mrsadm

Glossary of Japanese Cutlery terms: http://www.foodieforums.com/japaneseglossary.htm edited to add, additional great information: Article about traditional Japanese knives: http://www.foodieforums.com/traditional.htm Article about western style Japanese knives: http://www.foodieforums.com/revolution.htm

I have used all of the brands you mention except the Watanabe. I noticed all your choices are Chef's Knives or Gyuto's, but the Watanabe is a Deba. If you want an all-around kitchen knife, do not get a Deba. It is a very thick knife designed primarily for chopping off fish heads. It isn't an all-around type of knife. If I had to choose between the MAC and the Hattori, I'd have a difficult time. They are both wonderful. Get the Hattori if you like the beauty of Damascus steel with the most amazing thin cutting edge. MAC's are a little more forgiving (less thin of an edge) but still not a knife for abuse. The Tojiro is the best value for money. I love my Tojiro DP Gyuto, but it doesn't have the "soul" of the Hattori. The Shun handle is unique with a little bump (I think they call it a d-shape). I ordered one of those online and was able to return it, not being fond of the different shape. In general I think you can say that most Japanese knives are lighter than German ones, although I'm sure there are exceptions. One important consideration for you to think about is sharpening. Is there anyone in your neighborhood who can sharpen Japanese knives? You can learn yourself - I did so with a DVD from korin.com, after buying a waterstone - and it's not difficult - but you DO NOT want to take your precious Japanese knife to someone with a bench grinder who does carpenter's chisels on the side. Good luck and let us know what you decide!

I love POOO! Maybe we can convince Ray Rachel to use the term? It is so cute!

Some great ideas here in this thread. I cannot believe how much my weekly grocery bill is just for two people!! Oh, and 10 cats who get the "good" cat food. I have found that when I go early in the am to my local grocery store they mark down the meats that are near expiration, and often find a good deal.

OK after flirting with the Julia/Jacques book, I tried a recipe from Rick Bayless' "One Plate at a Time" and is was outstanding. Husband is already asking for it again. (Enchiladas Suizas). The book has a nice slant on learning; after each recipe is a Q&A section that explains the ingredients and techniques that are used, which is very interesting and helpful. Since hubby favors Mexican cuisine, I've decided we'll both be getting fatter as I go through this intriguing book.

On the subject of chain restaurants, good or bad, with or without a wait ... Some geographic locations have very few good, local restaurants. I think that's true in my neck of the woods. So people end up going often to the chains. We have a great French/Thai restaurant, but with white tablecloths and dinners around $50, it isn't for everyone. We also have some great small restaurants in the old Italian neighborhood. The "good" local restaurant where everyone goes for anniversaries and birthdays, has a menu dating back to 1954. I'm not defending chain food, just trying to explain why they are popular in some spots.

I've grown really tired of paying $1.99 for a bunch of a fresh herb, only to use a tablespoon or so in a recipe. So this year I tried a few pots of herbs on the deck and I can't believe how easy it is! They just grow and grow, and only need some watering now and then. The parsley is practically a big bush now! With cilantro, I put it in a glass 2-cup container with some water covering the roots, and put a loose plastic bag over the leaves. This lasts 3-4 days.

Please tell us more about the show! Did Gordon Ramsey speak German? or was there a different chef?

DARN!!! It is out of stock at Jessica's Biscuit and ships in 5-7 weeks from Amazon. Guess it's popular!

You will get loads of good advice if you post your questions on one of the two cutlery forums on the web: Fred's Cutlery Forum: http://216.91.137.210/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=6 http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showforum.php?fid/26/ The experts are there and very helpful.

Thanks Seth for the link - very interesting reading! Not quite through all 24 pages yet ..... Anna N - I understand what you are saying - but I don't feel the need to be literal, and I do plan to skip things, esp. strong dislikes that my husband has. He will NOT eat clams, brussel sprouts, and many other things. However, some dishes I will make for myself, e.g., I don't have any aversion to lobster like he does! "e) is only available in Patagonia on the 16th of June." - exactly why I don't use Dianna Kennedy's books though I love Mexican food. Those inverse banana leaves and Oaxacan schnapps are too hard to find. Now I am leaning towards the Jacques and Julia at home book .....

The "Julie/Julia" project has given me the idea that I could learn a lot by working through an important cookbook with classic dishes. But which cookbook to choose? I thought something appropriate might be "The Cook's Book" by Jill Norman. It has the basics like stocks and soups, as well as varied cuisines. However, some of the recipes are famous chef's signature dishes, and I don't feel I can attempt those yet. Plus it feels more encyclopedic, rather than having chapters that build on previous lessons. Julia Child's books have the distinct advantage of lengthy texts where she explains everything in detail, including suggested fixes if a dish goes wrong. But do I spend a full year making French dishes I may never repeat? Or, is this a wonderful education that would be helpful in all future cooking, no matter what the cuisine? I thought of going down the path of Mexican food, which my husband and I both love, by using Rick Bayless' "Mexican Kitchen". That would be fun, but would not help me learn the European classics. Another book I own is Cook's Illustrated "New Best Recipe" with 1,000 exhaustively tested recipes, including things like "Easy Pork Chops". Will I learn the most from this book? And then there's the Culinary Institute's "Professional Chef" tome, which I don't enjoy because I have to convert everything down from 10 portion recipes. I know the obvious answer is that one can learn from any of these books, the trick is to get in the kitchen and start cooking. But, considering my over-the-hill age, I want to learn the most in the least amount of time, that will help me in all future cooking, no matter what the style or ingredients. Any advice?

I am really enjoying this book, my 4th of July holiday read. As far as I know Buford was not a journalist, but a fiction editor. Different profession altogether.

