Human Bean

Monica, Great story! Could you possibly explain a bit more about kokum? Minimal web research suggests that it's exported as dried skins (or perhaps sometimes pods?) that are soaked in water (as your recipe mentions). Sounds like it might be hard to find. I have at least three Indian markets within five miles of home, and fresh curry leaves and turmeric are always available. Maybe I can find kokum. Thanks.

Congratulations, Suvir on your (apparently top-secret) endeavor, and best of luck to you. I hope that you achieve great success in this new venture, and aren't too busy with the day-to-day realities of the restaurant to continue posting here. I didn't want to simply post a 'me too' message, and your reply has provided an opportunity to go beyond that. Cooking without tasting is the single biggest mistake that most home cooks make. It's difficult to cook well without tasting, and requires honest feedback. To cook without tasting mainly requires experience, but there's also a definite amount of skill involved. Smell and feel (tactile feel and 'feeling that it's right') are the main elements. Although I don't eat steak, I cook it for others, and it's been very well received. I know that it's possible to cook well without tasting the food, and am glad that you seem to have the ability to do it. Again, best of luck. If/when I visit NYC, I'll definitely pay a visit. And your cookbook is on my to-be-purchased list.

Sounds pretty much like a basic Asian chicken stock. I might add more ginger; the specified one slice (per gallon ?? - wasn't mentioned) could possibly be increased a bit, since it'll be there the whole time, and shouldn't be prominent. In place of the sugar (ewww, I'm sugar-phobic, especially in stock) you might add about 1/4 of a medium yellow onion (or more) after the skimming is done (per gallon, I'm guessing here) instead of the sugar. If you're adding one ounce of fish sauce per gallon, the brand of fish sauce is unlikely to make much difference - the main contribution is salt (plus some MSG-like stuff), you don't want to taste the fish.

I believe that some of what you seek is partially embodied in the concept of The Symposium on eG. Whether it is succeding at that, I leave to others to say.

Not necessarily; he did the whole job in his self-limited scope. The aesthetics of fast food is another job entirely. Both concepts could co-exist in the same book, but another entire book at the same level of detail could certainly be done, and might even be compelling. By the way, how's your book proposal for "The Aesthetics of Fast Food" coming along?

Interesting point, because I think it highlights one of the faults of the Internet and particularly a fault of interactive sites. Mayhaw Man said "I know that I spent alot more time composing when I had to use a typewriter, the words are much more valuable when you can't cut and paste and delete and carbon paper is involved)." I suppose that applies right here. You are completely right. "...I think it highlights one of the faults of the Internet and particularly a fault of interactive sites." I could have waited a few more hours before posting my first message in this thread; in the intervening time, I could have sharpened the words to be much more clear and succinct. Instant communication is a fault. It's also a virtue. For instance, if I'd expressed myself clearly and succinctly the first time, we woudn't be engaging now in this (possibly) interesting little digression.

Bux, I'm not saying that I didn't find the article interesting; merely that as a piece of journalism, or whatever it is, the editing seems to be lacking. It was an uncomfortable melange of memoir, persuasion, history, and straight reporting. Had it maintained a more consistent tone, I think I'd have liked it better. Maybe I'm wrong or narrow-minded in wanting to neatly pigeonhole it, but I think it could have benefitted from some more work. And as for my words that you quoted, I should have omitted that part entirely, or perhaps moved it away from the opening of my message. It's basically irrevant, and distracted both FG and you from what I was really trying to say (not that I was entirely clear myself about what I was trying to say at the time). Sigh.

Thanks, FG, I was aware of that, but it was definitely worth mentioning.

