Catherine Iino

Summer, usually not before mid-July. I'll cook--or not cook--you dinner next summer, when they arrive.

I hardly want to give this away, but next summer, head for Snug Harbor Marina on Gooseberry Road in--where else--Snug Harbor (part of Wakefield). They are a small but important sports fishing marina, but they sell absolutely the best yellowfin tuna when it comes in, for absurdly low prices. Couldn't be fresher. They always have lobsters, and they sometimes have flounder, albacore, shark, even mahi mahi--depending on the catch. This summer, there was a two week spell when one or more 800-900 lb bluefin tuna came in. Unfortunately, those are packed in ice and shipped straight off to Tokyo. You could P.M. me next summer for a heads up on what's available; the place is about a 5 minute walk from my RI house.

Thanks for that background, Russ. I think that the golden delicious apples I'm thinking of have a thicker, coarser skin as well as the occasional russeting. And the flavor is really quite different, not just sweeter but also spicier. Wish I had some now.

I've been baking bread in a preheated cast iron dutch oven for years--no sticking problem at all. In fact, when I saw the article, I wondered whether preheating an enameled pot wouldn't damage the finish. I preheat mine--both the top and the lid--to 500 degrees, lower the oven temperature to 450 when I put the loaf in, and when I remove the lid after half an hour, I sometimes lower the temperature further, depending on how much color the loaf has at that point. I also spritz some water inside the pot with a sprayer when I first put the loaf in. I put the lid on and then hold it open a crack and spray in some water. But my dough may not always be as wet as the Lahey formula.

Russ kind of answered a question that's been in my mind a long time. When I was a pubescent foodie, in high school, many decades ago, I often went out a lunchtime and bought one red delicious apple at the local deli that catered to students seeking lunch. I loved those apples. They were crisp and clear tasting. I wonder if the whole breed has changed since then? They were also definitely better than the red delicious apples you could get then, or now, in the supermarket. I think storage does make a huge difference; even the best apples (jonagold? braeburn?) often have that musty, cardboardy taste when I buy them from Stop & Shop. What is that taste, anyway? Also, Russ or anyone, are there actually two breeds sold as golden delicious? I see the smooth skinned, completely tasteless ones in the supermarkets, but sometimes I find other, more russeted apples at farmstands that are also called golden delicious--and they really are. My last two cents: everyone keeps raving about the new Honeycrisps, but so far I've been disappointed. Is is storage again? Should I keep trying?

The Cook's Illustrated recipe from a couple (?) of years ago is great--fussbudgety, as always, but delicious.

Thanks, BekkiM. I'm heading for Colorado from the East Coast tomorrow, and I was glad to see your recent post on Frasca.

Can anyone give instructions for pickling shiso seeds? I have quite a crop. I clicked on the link in an early post to photos of the process, but the Japanese captions are translated by my computer into comic-book curse words--"#@&%^!" and the like. Thanks for any help you can give.

I'm going to try those potatoes; sound like just the thing. I like to balance the sweetness of the paprika with the pungency of garlic, etc. By the way, there's a Sicilian dish called Pasta with Sardines in the Sea. Silly fishermen, get back to your nets.

I scored some incredible paprika (made by Falls Brook Organic farm in Lyme, CT--www.ameliemichel.com). It is so fresh and fragrant that it makes even the fancy imported stuff seem like powdered rouge. What would be the best recipes to show it off?

I've had a butterbell for several years; works great. Only occasional mold problems, mostly when someone gets crumbs of bread on the butter and then puts it back in the water. For those of you who are waiting to find a butterbell on sale: before I got an "official" one, I used two dishes. I crammed the butter into a small, straight-sided glass bowl and inverted it into a wider, shallower bowl full of water. Worked fine.

I just want to thank Rachel Perlow for the Golden Potato Kugel recipe. Delicious, but what I particularly want to thank you for is your wonderful instructions. As you did with the rainbow jello mold recipe, you make me feel as if there's a friend at my elbow, answering questions just as they pop into my head and sharing the fun. Happy new year, and thanks again.

