Hassouni

I will be the first to admit my naïveté: how does an ultrasonic cleaner help the infusion in the jar?

I really should see about getting the new edition.... ETA: Trigger pulled, BookDepository takes PayPal so I used my remaining PP balance. Can't wait!

I think a lot of people prefer more Maraschino than Violette. 1 teaspoon of the latter is really quite enough.

I use that too, not bad, though very sweet.

Gin! Lemon! Sizzurp! Soda! As for the rest, my preferred spec is a shitload of mint, a spoonful of sugar (not syrup) some lime, a good glug of rum, a splash of soda. It's the only recipe I freepour/eyeball

Yep. The mojito was probably THE drink that got me into mixology, and over the years I have tried just about every variable and recipe (sort of like Lady Jo and the Mai Tai, I suppose). No bitters for me or for the Cubans!

Not to be contrary, but I've seen about every video of mojito-making from La Bodeguita del Medio, and ain't bo bittas!

Interesting, I've never even noticed...

Franci - what is the spoon scooping away after the spine was removed? Huiray - I do E/SE Asian meals all the time, but when I'm dining with others they're not used to using chopsticks to eat a fish from a communal plate. If I fry or steam or broil fish for myself, I often use chopsticks. By the way I almost always get fish from the Korean supermarket, they tend to leave all the fins on.

How many cases of Malacca were produced? Because I've seen one bottle in the entire DC area...

I've tried it with all kinds of knife and nothing seems better than anything else. Last night I actually used something resembling a filleting knife, no dice. I think part of the problem is that when I cut slashes into the sides of the fish (as I've always done after seeing it mentioned in countless recipes), those slashes expand and make clean cuts difficult

I cook whole fish for 2-3 people a lot, usually grilled or baked. I've been to restaurants that serve whole grilled fish (often branzino), and they present the whole fish and fillet in front of you in a very neat manner. I have a lot of trouble doing that. I find it difficult to cut through the fish neatly, and it ends up being served in large chunks rather than 1 piece. Does anyone have any advice?

Having never cooked them before, I found some garlic scapes on sale yesterday, and picked up a bunch. Planning on grilling all of last night's dinner, I googled "grilling garlic scapes" and saw that it's commonly done. Most of the recipes said "grill over a hot fire [as if fire's not hot??] till charred in spots and soft". I grilled until HEAVILY charred in spots, and even then the majority were not particularly soft and the outer skin remained very hard and nearly inedible, though the interiors of some of the scapes were OK. What's the right way? Blanch them first? Grill over indirect heat?

It's pretty sweet and not very amer...

Yup

Yes, the ghetto centrifuge juicer thing is new to me and invaluable.

Hm, my bottle of Cointreau is nearly gone, may have to pick some up...

How is the Melitta compared to the Hario in terms of final product? The Hario makes some of the best coffee I've ever had. I'm particularly interested in the Chemex, by the way, as I don't have a standalone carafe - with the Hario I brew right into my mug, and I'd like to minimize kitchen clutter.

One might also call it handmade filter coffee, rather than one made in a machine. You have a conical or roughly conical brewer, a paper (or other) filter that gets inserted into the brewer, and you then place ground coffee in the filter. You then pour water in freehand, and it drips down into your mug or carafe or whatever receiving vessel you choose. Done well, it produces a FANTASTIC cup of coffee. Popular brands/models are Melitta (they started the whole thing over 100 years ago), Hario V60 and other Hario models, Kalita Wave, and, Chemex. Here's more info http://prima-coffee.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-pour-over-coffee-brewing

I use a Hario v60 "1" size nearly every day, for myself. Hario's "1-2" cups is a bit of a joke, it's based on 150ml or 5 oz. I, and most people I know, want 8-12 oz of coffee. If I'm entertaining, there's no way for me to make more than 1 cup except make 2 smaller cups in my size 1 Hario. I'm thinking of getting either a Chemex or a larger Hario - do the latter make anything larger than size 2? And if not, does the size 2 hold enough coffee for roughly 600ml, or more? I'd like to be able to serve up to 4 people at least 8 oz, so something that holds about a litre's worth of coffee is what I want (roughly 60g coffee) I've never tried Chemex, but I'm willing to. If I don't like the results from their own filters, I've seen videos where people use Hario filters in the Chemex brewer, and just use it as a giant V60.

While cruising through a rough part of DC today, I pulled over at a liquor store in the hope that they might have some ancient bottle of something interesting at a reasonable price. They had some old Aalborg Akvavit, ANCIENT DeKuyper Curaçao, but the only thing to really stand out was what I ended up buying: Covered in dust, priced a buck or two more than a current bottle of the 8 year at normal market prices. Obviously, I'm pretty excited, as I've heard Barbancourt has declined slightly in recent years. This looks to be ancient. Anybody know what era this label is from? I can't find one like it online, but the barcode would suggest late 70s at the earliest...

Did he ever? (also, book!)

17 years of aging drastically transforms a rum. Plain old whites probably has very little in common with the 17 year old stuff. 1/2 oz WN and 1.5 Barbancourt 15 is probably not far off. Anyway a Mai Tai has 2 oz rum in it....

I know what I'm dreaming about tonight!

Is it still a Negroni without vermouth?