Mallet

Nice to see some fellow Halifax eGulleteers! There are a ton of little ethnic stores around town (even a Newfoundland store!). I found that a very good way to find them is to do a Google search. Try this link: Local Google Search Type in something like "food" "restaurants" or whatever, and Halifax, NS. It should be very productive.

dark molasses on vanilla ice cream

The trout caught my eye as well (the picture in the book is just so purdy ). Did you have any trouble completely boning it? It's what put me off initially... I have made the pork trotters as well (inspired by this thread). These are definitely good and easy enough to be regulars on the dinner table! I imagine the log freezes well also.

I'm pretty sure the real solution is to just drink that beer you've been craving .

I've been enjoying the show as well; I think it's getting better since GR has started to break them in and doesn't have to be so over-the-top vicious. He can now afford the luxury of praise!

Saw the commercial last night as well. I just couldn't get over the lead character's name (JACK BOURDAIN!). Maybe AB didn't want his name associated with the show ? It's hard to tell what it going to be like based on a 10 sec promo. Who knows? It might turn out to be hilarious.

The closest I've ever come is cooking a whole emu egg (I'd say it's equivalent to about 8 eggs, but with proportionately more yolk). "But bladders? Might as well make the Hollandaise in a urinal. Couldn't you use some plastic wrap, twist the top, do the boiling, and unwrap? Iron Chef does it all the time." . Would the plastic wrap keep its shape? I also think there should be a modern substitute for pig bladder. Maybe a plastic balloon would work (would it melt?). edited: its vs. it's

Allow me to simultaneously retreat...

Ah, but we kill people in war; we execute people. Some people think that's just fine. I think that's very far from being a category on which we can all agree. ← Agreed. With well over 6 billion people on Earth, it wouldn't end the human race (I'll leave aside "civilization" for now) to sacrifice a certain number of people every year to cannibalism. Though I think we'd have few volunteers for that sacrifice. I maintain that all of us draw a line somewhere, and I would certainly say that those who don't (the Jeffrey Dahmers, Andrei Chikatilos, and Idi Amins of the world) are much more of a danger than those who do. I'm not a vegetarian, but I not only wouldn't support murdering people for food but also have strong compunctions about the idea of eating certain extremely intelligent animals (such as whales, apes, monkeys, elephants). That has to do with my degree of identification with these potential food sources. Another manifestation of that identification is that, because I had pet guinea pigs when I was a child, I'd prefer not to eat guinea pig. I also love cats (which I find have variable degrees of intelligence but complex and in some ways human-like personalities) and wouldn't want to eat one. Actually, I think that the identification that prevents many people from wanting to eat things we feel are very much like us or that we have an emotional attachment to is probably a highly adaptive non-rational trait (though one given to various forms of coherent rationalization), because it's a brake on large-scale cannibalism-murder and a stimulus for humane behavior. ← Of course we all have a personal line about our foods, and I wouldn't presume to take away someone's choice of what to eat or not. But I'm talking about veganism as an ethical philosophy. Not "I personally would not eat this cute bunny", but "it is morally wrong to eat said bunny". I think the distinction is important. I too sometimes feel a pang of something (not quite guilt but close) with certain of my foodchoices (Christmas dinner with over 40 decapitated lobsters lying around comes to mind ), but this only makes me respect the food I eat even more.

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound dismissive of your comments. I was just trying to make the distinction between the argument that we eat too much meat (which is what I thought was the jist of your post) and the discussion about veganism (which, as you pointed out is no animal products at all). I think the point about the chicken example was simply that veganism is not even an option in certain areas.

Without getting into the details of your post (I really don't want to get into a debate over nutritional benefits of veganism), I think it slightly misses the point. We are not talking about whether we should eat more vegetables, or the benefits of that. We are talking about veganism, which (in its mildest form) is no meat , EVER. I think your points are probably valid, but not particularly appropriate in a discussion of veganism.

I don't think this is really true at all, at least where I live. All of our milk is local (i.e: within province), as is most other dairy products. Nearly all of our meat comes from Canada, at a minumum (often within a province or two). But MOST of our produce is shipped internationally (USA/Mexico/South America, Europe, you name it). When was the last time you had a steak from Chile ? Meat is always in season .

To bring this back to its original topic, is the second part to the Cajun episode airing tonight?

No need for apologies. That post simply argued that there should be some rational underpinning in a moral/ethical system, in response to a previous comment. I think we can all agree on a number of rational reasons why killing humans is not ok (like, oh I don't know, the end of civilization? ). So yes, I think it is extremely unreasonable (and unproductive) to contend that a human is no more deserving of life than a cockroach. I don't really think that you took my position to it's logical extreme, because neither killing everything nor killing nothing is logical! I'm all for disputing "precisely about how much respect is reasonable", indeed I think such a discussion could be very illuminating (but perhaps belongs in another thread?). Ronnie, I think your point about veganism being considered "luxuries of the affluent" in certain contexts is brilliant. I had never really thought about it in that way (affluent society as opposed to individual). By the way, can anyone tell me how to quote from multiple posts? I usually just plush the "reply" button when I want to quote someone, but I can't do it if I want to quote from more than one post.

