tangaloor

A big part of the high cost of wine here is the high tax paid on liquor--sales tax is well over 100% for alcohol. That's something that applies to alcohol across the board, though. I would agree that BC wines tend to be more expensive for similar quality than wines from Spain and Portugal, and to my mind Italy and France as well.

Liebherr makes completely enclosable refrigerators that look exactly like your cabinets when installed. I have a couple, and they're pretty normal in Germany. Here they're some kind of fancy specialty item and cost about three times the going rate in Germany (not to mention you get a tiny fraction of the configurations). (Side note: My appliance repair guy says they have a new type of variable-capacity condenser and shouldn't be affected by the difference in power frequency, so if you can provide them with 240v, it might be interesting to try it out. I didn't have the benefit of his advice at the time I bought and ended up going with the expensive local sources.) They also make them freestanding if you prefer, and they're tall and narrow. Thermador has a new range of tall and narrow units, but the repair guy didn't seem too impressed. Also, they cost even more than the Liebherrs.

I find the most interesting & best value jars are to be found in secondhand shops--I pick up the ones with the glass lids whenever I find them, less than a dollar apiece. Perhaps not the best for a canning beginner as they don't indicate the seal in the same way as the two part metal lids, but I much prefer glass & rubber to be in contact with my food than the polycarbonate #7 resin which coats the inside of the metal lids.

I do have stepped power control: 15 settings plus "boost" mode (for extreme high heat or for heating large pots of water, etc.). I have not noticed this to cause a problem. I've never been left thinking, "I wish I had 7.5". I can certainly get much lower heat than with the electric burner I had before, and much higher heat, and I don't miss the infinite variability. Properly set up, as mine seem to be, stepped controls seem to be as useful as dials at controlling power. This also has side benefits: no more dials full of spilled gunk. When leaving instructions for cooking, no more 'medium-high', which seems to mean something different to everybody, and different things to the same person at different times!

Well, I don't know about induction efficiency beyond what I've read in the press, but I can vouch for the fact that I find it to be much better as a cooking device than other electric options. The speed and power is unmatchable--which raises an interesting point about efficiency: my induction hob is similarly rated for power consumption as my old electric unit was, yet boils water in a quarter of the time. Control is also way beyond any other electric option--you get the instant response of gas. It's great to be able to dial down the power a notch or two and instantly see the response in the simmering pot. If gas is an option, I would still seriously consider that, as you get a wider range of pot options (I've had to forego my ceramic pots), and actual flame if you like that sort of thing. If cost is a problem, consider importing grey market. I did that with mine, and got a better cooktop than I could have bought here at any price. I worked out I could buy a replacement twice before approaching the cost of the local units. So I'm not too worried about the lack of warranty coverage.

Wow! Illegal? Does this stem from that whole jelly cup choking controversy? I'd still have my sweet, sweet jelly cups if weren't for those meddling, choking kids! In any event, konnyaku jelly mixes are available in Canada, and you can find plain konnyaku powder (without the flavouring, colour, and sweetener added) if you look really hard. There's a source online, but it's quite expensive. konjac.com, or search for konnyaku powder and see what you turn up. I buy mine at Veggie Favour at Main & 16th in Vancouver, $5 for 200g.

amazon.com shows a minimum price of US$7.50 for 250ml, and they're usually pretty good. You can order their groceries through a US package receiver in any of the US border towns.

Thanks for the report. I'll be in San Francisco this weekend & hope to find a stash of edible san franciscos available somewhere... Back issues are also available through the website.

So how did it turn out? ...and retroactive good luck!

A websearch for rhubarb & "osmotic reciprocity" reveals the following, from saute wednesday:

Hmm--hints from an article on the bay area bites website:

There was an article/recipe specifically on this non-mushy roasted rhubarb point by Shuna Lydon (eggbeater.typepad.com) in edible san francisco a while ago. Unfortunately, I don't have the issue and she only ever refers to it on her blog and doesn't actually give out the recipe. However, if you can find that issue (Spring 2006 I believe), apparently it has your answer. Has anybody seen this article?

I have the 24" Liebherr and am quite happy with it. I have them built into the cabinets so the fridge is not visible at all. It appears that may not be possible with the Conserv, or at least it isn't mentioned on the site. The Liebherr is also available in several different configurations (although not nearly as many as in Europe--see below). They look pretty similar otherwise, but no experience with the Conserv. I love the shallowness of the fridge as nothing gets lost in the back and it's a breeze to clean. The only issue I have with Liebherr is the fact that they're about 3 times the price you'd pay for one in Europe. I thought about importing one myself (as I did for my induction cooktop, and as these Conserv people have evidently decided to do) but in the end I couldn't find any information on whether the compressor would operate properly with the difference in AC frequency (50 vs 60 hz). Who knows if they've changed the compressor or not? Perhaps you know an electrical engineer or refrigerator repair-person with some insight into this issue... If so, please report back!

Does that konnyaku flour I linked to seem similar to what you use? Does one just mix it into warm liquid and chill to set? How much konnyaku per measure liquid? Any special tips before I take the plunge and buy a $20 bag of jello? Thanks for your assistance!

