Hassouni

I'm an easterner born and raised, as is the entire side of my dad's family, and I say thanksGIVING (stress on the giv- rather than the -ing, but whatever), I've never heard it with the emphasis on thanks. That said, the gripes of the rest of you are shared here! While I'm at it, hummus has a double m, which means the m is lengthened. Think Italian or Japanese treatment of double consonants. Re: the Guardian article posted above, "High on my pet-hate list is the the North American pronunciation of herb without an "h". Eeuugh." SO VERY TRUE. Also, I had no idea culinary was even said in the incorrect way described in that article. And Chorizo blows my mind. I've heard Corizo, Coritso, Choritso.....

It's OK, mine is 100% wray and nephew so it's pretty funky too!

Make sure you have decent glassware as well, and save the Ardbegs for last

Çaykur Tiryaki Çay this morning, or "Addict's tea" in Turkish (high caffeine content)

Gosling's old is way too expensive for use in a cocktail (though that was the original point of the Mai Tai). I'd pass on the Brugal. Not bad, but not special.

Neither is gum Arabic

Why not make your own syrup, that's what we all do

So what makes Greek yogurt Greek? Are you complaining about the price and the marketing or the yogurt? Well, how is home made American hummus different than Lebanese home made hummus? I don't think you can compare supermarket products with well-made restaurant or home made products. Maybe that's the same in Lebanon? Is what you get in the supermarket in Lebanon equal to what is made at home? And, from what I understand, in part by experience, Israeli hummus may be made and presented differently than Lebanese hummus. Which is "authentic?" Nothing makes "Greek yogurt" especially Greek. The Greeks have normal yogurt, and strained yogurt, just as the Arabs and Turks do. My main complaint is with the price and marketing. The yogurt itself is fine, although I typically strain my own from store-bought regular yogurt. Homemade American hummus in the sense that it's made with chickpeas and garlic and lemon and tahina is fine, there's nothing especially "American" about that, as it's sticking to the traditional recipe. Typically, the hummus you can get in the prepared foods section of a Lebanese supermarket is quite high quality though, because they know they have picky customers. American store-bought hummus, even if it's not made with carrots and spinach and God knows what, tends to be have the wrong consistency and seasoning (not to mention additional unpronounceable ingredients), at least for what I'm used to and what I like. If someone likes that, then fine, the hummus entrepreneurs are doing something right, I guess. For what it's worth, supermarket vs homemade is not always an unfair comparison - good quality supermarket yogurt (to return to that) can be fantastic. As for Israeli hummus, in the Jersusalem book, Ottolenghi and Tamimi went with Tamimi's grandmother's recipe for hummus, so I'd defer to the Palestinians (the recipe rocks, by the way)! My American gentile friend who has lived both in Palestine and Lebanon also prefers Palestinian-style. That being said, it's absurd to think "hummus was invented in Ramallah/Tel Aviv/Beirut/Damascus" given that it's such a staple it presumably predates anybody keeping track of it.

I dunno. I love East Asian food in general and "authentic" (which may be cringeworthy) regional Chinese is one of my favorites. I really don't ever miss Americanized Chinese food. Actually one of the disappointments about the few East Asian restaurants in the Middle East is that they all serve very Americanized stuff for the most part. Now, if a place opened up in Shanghai (or anywhere else) with a seriously damn good, American-style burger, I could get behind that!

Well, let's start with the latter one. There is nothing especially Greek about it, and all it is is strained yogurt. Take any old yogurt, put it through a cheesecloth/coffee filter to strain the excess liquid out overnight, and voila, labne! Or, rather "Greek yogurt." There's nothing wrong with it, I just find the marketing and pricing absurd, as if it's some brand new thing with amazing benefits bog standard yogurt doesn't have, and therefore should cost $6 for a litre tub. Bah! As for hummus, store bought hummus is just vile. And other things pureed in the same manner are not hummus, like "beet hummus" or whatever it was I saw. Hummus by definition means chickpeas! This one I have much greater problem with, as it's such a staple and deeply ingrained into the culture. It just bothers me on an inexplicable level.

