Jason Perlow

Triscuits definitely. The ORIGINALS, none of that low sodium low fat crap. Although I have liked the rye versions from time to time. I also have a weakness for Ritz.

Supposedly, shrimp saganaki was invented in the 1960's as a dish to serve to tourists coming off the cruise ships. Whether it is or it isnt, I still love it.

Skorthalia is one of my favorite mezze dips -- its mashed potatoes with lots of olive oil and a TON of garlic. Melitzanosalata (Babaganoush) is great too.

Go get a whole lot of trimmings from a local butcher and make your own hamburger meat. Vive la differance.

Mousakka and Pastitsio. Definitely way up there in my favorites. Shrimp Saganaki, the greek answer to shrimp parmigiano. -Pork- Souvlaki. Gyros. Spanakopita, spinach pies Loukanikou, greek sausage. Anything avgolegmono.

RetroDonalds?

It seems that Nockerl and I are BOTH right. http://www.ramekins.com/mole/recipesmole.html Recipes here that use Abuelita, Ibarra and UNSWEETENED chocolate. So as usual, it boils down to the family tradition itself or the person making it.

Thats very interesting, David. I've asked Tony Bourdain to shed some light on the situation, as he spent time in Puebla last year and saw a lot of mole being made. I can tell you though, that Ibarra as a company is not as old as mole poblano is, and that there are many, many kinds of "mexican" chocolate including very raw, unsweetened, unflavored block chocolate that I've seen used in moles.

That can't be right. Are you sure they aren't referring to Mexican chocolate in the generic sense, there are a lot of kinds of chocolate that come from Mexico.

Ok, I repeat, I have never seen Mole Poblano made in Puebla with Ibarra or Abuelita drinking chocolate. I HAVE seen it made with unsweetened, Mexican block chocolate.

David: First of all, I'm glad that you finally revealed your identity after your months of participation on the site, because I was unwilling to do that myself, we respect members choices to remain anonymous here. Yes, moles do taste different from region to region. However, I have never seen a mole made with sweetened chocolate, in Mexico or in the US. Mole Poblano, named for the Puebla province which is where this particular mole originates from (and where the staff of El Gran Mexicano comes from), has a very distinct bitter aftertaste, which can be interpreted by some as scorched or burned and is most defnitely NOT made with sweetened chocolate.

fresh egg noodles from the Bronx (Pappardelle?) with Porcini, Cremini and Shittakke red wine/beef broth/butter sauce with lamb sausage: Extreme closeup of sauce in pan:

Sorry, I've been feeling particularly nasty today... I should have said he was "clueless"

David can speak for himself then.

I don't think David knows jack shit about mole. The best moles are supposed to have a bitter, scorching aftertaste. I've had mole in Puebla and Mexico City and Guanajuato and its SUPPOSED to taste like that. El Gran's mole is among the best I have had in the US.

I was wondering why Momo was in there.

I go to Cafe Du Monde (the original location) when I am in New Orleans because it is an ideal rest stop at 2am after a long night of getting fucked up in the quarter. Trust me, at 2am, and after several hurricanes, those beignets and coffee look and taste pretty good.

I don't know, FG. Who was it? It sure as hell wasn't someone humble, that much is for certain.

Hell no. Just steam the little bastards and eat em.

Yes, I did, but only took a few pics in there and they all came out crappy because of the lighting, and it was late in the day and the camera was almost out of battery power from all the flash photography. Its an awesome store, I bought some good stuff in there. Ramon is THE man. http://forums.egullet.org/show.php/act/ST/f/24/t/19781

pretty soon, Target will be a full service supermarket, the way things are going.

I tried some tonight and it reminds me a lot of traditional Cuban rums, like Matusalem Anejo Reserva. It has that wonderful cane sugar nectar sweetness to it. I think I'm going to go through this bottle pretty quickly.

I see from Ed's site that he likes it and lists it as Premium grade and difficult to find....

I bought this yesterday in the Bronx ($16) at Mt. Carmel liquors. Its Dominican, 8 years old according to the label, and is produced by a distillery I am unfamiliar with. Anyone try this one yet? I'm cracking it open tonight.

Also, David Grecos mother Antoinette has a great little coffee/sandwich shop right across the street from the deli, but the name escapes me at the moment Its the Arthur Avenue Cafe & Focacciaria at 2329 Arthur Avenue , with a blue-green awning in front. When it had first opened, the espresso was inconsistent unless David himself made them when he got off work in the evening. By now, I think, the waitstaff should be trained pretty good but I havent been back in about a year, we didnt get a chance to go there yesterday because things died around the neighborhood at around 4pm. They do have really good desserts there and for the most part I prefer it to Enzo's, which is the cafe owned by the family that owns Dominicks.