Dave the Cook

Gulf Coast Texas is Southern -- Houston is built on a swamp, after all, and the food owes as much to New Orleans as it does to El Paso. The rest of Texas is another country, and the citizens are not shy about telling you so. Also, the Florida Panhandle qualifies -- they don't call 'em Crackers for nothing. Lily: grits at my place, too: cheese, butter -- or shrimp, if you like. Sparrowgrass: to think I used to like you!

Damn straight!

I'm not likely to be near Cornwall anytime soon, and if I am, Margot's will be the preferred venue. But this sounds great, BD. Nice report. One question: you mention "Filet of Scotch Beef on the Bone." Could you provide more detail as to what cut of beef this is?

Welcome, Timothy.

About ten years ago, I had roasted garlic-honey ice cream at the Upperline in New Orleans. It was sensational.

Although you would expect the manufacturer to compensate for it in the more important ranges, digital thermometers often exhibit non-linear responses. Off-hand, I can't think of a standard that would let you check it in say, the 125 to 150 range, other than another thermometer. Any thoughts? I'm not letting lamb off the hook yet. But I'm not convinced that you're really looking at 140 lamb, especially with what Matthew looked up.

Density and fat content aside, I think we can assume that there would not be a significant variation from one lamb to the next. My references (and experience) say rare lamb is 135 - 140F, and 180 is beyond well-done. I suspect your thermometer. You seem to have be careful about placement, so I wonder if it is reading accurately. Have you checked it?

From Johns Hopkins Magazine, regarding how the sense of taste changes over time: Complete article here.

I thought the ingredient MSG was invented in Japan in the early 20th Century... From a paper published on the Emory University website:

By definiton, a review is subjective. Absent subjectivity, it would be impossible to have an exchange of views, since everyone's view would necessarily be the same -- the one that would be based on an "objective review." Since we have been down this objective/subjective path before, it would not surprise anyone if an "objective review" became the subject of discussion, rather than the restaurant itself. eGullet might then turn into a literary criticism site, rather than a food discussion site. However: The abilty to write normally precludes less than superior authors from posting sentences in excess of 40 words. 1.5 out of 10 for the misleading user name.

Thanks, Heather. What are DHA and ARA?

Not many people are focusing on the point of Maggie's article: this stuff tastes awful. There are a lot of reasons why formula feeding might be necessary, but is it likewise necessary that the formula itself be execrable? I wonder why the industry doesn't seem to care. Pan's comments not withstanding, I find it incredible that a more acceptable analogue to human milk hasn't been, or can't be, developed. The pet food industry spends millions of dollars to assure pet owners that what they feed their dog or cat is ostensibly fit, even delectable, for humans. No such effort is made by manufacturers of baby formula. Is there an assumption on the part of manufacturers that grown-ups don't taste this stuff? Or if they do, that actual taste is a secondary consideration? Do manufacturers perceive squeamishness on the part of new parents (especially mothers; I'd bet that they make this choice most of the time)? If such unease exists, why? And is it why formula producers can get away with selling a product that fails the taste test? We've got bunch of people on this thread who have tasted human milk, but besides Maggie, no one else has tried formula. Does that strike anyone else as strange? To stretch the pet analogy a bit further, I know a lot of pet owners who have tasted the food they give their pets. Are there formula parents on eG who could add to this topic?

I'm in. If Nick brings his guitar, and tommy hauls in his kit, we've got the start of a band -- and I doubt that mediocre would be overstating it. Is it too much to hope that there's a banjo player somewhere on eGullet?

Life in the Kitchen, don't apologize. Just send each thread participant a rack to sample, so that we can make a fair comparison. Better make it two, just to be sure. Seriously, do you know if Rosen is distributed nationally?

Overall, New Zealand exports about 25% more lamb than Australia. More and more of it goes to Europe, so Americans still see a lot of Aussie meat. The American lamb I've had has been at least as good, if not better, than any imported product. But since most Australian lamb is consumed at home (only 35% is exported; the rest is shipped directly to Adam's relatives), presumably we don't see the best of the lot very often. Interesting factoid: China grows more lamb and mutton than anybody, by far.

Also cheap, compared to supermarket lamb. Last time I paid US$6/lb. At Kroger or Publix, (when they have racks, as opposed to the usual lonely pair of 1/2-inch-thick loin chops) they start at nine or ten bucks.

I think this is the previous thread to which VivreManager alluded: Plastic Problems

But only AB calls himself that.

Only compared to cucumbers. Both are about 2% protein by weight. You could do better among veggies, but maybe you should just go share some cheese with NeroW.

Growin' fella like you needs more protein, big guy.

According to a 1990 rule issued by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (a branch of the US Department of Agriculture), the following may be included under the umbrella labeling of "natural flavorings": spices, spice extracts, and distillates. In other words, stuff that is there only to add flavor, as opposed to enhance flavor. Required to be listed (among other things): meat stocks (including dried meat stocks), autolyzed yeast, and hydrolyzed proteins (including monosodium glutamate). The key here is that these things are considered flavor enhancers, not flavors in and of themselves. One might argue that meat stocks do add flavor of their own. But since they are of animal orgin, they are subject to other labeling rules; they must be labeled as to animal of origin regardless of the purpose for their inclusion in the product. This is for (among other things) religious reasons. Other additives may be subject to ancillary labelling requirements because they are common allergens -- nuts and nut byproducts, for instance. More information here.

Thanks for the plug, Suzanne. This pre-seasoned thing has actually put a kink in my gift giving. Like fifi's nephew, I used to give cast-iron for weddings and especially housewarmings. If I had sufficent notice, I seasoned them first, or at least got them well on their way. Instead of presenting a lovingly tended future heirloom, I'm handing over a mass-produced (and not very expensive) hunk of metal. Lodge has a nice product, but they've deflated the 'value-added' feature of my gifts significantly.

Three more, Lily: Bittman's The Minimalist Cooks Dinner, Cornbread Nation from the Southern Foodways Alliance, and Pepin's The Apprentice, the last being a gift from someone who knows the way to this man's heart is not just through his stomach, but also through books about keeping his stomach well-tended. I recently acquired a first edition of Thomas Berger's Reinhart's Women, my favorite non-cooking food book (it's about a cook). Does that count?

Our own SuzanneF reviewed Glorious French Food here. By the way, Welcome, Esther. In case you didn't know, using the links that Jason and I posted (as opposed to going straight to Amazon) will reap a few pennies towards the upkeep of eGullet. It's much appreciated. Here's one for GFF: Glorious French Food Thanks.

I agree, as long as you don't take the title literally, like my daughter did. Ditto Jason's caveat on Joy. It's a great book that I still consult on a regular basis. Some other choices I wish I'd had as a young'un: The Best Recipe from Cook's Illustrated. Julia Child's The Way to Cook Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques