touaregsand
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Posts posted by touaregsand
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I thought this diner's experience -- posted on his blog -- made for interesting reading. I haven't eaten at ADNY myself; this report doesn't do much to make me want to.
"Given the choice between standing in the middle of one of the worst blizzards of the past hundred years and eating in one of the most expensive, renowned restaurants in the world, for which would you opt?
Having done both, I would unhesitatingly opt for the former."
Click here to read the rest: http://www.stephenpollard.net/002011.html
Not much in that report gives me any confidence in the writer's knowledge of food or his credibility. He sounds more like he has a chip on his shoulder and a big gripe with ADNY/Ducasse.
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What is "broken whipped cream"? Is this cream whipped until it begins to turn into butter? Why would you use this rather than ordinary whipped cream?
It's Delouvrier-speak (looking in my reference books, I see now that it's not a standard term) for his style of lightening a sauce with whipped cream at the last minute -- it has nothing to do with breaking as in a broken sauce. He lightly whips the cream (no Profi-Whip device here -- this is done by whisk to a very soft consistency) and when the sauce is just at the moment of service he takes a spoonful of the whipped cream and "breaks" it into the sauce. The closest standard term would be fold but to fold it into the sauce would mean to distribute it evenly in several turns of the spoon. It's also not quite swirled in. It's more of a single fold-swirl motion, which Delouvrier calls breaking.
So it's basically a mousseline, the same way a bearnaise lightened with whipped cream is a bearnaise mousseline?
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The emphasis here on variety is something that I'm not quite understanding. I go to France to eat French food, not to search out Chinese places. I go to Seoul to enjoy Korean food, not to complain that the Japanese food is bad over there. When I went to London, well I had more pub meals then anything else during the short time I was there. The prices for other meals just stunned me and I've been to some pretty expensive cities and spent my share of money in them. Given that I've seen the same variety in other cities, well I just couldn't justify spending more money in London to eat Indian food or Thai food then I would back home in Los Angeles. Manhatten is dense with variety, but the overall quality of the food doesn't strike me as being significantly greater than other cities with perhaps more sprawled out variety. Sure I wouldn't argue that NYC leads in fine dining in the States. But fine dining in the Western context has become so internationalized (with heavy doses of French influence) that there is nothing particularly New York about it. Chefs can snoop on eachother's menus at the speed of the internet. A highly trained chef wouldn't even have to taste another chef's dish do his own version of it. Fine dining in Manhatten, not for me so much I can find it in other cities at better prices with equal or superior quality. Those mostly Korean owned places in the city, I don't even know how to classify them, sort of like a convenience store with a buffet in the center. Totally gross, I can't even believe people actually eat that stuff. Why do they? Cause it's so cheap. For overall value of money for quality Manhatten wouldn't be one my list at all at the high end or the low end.
Variety may be the spice of life, but in my book it doesn't make a city more interesting than one that is more provincial. I suppose this comes from my being a big city girl all of my life. So when I leave the big city to travel somewhere, I don't really dig on seeing the same types of restaurants (forget about those stupid chains allover the world now
KFC in Paris, London, Seoul) everywhere I go. I'm in search of something different from repetitive variety.With that said, given Ben''s conditions for what makes a city "interesting" than I would pick SF.
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As the Japanese increasingly turn away from rice, the longtime staple of their diet, baker Koichi Fukumori believes he has found a solution to boost the heavily subsidised crop: turn it into bread.
http://www.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1...od_050225162228
Why is rice consumption declining in Japan? More "Westernized" diet?
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The most interesting food city in the world... hmmm. I wonder if the way we're asking the question isn't dictating the answer we're getting.
Discussing how 'interesting' a city's food is seems to put the emphasis on culinary variety and diversity rather than on focused quality and entrenched foodways.
This probably works in the favour of places like New York and Singapore, and to the detriment of Paris and Italian cities, where 'interestingness' may not be the first thing people look for in good food.
Having said that, for 'interesting', I'd pick NYC.
