BCinBC

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 We woke up to a foggy autumn morning, all cozily tucked in at the farmhouse. But we had a breakfast appointment to keep! So we enjoyed (relatively) high-pressure showers, and headed downstairs. Christiane had provided a simple breakfast of bread with homemade jams and some local lavender honey, along with coffee and tea. The jams were delicious, though I must say that I was leery of the lavender-flavoured honey. I don’t know if anyone was following the PBS show Cooking Under Fire, but when Katie wanted to make the lavender crème brulée I was perplexed to say the least. Turns out what do I know, as Katie ended up winning the show and I ended up quite enjoying the honey. The dog also loved the bread and honey – when Christiane offered her some, she took it, walked away and savoured it, then returned. Christiane offered the dog a second piece, and she savoured it in the same manner. When she returned again, Christiane told her, “C’est ça! Allez a ta maison!” The dog lingered with the most hopeful expression for another second or two, then turned around and trotted off to her “house”. I swear that dog had more personality than some people I know! Before we left, we had a couple more tasks to do: The first was to pay the bill, which totaled 70 € (!! This included one nights accommodation for two, plus a fabulous dinner – accompanied by some spectacular wines – and breakfast!!). The second was to do a quick tour around the farm. Here is the old farmhouse on the right, and the main house in the background. Our room was the top right window. Here was one of the fig trees that was producing the beautiful figs that went onto the tarte and into the wild boar stew for last night’s dinner. And the garden where Christiane grew the vegetables for dinner. When we entered the garden to take a look, we heard the weirdest noise. Really I had no idea what it was. Then, through the misty morning, this Eeyore-like figure emerged and slowly sauntered over to say hi. I had fleeting images of him delivering serious internal injuries while kicking me out of his pen, but in reality he had a very sweet disposition. He was just as curious as I. A quick trip back into Valensole to pick up some post cards and see what was there (not much, except a prolific amount of dog shit all over the roads and sidewalks, perhaps only matched in amount per square foot by Amsterdam). There was however this historic church (something to do with Cluny ?? – sorry but I’m not much of a theologian), and behind the church there was a beautiful wild flower garden. If anyone is ever planning to get married in Valensole, this would be the place to do it! Garden behind the famous church in Valensole And then we were on our way back to Lyon, first heading west to Manosque, then north towards Sisteron and onto Lyon. Here is a scene that is quite typical of the farmers fields that I spoke of in the post above: On the road to Lyon, we noticed a touristy interest stop at a town called Les Mées, featuring a rock formation called Les Pénitants. We both wanted to see this Stonehenge-like display, so naturally we stopped. Driving through town, there are a few signs with arrows pointing towards Les Pénitants, so we kept following them. We ended up going straight through town, to a point where a bunch of people were parking their cars and hiking into the mountains on a trail. People were actually trekking in to see this phenomenon! However, as we were short of time, we kept driving along a very narrow access road that led up to the mountain. We stopped close to the summit to take in the beautiful views and snap a few photos. But no sign of Les Pénitants. And a little further along the trail, there was a crossroad and a sign showing the summit in one direction, “no exit” straight ahead, and private property in the form of a Gite in the other direction. No mention at all of Les Pénitants. We were totally baffled, but were lucky enough to encounter the only other group that drove up the tiny road, so I asked them where we could find the famous rocks. They couldn’t figure out what we were talking about – did we not see them when we first entered town? To cut a long conversation short, they explained that Les Pénitants were actually geological formations on the sides of the mountain, several hundreds of feet tall – not a bunch of 12 foot obelisks in a small circle. Dumb tourists! Anyway, we returned to town, turned around and saw this: Yeah, those humongous rock formations hovering over the town, how did we miss those? North of Sisteron, we had a spectacular drive through the Alpes du Dolphiné (passing through Serres, Die and finally Valence). Lots more windy narrow roads with no guard rails, many of which I could not imagine people using when it is snowing or icy. But they do! A large moving truck allowed me to pass on one of the blind hairpins - very civilized. The drive ended by getting lost in Lyon during rush hour. That was not fun, and the experience was not enhanced by the fact that N and I were both starving. But we eventually remembered that we had to continue on the A6 towards Paris to get back to Limonest. That night we ended up going out with a bunch of C’s friends. One of them had just moved into a new apartment that he’d bought and spent the past 6 months waiting for the previous tenants to move out before he could renovate. During those 6 months, he had to live in an old folks home. He surprised the nurse the first day by not needing any help to go to the washroom. We relaxed in the traditional manner, with some more dried goats cheese, saucisson, olives and pistachios. After almost two weeks in France, I must say that my conversational French was getting pretty good as I was able to follow most of what was going on in the seven-person conversation happening all around me! For dinner we had tagliatella à la carbonara, and dessert was chocolate pudding with apple tartes (and a Gauloises blonde, which another fellow there insisted that I try to experience the difference in smoothness – he was right. I’ve had them in Montréal, but they are not the same). The evening ended relatively early (around midnight), as it was a work-night. To be fair to us, even C got lost trying to get out of the neighborhood and back to Limonest. But all in all it was another successful day.

