Pontormo

Remains of the Day Before A. UTTERLY UNSOLVED 1. Egg yolk, a turkey drumstick, and birthday cake? Further clues to this movie: A cook making horrible pancakes and fried eggs while the dancing dishwasher flings plates at him; and eating popcorn while watching the movie Dumbo. (Now the official stumper.) 2. a spaghetti-proof bib, two pork chops and a few slaps round the chops........ CLUE: the guy aspires to win a girl above his station in life. The movie could be called sexist and vulgar, but has become a bit of a cult classic for the male star 3. How about a disgusting bony, lethal Chinese meal?? CLUE: How about: life's nothing but a game?? CLUE 2: the director famously weaves the psychological with the physical, sometimes reality and fantasy are blurred. i.e. he's a bit weird. CLUE 3: the male lead is an English pin-up; the female lead American with an actor dad (no longer with us) 4. A ruined dinner, and chocolate chocolate chip ice cream to apologize. CLUE: Later he gives her a box of chocolate-covered cherries with somebody else's name on it. 5. Tuna noodle casserole for Sunday dinner, and hot chocolate and lemon drops before bed. Movie also contains catfish and popcorn. CLUE: If it helps any, it was written by a Southern writer Another CLUE: This author also wrote another script/movie mentioned near the begining of the thread 6. "... and mashed potatoes. Naw, CREAMED potatoes. An' peas an' onion rings". B. SOLUTIONS AWAITING CONFIRMATION 1. "red hots.. get your red hots" GTO guesses the vender calls this in "Streetcar Named Desire". 2. Revised clue: Birthday cake (and party) ruined by a seagull...or two...or... : Azurite says "The Birds". **** For the record regarding the stuffed sheep's head: Insomniac deserves credit for solving this immediately after Carolyn Tillie gave clue; dockl re-solved it, also correctly. NOTE: If you post a movie, please check back to see if the guesses on your movie are correct or not so we can keep the "Still in Play" list accurate. Also, consider posting more clues if your movie remains unsolved.

Franci, thanks for both the response to my earlier question and for the confession. I had no idea your love of culinary gadgets, tools and appliances reached in that direction.

You're being facetious, right? I was actually trying to think of one emblematic food from Ang Lee's early films and just drew a blank, though the child's gorgeous school lunches come to mind with their layer upon layer of dishes. ← Now I'm embarassed to say I wasn't. It's been several years since I've seen the film, but I remember that, as beautiful as the dishes were, they tasted horrible. Of course, I probably just mixing it up with another movie. ← No, no! I'm the one who completely forgot that the father, a master chef, starts over-salting everything due to a gradual loss of his sense of taste. My bad.

Megan, I am sure it was not intentional, but you've just contributed something to this month's regional cooking thread in the Italian forum since your soup is associated with the Veneto. Do you have any good cart food in either of your neighborhoods? Last time I was at the Modern, no one was to be found, though one of my friends said it's the favored spot of one of the majors.

You're being facetious, right? I was actually trying to think of one emblematic food from Ang Lee's early films and just drew a blank, though the child's gorgeous school lunches come to mind with their layer upon layer of dishes.

Toliver, where is the blush emoticon? Yes, thank you, thank you in public, for agreeing to step in and keep tabs on these lists! Insomniac, thanks for the good news! Carolyn, for the erotica; that may have been my first sexy movie. You'll find the still-photography version in some of Ling's posts in the dessert thread. And Blether, while we're waiting for the fruits of your mental labor, here's a bit of information for other Netflix subscribers or DVD collectors: Warner's DVD of "Swing Time" has two special features with only minor relevance to the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers film. One is an old cartoon which you ought to watch first. You'll see two houseflies eating spaghetti the way it's done in the much later Disney "Lady and the Tramp." Most bizarre is a terrible, corny short film called "Hotel a la Swing" where a trip to the rooftop nightclub will get you a bouncy little number called "Holiday in Hades": complete with leggy devils in satin with glittering horns and a Martha Graham parody done as a pas de deux. The movie, as genre, might be considered a precursor to "Airplane!" and the recent slew of theme-based Hollywood send-offs of equivalent quality. I mention it since there's a number in the kitchen performed by three chefs who, I am guessing, are supposed to evoke the Marx Brothers. They dance and sing about their willingness to serve you anything, anything but hash. Wild, man, wild.

