Jason Perlow

I wonder why Rhode Island style is even avaliable in Connecticut?

I recently had some of this style for the first time at a clam shack type place in Connecticut, Umberti's Seafood in Stratford (click for photos) While I don't like it as much as the New England or Manhattan style, its an interesting variation.

The raw food movement is dead, as far as I am concerned, especially as it applies to fine dining. But if you really want to read up on that stuff, Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein wrote a book called RAW that was published two years ago that is supposed to be the latest treatise on the matter. RAW (Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein)

Moo Goo Gai Pan is easy to find at American Chinese restaurants in the NY area.

Excellent.

So, anyone figured out how to source some good deals on "posul" etrogs?

I've never seen the Boars Heads in use at actual hot dog places. I generally just see them in cryopack in the deli section of supermarkets.

Are these the same dudes that make those awesome frozen raviolis?

Actually, I find the Boars Head dog with natural casing to be on par or even superior to the Sabrett in many respects.

Actually, if you are talking regular coffee, Dunkin Donuts makes a pretty damn good cup of Joe. They have a rather large office coffee bean delivery side business and they seem to be rather quality oriented in the stuff that I have sampled from offices that use them.

I heard this as well, but I was never able to verify it. There is no question however that the CI Nathans and some of the original franchises (like the one in Yonkers, which I think is actually still owned by the parent company) are vastly superior to many of the mall stands, etc. As for the grocery store stuff, I always look for the natural casing Nathans dogs. The skinless stuff doesn't compare. If you are relatively new to the site, check out this Supermarket Hot Dog shootout we did a few summers back: Your Favorite Brand of Hot Dogs

They are good dogs, but its pointless to eat anything else there other than Pastrami and their kasha knishes. You don't schlep down to the LES for hot dogs. The dogs are there basically if you drag a kid with you and they don't want Pastrami. Now if you are going to go on an adventure for hot dogs.. may I suggest the original Nathan's on Coney Island. ← If you wouldn't schlep to the LES for dogs, why in heaven's name would anyone go another hour to Coney Island? Nathan's hot dogs are ubuquitous now, there are Nathan's everywhere, uptown, New Jersey, even on the Turnpike and Thruway rest stops! If you don't understand why you wouldn't go to the original Nathans location for hot dogs, then you are not a hot dog enthusiast. There is a -very- big difference in the hot dog you recieve at the original location than one at any Riese's food court at the mall or at a Turnpike rest stop. It has to do with the care taken in the grilling of the dog and how they fry their french fries there. Its kind of like asking Muslims why they make a pilgrimage to Mecca when they can just go down to their local Mosque. Its all about making the journey.

Marathon, based in East Rutherford, NJ, is a commercial manufacturer of sausage products. They contract manufacture hot dogs for a number of companies in a number of brand names. Sabrett is what they sell as their packaged brand. Its kind of like Anheuser Busch, who sells Budweiser and a number of other beers, but who also makes microbrews for other small beer companies. I am not sure if they market anything under a brand name other than Sabrett, but they also supply "generic" unbranded dogs to delis and hot dog stands and such.

Gumbo freezes exceedingly well. I might add though that if you add the rice to the gumbo to freeze when portioning, when you reheat the gumbo, the rice breaks down a bit and you get a very think soup. Not undesireable, and it tastes great just the same, but something to consider.

BTW, I beleive Chinese restaurants use a mix of fish and shrimp for the paste, I beleive they use pollack or some sort of neutral white fish. Not sure about the proportions, probably something like 60 percent fish and 40 percent shrimp. And I think they use the smaller shrimps, not the big ones. At home, we use all shrimp, usually medium or small shrimp, but it has a distinctively different texture and flavor than what Chinese restaurants do.

You arrogant bastard!

I've had it with French bread at Vietnamese restaurants and Wonder bread at Chinese restaurants. I'm really not partial to either, I like both. What I am partial to is a lot of cilantro in the fish/shrimp paste, however -- I think it improves things a lot.

While not a "hot dog" place, has anyone been to Mandler's yet? They are supposed to have some pretty kick-ass european style sausages there. The bratwurst on the onion roll is supposed to be the best in the city right now.

Tofu can be a critical element to the enjoyment of a number of Asian dishes, like Ma Po Dofu or Tofu Nyonya (A spicy Malaysian preparation of tofu with ground pork and fresh basil and chiles). But personally, I enjoy it the most where it plays partner to meat. It takes very well to sauces and gravies that are meat seasoned. On its own, its totally uninteresting. Malaysia as it happens is one of those countries that has a lot of dishes with heavy vegetable content, and uses tofu, but has very little in the ways of dishes that are actually vegetarian, because virtually every vegetable dish contains some sort of dried or fermented fish (such as belacan or dried shrimp) or uses ground pork to season the dish in some way.

Ah, Pastrami King in New Hyde Park? A frequent haunt during my formative years in Great Neck. Yes, very good dogs.

They are good dogs, but its pointless to eat anything else there other than Pastrami and their kasha knishes. You don't schlep down to the LES for hot dogs. The dogs are there basically if you drag a kid with you and they don't want Pastrami. Now if you are going to go on an adventure for hot dogs.. may I suggest the original Nathan's on Coney Island.

Papaya King predates Gray's Papaya by like 40 years (1932). Gray's (1972) is the interloper and many say to be only a shadow of Papaya King. Personally I don't find there to be a huge difference between the two although some say the Gray's papaya drink is not as good as PK's. They both use the same type of dogs, made by Marathon in NJ (Sabrett). Gray's has the distinction of being the cheapest or best value meal in Manhattan, because you can get two dogs and a papaya drink for like $2.50.

Caramelized onion is also a key ingredient in Kasha Varnishkes. It also goes great in Potato Kugel. A gallon bag of onions is basically going to reduce to 16oz or less of caramelized onion, which will be enough for a recipe of each. I would advise if you are going do do the above, do it immediately after cooking a chicken stock and reserve the chicken fat that coagulates (schmaltz) for cooking the onions. Theres nothing quite like the taste of caramelized onions cooked in chicken (or duck) fat to add to a traditional Ashkenaze dish.

Because vegetarian food is perceived as bland. There's also the general aversion to meat substitutes like Tofu and TVP. Obviously, it doesn't have to be (much of India's cuisine is vegetarian, as is a lot of Middle Eastern cuisine) but that is the general perception.

Soupe L'Oignon Gratinee. Naturally. I don't beleive it would suffer from chopped versus sliced.