Apologies for the neglect of this thread, it’s amazing what is expected of one at work! Picking up where I left off… Tuesday September 27, 2005 Our time in Cavalaire had drawn to an end. From a recommendation from one of C’s friends, we decided to spend one night in the Luberon, specifically at Les Merronniers, which is a participating member of the Gites de France, in the town of Valensole. So we left town via the back door, i.e. towards Marseilles, and shortly thereafter had to wonder, “Why didn’t we visit this side of the coast before?!” It is quite a spectacular drive just west of Cavalaire, with windy roads on dramatic cliffs above the crashing Med. Passing through Le Lavandou and Les Mimosas… Very romantic, very cool. We turned north at Hyères, and proceeded through Var towards Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Along the way we witnessed a dramatic change in landscape, from the blues and oranges of the Mediterranean coast to the more lush greens inland. As we approached the Alps, the farmers fields turned to a beautiful brown. Some of the fields that had been recently ploughed were quite dramatic in their colourful striations. We saw quite a few olive groves, and were told by more than one person to return next year when the lavender went in bloom, as the sight (and smell) was truly something to behold. Me in an olive grove, heading north through Alpes-de-Haute-Provence On the drive we stopped at a few places: coffee at a medieval village the name of which I’ve forgotten (though I have not forgotten the restroom in the café – medieval indeed!); just outside of Quinson, where we took quite a few photos quite similar to this view (you will see a bit of the brown fields); lunch in Barjols, which is apparently famous for its fountains, and so on. I think it was the drive itself that was the highlight. Staying off the A8 route nationale was the way to go – much more relaxed and really beautiful scenery. When we arrived at Les Merronniers, we were greeted by a rather large Doberman cross, who was cheerful and friendly as heck. She was a sweetheart. I forget her name, but she was named after a Greek goddess, like her predecessors. Our hostess, Christiane, immediately asked us if we would like coffee, tea, or another refreshment. She seated us outside on the patio, and shortly thereafter returned with a tray of coffee, tea, and a beautiful fig tarte. The property is basically a farm where Christiane and her husband (Roget? Damn, this is why you don’t wait to write these reports out!! I think it was Roget, or Roger, but I’ll call him R from now on) live, work, grow and entertain. Speaking of entertaining, we were in for a treat for dinner too. The rooms were beautiful; unfortunately I don’t have any interior shots, but they were wooden and plaster as you might picture in the French countryside. The best part, or one of the best parts, was the shower! It produced the best water pressure we experienced during our whole trip! Funny what you miss from home. Anyway, Christiane invited a few of her friends over for dinner, to kind of round out the experience. One was a pilot for Air France – he flies 777s from Paris to various destinations in South and North America. He spoke fluent English and was quite a character, as they all seemed to be. Also he proved very helpful when the conversation (in French) was going full-tilt and became next to impossible to follow. We started by relaxing with a glass of 2000 Bordeaux Haut Médoc (two websites: Bordeaux and Terroir France) Buneré and a few dried goats cheese tidbits (I never found out what these were called, but they were quite popular in this region and in Lyon. I’m sure Lucy knows what I’m talking about). Then we sat ourselves at a long dinner table, and were served a wild boar stew with figs, potatoes with basil, country bread, and a salade with basil. All of the vegetables and herbs came from the farm, the bread was made by R earlier in the day, and even the boar was a local. I’ve never had this particular pairing of potatoes and basil before, but it was quite fresh. And much bread was used to mop up the rich broth. Wow! Like I said, the meal involved a lot of discussion, sometimes getting quite animated (especially after opening another bottle of the Haut Médoc, then a bottle of 2000 Bordeaux Lafeurnin (?) Côte de Blaye). From there R and the pilot, and Christiane, had a friendly but heated argument – R claimed to not be able to taste the difference between any bottle and vin ordinaire. This prompted Christiane to test the theory, bringing out a bottle of 1987 Domaine de la Croix, Côtes de Bezut. It could have used a lot more breathing time, but it was such a treat nonetheless. After swilling and swishing for a good hour, it barely started to open up, but the mouthfeel was quite luxurious and smooth. Dessert was more of that fig tarte, savouring of the La Croix, and finally a digestif of homemade Mirabel pear liqueur. This time the liqueur was quite fragrant, distinctly of pears, as opposed to the glass I had a L’Ouest in Lyon. Still much too strong for me to sip a full decanter of, but I could definitely see the appeal of this. On a colder fall or winter evening, this would be very good.

