Peter Green

Well, two pieces of the fish are going with me as lunch today, and the Pavlova's going to be around for a few days, I must admit. The egg yolks were from me trying to carefully cook them in boiling water in a zip loc as I'd seen done before. I gave up after the eighth one. I have way too much time on my hands, it seems.

I dunno....after many years in Asia, and having been asked "where you from", "what's your name", "How much you earn", and, my personal favourite from Saigon cyclo drivers "how much you weigh".....it doesn't seem that unfair..... (A fair question, if you can tell which country they're from, is to inquire as to which part....having come across waitresses at the Army & Navy Club in London that didn't have Seoul accents.......)

On my own again, with nothing much to do tonight except catch up on Battlestar Galactica, I figured I might as well make a mess. I've done a number of passes at fish in olive oil, generally with a lemon vinaigrette. Tonight, being lazy, I just went for a flash in hot oil to crisp the skin, and then switched to some Spanish olive oil on low, with fresh rosemary, oregano, and garlic. Overall, not too bad. Heavier, as expected, but I like the flavour of olive oil, and I served this over cous cous done up with chicken stock and some simple steamed green beans to cut the oil. Because there was a surplus of egg whites after some other egg yolk experiments yesterday, we've a mango pavlova on the go.

From a thermodynamic point of view, round wins. You'll get even heat distribution, whereas anything else is going to get messing in the corners. Anybody doing kitchen work with differential equations will agree that your boundary effects are nowhere near as big a problem with a round perimeter. Just do the math.

Hey, let's just have one best for each continent and be done with it. ← That's it! I'm gonna open an Antarctic restaurant....maybe call it Bipolar. - Salt crusted penguin - Rack of sea lion - the amuse will be a krill foam We'll sweep the category

I’ve got the menus…….. At least for the dinners. Let’s take a look at what’s coming. I won’t go into all the details, as that would just spoil things, plus, this is Thailand. You should never take anything for granted. My first dinner will be Patrizia di Benedetto from Sicily. I like the sound of the tuna fillet with a pistachio crust. There’s a lot of ricotta in the the other dishes, but I can work with that. And this’ll be in Biscotti, which is s great room when it has a buzz. Michael Ginor’s foie gras dinner will keep me occupied on Tuesday in Shintaro. Partway through he’s doing a pork belly with a miso marinated foie gras, and earlier there’s a nori-salt cured foie gras with black truffle……I wonder if we’ll get hit up by the PETA people again? Romain Fornell from Caelis in Barcelona will be Tuesday in Biscotti. His menu is fairly exclamatory, and may be the one that I’m looking forward to the most. His main will be a duckly with crispy foie gras and a reduced coffee jus. Now, as Pitak will be there from the Four Seasons in Chiang Mai, and his signature dish is Ped Ob Kafe (coffee duck) I’ll be interested in seeing what develops in the kitchen. Steven Snow is Wednesday. He’s known for his seafood from Byron Bay in Oz, and the menu reflects this with sashimi, soft shell crabs, king prawns, and Red Emperor (could that be renamed “Chairman Mao”?). I always like the Australian chefs, so this should be fun. I’ll try and get up at the bar in Shintaro for this. Thursday’s the Gala, of course, and that’s an unknown for now. I should see if I can get in early for some shots of the setup. Friday will be Susur Lee. His amuse sounds like fun – tomato water soup with lobster roll, and he’s working in Chiang Mai sausage into the menu later on. Shintaro will be a good spot for this. And Saturday will see me back in Biscotti with Roberto Donna from the US. He’s opening with an octopus carpaccio that has my attention right away, and the white truffle risotto, will, I’m sure, be worth my while. And, again, I’m beginning to make a tradition of finishing at Biscotti, so this’ll be a good end to the week for me. What am I missing? Douglas Rodriguez will be in Madison. His main will be an Argentine mixed grill, and he’ll also have a sampler of ceviche earlier on. It’ll be a good meal, but I felt that I should give Snow a try, as Doug was here in 2003. Suzanne Tracht from Jar is in Madison. She’ll have her pot roast, but I’m hoping she’ll cover this during the cooking class. I’m also missing Paul Wilson from the Botanical in Australia. He’s also heavy on seafood, but does have a really good looking “Roasted Blackmore, Pure Full Blood Mazuzaka Wagyu Sirloin and Braised Brisket with a Tart of Caramelised Shallots, Celeriac, and Truffles” as his main. And Quinces poached in spiced wine with chestnut and chocolat mousse sounds like a dessert I would enjoy. Still, we all have to make sacrifices. I realize now that I won’t be in Madison at all!….I hope they don’t think I’m avoiding the room, it’s my favourite brunch spot. I don’t do Tea, but Nicole Krasinski’s savoury items – Tea Smoked Duck, Hamachi Tartare, Wild Mushroom Financier, and Caramelized Onion-Buckwheat Dumpling with curried yogurt - may cause me to change my mind. The rose petal mousse sounds good, too. Katrina Kanetani’s turn at Tea on Saturday is cakes. Cakes, cakes, and cakes. Whole cakes – like a Valrhona Chocolate Pave; small cakes – including passion fruit Madeleines; dry cakes – Jamaican rum and coconut; and teeny tiny cakes – okay, they do call them cookies. Brownies, too. What do I see as direction for now? There’s a lot less lamb on the menu, that’s for certain. It seemed the last couple of years that every meal had a sheep in it somewhere. What I’m noticing this year is a push on wagyu, as it’s on several of the menus. There’s also more in the way of carpaccios and ceviches – although I’d noticed this last year, too. I’ll be interested in seeing the wines, once things get sorted out. I wonder if I can snag some of the Terrazas de los Andes Malbec……..

