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Thanks for response. The items will be shipping to South Korea.

Are there any online Mexican grocers that can also ship overseas (more specifically, Asia)? Some items that I would be ordering include various dried Mexican chiles, dried herbs (Mexican oregano, etc.), masa harina, canned chile products (chipotle in adobo etc.), Mexican dried beans.

I've got a question after reading through this tasty thread. I live in an apartment where smoking is completely out of the question. I was wondering if I could mix in some liquid hickory smoke during the brining process to impart the smoky flavor? Of course, it's not the perfect solution, but it's the best that I can do in my current environment.

The Pomi Strained Tomato product from Parmalat is indeed a great product. The packaging is sensible as well -- after using it I just wrap it up with plastic wrap and freeze it without even transferring. The Pomi has a fresher tomato taste than the regular canned tomato products. Too bad I can no longer get it from where I live now...

I had the opportunity to taste the crinkle cut fries served at L'atelier de Joel Robuchon in Hong Kong recently. The exterior was crisp but delicate while the interior was fluffy and tender. I think that people used to fast food style french fries might even consider them a bit soggy in texture.

I've heard that the key to good jampong (or "jjamppong") is a rich stock made from chicken and pork bones. When I peeked inside the dingy kitchen of a chinese place near my house, the cook stir fried the jampong ingredients very quickly over hellishly high heat and the stock was added in the end. This was then poured over the pre-boiled noodles and served.

I did a quick internet search on the F31 model and there appears to be a lot of positive reviews for this camera. It appears to have achieved an almost cult status among users. Is this a good point and shoot digital camera in general? The camera is still being sold in my part of the world for about $250 new. I am wondering if I should go ahead and take the plunge...

Would anyone recommend a good point and shoot type digital camera that takes good pictures under a typical restarant setting -- low light, flash-less, close-up shots? The camera shop recommended a digital SLR type camera, but it is too bulky and conspicuous to use in restaurants to take quick food shots. I am wondering if the new compact models with high iso settings and steady shot feature will result in better pictures.

I have used the OXO pepper grinder and salt shaker set for the past seven years and they are still good as new. The pepper grinder is very comfortable to use with the large rubber knob mounted on the rotating handle. The salt shaker has three pour "settings" -- they are useless for kosher salt but work quite well for standard table salt.

The school is trying to become something that it is not, and as a result, failing on both ends. Dr. Tim Ryan has tried too hard to turn the school into a culinary based bachelor degree program, but the result has been lackluster. The two year culinary program has seen its cooking classes make room for classroom-type courses that basically teaches you introductory level writing and math. Some chef instructors have expressed concern about the decreasing importance placed on the cooking aspects of the program. The bachelor program cannot be considered a full-core college program, as the school is simply unable to offer the breadth and depth of courses needed to provide a proper college level curriculum (lack of classrooms, facilities, faculty etc.). I would doubt that a bachelor program graduate of the CIA would be as competitive as someone who graduated from a regular 4 year college program in hotel & restaurant management. As a CIA graduate, my hope is that the school returns to its culinary roots, rather than becoming a novelty tourist destination off of route 9.

Hi, I'm really enjoying reading your blog this week. You mentioned that you could not eat any kind of rice at all after your operation. Is there a reason why it is prohibited from your diet? I don't see why it could differ from other sources of carbohydrate. Personally, a meal without rice would be unthinkable for me!

I look forward to reading your blog this week! I was in Beijing last December and was quite astounded by the construction going on all over the city. The weather and the air was dreary though -- hopefully the air will clear up before the olympics.

With the opening of numerous restaurants bearing the names of famous chefs in Las Vegas hotels (and hotels in New York City), I am curious to find out about the general deal structure underlying these developments. If a hotel "A" decides to open a restaurant with star chef "B" then what would be the issues that would need to be agreed upon in order to finalize a development deal? In order to open up a Michelin-quality restaurant in a hotel, I would assume that the initial capital investment as well as high operating costs would not result in a favorable return on investment for the hotel/developer contemplating on building such a restaurant (compared with putting in a standard steak house for example). What are the economics of such restaurant development deals?

I am really enjoying reading your blog this week. I live in Korea and with regard to oysters, they are usually eaten raw here. They are widely available in stores and sold pre-shelled and sealed in cylindrical vinyl packaging. How are oysters sold in Japan?

We are looking at the hearth-type pizza ovens from Woodstone (American company) and Beech (Australian company) for a commercial installation. Does anyone have experience using the hearth ovens from either of these companies in a restaurant setting? I would appreciate hearing your comments. Thanks!

Fat Guy, Sorry for the late reply. The meal is for an after service church lunch, so nothing fancy or wild. I am thinking of a main dish to go along with white rice and a soup. The diners are all Asian, so there are no restrictions with regard to using spices and whatnot. There is a budget limit, which is usually supplemented by whoever prepares the lunch for that day. In terms of the equipment available for use in the kitchen: Commercial gas range with four burners One low height burner for large stock pot One gas fired kettle Four large capacity electric rice cookers

Joe Blow, the rotisserie looked exactly like the unit from La Cornue. Please forgive my ignorance, but what are the white tassel-like things sticking out in rows in all of these rotisseries?