Chromedome, I've never even heard of "Cannery Brewery", how odd. I'm curious about the porter though, so I will search them out at the local liquor store, or failing that there must be a local bar/resto that carries it. Thanks for the heads up. A recent "find" of mine was R&B Raven Cream Ale (R&B website here). R&B has been around for awhile, but they seem to have been through a recent retooling or something; someone spread a rumour my way that they were bought by Shaftebury, another local brewing company - who in turn is owned by the Sleeman Brewing Machine. Wickedly slow Shaftebury flash website. Shaftebury Cream is one of my favourites beers too. About the Tree, someone left a few bottles of Tree Hophead in our fridge after a party last Spring. To this day, there remains one bottle in there that everyone refuses to drink. IIRC Tree's "hook" is that it is 100% organic beer. And here is a link to their website: Tree Brewing Co.

Commercial in a courtroom setting, Miller Lite Vs. Bud Light, Flavor Flav testifies that ML is better, Bud lawyers object saying he's no authority, judge overrules the objection, saying "after all, he's called Flavor Flav." Yes lame.Kind of implies Miller really knows ML has no taste (not that BL does, either). ← I saw this commercial this weekend. Outside of his musical career, old Flavor Flav really hasn't made many good choices over the years. I say that, of course, without knowing how much he's being paid these commercials (or for the Surreal Life).

Not so much at (Canadian) Thanksgiving, but definitely an Xmas staple is sticky rice (nor mai fan). Now I always associate nor mai fan with brussel sprouts. ?? (Not in a bad way - my Mom makes brussel sprouts with bacon, so needless to say I quite like them.)

Thanks for all the tips on plate lifting - a very clever group indeed. I am going to really look for one of those 3-pronged things though, probably while I do my Xmas shopping (which doubles as a time to do my own frivolous shopping). Ben, I am thinking of training myself on the cold water technique, but with empty bowls so as not to spill anything important. On the subject of truly useless gadgets, I once dated a girl who used one of those rubber cylinders that you stick garlic cloves in, roll them around, and then peel off the skin. Seriously, how hard is it to smash garlic?? I will say that you can never have enough tongs lying around, because they seem most difficult to locate when you need them most. But I can't think of an instance where I use them for Chinese cooking...

This meal was indescribable. As wonderful as Moosh's pix are, the one of the tuna carpaccio really does not do it justice. No photo would. It was one of those instances where, not only was the dish itself above and beyond the sum of its parts, but when paired with the Chianti, both the dish and the wine took off to a different level. This is quite a lot of hype for one dish I know, but truly it was one of the best things I've eaten all year. The steamed date pudding was also a standout (amongst a meal of outstanding dishes). And the braised beef - the Mrs ("NCinBC") very very rarely eats red meat, and when she does it is in tiny quantities (ie as a component of another dish). But she thoroughly enjoyed that dish as well. As for the wines, I don't know if it's a good or bad thing but I think my palate is totally skewed to BCs as well. My favourites too were the Cru / Township blend, and the Nota Bene - though the Oculus did grew on me after a few sips. Once I got past the soapy nose, I thought it had a nice feel, softer than what one might expect from a merlot/cab blend. I have a 98 or 99? St Francis in the "cellar" that I should probably open soon. Maybe for Xmas, with a nice hearty mushroom risotto... Anyway, one thing I did learn was that I have no skill for guessing grape varietals. Obviously more practice required.

What a great surprise to see Lucy blogging again. The photo of the gizzards confit almost brought tears to my eyes! (And certainly brought drool to my lips.) Looking forward to the terrine too. PS: I have never seen that Global boning knife before, it looks kind of... scary? Weird? Interesting.

