Jinmyo

torakris, thanks as always. Soba, you are of course correct. Certainly sauteed ingredients or "oily, fatty" foods might be cooked together with miso. But miso shiru at its best is at its simplest. Grilling is a much more palatable cooking method than sauteeing for Japanese cuisine which is essentially water-based, while Chinese is oil-based, French is butter-based, Italian is butter or EVOO depending upon region, and British food is, um, suety.

Kaiseki is basically "haute" cuisine, derived from Tea ceremony. I did macrobiotics in the early 70s and even made my own miso. I don't think we'd agree about it.

awbrig, the cauliflower puree and caviar sounds wonderful. Was there anything with it such as a tuile or three?

Rochelle, chocolate creeps me out. Still, all the best with it. You say, and I quote: This would make a nice thread in Cooking, n'est ce pas?

Organic chile sauce? You know, that would never occur to me. I mean, compared to a good chile sauce what harm can a bit of weed killer do you?

Nick, we don't need to agree on this. That's a well put together Web site. Their products are interesting but none of them are traditional Japanese. As I am primarily interesting in kaiseki formal cuisine, I can't imagine using any in cooking for others. But a cup of the azuki/brown rice miso would make a nice hot drink on a cold winter morning.

Never heard that one before.

Antipasto of cold cotecchino with lentil "butter" (pureed lentil with rosemary and olives) wrapped in red leaf lettuce; roasted tomato puree on large basil leaves. Roasted red pepper bisque with a dollop of creme fraiche and a mussel atop. Manicotti stuffed with ricotta, spinach, pine nuts, breaded and deep-fried, eaten by hand with a lemon dipping sauce. Roast pork loin with roasted red onion and much garlic with turnip mashers.

Nick, that's a very unusual way to make miso shiru with the oil and sauteeing the mushrooms. Onions, carrots, celery as well. Might I ask where you learned this? Was this aka (red) miso or shiro (white) miso?

Olive oil has no history with the kinds of ingredients and techniques involved in stir-frying. So if authenticty is important to you, don't use it. In fact, with Latin and South Western dishes I always use corn oil. For stir-frying you want high high high heat. Olive oil will begin to break down long before you get to where you need to go.

St. Jacques Pepin says, "Nevah nevah crack ze eggs on a sharp sur-face. You drive ze bits of shell in-to ze eggs, hein? Always crack zem on a flat sur-face." Please don't make Jacques Pepin cry. As for me, under a dozen, shells. Four dozen, gloved hands. In between, I pray to St. Jacques and see what happens.

Thanks Rochelle. Was this the first time you'd used a mandoline?

Sorry, Gourmando. As for Signatures, I've not eaten there. It's located in a renovated ckub on Laurier near Stratchcona Park? I remember the menu looked promising although my companion thought "chlorophyll foam" not a particularly appealing term. Still, we had a nice talk about breaking down spinach to obtain the chlorophyll. Why don't you write a report on their cuisine some time? ediot: Took out some injudicious comments about the dreaded Domus as a location for John Taylor (whom I hope will soon move on to better things).

Yes, what spqr said. But leaving the ankle bone, not forming a ball, and often sealing with a few skewers that are withdrawn before plating. This is all very easy to do but hard to explain. I think spqr did a wonderful job.

Double wow. Waaa. Thanks, Toby.

"Rice prepared porridge style"? Is this like congee (jook)?

Egad. ediot: Front of the house stuff is scary. I'm going back to the sharp blades, fires, and hot fat where it's safe.

ediot: Whoops.

You just take the flanken cut and give it a good slice along the bone before marinating.

Korean short ribs are called kalbi. And yes, that's the cut.

Jacques Pepin.

The best Ottawa restaurants are at best adequate middle level places. There is not a single place I would recommend. Unless you want a falafel. Kamal's is okay. ediot: Lesley, I'm sorry. I should just stay away from this board as I can find little positive to say, especially on the dire topic of Ottawa restaurants.

Nick, it is wrong. It is terribly terribly wrong. Ask St. Mario about fish and cheese and what's the word from on high? St. M: "Fish and cheese? Dude! That's so wrong!" See? Melted orange cheese on tinned tuna? Nada nihil obstat there.

Rochelle, how was it?