Peter the eater

For big sport tv events I like to make "giant spicy wings" by using turkey instead of chicken. The bigger turkey wings are always way cheap and make you feel much smaller.

That is very interesting! I would love to see a survey of hardwoods and their associated food possibilities - there are lots o' nuts out there. And is there more than just "maple" syrup? BTW just how many acorns do you have?

I think you mean Bouffe and not Pouffe! Yeah, I found that one exhausting. As for Caligula, I regard it as one of the all-time worst movies ever made. I put it the same group as "Plan 9 From Outerspace" and more recently "From Justin to Kelly" But I will hunt down "Mea Gulpa", thanks. ← No, I meant pouffe. Or perhaps spoof: Numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and, before you go to too much trouble, the honourably mentioned "Mea Gulpa", are purely figs of my (inflamed) imagination. And by the way, what kind of philistine doesn't enjoy Caligula? Answer: A Philistine. ← Well done - I will read your posts more carefully from now on, outloud if necessary. And I have just the oinment for your inflamed imagination. But I still don't get no. 5.

I think you mean Bouffe and not Pouffe! Yeah, I found that one exhausting. As for Caligula, I regard it as one of the all-time worst movies ever made. I put it the same group as "Plan 9 From Outerspace" and more recently "From Justin to Kelly". But I will hunt down "Mea Gulpa", thanks.

I saw "Off the Map" just before Christmas and have been telling everyone about it. Joan Allen is as good as it gets as far as I'm concerned. Sam Elliot and the young girl were also brilliant, but until you mentioned it, I did not connect this film with Big Night. Campbell Scott is 2 for 2 - what else has he done? Could I have read or seen your interview?

What's the best food movie you've seen? My top ten favourite food movies: 10. TAMPOPO (1985, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Koji Miyamoto and Ken Watanabe) The first Japanese noodle western! Very good and very funny. 9. BIG NIGHT (Tony Shalhoub, Ian Holm, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini) “In love and life, one big night can change everything.” 7. THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER (1989, Richard Bohringer, Helen Mirren, Michael Gambon and Alan Howard) Peter Greenaway, lust...murder...dessert. Bon Appetit! 6. LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE (1993, Ada Carrasco, Lumi Cavazos, M. Martinez, Regina Torne, Marco Leonardi) Fantastic food film from Mexico. 5. FELICIA'S JOURNEY (1999, Bob Hoskins, Gerald McSorley, Elaine Cassidy and Claire Benedict) This is Atom Egoyan - a Canadian national treasure - at his best! 4. SUPERSIZE ME (2004. Morgan Spurlock) Wow – this should be mandatory viewing for anyone who “uses” the fast food. 3. EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN (1995, Sihung Lung, Chien-lien Wu, Yu-Wen Wang and Kuei-Mai Yang) An Ang Lee masterpiece. 2. BABETTE'S FEAST (1987, Ghita Norby, Thomas Antoni, Asta Esper Andersen and Gert Bastian) An Academy Award winner! 1. CHOCOLAT (2000, Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Alfred Molina) Brilliant! My fave. Honourable mention: TORTILLA SOUP, MOSTLY MARTHA, WHAT’S COOKING?, BREAD AND TULIPS, LA GRANDE BOUFFE, WHO’S KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE?

Am I the only eGull with Italian copper pots?

Prions are not really alive in any common sense of the word (they have no DNA or anything like that, and aren't really self-replicating). Prions are single proteins with an unusual structure which causes them to induce other proteins to fold incorrectly (which is how the disease spreads). It's certainly feasible that some particles would end up in other tissues. ← That's a very helpful description - they are infectious macromolecules but are not fully understood. As a lover of venison I would like to know which states and provinces have been flagged.

This may be a dumb question, but what the hell is a sugar warmer?

HAIRY FUNGUS? Are you kidding me? That's the greatest ingredient name I have ever heard. Do you have a picture?

We don't have access yet to underground gas around here (Nova Scotia) although you can get a propane tank system. I am born and raised and Toronto, I miss the gas stoves and the street cars (among other things, like going to Leaf games). I did not get a car until I moved away. I guess I am less concerned with the financial cost than I am the environmental cost. And I am not switching to an all-raw food diet anytime soon. In our free-enterprise democracy, every time we spend a dollar we are voting for something. So I'll take local organic GMO-free produce when I can.

Good point. Maybe the better idea is to look at the "embodied energy" of meals as they hit the dining room table. A raw tomato that you grew in your backyard would have a much lower "EE" than say roast of beef flown in from Kobe, Japan. In my line of work (architecture) we have spent much effort evaluating building materials for their "environmental attributes" in an effort to do the right thing from a green point of view. Its a bit elusive and not always scientific, but in general it seems one ought to use local and renewable building materials wherever possible. I would love to learn more about this as it relates to food.

