huiray

Some further tid-bits about the Bourdain-Cohen flap and others drawn into it: http://eater.com/archives/2013/05/17/bravo-gets-defensive.php#more http://eater.com/archives/2013/05/16/david-simon-comparing-treme-tax-breaks-to-top-chef-funds-applestooranges.php http://www.blackenedout.com/2013/05/top-shut-f-up.html @IndyRob: regarding your "thanks" to Simon about putting out "Treme" (http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145021-top-chef-new-orleans/#entry1918887) - you might have a particular interest in what he had to say about this BP funds hoo-ha. :-)

Huh. I've had the VOLT ink. book for about 2 years but have not actually made anything from it...I went through it more as an illustration of what Michael Voltaggio was wont to do. I might look at it again, even if it uses lots of "Modernist" techniques. I presume you mean the recipe on page 211? The one using beef short ribs, the one titled "Beef with Cream of Dehydrated Broccoli, Horseradish "Styrofoam", Caramelized Soy" ? Definitely a Modernist recipe, with use of a recirculating bath, a dehydrator, and other tricks.

Assuming we are talking about the brown marmorated stink bug, the chemicals primarily responsible for the "stink" would seem to be trans-2-decenal and trans-2-octenal. Cilantro also contains trans-2-decenal, and the smell of stink bug has been described by some as smelling as cilantro, yes. The perception of the odor of the chemicals may have a genetic component/individual variability. Interestingly, both chemicals are also used as additives in the perfume and food industries. :-) http://chenected.aiche.org/chemicals/stink-bug-breakdown/ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/05/fighting-the-stink-bug.html http://www.clemson.edu/precisionag/Stink%20Bug.pdf http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1537701.html http://www.perfumerflavorist.com/flavor/rawmaterials/natural/106137548.html http://www.thegoodscentscompany.com/data/rw1005621.html http://smellslikescience.com/in-defense-of-cilantro/ http://arxiv.org/abs/1209.2096 http://www.nature.com/news/soapy-taste-of-coriander-linked-to-genetic-variants-1.11398 http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-genetic-link-cilantro-coriander.html http://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/cilantro-love-hate-genetic-trait/ http://centennial.rucares.org/index.php?page=Genes_Influence_Smell ...and so on...

Aha. In Chinese/Cantonese cookery fresh coriander leaves are everywhere. As a garnish, as part of the "composition" of dish, etc etc. Used extensively in other cuisines (e.g. SE Asian) almost as a vegetable, in some dishes. :-)

Curious minds want to know how you know what stinkbug taste like? That said, I dont use cilantro enough to bother growing it. Its so cheap at farmers markets and places like Aldi's and Bottom dollar. ( $0.50 per bunch ) I get them at 3 (LARGE) bunches for US$1 at my local Chinese grocers. :-)

2013-0519 Lunch • Fresh Pacific White Shrimp [Bedrock Springs Seafood Farm], head-on shell-on, simply steamed w/ julienned ginger & sliced scallions plus some salt. • Watercress sautéed w/ garlic in vegetable oil. • White rice (Basmati). -------------------------------- 2013-0520 Late lunch/early dinner • Edible amaranth (Amaranthus dubius; 莧菜; green variety) in chicken stock w/ smashed garlic & softened dried shrimp (“Har Mai”). • Thinly-sliced flank steak¶ “stir-fried” w/ yellow chives and large-type scallions (京蔥).§ • Steamed white rice (Basmati). ¶Sliced very thinly against the grain; marinated w/ “yellow (cooking) wine” (黃酒) [Julong], sesame oil [Dragonfly], light soy sauce [Pearl River Superior], corn starch [Clabber Girl], fish sauce [Red Boat], freshly ground white pepper. § “Capital scallion”; Yale Cantonese: ging1 chung1. ------------------------------------------- 2013-0521 Lunch • Fried rice – with sautéed garlic, Chinese long beans (Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis), a large-type scallion,§ normal scallions, de-seeded long hot green chillies, eggs. • Thai basil stir-fried w/ garlic, sliced pork & sliced flank steak. § “Capital scallion”; 京蔥; Yale Cantonese: ging1 chung1.