Why is that a problem? Many people are seemingly inconsistent even in their views of whether or not it's all right to kill people. People draw lines in different places. It's not necessarily *logically* inconsistent although it may seem arbitrary to some. ← It is obviously a truism that "people draw lines in different places", and it is not grounds for justification of a particular moral system; which should have a component of rationality (as mentionned earlier my ire upthread was directed towards veganism as a ethical philosophy, not simply a dietary one). My opinion is simply that we should strive to treat all forms of life with as much care and respect as reasonable, and that it is not particularly logical to single out a extremely minor segment of life of earth as somehow being more deserving of existance. If you want to argue that something like veganism (again, as an moral framework apart from any nutritional benefits, which I grant may exist) is arbitrary then that's fine and I totally agree, but to me that is the same as saying that it is unjustifiable and thus has no real value as ethical system. With respect to the original question, the consensus opinion seems to be that veganism is an economically accessible lifestyle in most cases (i.e: where the climate permits); although you may require a bit more creativity in your food choice to maintain a balanced diet but then again I think we all do!

Thanks for all the info and suggestions! I think this cheese will make a regular appearance on my plate.

I can only speak for myself, but my ire is arisen by the general argument that killing X is immoral, but killing Y is perfectly fine. I can relate to vegetarians or vegans who make their dietary choices for what they believe will make them healthier but I simply cannot fathom the argument that killing animals (in the case of vegetarians) or consuming animal products (in the case of vegans), irrespective of the way they were treated or slaughtered, is somehow inherently cruel and/or unethical.

No, no, you're doing the plant a favor. You eat the fruit (including the seed in some instances) and then cast the seeds off to a place where they won't be competing with their parents for resources. And you provide fertilizer as well. Fruit is the plant's way of bribing you to distribute its seeds. ← I don't really want to make a big deal out of it, since it was intended as a bit of a tongue in cheek (apologies if your remark was also facetious), but I tend to deposit seeds from the plants I eat into Halifax Harbour, via the sewage system. I'm sure that one could come up with something that I would refuse to eat but I would say that, in general, I will eat pretty much anything that has been treated with a modicum of respect (i.e: no live monkey brain ! ). I think this is the point I'm really trying to make. The simple fact is, no matter where you draw the line, when you eat something, ANYTHING, you kill it. And, being a biology student, I can tell you that in my view plants are no less amazing or complex or deserving of life than a cow or a bacteria or whatever. I embrace the food that I eat, and try to ensure that it came from a happy place. This generally strikes me as a pretty healthy outlook, rather than drawing some sort of artificial line on the tree of life and saying "killing anything on this branch is unethical and wrong, the other 99.999% of life on earth is ok".

Somehow the idea of ripping off a plant's reproductive structures for enjoyment (and then casting off the seeds to a place where they will for all intensive purposes never give rise to a new plant) doesn't seem significantly less cruel than eating meat. I believe in equal rights for all (i.e: eat everything ).

I was curious about the relatively short shelf life of the catsup (vs 3 years for canned mustard). Can you give it the canning treatment as well? How long will catsup last in this manner?

"And instead of beef barons and chicken magnates, would we just transfer our hate, scorn and loathing to large corporate bean barons, or corn kings, or watermelon magnates that have cornered the fruit and vegetable markets?" I think we should be careful to separate the issues of corporate agriculture from the veganism vs. carnophilia debate. To a certain extent (and related to eje's post) this confusion has affected the organic sector as well. Organic isn't equivalent to sustainable, and neither is veganism.

Does anyone know if there are producers in Ontario (I'll be in Kingston next year)?

I'm pretty sure that instead of "big bad beef industry" there would be a "big-bad-eggplant industry", which would employ just as many people. For every economically ravaged community there would probably be another sprouting up around the new industry (minus the cowboys). If the particular brand of veganism you're invisioning is more of a local/artisanal type, then I would guess that the economic impact might even be positive (note that I think it would be positive for ANY purely local/artisanal model, not restricted to veganism).

I just bought some queso valdeon cheese from the supermarket (although it was labelled queso valdon) . the cheese counter guy there couldn't tell me much about it. our exchange was as follows: me: wow, what kind of cheese it that? clerk: it's blue cheese. me: I can see that. what can you tell me about it? clerk: nothing. it's from spain, and it's wrapped in grape leaves *awkward silence* Anyways, I bought 100 grams and tried it as soon as I got home. I love it! It's very strong and complex, but not overpowering. Can anyone tell me anything about it (typical age, what sort of milk etc..)? Any other Spanish cheeses I'm missing (I'm sure there are lots)?

I didn't realize it was a two-part episode, I hope I didn't ruin it for anyone ... With respect to your original post, bavila, I think veganism is doable regardless of your financial situation. After all, most seasonal produce is cheaper per pound than pretty much any meat and if you really want to be a vegan, you can find a way. But to echo Mayhaw Man, I doubt there is a big drive for it in a place like Louisiana. If I lived there I'd be eating frog's legs, alligator and crawfish all day too.