David A. Goldfarb

I've seen a home-tinning kit under the brand name "Tin Lizzie" at Zabar's.

Tinning is a pretty low-tech process and is used for many things other than copperware. Basically, the pan is cleaned, a substance called "whiting" is applied to the outside to prevent tin from adhering to the outer surface of the pan, the pan is heated, acid flux applied, and tin is wiped around the pan directly from an ingot. When the pan cools, the whiting is cleaned off, it is detarnished and polished. Teflon recoating is a service mainly offered on the industrial scale. It doesn't make sense to have a cheap Teflon pan recoated (I suspect most of the labor for this is in removing the ol

Mauviel made two frypans with hardened teflon coatings as part of their "Cuprinox Style" line. There may still be a few of them out there, but they aren't making them anymore. I'm careful not to overheat it, and not to touch it with any metal utensil, and since my wife doesn't cook particularly, I'm the only one who has ever used it in all that time.

I wouldn't dispute that there are occasions where the advantages of 2.5 mm copper/stainless bimetal aren't needed. But I would assert that, if one is going to make the compromise of going down from a 2.5 mm to a 2.0 mm frypan on the premise that you're "moving the food most of the time, [and] it's light enough to handle with one hand," why not just use carbon steel for a fraction of the price (not to mention a fraction of the maintenance hassle)? Copper is still more responsive and distributes the heat more evenly than carbon steel at 2.0mm, and 2.0mm is still pretty substantial for a frypan

Quattro's at the Union Square Greenmarket for a fresh goose, but it would be wise to call ahead and reserve one for the day you plan to pick it up. Fairway and Ottomanelli's are good bets, likely frozen, so plan ahead.

Look up the work of Alina Szczesniak, who pioneered the quantitative description and study of the texture of food as a scientist for General Foods. Don't ask me to explain it, but I know that in the world of industrial food science, this is actually a well established area of study.

I think 2.0mm is the sweet spot for a fry pan, where you're keeping a close watch on it the whole time. The stockpot in my avatar (12 qt) is 2.0mm, and it's fine for that, but I have a larger 18 qt copper stockpot, and it's thicker, around 3.5mm, because at that size it needs to be sturdier. They do keep a nice even low simmer, and if you put the pot in a sink full of ice water, they cool a bit faster. 2.5mm and heavier lets you do things like caramelize onions and walk away from the pan for 5 or 10 minutes, and come back and find everything moving along just fine, nothing burning, presuming

For some uses like skillets, 2.0mm isn't so bad for the reason mentioned above--heat distribution is still fairly even for the kind of use a skillet should get, where you're moving the food most of the time, but it's light enough to handle with one hand. Ranhofer mentions in The Epicurean that it is desirable for a frypan to be a bit lighter than other kinds of copper cooking vessels. 1.5mm would be considered "tableware," but it's not as if you can't cook in it--it's just that for the cost of copper, you're not getting the even heat distribution that makes the heavier copperware interesting

I actually prefer tin-lined to ss for most uses--high heat being the main exception. Tin is a less sticky surface and is not an insulator like ss. You just can't use it empty at very high heat, and you can't use metal utensils or abrasives with it. Care for it properly, and the tinning should last 10-15 years with regular home use. Also some of the older tin-lined Mauviel pieces are heavier than 2.5mm. If you buy used, check the weight of the pan, since most people can't reliably measure the thickness. Mauviel professional weight copperware tends to have cast iron handles for long-handled p

Could a walnut board be an issue for people with nut allergies? I'd check before using it in a catering or restaurant environment.

My current favorite hot dog treatment: wrapped in bacon and deep fried in beef fat.

And just by way of illustration my post two posts up, these are four chef's knives, top to bottom: 12" Sabatier Professional German-style 10" Wusthof Classic Wide 8" Henckels Four-Star 8" Sabatier **** Elephant carbon French-style

I have several, and I highly recommend them, but be aware that there are many French knives branded "Sabatier" (a complicated story involving two families of knife makers with the same name), and to further complicate matters, there are pre-war forgings floating around from factories in Thiers discovered in the 1960s, many of which are excellent knives, but it makes it even more ambiguous to say what constitutes a "Sabatier" knife. The ones I have are Sabatier **** with the elephant logo mostly, and I have a 12" German-style chef's knife sold under the "Sabatier Professional" brand, but I sus

Our current oven doesn't have it, but I've had it in the past, and it seems to work fine without causing any hazards. It gets the oven to around 550F, as I recall.

I've seen them in use on the street during the Atlantic Antic street festival on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn, where there are many Arabic shops. Maybe one of them has them for sale or could order one from the source.

Occasionally I make stuffed French toast. Before dipping in egg, I cut the bread thick enough to make a pocket along one side and fill it with cheese or berries or cannoli cream, or whatever I have on hand that seems appealing.

Made my first visit last night after many failed attempts at getting a reservation at an amenable time, and it was excellent. We got the tasting menu, and I won't do the blow-by-blow, but just say that I was impressed at how the atmosphere was relatively laid back and all the elements of each dish were so well integrated despite all the technological fireworks and the temptation that comes with them to show off each technique. It was playful, surprising, and satisfying. The only thing we didn't like was the annoying couple next to us talking too loudly, but at least they were making conversa

I usually only add water to scotch that is cask strength, where it makes a fairly significant difference. Scotch sold at 40% has already been diluted, if that's an answer to your question.

A sad story it turned out to be. Better to get chicken Kiev on a stick in Brighton Beach on a summer day and eat it on the boardwalk. It would be at least as good, much less expensive, and more fun.

Anyone been there recently? I have an event there this evening, so I made reservations for dinner beforehand, just to see what's become of it. I haven't been since the early/mid-1980s under the ancien regime.

Yes, absolutely, but if you can only afford a whirlyblade, I'd still say better to do French press than another method.

That was quick.

Though I generally prefer more strongly flavored fats, I occasionally like safflower oil when I want to fry something at high temperature and to have a very clean flavor, with little flavor coming from the oil, say for a delicate battered or breaded fish or seafood.

That should be "I don't know if I've ever had Miodula." Maybe I need some before I start typing on the forum.

Miód in Polish is honey, and miód pitny or "drinkable honey" is Polish mead, which is something of a national beverage with about the same percentage of alcohol as wine, but is isn't served as often as, say, vodka. It is served warm in small earthenware cups typically, often in "mead cellars" which might be found in restored medieval or renaissance buildings, and it's the kind of thing tourists might bring home as a souvenir. I don't know if I've never had Miodula, but it looks to be a nalewka like krupnik, which is made from alcohol, honey, and herbs and spices or other flavorings, around 80