Chris Amirault

I agree with Toliver. I've had every highly recommended pepper mill in my home at one point or another, and none match the Magnum. My missed-a-mortgage-installment-to-pay-for-it Peugeot is decidedly second-rate compared to it; that's housing my white peppercorns now. I also don't know why one couldn't simply place a finger over the sliding cap. Given the design absurdities of so many other peppercorns that prevent proper functioning, I don't really see why that would be a deal-breaker. This Magnum cascades ground pepper as coarse or fine as you'd like; grab the duck tape if you need it. Buy the thing. You'll see what we're talking about.

I'd be very interested to see your mum's recipe! Post it in RecipeGullet and link to it here so we can compare. Why, with my Hobart meat slicer, of course!

Bump for this year's curing. I've got a few pounds hanging in the attic, what with a cold, dry stretch coming for the next ten days. Anyone else going to cure some lop yuk this year?

I have big hands, too, and find the grip on that Shun perfect for me. Does anyone keep their Shun knives on a magnetic strip?

New one opening in NY at the American Airlines Terminal 8 in Kennedy Airport.

Clam chowders are indeed made with quahogs, which when shelled can be about 3-4" in diameter and would be very challenging for most people to eat whole or even halved. Some higher-end places throw in a few little necks for the fun of it, but that's unusual. However, a good clam chowder will have lots of clams in varying size chunks. Part of the fun of eating a good chowder is matching up clam pieces with appropriate other items -- bacon, potato, onion -- or eating those big meaty chunks on their own.

So what are people's preferred ratios and bottlings for a contemporary Martinez? I just made the "Martinez Cocktail, Update" from DeGroff's Craft: 2 dashes Angostura 2 dashes maraschino (Luxardo) 1 1/2 oz gin (Aviation) 1 oz dry vermouth (M&R) lemon piece for garnish (made a twist) He says shake, but I stirred. I like it a lot, but I think it's pretty ginny with the Aviation; my guess is that a less assertive gin would work better, or a bump of the maraschino.

Boy, that list is really in touch with the times. Low carb is going to flop, eh? I also hear that vertical food and tiramisu have only a few years left.

Yeah, there are a few interesting ideas in there, but it's thin on details. What about the shopping question? What's a good tongue look like in the case?

I just got a gift from a friend who gets organic Jamaican produce. (Some scotch bonnets in there, too.) She called it callaloo or "Jamaican spinach." However, in snooping around, I'm finding a lot of confusion about what is and is not callaloo. Here's wikipedia's take on the subject, but the photos there don't include anything that looks like what I've got: To me, the shape of the leaves is reminiscent of water spinach, as is the taste. Any thoughts?

I've got me plenty of pink salt, so I'd sure appreciate ratios, HungryChris. Thanks.

Sounds like a defective product to me. None of the Magnums I've had to given as gifts have this problem. I'd contact Magnum directly, tell them your story (especially the part about it coming highly recommended), and see what happens. They're a small operation, so I'd bet you'd get a satisfactory response.

Quality, crumbled, maple-cured bacon. Served with caramel sauce. Trust me on this one.

Ktepi, any experience with the beef tongue that's the focus of this topic?

Today's NYTimes food section includes an article on tongue by Society member Joan Nathan, who points out that the demographics of tongue consumption are changing in the US: This corresponds to my experience -- and prompts questions. I can buy tongue any day of the week at my local Portuguese butcher, he who provides me with pork belly, local rabbit, and many other things Whole Foods scorns. But I've never bought or prepared it, and don't have a keen sense of where to start with either decision. The Times includes one recipe for fresh tongue with capers and cornichons, but there are no consumer tips that I can find. How does one shop for fresh tongue? What are some of your favorite ways to prepare it?

Is everyone noticing that this particular object brings with it deep consumerist desires? Shopping list thus far: EdgePro stone upgrades strop high grit ceramic rod shrine kitchen remodel for shrine placement, lighting, and climate control Chad, 16 degrees per side means no double bevel and no Japanese edge, yes?

Has anyone tried sharpening one with an EdgePro? And, again, does anyone know the bevel edges of this knife? Can it be known? I don't know how one can return the knife to its initial glory if you don't even know what angles you're aiming for.

I haven't yet, no. Is this essential? I use a magnetic knife holder on a wall; do I need a special shrine for this one? Music? Sage sticks? Tool: check. Respect, not neurosis: check. Use and enjoy it: check. Share it? Huh? Won't cut a tomato after a few months? What else did you use it for?

Any updates?

