franklanguage

Doesn't it make sense to freeze it first and then chop it with a very sharp knife? Chop it into chunks first so the piece you're working on will stay firm until you finish mincing it. (Of course, then you can pirouette and mince around the kitchen to celebrate your skill and cleverness - had to get that in.)

Au contraire: I think fingers are the perfect finger food: crunchy but chewy. Have you tried them deep-fried in batter with a honey-mustard dipping sauce? Mm-mm good - or shall I say "finger-lickin'" good?

Well, I'm glad I baked a test cake tonight, because although the recipe was straightforward, I normally would grease the pan liberally for a cake like this. I don't have a two-part angel food cake pan, so I used a bundt pan; all I can say is, live and learn. I would guess that for the small cake, I should use a pan with a removable bottom, which I also don't have. So tomorrow I'll go get a 12" tube pan with removable bottom; but tell me, is the pan not greased simply because it's traditional, or is it because it's a sponge cake and mustn't be too oily?

Well. it's the one, then. I'm going to test the recipe this week, so I'll know what I'm bringing next week. Of course, I'll have to share it around, but I doubt anyone will refuse - even if I tell them how many eggs it has in it. Interestingly, I may have mentioned that the seder, although traditional, has been re-written by Judith, with different speaking parts and roles played by guests there. This is going to be cool, and I'll let you all know about it.

The things that I cannot eat, due to health or dietary restrictions, I have once a year on my birthday when I eat for 12 straight hours without stopping and having anything that I would ever want. I plan the whole year for that day. I figure once a year can't kill anyone although last year on the day after my birthday I wasn't exactly feeling great. This is not an unusual concept, and it sort of makes sense, in a twisted way. There's an out-of-print book by Gail Parent (one of the co-creators of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) called "Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York" where our heroine Sheila, on the night before she begins a new diet, has a "Farewell to Food Night" where she eats everything: "Monday night was Farewell to Food night for me. That's when I eat everything I can get my hands on because I know I'm going on a diet the next day. There have been many of them..." and she recites the things she puts away on these nights: "I ate roast beef and cream cheese on rye. I ate chopped liver and rocky road ice cream. And I ate a whole container of Cool Whip." The more things I give up, the more I feel like a Farewell to Food Night would be a great way to "get it out of my system", so to speak, but as you mentioned, you pay for it afterward.

Wow; I'm not thrilled about the prospect of using 12 eggs for the sponge cake, but I imagine this is a good recipe and I know everyone there will like it. I'm going to Judith Malina's seder for the first time this year, and have agreed to bake either the sponge cake or the honey cake. So my question is: does anyone have any other recipes for either the sponge or the honey cake? I have a couple of weeks to try different recipes before I decide.

They are more nutritious when uncooked; cooking breaks down the nutrients in food. On a more ominous note, microwaving food apparently does some sinister and unforeseen things to food, according to this link and this one, among many others. Be afraid, be very afraid.

I can't deal with Girl Scout cookies anymore; who do they use for their baker these days, anyway? When I was a kid, the cookies were baked by Burry's. Over the years, they've used cheaper and cheaper bakers, and now, since no one has ever tried to sell me GS cookies, I've never had to buy them. In truth, they're kind of one step up from the cheapo "sandwich cremes" I've only seen junkies eat.

Okay, so are those your picks for the best or the worst?

Funny, I was just thinking of a New York Times piece I ran across today about Marmite. The URL is '>http://www.nytimes.com/2002....ml. Everywhere in the above paragraph that you've said "sex", just substitute "Marmite". At least, that's the impression I get of a native Britisher's point of view - and according to the article, the owner of Myers of Keswick says, "In all honesty, I like Marmite on toast, especially with eggs, but I sometimes stand back and smell the Marmite, and I think to myself, `Boy, you'd have to be broght up on this stuff to form any appreciation for it in midlife.' " So I don't know if that's how it would be for you. Of course, the quality and preparation of the meat is of paramount importance, and this is why I'm so insistent that it's more dangerous to eat meat nowadays than it used to be: too many health and safety rules are violated nowadays for me to want to risk it anymore. I stress that I'm not trying to live forever; I'm trying to protect my health and quality of life right now, that's all. Your mileage may vary.

