JasonW

Beautiful pictures on your site! Do you shoot them yourself? If so, could you comment on your set up? That scallop is NUTS. I really need to move to california for all your beautiful produce!

I honestly did not expect this thread to get so interesting. A very interesting question that after 5 pages I am still certain I do not know how I feel about it. In the first two pages, I was unsure, but leaned towards it being stealing. These bags are here for an implied purpose: to carry your produce to your home. Yes, they are offered free of charge - but free of charge for that purpose. When FG discovered they were provided free to the supermarket because the manufacturer of these bags advertise on them, a very significant point changed for me. As soon as something is an ad, its primary purpose becomes exposure and distribution. The ads are on free plastic bags precisely because they have value to FG (dog poop, garbage bag, etc) as well as the manufacturer (you carry it around, hang them up in your kitchen, etc). To me, the implied purpose is much more than just carrying the broccoli to your car now.

Good Eats was truly one of my favorite shows. It was such an excellent mix of science (isoelectric point of albumin!) and practical DIY set ups (bank-of-lockers smoker!) truly accessible to everyone. I can't imagine I would ever have fallen in love with cooking had it only been jamie oliver or gordon ramsay on tv. I really enjoyed the small history and nomenclature lessons on each topic and I am sure his academic precision and methodology helped alot of people greatly improve their cooking! AB you will be missed

your pictures are absolutely beautiful! I have a question about kau yuk, I've eaten ones that felt quite heavy or oily and others that were neither. The initial deep fry: what effect does that have on the fat? Does the duration of steaming affect that 'mouth feel'?

Now that its winter here, I've been eating oatmeal everyday for breakfast with super-ripe-about-to-fall-apart persimmon

haha IV ethryomycin is just a needle! Be brave!

I'm looking to do a birthday splurge this saturday for a party of 6 choosing between Auberge, Bymark and Splendido at the moment any reccomendations? splendido was the best meal i've had in toronto, but I been meaning to try both the other ones looking for about 100pp with alcohol thanks

If you are taking CYP3A4 metabolized drugs, its pretty crucial you do not eat grapefruits because it can inhibit the enzymes responsible for metabolism possibly leading to build up of toxic compounds. Some people have more CYP3A4 than other can therefore can drink more grapefruit juice before seeing any effects, but in the elderly or those with liver cirrhosis, these enzyme levels could be much more vulnerable to grapefruit. Definitely consult your doctor before eating that orange grapefruit!

Do you turn the potatoes when they're in the oven? What kind of fat are you using? What kind of potatoes (waxy/floury)? What temperature? How long? I usually use Russets or Yukon Golds. Shaking the roasting tray maybe every 10-15 min Usually using olive oil or duck/chicken fat roasting usually between 425 and 500F never tried a convection oven though what is the effect of heating the fat first?

I am definitely in the par-boiling camp ala Blumenthal and really enjoy those roast potatoes. Though most of the time the crust is more tough and less brittle than "perfection" imo Is this due to low starch potatoes being used? Am I not drying thoroughly enough?

Does anyone use cling film or plastic wrap for blind baking tart shells? I've seen professionals use it and Claire Clark calls for it in her book. Any advantage over parchment or aluminum foil? perhaps better conformation to the dough? Does it stand the heat of a hot oven?

First off, excellent post by Emannths. *** I would like to preface this post by saying I am not an expert and definitely do not have a chemical engineering background. I also love wikipedia and never go a day without using it. However I feel that it is not the best source for topics without a good consensus in the scientific community. Regarding bisphenol A; I think alot of 'popular science' tends to find its way onto the internet and into wikipedia faster than any meta analyses or good systematic reviews. Although alot more research is still needed, at the moment I believe there are some things we are fairly confident in: 1. some natural estradiols are carcinogens 2. BPA can mimic these effects But the there is insufficient evidence to conclude: 1. BPA is associated with increased cancer incidence 2. early life BPA exposure leads to pre-neoplastic lesion 3. pre natal exposure to environmentally relevant doses of BPA increases markers for breast cancer risk in humans To clear up some things that have been thrown around in the news or online: 1. low dose mouse studies have shown breast/prostate anomalies. Many of these studies used injections (not oral) and looked for enlarged prostates - which are not necessary pre-neoplastic (nor do pre-neoplastic lesions necessarily lead to neoplasia). 2. our diverse sources of BPA are way below (400x) the acceptable intake set by the EPA (although some of these figures are disputed by prominent endocrine/toxicological journals) 3. BPA can cause neurological changes in rats. These studies are not of the highest quality and have not shown great (or any) reproducibility. Although Health Canada (first country) did ban BPA in polycarbonate baby bottles, they do state very strongly that there are no adverse effects on the general population. I personally doubt there is any significant risk to our BPA consumption as in Nalgene bottles or canned foods but it is probably reasonable to go to greater lengths to protect babies even though the evidence is not that strong. Just my 2 cents, Jason