camdan

MAPP burns extremely hot, and might not be the best choice. Also, it often has odorants added to it so that you can smell it, which can damage the taste of food. Propane might be the better choice for the kitchen.

26 percent of adults eat vegetables three or more times per day but only 23% of meals contain a vegetable? I think that whoever wrote that story should double check their numbers. As for me, I tend to eat fruit with breakfast and lunch and have three or four different kinds of veg with dinner.

Hi, I'll be in San Francisco for a few days next month and would like to spend a day in Napa Valley visiting some wineries and sampling the wines. A tour would seem to be the best option but there are so many tour companies operating. Can anyone provide recommendations about good/bad companies? Is there any difference? How much should we expect to pay for a good tour? Thanks, Dan

I'll be in Seattle for a few days at the start of next month, coming from Toronto. Is there anything culinary (particular restaurants or otherwise) that is not to be missed? Preferably something that I'd be unlikely to be able to find it Toronto. We'll probably do one splurge on the trip and otherwise try to keep things fairly cheap. Any food is good, but if there are any local specialties or anything out of the ordinary that would be particularly great. Thanks for the help, Dan

Kensington market might have what you're after but you may need to adapt. They definitely have a big selection of dried chilies but you might be out of luck when it comes to fresh ones. Not sure if they'll carry the other stuff, but I can't think of a better place to try - there are several Latin shops there.

Sorry, when I said 24 I meant the included angle. I think the factory edge was about 30.

I have an EdgePro Apex and used it to put the lowest angle I could on it - 24 degree I think, which was a bit lower than the factory set. It cuts far better than anything else I've used, which seems to be both a combination of the finer edge and the blade being 2" longer than the knife I used to use. I've got a book on Japanese cooking which talks a bit about knife skills so I'll see what they say about using the usuba and try to pick up some skills. Dan

Hi, I recently acquired a 10" Tojiro DP Gyuto. Aside from not whacking it down onto my chopping board, or trying to cut through bones, how exactly should my technique differ from using a Western knife?

Try it with black cod.

I was in the same situation as you a couple of weeks ago and after doing a lot of studying I ordered a Tojiro DP 270 mm gyuto from Korin. It's a bit of a leap of faith to buy it without handling it first, but there aren't a lot of options here (Toronto). I don't have much to compare it to as it's ten times the price of my previous knife, but I think that it's excellent. To be honest I doubt you'll be able to tell much difference in the performance beyond a couple of hundred $, so I'd just pick the one that looks the best to you, if that's a concern. People do seem to speak very highly of the Blazens and the Misono UX-10s though and If my budget were bigger I think I would have gone with the Misono.

I don't suppose any of you have any idea what the recipe for the olive oil and butter bread they serve here is? It was deeply excellent and I'd love to make some myself. I asked them for the recipe, but so far no reponse (not that I really expected one...). Thanks.

How the hell did you manage that?

Got back a couple of days ago. Can Roca was superb, highlights being the caramelised black olive (didn't think much of the green one), the butter and olive oil bread, the amazingly incredibly good prawn and the cuban cigar ice cream. I'll probably post more thoughts and my impressions of a few other places a little later.

Yesterday I had surprisingly good meals at Boulevard Cafe (gazpacho, ceviche, pecan pie) on Harbord Street and The Harbord Room (lamb then coffee and caramel pot de creme) (surprisingly enough, also on Harbord).

Anyone been to Sant Pau lately? I need another table somewhere, preferably close to Barcelona. Was thinking Cinc Sentits but it's closed when I'll be there.

Is this place still going? What on earth does their website mean?

Can Roca booked for lunch, August 21st.

My head is spinning. I'm probably thinking Can Roca still. If we go we're going at the end of August though, and apparently half of the country is on holiday then, I don't suppose anyone knows if this will mean the closure of any of these places?

I was thinking Mugaritz, but the abundance of coal, clay and sheep feet sounds a little off-putting.

Hi, Does anyone here have recent dining experience at Arzak, Akelarre, Can Roca, Mugaritz or Etxebarri? I may be in Spain for a couple of weeks in late August and may well try to go to one of these. I'm leaning towards Akelarre or Can Roca from what I've been reading. What's good these days?

Is it considered rude in Italy to consume pizza with the hands? Should a knife and fork be used? I got into a debate about this last night; me advocating the use of hands and my dining partner insisting that cutlery is the way forward. Opinions?

Failed. Come on fifth time lucky...

Aside from someone having a little too much fun with the video software towards the end it is a great watch.

Does that mean that any requests sent in earlier will automatically be rejected? I e-mailed this morning, but haven't received a reply indicating my , so I'd love to know whether I need to send another message now... ← I think you'll probably be ok with anything from the 14th-16th.

No topic yet? Judgment day approaches.