Eric_Malson

I'd love to come, but I go to Ireland for 6 weeks on Sept. 15th....damn!

And I'm drinking a cappuccino fresh from the Rancilio your SO helped convince me to buy. And yes, he just about has me sold on the coffee roaster, too. Let me take it upon myself to be the first to welcome you, Miss Berger!

I have those same itchy-mouth symptoms (as a bonus, the top layer of skin on the roof of my mouth usually peels off!) when I eat fried eggplant. Oddly, it doesn't happen when I have eggplant prepared a different way, like, say, baba ghanouj.

Suvir, It was so long ago (well over 20 years) that I really can't remember all that much about it. I do remember it was light in color (I had an egg curry years later that was in a reddish-brown sauce--this was not like that), mild but complex enough to be interesting. Sorry I can't give you more details....that's pretty much all I remember. Any ideas where I might try an egg curry like that again? It seems like such an initiation should be commemorated somehow.... Eric

This is the best recipe for homemade lemonade I've ever tried: Take 6 lemons, them in a large bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover. Leave a minute or two (this is to remove the wax retailers put on the outside to make them prettier), and dry them off vigorously (also helps to release juices). Slice them as thinly as you can (rind and all!) and put in a large, non-reactive bowl, sprinkling each layer with sugar (about a cup and a half of sugar total for 6 lemons, if I remember correctly--I'll double check when I get home tomorrow). Also add a pinch of salt to this mixture. Leave to macerate for an hour, more or less. With a wooden spoon, press out juice from the lemons without breaking up the pulp. Add cold water (somewhat less than a half gallon is what I like, but can be more if you like your lemonade weaker.....taste as go along!), serve over ice (duh!).

At the risk of sounding priggish...... I've also heard that credited to Alice Roosevelt. ......this is correct. The quote is Alice Roosevelt Longworth's, not Dorothy Parker's.

My first Indian meal was in a restaurant in Ann Arbor in 1980. I had gone there from my college in Indiana (by bus.....*groan!*) to visit the object of my first full-blown adult crush, so memories of the food are somewhat eclipsed by memories of all those churning emotions. I didn't actually like the food all that much, although I'm fairly certain the food was good (the restaurant had an excellent reputation). I was still a novice when it came to new cuisines, and the combination of spices was just too complicated and unfamiliar for me to take in completely. But it piqued my interest, and I knew I wanted to try Indian food again in the future. I was right, because Indian has since become one of my favorite cuisines. One dish I do remember with utter clarity: a delicious, mild egg curry. I used to look for it on menus of other restaurants, but had to give up....hardly any restaurants anywhere seem to offer this dish. But that's the dish that really hooked me.

A little more Fran Lebowitz: A salad is not a meal. It is a style. * * * When one asks for cream one should receive either cream or the information that the establishment in question favors instead a combination of vegetable oil and cancer-causing initials.

A fellow E.F. Benson Fan! Although I miss Lucia and Georgino mio, I read "Secret Lives" a little while ago and giggled a lot. Here's another. I seem to re-read the Lucia books every couple of years. Somehow, they are perfect summer reading. ("Tacete un momento, Georgie. Le domestiche!") Secret Lives is fun, as are, sporadically, the "Dodo" books. I'm still hoping to turn up a copy of Paying Guests one of these days.

I wholeheartedly second this recommendation. Fantastic book. I think I saw a re-issue of this in a bookstore (U.S.) not too long ago, but not sure. My copy is over 20 years old. I'll have to check out this other when it appears over here.

I eat out 5-7 times a week (um, in restaurants, that is....). Although I love to cook, my work tends to be mostly in the late afternoon/early evening and by the time I'm finished I generally don't feel like breaking out the cookware. I usually end up traveling, because in my neighborhood (Columbia U. area) there just aren't that many restaurants I want to visit more than about once a month (La Rosita and, extending a bit, Pampa, are the only exceptions). Since I generally eat later than most of my friends (during the week, anyway), for me a restaurant not only needs to have food that appeals to me, but I need to feel comfortable dining there alone. Most of these restaurants are in the $25-and-under category. However, what I feel like eating on the evening in question is the paramount consideration! I tend to be a "regular" at a handful of restaurants (there are 5 or 6 of these), but try a very wide range of places. If there's good food to be had, I'm up for it! Haven't been to so many places on "the list", but it's actually more a question of coordinating schedules with dining companions than a lack of desire to go there. In the last year or so, I've been to: Bolo (didn't like that at all) Cafe des Artistes Eek....that's ALL?? I must make a more concerted effort.....