At home I refuse to turn on our giant (poorly insulated) electric oven to bake a single potato. If I fire up the barBQ I try to do the whole meal on the grill. One of the greatest features of a microwave in my opinion is the amount of cooking you get for a small amount of electricity. I have yet to encounter a cookbook or cooking show that addresses this issue. When wilderness cooking, fuel conservation is a big deal - why not at home? Am I alone here?

Here in Nova Scotia we get a big run of mackerel in May/June and then again in Aug/Sept when they are much bigger. I believe thay are known as "blue mackerel" and they are often persued by bigger fish and whales, which sometimes venture into my bay after them. When they are small, people here call them "tinkers". Big or small they are easy to catch, a breeze to clean and fantastic to eat. And apparently a near-ideal fish from a nutrition point of view. ← Yes these guys are the Atlantic Mackerel (Scomber scombrus) I showed above. The Western Atlantic population over-winters near Nova Scotia. Are there any traditional preparations from the area? ← When the mackerel are running they show up in the grocery stores, at restaurants and at the side of the road. The roadside guys them fresh at these times but also have them available as smoked filets for most of the year. I like to chop off each end, gut them, give them a quick rinse and place on the barBQ pretty much as is. Others here like to roll them around in a skillet with some lemon. I say roll because the tinkers are almost cylindrical and several can fit in a 10" pan. I might add that to catch them is very exciting. I go down to the wharf and cast a line that has a mackerel jig at the end - 5 or 6 unbaited hooks spaced over 2 feet. When the school goes by you get a half dozen fish taking the hook at once. If they all swim in one direction it feels like one giant fish. When they are in the bay here I can usually fill a 10 litre bucket within the hour.

When I go on a canoe trip I take an old stainless steel Runcible Spoon (a.k.a. Spork) which has one sharped side. I can spoon the soup, fork the fish, and cut the cheese (so to speak) If you could only have one utensil in your life, it may be this one.

Can you clarify "one wooden chopstick?" Don't you mean one pair of chopsticks? I do know people who prefer not to use the Chinese porcelain spoon and use a regular metal Western-style spoon instead, even when eating with chopsticks. Not brass though. And I've lived here all my rather short life, and never met a person who was like that. ← Thanks for the reply - I did mean a lone chopstick but I guess that would be pretty dumb, unless you stuck it in a pencil sharpener. I am sure of the brass spoon part though, and I have seen them set on tables in a restaurant, though I cannot recall where.

Here in Nova Scotia we get a big run of mackerel in May/June and then again in Aug/Sept when they are much bigger. I believe thay are known as "blue mackerel" and they are often persued by bigger fish and whales, which sometimes venture into my bay after them. When they are small, people here call them "tinkers". Big or small they are easy to catch, a breeze to clean and fantastic to eat. And apparently a near-ideal fish from a nutrition point of view.

I am looking for testimonials from copper cookware users. I recently got a set from Italy called "Ruffoni Opera" and I am liking them a lot. Has anyone else used this line of cookware? How about the copper products from France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and the USA?

I had a professor from Singapore who ate everything with one wooden chopstick and one brass spoon. He told me this was common back in his homeland. Can anyone substantiate his claim?

One night when I thought I was alone in the kitchen, my wife caught me sipping from the Kikkoman Teriyaki bottle.

Lamb rules! Has to be one of my all-time my faves. I especially enjoy getting big flavour value out of the shanks - they are always cheap. I suppose that's why they're on so many "serious" restaurant menus ie. for the value-added factor. Braise a couple of lamb shanks "slow on low" and serve with couscous, basmati, or a risotto. Not baaaaaaad.

Strictly speaking not a joke, but here are my top ten favourite food quotes from "The Simpsons": 10. Moe: “I just made a Cornish game hen with chestnut stuffing. . . Would you believe a pigeon stuffed with Spam? . . . Would you believe a rat filled with cough drops?” 9. Cletus: “Look Brandene, it's Wolfgang Puck! Mr. Puck, you make the only grub what satisfies my gut worm. I swear.” 8. Marge: “I'd like to see the Japanese take on the club sandwich. I bet it's smaller and more efficient.” 7. Comic Book Guy: “Oh, loneliness and cheeseburgers are a dangerous mix.” 6. Troy McClure: “Don't kid yourself, Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he'd eat you and everyone you care about!” 5. Ralph: “When I grow up I'm going to Bovine University” 4. Lunch Lady Doris: “More testicles mean more iron.” 3. Apu: “These hotdogs are now nearly rectum-free” 2. Homer: “Olive oil? Asparagus? If your mother wasn't so fancy, we could shop at the gas station like normal people.” And finally my personal favourite: 1. Homer: “I’m so hungry I could a steak the size of a toilet seat.”

I must be a freak omnivore - I have yet to experience an ingredient that didn't have at least some identifiable merit. As far as I am concerned, dill and cilantro are gifts to be cherished. Context is everything!