Suzanne F

Just wondering: what can they serve in the wintertime? Stuff out of greenhouses, I guess, or hydroponics? Or do they use non-local vegs "imported" from other growing regions?

For you, into the City for a decent meal. For me, to China 46!

A friend who has been starting a baking business makes a version. Obviously, I don't have his recipes, but I do remember that for the filling he used an uncooked vanilla buttercream (confectioners' sugar, butter, vanilla paste). It was delicious, but not that dead-white of Oreo filling, more of a light tan. If you try it, use a colorless vanilla (if such a thing exists?).

I live in NYC, where (for the most part) we are not allowed to have garbage disposals. However, I had them when I lived in Detroit and in Washington, DC, so I know firsthand how to break them. DO NOT put down your unit: a half-dozen emptied shells from picked-clean, boiled blue crabs; the stripped leaves of two (or more or less) artichokes These are sure to choke the poor thing.

Well, after all, Florida is The South in the northerm part of the state, the Midwest in the central part, and the Northeast in the southern part (Sorry, Jamie ) So I guess Robyn's local BBQ places can be forgiven. But Robyn: how about having a look at the rest of this thread, and at "Live from the BABBP thread, about the actual event we're discussing. Then you'd know how this panel was set up, as well as the whole rest of the 2-day event. Girlish figures be damned, and you know it. For this, have a look at this lovely piece (breast or thigh??

When butter is on sale, I buy extra and make a large batch of ghee -- from maybe 2 pounds of whole unsalted butter. Just drop it in a large saucepan over low heat, let it come to a boil, skim, and cook until it appears to be done (sediment dark brown but not burnt). I must say, I use ghee and clarified butter interchangeably. I only use it in place of clarified for sauteing, so I don't think any other flavors would be overpowered. And if I ever were to use if for, say, hollandaise, I think it would be all to the better for the sauce.

And that's another reason why I'm glad to be from a region that has no barbecue traditions (since according to Colman Andrews, pastrami is not considered barbecue): I can eat -- and love -- ALL OF THE DIFFERENT STYLES without prejudice. I'll be in Louisville in the fall, and am sooooooooo looking forward to mutton barbecue!

Well, you know Chanterelle just won the Beard award for Outstanding Restaurant. And I will also admit to considering it among the best -- if not THE best. Twenty-five??? Jeez, David looks great! Oh, and Karen, too.

I don't get it. Why would bread pudding do that. Was it rotten? Andrew, have you ever made bread pudding? Eggs, milk, bread -- the devil's playground, especially if left out on the counter, unrefrigerated, overnight.

Gotta add this to the list of Best Things I've Learned on eGullet. Thanks!

The Pathmark under the Manhattan Bridge.

We just ate at The Biltmore Room last week (for our anniversary, actually). I'm about to start a thread about the place. The short answer to you is: Very, very tasty, very, very gussied-up food. A lovely but rather loud room in which conversation is possible but not optimal. Good wine list. Much as I love Gary Robins (for whom I worked at 3 different places), I'd put it as the last possibility on your list.

Everything looks beautiful, AND delicious. I'm jealous! But now I know where I'll have to eat the next time I'm in DC. Can anyone identify who's who?

Ah yes, reminds me of many, many years ago, when I that kind of meat thermometer -- except this was so long ago, it had a column of colored liquid in a glass tube, that rose up against a marked-off metal plaque. (It had, in fact, survived several instances of being dropped after I tried to pull it out bare-handed.) It came with a skewer-like pick with which to make a hole in the roast first. One time, I couldn't get the pick in very far, because the meat was still frozen at the center. Oh, well, I thought, I'll just jam in the glass tube of the thermometer anyway. . . . Yes, indeed, shards of glass in the roast, liquid of unknown provenance all over the meat. I did not eat roast beef that night.

That assumes that a gay or lesbian chef/cook would join that specialized group only, to the exclusion of other groups. I'm sure this wouldn't be the case; rather, I'd guess it would tend to be in addition to other memberships. Jamie What he said. Just because all of us here have cut all other websites, friends, and interests out of our lives, and owe total allegiance to eG, doesn't mean that normal people limit themselves to only one affinity group.

Well, there might be, but I can see how non-hetero folks in the industry might feel the need to get together and let their hair down, so to speak, and bitch and chill. Even though people in kitchens will follow up what they say with, "Oh, you know I don't really mean it," when they make anti-glbt (or anti-woman or anti-anybody) statements, it hurts nonetheless. That's why I have so loved going to WCR conferences: we could focus on the important stuff (food, drink, and cooking), and talk about how lousy the paternalism is, and how much better we would run the world once we take over.

Although I've known -- and worked with -- chefs and cooks who are gay or lesbian, I'd be surprised if there is an official organization. But, then, the culture of restaurant kitchens is mostly so hetero-ly macho, I suppose there is a need (to allow people to be their full selves). There's certainly a need for one for women, hetero or not -- and that is Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. But in the 8 or so years I've been a member, I can't think of a single time when there was any official acknowledgment of the lesbian members with any specific event or newsletter article.

And Schneider has a terrific recipe for the stems, too! Basically pickled and spiced. I made it some time ago, and only opened it the other day: keeps very well, and is a terrific accompaniment to Indian food, just like a chutney. And it is beautiful. That is one of the best books, EVER. (Last year it won three IACP awards, including Cookbook of the Year. very much deserved.)

Ah, Food Mania! I keep trying to figure out if it would be possible -- and legal -- to scan in some of the pictures and use them to illustrate stuff here.

Paging Will McKinney. Paging Will McKinney. Alan Davidson, in The Oxford Companion to Food, defines barbecue as: Which brings up yet another question: why so few women??? Those of you who met all the pitmasters and workers: were there any other women beside the one from Smoki O's?

Regarding mustard-based sauce: our own =Mark makes a really great one. He brought some to Bobolink Farm last year; too bad he won't be able to make it this year. Check eGRA to see if he ever posted a recipe.

From what I heard, it is NOT a sauce thing. While sauce may be used to define regional tastes, it is not required for the primal experience. The basic elements seem to be: Time: long Temperature: low Smoke: present as an integral part of the cooking medium Fuel: essential as the source of smoke One distinction that Colman Andrews alluded to but never quite fully discussed was the noun-versus-verb problem. Seems to me, barbecue is first and foremost a NOUN. The problem came about when it was turned into a verb, and some of its attributes were lost. (But what do I know? I'm just a second-generation American Jewess from Flushing, Queens, New York.)

So what then is a definition of barbecue, if not that? I wish they'd addressed that part of the idea of "barbeculture," since clearly it's more than a cooking method, more than a regional food -- I still don't fully understand what it IS (but I know it when I see it. )

Re: Fat Guy's question: Was it Colman Andrews who mentioned the barbecue event held at some synagogue in Memphis? That begin with the blessing of the briskets by the rabbi, and then everyone fires up. And I remembered one of the questions: what effect do barbecue competitions have on the state of barbecue? All I remember of the answer is that the folks who compete are not really making barbecue, they're just indulging in a hobby, much as if they were playing golf.