Peter the eater

I asked for wild morels at the Halifax market last weekend with no success (same for ramps) We're going to the Annapolis valley next weekend, I know there are some mushroom fiends at the Wolfville market. I am a bit hesitant to reap wild mushrooms - I don't mind hallucinating, I just want to avoid death for a while.

Wow what a dish - those are three items I have never had but am thinking a lot about recently. Why don't you just shave some white truffle on top and call it a day!

- what's your favorite dish to grill? chicken thighs - do you know how to tell if your steak is done (without cutting it all up on the grill)? finger poke plus timing it - do you use charcoal or stick to the "easier-to-use" gas? gas grill - what do you want to know how to do better on your grill? rotisserie, never done it - what secret ingredient do you like to play with while outdoor cooking? hardwood shavings from my wood lathe - and if you are willing, what did you screw up for your guests? a raccoon stole a prime rib directly off the hot grill 5 minutes before ready, in front of eight guests that i didn't know very well we grill out here on the right coast too.

This is a very interesting - and useful - discussion. I love the idea of lipid-poaching meat although I have yet to actually do it. Does lean beef work well? What are the best candidates for cooking this way? Anybody have a top ten list?

Hmmmm. I don't recognize any of these. Is it country music?

"Peaches" The Presidents of the United States of America (thats a lot of typing, how about U2 next time)

No way this is a song about food and drink. It is hard to imagine that it made it to this game... Dan ← Ooooh, now we're getting somewhere. A feast, with a beast and a steely knife. What do you think? Is it Ozzy's Mr. Crowley? Non-specific hedonism?

Spot on! And it was 1978 from Some Girls Doesn't get much better. So its not been an hour and nine of ten are solved - you people are good. Hint for no.10: Ironically not from their other album "More Songs About Building and Food" ← Oh! Talking Heads! Life During Wartime? ← And that's all ten solved! Well that was clearly too easy. I'll need to be more cryptic and rarefied next time.

Spot on! And it was 1978 from Some Girls Doesn't get much better. So its not been an hour and nine of ten are solved - you people are good. Hint for no.10: Ironically not from their other album "More Songs About Building and Food"

Right on! “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey”, 1971 I agree that is not one of Sir Paul's best. Strangely it just came to me as thought of starting the thread - as did no.6.

America by Paul Simon ← Bingo! 1968 for those interested. Its aged well, don't you think?

Well done! I'll accept no.1 although, strictly speaking, it should be Baba O'Riley from 1971. Since you apparently weren't born for another decade and a half we'll let it go (I was five years old) You joined eGullet in like grade ten? Good for you.

Well it was only a matter of time. . . Below I will give ten lyric fragments from 1970's popular/rock songs (a few might be from the late 1960's) each has a reference to food and/or drink. You reply with the appropriate artist(s) and song title. We all feel good for remembering such a golden age of music, maybe pull out some vinyl, sip a fortified wine and crumble a stinky blue cheese, whatever gets you through the night, 'salright, 'salright (John Lennon, 1974) See how fun that was? In increasing difficulty (for me anyways): 1.“Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals, I get my back into my living” 2."And in the master's chambers, They're gathered for the feast, They stab it with their steely knives, But they just can't kill the beast" 3.“But there ain't no Coupe de Ville, Hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box” 4.“He had to have a berth or he couldn't get to sea. I had another look and I had a cup of tea and a butter pie.” 5.“Spent my days with a woman unkind, Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine” 6.“Creme tangerine and montelimat, A ginger sling with a pineapple heart” 7."We're gonna bring a case of wine, Hey, let's go mess and fool around, You know, like we used to" 8.“I had a job in the great north woods, Working as a cook for a spell But I never did like it all that much, And one day the ax just fell” 9.“So we bought a pack of cigarettes, And Mrs. Wagner's pies” 10."I got some groceries, some peanut butter, to last a couple of days, But I ain't got no speakers, Ain't got no headphones, Ain't got no records to play" Bring it on!

I asked about ramps today at the market - apparently everyone asks for them and nobody has them. Here in Atlantic Canada they are a wild and protected species, so picking them is against the law. Here's what a local expert had to say (Curator of Botany, Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History) when I asked about sticking some in my garden: It is considered a species-at-risk and as such has some legal protection. The plants and their habitats are protected from disturbance. Collecting them to place in a home garden would not be ethical nor acceptable. In Nova Scotia, this plant is at the northeastern edge of its range. In Canada, it used to be more common in Ontario and Quebec, but the overcollection and destruction of its habitat have placed it on species watch lists in all jurisdictions. . . As botanists we are concerned with maintaining the native flora as it exists and not promoting the uninformed transplanting of rare and endangered species, for personal use nor to permit land development So for now it looks like"regular" leeks for me.

