Chris Amirault

My problem is finding the Marteau - nowhere locally seems to stock it (at least based on their online inventory), and my go-to internet distributors either don't have it or are out. I was in NYC recently and stopped at Astor to load up. The moment of truth -- into the cart; out of the cart; repeat -- was the Marteau, which was around $80 retail. I decided to grab it and wince at the register, in the hopes of never wincing when I dashed it into a few hundred Improved Cocktails and their ilk. I haven't been disappointed. Just made Harry Johnson's Turf Cocktail as detailed by Paul Clarke in this month's Imbibe: 2 oz gin (Plymouth) 3/4 oz dry vermouth (NP old) 1/4 Maraschino (Luxardo) dash orange bitters (Regan's) dash absinthe (Marteau) Stir, strain, lemon twist. It's perfect, and a showcase for the Marteau. I mean, wow.

Yow, edo. That stuff is great. What bourbon and bacon are you using for the spirits in those drinks? I'm assuming fat-washing, yes?

Up topic, Dave mentioned my asking everyone why they're there. Such a great idea that I obtained the emails for all participants and sent them the following questions: 1. What do you currently have in your liquor cabinet? 2. When you go to the liquor store, what are you most likely to buy? 3. When you go to a bar, what cocktail are you most likely to order? 4. By the end of the series, what do you hope to accomplish? I've gotten about half of the responses, and the answers to the questions have been illuminating. I'm already tweaking drinks for the crowd; one person clearly likes very tart drinks, so she'll be getting a Sidecar with lots of lemon in it. We are of the same mind, Shalmanese. I've had a couple of cups of M&R rosso "aging" on the top shelf of the kitchen for a few weeks. Going to do the same with some lemon juice.

Eager to follow along as you dive in, Saara! A few thoughts. Not to ask the obvious, but do you have a business plan for increasing profits so substantially? I'm particularly wondering about the seasonality of the operation, which would place different inventory, staffing, and cashflow demands on you at different times of the year. That seems particularly important given the handcrafted or artisanal aspects of the business, which often seem connected to individuals who have a long history with the place (and with coffee roasting, or candy-making, etc.). Given that change isn't always embraced by everyone, I think you need to look carefully at which of those positions are critical, which skillsets you need to develop yourself, and which can be hired & trained as needed. How is the operation currently branded? Is is a quaint little shop? Old school family destination? What makes your business stand out relative to the competition (esp national chains)? Do you see this takeover as a way to rebrand at all? I was thinking about all this when I read about your menu ideas: Given that you are taking on P&B and your boyfriend is taking on ops maintenance, your schedules are not going to overlap much when you start up in earnest! Finally, as a small business manager (I run a preschool in my day job) who has talked a lot with restauranteur and bar manager friends about this subject, I can say with confidence that there's no such thing as too much management training. In particular, learning how to supervise staff, hire, train, & fire are critical skills. You screw up an order and run out of lettuce? It happens. You hire a jerk and can't bring yourself to fire him? Every employee hates you for months.

I'm very interested in this topic. I broke down 10# of chuck this weekend and would estimate that I had 30% loss in the two dishes (chili and a braised Chinese dish). Next time I'll measure. The per person question is moot for me since I usually am cooking batch and not worried about product cost per diner. I wonder what the CIA textbooks have to say on this matter....

I agree. Alex, what can you tell us about it? Where do things stand?

Back in August, after we realized my wife would be commuting Mon-Th to grad school, we grabbed a cheap bento box for $25 at a store in Chicago's Chinatown. Less than two weeks of train and MBTA bustle, the thing broke. In three places. As a result, I haven't started posting here about our bento experience, but that will change shortly. We just ponied up the cash for a Zojirushi Classic bento box. We've absolutely loved our Zojirushi fuzzy logic rice cooker, which is probably the best kitchen appliance I own, and given the cash we're saving on meals, we'll have it paid off by Thanksgiving. More soon.

So no pro kitchen washing tips to share?

I'll read with interest. That's exactly what I do, Melissa, and I'm eager for a better solution.

The key is keeping that luscious fat: if you steam it too much, you'll lose some of it. Experiment and see what works; if it's tender enough to slice without steaming, I'd lean in that direction.

I just got the email list of participants at the first session, and I sent them this email. Lots more to add, as the session is fast approaching. More soon.

