Jinmyo

Many. But one easy thing to do would be to use some sweet peas. This would make a complete protein with the pasta which is so essential in any vegetarian cooking.

torakris, welcome to eGullet.

Risotto alle mandorle (toasted almonds, fresh parsley); roasted lamb shoulder with a sauce made from the jus and huge cremini mushrooms and dried porcini with rosemary; tomato and mint salad; crostini and Sicilian pecorino.

Dipping raw vegetables in the new EVOO occurs. When I was a child, hanging out in Italy, I saw this quite often. Bread too though.

bushey, do it.

I never knew this. I had always assumed that most people like uni.

Mike, you're a dead man. Poke. Poke. Poke. No, really? Hm. I love ziti. I often make a tomato sauce (sofritto, garlic, anchovy) with pancetta, liver sausage meat, hot Italian sausage meat, some fresh herbs, bread crumbs. Although I make it for twenty or more, I make waaaay too much so that day after next I can turn it into baked pasticchio with home-made bread crumbs and cold ricotta. Which is my favouritest favourite way of eating pasta. Not my favourite to cook, but to eat.

Hm. What about mussels? Or oysters, clams and such?

Texture does matter. And uni has a great texture. As to flavour, the first word that came to mind when I first tasted uni was butter.

Small point: "Peking" is the Wade-Giles transliteration of the Chinese. The same which gave us a "j" to represent an "r" sound and a "t" to represent "d". "Beijing" is in the Pinyin transliteration form, which represents pronunciation a bit more clearly.

Just some pomi puree poured over some garlic and anchovies sauteeing in EVOO with good salt and pepper can't help be better than any bottled sauce.

This is true. It says so in the national anthem: 6th stanza: "Our must-ard seeds reign o'er all, our foie's not bad, how about that Oka cheese? "O Canada..." ediot: spellgni.

Rochelle, I'm so glad to see how consistently you have been working on this project. Thank you.

Kewpie, the first and best Japanese mayo, made by the Q.P. Corporation. The bottle is made from the same kind of material as is used for, um, well, things. It's not only squeezable but bendable.

Ron, I use Dijon as well. Usually. I was just leaving room for whatever flavourings and seasonings are desired. Steve, I know whereof you speak. But I'll often use a good (not excellent) grade of EVOO because I'm a bad person and I love that taste.

I have no idea what "duke's" might be. You could drop whatever you want into a prepared mayonnaisse (I suggest the Japanese brand Kewpie) but the unless you let the flavourings sit for a few hours to infuse, you would just wind up with bits of weird stuff in your mayo. But there is little else easier to make than mayo. Whether with a bowl and whisk. a processor, or a blender: One whole egg, one yolk, a bit of citrus juice or vinegar, beat until smooth; add oil in a thin stream and whip until it thickens; as it thickens you can start to glug the oil; keep going until it's the consistency you want. Add seasonings just after you start to glug the oil. The whole deal is about three minutes. Buying the stuff takes longer.

By the way, I always prefer a table set at a wall. Anyplace else I regard as in the hallway since people are always walking past. In Japanese restaurants, I always get the "tatami room".

Thanks, polly.

Thanks, David. It sounds as if the lunch crew need to either get new jobs or take the ones they have seriously. I'm always interested in Esca because the crudo fascinates me. Molto Mario has given David Pasternack pretty much of a free hand at Esca so whatever happens or doesn't won't necessarily tarnish Mario's glow for me. But the crudo is such a Mario thing and I won't get to Esca from Ottawa for years if ever that I can't help myself from pestering people about it. So, David. Old buddy. Pal. Duuuude. What do you think about going for crudo with Veronica some evening and posting about it here? And Steve. Steeeeve. Here's a link to your review on The Fabulous Flying Fat Guy Site. Have you anything more recent (and even more detailed) to say on the matter? By the way. Wilfrid and cabrales were unpleased by the crudo when they went. Wilfrid said that the raw fish was just doused in olive oil and that it was the same oil for the different fish, which he found ungood. What oils are used with what fish? Huh? Huh?

Abso-f*cking-lutely! I agree about the cheese though. Of course, of course.

Oh ya, that's always good. But to be really satisfying it has to have strawberry jam spread on top. Raspberry will do in a pinch. Are you saying strawberry jam on a grilled cheese sandwich? Really?

I like savoury pies. Steak and kidney. Wild mushrooms. Real pies. Nourishing pies. Food.

I hate dessert. It's a betrayal of everything that food is about.

Adam, what a dill.

tommy, it happens. "Garde manger" station is short for "[hope no one] looks [too closely at what they're] eating."