JasonTrue

Perhaps this is a new outlet of the Bellevue Square "New York Cupcakes." I decided to try one of their cupcakes, black & white, which I found quite pleasing, but I am not sure if I just needed a sugar high. They seemed to be a little more elegantly presented, and a little less cloying, than my Cupcake Royale experiences... I don't mind the mini-cupcakes at Cupcake Royale (Ballard), but the regular ones tend to be way too sweet and too large for my taste.

Look very carefully on that hoshi-imo packaging that you buy very carefully at an omiyage-ya-san when you visit some small town, and there's a good chance it's made in China. Not that there's anything wrong with that... but I'm finding this quite often when I am being offered "local specialties" in Japan.

I decided to jump continents between yesterday and today, and made potato pancakes two ways: Roesti (Swiss), then kamja-jeon (Korean). (More explicit details in my blog entry.) My Roesti, with toasted almond slivers (instead of my usual sunflower or pumpkin seeds) and sour cream. I used clarified butter to cook the potatoes in the pan, before shaping into a patty. My Kamja-jeon, served with a soy sauce and vinegar dipping sauce, with a hint of sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, and scallions: Kamja-jeon are usually made with much more finely shredded potatoes than most European versions. They also aren't quite as oily as Latkes or Kartoffelpuffer. They use recovered starch, something like Kartoffelpuffer. But the dipping sauce is salty, rather than a sweet or creamy garnish.

Is it close to what we call "Steelhead" in the Northwest?

This is not healthy or particularly elegant, but I had them kushi-age style once and still can't get over it.

I'm being fairly realistic here; there's no "dreaming" about it. I'm not making grand promises or waxing poetic anywhere. Placing aromatics together with salt is one of the common methods for extracting flavors, and as I said, it surely does not retain all of the volatile flavors, but it has its place. I'm also painting the added "natural flavors" realistically. I'm by no means a fan of excessive use of "natural favorings" and tend to avoid most items which have added flavorings of any kind. But I think it's irresponsible to paint this truffle salt as "fake." It is quite possible that the aromas are "reconstructed" from components of foods or plants other than raw truffles, and that would be a fair point, but it's also not necessarily "fake", as most flavor compounds are present in some quantity in other foods besides the one that they are closely associated with. However, there are truffle flavorings actually extracted from truffles. As I said, the complaint of "lab created" flavors is not in an of itself a meaningful criticism. Not every laboratory is some sinister Frankenstein production facility; we use some of the same techniques at home to extract flavors from truffles.

Dried truffle is of course not quite the same, regardless, but it is surprisingly decent in the truffle salt; I had far lower expectations when I first tasted it. The distinction between natural and artificial flavorings is very small, as you rightly, though perhaps a little zealously, point out. The distinction is whether the flavor extraction technique is using "natural" or "synthetic"... alcohol, water, and oil infusions are considered natural; heat extraction is considered natural, pressure is considered natural. All of these techniques could be used in a home kitchen, in fact. A few other solvents considered natural might not be reasonable for home use, of course. The distinction between "lab made" and "kitchen made" isn't always that important, as the processes you use to make food at home involve thousands of naturally-occuring chemicals. Food just looks like food; it's still a bunch of chemicals. The main distinction between fresh truffles and dried is in the volatile flavor molecules. The most volatile chemicals will disappear or break down quickly, but many of them are lost in transit, too, either because of time or temperature, so it's a matter of degree. Claiming it isn't "real" is a bit excessive. It is certainly not "the same" as fresh truffle, but it's as real as vodka. Most cuisines develop different uses for preserved foods than the fresh, but either one would be considered "real." As an example, attempting to use fresh shiitake, fresh bonito, or fresh kelp to make a Japanese soup stock will produce disastrous results. Using dried versions of the same items will be far superior. Most "truffled eggs" aren't incorporating much in the way of truffles; they are infusing the flavor of truffes into the eggs, either by resting with the eggs or infusing it into butter. Most of the flavor is actually created by that "infusion" phase. But that's quite real. Truffle salt is about as effective at introducing that flavor, and if used judiciously, will not be overpowering. If I want truffled popcorn, I think a pinch of my truffle salt may actually work better than fresh, unless I use more butter than would make sense for popcorn.

I am quite thankful that Starbucks paved the way for increased expectations. Without them, and perhaps my starving student days in Germany, I probably wouldn't be much of a coffee drinker myself. And in fact, in relatively unpopulated areas, unless an indie place gives me a good vibe when I pass by, I'm likely to head straight to Starbucks, as I've far more coffee disappointments at poorly run indie shops than I have at Starbucks... at least there, I know what to expect. This is their strength. The strength of the indie coffee shop is the ability to push the envelope.

That's "Kisaku", along Meridian east of Greenlake, about where 55th would be if it weren't tangled up.

I think the espresso scene is distorted in the U.S. due to the dominance of Starbucks, Tullys, and SBC. Accordingly, while we might have a fair number of fantastic roasters and espresso shops, we also have an insane number of mediocre ones. After all, Starbucks fluorishes inside Seattle city limits, even if better options might be as close as next door.

