chefzadi

We expect a full report with photos. You have to try those sandwiches I mentioned though. So good!

As a Chinese married to a Korean, I have to remember to leave my rice bowl on the table when eating at the in-laws'. Picking the bowl up is just not done. I'm also informed that in Korean it is polite to leave the left (or unused) hand in the lap when eating. this is different from Chinese manners, which call for resting the wrist of the unused hand on the edge of the table so that the hand is above the table, either resting or holding onto a bowl. ← I was about to mention the other hand and elbows on the table. My Algerian mother insisted on both hands being visible on the table at all times. When my wife and I were dating, I would always ask what she was doing with her other hand! At best we can try not to be offensive, but really our hosts should want us to enjoy ourselves rather than fretting too much.

It is considered rude. I don't know the reason why. I can't help it though, I'd drop too much food all over the place.

I'm really starting to miss the North African and Turkish owned fast food places in France. They thinly slice the meat as it cooks and serve it in a crusty baguette. A little mayonaisse and harissa. Tasty! My wife couldn't get enough of them and the merguez sandwiches too. I think that the spice mixtures used over there have cumin as a top note, some coriander, fennel, ground red pepper and garlic. I can't see why the rottiserie wouldn't work, except that there would be a lot of fat dripping onto the flames. It would be fun for a big party. I don't know if I would do it just for a few people.

It's a learning process, especially when it comes to other cultures. The French are pretty high and mighty about their use of cutlery. But they eat couscous with forks instead of the traditional spoons or fingers. The Koreans have their own idea of table manners, never stab your rice with chopsticks, don't "fish" for the bits you like from the communal dishes on the table, etc... But in Korea especially at the "workman's" type eateries, in lieu of napkins there is a roll of... toilet paper. I guess the manners part kicks in trying to be respectful of other customs.

I think you are right, that's why I didn't mention the local Thai restraunts in my initial post. I have never seen chopsticks in Thai restraunts. You might be able to get them at some, but because Thai food is trendy some of these Thai restaurants are acctually run by Vietnamese or even Chinese owners, so the staff acctually use chopsticks. ← I was refering to the Chinese who have immigrated to Thailand and then to Los Angeles. Alot of the owners seem around here seem to Thai of Chinese descent. In this case wouldn't they eay with chopsticks at home?

My reversed engineering idea would be: Leave the 2 dozens of quail eggs in the bed of salt overnight, so that the salt can infiltrate a bit into the egg through the shells. (Or maybe a bath of brine) And I would steam the whole bed of salt and eggs in a steamer instead of the oven. The street vendors Aprilmei mentioned used the steaming method. Just theory though. Never tried it with eggs. ← If it's steamed how is the finished product "roasted quail eggs?"

I'm in Los Angeles. Most Asian restaurants have chopsticks on the table. Except the Thai places. I would assume that Chinese-Thai people eat with chopsticks. Or is that an incorrect assumption? My wife asks for chopsticks at Thai restaurants. Sometimes she just looks at the fork and then the server and the server immediately knows. Alot of Chain Chinese places automatically hand out forks, but there customer base is mostly non-Asian. I've noticed though that in LA at least a lot of Non-Asians seem to have pretty good chopstick skills. I can't use the thin silver or metal Korean chopsticks. Lucky for me my in laws keep around some wooden Japanese style ones with the pointy tip. I stabbed my chopsticks into my rice when I first starting using them. Everyone at the table gasped and got a little upset. I don't do it anymore. My wife moved to the States when she was five. This is apparently before most Korean children learn to use chopsticks, so she started learning when she was nine.

Everyone who knows me knows I'm a French Chef. So I'm often asked food related questions. I practically walk on eggshells in social situations especially around Americans. I know it's a broad generalization but they seem to value their own opinions much more than that of an "expert", which doesn't matter to me at all. But as a social lubricant I usually say things like "yeah, sure you do what you want" seems to keep people happiest with themselves. It's a peculiar combination of "I want to do what I want, I'm right but I want a so called expert to tell me that's it's okay. If he disagrees with me though, he's an arrogant French asshole". I remember once I said a particular type of processed food wasn't gourmet French food (that's the word the person used to pose the question to me) and she got really upset about it. She said stuff like "well excuse me! I'm not a Chef like you, so I don't have your standards. It's gourmet to me!" Huh? Than why did you ask the question? So now on a social basis I just keep my mouth shut or just say, "do what you want." I try to... but someone asked me the other day what I thought of Rachel Ray's cooking techniques and oh isn't she so good!!! I burst out laughing, my coffee almost came out of my nose. THe woman who asked me the question became stone faced and her eyes began to twitch. But I just couldn't stop laughing. In answer to te question here... I'd suggest serving the cool whip on the side.

Any idea on the specifics? Time, temperature, etc? ← Bed of salt, quail eggs on top, cover with more salt roast in an oven. I've never tried it, but that's the way I would do it if I did. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut though. I just got visions of bursting eggs.