Okay - I'll play. Lets start at the beginning: 1. Potatoes a) the potato eaters b) Vincent van Gogh c) it was done in 1885, but now its 2007 may 11, 4:44 pm Atlantic time link You know yours is easy when the art has several of its own websites.

This foodblog is a delight to follow. I love Holland although I have yet to go - I have promised myself I'll do a bicycle trip there (you can eat anything if you bike around all day) A few questions: 1. What does that orange sticker on your sweetbreads mean? It appears to read "reclame". 2. Is it from a calf or lamb? Thymus or pancreas? Something else? 2. Is that the"Openluchtschool" (free air school) seen from your balcony?

I got a large red Emile Henry tajine for Christmas and it has been fantastic. I have used it to sear stuff on electric and gas stovetops and to braise all day in the oven. The most remarkable thing is not how tough and robust it seems to be, but how I can practically wipe it clean with a cloth after getting it so messy. But its also the only one I have ever used.

Salty water has more polarity than plain water (which is polar too, just less so). Flavor molecules with a charge are drawn out more by the salty water. This is the principle behind chemical chromatography - more charge means more extraction. Of course all that really matters is what the stock tastes like in the end. Too salty doesn't taste good - who cares what got extracted if you're gagging. I believe I get better, tastier results with a bit of salt in the mix from the outset. It is, however, a lot easier to add salt just before consumption than it is to reduce saltiness (by dilution)

That is true for the fat-soluble nutrients only. Hydrophobic vitamins (like A, D, E and K) will stay in the food while the hydrophilics (like the B's and C) get more fully extracted as the saltiness (polarity) increases. Stock is mostly water (from the tap) with a lipid layer on top (from the carcass). Molecules which contribute to flavor will wind up in both layers, but the salty water helps get those savory compounds (eg. glycine and glutamate salts) out of the tissue in the first place.

This is a very cool thread. . . For me, the greatest thing one can do in the kitchen is to make stock - and chicken stock is the king of the hill. There are no rules, just the satisfaction of making the most nourishing substance known to humankind, and possibly the best smell. My preference is: 1. don't let it boil 2. use the entire carcass, chopped up is faster 3. cooked and chewed bits are okay - bacteria can't live more than a few minutes in a simmer 4. a little salt does help (by increasing the dielectric constant of the solution, thereby aiding the extraction of hydrophilic flavour compounds - sorry) 5. mess around with the veggies - taste the difference for yourself peeling the carrots or washing the celery makes

For $60 US I can get five litres (1.3 gallons) of my go-to fortified wine Andres Private Stock Ruby Port which in my estimation is an outstanding value. Unfortunately I doubt its available outside of Canada, so I guess thats not too helpful. I can say that there are tons of affordable ports out there and one ought not ignore those $10-20 US Portuguese Portos.

Papa Ceo's is a casual pizza joint with a huge selection of gourmet pizza and toppings to choose from . . . 654 Spadina Av - (416) 961-2222 It has been a few years but its always been a fave for me (I'm T.O. born and raised now out east)

Good to read your reviews, although half of the places are unknown to me. I lived in Vancouver for one year in the 90's and still miss it terribly - I worked at the architect firm building the "colosseum-esque" library - maybe you saw it, very large and curvaceous. Best food memories for me are the Granville Island Public Market (taking the silly little ferry over) and dim sum in Chinatown every Sunday. In fact I had never been to an Asian bakery prior to that time, those fluffy white buns with savory and/or sweet centres are outstanding.

Thanks for that - I did several eGullet site searches and turned up none of these. I was a bit surprised at the apparent lack of references - I guess now that the hardcover is out and a big book tour is happening (I believe the authors are in California today) there will be renewed interest.

It wouldn't look good Peter. These sustainable agriculture theories all but fall apart in large metropolitan areas. Unless the land surrounding New York City is repurposed, the area will remain dependent on food that is trucked/shipped in. ← Just for fun I fired up Google Earth and I drew a 100 mile radius from Central Park NYC. You are right, it doesn't look good. You barely get to the SW corner of Massachusetts, and heading the other way hardly looks like "the breadbasket of America". Going east out to sea might still get you some nice fish. Incidentally, the authors claim to have done a 100 mile meal in NYC (although I don't know the details) as well as in some other "extreme" locations. I'll bet it was not that long ago when just about everybody ate a 100 mile diet out of pure necessity.