Tri2Cook

eGullet is a different type of forums than most though. It is well and thoroughly moderated and kept on topic. Almost (in my probably incorrect opinion) to the point of overkill at rare moments but that is much better than the alternative... floods of off-topic posting and spam. The fact that eGullet members must tow the line in this regard eliminates many of the problems associated with other forums. While I would point to eGullet as an example of how to do it right, I'm not sure I'd point to eGullet as proof that others are going to be okay. Not that it matters on a personal level, this is the only food forums I participate in anyway.

Shipping spirits into Ontario from outside of Canada pretty much has to go through the LCBO. They frown upon trying to bypass the sytem so, very kind though the offer is, it's really not worth it to try to sneak around it. It's not a K&L shipping issue, I'd gladly pay their shipping charges to get the stuff I want, it's the upcharge due to the monopoly the LCBO maintains on spirits in Ontario that is the killer... I'm sure I can still have a lot of fun with this tiki stuff without the 151 even if some things won't be authentic.

K&L Wines and Spirits in California ships to Ontario but they have to ship through the LCBO which makes it pretty much cost prohibitive. I've been in contact with them and they were up front with the information that the markup from the LCBO/Ontario government would be somewhere in the area of 100% which would quickly make for a costly case of booze. Also, I'm not sure what method K&L uses for shipping but is says on their site that they can't ship the 151 proof spirits.

It was Cuckoo Ray.

I think I'm a bit disappointed that they felt the need to cave and play a disclaimer regarding the ingredients this week. I realize ratings are part of the game for a tv network but this is a little silly. I've seen shows about cannibals eating humans on learning channels that didn't feel the need to use disclaimers about what was being eaten.

Another tiki related question. Tiki drinks seem to frequently call for a 151 rum, the only one available through the LCBO that I'm aware of is Bacardi. Assuming not using 151 is better than using that one, what would I replace it with in the recipes? Wray & Nephew overproof is available, will that do the trick or could I just use whatever I want if getting bombed isn't part of the equation? I guess what I'm trying to figure out is if the high proof rum is part of the tiki profile or if it's just there to boost the booze content.

Okay, got it now. I was reading it differently than you intended. I thought you were saying you only mix with inferior rums. What you meant was you just don't mix.

Why mix with anything but good rum? I don't want to mix with rum I don't think is good. I realize in the world of spirits there are degrees of good but I'm not sure where I would set the bar for deciding something is too good to mix with. Nothing I've purchased up to this point has been above that bar but I don't have any $100+ bottles on the shelf. Maybe that would make me evaluate my views on this from a different angle.

Yeah, I've got a problem with that too... but that's another subject so I won't expand on it here.

The Suffering Bastard recipe illustrates one of the problems I run into while trying to learn about cocktails. I've made that drink and enjoyed it but the recipe I had only called for a couple dashes of the bitters. It really is incredibly difficult to know when you are working with a recipe that is as originally intended unless someone who knows points you in the right direction. I'll have to try it again with the additional bitters. These drinks sound pretty interesting to me and fortunately most of them seem to call for angostura since that's the only bitters available locally. The rest of my collection, I've had to source and order... usually at expensive shipping rates. I'm not sure I could make myself use them an ounce at a time.

Nope, I didn't miss that. The words may not have come out of the servers mouth but, when you tell them there is a problem with the way the food is cooked and they do nothing, they've effectively said "sucks to be you but I didn't cook it".

I completely disagree with the above post by rotuts. The server doesn't cook the food but they are the link between the kitchen and the customer in most places. "Oh well, I didn't cook it" is not an acceptable way to handle the problem. I won't blame the server for kitchen mistakes but I will hold them responsible (and penalize via the tip if warranted) for how they choose to handle the situation when I mention it. If you're really just getting by on tips, doesn't it make more sense to try to keep the people giving you those tips happy? To be honest, I don't feel a tip is warranted by simply taking my order, handing me my food and giving me my bill. I expect that as a minimum when I walk in the door as part of why I'm paying more for it than I would cooking it myself at home. I will leave a tip in these cases if they don't give me specific reason not to because I realize in some places it makes up a part of the servers salary but it will be at the commonly accepted minimum. My real tips are reserved for those who do more than the minimum necessary to keep their job. Whether or not they actually care if I'm happy doesn't really matter, as long as they make me feel like they care.