This is why I offered two sets of answers. Interesting for me doesn't neccessarily equate with variety. Someone else here mentioned that our answers were too subjective. Well, how could they not be? I haven't been everywhere so my list is based on where I've been and I tried to communicate that.
Lyon and the Beaujolais region were quite interesting to me, very "exotic" from my point of view. The farmer's markets in the Beaujolais, unfucking believable! I had never seen anything like it in my life. Totally blew me away. It was tiny, not much variety but just the way everything was presented was beautifully traditional. Artisanal everything. I haven't been to a farmer's market in California that can even begin to compare on terms of quality. Of course that is just my opinion.
I also don't see interesting in terms of just food. I know that is what we are talking about here. But there are certain places that make me feel good overall and that affects my perception of the food. Given my list what makes me feel good overall is pretty varied.
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If French women do not get fat, who are the Frenchmen then referring to when they call somebody “vache” or “chamelle” when there are no other mammals around?
I don't even know how to touch this.
As much as Frenchmen like skinny chicks, they appreciate the curvy gals as well. They like BUTT. -
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Paris- My heart beats a little faster, my step quickens, my appetite opens up, I want to eat and eat. Again, pretty hard to find bad French food in France. Even the chain bistros serve pretty tastey stuff (except for onion soup).[...]
I love France, and I love Paris, but I wouldn't agree that it's hard to find bad French food in Paris. Actually, I found it a lot harder to find bad food in Nice than Paris, unless you went to the Flunch [sic] at the train station. My fellow students were so strapped they went there for the 18-franc sandwiches (this was in 1992-3). I had one once and it upset my stomach. I went for 40-to-45-franc lunches instead, such as plates of pasta, which I'm convinced is a local food in a city that but for somewhat of an accident of history could be part of Italy today.
Fair enough. I do know what to look for when "sniffing" out good restaurants in France, of course that helps alot.
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If size and money matter, it's LA. Stupid amounts of money here spread against a huge sprawl of land, money often times stupidly spent
. Seoul too, huge city, tons of cash, they wouldn't blink at spending $500 at a restaurant like Masa. -
cigalechanta-
Glad you brought up the differences in body type. I read somewhere that 3 out 5 Caucasian Americans can trace their roots back to Germany or the UK. Clearly bigger boned folks than the French. Of course there is Alsace, I'm talking broadly here. I don't really buy the genetic argument when it comes to morbid obesity, but I can't mount a vigorous argument against body types. I'm Korean, turning 36 this year, two kids, I'm 5'4" and weigh 120 pounds. Not exactly skinny, good dose of well earned womanly curves in the right places.
A scientist friend of mine told me that Northeast Asians actually burn calories faster than people of the Sun. Something to do with the severe cold weather and the need to keep warm. My considerable experience with the French and food tells me that French women EAT. They enjoy food. Korean women, the same thing. We most definately do not push our food around on the plate. It's going into our mouths. I just don't see French and Korean women obsessing about food. A night of gluttony doesn't translate into being "bad" or "sinful". I think of French women in a sense as being the most "oriental" or "Asian" of European women. Slighter frames and more delicate bone structure, a subtle elegance of movement and gait.
In one of the post there was talk of bitchery among women. True enough, sadly so. The funniest thing I've been asked is if I get acupuncture or acupressure treatments to keep my figure.
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http://slate.msn.com/id/2113911/
More about the French Woman's secret.
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1. Korean. Mom is the best cook. She's from a region that is known for having some of the best produce in the world. Helped that her family once owned a lot of it.
2. In Korea, I left the country when I was 5, but I remember Chinese-Korean restaurants were quite a treat. Chiajang Myun was a favorite. Japanese food was also known to.
3. Immediately after my family immigrated here. I was one of those kids that always liked trying new things. I immediately like Mexican food, that would be the first that I recall. Koreatown, which was basically a few churches and two Chinese-Korean restaurants has boomed. Later I noticed Thai restaurants when I was in junior high school. It was around this time that I recall a sort of backlash against French restaurants and a ton of Italian places started opening. Later in high school I recall noticing more Central American (mostly pupusa) and Vietnamese. Indian has been around for a long time too. I was in high school to when I first went to the SFG. Wow!
