Eastgate

In fact, I was thinking of this passage in DeVoto when I asked the question in the first place. In particular, DeVoto quite clearly envisions making pitchers of martinis for your guests; the proportion of vermouth and the choice of gin, then, are fixed for the crowd. He assumes that you have good taste and that your friends will share it. If not, he is quite ready to suggest that they are not really worth knowing. And yet he is quite clear in asserting that you must serve the entire pitcher promptly, and that any remainder should be discarded before mixing a fresh round. "The fragile tie of ectasy is broken in a few minutes." Where else in cooking would we say this? I can think of a few obvious cases: - thermally unstable preparations (souffles; Alinea's truffle explosion) - air-sensitive wines (some very old wines may be drinkable for a few minutes but oxidize almost immediately on being served) - physically-unstable suspensions (emulsions that break, sausages that dry out if held too long; unrested meats) - slow reactions (chopped vs mashed garlic; bruised fruit; oxidized avocado; coriander/anise/licorice conversion) I would have assumed, like slkinsey above, that we're chiefly concerned about protecting volatiles in vermouth. But while fresh vermouth is doubtless better than stale vermouth, people like DeVoto go to great lengths to emphasize that martinis must be FRESH but never tell you to purchase fresh vermouth. Julia Child recommends cooking with vermouth because it remains fresh longer than white wine. Certainly, you can open a bottle of vermouth, enjoy some now, enjoy it again week later, and think nothing of the matter. You probably wouldn't do this to a Chablis. I notice, too, that one of the aromatics associated with vermouth is coriander, and coriander does have tricky decomposition properties -- for example, stale coriander leaves develop licorice aromas. I'd be interested in opinions from people with better palates than mine as to whether a freshly-made martini does taste differently from one mixed, say, an hour previously and held (with *external* ice -- not diluted!).

An elementary question about the underlying theory of the martini. We all know that you'd never store a martini, even for a few days in the refrigerator. But why, exactly, is this a lousy idea? * People keep gin and vermouth on the shelf for months. * People *do* mix things and save the result. Some people who like perfect Manhattans bottle their preferred mix of sweet and dry vermouth without causing harm to their palate or reputation. * Lots of liqueurs -- including vermouth -- are themselves solutions and mixtures. And people put neutral spirits in all sorts of things without doing much harm. The vast literature against holding martinis, my own experience, and the absence of an established "vermouthed gin" product strongly suggests to me that this isn't just a custom or a myth, that there's something going on that involves a reaction between something in the vermouth and something in the gin. What is it?

I'm an American, and I'll be arriving in London on election day. Where would be an ideal place to soak in the election night atmosphere? I'm staying in Clerkenwell....

I'll be making two trips to Porto, planning and then attending a conference. Where should I eat? What should I eat? (Modest side-trips and excursions are fine, too) And what should I read, so I know what I'm eating? (Two older threads address this, but both have been inactive for some time)

What do you so with a failed terrine? Things were going badly last night with my veal gratin, and I think the emulsion broke. It's cooling now, but it shrank, and a good deal of fat accumulated at the edges. (I had trouble grinding, things got too warm, I knew I was in trouble. Oh dear) If things go as ill as I expect, I could chalk it up to experience. But there's all that nicely seared pork butt, and lovely veal, and lots of my best home-cured bacon. I'm not looking to salvage it, so much as to use the remains intelligently. Who shall guard the unguarded garde manger?

Things I tried this week: * Served plain. Nice texture, but the terrine was probably under-seasoned. Certainly acceptable, especially as My First Mousseline. * Basil cream: I had some lovely basil, but I scorched the cream and didn't have enough to start over. Too thick, too salty. Still tasty -- everyone ate every last droplet. * Garlic and red pepper aioli: very tasty, but overwhelmed the terrine * A little sherry vinegar: my favorite

I made the salmon, shrimp, and spinach terrine yesterday. After-action report en route, with luck. (Oddly, I haven't found any discussion of this recipe here.) Any suggestions on saucing or garnishing it?

Meg Hourihan, on of the founders of Blogger and so one of the inventors of all blogs, has rededicated her weblog as a food blog, and intends do devote herself to food blogging full time. Megnut I occasionally write about food Mark Bernstein

I've been using a variant approach to confit, marinating the duck legs for a few hours with a dry rub and minced garlic, wrapping them tightly in packets of heavy-duty foil, and then cooking them for 2-3 hours in a moderate oven. This generates a good deal of fat and an equal amount of aqueous duck jus, but since everything is in one layer there's no stewing issue. I save the duck fat (of course). I've been discarding the water solubles, assuming they'd be too salty for use. Seems a shame, though; they're brown and rich-looking, a gel nicely when chilled. Am I discarding a useful product?

My niece's bridal registry lists a CALAPHON 'KATANA' 8-PIECE CUTLERY SEt. I'm tempted, instead, to get her a knife block, a really good chef knife, and a steel. In my experience, you don't need 8 knives; you need a good knife. But: she doesn't do (much of) the cooking; her husband to be does. I have no idea who does prep in their house. Should I go with what they did, after all, pick out? And if I stick with buying a good knife for someone else, what size? (Sure, they can take back the 10" knife I buy and exchange it for an 8" if they want, but it would be nice to get it right)

I've had a dandy time with my Cameron Smoker, ever since Heidi at 101cookbooks.com talked me into it. The best meal so far was tea-smoked duck breasts, but it's also given a new dimension to the salmon steaks and filets that are a staple here in Malden. Smoking smallish portobellos over alder, having sprinkled them lightly with oil and minced garlic, works nicely too and is a good way to use any leftover space on the grill rack. Smokinghttp://www.markbernstein.org/Feb0601/]Smoking.html Smoking with Herbs Tea smoked duck breasts Duck Sausage