
MaxH
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Here is something related to this thread, from the Hesses' book (cited earlier), its chapter on Eliza Leslie's great 19th-century US cookbook (available today not only in the original but in a popular Dover paperback reprint, and mentioned previously on this site by me and doubtless by others). “... the great majority of ketchups that characterized early American cooking was gradually replaced by the ubiquitous tomato ketchup. ... [Leslie in 1837] published recipes for eight kinds: anchovy (two), lobster, oyster, walnut, mushroom, lemon -- and tomato. (Be it noted again, there was no sugar in any of them.)" The fairly rapid late-20th-century change in the meaning of "ketchup" is a favorite cliché topic among people interested in food history in the US. (More popular than, say, the parallel shift in the US-only meaning of "French" salad dressing, or the evolution of Reuben sandwiches toward seasoning with "thousand-island" dressing and thus away from their roots.) The various US cookbooks that I have do call for different kinds of ketchups besides tomato up until the 1950s and maybe even later, and from the recipes, these condiments were certainly savory rather than sweet. -- MaxH
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One guy I know who became chef at a small intense high-end kitchen was a former saucier and known for the creative sauces he would develop, for example with grilled fish or meats. Still, he had customers who'd demand ketchup. He used to live for the thought of going out and tearing up their bill, like Fernand Point, saying "I'm sorry you don't care for the food we serve here." But the reality was that, not owning the business, he lacked that luxury. No kidding. With full respect for serious, and sometimes life-threatening, food allergies, on the other hand I have noticed customers in some restaurants who appear to treat minor allergies as a cue for drama and fuss, almost a designer hypochondria. The same chef I mentioned above, working elsewhere later, partook in an amazing episode whereby several local food critics all variously mis-stated the content of the simple herb butter his restaurant routinely served. Ensuing outcry of multiplied anxieties over possible allergies to all of the herbs mis-named in the articles caused the herb butter to be withdrawn and replaced by boring frozen commercial butter balls.
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I think you're missing the point. Less-sugar frosted flakes is called corn flakes. ← Not only that, but people "of a certain age" with memories will notice that products sold for many years in the US as Sugar Pops, Sugar Smax, and Sugar Frosted Flakes became, if I've got this right, Corn Pops, Honey Smax, and Frosted Flakes. The names changed; I'm unaware of how much the substance did. (N.B.: This phenomenon is not limited to breakfast foods.)
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Agreed about the grit problem. It is such a consistent problem with wild shrooms that I expected it would be a problem too when one firm came out several years ago with jars of ground mixed wild mushrooms and sure enough, grit and sand were powdered along with them. This made the stuff hard to use directly in powdered form, but for a flavoring I was able to stir it into some water (hot, for example) and leave to sit in a water glass for a couple of minutes, keeing an eye on it. The mineral grit, being densest, settles out of suspension first. Then the liquid and most of the wanted solids can be poured gently off, leaving a little in the glass. -- Max
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Samgiovese (whom I may know under another name?) you are being much too kind and deferential here. I've heard excellent reports of Le Papillon and especially La Forêt but alas not eaten there yet, so could not place them in context. (Always the implicit issue with restaurant advice from individuals!) I have eaten well at Plumed Horse over the years -- did I omit it from those lists? I'd better explain more. (I never have time to do these postings thoroughly.) That list was posted without thought of being comprehensive, but rather as some of the places I've had good experiences with. From a larger pool of 200 or 250 or so restaurants in the region, for which I have business cards, menus, sometimes notes. A dozen years ago, I kept the cards in looseleaf transparent sheets in a binder, and I used to photocopy groups of the sheets, for co-workers or visitors or event planning, where restaurant suggestions were needed. In the middle 1990s, when the Bay Area Restaurant Guide was going strong (the whole area's restaurants online, in a handy data-base format), I posted 95 recommendations there. But, like many other Internet forums that seemed to be a whole little universe to their participants at the time, it faded away; soon newbies had never heard of it. (Any Internet newbies here, please take note.) The list that I just posted here, besides being terse, was trimmed down hastily, and it omitted (by the original request) excellent other Asian restaurants that I know about, for example. (Amazingly, Jeanne Bonk's legendary Empress of India is still going strong, for example.) I've felt for many years that the South Bay's -- this South Bay, not the farther south one with the Beaches -- restaurant strength has been unique immigrant-run restaurants, some