My parents were pretty generous with allowance for me so as soon I could get around on my own (even by bus when they wouldn't drive me) I liked to try new foods, so I had a pretty broad food experiences growing up. They even treated me to several culinary tours of South Korea. We went around tasting regional dishes.
4. Answered covered in 3.
5. First meal, I think I was 6 something Mexican it was probably tacos. No, actually I was 5 it was standard American, but exotic to me. The family lived on the same block and the girl who was a year younger than me sort of latched onto me. But I really didn't like eating at their place cause the mom kept trying to "teach" me American table manners. Which I thought was rude and annoying. Growing up I had friends from allover so I had lot great home cooked "ethnic" meals. Lucky me.
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I was shocked to learn that a bunch of people around me have made this dish using dungeness crabs. Why am I always the last to know this stuff? According to those who have had it, dungeness is the king for use in gaejang.
Beg to differ. The best are Korean blue crabs, females with roe in them.
But man gaejong breath has to be worse than kim chi breath.
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My husband is a chef. I've seen students watch him demonstrating how to tourne a potato with awe. At that moment a humble spud is a work of art to them. I've heard customer's gasp at a very simple plate of fish and say "that's a work of art, unbelievably simple".
He has the technical skills to do towers and extravagant garnishes. He doesn't though, not his style. A chef can be an artist. Food can be art. But a chef's artistic food preparations have to be first and foremost edible and damn good tasting. A chef/artist is unlike other artists. It's a trade, craft, of course art, he has to be a strong leader in the kitchen, watch the bottom line (yeah, yeah I've heard a few chefs claim they weren't even thinking about money or costs when they did this or that. What they are not telling you is they knew they could make plenty of money with other ventures after the built a name), train staff to follow his precise instructions, develop menus, create signature dishes, be innovative and creative...
Wow, how many other "artists" have to do this day and day out? One mistake with the wrong customer and it can get written up allover egullet.
I've seen the "power" that great food can have on people. I'm no longer astounded by the number of students and customers my husband has that tell him "I love you" after a meal or a class. Total strangers saying this.
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After reading Mark's post I reconsidered my list with variety in mind. By the way variety isn't so important to me, that's what traveling is for.
Seoul- No variety. The closest thing is Chinese or Japanese. The rest is mostly awful with very, very few exceptions. I was born there and I've visited over a hundred times during the last 30 years.
Paris- Not much variety. It's possible to find great North African food here, Vietnamese can also be exciting and some decent Italian. Overall, for good food it's almost entirely French. I've been about a dozen times.
Lyon- Less variety than Paris for obvious reasons. But the produce, oh the produce anyone interested in cuisine du terroir and fresh, local produce should visit this beautiful region of France where the Rhone and Burgundy meet. Do a circle around it, the wines, meats, cheeses, etc...
I've been about a dozen times.SF- I don't know. The variety here doesn't seem to compare to NYC or LA. I've been to SF about 6 times.
NYC- On terms of pure variety ok, it tops my list. Still doesn't stir my loins much though. I've had plenty of mediocre meals in this town to not walk into a place casually anymore. But I've also had great meals here. I've visited the city about 12-15 times.
Los Angeles- same answer as above. Lived here for over 30 years.
London- Rivals New York in variety, if not depth. But an exciting food city? Not for me at all. Been once, 2-3 years ago.
I've traveled more than this list here, but the other places I've been aren't noteworthy for food. After seeing the places mentioned here though I know where I'll be going for my food vacations.
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Some of the fears regarding germs here reminds me of my 6 year and her friends fear of cooties.