YUm! I had no idea the lamb shanks were Venetian; I checked the index of Molto Mario last night for recipes from the Veneto. I guess the web site is more comprehensive. That dish, especially, looks perfect for this weather, though duck is always welcome. I just found instructions for making polenta in the oven online. Just made almost 6 quarts of brodo in the oven yesterday and find I'm using the oven's low temperatures more and more these days. (Sorry, Little Ms. Foodie for your continuing loss.) And Mrbigjas, thanks for the tip about quail at Asian grocers and Kevin, for warning about pre-seasoning. ETRemove question.

If you're serving salad at the same time as the lasagne*, you don't need anything else. I've used cipollini (simply parboiled and roasted with olive oil until golden brown and glazed, without an interferring sweet & sour taste) as an accompaniment/garnish for stuffed polenta with ragu before. Great menu, as always. I think I'd skip the swordfish for this meal since the fish doesn't complement the rest of the meal and the pastry would be heavy with the main course and crucial birthday cake. Save it for another birthday where you serve a tureens of soup brimming with seafood. *On the same plate? Don't tell Franci!

Shepherd's Pie or a chicken pot pie with a mashed potato crust! Soup, using mashed potatoes as thickening agent instead of cream. Plenty of possibilities here, such as caldo verde. Bubble and Squeak. Klary's stampot. Potato croquettes... ETA: Dessert, e.g. Russian chocolate cake.

Is this a common vegan dessert? Have you considered using coconut milk instead of soy? I realize that a panna cotta is like a flan or custard, but lighter without the egg, but for me at least, the dairy element is crucial because flavoring elements are usually minimalistic as well: a little bit of vanilla or citrus. Accompaniments such as fresh berries and a light sauce provide the principal flavor. I'd be tempted to do without dairy substitutions and work simply with fruits and gelling agents, perhaps combining something light such as key lime with a contrasting, intense element. Maybe try almond milk. However, I realize that we might have different tastes and I hope you'll document your efforts and ultimate success, especially since vegan diets have been of interest to a few eGullet members. Certainly, there is a lot of interest in Kosher meals as well.

I neglected to praise the beautiful quail which you seem to be cooking quite a bit these days. Until yesterday, I never noticed them around here at all, though I'm sure they may be found at independent butchers, the Eastern Market and places swankier than WF. However, I saw some frozen at WF and was tempted. Are you quailivores preparing previously frozen birds? * * * And looking very unlike vice-presidents, here are Venetian bird-hunters as painted by Carpaccio ; the panel is now at the Getty. (Admittedly, quail are not known to swoop down to the surface of a lagoon to catch fish and become prey to an archer's shot.)

Klary: Did you read my description of lasagne for the dukes of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna thread? Eccola or le. Fantastic, but make the ragu ahead of time as you would ragu based on beef. Since your husband likes offal, he'd appreciate the presence of chicken livers. However, I share your lack of enthusiasm (though I do like most patés) and was still so impressed with how delicious--and different--the lasagna tasted. The golden raisins, pine nuts and generous amount of prosciutto in the layers were what made the dish stand out for me--besides the lack of tomato. I don't remember if you ended up ordering The Splendid Table or not. Unfortunately, I borrowed my copy from the public library, so I am unable to provide recipes. I can point you to this particular site which erroneously attributes a recipe for Bolognese that I find superior to Hazan's as fond of it as I am. It's from Lynne Rossetto Kasper and the book cited in this paragraph. Perhaps more of her recipes are transcribed online. Otherwise, I'd also pipe up and say that I made the artichoke lasagne from Hazan eons ago and truly loved it. Featuring one favorite ingredient is a good idea, whether artichokes, wild mushrooms or anchovies (in Piemonte--cf. my advice to Daniel in his Xmas dinner thread) or roasted winter squash, though the latter would be good with prosciutto and an intensely aged Gouda. A duck ragu might be nice, too, especially in a preparation similar to my first recommendation here.