of them pretty classy -- Ali Tehari's place, Afghani House, for example. (After he split off from his cousin at Kabul in Sunnyvale and opened up in 1995 at a remodeled former Mexican buffet on El Camino near Lawrence, and aimed with determination for an elegant, as well as gastronomic, Afghani offering.) The region was not known as much for unique "high-end" or destination dining, as some other regions are, but samgiovese and I have mentioned most of the high-end places I've heard of. Lots of good "business" dining also. I remember temporarily covering a tab for a large business dinner at Eulipia in SJ with solid fresh new-American cuisine (1996?) but am under the impression that the ownership changed again after that. A place I think I omitted from that list is the Capital Club in SJ, which has had a couple of excellent and very accommodating chefs over its 15 years but requires membership with dues, so it does not count as a general restaurant. I was interested especially by samgiovese's mention of "highest rated restaurants in the South Bay." Ratings imply a rater, and I would like to hear of any sources for good restaurant appraisals for the South Bay. Aside from popularity polls of various and sundry kinds (by publications, and of course a popular guidebook), the only reasonably comprehensive, consistent, professional restaurant writing for the region that I have read has been Sheila Himmel's in the SJ Mercury News, but again, I don't claim any omniscience. I would read with interest other people's recommendations of dining info for the region. Anyone here is also welcome to PM, or email to max@tdl.com (no spam, please). -- Max
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Forgot to mention -- For peninsula and S. Bay I also recommend published restaurant reviews of my friend Robert Rich, collected at http://rrich.com/ along with supplements on wild mushrooms. ('Tis the season for those.)
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Might duplicate those cats a little but I've trimmed this down from a long pool of places I keep track of. Asterisk (*) means only one visit so far, so impression is tentative. Memorable meals, often good value: Afghani House, Sunnyvale (408 248 5088) -- two cousins operate competitors up peninsula Bittersweet Bistro, Hwy 17 at Rio del Mar Brigitte's, "Santa Clara" (408 404 7043) --real French modest bistro, near Sunnyvale and Cupertino Café Marcella, Los Gatos (408 354 8006), Grill, near Manresa Cafe Yulong, downtown Mountain View (650 960 1677) -- unusual menu, exotic, best Chinese in downtown MV I think Cascal, downtown Mountain View (650 940 9500) -- tapas, elegant, opened November 03 Chez T. J., Mountain View (650 964 7466), high-end I Gatti, Los Gatos (408 399 5180)* Il Fornaio, downtown San José only (408 271 3366) -- noisy, distinctive; visiting Italian chefs Paradiso, San Leandro (510 430 9310) Pearl's Cafe, Fremont (510 490 2190) Il Porcino, Fremont (510 791 7383)* Marché, Menlo Park (650 324 9092) Mei Long, Mountain View (650 961 4030) Le Petit Bistro, Mountain View (El Camino) (650 964 5931) -- real French modest bistro, hearty, sound 71 Saint Peter, downtown San José (408 971 8523)* A. P. Stump's, downtown San José (408 292 9928) Village Pub, Woodside There is a larger group of interesting, spirited, one-of-a-kind restaurants of good value and sometimes very moderate prices. Examples: Bangkok West, Hwy 17 at Aptos (408 479 8297) -- actually east, not west, of Bangkok by about 1.5:1 Chelokababi, Sunnyvale (408 737 1222),* Persian China Stix, Santa Clara (408 244 1684) Eulipia, downtown San José (408 280 6161) -- keeps changing owners Habana-Cuba, San José (408 988 2822) Iberia, Menlo Park (650 854 1746) -- good old Señor Relinque, a radio personality Kabul, Sunnyvale (408 245 4350) -- Cousin of Afghani House Mistral, Redwood Shores (650 802 9222) -- good for groups, two good PDRs La Pastaia, De Anza Hotel, downtown San José (408 286 8686) Pezzella's Villa Napoli, Sunnyvale (408 738 2400) -- Max
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indeed. but my favorite part is the usage faux-pas in the page nav: "This topic is comprised of pages: 1 2" ← jbonne, all word people are with you on that. (It's not the only one on that site, if I remember.) Not having read the review on ERP yet, I was curious what is an ultra wine geek. Would this be one of those very eager people these days who introduce themselves online with "I've been interested in wine for more than a year, and written 2000 postings on the subject" or the ones who say "Life is too short to drink a wine rated under 90 points?" (I Did Not Make Either Of Those Up.) Or the ones who do own a Vinotemp? About that last issue, unless they live in places that stay misty and cool all the time, I believe that time will demonstrate to most wine geeks, if they are interested, that they do need good storage. Though some of them are resolutely uninterested in hearing this (I've seen people spend years rationalizing away their lack of adequate storage, and I've tasted the consequences). But it doesn't have to be a home cellar or wine refrigerator: US metro areas have firms that will sell you small amounts of temp-controlled warehousing, well insulated. In the SF Bay Area the running rate for small amounts of storage has long been around a dollar a bottle a year. If you do accumulate any long-term wines, not spending that much on them may be a false economy.