When I've had both blends in my home, side by side, Vita seemed overall visibly darker, but I suppose that could be a characteristic of the beans rather than the roast. Of course, both are substantially lighter than typical for American mass-market "espresso" roasts.

Pot du creme is in its essence a custard, whereas ice cream with eggs is actually not ice cream, but frozen custard. I don't think Ener-G is great as a custard thickener, but you could make a cream pudding with it and some additional starch. Perhaps an alternative such as sweet custardy tofu might work? With incredibly fresh, incredibly soft tofu and a nice ginger syrup, to me this is as irresistable as a custard is to me. (I eat both). If you want to use cream, perhaps you could create a white chocolate or chocolate ganache-based dessert, layered or adorned with some fruit. As a vegetarian, I generally prefer to receive tailored rather than adapted dishes.

In principal, I agree that this is an American conception, though not necessarily an incorrect one. Vivace only does espresso drinks--no drip coffee, no house-made food--so they don't mind having two or three big grinders on their counters, but in places where rents are higher I can't imagine sacrificing perfectly good space to the cause of multiple grinders for different roasts or blends. In general, anything short of charred, carbonized beans is an improvement over what passes for gourmet. I like roasts in a fairly wide range. But milk is very sweet, so if I'm going to be making even small cappucinos I tend to prefer slightly darker options. I have another pet peeve, though... a lot of shops making espresso with "imported" Italian brands seem to me just to be serving stale coffee. To me, one of the things that most Seattle shops get right is that they toss out old beans fairly regularly, if they have any. Strangely, I have a friend who prefers stale German coffee to fresh local roasts, but to me, even well-stored coffee seems to lose its charm after 10 days or so.

Even very velvety foam is increasingly liquid approaching the bottom of the cup... bubbles are fragile. Anything that depends on them will be somewhat unstable. The effect will be more exaggerated in poorly foamed milk, of course. On the roast question, I'm not sure it's a "myth" so much as an oversimplification... There are certain to be exceptions, particularly when personal taste preferences are involved. I think David's darker roast Vita is a nod to Seattle's latte fixation, and his Dolce roast is more inspired by Northern Italian styles. I'm sure a dirty, poorly maintained espresso machine out there occasionally produces a decent shot, but on average, it's a fair statement to say that a clean machine is going to produce more reliably decent results... Similarly, I'd say that on average, darker roasts tend to like milk more than lighter roasts. I've had good straight shots from David's darker blend and in a pinch I've made decent cappucinos or lattes with his Dolce blend... Both were good, but the flavor profile was more satisfying when consumed as intended.

I don't customarily measure out the wet and dry milk; I usually just pour it into the cup directly from the pitcher. Of course, even well-foamed milk breaks relatively quickly, particularly where it's in contact with the coffee, so I think it works out to about 2 oz of liquid and 2 oz of more stable foam. Then again, I don't usually sit around waiting for the coffee and foam to break down, so I don't really know. I usually pour somewhat ristretto shots (generally doubles). My home espresso machine, doesn't quite do real espresso, though, so I usually pour a double. In a cafe, I'd be happy with a good 1 oz shot. Bad espresso won't produce a good cappucino, however, as David Schomer discovered, a lighter roast is favorable for straight shots, and the sugar and fat from the milk benefits from a slightly darker roast (not charred) for milky drinks, including cappucino.

When I deep fry I'm usually cooking lots of different dishes for a dinner party. and an available burner on the stove is a precious commodity... in that respect, dedicated helps. My old, inexpensive, ugly Rival fryer works well for me but I can't justify going through 1-1.5 quarts of oil at a time, so I don't get much use out of it except when I host parties. Mine, though, could theoretically be used to heat up other things, such as the occasional pot of soup, though I almost never use it for that.

I've used a humble pastry blender before... but a fork has worked too.

Is mizumake different than mizuame? This product might be a little hard for me to work on until the ingredients are on the Generally Recognized as Safe lists for the FDA, or aren't going to be stuck in some gray market limbo. I might be willing to help them file a petition, though, in exchange for some marketing rights and so on, because it's in my broad market category of foods and crafts. And I know a lot of people obsessed with Japanese food and cooking techniques

I might have gotten unlucky with the competence of my barista, but the espresso shot I last had at Pegasus was miserably overextracted. Vivace, Victrola, and Lighthouse are my top favorites; I appreciate Vita and Zoka, and am increasingly partial to Vita's Fiore (organic) line, though results are mixed so far. I think Vivace and Victrola are the most obsessed with getting the quality right, but it might just be an impression based on their marketing strategy. Outside of Seattle I've had bad luck with espresso so far, particularly in Vancouver. My worst urban coffee experiences outside of Seattle were in Denver and Chicago, but I'll leave out the names to protect the guilty.