I just started doing this! I have a goal to push myself to cook two new meals a week (I don't cook much at all during my long work week). By next spring I want to have a very long list and hopefully the knowledge and experience that comes with this activity. Then, and only then, will I allow myself to sign up for Boot Camp at the CIA..... I use an excel spreadsheet - hmmmm I wonder if a spreadsheet could be a family hierloom?

No, this doesn't suck! Good idea from suzi to check with them directly. I always do that with guests I don't know well in case there is an allergy. You can check out low carb recipes at http://www.lowcarbfriends.com/recipereview/ I have never cooked for diabetics but there are many healthful tasty recipes there; as suzy said, avoid the ones that are high-fat. Think lean meats, veggies, and salads.

I use a non-stick griddle, I don't think you need a special item like the comal. A cast iron skillet I think would work well, but something with low/no sides like a griddle will let you see the underside of the tortilla better to judge the cooking. Gosh I didn't even know they were supposed to puff up! Better get cooking.... and see if I can get that to happen. But maybe next weekend - today I am working on my first empanadas. Question for the experts here: does the freshness of the masa harina make a difference? I just wonder how long the bags have sat on the shelf at my grocer's in upstate New York. Is this a factor in the puffing up? (edited to add:) I'm sure the problem is my skill level, but I'd like to blame something else

I don't soak black beans either. A couple hours simmering on the stove does the trick. I like to add some aromatics at the onset of cooking. Onions, bell peppers, olive oil and bay leaves. This is cooked down to nothing so a sofrito can be added near the end for added flavor and texture. I am also starting to add salt in the beginning of cooking and have not found it keeps the beans hard but does improve overall flavor. ← I agree on adding aromatics at the beginning of cooking, it improves the flavor. I generally add salt and pepper, and pinches of cumin seeds and mexican oregano.

I never soak black beans. Rinse/wash off, stick in pot of water, bring to a boil, cook on med/low for about two hours. I think cooking on high will make them tough but I have never tried it.

Hey, I still make those things! You mean I'm out of style???

I don't think you are overheating your pan. I had a set of Calphalon anodized aluminum that I bought about 20 years ago. Fact is, the coating wears off and reveals the aluminum beneath. This can happen from normal wear like using a spoon in the pot. It can also wear off from acidic foods, as my husband used a soup pot for several years to make chili in at least weekly, and the coating wore off there, too. You'll never get those "silver dents" out, it will only get worse with use.

I read recently in the biography of Careme that he is credited with inventing the precurser of the modern chef's uniform, back in the 1800's in France. Excerpt from http://ezra.cornell.edu/posting.php?timestamp=1080799200 (Question 12): The double-breasted white chef coat is made so that the outside flap can be reversed if a chef has gotten messy while cooking and needs to have a fresh and clean presentation for the dining room. The double-layered fabric also adds an element of safety should hot grease or other hot liquids splatter on the person. The checked pants also served to "disguise" minor spills and splatters incurred while in the kitchen. ..... The famous chef Marie-Antoine Careme, father of French haute cuisine, standardized the chef's uniform in the 1800s. This included color standardization, choosing white because it symbolized cleanliness. Under Careme, chef hats varied in height based on their rank in the kitchen. Careme himself was reported to have worn an 18" high toque. The little folded pleats in the hat emerged later, and are meant to total 100, representing 100 ways that a good chef can cook an egg. Chef toques were originally made of fabric and required heavy starching to keep them tall. In the 1960s paper toques emerged which made maintaining cleanliness easier.

Last summer I found a great mini-fridge at Target which can plug into either a regular electrical outlet, or with an adapter, into the car cigarette lighter. So you pack your minifridge (pre-cooled is a good idea), move to the car and plug in the lighter. When you arrive at your motel, you pick up the fridge by the handle and take into your room, then plug into the wall outlet. I got tired of hotels/motels charging $5-10 a day for a small fridge. I bought mine at end-of-season last year for about $50. How sublime is that?

would it be jessica's biscuit? love them! fast delivery, great selection and sometimes, free coffee beans! ← No, and it's driving me crazy! They refer to the various sections of their site as "aisles", and as I say, the've got billions of food books. ← You may be thinking of Powells. They have the concept of "aisles". I noticed they have 189 pages of used books under "cooking and food" http://www.powells.com/usedbooks/CookingandFood.1.html

There isn't a celebrity chef phenomenon in Italy because the ways of la cucina are passed on by mama, nona and village, not television. And I wouldn't necessarily call Rachael Ray a celebrity "chef". ← Good catch on the "chef" comment! I should have said celebrity cook. Even Julia Child didn't call herself a chef, but rather a cook. FoodTV may disagree with me, however. I am really looking forward to this book; I really enjoyed Buford's article in the New Yorker about Batali (was in 2005 I believe).

I was at the Cincinnati airport earlier this week and between flights, tried to grab lunch at the Subway there. I ordered a cheesesteak sandwich (the quality of which I'll leave to your imagination) and asked for ketchup (what's a cheesesteak wi/out ketchup?) and the girl told me they DIDN"T HAVE ANY. I could have mayo, dressings, pickles, etc. etc. but no ketchup. So now I'm thinking I need to pack a couple of those little packets of ketchup to make an inedible sandwich into something less-than-inedible. I also always carry tea bags, after a visit to Au Bon Pain revealed a selection of Herbal Mint, Lemon, Raspberry and other teas but nothing resembling a standard Tetley style orange pekoe. I also carry Splenda packets as most places still only have saccherin based sweeteners. Lately I've been packing one of those little Vendage 3-glass wine boxes in case I arrive in a dry county in Texas or in Germany on a Sunday when everything is closed. What food items do you pack when traveling?