haresfur

Last night I went to a different F&C shop from my usual and ordered Couta (Thyrsites atun). After I ordered the owner said he really liked it, and they gave me 2 large pieces. I didn't know a fish could have so many bones! Big ones through all the flesh. I basically had to deconstruct it to eat, which sort of negates the point of the batter, I guess. But the flesh was very firm and the taste not bad. I think if I were to get it again, I'd pay the extra to get it grilled since you have to mince it apart to get the bones out of the middle. Any one else tried it and have opinions?

I don't use a lot of milk so UHT is great IMO. Much better than about-to-turn regular milk. Milk around here doesn't seem to keep well - particularly the stuff in plastic bottles. When I worked in northern Canada, we would get milk frozen before it was flown in. Lasted longer and kept the food cool, too but didn't taste so great. I suppose you could freeze UHT just to use as ice blocks, too. That being said, one time when I was cycling in England I asked for UHT milk in a small town and got a whithering reply about fresh milk. And that was the freshest, best, milk I have ever tasted. Felt kind of sick after quaffing a liter, though.

Ok, but if it's not boiling, why is it bubbling? Where you don't have a mixture of different boiling-point liquids, the bubbles would indicate localised attainment of boiling temperature. This would be where there is not enough energy input to raise the temperature of the entire system to boiling point, the heat losses from top and sides making them cooler, while the heat input at the base will make it hotter than the average of the whole panful. I think 'Simmering' describes the (near steady-state) condition where heat transport away from the base is not always fast enough to prevent hot spots (and/or nucleation sites) from reaching the liquid's boiling point. Ok. This makes sense. But it does point out the limitation of trying to define "simmer" as a specific temperature. The temperature at the base is just at the boiling temperature but the surface of the liquid will be a little below. And the boiling temperature (temperature at which the liquid becomes a vapour) depends on the composition (e.g. salt content) and the pressure (altitude).

A strap wrench for opening jars. Dirt cheap at Harbor Freight in the USA. I keep 2 sizes in the kitchen.

Ok, but if it's not boiling, why is it bubbling?

Yeah, Multnomah Falls in Oregon unless you believe the Twilight movie where it is just outside Forks, Washington. Need another clue to narrow down the guesses, though.

Shhh! They might start calling the bitters "potable" and taxing them as such.

I'll never buy the pet mince at Aldi again. Twice I've got bad bags and you know it's really bad when the dog can't hold it down.

I don't think this is correct. At boiling the amount of heat in the water is essentially constant so any additional heat from the burner either goes into boiling the water faster or is lost out the sides or top of the pot. When you add a given amount of pasta it takes a fixed amount of heat to bring it up to boiling temperature (or if you prefer it saps a fixed amount of heat) no matter how much water. So no matter how much water, the stove has to add the same amount of heat to bring it back to boil except for the fact that a larger pot will be losing more heat to the environment. It seems to me the smaller pot will drop to a lower temperature but return to boiling faster. I suppose the temperature drop could have an effect on how well the pasta cooks - particularly for pasta that cooks quickly but I'm skeptical. I think the biggest problem of a small pot is crowding increasing the chance of the pasta sticking to the bottom of the pot and to each other. That can be addressed through stirring so it really depends on how much you are willing to baby-sit.

Yes, the plate needs to be bigger or the cup smaller Actually, I quite like this one because it has a good sense of movement, like someone was hurrying to get their coffee and cookies. The top cookie needs to be in focus and I'd reduce the other side to only one or two. With some fill light I think it would tell a good story. A bigger plate might not work as well because it seems like there is tension in the cookies and the cup competing for space on the saucer. ... I suppose I'm anthropomorphizing a bit much

Makes sense to me. I've used Ikea elderflower syrup instead of sugar in an "Old Fashioned" with good results. In fact, that sounds like a good plan for the evening.

I'll suggest a contrary approach: if you don't relish the prospect of all that brewing hassle, find some more interesting tea bags. There are actually some teas that I (shame) like better in tea bags than loose. Rather than reverting to Lipton's, run through some small packs of different varieties. When you find something you want to come back to, then maybe try the loose leaf to compare. Then try to optimize the brewing parameters.

