chefzadi

David- That kind of prejudice would be very rare and hard to maintain in Paris. She might be able to stay in business with a few bigger accounts that she babies.

I did a cooking class at an elementary school in South Los Angeles. It's a low income area. I went to the class dressed in "uniform", chef's whites, black trousers, dress shoes and toque (I thought the kids would get a kick out the toque). Sure enough they went nuts for me. It seems that the iconic image of a French chef is more widespread than I thought. They acted like there were meeting a "character" of sorts, almost like Elmo or something. They all had kid's sized toques on which they all asked me to autograph and at the end of the class they fought over who would get mine. They were all so cute and sweet. I had a blast. Anyway this is what we made and they loved the food. I can't use dairy products for insurance purposes hence the soy products. And the idea is the get the kids to eat 5-9 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables a day. Vegetable quesadillas with flour tortillas, a little bit of soy cheese, corn, tomatoes and avacadoes (good, natural fat). No added oil. Yogurt parfaits with vanilla flavored soy yogurt (I didn't want to scare them off to healthy eating by giving them plain yogurt, because it's about making "better" choices, not always perfect ones) with bananas, mangoes and grapes. They ate it all up and didn't even realize that it was good for them. I made copies of the recipes for the teacher to send home with the kids. But now that I think about it I should have had it translated into Spanish as well. As for the nutrition education portion, I didn't bother explaining to them about different the nutritional value of this or that specifically. I told them to eat a range of different colored veg/fruits. We all had a great time. EDIT: With the recipes I sent home I gave a list of subsitutions for the ingredients.

We make Breton Galettes with them at home. I also taught a Japanese noodle class where I prepared fresh soba dough. But it's really difficult too cut without the proper equiptment because of the lack of gluten even though my recipe included some whole wheat flour.

If it is true, I would chock it up to employee sabotage. Really it's unfathomable to me that something like this could get pass the kitchen line or the server.

According to this article http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/04/Columns/...ueamish_o.shtml There are some supporters for horse meat consumption " Another surprising supporter is Dr. Tom Lenz, president-elect of the 7,000-member American Association of Equine Practitioners. "The issue is what do you do with unwanted horses," he said. "Some people can't afford to keep them." Lenz, who has witnessed slaughters at Beltex, said the industry kills horses "humanely." The companies use the same method used to kill cows and other live stock that we eat: a quick killing blow of a stun gun to the head. Veterinarians worry that if the Texas network succeeds in banning horse meat processing in this country, our unwanted animals will be sent to the busy killing floors of Canada and Mexico. "

To add to my list I like Calamari and Korean battered and fried octopus or squid. Chinese deep fried whole shrimp. I can eat a couple of big plates of those. As far as batters for seafood and vegetables go I prefer Korean batters, very light, lacey and crispy. I like the Japanese panko crusts as well. If we get into shallow frying I would add any number of Korean jons and pancakes. But the amount of oil that can be used for these preparations can vary quite a bit. Some cooks seem to shallow fry them other just add enough oil to coat the pan. We don't do much of any type of frying at home. We're not health nuts by a long stretch. We like the taste of fried foods well enough. But my wife and I have an aversion to the smell of fried foods. It's the smell of fried food cooking that we don't like. So even if we include shallow fried foods on any given month or months we don't eat it. The whole family was at a picnic and someone brought fried chicken. My entire family (toddler too) took the crust off before eating it.

In France horse butchershops are called boucheries chevalines, they are falling out of favor with the general public. But there are still found in the Provinces. Horsemeat dishes are rarely found in restaurants. The banning of horsemeat in America reminds me a question my wife asked me once. "Do you think there are many vegetarians in France?" Non! "What do French people in general think about vegetarians?" There crazy. EDIT: VeryApe77, it wasn't in your imagination. They were more common a while back. I'm sure there are a few left in Paris though and not just in the provinces.

World horse meat consumption levels 2001 (tonnes) Italy 78,500 France 34,700 Netherlands 11,000 Belgium 10,800 Germany 6,900 WORLD TOTAL 153,000 According to this article http://www.cbc.ca/news/features/horse_meat_industry.html This http://www.igha.org/USDA.html is a page from the International Generic Horse Association and Horse Aid. Apparently at one time the USDA was promoting Horse Meat. I couldn't find a link to it on their website though. Maybe someone who's better at research can give it a stab. Have you tried horse meat sashimi? Any Horse meat butchers in your area? How do you like your horse steaks? Any restaurants serving horse meat?

He was talking about instigating a renaissance of quiche. And I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that covered a lot of home cooks (as opposed to a few high end restaurants or artisan home cooks). I think I know what's good - better - best. And just because you can't always make/eat the best of something doesn't mean you shouldn't have it at all. Russ Parsons' message above has already stated the point most eloquently. Robyn ← I don't see how your point counters my point. Maybe Russ said it more "eloquently". English is not my first language so I'm not smooth with it. You make it the way you want, to suit your tastes.

I think it was north. Have you ever tried asking a native French person for directions? The name of the street if I recall correctly is Rue du Plat. We also bought pralines there. Have you tried praline ice cream?

There is a store behind the Place Bellecour, I don't remember the name of the shop. But after scouring Paris and Lyon, my wife and I found the best prices their, great quality things. Great customer service. Ils sont super gentilles.

