TAPrice

Hmm..maybe the 1/2 tablespoon measure is a rarity. I've never surveyed measuring spoons. I've got two sets at home. One has a 1/2 tablespoon measure on the other doesn't. Although I understand the argument that scaling up an individual drink would change it, do you think scaling up a recipe to make multiple drinks at once changes the taste of the individual cocktail? I guess if we agreed on that (and I've got no opinion on the matter at the moment), then there would be even less of argument for using ratios as a standard for recipes.

It's not that I object to the cheapness---well, actually I do. I love to work with jiggers and have a set of three. They're physically satisfying to hold and I love the ritual of tipping them into the shaker. I'm clearly not all about practicality in my home bar, because--although I love my measuring spoon for 1/4 ounce measure--it bothers me that the spoon is blue plastic and not metal. But seriously, my problem with the OXO measure is that it's hard to read (we're talking about the miniature measuring cup with the sloping side that so that you can read it from above, right?). Try measuring a 1/4 oz of clear liquid and tell me it's easy. I agree that anything beyond a simple drink can become a complicated mess of ratios. I wonder, though, if maybe we shouldn't think of two kinds of recipes. There are recipes designed for basic consumers who want to create the drink (or anything, really) straight from the text. For this group, it seems to make more sense to use common measurements and replace 1/4 oz with 1/2 tablespoon (or even 1.5 teaspoons), etc. For a more sophisticated audience, perhaps ratios work better but with the author suggesting his or her preferred size for the base ratio (e.g. "where 1=1 ounce"). You might need to actually translate the ratios to make the drink. Edit: I'm not much of a baker, but I understand that there is a similar breakdown between baking recipes for home cook (writing in absolute measures) and recipes for professionals (written in ration or percentages, not sure).

Along the same subject, why do cookbooks always insist on writing cocktail recipes for four. It's alarming to run a across a recipe that measures the spirit in cups (even if it's a fraction). I see this a lot in restaurant cookbooks. Is it just a quirk of cookbook writing that all portions must be for at least four people?

Why is it that cocktail recipes almost exclusively use ounces? When I see a recipe written with teaspoons and tablespoons, I can guess that it came from a cook and not a mixologist. I understand that it's easier to see ratios between ingredients when everything uses the same measurement. Is this the reason? What got me thinking about this was the insistence of using 1/4 oz measures in recipes. At first, I struggled to measure 1/4 ounce. I squinted at little shot glasses measures. I bought one of the silly OXO sloping measures (am I the only person who doesn't like that measuring cup?). Finally, though, I realized that 1/4 oz is also 1/2 a tablespoon (I know, I 'm slow). Now it's easy to measure 1/4 oz, because measuring spoons are good at portioning out such small amounts. Do the English have different size jiggers, because a UK ounce is not the same as a US ounce? Do you make adjustments when using a UK drink recipe? Are there metric jiggers in the rest of the world?

Alas, Louisiana will not have an official state cocktail. James Gill, the local paper's sharp tongued British op-ed writer, had this to say:

Is it just me, or are these clichés more prevalent on the dessert menu? Is this because most restaurants don't have pastry chefs and don't put enough thought into dessert?

Not only is this passé, but it makes me a little queasy. I just don't believe restaurants handle raw fish as carefully as a sushi bar.

With Pampy off to the pen, the deep fryers has stop bubbling forever at Pampy's: You can read full article from the Times-Picayune here.

Here is a not to be missed item: Desserts from Flour Power. Always the highlight of the fest for me. These desserts are killer. I'm insisting that my wife get me a birthday cake from here this year. Here is the homepage. Flour Power isn't listed on the FQF website, but I just called the bakery and their voicemail says that they'll be there. You've also got to admire a bakery that clawed its way back to life in Chalmette. Imagine all the press you've read about flooding in the Lower 9th Ward, add a few more feet of water and that pretty much describes the situation in Chalmette.

Here is a link to all the food at the festival: click. Here are some quick picks (not exhaustive recs, just restaurants I like or dishes I remember from previous years): Bennachin: anything. Ted's Frostop: Cajun meat pies. Jacques-Imo's: duck po-boy. Muriel's: crawfish and goat cheese crepe. The Alibi: Barbeque shrimp (this is a bar off Bourbon street--last week I had some killer BBQ shrimp from them at the St. Bernard crawfish festival--nice shrimp and finished with fresh basil and rosemary). Tujague's: beef brisket with horseradish sauce (don't miss this one). Vaucresson Sausage: hot sausage po-boy. And Abita beer everywhere...

Moderator note: After I suggested to NYC Mike that French Quarter Fest would be good for kids (and it would be!), this thread became mainly about the fest. It made more sense to make that a separate thread: French Quarter Fest

Moderator note: this topic was split off from "New Orleans with Kids". Are you talking about the weekend of April 12? That's French Quarter Festival, which might be easier to manage with kids than Jazz Fest. It's not as hard to get in and out of as Jazz Fest, so you can easily come and go--or retreat to an air conditioned restaurant if necessary. Most of the music is set along the river or at small stages in the Quarter. The food, and that's what really matters, is in front of the cathedral and along the river. Overall, the food isn't as high quality as at Jazz Fest, but there is some good stuff out there. More local restaurants participate in French Quarter festival than in Jazz Fest, so you can get a taste of items that appear on the regular menus around town. And while at Jazz Fest all but one vendor sells swill (i.e. Miller Lite), French Quarter fest this year is sponsored by the Abita Brewery. If this is the weekend you're coming, then I could look at food vendors and offer some specific recs.

