Mjx

Mixed feelings about this: On the one hand, a ban does seem like an exercise in futility, but on the other hand, a process that causes extensive physical trauma to an animal during feeding is on the disturbing side (e.g. The Report of the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare's Welfare Aspects of the Production of Foie Gras in Ducks and Geese), so I can understand people regarding this as inhumane. I'll be honest, though: My views might be different, if I didn't have an 'I can take it or leave it' reaction to foie gras, simply as a food.

I'm assuming 'trends' actually means 'marketing trends', correct? Nothing mentioned so far is particularly new, and some have been traditional for decades, or even centuries. In terms of what most people actually do, trends seem to have little significant impact (e.g. although the increased visibility of MC made more people aware of it, few who have a real interest in it were attracted to it because it was trendy). ETA: Now that this topic has been rolling about in my head a bit, I'd have to say there does seem to be a trend to think more about food, and its sources and preparation (not particularly new or specific, but it does represent a shift).

Apparently not that difficult to get funding for, because if you search the scholarly articles for this topic (asparagus + urine), you pull up quite a few. You could, of course gather together a bunch of friends who claim to notice this difference in smell, and, well, fill up a bunch of plastic cups, and check the truth of the conclusions of previous research. But we'd have to be talking very good friends, here, or friends who happened to be committed biologists who'd just never heard of any of this research (or, had reached the end of boozy party, and were hammered as hell, when doing this sort of thing seems both brilliant and hilarious. Not that I'd know a thing about that sort of party).

Yep, I know

What?! What exactly did you do? I want to try this, now.

According to A polymorphism of the ability to smell urinary metabolites of asparagus (Lison, Blondheim & Melmed 1980), 'The urinary excretion of (an) odorous substance(s) after eating asparagus is not an inborn error of metabolism. . .' but 'The detection of the odour constitutes a specific smell hypersensitivity.'

Venison would be very "authentic" for a Thanksgiving meal, just not traditional. I was thinking 'traditional', in terms of what was eaten at the earliest Thanksgivings, and through the early part of C20. When my family first returned to the US, I can remember teachers saying that turkey was traditional at Thanksgiving, because 'that was what the pilgrims ate'. This was reiterated over and over, and I never gave it any thought, until I eventually came across various things pointing that game might actually have been the only available meat (depending on whether or not any livestock were brought across the ocean and survived). I'm probably mostly looking at any cheap excuse to avoid eating turkey, which I don't like that much. Anyone else considering a pumpkin-based tiramisù for dessert?

I'm fairly certain that I've been told that not everyone has the gene that enables them to detect the difference in smell.

I've almost never done this, unless there seemed to be a possibility of hurting someone's feelings if I said 'No thanks' to the doggy bag offer (this happened recently with a dessert). I seldom order more than I can eat, and usually don't go home immediately after I dine out, so the I'd end up awkwardly carrying about something that would probably not be good to eat by the time I got home with it.

It's difficult, the whole tipping thing in the US. You'd probably find some way of finding a balance between conscience and indignation. You probably wouldn't stop feeling troubled (at least, in the 15 years of my more-or-less adult life spent in back in NYC, I didn't; then again, I budgeted a flat $10 week for the homeless, even when I didn't have enough to pay $75/week SRO rent, so I'm probably a complete sucker). And, of course, this brings us back to the question of, 'What constitutes bad service?'

I think about this a lot, and it's had an effect on the way I cook (e.g. rice and legumes are cooked in the biggest batches I can manage, and frozen, since they reheat well), and the energy ratings and types of of appliances/fixtures we've purchased. Also, running the water the entire time someone is washing up always bothers me, because I've lived in countries where drought warnings are a fairly normal summer occurrence; unless I'm rinsing the dishes, the water is off. Other things to, but those spring to mind. A lot of it is habitual, now. As others have already noted, the relative amount of energy consumed in the kitchen is only a small fraction of overall consumption, but it's a good place to start, and once the habit of this attitude is established, it spreads to other areas too (e.g. car or bike? if a car, which car? and so on).

