La Niña

Yes, very well chilled. Never at room temperature. Same with Sauternes, Mombazillac, sweet Jurancon, sweet Rielings, etc., etc.

I and my sisters all make pretty mean latkes, and none of us is a grandmother.

Great - then call them potato pancakes with bacon and creme fraiche, or potato pancakes with sour cream and caviar, or potato pancakes however you want them - but don't call them latkes. Latkes is a Yiddish word for a dish that was created by poor people for poor people - consisting of very basic ingredients, and very basic toppings. Yes, Nina. Sorry, Nina. I know I'm a bad person, Nina. Sorry. Sorry. But "potato pancakes" to me means rosti. And the "psuedo-latkes" I make were based on my years of cooking for a Jewish ex-husband (which included learning to make gefilte fish). But, as you say, Nina. Sorry. Yeah, Jin, I hear you. Latkes are sort of like mini rostis, I suppose. (An aside - I made sweet and sour braciole tonight, served with spaetzle - it was all very brisket-like, except I threw some pork neck bones in for flavor. Talk about sacreligious!)

azlee, you've seen this in Israel I assume, yes? Sufganiyot are far from ubiquitous in the US, since there are relatively very few Sephardim in the US...

And for god's sake, no cinnamon in that applesauce!

Great - then call them potato pancakes with bacon and creme fraiche, or potato pancakes with sour cream and caviar, or potato pancakes however you want them - but don't call them latkes. Latkes is a Yiddish word for a dish that was created by poor people for poor people - consisting of very basic ingredients, and very basic toppings.

I know it's sacreligious , but jelly donuts from Krispy Kreme are sufganiyot - same size, same everything - of course when people make sufganiyot at home they will vary from kitchen to kitchen - but they're it - let's face it. Jelly donuts from Dunkin' Donuts are not really like sufganiyot - too heavy and dense, and too big... I have never had sufganiyot and latkes together (latkes in Hebrew are levavot, by the way)...sufganiyot are from the sephardic tradition, and latkes are from the ashkenazi tradition - perhaps in present day Israel some people have adopted the tradition from the other side and therefore eat them both - but they come from different traditions so they couldn't be eaten together "traditionally."

They should not be very thick! Make sure your batter isn't too thick...and flatten them down with a spatula as soon as you get them into the oil.

Next Saturday (last night of Hanukah) is our annual latke party at my sister's. We make very traditional latkes - grate the potatoes (in a food processory), wring as much moisture out of them as possible, retaining the potato starch. Mix the starch back in, along with grated onions and some eggs, salt, and enough matzah meal to obtain the right texture - fry in hot pre-heated oil, but not too too hot - you don't want the outside to get too done and the inside not be cooked enough. Drain on paper towels (both sides), and keep on platter in a low oven until ready to eat. The latkes themselves are not sweet in any way - they are served with applesauce and sour cream - either together, or separately. Is anyone making sufganiot?

Forgive me Steve, but corn flakes they didn't have in eastern Europe.

Sweet and sour braciole, made with raisins - the gravy is so thick and rich - yum. Served with egg noodles, salad, bottle of Weinert cab.

I shall indeed! Thanks.

Suvir, I've bought spices frequently (when I don't go to Patel Bros. in Jackson Heights) at Little India Emporium on 28th St. just west of Lex. What do you think of that place? I've been pretty pleased over the years, but would like to know how it compares to Foods of India (I've never been), in your opinion...

Ever go to a Vietnamese crab house called Thad Long (sp?) in SF? I used to go a lot when my sister lived there...I think they were served just steamed with butter, as I recall - with these thick long noodles swimming in garlic and butter...

Thanks Everybody!

Steve - Okeydoke. Should I use another kind of crab in addition to dungeness?

I repeat - we want to have them WHOLE on the dinner table. No salads. No picking out the meat ahead of time. Simon, that soup sounds wonderful...

I'm sure it's great, but we want to have that eating the whole crab experience, right outta the shell...

No salads. Jason, you mean sautee the big crabs with garlic? In oil? No steaming? Steve, you mean frying the jalapenos in oil? I like that idea - just steaming them with some aromatics - ginger, scallion, garlic, lemongrass...?

So I'm heading out to Chinatown this afternoon in search of live dungeness crabs. What to look for when buying them? And how shall I cook them this evening? I'd prefer not to fry them - should I just steam them? Some kind of dipping sauce? Should I try another kind of crab in addition? Thanks.

With all due respect, I thought the pizza at DeNino's was nearly flavorless. I've had about 4,678,469 pizza discussions - hey, I grew up in New Haven!

You're talking about Totonno's in Coney Island, on Neptune Ave. Go, yes, but DO NOT MISS DIFARA PIZZA on Avenue J & E. 15th St. in Midwood. And read the article on pizza on fat-guy.com. And for the record, I was unimpressed by the pizza at DeNino's. Next on my list are Joe & Pat's, and Nunzios.

Very traditional cheese fondue, green salad with traditional vinaigrette, bottle of Alsatian riesling...and now we're doing a test run of Toby's pear tarte tatin...

The next one is whenever somebody organizes something! Up my sleeve, for one, is a pizza outing to DiFara...

Say what you will, but the '81, after it opened up, was a lovely glass of wine. Maybe not the best LB has to offer, but "fair to poor" is really inaccurate.