Low blow! (Where's the referee when you need him/her?) And did you not review any of the links I embedded in my post? There is much evidence that as meat-packing concerns and factory farms increase production, they need to speed up assembly lines and increase risk of injury to workers - as well as cruelty to animals. Animals that should be stunned before butchering are often fully conscious when their throats are slit.Of course there are websites detailing animal cruelty, the most famous organization being PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). There is also a site called Slaughterhouse Pictures which carries pretty graphic depictions of routine slaughterhouse procedures. There is also the Slaughterhouse Cam, providing online videos of slaughterhouse torture. If you're able to show or tell me of any meat-packing concerns that are concerned for animal welfare(and I know they exist, but they're the exception, not the rule), please tell us. Oddly enough, animal cruelty isn't the first reason I became vegetarian. (Although I don't currently eat or use dairy products, I don't consider myself "vegan" because I still use leather products, beeswax, and wool.)

I completely disagree with both points: 1) The "higher good" of not eating meat is that a plant-based diet (which you point out that many Indians adhere to out of necessity) conserves our natural resources better than raising cattle in a feedlot; cattle ranching, particularly on factory farms, is creating an environmental nightmare. Land must be cleared (in Brazil, acres of rainforest are cleared each minute) in order for the cattle to graze, to roam, or even just to be penned up (as they usually are). Howard Lyman - the ex-cattle rancher who told the truth on the Oprah show and got sued by the ranchers for it - writes of the environmental nightmare that cattle ranching in this country has created in his book Mad Cowboy. 2) It is also true that a vegetarian diet is healthier than a meat-based diet: Cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer in the United States. This is because the standard diet that most Americans eat is meat- and dairy-based. There is irrefutable evidence that the incidence of heart disease among vegetarians is extremely low. (One statistic says that vegetarians are also 40% less likely to die from cancer.) Another debilitating disease brought on by the consumption of animal-based protein is osteoporosis. The consumption of animal protein causes calcium to be leached out of the bones, so that the bones become weak and brittle; even taking calcium supplements is ineffective, because the animal protein blocks absorption of the additional calcium we're told to take. This condition is epidemic among America's senior citizens, who live in fear of icy sidewalks. The good news for meat-eaters is that there are always new prescription drugs being developed. My mother, who at 68 has advanced osteoporosis, is participating in a study of osteoporosis, and her case has the doctors scratching their heads: she's not in the control (placebo) group; she's receiving the medication, but is continuing to have bone loss. I know I'm outnumbered here; I also know that most people eat meat simply because they like the taste, and in our culture of supply and demand, animal cruelty and environmental damage are simply not issues for most people. I'm not out to change anyone's habits, especially since I know these message boards are mainly populated by upscale restaurant-goers who are mainly interested in the end product and are not concerned with what chemicals might have got in it along the way. I've met plenty of people who "used to be" vegetarians for years at a time, and went back to eating meat. While they claim they're healthier and feel better eating meat than not, that claim itself is spurious: there is no nutrient - not even vitamin B12 - that can't be gotten from a plant-based diet. I only quit eating eggs and dairy within the past year, and a good part of the reason I did was based on fear; given my family history, I'm a prime candidate for osteoporosis (even though it's said that the incidence of osteoporosis is not based on heredity: Asia, where they consume very little dairy, has a very low rate or osteoporosis). I also admit I may only live a few more years - no matter what my intentions - but I'll feel better, be more productive - and weigh less. True: milk is laden with hormones, some of which are designed to help a calf grow quickly and increase its body weight. They also help America to be the most obese (per capita) nation in the world. (Edited by franklanguage at 6:50 pm on Feb. 4, 2002)

One very disturbing aspect of the whole cow thing is the incidence of "downer" cows in the states. Although the "experts" (and I use that term loosely) insist there have been no mad cows found in the United States, it is quite possible that we're not looking hard enough. "A downer cow -- one of nearly 200,000 each year the U.S. won't test" There is even a link to a petition that calls for increased testing of cows in the United States. According to the article the link goes to, countries like Japan and Ireland "actually care about the welfare of their citizens" and are testing every cow that goes to market. Why aren't we - could it be we're afraid of what we'd find? [i realize this doesn't relate directly to France, and perhaps I should move it and start another thread.]