This all looks fantastic, but the fried fish... would you mind sharing the recipe? I'm a bit of a fried fish junkie, to tell the truth.

Recently ordered a Rösle, and am impatiently waiting for the DHL truck to make it's way here from Germany. I made the decision based on recommendations here (thanks Kerry and Linda!), availability and reviews on German amazon, and the 10-year warranty. It's running €99, not counting shipping, and I'm really hoping the brand continues to live up to its existing reputation. Oddly, food mills appear to be both unavailable and unknown in Denmark.

I definitely would not take out my feelings about tipping on waiters (and not just because I've been there). If I dine out in the US, I tip, and it's 20% unless the server is actively rude (goes down to about 10%), or frighteningly and apparently irreparably incompetent (goes down to 15%, since I really don't want to encourage someone this bad to persist as a waiter). Anyone polite, making an effort, and more or less succeeding gets the 20%, even if they accidentally drop part of a course in my lap, or are apparently catatonic. But it does make me feel like I'm somehow supporting a miserable system. And it really has an impact on how often I dine out, because knowing that the person waiting on me is essentially relying on the kindness of strangers for the bulk of his or her income is an incomprehensibly Dickensian thing to be happening in the 21st century.

Damn. Well, if I can deal with it in NYC, I can deal with it elsewhere.

I cook rice both ways (and sometimes fry it first, sometimes not), depending on how it's going to be used. I can't think of any cogent argument favouring one method over the other; it's really down to personal preference.

I think a combination of greed, apathy, and guilt sustain the whole tipping system. It's reached the point that even thinking about eating out in the US makes me feel a little depressed. Even in places where there is no question of your being waited on, there's a bloody tip jar, with some irritating message stuck to it, such as 'Tipping is good karma', which doesn't make me feel like dutifully tipping, it makes me feel feel like doing rather violent things. Which I don't do. I don't tip, either, which I think is justifiable (unless sub-minimum wage is now the norm in coffee shops), despite the fact that this horrifies my sister.

Just really vaguely, what sort of cake did you have in mind (light? dense? have to be round?)? Or doesn't it matter, as long as it incorporates pumpkin? And, not to pull anyone's tail, but isn't venison (or any game, in fact) at least as traditional as domestic turkey? This is my impression based on various sources, notwithstanding the assertively vegetarian Thanksgivings I endured as a child.

What temperature does your oven reach when it's self-cleaning?

I've never used the self cleaning feature, because it scares the crap out of me, even in the nearly-new Gaggenau, which is presumably reliable enough to not burn our place to the ground when this feature is deployed. Oven cleaner? US oven cleaners may work better than the Danish ones, which do not even make a dent in the polymerized chicken fat that pretty much blankets the entire interior of our oven. I just flake off whatever burnt bits I see coming loose, but it's a losing battle. I'd love to hear that everyone else routinely uses the self-cleaner, and it works brilliantly, and nothing horrific happens.

Kerry, I think the cakewrecks site pretty makes a solid good argument for a 'No' (although I helped trick out enough of BioMed club cakes with various muscles – 'feline tibialis anterior insertion, anyone?' – to have qualify that with '...unless you're serving a bunch of people who are as eccentric as yourself').

Sounds another example an item that costs far more outside its home country, simply because those abroad may be unaware of its domestic price.

How about venison? I've done that a couple of times, and am thinking of doing it again this year (my boyfriend's father hunts), something with the back straps and tenderloins. I'm also thinking chestnuts (particularly dried ones that have been reconstituted and cooked in chicken broth until the broth is almost completely reduced and caramelized), and roasted mushrooms, as sides.

Hey, that's starting to make our being there more likely. What's the weather like in August, by the way?

Payard, no? I was crushed. Loved that place, even though they took my money and made me fat. They've reopened on Houston, but I haven't been there, yet. There was also Les Friandises, although that may have been in the upper 60s (and which I don't remember seeing when I was last wandering about in the area, in August).