zeitoun

I finally made it to Yasuda last night with my wife and a friend and we all had a wonderful time. Because of a late cancellation we managed to get a seat with Yasuda-san who, and I will go into details later, really made this evening a memorable one for us. We all started the traditional way with sashimi, then moved on with sushi and finished with maki rolls. The highlight of his sashimi I thought was his various offerings of clams (sometimes from the same clam but different parts) which were absolutely fantastic and the oysters that he served with a touch of vinegar and dipped in salt. Yasuda pointed out himself that the oysters he gets from Washingotn state are only "average" but what really makes them tasty is the measured combo of vinegar and salt which he rightfully claims brings out the flavor of the oyster. For sushi, the pieces that stood out in my eyes were the gensaba ( a type of japanese mackerel), aji (horse mackerel), and the two types of freshwater eels he had which names seem to escape me. The eels were fantastic and I loved the way they were layered on the rice, with a light sprinkle of rock salt tucked in between which cracked in your mouth with each bite, absolutely lovely!! Even the tamago which i usually do not like was delicious. To echo what was already stated in this thread, what makes Yasuda-san a master of his craft is his preparation of the rice which he told us he makes himself daily, and (so he claims) he is still trying to master to perfection (one of the many signs of his respect and humility for what he does). In my eyes, Yasuda's rice is the highlight of his sushi, it was perfect in temperature, texture and seasoning. Aside from the wonderful sushi, I would recommend anyone to experience this place just to have a chance to meet Yasuda-san himself, he has quite a lovable persona and, aside from learning a whole bunch about fish, we spent most of the night talking and laughing about the most random things, from the japanese names of fish to american TV shows. At one point during the evening, a lady sitting next to us asked Yasuda-san if he had heard of the Zagat guide because it had given him a number one rating for sushi restaurants. Yasuda-san gracefully answered: "Zagawho? I don't read books, I just make sushi". I am eagerly anticipating my next visit.

Your salad looks wonderful. I would highly recommend you try goat cheese instead of blue cheese as a pairing with beets next time, it really works great too and I personaly tend to prefer regular goat cheese over blue cheese in a beet salad... I'm glad this experience made a convert out of you, I also grew up not liking beets until I first tasted homemade roasted beets, now I can't get enough of it!

Regarding the mushroom issue i would strongly discourage you to use redhydrated morels, I personaly don't like it or any other dried mushroom for that matter. You are better off using any other kind of fresh mushroom, even cheap regular button mushrooms release a wondeful aromatic juice, much better than the dried stuff. The day i made this dish I did not have morels either so for the garnish i was lucky enough to score some matsutake, it worked wonderfully. Shiitake would work great too. The "quick" duck sauce can be made without using two different stocks, I generally make it with a regular light brown stock, the deglazing in 4 steps is very easy and I strongly recommend you try it. I rarely get duck bones for a sauce so instead I use duck legs I can get at my butcher, I just make sure I get rid of all the skin before to prevent all the fat from ruining my sauce. The juices in the leg meat is also great for the sauce. I am amazed at your work so far and will keep on reading with interest!! Go Bill!!

If France has the best North African food outside of the Maghreb, I would think that the same rule applies to Lebanese food as well. It is certainly in a different class than what can be had here in the US. A few spots I would recommend in Paris are: Al Dar (in the 16th and also by St Michel) Al Diwan (Ave George V) Noura and Pavillon Noura (Ave Marceau) Fairouz (in the 15th forgot the street, Rue de Grenelle i think) Fakhreddine and Ajami (both in the 8th arr.) just to name a few... Some of these places have a "traiteur" annex such as Noura, Diwan or Al Dar which sell excellent falafel, shawarma, chick taouk or chich kebab sandwiches. They also sell lebanese pastries, nuts, mezze platters to go. In that list, I would recommend Fakhreddine and Pavillon Noura for a nice sit down lunch or dinner and Al Dar or Diwan for a quick sandwich. And if I make it to Chez Omar, i'll go all the way and visit Farid Coiffure for an Algerian buzzcut, just for the experience

Thanks all for your recommendations so far, this is extremely helpful!! Has anyone heard or been to this couscous place called Chez Omar? People I know seem to highly recommend it but I suspect it is one of those "chic" couscous places like the 404.

