mkayahara

My understanding is that the term "pink salt" is used because modern nitrite- and nitrate-containing salts are sometimes dyed pink to prevent confusion with table salt, but I'm not sure where the "sel rose" nomenclature mentioned in Modernist Cuisine comes from. Further confusion arises from the pink salts that are marketed as finishing salts, such as "Himalayan pink salt." The nitrite salt I use is not dyed pink; personally, I think the term "pink salt" should be avoided, because it can lead to confusion.

The sel rose mentioned in Modernist Cuisine (which involves naturally occurring potassium nitrate, or saltpeter) is not the same thing as the "pink salt" found referenced in modern charcuterie books (which is 6.25% sodium nitrite and 93.75% sodium chloride).

I know I've seen sodium nitrite in Williams Sonoma, though I can't remember if that was in Toronto or somewhere else. I just order mine online. I wouldn't substitute plain salt for anything calling for nitrite, but James is right: there's lots to do in Charcuterie that doesn't involve it. I recently picked up some "peameal bacon" that didn't have nitrite in the cure. It was still delicious, because it was brined heritage pork. But to me, it didn't taste like peameal bacon, and it turned grey when it cooked, of course. I have no concerns about the safety of it, but it wasn't the same product.

Made the Thai fried rice tonight. Quite delicious, once all the condiments were added! I'm looking forward to trying the variations with a little curry paste or roasted chili paste mixed in, too. I imagine I'll be starting to make extra rice just to have some on hand from now on.

My husband has been on a real Bourbon kick lately, ever since discovering that it's the one kind of whiskey he likes, so when I showed him the Bourbon Dynasty in David Wondrich's Killer Cocktails, his first reaction was, "Yes, make that one." So I put the Cocchi through its paces as a substitute for Lillet once again, to great effect. The drink is on the same template as the Weeski, with Bourbon instead of Irish (Maker's Mark specified; I used Evan Williams), cassis instead of Cointreau, and Peychaud's instead of orange bitters. I usually up the liqueur to 1/4 oz. from 1 tsp. in these recipes, because I sometimes find it a touch too dry otherwise; I guess that gives me a sweet tooth around these parts. Anyway, adjusted thusly, this was a very lush, lovely cocktail.

While here in Ontario, we pay $80 for the same bottling, and are grateful we can get it at all! There is a Trader Joes opening in Rochester next month - we need a road trip. Sounds good to me!

While here in Ontario, we pay $80 for the same bottling, and are grateful we can get it at all!

S'mores Pie is definitely where my head went! You could easily do a chocolate custard and brûlée some marshmallow fluff on top of it.

Thanks, all, for the feedback on the coriander roots. I ended up freezing them whole, so we'll see how it goes. I'm just back from a trip to Ottawa, where I went to Domus Housewares. Lo and behold, they had all their books on sale for 20% off, including two copies of Hot Sour Salty Sweet. By the time I left the store, there was only one copy on the shelf.

OT, but I'm afraid this just undermines your position. Do you have any idea how heavily regulated the preparation of fugu is in Japan? Wikipedia (admittedly not always a reliable source) suggests there are less than 50 incidents of fugu poisoning per year - in a country of almost 130 million - and the fatality rate is only 6.8%. Most fatalities seem to arise from people preparing their own fugu catch. Your chances of dying of fugu poisoning from commercially prepared fugu are vanishingly small. I didn't eat fugu when I was in Japan, even though I could have, but that's mostly because it's quite expensive, and reputedly not really all that tasty...

If you have a good source for organic eggs, ask them what they do with their spent hens. Where I am, they're still more expensive than grocery-store roasters, but cheaper than organic free-range roasters.

Martinez tonight, served with a side of "horrifying realization that I've been drastically under-bittering my drinks."

Thanks for the input, patrickamory. I was using a combination of up-and-down and circular motions, so I suspect I just wasn't working it for long enough. Another question: I know it says in HSSS that if you find yourself with extra coriander roots, that you should freeze them. I've had some beautiful roots sitting in my fridge for... too long now, though they still look and smell OK. What's the best way to freeze them? Whole? Minced?

I would strongly recommend The Flavor Bible for that role.

Is "blade" in Australia the same thing as it is here in Canada? If so, in the US, it's what's known as "chuck," and I wouldn't think a long cook would necessarily be out of place.

Can you find any kola tonic? I've always wondered how limoncello would sub for lemon syrup in some of the Savoy cocktails.

Soup is classic, as is salmon with sorrel sauce.

What roast level did you take the Colombia "Dos Payasos de Tolima" to, abooja? I just roasted a batch this afternoon, aiming for City+, though I'm not sure I made it quite that far. Lately I've been worrying about how first crack takes place. Not all the beans hit the same temperature at the same time, so when the last beans reach first crack, the first ones that reached it have been continuing to heat. I know that some unevenness is to be expected, given the method and depending on batch size, but it makes the finer distinctions of City+ and Full City a little hard. The only things I can say for sure are "cleared first crack" or "first snaps of second crack," because those cues are audible.

So this thread got thoroughly derailed from Chris' original intention, but I thought I'd post a couple of notes anyway. In the past few weeks, I've roasted several half-pound batches of Sweet Maria's coffees. I really enjoyed the Burundi Karinzi Maruri Hill, roasted at Full City+, but both the Papua New Guinea Tairora Smallholders (City) and Ethiopia Illubabor Baaroo (City+; oddly, doesn't seem to be listed on their site) struck me as only so-so. I'm fully willing to believe that the problem lies exclusively in my roasting technique, however. With the remaining half-pound of the Ethiopian, I'm going to try a darker roast, and see how that does.

So we tried the red curry paste again last night, using my husband's standard red curry recipe from Simply Thai Cooking, which uses 3 tablespoons of curry paste for 2 cups of coconut milk, versus 5 cups of coconut milk in HSSS. Made to our usual proportions, I really, really liked the homemade paste. To me, it seemed much more vibrant than the canned paste we've used in the past. Definitely worth making again, and getting better at it!

It will certainly work to sear anything cooked sous vide, and of course you can sear fish even from raw with it. I second the "peeling peppers" thing; I've always thought it would be a good way to peel poblanos for chiles rellenos. I used a torch once to remove a pin that had sheared off in the lid of my gas grill, too.

Yeah, that's almost certainly the dry variety. In my experience, there are very few recipes that use sweet vermouth. In general, Noilly Prat of Dolin dry vermouths are considered to be the gold standard.

That daikon looks delicious, Hassouni!

Le Pigeon and/or Little Bird. Tasty and Sons for brunch.

Darcy had a post up on Art of Drink about it a while back, apparently under the misconception that Ceylon Arrack and Batavia Arrack were the same thing.