trillium

If we were to define things by the "commonly accepted practice by much of the food and beverage industry" we'd be in a hell of a lot of trouble awfully quickly...lowest common denominator does not a world-class beverage make, you know? We wouldn't do that with food, we shouldn't do it with cocktails. Bottomline at most places is to make money the fastest way possible...period. And names should mean something precise, otherwise, why do we bother naming them in the first place? My level of loathing for vodka comes directly from ordering classic cocktails (which may even be advertised at the bar) that historically have gin as a base, and having vodka served to me as a matter of course. regards, trillium

How do you get the proper dilution of the spirits with a little water from the ice when you just pour straight from the freezer? Or don't you? regards, trillium

On the frozen galangal front... in our house we prefer buying the frozen galangal from Thailand over the fresh stuff from Hawaii. It's darker orange in color and has a much stronger taste. If a recipe is developed using Hawaii grown galangal and you have Thai stuff, you might want to keep that in mind. Pim's comment about slicing kilos of stuff by hand made me laugh, we have a recipe for rempah that has you slicing kilos of red chillies, garlic, shallots, galanga and a little fresh tumeric and then pounding it. The partner's nonya stepmum gave us permission to do it in the Cuisinart since we don't have a servant in the kitchen who can spend all day with the chore. Where do you guys stand on freezing curry pastes? Kasma gives it the green light, David Thompson says it's a big no no. In an ideal world, I'd agree with David, but we freeze stuff all the time. regards, trillium

I wouldn't recommend it, unless it wasn't porus. Molcajetes are frequently made from basalt (lava) and are used more for salsas and sauces, not grinding thick stuff like curry pastes. I'm guessing a molcajete would make grinding a curry much more difficult then it needs to be because you don't have a nice hard surface, but a pitted, softer one, and you wouldn't be able to pound the same way (like pim says). I'd say molcajetes fall closer to the catagory of clay and wood mortar and pestles used in SE Asia to make salads, then the granite ones used to pound pastes. regards, trillium

There is something wierd going on. Roasting will kill the virus, but irradiation won't??? This reminds me of the stupidity over mustard oil out of India. Sigh. regards, trillium

You can buy ammonium bicarbonate through the mail at King Arthur Flour. You can use it for making yew tiao too. Cake flour, ammonium bicarb and lots of sugar for the yeast to go to town on is the key to those super white fluffy bao. Emphasis on the cake flour. I bought the super refined stuff out of HK in an asian grocery and the bao actually came out too fluffy and light for me, I wanted them a little chewier! So now I use all-purpose. Also, when you steam them, cabbage leaves work just as well as wax or silicone paper. I like making choy yuk bao, so I always save the tough outer leaves for steaming the bao on top of. regards, trillium

Thanks for the review, it sounds like it's worth checking out. A note on pisco, it's more like a brandy or grappa then a wine...we're talking "spirit". regards, trillium

Also if the bartender gets overenthusiastic or showoffy and shakes the drink too hard, there can be little chips of ice in it. I hate that. How funny. I hate it when the barkeep doesn't shake it long enough or hard enough, little ice chips are how I judge that the drink is likely to be cold enough for my tastes. I hate not cold enough cocktails. Takes all sorts... regards, trillium

A suggestion for posting... if the articles are online it would be less cumbersome just to post the url, instead of cutting and pasting the whole text. I think that's the policy on posting copywrited work on eGullet anyway. regards, trillium

I don't know much about Korean dog eating, although I worked with a Korean guy who grew up on a dog "farm" and won't touch the stuff, but I do know something about "exotic" animal eating in south China, such as cats, dogs, monkey brains from living monkeys, etc. You get told that the more slowly they're killed the better they taste. I'm all for cultural differences in what animals a society chooses to eat, but I think the culture argument for being allowed to kill an animal in a way to bring about maximum suffering is total bullshit. That's not culture, it's testosterone poisoning. regards, trillium

Would this be the same as green wheat from Jordan? A dear friend who was Palestinian by way of Jordan by way of Venezuela gave me some and instructions on making it into a soup with lamb. It was really wonderful eating and I've been trying to find it ever since. I didn't have to clean it though, just rinsed and dumped it into the soup pot. regards, trillium

I love coco biancos... I buy them demi-sec from a farmer (Anthony Boutard of Ayers Creek Farms) here in Oregon who grows them for Pascal Souton, a French chef who lives (and cooks) here. Dried, they make a really lovely cassoulet and don't fall apart so easily (obviously). If you still have any pork belly left...make pancetta! It's really easy to do at home and very rewarding...but maybe you already know that. regards, trillium

Yeah, they're here in the shops but they're not very fragrant...the quality really sucks... I've mail ordered them in the past, but I was hoping to grow my own! Thanks though. regards, trillium

If the tse tin tsiu really is a mirasol, then that's the one. Mira sol = look at (the) sun. They're a bitch to grow in places that don't stay really hot at night. My scotch bonnets and long red cayennes did great this summer in Portland, but none of the sky facing chillies survived and I had them in a southern exposure next to a concrete wall. It still got too cold for them at night, I think they need at least 60 F. We were totally bummed about that, since it's hard to find any of this sort but the smaller Thai ones which don't work for certain applications. regards, trillium

