Jason Perlow

Yeah, the roaster bratwurst is pre-cooked (like the hot dogs and kielbasas) and is a veal and pork mix, the traditional German style. The fresh, uncooked bratwurst is smaller and is a pure pork sausage, like an Italian sausage but with different spicing. I liked that one as well. I also liked the "Grill Kielbasas" which were the hot-dog sized sausages. They had a nice smoky flavor to them. Can't wait to try their frankfurters and Italian sausage too.

I'm pretty sure you can get the bacon custom sliced from slab bacon they have there, you just have to ask for it, like I asked for the pork chops to be cut thick instead of the ones they had in the case.

One Star for Chinatown Brasserie. http://events.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/dinin...ed=2&ref=dining Dumbass. While I agree the dim sum is among the strongest stuff on the menu, even if you were to evaluate the restaurant on dim dum alone, it would still be a two star place.

Swiss Pork Store is next on my list to try. I haven't been there yet. I'll probably check out Karl Ehmer as well.

Kocher’s Continental Specialty Meats 634 Bergen Blvd Ridgefield, NJ (201) 945-7086 I enjoy living in the New Jersey suburbs, but I envy Manhattan and NYC residents for their easy access to top specialty meat purveyors, such as Lobels, Dean and Deluca, Citarella and Pete’s Meat (in the Arthur Avenue Retail Market). I thought we Jersey residents were seriously deficient in that department until my recent first time visit to Kocher’s Meats in Ridgefield, a long-established quality meats purveyor. Kocher’s is a German-style butcher and makes ALL of its sausages and charcuterie onsite. They’ve got many varieties of sausages, including their own hot dogs, bratwursts, weisswursts, kielbasas, and also Italian-style sausages as well. Everything is made in-house. Kocher’s makes its own hams, bolognas, salamis and other cold cuts under the Continental brand. Oh yeah, their own bacon too. In addition to top quality pork, Kocher’s also carries Prime beef cuts. If the cuts on display don’t exactly fit your specifications, Kocher’s will cut your meat to order. Here are some thick-cut Pork Chops I bought for tonight’s dinner.

It was started for Brandy, but they started using it for Sherry and then Madiera not long after that.

It most definitely works with spirits. That's how Brandy de Jerez is made. http://www.egullet.com/tdg.cgi?pg=ARTICLE-perlowbrandy

Tonight I made myself a Ti Punch with the Neisson Agricole Blanc and the Dormoy Cane Syrup I ordered from Ed's site. Gotta say, I really need to drink these a lot more often. At 11PM on a balmy summer evening, when you don't feel like muddling a Mojito or a Caipirinha, these little babies are so easy to make and really hit the spot. I'm going to need to keep more limes around to accomodate my rum drink habits. http://www.caribbean-spirits.com/NeissonBlancprodsheet.htm

Most definitely a sipper, Mano. Neat, or just one small ice cube added to release the flavor esters in the rum. Some other interesting sipping rums which are coming onto the market shortly are aged agricultural rums (Rhum Vieux) from the island of Martinique in the French West Indies, that have never before been imported into the US. eG's own Ed Hamilton is importing these into the US in several different markets: http://www.caribbean-spirits.com/LaFavVieuxprodsheet.htm http://www.caribbean-spirits.com/NeissonReserveprodsheet.htm These differ from most other super premium rums in that they are made from distilled sugar cane, rather than molasses, so they have a more "caney" flavor. Both of these distilleries are so small production that they make even artisinal bourbons or estoteric scotch whiskeys look like big operations -- a small amount ends up in France, most of it is consumed on Martinique itself. You can get them from online stores such as Sam's Wine (www.samswine.com) and Binny's (www.binnys.com).

Heh. Seriously though, there are a number of really good aged rums on the market which are excellent values and pair wonderfully with cigars. Montecristo itself has its own brand of Rum, which comes from Guatemala. Its a twelve year old, and an excellent product. http://www.montecristorum.com The distillery that makes it, Licoreca Zacapaneca, also produces Ron Zacapa Centenario, a 23 year old rum, which we've discussed a number of times on the site: Ron Zacapa (eG Forums) It used to be somewhat difficult to obtain but in the last year or so it has gotten vastly increased distribution. http://www.danaimporters.com/our_brands/sp...centenario.html

Well if we're gonna diverge into other stuff... I'd have to say if you want an alternative spirit to Scotch, Bourbon or Canadian Whiskey for cigars, I'd have a look at aged rums. Rum is the preferred spirit for accompanying Montecristos, as far as Cubans are concerned anyway.

