JasonZ

as always, wonderful recipes, gorgeous pictures ... when is the cookbook being published? Regards, Jason

Absolutely ... in additon to the wines of Virginia (which I've tried and liked while vacationing in the Shenandoah), Pennsylvania has some very drinkable wine. My local winery is in SE PA, the Chadd's Ford winery (in -- where else? -- Chadd's Ford), but Bucks County has some good ones as well ... CSA, local food, slow food -- all come from the same principle -- local foods represent the best of the terroir ... and the best value for money you can get.

I grew up in Boston, MA, when the Sunday "Blue Laws", originally established by the Puritans in the colonical Massachusetts Bay Colony, were still in effect (1630s to the 1970s -- no, I wasn't there for the WHOLE period ). As a matter of fact, I believe the law making it illegal to laugh or play a violin within the Boston city limits has yet to be repealed (I can see it now: HEADLINE: "Boston Symphony string section carted off to jail ...."). When New Hampshire malls were allowed to be open on Sunday, the effect on Boston's business ... and on its merchants, was amazing. Blue laws were history very quickly, to everyone's benefit. I am a firm believer in the freedom of consumers and of merchants to choose when they will shop (when they will be open for business) and when/if they will celebrate the Sabbath, according to whatever religion they choose to observe. Merchants and their employees should be able to determine how they address that issue. I suspect the City's role in this comes from the historical fact that the Reading Terminal was a municipally owned building, part of whatever the predecessor to SEPTA was called ... for all I know, the City may still own the building and have leased it out to the RTM developers to create both the Convention Center and the RTM. In that sense, the City may be representing us on the Corporation as the ultimate stakeholders of the facility ... and hopefully representing us (a very diverse us!!) in whatever deliberation will happen to determine whether Sunday openings, currently an experiment, are made permanent. I agree that if the PLCB stores, all the fast food joints, and most of the shopping locations in greater PHL are open on Sunday, it makes no sense to force the RTM to be closed ... but the choice of the vendor to be there or not, on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday based on the religion of the shop owners and their employees, must also be respected. I'd rather have RTM open and half the vendors there than an all or none situation.

If these are the 3 lb bags of tuna steaks (usually 6 steaks), caught off the coast of Viet Nam, flash frozen, and cryovac'ed, they are as fresh as they come, but the defrosting process and then grilling, etc, is guaranteed to give you dry, tasteless meat. My alternative (and it also is a reply to the poster who originated this topic) is to use a braising technique, baking in lots of liquid or steaming, ie, wet heat cooking. My favorite recipe is from a now defunct magazine, Simply Seafood, for Maltese Baked Tuna ... and I just happen to have posted the recipe elsewhere: Maltese Baked Tuna (originally from Simply Seafood) Tell me what you think and if it's good enough, I'll post it in eGullet Recipes as well. Regards, Jason

Kevin, every summer Albertson's Cooking School does a 6 week, 6 session "grilling" course. This year, at least 2 of the instructors (well known chefs in the Philadelphia area) used squash, as well as eggplant, on the grill and yes, they can be cooked through (and take on a wonderful nutty flavor) without burning. Key to getting it right is the thickness of the cut. At least one chef uses the whole squash, cutting off the two ends, then using a spoon to remove the central core -- the slices look like pineapple slices or donuts, but allow you to use the whole veg. Regards, Jason

Hi MsPhoebe: Like you, I am still learning, but I can contribute on occasion. In this case, there are recipes for "everyday" broth and for "superior" broth in a number of recipe standards. The one I use is from Chinese Chicken Cookbook by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo and San Yan Wong. In using store bought broth or bouillon cubes, be very careful of the sodium content. It can be exceedingly high (always buy "low sodium" versions if possible) and can become higher if you simmer for any period of time and further concentrate your broth. Regards, Jason

there is a series of books published by Globe Pequot Press on regional Country Inns and B&B's. It's designed more for people wanting to find a place to stay, but it also rates the food at those establishments that provide meals. The only issue is that B&Bs usually only provide food for guests ... but their asessments are quite good. I regret to say my only other source are magazines, especially those with a travel section: Gourmet, Saveur, etc. Regards, Jason

Website address has changed. You can find them at Max and Me Catering Website. Regards,

Jason: What is the book you are referencing? Is it one you would recommend? Regards, JasonZ