To celebrate the local LCBO finally getting in the Fernet Branca I ordered a while back, I stirred up an Eeyore's Requiem last night.

I have a shrub in the fridge made from local chokecherries, sugar and red wine vinegar. I haven't done anything with it besides something I based on the Oaxacan Ice Water. I subbed the shrub for the lemon juice and agave nectar and Bittermens Burlesque for the grapefruit bitters. I enjoyed it but I was already a fan of the drink I based it on. I plan to make a shrub with local wild blueberries this summer (or I could pull some from last summer out of the freezer if I get impatient I suppose) but I don't have any specific plans for that one either.

Circus Peanuts... closely followed by anything else made with artificial banana flavoring.

With summer coming on, I've been thinking about Tiki drinks. I've also been thinking about introducing Bittermens Elemakule bitters to the roasted pineapple bitters I got from the Canadian company House Made. I'm not sure if trying to build a drink around the bitters is considered proper technique but that's basically what I'd like to do. Anyway, any ideas from the Tiki folks?

Got my bottle of Fernet Branca. I ordered it and St. Germains but only the Fernet came in today. Oh, and I grabbed a bottle of Appleton Estate Extra too... but that was a replacement, not an addition.

The use of horse doesn't offend me at all. Almost everything is food for somebody, somewhere. I wonder what those offended over the horse meat would say to someone offended by the eating of cows or pigs?

While I do not subscribe to the idea that the customer is always right, it's also not ok to point out that they are wrong in most cases. I guess that means they are effectively always right but there is a difference, subtle though it may be. In this case, you were not wrong but even if you had been, they best thing to do would be to apologize and bring you what you wanted. Fixing a food order, no matter where the mistake or misunderstanding originated, doesn't come anywhere close to where I draw my personal line on the customer always being right.

I don't do ketchup with egg but hot sauce is definitely the holy grail of egg additions for me. I remember dad spiking my scrambled eggs with tabasco sauce when I was barely old enough to feed myself. As for technique, as long as they end up on the soft side, I don't really care how they get there. I usually melt butter, whisk a little of it into the eggs with salt and cook them on low heat until they're almost where I want them. Then I toss in a little cream and get them off the heat. Not diet eggs but I don't eat eggs very often anyway.

And it's earned it's keep...

I use the brown bag in the microwave (without oil) when I want dry-popped popcorn for infusions. I suppose I could buy an air popper but the bag works fine so I figure it's one less thing to find a place for. I haven't managed to get quite as good a pop rate as with commercial microwave popcorns (without cooking it long enough to burn some of it) but, since I'm not eating it, I don't really care about a few extra unpopped kernels. I also agree with HungryC that the texture seems different from the microwave... but I don't eat a lot of popcorn so I'm no expert.

Mopping. Unfortunately, it's completely unavoidable... I hate a messy kitchen much worse than I hate any of the cleaning jobs.

The LCBO carries El Dorado 21 year. I decide to spring for a bottle. My local store says "we don't carry the El Dorado line". Yes, I can see that. That's why I wanted you to order it. The store in a town an hour away that does carry the El Dorado line says "we don't stock the 21". Yes, I realize that as well. If you stocked it, I wouldn't be asking you to order it. grumble grumble grumble They should just add a system on the site so you can order what you want, pay for it with your credit card and have it shipped to your local store for ID and pickup. A strict "no refunds on online orders" policy would eliminate stores being stuck with stuff they don't want due to buyer regret and the system would eliminate not having access to things based strictly on employee laziness.

Me too! And I actually hate real bananas... totally shameful, I know. :-) I'm just the opposite. I love bananas but artificial banana flavor is one of my most disliked artificial flavors.