That sort of made me die inside. Thankfully only 2 (I think) aspects of my food culture have been ruined by America - hummus and labneh ("greek yogurt")....The thought of a place opening in Beirut serving Americanized hummus gives me horrors. I have to imagine it'd be closed within a week, though.

Dammmmmn. Where does it say the year on it?

Restock of Scarlet Ibis, I've realized what a bargain it is for an unaltered Trini rum

That Cuisinart one never seems to get more than 3 stars. But that Capresso one looks interesting...

I have a Hario Skerton, which is great, but man, first thing in the morning, I do NOT want to be manually grinding beans. I have a Zojirushi electric boiler, so the water is ready to go when I wake up. I want my beans to be ready within a few seconds, not a couple minutes. I do not make espresso, so precision fine grinding is not a concern. Is there a decent electric burr grinder in the $50ish range? Most of what I've seen on Amazon in that range hasn't been too highly rated.

Update. The pan is still a lot uglier than it was before this incident, but I expected it to get nasty looking over time, so whatever. Vigorous scrubbing removed the bits of burner that stuck to the pan and other ashy crusty crap, and I got it back to a relatively smooth steel surface. It now looks like a very used pan, rather than a destroyed one. However, it is not quite as smooth as when new, nor is the inside (post seasoning, see below) as smooth as the outside of the pan. Also, to my relief, it appears to not be warped. I re-did the seasoning, no oven this time, but maybe 5+ thin coats of flax oil on the stove, plus 3 rashers' worth of very fatty bacon. After this, it appears well seasoned, like an old wok or something, but it isn't quite as glass-smooth as before, and has a very slight texture. That being said, I seared 4 turkey thighs today, both skin side and meat side, and NO sticking and yet again they glided around. I haven't tried an egg, but the Turkey experience was very reassuring. So, bottom line, these De Buyer pans are kind of indestructible! One odd note - some fluff from the towel got into the pan and baked under one of the coats of seasoning. I couldn't remove it except with a metal implement (tongs I think), which gouged the seasoning and revealed, to my surprise.....really light, raw-colored bare steel. I thought I had taken it back to bare steel, steel which had been discolored from the heat (as happens to CS in high heat, case in point, woks). What might be going on with that? Does that mean if I really wanted to, I could steel wool the whole thing back to its original condition?

So, how do we get clear infusions? I would have thought the coffee filter would have done it (it worked for my homemade coffee liqueur)

Señor Amirault, That "someone" was me. It's refined, briny, bittersweet, malty - it's the seaside in a glass, without interference from the peat smoke so typical of other Islay whiskies. Also, no added color, no chill-filtration, and 46%. Changes a lot in the glass too, nice and complex, and a great bargain.

Dan, hit up some friends in New Hampshire or Rhode Island (Amirault??)

Superior AND serifed!

Just remember, fedex

OK, I'm livid and distraught. I've been recovering from an illness chez les parents for the last couple days, which is where I've seasoned my new pan. I just now discovered that my father while attempting to boil water mistakenly turned on the burner that the De Buyer was resting on, to max high. For god knows how long, while he walked off (I was resting in bed). The seasoning obviously has vaporized off, the bottom of the pan has a fucking imprint from the coil of the burner, and the coating of the handle has started to melt off. (How my father didn't smell the damn thing blows my mind, the kitchen stinks of burnt silicone and vaporized seasoning now, and of course he vehemently denies all culpability, but that's not the point) I tried to see if any warping was evident, and there might be a tiny bit, but I'm not positive. Pics: Is the pan ruined? Can I reseason it? It seems like traces of the original seasoning have been permanently stained it, as has the red-hot coil (there was a lot of flaking crap I removed). Here I was, so excited about this new pan and it's freshly zambonied ice-like interior, and this happens.

All this time you were using that?

Cuban-style white?

Aw come on, poor HP12, drink it neat! It's soooo good. I'm still loath to put quality single malts in cocktails, other than dashes/rinses of Laphroaig. As for the rum....well....at $13 for 151 it might be rather horrible, but for infusions that shouldn't matter too much. Whatcha planning on infusing?