Peter the eater

Agreed.I'm still wondering if magnetism is used in any way to prepare, cook or otherwise manipulate food. Surely somewhere someone (who probably cooks wearing a lab coat) has tried to levitate an appetizer or something. My curiosity has been triggered, I think, by a colleague who has designed a roof for a hockey rink. This building features an exposed metal roof structure with a thin weatherproof membrane attached to the underside with magnets. Unorthodox, yes, but clever because the roof membrane is continuous without penetrations i.e. not leaky. My point is . . . I'm amazed when a strange solution is successful.

I'm not sure how many I own, but I usually have five or ten from the library. Right now on loan I've got four Michael Ruhlman books and another three about hunting and eating wild game. The beauty of this system is that I get to enjoy the book cover to cover for three weeks before passing or buying for the home library. They'll even order books if I ask politely, and explain how it will fill the holes in their collection. Try it.

Many cultures -- including the Acadians in my neck of the woods -- traditionally salt the herbs and greens from summer for use over the winter.

Correction -- now that I've actually used the marinator a second time, I should clarify that the plunger is pulled UP to REDUCE the pressure inside. The meat "opens up" a bit and the marinade or brine rushes in.

In a recent topic discussing knife storage there was a mention of magnetic knife racks magnetizing the knives, and what effect this might have, if any, on performance. I can't imagine it would affect even the highest of iron-rich foods. Or would it? Naturally, I started to think about all the magnets in my kitchen. They're everywhere -- on the knife rack, on the can opener, holding cabinet doors snugly shut, inside every appliance motor, and the sealing strip on my fridge doors. If I had a magnetic induction stove element there'd be magnetism at work there too. I have a hotplate with a built-in spinning magnet -- you drop the tiny white hotdog-shaped stirrer in and it mixes your stuff. So what is magnetism doing in your kitchen? I'm positive there are culinary processes unknown to me that utilize magnetism .

Define "long" -- I haven't had my knifes on a magnet for almost two years, and they're still magnetized. Doesn't seem to affect them, though. ← I've never considered the impact, if any, a magnetized knife might have in the kitchen. Could be worthy of a new topic.

Wow. I was expecting an alcoholic version of a guacamole relative, or something, but I'd much rather celebrate Mole day with a triple shot of single malt.

I figured a pancetta type of cured pork was a good and easy place to start. I missed your smoky bacon, I'll look again. I'm a member of Weber Nation and I've been eying their smokers. I wonder if I can rent a good smoker, then build one?

So that's why the books are so expensive! Great bit, really enjoyed it.

Octaveman, I saw the Mag-Blok and wondered if it will become very popular -- seems like a sound design. And now I know it's got your approval . . . maybe its time to go Christmas shopping. BTW in the unlikely event anyone missed it, eG Society knife expert and author Chad Ward (aka Chad) has a great review of knife storage systems in his book. Don't be a blockhead!

Thanks! I took a look at your Menu In Progress: Homemade Pancetta - nice job. I look forward to smoking meat in a proper way, I just haven't acquired/built any good gear yet.

Don't give up -- where there's a will there's almost always a way.I think the the more interesting question is "how can I make these items work together". I know a lobster fisherman who grows peanuts and mint -- now to me that's a challenge.

Great report Chris, thanks. You mention that: The surface of the meat looks waxy and crunchy -- is this so in person? That is shocking. Any idea how many heads of cattle there are in the US? I'm wondering who's more overprescribed -- the people or the cattle?

I'll be watching too. I bought soba for the first time a few weeks ago -- from the Halifax store at Queen & Victoria. Everyone needs more buckwheat in their life.

The pork bellies were cured in a salt-sugar-saltpetre mix for 5 days. I rolled a few pieces up and a few were left flat, some was sliced and frozen, and some was strung up to dry in a cool ventilated place: This dried-cured bacon looks and tastes a lot like the pancetta I can get at the market. It's chewy and salty and is best sliced real thin. I imagine the stuff will keep quite a while without a freezer, but I've got enough to last until the 2012 London Olympics.

Mario seems to know what he's talking about, and he's surely Sally's friend given the reciprocal praise found in the The Improvisational Cook. That's all good, I'm just looking for an explanation as to why. Does a certain microclimate and soil quality produce compatible plants? Have wine makers adjusted their product to compliment the local produce? Or is it just an established tradition, widely seen as true?

So you're a no then? Sometimes folk medicine will pass Randomized Double-Blind Studies and actually work. Making food tasty is different, one person's yummy is another person gag reflex. I want a respected and licensed flavorist to explain why this topic title could be true. If there is such a person, I may have made it up.

Many great contemporary restaurants put together ingredients that are from all over the map, and get great results. MG and TE chefs experiment and manipulate to rave reviews. It just makes me wonder what really makes a flavor combo work. Just to be clear, Sally Schneider's The Improvisational Cook offers this idea as a starting point for home chefs who want to get to a new creative level, and in her context it makes sense to me. Personally, I place a buy local and buy in season at the top of my list of priorities. That doesn't mean they will make the best flavor combos, IMO.

I like Anna Olsen, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Here's my problem: this idea, though it sounds nice, just isn't true most of the time.

And here's what a 1200lb pumpkin looks like: Hard to see just how big it really is -- if you want a sense of scale try googling Manuel Uribe, the 1200lb man.

I've heard this idea before: what grows together goes together. This is a fundamental concept in Sally Schneider's The Improvisational Cook. She calls it the "first step in understanding flavor". For anyone trying to come up with something new, start by combining ingredients that grow together in the same region and season. It's a good book, a Beard Nominee in 2006, and I'm glad my library has a copy. I'd probably feel more critical if I'd paid the $45 cover price. I understand why we perceive traditional flavor combinations as good -- it's the way it's always been -- generations of trial and error. Strawberry and rhubarb, tomato and eggplant, apples and winter squash, etc. It's practical to use ingredients together as they become available together, but does that necessarily mean they taste good together?

There are apples everywhere. We went to the Fall Fair Exhibition yesterday and there were free Valley apples to sample -- they were all good but I didn't taste any new varieties. Saw a 1200lb pumpkin! We made several litres of applesauce from a peck of Cortlands, with a bag of cranberries thrown in for good measure. Apples really are the potatoes of the trees -- or is it the other way around?

All this oyster talk prompted me to go out and get some, plus a few other ingredients: 6 oysters @ $0.49 each = $2.94 0.39lbs Atlantic shrimp @ $3.99/lb = $1.56 0.312kg salmon trimmings @7.69/kg = $2.40 Under 7 bucks, not bad. Now what? Chop the fish into regular chunks, shuck the oysters without spilling blood, and peel the prawns. Collect all the shrimp heads and shells and simmer in a cup of water for 15 minutes, strain. Chop an onion and some garlic, soften in butter, sprinkle in a little flour, pour in shrimp broth, add the raw seafood and simmer for a few minutes. Add a little cream just before serving, salt and pepper. Serve over black ink noodles: Serves six - an oyster a piece.

Thanks for the response, I wondered about forcing a knife into the block -- if it was loaded, if an edge would suffer. Could you fill it and empty it several times a day, all week and still have the block perform well?

I've had the pork bellies in the fridge dry-curing for three days now. Lots of salt, some sugar and a tiny bit of KNO3. They look deep and chewy. The plan is to roll one up tightly in cheesecloth plus straps to gt a round rolled pancetta. Here's the look going into he cure a few days ago: