balex

So your argument is that people will say -- Boy, those Champagne guys are harshing my mellow by harrassing that poor Californian wine maker; that's no fun -- I'll buy some beer instead. Now confess -- you aren't 100% serious, are you?

I bought myself one for Christmas -- this was the MV stainless 9.5" gyutou. First impressions -- sharp, holds an edge, stains quite easily. But it is too early to give a proper answer.

(OT) It's called a sorites paradox.

Has anyone here tried the top cuvees of Franciacorta -- e.g. Ca del Bosco cuvee Annamaria Clementi ? And can compare them to good vitage champagne? I have only had the iinferior ones which are good (and IMO as good as Champagne NV).

You are not referring to Rodizio Rico? A churrascaria style place ? Many Brazilian BBQs tend to be tad more salt that folks in Europe can handle - But then we also tend to wash it down with beer. Rico is OK, nothing too great. Is this the place on Westbourne Grove? I walk past it quite regularly and sometimes there are good smells coming out. If it is not complteely terrible I might give it a go.

Traditional Thai? Without chilli? Chili is a recent addition to Thai cooking. Before that they used peppercorns to add heat.

Mine is a little simpler. Pound together garlic, white peppercorns and chopped coriander root. Mix in a little lime juice and fish sauce and a pinch of sugar. Marinate the separated wings for about an hour. Grill for slightly too long (about 30 minutes in all). Serve with sweet chilli sauce. This is a very traditional Thai marinade.

We have had this argument before here -- and we will have it again. Meanwhile, let's have it now. I violently object to some of the arguments put forward here. In particular the argument we can caricature as 'expensive wines are better than cheap wines; and that's why they cost more' is demonstrably false in many respects. And worse it is just intellectual laziness. Rather than making decisions on how you like the particular wine -- you can say oh this is a Parker 95 points, and it costs $500 so it's great. Prices are not set by some central rating authority with direct access to the 'true quality of wine'. They are set by market forces, which are driiven by supply (sometimes very restricted -le Pin, Burgundy etc.) and demand (manipulated by advertising and marketing). Secondly, people don't agree on good wine -- people differ radically on what is good wine -- Pavie 2000 is a good example of a very expensive wine that some people don't like. Some people hate Jura wines, or white Rioja, some people don't like Pomerol at all. There is no universal standard. Thirdly, one wants to drink different wines in different circumstances, with different food. A wine that is perfect with a sandwich on top of a mountain, is probably not perfect with some 3-star meal in Paris. Some of the wine I like is very expensive, some is quite cheap. I tend to drink more of the good cheap stuff because that is where I get the most enjoyment for my money. I do like good burgundy (v expensive) and good claret (actually quite good value now eg 86 Pichon Lalande is only £80 a bottle). Screaming Eagle 97 is about $2,000 a bottle. Clearly this is a much better wine. If only I was rich enough to buy it I would drink nothing else (irony.gif).

There is some Thai phrase that recipes traditionally end with which translates as 'adjust seasoning until it tastes right'. Not very helpful for beginning cooks.

off topic -- but I cooked a truly excellent Tom Yum last night with prawns that was among the best I have ever tasted -- including ones in Thailand because they almost always overcook the prawns there. I was really pleased and proud of myself. Just sharing.

Here are some that stuck out as being realy good Noa 2000 Pieropan Calvarino 2001 and their regular Soave 2002 which I have drunk a case of in the last 4 months Querciabella Chianti Classico 2001 at a steak place in Rome Taurasi by Feudi San Gregorio 96

For white wines, Brad is abolutely right -- Germany. Also Alsace has some similar values. For red wines, there is a lot of regional southern Italian stuff that is very good and pretty cheap, but you have to move around a bit as some wines get written up. I think Taurasi and Aglianico delle Vulture are both capable of great wines. And Sicily has some lovely wines too, but the really good ones are not so cheap anymore. Abruzzo though I am not a great fan of : futronic -- any names you would particularly point out?

just wondering if cutting ginger into paper thin slices would be a task better suited for a Mandolin or would that just simply be too pedestrian :) Well, then you cut the paper thin slices into tiny thread like strips ...