I did a quick beet pickle tonight using Mark Bittman's recipe in How to Cook Everything. Easy as pie for this novice and pretty darned good.

It is the perfect time of year for pizza with fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh garlic -- and if you're feeling zesty, find a can of salt-cured anchovies, clean 'em, chop 'em, and sprinkle 'em. Blog on!

Abra: I broke out into a cold sweat with that story. Stop toying with my emotions. Live It Up: Send it away? Whaa?!? Prawncrackers: To what bevel angles do you sharpen it? How do you store it? What signs have you put up to enforce knife rules with the family? How do you adjudicate violations?

I think we all should be reporting eating geometries as well as cutting geometries. Tall sandwiches (BLTs, clubs): four square, middle in. Gotta eat the bacon with care, so you want to see it, and the bread often isn't very good, so once you're out of mayo, leave the crusts. Round buns (burgers, pulled pork): uncut, working in from one side but twisting around to nab falling bits as the bun collapses. Grilled cheese sandwiches, tuna melts, panini, and anything on bread with thick toasted crusts: diagonal, working from acute angles in, with the odd bite from the exposed middle as things ooze. Need to have those first few toasted crust bites small to avoid mouth roof injury. Torpedo/sub rolls: one even cut (NOT diagonal; stuff falls out) in the middle. Always work from middle to ends, stopping when you read the dense, dry roll butt and turning to the other half. Repeat. ETA: Reading these other responses, I'm utterly convinced that every other approach is sheer lunacy. All diagonal? Cut buns? What kind of freaks are you? Please print out these guidelines and help to restore order in this entropic sandwich universe. Thank you.

Can you give us some details about the dishes you ate?

I'm the sort of cook who has always had to save my pennies and buy the best low- to mid-range equipment I can find: Sitram pots and pans, basic black Bradley smoker, that sort of thing. My knives are a case in point. My collection has grown over the decades and includes a trusted 20-year-old Wusthof classic 10" chef's knife, a few other Wusthof and Henckels blades, and some assorted others. Over the years, I've treated them as important kitchen tools though not show pieces, and after some fits and starts I learned how to sharpen them with an EdgePro sharpener. Having the EdgePro around has enabled greater family happiness as well. Living in a house with three other people, I've chosen to encourage loving, supportive relationships over fastidious care of those knives, so sometimes the knives are left in a sink or dish drainer for a while until, suppressing a shrill tirade, I hand-wash them. But there's change on the horizon: in a couple of months, I will become a proud owner of a Shun Ken Onion 8" chef's knife. I've been jonesing for one for about a year, when I tried it out at a friend's house; it felt remarkable in my left hand and slid through virtually everything with an ease I'd never had with any other knife. Out of the blue last night, the friend offered a brand new knife in a trade for some precious liquid (a bottle of this), and I accepted. And I'm already getting nervous. Part of this has to do with a desire to learn more about how to care for this particular knife. I've read up here and elsewhere, but I'm still unclear about a few things. What can and can't you do with it? How long does it stay sharp with regular use? How do you get it sharpened? Does anyone sharpen it themselves, and if so, what bevel angles do you use? Are there any other special things one has to do to keep these objects happy, like cover its fetish rack in finest silk, place it on a high shelf, and avert your gaze? I really do want to know answers to those questions, so please post them if you've got 'em. But that partial list (believe me, I have dozens more, and more obsessive, questions) is a symptom of a larger issue. I'm all a-tizzy about bringing a showcase kitchen item into my house. Yes, I know that this isn't a $1,200 Hattori KD Damascus chef's knife, but it's probably the most expensive knife I'll ever own, and it's flummoxing me. Either this is yet another kitchen tool or a new category of thing deserving a new set of rules and regs, and I can't figure out which. I can already feel my stomach churning at the thought of a family member leaving it next to the sink with the edge bumping against a stovetop burner grate -- a common yet allowed crime in my household that I now wash away with a cocktail and an antacid. But if, unprepared, I see that sight with this Shun knife, a Negroni and Tums won't do the trick. Blood will be spilled. So, to ready myself and family, what should I do? What would you do? Are all your kitchen things just things, or do some have greater power than others? Are you the sort who has rule books for each of your prized kitchen items, or are broken Riedel glasses and dented Mauviel sauciers common lifestyle features? (If the latter, feel free to send me those dented Mauviel sauciers; I'll cover postage.) Time being what it is, I've got a good two months to wring my hands over this, not counting any weeks added on to the calendar for shrine construction. So bring it on.