Broken English

I only poach it until it's just cooked, so the breaking apart is minimal as long as you're careful. Still, if you're flaking it afterwards, it really doesn't matter, as you said. I tend not to serve it as a loin, just because with the Italian training I've had, it's most often flaked or made into baccala. I find that garlic, thyme, black pepper and bay leaves in the cream adds a nice subtle flavour. I'm no longer working in that place, I've just moved to Canada from Sydney for a while, and I have no equipment in my home kitchen, so it won't be happening any time soon, haha. I do love using chorizo with fish though, so I will definately post a picture when I do it in the future.

I find salting your own cod produces a much better result, buying in the pre-salted cod like we used to do at a few places I've worked makes the end result a little too salty and fishy for me. Salting for ten days, soaking in regular changes of water for three, then poaching in aromatic cream gives a result that is heavenly to me. One of my favourite dishes (other than made into baccala then crumbed and fried) is using the flakes bound with white onion puree in a puff pastry tart, with a chorizo vinaigrette and some wild rocket.

I don't know, I've never heard of it. I can't think why not though, you can only try. I like to dry them and grind them into a powder to finish dishes.

Thanks. It's a really nice dish, I had it on the menu at my last job a hell of a lot (although with Wahoo and Kingfish a lot of the time), and it works so well with the white gazpacho.

Tuna tartare with apple, mint and chives with a white gazpacho.

This is a very entertaining read, thanks a lot for posting, and keep them coming.

