Chris Amirault

Loose definition of "cooking": Combine 1 c sour cream and 1 packet Lipton onion soup mix. Consume with Ruffles. Slightly more rigorous definition: boil boxed noodles in water until done. Add can of tuna, drained, 1/4 c milk, 2 T oleo (a.k.a. margarine), and Noodles Romanoff seasoning packet. Consume with lots of black pepper.

I know a fruititarian (eats only fruit -- really) on the logic that only fruit grows to be eaten. Doesn't do dairy, though, so there's one hole in that logic....

Yeah, the eGullet motto oughta be something like, "She who picketh the first nit shall have the nits picked off of her, also, and so on."

Kind members, please indulge me as I point out that netiquette asks us to quote only those portions of a post to which we are making direct reference. I would also like to thank touaregsand for her most excellent patience and grace as she re-explains Jouët and Moët. Shall we choose another term, good friends, the pronunciation of which we can argue for pages and pages?

Wrong mower, clearly, Brooks.....

I tend to Jaymes's first definition of veganism in my understanding ("silly, arrogant, impractical and elitist indulgence for the wealthy"), which I believe is terribly inappropriate for a variety of reasons. I know my limits, so: does anyone have a good, working definition of veganism? Are we just talking about, a la the wikipedia, a total avoidance of animal products of all kinds?

Ah! I think I finally get Ben's point. However, this threw me for a bit of a loop. Goodness me, I don't think you need be so very disappointed in all of us! There are fewer ding-a-lings here than you might think! Allow me to explain. Here's what you originally wrote: You and I certainly agree that "good old knife skills" are well worth developing and maintaining. However, I asked you about the 20 seconds because of the structure of your argument: you compare "getting the grater out, setting up, grate, wash grater, put it away" to using tools that are already on the counter ready to use, which was confusing to me. Like you, I can mince a knob of ginger in well under a minute, but I can also grate that same knob on a grater in a similar amount of time. Preparing equipment and cleaning it up ought not enter into the calculations.

I am a very big fan of Craig Clairborne's recipe in the original NYT Cookbook. Very basic, great texture and flavor, and we've adjusted it for darker chocolate very successfully. Finally, I'll be the first to state the obvious: use really, really good chocolate.

Buy Breath of the Wok by Grace Young. Great book, great recipes, and a comprehensive reference for this question.

I'm bumping this up in the hopes that someone has some suggestions for US bakers. I can't find any Frieling rising baskets anywhere save eBay. Any ideas?

Gracias, my friend. I deeply appreciate it! And if anyone else can chime in, I'll appreciate that too!

I do it all the time, and as long as you have a decent amount of fat in them, it works great. But if you just use cubes of lamb meat, then, yes, it gets dry.

I believe that I made an error above. I think that the ever stylin' Graham Kerr would not have been caught dead, much less on television, in pleated slacks. Flat front only, if memory serves....

I agree with Seth -- and I'll add that a trip to yard sales, Savers, or the Salvation Army would be likely to turn up a sturdy old model for $5....

Finally made our first CSA pickup at the Urban Edge Farm, a project of the Southside Community Land Trust here in Providence. (It's worth snooping around their website if you find such things interesting.) The total booty was 1/2 lb of arugula, 1/2 of mesclun, some wonderful very young beets and greens, some bok choy, eight eggs (we're getting a share of those for the summer; they seem great), a little thyme plant, some fresh oregano, and a head of boston lettuce. I may be forgetting something. It's definitely on the small end, not a surprise for the first week after a long, cold spring.

Interesting to wonder whether he taught people about cooking.... I definitely learned the press test for doneness from Kerr on GG. I thought it was wild that his fingers were so sensitive, until I learned how to do it. (The idea that you shouldn't butcher a chicken breast prior to serving it to see if it's done was not shared by my mom.) And, as the Sterns argue, Kerr made a case for trying new techniques, tastes, and ingredients. Yes, Julia was doing the same thing, but she stuck mainly to French cooking for a long while, whereas I remember Kerr making a borscht that seemed stunning to me.