Here's the version I like, modified slightly from 2003 when Douglas Rodriguez and Michael Reidt did the Nuevo Lation class. Douglas Rodrigues opened with this: Big-Eye Tuna with Coconut Water The night before, infuse your coconut water with the standar Thai trio of lemon grass, kafir lime leaf, and galanga. Toss in some of the coconut gelatin for texture. - 1 cup coconut water (not coconut milk!) - we use a Filipino brand that's pretty good - Manila I think is the name. Check the contents carefully, as a lot of these are mainly syrup with a touch of coconut. The good ones are just coconut water with nothing else. - 1 kaffir lime leaf - julienned - 1 tbsp grated galanga - 1 stalk of lemon grass - chopped The next day, strain the coconut water and have ready. For the fish, he'd prefer something fattier - mackeral, salmon, tuna. If you go with leaner fish, you get a much chewier dish. And if you can get fish the Keller way - that is, not yanked out of the water with their muscles tensing up - then you're all the better off. Mind you, if you're buying frozen tuna, how can you tell? For the cut of the fish, you can either go for slices or cubes. Obviously, the surface area to volume ratio is going to change the final texture you get. - 1 lb of tuna (in this case) Next, in a non-reactive bowl, blend together - 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice - the infused coconut water - 2 tbsp of garlic oil (he called for 1/4 cup, but that's too much for me) - 6 pieces of Thai red chilis - the little evil ones - 1/4 cup coarsely chopped coriander/cilantro This should be good and brothy - Then add in the tuna. - add some thinly sliced red onion - gently toss the fish in the broth - You don't want this to sit for too long (in fact, you need to eat it fairly quick) - you can garnish this further with basil, spring onion, whatever, but I don't like it getting too busy. I'm fond of this when I'm back in Vancouver in the summers, there's no a/c, and I've been on a binge over at T&T Market. As long as I've had the foresight to have the infusion handy.......Yoonhi does complain that it hurts her teeth, but I like the bite. Rodriguez recommended corn - popcorn works - to counter the toothiness of the dish. As a note, the Thai and Lao use a combination of lime juice, garlic, and chilis for "cooking" fish and prawns, salted with nampla. One of my favourite dishes was the Thai "ceviche" of raw prawns (goong che nampla) that they sold at Likhit Kai Yang next to the Rachadamnoern Muay Thai stadium. Mind you, I had a lot of favourite dishes there........

Mmmmm....that's the way to do it. A good meal as a journey, with every stop a site worth the visit. I say for a meal to really work, it should be a well-scripted event, from start to conclusion, and then you don't mind in the least having been on the ride.

Mmmmm, that all looks good. I don't think you over-ordered.

Now, Shaun of the Dead...That's a food flick (beer at the Winchester, too).

Boudreaux moved from Lumiere in Vancouver to Vessel in Seattle, and there've been some posts on the stuff he's doing with cocktails there (the link is in post #3) and I'd be interested in reading how the place is working out.

I've been happily following Tupac's Eating the Boot and wishing I was out and about. Of the many dishes that caught my eye, one in particular just made so much sense I had to do it. Noodles garlic, black pepper, and cheese. The freshly crushed black peppercorns and the fried garlic came away a lot spicier than I'd expected. This had a burn on it that I love. And, it was easy to do, and easy to clean up. I feel much better now.

My daughter, Serena, will order escargot for breakfast if she can. We're divided, though, on how to serve. I love winkling them out of the shell, but she is much more a fan of ready to eat.