I worked in Seattle one summer and found it a rather strange place for day-to-day dining. Coming from NYC, I have a sizable repertoire of restaurants in which I can be happy for $20 or so. These don't seem to exist in Seattle....I was confronted daily with the choice of spending either $6 (burrito stand or the like) or $40 minimum (and this in some VERY casual-type places!). (This observation is limited to restaurants within walking distance of lower Queen Anne hill and downtown). The one exception to this is Mediterranean Kitchen. Excellent sort of pan-Middle-Eastern/Mediterranean. They have a marinated and grilled garlic chicken wings entree for which they are justly famous. There were only two other restaurants I tried in those six weeks that I would intentionally go back to: Wild Ginger--I am not generally a fan of Pan-Asian/fusion cuisine, but this place has delicious food, and was worth every penny. Metropolitan Grill--one of my favorite steakhouses anywhere. If they have it, get the rib chop with the roasted garlic sauce (on the side, if you're a purist, but try it--it's wonderful).

Although not exactly what was asked for, I can tell you what I did. Six or seven years ago, I wanted to explore that part of Italy and decided to stay in Santa Margherita Ligure. Since it's about halfway between Cinque Terre and Genova (I wanted to see both), it seemed like the logical place to stay, and for me it was the perfect choice. I stayed at a lovely and inexpensive hotel located literally next to the train station, the Hotel Terminus (amazingly quiet considering its location), which also has a very good restaurant, perhaps the best in town. From there it is an easy (and cheap) train ride to either Genova or Cinque Terre. When I got to Cinque Terre, I realized I had made the right choice (for my temperament, anyway)--it was overrun with tourists. I was very glad to be able to return that evening to the much calmer, and every bit as beautiful, Santa Margherita. The most memorable meal I had that entire trip was at a hole in the wall in Genova behind the Stazione Brignole called Trattoria Colombo. I still can taste the minestrone, made the local way (of course) with pesto.

This is one topic I can never resist, and since it just re-surfaced....... "On topic", as they say here, Salt by Mark Kurlansky. Fascinating. This book must be well-known to eGulleteers, but I hadn't heard of it before a friend lent it to me. Off topic, I recently discovered the myriad joys of Balzac, so I'm reading as much of "The Human Comedy" as I can find (VERY little of it, percentage-wise, is actually available these days in English translation). Recently finished Père Goriot, Une Ténebreuse Affaire, L'Auberge rouge.....in the middle of Histoire des Treize.

Can I watch?

Then, Mr. Kinsey, it's only because you haven't noticed. We've eaten together countless times, and I always do the switch. Living in Portugal, I really tried to train myself to keep the fork in my left hand after cutting, but it felt so unnatural that I always ended up switching back. A Portuguese friend told me that when he was small, his mother was talking about table manners once, and said, with great derision, "if you want to eat the AMERICAN way, you do this...." and did the switch thing. Gonçalo said, "Of course I was enchanted!" and did it that way all the time (especially around his mother, to annoy her). And he still tends to eat that way as an adult.

I agree with carswell almost 100%. My only addition is bacon (I would do Chinese sausage in a heartbeat, but Chinatown is just too far for me to shop for food there more often than about twice a year)--not much, just a slice or two, shredded. The first time I ever had homemade fried rice, a friend from Hong Kong made it with bacon, and I thought it was heavenly. The next week a Japanese friend told me she did it the same way. VERY occasionally I'll add some chopped, previously stir-fried green pepper.

I can personally recommend La Espanola Meats as a source for Spanish ingredients, especially chorizos and cured meats. Most of the kinds I've tried have been quite good, although I'm not too crazy about the Cantimpalos cocktail sausages. Their lomo embuchado (cured pork loin) is really delicious--it's a great appetizer/nibbler. You can get more information on their website: La Espanola Meats They also have an extensive selection of Spanish food products of all types. It's worth giving them a call to have them send an illustrated catalog--the pictures on the site are a bit vague as to what product is what. La Espanola is also the only American source I know of for those wonderful, large white haricot beans used to make fabada asturiana. As far as chorizos readily available in NYC go, I find the Quijote brand just fine for most cooking uses. The cured one sold at Fairway with the ends tied together is quite tasty. And actually, for cooking, the Goya chorizos available in most grocery stores are really OK.

Since you asked.... When I was playing a concert in Cincinnati last year, I had some surprisingly good Indian food (surprising in that I really had no idea what to expect) at Akash, which is on E. 6th St. downtown. Although I'm not exactly an expert (just an enthusiast), the food tasted very "homemade" to me--I love that--and the ingredients were all scrupulously fresh. It turned out to be one of the best Indian meals I had had in a long time. As wonderful as a lot of Portuguese food is, one wants some variety when one lives there for four years, and I found some very good Indian restaurants there. My favorite is Farah's Tandoori, in the Rua Sant' Ana a Lapa (No. 73, I believe), in the neighborhood behind the Estrela basilica. Very high quality all round....I especially love her Nawabi Biryani. If you happen to be out near Cascais and get a craving for Indian food, Restaurante Taj - A Palhota in Sao Joao do Estoril is well worth a short detour. It's in a neighborhood slightly removed from the train station and therefore not too obvious....you'll probably have to ask someone where the "restaurante indiano" is. In the Baixa, in the center of Lisbon is another Indian restaurant I used to love to go to, but I'm not sure I ever knew the name of it. To make matters worse (at least as far as trying to recommend it goes), it is up a flight of stairs in an unmarked doorway--in fact, I don't think the restaurant has any sign whatsoever. Still, for the determined, it's not impossible to find....from the southeast corner of the Pr. da Figueira, go just 2 or 3 doors east (staying on the north side of the street) and look for a door propped open with stairs visible (all other such doors would be closed). And once again, if in doubt, ask someone. Portuguese almost always know where all the restaurants are. The funny thing is there is ANOTHER Indian restaurant, one I never managed to go to, in the Baixa, also upstairs with no sign marking an entrance, or even the restaurant itself. I even found it once, spied the windows from the street, had a waiter point to the direction of the entrance, and I still couldn't find the stairs....very strange! I'm somewhat ashamed that I never went to a Goan restaurant while I was there, Goa being a former colony of Portugal and all, but the Goan restaurants I heard about got mixed reports and sounded quite overpriced. There's also a great Thai restaurant in Caldas da Rainha, but that's not the topic....