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It seems as if everyone in the Bay Area who has been there is talking about the Ferry Plaza food-wine retailers. One friend of mine who is no newbie at all to Bay Area food is much taken with a rillette sandwich he gets there somewhere, and finds that it "merits a detour," to borrow a phrase. If I may point out for some readers who might be confused, the reference is to New Orleans and to the particular version there of a "beignet," or fritter, that happens to be popular in New Orleans, and is "empty" usually and resembles a cruller (or at the Café du Monde in particular, a pile of confectioner's sugar in which a cruller can sometimes be located, with patience). But in particular it's not the meaning of "beignet" found in the rest of the world or in French cookbooks, a fritter, generally with something else in it besides batter. Unterman by the way for any who might not know the name was one of the longest-running food critics in the SF Chronicle, with Sesser for part of that time. (After Whitelaw, before Bauer.)
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My own experience with both of those appelations is mostly older, particularly the Jura. Could probably dig out the notes but a tasting note that may be 15 years old is scraping the bottom of the barrel, surely. Of the non-Champagne French products, I've encountered more creditable Crémants de Bourgogne than any others, easily. Several good Spanish sparklers also over the years. Solid sparkling wines can last for years in cool storage, a consumer can stock up when there's an unusual supply, or a sale from a good merchant. In 1999, there was all this jockeying among wine merchants to have adequate supply on hand for an expected big New Year's Eve. With the same concern I laid in at home, early in the year, a "reserve" of the premium Roederer-Estate product from California, "Brut Hermitage" (it was the 1993 vintage at the time, I remember). Then as Y2K approached, people were apprehensive with vague millenial concerns, and demand for Champagnes in my region was weak, there were some good retail sales eventually. (New Year's eve turned out to be pretty quiet and moderate; The Roederer Estate lasted well beyond that date.) Very good survey articles I thought. (I could be mistaken but it looked as if your word allocation is tighter than some Burgundy distributions! :-) Cheers -- Max
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Well, there is eGullet's recipe file, as well as epicurious. Not a bad place to start. ← Yes indeed, those are very positive suggestions. Recipes were even one of the seminal historical missions of Internet forums, in the earlier years before Berners-Lee introduced HTTP and HTML and the "Web" language in 1991, currently archived by Google here. A major split in the organization of public Internet forums in 1987 occurred over the subject of recipes. Recipes have been diligently posted since almost the first days of self-service public Internet forums (at UNC-CH with Steve Bellovin and associates in 1979). They may be one of the most constructive human uses of the Internet. I have posted a few of them myself, in the last 22 years. That being said, most of them are still in paper sources rather than online, so an online-only search can be limiting. That was my (limited) point. -- M.
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By the way this appears in various food cultures and eras, including the US if you go back a ways, I think. (Sometimes also, jellies and preserves appear as straight accompaniments to tea.) In "classic" long dinner menus from Europe and the US that I've seen reproduced, from 100 or 200 or 300 years ago, jellied fruit sweets of various kinds had a particular place as a late dessert course. Including candies in a jellied form. This shows up today also in some fancy restaurants where traditionalistic little post desserts of nuts or jellies appear on the table. -- Max
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If anyone here is serious about this subject then I hope they have read, or will read, the Hesses' iconoclastic book The Taste of America. The insidious infusion of sweetness is one theme in this strongly spiced, unsweet book, a minor classic among food lovers in the US since first published (to some fuss, and critical respect) in the late 1970s. In 2000 it was reprinted in paperback with addenda. One or two popular food icons get skewered, or flamed, in the book, albeit with documented data; some people cannot get past that, as is usual when people's icons are skewered, and others dislike the tone, regardless of the data; but even without those elements the book would be vital, I feel, for its data and frequent source quotations and references. The bibliography is sort of a mini-Bitting. (Bitting is the classic US gastronomic bibliography and was based on the Bitting Collection of San Francisco which became in 1946, if I remember, the nucleus of the US Library of Congress cookbook section.) I put some comments on amazon, a few years ago after the reprint appeared, on the product information page for this book, which you can call up with the amazon link here. (Edited for one typo and one really lame sentence structure.)