I happen to know a guy who had the same mindset as he began a food-and-wine-centric trip to Italy this summer. These days, he doesn't really care who questions whether or not he knows enough about wine to discuss it, as he discovered countless wines he now enjoys immensely. My point is, I'm probably not alone in thinking that we'd all love to hear about your wine experiences in Buenos Aires, regardless of how few and far between they may be. One's perspective in trying something for the first time is often infinitely more refreshing than one who fancies himself a connoisseur. Don't forget that, amigo. ← "Happen to know", Tupac? I roundly second this! If you like it, it goes well with what you eat, and it stays down, then we want to hear! We'll take any discussion on spirits, too! Dipsophilia Forever! Peter

I think what bothered me was the identity problem. The meat came out the way it should (beef, rather than pork) buttery but still with good texture. It was just that you get that "saucy" feeling of a Sichuan, and then your nose catches the basil and goes "wait a minute". Coriander would've been a better choice if I could've focused more on what I was doing, but I'm easily distracted. The ice cream with chocolate sauce made me feel better. Cheers, Peter

Prawn, My thanks too for putting out the tart recipe! For my part, tonight is a prime example of why I shouldn't be left on my own too often. I had some tenderloin that I'd cut up. I was thinking that it would go well simply stir fried with some bell peppers, onions, and pickled chillis, then hit with some Sichuan peppercorns. Fair enough. I tenderized the meat with the bean flour/papane that gets things so soft and buttery, added some soy and sesame oil, a tad of sugar, and then set to work. The problem was I had a bowl of really pretty looking fresh basil that I'd picked on the way home.......and it just looked too good not to use..... You can see where this went. I basically had a schizoid dish that couldn't figure out if it was Sichuan or central Thai. I think it was the scent of the basil with the thickness of the sauce that threw it off. Pity. At least Yoonhi's not around to tell me "I told you so"......although if she was I would've listened to her and avoided this. I think I'll console myself with ice cream. Peter

Tupac, Excellent, most excellent of trip tales! I've been working through this for days now as I eat my dinners solo at the table here at home. I loved the shooting stars, and not just the meals, but the food stores. You've got me hungry not only for food, but for being on the road again. Cheers, Peter

What? Nobody's going to go to bat for mayonaise? What would Martin Mull say?

Bachelor time. I'm waiting for the missus to call from Canada, so I might as well put up the dinner pics. Tonight it was braised lamb shank. The braise was brown chicken stock, with onions, rosemary, and carrots worked in, and then some tomato paste. Three hours in the oven, then pull it out, strain, and then add some roasted tomato and roasted garlic. Toss in some gargir (rocket), and serve with rice to pick up the sauce. And the best way to eat it? Metal chopsticks to take the meat away in tidy bits, and a spoon for the sauce. Hmmm.....phone still hasn't rung.

One of my friends just finished a stint in Nakhon Nowhere in Central Thailand. While you'd think you can get most anything in a country with tourists (and Namibia is on the tourist radar), expect to pay through the nose - when you do get into the big city. What you can bring with you up front will be a big help. I'd back up Sous' advice. Bring seeds for herbs (hopefully you don't have a black thumb like me), but check first with the Peace Corps on agricultural restrictions (generally not a concern in sub-Saharan, but you never know). Self-sufficiency is the best course of action. Otherwise, go with light, dry goods. Don't bring things that'll require continual refridgeration (they promise you a fridge. Don't count on continual power). If you can find a meat tenderizer, that'll be a help (but you can use mashed papaya, too). Bring a selection of dried herbs. If it was me, I'd also bring dried kaffir lime leaves, and 5 spices powder for some variety. Bottled stuff gets really heavy, but consider a can of soy sauce and a can of sesame oil. For equipment, bring a good sieve for your flour. Can you get a contact for someone already working on the project there? They'll be the best source of info, and you'll do them a big favour bringing something for them, too. Otherwise, relax. You should have fun with this. Lots of mortar and pestle work, and grilled meats around the fire.

This should be fun! I've some friends that spent two years in BA, too, and they dined enthusiastically while they were down there. Do talk about the wines, too. My friends rave about the Malbecs in particular they had down there, and we've been seeing the Argentines bringing their bottles to more and more of the international events. Terrazas de los Andes is going to be out at the WGF in Bangkok this year - I think they'll be featured at Douglas Rodriguez' dinners - and they've got a history with Moet & Chandon. Tell us more about the Mendoza region and what can be had!

Thanks, everyone, for some good leads. Don't worry, he won't be there until early October. I just think eating is important enough to plan ahead for. I suppose I should expect him to do some work while he's there, too.........

Oh, well. I'll ask them to give them a test before going to much work, but I suspect you're right and it may be too late. When I phoned Vancouver the other night I could hear my Mom in the background "He wants what? He can come here and fight the squirrels for them."

I'm sending a friend of mine on a business trip to Milan. He'll take a couple of days around the work to dine. What do people recommend?

Is it too late in the season? My parents have a beautiful tree in the yard (that I climbed on as a youth). My family's visiting, and they could secure some nuts still (before the "endangered/protect species, the squirrel, takes them all - rat with a bushy tail, say I). The thread looks so good that I'd think this is well worth investing a year or three in.