Here's my set-up: I've just gotten my first order from Norbu tea, consisting of the Fall '08 Tie Guan Yin Oolong and the Imperial Dian Hong, the latter of which you can see in the ingenuiTEA pot. That Toastmaster kettle is designed like the kind you find in Europe, with an extensive curled heating element at the base, and is lightning fast. (Yard sale score.) I've been going back and forth between tap and spring water, and haven't quite figured out which is better for what. Ditto with the scale: I just brought it from home in the hopes of finding a simple way to measure out the leaves. In an ideal world, I'd be channeling Thich Nhat Hanh and taking genuine, relaxing, contemplative breaks when I brew and drink my tea. However, as the director of a preschool, I'm rarely afforded the luxury of two calm seconds in a row, so I do my best to inhale, taste, and enjoy as I can.

What, someone's going to tell you you've got egg on your face? Go for it.

Should work either way. The fatty bits themselves have water in them, and the rendered lard will separate from the water regardless of whether you add extra.

There must be a way to incorporate this stuff into or onto a dairy-based cocktail....

Think dairy section of your local supermarket. I've been working hard trying to figure out how best to use the Jerry Thomas Milk Punch base to include mezcal, with which I've fallen in love. The following is my latest take on the drink, with the mezcal pretty high in the mix. Feel free to dial it back to 1/4 oz. Ponche de Leche del Sur (Milk Punch South of the Border) 2 1/2 oz whole milk 1 1/2 oz Inner Circle green label rum 1 oz Meyers's rum 1/2 oz Brugal Añejo rum 1/4-1/2 oz Real de Magueyes Añejo mezcal 1/2 oz Clement Creole Shrubb dash pimento dram (homemade) dash cinnamon tincture Shake with cracked ice and pour into Old Fashioned or large cocktail glass. Dust with grated nutmeg, if you prefer.

Wondering about using it in an eggplant dish of some sort during the winter when I can't get to the grill. Also, Tri2Cook, that shrimp and plantain dish sounds like a good option.

I was doing some smoking last weekend and had the usual in the Bradley: bacon, peppercorns, sel gris. While I was prepping the little aluminum foil trays I use for those small items, I got a tweet or something from Alex and Aki at Ideas in Food that had the phrase "smoked coconut" in it. I've gone back and searched for that phrase on their site, to no avail, so perhaps it was all a hallucination. So I grabbed a can of Chaokoh coconut milk powder that had been in my pantry for a while, tossed it on a little foil tray, and gave it an hour with some lovely apple smoke. It smells delicious, but I'm a bit stumped about applications. Thoughts?

I have the same problem with the same bottles and would appreciate ideas, too.

Interesting! Over on the USG's "Ask a Scientist" website, we have this exchange: That doesn't sound like milk going bad; that sounds like materials science: little stress points build without your awareness and the whole sheebang loses integrity. Has this happened to anyone? And why is poor Pyrex being blamed? Does it happen with Corningware too?

For a good while now, Paul Clarke over at Cocktail Chronicles has been organizing a monthly online cocktail event he calls Mixology Mondays: This month, fellow Society members, we are the hosts for a Mixology Monday on the theme of dizzy dairy. Any drink using a dairy product is fair game: milk, cream, eggs, butter, cheese, yogurt, curds, you name it. Given the importance of dairy products in drinks dating back centuries, there are lots of opportunities for digging through vintage receipts for a taste of the past, and as always innovation is highly encouraged. We hope that you'll measure out your portions as best you're able: better to indicate a tablespoon or ounce of egg white, for example, than to say "egg white." In addition, be sure to share any tips and techniques that benefit your booze -- "dry" shaking without ice for a good meringue, say, or stealing Society member Dale DeGroff's whipped cream trick for Irish Coffee. Disasters as well as successes are heartily encouraged. Finally, prepare to respond to the anti-dairy lobby by giving us reasons why your libation is just this side of mother's milk. If you would like to participate, please post any dairy-based drink, borrowed or invented, here in this topic before Monday, September 28 at midnight. Photos uploaded using our new image management system are very strongly encouraged. Not yet a member of the eGullet Society? Click on this link to join as a participating member! You're also welcome to email me with your snap and tipple -- but wouldn't you like to raise your frothy glass among the Society membership?

Fermented mudfish appears in many of the Khmer recipes I've been seeing, providing that umami boost with or instead of fermented shrimp, fish sauce, and so on.

I have become a real proponent of using tasso, even in small quantities, in most of my gumbos. How do others approach that potent pork in theirs?

Those look great: a good bind, juicy, all the stuff you want from sausages. What pork did you use? Do you have the recipe handy?

As I mention over here, I learned a lot by cooking through Pierre Franey's 60 Minute Gourmet in college. Didn't master the classic sauces, but my index finger knows what done is for a wide variety of proteins thanks to Pierre.