Carrot Top

Yeah. Ridiculous how good you have made the food look. And Maine, too. You may have accomplished the near-impossible. You have made the idea of visiting my relatives look appealing. Beautiful blog.

Just looked up russ' terms for my own edification. pundit- 1. A source of opinion, a critic. 2. Learned person. tyro- 1. A beginner in learning something. Hmmm.

It can happen to the best of us.

Right. To divide the thing into different, tighter categories makes it easier to discern and decide.

I was hoping you would chime in, Rogov. And I am in agreement with what you say here. Admittedly, the starting point of this question for me was not set in the place of people like the writers you named who have given proof of their level of expertise in the form of a book or other writings. The starting point was in thinking about "the average person" who expounds within the form of this new method of mass communication, the internet. And the question was specifically raised in my mind in thinking of websites where anyone can write in and post their own version of what is right or what is wrong with the meal at the restaurant they ate at last night. It seemed to me that, depending on the person and the tone of course, a person who chooses to communicate their opinion on a thing through the mass media of the internet must be fairly well assured as to their expertise on the subject. Therefore my question. "Are we all experts on food?" I can see it both ways. As someone who has the ultimate respect for anyone elses taste whether it be for canned spagetti or for foie gras, I can say that "to each his own" and that each person certainly knows their own tastes best. But then again, as an ex-chef, I can grow somewhat hot under the collar when reading opinions on a meal posted in the mass media by "just the average guy" who seems to think that they are an expert, just because they eat. Therefore. . .the question. You know I like to talk.

I didn't take your answer as a put-down. The entire subject is rather amusing to me. Lots about it makes me laugh, for tilt it one way or another and it can look quite silly, sometimes satiric, sometimes nonsensical. Sometimes life looks like a Marx Brothers movie to me. Quite often.

Well, actually let me take one part of that back. *If* the relationship between guest and host *is* like dating (who am I to say it is not, it may be so between whoever it is. . .in a conceptual sense ) then trouble is surely bound to ensue rather quickly. For one of the parties wants to have sex, and as quickly as possible. Usually isn't guaranteed that the other party wants the same thing in the same way at the same time. All sorts of problems can arise if the relationship is shaped like that and the time span is one meal.

Sorry to sound all sort of soft about this thing, but really there is something about the relationship between the person that puts food on the table as host (whether for financial profit or not) and the guest at the table that causes it to fall more into a category slightly higher than the usual buyer/seller contractual relationship. This is going to sound even sillier perhaps, but the relationship is more exalted at best. It is about service on the part of the host, hospitality. . .raised to an artform if it can be. Now this does not mean white tablecloths and fine china, though if the situation demands that style, then that style it should be. It is something about . . .really turning oneself inside out so as to not be about one's own ego when serving the guest, but to be as much as humanly possible about moving the guest through food and service to a place where time and worries dissolve, to a place where pleasure and comfort reign. In this relationship, the host wants to bring the guest to a heaven on earth. In that sense, the relationship is sacred to the host, and that is why it is difficult for those who try to do it well to speak of this "contract" as if it were something where the guest "owes" certain profane obligations. That turns the relationship into something less than what it could be. It demeans it in a way, it profanes it. The relationship is nothing like dating. Let me not get started on that one. Finally, there are guests who do not belong at this table. . .they have a disrespect for the thing that the host is trying to do. They do not comprehend it at all. Lots of people do not understand lots of things in life that go beyond the simple and blunt and grimy. Their loss. They will never experience that thing that can happen when a host manages to create the perfect theatre of life, food, and hospitality that will make a coming to table for a dining experience. . .a small bit of heaven on earth. . .in that brief slice of time.

Area that is displaced by superior knowledge, you mean? This morning I came across a phrase that sounded just like what russ wrote earlier ("an expert is someone who knows more than you do") (Not that it has any specific ties to this thread but anyway. . . ) It is from Gore Vidal. "A narcissist is someone better looking than you are". Is the "expert" thing something that exists on its own, or only in relationship I wonder. And what are the determinants of that relationship. . does it flow from the expert or does it flow from the "other"? As ladyyoung noted, this is likely one of those questions where there is no right or wrong. I am just fascinated with the slippery nature of reality that this thing has, though, this thing of "expert". One would hope to be able to find some determinants. In other fields "expertise" is generally determined by knowledge, but that knowledge needs to have a formal shape to be considered valid in being called "expert". This knowledge could be in the shape of measureable studies undertaken that can be tested as to thoroughness. . .or work-related experience that would make for proof of the pudding. Yet in the field of food, is this true? Everyone considers themselves to be expert, at least so far as their own food goes. And that viewpoint is something they carry into the world everyday, as they make their judgements on "how the restaurant did" with their meal or "whether the offerings at the grocery store are good", etc. etc. Food. . .always slides so quickly into the areas of emotion, personal taste, upbringing. . .fascinating. Are we all experts?

Definitely. Unless the expert is a bullshit artist. But then of course, your proposal could still remain a good one, for a good bullshit artist is often very entertaining.

I love that line. Particularly if I read it as if to take it personally. Yes, but the "you" is never static, is it? So. . .being an expert is dependent on having a good number of people around who know LESS about something than the person who owns the superior knowledge at that particular time in that particular place.

