Peter the eater

That's a great idea nakji! I was too young and/or stupid to cook in the 70's but I do have pictures of relatives sitting around in turtlenecks and woolly sweater vests eating fondue. If you start it . . . I will post!

As a guy who has helped raise and process only one pig, I may not have much experience but it was a tremendous learning experience. I find the apparent conditions at Smithfield Farms appalling. Its an important discussion - here is another link for the Rolling Stone Magazine article that started the thread, I found the other one broken.

I haven't encountered this before, is it exactly as it sounds - soaking in salty milk?

I like big juicy radishes topped, quartered and sprinkled with crunchy salt. Lately I have used my apple-corer and taken cylindrical plugs out of a melon, then wrapped them with a thin salty ham like Westphalia or prosciutto.

Canners or shack lobsters are young lobsters which are too small to be legally exported whole. They're often sold by fishermen from a roadside shack, or wind up in cans. Champ is the infamous Irish potato dish, often served with leeks. Its pretty much mashed potatoes. Now that I think of it, leek champ sounds like the winner of a pissing contest!

My mother was visiting from remote Ontario and canners were $3.99 each, so I steamed them with a few clams and made leek champ (and then we got the remnants of Hurricane Noel):

The pig is dead, long live the pig! As it turns out, the headshot above is the last known photograph of my pig as she met her maker on the weekend. Unfortunately, due to Hurricane Noel, I wasn't able to be there but I'm driving up this weekend to collect my cut(s). I'm not sure what bits and pieces I'll get in addition to the basic "half pig." I'll also be "whacking" a number chickens and turkeys . . . so stay tuned. I'm so excited . . . I don't get out much.

PG, thank you for that compelling image. I knew there was a doozie coming, and you did not disappoint. I must have missed the tarantulas, was there a picture? If so please advise, I am starting a collection of extreme food pictures from eGullet. So far I have this one (loaned to me from stevarino for my eGfoodblog) and this one from the gifted Anna Friedman Herlihy.

I was trying to figure out what you meant by this! I finally realized that when filling out my profile I had simply filled in month and date, without the year. I fixed it now. ← I didn't mean to be so cryptic, sorry Nina C. Love the fridge shots! And I am quite sure you have not rented the cats, they kinda look like they run the place.

What a show! I have also enjoyed reading about your meal at A&A's Ideas site, something I started doing only a few months ago. You said it best: "always so creative, their food looked marvelous and they documented their work religiously and openly". I'm guessing they have inspired a very, very large number of people by sharing their process in such a considerate way. Oh yeah, the scallops . . . so do they taste of rock salt at all? How do you clean that thing? Also, I loved the turkey wing treatment! I, too, have had some fun with that ingredient. I grew up in Canada's "Golden Horseshoe" and have consumed at least my own bodyweight in Buffalo wings over the years. At a CFL Grey Cup party years ago I served up a platter of the biggest turkey wings I could find a la Buffalo-aise style. It was borderline grotesque, like eating a poached ostrich egg where bigger is not always better.

syoung68, yes I think you are right - I won't buy resealable bags with a zipper again for any purpose. I figure its like the disposable razor market . . . two blades is enough, no more marketing hype.

You definitely do not want Weight Watchers white sandwich bread.

Welcome Nina C! I am looking forward to learning more about Brooklyn. I have only been there once, I don't know much beyond Spike Lee, Welcome Back Kotter, Coney Island, and my copy of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from May 8th 1945 (VE Day) that I have in an archival folder upstairs. Such a big and diverse place must have some fascinating food traditions. You're not really 100 years old are you?

Looks like something great is afoot, docsconz! Please tell us you'll post images of the food, you can't leave us hanging. What on earth is bee bollen-grains of paradise? BTW that is one handsome kitchen.

Sounds positively addictive. I have wondered about tobacco as a flavour, without the smoke and chew. I have enjoyed port and rum flavoured cigars in the past, why not do it the other way?