I'm inclined to go with the Urban Legend theory. Remember the widespread story about natural born blondes becoming "extinct" within whatever number of years. So many parts of a rat in a sandwich or any other dish. That's just not how a commercial kitchen works. Doesn't make sense. Unless it was knowingly placed there. or the rat crawled into the sandwich to die and no one noticed package tampering.

Robyn- Michael's jumping point was the quiche he had at Bouchon. I think that he was talking about quiches served in restaurants made by chefs. Or even by a homecook who follows the traditional methods. "Properly" may not be such a populist word, but there are techniques that make a dish better, superior. Using Mrs' Smiths frozen pie crust isn't one of them, that's a convenience item. If you and your family enjoy it the way you make it I don't think any of us here would question your tastes. I think that Michael (at least I was) talking about quiche in a different context.

I'm not shocked by the comparison. I understand your points. By the time "celebrity" chefs are in the position of opening a restaurant in Las Vegas, they are most likely part of a financial group, whether it's investors who want a return or a professional restaurant group (pump up the buzz and pack in the customers). The chef is the frontman at this point. One of THE most talented chefs I worked under when I was a young cook was a madman, a sterotypical ranting artist. This Chef was GOOD, he was strong, he would have no trouble holding his own with the greats of French cuisine. But he had no patience for diplomacy or financial politics. If the press came to him today (he must be in his 70's or 80's by now) he would spit in their faces. I suppose that most of these celebrity chef restaurants in Vegas raise the bar of what is considered good good in Vegas. (remember those .99 cent all you can eat buffets that cluttered the strip, they are still there I'm sure). But now there is some decent food, good food that's reaching a broader customer base. Better food available to more people, well overall that's a good thing. I have mixed feeling about some of this. I still think it's ridiculous to advertise "Why go to the real Paris, when you can have Paris in Vegas without having to deal with a foreign culture?" I still have some problems with a Bouchon being outside of Lyon. Just call it a bistro like they do in the rest of France. But that's just me. A Bouchon is in my heart. It reminds me of the soil I was born on and the where it all began for me. It reminds me of terroir and all the fickle poetry that it entails. It reminds me that we cannot control the seasons and the gifts of the earth. It reminds me of the joy of a great crop, celebrations all around. It reminds me that something can only happen in a special place and time. It is antithetical to what Vegas is all about.

This topic reminds me of a conversation I had with a few Americans when I first moved here. One of them asked me about "light meals" and what would be good? One of my suggestions was quiche with a simple salad. *gasp*. I was a little puzzled. Later someone explained to me that quiche was no longer trendy, in fact there was a backlash against it. Huh? I'll will never understand how simply good food (assuming it's well prepared) can go in and out of style. It's not the dish that fails, it's all the bad cooks/chefs that churn out bad versions while jumping on a trendy bandwagon. No matter how seemingly simple a dish may seem, it must be well executed. If you don't know how to do it right, don't put it in on the menu. Customers will notice eventually. It gives a great dish a bad rap. Even a simple French omelet, if you advertise French style omelets than make them, instead of slapping a layer of scrambled eggs onto a frying pan and dumping a whole bunch of leftover vegetables on it topped with cheese. Of course I still eat quiche, never stopped.

The restaurant was in the States. I'm interested in both Manchurian cooking and the cooking of Northeastern China. Any thoughts, experiences, observations, knowledge, etc would be much appreciated.

Andie- When do get some pictures? I'll be posting next week some that my students have made. Looking forward to yours though.

I'm partial to Pouilly Fuissé. Pouilly and Fuissé are actually two different villages in the Mâconnais (a few minutes from where I grew up). The wine can come from five villages in the area, the two I mentioned plus Vergisson, Chaintre and Solutré. Are they a good value? Only you can answer whether they are a good value for yourself. Do you like the aromas of apples and minerals in Chardonnay? Maybe there is a bit of vanilla, honey and spice? It's good at 2-3 years, better at 4-5. It can age even more 20 years perhaps. So maybe it's not the most revered of Burgundy whites, but it is still a very good wine.

Is it off topic to mention French wines made with the grape variety? Pouilly Fumé or Sancerre. Puilly Fume has more structure, it's tends to be dry. A little smokey with hay. Sancerre tends to be lighter, floral and citrus notes.

If you're in the trade ask your meat supplier. If you are not I would try to find a butcher that deals with the trade. You'll get better quality stuff.

Truffles can be good with Veal sweetbreads. You can add it to a foie gras sauce if you're feeling extravagant. I'm simple, prefer mine seared in butter, white wine, finely chopped parsley and little more butter to finish at the end. The tang of the wine offsets the richness of the sweetbreads for me. If you bread them I would suggest sauce gribiche.

Zeitoun- What type of sauce are you planning if any at all? Wine, sherry, mushrooms, chicken liver (foie gras if you're feeling lik splurging), herbs? Preparation method breaded and pan fried, pan seared with butter, braised...?

jeez. um.. English is not my first language. I should have looked up "onerous" before posted. I meant diificult, challenging. Instead of focusing on ONE word, can you all please consider that not everyone here is a native speaker of English. Maybe I didn't make it clear in the ways that I can contribute to the thread. Wine and terroir, Food and wine, etc...

Depends on the preparation, the sauce.

calve's liver is milder in taste and texture. There are folks who eat liver sashimi. I wouldn't recomend it though unless you are sure of the source and how it was handled. For most commercially available livers I would recommend cooking it through, don't overcook otherwise it will be too dry.