I'm here to tell you that he didn't just charm the ladies. I loved the guy. And, what's more, there are several people who just wouldn't exist had they not watched GG obsessively. For example, Emeril should send residuals for his FTV show to Kerr simply for the snarky little asides he makes, particularly ones that link food and sex (or, as we called it in the 70s, "sensuality"). Even the opening of "Emeril Live" is pure Kerr: just as Emeril does, Graham would literally bounce out from behind that exposed brick and waver back and forth, grinning and glowing in the applause. "Kick it up a notch"? That's what Kerr did when he tossed a 1/4 cup of brandy into the skillet and flambéed whatever the hell he was sautéeing.

Pan's post in the "Childhood clues that you'd become a foodie" thread got me thinking about Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet. Moreso even than Julia Child, Graham Kerr was the television superstar chef when I was growing up. A lifestyle guru long before Martha, Kerr was really the only male in late 60s/early 70s popular culture who demonstrated any interest in the pleasures of kitchen mastery. It's probably not a stretch to say that, when I was a boy, no one was a man the way that the Galloping Gourmet was a man, and I'd not have taken to the kitchen myself without his verve, style, and gusto. Nowadays, few save Jane and Michael Stern (in their criminally overlooked American Gourmet) give Graham the props he deserves. Even eGullet is shamefully lacking a thread devoted to the flambé fanatic, he who never stained his plaid and pleated rayon slacks, the man with the pan, the one, and only, Galloping Gourmet. Get out of the closet, Kerr acolytes, and share with us your memories, thoughts, and debts.

Brace yourself, Danielle: most of the research on kids and food suggests that, when your kid hits five or so, she'll likely not only deny that she ever liked these things but will regress all across the food board. Don't push -- that's the best way to make sure she hates the stuff! -- and hang in there until seven or eight, when she should be back on the foodie track.

That's a good one. ← I agree with cakewalk: twenty seconds?! I mean, I can mince ginger with the best of them and it's my preferred method. But after I get out the cutting board, give the knife a quick swipe with a sharpening steel, etc., we're talking about the same time as finding the microplane, etc. etc. We want to see the video, Ben!

IMHO, If you're going to buy an expensive knife, you ought to learn how to take care of it yourself. I really urge you to consider investing in a sharpener or sharpening system. I have several Henckels and Wusthof knives, an OXO bread knife (which I love), and a Chicago Cutlery boning knife that I got for $5 (does the trick). They're all great in my hand and keep their edges. Though I find many of the knives mentioned on this thread very sexy indeed, I'm resistant to spending more to replace knives I use and like. However, I did make a big investment recently when, thanks to the eGullet Culinary Institute course on knife sharpening and maintenance, I bought an EdgePro sharpening system. It is by far the best kitchen purchase I've made in years, and has already paid for itself. Just as important, I now have a set of extremely sharp knives that haven't been screwed up by the ding-a-lings who, in the past, charged me money to ruin my little friends.

Thanks for your answer, Monica. As someone who watched several favorite restaurants here in Providence dissolve in marital strife, go up an owner's nose, and otherwise crash and burn, I've come to appreciate the acumen needed to do what you've done. So, bravo to you not only for finding the fine line between money-driven and financially sustaining but also for maintaining a commitment to outstanding quality and creativity; without both, we wouldn't be able to eat your great food, now would we? Also, I'm sure that I join many, many eGulleteers when I say that I'm glad you resisted the urge to make your new move not T'afia but a Bistro Hair Salon.

All cheeseboigers here: cheddar is the standard (we have a log of Tillamook we're making our way through thanks to Andrea's Montana family's visit in April), but I'm very partial to a blue (gorgonzola or stilton, if possible) burger.

chris - read the entry just above yours 70) to see what crimes against food the brother in law and his wife had me inflict on my poor burgers ← Yeah, I did. You'd think metalheads would want their meat bloody -- but what do I know....

Glad to have you with us, Chef Monica! Can you talk to us a bit about why it was that you decided to start anew with T'afia? As you are well aware, there are many in your profession who, when in possession of a good thing, maintain, franchise, and otherwise expand it. Tell us, if you would, a bit about why you chose to take a new and ultimately (and eminently!) successful tack in a business that so consistently punishes risk.