Judith, I think Kevin makes a good point here. After all, Venice's power continued to rise after Sicily no longer was the site of a significant court, especially in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It would be interesting to know when aristrocratic palates began to rebel against a succession of spicy-sweet courses. The city became a seat for foreign invaders/allies against the Ottoman Empire for nearly a century until 1866 when Italian nationalists won. Austrians and the French may have influenced changes in the 18th & 19th centuries--but could they have been as important as tomatoes down south? Nothing like a little knowledge and a lot of ignorance to inspire speculation. At any rate despite the cosmopolitan nature of the maritime city, its mainland territorities did not accommodate the kinds of imported crops that Arabs brought early to Sicily, such as pistachios.

I can't believe this game is still ongoing and that you're coming up with so many examples, especially from movies I've seen but just don't recall in terms of foods mentioned. For me the challenge is coming up with more weird combinations (twinkies & mustard) or examples from movies not made in Hollywood, color or English. Drawing a blank. I'm deleting a few items from the quoted list of ten created at 8:11 PM on Feb 9 since they were solved. 1. a ritz cracker and chopped liver ?2. Egg yolk, a turkey drumstick, and birthday cake?--Petit Tete guessed Tampopo, too. Right? 3. a spaghetti-proof bib, two pork chops and a few slaps round the chops........ 4. "Say was that a Big Kahuna Burger? That's one tasty MF'er." 5. At the beginning of the film: milk & crackers. Towards the end of the film: "No milk & crackers." (In between the two there was gelato, champagne & cold coffee) 6. The buttering of a baguette as Sartori. 7. how about a disgusting bony,lethal chinese meal?? 8. ".......and a microwave that browns!.......melted cheese, ummmmm I don't think I EVER tasted melted cheese before." 9. A large ham CLUE: about the size of a little girl 10. A half a grapefruit shoved in the face. 11. Bread and butter as a repeating motif. 12. "Amazing…an amontillado! And the finest amontillado I have ever tasted! ... This is quite definitely real turtle soup! … And what a turtle soup! … But that’s ‘Blinis Demidoff!… And this most certainly is Veuve Cliquot 1860!" (Welcome New Member, Craig Reeves!) In between washing dishes, etc., I will look through the thread and see if any of these have been solved. I'll also add new ones in revising the post. A big Congratulations to a Little Head of Cabbage for FINALLY solving the ground beef & PB clue! To Maddogs, too, for posing such a stumper.

Whose culture?Whose United States? Certainly, there are foods one might identify as culturely significant across much of the continent (Hawaii did not become a state until after your timeline begins). Many I'd list have been named, I'd imagine. I know I'd fight for pizza given the solid reasons srhb provides as well as the consensus of a small group of Italian cooks who, on a recent visit to Manhattan, ate pizza, and in part, liked it, though declared it something utterly different from "real", i.e. Italian pizza. Just as you could argue there is Chinese, French, Spanish or Italian food as well as Szechuan, Burgundian.....specialties, I think you can and ought to acknowledge the central role of regional dishes when thinking about the United States. Essentializing American cuisine distorts the picture. I know I'd want to introduce a foreign guest to the cooking of the Deep South as much as a lobster from Maine with corn on the cob and a tour of wine country in California, ending up at The French Laundry with a detour to hot dog and taco stands. Class should be taken into consideration in addition to location and histories of immigration. Unifying factors include the powerful media and corporations, including chain restaurants, Stouffers and take-out joints. After all, rich people and those with advanced degrees do eat Big Macs. Wasn't there a fairly recent thread on defining American food that relates to your first question, if not the second about the future?

