KennethT

Really? I LOVE game, and I think there are quite a few other NYC folk who would agree with me... especially by judging how much it costs to buy quail or squab in the market! I think if a store started carrying doves, it would cause a stampede at the store because everyone would know that the quantities were limited and no one would want to be left out.

I just caught the last half hour of Bourdain's recent CNN show on Singapore... his questions/discussions were very topical of that place - namely how to keep the local food of Singapore from disappearing. He visited Guan Hoe Soon, the Peranaken restaurant we visited upthread, where it came out that there are very few Peranakens cooking Peranaken food in restaurants anymore... it seemed like the main focus of the show was him wondering "why can't you charge more for local food"? It's true that Singapore has some the highest GDP in the world - it's a relatively wealthy country, and the people there are obsessed with food - they're willing to pay $$ for French, Italian, etc, but they expect their chicken rice to still only cost SGD3. He makes a good point that if it were accepted to charge more - say SGD12 a plate rather than 3, you'd have a lot more Singaporeans wanting to stay in the family food business - thereby preserving their unique food and culture. Even the government is trying to encourage young people to want to stay in the hawker business, but they're finding it's a hard thing as it's long, hard hours for (currently) very little pay. It was also nice to see him, at the end of the show, visit the Hong Lim food centre and get the Outram Park Char Kway Teoh... delicious! But, rather than his ever-present beer, he should have gone across the aisle to the great fruit drink vendor who is one of the few left who makes his lime drink (limeade) from scratch and not a concentrate.

Thanks for doing this!

I'm curious as to what you thought was awful about it - was it bitter, or just flavorless, or something else? I can't think of any western cuisines that do this, but I can think of a lot of SE Asian ones - making something with fermented shrimp paste that originally smells really strong and slightly putrid, but winds up being something magical...

@Chris Hennes and @SNewman004 In my (extremely) limited experience, I agree that hydration and temp are the most important factors. I've found that kneading the dough isn't necessary, but I think it is necessary to wait like 20-30 minutes to allow the masa flour to absorb all the liquid before trying to form the tortillas.

A friend's cat used to LOVE genoa salami... she would hear you opening the package and come RUNNING, then jump up to your shoulders to try to get it out of your hands!

I'll eagerly follow along!

@FranciSorry to hear about the issues with your employee... unfortunately, that type of thing is all too common. I can understand your feelings about ecommerce. I'm a manufacturer (of electrical products, not food) and we are mostly wholesale, but a do a small amount of online retail. While the overall margin is greater with retail, when you take all the aspects into account (shipping and handling time, order processing, answering questions/emails, etc.) I still find it more profitable to sell wholesale... and it is a lot easier and less taxing on sales pressures. The only issue is that when you have some large accounts, you need to constantly make sure that they are happy with quality/service because they represent a larger portion of revenue, proportionally than any single retail sale could ever be.

It's still my method of choice... great extraction, perfectly clear and fast!

I was worried that Bermuda was affected by some of the recent hurricanes, but it certainly looks fine in your photos!

How long you brine for depends on the concentration of your brine and thickness. If you do an "equilibrium brine" like others have suggested, it could take 3 days sitting in the brine to get to the right concentration. If you make a ridiculously strong brine, then you may only need to let it sit in the brine for an hour, but then it should sit for a while (minimum time depends on thickness) so that the salt can distribute itself evenly - otherwise, you'll have a salty ring on the outside, and unseasoned meat on the inside. Once you take it out of the brine, the salt will evenly distribute itself over time - the longer you let it sit, the more even it will be. Once it is completely even, letting it sit longer won't hurt it (until the meat spoils!). If you have several days before you want to use it, the equilibrium brine is best because there is no way to oversalt it. Once the salt in the meat gets to equilibrium with the surrounding brine, it just sits there, no worse for wear. The problem with using a strong brine is that the meat will continue to take on salt until you remove it from the brine - the longer it sits in the brine itself, the saltier the entirety will be.

If I remember correctly, Bernard Loiseau - in France, committed suicide supposedly because of the pressure of keeping his 3 stars amid changing trends and tastes.

It makes sense that he's trolling the internet for discussion about it since it's a brand new product... I'd probably be doing the same thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassica_juncea

I only recognize the first one - I've seen it in my local Thai store - they said it's the typical pickled mustard used as an accompaniment to Khao Soi - and indeed, looks like what I had in Thailand with it. Make sure you thoroughly drain the yellow liquid, and rinse/drain the mustard well - the packaging liquid is disgusting.

@TropicalseniorThat sounds like an amazing experience!

@adey73I'd be worried that you wouldn't get great heat transfer doing that. Unless both the steel and the aluminum were both perfectly milled flat (which they're not), there will be a (relatively) large air space between them acting as an insulator.

Pretty cool. Was that vibrating sound coming from it or a low flying plane outside?

I never knew there was such a thing as an unripe, or ripe for that matter, eggplant... I thought they were like zucchini in that respect. They don't really ripen - they just get bigger.

@dcarch and @TicTac Exactly. Vietnamese Coriander aka Rau Ram

More pickage...

Gotta harvest a lime...

My yu choi is going crazy! I harvested it down to only a few sprigs just last week...

Back in 2008, my wife and I spent a few days around Xmas time going to Puerto Rico. We flew into San Juan (all the way on the east side of the island) but our hotel was all the way on the west side of the island. There's actually an airport on the west side also, but we wanted to drive across the island taking in the sights, and a certain lechoneria in the middle of nowhere. Best. Lechon. Ever.... ETA: Along the way, we also found a lady frying fruit pies over charcoal on the side of the road... I didn't get a picture, but they were fantastic!

Tomatoes can't really be perennial, no matter the location. Indeterminate tomatoes will live and keep growing so long as there is no frost - but after about month 10 or 11, will be come less and less productive. Determinate tomatoes have a specific life cycle - they grow vegetatively, then flower, fruit and finally die - regardless of temperature - they usually transition from vegetative growth to flowering depending on hours of daylight (or darkness). This is why commercial growers in greenhouses grow indeterminate tomatoes since they will be productive for almost a year before they need replacing.