Bento can be many things to many people, I always think of working lunches I used to do in Vancouver. Vancouver has good bento! I have been on the lookout for those little boxes here in Halifax, and there are now a few restaurants with great bento but nobody has an actual box for sale. Then I saw this PC brand bento at the grocery store: It looks like a decent product, and for five-ish bucks why not get one? Last time I bought a "tv dinner" was a Swanson's Salisbury steak back in 1992. The salmon teriyaki was calling me and I was just as interested in the box itself since it looked so good on the package. What a disappointment. The edamame was the best part, the rice was dry and chewy, and the salmon was overcooked yet cold in the middle despite the claim on the front: UNCOOKED. But the worst part: a super crappy flimsy plastic tray that looked nothing like the package. Was I wrong to expect something more?

From your avatar I assume Otis woke you up by giving you indigestion?

Awesome! CT and FA have got to be two of the greatest food visionaries of our time, I am a big fan of both. CT's "Sessions" show on PBS is what truly awoke the inner chef in me I didn't know I had, all those years ago. I have been to CT's once but he wasn't there - the girl at the front must have sensed how sad I was - she gave us one of his books and a bunch of Trotters To Go samples! And we got a signed menu in the mail 2 weeks later! Here I am in his wine cellar with said girl. I just watched "Anthony Bourdain Decoding FA" not 20 minutes ago, wow. Doesn't look like I'll ever get to El Bulli, guess I'll just have to do it all at home! Back to your food - I love the idea of a menu sequence that focuses on different cooking techniques while celebrating offal. When so much creativity and respect is given to things like livers and hearts you can win over less adventurous eaters. Check out this thread in case you missed it, similar but different I think you'll find.

I was recently made a poached egg and toast by my father-in-law, he used Weight Watcher's brand white bread . . . and it rocked! The slices are small, square and thin. Maybe its what your looking for.

SF, I have finally made the time to scan your cabin chronicles from the beginning. The kids went to sleep early and my lovely wife dozed off while we watched "Anthony Bourdain decoding Ferran Adria" on the laptop in bed. I know, how romantic. Your place looks great, your family and friends are a treasure! I did the New Year's Day polar swim thing once about ten years ago, never again, brrrrr. Your cabin experience seems very familiar to me - its was so nice to get a virtual getaway just now.

Wow! I hope they all taste as good as they look. I'll ask a few: Was there any discussion regarding offal in a desert? Are those Arkansas rabbit kidneys by any chance? Did you get a shot of Charlie and Ferran enjoying your hard work?

I'm not sure I understand what a metal rösti ring is? I have never seen one. ← Here is my rosti ring:

I picked up some inexpensive items to further experiment with at home using the "low and slow vacuum bag" approach. Our store cuts price in half on stuff they say should be eaten or frozen within 48 hours, and since I rarely plan meals that far in advance it all works out. So we have a dozen chicken drumsticks and a big tray of (unseasoned, despite label) pork side ribs: Some drumsticks go into a re-used milk bag (with soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar) get sucked and sealed: Its an old hand-me-down vacuum sealer but it does a pretty good job getting air out and sealing stuff in: I gave them around 3 hours at 75 C. On the left is chicken only, the right is the "teriyaki" described above: Close-up of chicken only: It really sets up after cooling: Both chickens had great flavour, but I do think it is worth adding some seasoning beforehand. After all is said and done, I think I prefer crispy oven-baked drumsticks because of the crunchy skin. Duck legs, however, are perfect sv candidates. For the pork, I used a single large ziploc bag which leaked a lot. I only have a before shot but I can say it still tasted great once the sauce was added and it was crisped up in the broiler. Remarkably, almost all the bones squirted right out of the meat during the sv step, also 3 hours at 75 C. I considered filling the holes with asparagus or something to make a strange presentation, but the savages got too hungry. I know many have done sv ribs overnight or for 24+ hours. I'll try again, but it'll be hard to beat my current fave technique of steaming the ribs until tender, then barBQing in a sauce featuring the steaming juice.

What are your thoughts on using a metal rosti ring?

Put 1 oz of regular maple syrup into a clean 40 oz bottle, fill with water, shake and taste. That's exactly what the sap tastes like. Hmm. Not exactly, in my experience. I think the caramelization that happens when the sap is boiled down contributes quite a bit to the flavor. You're right, just about anything undergoes change when boiled for several hours - especially sugars. I was (incorrectly) considering flavour as a function of concentration only. We make 10 or so liters of maple syrup each March as a social thing to do, plus its good exercise. I don't think I could bring myself to actually dilute fresh syrup forty fold to see how it compares to sap!