Indeedy. Impressive how you got that Venetian woman to pose for you in her bedroom! * * * Now, you mention the importance of spices which makes sense given the long history of trade, theft (e.g. those ancient gilt, bronze horses at San Marco from Constantinople and the relic/body of Saint Mark himself from Alexandria) and other forms of cultural interactions with both Christians and Muslims in the east. Yet, I'm trying to think of something strongly or complexly spiced and am coming up with a blank. Many of us cooked Sicilian dishes that carry obvious ties to the Middle East, but is there anything in Venetian cuisine that bears a similar imprint? Anyone know anything about Byzantine food?

Source: RS on Identità Golose

You're not alone, so please don't let embarrassment or uncertainty get in the way of learning new culinary skills. Lots of people just use burners on stove tops or microwave ovens and never bake. I have no idea what your housing situation is, but you may have neighbors, a building manager or even a colleague at work who could give you instructions, the latter if you describe the type of stove you have. If your kitchen has a stove with an oven, you are entitled to one that works.

The tomato-beet soup does sound good and quick. In light of original observations concerning the straining of grated raw beets and instructions to discard the vegetable itself, I also find the recipe curious. I'd be tempted to retain the flavor combinations, but blend all the cooked ingredients. Since I regularly add beets to salads during all those months without local, ripe tomatoes, I might use a large roasted one to make a bowl of the soup with the contents of an opened can of tomatoes.

Thanks for the fabulous list, Franci! Since the regulars are so seasoned here and finding recipes for Venice presents far less of a challenge than the less familiar region we glanced at in January (really, I think the weather right now in much of N. America might have nudged us a little more quickly into the world of sauerkraut, sausage and bread balls), I will forgo linking any more sites that contain recipes. One thing I will recommend, though, is eating a strawberry or two in homage to Death in Venice and maybe renting Visconti's movie since it is available on DVD. Franci, the reason I quoted this particular line is the fact that I have both zucchini and a new supply of polenta at home. I found nothing online using the spelling of zucchini offered here. Would you happen to know what Venetians do to zucchini when they're served with polenta? Is this actually a vegetarian main dish? Or do you you serve something with protein on the same plate?

P.S. Just saw Jenny Uptown's post about Jaleo which I find interesting since my last trip there (versus the Bethesda location) after praising it to visiting friends was disappointing; I thought it a fluke. Hmmm. And I see HJS already recommends the Cornell. Yes!

Please, please don't miss a trip to the newly re-opened American Museum which is right in front of you should you take the Metro's red line to Gallery Place and get out at the exit marked "Galleries and Museums"--or something to that effect. It's open 11:30 until 7 PM, which makes it perfect to combine with a trip to Jaleo--or Busboy's suggested alternative. Jaleo might be a better choice for a lot of children, though I don't know yours. At any rate, I think we're all saying you should eat at one of Jose Andres's restaurants. (I've never gone to Z, but reviews tend to be rather mixed when compared to his real successes.) One of the reasons I recommend setting aside a good bit of time for the museum linked is an important exhibition of Joseph Cornell which your son should appreciate. The show's not nearly as huge as the big retrospective at MOMA more than two decades ago, which means it's not as overwhelming. Anyone who enjoys the whole mystique of the artist as recluse and eccentric will also be fascinated by one of the trends in museums around town these days: letting the public in on what was previously considered "background" and the purvey of curators alone. You can walk into the artist's basement, so to speak, and see shelf upon shelf of the kinds of things he hoarded to use in making his boxes and collages. However, the five-year reconstruction of the museum is truly--and rarely--exemplary. Your family is invited to see what goes on in the art preservation lab. And don't overlook the permanent collection. To your right on the main floor, past a compelling photography/mixed-media exhibition on the South is the folk art. One of the most fantastic things in DC period is the visionary assemblage of an illiterate government employee that he realized in a garage out of cardboard, foil and light bulbs. Upstairs, in the wing devoted to contemporary art, ingeniously displayed in one of those soaring marble institutional spaces of this city, be sure you step into David Hockney's 3-D, Day-Glo landscape. It's down at the end of the hall, to your right, next to the upstairs doorway that leads into the portrait gallery. * * * The textile museum is worth a detour for residents or someone who collects or weaves. Otherwise, I'd say don't stick exclusively to Western/European culture. There's the Freer/Sackler, though the collection's hampered by lack of exhibition space. I'd have to second what's said about the Native American museum since its collections contain no real gems and the design of the displays match the FL Wright knock-off architecture in quality. Many do praise the restaurant's superiority to all others in museums on the Mall. Often the most exciting place to go in recent years is The National Museum of African Art, conveniently close to the other place your modern-art lover would probably want to explore: the Hirshhorn, though the Johns show kind of eclipses it at the moment. The NMAA has interesting exhibitions whose subjects and forms overlap with those of "modern" art since they tend to feature contemporary works of living artists or newly assembled collections. And if you can't fit your ice skates into your bags, you can rent some to glide within a second sculpture garden, across the street from the West building (older) of the National Gallery. In this weather, you'll want some hot cocoa in the small cafe next to the rink. It's unfortunately not a good place for a real meal. Finally, do check through a few other, older threads here. There are many queries similar to your own, so you might find impressions strengthened or new ideas.

