johnsmith45678

After the latest Foie Gras banning, I got to thinking about other foods that people may consider too cruel/wasteful/frivolous. At one end of the spectrum there are probably people who don't even like killing plants (no idea what they'd eat), vegans, vegetarians, etc. At the other end, probably the people who supposedly ate live monkey brains in Faces of Death, and cannibals. In between there are factory-raised animals; boiling lobsters alive; eating live insects; hunting; foie gras; veal; cutting off shark fins (and throwing the sharks back to die), all because it's supposedly an aprodisiac; tiger penis soup (same supposed benefit); eating "more intelligent" animals - dolphins, dogs, cats, whales; clubbing baby seals; hunting endangered animals; destroying animal habitat; etc. Where's your line?

Chicago Cutlery makes several series of knives. They'll virtually never need sharpening if they're properly cared for. Maybe if you put them in a shadow box on the wall and never use them. A knife will start to get dull after it's very first use and even the hardest of knives will eventually get dull. The claim of never needing sharping is a marketing ploy that has no basis of fact. All knives will eventually need to be sharpened. How hard your knives are and your mileage on them will depend on how often. ← Serrated knives can be sharpened? I currently have some dirt cheap serrated knives from many years ago and they still do the job.

Aren't the Chicago Cutlery knives serrated? I checked out their booth at a trade show about a year ago and thought I remembered they were, and the sales guy boasting that they never needed sharpening.

Looks like nobody prefers a santoku instead of a chefs knife (seems like it's either/or)?

I'm looking for a good, cheap set of knives for home use. Is there such a thing? Global knives seem the rage now. But Consumer Reports gives Chicago Cutlery a best buy ($60 for a set). When I worked in restaurants, we use Forshner and Henckels. What do you recommend?

They don't use spoons at all in MacDonalds do they? ← They're not required, nor is any of that fancy silverare stuff. Just so you know for if you manage to save enough allowance money to take your prom date there.

Uh, I know who Marco Pierre White is. But we don't devote an acronym to him. And what are you saying about US kitchens?

Plenty of US kitchens.

What does MPW stand for?

HUH? I've worked in plenty of kitchens and putting a spoon you've had in your mouth into food that'll be served is a firing offense. I'm sure any health inspector would agree.

I finally got ahold of the F Word, and enjoy it for the most part. One observation - in the sixth episode, Ramsay tells the dual-pony-tailed chick to taste the sauce she's cooking. So...she grabs a spoon, takes a spoonful of sauce, slurps it, lowers the spoon to her side, then...uses it to continue stirring the sauce! Ramsay fired her on that episode, thankfully (but not for this, rather trying to serve uncooked bacon).

Are there still cannibals in New Guinea? Hmm...future episode!

Who is Grill Bitch?

I caught up on the rest (Peru, Montreal, Sweden) and enjoyed them all. That scene in the restaurant with all the foie gras is what the Kitchen Confidential episode with John Larroquette should have been!

Heh, unlike Rachael Ray who can always be counted on to be perky, upbeat, brain dead, annoying, bland, and superficial. Yuck. Recent episodes I've had time to watch: Iceland #2: Ugh, I really didn't want to watch that again. Extras: Some bits were kind of interesting - like the flying Elvi - but I felt like I'd already seen most of it. Florida: Good (frog hunting, Key West, African "deli"), so-so (South Beach bars), and not so good (whining around the hotel). Japan and China: Good to Great. A different, refreshing take on Japan. And China was all new to me - based on my images of it formed by media stories, I expected it to be heavily polluted, crowded, infected with SARS, polluted with junked US computers, swamped by Three Gorges Dam, primitive, etc. China looks like an interesting place. Enjoyed the show quite a bit.

Ah, that would make much more sense. There's a guy Udi here in Denver who seems to do very well selling his sandwiches (and appetizers, desserts, etc.) to lots of different shops. He delivers too (a lot of businesses order for lunches). I met a woman who owned a coffee shop in Fort Collins and she said she had done well, but was selling it. Competing with Starbucks has got to be brutal.

Going from being a pastry chef at Le Bernardin to a coffee shop seems like a rather drastic career change.

Appears Fox removed KC from their web site. Wonder what'll happen to episodes 5-9.

IBP == Tyson? What's the connection between CIA and IBP?

After the closing of Nolita, Jack Bourdain and crew get jobs at a fast food company.

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/2005121...3496375100.html I've flipped through the book, and it looks like a somewhat interesting read. I enjoyed "Super Size Me."

I never did get my cutting boards. I should probably contact somebody. As for my KA food processor - I haven't used it much, but it does great when I do.

Is that it for No Reservations - nine episodes? I missed the last two - hopefully they'll be re-aired.

New episode out: http://www.fox.com/kitchen/recaps/epi_04.htm