Jason Perlow

Choi Sum is a different type of Chinese green vegetable. Its also served with oyster sauce (but usually by itself) and in a number of other dishes. Choi Sum: http://www.melissas.com/catalog/index.cfm?...id=172&Info=YES also: Yu Choy Sum http://www.melissas.com/catalog/index.cfm?...id=202&Info=YES Gai Lan: http://www.melissas.com/Magazine/index.cfm?article_id=214 Gai Lan is distinguished by having little broccoli-like florets on it, whereas Choi Sum does not (although it also has flowers, just not ones that look like and tasted like Broccoli). Gai Lan's stalks also taste more approximately like Broccoli. Which is why Gai Lan is Chinese Broccoli and Choi Sum isn't. The "Beef and Broccoli" dish you get in take out places all over the US is actually derived from the real Chinese dish, which has Gai Lan served with sliced beef.

Of course, we all know that "Gai Lan" is Chinese Broccoli, not Choy Sum. Chinese Broccoli is paired usually with Beef and oyster sauce, not Chicken.

Lets also not forget Casa Mono / Bar Jamon.

I love cheese. But cheese hates ME.

Zora: Excellent information -- and welcome to the site!

There have been several inquiries today about an email virus going around that appears to be coming from random @eGullet.com addresses. The virus infected emails that many of you are receiving has nothing to do with eGullet. The site is way ahead of the curve on server-side security, and Linux (the operating system eGullet uses) is not typically susceptible to this sort of attack. If you have been reading the various virus alert web sites such as SARC, you've no doubt read that this is a Windows/e-mail worm problem. Those who are heavy users of eGullet are likely to see a lot of eGullet e-mail addresses pop up because of the degrees-of-separation phenomenon displayed by many e-mail worms. Infected users may have cached web pages on their machines with eG user email addresses on it, or email addresses in residing in postbox files (like your Outlook user file) that the virus is using to attack other machines. In this case the W32.Novarg.A@mm worm is the culprit here, which means all of us should make sure our virus software is updated as of today (this worm was only discovered on January 26). But even if your computer isn't infected, you may get a ton of these e-mails for some time to come. For more information: http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data...ovarg.a@mm.html

Modern Egyptian cuisine is not fundmentally different than the food of any other middle eastern country in that general vicinity -- aka Israel, Lebanon, Syria. Salads, kebabs (made of lamb and beef or chicken), mezze-type stuff like hummus and babaghanoush, served with Pita bread are very common. Lots of legumes, usage of common middle eastern spices and staples such as cumin, zatar, couscous, eggplants, chickpeas, phyllo dough, feta, etc. Here are some sites with some recipes: http://www.touregypt.net/recipes/ http://www.egyptmagic.com/story_food.htm http://www.egyptdailynews.com/recipes/recipes.htm We have an eGCI course on Lebanese food that should be a really good starting point for middle eastern food in general although Egyptian versions of these dishes will vary to some extent. For the most part, the cuisines are very very close -- and Lebanon was part of greater Ottoman Empire that included Egypt (And Lebanon was part of Pharonic Egypt), so there is a lot overlap in Middle Eastern food, particularly in the area of Egypt, Palestine/Israel, Lebanon and Syria. http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=28480 For the most part every dish in that course exists in Egypt as well, with slight variations. Every middle eastern family makes this stuff slightly different anyway. There are dishes of other cultures like Moussakka that are very popular in Egypt that came from elsewhere. Falafel, which is in the eGCI course, is eaten all over the middle east but will vary wildly in preparation (The egyptians use fava beans in theirs instead of chickpeas) ANCIENT egyptian food, from pharonic times is wildly different, however.

Exhibit D was either taken by Fat Guy or Rachel...

I don't know why Fat Guy took this picture, but it seems appropriate as a starter for this pictorial. Howard88 and several others having a good time More happy people Spicy Capsicum Cellophane Noodles Soup Dumplings Chive Box Dumplings, Interior View Chive Box Dumplings, Exterior View Jiaozi Dumplings, Exterior View Jiaozi Dumplings, Interior View Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken, Plated Stuffed Crab, Shell View Stuffed Crab, Stuffing View Peking Duck Exhibit A Peking Duck Exhibit B Peking Duck Exhibit C Peking Duck Exhibit D Peking Duck Exhibit E Peking Duck Exhibit F Tofu Skin Wrapped Flounder Tofu Skin Wrapped Flounder Closeup You want Fuki Plum? Sauteed Rice Cake with Fresh Bamboo and Pork Ruby Pork Sesame Buns, for stuffing Ruby Pork into Sauteed Baby Shrimps with Chinese Ham, Fresh Shitakke and Fresh Bamboo Superior Seafood Soup Superior Seafood Soup Portion

They never completely tell you exactly what the violations are, though. Frequently its something stupid like a water leak or boxes of stuff are stored "improperly". Box of something left open, whatever. If the Bergen health department wanted to really disseminate useful information they would say precisely what the violation was and we could make better informed decisions.

