Louisa Chu

Those sound like crohnes - known in France as Japanese baby artichokes. But I don't know if that's what they really are in Japan.

I just posted about Herve This here and on my site - link below. I attend his meetings in Paris whenever I can - not often enough. He's THE godfather of molecular gastronomy. And yes, food science is a big thing in France/Europe - with many other food scientists - check the Inicon site.

The ones with no possibilities just means those people who have asked for a night that's already booked, the restaurant's closed, etc. No conspiracy. That's it.

Dear Mr. McGee, Thank you so much for doing this Q&A. I'm very interested in the two new areas of your book - diversity and flavour - especially the extremes. How is it that some things that smell and/or taste so bad, can have such good flavour? How do bad smells/tastes not only NOT ruin flavour - but perhaps make it better? I know some of it is culturally based - i.e. how the French find peanut butter and jelly disgusting - but more in reference to smells for example that might in nature signify danger - rotting food - as in durian, epoisse, etc. - or bitter - as in coffee, cocoa - that might signify poison. Thank you so much again. Louisa Chu

Moby - you crack me up. BTW - Alain Ducasse is the three-star chef. Franck Cerruti is the Chef de Cuisine of Monaco. chromedome - it's a very special feeling. You just do what you need to do - and pray you don't fuck one single thing up.

Robert, for better or worse, El Bulli does not keep aside a single table for friends or family. We had two harsh lessons in that this season - one of the favourite chef de parties asked for a table for his parents - and a sous chef asked for his longtime fiancee - both were unfortunately denied. Francesco and John, that is how it works - Luis gets "the ones with no possibilities" out of the way first. If it's any consolation, Luis is a man haunted by this responsibility. He takes no requests lightly.

Yes - you did! Happy?? I just thought it was interesting to note.

Not all the 3 star chefs - 47 of 49.

I just read about Reine Sammut's new cooking school in Aix - attached to her new restaurant there - Le Passage. I've always liked what I've seen of her original restaurant/auberge - modern take on Provence - but have not been there. But where in Provence is your friend going? That's a pretty big area. Reine Sammut

Shin Ramyun is my favourite for spiciness and flavour - but only direct from South Korea - otherwise the ones sold in the US and especially in Europe are dumbed down in heat. And they don't show on the English version of their site the jumbo size cup o noodles - I think double size. But there are new Chinese instant soup noodles that are much better for noodle quality.

For tea eggs - try cooking them long and low, sous-vide, with eggs and marinade sealed in the bags. 68C - or slightly less if you have no high risk diners - for about 1.5 hours to 2. Crack, chill overnight, then serve cold or warmed. Also, try straining the marinade, then reducing it to a syrup as a condiment. Or we could go the other way - and make essence of tea egg air. Please note that I have NOT made this yet, but it should work well. BTW - in most big Chinese supermarkets now worldwide you can buy small packets of tea egg marinade ingredients.

boulak - go to the Poilane on rue du Cherche Midi ONLY - that's the one with the oven in the basement - try to get down there to see it. Get the pain Poilane - of course - and the apple tartelettes - but don't let them slip you the overcooked ones - they seemed to be having a problem with these - and the punitions - last week. LOTS of punitions in the dog drawer. Maison Kayser - on rue Monge ONLY - and make sure to get bread from his bio/organic shop a few doors over. The Baguette Monge and Tarte Monge are the things to get there. Poujauran - yes, beware les vendeuses but if you speak French try to talk to Jean-Luc Poujauran. He is a very cool guy, serious hands-on baker, and supplies restaurants like Robuchon and L'Astrance right now. His canneles are famous - I have to admit that I don't really care for his canneles - but what are really amazing there are his various little breads - usually about 6 or 7 seasonal fruit and/or nut - his fig and apricot breads are great - when you can get them. And I don't trust a boulangerie list without Vandermeersch - in the 12th. My boulanger at Ducasse went to work there - and if he thinks it's the best then so it is. Also the winner of this year's baguette Grand Prix might be of interest - La Fournee d'Augustine - in the 14th. Not sure where's best for vienoisserie. They're all good but I've been thinking the balance has been off at a lot of places lately - surprisingly. And you probably know this already but for boulangerie novices just make sure to ask for a croissant AU BUERRE. Please note that Peltier is tragically gone from Paris.