Excellent post, JAZ! I agree with everything you've said. It is perhaps worth noting that most of the effusive praise on eG for this article has come from writers (pros and semi-pros). As a non-writer (barely even a typist), I don't find writers writing about writing to be inherently compelling, any more than writers would find find plumbers writing about plumbing to be must-read material. All-in-all, I didn't dislike the article, I just didn't like it that much either. I'm not sure what it's trying to tell me. (Maybe as a non-writer, I shouldn't be expected to care. Chacun a son gout.) What is the intent of this article? Memoir? History? Essay? It's got elements of all those, but isn't really any one thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But she raises her main point early on, "Will food writers pander to these readers or will they seize the chance to be better journalists?" After many thousands of often interesting words, she largey fails to answer her own question. (IMHO. YMMV.) Her answer appears only indirectly, and appears to be, "maybe." What is the point then? She certainly didn't make a persuasive case (to me) that pure journalism should win out over her definition of food porn. Maybe the article ultimately has no point, except to document this perceived dichotomy, and 'stir the pot' (er, so to speak) among contemporary food writers. In this, it appears to have done an admirable job, judging from the replies posted above. If you're a food writer, as the article (and JAZ) point out, food porn (entertainment) is What The People Want. There's your market. If you want to pursue serious food journalism, then just do it. There's a market for serious journalism. But it may not pay the rent as readily as the fluff. [Oh, and JAZ, I printed out the Frankenfood article when the link was posted; it was longer and required more thought than I was able to give it at the time. Still haven't read it yet. Sigh. It's in the to-do pile.] Edit: minor grammar clean-up.

Preach it, bro! I've had snow crab several times, mostly at buffets, and still have no real idea what they taste like. The work/reward ratio is just too high. No way would I pay Red Lobster $20 for unlimited snow crab; if it were king crab, I'm there, they go broke, which almost seems to be what happened according to the article. $10 buffet is another matter; the crab is a sideshow. Snow crab: Imagine a soda straw with a bit of meat inside. Except that the soda straw is made of bone, and it takes a relatively long time to get to the tiny bit of meat. No thanks. King Crab: Takes some work to get to the meat, but once you're there, there are large chunks of tasty crab waiting for you. My main complaint about this one isn't the price; it's variable and has been more expensive recently. On sale, it's fabulous. But I've had some batches that were way too salty; I'm rather sensitive to excessive salt. Dungeness Crab: The left-coast favorite. Takes a lot of time to clean, but the work is more than worth it; ambrosia translated to crab. Total oral-gasm.

Too late for magnets, apparently, but there's still hope. How about... The Healing Power Of Crystals applied to wine (er, mentioned that one above, more-or-less). Or, Custom Astological Advice For Wine Purchases. Or, Feng Shui Advice For Wine Purchasers. Or, Biorythmic Analysis For Wine Buyers. (an oldie that's due for a resurgence). Or, Wine Enhanced By Orgone Energy (very much an oldie, but it'll work, trust me). Or, Pyramid Power applied to wine can also make a return visit - it's been awhile, why not? Or, Custom Wine Crypto-Molecular-Unscrambling Technology (with your rep, you'd OWN this one, fer sure). Or... (It's late, I'm tired, but there are many others). Some of these are services, some are products; all are viable. (The supply of gullible morons is endless). I'm expecting a reasonable finder's fee for these ideas..Let's talk. "thewineclip," or anyone else, don't even THINK about trying to steal these ideas, we've got Powerful Lawyers that have already filed the appropriate paperwork; you don't have a chance. The very same firm that we've employed will soon be victorious when they prove that corporate behemoth IBM has run roughshod over a small business called SCO (the average eG reader is not expected to understand this. Sorry). [Apologies to anyone whose deeply held beliefs might have been mentioned here. I'm obviously uninformed, but I'm aware of it, and will see the truth very soon - no need to give me further enlightenment).

[Righteous indignation] You say that like it's a BAD thing. I don't put it on my breakfast cereal, but other than that, most foods are improved with the addition of hot sauce. [/Righteous indignation]

After further review of the site linked above, I have good news. If you've purchased any of the following products and had favorable results, then you should get the Wine Clip, you'll likely love it! Therapeutic magnets Therapeutic crystals The 'laundry disc' Breast/penis enlargement creams/pills/devices HGH (Human Growth Hormone) supplements (Many others that don't spring readily to mind - additions welcome, but be aware the High Sheriffs of eG) (Apologies to the Wine Clip that I haven't inserted ™ or ® marks appropriately). "Wine Clip" is likely a trademark or registered trademark of the company. Sorry). Edit: didn't know how to do TM or R marks; turns out that they were done automatically by putting them in parens - ( TM ) and/or ( R ) - Kewl!

Ouch. Get one of those fat-seperator things - looks like a measuring cup, but has a spout that pours from the bottom rather than the top. I have a really cheap plastic one, no need to have a 'good' one, as I rarely use it, but it works well. (Oh, and next time you have a 'broken' gravy, try superglue, that'll mend most anything. Or epoxy, but it wouldn't be the best choice in this case.) Edit: Add silly postscript. Hit "Post" too fast.