Rum. Mixes with anything.

Foursquare, imported by Spirit of Hartford, is an EXCELLENT spiced rum. http://www.foursquarerum.com/

BYO, as far as I can tell.

NOTE, as of 4/05: DRAGONEL AND DHABBA ARE CLOSED EDIT, April 28 2005: Both Dhaaba and Dragonel are now closed. A new Indian restaurant in the same location is to be opened in May '05. Many of you are probably not familiar with Indo-Chinese food -- we've discussed it, to some extent on the site, but for the most part its a cuisine that hasn't really made its way to the US. But in India, this form of Chinese food is very popular. Finally, North Jersey gets its own Indian Chinese restaurant, in the form of Dragonel, a 1-month old eatery in downtown Main Street in Hackensack. This restaurant looks like something that is more in place in artsy Greenwich Village than NJ -- red textured stucco walls, interesting mood lighting and ultra modern decorations. Rachel, Ya-roo and I happened upon this place by accident this evening, as we were headed toward Wondees, a thai restaurant down the street. -- when this place caught our eye. Dragonel is owned by the same people who own Dhaaba, an Indian (and actually quite good) restaurant next door, and they share the same kitchen. The menu features some really, and I mean really spicy dishes (dont bother to order this extra spicy unless you're Indian, because this place serves an Indian clientele) with a focus on vegetarian cooking. They have some really great meat and fish dishes as well. Dragonel Menu Page 1 (Hi-res) Dragonel Menu Page 2 (Hi-res) The menu has sort of a whimsical tone to it, with sections named like "Tempting Tureen", "Memorable Morsels", "Fowl Play", "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Porky Pig" Dishes of note: Szechuan Paneer: This is deep fried paneer cheese treated like bean curd tossed with a mixture of indian and chinese spices in a tangy sauce. Excellent. Crispy Chili Potatoes: These are shoestring potatoes, flash fried, tossed in a chili sauce. Amazing. VERY SPICY. Home Style Chili Chicken - VERY SPICY. Cubed chicken in a similar sauce to the chili potatoes, but thicker. Kongee Crispy Lamb -- Shredded crispy lamb with different kinds of peppers, onions in a sweet and tangy sauce. VERY SPICY. All the mains were served with steamed long grain basmati rice in bowls, which was ideal for mopping up the really spicy sauces that went with these dishes. I cant stress how much I liked this place. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say its probably going to be one of the hottest asian restaurants in the area before long.

Then its damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead, people. See you all at 5:15 at C46.

i have a tribe. everyone seems pretty cool and normal So you say.

I don't know, I thoroughly enjoyed Versailles... I wouldn't exactly call it a "touristy" place, I mean its not like Calle Ocho is a huge tourist trap to begin with. Its a big restaurant to be sure, but I thought their cuban sandwiches and other things they had were pretty authentic. And I know plenty of Cubans who will swear by the resraurant as well. Here is a web site with some pictures of the restaurant and an accompanying writeup by a bunch of Cuban guys: http://icuban.com/3guys/versailles.html Some of their comments indicate that for a while the food at Versailles was tired and had deteriorated, but in the last several years the food has experienced something of a "renaissance". BTW, the 3 Guys From Miami site is a great resource for Cuban and Miami food in general. http://www.icuban.com

Nigella Lawson is a freak for her mezzaluna. I've never seen her chop herbs with anything else.

I think this is a critical thing to do, since much of our current pizza data is seriously outdated. A survey of all the major pizzerias and their pizza would be a huge service to New Yorkers. Do we have any idea as to a methodology of evaluation?

Not really. Now they build them on NASCAR approved chassis and engine platforms. Originally, years ago, they were actually "stock cars". Not now.

Its an entire class of car racing and the over-arching racing assocation -- Like Formula 1/Grand Prix, Indy Car, and ALMS/IMSA (Le Mans). If you've seen the movie "Days of Thunder" thats what NASCAR is. I don't beleive they have tracks in Canada. In NASCAR they drive heavily modified "stock cars", not sports cars/saloon cars like in IMSA or specialized race cars like in Indy or Formula 1.

If its Balsamico Tradizionale (meaning it came in that special bottle reserved only for Tradizionale) you most definitely should not "toss" it. Balsamic vinegar only gets better with age.

http://www.airlinemeals.net/ Informative, and scary. Has a database of thousands of photographs of airline meals, plus a goofy "vintage" section featuring meals from the 50's thru the 90's. And a forum where you can discuss your meals.

Susan: I merged the thread with comments about OUR trip to West Palm (we stayed on Singer as well) about a year ago.

I like cumin, but in small doses. If you use too much of it, it makes your food and your kitchen smell like the locker room of the Green Bay Packers. Its one of the reasons why I don't usually eat at Indian restaurants, many of them lack finesse in their use of this and other spices.