I dug around in the Asian forums and found only a couple of short mentions. This thread explains a bit about konjac, but only in the first couple of posts, then that show-stealer agar takes over again.

Has anyone used konjac as a gelling agent? A search reveals mainly my own comment on the topic, but I know this is possible from my much-beloved and sorely-missed jellycups, now banned by the FDA. (Not because konjac is toxic, but because these delicious little morsels apparently posed a choking hazard due to their shape and packaging, wherein you would squirt them out of the cup and into your mouth, and, if unlucky, down your windpipe.) Tips for use and some advice on acquisition of this elusive product would be very helpful--I'm hoping to achieve jello-type gels without gelatin. Agar produces a somewhat different texture than gelatin, but the texture of jellycups indicate konjac might be just the thing. I have found one possible source: Konjac Foods

Just noticed that there is an agar panna cotta in Heidi Swanson's new cookbook, Super Natural Cooking.

no reason it wouldn't work, as long as the waffle iron is made of a magnetic material. haven't tried it myself, though.

Greek style yoghurts are available at most middle-eastern grocery stores. There are several in the West End that carry the stuff, e.g. Aria on Bidwell just off Robson. Nice and thick, definitely a very different product than the Liberty yoghurt mentioned above..

I would test this recipe out with different types of "milks" before committing to soy (or a particular brand of soy). The flavours are very different from milk to milk; you could even try a homemade cashew milk, which can be very nice and isn't really much work, just a lot of blending depending on the amount. Make sure to strain it well for something like this. Coconut milk is easy and known good. I'd also recommend combining the agar with another type of setting agent, cornstarch or arrowroot or something. That will up the 'creaminess' as it interacts with the set of the agar. Xanthan gum could be another option. I find agar sets a bit differently to gelatin--more 'grainy'. The best gelatin-y set I've ever come across was in konyakku based candies from Japan, but I've never come across a source or instructions for the raw ingredient. As for equivalencies, I can never remember this and usually look it up on google each time. Something like 1tb flakes: 1 cup liquid. Search for "kanten" recipes. It's different for the different forms of agar--bar, powder, flake. Let us know how it turns out for you!

Gorilla Food - 424 Richards Haven't seen this posted in this thread. A window on Richards St. downtown, serving raw food 11-6. I walked by today and picked up a smoothie (choco gorilla, with raw cacao nibs, cocoa butter, almonds, dates--very good) and a home-made living purple sauerkraut salad. Healthy lunch food downtown is something of a rarity as far as I can tell, so this is a welcome development. They've been open since September; apparently there was a mention in the Sun? www.gorillafood.com

The only way past this phase is to keep on drinking until you like it (not all at one sitting, though). This may take a while, but if you're truly interested in spirits, keep on keeping on. I have found this approach to work with many things in life; the deepest pleasures are those that are not obvious at first. For scotch, I required a full bottle (I believe I started with Cardhu) and several months of biweekly attempts.

And hey I almost forgot! For great vegetarian San Francisco-style burritos, go to Budgie's on Kingsway just north of Broadway (right near foundation and Aurora Bistro). Of course, if you're from SF it may not be much of a draw, but it was a godsend when I found them. Burritos like I used to get, not these *@$! "wrap" things.

I've been to all the places listed above, and my favourite vegetarian restaurant in Vancouver is foundation, at Main and 7th. Great food and cheap. The music can be a bit loud, and they've got sort of a down-at-heel urban vibe going. Get there early to avoid lines, even on weeknights. If you're looking for something more refined, most of the non-vegetarian higher end restaurants will do a great job preparing something. The Raincity Grill in particular has very good vegetarian dishes. Lumiere has a vegetarian tasting menu which is fabulous and fabulously expensive, and the service is truly wonderful. Not quite as upmarket is Aurora Bistro, across the street from Foundation. Very good food. Bo Kong is good if you know your way around chinese buddhist vegetarian food. Otherwise the menu can be a bit perplexing. The dishes marked spicy are usually safe bets--buddhist veg can be bland as part of the principles include using less garlic and spices. The Naam is also good but the lines (as at Foundation) can be very long. Service can be a bit slow, but it's an institution--instant time warp. The yam fries with miso gravy are always ordered when I'm there. I've been to Crave and found the vegetarian selection to be not so good. A lot of places have a great veg selection without being vegetarian. Vegetarian sushi is good and very Vancouver, Tandoori Palace is a great hole in the wall indian place on commercial drive... Tons of great small places around there--Pondok Indonesia, Cafe Kathmandu, Lombardo's (in the mall at commercial and 1st) for the best pizza in Vancouver...

In previous years, the Johansen Ranch mandarins from California, available at Capers, have been very good, although pricy. I just returned from Italy, and I must say that if you have the opportunity to purchase some Sicilian clementines, I think you'll find they outshine any mandarins normally on offer in these parts. If you should be so lucky as to have two varieties of Italian clementines to choose from, the Sicilians were in my experience more flavourful that the Calabrese.