From a photo I took today:

I do NOT reccomend Barking Crab at all. Its THE most touristy restaurant in the entire city. Go across the street on the Waterfront to Daily Catch instead.

Recaito is a variation on Sofrito which has no tomatoes and is what you are referring to. Many Sofrito recipes call for tomatoes, however. http://www.daisycooks.com/pages/recipes_detail.cfm?ID=5

Here's a link to a photo of the Lairds line: http://www.lairdandcompany.com/products_spirits.htm Click on the second photo, the one on the bottom, for a closeup. The "Bonded" is also a 7 1/2 year old like the regular 7 1/2 year old. From what I see on the web, the term "Bonded" (as it applies to Bourbon whiskey) simply means it is made under government supervision in a bonded warehouse and has to be produced in a single year, in a single season, and cannot be bottled until it is 4 years old. It also has to be at 100 proof. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottled_in_bond

Admin: Merged in from the <a href=http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=72982>Pegu Club thread</a>. What's the difference between bonded and not bonded? Is that the same thing as statically aged and not blended, like a single barrel? I have a few bottles of the Laird's 12 year old that was produced for the market a few Christmases ago. Good stuff, I'd compare it favorably with some of the much more premium (and far more expensive) Calvados I have. The 7 1/2 year old is also quite nice, it makes a great Stinger. I like combining it with cinnamon schnapps, such as Goldschlager, to make "Goldstingers" with it.

Any of McD's fried items, including the apple pies, currently suck because of when they changed to the cholesterol-free vegetable oil some time ago from the beef tallow. It just doesn't taste the same.

Our immersion blender is among one of my favorite things to use, it comes especially in handy when making pasta sauces, when you want to smoothen the texture of a cooked sauce. Saves a lot of work, you don't have to chop up the garlic or tomatoes or onions if you use one of those, just simmer them down until they become soft and blitz away. Particularly useful for marinaras and meat sauces.

Wow. Moscow is a totally different place than what I remember it being in the late 1980s. Supermarkets, LOL. I take it that GUM no longer functions as a state department store and the usual Beriozkas no longer exist?

In terms of American whiskeys/bourbons I like the Eagle Rare bourbon myself... http://www.greatbourbon.com/eaglerare.html I have the 12 year old but the 10 year old is a really good bourbon as well. I also like Bulleit: http://www.bulleitbourbon.com/agecheck/?so...tbourbon.com%2F For Tennessee Whiskey I like George Dickel. They just came out with a Barrel Select that is quite excellent and won a number of spirits competitions. http://www.dickel.com http://www.dickel.com/features/barrel%20select.html

BTW, the thread where we discuss more of this stuff in depth, particularly as it pertains to Daisy's TV program, is here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=82052

Hopefully you've also got access to Recao (Culantro) and also Ajices Dulce, which really make a difference in the Puerto Rican version. I've found that Cubanelle peppers taste very similar to Ajices Dulce though. Dominican versions use hot peppers like Habaneros too.

There's a sofrito (or some form of it) for every latin american country. The Mexican version is made with Tomatillos. Sofrito is particularly prevalent in the caribbean Spanish-speaking countries (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic). They vary somewhat from country to country and from family to family. Different stuff gets thrown in (types of peppers, different spices, different herbs) or are omitted depending where you eat it and who makes it. Italian Soffrito is slightly different in its formulation, but its the same concept of using a processed mixture of aromatic vegetables and herbs, cooked in fat to produce the same kind of results for flavoring other dishes.

Oh yeah. The yellow sofrito rice is like crack. Can't have it any other way afterwards. Definitely try it with the Achiote Oil too, it adds something interesting.

Lukewarm. Its actually a cold dish, but if they have to make it fresh for you rather than having it out on the buffet, it will be somewhat higher than room temp.