Mjx

Is there a 'consume by' date on it? Not exactly a hard and fast guideline, but if the date on it sometime in, say, 2015, it should be fine. Update me when you find those studies! That book's science is not unimpeachable, so some original research would be particularly interesting.

From what I've seen (NYC, San Francisco, and several towns and cities in Italy and Denmark), my impression is this depends on where you are, and the product in question/time of year, but in some places, for some products, at some times, the prices at farmers' markets will be lower. It's not not something I would ever count on, however, and I tend to assume that I'll spend more per unit at a Farmers' market, at least in the US. The prices I've seen in Århus seem higher then those at the really cheap supermarkets, but the same or lower than those at the mid-priced supermarkets. I'll try remember to make a note of prices at the farmers' market this Saturday, and do a real comparison.

Interesting; please list some studies, since both these items are news to me!

Contacted the manufacturer, and got a new nut (two-year warranty on pretty much everything, here) and a several replacement dies, since we determined that this mostly happened with dies that were fractionally smaller in diameter then the rest, but it took ages, so we picked up an extra nut in a shop, too. I haven't seen this problem mentioned in reviews. My boyfriend fell seriously in love with a half-century-old, relatively small La Parmigiana unit at a restaurant in Bolzano, and has decided he needs one like it; I'm hoping (to return to the topic at hand) that a smaller, but equally well-made commercial [quality] unit exists at a not-too-appalling price point.

I'm wondering why canola oil smells fishy, when the (very unfortunately named) rapeseed oil, which is very commonly used in Scandinavia, for example, smells fine (since canola oil comes from a rapeseed cultivar).

Oh, the threads are fine! As I said, it's the retaining lip of the nut (the part that holds the die in place) that is being torn away by the die being pressed right through it. As you (and many of the others, up-thread) note, there is a distinct absence of consumer products that are solidly constructed, so such items are pretty high on many member's wish lists.

Thanks! We have the PM 1400 N1. The nut I'm talking about is the one that holds the die in place, and it is just inadequately constructed for withstanding the pressure of even the softest dough that will hold its shape. Plastic is cheaper (although this wasn't exactly inexpensive). If the machine can't handle the sort of dough it is designed to process, that's not good. It's probably perfectly adequate for the occasional pasta maker, but if you want something you can count on, it's an underdimensioned toy. We're keeping an eye out for a used La Parmigiana machines, but we're hoping to find something of that quality that's a bit smaller, since even their smallest units have a fairly good-sized footprint.

Two things I'd really like: A consumer-sized, but restaurant-grade pasta machine, and a deep fryer with a reservoir that is slot-shaped, and fairly small. The Pastamatic we have (though not for much longer) has problems, because the pressure generated by the pasta dough pressing through the metal die actually presses the die through the retaining nut, simply shearing off the lip that holds the die in place. The retaining nut is made of plastic, and has already been replaced once. Making everything but the housing of over-dimensioned metal would make extend its life, and mean that more of it would be desirable from a recycling standpoint, once it was kaput. Unless you're frying masses of stuff, a deep fryer uses a lot more oil than is actually necessary; a smaller, slot-shaped reservoir would save oil, energy (take less time for all the oil to heat), and could even be made as an interchangeable system, so you could select your reservoir based on the quantity you were frying. (Edited to fix hilarious spelling error.)

It's been a while since I've used it, but I don't remember lemongrass as being particularly tart, isn't it mostly about the scent..? I'm going to take a better look and see whether anything like these exists here (I've never seen it, but I wasn't looking, either). Is that made from yuzu pulp, or is the zest? I'm going to pop round to the Pan-Asian shop around the corner, and see whether they have this (and the yuzu salt rarerollingobject mentioned). There have been several great suggestions, and thinking them over, I've decided to put together a small batch of citrusy fish salt using citric acid, salt, lime zest, cayenne, and, I think, finely ground coriander seed. If it ends up too harsh or flat, I'm going to add a really small amount of palm sugar, and if that's still no good, I'll see how adding enough oil to make a smooth paste will work. I'm hoping a solid forage around the city centre will yield up something more complex (e.g. one of the dehydrated citrus juices, or the amchoor Blether mentioned) to replace the citric acid, which always seems best as a booster, rather then a central ingredient. A lot of the ingredients that have been suggested are going on my shopping list for my next trip back to NYC, if (as is likely) I can't find them here.