I will be in Paris with my wife for a few days in May, this forum has certainly provided me with a lot of information and ideas as far as fine dining and smaller neighborhood restaurants go, but i was wondering if anyone had any recommendations concerning "ethnic" foods in Paris (as in non French/Western European food) The only thing I know about "ethnic" food in Paris is where to score good Lebanese food (and it is much better than in the US!!). I've been to Barbes in the past to eat a good merguez sandwich, visited chinatown in the 13th Arr. many springs ago, and I am somewhat familar with some spots in Le Marais. Alas, my memory is fading and I would love to know where I could go exactly for good North African food (especially couscous), Vietnamese, Chinese, Senegalese etc...

You have a point there...I think I would feel the same quite honestly. But there again, I thought the same about roasted guinea pigs (a delicacy in and around Peru) until I ate my first one, and well, ummm... I really liked it!!! After this experience, I tried to comfort myself thinking that after you take off all the cute fuzzy hair on a guinea pig, you end up with something that looks like a rat, but i guess that's not comforting either now that I come to think of it....

Cool link, one recipe that caught my attention was this one: I've heard of this before but never had it, has anyone had any experinece with it before? Is it also prepared in a similar way in other countries of the Middle East?

I would recommend a visit to the beautiful city of Concarneau (it's not too far from Lorient). I was there last I think 15 years ago but still have wonderful memories of my visit. Concarneau is one of the main fishing ports in France, and obviously is big on everything that has to do with fish, it is the place where I saw for the first time a live "La Criee" sale which is where fish right off the boat is sold at auction to wholesalers, it is an amazing sight!! It is also where I found out how big tunas can get when they were off loading them from boats with giant cranes! I'm not sure what kind of fishing activity you'll find around June but the fish market itself is definitely worth a visit.

Yes you are truly missed Justin, Just curious, I assume you are starting your externship soon (or is it your first kitchen job already?), I also assume that the time you have spent dining in different NY restaurants kind of gave you an idea of where you would like to work for your first gig? Or maybe you would like to unveil this during your final installment on this thread?? Can you give us any hint at this stage?

Just a few observations on the above recipes: The crab salad is extremely easy to make, one thing I would suggest is not to be tempted to season the cucumber juice before letting it set in the fridge. There is nothing better than pure chilled cucumber gelee, it is absolutely refreshing. The duck breast was one of those really fun dishes, but it is really time consuming. One suggestion on this dish is to try to slice the duck breasts as thin as possible, then pound them a little to tenderize them, it'll help tremendously after they are poached. In making the roulade, roll them first in a piece of cheese cloth, then in wrapping paper (the thick kind otherwise it'll melt in the boiling water!!), it'll keep your roulade nice and tight while it is poaching and make it easier to cut in cylinders later on. For the beets, I did not have a juicer but still managed to get beet juice from fresh beets. I just processed them raw in a food processor with a little water until they were reduced to a thick puree. I placed the whole thing in a cheese cloth and squeezed the juice out. You can of course buy regular beet juice but for some reason I like to make things more complicated! Enjoy and please report back!!

These have already made their appearance here in NY. To my fellow New Yorkers: they (the green tangy ones you can eat whole) are currently available at Sahadi's. The batch I had the other day was really crunchy and sour , just the way I like them.

Thank you for joining us Chef, Throughout your career, which chef or chefs have influenced you the most?

Well, even at my age I still do that, like you I go through it until I am in excruciating pain. I guess all this acidity can't be too good for anyone's stomach. I know of one place that sells it here in NY and every year around May, it's tradition, I buy a case full. My wife and I go through it in a matter of days

Catching this thread a little late because of work, work, work . Is it too late to find "janerek" in June? These are some of my favorite spring fruits, i guess they could be best described as really sour and crunchy unripened prunes? My fondest memories in Lebanon are of course food related such as the endless outdoor lunches held with the family by the beach or in the mountains. I particularly enjoyed the row of restaurants in Zahle that are located along the little stream (name?) that flows through the town. I was there last in 1998 I think and my father who hadn't been there in almost twenty years was amazed to see that it hadn't changed in almost 50 years! During that same trip he also took us to this restaurant located in Saida that overlooks the Qal'at al Bahr (castle of the sea). I remember eating there one of the most amazing fried "Sultan Ibrahim". I don't know how tumultuous Saida will be around June though because of the recent events so you'll have to play it by ear. But as far as safety goes and as Elie said, the people I have spoken to in Lebanon really seem not to have a concern in the world , life is still going on as normal they say.. I'm very envious, if you do decide to go I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time.