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the rotisserie in question, but hopefully I will be able to describe it in sufficient detail for somebody to recognize it. I saw this rotisserie in the display kitchen at the Park Hyatt Tokyo's New York Grill. The front is exposed and the frame is blue with gold framing. The interior is concave and the holders for the spit are located outside, so it looks somewhat like a traditional fireplace spit cooking setup. I would guess that it is made in France or some European manufacturer based on its traditional looking appearance.

I was looking through hzrt8w's great pictorials and got to thinking if any of those recipes or any other Chinese recipes could be modified to feed about 300 people in my church? There is a massively huge gas fired aluminum tilting kettle (which I used to make tomato sauce before after asking about it's safety in another post) that could double as a wok (the bottom is smooth and concave). With some pre-planning and prepping of some cooking steps, the actual stir-frying part could be done in large batches in the kettle. I was wondering if there were recipes that would convert well to this kind of high-volume cooking? The church has rice cookers, so white rice will be served along with the entree.

Thank you all for answering my original question. Your thoughts and comments cleared up my ignorance in this area. In summarizing the benefits of Grilling vs. Broiling, the following points can then be made (both pros and cons): Grilling Pros/Cons: 1. More smokey (or as the posters stated, "carbonized" "charred") flavor. 2. Grill marks and/or slightly burnt/charred crust 3. Cheaper equipment cost 4. Harder to maintain 5. More appropriate for lower grades of beef or marinated beef 6. Loss of juices 7. Flare ups resulting in charring/burning Broiling Pros/Cons: 1. Best method for cooking Prime beef 2. Better control of temperature 3. Fewer flare ups 4. No loss of juices 5. Better ability to form crust without charring 6. Expensive equipment cost 7. Harder to maintain However, some of you advocated the use of the Pan-Searing followed by Oven Roasting method. Are there steakhouses in New York that use this method for cooking their steaks?

Thanks everyone for replying to my inquiry. I ended up cooking the church pasta lunch for about 300 people. I made a basic bolognese sauce in a gas fired kettle made of aluminum and let the sauce simmer for about an hour. I transferred the contents to two large stock pots, also made of aluminum, and let the sauce cool down for the Sunday lunch. The sauce was reheated in the stock pots after about 20 hours. Thankfully (or luckily) the sauce did not change color or acquire a metallic taste, contrary to my worries. However, in the future I would feel more comfortable cooking acidic foods in non-reactive containers -- if they are available.

Larrylee, thanks for the correction. 62,000 Yen would have bought me a couple of meals at Ducasse's restaurant in Tokyo and more hamburger steak!

Could anybody explain why steakhouses will either choose to grill or broil their steaks? Does broiling allow for a closer contact with direct heat that allows charring (as it seems to be the case with Peter Luger) while maintaining a rare center? In my mind, if your grill or broiler has sufficient BTUs, then heat from above should not be different from heat from below in forming a good crust. Steak gurus and grill/broiler masters, what are your thoughts on this subject?

I am back from my very brief visit to Tokyo. I was there from Friday~Monday. The first day was taken up with meetings, so I had only Saturday and Sunday to look around some of the restaurants that were recommended here and elsewhere. I will write up about my Tokyo visit and post pictures later on, but here are some quick impressions: * Steak is not big in Japan, as the most popular form of grilled meat appears to be 'hanbaga suteki' or hamburger steak. Mind you, this is not your average thin beef patty found in the States. Japanese style hamburger steak is quite thick and juicy -- I found it quite tasty. * New York Grill at Park Hyatt - I ate there on Saturday for their weekend brunch. 6,200 Yen includes a glass of okay American champagne, a selection from the mains section of the brunch menu and the use of the appetizer and dessert buffet. I had the grilled chicken, which was quite nice with a crispy skin and moist breast. The appetizer buffet was your average selection of leftover ingredients repackaged nicely. The dessert section was nice, but not really high-end stuff. * Natural/Organic buffet restaurants that serve Japanese home-style food appears to be the lastest trend in Tokyo. The place that we tried in Ginza was bursting with Japanese customers during dinner. * The cost of eating out in Tokyo was actually lower than Seoul, helped by the depressed Yen, but also due to the fact that restaurants had to lower prices after the bubble economy burst during the early 90's.

The name of that Korean TV drama is probably "Kyeoul Yonga" starring Bae, Yong Jun as the male lead. I've read somewhere that his appearance in Tokyo resulted in a stampede of Japanese female fans who tried to get a closer look at him. There is another drama called "Dae Jang Geum" which deals with the life of a female cook who works in the royal court during the Chosun dynasty. (Blether, yes guessed correctly -- I live and work in Korea)