Kent Wang

Don't the "hairs of the seed" get stuck in your teeth?

After Italy, Spain produces the best charcuterie -- by my reckoning, anyway. I looked at the Wikipedia articles for cecina and bresaola and couldn't figure out the difference between the two. Would you happen to know? I understand it's a pretty technical question.

Though I don't think there's a name for it. My mother always described the purpose of these ingredients as to chù xun (pinyin uncertain), or to remove the unpleasant fishy or meaty flavors.

This charming lady serves you cafeteria-style. She doesn't do the cooking -- apparently some fellow gets up at four in the morning to do it. Chicken and dumplings, collard greens, yams, cornbread. This is the best chicken and dumplings I've ever had. Soft dumplings, copious amounts of chicken, very thick soup. There is also a thin, more soupy style of this dish; this is not the place if you're looking for that. Yams are too sweet; Hoover's still makes the best yams in my book. Cornbread was a little dry. Smothered pork chop, beans, banana pudding. Pork chop is very thick, one inch, and is a bit dry and overcooked. Gravy is mild. I prefer Lola's version which employs thin, half-inch chops and a spicy gravy. Ben's version, though, is still much better than most places. Banana pudding was pretty good. Each of these plates is $10-12, which I find quite outrageous. $7-8 would be more reasonable. I don't mind paying that much but I feel sorry for the working-class people that can't afford it. The place is frequented mostly by downtown office types (as seen above) and some working-class. I wonder how many working-class fans of soul food are kept away by the high prices.

For me, it is the charcuterie that makes me envious. How much did the jamón ibérico cost? For the brief month or so that the ibérico products imported by Fermin were available here, the sausages were $20/lb and the lomo $90/lb.

You mentioned that you're making less money than when you had a full-time job. Is the cost of living and food also lower in Madrid?

Is a charcuterier a maker of charcuterie? Is a retailer of charcuterie also a charcuterier?

The gingham check is the most classic tablecloth check, though there are many other great checks, such as the glen plaid aka Prince of Wales check. Does your job keeping you busy like a 9-to-5, or do you have a very irregular schedule? I can imagine the latter would be great for exploring restaurants and cooking all-day meals.

Their regular menu, aside from dim sum, is just all American dishes, none that I would try. I did order their salt and pepper soft shell crab and found that to be on par with T&S, though T&S uses more coconut oil. The story that I've heard is that the chef that was in charge of dim sum at Marco Polo started Shanghai, so the non-dim sum items are not his forte. Then again, the Shanghai dim sum is much better than it was at Marco Polo -- maybe he now has better control over his kitchen.

Is the sturgeon skin just for show, or is it edible? All the frozen periwinkle I've found at Asian markets in the US have a terrible formaldehyde-like flavor to them. I've only had good periwinkle in Asia.

The Whole Foods flagship here in Austin is licensed to not only sell but also serve alcohol. There are small stands in the store where one can sit and order food and alcohol. What I only realized last week was that you can also just pick up any bottle of beer or wine that they sell, pay for it at any of the stands and proceed to walk around the store drinking and shopping. This is truly marvelous. I enjoyed a bottle of Orval for only $4 while shopping that day. I've never seen anyone else drink and shop there, so I believe this is a little known fact. I wish more groceries and markets allowed you to drink. I'm not one who rushes through shopping. I like to look at all the latest products, ponder over purchasing decisions, have a chat with the fishmonger, etc. Farmers markets would be another great place to drink and shop, especially considering how much more personal and social the shopping experience is.

Other than the terminology, Where to sit at a table when there are extra seats.

Slackerwood blog has some more photos and comments.

A world of specialty sugars awaits you.

I love the wording of this. It reads like something out of the bible, like God commanding Abraham or some such.

Milagro has some interesting ones. Milagro Romance has both a reposado and an anejo in one bottle. Milagro Select Barrel Reserve has a beautiful hand-blown glass agave inside -- no, that's not a print.

Huge, lots of sprinkles and creamy stuff. Alamo Drafthouse is also doing the butterbeer, though it sounds rather unappetizing to me.

Asahi Imports is the only Japanese market in Austin. Unlike other Asian markets, it is quite expensive. Many of their items can be had for cheaper at MT Supermarket or even Central Market. The few things they have that no one else does are wide selections of: Mirin Seaweeds (wakame, hijiki, kombu) Miso paste Kewpie-brand mayonnaise Ceramic tea and sake sets It appears to be a family operation. The daughter is very helpful and knowledgeable but her elderly parents do not speak very much English. I've been a few times when only the parents were minding the store and they were not able to answer the questions I had.

What are the defining characteristics of New England BBQ? It appears similar to the Carolinas style, though perhaps a bit more eclectic.

Pig's ear is common in Chinese cuisine. How does one keep track of ones traps? Do fishermen have territories? Is poaching another fisherman's traps common?

I believe it's open in full force now. Mandola Estate Winery.

I know a lot of people that are not aware that Portland, Oregon is named after your city, or that Portland, Maine even exists at all.

I found a copy of Paul Prudhomme's crawfish etouffee.

The Alamo Drafthouse is a chain of movie theaters here in Austin that serves food and beer. On occasion, they make up special meals for certain films. Thursday, I went to see The Simpsons movie with a five-course meal. The menu. I couldn't take any photos of the food in the middle of the movie, of course, so you'll just have to use your imagination. Duff Ice was just frozen beer. Duff is I believe the house brew. Düff was just Duff, and the servers then come by with a marker to put the umlauts on top. Not sure what Duff Stout and the Raspberry Stout were, but both were pretty good. The food was remarkably good and for $55, I wouldn't have minded paying that at any restaurant. The menu was very clever and was clearly designed by a hardcore Simpsons fan. This was also a pretty serious amount of beer for such a short film. Sometimes the special movie menus are a little gimmicky but this was delicious and a good value to boot.

This has been one of the most interesting foodblogs yet. You've reinvigorated my desire to pay The Netherlands another visit.