I've finally written up my thoughts on Moto from, what the hell, it's been over a month already. Enjoy. Fresh off the plane from New York, after recording a mere few hours’ sleep the night before due to (still persistent) difficulties in adjusting to the Australian-American time change, and with a groggy afternoon nap under my belt, I headed into a rather derelict looking industrial sector of Chicago in search of Moto, a restaurant that I had been looking forward to experiencing for some time. After again arriving quite early due mostly to my paranoia about being late, I wandered around the area for about ten minutes, only to find the new Grant Achatz outpost next door. Finally, 6.15 arrives, and I think to myself that 15 minutes early is getting within the bounds of my own self-respect, so I enter. I was surprised to learn that instead of the 2 tasting menu choices of 10 and 20 courses, there was now only one, at 15 courses, available. I won’t lie and say that I wasn’t a little disappointed, I had been looking forward to the 20 course since I booked my table, but nevertheless, 15 was a very reasonable compromise. The first course of the much discussed edible menu, posing as a maki roll, is undoubtedly an interesting concept. However it was one of a few courses over the night that I felt was more form than function, as the flavours were quite understated. Undoubtedly, it would have scored more points with me if I hadn’t expected an edible menu of some sort, but sadly, with the prevalence of discussion boards and blogs, the element of surprise is somewhat muted if you’re part of the online food community. “Snowman sashimi” is probably my least favourite of the savoury courses. Quite complex in flavour, it just doesn’t seem to harmonise as well as I would expect, and though the sea urchin was delicious the addition of a (yuzu I think?) ‘snowman’ seemed a little too gimmicky for my money. Essentially a deconstructed vichyssoise, the next course is far more flavourful, packed with contrasting textures and harmonised flavours. Perfectly cooked scallop and olive oil poached fish (halibut from memory) serve as great accents to the potato in both puree and crispy form and, well, there would have to be exceptional circumstances involved before I could ever believe that the humble leek taking a major part in a dish is a bad thing. “Italian Biosphere” is the next course to arrive; a giant glass sphere filled with smoke, with baby red pepper and cherry tomato, served as part of a dish that is quite possibly the most fun course I’ve ever had the pleasure to eat. A small glass bowl with a pungently aromatic truffle and bread puree sitting upon a miniature spade (intended as a spoon) with toasted breadcrumbs, mushrooms and a few other goodies, along with a miniature rake to fully complete the image of the gardener who’s lost the plot, and is now eating his garden using the tools of his trade. The smoke gently vacating the sphere adds another layer of complexity to the savoury forest flavours of the dish. Not being American, I didn’t have any nostalgic connection to the course of “Crab and Grits”, so the intended flavour familiarity of the dish was lost on me. Taste wise though, the dish was one of the highlights; a rich, slightly spicy bisque poured tableside over sweet crawfish tails that almost melted on the palate. “Kentucky Fried Pasta” consisted of chicken that had been freeze dried and turned into tagliatelle, with a rich and very savoury red wine sauce, which then had Australian winter truffles generously microplaned over the top by chef Cantu tableside as he explained the course. This was served with the (in?)famous ‘herb spoon’, which contained thyme, as according to Cantu “Thyme is one of the main herbs that is present in KFC”. The pasta itself has great texture, although there was no more than a ghost-like whisper of chicken flavour. It is a very nice dish even if I couldn’t possibly see how this could be compared in any way to KFC, other than the fact that the dish featured chicken, albeit in a very unfamiliar form. In the first service misstep, the wine for this course only arrived as I was almost finished, with an uneasy, slightly red-faced apology from the waiter. It was to my great amusement that ten minutes earlier at the adjacent table, I had watched on as the waiter poured the entire contents of the candle that had been on the table over the course they’d just received. The ‘victims’ of this prank, a 30-something couple, almost had their eyes pop out of their head, and looked at the waiter as if he’d gone just a little nuts. The liquid in question was actually sage oil, and was part of a dish known as ‘Cornbread and Capon’. Smoked shredded confit leg and perfectly cooked breast sat atop a cornbread puree, and finely grated bacon added another dimension to the smoky leg meat, and although I thought it would be quite oily, it wasn’t in the slightest, and there was a very slight undercurrent of the herbal sage that played well off the main components. Cuban cigars three ways are essentially very fancy sandwiches, served in an ash tray with sesame nitrogen ash. There is a riff on Philly cheesesteak, another involving Iberico ham, and one other with contents I cannot recall clearly. With an ultra-realistic look, and extraordinary flavours, this was both delicious and a little disconcerting. The combination of the visual aspect and the flavour combination made this one of the high points. Roasted, dried, powdered, foamed, re-formed and re-roasted mushrooms come along with pork belly braised in Vietnamese dressing, seared foie gras, sautéed cabbage, mushroom cream, crispy trumpet mushrooms and a Vietnamese caramel. While this would probably be the most complex of the courses so far, the individual elements combined well, with a great balance of flavour and texture. I didn’t quite get the point of the reconstructed mushrooms however; although they looked great sticking up in a line on the plate, they lacked the deep intensity of flavour that would have been present when they were originally roasted. Maybe that was the point, to cut back on the richness a bit. A palate cleanser to lead in to the desserts; a champagne strawberry soda served in a beaker of sorts, with a nitro poached packing peanut serves its purpose well, leaving the palate refreshed with the balance of sweetness and acidity. The packing peanut didn’t do too much for me though. Simply called ‘eggs’, the first of the dessert courses contains a spherified mango ‘yolk’ along with Kaffir lime tea. While it was tasty enough, it didn’t live up to any of the previous highs of the meal thus far, which was a bit of a surprise given Ben Roche’s obvious talent, and unfortunately it seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the dessert courses. ‘Pitaya, Longan and Rose’ was another one of those moments. The sweetness and all round flavour of the fruits was nice, but the rosewater meringue really overpowered things, and I was left feeling as though I’d eaten a bag of pot pourri. I’ve never cared for the way rose flavour lingers on the palate for so long; in most cases it just overtakes the other elements, as it did here. The final full sized dessert course was “Tea time”, and contained several riffs on Earl Grey tea, balanced by chocolate with fresh black and raspberries. Again, it was nice enough, but I just expected something a little different than a dessert that could just as easily have been found in any modern Michelin star restaurant. Maybe it’s my expectations that were a little out of proportion, but since Moto desires to shock and/or stimulate, I expected something that, if not confronting, was at least a little more unusual. The final bite, known as the “ACME Bomb”, was placed on the table as I watched the fuse burn away. I was half expecting to have to duck for cover as the fuse neared its end, or else be covered in chocolate from the ensuing explosion. It did not explode however, not on the table anyway. Once placed on the tongue and chewed however, the liquid centre (of guava?) did indeed flood the mouth. It was quite a nice end to a thoroughly enjoyable meal, but like a few of the dishes, it seemed to be more about showmanship than anything else. Service was quite attentive and informative, despite a misstep here and there, and was at times a little on the cheeky side, which I love in this sort of environment. It was also nice to note that, from listening to the descriptions of dishes on other tables as well as my own, that no two descriptions were ever word for word the same, and the explanations seemed to be tailored to the perceived level of interest from the diner. Wine matches were well thought out, and the pours generous, if occasionally forgotten. I did find it a little perplexing that there was no sparkling water option; and the still water had a strong earthy taste, almost like it was straight from the tap. In a restaurant of this calibre, I found it a little strange, but perhaps that’s more of a reflection of growing up on rainwater, and having a general disdain for the taste of tap water. In any case, the meal was very enjoyable, although I felt at times the technique took precedence at the expense of taste, whereas at Alinea, the techniques were less obviously showcased, and flavour seemed to take the centre stage more often. I would not hesitate to return though, because at its best, it was stunning.