Here is a link I just found to a site which is reporting on the current state of Mad Cow and nvCJD in the food supply; there are areas both for the States and for Europe. It was started in response to the feeling that Creuzfeldt/Jakob disease is underreported in the U.S. (and possibly the world at large): Mad Cow Disease (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, Chronic wasting disease)

I just read this article on VegSource about how - to the embarrassment of the French, who are th only EU nation to ban the importing of British beef - France's load of new cases of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) is growing so fast, they may well overtake Britain's record. The link is FRANCE SET TO OVERTAKE BRITAIN IN NEW BSE MAD COW CASES!!! . Does anyone have any thoughts about this? I know a lot of beef eaters who are throwing caution to the wind (at dinner one night, a man at our table said, "I'll have the prions..." referring to the steak tartare) but all kidding aside, BSE is a horrible way to die. Could it be that in France they actually have similar hygiene problems to those of other countries in the care of their livestock? Perish the thought!

Okay, we're still in the running...but what is it going to prove if we get to number 1? And that creepy Martin Yan is still staring out of every page on the site.

Aaah, guys...we lost it. There's no more eGullet on chef2chef.com. I feel oddly serene.

Barbara: I have a link that won't answer your question (how to cheat and win every time), but will show that the problem is very, very common. On VegSource.com there is a discussion about why milk makes certain individuals sick.Having gone about two months now without dairy, I'm not sure I even want to toy with trying to go back to eating it, to tell you the truth. Although not all dairy products can be substituted for by soybeans or nuts, I am finding it to be extremely rewarding to work around the problem; the longer I go without dairy, the less I miss it. (Of course, I'm consuming about a quart of Soy Delicious a week; if that's cheating, so be it.) Lastly: yeah, cheese is a toughie. It's impossible to make cheese "cheese-like" without casein, which is the glue they stick labels on beer bottles with.

Well, McSorley's only very recently got women's rooms; when I used to go there, everyone used the common "Toilet". For that matter, they've been around, what, like almost 200 years? They only started admitting women - and under court order, at that - like in 1970.

I think the secret is to rate all the other sites "fair" and "poor", thereby bringing them down. (I gave Martha Stewart a 1.)

Notice how Martin Yan's eyes follow you around the room? I'm waiting for someone to start a "Church of Martin".

Or as the famous line goes, "Vote early and vote often.(Edited by franklanguage at 9:24 pm on Dec. 1, 2001)

Interesting question: before I read the replies, I was ready to say I cooked at home all the time. I must admit, though, that breakfast is usually just poured or microwaved, so I don't really count that as cooking. I have to cook at home more lately because I'm not eating dairy and it's ridiculously impossible to find a pizza made with dairy-free cheese or even a coffee shop that offers soymilk - even in New York City, forget the rest of the country. Unfortunately, it's not too practical to always carry your own. And I'm always experimenting with baking; does that count as a meal? I have to bake an apple pie and probably a couple of pumpkin pies today, because in the harvest season I tend to stockpile fruit and vegetables. (In harvest season, I bake about a pie a week.)

"...I got a fur sink, and a gasoline-powered turtleneck sweater...then I got some dumb stuff, too." - Steve Martin

Well, I don't know about that; in NYC, the only Sbarro stores I've seen are free-standing. There are more of them now than there used to be; for instance, the pizza joint on the corner of 8th street and Broadway that used to be named "Mama Mia, Whatta Pizza!" in honor of that old Alka-Seltzer commercial (anyone remember that?) changed over to a Sbarro recently. Must be a Riese restaurant now; soon we'll probably see Sbarro in Grand Central.