I believe the classic ratio for a cappucino is approximately 2 fl oz espresso, 2 fl oz liquid milk, 2 fl oz foamed milk. The gut-busting 20 oz latte monstrosities don't do anything for the quality of the coffee, but I suspect that the primary strength is that the machines are well tended (cleaned regularly), the baristas are competent, and the coffee is a lighter roast than is typical in the US. Also, if it's only 6 fl oz. you're probably not taking 30 minutes to drink it; pulled espresso is fragile and doesn't like to be sitting around very long. Most coffee shops in the US choose a fairly dark roast because it's more predictable and stable, not because it's better tasting. In Seattle, we are lucky to have a few exceptions, but I'm sure that's not reliably true elsewhere.

I don't consider this unreasonable; if you think about it, when you're pricing for retail for your own cakes, you are (probably) targeting about a 20-25% cost of goods (not counting labor), or 300-400% markup. If you're firing on all cylinders and never throw anything away and have hundreds of customers a day paying full retail, you might not be too worried, but if your business conditions are anything close to typical, you're probably not getting rich even with 300-400% markup. Your labor costs are a high percentage of your total cost of goods sold, and your rent and utility costs are probably fairly significant. Most of my products have a longer shelf life than most cookies and cakes, but the retailers still have a tough time with a 40% contribution margin (67% markup), partially because many of those items may sit on the shelf for a few weeks or even months before they sell and they still have to keep paying rent. (My wholesale margin is far worse than their 40% though, and I'm not getting rich anytime soon). The ratio you used looks typical for gift shops or customers paying delivery or per order fees, or doing self-pick up. 2.2 times cost is also not uncommon for bulky items or highly perishable things, especially for companies with liberal return/exchange policies or unusual levels of service. Also, if you're selling whole cakes and they do the slicing, their shrinkage rate can go up due to uneven or cuts or other employee errors, so they might need that extra room.

Unless the cakes are either presold to their customers or bought on consignment, most of my customers target a 35-50% margin (not markup) for purchased cakes and cookies. (I don't sell cakes or cookies, but a couple of my customers are bakeries and a few customers are coffee or tea shops that buy pastries from other bakeries). Most restaurants target a 20-35% cost of goods for things they make themselves. (Upscale steak houses and seafood places that do the old American style big plates may have a higher cost of goods on some expensive items). Bread bakeries may actually have a lower cost of goods depending on their style. Restaurants/cafes and so on prefer to have about a 50% cost of goods on items they don't prepare entirely themselves. However, I know a few restaurants that accept up with a 65% cost of goods on some items that only one baker in town makes. Some coffee shops keystone price cookies and cakes that they buy even if the suggested retail price assumes a 35% margin. It means that a $1.50 croissant at the original bakery, sells for about 98 cents at wholesale,and becomes $1.96 (probably $2) at the coffee shop. Starbucks pioneered the stale $2 lump of bread, so that works reasonably well. On a cake, which at wholesale might be $40/cake and produce 12 slices, they might sell slices at $5-6.50. Whether you can get away with $40/cake, of course, depends on the quality and brand power of your cakes. Most coffee shops also have to estimate some risk of shrinkage (a piece of cake slides off a plate and drops on the floor before it's served, or it doesn't sell for two or three days and needs to be tossed). So 20% margins are going to be pretty painful for most customers, who probably pay 3% on credict card costs alone, and still have to pay rent and labor.

I started using Ritrovo truffle salt and am quite happy with the quality. It's a much cleaner flavor than even the passable truffle infused oil I've found (the truffle oil I've used does have a few bits of truffle in it). The Ritrovo salt (braned Cassina Rossa) does have some "natural flavoring" added to it, but it's about 5% truffle, and the aroma is quite nice. It is made from Italian summer truffles. The truffle salt works well with eggs, and that's my primary use for it. I use it very sparingly, and although I've probably dipped into it every time I've made eggs in the last 6 months or so, I've only made a slight dent in it. One of my customers, Les Cadeaux Gourmets, offers Ritrovo products. 3.5 oz jar Truffle trio (I don't have any financial interest in Ritrovo or truffle salt; it's only made me slightly poorer )

Hiroyuki-san... I believe mizuame is generally translated as maltose, although it is sometimes made from other types of sugar. As for FDA regulation, this will probably be similar to the early import workarounds used with stevia... It was once sold as a cosmetic product along with a small brick of clay, and knowledgable folks discarded the clay and used the stevia solution as a sweetener. Pichitto can probably be sold in the US without FDA intervention as long as the English-language packaging doesn't make any claims about usefulness or suitability for preparing food. That means that most of the sales will be gray market or through back channels, since the manufacturer won't likely be interested in trying to promote non-food uses. I bet it could be sold in hobby or gift shops without much trouble.

Usu-jio (low-salt) umeboshi are a bit sweeter, generally, although some umeboshi, even from upscale places in Japan, are actually sweetened with maltose or other sugars. I have seen usu-jio umeboshi at my local Japanese supermarket, Uwajimaya (disclaimer: they are a customer of mine). In Denver, I'm not sure... My favorite Denver Japanese restaurant (ok, the only one I've been to) is Domo, by Gaku Homma, and he's from around Akita, so I doubt he uses anything low in salt.