I have a few comments about "thewineclip" and his message. After reviewing the eG User Agreement, it appears that I cannot post them, as they're likely to violate the intent (and possibly the letter) of the Agreement, even though they'd be intended as entertainment, rather than attacks. Sigh.

"There's a sucker born every minute." --Attributed to P.T. Barnum, actually said by a competitor, David Hannum

The definititive popular reference on flax and other EFAs is Udo Erasmus' Fats That Heal, Fats that Kill. (eG Amazon link). The science appears to be solid, although much of the other stuff seems to be of the rah-rah health-food-faddist variety (EFAs will help prevent cancer, heart disease, mange, and bad breath.) Okay, I made up the mange and bad breath parts, but there's a disconcerting amount of faddist stuff in it. But it's not overall a bad book. Try your library to see if they can get you a copy; I don't own the book, but have read it via inter-library loan. I don't recall seeing any recipes in it, but this was a few years ago. That said, I've consumed about an ounce (rather more than necessary) of flax oil or mixed Omega oils daily for about 4 years. It really does make your skin amazingly soft, especially if you've also cut out most deep-fried foods and trans-fats (the book tells you more than you ever wanted to know about why trans-fats are evil - I don't remember the details). Flax oil should always be purchased refrigerated; it's usually available in health food stores. If it's not refrigerated, forget it. Fresh flax oil has an interesting nutty taste; rancid flax oil smells and tastes like linseed oil (familiar to painters; linseed oil IS rancid (boiled) flax oil). You can use flax oil in salad dressings or on other cold food, as has been mentioned. Don't heat it, it is fragile and breaks down easily (presumably, anything up to body temperature is okay, otherwise it would become evil once you've consumed it, but it's not good to let it stay at elevated temperatures for longer than necessary). The flax oil that I buy is Spectrum Organic from California, it's readily available here and reasonably priced. Flax seeds, I'm not so sure about their uses. If you bake them, you might destroy their value (same as how some fish are high in Omega-3s, but cooking them might completely destroy the EFAs and negate their value). I grind the seeds and add them to salads; EFAs and extra fiber together. Again, I'd suggest cold foods if you're using flax seeds, but I don't have any ideas for whole seeds, only freshly ground. Digression (cooks can skip this; Scientific Bastards might find it interesting, though it contains no solid science): Sherribabee's link above about possible negative prostate consequences is interesting, and requires further study. It may have some merit. I learned about EFAs from the bodybuilding community when I (intentionally) lost a lot of weight. Bodybuilders know vastly more than most anyone about gaining and losing weight; usually pharmaceutically-assisted, but not always; the pros have astounding drug bills, but non-pros can't afford that, and are far more knowledgeable about practical nutrition than any professional dietician - the academics study it, but the builders live it, and know what works and doesn't. Anyway, the folklore is that flax may help prevent gynecomastia; male breast enlargement caused by excessive androgens (actually, androgens metabolized to estrogens that cause the breast growth). If this is the case, then effects of flax might be effectively pro-androgen, which is long-term anti-prostate (also long-term pro-hair-loss, as androgens are involved in that as well). Again, it requires more study. (Truism: Results of scientific studies always call for more studies. This helps insure further funding.) Having read this far, we now return you to your regular eGullet... Edit: Dumb; redundancy that would have been obvious had I previewed.

(Again agreeing with everyone else, except Mr. maggie). People have been cooking meat low and slow for hundreds of years (historically; they don't cook the meat itself that long ) without dying of Toxic Butt Syndrome. Even if Mr. maggie were correct (which he isn't), there are far worse ways to go than eating a fabulous slow-cooked pork butt. And the 24 hour cooking time likewise seems a bit long; DtC gave a suggested final temperature (200-205 F) for the meat; that is probably right; I don't really know. You want the bone to feel loose in the meat (some useful information here; scroll down to DtC's post). Nigella might be a good southern girl, but if so, from the south of England; not an inherently trustworthy source for BBQ (or low, slow cooking in this case) info. Similarly, Martha Stewart may be able to hire competent researchers, but I'd never take her advice about BBQ as gospel, unless it agreed with people that really know what they're talking about. BTW, I have no idea what I'm talking about here.