I guess pairings effect depend on your tolerance to alcohol, I haven't been to Ko, but in every other wine pairing I've done, I have been far from tanked, although I certainly wouldn't have driven home after.

I'm 95% sure they're closely related but not in the same family.

Tasteless? It seems to me that canned tuna is anything but tasteless. I can easily understand those who don't like the taste, I think it's quite strong. And if the canned tuna you are buying is dry, stringy, and/or tasteless, I'd suggest finding a better brand! You're right, tasteless was the wrong word. I meant to say that the flavor does nothing for me at all. Canned fish in general turns me off, except for the salmon rissoles my Nan used to make. Man I do miss those.

I can't stand canned tuna, for me it's just dry, stringy and tasteless. If I am going to eat tuna, I will very rarely go for anything other than raw. I'm sure there are some nice recipes using it, but not any I will ever be enthusiastic about. About the best I can think of with it is tuna mayo, but even then diced raw tuna bound with aioli will always win me over.

Restaurants certainly don't get it for free, not that I've ever seen anyway.

I don't know about taking over the world, but it certainly is everywhere in the US. I'd never had it before going there.

I'm not a ranch fan, but aioli on pizza is awesome, after a few beers especially. I wouldn't bastardise a nice wood fire pizza in this way, but for cheap and cheesy pizzas, hell yeah.

It still seems a very inefficient system, energy consumption wise, compared to the normal ice bath system. Is it really that much better to justify the cost? I can't see this taking off as an appliance any time soon, the possible uses just are too limited. In saying that, I still want one.

I'd call on the Friday and try and sweet talk your way in. Don't know if it will work, but if it doesn't you still have Monday. Kind of a no-lose situation.

I bought Mum one of those about 5 years back, it seems to work pretty well, at least with her Furi set anyway. They're actually pretty decent knives for home.

The Red Spoon Company in Sydney sells small quantities but I don't know if they ship internationally.

That's probably because they don't cut it for you in Italy, so it's much less easy to have it as finger food. I have to say I'm not a huge crust fan, but wood fired crispy crust is another matter entirely.

This isn't a US thing, it's just an incompetent thing (unless the restaurant warns you in advance that items will be served as soon as they are ready and are meant to be eaten that way - family style rather than in courses). I know it's obviously not a US thing. It just happened to me so often there.

Mango and fish is sublime, I also love using an apple herb salad with fish. I typically use kingfish and Mahi mahi for hot preparations, or tuna and wahoo for raw dishes. I think it depends on the style of fish, I'm not too sure how well the stronger tasting, oilier fish go with fruit, as I'm not a huge fan of fish like sardines.

Okay, since you posted that, I'm going to do a confession. Forgive me eGullet for I have sinned. It started as a joke one night after work several years ago. I suggested it, we had a good laugh and then somebody said "hey, why not". So we did it. I mixed up some dough. We topped it with a nice gravy, cut up and cooked some fries and piled them on, threw on some cheese and popped it in an oven. Poutine Pizza. Beer and enthusiasm are a dangerous mix. I'm not proud... I'd be proud, that sounds hilariously revolting haha. Was it edible?

Hot buttery toast, mushrooms sautéed with garlic and herbs, poached eggs. I made myself seriously hungry just then.

I'm not a huge fan of percolated coffee, but with instant coffee, I always have milk and a sugar. With proper coffee I always taste for sugar and almost always have a latte or similar milk based cuppa. I think my reputation is on the line for loving instant coffee.

Yeah I think it's that bran taste that turns me off brown rice. I'll definately try it out for size.