Thanks for being such a good sport about my provocation... and keep those complicated recipes coming! regards, trillium

First of all, I'd like to add to the chorus singing your praises. I've found your _Mediterranean Greens and Grains_ book to be very instrumental in adding more vegetables into my diet in a delicious, varied and interesting way, especially in the winter months when all you see at the market is greens, greens and more greens. As I've told you privately, and I'll repeat here, one of the recipes in that book has made it possible for me to eat spinach, which had been on the "I can't do it" list. I'm delighted that you're spending time here at eGullet. My question is sort of an extension of the one posed by Jonathan Day, but I'm going to go into more dangerous territory. I'm wondering about your response to the professional criticism regarding your writing that has not been positive. I'm thinking in particular about the essay that John Thorne wrote about you, and his contention that the literary food world needs more vigorous debate and very different schools of writing, instead of just being a large club of mutual admirers (I'm paraphrasing him here). I'm in a field where there is a tremendous amount of criticism leveled at what you do, and I feel for the most part it is very constructive and helps me do what I do better. Although I'll admit the occasional comment will have me awake at night, seething. Do you feel like this sort of criticism has its place in the food writing world? Has it changed your writing in a positive or negative sense? regards, trillium

Let's remember this "large, public forum" can accomadate several points of view. Just because one is complaining about all of the bad bartenders doesn't mean one is a smoldering psychopath, just as if one is complaining about the plentitude of bad customers doesn't mean one is spitting in the drinks they make, right? And really. The good ones stick out much better than the bad ones do (barkeeps that is, though probably customers too) because they are so rare. Let's not take everything as a personal attack and get defensive or turn things into popularity contests or divide up into cliques. We're all grownups and should be happy to have a little diversity of opinion in the crowd, it's a healthy thing... who knows, we might end up learning something useful. For the record, I started a thread here about places to go to get a good, classic drink, the assumption being that it meant they had good barkeeps. There were only a few takers, JAZ being one of them. Please add to the list. regards, trillium

Don't be scared of Harold's. Love of good food is a powerful uniter. I forgot about that place, but I've been and it rocks. regards, trillium

I know this barely counts, but Wishbone had decent enough friend chicken for one of their weekly lunch specials. It depends on how much you gots to have it, I suppose. regards, trillium

Hairs, straws, whatever. Thanks for the geography and history lesson. I'm too much of an old Usenet fogey to go back and fix my mistake, but consider myself corrected! And Nick, That's my whole point about the restaurant. If there aren't enough to notice any going then I'm thinking it's not going to be that great. Norte Americanos aren't exactly a market driving force when it comes to getting the good stuff. Last time I checked the menu there were no pupusas, which was another off-putting thing. Of course, pupusas aren't exactly sit down at a table type of deal, all the ones I've had have been in a street food context. Although...the last one I had, I had to eat sitting on the curb because I couldn't stand up very well. Good times...regards, trillium

That sound great... but lethal! How sweet is it? Why let that stop you? regards, trillium

The hand thing doesn't bother me. I'm sure my food gets touched way more than that and it doesn't have the whole 70% ethanol thing in its favor for "cooties". I think it's safe to say there are more really bad bartenders than good ones, so I tend to forget the really bad ones. I think one of the more recent bad experiences I've had was when I asked the barkeep if they used fresh lemon juice, got the affirmative, and then ordered a tom collins (it was really hot out) and watched them make it with a sour mix. Ugh. Oh wait, then there was the guy, who when I ordered a Maker's Manhattan with extra bitters (my standard dive bar drink, if they look really bad, I ask for it on the rocks) made me a Manhattan with maraschino cherry syrup in it because the bar didn't have a bottle of bitters! Hmm... maybe it's better not to go down this road, if I remember every horrid experience I may never order another drink again. regards, trillium

Ok, this discussion has made me determined to try two restaurants mentioned that are in my 'hood, Adobe Rose (which is in "downtown" Sellwood btw, not Westmoreland...splitting straws I know) and El Palmero. I've been tempted by El Palmero, but every time we walk by and peek in the window it is full of, er, antique buying yuppies (ok, we're bigots). I tend to have a bias that antique buying yuppies can't be trusted to have good taste in food. It may have something to do with seeing them hauling away overpriced pieces of artificially aged junk in their SUVs every weekend. Also, and this may be illogical, if it's El Salvadorean food, then I like to see El Salvadoreans actually eating there. Adobe Rose has been dismissed by us because the corner it is located on is just too precious...but if you say it's good I'll try it. If I end up trapped in some vortex created by godawful wedding dress shops and kid's clothing stores with shirts that cost more than anything I own it's all your fault. regards, trillium

I was indeed wondering if RG himself had been given the red vs. white test, and if he passed. Surviving any amount of time at a bastion of higher learning, is of course, its own special sort of test, but that isn't what I meant. I love reading Trillin on wine...his riff on preferring labels with mountains at a mid-distance makes me laugh every time I read it. On red + white = rose, I was really amused to read about Mr. Pepin mixing old red and white wines together to drink with dinner in his autobiography. He claims not to do it any more, at least around his daughter, who is now the family wine expert. regards, trillium

I'm wondering if you ever bumped into this test or something like it, and if you did, how'd you do? regards, trillium