That's interesting because my experience of markouk was always of a very thin bread (literally paperlike sometimes), wide in diameter but not puffed up. The giant souffle like bread you had in Damascus was also called markouk?

I know Kemia as a Tunisian-Jewish spread of appetizers (meze like but different from the middle east) to drink with alcohol. ← I was actually introduced to Kemia by a morrocan friend and as you said it is very mezze like. I actually found it very similar in concept to what we have in the middle east. Does the concept of mezze also exist in Algeria, how is it called?

I grew up drinking bottled water in Paris just because i remember as a kid looking at the color of the Seine river in disgust and wondering to myself, now who in the world would want to drink from this??? Of course, I've learned a thing or two about parisian tap water since then... But seriously though, my take on it is that if you can buy bottled water such as Evian, Vittel, Contrex, Badoit at a reasonable price in France, why drink water that is not as good? I personaly never ordered a carafe in Paris simply because i never liked the taste of parisian tap water, the only tap water i've ever had was probably at the little "fontaines d'eau potable" you'll find in certain Parisian parks. Ironically, I find the quality and taste of tap water here in NY far superior to the one in Paris, so I only drink tap in NY. Besides, I refuse to pay an outrageous $3 for a bottle of vittel or even $1 for poland spring which to me does not taste good at all.

Is the yeast what gives marqouq its distinguished tangy taste? Saj, which is apparently referred to as mountain bread, is found in which regions specifically?

A few questions.. How would you compare the concept of mezze with kemiah? Is the concept of kemiah present in all of North Africa? Is it big in Algeria? Back in France we always distinguished the north african tabouleh from the lebanese tabouleh. The lebanese one as we all know consists of parsley, mint, onions, tomatoes and bulghur. What North Africans refer to as tabouleh it seems, consists of a tangy/spicy cold "semolina" type of salad. Where is this version of tabouleh from exactly? Hard to tell since it seems that a majority of the dishes you just described probably have turkish, armenian, persian, greek, egyptian, jewish (and the list goes on) origins!!!

Omen indeed has really good Udon noodles. They tend to focus on kyoto/western style of cuisine. I particularly like their Kama-age udon (warm noodles eaten with a cold sauce). I remember paying about $120 for two for a more than satisfying meal.

Who caters for your cafeteria? Is it one of those big catering companies like Sodexho??

My wife and I made some lahm b'ajin this past week end, we followed Elie's instructions posted in this thread and in the eGCI class. The filling came out perfectly however I need some clarification on the dough making. The question might sound stupid but i'll ask anyway!! Is the dough used for lahm b'ajin or fatayer the same used for bread (as described in the eGCI class) with olive oil added? We hesitated before doing this because for some reason we thought that the inclusion of yeast was odd for a lahm b'ajin dough. We ended up using an empanada dough recipe which we were frankly not really happy with. I am clearly missing the point somewhere!! We are planning to try again this week end and hope to get it right this time !

This is really cool!! I have a question, what is the difference between saj bread and marqouq/lavash bread? I am familiar with marqouq but not with saj bread.

I share Todd's general opinion of Per Se, no matter how hard I've tried to love the place, I just don't think it is what's best out there in terms of NY fine dining scene. If someone asked me to name one high end establishement I would really want to go to, Per Se simply wouldn't make it to the top of my list. I had dinner there sometime in the fall of last year and at that time I also thought that the dessert and cheese courses were particulary weak. The foie gras was a little dull and some dishes overall were far from being remarkable. There were two or three dishes which really made a strong impression on me, however it was not consistent from start to finish. In the past year or so, I've had better experiences at places like Atelier, Cru, GT or even Blue Hill.