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On a statistical basis, what I've done most often with these thngs (after pouring some boiling water over them, soaking for a while, straining the liquid thru a coffee filter and saving it for use, and cleaning the mushrooms of dirt and grit) has been a wild-mushroom-pasta-gratinee in the Chez Panisse Pasta-Pizza-Calzone Cookbook (1984, ISBN 0394530942, readily available on the used market), a recipe mentioned just recently on the macaroni-cheese recipe thread on eGullet; cooking them down with red wine and pan-fried sausages, a very simple, very effective idea I got from one of Marcella Hazan's two original Classic Italian Cooking books; improvised wild-mushroom lasagnes (the soaking liquid is especially important here for intensifying the mushroom flavor). Good stuff. -- Max (By the way, this is probably obvious but most of the good recipe sources are not online, as far as I know.)
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Have had very good results in the US over the last couple of decades with available Crémants de Bourgogne, Blanquettes de Limoux, and sparkling Côtes de Jura. Few months ago a venerable food-wine group that explores and promotes wines of Burgundy served [with snails in puff pastry and steak tartare with oyster] NV Louis Bouillot Crémant de Bourgogne Perle Noir. Finely yeasty, long-flavored, in a more than usually Champagne style. (The group made a toast saluting the people of Burgundy.) Later in the same meal, NV Louis Bouillot Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Rosé. Pleasant tart strawberry sparkler. In my own purchases I've respected for many years the products and the value from Roederer Estate, in the Anderson Valley in California. Set up by the family-owned Roederer Champagne house and long under the direction of the respected former professor Michel Salgues, this US firm and Salgues deserve some credit, in my opinion, for the impressive elevating of the general standards of premium California sparkling wines that unfolded over the 1980s. (Those who remember the pre-1980 California sparkling wine scene may know what I mean.) I ran into Salgues in Boonville a couple of years ago, and told him so. The firm does a particular aged vintage product called Brut Hermitage, though the price gets up to those of Champagnes, and therefore higher than the non-Champagne sparklers that are the point of this thread. -- Max
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The rear-view mirror of palate memory. -- M
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Since you asked. (This is brutally honest.) In the Bay Area. Going backwards in time: A local (independent) coffee house, lunch. Manresa in Los Gatos, dinner. French Laundry in Yountville, dinner.
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A group that meets regularly for tastings (mixed trade and enthusiasts) got together and pooled some favorite wines, 17 of them. A capable restaurant chef (himself also a wine geek) was approached to choose courses to go with our wines, just as I've listed them below (to which I later added the notes on the courses, and some brief impressions of the wines.) These wines were bought, by and large, when new on the market and held since then by the people who provided them for this dinner. Reception 2001 Schloss Schonborn Pinot Noir Brut Sekt bA, Rheingau -- Gougeres served during reception. Amuses with two Champagnes NV Egly-Ouriet Brut 1996 Chartogne-Taillet “Fiacre” -- Beef and oyster tartare; savory Egg appetizer. -- Egly-Ouriet was gloriously mushroomy and yeasty. The 96 Fiacre, something of an underground hit in the last year or so among various US people I've talked to, this time seemed different and more restrained, less long and complex, than several of us had experienced, including two wine merchants who had sold it. Perhaps different lot, disgorgement, or handling. Course with Rieslings 1998 Hirsch Zöbinger Gaisberg Riesling (Austria) 1997 Franz Karl Schmitt Niersteiner Pettenthall Auslese (Rheinhessen) 1979 Friedrich Baumann Oppenheimer Sacktrager Riesling Auslese (Rheinhessen) -- Nantucket bay scallops marinated with fresh pressed new olive oil, perfumed with fresh yuzu and shiso bud. (Not your cylindrical scallops, but a wafer-thin sashimi preparation with the dressings.) Extremely subtle flavors and exquisite with the wine course of Rieslings, a deeply satisfying and classy flavor combination. The Austrian had petrolatum smells and subtlety. The 97 Schmitt had a reduced-sulfur nose and bleached white color, the 79 Baumann was rich, caramelly. Course with old Rheingau Rieslings 1983 Langwerth von Simmern Erbacher Marcobrun (Rheingau) 1976 J. B. Becker Wallufer Waltenberg (Rheingau) -- Smoked salmon gently warmed in butter, with green lentils. Horseradish, cabbage, apple garnish. This was a heartier course and played well off the older Rieslings. The 83 von Simmern had subtly spicy smoky botrytis. 