It is indeed. I find myself agreeing almost 100% with Mimi Sheraton's views. Paul Levy has this idea of going into a restaurant, announcing himself to the chef, and saying, "Show me the best you can do." This isn't just a Europe/USA divide, as Steve Plotnicki has the same idea.Now, what these folks don't realize—or what they willfully ignore—is that we can't all do that. If Frank Bruni dines under his own name and asks for Jean-Georges Vongerichten's best, he is going to get something different than if I ask for it. It might be entertaining to read about what is theoretically possible, but in a review I'm more interested in knowing what I'll actually get if I dine there. ← Sheraton says that she sometimes visited restaurants up to 10 times. I seem to remember Reichl saying that she occasionally would visit even more. I just don't understand why so many visits would ever be necessary. Sure, in the ideal world more visits would always be better. But surely the returns diminish severely after three visits. After three visits, what information does the critic lack to write a honest evaluation of the restaurant in 1,000 words? And why would it sometimes take 7 more visits to get that information? I know Sheraton sometimes drops by, so perhaps will hear from her. Anyone else have an idea?

I wouldn't count on most bars being able to make a decent sazerac in New Orleans. Pretty much any good restaurant, though, will mix you a good one. It's one of the most popular pre-dinner drinks. I doubt too many restaurants in other states would even recognize the name. Like you, though, I wonder if this is a mixed blessing. Will we see all kinds of bad sazeracs sold to tourists? If it passes, will the frozen daiquiri machines on Bourbon Street starting selling a sazerac flavor?

I hadn't heard of Conecuh Ridge Whiskey, the official spirit of Alabama, before reading that list. Guess Alabama and Louisiana will be the only states officially celebrating alcohol. Here is summary of a very long Wikipedia article on the drink:

Has there ever been a move towards this labeling of food origin of restaurant ingredients at the national level? If that was the original plan, how did it get derailed?

Forget state birds and rocks. If all goes well, the sazerac will soon be the official cocktail of Louisiana. Here is a brief article on the move to make this official: Times Picayune: Official State Cocktail Would this make Louisiana the only state to have an official state cocktail? What would be appropriate for other states? Perhaps we can start a grassroots movement across the nation.

Not sure I understand the instructions here. So I cut a lime in half. This gives two halves. I grill both the cut side and the skin side?

The issue of supply is complicated. My sense is that they would like to sell more and believe that the local product is superior. If consumers don't know when they're eating local, then it's hard to market the local product at a premium (it will never be as cheap as the Chinese). While there is some wild harvesting, there is also a significant amount of aquaculture (I don't know the breakdown between the two). In Louisiana, farming crawfish is an environmentally sound practice (the don't take feed, the often are harvested on flooded rice fields). Outside of Louisiana, farming is an environmental hazard. The Louisiana red swamp crawfish, the species farmed almost everywhere in the world, is invasive and can destroy other species and their food sources when they escape. No big deal in Louisiana, where they're part of the ecosystem. I haven't heard much about damage to China, but the red swamp crawfish has had a really bad impact on Spain. Edit: Here is a link to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch on the environmental issues.

I don't know about that. The flood of cheap Chinese imports a few decades ago was well documented. People know how much cheaper the imports are. Maybe they assume some restaurants are using them. I just don't know how aware the average consumer is today. I spoke to the author's legislative aide this morning. She said it was aimed at informing consumers at restaurants, although as written it also applies to festivals. I think it's fair to say that in Louisiana the concern with origin of seafood isn't confined to high-end consumers. We're also talking about a rather large industry in the state. When buying from a retail seafood store, yes it's easy to tell. Live crawfish, which are used for boils, are always local. The pre-peeled and packaged tails that are most commonly used for cooking dishes have to be labeled for retail sale. In a mom and pop restaurant, or any restaurant, it would be hard to know. Perhaps nearly impossible.

In the Louisiana legislative session that just started, House Bill 266 proposes that any restaurant or establish selling crawfish imported from abroad must notify customers of the country of origin. I've got no idea if this will pass, and it might be in a very different form by the time it does (there is talk of including shrimp). If you want to see the bill as currently proposed, click on this pdf. Do any other states have similar labeling laws? Do people think this is a good idea? Will it unfairly penalize restaurants and vendors who don't use local? Do customers have a right to know?

I was really happy to see in an ad for Willie Mae's that Kerry is also hosting some music at the restaurant. Last time I was there (pretty recently), that neighborhood was still largely empty. Doing some shows is just another way of getting some life back to the neighborhood. And that was really the idea behind everyone helping. Trying to restore an anchor to the neighborhood. If it can be more than just a restaurant, all the better. The more activity that goes on at Willie Mae's, the better anchor it will be.

My hunch is that the Spanish are raising red swamp crawfish (Procambarus clarkii), which is the Louisiana variety. That's what the farms in China raise for a variety of reasons. Any idea where the crayfish farming takes place? How are crayfish sold in the Spanish seafood markets? In Louisiana people will only buy them live (for boiling) or peeled and parboiled (for dishes). I still don't understand how peeled Spanish crayfish could come in so much cheaper than the Louisiana product. Around here, people cite the labor cost of hand peeling as the reason for the high price. I just can't imagine that Spanish labor costs would be much cheaper (and then you add the weak dollar into the mix).

I live in Louisiana, and crawfish (you might call them crayfish, but you'd be wrong ) is a big deal. I've been hearing that restaurants have been recently, over the last few years, buying Spanish crawfish. As an import it's supposed to be superior to the Chinese product and closer to the Louisiana product. How big is the Spanish crawfish industry? They're able to undercut the Louisiana product on price. And that I can't quite figure out. Between the weakness in the dollar and, I'm assuming, regulation on a minimum wage, where do they get the labor to hand peel crawfish?

Cancel your dinner reservations at the Windsor Court. The management "eliminated" Sonnier's position yesterday. It's just hotel food now.