We also have Uchi/ko which is getting a ton of national attention now Surprisingly, I had heard of Uchi/ko before Paul Qui appeared on Top Chef and I've never even been to Austin. It was on my list of places to eat (if I ever made it to Austin). In fact, Paul Qui and Uchi/ko were the only reasons I watched that season of the show (haven't watched any since, nor had I watched any more than one or two of the earlier seasons). Which makes me wonder if the general audience of Top Chef gets their food/travel/culture/dining information primarily from Food Network and its ilk. I've been thinking about conversations between my co-workers who profess to be "foodies" and who watch Top Chef. They day after a Top Chef episode, their conversations usually go like this: 1: I can't believe x got kicked off. 2: I know. But if you think about it, x didn't follow the spirit of the challenge, and y did, so of course x would get kicked off. 1: Yeah, but y is such a jerk. Y won't last much longer, anyway. No mention of cooking at all--not off the techniques, not of the likely taste of the food, nothing. Again, these are people who provide my frame of reference. ymmv. Quite true - but your colleagues are not the only ones who watch TC. There have been many discussions about the cooking aspects, or lack thereof, or what one could learn from the show, amongst folks I know or on forums - such as this one or others. I pointed out earlier that TC has been acknowledged to now be a "Game Show" by the chief judge (Tom Colicchio) - which ought to answer part of your question. It has been discussed (at least elsewhere) how TC used to focus more on the cooking and less on the drama and how it has slipped more into the reality show realm, overall, with the progressive seasons - even though it has had many "drama" moments right from the beginning (the attempted Marcel's head-shaving included, in Season 2) It has even been stated by the producers how they wished to "get back to the cooking", even if their success is debatable. I for one will continue to treat it as a "Game Show" in the main, unless they prove otherwise in the new NOLA season. As to whether the general audience who watches TC gets all their food info from the show or from the Food Network (which is NOT Bravo, BTW :-) ) - I would question the thought that they may...I would be inclined to think that they get info from other sources - even if it might be Yelp, heh!!! (This also feeds into the arm-waving we all had about what sort of folks "foodies" were on another contentious thread here on eG)

Some recent soups: • Veggie soup - with Taiwan Choy Sum, snow fungus (Tremella fuciformis), Taiwanese-type long Napa cabbage ("Wong Nga Pak"), cauliflower florets & sliced pork in stock. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-8#entry1913369 • "Shui Kow" [Pork, shrimp, cabbage & mushroom; Prime Food] and chiffonaded Lacinato kale in chicken stock. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-8#entry1913371 • Pork & scallion meatballs§; in a pork stock¶ with baby veggie tips (“菜苗”) & bánh phở. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-8#entry1913467 • "Harm Choy Tong" (Pickled sour mustard soup) with pork spare ribs, tomatoes (Cherub), sliced ginger, halved garlic cloves, soft tofu slices; plus some rice vinegar. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-8#entry1913579 • Daikon, King oyster mushroom, snow fungus, thick-cap shiitake ("far koo" type) mushroom & scallion soup; in a pork bone stock. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-9#entry1914203 • Wonton soup – with shrimp, Chinese celery & pork wontons [Wei Chuan]; and this week’s “young vegetable shoots” (“菜苗”); Simple vegetable soup of Taiwanese long-type “Wong Nga Pak” (long-type Napa cabbage) and cauliflower florets in chicken stock; Pork, leek & shrimp “Shui Kow” dumplings (NOT gyoza/potstickers; NOR wontons) [Wei Chuan] & skinny wonton noodles in a pork-based stock; Soup, with opo squash (浦瓜); Lotus root soup – with a skin-on reasonably fatty chicken thigh [bell & Evans], Chinese red dates (Jujubes; 紅棗; Ziziphus jujuba), plus a small dried cuttlefish. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-9#entry1914862 • Edible amaranth, red-streaked leaved variety (莧菜; as bought, most probably Amaranthus dubius or a hybrid) (see also here) (Baike article; Google translation) & pork ball [Venus] soup in pork stock; Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶; Yale Cantonese: yuk6 gwat1 cha4). Full post with details on the BKT: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-9#entry1915127 • Watercress in chicken stock; Chicken, cabbage & fennel bulb soup; in chicken stock. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-9#entry1915774 • “Harm Choy Tong” – with pickled sour mustard (See this post and this post for more info), chicken thighs, sliced ginger, sliced tomatoes, sea salt, rice vinegar, soft tofu slices; Pork, scallop & shrimp “shui kow” dumplings [Wei Chuan] (these) in chicken stock w/ watercress & skinny wonton noodles; Shrimp in spicy broth with vegetables. Full posts: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-9#entry1916265 • Beef short ribs, daikon, flower-pattern shiitake mushrooms & garlic soup. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-9#entry1916525 • A riff on lotus root soup. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-9#entry1916790 • Salmon & Veggie soup. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-10#entry1917213 • Pork & Chinese spinach wontons [Wei Chuan] in broth w/ Shanghai noodles, Chinese celery leaves & sliced scallions. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-10#entry1917600 • Shanghai Yangchun Noodles (上海陽春麵) in duck & Chinese celery broth, with finely chopped scallions (green parts only); Chicken & Cabbage soup. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-10#entry1918119 • Soup with pork spare ribs, sliced ginger, crushed garlic cloves, green Chinese radish (青蘿蔔) and (Western) carrots; a Bak Kut Teh variation. Full post: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143989-lunch-whatd-ya-have-2012/page-10#entry1918740