76 Becker had sharp petrolatum and hint of sulfur. Intense. Course with Meursaults 1996 Lafon Clos de la Barre 1997 Lafon Désirée 1998 Lafon Clos de la Barre -- Wild striped bass (roasted on the bone with thyme and bay while wrapped in caul) served over “assorted mushrooms.” Another substantial course and blew everybody away. The shrooms included truffle pieces; a chanterelle puree decorated the fish. Of the Meursaults I found the 96 fairly young and unintegrated, the 97 generous and poised, with new oak; the 98 tropical, smelling of coconut and botrytis and VA. Course with Red Burgundies 1993 Denis Mortet “Beaux Brunes” 1993 Dujac Echezeaux -- Roast squab “salmis style” with black truffles, winter vegetable hash with roasted pear. (I asked and the salmis sauce was made from squab liver, duck FG, black trufs.) The presentation had the truffles on top, shredded in fine shoestrings; the breast meat fileted, and the roasted joints. One diner ended up with a sparkling plate with a few squeaky-clean bones on it such as you get from a “bug room” in zoology departments (I won’t elaborate on that). Both of the 93 Burgundies were a little young still, the Mortet was heavy with reduced sulfur, smoky, rich pit fruits; the Dujac had the signature anise-sassafras-orangepeel nose but a bit hard and closed on the palate, still both enjoyable especially with such a dark and gamy meat course. Course with old Red Burgundies 1971 Domaine Marion Chambertin Clos de Bèze in magnum 1978 Remoissenet P&F Beaune-Grèves -- Cheese platters. The 71 Marion had a waxy, parrafin smell with hints of cinnamon, almost Mexican chocolate (chocolate, cinnamon, almonds). Taste very well preserved (cool cellar), dark mineraled spiced cherry. (No notes on the 78, I enjoyed it though.) Before sweets 1989 Dr. Fischer Ockfener Bockstein Eiswein (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) 2x375ml -- Waxy botrytis smells. Taste was spicy, warmly lemonade sweetness with a strong backbone of minerals. Pear sorbet with huckleberries. Pineapple quince soufflé. (“No, not pineapple and quince, but pineapple quince. It’s the most common quince in general, around here.” Chef brought in a few of them to show us.) After sweets 2001 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Vin de Paille 375ml -- Remarkable unusual sweet white Hermitage, available only at winery. Whiskey-wood smell -- Calvados some said. Extremely sweet yet nonviscous, intense, spicy. (15% alc. by label.)
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"Macaroni and cheese" with, and without, foie gras I posted this on a few food forums a few years ago. It needs a little explaining. Some years ago (before the US fashion in recent years for fresh FG), I was in the habit of keeping one or two small tins of French foie-gras with truffles in the refrigerator, "en cas d'urgence." (Specialty groceries and delicatessens can order these for you if they don't stock them.) In this particular recipe, a little of this ingredient goes a long way. It can make the most remarkable "macaroni and cheese" you've ever tasted. (I tell gastronomes about this and they look skeptical -- macaroni and cheese, after all -- but then they become more engaged as I continue.) It is a practical modern interpretation of the "Lucullus" pasta dishes listed in the standard French books (Guide Culinaire and the 1938 LL and 1961 Crown editions of Larousse Gastronomique). I've done it with fresh FG and fresh truffles also, but I cite the tinned version because that's easier to keep on hand. Layer freshly cooked al-dente macaroni, or pasta of your preferred shape, in a glass or ceramic baking dish with bits of tinned block foie gras with truffles, shredded Gruyère, and if possible some Cremini mushrooms sautéed briefly in duck fat. (The fat congeals in the FG tins and can be used. Olive oil, chemically related by the way, will substitute.) Some freshly grated nutmeg (in standard French pasta-recipe tradition) is compatible but not essential. Drizzle (don't drown) it all with a good Madeira sauce made from fresh meat stock and not over-salted. Bake in a hot oven for the usual 20 minutes or so, allow to cool slightly, and just before serving, especially if you were short of truffle bits, you can sprinkle with a little truffle-flavored oil. [That ingredient has been overused since this was originally posted -- go easy.] The aromatic harmony of FG, truffles, mushrooms, Gruyère, and Madeira is miraculous. (More so with a truffly red Burgundy. Equally fine, a good Rhône or Brunello, but maturity may be even more important there. ) As described, the dish is so savory you don't even need the foie-gras. I did a vegetarian version occasionally by request, and the other flavors carried the day very well. Macaroni and cheese is a sound principle any way you work it. I may have an advantage over some US compatriots in that I did not get exposed to this combination as a child (from boxed mixes with fluorescent orange coloring in the "cheese") and so I developed