So ... disclosures first. Medical doctor. Senior management (20 years' experience) with a large pharma company. Responsible for (among other things) scientific review and approval of all abstracts, posters, manuscripts relating to cardiovascular, metabolic, endocrine, neuro (both psychiatric and non-psyciatric) products. Real-world experience with statistics and extensive stats group to teach me when I don't know (which in stats is often ). I also believe that the more we have to rely on fancy statistical analyses, the more likely we are to be mislead by some hidden confounding or misleading factor ... simple is good. The comment that "association does not mean causality" is 100% correct, as is the observation that there are multiple other factors present that are also at this point associated with cancer. Still, we know that excess or exogenous hormones can produce tumors in humans (go look at the studies of hormone replacement therapy and the association [corrected for obesity, smoking, family history] of hormone levels in the medication and incidence of tumors, primarily in hormone-sensitive reproductive organs). In the meantime, my mother (95) never ate beef more than once a month, but we had chicken weekly. My daughter (17) is a vegetarian (lacto-ovo), who now occasionally eats chicken and fish -- she spent two years with a very bad cook at school, whose idea of vegetarian was ... enough to convert her. So the women in my life have already reduced their beef intake dramatically. I wish we had the option to choose "organic, no hormones"beef, but that isn't a choice for many Americans who shop in mega-chain grocery stores rather than butcher shops ... and in any case, we often raise corn-fed cattle, which implies they are treated with antibiotics (at the least) on an industrial scale. As for me (male), I recently decided to drastically reduce my beef intake (and previously my intake was moderate and organic/no anitbiotics/no hormones) based on reading Michael Pollen's "The Omnivore's Dilemma". I have no religious, ethical, or moral qualms about killing animals or plants (they're alive too!) for food ... but I do have qualms about eating something that is designed to shorten my life and reduce my quality of life for years before I die. I am trying to gradually reduce the beef intake of my son (14), who is addicted to short ribs and BBQ in general, but who fortunately has never enjoyed fast-food hamburgers (he goes for the chicken -- not sure that's such a great improvement!!). My brother is doing the same, both for himself and for his wife and daughter. Practically speaking, it may take decades until we have the studies and statistical power to sort out the contribution of all the various potential factors -- we simply have to make the decision based on what our gut tells us (no pun intended ) and wait to see if science confirms our decision (further disclaimer: discuss with your own physician or nutitionist ...). Yes, we all have to die eventually and moderation is a good thing, but we should consider which risks we are willing to take and which ones aren't worth the pleasure. As for 1.5 servings of beef per day, remember that Americans often put away in one sitting several "servings" -- ever gone to Ruth Chris' or Lone Star and watched someone put away a 16-22 oz porterhouse? I think the standard nutritional "serving" for pork and beef is 3-4 ounces, so that's about 4-7 servings at one sitting ... or (averaged over a week), approximately 1 servings/day from one meal. Add a Big Mac or two (each quarter pounder is one serving), or one weekly serving of "Beef with Orange Sauce" (with left overs) and you're there ... 1.5 servings/week!! That's why we're a nation dying of obesity and diabetes, not just heart disease and cancer ... ... we have the ability to control this if we want ...

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I've seen the previews and it looked interesting ... but the eGullet and TIFF reviewes really help. It's moved from my "Will Ferrel -- Taledega Nights? You've got to be kidding!!" to my "Let's go see this film" list ... Regards,

Might want to try Davio's (11th? and Chestnut; Northern Italian + steakhouse) or Roy's (15th & Sansome; Pan Pacific) ... both are in former bank buildings, so the environment is cool (wood, marble; high ceilings; indirect light), not stuffy, very good food, quiet; eclectic enough that your friend's tastes should find a match on the menu. Pasion (15th between Sansome and Walnut) fits the bill as well. Just decide soon (the next 15 minutes) and call to see who can seat you ... if this is for tomorrow night!!

Sad to say, this is not limited to UK. Among the US "upper crust set", the same is true, along with detailed stool reports ... what will these children grow up to be ... and when will their parents grow up? Peter Pan ... gone horribly, horribly wrong ...

Add flavor to taste ... I suppose if your tongue is divided into regions for each taste element ... this is what you get when you have a forked tongue!!!

Don't know how far you want to travel, but if you stay in the Bala-Narberth area, you have two good Japanese restaurants -- Ginza and Fuji Mountain. I'd travel a bit further (Berwyn, up Route 30/Lancaster Ave about 20 minutes) and go to Nectar ... fabulous lunch. Another alternate (St. David's/Radnor) is the new Fleming's Steakhouse. You could also always go across the river to Manyunk ... a new place, just opened, is Marco Tarantino's Trattoria (partnered with Alberto's from Newtown Square) -- we tried it last week with Albertson's Cooking School and the food was awesome. ETA: marinade has just posted Carmine's is moving, so you may want to check whether January will be possible -- he'll have more space, but may be going through the "just moved in blues" ... Regards, JasonZ

I haven't read the Science paper yet (will in about an hour), but heard BBC World News (on NPR) do a 20 min piece on this. Fat Guy has a good point, but we need to extend it: while there is National Regulation, fish don't recognize national boundaries and water claims ... until there is coordinated International Regulation, both limiting the catch of adolescent fish and the total quantity removed, we will have large commercial floating factories moving offshore and ignoring any local regulations. Farming fish is an ancient (the Chinese have done it for millenia) and excellent solution ... provided the farmers raise these fish in a natural manner. Feed that contains hormones, vitamins, and ground unnatural products [eg, land animal remains] results in farm raised fish with an off taste and unknown future health issues. Most of us can recognize farmed salmon from fresh, by color and by taste. We can't recognize it by taste, but farmed salmon raised in warm water has far less Omega-3 and Omega-6 than does cold water fish (if you can, choose Norwegian or Canadian raised salmon over Louisiana salmon, for that reason). Sea farming, like land farming, needs to focus on crops that do well in their locale and climate ...