I agree with everyone else that you're not likely to die from Toxic Butt Syndrome. At least not this time. I'm also mystified by the 500 degree thing, but have a possible explanation. She probably believes that myth about high temperatures "sealing in the juices." If so, she needs a copy of McGee upside the head to enlighten her. Please send the cleaning bill for your kitchen directly to Nigella.

Largely unrelated, but but my shrimp peeler/de-veiner knife is an old Buck penknife with a 1.75 inch blade; it's what I've always used, so I guess I'll keep on using it. The closest "real" knife that I have is a Mac 4 inch paring knife, but it wouldn't be the same. Both are kept more-or-less razor-sharp. The best knife is the one that's most comfortable to use, and that is sharp enough when you're using it. (And you need to keep it sharp; see the tutorial.) Brand names are largely irrelevant if it's comfortable and sharp.

Pho Van bistro (in NW Portland): Been there twice. First was very shortly after they opened, went for the pho, and I didn't think it was as good as their main pho restaurant on 82nd. I mentioned it, and received a neutral reply. I wasn't really into their bistro concept at the time - similar food at higher prices. Next time was a romantic anniversary dinner a month or two later; food was very good, but not better than you can get for far less money at one of the local family-owned and run restaurants, but without the 'atmosphere' of the bistro. (Unfortunately, I don't have any names for those restaurants; it's been too long to remember. I don't eat out much; I find it better and cheaper to cook at home, but I'm semi-familiar with some Asian cooking styles, and, er, cheap). One amusing incident from that dinner: I ordered a Gewurtztraminer from the wine list, thinking it would go well with the food, and the waitress said something like, "Ge-what??" All this was a year and a half ago or so, and it's likely that the bistro has worked out any minor quirks since then. I no longer have any need of anniversary dinners, and have curtailed my dining out. (Um, ) If you want the best pho in Portland, and don't care about atmosphere and high prices, skip Pho Van (and Pho Hung, the other main contender). Go to Pho Oregon on Sandy. I'm reluctant to sugest it, since they already have more business than they can handle from the Vietnamese community, but they blow the others away.

After an all-too-brief review of this page of the thread, I have to admit a fawning admiration for Jinmyo's lyrics. The printer is churning away for later sing-alongs. They won't mean anything to those that don't know that Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings (and certainly nothing to those who haven't a clue about Paul McCartney anyway; he IS getting on a bit, and is a vegetarian besides ), and no disrepect to mrs Lennon and Starr, whose lyrics also contributed. That said, carry on!

It's nice that this thread was bumped; I have an interest in possibly making some kimchi, since the time is right. I recently bought a commercially prepared version that I'd never tried before, and it was... lacking. Not enough chili, not enough garlic; blah. Several years ago, I made a batch of basic cabbage kimchi (cabbage, daikon, green onion, garlic, red pepper, ...) that was totally awesome. I was working from vague advice from a Korean friend, and a recipe that I've long since lost, if there ever was one, and I didn't take any notes about it. Grrr. Anyway, while preparing for an office move at work, I came across a printout of a recipe for Baechu Kimchi (Napa cabbage kimchi) from 1999, derived from the link originally posted in this thread (www.kimchi.co.kr/english/; 1999 link is now dead.) The original link's recipe called for 2 Napas (and was a bit rough in translation); the current recipe (clicky) calls for 30 kg (66 pounds for the metrically-impared) of Napa! Yow!! I just want enough for myself, not the whole neighborhood. I can probably improvise a recipe from the information I already have, and even if it's a failure, it's no great loss, but if anyone has a good recipe for a mere one (or two) head(s) of Napa, I'm interested in it. Um, er, a recipe may have been provided upthread, but I'm too laz...er, BUSY, to have done more than a cursory look. Enquiring minds want to know... edit: minor clarification and de-obfuscate baechu recipe

(In a desperate, and futile, attempt to keep the thread focused on turducken, even though he deliberately went off-topic above, HB says): "Ambitious" and "helpers" perhaps says it all. I believe that I said somewhere upthread that turducken sounds like a good concept, but it's just too much work for what you get. Which is not to say that it's not worthwhile, just that that there are other methods that work at least as well (if not better) but are much more feasable. Prepared turducken - margarine? [Jinmyo] Gah. [/Jinmyo]

Cooking tip: be sure to allow extra cooking time to allow for asparagus growth. It may not be long, but can make the difference between nearly-raw and properly-cooked asparagus.