stefanyb

Isn't this a distinction without a difference? If you are willing to say that it was fire, isn't it really how people learned how to use and control fire that is at the heart of civilization and doesn't that gibe with his theory? I see a definite distinction. The discovery of fire is so much more basic than the advent of cooking. It would be like saying that learning to skin animals was responsible for humans covering their bodies, not just learning to hunt in the first place. One is a whole limb on the developmental tree and the other is but a small branch. They may be related but not interchangeable. And, it changes the timeline as well. If socialization began with fire then it began way before the advent of cooking and makes attributing socialization of humans to cooking neither accurate nor logical.

Why he focuses on cooking as the basis of socialization is because he chose to write a book on food history and imbuing the cooking of food with such great importance elevates his chosen subject matter and, by extension, himself. It was the discovery of fire that may be at the heart of socialization. Many are needed to attend to a purposeful fire and one fire can provide heat and light to a group of people. Cooking, as he said, probably started accidentally when small animals, fruits and vegetables inadvertantly succumbed to a fire that may have been started by lightning or spontaneous combustion. So, I would conclude, that its fire itself that brought about socialization. Cooking was merely a byproduct.

Not yeasty, britcook! Pure sourdough. No commercial yeast. Sorry for the ot comment. Pure sourdough is yeasty. Sourdough is "trapping the wild yeast" that naturally occurs in our environment, maintaining and developing it over time and using some of the old to develop new batches, but it IS yeast.

There are really two answers to the original question posed. One is what we think the true definition of the word is, disregarding any profit motive and the other is what the marketplace has positioned the word to mean as an incentive for consumers to buy a particular product. Artisanal means, “made in the manner of an artisan”. And, I’ll have you know, that “artist” is the given synonym of “artisan” in The Random House American Dictionary. Therefore one could say “artisanal” can be defined as “made by an artist or made in an artistic manner”. The word "artisanal" does not exist in this fairly large dictionary. Of course, that’s not exactly how I would define it. My definition would include the following: handcrafted as opposed to manufactured (a word if taken apart meaning made by hand, but that’s another discussion); emphasis on quality rather than on the quantity of the final product; primary focus on pride of product rather than marketability (not to say marketability isn’t in the equation, only that pride of product supersedes it) and passion and dedication of the producers. On second thought it sounds a lot like making art. No wonder Madison Avenue wants to co-opt the word. What it has come to mean is anything exotic, expensive, made by elves in small batches (other than Keebler) and hasn't been made in this manner since 1734.

Cordless teakettle? What, does it have a lithium ion rechargeable battery in it or something? No. It has a base thats plugged in but the kettle comes off the base for pouring after the water boils (and for filling). I wouldn't boil water for tea,coffee and other way. They last for years, much longer than a traditional kettle especially if you tend to walk away from the stove when heating water.

Rachel, When an eGullet function is open to all eGullet members then people should assume any member may be there. If they can't deal with that they shouldn't come.

Steph, I have one (Tupperware from the dark ages) It may not be beautiful but its perfectly acceptable. You can borrow it.

Kim, congratulations on being the first person to inject negativity and vitriol into an otherwise grateful and joyous thread. How about keeping those sentiments to yourself, or PM'ing them instead? I usually keep out of this kind of thing but I must concur, here. Face to face and with wonderful food and drink everyone was gracious. Why not go with that.

I’ll let someone with a menu give the blow by blow but the food was amazing. Some smug person, ahem, said to me that it was the very best Indian food he had ever eaten and I definitely concur. The event itself was memorable in so many ways I can hardly wrap my head around it. Yvonne’s nametags were artfully done and looked very professional and best of all were clip-ons not stick-ons. Suzanne was Suzie-on-the-spot and organized the business end of things like a pro. Suvir took care of all of us like a mother hen. He never sat down to partake of the meal but kept serving, schmoozing and making sure we were all well looked after. Thank you so much, Suvir. Everyone brought an overabundance of drinks and shared them generously, including Tommy, regardless of what Rosie says. I don’t know, last night I was really pissed and tonight I’m feeling like Sally Fields. We are soooo great. Everyone associated with eGullet is exceptional and I feel very lucky to have ticked Jim Leff off during the fateful summer of 2001 just in time to be invited to join. Take it away Nina, I mean La Nina(tilda).

