mkayahara

Thanks!

I'd be interested in hearing more about this... have you or will you post your thoughts in the Per Se thread?

So if I have ads on my blog, then I'm good, from your perspective?

That's not an apt comparison, though, because there are governing bodies that decide who does and does not qualify as a lawyer. There is no equivalent body for "journalist". Nor is there one in my own field, translator. Anyone can hang up a shingle and start working as a translator, and the only test for whether or not they are one is whether or not they translate stuff. I wonder what exactly one would have to do to meet the proposed test of being "affiliated with any newspaper, magazine, periodical, book, pamphlet, news service, wire service, news or feature syndicate, broadcast station or network, or cable television system". Presumably the answer is "write news reports for any medium that is not the Internet."

It seems to me that Jeff Berry does a pretty good job of untangling the Zombie in "Sippin' Safari," and offers a bunch of interesting variations in "Beachbum Berry Remixed" as well. As far as falernum goes, depending on your local liquor regime, it might be easier to make your own than try and buy a commercial bottle. It's definitely worth it. Wait, what? There shouldn't be any pineapple juice in a Mai Tai!

Generally with that sort of thing, you pinch off a small portion of the mixture, pan-fry it until cooked, taste and adjust. I do it all the time with fresh sausage, for example.

Translation: Only make coconut-based curries (edit: or other dishes, I guess) when you can afford to take the day off work?

A big problem? No. Does it happen occasionally? Sure, but this still looks to me like a solution in search of a problem.

I haven't been to Splendido for quite a while; I ate there maybe late 2009/early 2010? The service was very adept then, too, though a touch aloof for my partner's taste. The food didn't much impress me, especially for the price, but it looks like they've substantially modernized the platings, at the very least. (Has the chef changed since then?) Perhaps it's worth a revisit.

That's the one to get.

Did up another EMP dish for dinner last night: Malt sorbet with olive oil and black pepper. It was a little tough quenelling the sorbet; clearly the recipe wasn't formulated for a home ice cream maker. (I should probably have endeavoured to find some liquid nitrogen...) Sadly, while I was dehydrating the meringue, my dehydrator died... luckily, it finished the job before it went kaput!

Last night I made the Pork, grapefruit, sage, honey(comb) dish. Wonderful flavours and textures, naturally. The sage fluid gel is the first one I've made since getting my Vitamix at Christmas, and it was such a dream compared to doing it with my old blender. So much faster, and such a better texture. Even with the Vitamix, the cornbread puree was a struggle, so I can't imagine it would be possible with a conventional blender! Lacking a honey extractor, I skipped the tableside honey application and just drizzled some honey on the plates before serving them.

I've used this technique a couple of times, and will likely do it again soon. A friend of mine introduced me to it, and he's rigged a wooden spoon up to a power drill to do the stirring. (I've never seen it in action, though.)

Damn Matt - you had me worried there for a minute. It's 75.5% ETOH at 151 proof. Little triangle just doesn't show on the photo. Must be in the other corner of the label, then.

I don't see a little red triangle on that Lemon Hart, Kerry... is it the 80-proof?

Yes, do keep us posted! And if they're on the menu somewhere I can stop by and try them out, let me know. I'm curious.

I've found increased syneresis with alcohol, so you may want to raise the concentration slightly, though I was working at higher ABVs than you'd find in sake. I assume you're hydrating the agar in plain water, then mixing in the sake, before forming the caviar?

Indeed, hence why "on mange les sushis" in French. Pluralizing "sushi" always makes me cringe, but it is perfectly grammatically correct French!

While we're on the topic of superfluous French prepositions, can we talk about the number of times in the Alinea cookbook it says "cook en sous vide"?

How did you build the press?

The difference I see is that if I'm making fake cherries, I can start with top-quality real cherries. With industrially produced fake cherries, the quality of the cherries themselves may be questionable. In other words, it's not the magic white powders that make the fake cherries "gross"; it's the quality of the natural ingredients.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever do this, but here's what I mixed up last night: 1.5 oz. Kittling Ridge brandy (from the same distiller as Forty Creek whisky; kind of Spanish in style, to my palate) 0.5 oz. Cynar 0.5 oz. amontillado sherry 2 dashes Regan's orange bitters Stir, strain, up. Probably would have been nice with an orange twist, but I didn't have one. I quite enjoyed the drink anyway.

Can you put some kind of moisture barrier between the cake and the custard, like a thin layer of cocoa butter?

Thanks so much for a fascinating food-and-travel blog! Have a safe trip back.

That's a remarkable-looking drink. What's the source?