Jinmyo

Israeli couscous cooked with leeks, portobello, shitake, oyster, shimeiji mushrooms, served cold with lots of parsley and a bit of citrus. Beet gaspacho topped with grilled chevre. Frittata with fruilano, roma tomatoes, huge shelled shrimp. Deep-fried shrimp shells and heads. Tempura red snapper. edit: Forgot to mention aioli dip for the snapper.

GordonCooks, a nice report. I'm glad to hear this.

"Mutton! More great lamb taste!"

Mark, it's like a real Beanery but it's not real. What's a Beanery?

Welcome. Whoooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooooooo! I've finally earned the much coveted "Welcome" from the venerable bigbear. Oh. Sorry. Excuse me. Sorry.

Hey, I've a crazy idea. Steve P, how about actually assessing a restaurant? I don't care what standards you use or what technique. Just so long as you do whatcha do so well.

Ron, I think you're right. Let 'em assemble their own sandwiches.

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohooooooooooooo! A new page! Oh. I thought that this was the balic biothread for a minute. I see it is instead a thread of import and serious discussion. Excuse me. Sorry. Sorry. Excuse. Sorry.

But endearingly so.

Butter? Onions? If you are comfortable discussing it, John, what is it that you find "disgusting" about melted butter? I suppose that Keller's butter-poached lobster would be especially alarming? What about butter that has been incorporated as in a sauce, or even on popped corn? Is it the taste? Or how melted butter looks? As for onion, does this hold true for cooked as well as raw onions? What of their ubiqitous use in stocks? Again, is it the taste? The texture? The aroma? The look? What of scallions? Shallots? Garlic? Is there some connection between these two items?

"Mutton! At £9.90 it's not just for poor people anymore!"

Because you don't know your own strength, Wilfrid.

"Mutton! Are you game for it?"

Frenched double lamb chops, marinated with a green Thai basil paste, grilled. Atop a rough mash of Yukon gold potatoes with with red bell pepper shavings with a cardamom, curry and lime vinaigrette and fresh mint on a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce. Carrot broth (carrot juice and coconut milk, cumin and curry seasonings). Roasted mushrooms and red onions (green chile and Dijon sauce).

"Mutton! Eat ugly old sheep instead of cute widdle lambs!"

"Mutton! The long-term meat!" Mutton! You can't cook too much mutton too much!"

On billboards and magazine ads: "Mutton! Really not so bad as you think! It's rather good, in fact!" "Mutton! The other sheep meat!"

Steve, after John had posted the original article (different from the one under discussion) he mentioned several times that he was writing an article for FWG. cabrales asked if he would post a link or the article itself, I seem to remember. So the article was no surprise. Nor were the views expressed.

Mint is very commonly used with pasta, especially in Rome.

Saffy, that's very interesting. I have never heard of mutton ham before. In Southeast Asia "mutton" refers to both sheep and goat.

Rochelle, a minor point: spelling is "umami". Inconclusive? Hardly. I think it was classified in 1903 but when Westerners have a set of categories, they're loathe to adjust them. And rather than "meaty", it's usually referred to as "savoury". It is strongly associated with the naturally occuring msg in parmesan. mushrooms, kombu and so on. I'm not sure I have a sense of the number of covers the class works on.