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rickster

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Posts posted by rickster

  1. The Kaiser acquisition has not gone well for them. They may be #2 in Brazil, but it's with a small share of market, since the Brazil government let Antarctica and Brahma merge a few years ago and the new company AmBev probably has 80% of the market.

    From what I heard, the reason behind Coors entering this merger is because there is a lack of interest in the family to continue running the business. As many of you know, Peter Coors is running for Campbell's seat in the Senate.

    True, but there is a difference between controlling it and actively running it. The family may not have wanted to see it swallowed up by a big multinational brewer.

  2. Molson will certainly benefit from being in a "real" distribution network as opposed to the mixed bag of beer, wine, and liquor distributors that now handle their product. I am sure that they will both save money and get much better product handling and more opportunity to grab shelf space.

    Remember that Molson was handled by Miller for a number of years in the US, which has a better distribution system than Coors, although maybe not in the Northeast which is Molson's core market. Molson was very unhappy with Miller and broke up the deal. Of course now as a merged company, the Coors system may pay better attention to Molson than Miller did.

    One factor that's been mentioned is that while there may not be a lot of economic sense in this, both brewers have families that want to remain in control of the business. This way, they can do so at least jointly. If Molson sold out to anyone else, it's unlikely the Molson family would play a long term role.

  3. They could save a fair amount of money by consolidating breweries, but that would mean having Molson brewed in the US or Coors in Canada. which might be an issue to some consumers. Then again, no one in the US seems to care that Molson brews all the Foster's sold in the US. While you probably have to have 2 different marketing and sales organizations given the national differences, at some point they will have to combine other HQ functions either shutting down one head office or maybe leaving it as a token operation.

  4. This is really a great idea. I've found the boiling method works but leaves the hazelnuts with a weird texture. Roasting is far better for texture and flavor, but I've never been able to get all the skins off that way.

  5. Patricia Wells has a recipe in one of her books for an apple and black currant tart that looks good. Never been able to try it since black currants are impossible to find in my part of the US.

  6. My number-two suggestion would then be Mraz & Sohn. It is situated where one would not expect a very fine restaurant (the Steirereck is also not quite central, by the way), but it is quite superb in many respects. Highly inventive cooking that generally works, excellent wine pairings available for all courses, cheeses in great profusion and perfect condition.

    Coincidentally, I was at this restaurant for a business dinner earlier this week and would rate the best of those I have been to in several visits to Vienna. It tries a little too hard to be inventive at times (they served an after dinner treat of homemade cherry pudding in a pop top can), but still very good.

  7. Lyle's has a very distinctive taste that I don't think would be a substitute for invert sugar. I don't know the differences between the "molines" but the Sweet Celebrations website sells a Nulomoline invert sugar product that I have used in the past in candy filling and has a very neutral taste. Don't know if it is a substitute for Trimoline.

    Nulomoline is $6.30 for 2 1/2 lbs. at Sweet Celebrations.

  8. MY two cents is that this is going to be difficult or impossible to do at home with a home food processor. I've tried making almond paste and hazelnut paste in a Cuisinart and neither one worked out. I could not get from a fine grind to a truly pasty state. I also wonder whether the nuts available to the home cook are of sufficient quality to do this properly (ie, not enough moisture/oil).

  9. i believe i read in an L.A. Times article that, about a week before the competition, the contestants were given a very short list of potential theme ingredients and were told the theme ingredient would be one of those on the list. (i hope my memory isn't failing me.) it's a lot easier to display ingenuity/creativity when you know what's coming.

    Iron Chef Japan used the same approach.

  10. I think the Slate article overstates the point. I think it would be fairer to say that the appeal of the original Iron Chef was about a cross cultural experience that encompassed a lot more than what recipe was being prepared. The new version will be only about the food, at least to an American audience.

  11. Ah, but that's not how it's calculated. Restaurant accounting rule #1: If you lose a meal in a restaurant (plated meal hits the floor, or staff eats it), you don't lose it at the cost (say $5.00), you lose it at retail - the price the customer would have paid ($15.00), since you're not making that profit on that item. It's all about Cost of Goods...so if those 20 staff members ate meals that came off the menu (specific meals prepped for retail sale), the restaurant really lost $300 ($$ not earned by that food), not $100 (actual COG). And that that $300 is all lost profit, either...you've got the $100 food cost, then facilities costs, staffing, promotional costs, etc...

    Not to get too far off topic, but the only way a restaurant loses $300 in this case is if they could have sold the meal to a patron and instead gave it to a staff member, which would be an opportunity cost.and not a real cost anyway. As long as no patron is going hungry, the staff meal is just an overhead cost like any other and of course you have to strive to minmize overheads (Note: I am not a restaurant accountant or any other kind of accountant).

  12. Actually, Ruth's first book was Comfort Me With Apples. And it was a very good read. Her stories, especially about her mother, are funny and sad and real.

    Actually, the first book was Tender At The Bone and was the one about her childhood and mother. Comfort Me With Apples was the second book.

    I thought Jacques Pepin was almost overly, if refreshingly, humble in his book. He makes it sound as if it was a complete accident that he ended up cooking for the president of France.

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