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Alexis

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    London, ex-New York
  1. Yeah, that's what I ended up getting. It's a bit tarter than Fage but the consistency is good. All the Fage I saw (Fairway and Whole Foods--out on LI) were the New York ones so I didn't try it. The Kesso is really expensive though (I'm used to paying £1.50 for 500g) so I think I will start making my own. We go through too much of it to pay nearly $7.
  2. Nothing special, to be honest--but I find that to be true of most of the major commercial varieties (including Jazz' parents, Braeburn and Gala). Jazz and Pink Lady both have stringent quality control--for Pink Lady (and I think for Jazz as well) imperfect fruit can't be sold under the name. (Second quality Pink Lady are sold as Cripps Pink, IIRC) I used to buy apples from the farm or the greenmarket stands--now those are apples! And as a New Yorker, I beg to differ on WA state apples. Not as good as Northeastern ones, and too dominated by the commercial varieties (though perhaps if you actually live there you can get better ones)
  3. This is really disappointing. I go through a lot of plain yoghurt, and I'm moving back to New York in 3 weeks. Hopefully Fairway will still have some Greek made in stock--or i'll be trekking around NYC looking for some to use as a starter!
  4. Bump to ask a question. I currently have a UK Magimix 5100. I have all the discs for it. Will these work with the US Magimix 5150 currently sold by Chef's Catalog? (I'm moving back to the USA in July and will need to buy a new FP.) The 5150 was never sold here so I don't have any way to check. thanks!
  5. Not quite. NY pizza did come from Naples, so it's not entirely wrong to go back there. It's still closer to Neapolitan than most mass market pizzas, especially in the US. You don't find 20 different toppings in a New York pizzeria. There's less than 10 and one is 'extra cheese'--few enough that they can be listed with tick-boxes on the side of the pizza box! The most common way to get pizza at your typical hole-in-the-wall joint is a plain slice--nothing but crust, sauce, and cheese. And it's usually low-moisture mozzerella so it's nice and stringy, although some higher-class places use the real thing. Personally I adore New York pizza in all its incarnations, but these days Italian-American food is thought of as an inauthentic offshoot of Italian cuisine.
  6. The other trouble with veal in this country is that "rose veal" is now in fashion (milk fed is equated with cage raised). It's not bad for some things, but I do miss milk fed. I'll see how dark Ginger Pig's look, but if anyone knows anywhere not in central London I'd be happy to hear it as I'm currently 8mos pregnant!
  7. I'm not sure if Canadians use the American pint or the Imperial one--Canada became independent after the British switched, but I suspect that American influence may have brought the US cup and pint. A US cup is 236mL. When Australia went metric, they invented a "metric cup" of 250mL. The Australian tablespoon is the odd man out at 20mL (US and UK tablespoons are both approximately 15mL).
  8. Bit late but the kosher shops in Golders Green have it. Now, my query - back to meat! I'm another veal lover who despairs of not being able to buy anything but escalopes and stew meat. Any good butchers anywhere near Finchley who will do things like rolled shoulder, breast, rib chops? (Oh how I miss chops...) And more cuts of beef: kosher bola does nicely for chuck pot roast as long as you put it up at lunch time to eat at dinner, but I miss short ribs, flanken, and the cheap but tasty steaks: flank, skirt, hanger. I once asked a butcher about them and he said they mainly get sent for processing
  9. I live in Finchley. Foodie haven it's not. Er, we have a good chippy (Two Brothers) and a good veg Indian (Rani). And lots of Waitroses, and you can buy real bagels in Golders Green (I'm a NY native). As a place to live it's not bad, though; nice housing mix. Golders Green is best for transport, but be warned that there's no decent supermarket (not entirely a bad thing as the small shops do very well, but it's a shlep if you need to stock up). But you can't beat hot bagels from Carmelli's motzei Shabbat in winter! GG was temperance until the '50s so there's no pubs, though. (The Royal Oak in Temple Fortune has closed.)
  10. Alexis

    Fry pans

    I have the regular Bourgeat stainless steel and use it for everything. Works a treat (but it's nearly black on the bottom now--tip, if you buy SS be vigilant about the Barkeepers Friend from the beginning!)
  11. OT - but you need to search around more - I never had a bit of trouble getting lamb in New York. The cuts are different but if you try describing it to the butcher he can get you something equivalent. Even FreshDirect has a reasonable variety, though they don't have whole shoulder. I've never had Angel Delight (not kosher) but I have to admit I do like American packaged pudding. That at least works by understood culinary principles though (it's got cornstarch in it; bring it to a boil and it thickens)
  12. Alexis

    Potatoes!

    Mmm, so hard to choose - I think my favourite is the Pink Fir Apple. Very knobbly potato with great flavour. But I love La Ratte and Jersey Royal too. Can't get Jersey Royals in the States of course but I've seen La Rattes in the Union Square greenmarket. Storage potatoes do have their uses--simply can't make chips from new potatoes (yes chips! So degraded by fast food, but real, freshly fried ones--mmm), and I do love fluffy, starchy mash. King Edwards make the best mashed potato IMO. And much as I used to complain about Idaho Russets being low in flavour, I've come to miss them now that I can't get them. Nothing else bakes up in quite the same way--the Russet has perfect baked-potato skin.
  13. One thing I can't stand about Giles Coren is his anti-American digs. Really gets on my nerves. I wonder if that affected his opinion about Reichl...
  14. HD is, IMO, the best mass-produced ice-cream... and I've been eating it since I could hold a spoon. (New York native). Chocolate and strawberry are my all time faves. And you can tell their strawberry is the real deal because it's not luridly pink. The carrot cake was part of the "Extraas" line about 10 years ago--there was a brownie one that was excellent too and got brought back briefly. I miss sorbet & cream myself but you can sort of duplicate it at home with a pint of vanilla and a pint of your favourite sorbet. Some of the new flavors are a bit too complicated but I try them when I go home anyway. I like the strawberry shortcake even if it is just strawberry with cake pieces. Mango is good. We don't get nearly enough flavours here and they're about £3.50 for 500ml British supermarket ice-cream is terrible though. Over here they have to specify if it's dairy... because cheap stuff is made with VEGETABLE OIL!!! ANd even fairly expensive stuff often has stabilisers in it. Sigh.
  15. Forget £85 sandwiches, who wants to start someplace selling good £5-and-under sandwiches, not those sad triangles with half an ounce of filling, always on wholemeal because it doesn't go soggy in 10 minutes?
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