CommissionerLin

Yes I am sure you're quite right, the amout of water is a big factor in producing big holes. What I've experienced however is that with the same amount of hydration, I get much better results when kneading by hand. This is especially pronounced when I make ciabatta. Whenever I cheat by using a mixer, the loaves don't seem to rise as high and the interior has puny holes.

The best Ciabatta recipe I have come across is found in Richard Bertinet's book - Crust: Bread to Get Your Teeth Into. I have tried it many times with excellent results, a nice crusty exterior and a chewy interior laced with big gaping holes. The 00 flour is important as is the amount of water. You can't cut back on either without compromising the results.

Can I recommend that you eschew the bread machine and the kitchenaid and start baking by hand. It is more rewarding and you will get far better results compared with bread produced via bread machine or dough mixer. Over the span of several years, I made the transition from bread machine to J hook/dough mixer to making bread by hand and I have not looked back. The most difficult or satisfying (depending on your penchant/aversion to working with sticky goo) part about baking by hand is kneading the dough. I would say that everything else being equal, how you knead the dough is the single most important determinant in producing those light crusty artisanal loaves with big gaping holes inside that seems to be the holy grail of a majority of home bakers I know. Crust & Crumb: Master Formulas for Serious Bread Bakers by Peter Reinhart and Crust: Bread to Get Your Teeth Into by Richard Bertinet are good places to start. Richard Bertinet works with very wet dough employing a kneading technique that may seem daunting at first, but one which will engender slavish perseverence once the results are seen and eaten.

Thanks Octaveman, thanks Dave. I think I will take the plunge. BTW the Hattori diving knives arrived on Friday. I think these may be the sharpest diving knives I have ever come across. It seems like a real waste to take one of these gems underwater where contact with saltwater, fishbone and reef will surely take its toll. Maybe this one is destined for the collecter's cabinet...

Oh great. Have you ever sharpened a ZDP 189 blade? Are they tougher to sharpen compared to high carbon steel?

Helen, thanks for referring the JCK website to me. Although the Sanetu ZDP189 was unavailable, I managed to slake my thirst for a new knife by purchasing not one but two Hattori diving knives. I knew that Hattori made culinary and hunting knives but I had not known hitherto that he made diving knives as well. The photos were irresistable and well...I succumbed.

Wow thanks Helen, bang on, that "SANETU" santoku looks like a gem. Pity its out of stock. Great articles Batard. I'd heard that ZDP blades have great edge retention but I've also heard that they can be very tough to sharpen. Is this true?

Has anyone come across any Japanese knives constructed out of ZDP189? How and where might I find one? I've tried trolling the net without much success.

Thanks guys, I think the chinois and pestle and the food mill would both do the trick. The duck press might work as well except its probably too small. Typically, I make a stock with pork bones/chicken carcasses/vegetables in a 10 litre stockpot filled to the brim and (as HKDave correctly observed) it would take too long to extract the residual liquid using such a diminutive press. Presumably if the chinois or sieve were big enough you could dump the solid residue into it and let gravity and time do the trick. The only problem is I haven't come across a chinois/sieve that big and one would need to spend half an hour or more coaxing the liquid out of the solid residue seriatim, were a smaller one to be employed.

Does anyone know what this contraption that I am going to describe is called and where might I be able to purchase one? The contraption is essentially a food press but its specific purpose is to squeeze the last pint of liquid out of the solid and semi-solid ingredients that have gone into the making of a stock eg., cartilage, bone, skin, vegetables, etc. I know this contraption exists because I have come across it in cookbooks. It is apparently de rigueur in upscale French restaurants.

from here. ← Interresting article, I did not know that whale sharks are butchered for this soup! Donsol, Sorsogon(Bicol region, where I was born) is a diving destination, swimming with the "Butanding" whale sharks is their selling point. Based on what I've seen on my 2006 visit, the people there are proud of and protective of their tourist attraction. I can't say the same for Pamilacan Island in Bohol, I've never done any diving there. Philippines has a long way to go when it comes to nature conservancy awareness and practice. Thanks ← A fish with even more prodigious lips than the grouper or garupa is a fish that goes by the common name of "Sweet Lips" (genus Plectorhinchus) or sometimes "Harlequin Fish". The lips of this genus are sought after and braised into a fish stew partly because the flesh is deemed less worthy than the lips. I haven't read the article but I would seriously doubt that whale sharks are being routinely butchered for this soup because a) whale sharks are very rare relative to other reef sharks such as white tips, black tips, nurse sharks and bronze whalers; and b) whale sharks are very large, being the biggest fish currently in existence and thus beyond the capacity of most commercial trawlers. Put it this way, most commerial trawlers aren't able or equipped to land a whale of any size, and a mature whale shark is roughly the size of a small whale. Far easier to deal with small reef sharks which are routinely caught by long line trawlers. Whale sharks don't take baited hooks, being plankton feeders. You would need to harpoon these fellas, that is if they came up for air, which they don"t. So I would put it down to an urban myth (or nautical) myth. Sharks are taken for their fins and in Australia, they appear on the menu in fish and chip shops under the innocuous sounding label - "flake". BTW shark skin may have commercial value as sandpaper (in fact sandpaper was originally made from sharkskin) but I would defy anyone to make an edible soup out of shark skin. It would be about as sensible as trying to make an oxtail soup with leather.