no prejudice against it. A classic M&C, common in the US (and by the way an outstanding foil for savory barbecue, such as beef brisket slowly braised in a chipotle or smoked-hot-pepper puree flavored with whisky), takes well to the addition of a little hot pepper sauce mixed in with the cheese - the result need not be perceptibly "hot" to benefit. (Professional line cooks all seem to do this, it's an understood trick.) French classic pasta dishes, in the books anyway, use Gruyère and-or Parmesan and often season with fresh nutmeg and black pepper, another good combination. Alsatian-born San Francisco chef Hubert Keller (restaurant Fleur-de-Lis, previously Sutter 500) puts a version of M&C with fresh lobster on his menu; it's in his cookbook (ISBN 0898158079). And the Chez Panisse Pasta-Pizza-Calzone Cookbook (1984, ISBN 0394530942, readily available on the used market) has, among many other related things, a wild-mushroom pasta "gratin" (P. 137) with simple but inspired seasonings that is one of the finest pasta dishes I know. To my taste, macaroni and cheese is a pillar in the comfort-food pantheon (along with east-Asian noodle soups, pizzas, quesadillas, etc. etc.). Fluorescent orange dye not required. -- MaxH
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Interesting! The first serious mention that I saw that helped to popularize the phrase "comfort food" in the US (1986?) was in an article that then illustrated the concept with a recipe for chicken and dumplings. Still got it on file somewhere. And why do that when someone from the centre of the universe will declare us "offensive"? ← Hey, relax folks. (Those who don't learn from RFC1855 are condemned to repeat it. Over and over.) -- MaxH [Trivia for the day: RFC1855 is one of the oldest public documents on the Internet. Originally circulated in 1982 and re-posted periodically, codified to a formal Internet RFC in 1995, it has become one of the most widely read.]
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Bingo (If I may say so)
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Even restaurant chefs have been known, just occasionally, to be difficult. (If you haven't already done so, read the various accounts of Fernand Point in, for example, Wechsberg's book that Amazon advertises here.) But can you imagine a successful chef charging onto a working movie set and commanding an up-and-coming assistant director to come along and work privately?
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Thanks tanabutler. Concerning French Laundry, I should mention that when my friend chose to try to get a table on her birthday, she just called up on the designated day (two months ahead), and persisted, and scored. Luck was important of course (it was the last table to book, they said). As with some other places today, this business of demand exceeding capacity alters the whole nature of a diner's experience of the restaurant. Two decades ago in the Bay Area, Chez Panisse in Berkeley had precisely the same fashionability status that FL acquired a few years ago. Precisely. Bookings opened and closed on a designated advance date, and people were preoccupied with the issue of getting "in." Sometimes this overshadowed the food. That particular restaurant was very different in details from FL, of course, lower key and so on, but the national attention that it received attracted all sorts of diners. Those who simply relaxed and looked for what it did well; others eager to fault it for missing their own expectations of Grand-Palace touches, such as cocktails (permitting them then to return home far away and reassure their buddies that they weren't fooled by the place -- I saw some of this). Thus, many people got something from their visit, each according to style. The same restaurant had, of course, been doing comparable cooking for years before it started to attract out-of-town celebrity diners (I remember Danny Kaye and Donald Sutherland, for instance, in the late 1970s) and later to sell out. So the substance of the experience had been available to diners who really sought it, without the fame baggage. For a time, anyway. Then again, some people may be drawn as much by the fame as the substance of the experience. It certainly happens with wines and other things.
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I am trying to remember which of the natural elements is meant in this context. Somewhere in between Unobtanium and Idunnowium? -- Max ("Deep in the Cameroonian rain forests of West Africa there lives a floor-dwelling ant known as Megaloponera foetens..." -- Lawrence Weschler, "Inhaling the Spore," Harper's Magazine, September 1994 pp. 47-58.)
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Thanks milla, that's very kind. I am new to this particular site, though know a number of regulars in person. (I posted food-wine information, when I had some to post, on the Internet for many years, but backed off around the time eGullet and Chowhound got going.)