Oh, I so miss the lunchera trucks! Do yours sell tortas, too?

Ok David, I guess I can't argue with any of that. ... But I'm not about to feel guilty about any tastes I don't manage to acquire...

Wasn't "Dr. Fernet" supposedly Swedish or Finnish?

Good idea Dan. Actually, last night I went with gin:amero:maraschino 2:1:1. The ratios could use a little fiddling and maybe a slightly softer gin than Tanq. But overall it was darn tasty.

Is English the only language where it is seen as pretentious to use pronunciation that sounds "foreign"? I think it would be reasonable to list Anglicized and French pronunciation as correct.

Thanks for the tour. It's been a long time since I was in Saskatoon and it looks like the food only gets better.

Picked up a new-to-me Lazzaroni Amaro today. Pretty sweet, tastes basically like a non-fizzy chinotto. Not unpleasant but not sure what I will do with it aside from maybe drinking straight or topped with soda water or tonic. Anyone run into this one?

Awesome. Do you put the chocolate syrup on the glass before or after you build the drink?

That sounds great. I bet the chocolate goes well. I've mixed Campari with lemon sorbet. Looks nice swirled in with straight lemon but I've had problems getting the swirl right.

Totally agree, both about problem solving and in particular about acquired tastes. But you have to start with yourself. Case in point. A number of years ago, when I was quite new to the professional booze-taster gig, I got sent a bottle of this new rum called Sea Wynde. I tasted it and almost spat it out. It was harsh, burnt tasting, sulfurous. If that was rum, everything else I knew as rum wasn't. Clearly defective. ... Then we got Inner Circle, also different but a lot. By now, of course, I had learned to appreciate this stuff and was actively seeking it out. Then Eric Seed asked me what spirits I'd like to see available, and I told him a real, old-school Jamaica rum. I'd never had one, but I was sure it was big in that stank, which by this point I had learned to call "hogo." Next time I saw him, he had samples, and by this point I was able to tell what I was looking for in such a rum. With that input and input from some other people who had come to appreciate this style (Audrey Saunders, for one), Eric put together Smith & Cross. Things like that don't happen if you compartmentalize your input. My first thought on reading this was, "Gee, I hope I don't have to acquire a taste for Bundaberg yellow label. So how do you decide which tastes you want to acquire? I suppose one way for me would be to listen to the opinions of the writers, bartenders, and historians. As I think about it, perhaps it is better to think about evolving tastes rather than acquired tastes. There has to be a way to get from point A to point B. Maybe you decide the endpoint would be better hit by an asteroid and left to the fossil record. Or you get side-tracked on the way and end up somewhere exciting and unexpected.

I admit, I sometimes like drinks that others might turn up their noses at. Maybe not chocotinis, but ones that aren't "too adult". There was a MixMo a while back on "guilty pleasures" but maybe others have ideas for drinks that are tasty (or perhaps humorous) in spite of themselves. For example, how about an adult float that feels nice on a scratchy throat: Fill chilled glass with lemon-lime gelatto Add 2 oz Aperol Top with tonic water Might be better with Campari

Ah, I was wondering about the delis, thanks for clearing that up. Sounds like you are providing a great community meeting place.

I think this is perhaps why the answer to the OP is so elusive--a recipe cannot be intrinsically "craft". A "craft" item is the product of a craftsman, an expert in executing a method. Whether a cocktail is a "craft" cocktail must be judged on a drink-to-drink basis, even when the drinks are theoretically the same recipe. Perhaps addressing the idea of intrinsic quality or merit of recipes needs another term? I think the merit question is where classic comes in. Classical music is a style with a particular merit. And it is generally agreed, I believe, that people continue to write classical music. I don't think the vest is a red herring because the bartender craft is both in the execution of the drink and in the performance of preparing it. The question then is if the vest is appropriate to the ambiance or a non-sequitur? Surely part of what made Jerry Thomas great was the diamond stick-pin. Gerry Regan's book has some great examples of what makes a great bartender.