Although not nearly as over-the-top as Nero's ex, I was once involved with someone who had reached the age of 32 NEVER having eaten a green bean (didn't like the look of them) or a baked potato (french fries only), among many other food phobias. That lasted WAY longer than it should have.... This didn't happen to me, but it might as well have, because I could imagine it so vividly. I once met someone who, upon finding out what I did for a living, asked me if I knew someone in the same field named "x". When I said I did, I was treated to the following story: New Acquaintance had recently had dinner in a quiet, intimate restaurant and was seated at a neighboing table to "x". Knowing his name was virtually unavoidable because "x" has a very loud, theatrical mode of speaking....modulating his voice simply never occurs to him. Nor does modulating his topics of conversation--although a dear person in many ways, "x" has no inner censor and loves to talk, in highly graphic terms, about his favorite sexual practices and anatomical preferences, no matter what the situation (I normally find this quite amusing, but I don't think I'd want to dine in a quiet restaurant with him). It was really quite funny to hear "x" described so accurately by someone who had, technically, never met him. New Acquaintance's dinner companions were not amused, however....one of them, on leaving, said to "x", dripping with sarcasm, "So nice dining with you--let's do it again sometime." "X" even told me himself once that a man (as I recall, not at a neighboring table, but several tables over) in a restaurant once said to him, "You're not only embarrassing my wife, you're embarrassing ME!"

I have a Rancilio Silvia and a Rocky grinder (same as slkinsey, who advised me when it came time to pick something out) which I'm pretty much thrilled with. Sam also has ALL the accessories, including a roaster, which he'll tell you all about when he posts to this thread (which he undoubtedly will!).

I suppose if I'd read this webpage more carefully, the "exclusive" claim would have registered. Still, these guys have been growing them for at least a couple of years now--you'd think SOMEONE closer to the east coast might have picked up on the idea too.... Pimientos de Padrón I'll check into the Japanese ones--thanks, Ruth!

This evening, my friends Michael and Elizabeth and I were sharing a bottle of albariño (Martín Codax--excellent), and the conversation quite naturally turned to favorite food experiences in Spain. We all quickly agreed how marvelous that wine would be with some pimientos de padrón, those tiny green peppers from Galicia, about a bite each (and of which about one in ten are hot!), fried in olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt, served as tapas throughout the country. They seem to be catching on in some areas here, but I have never seen them for sale in NYC. I must admit I haven't done an exhaustive search, but I would have definitely noticed them if they were lying around. Do they ever show up at Fairway? The Green Market? An internet search turns up a grower in Northern California that sells them, and the the Spanish internet food site La Tienda will ship them to you for 25 DOLLARS A POUND!! (I think not...) Suggestions, anyone?

I confess I instantly fell in love with Chicago deep-dish pizza with my first taste over 20 years ago. That blessed event occurred in a joint that remained my hands-down favorite until a few years ago, Gino's on Rush Street (it's not affiliated with Gino's East, or at least has not been for many years if it ever was). Sadly, in the last four or five years, each visit was worse than the last, and now I generally go to Pizzeria Uno or Due instead. Incidentally, let no one think that the pizza served in the Pizzeria Uno chain is the same is what is served in Chicago....the crust is totally different, making it a different--and totally forgettable--pizza altogether. As for stuffed pizza, never cared for it much (with one shining exception), although in theory that's just the sort of thing I should LOVE. The exception is Edwardo's stuffed pesto pizza. I hope they still make--it's been years since I've been to an Edwardo's, but it was the only thing I ever tried there that I thought was good. I've always found Giordano's disgusting.... I'm taking a trip to Chicago next week.....looks like I'll have to try Lous Malnato's!

That is the most tragic thing I have heard in weeks--going through Mealhada 3 times and STILL not trying the suckling pig! For future reference: even if you're just going through on the highway, you can ALWAYS stop at the service area (there's one actually in Mealhada) and get a suckling-pig sandwich at the cafeteria there, any time. It's the real stuff, locally made, on some delicious crusty local bread.....I have always stopped for some whenever I have driven past.