Funny because I had a lemon tart from there Saturday morning. It was lemon on top without the caramelized sugar, bit of the chocolate (which I thought maybe had some hazelnut in it) and then a layer of peach. It was really well done, but I thought it needed more tartness. Sounds like we had different tarts all together. The chocolate ganache one I had was made with a raspberry jam layer and a layer of brickle before the crust. Again, it was expertly done, but just not my favorite. I loved the scone I had with homemade cherry jam. Zuke ← Just read yesterday's Sun where Mia Stainsby reviewed this place (which is La Cucina del Diavolo, also talked about in post #277). Sorry I can't find the article online, you'll have to raid the blue boxes. Three word summary: she liked it.

I actually saw one of those at my local Asian grocery store and was tempted to buy one. It looks like that grabby thing in the game that you see in arcades, where you get a toy if you’re lucky? But that contraption looked kind of flimsy. I have mental images of it breaking midway and steaming hot liquid splashing over me and my countertops. Maybe turkey lifters will work. I use my metal spatula and carefully ease it under the dish. If I’m really careful, it’ll lift out enough so I can grab it. ← ICTD - yes it looks like the grapple thing in arcades, and I can't believe you didn't buy it! My parents had one made of cheap aluminum or stainless steel, fixed into ugly pink plastic (the "fulcrum" point), but the thing worked great and was in the kitchen from at least the day I was born (I'm sure) to the day I left home. The key is to be able to lift the dish high enough so that you can actually get a handle on it, or better yet lift it out and set it on top of the stove/counter. This might actually be a "must have" gadget. hzrt8w - thanks for the tong/plate-at-the-ready tip. If I cannot find the other thing, I will try this method. ETA: I still can't wrap my head around the salted oil thing - yes the salt will increase the boiling point of the water, but only from 100C to 104C or something like that. Certainly not up to 400C or whatever your oil gets to. Am I just not getting it? Regardless, the concensus is that it works so I will try it at home. Cheers!

Dang, I too am sad that I missed the SRiver lunch - was languishing in Nanaimo. And a nice selection of dishes too! Good call Canuckle and Moosh. This looks really good - look at the texture of the "cake"! I am starving. Again, the puff pastry! I have never seen this dish before myself, but I would love to try it. For some reason I love daikon, I think it is the crunchy texture. What was the main flavour going on in this one, was it the saltiness of the ham or was there a vinegar component? Very curious. My love of gnow yook (dim sum meat ball) I'm sure has been noted all over this board, so this dish especially caught my attention. The only thing is that you would have to order a bowl of rice to soak up all of that awesome looking braise juice. As Fat Bastard said to Mini Me, "Get in my belly!" I'll take your word on the celery dish, or perhaps I should just show up at Ling's Mom's place. I'll announce, "I'm from eGullet", we'll exchange knowing smiles, and all will be well. Also I won't comment on the red bean pastry (no ranting today), except to say that I would love to see this with a black sesame filling - so that I would actually eat it.

Quote edited to reverse Jamie's boldsI have not read the article, but... Remember they're talking about business travel, not pleasure travel. Infrastructure Calgary - small downtown core, easy to walk to anything (including in winter conditions, as practically everything is connected by enclosed walkways) NYC - hail a cab, reserve +/-1 hour to get to next destination Accommodation Calgary - relatively cheap, esp. with corporate rates NYC - (assuming Manhattan) not cheap Public Safety No comment (actually, when I went I never felt threatened in areas such as Time Square, SoHo, etc, but I also never walked around alone). Restaurants Okay a case can be made there fairly easily. But then Paris is 41st and London is 72nd!!! Which leads me to believe restaurants didn't hold that much weight.

Thanks hzrt8w, another "great thread" vote. Peeling ginger Another easy way to peel ginger is by scraping it with a spoon. (Although I must admit to cutting off the skin with a knife myself usually, as I cannot be bothered to grab a spoon out of the drawer.) Salting oil to prevent splattering Dejah - or Dejah's Mom - I have heard this "tip" before, but cannot figure out what the basis for this is scientifically. Admittedly I have never tried it, but can anyone confirm 1. if this is true, and 2. why? Here's a question that I'm sure someone here can answer: Does anyone have a good method for removing steamed plates / bowls without one of those three-pronged grabbing contraptions that my parents used to have but I have not personally seen for about 12 years? Especially if there is little room between the bowl and the pot. I inevitably spill some liquid contents when trying to remove manually. TIA.