I save jars, but I'm selective; I only keep those for which I have a fairly definite use in mind. And I've definitely had my purchasing decisions influenced by the projected usefulness of the jar (also acquired two small glass prep bowls this way, which originally contained custard, and a ceramic baking dish, which originally contained a sort of country pâté).

Any idea whether that's widely available? I am about 99.99999% certain I wouldn't be able to get that here, but since I'm due back in NYC in about a month, I can look for it there, if it isn't a West Coast speciality. Although I'm sort of married to the idea of making something myself. Yes! I was thinking of starting from something like this, but have a hunch it will need tweaking in one direction or another... any ideas? I'm thinking salt will have to be in there.

This sounds more like a concern about how others might react, which seems reasonable, since running into someone who feels compelled to tell you that what you're doing is wrong is always awkward, but there's not much you can do about that. I can't see that taking a child into a liquor store is going to cause a unique problem; I'm with those who've already said that if you're in control of, and taking responsibility for your kid's behaviour, it's fine. When I was a little, my relatives hauled me on shopping trips that took them to all sorts of shops, and it never crossed my mind that alcoholic beverages had any more to do with me than the golf clubs, corn plasters, or shaving cream that they also bought: They were 'grownup things', interesting, boring, or whatever, but had no relevance in my life.

My boyfriend and I spent a large chunk of this evening motorcycling around the nearby countryside, and looking for fish and chips. Our hunt took a surprisingly long time, but we finally found a place, and the fish and chips duly arrived, accompanied by wedges of lemon. I love lemon on fish, so I began liberally anointing a piece of breaded fish, then paused, remembering that I don't love soggy breading. I left the rest of the fish alone, and was glad I did, because the lemon juice had turned the breading on the first piece to mush. I sat there eating, and thinking about alternative ways to get lemon (or any other citrus) on my fish. Creamy sauces are out of the question, because I find them revolting. Other sauces, such as HP Sauce, create the same sogginess issue. I want something citrus-y but dry, salt-like, perhaps, or small flakes, ideally, with a spicy kick, like cayenne, or wasabi. Would the best way to accomplish this involve dehydrated juice? Citric acid? Some sort of citrus zest would almost certainly be necessary, but how aggressive would the bitterness be, in something that is essentially pure flavour? Or perhaps something tart, but more substantial, like tamarind, would make for a better starting point. I can eat lemons, so 'too sour' is not a problem I'm concerned about. Perhaps MC has something to offer in this department (or the production of wee flakes, in general)?

My own mother isn't a bad cook, but she ran to experimental ideas (with which I can sympathize), and one of the gnarlier takes on vegetarian and health foods, so I was frequently not in love with the results. She's given a lot of that up over time, but I'm careful to not be around at Thanksgiving, when nut loaf still takes centre stage. Brrrr. My boyfriend's mother is a very sweet and honest (therefore trusting) woman who is unenthusiastic about cooking, and has a touching faith in the reliability of any recipe in print, which makes for some sad little disasters (the other night we had some dessicated stuffed pheasants, because The Recipe indicated that browning the pheasants, then roasting them at 200C for as long as it took for the mostly ground pork stuffing to reach a safe temperature, would work out fine). Artificial sweeteners, skim milk, and brown food colouring make frequent appearances.

I'm a fiend for bread chocolate. Straight from the box. We cannot keep the stuff around... my boyfriend keeps pointing out that eating the equivalent weight of good-quality chocolate bars would actually be cheaper than scarfing these sheets of crap-o almost-chocolate, but do I do that..? No. I do not.