My deepest apologies to Bombdog and everyone else for posting a query and then seemingly disappearing, and not acknowledging your kind response. For some reason, "notification of replies" wasn't working for me in midsummer, and so I thought no one had answered. And although I checked in somewhat regularly on the topic, somehow I just missed your response. I must have seemed very inconsiderate. A very belated thanks. Well, just now I have access to some very fresh, line-caught yellowfin and albacore right off the boat and reasonably priced. I'm ready to try to cure a loin or two. If anyone has any further advice, I'm all ears--and eyes: I will check in religiously.

I'm afraid I didn't receive the list of bakeries until after I'd left Berlin. I'm glad Pork Belly can use it. Thanks again to all for the suggestions.

Thanks, Malacitana. I arrived in Berlin yesterday and actually ate at VAU last evening. My husband, who has been here for a couple of weeks already, said it was 4 or 5 times better than anything else he had had here, but we both thought it was nowhere near up to the standards of, say, some wonderful restaurants we tried in Sweden a couple of years ago. Vau's food was creative and attractive, and the service was just fine, but in most of the dishes, the flavors did not quite come together gracefully. I do appreciate the recommendation for 44; I'll try to get there. Do you by any chance know of any really good traditional bakeries here? I'm particularly interested in bread, but I'm more than happy to go hunting down good pastry as well.

Thanks, Kai-M. I'm going in any case, so of course I'll be looking for interesting culinary finds. I was kind of joking about the names of the forums, by the way. I should have put in a smiley. But, help! Does anyone know of a good Turkish restaurant in Berlin? My husband, who is there now, sent an emergency request for information. There must be some. Thanks!

mrsadm--Can you tell me whether you found any interesting food in Hannover? My husband is there right now for a few days, and would love to have some suggestions. Thanks, Catherine

Thank you all. Ed, I have definitely gotten that impression from my research so far--beginning with the fact that Germany doesn't even get it's own region in the Europe forums. If you know of any funky, amusing, unusual, or downright weird food-related spots, I'd love to hear about them. I have a particular interest in traditional breads; do you, or does anyone, know of interesting bakeries in Berlin? Sue, Restaurant Maxwell does look lovely.

Therese-- I am heading for Berlin in a couple of weeks. How was your trip? Anything I should know? Catherine

Bump. Thanks to all for the recommendations so far. I will be in Berlin at the very beginning of August, so any further suggestions would be most welcome.

My latest method of dealing with fruit flies is vacuuming them up. They are maddeningly impossible to swat, but it's quite easy to suck 'em up with a vacuum cleaner hose. I vacuum up all that I can, wait a few minutes, and do it again, repeat until there aren't any more. This seems to take care of them for a week or so. Good luck!

I've been reading along in this thread; you guys are doing beautiful things. Does the book, by any chance, have instructions for mojama--the cured tuna from Spain? I've only read about it, but it sounds wonderful, and at this time of year where I live, I often have access to beautiful loins of tuna fresh off the boat. Anyone have any experience or references?

A belated thank you--somehow I missed this before. I will report back.

My husband and I went in to NYC (from Rhode Island) Thursday evening just to eat at Picholine. He had eaten there once before and like it so much he wanted me to try it. Our reservation was for 7:30. We decided to try the tasting menu ($120), although not the wine pairings. We had a bottle of Gigondas with the meal. The restaurant is expensive, but I found it to be excellent. The menu included the sea urchin panna cotta, Jogoode; it was surrounded by a clear aspic with lovely bits of red and green seaweed and topped with a spoonful of osetra caviar. My husband kept saying, This tastes just like the sea. It really was remarkable. But every course was masterful--not bizarre, but interesting and under control. I was very impressed. We did have the cheese course (I would always kill for a great cheese), and it was lovely. Although, Ned, I have to say the Epoisse, which is a cheese I really like, was slightly over-ripe. Just a hint of that ammonia taste. But our other selections were unusual and delicious. The restaurant was only about half full--maybe because it's summer?--but the service was just fine. This might be a good time to go.

Marcella Hazan's asparagus rolled up in proscuitto and fontina--wonderful.