Two very good answers given in the past four days. With one hundred thirty eight "views". It leaves me wondering what others would answer, if they happened to be interested in the subject in any way. I had a dream the other night. One person posed this question to another. They were both indistinct people in the dream, so I can not put any definition on who they were. . . One said, "What makes you such an expert?" The other answered, "Because I said so!" End of dream. Wish I had more to tell you.

I am tempted to shout out "Food Fight! Food Fight!" But knowing this crowd, rather than slinging the foods across the cafeteria, we'd all start asking for a bite instead. The other way is better for keeping the calories off, but. . .hmmm. Yes, please, a tot of Whiskey, a bite of haggis, a mouthful of an Indian dessert. . .with stories told while we eat of the histories of all these things? That sounds good to me.

Just as "There is more than one way to skin a rabbit", there is more than one way to strangle a priest. An amusing topic for thought. ....................................................... And I must agree with you about Indian desserts. Those nine-out-of-ten Scotsmen obviously must be Heathens. Or perhaps their faculties have been affected by the whiskey(?)

Well, a pipe dream perhaps it was, for me to think of. I like pipe dreams, though, and adore the idea of small independent businesses. It seems that many small businesses have gone under due to tightening regulations of all sorts (I am not saying this is "bad" just that it "is") and now there will be the extra pressure of higher gas prices. Not easy. But it does sound good that your particular customers are loyal and happy. It would be so wonderful if this thing, this gas price thing, did create niche businesses though. One must just hope.

If your sales of food have been rising regardless of the price increases, then obviously there is a good and solid demand for the product. Seems to me that this makes for an opportunity for some local person to start a business providing kosher meats closer to home. ........................................................ About forty years ago, my uncle. . .(who had gone to vet school on the G.I. Bill then worked at a poultry business -when I say poultry business I mean chicken farm - in rural Maine where he grew up). . .decided that something was missing that would be an asset to the farm. What that was, was a local source of the antibiotics that were fed to chickens (along with other various things that poultry needed that had to be made in a lab). He started that lab in his hometown, in central Maine. That was even considered to be more in the middle of nowhere than it is now. The only single thing that he was doing "different" (at first, although later he did develop his own lab products) had to do with location, location, location. Being the local source. Quelle business, let me tell you. Mucho dinero ahi. He eventually sold the business to "The Japanese" and stayed on as a consultant. Nothing wrong with making the most of what might seem to be a difficulty, but which actually can be an opportunity. Almost every cloud has its silver lining, if someone takes the time to turn it around and shape it.

Well said, in my opinion. And I agree, even though I am a mother of two and it would be an easier world if children were not children sometimes. But they are. And there are places that they will not belong until they are not.

Not from embarrassment, surely. A hot summer's day in Naples can be a tad overwhelming . . . ← It would depend on the preacher, it is to be imagined. The heat? Embarrassment? Shock? Perhaps. . .pleasure? These things are all so inextricably entwined, particularly in religious types.

I agree with you, rich. This is going to be a real problem for many people, many families, many businesses including the restaurant business. Many people live on stretched budgets already, and many people have developed a great dependence on credit. As I listened to a lecture today on the economic conditions that led to the "Enlightenment" in Europe before the French Revolution, many of the criteria seemed the same. . .the commoner was not making enough money to survive. . .credit stepped in. . .and one would live one's life in some sort of debt-induced servitude without escape. Looking around now, it seems spookily the same but for the fact that we have tons of cheap junk food to eat and lots of cars and lots of clothes, but instead of thinking "We've got to start a revolution to get out of this situation", we ("we") think; "How nice this all looks. . .let me get another credit card. Obviously, our society will have to re-balance. Carpooling? More mass transit? People deciding to live near where they work? "Just saying "No" "? But gosh, we drive around all day! To work, to shop, kids to soccer practice. . .! I do know that when I moved house this past June, the moving company had raised its rates substantially from a year before, claiming that gas prices had taken too much toll on their profits.

A tank of gas for me has risen from about $35. to about $72. within the last two years or so. What that does to me when I fill up the tank is to say to myself, "If I'm going out to eat tonight, it will be somewhere close to home." In a best-case scenario, this crisis could bring the idea of opening more and better restaurants in more areas rather than "the usual" areas. . .perhaps a bit more dispersement geographically. Well, yeah. That's best-case scenario.

Maybe right now would be the best time to make a notation of the dish "Iman Bayeldi" (?) Translation: The Preacher Fainted.

What a gorgeous octopus that is, Lucy! It is beaming with freshness. As you mentioned in the link, when you can find it, it can be much cheaper than squid. Actually, I prefer the texture of octopus to squid in a salad. . .a bit more toothy. . .but less toothy than say, whelk. (Which definitely does need pounding at the dock! ) Octopus is one of those things like. . .okra, say. Or. . .pigs feet maybe. You either love it or you don't.

http://www.parsonspickles.co.uk/pickled.html Now why do I feel like singing a nursery rhyme?

Why am I thinking that mussels are something that might be pickled to good result? Has anyone ever done this? I would imagine that with some sweet and savory tones added to the pickling liquid, such as carrot, onion, (cumin?) (cilantro?) lemon and orange zest, there's a good chance it would be excellent.

Not at all. Your forgetting your original point shows you to be a true intellectual, which I appreciate. Looking forward to reading of your adventures on holiday, which I see are posted.