Guess what is on the "closeouts" list at Jessica's Biscuit, item 04729? 04729 La Mia Cucina Toscana : A Tuscan Cooks in America by Luongo, Pino Published: October 2003 2004 James Beard Award Nominee for Photography Price: $12.98 List: $40.00 You Save: $27.02 (67%)

Sichuan peppercorns are no longer a problem in the US. Someone finally educated the Food & Drug Administration ... or they flip-flopped again. I'm buying as many bags as I can ... Do you know if Fuschia's Hunan book is available in the US ... I live on her Sichuan book!! Edited to add: Never mind, answered my own question -- Amazon.co.uk has had it available since early August 2006, while Amazon.com (the US website) lists availability at end February 2007. Interesting pricing, also -- GBP 16.50 (originally, now GBP 23.15 for outside sourcing) vs. USD 19.77 -- far more expensive in the UK, even factoring in shipping and customs. In fact, Amazon US offers both her books together for what the new one would cost me if I ordered from Amazon UK ...

I hope you find the "best sushi" in PHL, whatever that may be ... and I know your friend will appreciate the effort you've gone to, to find just the right space to celebrate his/her birthday. But I think the search for "best" or "perfect" or "authentic" isn't complicated because individuals aren't expert ... it's because whether the food is conceptually "simple" like sushi (immaculately fresh fish with vinegared, seasoned rice, perhaps wrapped in nori), or more complex, like regional Chinese cuisine, individual tastes and individual understanding of what constitutes "best" can vary -- that's why there are opinions on eGullet. See "Authenticity in Chinese regional variation" for a great discussion in an area where you think there is less ambiguity ... ... enjoy the birthday and remember -- it's the thought and effort that counts ...

Hi Kent: When you say there is some bone to work around, I assume there is a spinal column and ribs. What is proper etiquette? do you pick up a piece with chopsticks, put in in your mouth and essentially nibble or suck the flesh off the bone, then (daintily ) remove the bones and put them aside on your plate, or do you attempt to free the flesh from the bone on your plate before lifting anything to your lips?

NorthStar Orchards is at several other markets, including the West Chester Growers' Market, Church St & Chestnut St, Sat 9-1. This Saturday will be the last day of the NorthStar Fruit Explorer's Club, their CSA coop group ... they will be at West Chester through at least Dec 2nd. They are offering bulk purchase of Asian pears & apples (1/2 bushel or bushel only) and butters ... contact them by email (northstarorchard@aol.com) for details. I'm going in with a few friends on 1/2 bushel (= 20 lbs, for $35). I've also asked them about allowing Fruit Explorer members to pick up at Rittenhouse ... there aren't enough members apparently to make that a possibility, so if you're interested in the Club (for details see North Star Orchards Fruit Explorers' Club), let them know if you'd like to be able to pick up in CC PHL ...

Indeed, multiple sources ... Obviously, both eBay and amazon.com have used books as well as new ... and sometimes someone wants to get rid of just the treasure you want!! My favorite used book source is Alibris, which is a general source for all subjects and handles new as well as used books. They are a prime source for many university and private libraries, as well as individuals and can get specific editions as well as autographed copies. Alibris links to many independent sellers, so it's quite a wide network. On the negative side, you may find that five different books are being shipped from 5 different source ... and the shipping charge reflects that -- check the invoice for total price before you click "OK". If the book is still in print, you may want to check Jessica's Biscuit, a very large, cooking only, source -- they often will discount heavily books no longer in the "current" marketplace, and you may be able to find a new book for the price you would pay for used. IMHO, I usually reserve Bookfinder, for antiquities and rarities, since they link to multiple specialist, independent book sellers. I've found I pay more here than at Alibris, but then, by the time you get to this level, you're clearly looking for something unusual.

Janet Clarkson (screen name "The Old Foodie") is also an eGulleteer ... and a very informative poster! Regards, JasonZ

Hi Peony: Ah Leung had a recent thread on potstickers, in which one post showed the most elegant pleating method I've seen ... the posting is HERE Hope that helps. Thanks to yimay, who posted the original and who demonstrated the pleating method. Regards, JasonZ