The Koreans eat them boiled, peeled and salted too. You could try cooking them in soy sauce aftewards to make a quail egg version of the hen egg dish. To make a side dish to be eaten with rice. There's a thread covering the specifics of the dish somewhere in the Asia forum. In France they are cracked onto a crouton and cooked in the oven for a few minutes and served with a salad.

http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/meat/4.html (So terribly sorry.) ← The chef must be from a different generation (refering to the photos in the thread not on that website ). When I was in culinary school many, many moons ago my textbooks had photos like that. Even then we were told it was old fashioned. Not that I've reinvented the wheel with my plating. It's simple and clean. No towers, no fussiness and no extraneous garnishes that do little more than distract from the star ingredient. It doesn't look like the Keebler elves have put their little fingers all over the plate. No assembly line cooking. My mantra is a la minute as much as possible and everything from scratch. Other chefs know immediately what my food is about. Most customers do too, I'm always told that even the smell of my food isn't like restaurant food because it smells so clean and fresh. But some customers and food critics though seem to only respond to alot of empty clatter on a big plate served up by a chef who spends more time talking about his food than actually cooking it. My wife loves onion soup she used to order it at almost every bistro we went to in France. We didn't find a single place in Paris that made it from scratch. The use of premade powdered or concentrated bases was apparent. The color dark and murky, the texture heavy, even a little slimy. I make mine with a Beef Bouillon base. The result is a golden coloured, delicate, but still very flavorful soup. It always sold well, but I'm not sure that most of the customers in LA knew what they were eating.

Given your three choices, arborio. Uncle Bens in the trash bin. Basmati is too fragrant, unless your looking to make an Indian style Paella.

To further cut food costs "wine in a box". This is used by a lot of restaurants.

The Spaniards I know all pronounce the l. The l can sound really subtle sometimes. But there are so many dialects within Spain and of course in the Spanish speaking world.

The style of plating is over 20 years old. Except for the first presentation, which doesn't make sense to me. Edit: The fish on the last plate, it's perfectly cooked. Not that other ingredients weren't. But the fish stands out, I can't comment on the seasoning though because I haven't tasted it.

Paella is one of my favorite rice dishes. That doesn't mean I know the exhaustive history of it. I've read that the Moors brought rice to Valencia where Paella (pronounce the '"l" ) was born. I was also told by the Spanish owner of a restaurant in San Francisco that all Spanish speaking countries have an "authentic" version of it. What comes around goes around? Paella is also found in Oran, Algeria. It is called Paella there as well but we add some spices of course. This reminds me about discussions of the origins of couscous.

I'm sorry -- which Calder was this? ← Alexander Calder? He was also known in Spain as Alejandro Caldero,

Did you actually pay the 44 Euros for the tea? I would have spoken to managament about it.

I want to add that Lee mentioned his favorite food destination is "Paris for its artisanal products and rustic and refined food" For this type of food in France the city is Lyon, not Paris.

After doing a quick glance of the bio's on Food TV's website Chef Lee did stand out to me. But more than reading stats or press kits, I'll have to wait to see the man in action. Which I am looking forward to doing.

Marlene- Does it help you feel better to know that Keller has a large kitchen staff behind to prepare his concoctions? If you really prefer his Beef to other recipes, I suggest omitting the steps that are mostly for the sake of final presentation anyway. Also he has a lot of garnishes that are not traditional (hence the coq au vin jokes earlier). I'm not saying traditional is better than nouveau. What I am saying is you don't need them all or even most to enjoy your Beef a la Keller. Cutting back on the straining, the whole cheesecloth bit and the garnishes will cut your preparation time significantly. Another way about it is to is to add to Bourdain's recipe by marinating the beef in wine or adding more wine for greater intensity of flavor. I usually add enough wine to cover the beef, which usually means at least an entire bottle of, not just a cup. Also after the beef has cooked in the wine you can remove it, strain the sauce (just once at this point if you want to) and reduce the sauce further. Another way to get a more refined finished product without all that straining is to NOT deglaze the brown bits in the pan. Throw it out. The dish also tastes better the next day.

Have you heard rumors of this? Apparently there is a pastry guy who also posts on eGullet who is going to be a challenger on one of the battles, but this in and of itself sounds bizarre to me. While it would be interesting to see some baking going on during one of the battles (no one ever seems to bake their own breads or etc for any of their dishes, it could be pulled off if it was timed just right), I can't imagine the need for an Iron Chef Pastry. The current Iron Chefs are more than competent at desserts, and can incorporate them into a full meal. A complete dessert battle, or even a series of them, would simply be dull and tedious. ← I haven't heard rumours to this. I just put it Jacques Torres because he's so good. If they did do a pastry battle he'd be pretty tough to beat.

I'd like to see more, if any chefs like Bux's friend on Iron Chef. The audience would see great economy of movement, a clean, well maintained station throughout, spotless Chef's whites at the end of the show, and hand washing (if they don't edit it out) to prevent cross contamination. I can't promise no fingers or double dipped spoons though. I know it's a show, but there's a lot of jerky movements. Maybe it adds to the excitement. But given that they know the ingredients, exactly what the order is and they have assistants... Well, it doesn't even begin to compare to cooking under fire or getting into the weeds in a real restaurant setting. It's all in the Mise en Place. I also want to add that as far as the Food TV roster of chefs goes. I'd like to see Tsai, Morimoto, Emeril and Wolfgand Puck (Frozen pizza aside, the man is definately skilled). If they add an Iron Pastry Chef, Jaques Torres for sure.

Hell's Kitchen. But that is pure entertainment. The winner gets a $2,000,000.00 restaurant in Hollywood.