mkayahara

A quick update on Atelier, to add that En Route magazine included it as number 4 on this year's list of Canada's 10 Best New Restaurants. Congrats to Marc and the team, and good luck to them in this evening's Gold Medal Plates competition!

Actually, it just so happens that I have some dehydrated Campari powder on hand. Another one for the "you might be a cocktail geek if..." files.

I'm curious: what is "sweet lime juice"? Every lime I've ever had is sour; is this just a different variety of lime?

Amazon doesn't do international shipping for this kind of item. It seems I will have to wait 'till someone goes to the US or Europe and try to smuggle some for me Are you looking for a certain brand or does that matter? If you have access to Orange Blossoms, then making Orange Flower Water is quite easy, it's just simple distillation. I can't help but notice that this discussion has gone off the rails a bit. If you can't even get pomegranates, then distilling your own orange flower water seems like overkill, especially since I would argue that orange flower water, while a nice fillip, is not essential to the flavour of grenadine.

Am I the only one who uses a scrub brush on my citrus? I feel weird now.

Isn't the purpose of circulation to make sure that the temperature is consistent throughout the bath? With a rice cooker setup, or this product, you know the temperature of the water near the thermometer probe, but there could be variation (however slight) in the rest of the water. It seems to me that some people have reported having luck using an aquarium pump as a homemade answer to circulation.

Yes, that's another thing I do! I forgot to mention it in my earlier post. I usually stretch out the dough on the counter, with a bunch of flour underneath, to coat the bottom in flour. Then I move it to the peel, which has been dusted with cornmeal, top, shake, and into the oven. I'm sure this series of steps would not be sanctioned by the pizza napoletana committee, but it works for me. And yes, parchment does work just fine. The only problem is that parchment is way more expensive than cornmeal, and it's not actually necessary.

In 25 words or less? A drink rooted in the tropical-themed restaurants of the mid-20th century, usually based on (multiple) rums, with an emphasis on fresh juices and flavoured syrups. How's that?

The other question is the hydration level of your dough. I've found that a wetter dough tends to stick more than a slightly drier one. Beyond that, what everyone else says: lots of cornmeal (not flour), work quickly, shake occasionally as you go, especially on your way to the oven.

Interesting thoughts, Kohai. Personally, when I use "craft cocktails," I intend it to encompass anything that approaches cocktails as a serious paraculinary endeavour, whether it's the spirit-centric drinks at PDT, the produce-centric drinks that seem to flourish on the West coast, or molecular mixology. I view it as an umbrella term.

In what way? An emulsion is a mixture of two insoluble substances, one in a dispersed phase and one in a continuous phase. A foam is a dispersion of gas bubbles in a liquid or solid. So both whipped cream and mousse qualify as foams, not emulsions.

I think it's funny that "foam" received its own entry on the list. Personally, I'd rather not see whipped cream or chocolate mousse disappear any time soon.

So, like, Campari, creme de cacao and cream?

To me, "innovative cocktails" sounds like a euphemism for "molecular mixology." "Artisanal cocktails"? "Craft cocktails"? "Haute cocktails"?

On the other hand, I've never understood how the word "entree" (French for "appetizer") came to mean the main course in English! It just makes no etymological sense. I find "main course" far preferable.

Personally, I think the word "gourmet" in food and drink descriptions is like the word "democratic" in country names: If you have to use it, it probably isn't true. Who is the target audience for the article, Kent? If it's aimed at people who are conversant with the current scene, then "modern" should be fine. Otherwise, it probably bears explanation anyway, in which case you can say, "Modern cocktails, which doesn't mean chocolate 'Martinis' and their ilk..." Or you could just go with the slightly awkward "Classic-inspired cocktails". Edited to add: One thing I would hasten to point out is that the current scene really isn't just one genre. Take, for example, this discussion on "East Coast" versus "West Coast" cocktails. Then there's the so-called "molecular mixology" style. Are you trying to pin down only one of these styles, or encompass all of them?

Why?

Stop worrying! You only have to do it if you are moving out of your apartment or selling your house - hopefully just once in a lifetime. Unless you have an overzealous smoke detector like I do, in which case there comes a time when you have to suck it up and clean it anyway. I'm guilty of lots of the habits listed in this thread, especially wasting produce and failing to wear an apron. I do handle my knives properly, though! My partner will tell you that my worst kitchen habit is poor planning: when it's just the two of us for dinner, I never fail to underestimate how long certain things will take, so we sometimes end up eating at 6:00... and sometimes at 9:00. Just the other night, he had to gently remind me that it might be a good idea to put the chicken in the oven to roast before making the dressing for the salad.

A recent irritant: Can we please stop describing every foodstuff that's battered and deep-fried as "tempura fried" or "tempura battered"? Unless, of course, it is. Too often, the batter on so-called "tempura-fried" items is soft and spongy, bearing no resemblance at all to tempura batter, which should be thin and crispy!

It's about 5 ml. Edit: I see someone beat me to it. Chris, I thought the Barsmarts recipe for the Mai Tai was pretty idiosyncratic. What's your usual go-to recipe?

That depends on which one you like better! Personally, I'd rather have brandy (or Canadian whisky, if you've got any) than rum with a pumpkin dessert, but that's just personal preference. Really, any type of liquor should work, so it just depends on what flavour you want. If you've got stuff lying around the house, there's probably no need to rush out and buy anything new, if you don't think you're going to use it.

As opposed to "deep fried".

On the other hand, one thing I've learned about myself is that, if I freeze applesauce, I'm much less likely to thaw it in order to make applesauce gingerbread than I am to thaw and eat an applesauce gingerbread that's already been made. Ditto pumpkin puree (except it's pumpkin muffins or loaf, rather than pumpkin gingerbread). But maybe that's just me...

Looking through Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari, I see there are several drinks that call for vanilla syrup, either directly or in proprietary mixes. He recommends buying Fee's, but it doesn't seem that hard to add some vanilla extract to simple syrup. Can anyone offer a suggestion as to how much vanilla per volume of (I'm assuming 1:1) simple syrup to make a passable vanilla syrup? Thanks!

Because it doesn't adhere to the authentic original but uses its name? Exactly. I just don't think its very good form to stress all these points about 'authentic' and old-school drinks then serve a Mai Tai variation as a Mai Tai. I won't dispute that the Surf Room is a fine drink, but it's akin to serving people a Tantris Sidecar in lieu of a Sidecar. I think Chris's original question was more broadly what Tiki drink you would serve for his workshop, so in that sense, it's not necessarily off-base to serve a Mai Tai variation. That said, if he had asked "What brandy drink would you serve to the uninitiated?" no one would have suggested serving a Tantris Sidecar on the basis that it shows how you can effectively blend grape brandy with brandies from other fruits to produce a delicious, complex, balanced drink. In other words, I think I come down on Andy's side here. An original* Trader Vic Mai Tai has all the elements needed to showcase what Tiki drinks are about (fresh juice, layered rums, more-or-less obscure syrups), while also being a classic drink in its own right - and one that does suffer a lot of bastardization, just as many other classic drinks do. *OK, not original original, but original as reformulated after the J. Wray 17-year-old rum ran out.