gfron1

I admit that I'll put just about anything in my mouth unless I have a reason to fear it, and reading about all of your noreasterners eating fiddleheads got me out in the Wilderness recently where I knew ferns grew (they aren't common here, but they exist). I never found fiddleheads, but lots of baby ferns and new leaf groupings. So I ate them. I lived. At least for now. But now I'm wondering how safe...safe enough for customers? I enjoyed the texture and could see me using them in some form or another, but as always, I prefer not to kill my customers, especially the regulars. I've got the question posed to a couple of my local botanic experts, but haven't heard back yet. Any idea? On a related note, I recently tried yucca blossoms (petals only) and they are another super texture that I've confirmed to be safe - just the petals.

I have no concerns using PVC. I'm not baking or doing any hot work in it. At most their is food that is warmer going in, but it is always lined with something - if I'm using it for mousse, then acetate strips/cake collar, or if its for a stacked salad, then saran.

Yep PVC pipe is the way to go. Many hardware stores will even cut it for you for free.

You talkin' to me?! I'm not coming in for that, although ironically I will be there on Wednesday the 8th just for the day (maybe late on the 7th). I just couldn't afford the classes or time away from my kitchen.

My first comment on these pics is that while the food looks great, the color palette and contrast are dull. I would be adding garnish or backgrounds that might make for more interesting composition. Looking forward to hearing more about the book as it develops.

Mine aren't as silly as that, but I've been on a tirade lately about the use of fresh, gourmet and specialty. My primary target du jour is Subway with their "Fresh" sandwiches...the only thing fresh about that stuff is the air that hits the ingredients when they rip open the bags. For the sake of the topic I picked up the first bag I saw in my kitchen - tortilla chips: "100% Real Mexican Style" Huh...very different from the stuff I get when I go to my nearby border town.

I just received Mallman's Seven Fires, a book about Argentinian fire cooking and on first glance this looks outstanding! I'll be doing a full review within the week for the Gastronomers Bookshelf, then I'll get a summary up here. I think this is the best produced book I've seen this year.

HERE is a link to a guy who made an all-meat martini. Enjoy.

Let's see...in my cupboard: Bourbon Barrell Foods Sorghum molasses Tazah middle Eastern Black molasses Some generic stuff - Karo or some such Generic Middle Eastern Carob molasses and all are in jars. I love them all!

I forgot how much fun this topic was Here's a basic one that I could use some nuancing on: madeleine ...what is the sound at the end?

While there may be a geologist who will argue that clay and dirt are the same, to me they aren't. I'm looking at a very rich cut of game meat that I think will work very nicely with the subtle flavor of clay. Edited to add a more complete answer. I like to play with flavors. Sometimes odd, sometimes not odd but not obvious either (my whole celery dessert phase). I've had many failures and many many surprise successes. I think flavor pairings and uses is a strength of mine. When I originally was thinking about this dish, my first thought was, "this is going to be too strong for some people." Challenge. But, this dish is also important in my overall menu and I'm not willing to throw it out so easily - I think I can make it work well. Why would people want to infuse tobacco flavor? Why saffron? Why cilantro? Why take things to near burnt? Why... and the list can go on. For me, I'm not thinking about the black and white of clay/no clay. I'm thinking about a subtle shade/taste of clay which, yes, has appeal to me, especially with something that is meaty rich, and especially if I accent it with something maybe sharp or citrusy- acidy. Flavors are like colors on a painting to me - you need contrast, rhythm, texture, complements...is this just gastronomic spewing? I don't know, but its how my mind works when I think about developing dishes. Does that answer the question? Or does anyone care anymore

Those look nice - I'd like to hear more about the book. I'm going back to basics: Not quite perfect so I'm going to keep practicing. If I understand that standard correctly, I didn't puff enough (I tried to adjust for altitude and I think I was too aggressive), and too dark. Does that sound right?

Thank you Dr. Beal - we'll forgo the diagram on this one.

Maybe their guests were feeling weighed down. Or maybe the business plan was left in shards...okay, I'm done. Thanks for the link to that demo I forgot about that one. We're really talking about two beasts here. First, is the earthen vessel in which food is cooked. Clay is not intended to be consumed in this instance although I am hoping for some of the flavor to infuse...someone earlier asked why...to counteract the richness of some game that I might serve in it. The second is the kao which is perfectly safe to consume. The question for me here is what value is it going to provide? Its cool but if its not going to improve the taste or texture then why? And I'm perplexed by the quote in the demo by docsconz that said the clay is consumed but not digested...where does it go? John if you're reading this, do you remember what that meant?

yeah, I do appreciate the concern, and if Larry dies send me all of his pastry toys, but there is a clear difference between potters clay and the other things we're talking about. My local potter friend has both and made that very clear in our first meeting.

I'd be happy to help - just let me know. For those saying anything is best, I'd be interested to hear why. When I was looking around a couple of years ago, I looked first at overall taste (maltiness), then sugar content, then other fillers and that's what led me to CTL. I just find it the best overall package.

Not to worry JGM, except for the kaolin idea, no clay was going to be consumed - except the possibility of the infused flavor. The few clay dealers that I've already talked to have obviously been asked this before and most have been able to provide me with chemical analysis upon request.

I use the the Colfax stuff you listed at the bottom and love it. Just tastes right to me.

Please do hit up Kakawa for a drinking chocolate at some point. I remember his Oaxaca 1900 being pretty great as was his Paris 1640 (or something like that). And in the same vane Todos Santos is a beautiful shop with wonderful truffles. I know its a bit hot to be thinking about these types of places but they're both really special and I'm sure would love to show you their wares.

It was always a pleasure to work with you John and hope to someday meet in France for a drink.

And wiki says "It's taste is sweet, astringent and warm."

Peter, I don't know anymore. This meal needs to be as locally sourced as possible so edible clay is out, but...maybe its not. And its making me wonder if I can't use my mooncake molds somehow to shape the clay with the meat inside - basically roll out the clay just like the mooncake dough, fill and seal.

ohhhh...those are pretty potatoes! I want to eat clay now! This is making me re-think the whole project. Thanks.

For what its worth - with all of the countless New Mexican meals I've had in my life, I had the best ever recently...in Phoenix. The owner of Los Dos Molinos moved from somewhere around Glenwood/Reserve into Springerville and then later Phoenix. It is the freshest, purest New Mexican food I've ever had bar none.

So I want to pull some of the clay flavor into meat and present my meat in a dramatic clay vessel. I've been talking to my clay artist friend but this is new ground for her. Here's what I'm thinking - Take the meat, season it and shape it. Take wet clay and wrap it around the meat creating a perfect seal. On whatever becomes the top, create a small vent hole to avoid explosion in the oven. Bake either in my regular oven or my friends kiln. Set on plate and let guests crack open their meat. Its just a concept and I'm not married to it, but it could be a nice effect (flavor and presentation). I'm already thinking about shards in the food which would be bad. If it works then I want to experiment by working seasonings into the clay to see what effect that might have. Anyway, any clay people out there who can give me advice? Isn't there a cuisine (Vietnamese or Burmese or something) that does this? Edited to add: Just found THIS site for camp cooking in clay. ReEdited to add: Just found THIS about Beggars Chicken - where were these articles when I looked earlier? ReReEdited for the last time): HERE is one that uses my local clay!