The answer is to get louped at Lupa. Not upscale but absolutely excellent.

I also remember way back when, that they had excellent ribollita. Going there and having a nice pice of bread, ribollita and a glass of wine was an inexpensive treat.

Well don't answer him or who knows what'll happen to you I can't wait to see your artwork!

Now aside from the fact that Turkish style might be better, what exactly is the difference between Turkish style and Greek style? And, by the way, I hope that only people who have a thorough and first hand knowledge of both Turkish and Greek gyro/doner kebab try and answer since otherwise you're wasting my time, and I'm not afraid to say it on the board

In the Nina, Jordan, Stefany photo, behold the true eGullet uniform, black and blue.. It reflects Mark's subjective preference for how his steak should be prepared.

Great idea. Nesita, and a bucket 'o great cheeses and wines, what could be bad? And Liza, if you organize it, no one will be able to forget that you were there Organize away, I say!

The real lesson here is to always know your audience. In potlucks, and in life. Oh, and have realistic expectations which can be achieved by....knowing your audience.

CathyLs place was wonderful and full of interesting architectural elements. I so appreciated her generosity in providing us with a venue and hope we didn't leave her with too much to clean up. Meeting, for the first time, Shermar and her Beau was a special added attraction for the evening. Shermar is up on all the egullet goings-on and we all got a kick out of her apparent fixation with what goes on around here. I hope we can convince her that its not always as *wild* as it has been recently. Also, I brought baguettes that we didn't have a formal tasting of- Balthazar, Sullivan Street and Le Pain Quotidien. PQ is best, in my book. We shamed Suvir into going out and getting a tasting of vanilla icecreams and he did so with good spirit. Does anyone remember which one came out on top in the tasting? There was a tasting of apples, Cathy can fill in the varieties, but why I mention it is because there were two caramel sauces for dipping, one by Cathy and one by Toby, that were mind-blowing. Thats all I can think of right now- maybe tomorrow I'll remember more. We took lots of pictures that I think we're going to be posting. Thanks to everyone for participating. I had a blast.

Thanks Toby and NS. I always thought it was more like a cheese than cream. Now I know better. How does it compare to clotted cream? If its just cream and acid (or cream on acid ) is it similar to sour cream?

Come to think of it....will some of you (casual) smarties tell me about mascarpone? How is it made?

This is probably expanding the category some but last night I prepared myself a plate with beautiful slices of ripe persimmon and a mound of mascarpone. Incredible. Not that you can go wrong with mascarpone very easily but this particular combo was sublime

Hooray! Its just those men who can never make up their minds

That was my strongest impression. This is a Danny Meyer joint? Where are the obsequious servers? Where's the saccharine meeters and greeters? And what? the busboys are confused? Great! The food was okay- I agree with you about the beef ribs. The fatty brisket (is there any other kind?) was juicey and smokey and the mashed potatoes were heaven. Mac and cheese was pedestrian but, you know, we had (party of six in booth) a wonderful evening. Made me feel like a kid again.

Thanks gknl, great link.

Incredibly, none of Wiseman's films are available on video. Domestic Violence II (2002) Last Letter, The (2002) Domestic Violence (2001) Belfast, Maine (1999) Public Housing (1997) Comédie-Française ou L'amour joué, La (1996) Ballet (1995) High School II (1994) Zoo (1993) Aspen (1991) Central Park (1989) Near Death (1989) Missile (1987) Adjustment and Work (1986) Blind (1986) Deaf (1986) Multi-Handicapped (1986) Racetrack (1985) Store, The (1983) Model (1980) Seraphita's Diary (1980) Manoeuvre (1979) Sinai Field Mission (1978) Canal Zone (1977) Meat (1976) Welfare (1975) Primate (1974) Juvenile Court (1973) Essene (1972) Basic Training (1971) I Miss Sonia Henie (1971) Hospital (1970) High School (1969) Law and Order (1969) Titicut Follies (1967) Some of the best documentary filmmaking ever done. Why are none are on videotape?

I hope they don't ever get cited by the health department because then they might be referred to as rat Bastide. Sorry, couldn't help myself. Great post Lizziee.