto for the pork shoulder, about 2" in size is good. Melt lard. Fry onions in lard until transparent, add paprika, kidneys and pork. Adjust seasoning. Cook until meat is lightly browned, add bay leaves and mace. Add water to cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for about 40 to 45 minutes, or until meat is tender. Make a blond roux, and add to the kidney stew. Cook until stew is thickened. Discard bay leaves. Adjust seasoning. Serve with potatoes or dumplings and sour cream. Soba

Junior's (Sam Sifton) (from this weekend's NYTimes DIGEST update. You may have to scroll down for the appropriate link.) Junior's 386 Flatbush Avenue Extension (DeKalb Avenue) (718) 852-5257 Soba

Certainly. Remind me via PM if you don't see a recipe tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to bed soon and it'll be a busy day at work tomorrow so I may not have time to post the recipe. (Marlene, if you see it, feel free to paste it into RecipeGullet. I'm a bit low-tech even for RecipeGullet. ) Soba

And now, you have to try onions slowly cooked or fried in lard with paprika. This is a truly glorious combination and forms the basis of many Hungarian dishes, not the least of which is the aforementioned gulyas but also borjúpörkölt (veal stew) and vesepaprikas (pork and kidney stew). Soba

Welcome back. If you did a basic search of this forum, you might find many threads of interest that answer your questions. Regards, Soba

You know, in between this thread and Jon's chicken sandwich thread, and even though lunch was a chicken sandwich, I find myself having a hankering for Burger King's old style chicken sandwich (with cheese): filet chicken, breaded and deep fried, served on a toasted long roll, slathered with mayo and served with lettuce, tomato and sometimes sliced American cheese. Even better with bacon. Now, if only I could find a BK on my way home. Soba

Lunch today was what I call the "buffalo chicken sandwich" -- breaded chicken strips, deep fried and then stuffed inside an italian bread roll, topped with buffalo wings bbq sauce and white sauce, chopped tomatoes with lettuce and a bit of onion. Bottled water and a banana on the side. Love those deconstructed chicken sandwiches. Soba

Thanks, Kathleen. Now returning you to your regularly scheduled blog. Soba

Good luck with the new place, Robert. We look forward to hearing about it. Soba

Hm, not to take this too far off-topic, but what are the formal requirements (if any) for becoming an opera singer? (Not that I want to become one, mind you. Just curious, is all. ) I think I asked you this once but I'm asking you again so that everyone else can see, if someone else was curious. How long before your big break? When do you become recognized? etc. etc. And is it true that the gourmet correlation scale for opera singers is high off the scale? Soba

Oh, wow. I've never been to the Met. (I've been to Carnegie Hall like once.) I'm like a kid in a candy store, can you tell? Thx Sam and Kathleen, Soba

I remember going out to Red Lobster once when I was a kid. I must have been about nine years old at the time. I had ordered some lobster thing. The piece I tried to put into my mouth was soooo big, my mom was shocked. (She might have been embarassed as well. ) It was about another two or three years before I was able to go out again because of that episode. I don't remember going to any high end places until well into my teens. So, as you can see, it's not always the parent who's at fault. My mom raised me to be well behaved as best she can, and I think I turned out all right. It's just that when I was growing up, I was at times "a little monster". Soba

What to do, what to do?!?!? I'm a complete and utter opera newbie. Hell, I don't even know what they're singing or what the plot's about in most of them. (Well, except for Don Giovanni.) Soba

How To Have A $25 Meal Per Person -- In Tokyo (Elaine Louie) (from today's NY Times DIGEST update. You may have to scroll down for the appropriate link.) Soba

Riingo (Amanda Hesser) (from today's DIGEST update. You may have to scroll down for the appropriate link.) Sidebar: Click here for an earlier report by our New York News team. On the whole, a much better review this time around. I thought this line was particularly encouraging: So, has anyone been there recently? Soba

NYTimes Weekly Update Wednesday, 10 March 2004 A. Dining In/Dining Out Section When Artisanal Breads Became Artisan-less (Julia Moskin) Click here to discuss the article. How To Have A $25 Meal Per Person -- In Tokyo (Elaine Louie) Click here to discuss the article or contribute your experiences. Eating Well (Marian Burros) The Chef (Matt Lee and Ted Lee) Blue "Bottle" Specials For Wine Bargain Hunters (Frank J. Prial) Riingo (Amanda Hesser) Click here to discuss the review or contribute your experiences. Shore (Eric Asimov) BBQ Iron Chef (Steven Raichlen) Click here to discuss the article. Even Insects Have To Look Their Best (Thomas Vinciguerra) Click here to discuss the article. Bits And Pieces (Florence Fabricant) The Minimalist (Mark Bittman) Corrections Recipes in today's issue: 1. Tuscan-Style Pork Spareribs 2. Stir-Fried Lamb With Green Peppers and Black Beans B. Elsewhere in today's Times... All Hail The New Queen Of Taste...Whoever She Is (William L. Hamilton) Click here to discuss the article. Flavored Cigarettes (Nat Ives) Trade Tiff Between America And Brazil (Larry Rohter) Soba

I'm pretty sure that a smorgasbord is actually a buffet style spread of Scandinavian foods-meats and other dishes-but that Americans have long misused the word. Correct, kiliki. The term "smorgasbord" literally means "bread and butter table". A typical smorgasbord consists mainly of cold fish dishes such as herring and gravlax, followed by a selection of roasted meats, salads, hot or cold vegetables and cheeses (i.e., havarti, herrgardsost and gjeitost), accompanied by slices of buttered bread. Smorrebrod (open-faced Danish sandwiches) may appear in a smorgasbord. Non-Scandanavian speakers have expanded the term to its present usage. Soba

I sort of wonder what rating Amanda might have given Casa Mono were she the reviewer at the time the review was published. I get the sense that she isn't averse to anchovies, offal or chocolate. Could be wrong though. Soba

I like Filipino comfort food: pakbet (stewed vegetables), sinigang (sour fish and vegetable soup), dinuguan (pork and offal stew with pig's blood, garlic and vinegar) and kare-kare (oxtail and vegetable stew in a peanut sauce). Not sure what that translates to. Soba