So much of this is cultural. Koreans will share a hot pot with family, friends, even strangers. Everyone double, triple dipping their spoons into the same pot. When I went to France I was stunned that strangers would actually let my then baby girl put their fingers into her mouth. Complete strangers would just stand there telling my husband and I that she was beautiful while they placed their fingers in her mouth. Made me crazy then. Doesn't bother me so much anymore. The French also kiss ALOT, they don't seem to worry much about cooties at all.
Also, in Japan don't some restaurants actually serve the same whole fish twice. The first customer eats one side, then it's flipped over for the next customer. Or is this something that someone just made up and told me?
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Seoul- It's hard to find bad Korean food here. It's a non-stop city. Hard to imagine that when I first went back to visit in 1977 (or was it 1978?) my cousins took me a street where they were building some of the first high rise buildings.
The street food, the "tent restaurants" (pojang machu), the restaurants that specialize in specific dishes, the somber, grim faced middle age Korean waitresses (this is the secret to aging without wrinkles), live duck killed to order, real charcoal barbeque, kalbi tang at 2:00 AM, donuts made from rice flour, sea squirt as street food...Paris- My heart beats a little faster, my step quickens, my appetite opens up, I want to eat and eat. Again, pretty hard to find bad French food in France. Even the chain bistros serve pretty tastey stuff (except for onion soup). My husband and I had Cote du Boeuf at 3:30 AM. We like to have morning coffee in a Brasserie, next to a Frenchman who is starting his day with a glass of wine!
Lyon- for the best cuisine du terroir. The nearby farmer's market. Ummm... the quality of the produce here is phenomenol. We stopped at road stop cafeteria on the way to Paris and I was like, "This is French cafeteria food. Wow!"
London- I've only been once. I just don't know about this place for food. It's the most internationally commercial city I have been in. Not so much for depth but range. I think I saw at least one restaurant representing every country in the world (exageration here). I mostly opted for pub meals since I was only there for a week (on my way to Paris, so I wanted save my money for food I know is great). Also, for a big city it shuts down pretty early.
Los Angeles- For the reasons Mongo has already stated.
SF- for pure fun. I love the city.
New York- I've been many times. It just doesn't excite me as a food city. I like the bars better. For ethnic I prefer Los Angeles. For "European style Haute Cuisine" well I prefer Europe.
I don't think that I've ever had a bad meal in France or Korea. That's not to say it was all terrific. But my experiences in the other cities I've mentioned were more hit and miss. Some were just outright awfull in a way that I haven't experienced in France or Korea.
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The woman is bizarre. My husband is a chef he would never serve a customer something that he wouldn't eat himself or feed our family. It's incomprehensible to me that she would serve her husband, family and friends something she knows is bad and won't eat herself.
If I saw that I would tell her point blank (while smiling) that she should throw it out or eat it all herself. I'm not a confrontational person generally speaking and I tend to use diplomatic approaches to problem solving. The woman is grossly negligent and her cavalier attitude towards the health of others, well just doesn't inspire me to be anything other than direct.
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Start with good stock. Anchovy broth, fish stock or white beef stock, depending on the additions you choose.
To this you add scallions and garlic, sliced soondubu (they come packaged in cylinders at the Korean market)
My favorite addition is clams, it's really the only I ever make. But you add can beef, mushrooms, Korean zucchini, onions, etc
Seasoning. I've seen some recipes with dwenjang (fermented bean paste) or kochujang (fermented red chili paste). But I don't recall every eating one at a restaurant prepared this way. My parents insist it's not traditional. Anyway I season it the way they taught me salt and Korean red pepper flakes.
You can crack an egg into if you want.
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Common sense, which is not so common and is certainly culturally influenced, can be of use here. Soups with meat, poultry, seafood, tofu etc will spoil faster than vegetable soups, unless they have potatoes. Cream or milk also spoil more quickly. African, Middle Eastern and Asian cuisines tend to use spices, herbs and fermented ingredients more than say "Western" cookery. Before refrigeration was more widely available alot of stuff was just left out in these countries. I think that herbs, spices and fermented ingredients can deter spoilage (well the fermented stuff is basically "controlled" spoilage).
