gfweb

Rather than start a new thread, I'll bump this one.... We ate at Lacroix tonight. The last time I was there I think Lacroix himself was in the kitchen. So its been a while. The meal was really disappointing. I really think that how the dish looks is more important to the kitchen than how it eats. The portions were skimpy and most dishes were fussily composed with flowers and dribs and dabs of sauces dotted on the plate...not enough to actually use for more than one bite, perhaps they are there more for how they sound when described by the waiter. The food that was there was tasty, though it cooled quickly sitting all alone near the dots of sauces. Desserts were playful (oh noooo) takes on chocolate cake and cheesecake among other standards. The cheesecake, for example,consisted of balls of mascarpone covered in white chocolate with a purple schmear of blueberry stuff. Pretty to look at, but awkward eating and not that good. Throughout dinner, my grown son looked longingly at the people eating hot burgers, crabcakes and pomme frite at the bar. Me too.

My guess would be that they were always this bad. I think they all started up away from the pizza belt, where standards are lower. Or perhaps just identified a price point for a market that wasn't buying "real " pizza anyway.

I like menus with limited bullshit. Adjectives are fine if they describe how its cooked eg sauteed carrots. Succulent carrots would be a violation.

This issue is just like many many others in science and medicine. We have a bunch of suggestive studies that are far from conclusive in animals and the choice of acting on partial information or waiting till conclusive human studies appear. Doctors deal with this daily. A great illustration is whether antioxidants do anything of value. There are the sort of lab studies that Dr Oz loves which suggest benefits in cultured cells but there are no reliable studies that i know of showing benefit in man. In fact the big well done human studies show either no benefit or increased cardiac risk for vit C and E. Is that the last word? Nope What's my point? It is that knowledge evolves. No one paper or group of papers gives the whole story. And the conclusions will change as more science is done. Everyone gets to choose what evidence they base decisions on but it is really wrong to attack the motives of those who disagree. Often those who say that more data is needed are the ones proven right. As far as FDA being in industry's pocket, that couldn't be farther from the truth. If anything they are hostile to industry and limited only by their funding and mandate from Congress.

My peaches are a little small this year but very sweet.

His dog is well fed.

I'm out of town. Sadly.

Kenji Alt is great at this stuff.

Costco has great pork shoulder usually. Mostly usable meat. Good price.

I've been following and pondering. It seems to me that it is not the high end that is over-priced, but the low-end restaurants. To use a US example, I can have a mediocre dinner for two with drinks and vile wine at Ruby Tuesday (a low-end chain with some pretentions) for about $90. Dinner at an average top line place in Philadelphia would be $200 to 250ish (assuming that we didn't go nuts on wines). The $90 spent on Ruby T would be just a waste. Crappy food, served by a knucklehead, no memories of the meal...why am I eating here? The $250 meal would be just the opposite and way more than 3-4 times better. So why are so many patrons pouring money into crummy restaurants?

Corn is pretty ratty looking in SE Penna.

Or gamma ray. Safe as well.

RE the unsatisfactory chicken breast texture post sous vide ..I've found that more than just a pinch of salt gives a slightly rubbery texture.

This makes Xray sterilization look like the way to go. It is safe.

What do you like in West Chester?

What sad thing if you live near West Chester. Now what will I do? http://westchesterdish.com/2012/07/say-it-isnt-so-gilmores-restaurant-closes-after-11-years/

The sad state of omelets and scrambled eggs is a national scandal. Neither can be made properly on a flat top. I have a couple select diners in SE PA that still know how to do it. Its not that hard to do it right, but like the Reuben its hard to find a place that cares enough.

Is liquid smoke a condiment?

Thanks. Those links are great, as is your answer. A lot of those recipes in Khymos seem only use xanthan gum without another hydrocolloid...or is there enough hydrocolloid in the food to be the second one required for gelling?

I'm thinking mainly as a thickener. My questions are... Must you heat it to get a gel? How hot? Can the thickened sauce be reheated? How long is a xanthan sauce stable? For example, could I thicken a BBQ sauce with it and just keep it in a squeeze bottle for weeks? Will it thicken any aqueous liquid? How much fat can there be in the liquid. I'll probably think of more questions. Thanks!

I've looked on the wiki and in multiple posts but can't find any real instructions as to how to use it.

I'd seriously consider the cost of a culinary school. Lots of schools are getting sued by students for overpromising. Prowl around on google to check it out. here's one of many... http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2011/05/culinary_school_lawsuit_san_fr.php Going 100K in debt to get a 25K job is not a smart move. Community colleges often have great programs at a fraction of the cost.

She's absolutly nuts. Probably fun at a party, at least before she gets too ripped and starts pole dancing.

Well said. CABA is juvenile, deeply stupid and embarassing. I stumbled into this great steaming turd of a show and watched about 10 minutes, waiting for it to get good. Any middle schooler with an iPhone would post better stuff on YouTube. Advertisers pay for this? What's the demographic...morons? Either Cooking Channel has absolutely no judgement (possible), or they have nothing original to show (probable), or they have complete contempt for their audience (likely).

MG crops up all over the place. It is well-entrenched in the minds of food writers. eg http://eater.com/archives/2012/07/13/taco-bell-chef-lorena-garcia-breaks-her-legendary-silence-on-molecular-gastronomy.php