Jason Perlow

Heck, I'm just trying to figure out if we were even discussing the same thing! But that aside, 'bacon explosion'? I'm intrigued. State/county fair sort of thing? I wish it was just a county or state thing. No, It's a obsession with bacon thing that started in the BBQ community probably five years ago. Now everyone is doing it. https://www.google.com/search?q=bacon+explosion&aq=f&oq=bacon+explosion&aqs=chrome.0.57j5j0l2j62.3288&sugexp=chrome,mod=14&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 I love bacon. Really really love bacon. But I don't like bacon explosions, it's the ultimate lily gilding over the top "lets see if we can weaponize bacon and be disgusting americans" thing.

We're not going to agree on this Michaela, but that's perfectly ok. Not every argument has to come to an agreement. Or even accommodation.

Midnight BBQ Pork Sandwich, made with pork shoulder smoked earlier this week

That seems so sensible, balanced and well-reasoned that it has to have some nefarious purpose behind it, David.

What's next on my list? Oh yes. Bacon Explosions.

Actually, I don't actually care what people choose to do at home for their own culinary enjoyment and done between consenting adults (that is, unless it involves fava beans and a nice chianti). I just think that the concept of Modernism in the home is as practical as building your own particle accelerator or plutonium centrifuge in your garage. Note, I'm not giving Mr. Mhyrvold any ideas here.

GODWIN ALERT

But.. But... if I was GOING to make a cold weather drink, it would definitely be a really hot cup of coffee with a hit of Irish Whiskey and some steamed milk.

I no longer have a need for cold weather drinks. I like drinking iced tea in hot tubs in the end of December.

Simple Louisiana Shrimp Boil. Made with locally caught Key West shrimp.

Oh absolutely. There's a complex application process involved, as well as a six week waiting period while I review all of the appliances and the required stem to stern inventory of their pantry, freezer and wine closet, as well as a four year background check on what restaurants they've eaten at.

Ah - the stock reply. Have a read of this - which I have also llnked to in my latest blog posting - "When does sharing become bragging?" http://online.wsj.co...1630924000.html BTW, the header graphic on your blog is brilliant.

Okay, but it sounds like you make a lot of sausages, so it sounds worthwhile.

At $300 per unit to start with, it's an expensive toy if it is something you don't plan to use more than a few times a year. I don't own one and I never plan to. I'll poach my damn lobster in butter in a pot using a vacuum sealer which we use all the time instead. Not like I'm going to poach a lobster in butter anyway. Who am I kidding.

He does I believe. But I would be remiss if I did not mention that Sam is a "friend" in a sense that we are more social acquaintances and do not see each other very often. In fact it has been years. Probably something I should rectify the next time I am in NYC.

Sounds like reverse elitism to me. This is the "most disliked trend in the food industry" thread, right? This is an open discussion and what we talk about here is by definition probably going to be divisive in nature. I mean, I did ask, "am I gonna get yelled at?" As with any subject matter, whether it is politics, religion, sex, music, art... FOOD. Anywhere you have impassioned people engaging in discussion, there are going to be divisive issues and you are going to disagree with people and fundamental aspects of their belief systems. Food is no different. The key is that we permit such dissent and diversity, and we allow people to have their own points of view. Otherwise I don't think we wouldn't have bothered to create this organization in the first place. I sure has hell would not have bothered.

Actually - that scenario will never happen. Pretty sure that any home chef who had used a Sous Vide to cook dinner would be crowing on about it all through the meal. Forget through the meal... any of my friends who is likely to do that will phone or email me about it weeks in advance. But then again, I don't have friends that use Sous Vide baths in their homes, they use them in their restaurants, if that.

If it is chicken fat, we skim it, put it in a container. fry it in a pan when you need to cook something but you need to cook it for a bit to get the water content out. Basically it's schmaltz, especially once you cook onions in it. Never tried using beef fat this way, but I suppose it may work with certain dishes. We like using it as the frying fat for potato pancakes.