I bought a damascus usuba (damascus) which is so good for cutting things like ginger -- literally paper thin slices. I love it. But it's a specialist tool not a general purpose knife.

This is really unhelpful but Harrods in London has a good knife department with a rather bored Indian knife geek as salesperson who loves to have a long convesation about carbon levels and rockwell numbers and has a few ripe tomatoes and some waterstones in a bucket of water and a good selection of Japanese knives anad a fulllish set of Wusthofs etc etc

clarification: I mean everyone eating the same dishes at the same time -- e.g. you wait for everyone to finish their main courses before you have dessert.

There are a few elements to the family meal. I would be interested to see how people rate them: (in no particular order) 1. Everyone eating the same food 2. Everyone eating at the same time 3. Everybody seated around the same table 4. Everybody talking to each other I am probably a bit weird here, but for me 1 and 2 are in a way the most important. We went together once to a seminary near Florence, and there the meals were in silence with someone reading an improving text. The children loved it! Eating in silence -- as long as it is a comfortable silence -- is really soothing and bonding.

Thanks for the clarification -- I was of course joking. A good way to deal with this is how they do it at le manoir aux Quat' Saisons, a 2 michelin star restaurant outside Oxford that I have eaten at many times. They encourage children and have a special menu le Manoir menus for children: unfortunately they don't have an example -- and when we went my chidren thought it was boring and ordered from the carte.

If your children aren't complaining you aren't being strict enough.

I think that is one of the great satisfactions of life. (edited to add: I mean raising children well in general, rather than good manners in particular which are not of primary importance) I left out the most important experience -- eating regularly together as a family, seated around a table without a TV on.

I think this is so right -- but people always have thought that the young have no manners. Read Seneca, the ancient Roman stoic philosopher, and you hear the same thing. Emotionally I want to say, but this time manners really have got a lot worse, but intellectually I know I am just being an old fart (and I am only 37!). Back on topic, I have certainly taken my children to fancy restaurants when I felt it was appropriate and in general it has worked out. I think there is a window of opportunity when they are babes in arms -- less than 1 year, that then closes and doesn't open until they are about 8-12 years old, depending on the child, and on the formality of the restaurant. It also depends if the child has any experience in behaving properly in formal situations (going to the opera or concerts, serving at mass, being introduced to royalty, having to make conversation with old and important people). Which most don't. For a few data points, I took my daughter to lunch at Arpege aged 12, and Passard came out and squeezed her cheek and gave her a menu, and made a fuss of her, and everyone was happy. And at a bit younger we went to Comme chez Soi, and they were very snooty to us. But then friends who ate there twice a year for 15 years said they were always snooty to them (probably on racial grounds).

Well you can combine these two approaches -- have a kid's menu with hotdogs at $150. Hey maybe that's what that Daniel Boulud burger is really for!

Le Nez du Vin Knife from Masuhiro but the prize goes to an electric pepper grinder -- with a torch in the bottom that comes on when you grind the pepper! This is so cool in that useless fake functional wing on a '57 caddy way. I know we are going to lose our proper torch and I am going to have to change a fuse with the pepper grinding all over the place at 3 am one night.

On the whole, I think it is less harmful to treat one's pets as human than to treat one's infant offspring as adults. I was at a concert here in London about a month ago and a blind person had brought her dog with her. Which started barkiing during the performance. My children on the other hand behaved perfectly.

This is a tasting note for the wine I asked about in this thread. We had a bottle for Christmas lunch to accompany 'porchetta' slow roast pork shoulder stuffed with herbs. When it opened, about an hour before eating I was worried, rather light and orangy in colour with a distinct whiff of blue cheese. After a bit though it opened up. Fully mature, really complex, beautiful balance. Not very much of that earthy burgundy barnyard stuff. But really long, with the acidity and the tannins all working together. At the end it started to fall apart a bit, and there was a bit of oak peaking through. Very fine (as Clive coates would say).