Pam, Susan & Judith: Between sneezes, I'd like to chime in gratitude. The following almost echoes my own sentiments: although I'd love a thick blanket of snow once every winter. Judith's explanation of her move up north makes a lot of sense to me. I'd rather bundle up in sweaters, sip tea and make soup in the bitter cold than to endure scorching heat. And BTW, when sharing names for soups made from this and that, no one mentioned stone soup. Jane Smiley contributed a related story to the February issue of Gourmet. It's one of the less showy ways that home cooking relates to frugality in restaurant kitchens. Judith: Brilliant! Too bad the round cylinders of oatmeal boxes won't do, but I'll try to remember this trick once leaves unfurl and it's time to switch to Cheerios. susan dear, do beware those tiny moth things. i don't know what else to call them either... but they hit my little pantry in tx last winter. i think they came in some bulk rice i bought. they are tiny devils. they will eat through plastic bags, squirm their way into what you consider to be sealed containers [clamped gasket sealed jars, tins with tight lids, etc.]. amazingly voracious, they'll go after everything grainy or dried/fresh veg you've got. along with the bleach route, i had to toss dried peppers from my garden, oh the heartache... rice, barley, cereals and more, before i managed to get rid of them all. hope your diligence with the bleach got rid of your invasion. [ ← Unfortunately, there is too much to identify with in this blog since I also noticed one of these a couple of days ago and have yet to find the source...Well, here's to restored health in all three of your households, red lines creeping up past the zero towards nice, pleasant numbers...and to the salad days ahead!

Abra, honey, you need to spend a little more time in the Italian regional cooking forums! Cocoa is traditional in caponata. Our Whole Foods is selling Valrhona again--its quality makes a big difference. We discussed the combination of beef and chocolate while preparing Sicilian food and a brave soul slathered layers of fried eggplant with chocolate while we were in Lazio, documented with photographs. Funny how said Brave Soul did not rejoin us as we pushed on to new terrain... Sounds like a great theme, certainly up there with the All Garlic dinner at Chez Panisse. P.S. You've probably had your fill of stuffed pastas after the impressive Christmas tortellini torta you executed. However, in the Lombardian thread, I describe a sweet ravioli that goes all the way back to the Renaissance court in Mantua. Chocolate and ground amaretti are two of the ingredients. Might be good floating in a slightly sweetened or Meyer lemony broth, though when you say "chocolate soup" I envision something velvety with heavy cream. Perhaps you could alter a pureed chestnut soup to include chocolate and cream...Might even be good! I don't know about a chocolate fish soup, but fresh sardines are sweet, as are a few other fish. However, small sardines stuffed with buttered chocolate bread crumbs instead of garlic, olive oil and herby breadcrumbs...?

Well, please excuse us brilliant Italophiles down a lot more to the south for being so damned obvious You may have red sauce, but we've been seeing other forms of red just a little too long...