There's a Foochow (the capital of Fujian province) version of this dish that dispenses with cornstarch. It is basically an oyster omelette employing mini oysters or sometimes, goose barnacles (Balanidae). Other ingredients include scallions (spring onions) and water chestnuts. This dish is cooked by pouring 4-5 lightly beaten eggs into a lightly-oiled pan/wok. The mini oysters, scallions (chopped) and water chestnuts (chopped or thinly sliced) are sprinkled in. Once the underside is done and depending on the size of your pan/wok and forearms, it is possible to flip the omelette over with one mighty toss of the wok. A safer option would be to turn the omelette over with a ladle with the attendant risk that your omelette might fracture and end up looking like a jigsaw puzzle.

[ I think he was referring to your pictures, since it was you that he quoted directly. But your fish does look more like the threadfin fish I've seen pictures of. Mine has a pointier snout than the threadfin I've seen. ←

Those threadfin salmon looked very different from "ma yau" that TP showed in her picture. ← Hi Ah Leung, if you are referring to the photos posted by Prasantrin earlier today, that fish is not a threadfin (Eleutheronema Tetradactylum). Its most likely to be a species of mackerel, although not Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus Commerson) since it doesn't appear to have those tell-tale bands on its back. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the shape of its tail is highly suggestive of grey mackerel (Scomberomorus Semifasciatus). Threadfin (aka tsuba-mekonoshiro in Japanese) have a more rounded body and 4-5 dinstinguishing filaments just below its pectoral fins. See picture below. Mackerel have no scales, very few bones and are highly-prized at the dinner table. In many parts of South East Asia, mackerel, particularly, Spanish mackerel is the preferred choice for fish congee. And in Japan, mackerel appear on the menu as Sawara (Scomberomorus Niphonius) and Saba (Scomber Japonicus). Thanks Ah Leung for the heads-up on posting pix.

I'm not sure whether you're supposed to reply to your own post but "oops! for some reason the pix aren't displaying."

You can find detail information about how to use ImageGullet and how to upload your images here: ImageGullet Tips and Notes ← Thanks Ah Leung and Tepee for pointing me in the right direction. This is what a Threadfin (Threadfin Salmon) looks like... http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...d=si&img=106490 and this is what Spanish Mackerel (Broad-barred Mackerel) look like... http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=mo...d=si&img=106491 Both are excellent when salted but IMHO "salt fish" made from juvenile Spanish Mackerel is the yummiest in the world with Threadfin coming a close second.

I also want a knife to take meat off of the bone and also to cut apart a chicken going through bone and cartlidge. Is this the same knife? Boning knife? Clever? Sounds like you need a deba. Strictly speaking its a knife for boning fish. The heftier models can split a 60lb Spanish Mackerel head down the middle. Also good for splitting lobsters. If you plan to do heavy work with fish and lobsters, I would definitely recommend a deba. I have an Aritsugu which I picked up from Osaka which I would have no hesitation in recommending.

Been a quiet trip on the eating front - here with a baby so fine dining is tricky. Lots of casual lunches with lots of rosé - Deux Freres in Roquebrune was nice - OK food, great views. Otherwise, simple lunches - African Queen in Beaulieu, Italian next to Mere Germain in Villefranche (name escapes me), Portofino in Beaulieu Harbour (v basic italian - good salads, locals favourite). ← Did La Mere Germaine look interesting? We have a reservation there for next Wednesday.

Where is the Materlick? Is it in Monaco itself? My itinerary has changed a little and I may now have an extra day in Monaco. Do I need to book ahead?

Thanks Ian for the recommendations and the great pix.... Will definitely put in a stop at Paloma Beach. Sounds like a trick question but do you have any idea what the weather is usually like in the last week of April. Cheers,

Thanks mdbasile. Thats really helpful in terms of knowing what clothes to pack...

Wow thanks Lucy, really helpful, as always.

Depends on time of year and day of the week.... but you can call that day. If you are there later in May then Paloma is open for dinner, and it is a magical spot... trust me. There is another really great spot in Cap d'Ail - La Pineade - sea side seafood - be sure to ask for a table on the "open terrace." You moore by Cap d'Ail beach and then I believe you would tender around the point to a little beach there. ←