mkayahara

I think of thyme as being a major flavour component in jerk rubs. That would also make it pretty compatible with bianco vermouth, which (to my palate, anyway) has a significant thyme component. Are green herbs ever used in non-potable bitters?

The confusion here is that we're working with two meanings of the word "glucose": glucose the molecule and glucose the product. What Tiny is saying is that what's commonly called glucose (the product) is not 100% glucose (the molecule). Consequently, the powdered/atomized version of glucose (the product) is not 100% glucose (the molecule). The product called dextrose, on the other hand, is a powder in form, and is 100% glucose (the molecule). I hope that doesn't muddy the waters further...

Go Mike! If you read Salon.com, you may have noticed their recent "Pork Week" series of articles. In particular, this one is all about making bacon, and mentions Charcuterie. (Note that you must be a subscriber or view an advertisement to read the article.)

OK, OK, I'm convinced! But I wonder if Duffy's injunction might explain, in part, why cocktails with multiple base spirits are so rarely seen. Now, about that Jamaican rum/gin combo... I'd love to hear more!

There's also Between the Sheets, which calls for both brandy and rum. Then, of course, there's the Long Island Iced Tea. Overall, I think Patrick Gavin Duffy's thoughts on this matter tend to hold true, to wit:

FWIW, Embury lists the proportions at 1 part orgeat, 4 parts gin, 3-4 dashes absinthe, but omits the bitters. I wonder what peach bitters would be like in this? I know vodka isn't the most popular base spirit around these parts, but another drink that would be a good showcase for quality orgeat is the Pearlescent from Wondrich's Killer Cocktails: vodka, orgeat, maraschino, lemon peel. (Proportions in this thread.) It's a nice drink even with the commercial Marie Brizard orgeat I have, and I bet it'd be stunning with the homemade stuff.

Ooh! I love rosemary shortbread. I've also heard that rosemary and vanilla go well together.

The way I understand it, most leaf gelatin manufacturers vary the weight of their leaves as a function of bloom strength so that one leaf of bronze gels the same amount of liquid as one leaf of platinum - the bronze simply weighs more than the platinum. In your case, since the recipe specifies weight, you'd have to find out how many bronze leaves it takes to reach 10g, then use the same number of leaves of platinum. Hope that helps!

I hate you for saying this. Oh, BTW, it's "pain", not "pan". Just in case. ← For that matter, it's "au chocolat" not "au chocolate"! ← True, but I've already mentioned that in a previous post in this thread. Didn't want to, you know, be a total pest about such things or anything. ← Oops! I must've missed that post.

I hate you for saying this. Oh, BTW, it's "pain", not "pan". Just in case. ← For that matter, it's "au chocolat" not "au chocolate"!

Now that we're in the thick of the season, does anyone have any current recommendations for Stratford dining? I'll be headed there for a show in a week and a half, and I'm complete newbie to the local restaurant scene. A lot of the recommendations on this thread are old, so I'd love to hear what's still worth visiting. Thanks!

You could also use chambord, which is a raspberry liquor but not clear. I have near gotten a good explanation as to the difference. ← Chambord is a liqueur, whereas framboise is an eau de vie. The most obvious difference (apart from colour) is that Chambord has sugar and framboise does not. Also, Chambord is not re-distilled after the raspberry flavour is contributed, so its flavour will fade over time after the bottle is opened. Because the framboise is distilled, the flavour (which is rather more ethereal than Chambord's) won't fade.

The LCBO strikes (out) again! I think the kirsch would be fine. Or you could just go with another spirit, like brandy or rum.

The aroma of coffee helps relieve stress? Or helps relieve stress when you're sleep-deprived?

What do you mean by "too harsh"? Too bitter? Too strong? When I've made coffee desserts in the past (including an agar-based coffee jelly), I just use French press coffee. (If you're worried about the sediment, you could always run it through a coffee filter.) An Italian-style moka pot might work as well, but I usually find moka too bitter for dessert applications. To some extent, you can moderate the perceived bitterness by adjusting the level of sugar. If you're just finding the coffee flavour is too strong, you could always use weaker coffee.

Is this related to Robin Goldstein's book The Wine Trials, or did it simply draw a similar conclusion? Eric Asimov had an interesting discussion of the book on his blog, here and here. Edit: Or I could have just re-read the blog posts in question and realized that they are, indeed, related...

Except the Kir comes from Dijon, not Paris.

Are you looking for a drink named "The Kumquat," or just drinks with kumquats as an ingredient? If the latter, there are several discussed in various different threads here. Edit: Punctuation.

Did you try ordering it from Stuffers? Just give them a call and tell them what you want, and they'll hook you up. It took about a week for mine to arrive. ← Its funny I actually bought my casings from them but since they did not mention pink salt on thei website I did even thought about asking. Thanks for the information! ← You're welcome! It's actually buried pretty deep in the website, and they call it "Prague powder" instead of "pink salt." (And it's not actually dyed pink, either.) They sell both nitrite and nitrate, as Prague powder #1 and Prague powder #2, respectively.

Did you try ordering it from Stuffers? Just give them a call and tell them what you want, and they'll hook you up. It took about a week for mine to arrive.

If I were you, I'd do the Martin Picard thing and stuff them with foie gras!

Thanks for your reply, Chef. Any word on when the restaurant will be opening? I'm no longer an Ottawa resident, but I visit fairly frequently and would love to make a point of stopping in on my next trip in August, if you'll be up and running by then!

All this talk about the Mud Puddle Books twigged something in my brain, so I popped into the local second-hand bookstore this morning to confirm my suspicions. Lo and behold, there lay a copy of Mixing Drinks by David A. Embury, for $4.50. It looks like it's a 1980 Canadian (!) paperback reprint of the 1953 text. Apparently we don't view mixing drinks as a "fine art" here in Canada. I don't know whether it's only first editions that are hard to come by, but I'm happy to have it nevertheless.

I walked by the space for Atelier today and read the sign in the window. Looks like they still have a lot of renovations to do, with a target opening date of "Summer 2008." Does anyone know anything about this venture? It seems a little ambitious for the Ottawa market, but I'll be eager to see how it goes!

You drip the solution onto the surface of the oil, and they should set up solid by the time they hit the bottom of the container. (Use a tall container.) Then you can just strain them out. So no, you don't get the same "bursting" effect as you do with sodium alginate/calcium chloride. I usually rinse the spheres in a couple of changes of cold water to get off as much of the oil as possible. I generally use canola oil, and chill it in the freezer for a couple of hours before I make the spheres, to get it as cold as possible without actually freezing it. Your vinaigrette idea is interesting! It would certainly save you the step of rinsing the spheres.