The most important part, to me, is: "Sub-Commandment i: The Perfect Prime Rib must be cookable without the use of heavy or specialized equipment, including propane or oxy-acetylene torches, sous-vide machines, or C-vap ovens." :-) I'm not quite sure if you meant to link to my post, or the one below mine, because as far as I read, there was no heavy or specialized equipment, sous vide, torches or C vap ovens (although I'm not quite sure exaclty what the latter is). The "sub-commandment" I quoted was in the link you referenced: i.e., http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/the-food-lab-how-to-cook-roast-a-perfect-prime-rib.html I did indeed approve of the "requirement" that there be "no heavy or specialized equipment, sous vide, torches or C vap ovens". Did you read the whole thing through in the link you quoted?

The most important part, to me, is: "Sub-Commandment i: The Perfect Prime Rib must be cookable without the use of heavy or specialized equipment, including propane or oxy-acetylene torches, sous-vide machines, or C-vap ovens." :-)

B'fast today: • Pork, dried beancurd sticks & shiitake mushrooms braised in pork bone stock. Served over rice (Basmati). The braise was a two-day affair. Of course, that did not mean I was standing over it for two days. :-) Step 1: Pork bone stock, this particular version: Meaty pork bones (shin & knuckle bones mostly, lots of marrow; some meat still attached; about 3 lbs) were boiled in water for ~5+ minutes or so, everything dumped in the sink, the bones washed/rinsed under cool running water while rubbing off debris and congealed blood;§ placed into a fresh clean pot, fresh cold water added to cover the bones plus an inch more, salted lightly, some slices of fresh ginger added and the mixture brought to a boil then simmered gently on low flame for about 4-5 hours. The heat was shut off and the mix left overnight (tightly covered) on the stove. It was reheated the next day, a handful of big red-black Chinese jujubes¶ added and simmering continued for another 2-3 hours, allowed to cool, the bones removed and the stock filtered through cheesecloth and reserved. Lots of gelatin in the stock which had a pleasant intense porky flavor w/ the distinct aroma & taste of the jujubes. Step 2: Fresh shiitake mushrooms (From farmers' market) were de-stemmed, washed and reserved. Dried beancurd sticks ("Fu Chook"; (圓枝)腐竹; Yale Cantonese: fu6 juk1) [imperial Taste brand] were broken into shorter lengths and soaked for a while to soften. Fresh pork (USAmerican "country-style" boneless, slightly fatty) was cut against the grain into slices somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 inches in thickness. The stock was reheated, some crushed garlic cloves put in, followed by the pork & softened beancurd stick pieces, then later by the mushrooms and everything simmered for about an hour or so. Salting (sea salt) was adjusted, and the mix left to meld overnight. § This parboiling process is known in Chinese as "飛水", literally "Fly Water". p.s. "Fly" as in movement through the air on wings, not that pesky insect. In this case one could think of it as "the bones flying through hot water, briefly". :-) ¶ I used the big variety sold/known as “Tai Nam Chou” (大南棗) (sort-of-smoked large Chinese jujubes).

Indeed. I think we discussed how nice it would be in the previous TC thread on Season 10 if the next one would be in Savannah or Charleston, with all that low-country and Gullah cuisine. Besides, there would have been lots of photo-ops too. Maybe even a link-in to how low-country/Gullah cuisine tied in with the food of the West Indies and places such as that place where the finale of TC season 8 occurred. (The Bahamas)

Lunch today: • Walleye fillets – marinated in Shaohsing wine [Wei Chuan], sesame oil [Dragonfly], salt, fresh ground black pepper, a bit of “luscious soy sauce” [Kim Lan]; then pan-fried (with the marinade added in after the initial sear) and the sauces/juices reduced down as well. Garnished when plated w/ sliced normal scallion. • Walleye skin “chips”. No pic. Crunch crunch. :-) • Fresh spaghettini [Nicole-Taylor’s] tossed in the pan w/ fresh shiitake mushrooms,§ fresh bunapi-shimeji (white beech) mushrooms, asparagus§ and a large type of scallion,¶ all sautéed (the scallion first) in EV olive oil. § From today’s Farmers’ Market. ¶A large type called “京蔥” (“Capital scallion”; Yale Cantonese: ging1 chung1), from my local Chinese grocery. They didn’t have as much white-bottom parts as normally expected, though. (They are not leeks, they have the typical hollow round green parts of the leaves of scallions/Allium fistulosum-type) Still, “京蔥” are similar to Japanese ‘negi’ and according to the grocery’s proprietess about the same thing as “Tai Chung” (大蔥; Yale Cantonese: daai6 chung1) Here’s one Chinese recipe which uses it in a stir-fry with baby octopus which might interest David Ross here on eG, heh. Most of the stuff before cooking:

Heh. I was getting worried there. :-) Nice salad. Hmm, poached eggs & leeks? Never tried that combination...but not far off from poached eggs with scallions, and pretty similar to doing it with negi or "big scallions", on reflection.

mm84321, on 18 May 2013 - 08:16, said: I think it looks fine. I mean, it is what it is: a bowl of pasta. It would probably look silly, or at least less honest, plated otherwise. What I would suggest you working on, however, are new plates. Keith_W, on 18 May 2013 - 09:34, said: It's OK, so do I. I have found a little trick though. I cook up enough food for us to eat. Then I plate up a dainty little portion, because they look nicer. Once the photo is taken, I pile on the food and eat! I think that plate of pasta looks just fine. The plate itself would not have been my personal choice, true, but that is just my personal taste. I'm sure you like it a lot yourself. :-) Perhaps this old article might also be of interest: http://www.gourmet.c...8/frenchlaundry Quote from there: " They are also mystified by the custom of serving tiny,personal portions of food on enormous white plates..." I myself personally think the practice of daintily arranging food in just-so compositions with one or two components in what has been called "Tweezer Food" to be, uh, not what an ordinary meal would look like. Per Se and their ilk might do it and charge astronomical sums of money for the TINY amounts of food they serve on those enormous platters but I for one would not care too much for that at home. Or for that matter in most restaurants I would go to, excepting when I am in the (rare) mood for that sort of Tweezer Food. But that's just me.

Just some trivia and just FYI...in some cultures crossing one's chopsticks "on the table" is a no-no as it symbolizes death, although many people don't follow this taboo anymore (and maybe in some dim-sum restaurants). Maybe your doing it on the bowl rather than "on the table" negates this... :-) Hmm, it looks like the chopsticks you used were of different lengths, though - was this why you crossed them to make it less obvious? ;-) Well, traditionally *that* was another taboo and was deemed "unlucky". :-) OK, carry on with the cookbook...

What a nice photo. [The food's tasty too, I'm sure. :-) ] Did the plates inspire the (planting of) the flowers, or did the flowers inspire the plates? (private commission?) Nice table (countertop?) too. p.s. Thanks for the compliment upthread. Glad you'd like those dumplings and soup for any meal. :-)

Even if so it doesn't negate the suggestion that if Bravo *did* donate that money they would score a point (and shut Bourdain down) and that place would get some money. ;-) BTW nobody is expecting TC NOLA to be an in-depth documentary of the BP oil spill. Whether it is a cooking contest or a TV reality game show with incidental cooking is another thing. (BTW2 Tom Colicchio has admitted publicly in one of his past blog posts that it is a game show) It's interesting, the way the thread is devolving into a "Diss Anthony Bourdain" thread... :-)

Judiu, I usually cook for one.

Oh, I don't know... I'm not sure that Bourdain's suggestion is that outrageous or that he is full of it or himself. He apparently didn't berate Andy Cohen. The reported tweets seem not to be bristly or condescending etc, at least those two reported in the article. I must say there is also something to be said about his suggestion of donating that 200K to that non-profit restaurant. Sure, Bravo can accept the "tourism promotion dollars" from the LA board without untoward opprobrium (nowadays, so it has turned out), as some here have pointed out; but so long as they fulfill what they contracted (or undertook) to do for those dollars they in turn can do whatever they want with those dollars, I would think, no? I think they would gain good karma and good publicity if they *did* donate that money to that restaurant - and gain bragging rights too. Or donate money to that place plus other food-associated charitable organizations in the state. A win-win, in a certain sense, and it would also shut down Bourdain. As for possible scenarios in TC 11: Yes, it would be "gimmicky" (but TC has tended to be gimmicky in one way or another) but in the spirit of the use of those BP dollars for the recovery from that oil spill I would not object if the cheftestapants (as Max Silvestri once called them, I think) were presented with a challenge of doing what they could with oil-fouled something-or-other-protein (birds, waterfowl, fish, etc) as an exercise of their ingenuity as chefs in rescuing "damaged goods" and making them taste good or as good as they could manage under the circumstances. Perhaps they could be judged on how well they succeeded, rather than purely on how good their dishes tasted on an absolute scale... They could be apprised of the challenge in advance so they could think about it - maybe with the withholding of what exactly they would be required to use, or their being allowed to request one or two condiments or whatnot in advance after being told of the challenge, that sort of thing. Just a wild thought. :-) [...and yes, IMO TC ceased to be a wholly cooking show a long time ago, if it ever was; so one treats it as "food entertainment" and enjoys it on those general terms]