A couple of airline threads flying around eG are linked below: Upgrade Me! (Air Canada guy whose blog is linked above) Air Canada's food service (my recent trip from YVR to LHR and back) The airline food industry is quite interesting; nowadays it seems like the airlines are all sitting on one of the two extremes - very high-end or very low. These days on AC coach class domestic flights you can only buy a hot slice of pizza, or else snack foods such as gummy bears or cookies.

^ VanLee, I haven't been since they got a new chef but previous to that, they had some of my favourite frites in town (shoestring kind). On the old menu staples, I'd 3rd the mussels for a starter, then the duck breast or ribeye. Curious to hear about how it's changed, if at all. Also very curious to hear what the status is with their wine program...

Nice try fud, really, but I am resigned to the fact that I'm just not that photogenic. So sad. Our roasted squash soup was infused with: the garlic bulb from the squash roasting (well just the roasted cloves obviously), plus nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, sage and a chili that refused to release its heat. Moosh came up with a great idea afterwards: ancho chili. Would have worked beautifully, as the soup was good but lacking something... all the spices were lingering and subtle and I was left wanting one to walk right up, smack my palate, and say "hi". Part of our mistake was that, with the exception of the nutmeg, we were adding spices after we added the squash - we should have been adding all the spices during the mirepoix sweating stage. Then they would have left behind their wallflower-ness a little more. What totally worked, though, was the pan roasted squash cubes garnishe with balsamic - the tarty acid-y flavours totally zinged up the silky textured soup. (Apparently it is make-up-a-word day.) Also, honestly the two soups together heightened each other - for me anyway. Maybe it was the kippers that provided that missing smoke, and the smooth texture beside the more rustic one... ? Great flavours in your soup BTW Team Parsnip. Our ribeyes were really expertly done rare-med-rare by Michelle, who used to work at the Keg (as she revealed to us). The constant flipping, in direct contradiction to the old-school drop-it-and-leave-it-till-you-cross-hatch-it method that I have always used, really made for some excellent uniformity of colour between the two very thin caramelized outside layers. The bias helped quite a bit too. However, I remain unsold on polenta. Garlic mash, frites or even wild rice still outrank it at steak's side for me. The berry sauce for the pannetone - yes please and thanks. Again, a tarty winner. I do think this "dessert" would make for a nice breakfast in bed surprise, should one ever be in need of brownie points. Yeah sad times, class is over, but I am really looking forward to April. The way Chef described it - no 3-courses, but rather taking a dish from the absolute start (breaking down a rabbit say) to finish with guidance rather than instruction - it sounds exactly what I've been hoping for. Now if I can somehow convince him to let us do a bit of charcuterie... I can't leave out a thanks for the student assistants either, they were really helpful - and fun - and made a great class even better. Cheers to them. VanLee: I hope you pick up this thread in January!

As you know Ling, it's all about the girth.

Caribou at Bearfoot, one of the best meats I've tried in recent memory. I posted about it somewhere around here but too lazy to search for it just now. The catch is that you have to get the prix fixe ($50), and then ordering the caribou adds $20 or so on top of that fixe'd prix, but if you find yourself in that position, then go for it. Plus you can horrify children afterwards by telling them of how you ate a piece of Rudolf, then show them a red Xmas light and say you saved the nose.

Hey Snacky is Daiso the one in Aberdeen mall? Otherwise known as the mall that some developer transported from Hong Kong to Richmond? I went in there once, but the shimmering musical fountain freaked me out quite a bit. Otherwise I like the "Chinese takeout box" idea. You can also get them at Ming Wo I believe, but a dollar store will no doubt be cheaper. I have also seen them in reusable plastic with neon colours, but for the life of me I can't remember where.

Don't know if it is just me, but the magnetic strips freak me out for 2 reasons. 1. I fear the strip will damage the blade of the knife - not by imposing it's magnetism on the blade over time, which shouldn't happen with stainless but might happen with carbon steel - but just the scratching motion everytime you remove a blade. 2. The falling off thing, and either damaging the blade / point, or stabbing some unsuspecting person leaning against the wall under the strip. Personally I have a Henckels block with horizontal slots, but it is too small (holds 10" chefs, wife's 8" chefs (she prefers different knives than I do), 2 x 6" utilities, paring knife, bread knife and shears). I have a cleaver in the traditional Chinese homemade cardboard guard resting on top of the block, and a Santoku in its original guard in Other Tools drawer on its spine. It would be perfect if I could take out one of the 6" knives and put the Santoku in, but the blade is too wide to fit. So as it stands, I need more slots.

