Jinmyo

I don't think so. Mentioning his acquaintance and previous knowledge at the outset, he could then provide insight into how this new venture compares to others. He would be bringing more information to the review and thus provide a much fuller array of information to the reader.

Here's a quotation I am allowed to provide, copyright-wise. "If you eat, you should know how to cook. Knowing how to cook is not something that that can be known all at once. But then nothing is. Nonetheless, some people feel justified in saying that they don’t know how to cook as if this meant that they were incapable of learning. Outside of what one learns through the process of formal Zen practice, cooking is the most important thing to learn. The bodymind is the food that it has consumed... "...The art of cooking is the most intimate of all art forms. The work that you have created actually becomes your audience...It can change you as you learn how to cook and it can change how the people who eat your food understand flavours... "It becomes an art form through exploring in a very thorough-going manner ingredients, procedures, spices and herbs, equipment, developing a sense of timing during preparation and a sense of nuance and balance... "As with Zen brush work that requires thousands of strokes to learn how to brush a stroke so that the unexpected can be incorporated into the body of the stroke as a whole, each meal is like a sketch. Be willing to fail miserably. "And throughout, see, hear, touch, taste, smell, and think clearly and openly. Cook with the whole bodymind and eat with the whole bodymind..." - Zen Master Anzan Hoshin excerpts from "It Becomes You", teisho five in the series "Zen Arts: The Flowering of the Senses", 1999

I've had some excellent hedgehog mushrooms just last week. Mixed them with oyster, shitake, portobello. Marinated in shoyu, tagarashi, sake, a few drops of sesame oil. Roasted. Very very nice. Oh, and now I remember. I used the rest in a garlic and butter sauce for linguine with a side of Italian liver sausages. That was good too. How long does their season last. Liza, I've also wrapped semi-silken tofu with sorrel and served with a lime and chili dipping sauce. Keep us informed of that sorrel.

We're all getting old. The point is: Well put, Steve P.

No, Wilfrid, that's pretty much what I would do. And I even use Maille as well.

Yes, those were the days.

Trying to read this thread is like looking at a painting by a Pollack. Surimi couldn't help meself.

Keep us informed by the minute, Liza. I like cunning food plans. And what occurs to the best laid plans... And how it can often make them better. ;)

If a restaurant reviewer/food critic/anthroplogist of food cultures or whatever can give me a taste of what they're writing about through how they write about it, I'm very happy. If they can make me laugh as well, 2 stars. If they include useful photographs or Web sites or other information, 3 stars. If they wear hats well, 4 stars. I'd no more believe that a food crtic can be impartial than I do in Platonic Ideals and that cups, balls, bowls, the iris of the eye are all imperfect copies of a Perfect Ideal Circle. Or read or not read a book, see or not see a movie, go to or not go to a restaurant, or eat or not a meal from someone's advice unless I wanted to or didn't want to in the first place. Reading is not eating. But writing that reads in such a way that the taste of the writer and what they have tasted are both clear really schmecks.

And the further the better. :D How about Spain, next time? Or Kyoto? After all, with decent Web access, it doesn't matter because we're all here no matter where we are.

Actually, I'd wrap sorrel leaves around pieces of the pollack and poach in a court boullion and serve with a Dijon sauce.

Very nice report, Beachfan. Please keep eating and telling the tale afterwards.

It might have been taken at birth. How could she not know? ???

Fresh lemon-oregano sea salt? I don't understand? Do you mean zest and minced leaves mixed with salt? How do they hold to the crudite?

vengroff, yes they are great. I have a yoke ceramic peeler from Kyocera. But I find it best for cheeses.

Update. The Scranton Times Tribune has an article online (click here) in which someone is surprised the BK Veggie is cooked on the grill with the other stuff.

As someone newish to sushi you have tremendous and glorious experiences ahead. Congratulations. Ordering an assortment or platter is a great way to taste fish you've never had or had this way before. Once you have some sense of what you really like, you can order those and a few you don't know or aren't so sure of. My advice is to keep drinks simple: Perhaps a small tokuri of sake while looking over the menu and talking with the chef about what's fresh or recommended. Then tea or water with the sushi to keep the palate clear. (An old Japanese friend was suprised to hear that someone would be allowed to drink any sake while eating sushi as the restaurants he frequents are very traditional.) A bowl of rice or miso shiru after and sake or coffee or whatever after that. In Seattle you should be able to get some very nice, fresh fish. My favourite is saba (mackerel), considered a very low class fish as it is oily and Japanese are sensitive to odours. So what do I know. ;)

Were you sitting at the counter? If so, easy enough to ask the chef. Or, as it so often happens to be these days, the 22 year old "sushi guy". In any case, I'm sure a comment or request will suffice. I'm curious though. What I might do is order a single, try it, and see how it was. If the wasabi was overdone, I'd say so. If not, I'd try another. Perhaps it was just a fluke.

I think so, macrosan.

I use the OXO rubber and stainless steel tongs. You just tap the tab at the end against the counter or your thigh and they pop open. Pull the tab and they're locked. Nice length, nice balance.

I certainly would. This sounds like incompetance, though. The wasabi is used as a glue to afix the fish to the rice during the pressing. One certainly does not need much unless one's technique is flawed. Or perhaps the clientele really like wasabi and the restaurant is responding to that? The heat of the wasabi, even in the shoyu dipping sauce, should be just enough to highlight the flavours of the fish. Too much and these are overtaken or even overpowered. I've noticed many people who believe they like sushi are just getting off on a wasabi rush.

Excellent reading, Hat Guy.

cabrales, that's exactly right. That's Lao zi on the label. And yes, the best for Viet coffee.

Clicke ici, jaybee.

This is usually tinned sweetened condensed milk. "Longevity Brand" for example.