I was thinking of something like this, but was going to recommend Fairway. Even if the weather is filthy, you can always find various covered areas in the park. For added entertainment value, I recommend eating by the lake, where you can watch clueless people trying to row boats

I'd round up some weights and a plank/slab at least the size of the board, and either run the board through the dishwasher again, removing it as soon as it stops washing, or fill the sink with boiling water, shove in the board, and let it sit a while, possibly letting out a little water, and topping it up again to keep the heat high. Then, acting very fast, yank it out, put it on the counter, cover it with the plank, and evenly distribute as much weight over it as you have available (I'm thinking 20-50 lbs of the plates off my weights, or something similar). I'm not certain that this would work (you may just have to chalk this up to experience), but hey, since you've satisfied your curiosity regarding the effects of boiling water on the board in the first place, you may as well try one more experiment, and round out your knowledge

Risi e Bisi is a classic Venetian dish of peas and rice, very good stuff, but the quality of the broth and peas is key. The one thing I'd recommend doing differently is adding the peas right at the end, so they're heated but don't lose the freshness they've got going for them. Just squish this through babelfish: http://virgiliovenezia.myblog.it/archive/2010/05/24/risi-e-bisi.html (you get a recipe + Vogon poetry).

Ditto! They're ugly as sin, but incredibly useful.

Years ago, my then-boyfriend and I were employed to care for an elderly man who was dying very slowly of a selection of things. I'm about the least nurturing person I know, and the man was a complete stranger to me, but my reflexive response, as far as preparing meals went, was to consult him carefully (tricky, frustrating, and in a sense useless, since his senile dementia was advancing rapidly) about his preferences, and take tremendous care in preparing his meals, even though he often had difficulty recognizing food as such. And I kept this up for as long as he was able to actually swallow. I didn't do this because I felt helpless, since there was plenty to do in terms of nursing (he was catheterized, among other things, which needed a lot of attention), so I wondered whether the urge to feed others who are in very bad shape exists/persists because in some cases (going back to early humans, and groups that still have access to little medical care), it actually helps (obviously, not in the case of terminal illness).

Add Milan, Parma, Bologna, and Bolzano to that list. Also, the parts of Switzerland I visited. I've only seen this done in supermarkets and similar places, where the customer selects and bags the goods (in Italy, at least, small greengrocers do not like the customers touching the produce at all, and do the bagging themselves. They'll hold up and turn each piece for you to inspect however, if they're in the mood/you ask). Not a Walmart thing, hm?

Well, my favourite coffee shop is in Florence, and the first thing you see when you go in is the pastry and sweets display. In my opinion, that would be hard to top.

Well, it's inert, but that doesn't matter so much if you're not talking about cookware. It ages pretty well, if you discount the fact that it gets mucked up pretty easily. If you can manage to, I recommend not thinking about it too much, as long as it's essentially clean (i.e. reasonably sanitary) I've heard of several cleaning products that keep stainless looking nice, IFF you keep on top of it. I spiral into obsessive behaviour very easily, so I've taught myself to not think about finger marks and so on, and to accept the fact that the stainless surfaces in the kitchen often look as though an unsupervised three-year-old went amok in it.

Since chefs are people, they're bound to vary as much as any other group; the noisiest ones may convince the media and the public that whatever they do is characteristic, but somehow, I doubt any of the cliches can be trusted as being even remotely universal.

Helen, I spend a lot of time in a city with a canal going through it (Åboulevarden), along which are heaps of coffee shops and restaurants. I did an online search for Århus + Åboulevarden (or, Aarhus + Aaboulevarden, if your keyboard won't do an 'Å'), which yields lots of images of the coffee-shop-and-restaurant-side of the canal, including some decent close-up shots of the furniture. If you have a specific national feel in mind, you could just plug in the city + body-of-water-of-your-choice, and get nicely pinpointed results.