nickrey

I don't have the book as yet but somewhat in their defence Thai food is not meant to be cooked entirely to a recipe. Differences in ingredients make it virtually impossible to give exact proportions. I went to a cooking demonstration by David Thompson yesterday and the very final thing that he did was taste the dish and adjust the amounts of fish sauce, sugar, etc to taste. Without this you will not get a sweet/sour/salty/hot balance, which is the desired outcome in Thai food.

Only that we know that polycarbonate is food safe and, most importantly, tolerates the temperatures used in sous vide cooking. If cost is an issue, why not get something that can be used for other purposes, eg a 20 liter stock pot?

Try this one. At 150mm, it should be deep enough for your circulator.

That is so generous Dexter, thank you.

If you're worried, get yourself a stainless steel deep hotel pan. They are readily available at Kitchen supply stores. You should also be able to get a polycarbonate lid that you can cut a hole big enough for the circulator. Not sure if you meant Sous Vide Supreme as this is the Eades self contained cooker.

Why not cut the piece in half and cook one half with Vegemite and the other without. Looking forward to the results.

MM84321, you have an elegant lightness of touch and a really good eye for plating. Have you ever considered doing food styling professionally?

I think Paul is referring to only rolling and cutting as much as you want and refrigerating or freezing the dough. As it has fresh eggs in it, it is probably better frozen if you are not going to use it within a few days.

So you can get 1000 of them. Love the line "if you own this [and a dish doesn't work], you'd never be able to blame your equipment..."

Your dishes always look spectacular and the photography is exemplary. But I look at the dishes and think that I'd be looking for a few other courses to make sure my hunger was satiated. Do you cook extra and serve it on the side?

The Babbo recipe linked to by Frogprincesse above uses cups, which is not how the Italians express it in their recipes. The traditional recipe for home made egg pasta is one egg + 100g flour per serve plus a bit of salt. If the dough is too soft, you add more flour; too hard, add some water. The flour needs to be Italian 00 or semolina. That's it. Make sure you rest the dough for around 15 minutes before putting it through the machine. The machine kneads as well as shapes the dough.

It was brewed especially for Fathers Day, so very fresh. Am travelling soon so am thinking of vacuum sealing what's left over in my chamber sealer to keep the air away.

What do you buy for Father's Day for the father whose tastes run to the esoteric and gourmet? If you're my kids, and this is a question that they have to deal with often, you buy a pack of Esmerelda Special Geisha coffee from Panama, which is what I received this year. It is billed as the world's best, and most expensive, coffee. And it really is a special coffee. Definitely the best I've ever tasted. My question is this. Are any eGulleters taking the next step in coffee and going for the extra special blends? If so, what have you tried? How did you brew it? Is coffee the non-alcoholic version of very fine wine or pure malt whisky?

I've read that some differences between different classes of methyl cellulose relate to the temperatures at which they gel. In addition, it seems from the Modernist Pantry web site that the LV (Low Viscosity) and HV (High Viscosity) differ in, unsurprisingly, their viscosity. I'm experimenting with using Methocel F50 at a very low concentration (1% by weight) to stabilise Hollandaise and make it reheatable. I guess the answer is to play with ingredients to see what works best. Even the bibles of Modernist Cuisine cannot take into account the differences from preparation to preparation. Will report back on the Hollandaise after I've played with it a bit.

There is a whole range of additives put out under the Aromat range by Knorr. Many Europeans that I know use them to give food a flavour boost. Yet when you look at the list of ingredients, good old MSG is right up there. When I've mentioned this to these same cooks, they seem horrified that they are enlivening their dishes with MSG (which, by the way, I don't have much of a problem with). How many people use these flavour enhancers containing MSG not knowing what they contain?

All the best Chris. So you're stepping ... back ... to a manager's role. Most people would see that as a step up in involvement. I hope people realise just how much you did in your time in the Director's role in addition to your huge contributions to the forums. Many thanks for your efforts.

I've had some wonderful Pol Roger vintage champagne recently. You should be able to get it for less than $100.

Love the high quality crystal.

If you want heavier mouth feel to your soups, try some vegetarian umami building tricks. Sautée some star anise in with the onion. Use mushrooms plentifully, both roasted and dried. Fermented tofu of various types can add another dimension: soy sauce and various types of miso are examples. Try using spices such as toasted ground cumin or coriander seeds. In Australia we might use Vegemite as a flavour enhancer. The Spanish used smoked paprika. If your family eat milk based products, try Parmesan. Various forms of seaweed (eg. Kombu) can also be used.

One person's "muddled samey flavours" apparently is another person's canvas on which to create a fully integrated whole. "Richness and depth of body" sounds suspiciously like umami to me. There are many ways to add this without starting off with full-blown stock. One of my favourites is powdered porcini mushrooms. If you feel you want to concentrate a flavour, strain out the elements that would be harmed by boiling and reduce the sauce/broth. This, by the way, is adjusting the amount of water in the product. If it gets too concentrated, add water to dilute. It's still flavoured water no matter which way you look at it.

One emerging and growing area of contention is rising levels of alcohol in wine. There is a strong view that this fashion is causing homogeneity in the flavour of wine and that they lack subtlety and finesse. While global warming is likely to be one of the causes, there is also a view that this trend is being driven by the preferences of influential writers (did I see Robert Parker's name mentioned earlier?).

And note the bit about cyanide. It's pretty important.

The Ruhlman debate seems to be moving into black or white territory. Water or stock? Seems like an all or nothing question. What is the role of vegetable nage in this debate? I note that Lisa Shock above "doubled up on the herbs" in the water that she used in her favoured risotto. That means she did not use water but rather a type of nage, which adds flavour and complexity without the brute force of a stock. Personally unless I want a very heavy result, I seldom use a beef stock. My chicken stock is probably more diluted than most of you use and I use veal demi-glace as a flavour enhancer by adding a teaspoon or so to sauces. All things are not better with heavy stocks because subtle flavours can be overwhelmed. It is also of interest that many chefs now make stocks out of single ingredients, omitting carrots, celery, etc. They are trying for a more pure and delicate taste. Are most things better with flavoured water such as stocks, remouillage, nage, broths, herb infusions, etc? For the most part I'd say yes because a particular flavour note or level of complexity is added. Are some things better with water? As we've seen above, yes they are but with the caveat that water with herbs, vegetables, etc moves us away from the water into the flavoured water sphere. Rather than settling on black or white, I'd normally suggest a shade of grey is more appropriate. But that wonderful phrase has now been appropriated in meaning, alas.

Looks like sous vide is ripe to take off in the Australian market. Breville, which is an Australian home kitchen electrical supplier similar to Cuisinart appears to be rebadging the sous vide supreme for the Australian domestic user. By putting it out under their own label, they should achieve a reasonable market penetration using their existing distribution channels. Report here.

Why not just do a remouillage? This second stock made with the same bones that have already been used to make a stock is a better option than water when you don't want delicate flavours overwhelmed by a full-flavoured stock.