A basic Korean dwenjang chigae will not go bad in three hours. Ain't gonna happen. Ya think that the a country French person traditionally refrigerated Coq au Vin even for eating the next day? Non.
Of course I advocate playing it safe. We all have different comfort zones when it comes to food safety and some of us have stronger stomachs. I won't be running for the ice for every kind of soup I make at home though. My husband won't be either.
Hubby is also an industry professional. In a commercial kitchen ALWAYS cool with ice.
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Does anyone else remember the anti-beef "movement" about 17-18 years ago? Americans were drastically cutting down on the amount of beef they were eating. Or am I remembering it as a bigger thing than it actually was?
No, it was a big thing-- or at least a high-profile media thing, what with the fat and the cholesterol and the hey hey MY ARTERIES! But as a movement, it was sacrificed on the altar of the great god Atkins...
If I recall correctly, wasn't oat bran the big diet thing back when folks were anti-beef. Supposedly it cleaned out your arteries. Everyone was very concerned about their arteries.
I remember the oat bran thing too.
Remember vegemite in all the stores after the Men at Work song was a huge hit?
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Those of you reccomending ice-baths and blast chillers need to take a BIG step back and look at the big picture. Every day, billions of people across the world at home are leaving soups, stews and every other cooked item to cool on the counter and then transferring to the fridge, sometimes as much as 48 hours yet Restaurants are still the major vector of food poisoning.
My mom is the queen of poor food handling practices like this. Christmas turkey was regularly left out all day for snacking. Soups and stews that we had for lunch were left on the counter all day if we were going to have them again for dinner.
I got sick all the time when I was a kid. I thought I was just really susceptible to the flu until I got out on my own and found out how food should be handled. Suddenly it all made sense.
That said, I let foods cool down a bit, but not fully, before I put them in the fridge. So they're not so hot that they're affecting foods around them, but they also haven't been sitting out for hours. I've never given myself food poisoning yet (knock wood).
I disagree that this is a poor food handling practice. Broadly speaking yes, within certain cultural contexts, no. In a Korean home kitchen Shalmanese's method is the one that's been used god knows how long. When I was little girl in Korea we didn't have a refrigerator. My husband who grew up in the French country spent his entire childhood without one as well, his mom bought one about 10 years ago. His mom also made a lot of "tajines" that sometimes sat on the stove all day, served for lunch and dinner.
Neither one us has ever gotten sick from eating a tajine or a Korean stew.
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There's probably more crap *in* those hot dogs than there is on that guy's hands. Just sayin'...
I'm probably on NulloModo's end of the spectrum. Unless it is blatantly dropped on the ground in front of me, has hair or other body parts on it, or smells/looks funky, I'll probably eat it. Regarding the floor... if it's my floor, the 5 second rule applies.
This approach has only come back to bite me in the ass once, while in a small village in Peru. They'd been without power for a few days, and I decided to eat the chorizo and cheese pizza. Who knows, it could have been the sangria served in a shady-looking bottle too. Tasted mighty fine, however.
I'll join you and Nullo.
I'm a bit hypocritical when it comes to what turns me off. Mostly it involves what I see as opposed to what I know happens while I'm not looking. I know how food is prepared in a commercial kitchen, even the cleanest French restaurants with highly trained kitchen staff... Human beings are making the food. Those pretty plates at the high end places, lots of little fingers all over it. Pre-made components "assembled" for service. Ya think that Keller's kitchen staff have naturally cleaner hands then the sandwich guys you see in deli? I've never seen a commercial kitchen with a wash basin next to every station. If someone on the line touches his hair, wipes his nose with the back of his hand ya think he's gonna run to the basin to wash his hands?
Guide Michelin comes to NY
in New York: Dining
Posted
IF there is a three star, Ducasse.
If Keller gets more stars than Ducasse, it would ROCK the French culinary world.
It would be like Michelin is stabbing a knife into the hearts of French chefs everywhere. I'm only exagerating slightly.