2013-0516 Lunch • Fried rice – with sautéed/browned sliced onion & garlic, deshelled deveined shrimp, sea salt, French-cut Roma beans, sliced Napa cabbage, eggs scrambled in situ, 2-day old rice, chunked yellow onion, chopped coriander leaves. No soy sauce was used.

Corrigendum: "Feishui" is "飛水". The order of the ideograms in the post above was wrongly posted due to an inattentive "pasting in" from the "character set" of Chinese characters I use on my MBP. I also added dried longans into the Bak Kut Teh, which added a slight sweet undertone to the soup.

Season 11. eater.com:archives:2013:05:10:bravo-confirms-new-orleans-is-in-for-top-chef-season-11 eater.com:archives:2013:05:14:top-chef-to-get-375000-from-louisiana-and-nola eater.com:archives:2013:05:14:bourdain-8 www.bravotv.com:blogs:the-dish:top-chef-season-11-heads-to www.nola.com:tv:index.ssf:2013:05:state_local_tourism_offices_pa.html?view=print

2013-0514 Lunch • A riff (very big riff) on “Lo Mein” ¶ (Cantonese 撈麵, lou1 min6); or Mandarin 拌麵, pinyin bàn miàn, Cantonese (Yale) pronunciation pun3 min6). • Simple soup – with pork spare ribs, sliced ginger, crushed garlic cloves, green Chinese radish (青蘿蔔) and (Western) carrots.§ ¶Shanghai Yangchun noodles (上海陽春麵) were cooked in the normal manner and tossed/mixed (like making a pasta dish) in the pan w/ a sauté of sliced shallots, chopped smashed garlic, sliced Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced pickled scallion bulbs (rakkyo)(Allium chinense) [shirakiku brand], sliced pickled ginger [Lin Lin brand] and some sea salt. (Both of the pickled items have sugar in the pickling liquid.) The combo came out resembling a dressed spaghettini or spaghetti dish with sweet-sour notes. Interesting. § Short-cut (against the bone) pork spare ribs, separated (cut) into riblets or smallish chunks (with cartilaginous ribs, also used) were parboiled for a few minutes (“Feishui”, 水飛), everything dumped into the sink, the rib pieces rinsed under the tap, placed into a fresh clean pot, clean water added plus a bit of corn oil, sliced ginger, crushed garlic and sea salt. The mixture was brought to a boil, heat reduced and the mix simmered for ~ 1 hour or so. Green Chinese radish (thinly peeled, roll-cut) and carrots (peeled, roll-cut) were added, simmering continued for ~ 15-20 minutes and the seasoning adjusted. ----------------------------------------- 2013-0515 Lunch • Bak Kut Teh.§ • Yau Mak Choy.¶ • Steamed white rice (Basmati). § Today I used pork baby back ribs plus country style ribs. Herbs used were "Tong Kwai" (當歸; Yale: dong1 gwai1; "Radix Angelica Sinensis"; Angelica sinensis), "Yook Chook" (玉竹; Yale: yuk6 juk1; Polygonatum odoratum (Mill.) Druce) and “Tong Sam” (黨參; Yale: dong2 sam1; Codonopsis pilosula Nannf). Other components added were: a few large pieces of "Chan Pei" (陳皮; Yale: chan4 pei4; dried tangerine peel); two whole heads of garlic; later on, cinnamon sticks plus a small handful of whole cloves; then light soy sauce [Kikkoman]; and soft tofu slices plus fried tofu puffs towards the end. ¶ Romaine lettuce, trimmed & washed. “Stir-fried” with julienned ginger, “luscious soy sauce” (甘醇油膏) [Kim Lan], light soy sauce [Pearl River Superior], oyster sauce [Lee Kum Kee], sweet mirin [Honteri], ryori-shu [MRT], veggie oil.

Early a.m. breakfast. "Beef & green onion dumplings" ("shui kow" type, 水餃) [Wei Chuan] in chicken stock & chiffonaded collard greens soup, together w/ a couple of "far koo" plus a few lightly crushed garlic cloves.