I don't have a problem with Sous Vide. It's a perfectly legit technique for preparing fish and other proteins. But to say that for example, a Sous Vide lobster is superior to a regular butter poached lobster made with far less expensive equipment is somewhat disingenuous. Sous Vide was developed A LONG TIME AGO for a reason, to hold and cook meat at a low temperature for a long time in specific food service scenarios. It makes zero sense in a home kitchen and probably also most restaurants looking to achieve similar results with traditional poaching.

What?! Why would traditionalists hide in the closet?! Thos who are interested in Modernism are running amok? And Modernism has no business in the home kitchen?! Seems a bit draconian and unfair, besides... Okay, hang on, let's take this scenario: You're invited to dinner, you really enjoy the food and conversation, then, after dinner, while your host is moving the last of the dishes back to the kitchen, you tag along, since you're in the mddle of discussing something. You notice the kitchen has a lot of Modernist equipment, and inquiry reveals that the meal was prepared using quite a lot of Modernist techniques and ingredients. The scenario is an impossible one. Anyone who knows me is well aware I would have seen the kitchen and the prep process long before eating and the conversation. I also do not tend to socialize with people that are into producing dishes based on Modernism or Molecular Gastronomy or Avant Garde cuisine in their -homes-. They don't typically pass my sniff test as people I want to be associated with because they aren't down to earth enough. I have a number of friends that are professional chefs that experiment with such things in their restaurants or catering businesses, but more often than not, they are 100 percent traditionalist when cooking at home and match my sensibilities pretty much exactly. Modernism in my opinion is not something that one should seek to practice in the home kitchen because very few people can achieve the results necessary because they lack the equipment or the discipline. It certainly should not be undertaken unless you already have a foundation in traditional cooking techniques. I would never attempt to practice it in my home for the same reason that I know I cannot achieve perfect sushi as I would at a top notch sushi restaurant, or Chinese food of high restaurant quality in my own kitchen because I know I lack a real wok burner. If you do have those resources, such as those of Mr. Mhyrvold, then you are not a mere human being that worries about paying their next bill or even a middle class foodie that has to judiciously spend their money, time and energy to eat and cook meals, in which case, they don't even live on the same plane of existence of mere mortals such as me and most of the people on this site. The reality that 99.999999999 percent of the people on this planet and even skilled home cooks do not possess those kind of resources, in which case, modernism is a fruitless effort and there are much more productive and enjoyable ways of spending your time with things of a culinary nature. We should appreciate restaurant cuisine for what it is, which is the product of highly trained professionals and kitchens with the manpower and resources to produce them. Those chefs that can experiment with modernism and molecular and avant garde should be given the space to do so, and those who choose to try their cuisine should be given the liberties to do so, but this is a fantasy and totally impractical for even the best home cooks.

I think there is a place for folks like Achatz and other chefs such as Ferran Adria or Jose Andres which pioneer in molecular gastronomy as well as modernism and avant garde cuisine and make mistakes and do the sort of science experiments others do not have the time or resources to undertake. But this is strictly in the realm of very fine dining and a very particular type of fine dining customer that are willing to be guinea pigs for these chefs and are willing to take expensive risks on degustation menus that will not necessarily be home runs with every dish. That being said this doesn't belong in every fine dining restaurant and most certainly not in the home, and it is ridiculous to think that this is how normal culinarians should practice their art or their passion. I dont know if I want to exemplify a "camp" per se but I think us traditionalists have been hiding in the closet while the modernists and molecularists have been running amok.

I hate: liver and all forms of offal. holland bell peppers of any color. geflite fish. cottage cheese and all of its derivatives fat free and skim milk (why bother?) Tofurky and most other processed meat analogues (but I do like regular tofu when used traditionally) Soymilk

That... is why you fail.

Let me phrase it another way. Use my culinary powers as a Jedi Master for good rather than evil I must. Modernism is the Dark Side. Together the light and the dark you must have, but overall, controlled the Dark Side must be. EVIL THE DARK LORD MHYRVOLD IS. BEWARE THE PATH OF HIS EVIL BOOK, FOR IN IT THERE IS ONLY FRUSTRATION AND DESPAIR AND EMPTY WALLETS.

Plated w/Brussels Slaw & Arroz Moro