Hey mags - they usually take the form of - uh - almonds. They're very common around the Med - i.e. El Bulli country - but even found in the wilds of Paris. In Spanish they're almendra amarga. They're readily available in small bags through "dry fruit" purveyors and pastry suppliers in France and Spain - I don't know about anywhere else. For your recipe I'm guessing that you'd grind the bitter almonds as well. BTW if you mention making almond milk to anyone who worked at El Bulli this season, be prepared for a post-traumatic flashback.

Beware of that list - it's not completely current - like Nobu closed ages ago. Or quite representative of a good time - Laduree at Madeleine does have a non-smoking room - but it's in their horrible, hot and stuffy, upstairs room - the one that the waitstaff seems to forget exists. And there are too many bad chain restaurants - Hippo, Bistro Romain, Pommes des Pains, and Chez Clement - twice.

Miguel - You are so welcome - and best of luck. For non-Spanish readers/speakers, the email basically says rest assured, we got your email, it's going to take a little time for us to go through all of them, but we'll let you know as soon as possible. And yes, careful and gracious are great descriptors - I'll let Luis know - I think he'll appreciate that his sincerity comes through. Louisa

There are few places that will test your love of food more than being in a top kitchen. If you love to cook - and love to eat - don't come here - you will not really cook - or eat.

Click here for the Hamburger America site - a documentary about American burgers and the people behind them - which in my opinion deserved some kind of special award at the Cannes film festival - had they submitted it. Scroll down for some heart-pounding pix of Solly's butter burgers. AND download the trailer - food porn at its finest. As Glenn - the owner of Solly's says - "Good food should be made with a lot of love and a lot of butter."

Maybe launches from - this season we had espardenyes, cabrito, green local almonds, etc.

No.

They expect about half a million requests for next season. And the restaurant's open about April 1st through September 30th - and ALL the dates are difficult - the first three months there's dinner only five days a week - and August is traditionally the most requested.

Fax or email NOW. NO phone calls. The fax number is 972150717. The country code for Spain is 34. The email address is bulli@elbulli.com. Luis Garcia - the maitre d'hotel - and the one man solely responsible for The Book - officially starts the reservations tomorrow - October 15th. But I know for a fact that he's already started looking at the requests - we road tripped together down to an El Bulli chef's wedding Sunday morning. He had over 300 thousand requests last year for eight thousand places. Good luck.

Thanks very much. Maybe I'm misunderstanding - but I want to make clear that I'm still just a cook working my way up. I just finished working at El Bulli - a week ago. Ducasse was just last year. True I was the chef/owner of my own catering company but that was nothing like this. But I don't want to personally intrude on this greater issue - for more info on me please click on the Movable Feast link below. Two things - the physical strength and family problems. Strength can be a problem - for men and women. I find a way - or usually find the way that someone else has already found. I mean for chrissake the ancients built the pyramids, yes? And family - or relationships. Harder for women working in the kitchen - or any other profession that takes you away - physically, emotionally. Period.

Thanks Michael - I guess that's all the public wants now - something for Tony to sign - other than just cleavage. I'm just imagining a collaboration amongst Tony, Michael, and Ferran - an enormous $300 banned bestseller - with a very special DVD.

Michael, so the Bouchon book is another Titan? Pardon my French, but what the fuck? I was already over my weight limit flying from Barcelona to Paris with the El Bulli books. Now I've got to transport your monster from the States back to Paris? Does it always have to be the size thing with you guys?

I'm the first American woman to have worked at El Bulli and the first American woman to have worked at Alain Ducasse's three star restaurant at the Plaza Athenee in Paris. And I believe that I'm also the first woman from anywhere to have been contracted by Les Ambassadeurs - the gastronomic restaurant of the Hotel de Crillon in Paris - the last of the palace hotels to be solely owned by the French. I don't know the answer to the question at hand - why there are so few great women chefs. I speculate that the opportunities that I've had did not exist 30 years ago - about the time that the great chefs now first started their apprenticeships. It IS different for a woman in a top kitchen. Sometimes better - in that I get excused from the real shit work. And sometimes worse - in that I have to be more persistent than the guys to get to work in the blood and guts - which is why I sometimes volunteer for the shit work. This is a hard life. This must be not a vocation - but an avocation - regardless of gender.