Too funny Lee, I was considering Mistral last night too - but we ended up at Lumiere. I even peeked in the window just to see the room, but did not see you. When eG ships pass in the night...

The Mrs and I swung by Lumiere last night for a quick bite. Chris' night off is Wed, but no worries, the service was just fine despite! It was surprisingly quiet on the tasting side, so we actually sat at one of the tables rather than the bar. Unfortunately I chose a table beside three women who were "regaling" the room with their falling down drunk and/or hitting on men stories. Ladies, Sex In The City is so early 2000's. (Just a bit of needling; they were for the most part fine, except when one started talking about how her husband left her and some other "hot" guy at the hotel pool... is it socially acceptable for a 31 year old man to do "earmuffs" in public?) Anyway, N had the seafood risotto and I had the chicken and foie "boudin blanc". Both excellent. For the risotto, the texture was wonderful, creamy with perfectly al dente rice - although I know that Feenie adds mascarpone to enrich the creaminess. And the lobster pieces, prawns and giant scallop (and lobster oil) were all nicely infused into the dish. For $14, he's pretty generous with the seafood. The boudin blanc was also excellent; such a smooth texture, without losing the flavours of the chicken (and to a lesser degree, the foie. I think the foie adds more to the texture actually). Accompanied by a sauteed mushrooms mixture and roasted cauliflower "sauce". Rich, rich, rich. I could imagine having truffled scrambled eggs with a couple of those boudin blancs and some toast with homemade raspberry jam for breakast in heaven. Or at the eG compound, in the grotto with the virgins pulling Salt Spring espresso shots. Dessert was... Neil are you listening?... Gingerbread pudding with caramel sauce!! Of course I had to try it! Feenie's is soft throughout, like a structurally sound bread pudding, resting in a pool of caramel, and topped with thinly sliced apples and a small scoop of what I'm guessing was mascarpone with vanilla seeds. The last item, though odd on its own, actually worked quite well with the rest of the dish. The apples provided a nice textural crunch. And the caramel was very good. However - and I write this not because Neil is on the board while Rob refuses to join !! (JK Rob's handlers) - I must say that I actually prefer the HSG version. Because: the HSG pudding has a bit of a crust, thus providing a textural foil (Lumiere no crust, just apples); at HSG it is served with two scoops of homemade ice cream, of varying flavours (Lumiere's mascarpone or whatever was good, but the ice cream is better because it is sweet and spicey, and it offers the temperature foil); and HSG's is an even better deal ($6 buys you one heaping portion). I'm not saying the Lumiere version was bad, but it is currently ranked 2nd in the city. So there you go; with a 1/2 L of wine, dinner was around $84 pre-tip (and over half of that was wine). Why is the tasting bar not packed at all times? It is one of the best deals in town.

Maybe you need a bigger satellite dish?? Or TiVo... Anywho, I have eated at Dem Bones, once a couple years ago; I agree totally with the decor, but otherwise I enjoyed the experience. It was a group of like 20 for a birthday, I had pork ribs St Louis style, it was good. I would not make a special trip there from City Hall, though; I would probably try Diner's first (can't remember if you have had them or not VanLee). I have been meaning to try the ribs at MB, but have not been since early summer and lately the posts have indicated that things have cooled off. Still the ribs remain on the list of To-Do's. To put things in context, in general I prefer pork ribs to beef, not over-sauced, tender but still having to clean the bone by tooth, and cornbread as an accompaniment. And beer of course.

Edited down for OT'ness and rant removal... James: Thanks for starting this thread. Any recent Argentinian or Chilean finds? Sarah: You are right, the spirit of my post was not to promote "exclusivity". Perhaps this post will state my position unequivocally. (Caution - contains more ranting.) Your reco of the Scottish oak-aged beer is very intriguing (6.6%!! Yikes!), I will most definitely pick some up as a winter warm-up beer. Unless the shelves are empty by the time I get to the liquor store. So spill it on the wines already... Cheers, Brian

BettyK, We used all purpose in class, but were also informed that pastry/cake flour would work well - this is favoured by some Italians (the 00 grade flour). Here is a link to more tortellini-making adventures. In there you'll see the cake vs AP going head-to-head.