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 old coating and preparing the surface), but if you're a bread factory with a few thousand loaf pans, it can make sense, or at least this seems their target market along with coating of new parts for various purposes. When I've looked into it, some of the companies that offer industrial recoating have set up side operations to offer this service to small scale consumers, though more recently, I don't know if any of these companies are advertising this service. On the other hand, for a $200 pan, it's worth it to me to do some research when the time comes and to see what is possible. If teflon recoating isn't possible, then there may be a stainless surface underneath the teflon that can be refinished, or perhaps it is a copper surface that can be tinned.

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. I have those older 1.5mm frypans as well, and there's no comparison. I also have 10" and 12" 2.5mm tin-lined saute pans (the 12" may actually be nickel, which was a higher grade option than tin before stainless). When I'm cooking a lot and am in better shape, I can handle the 10" with one hand. The 12" is a two-handed affair at around 13 lbs. empty, and then better to move the food with a wooden spoon. The reason I have the 2.0mm copper frypan is also because it was the only one Mauviel made with a Teflon surface, and I figured, if I'm going to have one Teflon pan that I only planned to use for things that merited it, like eggs and delicate fish, why compromise? It's held up for over 10 years now, so I'd say it's been a good investment, and when it becomes necessary, I'll have it recoated. Had the Teflon been an option in a 2.5mm pan, I'd probably have gotten the heavier one, but in retrospect, I'm not so sure it would have been necessary.

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 you've set the heat properly. That goes for stainless with a 2.5mm copper disk bottom, like the Sitram Catering line, but you've got to be careful not to set the flame larger than the disk, or you can get burning around the sides.

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. As it happens, I grew up with the lightweight stuff in my family, so I have a couple of similar sized pieces in both heavy and light versions. Just to give an idea of what the weight difference is, a 7" saucepan that looks to be 1.5mm copper made by the Chilean company Cobre that my father bought in the 1980s, with a brass handle and rolled lip, weighs 1lb 14oz. A 7" tin-lined Mauviel saucepan with a cast iron handle, straight lip, and hammered finish, that is probably 3mm, weighs 5lb 3-3/8 oz. If you want to make a creme anglaise without a double boiler, this is the thing. Anything that has a fully rolled lip except for the large jam pans is lightweight copper. Pieces with a curved lip, not fully rolled onto itself, are usually 2.0 or 2.5mm. More than 2.5mm tends to have a straight lip.

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 pieces, bronze handles for the short loop-handled pieces. Brass handles are usually the tableware line.

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 suspect this is one of the pre-war forgings like the Sabatier knives sold by Lee Valley Tools at one time. The ones I have take a very keen edge, and the French-style chef's knives generally have shallower blades and are lighter in weight than German-style knives (there are also German-style Sabatier knives that look more like a Henckels or a Wusthof, but tend to be lighter). French-style knives usually have a cylindrical metal ferrule between the bolster and the handle, while the bolster usually butts up against the handle on German-style knives. These knives aren't so fashionable now, so I think they are an excellent bargain. If you like the design of European knives, but want the lighter weight of European-style Japanese knives, a carbon steel Sabatier might be right for you. I'd say the one I use most is the 8" **** Elephant French-style chef's knife--sharpest knife in the block usually. I had a 10" in this style, but the combination of light weight and length never felt comfortable to me. On the other hand the 12" German-style Sabatier Professional has a very nice feel to me, in that it's lighter and more nimble than what I'd expect a 12" Henckels or Wusthof to be, but not so light that it feels awkward to control.

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 conversation with the couple on the other side of their table (my condolences to them) rather than with us, and of course the restaurant can't be responsible for the guests. We made a brief visit to the kitchen and exchanged a few words with Wylie Dufresne. Clearly all the prep happens during the day, and what's going on during the dinner service is very precise, organized assembly, mostly at the garde manger and pastry stations and close to the pass. Very impressive Bonnet range and ovens in the center of the kitchen throwing off a LOT of heat.

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 80-100 proof. There are also fruit flavored nalewki. It's the sort of thing that might be served to guests after a festive Polish meal. At an elegant reception, say, at the Polish consulate here in New York, they might bring out krupnik and other nalewki at the end of the night.